Welcome to the Peer Assisted Learning Initiative

This blog has been set up for a Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) initiative in DIT. The project will involve 1st and 2nd year students of the BA International Business and Languages programme run by the School of Languages. In May, María-José and I attended a workshop organised by DIT on strategies to enhance retention in 1st year. A representative from GMIT told us about this very exciting and large scale PAL project that she was involved in. A couple of weeks later, we decided to take the plunge and seek to adapt its principles to our 1st year students. Our aim is to academically improve the experience of 1st year students both in languages and in business. This should enhance their chances of success and improve retention rates.

Indeed many students in their first year at 3rd level find it difficult to cope in what is a very different learning environment to that experienced at Second Level. The Degree in International Business and Languages is a particularly challenging and complex programme which demands much of the first year student who often lack the study skills and habits necessary to cope with those demands. As in many other programmes, failure rates are much lower in Year 2 suggestting that those who have managed to progress to Year 2 are equipped with or have managed to develop a skills set that needs to be fostered in first years.

The implementation of this peer assisted learning scheme involves identifying year 2 students willing to act as mentors and support first year students in a collaborative and informal learning environment. Mentors will meet with Year 1 students on a regular basis to aid in the transition from secondary school to higher education.

This project will seek to bring Year 1 students to a better understanding of what is involved in learning and studying at 3rd level, to help them get to grips with the new concepts, skills and knowledge that are central to the first year curriculum and encourage learner autonomy. Second year students who take part in the initiative should develop personal and professional skills while reinforcing their own knowledge and understanding of material covered in Year 1.