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Enhancing Learning Through Peer Mentoring in Psychology Curriculum

Explore the integration of peer mentoring in psychology education, covering recruitment of mentors, academic skill building, psychological inquiry sessions, challenges, conclusions, and future directions.

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Enhancing Learning Through Peer Mentoring in Psychology Curriculum

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  1. Integrating peer-mentoring into the psychology curriculum: from an extended induction to an academic skills course. Dr Patrick Rosenkranz Psychology

  2. Peer-mentoring in HE • Peer-mentoring is becoming more prevalent in UK HE institutions. (Phillips, Swanson & Morgan-Klein, 2005) • Peer-mentoring is generally seen as a propitious method of supporting the transition of new students to university (Husband & Jacobs, 2009; Jacobi, 1991; Lahman, 1999)

  3. Peer –mentors in Psychology? • Discussing expectations and perceptions of psychology. • Extra support for development of diverse academic skills. • Mentoring as a preparation for professional practice.

  4. Aims of the peer-mentoring • Supporting transition from school to university. • Creating peer groups that support learning • Guidance in academic skills.

  5. Development

  6. Stage 3: Recruitment of mentors 10 Mentors Stage 3 cohort • Recruitment on a voluntary basis • Emphasis on development of graduate skills • Rewards: Certificate, book tokens, salary ( in 2009).

  7. Stage 1: Each student is assigned a mentor group 100 Stage 1 students = 10 groups of 10 students

  8. Nested Mentoring Stage 1 Director Stage 3 Mentors Stage 1 Mentees

  9. Attendance

  10. Challenges • How can attendance/relevance to students be improved? • Further development of academic skills training.

  11. Psychological Enquiry 1 • Peer-mentoring is housed in new academic skills module. • Peer-mentoring is paired with formal training in IT skills, essay –writing and presentations skills. • Psychological Enquiry links in with other modules in Semester 1.

  12. Psychological Enquiry 1 Session 0: Induction Session 1: Psychology myths • Basics Skills • Bibl. Databases • IT skills Session 2: Essay plan • Academic writing • Plagiarism • Essay writing • Referencing Session 3: Essay draft/ peer-assessment • Presentation Skills • PowerPoint • Presentations Session 4: Presentations

  13. Evaluation • TEQ –style questionnaires to both mentors and mentees at the end of the semester. • Includes open-ended questions for comments. • Attendance data taken by mentors at their session.

  14. Attendance

  15. Overall ratings

  16. Aims

  17. How useful were the sessions?

  18. Conclusions • Peer-mentoring is generally positively received by mentees and mentors. • Students value the social integration into degree course and creation of a peer support network. • Mentors appreciate the opportunity to develop their communication skills and to pass on their experience.

  19. Conclusions • Attendance at mentor sessions is significantly improved for PSY1001. • Embedding of mentoring within module allows for greater interplay between staff –led teaching and mentor-led support. • Mentor sessions provide a supportive environment to practice new academic skills.

  20. Challenges Getting the balance right: • Mentors can’t replace members of staff. • Managing expectations of mentees about the role of the mentor.

  21. Directions • 2012: Piloting smaller sized groups. • 2013: Professional skills module: final year students can use their experience as mentors to reflect on their skills development.

  22. Thanks for listening ! Acknowledgements: Thanks to Rebecca McCready ,Linda Errington ,Sue Vecsey and Alex Inskip for their contributions to Psychological Enquiry.

  23. Husband, P. A., & Jacobs, P. A. (2009). Peer mentoring in higher education: A review of the current literature and recommendations for implementation of mentoring schemes. The Plymouth Student Scientist, 2(1), 228-241. Jacobi, M. (1991). Mentoring and undergraduate academic success: A literature review. Review of Educational Research, 61(4), 505-532. Lahman, M. P. (1999, November). To what extent does a peer mentoring program aid in student retention? Paper presented at the 85th Annual Meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago. Phillips, R., Swanson, V., & Morgan-Klein, B. (2005). Student helping students: The effectiveness of peer mentoring in UK higher education. Proceedings of the British Psychological Society, 13(2), 122.

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