Peer Assisted Learning Support

Overview

Provide student-centred support and promote student learning and success by: 

  • Enhancing student-lecturer connection:  PALS will serve as a bridge between the faculty and the distance learners (embody the role of intermediaries). 
  • Cultivating an engaged learning community:  PALS will employ facilitation techniques to encourage engagement and an active exchange of ideas in a manner that is aligned with course content and learning outcomes.
  • Proactively engaging with students: PALS will help ensure that every learner feels connected and supported. 
  • Offering personalized support:  Drawing on their prior experience of and successful strategies employed in the module and Distance Learning environment, PALS will offer personalised support to cater for the unique needs of their peers. PALS will provide tailored advice, study tips, and learning strategies that they themselves found effective, adapting these to suit individual learning styles.
  • Encouraging wellness: PALS will facilitate spaces where students can share experiences and develop coping strategies, catering to the emotional wellbeing of their peers. 
  • Providing academic support: PALS will enhance their peers’ academic skills and content understanding.  
  • Fostering technological empowerment:  PALS will be instrumental in guiding students through the digital tools and platforms necessary for their studies, from initial orientation to ongoing technical support.

 

The PALS are senior students who already passed the specific module.

They will be involved in the following activities:

  • Creating a supportive environment
  • Enhancing the connection between students and lecturers
  • Cultivating a virtual community of learning (connecting students
  • Creating a sense of belonging to overcome feelings of isolation
  • Providing academic and social support
  • Developing online learning skills
  • Assisting with technological difficulties

PALS are appointed in selected distance modules in the following faculties:

  • FEDU
  • FHUM
  • FNAS
  • FTHE

Dr Petria Theron 
018 285 2036
petria.theron@nwu.ac.za