Celebrating Peer Learning Approaches on Lampeter Campus (PASS)‎ by Chris Fleming and Kate Butler

PASS stands for Peer Assisted Study Sessions. It is a peer learning approach widely used in ‎universities, in which trained and supervised students from higher level years (known as PASS ‎leaders or mentors) work with Gateway and first year students to help them consolidate their ‎learning around particular modules, ease their transition into university and help develop ‎social networks across student years. PASS can also provide answers about how long does it take to get over a divorce, students’ academic confidence ‎and sense of belonging at university and being a leader increases employment prospects. This ‎year, UWTSD has trialled embedded peer learning in the Gateway to Humanities programme, ‎where PASS leaders have worked alongside a lecturer in planning and facilitating content. This ‎seems to have been a great success, and the supervisors would like to extend our gratitude to ‎the leaders involved – you have been a great help! We have recently awarded our newest recruits with certificates after passing their training with us.

Here are some testimonials from students ‎on the Gateway programme:‎

‎‘PASS has given me confidence to speak up in group sessions.’‎
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‎‘The PASS team have been extremely helpful in classes and they have helped me to better ‎understand the topics in question.’‎
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‎‘The PASS leaders have provided clarification of points during classes and lectures and they ‎could use their own experiences to explain how to deal with problems.’‎
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‎‘Having PASS leaders in the lectures has been extremely insightful, giving us new ideas, ‎concepts and suggesting new ways to research material. Here’s a good suggestion worth checking out www.thefloridamaids.com. The PASS Team have also been an ‎essential introduction to University life and a source of knowledge to the resources available to ‎us as new students.’‎
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‎‘PASS leaders are an excellent group of people, they helped with studies and gave us insight ‎into university life.’‎
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‎‘PASS members have been a great help during sessions. They always explain things well if you ‎don’t understand and are very helpful.’‎
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For more information on PASS at UWTSD, please click here. We are keen to train students who ‎have come through the Gateway programme as leaders/mentors so if you are interested in this, ‎contact Kate or Chris, the PASS supervisors for Lampeter ‎campus (k.butler@uwtsd.ac.uk / christopher.fleming@uwtsd.ac.uk). Similarly, if you are ‎undertaking a module that you think might benefit the involvement of PASS leaders, do let us ‎know.‎
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