Here's a practical example: say you have an assigned task of writing a method that returns the sum of two numbers passed to it. If you asked for help with this, we wouldn't answer it directly. We'd ask what you already know, looking for missing knowledge or misunderstandings that are preventing you from answering it yourself.

We might ask what you know about how methods are written and how they work, how variables are passed and values are returned. For example, if you're not sure how to pass in a variable, or even that this can be done, the assignment could seem impossible. Or maybe you have the name and the type the wrong way round, or perhaps there's an issue with scope, brackets and the 'this' keyword.

As it becomes clear what the gaps are between what you know and what's need to answer the question, we can work on these areas in isolation, away from assignment. By using examples, looking over your previous work with you and talking about the course material, we aim to fill you in on the techniques and clear up any wrong ideas, so you know what's available for you to use and how to use it.

Coursework takes effort, but it's not meant to be a struggle. If it does seem impossibly difficult or it's not clear how to start, this can indicate that there is preparatory work to be done. It's helpful to break tasks down into smaller pieces and consider how questions fit with the theory you're covering. As well as being mindful of plagiarism boundaries, we also don't want to spoil the learning experience by giving you too much. By handing you back smaller tasks to complete for yourself, you'll increase your abilities to work with the material, enabling you to reach a higher level of expertise that lets you solve the bigger questions - in assignments and your later working life - for yourself.

This is just one example of what could happen if you asked about an assigned question. The PAL sessions give you time with students who completed courses last year, which you can use as you like. You might ask for clarification on a lecture you didn't find clear, discuss how material links in with other courses, explore other perspectives or just enjoy a chat. You can ask about anything you like at any level, we don't judge or keep records of who comes to sessions (just the number of people). Anything you talk about in PAL doesn't affect your degree marks or get shared with faculty in any identifiable way. The sessions are for you, so let the PAL team and myself know if there's anything we can do.