Integrating peer mentoring into the freshman curriculum (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Impact Peer Mentoring Can have on Freshman Students
Conference on Frontiers in Education, 2006
The transition from high school to college can be very difficult for many students. At the University of Pittsburgh, we have a system of courses and academic counseling that is designed to address these issues and help with this transition. One major component to help the freshman make this major transition is a series of mentoring courses that the entering student can select for the first semester. This paper will discuss how these courses are integrated and describe the interaction of counseling with the first semester engineering problem solving course. The paper will also discuss the mentor selection process, the mentor-training program, and the topics covered in the mentoring sessions. Finally the impact of mentoring will be compared to the student learning styles to show how mentoring can have a major impact on a group of students.
Impact of Peer Mentoring on Freshman Students
2000
The transition from high school to college can be very difficult for many students. At the University of Pittsburgh, we have a system of courses and academic counseling that is designed to address these issues and help with this transition. One major component to help the freshman make this major transition is a series of mentoring courses that the entering student can select for the first semester. This paper will discuss how these courses are integrated and describe the interaction of counseling with the first semester engineering problem solving course. The paper will also discuss the mentor selection process, the mentor-training program, and the topics covered in the mentoring sessions. Finally the impact of mentoring will be compared to the student learning styles to show how mentoring can have a major impact on a group of students.
Impact of Peer Mentoring on Freshmen Engineering Students
The transition from high school to college can be very difficult for many students. At the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering, we have developed a freshmen seminar and concurrent system of mentoring that addresses the changes and difficulties students experience during this transitional time. All first-year University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering students are required to register for and attend a large group lecture course, Engineering 0081 Freshmen Seminar, that addresses various aspects and issues of first-year academic and social life. Each first-year student is also required to select and attend a small-group class that is directed by a sophomore, junior, or senior peer-mentor. This paper details how the small-group, peer-mentored classes are an essential aspect of the success of the large 0081 Freshmen Seminar. The paper will discuss just what the peer-mentoring classes involve, what these classes facilitate, and how these classes contribute to successful tra...
Impact of Peer Mentoring on Student Learning and Connection To Engineering
2013
Many students who enter engineering as an academic discipline in their first year of study switch to a different major after the first or second year. The attrition rates range from 30% to 50% depending on the institution. The dropout rate is even higher for underrepresented groups. Research studies show that the significant factors of attrition in engineering programs are quantitative skill level, student study habits, commitment to the program, and connections to peers. This paper describes an approach to address some of these factors. In this approach, we positioned the use of peer mentors as an improved institutional effort to retain students in engineering. Results show that the engineering peer mentoring program was considered helpful in learning calculus by the majority of Calculus I and Calculus II student participants.
Effectiveness of a peer mentoring program in engineering education
IEEE EDUCON 2010 Conference, 2010
The Mentoring Program of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación (ETSIT) is intended to establish a mechanism based on peer mentoring provided by upper-class students (Mentors) to provide help, support, and resources to incoming first-year students (Mentees). This paper focuses on the experience gained in the creation and development of the ETSIT Mentoring Program during five years. The evolution of the results obtained from the evaluation of various aspects of the ETSIT Mentoring Program, is also presented.
Mentoring engineering students
2020
The paper outlines the importance of making necessary improvements in engineering education to keep up with the high-speed changes in the Information Era. For the instructional process to be more efficient, and to increase quality in higher education, the academic community is extensively making huge efforts to create meaningful learning opportunities. In this approach, it becomes vital for the university professor to go beyond his traditional role of the sage on the stage and assume a more complex one, that of a mentor, the guide on the side. A general framework of this transformation, surveyed in this work, serves as a window to understanding its impact on mentorship. Recent research generally confirms that mentoring relationships are tailored to facilitate personal and professional development of both student and mentor. This explains why the mentoring forms within engineering education have been provided here, so that all participants in this exercise become aware of their role ...
2011 Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2011
In the literature describing capstone courses, authors typically classify their work as "mentoring," though the term has also been used interchangeably with coaching, supervising, and managing. Yet few studies define these terms concretely, and consistency across studies is unclear. This ambiguity has lead to confusion concerning the responsibilities of faculty in the course, and in turn hindered faculty development efforts. To address this gap, the present study seeks to develop a concrete description of faculty-student interactions in the capstone course. We use the term "mentoring" because it implies a relationship between a a more experienced professional and a novice, where the mentor seeks to aid in the development of the protégé. In the case of capstone design, this development focuses on the integration of engineering theory and practice and the ability to comprehend and navigate the open-endedness of design problems. To provide the design education community with a working understanding of this relationship, this study applies Kram's theory of mentoring to the context of capstone design to determine the prominent mentoring functions operating in this context, and identifies variations by engineering disciplines.
Expanding the Quality of Mentoring Programs for Undergraduate Students – Observations and Challenges
2010 GSW Proceedings
Rapid changes in industry and the demands of diversified workforce require a comprehensive learning experience for engineering technology students hoping to keep pace with future advances. In keeping with this goal, faculty from the College of Technology of the University of Houston have won funding from NSF-CCLI to improve the education of undergraduate students by employing CMAPS through high quality mentoring programs. Various research demonstrate that concept maps have been an effective means of visually representing and easily communicating fundamental concepts in a wide variety of educational fields. Some of the potential advantages of using concept maps as a learning tool include-but are not limited to-improved knowledge retention and their use as assessments. Integrating concept maps with mentoring provides an additional source of guidance for enhanced learning opportunities. However, implementing a mentoring program takes a lot of work and requires significant resources. This paper presents some of the strategies employed in order to improve the quality of learning in lower level computer engineering technology classes and laboratories in the University of Houston's College of Technology. It specifically addresses the planning process, identification of existing resources, extensive mentor selection and training process, as well as supervision and performance evaluation procedures. The paper also identifies some of the challenges that have been faced as the program has been implemented.
2011
Abstract In the literature describing capstone courses, authors typically classify their work as “mentoring,” though the term has also been used interchangeably with coaching, supervising, and managing. Yet few studies define these terms concretely, and consistency across studies is unclear. This ambiguity has lead to confusion concerning the responsibilities of faculty in the course, and in turn hindered faculty development efforts.
K-12 Engineering Outreach Mentoring Program: Taking Engineering Into the K-12 Classroom
2010 GSW Proceedings
Center for Engineering Outreach (CEO) mentors at Texas Tech University believe that becoming an engineer is possible for anyone and are committed to inspiring and preparing tomorrow's engineers. Working with K-12 educators, administrators, and students, these College of Engineering students share this passion in West Texas schools by leading discussions of engineering education concepts, facilitating hands-on learning, and serving as role models for K-12 students from traditionally underrepresented populations. Engineering Outreach mentors also assist with community outreach events and partner with other academic and civic organizations with the mission of preparing a new generation of builders, problem-solvers, and innovators. This paper details the history of the Texas Tech University Center for Engineering Outreach and its outstanding academic and community outreach programs. Discussion includes the process by which engineering students are selected, professional development and classroom orientation training required of all mentors, ways in which mentoring can benefit K-12 and university students and educators alike. Key to the success of the mentoring and other professional development programs is the Texas Tech T-STEM Center's FRAME engineering design process. Described in detail, the model explores research-driven problem solving techniques across content areas, grade levels, and existing curricula. Finally, a discussion of current STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) research explains the necessity for classroom mentors and mentoring activities for student success in today's globally challenging world. Criteria for vertically-aligned Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and College and Career Readiness Standards in Texas schools are also investigated, especially pertaining to mentoring today's K-12 students in STEM-related fields.