Conference reflections (Episode 2): The ‘how’ of student engagement

By Jeehan Ashercook, Alina Zorn and Katie McClure, The University of Glasgow

In the second of two blog posts from the Graduate Teaching Assistants who supported the 2025 RAISE conference, Jeehan Ashercook, Alina Zorn and Katie McClure reflect on how to surface student voices through informal discussion, practical collaboration, and fostering a broader environment of student belonging.  

Jeehan: humanising data collection 

Jennifer Boyle and Andrew Struan’s Day 2 keynote really resonated with me. They highlighted the necessity of developing innovative ways to platform student voices, identifying student disengagement with traditional outlets such as surveys, a trend I’ve noticed in my teaching role. Students are less inclined to fill in surveys not only because of the arm’s-length approach, but also because they feel they won’t see or benefit from changes made during their time on courses. To them, it’s a moot exercise.  

Aware of these concerns as a student myself, in my teaching practice, I centre student–tutor dialogue to dissolve hierarchies of power and encourage a more collaborative approach. I begin the first seminar of term by discussing expectations – not just mine, but theirs too: what would they like to learn, and how? 

At the end of term, knowing that most haven’t engaged with the course survey, I set aside time to informally reflect on the course. These conversations produce thoughtful responses showing that students are active participants with valuable insights regarding lectures, seminars, reading lists, and academic and wider support.  

Making time and safe spaces for informal dialogue can be fruitful to actively engaging student voice. However, for this to be meaningful at all, there must be equal efforts to act upon and implement the feedback.  

Alina: engaging students to shape their learning 

The RAISE conference was a great opportunity to reflect on student engagement and the importance of student voice. I heard a wide range of talks that explored different ways to ensure students’ involvement in shaping their own learning experiences and improving overall student engagement.  

My personal highlight was a presentation delivered by a staff member and a student who had worked to co-design a new teaching module on enhancing employability. It was inspiring to see staff and students working together on a module that not only reflected student interests but also incorporated key skills identified by potential employers. Hearing directly from the student about their experience – what they had learned, the skills they developed, and how they felt empowered by the project – was particularly motivating, and a clear example of the impact of student–staff collaboration. This was a great representation of what RAISE is trying to achieve.  

Katie: engagement through belonging 

As a final-year PhD student, participating in the 2025 RAISE conference allowed me to reflect on student voice as a student, researcher, and learning developer.    

I was particularly interested in the theme of belonging, which ran through many of the presentations and workshops. In the Authentic Belonging in Higher Education workshop (led by Zak Evans and Faiza Inamdar), the discussion highlighted how the variable geographies of university campuses change the nature of student belonging. The discussion raised questions about how community can be created for students who participate virtually; challenges with bringing students together on large campuses; and difficulties in fostering distinct communities on campuses which lack smaller, informal spaces.    

This allowed me to reflect on my own student experience and consider how my sense of what ‘belonging’ means has changed over eleven years at university. My three degrees have all been very different social experiences. During my BSc in Chemistry, I was part of a very large cohort, so mostly found community through in-person university societies and events, and in small-group lab teaching sessions. In my Erasmus Mundus MSc, I was part of a small cohort of international students who moved between institutions together each semester. This created an inbuilt sense of community among the cohort. As a History of Art PGR, my research has mostly been conducted alone, and I have built community through a mixture of virtual and in-person training experiences.   

My reflections, alongside conference discussions, lead me to believe that today’s more complex higher education landscape, with more virtual and distance learners, necessitates a special commitment to creating engaging learning experiences within which students can find belonging.