Mentoring doctoral students online: mentor strategies and challenges

The purpose of our research was to explore faculty members’ experiences with online mentoring during the dissertation stage of an online doctoral program. During semi-structured interviews, four mentors reflected on their online mentoring of students, specifically the strategies that worked well, challenges faced while mentoring online, and other factors that contributed to their mentoring practices. The data revealed the importance of structure, small group mentoring, and peer support in overcoming challenges faced during online communication and the mentoring of dissertations at a distance. Implications for the online mentoring of dissertations are discussed.     

Pupils Helping other Pupils with their Learning: Cross-age tutoring in a primary and secondary school

Doctoral students leave their programs early due to lack of mentoring relationships needed to support degree completion and success. However, how mentoring contributes to Ed.D degree completion is not widely studied. In this qualitative narrative study, we sought to explore how multiple mentoring relationships reduced attrition in an Ed.D program. Study participants shared their experiences with mentors across their life domains (academic, personal, and professional) to seek support needed to promote progression and or completion of the program. Each mentoring relationship served a specific purpose. For instance, family members and friends supported participants with home duties, childcare, encouragement, and praise during their doctoral journey. Supervisors supported the participant’s success both academically and professionally. Fellow doctoral students enhanced the learning experience by sharing different perspectives and providing academic and career advice/strategies. Faculty mentoring support was critical to the academic and dissertation process as well as to scholarly development.     

Analysis of ill-structured problem solving, mentoring functions, and perceptions of practicum teachers and mentors toward online mentoring in a field-based practicum

This article describes an exploratory study of question prompts and online mentoring (specifically a lateral or peer mentoring experience) in a field-based practicum that focused on teaching ill-structured problem solving of classroom discipline. Data were gathered on 26 in-service practicum teachers through online observations, online journal reports, questionnaires, and reflection logs. Results showed that the practicum teachers were successful in using the approach to plan and implement effective interventions for their students and that they perceived the online mentoring approach as being very beneficial in supporting their learning. A more detail analysis of seven practicum teachers and their mentors indicated that their mentors engaged in eight types of online mentoring functions; the most frequently used were asking practicum teachers to elaborate, and valuing the practicum teachers’ contributions. The influence of the mentoring functions on the seven practicum teachers’ ill-structured problem solving is also discussed. The study offers evidence that asynchronous online mentoring and question prompts can enhance the professional development of both practicum teachers and mentors by helping them learn about and apply intervention strategies in solving real-world teaching problems.     

Reciprocal mentorship: an effective support for online instructors

This article presents a reciprocal model of mentoring as an alternative approach to more traditional mentoring models. A mentor, experienced with online course delivery and pedagogy, worked with six online instructors over two academic terms within a reciprocal mentorship model. This model was designed to build a collaborative learning relationship which would benefit each partner. The mentoring was scheduled on a just‐in‐time basis in response to each online instructor’s needs. Study results show that the time commitments required to accomplish the goals of the mentoring project were challenging for participants; that post‐secondary institutions have a responsibility to provide multiple supports (including, for example, mentoring assistance) for faculty members teaching online; and that developing a structured mentoring program could facilitate a more effective reciprocal mentoring process, with benefits for both mentors and mentees.     

Getting to the Point: Using Research Meetings and the Inverted Triangle Visual to Develop a Dissertation Research Question

This article contributes to the research training environment literature by presenting a method to guide the development of a dissertation research question. The method relies on 2 essential components: (a) informal doctoral student research team meetings to provide a mentoring environment in which conversation and discussion about dissertation questions takes place and (b) an inverted triangle visual to identify specific steps in the question‐development process. The first author's experience and that of 3 other participants with this method are chronicled to illustrate its efficacy.     

Mentorship and mitigation of culture shock: foreign‐trained pharmacists in Canada

Immigrants with professional qualifications face unique challenges in adapting personally and professionally to new environments. This ‘double culture shock’ experience may result in disengagement from the professional community due to perceived barriers to integration, with subsequent negative impact on employment prospects and professional role identification. The role of mentors in facilitating professional engagement by foreign‐trained pharmacists within the pharmacy profession has not previously been described in detail. This qualitative study examined the different mentoring strategies used by mentors and foreign‐trained pharmacists negotiating the licensure process in Canada. Using a categorization scheme described previously by major researchers, activity logs of mentors and mentees were examined and coded based on use of mentoring strategies. Focus groups and interviews were also undertaken with separate groups of mentors and mentees to discuss the use of these mentoring strategies for foreign‐trained pharmacists. Results suggest pharmacist‐mentors relied most heavily upon situative‐apprenticeship and humanistic perspectives in their mentoring relationships, and infrequently used critical‐constructivist mentoring activities or techniques. While mentees reported a high level of satisfaction with their mentors and the mentoring experience, they also expressed a desire for more activities of a critical‐constructivist nature as a way of assisting them in mitigating the double culture shock they experience during the licensure process.     

Complexity thinking mentorship: an emergent pedagogy of graduate research development

In this article we articulate a view of mentoring that extends into interactive and relational forms, fostering a redefinition of traditional roles and practices within mentor‐protégé models. From the perspectives of a senior administrator and two assistant professors, we revisit the mentoring spaces and relations within which we were engaged while working in an approach to arts‐based educational research known as a/r/tography during dissertation research projects. From our interconnected experiences, we propose a framing of the intersections between a/r/tographic research and mentorship informed by complexity thinking. We analyzed our work together while deconstructing the ways in which we have supported and unsettled each other. Through narrative inquiry we share reflections from dissertation research experiences, while also describing patterns of an emerging pedagogy of mentoring within higher education that we term complexity thinking mentorship. Borrowing from complexity theory, this conception of mentorship attends to the specific conditions of redundancy, decentralized control and diversity as being facilitative of evolving change and insight within graduate student research development.     

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.     

Instructional Strategies to Help Online Students Learn: Feedback from Online Students

Increased enrollment in online programs and courses has prompted a plethora of research on instructional strategies that impact online students’ learning. Most of these strategies came from instructors, and others were solicited from students. While the literature notes that students who have more university experience tend to provide more substantive responses when solicited, there seems to be limited representation of online master’s students’ preferences on what instructional strategies work for them. There is paucity in the literature on how these preferred instructional strategies inform existing theoretical and practical frameworks that could impact online learning performance. This article discusses the Top Ten Instructional Strategies preferred by master’s students who responded to a dissertation survey question - What specific things would you like your online instructors do to help you learn successfully? - and relates these strategies to the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education and the Quality Matters Rubric.     

Enhancing Project-Based Learning Through Online Between-Group Collaboration

This research explored how between-group collaboration enhanced the co-construction of knowledge and performance on project-based learning tasks of collaborative learning groups. The findings of 2 case studies, one that focused on between-group mentoring and one that focused on between-group project review, revealed that both strategies were perceived favorably by the students and had a positive impact on the collaborative learning skills, the knowledge revealed through their online dialogue, and the project performance of all students, especially the less effective groups. The results provide some insights into the computer-supported collaborative learning process among students in a higher education context.     

A Model for Measuring Effectiveness of an Online Course

As a result of this research, a quantitative model and a procedure have been developed to create an online mentoring effectiveness index (EI). To develop the model, mentoring and teaching effectiveness are defined, and then the constructs and factors of effectiveness are identified. The model's construction is based on the theory that effectiveness is influenced by motivational factors and results from the total synergy used in the learning process. The validity of the model is checked through component analysis and structural equation modeling. It is shown that the model offers valid, reliable, and useful results for evaluating the relative effectiveness of an online course.     

Peer Mentoring Styles and Their Contribution to Academic Success Among Mentees: A Person-Oriented Study in Higher Education

The purpose of our study was to explore peer mentoring styles and examine their contribution to academic success among mentees. Data were collected as part of a comprehensive evaluation of a peer mentoring program. The sample consisted of 49 mentors (advanced students) who supported 376 mentees (first year students) in small groups. Indicators for peer mentoring styles were constructed using mentee assessments of mentoring functions and mentor quality, and unobtrusive data gathered in an analysis of online mentoring activities and a content analysis of the quality of the online mentoring activities. Using cluster analyses, three distinct mentoring styles were identified: Motivating master mentoring, informatory standard mentoring, and negative minimalist mentoring. Motivating master mentors were shown to have a positive influence on success in the mentoring program among those mentees who failed two preliminary exams. Implications for the training of peer mentors in higher education are discussed.     

Exploring perceived support of postgraduate medical science research students

There is still much to learn about the support required by postgraduate research students, across academic disciplines, to facilitate successful completion of a research degree. The primary aim of this study was to explore postgraduate medical science research students’ perceptions of academic and mentoring support at different stages during their degree programme. A second aim was to explore the feasibility and acceptability of peer mentoring as a strategy to enhance student support in this population. A mixed method study design was used. Students first completed an online questionnaire, which was then supplemented with focus group discussion to explore emergent findings in greater depth. The main results indicated that the nature and quality of academic supervision support have a significant influence on research student training and development. ‘Functional’ and ‘relationship development’ concepts of supervisory styles were highlighted as important aspects to perceived support in this research population. The main facilitators to enhance academic support were effective communication, project planning and timely feedback. There was a high degree of acceptability for a peer mentoring programme as a complementary approach to enhance student support. Peer mentoring psychosocial functions such as friendship, counselling and career guidance were considered potentially beneficial to enhancing student support. Students also discussed peer coaching as central to their learning and research skill development. This work is a useful starting point to explore perceptions of research student support in the target population. Further work is required to develop strategies to enhance student support in academic practice.     

Project DAVES: An exploratory study of social presence,e-mentoring,and vocational counseling support in community college courses

A FIPSE-funded project was designed to provide support and training to community college faculty electronically, and to develop a model to offer innovative, interactive strategies to support their students' academic and career needs. The goal of the mentoring/coaching program has been to support instructors in their online efforts, provide resources and assistance to students, and create a community of learning for all. The examination of the process was framed and guided by the concept of social presence theory. Data collected included mentors' weekly logs, researcher-generated weekly prompts, and bi-monthly focus groups. All data were analyzed qualitatively using open and axial coding. Results indicate that creating social presence may depend, in part, on having an authentic, clearly defined role. Reflections throughout the process required continuous revisions to the plans.     

强化过程优化环境提高质量——东北师范大学博士生培养模式改革的思考与实践简

东北师范大学的博士生培养改革,以全面提高培养质量为根本出发点,以“确保科学研究贯穿博士生培养整个过程”为最高原则,以“强化培养过程,优化培养环境”为重点,主要举措包括：改革课程学习环节,强化课程学习的研究训练功能;调整论文评价取向,重点考察独立从事科学研究的潜力;健全导师指导制度,注重对博士生自主学习和独立研究的指导;完善论文审查制度,实现过程指导和过程监控的有机结合;加强学术交流,营造浓厚的学术氛围。改革取得了初步成效。     

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.     

Electronically Mentoring to Develop Accomplished Professional Teachers

With nearly half of all new teachers leaving the classroom within 5 years, schools are faced with the challenge of retaining early-career teachers while simultaneously providing them with the support they need to develop into effective professionals. Mentoring novice teachers by pairing them with experienced teachers in schools is a widely adopted practice for addressing these needs; however, face-to-face mentoring is subject to challenges. A promising complement to face-to-face mentoring may be found in the innovative use of computer-mediated communications, such as online forums. In an effort to support, develop, and retain novice teachers, The College of William and Mary has partnered with the Center for Teacher Quality to create ENDAPT—Electronically Networking to Develop Accomplished Professional Teachers. ENDAPT is an asynchronous online forum that brings together novice teachers and teacher leaders in a virtual mentoring community. This article provides an overview of the program model and presents research findings from a study of participants’ postings using content analysis methodology to identify and describe the nature of professional conversations among mentors and novice teachers. Using grounded frameworks for mentoring conversations and for teacher competencies, the study evaluates the efficacy of online mentoring as a means of supporting and developing novice teachers.     

Situational leadership applied to the dissertation process

For more than 40 years, concern has been expressed over the attrition rate of students in Ph.D. programs in American universities. Although there are a number of significant factors at work, attrition of doctoral students in sciences such as anatomy may lead to a dearth of trained teaching anatomists as well as research scientists in the anatomical sciences. Failure to complete the Ph.D. process including the dissertation carries a high cost, not only to the students who fail to complete their programs, but also to society at large due to the expenditure of scarce education resources. A variety of factors have been examined in the various studies, but two stands out of major interest for this article: student personality factors such as perseverance and the level of faculty mentoring/support to the students during the graduate education process. A new approach to providing faculty support based on the needs of the individual student is presented in this article. Situational Leadership® has been developed over the past 40 years by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard and their associates. This leadership model is unique in that when it is applied to the dissertation process, it requires the faculty member to determine the readiness level of the graduate student. Because each student is a unique individual, the faculty mentor assesses each student based on the specific task at hand in order to provide the appropriate style of mentorship each student requires. Anat Sci Ed 1:194–198, 2008. © 2008 American Association of Anatomists.     

Online learning: Learner characteristics and their approaches to managing learning

Using cluster analysis this study investigated the characteristics of learning strategies learners use in online courses with one-on-one mentoring. Three distinct approaches were identified: “Mastery oriented”, “Task focused” and “Minimalist in effort”. Despite the widespread concern that students will have difficulty managing their time in online courses with high level of student freedom, this study found that the vast majority of learners were very effective in their learning strategies. The findings speak well for the potential of distance education environments to provide high quality self-paced learning, accommodating different learning strategies, which is difficult to do in group-paced courses. We further explored how these approaches relate to and interact with, participants’ background and their levels of satisfaction and self reported learning.