Students as co-learners - reviewing a decade of the Geography Research Assistantship

Increasing attention is focusing on the creation of academic spaces in which students can engage with research and inquiry. This paper reports on the Geography Research Assistantship (GRA) module developed and implemented in Geography at Staffordshire University and reviews its contribution to student learning over the last decade. The GRA offers final year undergraduate students the opportunity to work as research assistants to members of staff and external collaborators. The experiences of students, staff and external collaborators involved in a range of research assistantships over the last ten years are reviewed and the main benefits, challenges and impacts of the initiative are analysed. The GRA engenders co-learning environments, characterised by engagement in the iterative practices of research and inquiry and the development of confidence, internal authority and self-authorship. Some students experience unease in adjusting to the liminal learning spaces inherent in the GRA and there are tensions in the exclusivity of the initiative. Evidence underscores the value of cultivating co-learning relationships and environments for mutual benefit and we encourage others to identify opportunities for adopting similar initiatives.