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Award-winning student initiative fosters learning and peer engagement

30 August 2016

A new peer-assisted program for business and law students who want to improve their academic performance across most core units of study has been launched by the University of Sydney.

Administered by the University of Sydney Business School and also delivered at Sydney Law School, PASS is a highly interactive study session of between 10 to 16 students, led by a student facilitator.

It is a program for undergraduate and postgraduate Business School and Law School students who want to improve their academic performance and operates across most core units of study.

“PASS is fundamental to the student support services provided by the Business School and showcases our unique teaching and learning style,” said Deputy-Dean (Education), Professor John Shields.

“The Business School is committed to providing our students with services that will enrich their learning in a unique environment, and we see PASS as essential to improving academic performance and real world thinking.”

PASS involves weekly timetabled sessions where facilitators model different study techniques, assist with study guides and provide timely feedback.

The facilitators are students who have taken the subject before and are trained to foster student learning and active engagement with their course content.

Facilitators are not there to re-teach lecture material, but rather to encourage discussion and active learning.

The University of Sydney PASS program has won multiple awards at institutional, national and international levels for the quality of its work and the achievement of outstanding outcomes.

Most recently, the 2016 Sydney Law School team received the “Australasian Outstanding PASS Team” of the year, by the PASS Australasian Centre, making it the second University of Sydney PASS team to claim this award.

“We are honoured to be the recipients of the Australasian Peer Educator Team Award and are all very proud of this achievement, which reflects our pledge to providing excellent and effective support to law students,” said Team Leader, Winnie Liu.

“Since the establishment of the PASS Law Team, we have worked diligently to continually improve the services we provide.

“With every team member having been a past participant of PASS, we believe that this award reflects PASS has benefited so many students in a relatively short period of time.

“It also illustrates the continued importance of peer-discussion based learning within the study of law.”

Find out more about the University of Sydney Business School PASS Program.