Williams et al (851-864)

Back...

Enhancing Graduate Attributes through students providing Peer-assisted Learning at a South African University

Sandra Williams

Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5521-1299

Desiree Scholtz

Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8711-1568   

Abstract

Given the need for peer-assisted learning (PAL) to enhance the student learning experience, this study is located within the PAL programme in a faculty at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Peer assistants, referred to as Peer Support Champions (PSCs), provide PAL, such as academic and social support, in addition to formal tuition. These PSCs were senior students offering peer support as tutors, teaching assistants, mentors and retention officers. A PAL evaluation aimed to gain insights, perspectives and experiences of PSCs on providing PAL, using qualitative surveys and focus group sessions. Thirty-eight PSCs completed a qualitative survey, and thirty-nine PSCs attended four focus group sessions. The findings of this qualitative interpretative study revealed that PSCs not only provided much-needed peer support, but that PSCs demonstrated the development of institutional graduate attributes in their PAL engagements. The PSCs portrayed institutional GAs such as Technological Capability, Resilience and Problem-Solving Capability, Relational Capability and Ethical Capability. The widely used approach in higher education is to situate the mapping and acquisition of graduate attributes in the formal curriculum. However, this study shows that co-curricular support programmes such as PAL provide fertile ground for those providing student support to nurture and actualise graduate attributes. It is, therefore, expedient to utilise this strategy to embed graduate attributes overtly in PAL programmes to prepare peer assistants for prospective sustainable futures.

Keywords: Graduate attributes, higher education, peer-assisted learning, peer support champions

How to cite this article: Williams, S., & Scholtz, D. (2025). Enhancing Graduate Attributes through students providing Peer-assisted Learning at a South African University. African Perspectives of Research in Teaching and Learning, 9(6), 851-864.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.70875/v9i6article14