LIFE PAL: Peer-Assisted Learning in the School of Life Sciences Eman Hasan, Yuanjun Gu, Sophie Atkinson, Pete Alston* (and others) University Learning and Teaching Conference (June 2016)

Overview  What is PAL?  Recruitment, selection and training  Why we chose to be PAL leaders?  Our experiences  Student Data & Feedback  Challenges Faced  What next?

 PAL is a student-to-student support scheme, that is overseen by few members of staff and facilitated by higher year students who are known as PAL leaders.  PAL aims to regularly provide newer undergraduates a highly informal, non-threatening environment, that can provide help or guidance in their personal development and academic understanding in a variety of subject areas  Examples of adoption in many disciplines (cf. Sedghi, 2013; Duah, Croft, & Inglis, 2014; El Tantawi et al., 2014; Shally & Yadav, 2015)  Where is PAL available?  LIFE109 Quantitative Skills  LIFE104 Biological Chemistry I want to form a study group of my own, but I don’t know anyone in my class…! I don’t understand this thing at all, but I’m always too scared to ask the teachers... What is Peer Assisted Learning (PAL)?

We want you for PAL!!! Recruitment, Selection & Training  How we were recruited:  Lecture shout-out by teachers and Chemistry PAL leaders  Sending out application forms  How we were selected: 1. Math Ability 2. Languages Skills 3. Academic Advisor Input  How we were trained last year: 4-hour Interactive Training with hand books  Had to work in pairs to explain image  Learnt how to deal with different learning styles of students  What makes a good PAL leader, etc.

Why we chose to be PAL leaders?  Build CV  Gain transferable skills:  Communication  Self-discipline  Time-management  Revision of previous modules  To be able to help others  New experiences  Meeting new people & making new friends

 Extremely Rewarding  Seeing students making progresses  Seeing “regulars” progress  Seeing our own made question being on the question sheet  Building relationships with students from the year below and above  Bringing School of Life Sciences together!  Not we only have built up a relationship with students, but also with other PAL leaders!  Impact of previous learning experiences  Increase the awareness of differences between different people  Starting to think in other’s perspective (Student and teacher) Our experiences

LIFE109 QS – Questionnaire December 2015; n=255 (63.8%)

 Is there any association between pre entry grades, confidence & LIFEPAL?

LIFE109 QS – Questionnaire December 2015; n=255 (63.8%)  Is there any association between pre entry grades, confidence & LIFEPAL? Confident/reasonably confident? Don’t need them! 40% who were “not confident” cited the same reason Why do these student feel like they do not need/want the additional support?

Student Feedback “Being taught by other students is not intimidating.” “Not as scary as a teacher – there is less pressure to get things right.” “Optional – only people who need help can go.” “Helped me to understand where I was going wrong, especially with SI Units. Calm and relaxed – not stressful.” “It helped me to understand concepts better than some of the lectures.” “Chance to talk one to one[,] especially when I don’t have specific questions.”

Student Feedback “They have all clashed with days that I have to collect my children from school.” “Didn’t feel they were needed as things we explained clearly in the workshops.” “I don’t like the pressure of not knowing things [and] instead of assuming I’m one of those that struggles alone rather than assuming I’ll know the answer [at] PAL. Please just explain like I’m a kid.” “Busy with other commitments such as sport and other tests/ embarrassed to ask for help as I find it frustrating when I can’t do it.” “Our timetable is already very busy [and] I find it hard balancing uni [and] my job already, so can’t always make it to additional sessions.”

Challenges Faced  Room Availability  Inconsistency to find a good room for teamwork  Free time slot for all Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 students  Highlighted by both PAL leaders and students  PAL leader attendance and engagement  Waned contribution after the first session  Some signed up to attend, but did not turn up - why?  Difficult to balance with workload  Full study load  Impending assignment deadlines!  Subject content also presented difficulties

What next?  Ensuring that PAL sessions are in the timetable for all students  Finding rooms that are suitable  Online Recruitment for new PAL leaders  PAL Leaders moving to PAL ‘Co-ordinators’  Extending the learning  e.g. creating a Facebook page/group for students  Increase the awareness of PAL as a more informal, relaxed setting for students  Extending to other modules  e.g. Physiology, Pharmacology, Genetics

Any Questions? Duah, F., Croft, T. & Inglis, M. (2014). Can Peer Assisted Learning Be Effective in Undergraduate Mathematics? International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology. 45(4) doi: / X El Tantawi, M.M.A., Abdelaziz, H., Abdelraheem, A.S. & Mahrous, A.A. (2014) Using peer-assisted learning and role- playing to teach generic skills to dental students: the health care simulation model. Journal of Dental Education. 78(1) Sedghi, G. (2013). Peer assisted learning at the Department of Chemistry for home and international students. NDIR. 9(1) doi: /ndir Shally, S. & Yadav, K.K. (2015). Assessment of the acceptance and effectiveness of peer-assisted learning in paediatrics. International Journal of Applied & Basic Medical Research. 5(Supp 1). S3-S6. doi: / X