Engaging Students in Knowledge Exchange

This University of Plymouth project explored the impact of student involvement in knowledge exchange

Female student holding books on a university campus

Engaging Students in Knowledge Exchange

This University of Plymouth project explored the impact of student involvement in knowledge exchange

Access to Knowledge Exchange is one of the biggest unique benefits of being a student at University of Plymouth.

Knowledge Exchange happens every time students connect with businesses and communities to apply the skills being developed on their course, out in the real world. It’s a term we use to describe many activities including, internships, short-term live briefs, student enterprise and on-going projects in collaboration with partner organisations.

Resources for staff

As part of the Engaging Students in Knowledge Exchange project, we have developed a collection of staff resources, comprising off-the-shelf workshops and student-facing materials that build on the student resources available within the Knowledge Exchange Toolbox.

Discover the available resources

Four people with colourful quote marks above them

Knowledge Exchange Toolbox

Created with students, for students, these online courses provide key skills training to thrive in any knowledge exchange or professional opportunity.

Previous Next

Activities supported by this project

The Plymouth Law Clinic

Inspiring Futures

Woman explaining the plan to office team

Innovative Placements Scheme

Key priorities for the Engaging Students in Knowledge Exchange project:

Evidence how KE activities benefit students and graduates directly – there will be a diverse range of KE activities available to students of varying type, scale, duration and intensity which will be monitored and evaluated to identify elements which maximise the benefit to students.
To identify effective practice in KE, ensuring knowledge is available to the wider higher education sector – the University will share the best practice developed through this project and the evaluation findings with other higher education institutions, students, businesses and policy makers through a conference, reports and an online Student Knowledge Exchange Toolkit.
To address issues of equality of opportunity and diversity and inclusion within existing KE activities that create barriers to students from all backgrounds – through this project there will be a significant focus on identifying and removing potential barriers, ensuring that KE opportunities are inclusive and accessible to all students.

The Engaging Students in Knowledge Exchange project is building on existing and highly successful KE projects within The University of Plymouth, with a drive toward understanding and maximising the benefit to students engaging in KE activity with business and community partners.

The University of Plymouth is one of only twenty Higher Education providers which have been awarded funding from the Office for Students and Research England’s funding competition, designed to explore the impact of student involvement in knowledge exchange.

Community Impact of Student Knowledge Exchange

Knowledge Exchange delivered by students has a direct and powerful impact on the businesses and organisations that they work with. The skills, knowledge and experience within their subject area that students bring can help businesses to innovate and grow (for example, through the development of new products and services), increase their productivity and resilience.

This longitudinal evaluation will assess the impact on a variety of stakeholders and find ways for us to expand the most significant activity.

By developing resources to support students to engage with Knowledge Exchange we are creating an environment in which knowledge exchange can thrive, students (and the academics working with them) will be equipped with the expertise and confidence needed to ensure every opportunity to exchange knowledge outside of the University, as well as between disciplines, is maximised.

This project enables students to take an active role in the exchange of knowledge, drawing on their subject specialism and lived experience. It helps students recognise the value of their contribution and understand their capacity for positive change by instilling compassion, care and a sense of social justice alongside business acumen. In the process, they are benefitting those they work with, while investigating the notion of meaningful work and contributing to the wider creative and cultural sector’s economic activity.

Report highlights

Programme evaluation highlights

To track progress, uncover impact, and ensure valuable learning, SERIO, a social research unit at the University of Plymouth, conducted an independent evaluation of the ESiKE programme, working with the delivery team to gather insights, address enhancements, and summarise best practices in a final report. Read a summary of some of the highlights.

Student Knowledge Exchange Activity

As part of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Businesses’ commitment to experiential learning, and in recognition of the importance of work experience to employment success, the university already works with students in a number of ways to deliver KE. These include, work placements, studentships and fellowships, Start-up Weekends and project live briefs. This project seeks to connect, consolidate and expand existing initiatives and share good practice between them.
There are a multitude of benefits for the students involved in these activities, including: increased confidence, exposure to professional working culture, improved time management, team working, expanded knowledge of career options, networking skills and increased motivation. This project aims to identify how to maximise and build upon these benefits to share with other Higher Education institutions and create more opportunities for students.