Access and equity have long been fundamental concepts underpinning transformation in higher education. Increased student enrolments necessitated the implementation of support structures to bolster student success. However, support provision for academic staff is often overlooked when prioritising student success. In this article, we examine the…

Tutorials/discussion classes are seen as an essential part of the teaching mix in the natural sciences, because that is where problems can be solved and course content is applied. Learning support provided by teaching assistants may free up the lecturer to do research, but are these assistants sufficiently well trained and well informed? Do…

Building on prior research into active learning pedagogy in political science, I discuss the development of a new active learning strategy called the "thesis-building carousel," designed for use in political theory tutorials. This use of active learning pedagogy in a graduate student-led political theory tutorial represents the overlap…

Since 2004-05 first year students at the School of Environmental Sciences, Ulster University have engaged with senior student tutors (SSTs) in workshop activities aimed at preparations for their written examinations. Using a pedagogical action research methodology we evaluated the role of SSTs in bridging the experiential learning gap between…

Many students enrolled in university physics have little interest in the subject matter, a trend more pronounced in females. This study assesses students' conceptual understanding and interest during the electrochemistry unit of a physics course for nonphysics majors that was revised in light of consistently low ratings from its students. The…

We describe and evaluate an approach to student learning that aims to instil a culture of formative assessment based on peer-assisted learning. The idea is for suitably qualified undergraduates to assist in the running of weekly first-year tutorials. They mark submitted work, provide written and verbal feedback and lead problem-solving discussions…

Peer-Assisted Tutorials (PATs), a form of Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL), were introduced to a conventional 4-year honours degree programme in Chemical Engineering. PATs were designed to support students in becoming more self-directed in their learning, to develop student confidence in tackling Chemical Engineering problems and to promote effective…

This paper reports on the learning experiences of a small group (n = 13) of teaching assistants who volunteered to participate in a pilot online Foundation Degree module. As part of the evaluation methodology, participating students were randomly assigned into two groups, with each group having clearly defined but different types of tutorial…