Valuing Student Voices When Exploring, Creating and Planning for the Future of Australian Higher Education

The principle aim of this project was to explore, create and present for discussion plausible alternative future scenarios for learning and teaching in Australian universities. The need to conduct futuring exercises exploring Australian higher education is in response to the rapidly changing higher education milieu, and the desire of universities to react appropriately to meet students' needs while still being able to support academic staff and plan university directions. To determine what students may endorse amongst the new learning and teaching choices, it was decided to consult a primary stakeholder - the students. As has been found elsewhere (e.g., Romenska et al., 2011), students struggle to construct a vision of the future. To help students explore their preferred learning future, creative events were developed to assist students to consider and create potential learning options. Models of how to conduct such events form an important deliverable of the project. The events were supplemented with a comprehensive quantitative survey to gain the views of a diverse range of students. This mixed methodology assisted in capturing student signals regarding their preferences for their learning future.