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1. Perceptions of shared experiences in mentoring relationships: A collaborative autoethnography

   Martin, J.P.; Suresh, D.E.; Jensen, P. (June 2022, Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education)

   This research paper describes an autoethnographic study of three individuals: Julie, a tenured faculty member and experienced engineering education researcher, and two novice engineering education researchers, Paul, a more junior faculty member, and Deepthi, a graduate student. The tripartite mentoring relationship between us formed as part of a National Science Foundation Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (NSF RIEF) project. We grounded our work in the cognitive apprenticeship model of mentoring and theory of social capital, asking the question: How do mentors and mentees perceive shared experiences? Over the course of 16 months, we collected data in the form of reflective journal entries and transcripts from individual and joint interviews, combining these with other documentation such as emails and text messages. We analyzed these data by identifying three critical incidents over the course of the relationship to date and comparing each of our perceptions of these shared experiences. We found that our perceptions of the shared experiences differed greatly, providing multiple opportunities to improve our future communication. We also discovered that our initial mentoring model in which Julie mentored Paul and Paul mentored Deepthi did not withstand scrutiny. Because Paul was new to engineering education research, it was better for Julie to mentor both Paul and Deepthi than to expect Paul to teach Deepthi topics and methods that were new to him. We assert that other projects would benefit by this approach as well. Our findings offer broad implications for the efficacy of reflection and communication in mentoring relationships. 

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2. Using collaborative autoethnography to investigate mentoring relationships for novice engineering education researchers

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-024-00473-8  

   Martin, Julie P.; Suresh, Deepthi E.; Jensen, Paul A. (February 2024, International Journal of STEM Education)

   Abstract BackgroundThe National Science Foundation Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (RIEF) program aims to increase research capacity in the field by providing funding for technical engineering faculty to learn to conduct engineering education research through mentorship by an experienced social science researcher. We use collaborative autoethnography to study the tripartite RIEF mentoring relationship between Julie, an experienced engineering education researcher, and two novice education researchers who have backgrounds in biomedical engineering—Paul, a biomedical engineering faculty member and major professor to the second novice, Deepthi, a graduate student. We ground our work in the cognitive apprenticeship model and Eby and colleagues’ mentoring model. ResultsUsing data from written reflections and interviews, we explored the role of instrumental and psychosocial supports in our mentoring relationship. In particular, we noted how elements of cognitive apprenticeship such as scaffolding and gradual fading of instrumental supports helped Paul and Deepthi learn qualitative research skills that differed drastically from their biomedical engineering research expertise. We initially conceptualized our tripartite relationship as one where Julie mentored Paul and Paul subsequently mentored Deepthi. Ultimately, we realized that this model was unrealistic because Paul did not yet possess the social science research expertise to mentor another novice. As a result, we changed our model so that Julie mentored both Paul and Deepthi directly. While our mentoring relationship was overall very positive, it has included many moments of miscommunication and misunderstanding. We draw on Lent and Lopez’s idea of relation-inferred self-efficacy to explain some of these missed opportunities for communication and understanding. ConclusionsThis paper contributes to the literature on engineering education capacity building by studying mentoring as a mechanism to support technically trained researchers in learning to conduct engineering education research. Our initial mentoring model failed to take into account how challenging it is for mentees to make the paradigm shift from technical engineering to social science research and how that would affect Paul’s ability to mentor Deepthi. Our experiences have implications for expanding research capacity because they raise practical and conceptual issues for experienced and novice engineering education researchers to consider as they form mentoring relationships. 

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3. STEM faculty members and their perceptions of mentoring: “I do not want to be a role model”

   https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMCE-07-2020-0035  

   Olson, Joann S.; Nayar-Bhalerao, Sneha (December 2020, International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education)

   null (Ed.)

   Purpose The purpose of this case study is to explore the perceptions of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) faculty members toward mentoring undergraduates. Design/methodology/approach Within the context of a student scholarship and faculty development project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), STEM faculty members were interviewed at a small teaching-focused university in South Texas, United States. This research study utilized a qualitative case study approach based on semi-structured interviews with nine Mathematics and Computer Science faculty members. Transcripts were coded thematically, beginning with open coding and continuing with repeated rounds of comparison leading to the identification of four themes. Findings Four themes were identified in the data: describing settings where mentoring occurs, identifying the tasks of mentoring, developing skills for mentoring others and inhabiting the identity of a mentor. These findings suggest that increasing faculty engagement and effectiveness in mentoring STEM students may be a matter of broadening the definition of mentoring and helping faculty members develop the identity of a mentor. Practical implications In an effort to promote retention of students, specifically within STEM fields, many initiatives highlight the importance of faculty mentoring for undergraduate students. This research suggests that faculty members' perceptions of the role and structure of a mentoring relationship will shape this relationship and have an impact on student persistence and success. Originality/value While most studies of faculty–student mentoring focus on the experiences of students, this study explored faculty members' perceptions of that relationship. 

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4. Framework to Enhance STEM Education for Community College Students

   https://doi.org/10.24018/ejedu.2022.3.3.331  

   Zeid, Abe; Duggan, Claire (May 2022, European Journal of Education and Pedagogy)

   Community colleges (CCs) play a critical role in advancing the education of all learners. Approximately 40% of first-time college freshman begin in Community Colleges. The proposed framework seeks to support and excite CC students to persist in their STEM education to increase the pipeline for the STEM workforce. Its vision is to provide CC students engineering skills and to excite them about engineering research. The framework enables students to spend 10 summer weeks at Northeastern University to increase skills, confidence, and learn firsthand about research. Each student will join a research lab, working with faculty and graduate student mentors. Also, students will be mentored after summer to further support their successful graduation and/or transfer to a 4-year institution and beyond. The site is guided by two of the grand challenges of the National Academy of Engineering: personalized learning and scientific discovery. Unique aspects of the proposed framework include: a hands-on short course in engineering topics and software tools; formal mentor training including modules for mentoring CC students; daily student meetings with mentors; extensive professional development seminars; formal research training including daily reflection journals, poster presentations and technical writing with a faculty member; and recruitment from a unique pool of highly talented URM students. 

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5. Work-in-Progress: The Design and Implementation of EFRI-Research Experience in Mentoring Catalyst Initiative Paper

   Qaqish, O. B. (July 2021, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   null (Ed.)

   The National Science Foundation (NSF) Emerging Frontiers and Innovation (EFRI) Research Experience and Mentoring (REM) program nationally supports hands-on research and ongoing mentorship in STEM fields at various universities and colleges. The NSF EFRI-REM Mentoring Catalyst initiative was designed to build and train these robust, interactive research mentoring communities that are composed of faculty, postdoctoral associates and graduate student mentors, to broaden participation of underrepresented groups in STEM research who are funded through NSF EFRI-REM. This work-in-progress paper describes the first five years of this initiative, where interactive training programs were implemented from multiple frameworks of effective mentoring. Principal investigators, postdoctoral associates and graduate students are often expected to develop and establish mentoring plans without any formal training in how to be effective mentors. Since the start of this initiative, over 300 faculty, postdoctoral associates and graduate students have been trained on promising practices, strategies, and tools to enhance their research mentoring experiences. In addition to formal mentor training, opportunities to foster a community of practice with current mentors and past mentor training participants (sage mentors) were provided. During these interactions, promising mentoring practices were shared to benefit the mentors and the different mentoring populations that the EFRI-REMs serve. The community of practice connected a diverse group of institutions and faculty to help the EFRI-REM community in its goal of broadening participation across a range of STEM disciplines. Those institutions are then able to discuss, distill and disseminate best practices around the mentoring of participants through targeted mentored training beyond the EFRI-REM at their home institutions. Not only does the EFRI-REM Catalyst initiative focus on broadening participation via strategic training of research mentors, it also empowers mentees, including undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral associates, in their research experiences through an entering research undergraduate course and formal mentoring training workshops. Future expansion to other academic units (e.g., colleges, universities) builds on the research collaborations and the initiatives developed and presented in this work-in-progress paper. A long-term goal is to provide insights via collaborative meetings (e.g., webinars, presentations) for STEM and related faculty who are assembling an infrastructure (e.g., proposals for the ERFI-REM program) across a range of research structures. In summary, this work-in-progress paper provides a description of the design and implementation of this initiative, preliminary findings, expanding interactions to other NSF supported Engineering Research Centers, and the future directions of the EFRI-REM Mentoring Catalyst initiative. 

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