Mentoring Partnerships in Science Education

TL;DR

This study uses action research in a college physics course to explore how mentoring partnerships via conferences impact student-mentor rapport, student empowerment, and classroom dynamics, revealing increased mutual understanding and some barriers.

Contribution

It demonstrates the effectiveness of one-on-one mentoring conferences in improving student-mentor relationships and provides insights into the challenges of student voice in physics education.

Findings

Students reported increased knowledge of their TAs as persons and instructors.

Most students were not interested in changing circumstances to discuss personal concerns.

A case study showed improved attendance and additional help for a student.

Abstract

The authors use an action research (AR) approach in a collegiate studio physics class to investigate the power of partnerships via conferences as they relate to issues of establishing a student/mentor rapport, empowering students to reduce inequity, and the successes and barriers to hearing students' voices. The graduate teaching assistant (TA, Author 1) conducted one-on-one conferences with 29 students, elicited student opinions about the progress of the course, and talked with faculty, TAs, and an undergraduate supplemental instructor for other sections of the course. At the end of the semester, the students reported increased knowledge of the TA as a person and as an instructor, and vice versa. Sixty-five percent of students reported no interest in changing circumstances to make it easier to talk about personal concerns with the TA. College students reluctantly voiced their opinions about the course, possibly due to the power structure of the classroom. Other TAs in the department expressed mostly disinterest in the project, while faculty members were interested in student learning but skeptical of student empowerment. A case study of one student is presented, wherein his attendance improved in the course and he received additional help outside class, both possibly as a result of the student/TA conferences. Students in this studio physics section were more likely to interact directly with faculty or TAs during lectures, but less likely to do so during lab sessions, than were students in a non-studio physics section.