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Duke kicks off the year with Peer Educators Training

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On Friday, August 28, the first Friday night of the fall semester, Duke’s Biological Sciences Building and French Family Science Center buzzed with students navigating between its classrooms. The Academic Resource Center’s (ARC) third annual “Peer Education Symposium” hosted over 150 student participants who came together with one goal: becoming better peer educators. 

The student attendees represented a collection of educational student roles from across the university, including DukeLIFE tutors, School of Nursing Tutors, Biology Undergraduate Learning Assistants, Athletics Tutors, and the ARC Peer Educators. 

 

“The Peer Ed Symposium gives our student attendees an opportunity to connect with each other, hear from pedagogy experts, and start the year off with a refresh on best practices,” noted ARC Peer Education Manager, Cheryl Beierschmitt, Ed.D. “For some of our attendees, this experience also counts towards their College Reading and Learning Association’s International Tutor Training Program Certification, which is a certification required of all ARC Peer Educators.” 

The symposium took place over the course of five hours and consisted of 25 different sessions led by experts from across the university with titles including: 

  • “Advanced Time Management” with Reed Colver, ARC 
  • “The Science of Effective Student Support: Evidence-Based Communications Skills” with Kristin Russell, DukeLIFE 
  • “Chemistry Learning & Problem-Solving Learning” with Jim Parise, Chemistry 
  • “AI in Peer-led Learning” with Megan Goforth, Duke Athletics 
  • and many more 
A lecture hall full of students with two chatting with a professor.
Student peer educators connect with each other and faculty over dinner. photo by Gabrielle Stanfield

Sessions were very interactive, and participants found themselves engaging in conversations, breakout groups, and role-playing scenarios throughout the evening. “We received curated sessions on active learning skills, listening, studying, along with a wonderful keynote from Dr. Hard,” said Josué Blanco, an ARC Peer Educator and Duke junior. “I really enjoyed meeting my fellow peer educators and hearing advice from them in between sessions. Also, seeing familiar professors who were also visiting sessions in order to refine their own skills was very inspiring.”  

The keynote address, “Understanding How People Learn: Minds, Motivation, and Meaningful Connections,” was given by Duke psychology and neuroscience professor Bridgette Hard. Hard leads the university’s Center for Teaching and Learning as faculty director, and her research at the Behavioral Research Informing Teaching Excellence (BRITE) Lab aims to improve higher education by applying psychological theories and methods. 

Profess Bridgette Hard lectures
Professor Hard gives the keynote lecture. photo by Gabrielle Stanfield

“What I know and understand now after many years of teaching is that students aren’t learning robots,” Hard addressed the lecture hall during her keynote. “They are incredibly complex individuals.” Hard continued by detailing the evolution of learning theories and outlining current methods in the science of learning. She stressed that student learning should be evidence-led. 

The student educators trained during this symposium will engage with hundreds of students this academic year. The ARC Peer Educators work with over 1,300 students annually. If you are a Duke student who would like to work with the ARC’s Peer Educators or enroll in a SAGE Learning Community or Peer Tutoring group, please visit https://arc.duke.edu/peer-education/ to sign up. 

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