What is Students as Partners?
Students as Partners leverages an internationally recognized, evidence-based approach to re-envision students in a collaborative role with instructors. Student partners are actively involved in shaping their educational experiences and enhancing excellence in teaching and learning at Iowa.
Led by the Center for Teaching this semester-long partnership matches each instructor with 1-2 trained undergraduate students who provide meaningful feedback.
By bringing together instructors and students as collaborative partners, this program fosters more inclusive, engaging, and equitable learning environments.
Modeled after successful programs at institutions like Bryn Mawr, Yale, and Columbia, these partnerships create valuable dialogue and perspective-sharing around teaching and learning. Students gain deeper insight into course design and instructional approaches, while faculty benefit from student viewpoints and experiences in shaping an engaging, inclusive classroom.
Drawing on principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), student and faculty partners identify opportunities to enhance learning accessibility and increase engagement and student belonging. Faculty and student partners choose an aspect of the course to focus on together for the semester, such as increasing student engagement during in-class activities, revising assessments, or incorporating interactive technologies.
Student Pedagogical Partners
Read student feedback and explore current opportunities for students to participate in the program, which offers a paid position and a unique professional development experience for participants.
Participate as a Faculty Partner
Do you feel that your students are not as engaged as you would like them to be? Have you wondered about how to increase student learning in your courses?
Do you want to make your syllabus and course more inclusive but don’t know where to begin?
Wondering about why students don’t read your emails? Do you want to try other modes of communication to more effectively reach your students?
Want to make your course more impactful, but not sure where to start? Join our new Students as Partners program!
Through reflective conversations, instructors gain insights from the student perspective to:
Increase student engagement
Improve course accessibility
Develop more inclusive teaching practices
Strengthen communication with students
Benefits include:
Ongoing feedback from a trained undergraduate student partner who observes your course
A reflective space to gain insights beyond your own lens
Support from the Center for Teaching in implementing specific, evidence-based improvements to create an engaging, inclusive classroom that supports student learning
This semester-long opportunity takes only 1-2 hours per week of your time.
Center for Teaching welcomes your interest as we pilot this initiative at the University of Iowa. Funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence 3 (HHMI ie3) has made it possible to select up to 5 faculty partners teaching large-enrollment courses for Fall 2024. In 2023-24, an initial 4-course pilot (read faculty quotation from our mid-year assessment below!) was funded by the Excellence in Teaching and Learning P3 Project
To learn more or express interest, email teaching@uiowa.edu or use the interest form.
What Faculty Partners Have to Say
"Student partner feedback on observations was a helpful and important reminder of the assumptions I find myself making about students learning and how my instruction may be guided by such assumptions." - Iowa faculty member, January 2024