Practical Applications in Academic Mentoring (PAM) Course

Peer Leaders take the Practical Applications of Academic Mentoring (PAM) course during the fall and spring semesters. PAM is a 2-credit, General Studies course that meets once a week for 2 hours. There are 3 discipline-specific sections, each of which is taught by one of the instructors of the "parent" course (Calculus, General Chemistry, or General Physics).

In the PAM course, first-time and veteran Peer Leaders work together to solve the weekly PLTL problems in advance of their PLTL group meetings, using collaborative-learning strategies that they learned in the SAM course. The course instructors design the PLTL problems and designate which collaborative-learning strategies the Peer Leaders should use when working on each problem.

During each PAM session, Peer Leaders

  • Practice the collaborative-learning strategies that their PLTL groups will use while solving problems during the upcoming PLTL group meetings
  • Determine how effective those strategies are when working on the weekly problems
  • Identify aspects of the problems, and of the underlying concepts, that are likely to be challenging for their PLTL groups
  • Sharpen their knowledge of the underlying concepts

Major Assignments

  • Four papers reflecting on 1) the effectiveness of the problems (level of difficulty, success at generating discussion and collaboration) and 2) the effectiveness of the collaborative-learning strategies when the group solved each problem
  • Two observations of other Peer Leaders' sessions
  • Development of at least one new PLTL problem or activity
  • Participation in the spring interview process to select new Peer Leaders

Current Instructors

Lisa Kuehne (Mathematics and Cornerstone)
Megan Daschbach (Chemistry)
Jason Woods (Physics, Radiology, College of Arts & Sciences, and Cornerstone)