Activating Students through Academic Skills tutoring - a solution for the Passivity Problem?

By dr. Cato Drion (GELIFES)

Students and teaching staff of the Biology BSc program observed that semester 1a of the first year mainly consisted of passive studying. According to both lecturers and students, this passivity resulted in a lack of 1) self-directed learning, 2) peer interaction, 3) engagement with the program, and 4) basic academic skills—issues that persisted in subsequent courses.  

To address this problem, the project group ‘Activating Students in Year 1’ designed an innovation: weekly tutor meetings during semester 1a, focused on training academic skills in a small-group setting requiring active participation. This ultimately resulted in the course ‘Basic Academic Skills’ which recently completed its first run. 

In this talk, I will share the design of this innovation and our experiences implementing it, including insights from students and tutors.

Hybrid format: From this year onwards, we will hold the sessions live on campus (bring your own lunch), but you can also follow the seminar online.

• Location: Linnaeusborg, 5173.0045