Students as Partners in Assessment (SaPiA)
Engaging students as partners in their learning and student experience is important as it gives them a sense of ownership and academic staff can benefit from their insight.
Student partnership is a broad area and can include student participation in university committees, module and programme development, feedback processes and more.
Do you want to partner with students in assessment?
There are lots of options for getting start with partnership, and lots of support the TEU can provide!
Take a look this slideshow to get a sense of what SaPiA is all about (DCU staff access only):
Slides: Engaging students in assessment partnership (2025)
Additionally, take some time to browse the framework in detail:
You might also want to watch this brief 1 minutes overview of the framework:
SaPiA Framework Overview Video
If you are a DCU lecturer and interested in getting started with assessment partnership, complete this form and we'll be in touch to support you (DCU staff access only):
Explore some of the resources on this page to learn more about SaPiA in practice, and its impact. Contact us if you would like guidance in getting partnership started with your students.
Contact: Rob Lowney
This two-page resource summarises the main findings of this project. It explores a variety of partnership possibilities in assessment and how academics and students can make partnership a success. Click to access the resource as a PDF file.
The literature underpinning this project is explored in our literature scoping review. This review was conducted in spring 2020 and the final publication was released in December 2020.
Click to access the document.
Students as Partners in Assessment: A Literature Scoping Review.pdf
Watch this short video, in which Rob Lowney and Kate Goodman, Vice-President for Academic Life at DCU Students' Union, discuss the student perspective on student partnership in assessment.
The TEU, in conjunction with NSTEP and DCU Students' Union, hosted an online seminar (supported by the National Forum) on 11 March 2021 to explore student partnership in assessment.
The event included:
1. Overview of student partnership
2. Overview of the literature of student partnership in assessment
3. Possibilities for student partnership in assessment
4. The student and staff perspective of utilising partnership approaches to assessment
A link to the seminar recording and all supporting material is available below.
SaPiA Seminar 11 March 2021 - Shared links
Lowney, R. (2024). Student partnership in assessment. Moodle Academy Webinar, Online.
Lowney, R. (2023). Student and staff experiences of practising partnership in assessment. EDEN DLE Conference, Dublin.
Lowney, R. (2023). DCU student partnership in assessment. Selkirk College Teaching & Learning Conference, Online.
Lowney, R. (2023). DCU student partnership in assessment. NStEP Network Meeting, Dublin.
Lowney, R. (2023). Practising student partnership in assessment. QQI Assessment Conference, Dublin.
Lowney, R. (2023). Using Moodle to support student partnership in assessment. MoodleMoot US, Online.
Lowney, R. (2022). From profiling and practising to progressing student partnership in assessment. National Student Engagement Network, Maynooth.
Lowney, R. (2022). Students as Partners in Assessment (SaPiA) Case Study. National Student Engagement Programme.
Lowney, R. (2022). Practising student partnership in assessment. Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) 10th Anniversary Conference, Dublin.
Lowney, R. (2022). Students as partners in assessment: the experiences of an Irish university. University of Hull Teaching and Learning Conference. Online.
Lowney, R. (2022). Partnership practices in assessment. Change Agents Network (CAN) Conference. Online.
Lowney, R., Ní Bheoláin, R., O'Riordan, F. (2022). Supporting Student Partnership in Assessment with Technology. ALT CPD Webinar, April.
Lowney, R. & O'Riordan, F. (2021). SaPiA: Principles and Practices. Assessment Institute. Online.
O'Riordan, F. (2021). Student as Partners in Assessment. Business Education SIG webinar: Students as Partners. Online.
Lowney, R. (2021). Approaches to student partnership in assessment. RAISE Special Interest Group for Partnership. Online.
O'Riordan, F. & Lowney, R. (2021). SaPiA: The experiences of students and staff at Dublin City University. [Plenary Lecture/Keynote], National Congress of Pedagogical Practices in Higher Education (CNaPPES), [Online].
Lowney, R. (2021) Making student partnership in assessment work. [Oral Presentation], AdvanceHE Island of Ireland Symposium: Partnership for Student Success: Developing graduates for the 21st century, Online.
O'Riordan, F., & Lowney, R. (2021). What is the Future for the Assessment of Learning Through Final Examinations. Invited presentation and panel contributors. National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. 28th May.
Lowney, R. & O'Riordan, F. (2021). Facilitating Student Partnerships in Assessment with Technology. Presentation at EdTech 2021: Shaping Education Post Pandemic: Pockets of Innovation for Building Back Better. 27th-28th May.
Lowney, R. (2021) Using Moodle to support student partnership in assessment. [Oral Presentation], MoodleMoot Ireland and UK, Online.
Lowney, R., & O'Riordan, F. (2021) Students as Partners in Assessment. National Seminar Series. Dublin, Ireland.
Lowney, R., Ní Bheoláin, R., & O’Riordan, F. (2021). Students as Partners in Assessment (SaPiA). Invited presentation [online], IUADigEd, Dublin, 8th February.
Background
Arising from the TEU's existing focus on assessment design and academic integrity, in 2020 we undertook some work in the area of student partnership in assessment. This was funded in part by quality improvement (QUID) funding from the DCU Quality Promotion Office. It drew on existing work from the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning and the National Student Engagement Programme.