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P@SS - Personal Academic Student Skills Module

What is this?

P@SS is a Level 1 module (20 Credits) presented as an integrated programme of Academic Skills that are required for successful learning at University. The course is offered by the Academic Achievement Teaching Unit (AATU) to students in the Colleges of Arts and Social Sciences, Life Sciences, and Science and Engineering. If you are a student in Year 1 or Year 2 (exceptionally students in Year 3), you can take the module provided that it fits in with your timetable and is approved by your advisor of studies as consistent with their programme of study and by the Course Convenor of P@SS (Mr Michael Allardice - m.allardice@dundee.ac.uk).

New Students: classes are scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in Baxter Suite 1.36 on the first floor in the Tower Building. Please contact: please email the email the PASS co-ordinator: pass@dundee.ac.uk to arrange for registration to the course. The P@SS leaflet will give you more information.

How we can help

Aims of P@SS are to:

• develop a wide range of skills to support your learning for your degree programme;
• help you to understand how to achieve success in your studies;
• show you how to manage coursework in all your subjects and modules; and
• give you insights in how to improve your marks and make your learning easier.

Its features are:

• The course is available in Semester 1 and again in Semester 2.
• The course follows a programme of three workshops a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9.00 - 10.00 a.m. supported by My Dundee participation.
• Each workshop integrates with material and activities presented through My Dundee
• When numbers permit, we divide the course into two groups - a Year 1 group and a Year 2 group each with its own tutor(s).
• Sometimes over the period of the course we work as a single group and sometimes as two groups according to year of study and to the learning focus for that workshop.
• The syllabus is the same for both groups but adjustments are made to take into account the newness of university study in the case of first year students, and build on the experiences of those students who have been in the University for longer.
• Assessment includes class-room based and e-learning activities in addition to a traditional exam and a compulsory project that relates to one of your other academic subject areas

How students felt that P@SS had helped them to develop their learning skills

• P@SS really helped me in the first couple of weeks of University. I learned how to reference properly, how to improve my time management and how to work on my writing skills. Also I really liked the presentation task, because I know now what to improve and were my strengths and weaknesses are. Student A
• I found that the class on note taking was also very helpful as before my note taking style wasn't as useful as it could have been but since then I have changed the way I take down notes and now I am finding I have more useful information which makes sense...I also have altered my reading style after the speed-reading sheets and am now able to read slightly faster, which is always helpful when time is short! Student C
• I've got all of my notes together for my P@SS Project essay, which is good because now I can put them together to form a valid argument for my question. If I can I'm going to try and condense my organisation, by that I mean specifically set out and try to set myself time limits for completing tasks Student D

How students felt that P@SS had helped them to be better at communicating with others.

• Over the past couple of weeks I have learned to communicate better in class. In the past, I have been very reserved and have not spoken up when I knew the answer to something or wanted to express my opinion on a subject of discussion. Student E
• At first I was a bit daunted by the prospect of having to talk to lots of people I did not know, but once I got started I realised that everyone was in the same position and was as nervous as I was. This was a good task to get everyone to talk to each other and I hope that activities such as this will help me gain confidence in talking to lots of people I do not know well. Student F
• My group had the specific task of discussing different methods of learning. This gave me the opportunity to convey my preferred methods of learning to my other classmates and also to hear their views in return. I'm glad I was able to take part in this class as I think it's motivated me to use my Dundee more often and to take part more. I found it quite easy to interact with my classmates over the discussion board and hope to do it again in the future. I can take what I learned in the pass class today and use it other subjects, as from that one hour I feel more confident in using the university internet network. Student G

What students thought that they could improve on

• The last two weeks in P@SS have been an eye-opener, I'm taking things for granted. I am expecting warnings, things handed to me on a plate and I shouldn't be thinking that way. It is no excuse to keep on saying that I'm just out of high school and I am trying to get used to it 8 weeks should be enough to know that I'm responsible for my own actions. Student H
• As for the presentation that I was so worried about it went perfectly fine and I handed my geography report in on time. I don't think it was the best I could have done but it was the best I could do in the time given. I missed a coupe of history lectures last week thinking that my Geography report was more important and I really wish I hadn't now. Cause I feel so silly in the lectures. I have got myself a big pile of books to read through on the topics that I missed out on, so I am trying vigorously to catch up. Student J

How students thought that P@SS had helped to develop their confidence and have faith in their own ideas

• It has been really helpful getting to know people, as most of them, like myself, have chosen to take P@SS in order to help us aim high and achieve my ambitions. Student K
• I am also getting better at putting my thoughts down on paper. It is hard for me to make an objective judgement about this, but I feel I am genuinely more able to express my thoughts. The PASS project, submitted this week, showed my ability to successfully produce a report. Student L
• I have also used my newly found confidence to just approach people in my classes and talk to them and this is thanks to [the tutors] forcing us to talk to people we have never met. Student F
• I've spent the past week on the Discussion Boards of the VLE arguing against learning in groups, saying it's hard to get the confidence to speak up. It's not actually that bad. A group of my friends and I watched football today and just talking about things in general, and I learnt quite a bit. Ok it wasn't relevant to my course but it's good, again for confidence. Student M
• I know I am on the right track and that gives me confidence and motivates me to do well in my classes. Student N
• I have become more open and confident in some ways while beginning to put more attention to reading and studying. Student P

Information for staff

Our experience within the University indicates that students who have had training in the Academic Literacies are better equipped to meet the standards required of university undergraduate study. Students electing to take this module do so for a number of reasons:

• declared feelings of uncertainty about their ability to achieve the standard required
• personal desire to do as well as possible
• dissatisfaction with performance in other modules
• recommended by module lecturer or tutorial assistant
• recommended by adviser of studies
• failure in exams attributed to weak learning skills

The concept of Academic Literacy is not a new one but it is one that is building a research base that supports our experience - and, indeed, our staff have contributed to this research base within our own professional associations and in publications that indicate that the Academic Achievement Teaching Unit within the University of Dundee is a leader in the provision it makes to support our students. This has been acknowledged in the Royal Literary Fund publication 'Writing Matters' (2005).

If you have concerns about a student's performance, then you might wish to suggest to the student that they consider doing this module as a means of developing their learning skills - the Academic Literacies - that will lead them to success in their undergraduate programme. Alternatively, if this route is not possible, then they could make an appointment to meet with the Academic Achievement Teaching Unit (aatu@dundee.ac.uk).