2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The Student Pedagogy Advocates (SPA) program at Purdue University offers an innovative approach to enhancing teaching and learning through student-faculty partnerships. Undergraduate students (referred to as SPAs) in this program develop partnerships with individual professors to improve pedagogy and strengthen communication between students and instructors in their courses. SPAs attend classes and meet weekly with instructors to provide observations and feedback on teaching methods and classroom dynamics. As observers not enrolled in the class and without background knowledge of the subject matter, SPAs are uniquely positioned to freely observe the classroom environment, including the instructors’ actions and teaching approaches, and how these actions influence the classroom environment and student engagement.
Because they are non-experts in formal pedagogy, SPAs bring unique strengths to student-faculty partnerships by offering insights from their student experiences. Their input enhances teaching methods by adding a valuable student-centered viewpoint detached from biases and personal stakes that students enrolled in a specific course may have. By drawing on their experiences, SPAs bridge the gap between teaching methods and student engagement, offering a fresh perspective that resonates with students in the courses they observe.
Through ongoing partnerships across the semester, SPAs help instructors develop, refine, and realize their goals for their classroom environment by incorporating student feedback and lived experiences. This includes varied observation methods such as classroom mapping, observation notes and reflections, mid-semester feedback surveys, focus groups, and less structured discussions with students in the class. SPAs serve as thought partners in responding to and enhancing the class learning environment.
The SPA program draws significantly on Self-Determination Theory and the three basic psychological needs—autonomy, relatedness, and developing competence—encouraging students to influence their learning environment actively. Moreover, it embodies Student-Centered Learning practices by involving students in decisions that shape their educational experience. The SPA program represents one of the first attempts to bring this model from its roots in small liberal arts schools to a large STEM-centric university, demonstrating its adaptability and feasibility across institution types and disciplines. During the poster session, we will present the program's structure, objectives, and outcomes, including examples of observations and short reflections from student and faculty participants, exploring its potential for broader implementation in various academic settings.