Getting the blend right: listening to the wide student voice to enhance the online learning experience

Abstract

The Teaching Excellence Framework has brought the retention of year one students and their initial experience of higher education (HE) into sharp focus. This project provides the opportunity for students to act as change agents, actively involved in the design of their programmes and therefore empowered to enhance their experience, in the area of online learning. Despite its importance to the overall student experience, where it is part of a blended-learning course design, online learning is not always addressed in student feedback. This case study focuses on year one students in three accounting and finance-related programmes and sets out how we are exploring students’ experience of using online learning platforms in the areas of mathematics, writing and accounting. However, the project also highlights challenges associated with asking students to evaluate in this way aspects of their HE experience.