What does it really mean to work with students rather than on students in pedagogical research?

In this special episode, the LITE Students as Partners team is joined by renowned partnership scholar Professor Alison Cook-Sather to explore what happens when we move from conducting research on students to conducting research with students. Together, we discuss partnership, inclusion, epistemic authority, and how student voices can meaningfully shape pedagogical research and educational change. Featuring Tao Jiang, Tanya Hathaway, Bianca Joseph Vadukoot, and Lucy Hemingway, this thought-provoking conversation offers inspiration for anyone interested in creating more collaborative, equitable and transformative approaches to teaching and learning.

Listen to discover how partnership is not simply a method, but "a way of being" that can transform scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Whether you are new to Students as Partners work or looking to deepen your practice, this episode offers both inspiration and practical insights into how collaborative approaches can enrich SoTL, transform relationships between staff and students, and help create more responsive and inclusive learning for all.

References from this podcast:

Abbot, S., & Cook-Sather, A. (2026). Invitation and Initiative: Advancing Student Scholars in SoTL. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.14.25

Brown, A., & Kimber, M. (2026). Repositioning Student Voice and Agency: A Call for the Epistemic Expansion of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Inquiry. Active Learning in Higher Education, 27(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/14697874261426374

de Bie, A., Marquis, E., Cook-Sather, A., & Luqueño, L. (2021). Promoting Equity and Justice Through Pedagogical Partnership (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003446521

Felten, P., Bagg, J., Bumbry, M., Hill, J., Hornsby, K., Pratt, M., & Weller, S. (2013). A Call for Expanding Inclusive Student Engagement in SoTL. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 1(2), 63–74. https://doi.org/10.2979/teachlearninqu.1.2.63

Felten, P. (2013). Principles of Good Practice in SoTL. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 1(1), 121–125. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.1.1.121

Healey, M., Flint, A., Harrington, K. (2016). Students as partners: Reflections on a conceptual model. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.4.2.3

Hutchings, P., Huber, M. T., & Ciccone, A. (2011). The scholarship of teaching and learning reconsidered: Institutional integration and impact. San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐Bass.

Werder, C., & Otis, M.M. (Eds.). (2009). Engaging Student Voices in the Study of Teaching and Learning (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003444503

In this second episode in the LITE Bites series exploring Educational Gain and Student Futures, Bee Bond is joined by Rebecca Padgett from Leeds University Business School to explore how enterprise consultancy projects support students’ educational gain and future employability.

Rebecca discusses the design of the Level 6 Enterprise Consultancy module, where students work on live consultancy briefs with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Social Enterprises. Together, they explore authentic learning, formative assessment, and how confidence, professional identity, and graduate‑relevant skills can be developed through real‑world learning at scale.

This episode will be of interest to colleagues involved in experiential learning, enterprise education, and authentic assessment.

Resources mentioned:

Peer evaluation for group work in higher education (Buddycheck).

Cappfinity strengths profile.

Institute of Student Employers for graduate and early careers research and insights.

Scott, K. (2019). Radical candor: Be a kick-ass boss without losing your humanity (Rev. ed.). St. Martin’s Press.

Student Minds for student mental health and wellbeing research.

This episode of LITE Bites is hosted by LITE Student Partner Bianca Joseph. She talks to LITE Strategic Lead for Students as Partners and LITE Higher Education Research Support Officer Tanya Hathaway about her experience working as a student in collaboration with University staff.

For more information about student partnership, read:

• Cook-Sather, A., Bovill, C. and Felten, P. (2014) Engaging students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education: a guide for faculty. San Francisco: Jossey‑Bass.
• Mercer-Mapstone et al. (2017) ‘A systematic literature review of students as partners in higher education’, International Journal for Students as Partners, 1(1), pp. 1–23. doi:10.15173/ijsap.v1i1.3119.

In this first episode of the LITE Bites series on Educational Gain and Student Futures, Bee Bond is joined by colleagues Caroline Campbell and Geoffrey Nsanja to explore how their pedagogical research sheds light on what students value, how they experience learning, and how we might meaningfully understand “educational gain” across different disciplines.

Together, they discuss the role of inclusive formative and summative assessment, the hidden and relational dimensions of academic practice, and how these insights are shaping Bee’s work as the LITE Strategic Lead for Student Futures and Educational Gain.

Read Bee and Agne’s article “Educational Gain: Why bother?”.

You can read about Bee’s LITE Fellowship here.

References mentioned:

Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays. University of Texas Press.

Bakhtin, M. M. (1986). Speech genres and other late essays. University of Texas Press.

Gee, P. (2008). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses (3rd ed.). Routledge.

Hulme, A., & Evans, M. (2025). Evaluating the impact of embedded academic language and literacies provision in a School of Education and School of Music. ESP Today, 13(2), 419–440. https://doi.fil.bg.ac.rs/pdf/journals/esptoday/2025-2/esptoday-2025-13-2-8.pdf

Leki, I. (2017). Undergraduates in a second language: Challenges and complexities of academic literacy development. Routledge. (Original work published 2007)

Maton, K., & Moore, R. (Eds.). (2010). Social realism, knowledge and the sociology of education: Coalitions of the mind. Continuum/Bloomsbury.

Tibbetts, N. A., & Chapman, T. (2023). A guide to in‑sessional English for academic purposes: Paradigms and practices. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003193715

Turner, J. (2011). Language in the Academy: Cultural Reflexivity and Intercultural Dynamics. Multilingual Matters & Channel View Publications. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.29308504

Wingate, U. (2015). Academic Literacy and Student Diversity: The Case for Inclusive Practice. Multilingual Matters & Channel View Publications. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.26931983

In the latest episode of LITE Bites, Alba del Pozo Garcia (LITE Fellow & Feedback Incubator Lead) joins Robert to discuss her pedagogical research on inclusive formative assessment, its practice-based implications, and the ways this has fed into her role as LITE Feedback Incubator Lead. Adding to the discussion is Izzy Harvey (Research Assistant at LITE), who is in the early stages of PhD research focusing on feedback in Higher Education.

You can learn about and join the Feedback Incubator here.

You can read about Alba's LITE Fellowship here.

A recording of Alba's SEC2026 presentation 'From assessment to feedback: shifting the focus' is available to view (University of Leeds staff only). You can access it via the SEC2026 Rewind here.

Manoj Ravi and Mohsen Besharat join Robert Averies for Part Two of their popular LITE Bites episode on their LITE Fellowship 'Assessment Flexibility to Embed Real-professional practice'.

Listen to Manoj and Mohsen discuss their findings from the second phase of their pedagogical research and its relevance to colleagues considering innovations to their authentic assessment and formative feedback policies and approaches.

To find out more about Manoj and Mohsen's work, read their paper on a 'holistic consideration of authentic assessments', published in the European Journal of Engineering Education. You can also read the proceedings of the workshop they delivered at SEFI 2025.

In this episode of LITE Bites, Hayley Bullard is joined by Clare Wright (Professor of Linguistics & Language Teaching), Alison Leslie (Lecturer in English for Academic Purposes) and student partner Sally Heier (Research and Innovation Service) who will be discussing their recently completed project titled Stepping Up, Standing Out: Supporting international taught postgraduates to make the most of their year in Leeds.

To find out more about their project, visit their LITE page which also has a link to their full snapshot of the project. Alison and Clare have also published work from their project in the Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal.

Episode topics/timings

1.16 Introductions of research team

3.49 - What inspired the project: collaboration and a need for change

9.25 Research design: changing approach and putting student co-creation first

15.56 Sally’s student experience of research recruitment and the importance of active student participation

19.50 Flipping the deficit narrative of international students

26.48 Using infographics to communicate findings and strategies for dissemination

31.51 Engaging hearts and minds in HE

40.03 Outputs of the project

47.01 Advice for people considering pedagogical research

52.55 Sally’s advice for engaging students in research and advice for students thinking about getting involved

In the second episode from LITE Graduate Interns Oliver Bingham (Ollie) and Yu-Hsuan Lin (Lynda), they dive deeper into seminar spaces.

Do students care where they learn? This podcast explores student and staff preferences for teaching rooms, and how these spaces can impact learning.

Learn more about the Student Education & Experience Programme and Ollie and Lynda's research on the LITE intranet site, where you can also review the education spaces playbook. External to the University of Leeds? Email [email protected] to find out more.

LITE Graduate Interns Oliver Bingham (Ollie) and Yu-Hsuan Lin (Lynda) undertook a study into the provision of seminar rooms as part of the Student Education & Experience Programme, an Estates development programme which ensure University spaces provide a welcoming and inclusive experience where all our communities can belong, learn, thrive and succeed. In this podcast, they share some of their findings.

Learn more about the programme and their research on the LITE intranet site, where you can also review the education spaces playbook. External to the University of Leeds? Email [email protected] to find out more.

In the latest episode of LITE Bites, Robert Averies and Hayley Bullard are joined by Jenny Brady (Inclusive Learning and Teaching Manager & LITE Incubator Lead for Inclusive Education and Belonging) and Mike Kerr (University of Leeds Alumni & former LITE Research Assistant) to reflect on their previous LITE research, 'Listening to disabled students for an inclusive curriculum'.

Jenny and Mike's work focused on gaining an understanding of disabled students' experiences at the University of Leeds and what can be learnt from listening to student perspectives.

To read about the Jenny and Mike's findings, follow this link: Listening to disabled students for an inclusive curriculum

To learn more about Inclusive teaching and learning at the University of Leeds, follow the links below:

Inclusivity and Accessibility

Education for Mental Health Toolkit

Guidance for staff on working with disabled students

2024 Access Insights Report

For listeners external to the University of Leeds:

Belonging at Leeds - Organisational Development and Professional Learning (OD&PL)

Inclusive Teaching at Leeds

Support for Disabled Students at Leeds