Pee

The University of Manchester

December 2013

Peer Support Newsletter Winter Edition

Inside this issue:

Social Media

The Month’s

Best Tweet:

‘We'll be teaching

(facilitating) our first

years some

ChristMACE carols. Any

ideas on lyrics?

#bakingchampion’

@MACEPASS

We have Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr accounts where we regularly advertise good practice, communicate with Leaders and Mentors and promote our schemes. If you think something went really well throughout the year, let us know all about it!

twitter.com/SaP_UofM

facebook.com/StudentsAsPartners

studentsaspartners.tumblr.com/

Welcome & Social Media 1

Strategy of the Week/

Highlights of the Month

1

National Leader

Conference

2-3

EEE PASS Hunger Games 4

FLS Scavenger Hunt 5

Speech & Language

Therapy’s Campaign

6

Hebrew PASS Chanukah

Party

7

Psychology Peer Mentors’

Christmas Events

7

Arabic Y1 PASS’ Eid

Celebrations

7

Civil Engineering PASS

S p a g h e t t i B r i d g e

Challenge

8

Advanced Maths PASS

Revision Session

8

LEL Photo Competition 8

EEE PASS LabView Crash

Course

9

Aerospace Engineers

PASS Debrief Poem

10

Manchester Melodies 11

Christmas Revision Tips 11

Strategy Highlights of the Semester

K.W.L.

Cupcake Mania

Jigsaw

Have you used any of these

strategies in your sessions this

Semester? Let us know how

you used them and send us a

picture if you have one!

Strategies of the Week are different

strategies that have been picked specifically

to aid your PASS session planning for certain

points in the year. Each week, Students as

Partners pick 4 to 6 cards that are relevant to

the time period (early Semester, mid-

Semester, late Semester, etc.) and cover all

disciplines.

Try and use as many as you can each week

and don’t forget to let your Coordinators and

Sabbatical Intern know of any sessions that

went particularly well.

Strategies Of The Week

The Semester is coming to a close and the holidays will soon be upon us. Students as Partners would like to wish you a very happy holiday. There has been some amazing work and activities this Semester and we’ve really enjoyed reading about them. In this issue, the Speech and Language Therapy Peer Mentor Coordinators talk about their work for the Giving Voice

campaign, FLS tell us about their Scavenger Hunt and Materials PASS give us the lowdown on their Hunger Games event. We’ve also got Peer Support Christmas carols, a Christmas Debrief poem and a recipe for good exam results! Good luck with all your exams and deadlines, and see you all in Semester 2! Enjoy!

Welcome to the Christmas Edition!

Quote of the Month: Study hard what interests you the most in the most undis-

ciplined, irreverent and original manner possible." - Richard P. Feynman

Page 2

There and Back Again - A PASS Leader Story

The National Leader Conference 2013

In Piccadilly train station, 6 PASS Leaders gathered to embark on adventure. Not an adventure filled with darkness or destruction, nor an adventure complete with superheroes and villains; it was an adventure to the National Leader Conference in Plymouth. Every year, the University of Manchester, as the National Centre for PASS, co-hosts a national conference for PASS and PALS Leaders from across the UK. In November, 6 PASS Leaders and two Sabbatical Interns, from the University of Manchester embarked on an adventure to Plymouth, the location of this year’s conference, to join 60 Leaders from 20 institutions across the UK and Ireland. Festivities began on Friday morning with some Leaders opting to brave the water in kayaks! After a speedy shower and change of clothes, Leaders boarded the ferry across to the Plymouth Barbican, arriving at Plymouth University in time for lunch. The afternoon activities involved the very first “team challenge” which took place under the watchful eye of the Team Challenge Chiefs (Holly Jones and Becky Allen). In the evening, all 60 Leaders headed back to their accommodation for dinner and the evening activity, a fabulous fashion show where outfits were created using balloons, newspaper and other resources! Hilarity ensued and after a busy day, many Leaders relaxed in the bar before heading to bed to ensure they were bright eyed and bushy tailed for the 8:45am start the next morning. Saturday saw the start of the parallel workshops, with Leaders being involved in sessions such as creative writing, marketing of PASS and voice confidence. These were interspersed with mini team challenges and the team “Chain Reaction” was crowned victorious! Other hilarious team names included Dizzee PASScal and OctoPASS. Before attending the conference, Leaders were asked to design a poster to represent PASS/PALS at their institution. During the conference, Leaders voted for their favourite poster, which was created

by Leaders from the University of West England. Manchester came in a very respectable 3rd place. After a final group meal, many Leaders said goodbye to their new friends and headed home. Some Leaders chose to spend the night celebrating the success of the conference! On Sunday, after perusing the local aquarium, it was time for the Manchester Leaders to end their journey and return to the north. It had been a successful but tiring experience for all involved! Our 6 Leaders have returned having made new friends and brimming with enthusiastic ideas about the promotion of PASS both within their schemes and across the University.

And so, they boarded a Magic Bus and came right

back to their own front doors.

Holly Jones, Sabbatical Intern for Life Sciences.

December 2013

Leaders strutting their stuff on the cat walk

during Friday night’s newspaper fashion activity!

Page 3

December 2013

Sabbatical Interns and PASS Leaders at Piccadilly train station, before embarking on their journey to Plymouth. From left to right: Holly Jones - Sabbatical Intern for FLS, Rebecca Allen – Sabbatical Intern for the Faculty of

Humanities, Jason Pang, Yasser Al-Aboura, Matthew Goodwin, Nadejda Capatina, Anum

Azam and Zaina Kiragu.

Manchester Leaders and Sabbaticals enjoying the National Marine

Aquarium shark tank!

Page 2 December 2013

Page 4

If you have been watching TV adverts, had a drink from Subway, or even if you were just walking past a bus stop, it has probably not escaped your notice that the Hunger Games: Catching Fire came out at the cinema recently. Material Sciences PASS Leaders caught the cinematic fire by running a Hunger Games themed event for their PASS groups. (Don’t worry, no-one died.) Each group was a District, and were given three 3-mark questions to try and answer in ten minutes. The catch? Each team had two Tributes chosen to represent them. The tributes were then interviewed to try and win the favour of the Judges (Dr Blanford, Dr Fonesca, Dr Hall and Student Coordinator Jack Palmer) who would be marking the answers. The Games started with the Tributes running for a

pen, but with only 6 pens to 8 Tributes, there were some Tributes who left the Cornucopia empty handed. Each Judge had a spare pen or a hint to give to a Tribute – if they had won them over in the interviews. However, breaking certain rules, such as leaving your designated area, your team leaving their designated area, and sneaking a look at another Tribute’s work could get you “killed”. The event was a great success, with students getting

extremely competitive, with some students wearing war

paint! Well done to all Material Sciences PASS

Leaders, your hard work really paid off!

Natasha Irwin, Sabbatical Intern For EPS.

May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favour …

Material Science PASS got into the competitive spirit to win over the Judges and win the Games. Congratulations to the winning District, District 2!

Page 5

December 2013

FLS PASS Scavenger Hunt Everyone remembers not being able to find a lecture hall or laboratory, usually on the day when the alarm didn’t go off and the buses were in a mess. To help first year students avoid one of the less pleasant features of “the University experience”, the FLS PASS Student Coordinators came up with a way of acquainting them with a selection of the components of the Manchester University labyrinth by means of a treasure hunt. Ten buildings were chosen and competitors were asked not just to find them, but to learn something about the person they were named after. As well as these fairly sensible tests, they were set a series of puzzles, a photo competition, and an Apprentice-like challenge to swap a PASS pen for something of equal or greater worth. FLS first year students are clearly an entrepreneurial lot, and the results included a highlighter (useful!), a chair from a dumpster (did they swap this with Stig? – no, not the Top Gear one) and a person (for dissection?). It took lots of work but the students and Coordinators had a great time, even if there was an unscheduled additional hunt for the cakes and juice which went AWOL. There is now a cohort of first year students who may be just a bit more likely to make it to their lectures. Article written by Natasha Brewer, a Student Coordinator for Life Sciences PASS.

Page 6

December 2013

Speech and Language Therapy Transforms Lives!

UoM Giving Voice Campaign The Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) Peer Mentor Student Coordinators are supporting the RCSLT Giving Voice campaign by involving all students in various events and activities to raise awareness about communication and swallowing difficulties. This has resulted in the development of several exciting events that will raise the profile of Speech and Language Therapy, encourage peer networking and offer invaluable voluntary opportunities. The SLT coordinators have also liaised with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) students to share campaign ideas and hopefully plan some joint events in the New Year (left photo). The Student Coordinators have also planned the very first end of year SLT academic ball to celebrate the achievements of all year groups and Faculty staff, encouraging further networking. The event will be a formal affair (black tie dress code!) and will use the Giving Voice campaign to Student Coordinators plan to get students making their own decorations for the event, including bunting that will spread the importance of speech and language therapy. There will be a band, a three course meal, activities and raffles and hopefully some guest speakers to share their accounts of how having a stroke has impacted on their lives. More exciting opportunities have arisen next May during the National Stroke Awareness Month; our very own Nancy Rothwell will be hosting a series of events to promote life after stroke, research developments and performing arts! Alana Botwright (4

th year SLT

Coordinator) has met with organisers from the Stroke

Association to determine how students can get involved. Some exciting voluntary opportunities at this major local event are in the pipeline so watch this space! The Student Coordinators have also put their creative skills to the test and created a ‘Giving Voice’ board in the Ellen Wilkinson building to share ideas for the campaign. It also encourages some thought provoking ideas related to their role by encouraging students to apply theory to practise (right photo)! To keep up to date with our campaign and help support our work, please join our Facebook group ‘UoM Giving Voice Campaign’. If you would like more information about the Giving Voice campaign itself check out: http://givingvoiceuk.org/. The Giving Voice Campaign has shown us how we can use the Peer Mentor scheme not only as a Peer Support and networking tool, but also as a means of promoting our role as students and professionals with rewarding results. Heba Asran, one of the 2

nd year Student Coordinators,

described the benefits of being involved in such an active Scheme. "Planning and taking part in these events and liaising with MMU has allowed us to branch out as an SLT course and help to raise awareness for Giving Voice." Alana Botwright, Student Coordinator for Speech and Language Therapy Peer Mentoring.

December 2013

Page 7

Jake Herman and Joseph Bellman, Hebrew PASS Leaders, recently organised a Chanukah party for all students and staff in the Middle Eastern Studies department. Jake told us that this successful twilight event was planned “to share some insight into Jewish religion and culture with the rest of the department.” According to Joseph, it had a 9/10 success rate and “the singing went well!” Well done gentlemen, keep up the good work!

Hebrew PASS Chanukah Party

The Psychology Peer Mentoring scheme organised a Christmas film social on Monday 9

th

December in the Zochonis Building. They used the projector and the couches in the Student Hub and turned the place into a Winter Wonderland. The students voted for their favourite Christmas movie and Love Actually came out on top, despite the suggestion of The Human Centipede by some! Entry was free as were the complimentary Christmas treats and hot drinks they served throughout the film. The event was open to non-Psychology students and staff members too so everyone could share the Christmas spirit! To raise funds to cover some of the refreshments, the Psychology Peer Mentor Scheme provided a Christmas Wrapping Service on Wednesday 4

th

December. Dedicated wrapping Elves waited in the common room in Coupland 1 building to wrap presents for students and staff to a professional standard. Whether students were busy with deadlines, suck

at wrapping or just plain ol’ lazy, the Mentors were there to help. This was also open to non-Psychology students and staff, who could bring their presents before their lecture and pick them up fully wrapped afterwards for just £1, including a nice fancy bow! Emily Williams, Student Coordinator for Psychology Peer Mentoring.

Psychology Peer Mentors Wrap Up With A Film

To celebrate the second Eid of the year, the Middle Eastern Studies Department and Arabic PASS scheme for Year 1 students held an Eid Celebration and Arabic Film Screening party on the 23

rd October.

There were Arabic sweets, mint tea and juice available to all which disappeared pretty quickly! Henna was also available to anyone who wanted it.

The event was well attended by Arabic students from all years as well as those on the LEAP language programme and students from L-PAL (a language exchange programme). A film screening of ‘Amreeka’ ended the evening and was beneficial to all by improving their understanding of the Arabic language. We are proud to say this was an event enjoyed by all who attended. Arabic Y1 PASS Leaders

Arabic Y1 PASS Eid Celebration & Film Night

An example of one of the beautifully wrapped presents. There was a choice of wrapping paper

and bows in every colour!

Page 8

December 2013

Civil Engineering Spaghetti Bridge Challenge

Advanced Maths PASS Leaders planned and organised a revision session for their group, who found it really useful. “The attendees used materials (A3 paper, whiteboard markers and coloured post it notes) and we encouraged them to be creative and informative with their presentations (some of the students even went to the board to explain the mathematical concepts to the group!).

My co-PASS Leader and I have also compiled a revision pack for the students. The pack contains the summary from Learning Modules 1 to 4 and some past exam papers. The student feedback has been great and attendance has vastly improved this week.” Maxell Guyud, Advanced Maths PASS Leader

Advanced Maths PASS Revision Session

Linguistics and English Language (LEL) Peer Mentors came up with a creative idea to get their students more engaged with the scheme. “If, like our scheme, you've had a few issues with Mentor-Mentee engagement, you will know how hard it can be to get people to commit to a time or place for a social event. Doodle polls and Facebook events are all well and good, but if 82 ‘attending’ names result in 6 students sat in a booth in the SU, then it’s clear it might take a bit more excitement and willingness for Mentees to get involved. As a relatively new scheme, we found getting our Mentees to engage with the Mentors is difficult. We launched a Photo Competition with the theme,

‘hidden beauty on UoM campus’. No commitment is needed, any smart phone/tablet/digital camera photo will do and all LEL students can take part. Running for the last two weeks of the Semester, entries get emailed to a Gmail account we set up and the winner will win £20 worth of Amazon vouchers. We promoted it via email and on Facebook groups with a poster. Hopefully, students could see that they don’t need to commit any time to take part and if they see that we’re running successful competitions, they may be more likely to get involved in our other events. It’s a simple idea that we’re hoping will draw in more interest. So rather than getting students to the events, we’re getting the events to fit the students! Vicky Murphy, LEL Student Coordinator

LEL Photo Competition

Civil Engineering PASS Leaders found an interesting and fun

way for first year students to put theory into practice. The

students were pitted against their Leaders to build a bridge

using only spaghetti and sellotape, which had to support a

weight without breaking. In the end, it was a team of PASS

Leaders who reigned supreme, although one team of Leaders

did not perform so well. It was an enjoyable event for everyone

who was involved, and really helped the first year students.

Page 9

December 2013

EEE PASS LabView Crash Course

On Thursday November 14th, the EEE PASS scheme

held a LabView crash course to address issues that the first year students were having with the Measurements & Analytical Software assignment. The assignment was to program an oscilloscope in LabView that contained the same functionality as a normal working oscilloscope in the laboratories. To properly complete this assignment, the students needed to have a good understanding of triggering, time division scaling, amplitude division scaling and loops.

Nigel Chan (left) helping a group of first year students with a LabView question. With this in mind, the PASS team set out to design a useful crash course for the first year students in the form of a laboratory exercise. The final laboratory exercise was prepared by Nigel Chan, one of the Leaders this year, who designed a two-part exercise. The first part was a simple exercise involving the design of a thermometer and the second part dealt with the oscilloscope directly. The thermometer exercise appeared unrelated to the assignment at first but it introduced the students to “while” loops in the LabView environment, which were essential to programming a good oscilloscope. The crash course was a success with a total of about 45 students attending. Students worked mainly on their own, directing their initial questions to their peers. If these were not answered, students could direct their questions at 1 of the 5 PASS Leaders or the Student Coordinator supervising the laboratory, who helped them to find the answer using facilitation techniques.

The feedback from the LabView crash course was well received. Most students found the laboratory helpful with a large contingent of students asking for another one to be held before the assignment deadline. Sadly, because of time limitations this request could not be fulfilled, however, an extra LabView crash course will be taken into consideration for next year’s scheme.

Dan Hardy (right) helping a first year student with his oscilloscope.

Ananya Gupta (left) helping a student with his oscilloscope . Hafeni Heita, a Student Coordinator for Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE) PASS.

Page 2 December 2013

Page 10

.

A Debrief Poem by Aerospace PASS Leaders

Andrew Aldridge and Luke Wheadon

Page 11

December 2013

Manchester Melodies by Tasha Irwin-

Sabbatical Intern For EPS Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Oh rest ye merry PASS Leaders, And Peer Mentors too. A very happy holiday,

From Peer Support to you. From post-It Notes to board markers

Festivity will ensue. Oh tidings from Peer Support,

Peer Support. Glad tidings from Peer Support

Merry Christmas Everybody (Slade) Are you hanging up your flipchart on the wall? Are you hoping that attendance will not fall?

Are you planning for a social, which you know will be the best?

Don’t forget to invite your Sabb as a guest! So here it is, Peer Support,

Everybody’s having fun. Plan for the future, It’s only just begun.

All I Want for Christmas is … Full Registers!

I don’t want a lot for Christmas, There is just one thing I need,

I don’t care about the presents underneath the Christmas Tree.

I don’t need to hang my stocking, there upon the fireplace. Santa Claus won’t make me happy, with a toy on

Christmas Day. I just want to log on,

See attendance for the session just gone, Make me want to dance ...

All I want for Christmas is completed attendance!

Oh Christmas Tree Oh chemistry, oh chemistry,

In ‘95 PASS started. What happened then?; Got taken up again;

Across the Uni it darted. And alongside, this great scheme,

Peer Mentors also reigned supreme. So students agree, when they study,

Peer Support gave them the key.

Pre-heat the room to around ‘quiet’ and switch Facebook to ‘off’. Ingredients: Lecture Notes Paper Highlighters Pens Post-it Notes Markers Past Papers Books 1. Summarize your lectures by getting your notes down to one page. 2. Concept map - write down the main idea in the centre of the page, and then branch out all the subtopics. Continue to add additional branches with related topics and circle groups of branches that are linked. 3. K. W. L. - split a piece of paper into 3 sections, and label each section with K, W and L. In the K column, write down everything you know about the topic you are revising. In the W column, write down

everything you don’t think you know, that you want to learn. Fill in the L column as you revise; as soon as you have learnt something, stick it in that column. 4. 3:2:1!! Write down 3 topics you know well enough that you could teach to your Friend/Parents/Fish. Then write down 2 topics you don’t understand that you can concentrate on more. Then write down 1 possible exam question that you can then work through. 5. Note cards can be used for vocabulary, formulas, concepts, questions etc. Write a question of concept on one side, and the answer/explanation on the other. 6. Take a Practice Quiz - give yourself a time limit to complete a past paper. Compare your answers to your lecture notes and textbooks to check if your answer is correct, or to see if there is anything else you could have added to your answer. Repeat steps 1-6 until all material has been fully absorbed or at least until the exam!

Delia’s Christmas Revision Pudding