Supporting undergraduate university students through instrumental mentoring

© 2020 Social Science Press. Student engagement and retention is a noted concern for universities and may be impacted by many different student factors such as difficulty transitioning to a university setting, inadequate skills or a sense of isolation. This study evaluated an instrumental mentor...

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Main Authors: Smith, Cindy, Beltman, Susan, Dinham, Judith, Dobinson, Toni, Jay, Jenny
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2020
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80041
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author Smith, Cindy
Beltman, Susan
Dinham, Judith
Dobinson, Toni
Jay, Jenny
author_facet Smith, Cindy
Beltman, Susan
Dinham, Judith
Dobinson, Toni
Jay, Jenny
author_sort Smith, Cindy
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2020 Social Science Press. Student engagement and retention is a noted concern for universities and may be impacted by many different student factors such as difficulty transitioning to a university setting, inadequate skills or a sense of isolation. This study evaluated an instrumental mentoring program conducted at an Australian University in a program for pre service teachers. Twenty four undergraduate students were engaged as volunteer research assistants and worked with seven academic staff in meaningful writing and research tasks. Qualitative data was collected through focus groups, student journals, and follow up interviews. The data was analysed thematically. Results indicated that through their participation, students experienced and sustained an improved sense of belonging with more understanding and confidence regarding their academic writing and research skills. Implications for program practice, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:14:43Z
publishDate 2020
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-800412020-08-12T05:51:48Z Supporting undergraduate university students through instrumental mentoring Smith, Cindy Beltman, Susan Dinham, Judith Dobinson, Toni Jay, Jenny © 2020 Social Science Press. Student engagement and retention is a noted concern for universities and may be impacted by many different student factors such as difficulty transitioning to a university setting, inadequate skills or a sense of isolation. This study evaluated an instrumental mentoring program conducted at an Australian University in a program for pre service teachers. Twenty four undergraduate students were engaged as volunteer research assistants and worked with seven academic staff in meaningful writing and research tasks. Qualitative data was collected through focus groups, student journals, and follow up interviews. The data was analysed thematically. Results indicated that through their participation, students experienced and sustained an improved sense of belonging with more understanding and confidence regarding their academic writing and research skills. Implications for program practice, limitations, and future research directions are discussed. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80041 10.14221/ajte.2020v45n1.6 fulltext
spellingShingle Smith, Cindy
Beltman, Susan
Dinham, Judith
Dobinson, Toni
Jay, Jenny
Supporting undergraduate university students through instrumental mentoring
title Supporting undergraduate university students through instrumental mentoring
title_full Supporting undergraduate university students through instrumental mentoring
title_fullStr Supporting undergraduate university students through instrumental mentoring
title_full_unstemmed Supporting undergraduate university students through instrumental mentoring
title_short Supporting undergraduate university students through instrumental mentoring
title_sort supporting undergraduate university students through instrumental mentoring
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80041