SOOT Scheme and Symposium Speaker — Nottingham Trent University
What it was
SOOT (Students Observing Teaching) is a scheme where students observe teaching sessions and give feedback directly to academic staff. I joined the programme to get a clearer picture of how higher education teaching works from the learner’s side, something I hadn’t experienced before, coming from a K–12 background.
What I did
I observed lectures and seminars and provided structured feedback to academic staff. My observations focused on:
- How sessions were structured and paced
- Clarity of instructions and task transitions
- Questioning techniques used by staff
- Moments where students appeared engaged or disengaged
Following this, I was invited to speak as a student panellist at a higher education symposium hosted by Nottingham Trent University, focused on student–staff partnerships.
What I spoke about
Rather than speaking purely as a student voice, I focused on a specific question: when does student involvement actually shape outcomes, and when does it stay symbolic?
Drawing on my SOOT experience, I reflected on cases where student feedback led to real change, and cases where it was heard but didn’t go much further. My argument was that partnership is a design problem as much as a participation one. The questions I raised with the panel were around when students are brought in, how their feedback is used, and whether they are shaping ideas from the start or responding after decisions have already been made.
What I took from it
These experiences sharpened how I think about feedback, student involvement, and learning design, particularly around making feedback processes genuinely useful rather than just consultative.
