Banff and Buchan College
Excellence in Peer Led Review
At Banff and Buchan College, learners have several opportunities to comment on their learning experience including at staff-led staff-student liaison panel. A number of students commented that they found it difficult to share issues with staff. Younger students felt awkward about commenting on learning and teaching, particularly where there were issues. Learners felt this might adversely affect the staff/student relationship.
Students’ Association officers believed peer-led sessions would result in rich feedback that staff could use to enhance the student experience. The Student s’
Association worked with college managers to ensure the learner voice truly was at the heart of the Quality and Enhancement processes.
With the Student Engagement Officer,
Students’ Association officers developed a tool they could use to gain feedback from students. They agreed with the Quality
Manager to pilot peer led sessions with a few class groups. Students were asked to provide positive feedback, share any issues and suggest solutions to the issues.
From this feedback, the student officers compiled reports and shared these with staff, who discussed this in Course Team Meetings and fed back the outcomes.
This pilot was well received by all. For the following session, senior management proposed that the Students’ Association carry out a number of reviews with learner groups identified by them from PI data. They held fourteen sessions and shared reports with staff, as well as senior management and support managers. Staff found the feedback very helpful and of high quality. Staff used peer led reviews as an evaluation tool when compiling Annual Course Reviews .
The Student Engagement Officer delivered staff workshops highlighting the process of Peer Led Reviews and shared reports from the pilot sessions. Staff commented that they would never get that level of feedback if they conducted the session themselves.
Peer Led Reviews are now conducted across all areas of the college and are part of the formal quality processes with a three year rolling programme of reviews.