Using PASS and tutorials for teaching effectiveness

Averil Cook and Brooke Freeman

Abstract

Theory suggests that students retain more knowledge if they have engaged in deep rather than surface learning. This has been investigated within the EC135 Quantitative Analysis course in the Department of Economics. This course has a reputation for being difficult, and is compulsory for students in first year in the Business Economics and Law (BEL) faculty. Data was gathered by means of a questionnaire. The analysis should provide information about relationships existing between retention of knowledge, methods and approaches used for studying and grades achieved.

Introduction

This paper presents data from a questionnaire which was completed during four lecture times by students in the Quantitative Analysis course that requires the course under investigation as a prerequisite. Please note that this is a draft paper since the data from only two of the lectures has been analysed so far. One lecture was from twelve noon to two p.m. and the other an evening lecture which is provided for part time students.

The first semester Quantitative Analysis A (EC135) course is a compulsory subject for enrolments in the BEL faculty. It is basic statistics which some students have an aversion to, and the word is out that it is a hard subject. This is correct in that all the subject matter is cumulative and so if students lag behind in the work they very quickly are out of their depth and find it very much harder to catch up. The students are clearly warned of the possible problems early in the semester and informed of all the resources we provide to help them with their learning. The main ones are tutorial classes, PASS, and tutor consultation. In addition the students have a Computer Managed Learning (CML) component of the course which provides extra questions for the students to work through in their own time.

Tutorial classes

There were 34 tutorial classes conducted each week by tutors who were all post-graduate students in the Department of Economics. They had been through an interview selection process and undergone at least a day and a half of training. Each tutorial class was 90 minutes duration and the tutorials throughout any one week were all conducted on work relating to the lectures of the previous week. There was a tutorial sheet of questions on each topic that the students had prior to the class. The tutors were given sample answers (but not the students) and were given instructions and suggestions of which questions to cover each week. It is considered that the tutorial sessions are the main opportunity for comprehending and appreciating the topics and learning problem-solving skills. The tutorial classes range in size from about 10 to 30 students. Tutorial classes are not compulsory but are highly recommended. Students continue to come to classes as long as they consider they are worthwhile and help them to understand. As can be seen from Table 1 nearly 80% of enrolled students attend more than half of the weekly tutorials and 54% attend all the weekly tutorials. Some students even go to more than one per week.

Consultation

Each tutor and lecturer is rostered for a period of consultation each week. The lecturers do their consultation in their own rooms but the tutors use a small room containing two white boards and about ten tables and chairs arranged in a group format. This means that tutors can help students with multiple questions and others can benefit from hearing the explanations. Many students sit down and work with each other especially on their CML questions. There were 30 hours of consultation times available during each week. Sometimes a student used the consultation time as a private tutoring session until another student arrived. Prior to deadlines and exams the consultation periods were extremely busy.

In addition students were able to email the lecturers and also use the Bulletin Board on WebCT for asking and answering questions.

PASS

PASS stands for Peer Assisted Study Sessions. This is a resource made available to students in addition to tutorial classes. They are very different from tutorials and are planned to be complementary to the tutorial classes. PASS sessions are conducted by students from 2nd and 3rd year, who have excelled in the subject in previous years. They have undergone a selection interview and have been trained in leadership for these study sessions. The sessions are optional for the students undertaking the course, and there are only 19 sessions offered each week catering to about 40% of the enrolment. Each week leaders work in pairs leading groups which range in size from 16 to 25. Throughout the semester the leaders are required to re-attend lectures. Together they plan their own sessions allowing for flexibility and the opportunity for each session to cater for the specific groups needs.

The aims of PASS are

• To give students the opportunity to interact in small groups and work collaboratively.
• To encourage students to learn progressively and avoid cramming before exams (CML's also aid this).
• To assist students to settle into uni life and develop more independent learning skills.
• To encourage the students to gain a deeper understanding of each of the concepts rather than superficial learning.

Methods PASS uses to facilitate learning

PASS groups use a variety of different methods and ideas to keep the students interested and learning. Some of the commonly used learning situations are also used in PASS. These include group work, use of multiple choice questions and topic summaries.

• Group work- theory and calculation questions are often used for this. A group is given a question to work through. If each group is given a different question, someone from each group presents the solution to the class. More advanced students are often used to help explain concepts to other group members. This has been found to be a benefit to both parties.
• Multiple choice questions are often used for a way to start a class and focus the students' attention to the material for that particular week.
• Class summary- each student is asked to add one thing to the board to make a summary of the subject material for that particular week.

An innovative and enjoyable aspect of PASS arises from the more informal atmosphere in the groups because the leaders are very similar in age to the students and are not expected to know everything. Many leaders have developed fun situations using games such as Bingo, Who wants to be a Minty-aire?, relays, and Sale of the Century (where they work as groups). This use of games in PASS seems to be unique in the learning opportunities available to students at university. The logic is that if the students are enjoying themselves they are more likely to participate and as a result learn more.

In order to investigate how well students had retained knowledge and what possible effects tutorial and Pass attendance have had on their learning, a short questionnaire was developed and presented in the lectures of Quantitative Analysis B (EC136) which is the second semester follow-on subject.

The Questionnaire

The questionnaire was a brief one with four sections. The first consisted of eight true/false questions selected from the multiple choice section of the EC135 final examination. Each true/false question was just one of the four choices from a particular question. The first four questions were on work that was covered early in the semester and the last four questions on work that was covered in the second half of the semester and were relevant to the content of the follow-on course. Students next had to circle one of the four choices for number of tutorials attended, PASS sessions attended and grade achieved. The grade of 2 (fail) was included even though EC136 has as its prerequisite a passing grade in EC135, because it is allowable for a student to repeat EC135 and do EC136 concurrently. The third section consisted of twelve true/false questions relating to the approach the student had taken towards studying for EC135. Finally students were given the opportunity to write a sentence or two to help clarify our understanding of the student's approach to learning the subject matter of EC135. It was two typed pages reduced onto one side of an A4 sheet. The questionnaire is included as Appendix.

Results

The attendance at tutorials and Pass as answered on the questionnaire is summarised in Table 2. It can be seen that almost 70% of respondents have attended tutorial classes regularly with 11 % stating they attended neither tutorials nor Pass. It also shows that students who are strong attendants at Pass are also regular attendants at tutorials.

When comparing the grade achieved with the tutorial and Pass attendance it can be seen from Table 3 that of the respondents who gained a grade of 5 or more (Credit or above) 75% had attended tutorials regularly, and about half of these had also been regular pass attendants. It is more difficult to explain the good results from the eleven students who said they neither attended tutorials nor Pass sessions.

When assessing the responses to the eight true/false content questions it is obvious that the first four questions on content from early in the semester were answered much more poorly than the questions on the more recent topics. Tables 4 and 5 present the counts for each set of four questions. The eleven students who gained a high grade but did not use the resources of tutorials or Pass must be assumed to be giving the correct responses in column 1 of each table. Otherwise in general it appears that the more tutorials that are attended by students the better their retention rate. The same conclusion cannot be made as easily for the Pass attendance, although as recorded above most Pass attendants are also strong tutorial attendants. There is therefore much interaction between them.

The responses to the true/false questions about methods of study show that about 50% felt they kept mostly up to date with the subject matter (but not all of these indicated that they worked steadily throughout the semester). Approximately 77% of respondents found CML questions good practice, 66% studied past exam papers and 52% summarised the text chapters and lectures. 75% found that working with friends was helpful. 67% found tutorials helpful for problems and understanding, 62% found PASS helpful in understanding the work and 35% used tutor consultation times. These percentages apply to students gaining the whole range of grades since about 54% of the respondents gained a grade of 5 or more. These data tend to support the expectations of the Pass coordinator and lecturing staff that using the resources available and working throughout the semester results in better understanding.

A survey conducted at PASS sessions at the end of the EC135 course revealed that 96% (260 out of 270) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that "PASS promoted a deeper understanding of the material".

From the optional comments section at the end of the questionnaire, where students could write a sentence or two describing their approach to learning, it was found that there were 28 mentions of tutorial exercises and 20 of CML questions being very useful. Attending PASS and summarising text and/or lectures received a mention from 15 respondents. Other strategies that were mentioned were working through past exam papers, working with friends, cramming (either for only a day or two or else for two to three weeks before the exam).

Conclusion

Regular tutorial attendance contributed strongly to attaining high grades. Attending tutorials and/or PASS sessions promotes consistent effort throughout the semester resulting in higher retention of knowledge. The responses from the content questions show clearly that students have retained greater knowledge from the latter half of the semester and it appears that the more tutorials that are attended by students the better their retention rate. It is difficult to isolate the separate contribution of tutorial and PASS attendance as many students attend both. The expected appropriate methods of study, i.e. tutorial exercises, CML exercises, PASS attendance and summarisations, were all mentioned as major strategies for successful learning.

APPENDIX

QUESTIONNAIRE Your lecturer in EC136 has kindly allowed this questionnaire to be presented during his lecture. The aim is to try to ascertain the value of PASS attendance and tutorial attendance in the previous subject EC135. Your answers now will help us make decisions about provision of these resources in the future. Please answer the following true-false questions which are based on EC135 subject matter.

In order to assess the contribution tutorial and PASS attendance may have made to your long term retention of this knowledge please answer the following questions by circling the appropriate answer.

Indicate True or False to the following descriptions to indicate your approach to EC135:

Please write a descriptive sentence or two which adds to our understanding of your approach to learning the subject matter of EC135.

Thankyou