Peer mentoring: An effective approach to enhancing first-year student engagement and success.

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Open Access Location
Authors
Ross, C.
Grant, R.
Keywords
Peer mentoring
Student success
Targeted support programmes
Student engagement
Description of form
Publisher
Ako Aotearoa
Rights
Rights holder
Issue Date
2011
Peer-reviewed status
Type
Book chapter
Abstract
Tertiary student success is of strategic importance (Ministry of Education, n.d.), and success in terms of course and qualification completion is a key requirement of the Government’s funding regime. Yet many students do not complete their courses and qualifications successfully. Currently, around 25 percent of New Zealand tertiary students do not complete their qualifications (Scott, 2009) and in a distance learning environment this figure is often higher (Boyle, Kwon, Ross & Simpson, 2010; Smith, Wellington, Cossham, et al., 2011). High non-completion rates provide strong incentives for tertiary education organisations (TEOs) to do as much as possible to promote student success. Targeted support programmes can achieve this end (Grant, Olivier, Rawlings & Ross, 2011). In this paper we describe one such targeted support programme a peer mentoring programme and discuss how it impacts positively on the engagement and success of first-year students studying at a distance.
Citation
Ross, C., & Grant, R. (2011). Peer mentoring: An effective approach to enhancing first-year student engagement and success. In Good practice publication grants e-book. Wellington, New Zealand: Ako Aotearoa.
DOI