Extracurricular activity based on undergraduates – postgraduates peer learning to promote student’s academic research skills in developing countries higher education: experiences form Syria

Abstract

Higher education in the developing world is challenged by high number of students and rigid curricula. These challenges require innovative ways to support students learning. In this paper, a new extracurricular activity was designed to promote academic research and self-learning skills using undergraduate – postgraduate peer learning. The course aims to fill the gap in active learning in the developing world. The newly designed course was delivered to 20 students from different fields of studies in Syria. Each group was mentored by a postgraduate student and supervised by an academic. Students provided positive feedback on the course design, aims and skills development. Comparison of students’ academic research skills was performed through pre- and post-course evaluation. Significant improvement in literature search skills was observed (p < 0.05). The proposed course can be replicated in other developing countries creating an educational opportunity for research and self-learning skills among students at different grades of studies.