Watching Samridha Shrestha, Class of 2019, it is easy to forget that one is not listening to an experienced teacher, but rather an undergraduate student. With the deftness of a longtime professor, Shrestha asks a series of probing questions to Taza Sahar, a Class of 2023 student struggling with an assignment for his Introduction to Computer Science class. After a series of aha moments, Shrestha guides Sahar to his own solutions for the problems that he was encountering.

Such interactions are illustrative of the UNIX Lab: NYU Abu Dhabi’s Computer Science Academic Space. Throughout the week, a team of ten dedicated peer tutors help students with concepts, assignments and even personal projects.

As a concept, peer tutoring is not a unique idea. “It is a formalization of something we have all been doing forever,” said Shantanu Bhatia, NYUAD Class of 2019 and former UNIX Lab peer tutor, describing the system. “Hey, I have a friend who is good with computers and he/she can probably help you. So this was basically having a job of a friend who is good with computers.”

This formalization of peer tutoring makes the UNIX Lab unique at NYUAD, a system only paralleled by the Writing Center. Sitting in the UNIX Lab, one cannot help but notice its popularity among students. Even at a relatively early point of the semester, peer tutors have their hands full. As Jacinta Hu, Class of 2019, pointed out, “In the last week, every shift I have been on, I have constantly been needed.”

Moreover, students are particularly complimentary of the tutors. According to Ayan Marwaha, Class of 2022 and a frequent visitor to the lab, the tutors are “really cool” and often will stay long after their shift ends.

Located in a large room next to the library, the current UNIX Lab has changed tremendously since its inception in 2013. Named after an operating system, the UNIX Lab was initially set up in NYUAD’s former home in Sama Tower as a space for Professor Azza Abouzied’s students to learn more about the Linux operating system. According to Abouzied, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Director of the UNIX Lab, the lab began with “three machines and a very small office space.”

Since NYUAD’s relocation to Saadiyat Island, the UNIX Lab has only grown as an academic space for Computer Science students and the peer tutoring system was added in 2016 in response to an increasing number of computer science students. “As we grew … there [came] a pressing need to provide some support to students outside of structures and faculty,” commented Abouzied.

The inspiration for the UNIX Lab comes from Abouzied’s own experience as a student. “This idea, that you could go to other students and they would help you with debugging, look at your code with fresh eyes and help you out, this was always something that I thought was important and really helpful,” said Abouzied.

Abouzied’s assertions are supported by pedagogical research. Janet W. Colvin, professor at Utah Valley University, argues that peer tutors often have a greater influence on students than advisors and instructors.

“Generally, students are roughly at the same level. So when somebody learns a concept and they try to explain it to another person, the hurdles that they went through to grasp or figure out the concept are very fresh in their minds,” said Abouzeid. “That might not be so easy to do when you are looking at a professor who has had years of experience, who is very intimate and familiar with the material.”

Considering the singularity of the UNIX Lab, students have wondered if the lab could be a model for other majors. According to Hu, students from other disciplines have considered the possibility. “It would help foster a sense of community to have this across different programs,” agreed Bhatia.

Yet, skepticism about the possibility of applying such a model across majors remains. Hu noted that peer tutoring may not be as helpful for some classes, hence no such system has been created. However, the scope of the UNIX Lab goes beyond class projects. “A lot of people have their own computer science projects, code or their scripts – things that they are making by themselves that they still need help with,” said Marwaha, an Economics major. “I don’t know if that’s the case as much [...] with our major.”

Regardless of whether the UNIX Lab model is replicable for other majors, it continues to fulfill an important function for Computer Science students. Bhatia concludes by stating that the main objective of the UNIX Lab “is to make people excited to learn computer science, to learn about computers, because, well, computers are just damn cool.”