Benefits of PASS

PASS offers benefits to students and staff at all levels – to the school, the programme, first year students and PASS Leaders.

Benefits for First Year Students:

Peer Assisted Student Support is intended to provide a safe, friendly and supportive environment to help first year students:

adjust quickly to the demands of third level education
acquire a clear view of course direction and expectations
develop their independent learning and study skills to meet the requirements of higher education
enhance their understanding of the subject matter of their programme through collaborative group discussion
prepare better for assessed work and examinations
feel more at home among their peers
increase their confidence

Benefits for PASS Leaders:

By becoming a PASS Leader, you can:

development of their personal and professional skills such as leadership, team working, organising, time management, listening, interpersonal communication, facilitation and presentation skills;
increased confidence;
provides valuable experience to enhance their CVs;
provide an opportunity to gain credits or accreditation for their activities.

Benefits to Lecturers:

As a lecturer, you will see a number of benefits from Peer Assisted Student Support, including:

A reduction in the number of minor requests and queries from first year students, as PASS Leaders can act as a first point of contact for ‘specificinformation/queries’ on settling into college life.
Helps students to become better prepared for their lectures or/and tutorials.
Helps students to better manage their workload and keep up with course work and assignments distributed by the lecturer during the term.
Help students learn more effectively in a peer based group.
Leaders give regular feedback to the ‘PASS Programme Co-ordinator’ which feeds back to their school management and lecturers.

Benefits to Faculty:

Faculties and Departments that introduce Peer Assisted Student Support to programmes can expect to reap the following benefits:

PASS creates links between classes across the programme, which can help develop a more cohesive culture in your school/department.
The level of student involvement in – and ownership of – learning is increased.
Support can be targeted at the specific areas of a programme(s) that students find particularly challenging with an aim to improve student understanding.
PASS Leaders provide additional feedback for the Programme Boards.
Valuable additional student support which can be used to present the School or Department positively during institutional audits, subject reviews or marketing initiatives.
In the student PASS Leaders, the programme gains committed students who can help promote the course and even meet with internal or external reviewers.