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PAL and its links to Supplemental Instruction
Contents
When we started PAL we drew upon many of the principles and ideas associated with the North American Supplemental Instruction
(SI) Model that had originally been developed at the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC) in the 1970's to combat the problem
of high drop-out rates in certain courses. UMKC today supports The International Center for Supplemental Instruction  .
These North American ideas had been modified and adapted to UK higher education during an earlier HEFCE funded project (1989-1992)
based at Kingston University, led by Jenni Wallace. Jenni was a member of the Steering Group for the PAL Project and she provided us
with valuable input. Her ideas and experience were most helpful in guiding us, particularly during the early stages of the Project.
At the time of writing (November 2009) we are aware that there are several schemes operating in the UK that can trace their origins to the North American Supplemental Instruction (SI) Model. Many of those HEIs listed below have been supported by Hugh Fleming using materials developed at Bournemouth University, while others were originally supported by Jenni Wallace.
What follows is probably an incomplete list and we apologise if we have left anyone off it by mistake or through our lack of knowledge:
Arts University College Bournemouth - PAL
Athlone Institute of Technology - Peer Assisted Student Support
Buckinghamshire New University - PAL
Canterbury Christ Church University - PAL
Dublin City University - PAL
Galway Mayo Institute of Technology - PAL
Kingston University - Peer Assisted Learning Scheme
London Metropolitan University - Peer Support Scheme
Norwich University College of the Arts - PAL
Oxford Brookes University - PAL
Queen Mary College, University of London - Peer Assisted Study Support
Trinity College Dublin - Peer Learning
University Campus Suffolk - PAL
University College Cork - PAL
University College London - PAL
University College for the Creative Arts (Farnham) - Supplemental Instruction
University of Limerick - Peer Supported Learning Groups
University of Manchester - Peer Assisted Study Sessions
University of Sunderland - PAL
University of the West of England - PAL
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Similarities between SI and PAL
There are a lot of similarities between PAL and SI, for example
- Both schemes are run by students for students, and student empowerment is an essential part of this process.
- Both schemes operate regularly scheduled PAL or SI sessions that appear in students’ timetables.
- Learning is interdependent. Active learning is encouraged and participatory, collaborative group learning is
facilitated by a trained, but non-subject expert, student leader.
- Study skills are integrated into both PAL and SI in the sense that the subject content of a course or programme, 'what-to-learn', is fully integrated into sharing advice on 'how-to-learn-it'.
- Both operate in a way that ensures they are supplemental to lectures and other teaching sessions the students should already have attended.
However, there are some differences between the two schemes.
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Differences between SI and PAL
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SI was created by Deanna C. Martin at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1973. She was assigned the task of decreasing the attrition rate of minority students in the schools of medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry—and given a grant of $7,000 with which to do so. After initially offering SI at the health science professional schools, it was extended throughout the University.
In 1981 the SI Program was designated by the US Department of Education as an Exemplary Educational Program, and is the only programme validated by the USDOE as improving student academic achievement and graduation rates. SI therefore has a longer history than PAL , together with clear backing from a US Government Department. SI has also generated a greater body of research findings and evaluative information upon which to base its activities.
Although the UK clearly lags behind the USA and lacks the direct backing of a government department, it is pleasing to note that the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education has published the following 2 reports in order to further inform discussion in the areas of student support, both of which make for interesting reading:
Black, F.M. and Mackenzie, J. 2008. Quality enhancement theme: the first year experience. Peer support in the first year . Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. [http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/documents/firstyear/PeerSupport_FinalReport.pdf]
Denholm, J. 2009. Student support services: scoping other UK and international developments. The Scottish Higher Education Enhancements Committee and Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. [http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/documents/InternationalBenchmarking/InternationalBenchmarking.pdf]
- In the North American model, the main purpose of the SI model is to target high risk, historically difficult courses. The goals of SI include are to reduce rates of attrition within targeted courses; to improve student grades in these courses; and, to increase the graduation rates of students.
In PAL , while the primary focus still remains academic, there is less emphasis on operating PAL on high risk, difficult courses - the tendency being to operate PAL on those courses where the Course or Programme Teaching Team specifically ask for it (provided resources allow for this).
At Bournemouth , PAL is a strategic initiative which is fully integrated into the University's Educational Enhancement Strategy (formerly Learning and Teaching Strategy) with the intention to improve and enhance the first year student experience. For this reason, in PAL an additional emphasis is placed upon increasing the level of social integration within the student's normal seminar group, and in improving the first year students' experience of university life by enhancing their sense of belonging.
Some other universities view PAL as forming part of their Widening Participation Strategy and the scheme is financed and supported through this funding stream.
- SI is well established in higher education in North America , running in several 100s of institutions. SI also runs in South Africa ( University of Port Elizabeth ), Sweden ( Lund University Faculty of Engineering formerly Lund Institute of Technology), Australia , Canada , Mexico and New Zealand . PAL is less well established in the UK , running in far fewer HEIs.
- Those SI Managers and Co-ordinators who have been trained by UMKC offer a more homogenous programme in the US , with a greater level of common practice between different institutions. Data on different academic disciplines, ethnicity, grades and withdrawal rates are collected from other universities annually by UMKC and comparisons made between SI and non-SI participants.
Peer Support and PAL in the UK appear to have many variants and have seen more organic growth, partly perhaps because PAL is at an earlier, developmental stage and lacks the benefits of centralised training, co-ordination and data collection. However, the UK National Centre for Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) based at the University of Manchester , launched in November 2009, intends to address these issues. The UK National Centre has a formal link with UMKC.
- SI leaders are expected to attend all lectures for the targeted course, take notes, complete all assigned readings for the targeted course, and act as model students for their classmates. This is not normally a practical consideration in the UK .
- Although SI sessions are regularly scheduled, SI is regarded as offering out-of-class review sessions open to all students following a targeted course. In the UK , 'open' PAL sessions rarely occur. It is more usual for a PAL Leader to be allocated to a specified group of students, the seminar group, and the time and location for PAL sessions to appear on the timetable for each seminar group rather than for the course as a whole. Such an approach supports both the students' social and academic integration as well as their sense of belonging.
- In SI, participation in the programme is voluntary and open to all students on a course. In PAL , sessions are more likely to be integrated into the course or programme and attendance at PAL is viewed as a normal part of the students' learning activities. Attendance registers for PAL may also be taken and are passed by PAL Leaders to their Programme PAL Contact who can then monitor attendance.
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Any comments or questions contact pal@bournemouth.ac.uk
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