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Contents
Section 1 : What is PAL?
PAL Leader Profile……………………………………………………………………………………………2
What is PAL?……………………………………………………………………………………………………3
Your Experiences of PAL…………………………………….……………………………………………..4
Facilitation vs. Teaching……………………………………………………………………………………5
Section 2 : How to Prepare, Lead and Facilitate a PAL Session
Before the Session………………………………………………………………………………………..…6
Start of the Session……………………..……………………………………………………………..…...7
During the Session………………………………………………………………………………….….……9
Ending the Session…………………………………………………………………………………………10
Section 3 : Strategies and Skills
Facilitation & Communication: Listening……………………………………………………….…12
Facilitation & Communication: Questioning…………………………………………………..…13
Facilitation & Communication: Working with Different Cultures…………………..……15
Getting Students into Groups……………………………………………………………………….…17
Strategies and Suggestions for PAL…………………………………………………………………19
Changing the Room Layouts……………………………………………………………………………22
Encouraging Participation……………………………………………………………………….………23
Dealing with Challenging Situations…………………………..……………………………………27
Section 4 : Relationships
Support for Leaders: Key Contacts……………………………………………………………….…29
Using myBU for PAL…………………………………………………………………………………….….33
Netiquette: Using Facebook and Email Effectively for PAL………………………………..34
Section 5 : Your First Session and Admin
Your First Session… ……………………………………………………………………………………….37
PAL Paperwork and Payment…………………………………………………………………….……40
PAL Leader Observations……………………………………………………………………………..…41
Promoting PAL to your Students Sheet…………………………………………………….………42
Simulated Session Template……………………………………………………………………..……43
Section 6 : Additional Notes
Additional Notes………………………….…………………………………………………………………44
The materials in this Guide have been based on resources produced by: Hugh Fleming; David Jaques; Stuart Capstick; Janice Hurne; Alison Green;
Tamsyn Smith; Steve Parton; Michael Knight and Charlotte Thackeray with grateful acknowledgements to the individuals and organisations whose
materials we have adapted. These include: Jenni Wallace; University of Missouri Kansas City; Graham Gibbs' Learning in Teams; The Oxford Centre for
Staff Development; the PASS National Centre at the University of Manchester and Trevor Habeshaw. Some of the resources on different learning
experiences have been reproduced from the publication Learning to Learn with the kind permission of Imperial College, London. Copyright Bournemouth
University 2014.
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PAL Leader Profile
Training: Attend the compulsory 2 day training sessions during May, June or September
Level of Commitment: Preparation time for each session (30 minutes), facilitate a weekly
or fortnightly PAL session (1hour); some courses will be required to attend debrief
session, (approx. 30 minutes)
Action in sessions: Facilitate the discussions; be supportive; signpost students to
appropriate help; take attendance for evaluation work; in some cases you will have to
work with another PAL Leader; give 1st years confidence to ask questions within PAL (to
each other) and outside (eg. to lecturers)
Action outside sessions: Email and Facebook the PAL group to remind of session
time/location; ask first years if there are specifics they would like to cover and advertise
this if necessary; keep in contact with your PAL Leader partner (if necessary), course
contacts and PAL Central
team
Personal Qualities: Trustworthy; non-judgemental; role-model (not perfect but a
demonstration you have ‘survived’ 1st-year); team player; enthusiasm; friendly;
approachable; confident; committed; emotionally intelligent
Personal and Professional Skills:
Communication; time management; organisation and planning; facilitation; leadership;
teamwork
Support for you: Regular contact with Staff whether in your school or with the PAL Central
team; additional training and support if required; at least one observation to check how
you are progressing; recognition and reward (Student Development Award points and
celebration event in March); an opportunity for you to improve PAL for future Leaders
(survey and focus groups)
What PAL does: Helps students adjust to university life and get to know other students
Helps students gain a greater perspective of their programme, its direction and
staff expectations
Develops and improves learning and study skills to meet course requirements
Enhances students’ understanding of programme content through collaborative
group discussion and activities
Helps students prepare better for assignments and exams
Makes students feel more confident about their programme and about working
with each other
Fosters cross-year support between students on the same programme
Develops group and team-working skills
Enables sharing of experiences
Encourages independent learning
Gives students responsibility for setting the agenda
Encourages students to consolidate and evaluate their learning
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Training Activity: Which of the principles seem most important to you? Please mark each one on a scale
from 1 to 5 where 1 is “not really important” and 5 is “very important.” Then identify
which 4 are most important to you
Share your ideas with a partner. Explain your choices and ask them to explain theirs
Join another pair and share your ideas
Between your group of four, identify the 3 which are most important to you as a group, and
then prioritise them. Be prepared to explain your choices during feedback
PAL is based upon the following principles and practices: My
Rating
Pair
Rating
4s
Rating
1. It supports student learning.
2. It fosters cross-year support for students (see 3 below).
3. It is facilitated by more experienced students, usually from the year
above, who provide a point of contact for new or less experienced students.
4. It enhances students’ experience of university life.
5. It is participative: students work in small groups, engaging in
discussions and a variety of interactive learning activities.
6. It is timetabled.
7. It encourages collaborative learning rather than competitive learning.
8. It works on both what students learn and how they learn.
9. It creates a safe environment where students are encouraged to ask
questions and receive guidance from other students about the programme
and its content.
10. It uses the language and terms specific to the subject discipline.
11. It helps students gain insight into the requirements of their programme,
and their lecturers’ expectations.
12. It involves active rather passive learning.
13. It encourages independent learning.
14. It helps students to develop a more positive attitude towards learning,
keeping up with their studies and completing their programme.
15. It gives students opportunities to improve their academic performance.
16. What is discussed is confidential and remains within the PAL Group.
17. It benefits all students regardless of their current academic ability.
18. It gives students a place and time to practise the subject, learn from
mistakes and build up confidence.
19. It gives PAL Leaders opportunities to revisit their prior learning.
20. It enables PAL Leaders to practise and develop their personal and
professional skills.
What is PAL?
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Your Experiences of PAL
1. What did you feel like when you first came to university?
2. How did PAL help you settle in?
3. How did your PAL Leaders structure/organise sessions?
4. How did your PAL Leaders get everyone to participate?
5. What benefits did you gain from PAL?
6. What improvements would you like to make to the PAL sessions you lead?
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Facilitation vs. Teaching As a PAL Leader you will probably have to reiterate that you are NOT like a lecturer or
tutor several times. However, some of the skills involved with teaching and facilitation
overlap. Nevertheless, there are many areas where the role of a facilitator differs to a
teacher. You should all be used to the teaching style and you may have noticed your own
PAL Leader/s last year sometimes acting like a teacher, especially when they felt the PAL
group was not responding as well as they had thought.
Training Activity: You will be shown a PowerPoint demonstrating styles that a teacher
would use. In your groups discuss what the role of a facilitator is, then feedback to the
group. You can make notes in the box below.
Questions to consider:
What does it mean to be a facilitator?
How does the role of a facilitator work?
Have you ever seen a good example of facilitation?
How could you help your students become independent/self-directed learners?
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How to Prepare, Lead and Facilitate a PAL Session Over the next few pages we will cover how to run a typical PAL session. This is how your session
should be planned and delivered. Every course runs differently and a number of courses that use
computers (e.g. in the Media School or Faculty of Science and Technology) are more likely to rely
on PC lab style sessions than a “traditional” seminar format. However, the plan below can be
applied to any course, so you should follow this guidance to organise your sessions.
Before the Session: Preparation
As emphasised a lot throughout this Guide, preparation is key to being a successful PAL
Leader, otherwise session scan lack purpose, lose focus, and ultimately that can impact
on students’ motivation to attend. So follow these steps before your PAL group meets:
1. Contact your Group before the session
At the end of your last PAL session, you agreed the main topic for discussion for
your forthcoming PAL session with your group
Post an announcement on your Facebook group or send an email (using your BU
email account) to your students 2-3 days beforehand to remind them of the
topic(s) they agreed they wanted to discuss
Read and reply to any responses you receive from your students
Remind them to bring along relevant notes, hand-outs, text books, etc. so that
they can refer to these during small group discussions
Ask if there are any new topics, perhaps arising out of this week’s lectures, they
would also like to discuss
TIP: It can be helpful to have a look at the first year (Level C) units on myBU
2. Use the “PAL Session Plan” and ‘Session Review’ (available in ‘PAL Essentials’ in PAL
Central) to help you plan your session
Think back to how the last PAL session went. If you filled in a “Session Review”
form read through it.
Remind yourself of the topic(s) your group want to discuss. Have a quick read
through your notes from last year. However, as you are not going to try to re-teach
them, all you need to do is familiarise yourself with the topic(s) rather than try to
relearn it all perfectly.
Check the materials available in myBU and obtain any necessary information from
the appropriate lecturer as this can be invaluable especially if you plan to discuss
a piece of assessed work in your PAL session
Don’t assume that all first year units (titles, lectures, assignments) are exactly the
same as when you studied them
TIP: Consider planning your PAL sessions with another Leader. This can be useful as a
means of sharing information as well as getting new ideas.
3. Plan group work and activities
Consider what small group techniques you’re going to use such as pair-work,
pyramid, or jigsaw(refer to pages 19- 20 of this Guide for ‘Getting Students into
Groups’ and (look in ‘Session ideas’ in PAL Central for more ideas)
Think about the composition of the small groups or pairs you want people to work
in. Are you happy for people to pick their own groups or do you want to put
students together who don’t know each other well?
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Consider the type of learning activities you’re going to facilitate. For example you
might want to run a quiz, review the content of a recent lecture, give students a
chance to practise presentations, or analyse an assignment
4. Plan the structure for the session
Consider a possible structure for the session and how much time you would set
aside for each activity
Allow enough time for each pair/group to feedback. This period of group
feedback is usually the part of the PAL session where students get most benefit
(while you get to develop and utilise your facilitation skills), so try to set aside
around 15 minutes for this activity
TIP: It can be helpful to have a look at materials in the myBU Academic Skills Community
for inspiration and ideas
5. On the day…
Try to get to the room before the session starts and make the space work for you
and your students e.g. move tables into groups for discussion,(refer to page 24 of
this Guide for ‘Changing Room Layouts’)
If this isn’t possible, move chairs so that people will be sitting face-to-face across
a table rather than being seated in rows or around the outside of a horseshoe
arrangement
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Start of the Session
1. Getting started
Welcome your students to PAL and thank them for any responses they have made
on the Facebook page, e-mail or by phone
Check that you are all agreed on topic for discussion
Check that people have brought along the appropriate lecture notes, hand-outs,
textbooks, etc. to refer to during their discussions (if they have forgotten their
notes encourage sharing)
2. Check what they are doing at that stage of their course
Take a few minutes to check with your group how their studies are going. In
particular you should ask students:
o What they have looked at in their studies, lectures, seminars, workshops,
reading, etc. since the last PAL session
o When particular pieces of assessed coursework are due to be handed in
Encourage other members of the group to chip in with additional points they
thought were important too
TIP: Avoid vague questions such as “Has anyone got any problems?” Such questions will
rarely receive useful responses or could risk leading the session a negative direction
Other questions you could ask might include:
o What have you read / watched / learned that you could share and we
could discuss? (e.g. about an assignment or seminar activity)
o What lectures have you had during the last week?
o What new ideas have been presented to you?
o What new theory has been presented? Can you outline the details?
o What new factual information has been presented?
o What were the most difficult issues that were covered?
o Which lectures would you like to look at again?
To help them do this encourage them to look through their notes to remind
themselves of what has been covered, review the material or solve issues of
dispute
Listen carefully to students’ responses and watch their body language. If some
members of the group are confused about some of the topics covered or
concerned that they are finding some aspects difficult say something like “I think
that some of you might be finding this lecture rather difficult”, then ask them
whether or not they want to set some time aside in the PAL session to go over the
contents of the lecture again
3. Agreeing a schedule for the session
This will enable everyone to have a clear idea of the topics they will discuss during
the session
Write on the board the topics that will come up in the session so you can all see it
Ask the students what order they would like to work through the list
Make a mental calculation on how long it will probably take to cover each item on
the list
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An example schedule for a session:
1) Share news items
2) Review recent lecture on Law of Contract (identified as an issue to address)
3) Analyse Human Rights assignment (previously agreed topic)
4) Housing advice and issues (previously agreed topic)
5) Groups’ feedback on different aspects of the Human Rights assignment
TIP: By starting with a quick current affairs quiz or news round-up you are either asking
people for useful/interesting news items of relevance to their studies or you are bringing
such stories to their attention. Other ideas could include ‘ad of the week’ or ‘idea of the
week.’ This is a good ‘warm up’ activity so try to include as many people in this as
possible
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During the Session
1. Work systematically through your session plan
Continue to go through and check in with the plan you had prepared prior to your
session, carrying out the activities you intended
Remember to agree a structure with the group
Spend some time on each point. Ask open-ended questions to encourage
discussion. Summarise the main ideas that emerge before moving on to the next
item
Remember to close the session
2. Use a variety of techniques to keep the session interesting and interactive
Use group discussions and pair work
Reorganise the furniture in order to aid small group discussion
Ask students to do the board/computer work rather than you
Keep the session supportive and friendly
Spend some of your time sitting with students and sometime walking around the
room
Encourage students to refer to their textbooks and notes for specific answers
Lead general open-ended discussions, aiming to involve everyone
Use your students names
Ask LOTS of questions throughout the session
Refer to pages 25-27 of this Guide ‘Encouraging Participation’
3. Provide information
Refer to page 28 of this Guide ‘Working with Different Learning Styles’
Some learn better independently and some through interaction with others
Try to make use of all these approaches, e.g. by using pictorial representations
(diagrams) and verbal illustrations (lists and mnemonics) and by mixing individual
with group work, for example, by using ‘think, pair share (Refer to page 19-20 of
this Guide ‘Getting Students into Groups’ and by mixing individual with group
work, for example, by using ‘Pyramid’ (see PAL Central)
4. Summarise important points
At the end of each item in the session plan to ensure the main points are
summarised, preferably by encouraging students to provide the summary for you
rather than doing it yourself
TIP: As a PAL Leader, you are not a teacher. Your main job is to encourage active
learning, to encourage students to participate in discussion.
5. Remember to be the facilitator of your PAL Group
Initiating
o Define the problem to be worked on and, with the group, agree procedures
and ideas for solving the problem
Seeking information or opinions
o Request facts
o Seek relevant information
o Ask for ideas or examples
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o Elicit further suggestions (sometimes it may be useful to check: “Is that a
fact or an opinion?”)
Clarifying and elaborating
Ask members of the group to:
o Define terms
o Clarify different interpretations or confusion
o Indicate alternatives or applications
o Identify key issues
Summarising
You should try to:
o Pull together related ideas
o Restate suggestions after the group has discussed them
o Offer a decision for the group to accept or reject
Seeking decisions
o Test the group for their readiness to make decisions
o Seek decision making procedures like “let’s put that to the vote” or “give
me some ideas and I’ll see what’s possible by next week” for example
Taking decisions
o State the group’s feelings in terms of a group decision
o Invoke the decision making procedure
TIP: Remember that successful group work depends on the group members being able to
exchange ideas freely and feeling involved in the decisions of the group.
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Ending the Session
1. So there’s 10-15 minutes left of the session….
Go around each pair or small group (or ask them to go into pairs or small groups)
in turn asking one person to explain the outcomes of their discussion or what
they’ve discovered this session and would there be anything else they would like
to cover next time
Ensure key points are written down on the whiteboard as this reinforces what is
being said and provides tangible evidence of each group’s work
As Leader you should concentrate on managing the feedback process, prompting
for examples, and asking questions for further clarification
Write down recommended work/actions/reading
2. Closing the session
Having gathered feedback from each small group, you should set aside the last few
minutes for closing the session:
If you did not have enough time to work through all the topics on the schedule,
ask the group if they’d like to discuss them in their next PAL session
Ask students if anything still puzzles them and try to deal with it then and there
either by clarifying it yourself or by asking if any member of the group can provide
the information
If neither you nor any member of the group can resolve this issue satisfactorily,
ask for someone to volunteer to find out this information and to report back in the
next session. Try to avoid doing this yourself because this will encourage
dependency
Ask the students what they would like to cover in their next PAL session and make
a note of it to aid your preparation
End the session by thanking everyone for their time and contributions
Return chairs and tables to their correct positions, wipe the board and logout of
the PC (if necessary) before you leave the room
3. Reviewing/ reflecting on how session went
When your PAL session has ended take a few minutes to reflect on the session by
completing a ‘Session review’ sheet from your PAL manual. You will find that this
period of reflection will improve the quality of your work as a PAL Leader
First, jot down a couple of sentences which describe how you think the session
went. Identify what you think went well and also those aspects you may need to
improve in future
Finally, make a note in your diary to e-mail your group 2-3 days before your next
session to remind them of the agreed topic and to bring along relevant lecture
notes, textbooks and other resources to refer to during discussions
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Facilitation & Communication: Listening
As a PAL Leader you will be required to listen to your groups for the relationship to work
effectively. There is a tendency for us to lose some of what someone has said; especially
as listening is a skill we take for granted in everyday life. A key part of facilitation is
listening and it takes attention, energy and thought whether it is listening actively to the
words that a person is saying or the non-verbal communication they may also be
exhibiting.
TIP: Make sure when you listen you are empathetic. Students will not just ask academic
questions but also may feel that they want to talk about more personal issues.
10 things to remember:
1. Don’t mistake not talking for listening
2. Don’t fake listen
3. Try not to interrupt needlessly
4. Attempt not to pass judgement too quickly
5. Don’t make arguing an ‘ego trip’
6. Don’t ask too many questions
7. Don’t say ‘I know how you feel’ because you won’t always know
8. Try not to overreact to emotional words
9. Endeavour to give advice unless it is requested
10. Try to use listening as a way of hiding yourself
Active listening is a skill that can be learned and practiced. It means concentrating
carefully on what a person says and how they say it. The wheel below gives some tips for
active listening:
Lean Forward
Maintain eye
contact
Ask Question
Reflect speaker’s
actions
Paraphrase
Speaker’s ideas
Agree with
speaker
Give verbal
cues
Let the
speaker
speak
Training Activity:
You have been put into pairs
labelled A and B
You have each been given a
random topic
A talk to B about their topic, B
actively listens
B recall and feedback to A
Then switch, B talk to A about
their topic, A actively listens
A recall and feedback to B
You need to pay attention to and
focus on how you feel so you
cannot take any notes during
this activity
If you cannot fill the time then
you must sit in silence to get
used to the silence (Relates to
“Wait time”, refer to tip on page
14 of this Guide)
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Facilitation & Communication: Questioning
TIP: A key part to questioning is Wait Time which refers to the period of time someone
needs to process information and come up with an answer. Never panic when you ask
your students a question and they don’t give an answer straight away, count to 5 at the
very least in your head before re-phrasing or asking the question again….don’t be afraid
of the silence and be too quick to give the answer!!
TIP: Try to avoid sounding too critical, make sure your voice sounds and body language
shows you are curious and confident
Training Activity: Questioning and Body Language
Phase one: Mixing groups
In your pairs from the previous activity, join another pair A and B, to become a
group of 4 – pair A (1) and B (1), and, pair A (2) and B (2)
A (1) questions B (2) about their topic
A (2) actively listen, observe, analyse and note questions A (1) is asking
B (1) observe and note the body language of both A (1) and B (2)
Have a moment to take mental / written notes
Then switch so A (2) questions B (1) and both A (1) and B (2) observe for 1 minute
Phase Two: Compare notes
In your 4’s, A’s discuss findings and compare notes, B’s discuss findings and
compare notes
However, during your early sessions
students will probably expect you to
provide answers to their questions and
there are times when it is appropriate for
you to do this, especially in matters
which relate to settling into the University
etc.
PAL sessions should
be about encouraging
your students to learn
independently and
develop their
understanding through
collaborative
discussions and
exploration of their
ideas. So it is
important that you
discourage your
students from taking
the easy option where
you tell them what
they need to know and
offer all the answers
up front.
The key part of facilitation (and of PAL) is the questions
you ask. The key to encouraging discussion in the group
is asking questions of your students that make them do
the thinking and talking – and then actively listening to
them. Questions test the students’ knowledge, clarify
information, and stimulate students into expressing
ideas and constructing arguments.
16
Phase Three: Reflect and feedback
All A’s work together – A = Analyse the questions you asked and heard, for
example:
What questions worked well / not so well?
What effect did asking certain questions have on the communication?
Did you experience or observe a period of silence, what happened / how did that
feel?
All B’s work together – B = Body language you used and observed, for example:
How did you use your body language?
How did the Leaders you observed show that they were actively listening?
Did you experience or observe a period of silence, what happened / how did that
feel?
Here is a table of questions and phrases to help you re-direct questions back to the
group. The ones that are most commonly used in PAL sessions are in the highlighted
boxes!
Does anyone know the
answer to that question?
Can anybody help Mary
answer that question?
Can anyone find the answer
to that in your notes?
Let’s look that up in the
book.
What do you think about
that?
How would you say that in a
different way?
What are we trying to find
out?
What do you need to do
next?
How did you do that?
What do you mean by . . . ? Tell us more... What else did they do?
Anything else? Can you be more specific? In what way?
What are you assuming? Why would that be so? How can that be?
How would you do that? Are you sure? Give an example of that.
How is that related to . . . ? Can you summarize the
discussion up to this point?
How does your response tie
into . . . ?
If that is true, then what
would happen if…?
What would ______ say
about that?
Let’s see if we can figure
out how to answer it
together.
Well, what did you think? What information would you
need to answer that?
How would you explain that
in an essay or exam?
Where did that idea come
from?
How does that fit in with….? Are there any other
possibilities?
How might someone argue
against that point?
If that is true, then what
would happen if…?
So between now and next
week…
Can you think of another
way to think about this?
Would any of you like to add
something to this answer?
How is your answer (point of
view) different from
_______?
How could we phrase that
into a question to ask Dr. X
next class?”
Let’s rephrase it on the
board and figure out what
information we will need to
answer it.
What do we need to know in
order to solve the problem?
Which words in the question
do you not understand?
Well it wasn’t my strongest
subject so I wouldn’t like to
mislead you
Do you think you could
expand on that answer at
all?
17
Facilitation & Communication: Working Across Cultures
Working in a multi-cultural learning environment is challenging and rewarding. It is also
an opportunity to develop a wide range of intercultural competence skills that employers
now seek.
It is likely that there will be international students in your PAL sessions who have
different educational backgrounds and who are used to studying in different ways. You
may be an international student yourself, in which case you will understand the
differences in the UK education system when compared to your home country.
Ultimately, people communicate in different ways, but when you are communicating with
any of your students in your sessions (although especially international students) it is
important to realise why they maybe behaving or communicating in a certain way. Things
to take into consideration are:
Be Explicit
o The British (to generalise) are often very polite and afraid of stating the
obvious so when helping students to learn new approaches, be explicit
Feedback
o International students who study in the UK are probably willing to change
the way they have always done things (they chose to come here and
expected difference), however this may be a difficult and slow process. It
is useful to be aware of the importance of your role in this context. They
can ask you things they might not wish to ask the lecturer and you can
offer useful feedback and lots of examples of good practice in a non-
threatening environment
Keep it simple!
o Students need time to think and digest what you say before they reach an
understanding
Speaking in class
o Being expected to argue, articulate and share opinions can be difficult in a
second language. Pair and small group work can help a lot to potentially
reduce feelings of anxiety and intimidation and is a useful way of giving
students time to practise a response before sharing their ideas with the
whole group
Increase your cross-cultural sensitivity
o Try to get to know something about international students, in your PAL
group, where they come from and what their life is like back in their home
country
o Don’t be afraid to ask questions!
o Exploring what others do and how they think will help you to become aware
of your own rules, assumptions and conventions.
Group Work
o Groups that include a variety of cultures may often find it hard to work
effectively together. Tension may arise where group work is assessed in
terms of outcome rather than process. Be aware and supportive during
any such challenges
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o PAL sessions provide an ideal forum in which to analyse the process of
working together in multi-cultural groups through discussing the difficulties
and the positive aspects too. Use PAL as a tool to increase cross-cultural
awareness within the group.
Some examples:
Assessment – Clarify the criteria lecturers use when marking (and what a ‘good’
mark means)
Planning – You may need to decode an essay title. What do the various
‘procedure’ words mean? How is ‘evaluate’ different from ‘justify’, or ‘discuss’
different from ‘describe’. (Further information on Essay Writing is available in the
Academic Skills Community in myBU.) Don’t forget international students may
take much longer to produce work if English is not their native language
About interpersonal relationships – Tell them how you wish to be addressed.
Make your role and its limitations (or boundaries) absolutely clear early on. Be
explicit about when and how you can help them
Training Activity: With the letters that you have been labelled with for the two previous
exercises, all of the A’s need to go to together, all the b’s etc. and you will be provided
with scenarios. Work together in your groups to show how you would deal with that kind
of communication.
19
Getting Students into Groups
PAL doesn’t have to be the Leader stood at the front presenting with a PowerPoint!
(Remember: page 5 of this Guide ‘Facilitator vs. Teaching’) If you encourage as much
group work and group discussions in your sessions as possible, not only will your
sessions be more fun, the students will get more out of it and they will bond more as a
group. Here are six of the best examples for you to consider when putting students into
groups to do group work:
Group Discussion
Group Discussion
A general discussion of an issue or topic by the group
Individual members are free to contribute or not contribute
Ideally, everyone is actively involved in the discussion and the topic is of equal
interest to the entire group.
Clusters
Clusters group participants
Students are divided into smaller groups for discussion
They may also be allowed to self-select the small group they want to be in
After discussing the assigned topic the cluster may report their findings to the
large group
If possible, ensure each group is provided a flip chart or a space on the
whiteboard to record the important points of their discussion.
Turn to a Partner
Group members work with a partner on an assignment or discussion topic
This technique works well with group participants who already have provided with
enough background on a subject so they can immediately engage in a discussion
with their partner
Group Discussion
Clusters
Turn to a Partner
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Assigned Discussion Leader
One person in the group is asked to present on a topic or review material for the
group and then lead a discussion
Ideally, this person should not be the regular group leader
This technique works best when everyone or nearly everyone in the group is given
a topic to lead on
Think / Pair / Share
Group members work on an assignment or project individually and then share
their results with a partner
The goal of a Think/Pair/Share is allow participants time to think BEFORE they
discuss
When doing a Think/Pair/ Share, give participants a specific amount of time (30
seconds, five minutes, etc.) for the “think” portion.
Jigsaw
Jigsaws, when used properly, make the group as a whole dependent upon all the
subgroups
Each group provides a piece of the puzzle. Group members are broken into
smaller groups
Each small group works on some aspect of the same problem, question, or issue.
They then share their part of the puzzle with the large group.
When using a Jigsaw make sure you carefully define the limits of what each group
will contribute to the topic that is being explored.
This is isn’t an exhaustive list, there are other examples of group work:
Individual Presentations
An individual presentation is an uninterrupted presentation by one person to the
group
Unlike an “Assigned Discussion Leader” this is a formal presentation delivered to
a captive audience.
Use individual presentations sparingly PAL Leaders can become used to standing
at the front and never do anything else. Students find this boring so don’t let it
happen to you!
Group Survey
Each group member is surveyed to discover their position on an issue, problem or
topic. This process insures that each member of the group is allowed to offer or
state their point of view
Make sure you keep track of the results of the survey
Assigned Discussion
Leader
1 6
3
2
5 4
Think, Pair, Share
Jigsaw
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Strategies & Suggestions for PAL Sessions
The next few pages will go over strategies you can use in PAL sessions to show how you can go
over content in your sessions without feeling that you have lecture or teach your students, (as
well as using the questioning and listening techniques that we have already covered.)
Lecture Review
The Matrix
Term Paraphrased
definition
Example
from
lecture
Example from
textbook
New
example
Oligopoly A market
where a few
firms produce
all or most of
the market
supply of a
good or
service
Airlines Soft drink
manufacturers
Domestic
car
makers
eg. Ford
Monopoly A firm that
produces the
entire market
supply of a
good or
service
Niagara
Mohawk
none New York
telephone
service
Quizzes
-
-
-
-
-
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Checking Vocabulary
Time Lines
Preparing and Evaluating
Exams
Procedure Words
Term Meaning Example
of notes
Example
from Text
New
Example
23
Mnemonics
Settling into University
Study Skills
KWL
KWL stands for ‘what I now Know’,
‘what I Want to know’ and ‘what
I’ve Learnt’ It’s a really good technique to
establish what students know and
what they still need to cover. Would
work well at the beginning of a
session
24
Changing the Room Layout
There is no reason to accept the furniture in a classroom as immoveable (unless, that is,
it is screwed to the floor!), but in order to get discussion going you may find it useful to
reorganise the room to suit your needs and session you would like to carry out.
The average seminar room at BU is arranged in rows so it is often difficult to get group
discussions underway. Often if you get the students into the habit of changing the room
around from the start (and putting the room back again at the end!) not only will it take
up time in your session but often if the students arrive before you do they might have
changed it for you!
Below are some ideas for you to consider when you are thinking about re-arranging the
furniture:
PAL Leader Students Board Table
A
v
B
C D
E
G H
F
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Encouraging Participation Students may be rather shy and quiet, particularly in the first few weeks when they are
still settling in at BU and getting used to each other. Group discussions are a great way to
get the students participating and below are further techniques to help encourage
participation:
1. Divide your group into pairs or small groups Students can feel intimidated asking or answering questions individually when in
large groups. In your PAL sessions you can address this by dividing your group
into pairs or small groups of 3 or 4 people
Small group work encourages greater participation, discussion, cooperative
working, and the sharing of ideas between students
You might need to divide existing groupings by asking them to 'number off'
1,2,3,4,5; 1,2,3,4,5; 1,2,3,4,5 and ask all the 1s to go together, all the 2s and so
on
2. Manage group discussions Give each group a clear task and let them know how much time they have
Wait for a few minutes before you start to moving around groups, otherwise your
students are likely to start to ask you questions they should be answering among
themselves
Move around each group when your students have settled into their discussions
to listen, possibly challenge, and offer support and encouragement
Monitor how each group is progressing, keep the students focused, and their
discussions on track
Try not to spend too much time with each group – no more than a couple of
minutes – before you move on to the next
Encourage the students to refer to their course materials, learning outcomes,
lecture notes, or textbooks and share their notes with each other
Let the students know when there a few minutes left so they can get their ideas
together for presentation to the other groups if required
3. Use students’ names Using names can help you and your students to feel more at ease with each other
and increase student participation
Make use of the attendance sheet if you cannot remember names easily and take
the risk of either getting them wrong or asking them to remind you: "I'm sorry, I
can't remember your name", and when they remind you, immediately use it
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4. Be a role model by using “I” statements yourself Think back on your first year experiences and be honest about them with the
group. Acknowledge where you didn’t do well and how you could have done
better
If you didn’t understand something or can’t remember, then say so. Your
students will likely feel that you are involved as a participant
If you can honestly say "Yes, I found that difficult too", the students will definitely
empathise with you
Reassure the group that some parts of the course are difficult and will probably
take some time and effort to understand, but you can help by passing on your
experiences and always encourage them to ask questions
5. Encourage students to verbalise When students put their ideas into words it gives them the opportunity to process
information and putting ideas together into the right sequence or to form a
coherent whole
When a student expresses an idea it encourages other students to share or
contribute their ideas as well
Sometimes a group can put original ideas together through talking - ideas they
didn't realise they had!
6. Wait for student responses to questions (wait time) Consciously train yourself to wait for student answers. Students often need time
to think through what they’re going to say before responding to a question. After
a while they will usually give an answer - or ask another question
Waiting for answers is a difficult but important skill. It can be very tempting to
answer questions for students or jump in with another question
If you learn to be patient this will usually lead to better discussions and more
group involvement
An easy way to pace yourself in this is to count up to 5 (silently!) after asking the
question. If nobody answers your question you should encourage them look at
their notes to see if they can find the answer
You should also wait for other students to comment after a member of the class
has said something. Don’t immediately label an answer right or wrong – wait to
see if other students have anything to add. Often just looking calmly round the
group will encourage others to add more information
If you are working as a pair with another Leader remember not to answer each
other’s questions or ask the group another question immediately after your
partner has asked one
7. Use positive reinforcement and body language This involves nods, smiles and general encouragement and has a very positive
effect on learning and confidence
Offer praise for an answer (even if only partially correct), using a posture of
interest, maintaining eye contact, and making positive comments
If you know an answer to be 'wide of the mark' it is important not to criticise or put
the student down. It is better to say "OK, that's interesting; what do others think?"
Note the use of the neutral word "OK" rather "Yes" or "No"
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8. Repeat student responses If you summarise or clarify comments and enable others to hear them, this can
act as positive reinforcement to their participation and learning
9. Get students to use the whiteboard Physical activity helps prevent students becoming too passive or disinterested. It
also encourages students to talk to and support one another
10. Avoid interrupting student answers PAL should be a safe and comfortable environment for students to try things out,
attempt answers and make mistakes. Remember it is often from making
mistakes that our most effective learning can come about
If a student does seem to be talking too much or too long, you can use a non-
verbal signal like raising you hand
If this doesn’t work, you’ll have to be more direct, saying something along the
lines of "Chris, could you hold it there - I'd like to hear what some of the others
think now"
Remember an effective PAL Group: Is not dominated by the PAL Leader
Has a clear understanding of what PAL is
The group doesn’t get too dependent on the PAL Leader
Uses the hour session effectively
Is flexible
Provides opportunity for everyone to feel included, even reluctant, late or
occasional members
Feels safe
Achieves the balance between what the group wants and what the individual
wants
Ensures lots of communication and understanding between group members
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Working with Different Learning Styles Many different people learn in different ways and to have successful sessions it’s
important to remember not everyone learns the way you do. The table below
demonstrates different types of learning styles; they might even inspire some session
ideas of your own!! This isn’t an exhaustive list as students don’t always into this model
but we feel it’s a good representation of as many styles as possible.
Typical Traits
Activities that match
Linguistic Enjoys reading, plays, books
conversation, can verbalise easily;
has a strong ability to memorise
names and places; facility with
words makes this intelligence
valued in academic’ writing.
Listening to others, explaining
ideas, reading books, writing
notes, keeping a journal.
Logical/Mathematical Enjoys puzzles, abstract thinking,
solving problems, can analyse and
interpret data; excels at
categorising and classifying; works
well with numbers.
Doing things one step at a time,
topics organised in an orderly
sequence, solving logical
problems, seeing patterns and
relationships.
Visual/Spatial Has a good sense of direction; can
visualise ideas and images; excels
at puzzles, maps, and charts; mind
best stimulated by the “gestalt” of a
visual image.
Using visual displays, charts,
diagrams, mind maps; video
and slides, drawing rather than
writing; posters; metaphors.
Musical Has a capacity to appreciate,
respond emotionally, and even
create, music; has a good sense of
rhythm.
Certain kinds of music (mainly
classical) can stimulate this
intelligence; studying with
baroque background music;
working with Mozart; using
music to relax and prepare self;
setting words to music.
Bodily/Kinaesthetic Enjoys physical sports; needs to be
‘doing’ things; prefers to solve
problems in a ‘hands-on’ way.
Thinking and reviewing when
walking, cycling, jogging; moving
about while learning; imagining
self as object being studied
whether people or materials;
recalling times when physically
in a certain place.
Interpersonal or Social Enjoys group activities, sharing,
social events; can sort out
arguments, likes building on others’
ideas.
Learning cooperatively,
socialising during breaks,
making learning fun; helping
others in learning; tasks that
promote interpersonal
relationships both in and out of
the classroom.
Intrapersonal or
Intuitive
Enjoys working alone on projects
and pursuing own interests; likes
privacy and silence for working and
thinking, prefers working
independently, enjoys day-
dreaming.
Understanding personal
significance of subject, taking
time for reflection, writing down
personal thoughts, studying
alone wherever possible.
*taken from Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, 2000
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Dealing with Difficult Situations
As a PAL Leader, it is important to understand how to best deal with particular incidents
as they arrive. As a PAL Leader you may find it helpful to discuss and agree the point at
which your responsibilities end and your students’ responsibilities begin.
Training Activity: You will be given a scenario to discuss in small groups and you should
write in the box how best you would deal with this scenario and then feed back to the
whole group. There is also space for you in the last two boxes to come up with your own
‘worst case scenarios’ and then the group can help you find a possible solution.
Incident How could you best deal with this?
1. You are running your first
PAL session and your
students ask you whether or
not PAL is compulsory
2. Only a couple of students
are participating in group
discussions or are reluctant
to suggest topics for
discussion in PAL sessions
3. A student asks you a
question and you don’t know
the answer or are not
entirely sure of the answer
4. Some students are being
disruptive and ruining the
session for others
30
5. A student comes to you at
the end of the PAL session
and asks if they can talk
something through with you
6. Your students have received
their first assignment and
want you to tell them what to
put in it including what
references you would use
7. An attractive member of your
PAL group asks you out for a
drink
8. Only a couple of students
are turning up to your PAL
session
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Support for Leaders: Key Contacts
Course Contacts
Your Course Contact is the specific academic from your course who you can speak to
about PAL issues. You will be expected to meet with this member of staff at regularly.
Meetings may take place every fortnightly or a couple of times a term. In these meetings
you will discuss how things are going in your PAL sessions and your Course Contact will
provide you with advice on issues to address in your PAL sessions.
Some of the ways in which your PAL Course Contact may help you:
Involve you in Induction Week so you have a chance to meet your group informally
Keep you aware of changes in the course – particularly areas which have changed
between you taking the first year and your student group’s first year
Make sure you have copies of first year assignment schedules, titles and assessment
briefs.
Be someone to whom you can pass on feedback from your group including areas they
may be finding difficult. The Course Contact can then liaise with other members of
the teaching team and feedback any specific issues of concern
Help you review and assess how your PAL session(s) have been going.
Help you plan for subsequent PAL session(s)
Act as an adviser
Pass on suggestions from other members of staff regarding work or issues to be
discussed in PAL
Act as an mediator between Leaders if there is a dispute or any other issues
Assist with any logistical matters such as attendance levels
Make constructive suggestions for how your Contact and other staff could help you
e.g. a request for sample exam questions to use in a PAL session or a request to ask
a particular lecturer to go over an area of difficulty again.
Other Academics If you don’t want to go to your Course Contact or you are having problems getting in
touch with them, Leaders do often seek out members of staff who have taught them in
the first year. PAL is a well-respected scheme here at BU and most of the time lecturers
should be willing to help with any specific queries via email.
PAL Central Team The other option would be to speak to a member of the PAL team based in DL129 (first
floor of the Library.) Although they don’t have the specific academic knowledge, they
observe PAL sessions, are in contact with all Course Contacts and provide general
support to all Leaders. They are also responsible for your training so if you ever have any
questions either face to face or by email ([email protected]) they would be only
too happy to help.
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School Timetablers & Finance Officers
There is a resource officer in each school or faculty who deals with the timetable for that
school or faculty. If you want to change your PAL session they are the people to get in
contact with either for the odd session or if you want to change the date and time of your
session permanently.
The finance officers are responsible for processing your pay claims and there is one in
each school or faculty. If there is a problem with your pay they should be able to let you
know whether that payment has been processed or not. A list of the timetablers and
officers can be found on the PAL Leader Facebook page or in the contacts section of PAL
Central.
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Support Services Available at BU
As new students, some of your PAL group may find that they are struggling with work,
personal issues, learning or housing. They may see you as a friendly student face (which
you are!) that can solve all their problems. Whilst you are a facilitator you are not a
counsellor so it is important to know when to refer your student to the relevant people
when it happens.
AskBU (The Base, Poole House or the Library in Bournemouth House)
Student financial support such as student finance England, BU busaries and
scholarships, hardship funding etc.
Accommodation support
International Support Team who provide immigration advice
General advice and guidance on BU rules and regulations suchas appeals and
complaints, mitigating circumstances process etc.
Signposting for further information
Support with the BU online systems
Student letter requests, ID card and council tax certificates
SUBU (1st Floor of Poole House or the ground floor of Studland House)
Commercial (the student shops and bars)
Responsible for Nerve media, student reps and all of the clubs and societies
SUBU Advice Centre give help on housing, financial and personal issues
Organisises a lot of the volunteering on campus including RAG
GROW (One Student Engagement Team for each of the schools/faculties)
Four recent graduates employed by BU
‘Friendly face with time to talk’
One2one chats over issues (academic, personal, professional)
Open drop in sessions
Counselling (Talbot House)
Free service and sessions by appointment
Team of six counsellors and a clinical psychologist
Experience in helping people through exam anxiety, bereavement, general
worries, eating disorders and drug problems
Can also run group counselling
Happy to talk to you if you’re worried about friends, flatmates, family etc.
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Chaplaincy (Talbot House)
Drop in service for students from any or no faith
Trained pastoral care and counselling
Quiet space with a few computers
Bookable meeting room
Access all hours phone number: 07894598915
Run courses on stress, self-awareness and relaxation
Additional Learning Support (DLG17 Library or S212 Studland House)
Deals with students that have sensory impairments, mobility impairments,
medical conditions, mental health issues or learning differences
Offers
o Note taking
o One to one support
Exam support
Environmental aids
BU Health and Safety
In case of an absolute emergency (to ring instead of an ambulance)
o Emergency internal number: 222 (all BU phones on both campus’)
o Emergency external number 01202 965448
Serious incident officers on campus to deal with parents, VC or the press if
necessary
Use this space and the additional pages at the back of this booklet to take notes on this section if you have any immediate ideas
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
35
Using myBU for PAL
PAL Central
PAL Leaders, Course Contacts and staff involved in
supporting PAL can access PAL Central. There are a
number key sections that we help will be of use to you
as a Leader over the year:
PAL Essentials
Pay Claim form
Employment documents
Resources used in PAL training
Running PAL
Session Plan and review form
Paper copies of registers
Ways to Improve attendance
Dealing with reluctant students
Session ideas
Icebreaker ideas
Ideas for all different kinds of sessions
Academic Skills Community
Whether you have discovered it or not in your first year the Academic Skills Community
should become your go to place for anything to do with study skills. A lot of your students
will have questions regarding essays, plagiarism, assignments or referencing so it’s really
good to signpost so that students can use it and sign up to the academic skills sessions.
There is also a range of workbooks,
quizzes and multimedia materials to
suit whoever uses it.
Access the Academic Skills Community
via the My Communities box on the
myBU Home page, or from the
Academic Skills tab in myBU
NB: Use the Academic Skills Community
if your PAL group ever ask for a session
on referencing
Library and Learning Support
Make sure that your students know
what study skills workshops are running and sign
up for Bournemouth University Academic Skills Facebook page
You can link to it… although bear in mind not everyone uses Facebook
NB: If you ever run into any IT Problems, there should be phones in most university
seminar rooms and that go through to IT, but if not then ring 01202 965515. IT services
are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
36
Netiquette
Netiquette (net-etiquette) is about communicating online politely and professionally.
When communicating with your students, the common options are Facebook, email and
texting. In order to do this it is important to consider:
Who will be receiving your communication?
How old are the recipients? Have you met them before? Is the recipient a member
of BU staff or your students? Don’t post anything that could get you in trouble with
your friends, family, or employer
Is the style of writing you are using appropriate?
Consider who you are communicating with. Do you know the recipients well
enough to write informally or does it require a more formal, professional style?
What is the impression you wish to give?
Would you like to be polite and formal or more informal? It would be better to
communicate with your students via Facebook if you want to contact them
instantly. Use email to liaise with the PAL team or your course contact. Basically,
when it comes to communicating, treat others as you wish to be treated
Facebook tends to be the easiest way of communicating with your students, providing
they all have access to it. Students often have their Facebook account linked to their
mobile phones to have convenient access whenever, wherever. We recommend that you
consider creating a Facebook group to communicate with your students.
Here are some important things to consider in this case:
Use the ‘Privacy settings’ options (top right corner of Facebook) to customise how
others view your personal profile. If you set your profile to the ‘only friends’
setting, therefore only your friends can see your Facebook activity
Avoid swearing, even if it is an abbreviated form such as ‘LMFAO’
Ensure that the group you set up is a ‘Closed’ group
When you post a photo, document or status relating to PAL, it should be only
shared within your PAL Facebook group to give you control over who joins (i.e. it
should not be open to public view)
Don’t list personal contact information like your address or phone number on your
profile
Make sure you check the group regularly, then if a conversation between the
students occurs you can keep up with what is being posted
Since Facebook has become such an integrated part of our daily lives, often simple
netiquette rules may not always apply to your personal profile. So it may not have
occurred to you that it is important to consider how you present yourself online.
For standard Facebook groups you do have to be friends with someone before adding
them. However, other people can request to join closed groups if they are given a link or
37
if they search for it, but they must be confirmed by an admin before they can be allowed
to join the group.
TIP: Creating a Facebook group either before or during your first PAL session would be a
good opportunity to add your members to your group as a class. Plus, you will be added
to the main PAL Leader Facebook group so you could base your own page on that if you
wanted.
Email is another easy way to get hold of your students. With emails you can send out lots
of information in a concise format as well as keeping in contact with your course contact
or the PAL team. However, students may not be able to or have chosen not to look at
their emails, hence why Facebook is often better for getting information to your students
quickly. Understandably, sometimes in the case of emergencies another email address
could be used, but it is more professional to use your university email.
NB. As an employee of the University, it is important that you keep on top of your emails
throughout the year. When your course contact or the PAL team contacts you, it will be
important information that you must read.
Some netiquette to consider when you are emailing your students or staff, as an
employee of the university:
Avoid overusing emoticons in emails to members of staff or your students
Choose your language carefully when writing an email, consider who it is being
sent to
Regardless of who you are communicating with, use the correct grammar and
punctuation
Reply to others as soon as possible
Avoid falling behind with your emails
Try not to over-use exclamation marks!!!!!!
Always try to have a subject line
Create an email signature that relates to you and your PAL group
TIP: To help manage your email accounts, you can merge your university email with your
other email accounts. Contact IT services to learn how to do this (call 01202 965515).
NB. Facebook and email are not the only options that you can use to communicate with
your PAL group. You can also use the communities’ option on myBU. There are
instructions how to set up a community on PAL Central> Using myBU > Setting up groups
and registers.
38
Texting
Some PAL Leaders have been known to text their students as another form of
communication. If you choose to do this, make sure that you have the students’
permission before you take note of their number and ensure numbers are kept
confidential. We recommend that you discuss with the students how they would like you
to communicate with them and if text is suggested, you could try it. When texting
students, keep them short, concise and apply the netiquette rules mentioned in this
section.
Using Facebook effectively and encouraging participation online
For some of you, this next section will not be relevant because your students will always
be very responsive on Facebook. However, a number of Leaders complain that students
can be very quiet and not respond when they post something. So below are some tips to
help you get your student to participate online:
Encourage your students to post on the page, otherwise it will not just be you
posting on the page all the time
Try not to ask general questions such as ‘so what do you want to do this week…?’
Give the students some options of things you could cover and ask questions like
‘what have you covered this week?’, ‘what were the most difficult issues that were
covered in your lectures?’ and ‘are there any lectures you would you like to look at
again?’
Make sure the Facebook page is constantly active and doesn’t just get left with
the occasional post on it
Use the events function to organise socials, it will encourage the students to look
at the group a lot more
Use the ‘ask question’ function on the group so that students can vote for what
they would prefer and then if students don’t want to post they can do it
anonymously
Whilst your Facebook group has to remain vaguely professional and as long as it’s
not too ridiculous you can talk about things on the page that are not always PAL
related and this would also help your students to bond as a group (perhaps
adding photos of you all out on a social)
You can add files to Facebook groups so if you wanted to upload anything after
the sessions and then the students who didn’t attend could see what they missed
(it might encourage the students to attend if they see what kinds of things you are
covering)
39
Your First Session… The first session you do will be pretty important! Despite the fact that you’ll probably be
very nervous it will be your main chance to make an impression and sell PAL to your
students. Below are some questions that you should think about before your first
session.
1. How will you arrange the room?
2. Where will you sit?
3. How will you introduce yourself to the group?
4. How will you introduce PAL to the group?
5. How will you introduce the group members to each other?
6. What will you do if students come to PAL and seem upset when you
explain that you will not "teach" them?
7. How will you explain why participants need to sign in each time they
attend?
40
Your First Session: Importance, Planning & Promoting
Some Leaders don’t plan for their first sessions; this is the biggest mistake you could
make, even if you make a few mistakes during that first hour, if you have planned for an
hour long session it will be fine! PAL Central has loads of ideas for your first sessions and
there will be follow-up training sessions in September for anyone who wants any help.
Aims of first PAL session:
To get to know your students
To set expectations about PAL for the year
To give students an opportunity to ask for advice or information about the
University, the local area, the library, accommodation, second-hand books etc.
To agree some ground rules for future sessions
To operate like a PAL session even though subject content will be minimal
Welcome
Welcome your students to their first PAL session
Introduce yourself
Briefly explain your role as PAL leader giving a clear sense that you are glad to be
working with them; you look forward to what unfolds and emphasising that the
sessions are designed to be collaborative with people helping each other
Then get the students to introduce themselves to each other through some sort of
icebreaker
What is Peer Assisted Learning?
Explain that, as PAL is probably not something they will have come across before, it will
be useful to explain the aims and features of PAL.
Explain that PAL is intended to help students settle in to University, learn more
effectively and do better in their coursework
PAL works by using group discussion to enhance understanding of programme
material and by making it less risky to admit to problems and confusions
Stress that you are not there to teach, but to facilitate
Ask the group for their comments, reactions, thoughts, etc.
Here are some ideas that you could introduce from the very start. However, these ideas
are more likely to be accepted if they emerge from the group rather than you:
Anyone has the right to suggest what the group should do next
We are working collaboratively, not competitively
Everyone turns up with appropriate notes and resources to refer to during
discussion
Everyone will be encouraged to contribute
When anyone speaks they are addressing the whole group and not just the
Leader, or a friend
We listen to each other and respect other people’s views
Dominant and aggressive behaviour is not acceptable
Racist and sexist comments are not acceptable
Everyone has some responsibility for this process and anyone can point out if any
of these rules are being ignored or broken
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20 Top Tips from Previous PAL Leaders
Some other tips from outgoing PAL Leaders:
1. Organisation, organisation, organisation!!!
2. You get as much as you put into the role
3. No matter how the small the turnout of students are at the start, it can increase if
your sessions are found to be useful
4. It’s better to be interactive than boring so don’t just do a PowerPoint every week!
5. Be open to ideas that your PAL group have about sessions, be creative to make
the sessions engaging and be enthusiastic!
6. Make friends with your PAL group and do relaxed sessions to make them feel
comfortable. Nothing is worse than having an awkward PAL group
7. It takes more time than you would originally think, especially planning the session
8. Be confident and outgoing and don’t be afraid to say “ I don’t know” if a student
asks you something that you don’t actually know the answer to
9. Preparation is key, otherwise sessions will be beyond difficult and you will lose
students
10. Accept that attendance does fall in most cases after the first semester
11. Be confident! If the university has faith in you that you can do it, so believe in
yourself!
12. Sweets and quizzes!
13. The students will listen if you have something valuable to say, so make sure that
you do and that they understand that
14. Don’t exclude anyone. Make the most of the few weeks at the start where no-one
knows each other; this is the time where the members of the PAL group will bond
most
15. Get to know your students’ names in the first couple of sessions
16. To plan for the whole hour session, as things often run quicker than expected
17. Don’t be shy; your group will respect your authority!
18. Make sure you have a timetable that suits everyone – don’t rush from your own
classes as you need that 3 minutes calm down before you start, and you don’t
want to be sat in a room by yourself for 20 minutes and then realise no one is
turning up
19. Sometimes the best way to keep their attention when things go wrong is to laugh
at yourself...!
20. GO FOR IT AND ENJOY!
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The Essential Bit! PAL Paperwork and Payment As a Leader you are entitled to be paid for the session you do that week or fortnight and
also half an hour preparation. As part of this we also expect that you also register your
students in order to show that you are carrying out your PAL sessions.
Over your training days you will have filled out your employment documents and hopefully
(if completed) signed your contract. This will ensure that you are on the BU payroll system
ready for September. If however, you did not complete any or some of your employment
documents you will be contacted about this over the summer and in September to go to
visit DL129 with the relevant forms to complete the process and ensure you are able to
be paid from September.
Register of Attendance
ALL PAL Leaders will need to ensure that the Register of Attendance is completed for
each session whether that be weekly or fortnightly. This can either be part of the session
or can be something you do whilst the students are busy working.
NB: you might not be paid if you fail to hand in your Registers of Attendance.
Payment
You should submit your pay claims, for all of your PAL sessions, to your Course Contact
by 31st of each month (or the last day of that month.) Failure to do this will mean that it
will be unlikely that you will be paid for that particular month and may have to wait until
next month so for example, a form for November on 30th November and a form for
February in on 28th February.
Try not to save up your pay claims, each school will accept your claim for each month
that you hand it in for, some schools/ faculties won’t accept several months’ worth of pay
claims at once.
Pay Claim forms are available in PAL Central under ‘PAL Essentials’.
This claim can be completed electronically, but must be printed & signed by you
You will be paid monthly in arrears
Please contact your Course Contact or the finance officer of your school if you
have any payment questions/issues
Extra Information
Your students’ first year units will appear on your myBU page soon after the start
of induction.
You will also receive £10 worth of printer credits each as a Leader and this will
also appear on your printing account soon after the start of term
Your hoodies will be ordered at the start of term and should arrive around early
October
Thank you for completing the PAL Leader Training, we hope you really enjoy the scheme
and do keep referring back to this guide throughout the year.
If you are ever stuck with anything regarding PAL email [email protected]
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PAL Leader Observations In order to support you in your role as a PAL Leader, a member of The PAL team will
observe you at least one over the course of the academic year. You will know in advance
when the observation will be, and you can view an example of the form used by the
observer below (a blank form is also available on PAL Central)
After the session, the observer will have a quick chat with you about your session, and
provide you with feedback. This is also an opportunity for you to ask any questions about
your role or raise any issues you may have. You will receive a copy of your observation
form including feedback shortly after your observed session.
Example of a completed Observation Form:
‘Summary of PAL Session:
Quick intro to the session and asked whether any issues had come up
Looking at modelling and suggestions as to how to model and create a bike
Looking at assignment brief and creating a train based on the students’ requests
Requested ideas for next session and closed the session
What went well:
Introduced session and what the plan was
Pulled the students forward to the front and away from the computers
Very good idea for the session activity and lots of questions throughout
Brought them back to the bike if they got distracted
You got them to show you their brief and what they were working on
Recommendations for Future Sessions:
Try not to say no...instead redirect the question to the other students
Get them to write stuff down; what you're telling them is useful!
Get the students to change things- you should never touch the mouse!’
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Promoting PAL to your Students When you are first introduced to your new students whether that might be in your first
session or at an event during induction fortnight, it is important to make an impression
and entice as many students as possible to attend or keep returning to PAL.
Below is space for you to write a one minute speech/monologue to promote PAL and why
they should attend.
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Date: \ \ Time: From- To- Location:
Aims of the
session
Preparation
before the session
Timing Activities
Introduction
Ending the
session
Back-up plan(s)
Simulated Session Plan
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