EDLAB is happy to announce the re-launch of this year’s student advisory board (ESAB) after a COVID-19-induced period of dormancy. In early January, the new constellation of ESAB held a successful first meeting with 13 students from across faculties eager to contribute to education innovation.
The student advisory board serves as a UM-wide platform to make students’ educational experiences and opinions heard. They tackle issues at the heart of education in their meetings and propose initiatives and novel perspectives that have and will continue to shape EDLAB’s innovative approach to education.
The initial meeting of ESAB in January managed to distill two broad themes which students hope to tackle during the remainder of the academic year. As a first theme, ESAB has chosen to brainstorm and discuss creative approaches to PBL educational practice. This may include addressing issues such as innovative tutorial designs, inter- and transdisciplinarity, as well as the question of assessments. ESAB will take into account the practices developed for online education, yet will also work towards concepts useful when in-person classes will be re-introduced. As a second theme, ESAB would like to focus on student engagement, particularly in the face of online education. Discussion points may include the link between student engagement and well-being, the role of student mentoring, as well as inter-faculty connections and the development of student networks.
When asked to describe their role as a member of ESAB, a student explained that “I’m some sort of means of translating the general struggles that the student populations face in their education and then together with EDLAB we can investigate these issues. Especially now, with the pandemic, it is important to gather what students struggle with as you no longer run into them before tutorials or in the common room and hear about important issues.”
To achieve their goal, ESAB will meet at least five times per academic year and engage its members in interactive discussions with the opportunity of launching educational initiatives with the help of EDLAB. If you would like to hear more about ESAB, please do not hesitate to contact us!
The next meeting of ESAB is planned for the 23rd February at 16.00.
