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 2023-24, 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, BIOL 121
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.
2023-24 Term 1 (September-December)
Sessions will begin on Monday, September 18th, 2023, and regularly scheduled sessions will conclude on the last day of classes (December 7th).
Sessions will not run on statutory holidays or during Midterm Break (November 13-15). 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.
Thursday, October 12th
Sessions on this date will reflect the usual MONDAY schedule, as UBC courses will be following a Monday class schedule on that date.
Final Exam Prep Sessions
Special Final Exam Prep sessions will be taking place on the following dates:
- MATH 180: Monday, December 4th, 12:00-1:00pm in FSC 1615, and Wednesday, December 6th, 2:00-3:00pm in FSC 1220
- BIOL 121: Tuesday, December 12th, 12:00-1:30pm in FSC 1611
- MATH 190: Thursday, December 14th, 2:00-4:00pm in FSC 1611, Monday, December 18th, 10:00am-12:00pm in FSC 1611, and Tuesday, December 19th, 10:00am-12:00pm in FSC 1611
- ECON 101: Monday, December 11th, 11:00am-12:30pm in FSC 1611
Schedule Changes as of October 30th, 2023:
Please note that there have been changes to the schedule for ECON 101 and MATH 190 sessions, starting on Monday, October 30th. The schedule below has been updated to reflect these.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| MATH 180 12:00-1:00pm FSC 1615 Leader: Sai | MATH 190 11:00am-12:00pm FSC 1402 Leader: Chelsea | BIOL 121 11:00am-12:00pm FSC 1615 Leader: Emily | ||
| ECON 101 3:00-4:00pm FSC 1220 Leader: Claire | BIOL 121 12:30-1:30pm FSC 1615 Leader: Emily | MATH 180 2:00-3:00pm FSC 1220 Leader: Sai | MATH 190 3:30-4:30pm FSC 1402 Leader: Chelsea | ECON 101 1:00-2:00pm FSC 1617 Leader: Claire |
No registration is required; drop in for whichever sessions work best for your schedule.
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