Co-Created Final Year Module: Students’ Outcomes

Abstract

Events and Esports management students design and deliver an event, from concept to execution, in their final semester 40-credit module. This module has been delivered for over 15 years and has raised over £350,000 for local charities such as Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Roundabout and St. Luke’s. Alongside this very exciting – but also time and energy rich – module, students complete a 20-credit module, Hot Topics in Events, Festivals and Esports.

In this session we will discuss how we redesigned and delivered the module with students as partners, beginning with the students researching the variety of Hot Topics within the industry and submitting a list of choices for sessions in the first week. The redesign maps with the Student Success Strategy by providing inclusive, student-centred, research-enriched learning that promotes curiosity, critical thinking and career readiness. Aligning with the Sheffield Hallam University LTA Framework (Giove et al., 2022) principles of co‑created teaching (T3) and applied, real‑world learning (L4) the study schedule was created from over 300 suggestions from the students.

Every week, following a lecture on the theoretical underpinnings of the week’s Hot Topic, students engaged in research and discussed their findings in a LinkedIn post. The partnership between lecturers and students supported the topics discussed being current and of great interest to the students. The students completed every week with an applied and tangible output, enhancing their visibility to industry, expanding their network and increase opportunities for future projects. This authentic, outward‑facing assessment activity, LTA principle (A5), supports applied knowledge creation and embeds professionalism in the module.