Our quest for success: Using a multidisciplinary students-as-partners model to develop an innovative online learning game

Abstract

In their review of the students-as-partners literature, Mercer-Mapstone et al. (2017) found that only 5-6% of published research articles on student-partnership models focused on multidisciplinary partnerships. This case study, authored by five undergraduate students and two academics, sought to examine the utility of using a multidisciplinary students-as-partners approach to advance the development of an online learning game focused on food insecurity. The multidisciplinary nature of the partnership facilitated perceptions of an equitable partnership, contributed to innovative design ideas, and conferred several benefits to the collaborators beyond those traditionally seen in the students-as-partners literature (Mercer-Mapstone et al., 2017). However, the multidisciplinary nature of the partnership also posed unique mentoring and coordination challenges that should be considered when adopting a multidisciplinary approach to teaching innovation.

A multidisciplinary STEM and liberal arts students-as-partners project promoted the development of employability skills and embodied partnership values

“…Eminent scholars have called for more research to better understand cross-disciplinary SaP initiatives (e.g., Mercer-Mapstone et al, 2017). Few studies have explored student perceptions of participating in STEM multidisciplinary SaP projects (Bourguet et al, 2020;Burling et al, 2020;Giles et al, 2004;White et al, 2015;Woolmer et al, 2016). Some STEM multidisciplinary SaP projects described in the literature were based on partnerships between different STEM disciplines, such as materials science and engineering, and multimedia engineering (Bourguet et al, 2020), and physics and astronomy, geographical and earth sciences, and chemistry (Woolmer et al, 2016).…”

“…Some STEM multidisciplinary SaP projects described in the literature were based on partnerships between different STEM disciplines, such as materials science and engineering, and multimedia engineering (Bourguet et al, 2020), and physics and astronomy, geographical and earth sciences, and chemistry (Woolmer et al, 2016). Other studies had partners from both STEM and liberal arts (Burling et al, 2020;White et al, 2015) and STEM and medicine (Giles et al, 2004). The expertise of the STEM partners in the projects incorporating STEM and liberal arts disciplines were varied, comprising nutrition and psychology (Burling et al, 2020), environmental science, biology, agriculture and systems engineering (White et al, 2015), and anatomy (Giles et al, 2004).…”

“…The expertise of the STEM partners in the projects incorporating STEM and liberal arts disciplines were varied, comprising nutrition and psychology (Burling et al, 2020), environmental science, biology, agriculture and systems engineering (White et al, 2015), and anatomy (Giles et al, 2004). The products of the multidisciplinary projects were all educationally focused and include an online learning game on food insecurity (Burling et al, 2020), virtual reality and augmented reality simulations to teach materials science (Bourguet et al, 2020), a biodiversity recording app for teaching and research in environmental studies (White et al, 2015), design and evaluation of an online anatomy module for medical students (Giles et al, 2004), and a lesson plan to teach science skills to undergraduate students (Woolmer et al, 2016). In some cases, student partners were paid to work on the project (Burling et al, 2020;Woolmer et al, 2016), and in other projects, students completed the work as part of their course work (Bourguet et al, 2020;Giles et al, 2004).…”

“…The products of the multidisciplinary projects were all educationally focused and include an online learning game on food insecurity (Burling et al, 2020), virtual reality and augmented reality simulations to teach materials science (Bourguet et al, 2020), a biodiversity recording app for teaching and research in environmental studies (White et al, 2015), design and evaluation of an online anatomy module for medical students (Giles et al, 2004), and a lesson plan to teach science skills to undergraduate students (Woolmer et al, 2016). In some cases, student partners were paid to work on the project (Burling et al, 2020;Woolmer et al, 2016), and in other projects, students completed the work as part of their course work (Bourguet et al, 2020;Giles et al, 2004). Students perceived that they had developed professionally (Burling et al, 2020) and acquired transferable skills important for the workplace (Bourguet et al, 2020;Giles et al, 2004;White et al, 2015).…”

“…In some cases, student partners were paid to work on the project (Burling et al, 2020;Woolmer et al, 2016), and in other projects, students completed the work as part of their course work (Bourguet et al, 2020;Giles et al, 2004). Students perceived that they had developed professionally (Burling et al, 2020) and acquired transferable skills important for the workplace (Bourguet et al, 2020;Giles et al, 2004;White et al, 2015). None of the aforementioned studies, however, have explored student partner perceptions of the degree to which the underpinning SaP values (Healey et al, 2014) were present in the partnership.…”