What really matters in higher education? Is it state-of-the-art facilities? Is it the curriculum or the timetable? It’s the people! What stayed with me from this conference was a message that kept coming up in many talks: the human factor, the fact that authentic engagement needs human attention and grows through partnership and trust.

It’s the first time I’ve been to the RAISE annual conference in person, and it really is at the best time of year: just at the beginning of the academic year, when we are close to welcoming students and reflecting on our upcoming priorities.

The theme of the conference was Authentic Student Engagement in Contemporary Higher Education, and I enjoyed a lot of presentations on how universities can remain human-centred while responding to challenges arising from artificial intelligence (AI), widening participation gaps, employability, and changing student expectations!

Keynote

The keynote from Dr Alicja Syska challenged the audience to think deeply about student engagement. Instead of asking how we can make students participate more, she asked how we can bring students with us as we redesign higher education. She drew on her own background and brought in ideas of authenticity, attention, and connecting with students. She argued that when things we take for granted start to collapse, what matters most is how people make sense of the change and who they choose to become within it.

Change is almost always happening in higher education! The sector is currently navigating the choppy waters of generative AI (GenAI). As educators, we often focus on delivering content, meeting deadlines, and implementing new systems, but do we stop often enough to ask whether students first need to understand why their learning matters? Every student is different, but I think curiosity and purpose are central to most students’ journeys.

One statement from the keynote particularly stayed with me: the classroom may be one of the few remaining spaces where people can safely be wrong and honestly explore ideas. A great reminder for the start of the academic year!

Partnership

Student voice was a key theme at the conference. There were presentations on student-staff partnerships, student voice forums, and transition support, and they all concluded that surveys and committee meetings cannot really capture the feeling of meaningful engagement. Students wanted to see that their voices and contributions lead to action. If a decision is about them, students want to be involved in it! This was really evident in the student panel at the end, which discussed partnership rather than consultation. Transparency was also important, as was the act of closing the loop, either by taking positive action or by explaining why something cannot be done.

What I also found striking, but perhaps should not have been surprising, was that engagement looks different for different students. Commuter students, part-time learners, students with caring responsibilities, and those balancing paid work may engage in ways that are less visible, but no less meaningful. This left me thinking: how often do we design initiatives for students, rather than with them?

Co-creation in decolonisation projects

This brings me to the work my students and I presented at the conference: decolonising biosciences collaboratively, with a heavy emphasis on co-creation. I really do believe this is the best way to get students together with us on this journey. Two of my students, Mohamad Jomaa and Faiza Ahmad, write:

Mohamad:

“… I had the opportunity to co-present work I had been involved in during my undergraduate degree on decolonisation in biosciences. My attendance was supported by the NTU Bioscience Scholarship Research Team, … Attending as a student was particularly valuable, as it allowed me to share a project that had shaped part of my undergraduate experience while also hearing how students and staff from other institutions are approaching student engagement in different contexts.

Our presentation focused on the co-creation of a decolonised biosciences curriculum. During my undergraduate degree, I had been involved in exploring students’ perceptions of decolonisation and considering how representation, belonging and inclusivity can influence the way students experience their curriculum. Returning to this work at RAISE gave me the chance to reflect on it from a different position and think more about the value of students being actively involved in discussions around curriculum development….

What I found particularly interesting was the discussion around the amount of information students receive when they first enter university. Providing more resources does not always mean that students feel more supported…. This also made me think about how easily international students can sometimes be considered as one group, when in reality students arrive with very different educational backgrounds, expectations and experiences.”

Faiza said:

“Presenting our NTU-funded, co-created project at RAISE was an interesting experience, especially because many of the people attending work on the other side of higher education, which students do not always get to see.

Across the different talks, there were a lot of recurring themes around engagement, decolonisation, inclusivity and, of course, generative AI. There seemed to be a shared understanding of where work needs to be done, but I did find myself wondering whether there is a wider movement that brings these different conversations together….

… One of the most memorable parts was seeing how excited other attendees were to have international students themselves taking part in a workshop about supporting international PGRs. There is often a gap between what universities think students need and what students actually experience, … It was a unique opportunity to take a peek behind the scenes at the work, conversations and care that go into trying to understand students and drive changes that benefit them.”

Our own practice

The conference and discussions with students have already prompted me to rethink aspects of my own practice.

I want to put people before processes: to invest more time in understanding students’ motivations and helping them connect learning activities with their personal and professional aspirations.

I also want to work with students, not just for them: to create more opportunities for genuine co-creation, where students contribute to shaping learning experiences rather than only responding to them.

I want to embrace challenges as part of a growth mindset: meaningful learning happens when students are stretched, and assessments should help develop confidence, agency, and real-world capability.

Perhaps most importantly, I want to continue asking a simple question raised throughout the conference: Who is not in the room, and how can we ensure their voice is heard?

Mohamad Jomaa and Faiza Ahmad are MRes students at Nottingham Trent University.