Abstract Book of the 7th Global Conference on Education and Teaching
Year: 2025
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Peer Assisted Study Session (PASS) in University General Education course
Dr. Jasmine Yang
ABSTRACT:
Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) is a peer-learning strategy where students work together to consolidate understanding, reinforce key concepts and develop effective study strategies. PASS consists of weekly one‐hour, non‐compulsory study sessions led by “PASS Leaders”, students who excelled at the subject in the past.
There are over 250,000 students from more than 30 countries attend PASS each year. Also, PASS has been integrated into the Chinese University of Hong Kong General Education Foundation (GEF) Programme courses for more than a decade and has been an important supplement to teacher’s regular tutorials and lectures.
The compulsory course in dialogue with Nature exposed the university students to the original scientific classics (such as Plato, Newton, Darwin, Watson…) and served as a platform for fostering intellectual exchanges and personal reflections. However, understanding these scientific classics will be more difficult to the students without scientific background. Empirical evidence demonstrates that PASS could help these students. They would feel more included and valued, which leads to more active learning and better academic performance.
This presentation highlights how PASS was implemented in the university compulsory course in Dialogue with Nature, demonstrating its effectiveness in addressing students’ individual differences and supporting diverse learning needs within the general education framework.
Keywords: peer assisted study, university education, general education