Mentoring first year study groups - benefits from the mentors’ perspective

Nadia Rahbek Dyrberg 1 * , Claus Michelsen 1
More Detail
1 Laboratory for Coherent Education and Learning, Faculty of Science, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
* Corresponding Author
EUR J SCI MATH ED, Volume 5, Issue 1, pp. 43-54. https://doi.org/10.30935/scimath/9496
OPEN ACCESS   1421 Views   971 Downloads
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

The ‘study group concept’ at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) was implemented to aid first year students’ transitional challenges. A mentor (an older student) is affiliated each study group to facilitate productive group work, bring awareness to study habits, and share his/her own experiences with life as a student. The study explores the mentors’ benefits of their employment (n=43) and compares the mentors to non-employed students. Data was obtained through a questionnaire composed of open and closed questions. Findings suggest that a large portion of the mentors have expanded their network (67%), increased their consciousness of study habits (60%), and developed academic abilities (40%). The mentors constitute a group of students highly engaged in the university community compared to the non-employed students. Awareness of the benefits of student employment is important to both decision makers and students themselves.

CITATION

Dyrberg, N. R., & Michelsen, C. (2017). Mentoring first year study groups - benefits from the mentors’ perspective. European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 5(1), 43-54. https://doi.org/10.30935/scimath/9496

REFERENCES

  • Altus, J., (2015). Answering the call: How group mentoring makes a difference. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 23(2), 100-115.
  • Austin, A. E., (2002). Preparing the next generation of faculty: Graduate school as socialization to the academic career. The Journal of Higher Education, 73(1), 94-122.
  • Beyers, W. and Goossens, L., (2002). Concurrent and predictive validity of the student adaption to college questionnaire in a sample of European freshmen students. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 62(3), 527-538.
  • Bordes, V. and Arredondo, P., (2005). Mentoring and 1st-year latina/o college students. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 4(2), 114-133.
  • Boyle, F., Kwon, J., Ross, C., and Simpson, O., (2010). Student-student mentoring for retention and engagement in distance education. Open Learning, 25(2), 115-130.
  • Brennan, J., Edmunds, R., Houston, M., Jary, D., Lebeau, Y., Osborne, M., et al., (2010). Improving what is learned at university: An exploration of the social and organisational diversity of university education. Oxfordshire, England: Routledge.
  • Brinkworth, R., McCann, B., Matthews, C., and Nordström, K., (2009). First year expectations and experiences: Student and teacher perspectives. Higher Education, 58(2), 157-173.
  • Chester, A., Burton, L. J., Xenos, S., and Elgar, K., (2013). Peer mentoring: Supporting successful transition for first year undergraduate psychology students. Australian Journal of Psychology, 65(1), 30-37.
  • Chuang, H., Thompson, A., and Schmidt, D., (2003). Faculty technology mentoring programs. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 19(4), 101-106.
  • Colvin, J. W. and Ashman, M., (2010). Roles, risk, and benefits of peer mentoring relationships in higher education. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 18(2), 121-134.
  • Dyrberg, N. R., Kromann, C. G., and Michelsen, C., (2015). Studiegrupper og studiegruppevejledere på naturvidenskabelige universitetsuddannelser [Study groups and study group mentors at tertiary science programmes]. MONA - Matematik- og Naturfagsdidaktik, 4, 44-64.
  • Dyrberg, N. R., (2016). University Belonging: The relation between students’ sense of belonging and being a student employee at the university. Manuscript submitted for publication.
  • Fox, A., Stevenson, L., Connelly, P., Duff, A., and Dunlop, A., (2010). Peer-mentoring undergraduate accounting students: The influence on approaches to learning and academic performance. Active Learning in Higher Education, 11(2), 145-156.
  • Gershenfeld, S., (2014). A review of undergraduate mentoring programs. Review of Educational Research, 84(3), 365-391.
  • Hall, R., and Jaugietis, Z., (2011). Developing peer mentoring through evaluation. Innovative Higher Education, 36(1), 41-52.
  • Holmegaard, H. T., Madsen, L. M., and Ulriksen, L., (2014). A journey of negotiation and belonging: Understanding students’ transition to science and engineering in higher education. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 9(3), 755-786.
  • Hsieh, H.-F. and Shannon, S. E., (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288.
  • Jacobi, M., (1991). Mentoring and undergraduate academic success: A literature review. Review of Educational Research, 61(4), 505-532.
  • Laing, C., Robinson, A., and Johnston, V., (2005). Managing the transition into higher education. Active Learning in Higher Education, 6(3), 243-255.
  • McKeegan, P., (1998). Using undergraduate teaching assistant in a research methodology course. Teaching in Psychology, 25(1), 11-14.
  • Michelsen, C. and Dyrberg, N. R., (2014). Trefasemodellen: Didaktisk planlægning af lokalprogression [The Three Phase Model: Didactical planning of local progression]. Dansk Universitetspædagogisk Tidsskrift, 9(16), 18-30.
  • Ocel, J. J., Palmer, B. A., Wittich, C. M., Carmichael, S. W., and Pawlina, W., (2003). Outcomes of the gross and developmental anatomy teaching assistant experience. Clinical Anatomy, 16(6), 526-530.
  • Pittman L. D., and Richmond, A., (2008). University belonging, friendship quality, and psychological adjustment during the transition to college. The Journal of Experimental Education, 76(4), 343-362.
  • Retna, K. S., Chong, E., and Cavana, R. Y., (2009). Tutors and tutorials: Students’ perception in a New Zealand university. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 31(3), 251-260.
  • Rybczynski, S. M., and Schussler, E. E., (2011). Student use of out-of-class study groups in an introductory undergraduate biology course. Life Science Education, 10(1), 74-82.
  • Schalk, K. A., McGinnis, J. R., Harring, J. R., Hendrickson, A., and Smith, A. C., (2009). The undergraduate teaching experience offers opportunities similar to the undergraduate research experience. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 10(1), 32-42.
  • Skaniakos, T., Penttinen, L., and Lairia, M., (2014). Peer group mentoring programmes in Finnish higher education: Mentors’ perspectives. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 22(1), 74-86.
  • Smith, K. S. and Kalivoda, P. L., (1998). Academic morphing: Teaching assistant to faculty member. In M. Kaplan (Ed.), To Improve the Academy. (pp. 85-102). Vol. 17. Stillwater, OK: New Fonuns Press.
  • Strayhorn, T. L., (2012). College students’ sense of belonging: A key to educational success for all students. New York: Routledge.
  • Tinto, V., (1987). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
  • Tinto, V., (2006). Research and practice of student retention: What next? Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 8(1), 1-19.
  • Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.