1. Taking Peer Assisted Learning out of the classroom
Makis Malliris Dean of Students Office
University of the West Of England
Raphael Nagel
PAL Leader

2. Presentation Outline Current Research Case Study for STEM SW
PAL Leader skills for Online Peer Support
Findings from Online-PAL pilot in at UWE

3. Aims of the STEM-SW Project
Research
into the particular benefits of PAL for students studying HE STEM programmes with an emphasis on the benefits for students from Widening Participation backgrounds
into the benefits for mentors for example, in confidence building, acquisition of graduate attributes and enhanced employability
Investigate different models of PAL including the development of an On-line approach

4. How PAL operates at UWE PAL leaders are trained
PAL leaders are supported both centrally and by a member of the module teaching team
Embedded: PAL sessions are timetabled
Academic focus: supports learning through small group discussions where content is drawn from existing course materials (lecture notes, workbooks, textbooks etc..)
Academic recognition

5. Literature review Journals Interactive media in Education
Computer assisted learning
Innovations in Education and Teaching International
Asynchronous Learning Network
Educational Computing Research
Educational Technology Systems
Distance Education ( American)
Adult Learning ( Australian)
Instructional Science
Artificial Intelligence in Education

6. Why worry about the intricacies of peer interaction?
Who is learning?
Conceptualisation of the role of peers
How can we know what occurs in groups?
What has been learnt?
What changes as a result of the interaction?

7. Aims of the case study
To evaluate whether PAL can be delivered effectively in an online format.
To evaluate the suitability of the chosen software for online PAL delivery.
To evaluate the impact that online PAL delivery has on the work load of the PAL leaders.
To investigate whether online delivery affects the group dynamic during a PAL session.
To investigate how online delivery of PAL might affect how knowledge is transferred amongst the group.
To determine the scalability of online PAL for future roll out.

8. Microsoft Lync

11. The Online Approach at UWE
Identify the skills needed for effective peer learning through online forums
Compare these with skills needed for effective face-to-face peer learning
Explore the onward implications for assessment of these skills

12. Online-skills for PAL Leaders
Socio-affective
Initiate, participate, share , acknowledge
Organisational
Plan, draw on course, draw on experience
Interactive process management
Role clarification, request, give feedback, reinforce
Cognitive interactive
Generate ideas, guide
Reflective evaluative
Reflect, assess, summarise, meta-cognition