Keynote 1: Dr Catherine Bovill, Senior Lecturer in Student Engagement at the Institute for Academic Development (IAD), University of Edinburgh. 

“Shaping the future curriculum with students”

In this keynote I will propose that universities are ‘better’ when they work together with students. I will argue that this is particularly the case when considering the curriculum – a central focus for learning and a powerful process for engaging students in knowing, acting and being. Starting with defining the curriculum, and also what it means to work together with students, I will present examples of student-staff co-creation of the curriculum and co-creation in the curriculum from the University of Edinburgh and further afield. I will also present evidence of the beneficial outcomes of co-created curriculum and associated practices such as relational teaching. These examples and benefits demonstrate a sense of what is possible in different disciplines and contexts, but they also pose a challenge to existing mind-sets and practices. We are at an exciting stage in the history of the University of Edinburgh, where we have the potential to redefine the ways we shape the curriculum with students, not just for the next few years, but for many years into the future. Let us consider together, how we take the next steps forward in this journey.