Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS)
What is PASS?
PASS derives from the American Model, 'Supplemental Instruction' (SI) which was devised in 1973 at the University of Missourri, Kansas City by Dr Deana Martin. In the early 1990s the SI model was restructured for use in the UK and renamed PASS which stands for Peer Assisted Study Sessions.
t is peer assisted in that higher year students facilitate lower year students in supportive groups to help develop study and learning strategies, enabling deeper conceptual understanding of fundamental academic principles and increasing confidence. The PASS sessions do not replace lectures in any way but instead provide additional opportunity for all students to interact with their peers within the context of their discipline.
Sessions are voluntary though highly recommended and regularly timetabled enabling students to informally review material from historically difficult modules in a non threatening group situation. It is not a remedial program for 'struggling' students, but instead a program for all students who want to improve their academic performance.
PASS @ Ulster: A Cross Faculty Initiative
This year, the School of Psychology (Dr Melanie Giles) together with the Schools of Law (Mrs Amanda Zacharopoulou) and Computing and Intelligent Systems (Dr Joan Condell) are piloting the PASS initiative. Although peer support was in place in these groups last year, the current academic year is the first in which trained supervisors, trained PASS leaders and support from the National Centre in Manchester will have been in place.
When implemented in its entirety the PASS scheme has been shown to improve academic performance and achievement and reduce student dropout rate. However there are many other benefits to PASS. The school of Psychology for example is utilizing the technique to engender enthusiasm for the discipline, provide an additional mechanism for communication and feedback between teaching staff and students, increase group cohesiveness, enhance employability and more generally enhance the quality of the student experience. The PASS scheme is franchised to the University of Manchester on whom we depend for our supervisor training. Marcia Ody from Manchester is a University of Ulster Honorary Fellow and has worked with staff at the university to promote the scheme and implement pilot schemes. The Centre for Higher Education Practice has established a working party to co-ordinate activity in this area.
Contact Us
If you would like any more information about PASS or what we are doing here at Ulster please don't hesitate to contact us:
Dr Melanie Giles - Staff Coordinator for Psychology (ml.giles@ulster.ac.uk)
Dr Joan Condell - Staff Coordinator for Computing and Intelligent Systems (j.condell@ulster.ac.uk)
Mrs Amanda Zacharopoulou - Staff Coordinator for Law (A.Zacharopoulou@ulster.ac.uk)
Laura O'Neill - Generic PASS Placement Officer (loneill-l13@email.ulster.ac.uk)