The first Applied Learning AIG meeting of the year focussed on the project proposals initiated by the group. These provide the group’s focus for 2017/18. Each proposal is based

The first Applied Learning AIG meeting of the year focussed on the project proposals initiated by the group. These provide the group’s focus for 2017/18.  Each proposal is based

The first Applied Learning AIG meeting of the year focussed on the project proposals initiated by the group. These provide the group’s focus for 2017/18.  Each proposal is based

The first Applied Learning AIG meeting of the year focussed on the project proposals initiated by the group. These provide the group’s focus for 2017/18.  Each proposal is based upon the theme of supporting student transition, in particular, their first semester in their first year. As part of developing these project ideas, the Applied Learning community welcomed Dr Emma Heron- Faculty of Development and Society to share her reflections on a novel method that she used to elicit student perspectives of their own journey through university study. By asking pairs of university friends to undertake private, guided conversations, her paper reveals an innovative way of being able to dig deep into the student experience.  Understanding how students navigate through and beyond their undergraduate studies is something that can yield important insights. Education’s transformative powers, combined with the challenges of studying at higher education level, mean that a student’s experience is an inherently personal and at times emotional one. Utilising the trust relationship found through these friendships, the conversations allow individuals to open up and share their personal journey and elicit depths of experience less reachable via alternative forms of inquiry. Listening to these conversations allows practitioners to appreciate the realities of student life as defined by the students themselves. Undertaking the conversations provides an empowering and usefully reflective activity for the participants themselves. Against the backdrop of national, institutional, departmental, course or module surveying of higher education experience, this method offers a quieter more reflective, yet no less significant, student voice. Emma’s contribution made it a high impact and thought-provoking session.