Community engagement: mentor beliefs across training and experience

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this quantitative study was to understand how training and the development of the mentoring relationship impacts mentor beliefs across time within a therapeutic mentoring program called Campus Connections, a community engagement program that pairs university undergraduate and graduate students with youth from the local community in a mentoring relationship for an academic semester. Specifically, we studied how mentor beliefs are constructed at the start of the mentoring program, how these beliefs shift after four weeks of training, and how mentor beliefs change after participating in the mentoring process during an academic semester. Results indicated mentors held unhelpful mentoring beliefs prior to training and that training combined with the mentoring relationship created a positive impact on mentoring beliefs. Implications for the mentoring relationship and community engagement programs are discussed based on the trajectory of mentor beliefs within the study.     

Developing Mentors: An Analysis of Shared Mentoring Practices

Understanding how experienced teachers share and articulate effective mentoring practices can guide efforts to prepare quality mentors. This qualitative study focused on mentoring practices within a teacher-designed student-teaching program conceptualized while the mentor teachers within the program were students in a graduate-level mentoring course and implemented upon the mentors’ completion of their graduate studies. Data sources included interviews and field notes from meetings with mentors and student teachers. The results detail specific mentoring practices: explicit instruction through scaffolding, developing the whole teacher, student-teacher-directed learning, fostering student teachers’ individual practice, explicit mentoring of one another, and reflecting on mentoring. These practices were enabled by program structures such as mentor meetings, an online forum, and mentors’ observation of all student teachers in the program.     

Evaluating a Psychology Graduate Student Peer Mentoring Program

Research on mentoring outcomes and characteristics of various types of mentoring programs in different settings is limited. The present study sampled 39 graduate students at a small Midwestern university to evaluate peer mentoring in a graduate school setting. Mentoring function and outcome relationships as well as program characteristics were explored. As expected, mentoring functions were highly correlated with various outcomes. Results indicated psychosocial assistance, networking help, and relational outcomes were reported most among participants. Interestingly, pair compatibility and mentor preparation were not found to be essential program characteristics. Program recommendations and future research are discussed.     

Mentoring programs: A question of design

Mentoring programs have been advocated for a variety of higher educational settings, including medical education. Reviewing the literature suggests that consensus is lacking on definitions of mentoring, resulting in difficulties with evaluation of mentoring programs. This article describes a systematic approach to designing a mentoring program for medical students that addresses questions of goals, mentor functions, mentor selection, preparation and matching to protégés, and evaluation of mentoring programs. Student participation in all phases of program design and implementation is emphasized.     

Item Analysis in Introductory Economics Testing

Abstract

An interdisciplinary mentoring program for graduate teaching assistants, the GTA mentoring program, offers the needed support for graduate students in their training as teacher-scholars. Authors outline the vision and structure of the program and highlight student, faculty, and institutional benefits. This program involves regular meetings of small teams consisting of graduate students and a faculty mentor, as well as larger group meetings of all participants. Benefits include the development of personal and professional relationships, an open forum for the discussion of teaching and research issues, increased professional support, and greater confidence in classroom instruction.     

Toward a Holistic View of Undergraduate Research Experiences: An Exploratory Study of Impact on Graduate/Postdoctoral Mentors

Involvement in research has become a fixture in undergraduate science education across the United States. Graduate and postdoctoral students are often called upon to mentor undergraduates at research universities, yet mentoring relationships in undergraduate—graduate/postdoctoral student dyads and undergraduate—graduate/postdoctoral student—faculty triads have been largely unexamined. Here, we present findings of an exploratory case study framed by relational theory that identifies the motives, gains, and challenges reported by graduate/postdoctoral students who mentored undergraduates in research. Graduate/postdoctoral mentors experienced a wide range of gains, including improved qualifications and career preparation, cognitive and socioemotional growth, improved teaching and communication skills, and greater enjoyment of their own apprenticeship experience. Notably, graduate/postdoctoral mentors reported twice as many gains as challenges, neither of which were limited by their motives for mentoring. Indeed, their motives were fairly narrow and immediate, focusing on how mentoring would serve as a means to an end, while the gains and challenges they reported indicated a longer-term vision of how mentoring influenced their personal, cognitive, and professional growth. We propose that understanding the impact of mentoring undergraduates on the education and training of graduate/postdoctoral students may uncover new ideas about the benefits reaped through undergraduate research experiences.     

Scholars committed to opportunities in psychological education: a training and mentoring program for future psychologists of color

ABSTRACT

Although strides towards inclusivity and racial equality have been made in graduate education, many barriers to graduate education remain for racial/ethnic minorities. In response, we created Scholars Committed to Opportunities in Psychological Education (SCOPE), a mentor-based program for racial/ethnic minority undergraduates. 63 racial/ethnic minority undergraduates completed the SCOPE curricula and pre- and post-program questionnaires regarding graduate school application knowledge, application confidence, stress, self-efficacy, and SCOPE program satisfaction. Mentors completed a training and questionnaires in one SCOPE cohort. Knowledge about the GRE, the application process, and application confidence increased, and stress decreased, following SCOPE. The result of this work is a portable mentoring program that can be used across disciplines and demographics to increase inclusivity and equality.     

The Role of Scientist Mentors on Teachers’ Perceptions of the Community of Science During a Summer Research Experience

This study focuses on the mentor relationships between science teachers and their scientist mentors in a summer Research Experience for Teachers program at a United States national laboratory facility. Using mixed methods, the authors surveyed and interviewed (semi-structured) the eleven participating teachers before and after the program. The authors also observed the teachers with their mentors each week. During these observations, three different types of mentoring relationships were observed. The authors highlight these through case studies of three teachers, each of whom experienced one of the three relationships. These case studies include their pre and post survey and interview data as well as classroom observations following the program. The results show that the mentoring relationship positively influences teachers?? views of scientific inquiry. The participating teachers felt a sense of membership in the science community as a result of the mentoring they received from their scientists and/or other members of their research group (i.e. graduate students, post doctorates). The three cases demonstrate that teachers felt a higher sense of ownership when they were ??discovering?? information that was new to their scientist or ??translating?? their work. All three types of mentoring relationships improved teachers?? understanding of scientific inquiry, which can translate into the classroom.     

Mentoring in a Graduate Counseling Program: Students Helping Students

This article presents a student-to-student mentoring program, which matches current and incoming students to ease the new student's transition to and involvement in graduate school.     

The Research Mentoring Program: Serving the Needs of Graduate and Undergraduate Researchers

Many institutions of higher education confront seemingly unrelated needs of graduate students, who need not only to complete their dissertations but also to learn how to become proficient mentors for undergraduates as they move on to faculty roles. The graduate students are increasingly searching out high-impact learning experiences such as involvement with undergraduate research. The program we describe in this article offers a solution to these issues by pairing undergraduates with graduate students to work on their dissertation research. Undergraduates undertake hands-on research while learning about graduate school, and the graduate students learn about the mentoring process while receiving assistance that allows them to keep their dissertations moving toward completion.     

On Masters and Apprentices in Physical Education

This paper discusses the impact of the mentoring role of faculty on fostering a quality educational experience for graduate students. Although potentially significant graduate students naturally gravitate to work with significant faculty, it is the mentoring role of the advisor that allows the student's potential to be realized. Clues to the impact of this mentoring role are gleaned from Zuckerman's (1977) analysis of American Nobel Prize laureates. To promote a quality advisor–student relationship, departments need to look beyond the student and considerations of the norms and regulations of entrance and ongoing program criteria. One necessary and very significant precursor will be the presence of quality faculty.     

Design,implementation, and evaluation of a multi-disciplinary professional development program for research mentors

ABSTRACT

Undergraduate research experience has been shown to enhance student learning and improve persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Researchers studying undergraduate research experiences have largely focused on student outcomes and have seldom investigated the outcomes of graduate and postdoctoral mentors. Here, we report a non-credit, year-long mentor professional development program designed for graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and research staff in STEM. Mentors attended a series of six interactive and discussion-based workshops and mentored first-year undergraduate students in independent summer research projects. We report evaluation findings for three mentor cohorts using a combination of qualitative analysis of mentoring philosophies and quantitative assessment of pre- and post-surveys about mentoring objectives and skills. Results indicate that mentors gained self-efficacy in some objectives and skills. However, many other objectives and skills remained unchanged. We explore possible explanations for the lack of more broad-scale gains across survey items and present ideas for program improvement.     

Mentoring in academe: Models for facilitating academic development

Mentoring academics is an integral step in aiding their professional development. This commitment to mentoring is discussed by three criminal justice professors, each in a distinct phase of his career. Three distinct mentoring models are discussed: (1) continuing a mentoring relationship with a dissertation advisor or other mentor from graduate school, (2) developing a new mentoring relationship at an academic institution where one receives a position, and (3) developing a new mentoring relationship with an academic in the same field, but at a totally separate institution. The authors describe their advancement in the field of criminal justice as it relates to the existence of a mentoring model, focusing on identifying the strengths of each model.     

The Principal's Apprentice: Mentoring aspiring school administrators through relevant preparation

This emergent case study explores a special case of mentoring about the value and relevance of graduate administration programmes for professionals aiming to lead schools. It describes a questionnaire that was piloted with a graduate education group and then completed by beginning school administrators who were also interviewed. A graduate professor and student in a leadership programme collaborated on this study in order to more fully represent crucial perspectives. Their analysis of the questionnaire data suggests that some administrative tasks and duties (e.g., mediating school conflicts) are considered of the utmost importance for new school leaders to know. Topics covered by this emergent analysis of administrator preparation and related reform issues include a veteran teacher's story, major climate issues, literature on school administrator preparation that elucidates mentoring themes, insights from new school administrators, and examples of graduate programmes that include relevant education internships. Discussion focuses on concepts and examples of educational internship solutions and initiatives. The authors conclude with a call for programmatic improvement from the perspective of challenges that will need to be addressed to ensure change.     

MENTORING IN GERONTOLOGY EDUCATION: NEW GRADUATE STUDENT PERSPECTIVES

Involvement in a mentor-student relationship is an invaluable experience for new graduate students. These students frequently have opportunities and experiences provided to them by their mentor that may be otherwise unattainable. Mentoring can help new graduate students develop academically, personally, and professionally. This article describes mentoring in gerontology education from the perspectives and personal experiences of new graduate students in sociology and gerontology. Discussed in this article are types and phases of mentoring, the need for a mentor in gerontology education, selection a mentor, and issues related to mentoring and career advancement.     

Mutual Mentoring: Co-Narrating an Educative Friendship Between an Education Professor and an Urban Youth

An education professor and a high school student tell the story of their mentoring relationship, focusing on the academic journey of the protégé. The narrative attempts to give voice to both mentor and protégé as it relates an authentic win–win situation for both participants and their families. The narrative is theoretically grounded in the literature describing co-mentoring and network mentoring arrangements that are less unilateral and authoritative, and more bi-directional and relationally-based than traditional mentoring arrangements. The authors contend that since educational achievement and attainment determine to a significant degree ones participation in the American Dream, academic assistance and guidance provide a logical area of emphasis for mentoring our youth. Important recent developments in the youth mentoring movement are also discussed.Gregory J. Fritzberg is an Associate Professor of Education at Seattle Pacific University. Aragaw Alemayehu is a 2003 graduate of Ballard High School in Seattle, Washington. Address correspondence to Dr. Gregory J. Fritzberg, College of Education, Seattle Pacific University, Peterson #408, 3307 3rd Ave, Seattle, WA 98119, USA; gregf@spu.edu.     

Mentoring Undergraduate Researchers: An Exploratory Study of Students’ and Professors’ Perceptions

Mentoring is believed to be one of the most influential factors in US efforts to encourage college‐aged students to seek careers in science, yet the role that mentoring plays in this process has not been elucidated. The researchers were interested in understanding whether the long‐held beliefs about the importance of mentoring would be revealed as what actually occurs in an undergraduate research program. They describe students’ perceptions of the mentoring process and students’ beliefs about how it impacted their experiences as undergraduate researchers and their development as scientists. Also described are professors’ perceptions of their roles and effectiveness as mentors in students’ development as scientists. A multi‐case narrative analysis was conducted of two groups, undergraduate science scholars (n=5) and mentoring professors (n=5), who were each interviewed on two occasions at the beginning and end of the first year of a funded research program. As this grounded research study shows, students and professors described student gains as increased technical expertise and communication skills. Professors suggested that they were available to students on a regular and frequent basis. However, students’ experiences suggested a contradiction. They were often mentored by postgraduates, technical assistants, and other students; their meetings with mentoring professors were infrequent and at times distant. With respect to mentoring, this finding highlights the differences between beliefs and the reality of what was delivered. Professors discussed the challenges associated with mentoring including the recruitment of and difficulty of working with students whose first language was not English and concerns about the quality of instruction from graduate students.     

The Role of Interpersonal Comfort in Mentoring Relationships

This research examined interpersonal comfort as a potential mediating mechanism in mentoring relationships. Results indicated that interpersonal comfort mediated the relationship between gender similarity and protégé reports of career and psychosocial mentoring. Contrary to prediction, interpersonal comfort did not mediate relationships involving mentorship type (i.e., formal versus informal). However, we did find that informal mentoring and interpersonal comfort were positively associated with career mentoring. The research helps illustrate the important role that interpersonal comfort plays in the mentoring process.     

Effects of Mentoring Programs on New Teacher Retention: A Literature Review

Building upon previous literature reviews, this article highlights research and evaluation efforts regarding the effectiveness of mentoring programs for new teacher retention in the USA since 2005. Through the analysis of various mentoring program components, different research methods used, and major findings from these studies, we discuss the non‐linearity and complexity of both the mentoring process itself and the study of mentoring on new teacher retention. Based on our review, we offer recommendations for researchers and decision‐makers to enhance the quality of such studies and maximize the use of the findings in improving mentoring programs and enhancing teacher retention.