Dr. Cindy Smith and Dr. Tony Dobinson from Curtin University presented last year a Quality Matters (QM) session on mentoring online. As I prepare for our BIT SURE summer program, I want to learn how to be a better mentor. I know it can still be done virtually, and making a connection is critical. Smith introduced the topic and emphasized the work mentors have to put in and the challenges they will encounter in order to provide meaningful and rewarding mentoring opportunities for undergraduates. To begin, Smith asked several thought questions to the audience about mentoring. The learning objectives stated for this session were: (1) identify the effective characteristics of an online mentoring program, (2) construct an effective online mentoring program in order to support university students, (3) evaluate the needs of students in order to recognize which students would most benefit. I restated Smith’s session objectives here to highlight key considerations for online mentoring that were succinctly represented by the learning objectives of this session.
Smith played a video clip from a student who expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to participate in research and contribute to a project. The student seemed so exited to be able to work virtually and take the research to a conference. Smith described how as part of a research project, they took first year students and mentored them in research experiences. The program helped build research and writing skills with an emphasis on expanding their strengths and not filling their deficiencies. I love this and hope my paraphrased sentence captures the important message Dr. Smith shared about how they view research experiences. Smith described how the experience evolved from one weekly afternoon mentoring session, to tiered peer-mentored research experiences. They had students become peer mentors to compliment strengths and areas of growth and improve their writing.
The theoretical frameworks Smith used included Bandura’s (1977) social cognitive theory that we learn through social modeling: we learn from others! They also used student belongingness to the university and community and how this promotes learning, citing Bowles & Brindle 2017. If it is something that we are intrinsically motivated, we try harder, and this is the self-determination theory (Smith cited Ryan & Deci, 2000). Smith also described a concept I didn’t know: instrumental mentoring “can foster a sense of belongingness and connection to university” by coming together on a common purpose. I enjoy learning about the theoretical frameworks, and therefore have started taking notes about the references cited during presentations to learn more about them. Smith talked about the research methodology used: it was a qualitative study with pre/post focus groups and ongoing journals for both students and faculty. I love the idea of journaling for both students and faculty! I may try that with mentees as I already had envisioned using GoogleDocs. Smith also mentioned they obtained funding to expand to “include greater focus on students studying online from remote areas” in Australia. How cool and important! Smith then displayed a slide entitled “How to attract and keep mentors and mentees” with suggestions that included:
- academic writing as the common instrument for instrumental mentoring
- students come because they want to learn
- focus on strengths mentors (and I would include students!) bring
- commitment to growth
- students take over the project according to their schedules, decisions, and ideas, and Smith mentioned this promotes sustainability.
Connecting to Quality Matters, Smith drew parallels by describing how important communication and involvement are to strong mentoring and undergraduate research experiences. One can record videos, share video and text, use multiple modes to support students, students can support each other too! Smith described the importance of establishing a routine such as writing every week at the same time and inviting undergraduate researchers to join and learn together. I have been impressed by how independent and curious the Delftia undergraduate research team has been this year. I would love to support them more, as I have felt I haven’t spent enough time helping them discover their projects. I do like the idea of joint writing times or drop in annotation sessions like the ones Lauren had last semester!
