Formal Academic Mentoring: a pilot scheme for first-year science students at a regional university

Abstract

This article describes a pilot academic mentoring program carried out over one semester in The Faculty of the Sciences at a regional Australian university. The program employed a science and education specialist in the faculty to provide an avenue of help to first-year science students at risk of failing, to identify some of the barriers to their performance, and to thereby enhance student success and retention. The mentor found that many students who had already failed one major exam were at least as motivated, and studying as many hours, as their more successful counterparts, though they attended fewer lectures and found their units of study more difficult. Despite relatively low numbers of self-referring students, the program was viewed favourably by all students that sought mentoring assistance. On the basis of the pilot, the mentor program has been continued fora further three years.