Peer Assisted Learning and the creation of a 'learning community' for first year law students

This paper will explore the impact of peer assisted learning on studenttransition and the creation of a “learning community” by way of a casestudy of first year law programmes at the University of Ulster. A reviewof first year law programmes was undertaken to identify whether studentexpectations were being met and how the first year experience could beenhanced. Students were clearly having difficulty making the transitionto university and coping with the independent nature of a law degree.Findings led to the implementation of a peer support scheme for new firstyear law students in the form of Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) whichwere used to encourage students on the undergraduate LLB programmesat Ulster to support each other in their learning. The PASS scheme was evaluatedand this paper highlights the value of peer support particularly inrelation to the transition process and increasing student confidence in theirsubject.