Alumni-to-Student Group Mentoring at a Distance

1. Alumni-to-Student Group Mentoring at a Distance Anna Foss anna.foss@lshtm.ac.uk Associate Professor Project Module Organiser (PMO) for the Public Health MSc by Distance Learning London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine This project is funded by the University of London Worldwide through an award from the Centre for Distance Education

2. Background Some Project Module students undertaking the Public Health MSc by distance learning (PHDL) at LSHTM have asked to engage with alumni Project Module Organisers (PMOs) launched an alumni-peer mentorship scheme in July 2018, after receiving a Teaching and Research Award from the Centre for Distance Education (CDE) of the University of London Worldwide (UoLW) 9 alumni mentors were recruited as volunteers to form a group collectively supporting about 77 students Aim to enhance students’ learning experience

3. Methods Approaches: Students as partners Participatory research Action research Educational research Outputs: Developed a series of videos and written contributions from mentors Supported engagement/mentoring via Moodle discussion forums and Collaborate web conferencing Eliciting and analysing views/experiences of mentees and mentors, alongside learning analytics, throughout the full 20-month cycle (to March 2020)

4. Role of mentors Companions to ‘walk’ empathetically with mentees Offer own experiences rather than giving advice Share what would have done differently with the benefit of hindsight Ask mentees questions to support their Masters-level independent critical thinking If make the occasional suggestion then refer students to check these with their supervisors or PMO Clearly indicate role in communications as “Alumni peer mentor” Contribute ideas to package of mentor training for future mentors

5. Managing expectations / boundaries New/prospective project students (including mentees) made aware that: Mentors are volunteers providing this additional support as and when they have time available (in group format, not one-to-one) Caution should be exercised when interpreting contributions from mentors in the same way as interpreting peer support from students PMOs also clarify/correct anything deemed misleading from a mentor in the same way as if other students posted something wrong or inappropriate Mentors are to demonstrate respect for confidentiality unless they believe there is a serious or potentially serious danger to a student or others, in which case they are told to immediately phone **** For transparency and so that all students can benefit, interactions between mentors and students should be only within the boundaries/mechanisms of support as agreed here (e.g. not meeting face-to-face with students nor connecting with students via social media, email, Skype/Facetime/phone or by any other means) Acknowledgements to MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXSVO29x7Pc&t=46s)

6. Increase in student engagement

7. Feedback from mentees “…a chance for students to receive diverse feedback” “…very helpful to get a sense of what we can expect. I do find their feedback reassuring… living proof that we can successfully complete our projects… It does help me feel less overwhelmed.” “…at least two mentors gave very useful feedback. This encouraged me to think more about my proposed research work and I actually met with a librarian…even before the session started…”

8. Feedback from mentors “…has been an enriching experience for multiple reasons…widening my perspective while working in public health…enables me to be directly connected to the academic world…making me read more and think critically.” “…opportunity to find a bit of that excitement again…I started supervising medical students in my own university and this program really helps to improve my supervision.” “…a good learning experience for me…I feel really good when students post back to say that comments have been helpful…It makes me feel useful and it has been a rewarding experience...” Academia

9. Conclusions Mentees find the feedback very “helpful” and “reassuring”, and it “encouraged me to think more” Mentors describe their experience as “enriching”, “rewarding” and “exciting”, remaining “connected to the academic world” Mentors add value by sharing their authentic first-hand experiences and provide details beyond PMOs’ input There are other students/alumni interested in becoming mentors for new cohorts of students to sustain this innovation Training materials and lessons learnt are transferable for use/adaptation elsewhere in UoLW

10. Current/Future work Sustainability Transferability Further analysis of Collaborate sessions and emails Focus Group Discussions – data collection and analysis Further dissemination and publication “…‘transferability’ is the most remarkable point of the mentorship scheme because I guess many other modules could benefit from a similar scheme.”

11. Transferable lessons learnt Alumni are a great asset to distance learners, keen to voluntarily share their experiences Mentees value the diversity of group mentoring Mentors describe very positive experiences of the scheme Participation and engagement has increased and students seem better prepared Time investment needed but also time-saving as some trade-off between mentor and PMO responses to students Brief mentoring training appears sufficient Sustainability seems possible with streamlined version (Moodle discussion forums and Collaborate only) PMOs identified no major issues when monitoring mentors Valuable feedback has developed the Project Module Questions to mentors in the videos/introductory Moodle post may be applicable elsewhere

12. Steps to setting up your own group mentorship scheme Start about 3 months before date you want mentors to be active in supporting students Recruiting • Via Alumni Office/data owners re GDPR • Consider a grade cut-off? Training • See slides in shared Google drive folder • 1 hour recorded Collaborate session • Including experienced mentors once on second/later cohort of mentors Induction • Need to sometimes ‘let go’ and accept different styles/wordings and a few minor errors to balance accuracy with empowering mentors Maintenance • Monitoring (constructive feedback only if required – ‘let go’!) • Flagging messages to respond to • Providing encouragement through positive feedback and regular contact

13. Transferable resources in Google Drive folder: http://bit.ly/alumni-mentoring-250619 Mentor training PowerPoint slides Code of Conduct (an example rather than generic) Email templates Contacts and consent Excel template Creative commons licence applies to these 4 resources • you can adapt and use for non-commercial purposes but please acknowledge source and let me know (anna.foss@lshtm.ac.uk) Also email me for any questions and support in getting going!

14. What can go wrong? • Possibilities: • Boundaries • Lack of engagement • Over-dependent mentee • Inappropriate breach of confidentiality • Conflict of interest • Incompatibility • …although risk of some of these mitigated somewhat by the group mentorship model Observations to date: Use of incorrect terminology to describe PMOs, Supervisors, Examiners or Alumni Mentors Referring to incorrect deadlines/timings or procedures Overstating belief student will do well Giving advice Misunderstanding student’s query

15. Discussion • Anything related existing in own context • Transferability of lessons learnt from this session to your context • Transferability of training materials to your context

16. Thanks and follow-up A huge thanks to: All the mentors and mentees to date All the coauthors and funders of the related educational research project (see next slide) Sarah Sherman You all for your interest and feedback/reflections Please email anna.foss@lshtm.ac.uk if you are interested in implementing anything similar / use these resources

17. All authors/investigators:- Principal Investigator: Anna Foss, Associate Professor, Project Module Organiser (PMO) and a Director of LEARN – the Learning and Educational Advances Research Network, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM): anna.foss@lshtm.ac.uk. Co-Investigators: Associate Professor and a former PMO, LSHTM: Rebecca French Assistant Professors in Learning & Teaching, LSHTM: Jenny Fogarty and Mike Hill Associate Professor and Programme Director, LSHTM: Ros Plowman Student partner mentors, LSHTM: Grace Mambula, Sumedh, Samuel Van Steirteghem, Olivia PerrottaHare,Sumedh, VashaBachan and Mary-Ann Schreiner Student partner mentees, LSHTM: Sophia Kohler, Natalina Sutton, Tolu Osigbesan,Nadia Tekkal and NicolòSaverioCentemero Centre for Distance Education (CDE) Fellow: Alan Tait. Funder:- This project is funded by the University of London Worldwide through an award from the Centre for Distance Education. Thanks also to:- Margaret Bentley and the Talent and Educational Development team at LSHTM Sarah Sherman, Bloomsbury Learning Environment Service Manager MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXSVO29x7Pc&t=46s)