Students as Partners: The experience of students leading ‘Shadow Module’ collaborative study communities

Peer-supported learning has the potential to enhance student engagement and improve learning outcomes Scott et al. 2014a; Rutherford et al. 2015). We have introduced a structure to support collaborative learning outside of the classroom which we term ‘Shadow Modules’ (Scott et al. 2014b). These student-led, studentfocused collaborative learning groups parallel taught modules and encourage students to work together to discuss the content, support each other’s learning, and develop or find resources that can support their learning and that of their peers. Key to the functioning of the Shadow Module is the ‘Shadow Module Leader’ (SML), the student volunteer who organises and runs the collaborative sessions, or moderates the online community, and who also liaises with the academic staff leading the module. This project aimed to investigate the lived experience of the SMLs, and to investigate their motivations, the affordances and barriers to their activities, and their perceptions of their impact.