Peer mentoring to develop psychological literacy in first-year and graduating students
Article
Article Title | Peer mentoring to develop psychological literacy in first-year and graduating students |
---|---|
ERA Journal ID | 6614 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Burton, Lorelle J. (Author), Chester, Andrea (Author), Xenos, Sophie (Author) and Elgar, Karen (Author) |
Journal Title | Psychology Learning and Teaching |
Journal Citation | 12 (2), pp. 136-146 |
Number of Pages | 11 |
Year | 2013 |
Publisher | SAGE Publications Ltd |
Place of Publication | Oxford, United Kingdom |
ISSN | 1475-7257 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.2304/plat.2013.12.2.136 |
Abstract | First- and final-year undergraduate students have unique transition issues. To support both the transition of first-year students into the program, and the transition of third-year students out of the program and into the workforce or further study, a face-to-face peer mentoring program was embedded into the first-year psychology curricula at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. The 34 peer mentors, third-year students taking a course on mentoring and career preparation, worked in pairs with small groups of first-year students (N = 231) in class time to help them develop study skills that underpin the first-year assessment tasks. This article reports on a peer mentoring program designed to develop and consolidate psychological literacies of both first- and third-year students. Comparing pre- and post-tests for first-year students, there was a significant increase in self-ratings across 8 of the 9 ability areas used to measure psychological literacy. In contrast, third-year mentors only showed significant change in the ability to understand basic psychological concepts. Correlational data reveal, for mentees, final course grades were significantly correlated with domain-specific psychological literacy, comprising knowledge and understanding of basic psychological concepts, scientific research practices, application of psychology, and ethics; for mentors, final course grades were significantly correlated with general psychological literacy, comprising cultural competence, critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and self-awareness skills. While first-year students indicated an overall positive experience with the mentoring program, the third-year mentors showed strong support for the program. The key implications are discussed. |
Keywords | mentoring; transition to the workforce; scientific research; competencies |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 529999. Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
390114. Vocational education and training curriculum and pedagogy | |
390409. Learning sciences | |
Public Notes | File reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher/author. |
Byline Affiliations | University of Southern Queensland |
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q203w/peer-mentoring-to-develop-psychological-literacy-in-first-year-and-graduating-students
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