ERIC Number: EJ1153309
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1836-4306
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS): Through a Complexity Lens
Power, Clare
Australasian Journal of Peer Learning, v3 Article 2 p1-11 2010
Although the Supplemental Instruction (SI) model is offered in a wide range of contexts across many educational institutions in 29 countries, it maintains an identifiable essence. Each SI program, known in Australia as PASS, tends to operate autonomously within its particular institution while maintaining some of the features that interlink all programs that formally identify with this model. These features include near peers facilitating collaborative learning situations that improve attendees' learning outcomes and increase retention. This paper suggests that complexity theory provides a useful conceptual lens for analysing this multifaceted and multilayered peer learning model. Dimensions of complexity such as self-organisation, fractality, dynamism and emergence seem to offer ways of seeing and sense making that can enhance our understanding of the SI/PASS model, both organisationally and pedagogically. In this initial exploration of complexity and SI/PASS, particularly in its organisational features, I hope to foster conversations that will consider the implications and opportunities of seeing this particular peer learning approach as self-organising, dynamic and emergent.
Descriptors: Peer Teaching, Communities of Practice, Cooperative Learning, Foreign Countries, Theories, Higher Education, Models, Student Leadership, Organization, Educational Change
University of Wollongong. Available from: Centre for Educational Development and Interactive Resources. Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. Tel: +61-2-4221-3140; Fax: +61-2-4225-8312; e-mail: jutlp@uow.edu.au; Web site: http://ro.uow.edu.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A