Peer Education Symposium trains over 100 students

Approximately 100 students attended the Academic Resource Center’s (ARC) Peer Education Symposium on Friday, September 5. This event, hosted in the Biological Sciences building, showcased a wide variety of Duke leadership professionals who instructed students working in peer education and support roles on ways to enhance their supportive and pedagogical skills. The student participants attended four fifty-minute sessions of their choice, allowing them to focus on the subjects best suited to their specific peer education positions.  

Participants came from a variety of roles, including DukeLIFE tutors, School of Nursing Tutors, Biology Undergraduate Learning Assistants, Athletics Tutors, and the ARC Peer Educators. “The ARC employs 63 Peer Educators and nine Peer Success Leaders,” noted Peer Education Manager, Cheryl Beierschmitt, Ed.D. “Since the ARC Peer Education Program is Level 1 Certified through the College Reading and Learning Association’s International Tutor Training Program Certification, ARC Peer Educators also receive certification for their participation in this symposium and other training.”  

Symposium presenters included not only ARC Learning Consultants and Peer Education staff, but also leadership experts from DukeLIFE, CAPs, the Career Center, the Biology Department, the School of Nursing, Athletics Student Support, the Program in Education, and Quad Advising. Session topics covered a wide range of skills, from time management to AI in peer education. Each session leader engaged students in various ways beyond the lecture to create a more memorable experience for attendees. For example, in the section “Advanced Study Strategies,” ARC Learning Consultant Camille Smith had students describe their favorite desserts to demonstrate how peer educators can use Bloom’s taxonomy of learning domains to evaluate student understanding. Smith and many of the presenters also incorporated small-group activities into their discussions. Biology Professor Kelly Hogan and Shaun Thompson, from the Program in Education, led their student groups in role-play scenarios to prepare participants for difficult conversations that may arise in peer education relationships. 

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Dr. Whitney McCoy, a Research Scientist at Duke University’s Center for Child and Family Policy, presented the keynote. She focused on the pressing need for inclusive support for students studying STEM subjects. “I feel like [the STEM landscape] should be this open door that I’m just walking through and someone is welcoming me in,” Dr. McCoy said. She then prompted the room: “Raise your hand if when you go into these spaces, that’s how you feel STEM is all the time.” No audience member raised a hand at this, so she continued. “Raise your hand if you wish it were that way.” The entire room was full of raised hands. “Me too,” she agreed. “You, as peer educators, are in a perfect position to keep those doors open and plug in those leaks that our system has caused due to those locked doors and barriers.” She went on to discuss common barriers that students face in STEM, such as impostor syndrome and implicit biases, as well as methods peer educators can use to address these issues.