Peer Assisted Study Sessions: guidelines for structural and operational success in multi-disciplinary learning communities

This paper presents findings relating to Peer Assisted Study Sessions programs (PASS) that have been incorporated since 1993 into core curricula of many first year courses offered at The University of Queensland. Continuing evaluation of the program has enabled identification of important benefits gained by students attending PASS, allowing modifications of strategic initiatives and requirements within the program. These initiatives and requirements aim to promote a supportive and optimal learning environment where students can apply, contest and increase their level of knowledge supported by a two tiered mentoring system: academic to PASS leader to student. This paper will outline strategies that have been incorporated into the PASS program to optimise beneficial outcomes for both staff and students. Background First year students at the University of Queensland represent a large proportion (38.3%) of the student cohort. Many of these students face an array of challenges (Krause et al, 2005), not the least of which can be the daunting experience of navigating around a vast campus, away from familiar surrounds and the omnipresent support of family and friends. It is not uncommon for students who are drawn from diverse social, academic and cultural background, to feel acutely isolated and confused within the first few days of arriving on campus. This problem can compound with the "little fish in a big pond" experience of large, multi-streamed classes, unfamiliar technology and multi-modular curricula. While these curricula are designed to give students the advantage of studying a large number of topics in separate modules within the one course structure, they also have the potential to alienate rather than engage students. Any lack of coherence between teaching, learning and assessment in this situation may be exacerbated unless there is alignment between course learning objectives and student learning. In this new and relatively unscaffolded educational environment, students may be unable to interpret confusing messages concerning study requirements, resulting in the adoption of surface learning approaches. Unless students are encouraged to play an active role in their learning processes by cultivating an overarching view of the values and critical appraisal inherent in each discipline, and being able to apply