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PEER ASSISTED LEARNING: FROM AND FOR STUDENTS
Providing assistance in processing learning material, stimulating motivation and wellbeing, creating interaction and social cohesion, fostering a sense of belonging to a group, ... Robbe Hollevoet, chairman of the StiII Faculty Student Council doesn’t stop talking about the many benefits of Peer Assisted Learning (PAL). He successfully introduced this form of collaborative learning at Group T Campus.
People, who are not professional teachers, help and support the learning of others in an interactive, purposeful and systematic way,’ is the definition of PAL in the professional literature. “In practice, it comes down to this”, Robbe explains. “A group of first-year students is guided in their learning process by senior students. The former are called the ‘tutees’, the latter are called the ‘tutors’. They meet at regular intervals to compare notes, do exercises together, exchange study tips, and so on. The tutor moderates the conversation and facilitates the tutees’ thinking and searching process. Thus, the tutor is by no means intended to teach as a substitute professor or lecturer himself during a Pal session.”
PAL is an initiative of the KU Leuven Learning Lab, the learning network that brings together the faculties’ teaching expertise. Experts from the Learning Lab are responsible for training and mentoring PAL tutors.
Opportunities
Engagement runs like a thread through Robbe’s studies at Group T Campus. As a second-year bachelor, he was already active in the student association Industria. There, he quickly made a career in the presidium, first as responsible for the Leisure Department, then as treasurer. During the past academic year, he ensured the smooth integration of the Student Council into Industria and became the first head of Industria-Education. Robbe’s talent did not go unnoticed outside the campus either. It earned him the chairmanship of StiII, the overarching Student Council of the Faculty of Engineering Technology. An experienced competitive swimmer, he was also part of the KU Leuven Swimming Team.
Robbe is fascinated by the student city of Leuven. “Students still realise too little how many opportunities the city and the university offer to broaden your horizons and make fascinating contacts outside your familiar circle of fellow students”, he believes. “In few places do you find so much cultural variety and young talent together. Unfortunately, many only come to this conclusion once they have left Leuven and the university.”
Double win
In record time, Robbe and a team of five staff managed to organise a PAL offering for the seven main courses in the first undergraduate year. They recruited 30 tutors who set up three to four sessions for each course during the academic year. A maximum of 20 students could register for a session. Once full, additional sessions were set up.
“For freshmen, PAL means a welcome addition and support”, Robbe continues. “But the tutors also learn a lot from it. For them, the sessions mean a refresher of the learning content, but the gain is mainly in the area of professional competences, i.e. the ‘soft skills’. I am thinking, for instance, of conversation and communication skills, team building, coaching but also working together with professors and campus staff. Besides, it looks good on your CV.”
Follow-up
Robbe graduated in July 2024 with a master’s degree in Biochemical Engineering Technology. His successor at IndustriaEducation can fortunately build on Robbe’s pioneering work. A crew of student representatives is ready to vouch for continuity.
At the faculty’s other campuses, interest in PAL has been generated. At KU Leuven-Brugge, lecturers have already taken the initiative to motivate students to become tutors. Even though Robbe has graduated, he does not completely disappear from the scene. After all, he joined the new Solar Team that has started designing a new solar car for the World Solar Challenge in Australia in August 2025. There, the team must defend its world title. Robbe is in charge of Marketing and PR, a position that suits him down to the ground. As for PAL, he does not have to teach the team much. The ancients of the previous teams remain closely involved in the construction of each new solar car. “After 20 years, PAL is in the DNA of every new team”, says Robbe. “We have already won two world titles with it.”
Yves Persoons
