Student as Producer is funded by the Higher Education Academy under the National Teacher Fellows Project programme. Progress reports are provided every 6 months, and are now available from the Documents page
Author: Andy Hagyard
A student perspective
Blog post by Lucy Bingham – BA (Hons) Public Relations & Journalism
‘Student as Producer, what is that?’, I hear you say. Well, to me Student as Producer is about changing the way in which we’re taught at university. It’s about us, the students, collaborating with our lecturers to determine the best ways in which we learn, making the course more productive and ‘doing’ rather than just ‘listening’.
By 2012 the nationally recognised scheme will become compulsory, so now is the time for students and lecturers to have their input into what changes are made to the style in which modules currently run. It seems like common sense to run more workshops and become pro-active, rather than listening to that boring lecture drone on at 9am… At the end of the day, in a few years time we’ll all be out in the workplace where we’re forced to be productive rather than passive.
Student as Producer means that it is now possible to explore different methods of teaching as opposed to the lecture and seminar modules that most of us have now. It’s not about changing the content of what we are being taught, just restructuring the way in which the information is delivered to us. I definitely think everyone learns better by doing rather than watching or just listening and this can already be seen in student PR agency; Cygnet PR. This is run by lecturer Jane Crofts and consists of a range of students, me being one of them! We’re given briefs by outside organisations and basically left to get on with them, I’ve already learnt so much from this small bit of independence and it’s helped with my course; Journalism and Public Relations. Surely it’s better to get experience in your field of interest now rather than when you’re trying to get a job?
I think if more lectures became workshops where we could ‘try’ our subjects from a realistic perspective, more students would be willing to get out of bed for that 9am start! By becoming more hands-on and productive, people will interact with others, turning group work into team work – something else to put on your CV!
The ‘I’m a Producer!’ day is the perfect opportunity for an introduction to Student as Producer for those who are not already engaged in the scheme. More people will be able to see the benefits of becoming pro-active and hopefully see how this new direction of teaching and learning will benefit us all.
Unleash your inner creative
Real life experience. For you.
Student as Producer is picking up speed as it becomes the focus of national press and international conferences, but the key to our success is continued and improved engagement with the students who we want to be producers.
In what is set to be one of the most significant student-led projects ever seen at Lincoln, we are looking to put together a media team who will be responsible for planning, implementing and reviewing a programme of publicity and engagement programmes that will inspire students to crave discovery-based-learning.
Our methods of communication need to be rich and creative so we are looking for students of all levels from all disciplines with skills in the following areas:
- Social Media
- Public Relations
- Copywriting
- Broadcasting
- Advertising
- Marketing
- Media Production
- Web Development
- Photographers
- On-campus promo
- Face-to-face networking
- Lecture shout-out speakers
- Campaign planning & strategy
This work is real, is serious and is meaningful. You will have tangible outputs to use in your portfolio and on your CV when applying for work in a tough jobs market for graduates.
If you’re interested in finding out more, you can:
Come along to our info & brainstorming session: Tuesday 1st November, 5.00pm – 6.00pm, in MB1019 (Main Building).
Or if you can’t make it, email Dan Derricott ( 3rd year student) : dderricott@lincoln.ac.uk
Student as Producer in Practice
Richard Keegan in the Department of Sport, Coaching and Exercise Science reflects on a 6-week trial aimed at producing scientist-practitioners in sport coaching. He describes how a change in teaching practice to incorporate the principles of Student as Producer has significantly enhanced the engagement of students on one particular module, and can provide a more stimulating and enjoyable experience for staff and students alike.
Gathering Momentum
Interest and awareness in Student as Producer is growing across the University following the highly successful launch event. Mike Neary and Andy Hagyard have been touring the campuses talking to colleagues in both academic departments and professional support. So far we’ve been invited to meetings with ICT, Enterprise, Marketing, Programme Leaders in Art & Design, as well as Teaching & Learning Committees in HLSS and Business and Law: many more meetings are planned for the coming weeks. We’re also busily recruiting students to act as Student as Producer ambassadors.
The key message is that this is an institution-wide initiative that will impact on every aspect of university life, not just the taught curriculum. While there are plenty of questions to be answered, there is also a growing sense of excitement surrounding the opportunities that Student as Producer can provide.