One of the core elements of my upcoming presentation will
introduce the topic of peer mentoring and consider the benefits that peer
mentoring brings to a mentee. I know
that any kind of peer mentoring scheme or buddy scheme benefits those who take
part in them. This brings me back to my time as a student at the University of
Wales, Bangor, where I had the opportunity to take part in the launch of a
University wide buddy scheme. I felt as
though I was giving something back to the University by taking on a group of new student guiding and support them during their first few weeks and inevitable their first year at University. It was
music to my ears to hear how valuable it was for them to have a peer to chat to
and ask questions and in some cases having the mentor take on mentee as a tutee.
With
this in mind, it was clear that before looking at how mentoring could
effectively be used for online programmes I needed to take one step back and
look again at peer mentoring in general.
I call it peer mentoring, though it seems that it known under
many names:
·
Peer tutoring
·
Peer mentoring
·
Proctoring
·
Supplemental instruction
I
must admit that I find the last example in this list less appealing. According to Beasley, C. (1997) peer mentoring is regarded
as cost-effective means of providing
academic support to students through the use of a valuable teaching and
learning resource, namely other students and continuing on this them benefits would
include:
·
improved understanding and performance
in the subject area involved
·
improved confidence and study skills, as
well as on-going friendships
I have to agree on both of
these benefits, as I witnessed this myself as a mentor and mentee. Peer mentoring has both a learning and social
aspect to it. At this stage I think it
is important to look at the benefits from two main parties involved the “Mentor”
and the “Mentee”. The research I have undertaken over the last few days has
helped me to provide this following summary
Mentor Benefits
·
Mentoring provides the mentor the opportunity to develop both
their leadership and professional skills through assisting their mentee in getting
acclimatised to a new academic environment.
·
A peer mentor's own working knowledge of university policies and
procedures provides the mentee with additional support.
·
Peer mentoring provides the mentor with an opportunity to build
professional relationships within a given academic department.
Mentee Benefits
·
able to focus more on studies due to the support provided by their
peer mentor
·
In many cases this supportive environment successful through peer
mentor's empathy for the mentee's position.
·
The student is able to achieve a higher level of productivity
because of her increased academic focus.
·
This builds confidence and increases the likelihood that the
student will succeed in her new academic environment.
Some of my research also
involved me looking for interviews that highlight the benefits of peer mentoring
and the selection I am sharing here highlight much of what I had discussed thus
far.
What I also find interesting about the short
interview is that they elude to the fact that peer mentoring schemes are also
used to help with the transition that many students have to make when the move
on to life a University.
My next post will look more at Peer mentoring for online programmes
Resources:
Beasley, C. (1997). Students as teachers: The
benefits of peer tutoring. In Pospisil, R. and Willcoxson, L. (Eds), Learning
Through Teaching, p21-30. Proceedings of the 6th Annual Teaching Learning
Forum, Murdoch University, February 1997. Perth: Murdoch University. http://lsn.curtin.edu.au/tlf/tlf1997/beasley.html
Peer
Mentoring Benefits | eHow.com
http://www.ehow.com/info_8367270_peer-mentoring-benefits.html#ixzz1mqkC6e7V
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