A Near-Peer Mentoring Framework for a Civil and Environmental Engineering Curriculum

Marie Bond; Ramez Hajj; Jeffery R. Roesler; Arthur R. Schmidt; Jacob Henschen

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Conference: 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Baltimore , Maryland
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Start Date: June 25, 2023
End Date: June 28, 2023
Conference Session: Committee on Educational Policy Presents: Holistic Students
Tagged Division: Civil Engineering Division (CIVIL)
Page Count: 16
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--42439
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/42439
Download Count: 126

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University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Associate Head and Director of Graduate Studies and Research

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Arthur R. Schmidt III University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

biography

Jacob Henschen University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

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Professor Henschen completed his B.S., M.S., and PhD. at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2007, 2009, and 2018 respectively. He was an Assistant Professor at Valparaiso University until he moved to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as a Teaching Assistant Professor in June 2020. He serves as the co-chair for the Teaching Methods and Education Materials Committee at ACI and the co-chair of the Committee on Faculty Development at ASCE.

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Abstract

Near peer mentoring has proven to yield positive benefits to mentees in engineering programs. However, formal mentoring programs can be difficult to implement and sustain. Volunteers through student organizations or departmental initiatives may be inconsistent in meeting or lack common goals to work toward. In this work, we sought to create a framework for near-peer mentoring that provides structure to the relationship and a common goal for the mentor and mentee to work toward. There are two versions of implementation in this work, formal pairings between groups that last through the semester project and informal mentoring that occurs in small groups during single lectures.

In the first instance, semester project teams from a first-year course were paired with teams from upper-level courses with similar topics but different objectives. The outcome of this framework is that both teams in the introductory and upper-level course will gain broader insight into their projects and provide mutual support to each other throughout the project. The first-year students will also be able draw on the knowledge and experiences of the students in the upper-level courses as well as making strong connections with students in the discipline. In this pilot study, three pairs of groups were formed.

In the second instance, seniors enrolled in the department’s senior-level professional development course attend at least two lectures of the first-year course to meet with first-year student groups. In this mentoring, senior students are given topics of discussion and directions to provide feedback to the first-year students’ projects. With this system, each senior meets with multiple teams during their one-hour visits. While this mentoring is not expected to provide the same level of benefits as the previous instance, the aim is that both the mentors and mentees receive some benefit from the exercise.

As highlighted in previous research, near-peer mentoring benefits the mentee through reinforcing the sense of belonging and community within the department in addition to technical benefits to their project work. Upper-level students will gain mentoring experience as well as expanding their own community. This framework has been piloted in both of its forms. The results from surveys on a range of student perception will be presented along with lessons-learned. The lessons-learned will help to inform on future improvements to the senior mentoring and broader implementation of the paired project groups across upper-level courses.

Citation
Format

Bond, M., & Hajj, R., & Roesler, J. R., & Schmidt, A. R., & Henschen, J. (2023, June), A Near-Peer Mentoring Framework for a Civil and Environmental Engineering Curriculum Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42439

TY - CPAPER
AB - Near peer mentoring has proven to yield positive benefits to mentees in engineering programs. However, formal mentoring programs can be difficult to implement and sustain. Volunteers through student organizations or departmental initiatives may be inconsistent in meeting or lack common goals to work toward. In this work, we sought to create a framework for near-peer mentoring that provides structure to the relationship and a common goal for the mentor and mentee to work toward. There are two versions of implementation in this work, formal pairings between groups that last through the semester project and informal mentoring that occurs in small groups during single lectures.

In the first instance, semester project teams from a first-year course were paired with teams from upper-level courses with similar topics but different objectives. The outcome of this framework is that both teams in the introductory and upper-level course will gain broader insight into their projects and provide mutual support to each other throughout the project. The first-year students will also be able draw on the knowledge and experiences of the students in the upper-level courses as well as making strong connections with students in the discipline. In this pilot study, three pairs of groups were formed.

In the second instance, seniors enrolled in the department’s senior-level professional development course attend at least two lectures of the first-year course to meet with first-year student groups. In this mentoring, senior students are given topics of discussion and directions to provide feedback to the first-year students’ projects. With this system, each senior meets with multiple teams during their one-hour visits. While this mentoring is not expected to provide the same level of benefits as the previous instance, the aim is that both the mentors and mentees receive some benefit from the exercise.

As highlighted in previous research, near-peer mentoring benefits the mentee through reinforcing the sense of belonging and community within the department in addition to technical benefits to their project work. Upper-level students will gain mentoring experience as well as expanding their own community. This framework has been piloted in both of its forms. The results from surveys on a range of student perception will be presented along with lessons-learned. The lessons-learned will help to inform on future improvements to the senior mentoring and broader implementation of the paired project groups across upper-level courses.

AU - Marie Bond
AU - Ramez Hajj
AU - Jeffery R. Roesler
AU - Arthur R. Schmidt III
AU - Jacob Henschen
CY - Baltimore , Maryland
DA - 2023/06/25
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - A Near-Peer Mentoring Framework for a Civil and Environmental Engineering Curriculum
UR - https://peer.asee.org/42439
DO - 10.18260/1-2--42439
ER -