Access academic support for many first-year courses through the Peer-Assisted Study Session Program offered by the Faculty of Forestry.
What is PASS?
Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) are free, drop-in, structured group study sessions designed to help students understand key concepts and practice the skills necessary for success in traditionally challenging courses. PASS sessions complement what you learn while attending lectures, but are not a replacement, and are a great way to meet other Forestry or Land and Food Systems students in your classes.
Our sessions are welcoming, supportive and engaging, and help students understand course concepts and develop study strategies for the specific subject matter. They are facilitated by upper-year Forestry and Land and Food Systems students who have been successful in the course in previous years.
In 2022-23, PASS Leaders will be offering small group sessions to support students taking:
Term 1: ECON 101, MATH 190, MATH 180, BIOL 121
Term 2: APBI 200, MATH 101, BIOL 112
Sessions are designed to help students:
- Gain a more in-depth understanding of the course content
- Meet students from their class in a small group setting
- Test their knowledge about their course prior to tests and exams
- Develop transferable study skills
Research has shown that the more PASS sessions students attend, the greater likelihood they are of improving their overall understanding of key concepts, which results in achieving higher grades. We hope that we see you at one or more of our sessions each week!
Who facilitates PASS sessions?
Sessions are run by senior undergraduate students in Forestry and Land and Food Systems who have been trained to incorporate a variety of different activities, games, practice questions, mock quizzes and techniques to help you progress each week throughout the semester. PASS sessions are not like lectures or tutorials; they are not structured as a passive review session or a FAQ.
2022-23 Term 2 (January-April)
Sessions will begin on Monday, January 23rd, 2023.
Sessions will not run on statutory holidays or during Reading Break (February 20-24). Sessions will always be cancelled if classes are cancelled on a particular day (inclement weather, etc.).
Any session cancellations will be posted in this space.
SESSION CANCELLATION: * Please note that the APBI 200 session on Tuesday, January 24th at 2:00pm is cancelled. We hope to see you at another session!
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday |
| BIOL 112 11:00am-12:00pm FSC 1402 Leader: Cissy | MATH 101 11:00am-12:00pm FSC 1402 Leader: Dahlia | ||
| MATH 101 2:00-3:00pm FSC 1402 Leader: Dahlia | *APBI 200 2:00-3:00pm FSC 1402 Leader: Kelsey | BIOL 112 2:00-3:00pm FSC 1617 Leader: Cissy | |
| APBI 200 2:00-3:00pm FSC 1617 Leader: Kelsey | APBI 200 4:00-5:00pm FSC 1615 Leader: Nicola | ||
| APBI 200 5:00-6:00pm Zoom Link Passcode: 029225 Leader: Nicola |
2022-23 Term 1 (September-December)
Sessions will begin on Tuesday, September 20th.
Sessions will not run on statutory holidays or during Reading Break (November 9-11). Sessions will always be cancelled if classes are cancelled on a particular day (inclement weather, etc.).
Any session cancellations will be posted in this space.
SESSION FORMAT CHANGE: Due to inclement weather, the MATH 180 Final Exam Prep session will now take place on Zoom. See Zoom links and further details below.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday |
| BIOL 121 12:00-1:00pm FSC 1402 Leader: Cissy | MATH 180 12:00-1:00pm MCML 260 Leader: Saihaj | BIOL 121 12:00-1:00PM FSC 1402 Leader: Cissy | ECON 101 1:00-2:00pm FSC 1617 Leader: Lizzie |
| MATH 190 5:30-6:30pm Zoom Link Leader: Nicola Passcode: 272482 | ECON 101 2:00-3:00pm FSC 1402 Leader: Lizzie | MATH 180 1:00-2:00pm FSC 1002 Leader: Saihaj | MATH 190 5:30-6:30pm Zoom Link Leader: Nicola Passcode: 272482 |
Final Exam Preparation Sessions
Join us for additional sessions during the final exam period focusing specifically on preparing for exams. These sessions will focus on reviewing major course concepts and work through practice exam questions.
- MATH 190
- Thursday, December 8th, 5:30-6:30pm Zoom Link Passcode: 272482
- Monday, December 12th, 12:00-2:00pm in FSC 1617
- MATH 180
- Tuesday, December 20th, 2:00-4:00pm via Zoom (session will now take place online due to weather conditions)
- Zoom Link
- Meeting ID: 698 4114 6570
- Passcode: 123456
- Tuesday, December 20th, 2:00-4:00pm via Zoom (session will now take place online due to weather conditions)
- ECON 101
- No additional final exam prep session – please attend the regular session time on Tuesday, December 6th as the last session for the term
- BIOL 121
- No additional final exam prep session – please attend the regular session time on Wednesday, December 7th as the last session for the term
What students are saying about PASS:
“SUPER helpful and would 100% recommend. [The PASS Leader] was amazing at leading sessions and made it so much fun to attend!” – 2021-22 participant
“[The PASS Leader] was really really helpful this term. She was super approachable and explained things in a very easy to understand way. Thank you!!” – 2021-22 participant
“Going over how to solve example problems and breaking them down during PASS sessions was the most helpful for me because we didn’t always go over specific things in lectures.” – 2020-21 participant
“I loved attending PASS sessions since they really helped me to find out which areas I needed to focus on while studying and helped to increase my overall knowledge of the course content.” – 2020-21 participant
Hoping to attend PASS but the times listed don’t work for you? Send us an email to let us know – we may be able to change session times if there is enough student interest!
Questions? Contact Lydia Braam at lydia.braam@ubc.ca