Supplemental Instruction-Peer Assisted Study Sessions (SI-PASS)

Main idea

Students meet regularly in small study groups with 10 to 15 participants under the leadership of an older student who helps the students to sort out, and shed light on, the components of the course that are experienced as difficult.

Outline

SI-PASS, an educational model developed in the 1970s by Deanna Martin at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), is based on collaborative learning. The programme is called SI (Supplemental Instruction) in countries such as the USA, Canada and South Africa, PASS (Peer Assisted Study Sessions) at certain higher education institutions in the UK and Australia, and PAL (Peer Assisted Learning) at other institutions. In Belgium, the term SI is used together with the British name, PASS.

Description

A course is selected for the SI-PASS from a study programme based on how challenging it is for students. In doing so, the preconceptions about the difficulty level, experiences from students, grades, etc. are taken into account.

The students meet regularly in small study groups with 10 to 15 participants under the leadership of an older student. These study sessions have a set structure (introduction – agenda setting – main body – closing – reflection), but the content of the sessions is determined by the students themselves.

The SI-leader is a student who has previously taken this course and who acts as a role model and guide, but not as a teacher. Their task is to help the students to sort out, and shed light on, the components of the course that are experienced as difficult, to act as the leader of exercises and moderator in discussions to address and solve these difficult components. The SI Leader helps the students find answers to their questions together and to work effectively and purposefully in the group. In order to carry out these tasks, SI Leaders take a special two-day course (often spread out over four half days) in SI strategies and leadership.

Some of the strategies used are:

• Think-Pair-Share
  This is a collaborative learning strategy where students work together to solve a problem or answer a question about a topic. This strategy requires students to (1) think individually about a topic or answer to a question; and (2) share ideas with other students.
• Redirecting Questions
  The SI Leader encourages the group to find an answer themselves by redirecting or rephrasing questions instead of merely answering them.
• Wait Time
  Wait Time refers to specific practices where instructors deliberately pause. The SI Leader leaves room for independent thought by not immediately interfering in students thinking processes.
• Student/Student Interaction
  The SI Leader encourages the students to interact and discuss the subject matter.
• Checking for Understanding
  The SI Leader actively verifies that students are learning what is being taught while it is being taught.

Timing

Ideally, the study group is organised on a weekly basis, but in practice it’s less. Each study session takes around one hour to one hour and a half.

Main purpose

• Increase student throughput and counteract dropouts
• Improve learning
• Improve student performance

Who organizes, is involved?

The programme has spread from the USA to many parts of the world. In addition to the International Centre for SI at UMKC, there are national education and development centres in Canada (University of Guelph), South Africa (Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth), Australia (University of Wollongong) and Sweden, with responsibility for Europe (Lund University).

Target group

A large body of research shows that SI-PASS is a very effective tool for improving students’ study results. It is important to note that SI-PASS is not a support programme. It is not aimed specifically at weak students, but is based on groups being as diverse as possible. Research shows that the most effective group, in which all members gain most, is a combination of students with different levels of proficiency. SI-PASS is therefore aimed at all students.

Goals

• Improving student performance and retention
• Increasing student engagement with the subject and their understanding
• To complement ordinary education and have organized study groups with a facilitator
• Enhancing students early learning experiences and let students see their peers as learning resources,
• To support: (1) a successful transition to higher education, (2) help 1st year students develop a sense of belonging, (3) academic success, (4) student health and wellbeing, (5) progression.

 

Obstacles targetted:

• Educational difficulties

Students involvement

Students are involved in the delivery. Students who have taken a challenging course volunteer to follow a special two-day training to become SI Leaders. Their task is to help the students to sort out, and shed light on, the components of the course that are experienced as difficult, to act as the leader of exercises and moderator in discussions to address and solve these difficult components.

Inspiration and evidence

A lot of research has been done about the effectiveness of SI-PASS in other institutions. This research yielded positive results regarding both academic and social aspects, which motivated Artevelde University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) to implement it as well.

Success criteria

• It’s a tried and tested tool which has been proven to be effective in developing academic skills.
• Since participation is mostly voluntary, SI Leaders are intrinsically motivated.
• Although social integration is not the main goal of the SI-PASS, it increases contact between students who might never have met outside of the study sessions or leadership trainings.
• SI Leaders become true ambassadors for their study programme.
• SI Leaders are in close contact with lecturers. If students have difficulties understanding a part of the course, SI Leaders can easily ask lecturers for clarification.

Points of attention

• Ideally, SI-PASS would exist in every study programme at AUAS. This would also make it possible to advertise it to all students.
• SI-PASS works with volunteers in most of the study programmes, but in some study programmes participating in SI-PASS is part of an excellence route. The degree in which students voluntarily participate thus varies.
• SI-PASS is not structurally imbedded in AUAS, making it so that different study programmes have a different way of doing things. Ideally, SI-PASS is executed in the same way across institutions and study programmes.

Effectiveness

A lot of research has been done about the effectiveness of SI-PASS in other institutions. At AUAS, the effectiveness of SI-PASS has been tracked in the context of one course. The results were positive: the chance of success was higher for those who attended the study sessions than for those who didn’t. This result should be taken with a grain of salt, because the study didn’t consider other factors (e.g., motivation).

Do you feel you can effectively provide the support that students require?

We somewhat agree.

Would you recommend this to other institutions?

agree

Evaluation

Multiple aspects of the SI-PASS are evaluated:

• The participants of the leadership training are asked some questions about how they experienced it. This training is positively evaluated.
• After a (couple of) study session(s) the attendees receive an evaluation form.
• In one study programme at AUAS the SI Leaders are asked to do a presentation on how everything went.

Results

A recurring problem is low attendance rates. Another issue is that students expect the study session to be a form of tutoring, which it isn’t. These students don’t come back for future sessions and/or don’t actively participate during the sessions.

Communication

• Posts on AUAS’s online platform
• Informing lecturers
• Lecturers mention the possibility to attend SI-PASS study sessions at the beginning of their classes
• SI Leaders drop by during class to inform students
• SI Leaders make a little video about SI-PASS which they share on social media
• There’s a Facebook group

Timing

Ideally, the study sessions are organised on a weekly basis, but in practice it’s less. Each study session takes around one hour to one hour and a half.

The course for SI Leaders is two days in total, but this is often spread out over four half days.

Resources

SI-PASS requires a lot of time, skill and motivation to:

• coordinate the project;
• deliver the leadership training course;
• organize meetings with the heads of the different study departments;
• develop out the SI-PASS policy for the institution.

Apart from a coordinator and trainer, you need other staff members as well:

• staff from the different departments
• supervisors from the different study programmes
  During some of the study sessions there’s a supervisor present to give SI Leaders feedback. They are also in charge of the practical side of SI-PASS (e.g., booking classrooms). These supervisors have received specific training for this role.

Extra information

• SI-PASS website
• Leader Manual (pdf)
• Supervisor Training Manual (pdf)

Transferability

We think it is easily transferable to other contexts or groups.

In theory it’s easily transferable, because it’s a set of fixed practices designed for everyone. In practice, though, it’s very difficult. If there was enough time and resources, it would be easier.