Peer

;第9期

    ;942010年5月10日

    ;计算机教育

    ;ComputerEducationNo.9May.10,2010

    ;文章编号:1672—5913(2010)09-0094-03中图分类号:G642文献标识码:A

    ;PeerMentoring”AnExperienceReport

    ;C.C.H.Rosen

    ;(SchoolofComputingUniversityofDerby,DerbyshireDE221GB,UK)

    ;Abstract:StudentsattheUniversityofDerbyarerequiredtocompleteayearinindustryaspartoftheirBachelorof

    ;Sciencedegrees.Thisisadauntingprospectforsomeofthem,andtheycanbereluctanttoengageintheprocessof

    ;findingaplacementposition.Aspartofasecondyearmodule,studentsseekingplacementarepairedwithstudents

    ;alreadyonplacementinamentee/mentorrelationshiptosupportthesecondyearstudentsintheirsearchforan

    ;internship.Thisarrangementhelpsthementeesbyintroducingthemtopotentialrolemodelsclosetotheirexperience,

    ;receivingencouragementfrompeersandtheinculcationofbeliefthatitispossibletofindaplacement.Thementors

    ;a1sobenefitfromarecognitionofhowmuchtheyhavelearnt.However,therearedifficultiesinestablishingand

    ;managingtheschemewhichshouldberecognised.Thispaperreportsourexperienceoverthelastthreeyears?

    ;Keywords:studentplacement;peermentoring;curriculumdesign;employability ;C.C.H.Rosen

    ;1Background

    ;Thestudentplacementyear

    ;isseenasoneoftheessentia1

    ;elementsinensuringcoursesat

    ;theUniversityofDerbymaintain

    ;anindustryorientedfocus.Not

    ;onlydoesitprovidevaluable

    ;experienceofindustry‟sexpectations

    ;ofstudentsfortheintemees.and

    ;actasasourceoffeedbackontheappropriatenessof

    ;ourcourses,italsoprovidesabenchmarkagainstwhich

    ;thepracticalcontentofthecurriculumcanbemeasured.

;However,asreportedpreviouslyeventhough

    ;studentsknowthattheplacementyeariscompulsory, ;theyarestillreluctanttoengagewiththeprocessof ;findingaplacement.Inordertocombatthisresistance, ;weintroducedpeermentoringofsecondyearstudents ;seekingaplacementbystudentscurrentlyengagedina ;placement.Thispaperreportsourgenerallypositive ;experienceofthisexercise,butalsohighlightssomeof ;thepotentialproblemsthatneedtobegivencareful ;considerationbeforeimplementingsimilarschemes. ;2ThePeerMentoringScheme

    ;Theideaofusingapeermentoringschemewas

    ;firstproposedjntheacademicyear2006/2007.Atmat ;time,therewerenostudentsonplacementwhohadany ;knowledgeortraininginmentoring,anditwasfeltthat, ;withoutthis.itwouldbeunwisetoattempttointroduce ;suchanactivity.Itwasalsologisticallyimpossibleto ;arrangesuitabletrainingforstudentsabouttostarttheir ;placementyearinAugust2007.Instead,weintroduced ;aco.mentoringschemeinwhichsecondyearstudents ;onthePersonalandProfessionalDevelopmentmodule ;co.mentoredapartneronthesamemodule.Wetriedto ;arrangeitsothattheco.mentorswerefromdifferent ;coursesandthereforeunlikelytoalreadybe~iends.We ;wantedtoavoidpotentialcollusionbetweenco-mentors ;(i.e.studentsnottakingtheactivityseriously).This ;causedsomeresentmentamongstthestudentsandsome ;di~cultiesfortheminWingtoarrangemeetings. ;Thestudentsweregivenalectureonthepurpose ;andprinciplesofmentoringandsometutorialexercises ;inclassdealingwith”di~cult”issues.Theywerealso

    ;givenguidelinesaboutwhattheyshouldorshouldnot ;dointhementorrole.(Thistraininghasbeenrepeated ;第9期C.C.H.Rosen:PeerMentoring:AnExperienceRepo~95 ;eachyearwitheachnewcohort.)AtDerbywehavea ;memberoftheCareersServicewhoisresponsiblefor ;anemployermentoringscheme.Sheprovidedagreat ;dealofhelpsettingup山eschemeandrunningtheinitial

    ;tutorials.Herhelpwasinvaluableandshecontinuestosupport ;ourpeermentoringscheme.Thisfirstcohortwentonto ;becomethefirstpeermentorswhentheyprogressedonto ;placementthefollowingyear(2008/2009).

    ;3SchemeDevelopment

    ;Itisfairtosaythat,atthetime,co—mentoringwas

    ;notwellreceivedbvthestudents.Althoughacademic ;staffandourplacementscoordinatordidourbestto ;explainthebenefitsofmentoring,thestudentsfeltthey ;werebeingtreatedasguineapigsanddidnotseeany ;personalbenefit.Theyfeltthattheywereintheposition ;ofthebindleadingtheblind;neitherstudenthad ;sufficientexperiencetohelpsupporttheother.In ;general,theydidnotexpendagreatdealofthoughtor ;effortontheactivity.Indeed.itisdoubtfulwhetherthey ;wouldhaveengagedinitatallifithadnotbeena ;requiredpartoftheirassessment.

    ;Fromastaffpointofview.theco—mentoring

    ;activitywasalsoveryfrustrating.Itrequiredalotof ;efforttomanageandmonitor,andthequalityofthe ;students‟contributionswasgenerallypoor.On

    ;reflection,weneededtostructuretheactivitybetter,and ;makeourexpectationsofwhatthestudentsmightget ;fromtheexerciseclearer.Thiswouldhaverequired ;moreresources.which,atthetimewerenotavailable. ;However,itisunlikelythatmoreinputwouldhave ;necessarilychangedtheaUitudesofthestudents,and ;thatwithoutsuchachange.theywereunlikelyto ;benefitgreatly.Nevertheless,theprimaryfunctionof ;theexercisewasachieved;togivethestudentssome ;knowledgeofmentoring,and,itispossiblethatthe ;studentsabsorbedmorethantheyreportedatthetime. ;2008/2009wasthefirstacademicyearinwhich ;studentsonplacementmentoredsecondyearstudents ;preparingforplacement.Giventhatthementorscame ;fromacohortofstudentsthathadbeendisaffectedbytheir ;experienceofco-mentoring,andbysomedisruptioncaused ;bystaffillness,theresultsfromthisyearwereencouraging. ;Studentsonplacementdidprovidesomehelpfulguidance. ;However,therewerestillasignificantproportionofstudent ;complaints,althoughareportonmentoringwasarequired ;elementoftheassessmentforboththesecondyearcohort ;andtheplacementstudents,onthewholetherewasa ;lackofdepthinthereflectionsofbothcohorts.Students ;tendedtoconcentrateonwhattheydidratherthanon ;whattheyhadlearntfromtheactivity.?ensettingthe

    ;assignmentthisyear,weweremuchmoreexplicit ;regardingwhatweexpectedfromthestudents. ;Anotherproblemwastheallocationofmentorto ;mentee.Thiswasconductedduringa”callbackday”in

    ;Septemberwhenstudentsonplacementwereinformed ;oftheirmentees.However,thisprovedtobepremature ;asthesecondyearcohortwasstillundetermined.Late ;enrolmentswereleftwithoutmentors.whilstothersecond ;yearstudentswhohadbeenallocatedamentor,failedto ;starttheyear.1eavingsomementorswithoutmentees.This ;yearwehavelefttheallocationuntiltheenrolmentsituation ;wasclearerandthishashelpedreducetheconfusion. ;4CurrentSituation

    ;Thecurrentacademicyearisthereforethesecond ;yearofthefullrunningofthescheme,anditispossible ;toreportrealbenefitsforthestudents(Complete ;feedbackfromplacementstudentsisyettobereceived ;andanalysed.Commentsregardingthebenefittothem ;comefromextrapolatingfromsecondyearstudent ;reports).Thereareclearindicatorsthatmentoringis ;helpingsecondyearstudentsengageintheplacement ;seekingprocess.Thementeesstillseemreluctantto ;makeinitialcontactwiththeirmentors,but,oncethey ;have,thelargemajorityreportthatmentoringishelpfu1. ;Thereisclearevidencefromthereportsofsecond ;yearstudentsthattheyareseeingtheirmentorsasrole ;models.Thistakesanumberofforms.Menteesnote ;thattheirmentorshavesucceededinfindingaposition. ;„„Shehasgivenmesomekeypointswhichhave

    ;helpedmefeelmovecomfortableaboutgoingonplacement ;applyingforaplacement,aswellaswhattoexpectinindustry.‟‟

    ;Secondly,menteesbegintoseethattheplacement ;isaworthwhileexperience.

    ;“Itisclearhehadsomevaluableexperience.”

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    ;Inaddition,menteesbegintoappreciatewhatthey ;needtodotofindaplacement.

    ;“Thementoringprocesshasprovidedawelcome

    ;glimpseintowhatImayexpectwhenapplyingforplacement‟‟

    ;,

    ;Andfinally,mentorsactasrolemodelsinthe ;sensethatmenteesrecognisethedifferentattitude ;requiredwhenonplacementandwhenseekingplacement. ;„„Xisquiteprofessionalandtakeshisworkseriously.”

    ;Thementorrolecanalsogivevaluableguidanceto ;thementee.Thisoftenreinforcesthemessagesgivenby ;academicstaff,but,becausetheyemanatefrompeers,

;areheardmorereadily.

    ;“MymentorYhasprovidedmewithsomeclear

    ;pointsonhowbesttoprepareformyapplications.‟‟

    ;“Wecanlearnnewthingsfrom[a】personwhohas

    ;beeninourpositionalready.‟‟

    ;Thisinputhelpstoencouragementeestoapplyfor ;placements.Theynolongerfeelasisolatedinthe ;applicationprocess,anditiseasiertoseethatgettinga ;placementisbothworthwhileandpossible.Furthermore, ;thebenefitisnotustoneway.Mentorsalsobenefit ;fromrealisingwhattheyhavelearntandbyempathising ;withmentees,realisingwhattheyhaveachieved. ;However,problemscanoccur.Studentson

    ;placementoftenhavequiteheavyworkloadsandthey ;maystruggletomaintaincontactwithmentees.They ;maybeslowtorespond,ortheymayjustbevery ;parsimoniousintheirresponses.Thiscanactasa ;disincentivetothesecondyearstudent.Itisimportant ;thereforethatplacementsupervisorsmonitorthecontact ;andensurethatitisoccurring.Ifmenteesreportalack ;ofcommitmentonthepartofthementor,thesupervisor ;needstocheckoutthesituationand,ifnecessary ;promptthementortoengageproperlywiththeprocess. ;Itisimportantthereforethatmentoringbecomespartof ;theassessmentofboththementorandthementeeso ;thatsanctionsareavailableifeitherisnotparticipating ;satisfactorily.Monitoringthecontactcanincreasethe ;workloadofthesupervisorwhichmaynotbefully ;appreciatedbyworkloadplanners.

    ;Makingmentoringpartoftheassessmentmethodology ;isessentialtoensurethatstudentsparticipateinit. ;However,itdoesintroduceanotherfactor;onethatis ;normallyassociatedwithgroupworkprojects.Students ;donotliketheirassessmentstobedependentonanother ;student‟scontribution,andthisis.tosomeextentthecase

    ;here.Itisimportantthatstudentscanbereassuredthat ;theywillnotbepenalisediftheirpartnerfailstofIl1fil ;his/hersideofthecontract.Thisisabiggerproblemfor ;menteesthanmentors.butcanaffecteither.][11eassessment ;methodologyneedstobeabletotakethisintoaccount. ;5Conclusion

    ;ItisclearthatthenaissanceoftheschemeatDerby ;wasnotaneasyexperience.Howmuchofthebirthpain ;couldhavebeenavoidedisopentoquestion,butit

    ;importanttorecognisethattheremaybedifficulties ;establishingapeermentoringscheme.Wehavelearnt: ;(1)Careneedstobetokenintheinstigmienofthewahenae. ;(2)Reso~needtobeallocatedtoitsrna~ent& ;nmning.

    ;(3)Therecanbesomeresistanceonthepartofmentors, ;andthishastobeaddressedbyplacementsupervisors. ;(4)Guidelinesneedtobeunderstoodbyboth

    ;menteesandmentors.

    ;(5)Participationintheprocessneedstobepartof ;theassessmentofbothmentorandmentee.

    ;(6)Mentorsoftenbecomerolemodelsformentees. ;(7)Menteesobtainabetterunderstandingofwhat ;theyneedtodotoobtainaplacement.

    ;(8)Menteesappreciatebetterthepotentialbenefits ;ofaplacement.

    ;(9)Menteesareencouragedtoapplyforplacement ;asaresultofcontactwithmentors.

    ;(10)Mentoringhelpsmentorsappreciatewhatthey ;havelearntaboutemployabilityandreflectonwhatthey ;havelearntduringtheirplacementinaveryshorttime. ;Itisnotstraightforwardestablishingamentoringscheme, ;butthebenefitsandrewardsthatcomefromamentoring ;schemefeelverymuchworthwhile.Bothmenteesand ;mentorscan,anddolearnagreatdealfromtheexercise,and ;itisverygratifyingtoseethatmanyofthemessagesteachmg ;staffhaveprofferedhavebeenlearntbythestudents. ;(编辑:张碉)圈

    ;