April 11, 2013, by Teaching at Nottingham

The role of peer mentoring in student engagement

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Dr Marion Leducq and Claire Mann: “The findings from the What Works? Student Retention & Success Programme? (funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation) present a convincing case that “belonging” is crucial for student engagement, course completion and success. The final report identifies ‘supportive peer relations’ as a key factor contributing to a sense of belonging (Thomas, 2012).

“Following a successful pilot, the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy funded a peer mentor scheme in 2012 to support new nursing students during the transition into University life and throughout the first semester. Based on recommendations for Higher Education Institutions (Andrews and Clark, 2011), we provide face-to-face training and online learning and the opportunity to complete the Peer Mentoring for Nursing Students module as part of the University of Nottingham Advantage Award. Since its introduction, the scheme has been embraced by students and has led to a number of ‘spin-off activities’ and development of ‘community’ which have far exceeded our expectations.

“This presentation describes the work undertaken, the progress made and what has been learned along the way.”

“Andrews, J. and Clark, R (2011) Peer Mentoring Works! How Peer Mentoring Enhances Student Success in Higher Education. Aston University: ISBN: 978 1 85449 417 7.

“Thomas, L. (2012) Building student engagement and belonging in higher education at a time of change: final report from the What Works? Student Retention and Success programme. Paul Hamlyn Foundation. London.

“Both reports available at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/what-works-retention”

Dr Marion Leducq and Claire Mann
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy

This presentation was given at the Curriculum Review conference: creating coherent programmes. It was part of a session addressing engaging students with their studies and each other where colleagues offered examples of integrating students from different backgrounds at the start of their studies, and creating an environment that fosters a sense of belonging to the academic community.

The full programme is available on the Curriculum Review conference page.

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