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1. Supporting Undergraduate STEMM Education: Perspectives from Faculty Mentors and Learning Assistants in Calculus II

   https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11030143  

   Hite, Rebecca; Johnson, Levi; Velasco, Richard Carlos; Williams, G. Brock; Griffith, Ken (March 2021, Education Sciences)

   In higher education, Learning Assistants (LAs)—a relatively recent evolution grounded in peer mentorship models—are gaining popularity in classrooms as universities strive to meet the needs of undergraduate learners. Unlike Teaching Assistants, LAs are undergraduate students who receive continuous training from faculty mentors in content-area coaching and pedagogical skills. As near-peers, they assist assigned groups of undergraduates (students) during class. Research on LAs suggests that they are significant in mitigating high Drop-Fail-Withdrawal rates of large enrollment undergraduate science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medical (STEMM) courses. However, there is a dearth of description regarding the learning between LAs and STEMM faculty mentors. This paper reports on perspectives of faculty mentors and their cooperating LAs in regard to their learning relationships during a Calculus II at a research-oriented university during Spring of 2020. Using an exploratory-descriptive qualitative design, faculty (oral responses) and LAs (written responses) reflected on their relationship. Content analysis (coding) resulted in four salient categories (by faculty and LA percentages, respectively) in: Showing Care and Fostering Relationships (47%, 23%); Honing Pedagogical Skills (27%, 36%); Being Prepared for Class and Students (23%, 28%); and Developing Content Knowledge in Calculus (3%, 13%). Benefits of LAs to faculty and ways to commence LA programs at institutions are also discussed. 

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2. Mentoring HBCU Students Through Research Assistantship in Socio-Cybersecurity. Team-building with Sociology and Computer Science Students

   Buchanan Turner, Carlene; Turner, Claude; Shen, Yuying; Thomas, Kianga (November 2022, 6th International Conference on Research in the Social Sciences)

   This paper explores the impact of role models on effective research assistant mentorships for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the United States of America. The research is grounded in the role model theory, which premises that faculty-mentors can demonstrate to mentees how something is done in a technical sense. The data for this project is based on the end of year written reflections of twenty-five research assistants, as well as their conference posters and presentations. The impact of the mentor on students’ progress on the development of a desktop application is also examined. The methodology was a narrative analysis of this qualitative data. The conclusion is that the role model theory is appropriate in understanding under-represented minority students' mentorship and how their mentors can be bootstrap sources for future expectations. 

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3. Exploring Factors and Support for Effective Faculty Mentoring of Undergraduate Students in Engineering

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--46675  

   Baka, Sarah; Brozina, Cory (June 2024, ASEE Conferences)

   This full research paper explores the role of faculty mentors in supporting student mentees. Faculty mentors of undergraduate students have the ability to make an academic, professional, and/or personal impact on their students. For example, mentors may provide assistance with course planning, share career goal feedback, offer life advice, etc. The benefits of these relationships may prove to be especially valuable in competitive fields such as engineering. While students stand to gain much in mentor/mentee relationships, these interactions can be mutually beneficial, producing positive effects for mentors. Despite the importance of faculty mentoring undergraduate students, there is a gap in understanding what enables faculty mentors to feel effective in their roles. The majority of studies focus on student-related outcomes and do not delve into the mentors’ side of the relationship. Addressing this gap can serve to enhance the quality of student education by providing insight into mentoring relationships. This paper will utilize Zachary’s model for effective mentoring to understand the foundation of effective mentoring. This model provides a framework for understanding mentor-mentee interactions by describing the seven elements of an effective relationship: reciprocity, learning, relationship, partnership, collaboration, mutually defined goals, and development. Mentors in academia are put in the position to orchestrate student growth through these areas by lending their guidance and expertise. In order to better understand the faculty mentor experience within one-on-one and small-group faculty-to-student mentoring relationships in the undergraduate setting, this qualitative project will study a cohort of engineering faculty mentors of undergraduate engineering students at a mid-sized research university in the Midwest. Two research questions will be examined: a. What are the factors that enable faculty mentors of undergraduate engineering students to feel effective in their role? b. How can engineering faculty be supported to enhance their mentoring interactions? The primary focus of this study will be to fill a critical gap in the understanding of faculty mentoring of undergraduate students by investigating the factors that enable faculty mentors to feel effective and proposing strategies for their support. 

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4. Using Observational Learning Theory to Interpret How Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Learn to Mentor Postdoctoral Scholars

   Bahnson, M.; Berdanier, C. G.; Ross, M. (January 2022, ASEE annual conference exposition)

   In this research paper, we describe faculty development as mentors to postdoctoral fellows (postdocs). Postdoctoral fellowships have become a significant step in academic and industry positions, while little research investigates the purpose of a postdoc position, the experiences of postdocs, and how faculty develop as postdoc advisors. As part of a larger project investigating postdoc mentorship, nineteen semi-structured qualitative interviews with faculty advisors uncovered themes about how postdoc advisors learn to mentor and advise postdocs. Faculty from U.S. and Canadian universities completed 60-minute online interviews. Participants had varying experience and expertise in advising postdocs. Observational learning theory provides a framework for identifying the process of learning from observation and the replication of mentors’ past experiences. Open and axial coding was used to identify faculty experiences that informed how they mentored their postdoctoral fellows. Faculty who had completed a postdoc as part of their training reflected on their experiences, often identifying positive and negative experiences they used to guide, mentor, and plan the development of the postdocs they advise. Faculty who did not complete a postdoc used doctoral and industry experiences to inform their decisions. This work provides a unique window into postdoctoral training and 

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5. Mentoring future mathematics teachers: Lessons learned from four mentoring partnerships.

   Hodge, A. (October 2019, Journal of mathematics education at Teachers College)

   Mentoring is an important aspect of mathematics teacher education, and in particular, pre-service teacher education. Faculty at a large Midwestern university developed and refined a mentoring program designed to help pre-service secondary mathematics teachers, called Scholars, become future leaders in mathematics education. This paper describes how faculty mentors leveraged challenges in the mentoring program’s early stages based on their reflections and initial mentee outcomes to create a more effective mentoring program. Recommendations based on research and practice are provided for other university programs interested in mentoring future mathematics teachers. 

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