Peer support and group activity
An overview of peer support and group activities within the School of Informatics.
Peer support
It is invariably true that students learn as much from one another as from formal lectures and tutorials. We recommend that students form groups of three or four to discuss issues and difficulties they might have in the courses they do. This is often best done informally with people you know are doing your particular course(s). If you are not able to form such a group informally then we can put you in touch with any other people who might also want to form a group. Just let an INFBase tutor know your details.
For first year students, peer support is available via InfPALS. This is a set of peer support groups that you can sign up to and will help you in your learning via discussion with peers.
As you go through the work, you may well be able to help one another with understanding. Discussion helps clarify precisely what you do or don't understand. If, after discussion you still do not understand something then INFBase is for you. Go along as a group (or individually) to talk to an INFBase tutor, who will help you with the issues you do not understand.
Programming Club
This is an initiative we started two years ago to provide extra support for beginners and additional training for experienced students. It is a weekly two hour session led by demonstrators and teaching staff for students to gain more programming experience working together on fun projects and challenges in a relaxed setting. We are aiming to find the most helpful support for students in the early years. Please pop along or let Hugh and Volker know if you have any suggestions.
Group Activities
There are many opportunities for you to get involved in group activities as part of the Informatics student community, here are some examples.
Student representatives provide the vital link between students and staff who support their learning. Year reps feed back on the content and delivery of courses at Staff Student Liaison meetings and at weekly meetings with the Director of Teaching, to influence the overall student learning experience. Student representatives are elected to represent hundreds of students within our School. There are weekly Informatics Staff and Student Rep meetings; the minutes can be found on the blog.
There are many opportunities for enthusiastic Student Ambassadors to become involved in the recruitment of the next generation of Informatics students!
CompSoc (the University of Edinburgh Computing and Artificial Intelligence Society) is a student-run organisation with strong ties to the School of Informatics. CompSoc aims to provide a social network for students with an interest in computers, encourage both novice and advanced computer users to further educate themselves and others and build relationships between students and professionals in the IT industry.
Hoppers are the official society for Gender Minorities in Informatics at the University of Edinburgh our goal is to cultivate an open community with the aim to provide a supportive and inclusive society where people are comfortable and build both technical and networking skills to thrive in the tech environment.
Tech Meetup is a monthly excuse for developers and the tech community around Scotland to get together and learn new stuff from each other - Student Tech Meetup (STMU) is the local Informatics student version.