scholarly journals The Benefits of Academically Oriented Peer Mentoring for At-Risk Student Populations

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-199
Author(s):  
Bryan Hall ◽  
Joseph Serafin ◽  
Danielle Lundgren
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Peer Mentoring ◽  
Transition To College ◽  
Mentoring Programs ◽  
First Year ◽  
Mentoring Program ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Student Mentors ◽  
The University ◽  
Major Discipline

This article examines an academically oriented peer-mentoring program at St. John’s University. The program targeted at-risk first-year students who were having difficulty making the transition to college and matched them with trained student mentors within their major discipline. In addition to meeting with one another bi-weekly, all of the students came together for a series of organized events over the course of the academic year. The goals of the program were that mentees would (1) feel an increased sense of belonging at the university, (2) raise their GPAs, and (3) show improved retention to the second year. After examining how successful the program was relative to these goals, the authors recommend some best practices for peer-mentoring programs. These recommendations are based on both features of the program in the study that contributed to its success and areas where the program could have been improved based on the results.  

scholarly journals Engaging ‘students as partners’ in the design and development of a peer-mentoring program

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah O'Shea ◽  
Sue Bennett ◽  
Janine Delahunty
Keyword(s):  
Peer Mentoring ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Innovative Approach ◽  
Mentoring Programs ◽  
Mentoring Program ◽  
Design Development ◽  
School Of Education ◽  
Student Mentors ◽  
Guidelines And Recommendations ◽  
The University

This presentation focussed on an innovative approach to developing peer mentoring programs. Drawing upon a ‘student as partners’ framework, the presentation explored how this has been used to underpin an approach to peer mentoring from the ground up. University peer mentoring programs are largely designed and developed by staff, who not only recruit and train student mentors but also select frequency and type of involvement for all parties. This pilot project proposes a different approach by collaborating with students in the design, development and enactment of a peer-mentoring program within one School of Education. From this pilot, we will develop guidelines and recommendations for the implementation of student-led peer mentoring programs (Students as Partners in Mentoring: SaPiM) across the University of Wollongong (UOW). 

scholarly journals MySci Advisors: Establishing a Peer-Mentoring Program for First Year Science Student Support

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Poling
Keyword(s):  
Peer Mentoring ◽  
First Year ◽  
Mentoring Program ◽  
Science Student ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Early Evidence ◽  
University Life ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The University ◽  
Early Establishment

Would you like to help your students adjust to university life? Perhaps you are simply interested in allowing them to feel more integrated into a department right from the start of their first year? These were the types of issues that we were hoping to address when we founded the MySci Advisors Program, a peer-mentoring group for first year students in the Faculty of Science at the University of Windsor. This program is run entirely on a volunteer basis with no working budget, so if you were considering starting a mentoring program but have been concerned about the cost of doing so, this essay may be of particular interest to you. MySci Advisors is only in its third year currently, so this essay is meant to focus on the lessons we have learned in the early establishment of the program. I outline some of the practices we have adopted for the program, some of the changes we have had to make along the way and provide some early evidence of success. It is my hope that others may be motivated to also form such a program or use this information to assist in their own early endeavours.

scholarly journals Mentee Perspectives of a First-Year Peer Mentoring Program for Education Doctoral (EdD) Students

10.28945/4148 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 471-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel L Geesa ◽  
Kendra Lowery ◽  
Kat McConnell
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Degree Completion ◽  
Peer Mentoring ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Degree Program ◽  
Mentoring Programs ◽  
Future Research ◽  
First Year ◽  
Mentoring Program ◽  
Program Support

Aim/Purpose: In this paper, we examine how first-year education doctoral (EdD) students in a peer mentoring program may be supported in the academic and psychosocial domains to increase timely degree completion, decrease attrition, and improve the EdD program for students and faculty. Background: EdD students often face unique trials based on academic, social, professional, and personal challenges that arise during their degree program. The paper addresses how peer mentoring programs may help students overcome these challenges while completing their EdD program. Methodology: To investigate the effectiveness of a peer mentoring program for students, we focused on a single case study of an EdD peer mentoring program with 11 first-year EdD students who participated in the program. Using mixed methods, we collected and analyzed data from pre- and post-surveys, individual interviews, and a focus group. Contribution: Few studies about peer mentoring programs for EdD students exist. This study is unique because it focuses on first-year EdD students’ perspectives and, unlike other studies on peer mentoring programs, peer mentors are defined as graduates of the EdD program or current EdD students who are further along in the program. Whilst many studies of peer mentoring recommend peer mentoring for new students, our findings suggest that in the case of EdD students, extended or later peer mentoring may be more beneficial. Findings: From the quantitative and qualitative data results, five themes related to mentee perspectives of the benefits of EdD peer mentoring program emerged: 1) receiving academic advice and program support; 2) focusing on the future; 3) receiving emotional support and work-life balance advice; 4) having an experienced and relatable mentor; and 5) needing more mentoring to derive benefits. While mentees reported positive feelings about the mentoring program, many expressed that they did not yet have a need for mentoring. Considering that most mentoring studies focus on early program mentees, these results present the possibility of a need for extended or later-program mentoring. Based on the data, we identified a need for additional research which focuses on determining the correct timing for EdD students to begin peer mentoring program since students take coursework during their first year and have not begun work in the dissertation phase of the program. Recommendations for Practitioners: Sustainability of peer mentoring programs can present challenges based on the time and needs of mentees, mentors, and faculty. Doctoral faculty should evaluate the benefits of an EdD peer mentoring program for mentees on a regular basis to ensure that the program effectively supports and guides mentees to degree completion. Recommendation for Researchers: Literature and research on the evaluation, impact, and value of peer mentoring programs for EdD students and first-year doctoral students are limited. Researchers could study further the perspectives of mentees in an EdD peer mentoring program throughout their degree program from taking coursework to writing a dissertation. The benefits of early-program mentoring in comparison to later-program mentoring could be investigated further. Impact on Society: Providing mentoring opportunities to EdD students may help them overcome academic, social, and emotional challenges, and in turn, allow more education leaders to successfully complete their EdD and use their education to improve their school communities. Future Research: Future studies should examine other options of mentoring programs for first-year EdD students and EdD students who completed their EdD coursework and are working on their dissertation. Longitudinal studies are also needed to track mentees’ progression throughout the program.

FEUP peer mentoring: Promoting integration through support and experience sharing

2021 ◽  
pp. 030641902110259
Author(s):  
IM Ribeiro ◽  
TP Duarte ◽  
MMSM Bastos ◽  
AA Sousa ◽  
LFA Martins
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Peer Mentoring ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Integration Program ◽  
Social And Academic Integration ◽  
Degree Of Satisfaction ◽  
New Type ◽  
The University ◽  
Insight Into

Admission to higher education is a milestone in the lives of young people. This can be accompanied by several changes in the student’s life such as a new place of residence, a new group of friends, and a new type of education. This entry into higher education can provide a new series of experiences, challenges, and newfound independence. However, it might also expose problems and difficulties, possibly hampering the student's personal and academic development. In order to ease the integration into higher education, the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) has developed a Peer Mentoring Programme promoted by students already attending different FEUP courses (mentors) which intends to support the first-year students (mentees) in this phase of their life, coordinated by some teachers from each course. This social and academic integration program is supported by 4 core ideas: Integration, Support, Experience, and Sharing. This work provides insight into the way in which this program is organized at FEUP, highlighting the students’ participation (mentees and mentors), the main contributions that each of them values, their degree of satisfaction and involvement, activities that were developed, and some testimonies.

scholarly journals Mandating Obesity Testing Across the Curriculum: Lessons Learned

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-34
Author(s):  
James L. DeBoy ◽  
Sally B. Monsilovich
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
First Year ◽  
University Faculty ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
The Past ◽  
Placement Policy ◽  
The University ◽  
Radical Approach

In response to the obesity problem that has dramatically increased over the past 30 years, Lincoln University’s HPER faculty petitioned the University faculty to accept a somewhat radical approach: test all entering first year students using Body Mass Indices (BMI) data for placing students in a Fitness for Life class. This class would constitute the intervention for students with BMI scores of 30 or higher (obese rating). This paper describes the chronology of events that unfolded once the placement policy became known beyond the campus green. Arguments both for and against the controversial course are presented. While the placement policy has been modified, the aim of the intervention has not wavered: identify those students who are most at risk for hypokinetic disease and provide them with the appropriate resources to effectively address those amenable lifestyle factors that will rob them of quality and quantity of life. 

scholarly journals The Importance of First Semester Seminars for At-Risk First-Year Students: Analysis of Student Skills and Time Spent on Class Preparation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 510
Author(s):  
David E. Reed ◽  
Guinevere Z. Jones
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
At Risk ◽  
First Year ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Student Survey ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
First Semester ◽  
High School To College ◽  
Transition From High School ◽  
The University

The high-school-to-college transition can be difficult as students are adapting to a multitude of academic and social changes simultaneously. The University of Wyoming has created a first-semester program targeted at development of student skills for at-risk students using paired first-year seminar classes. Using student survey data from both pre- and post-course series, students were asked how important they thought academic and non-academic skills were as well as how much preparation time they were spending outside of class. Results from this work show large changes in the importance of skills and time spent studying during the transition from high school to college. This highlights the need to focus specifically on teaching skills to help students through the transition and suggests that not all skills are equal and data shows that students take longer than one semester to match their expected and actual amounts of time they spend outside of class studying.

scholarly journals The Effects of a Peer Mentoring Program on Academic Success Among First Year University Students

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Rodger ◽  
Paul F. Tremblay
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
University Students ◽  
Academic Motivation ◽  
Peer Mentoring ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Mentoring Program ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Final Grades ◽  
First Year University

The present study examines the effect of participation of first-year university students in a full-year peer mentoring program as well as individual differences in motivation in relation to outcome measures of retention and achievement. A sample of 983 first year students completed the Academic Motivation Inventory (Tremblay, 1998) and agreed to provide final grades; 537 students were randomly assigned to participate in the program, while the remainder served as a control group. Mentored students who continued to participate mid-way through the second semester had significantly higher final grades than did students in the control group. There was no effect on retention from year one to year two, however data are being collected on retention and grades for all groups for the length of their undergraduate careers. Students high in anxiety in the mentored group showed achievement comparable to that of low anxiety program participants, whereas students in the control group with high anxiety scored significantly worse on achievement than did their low anxiety counterparts.

scholarly journals Transitions and choices: Graduate student mentoring for psychology honours students

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun Khoo ◽  
Jenna Zhao ◽  
Adrian Walker ◽  
Jessica Kirkman ◽  
Branka Spehar
Keyword(s):  
Small Groups ◽  
Peer Mentoring ◽  
New South ◽  
Mentoring Programs ◽  
Mentoring Program ◽  
Postgraduate Study ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Career Options ◽  
The University ◽  
Support Students

Peer mentoring programs are typically designed to support students transitioning into university. However, recent work has highlighted the importance of supporting transitions through and out of university. The Australian psychology honours year is a particularly stressful period that involves transitioning through university into the research environment and is soon followed by transitions into the workforce or postgraduate study. The School of Psychology at the University of New South Wales, Australia (UNSW) recently developed a graduate/honours peer mentoring program. Pairs of PhD students mentor small groups of honours students in monthly meetings, discussing various aspects of honours and career options. Most honours students sign up for mentoring and evaluation results show that mentees find the program helpful, most frequently acknowledging that their mentors helped them with general advice and understanding their career options. Peer mentoring can therefore support psychology student transitions through and out of university.

scholarly journals Creating a Cross-Campus Peer Mentor Network

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kayla Lisenby
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Peer Mentoring ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Mentoring Programs ◽  
First Year ◽  
Campus Network ◽  
Peer Mentor ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Peer Network

This article provides specific best practices for creating a cross-campus peer mentor network. Peer mentoring programs are proliferating on college campuses, especially those that are focused on helping first-year students as they transition into a higher education institution. At an institution where several peer mentoring organizations may already exist, the creation of a cross-campus network can have many advantages to the institution, first-year students, upper-division students, and faculty. This article presents the advantages of establishing a peer-mentoring network and provides strategies for overcoming potential roadblocks to establishing such a program. In addition, seven steps for creating an effective and sustainable cross-campus peer network are shared.

scholarly journals Group mentoring for junior medical students: perceptions of mentees and mentors

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 670-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria de Fátima Aveiro Colares ◽  
Margaret de Castro ◽  
Cristiane Martins Peres ◽  
Afonso Diniz Costa Passos ◽  
José Fernando de Castro Figueiredo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Mentoring Programs ◽  
First Year ◽  
Mentoring Program ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Group Mentoring ◽  
One Year

Entering medical school can be associated with a number of difficulties that can hinder students' performance. Mentoring programs are designed to help students circumvent difficulties and improve their learning and personal development. The current study aimed to evaluate the perceptions of both students and mentors regarding a recently introduced, group-based mentoring program designed to support first-year students. After one year of regular meetings, students and mentors' perceptions of the program were assessed by means of structured questionnaires. Response content categories were identified through multiple readings. Both regular attendees and non-participating students had positive opinions about the program. Mentors were highly satisfied at having participated and acknowledged that the program has been useful not only for assisting students, but also for fostering their own personal and professional development. In conclusion, the group-based mentoring program is feasible and can elicit positive views from both mentors and students. In addition, faculty members' participation as mentors can also be beneficial, since the program appears to contribute to their own personal and professional development

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