What next?
It quickly became clear to Jenny that this type of mentoring is a very easy and natural process, rewarding for both her present students and their mentors: "The computer graphics student was having his first experience of learning drawing at university. So not only is he coming back and teaching others what he's learning, but he's also able to illustrate with all these drawings that he's so proud of."
Jenny is confident that with sensible management the size and effectiveness of the project can grow naturally, and is now seeing opportunities to make much more use of it within other courses in her department.
She is extending the scheme by using this year's Year 13 students to mentor Year 12 students. "Year 13 students who used Flash and Action Script last year to create an animation for a youth issue are coming into the Year 12 class and talking about the resources they used. This relates to the work this year's students are doing on 'experts practice' which will contribute to their evidence for the external achievement standards." However, finding a time when students can be released from timetabled classes can be problematic."
Jenny has surveyed the mentors to identify other non-intrusive ways in which they would be prepared to help. She is particularly interested in finding out what the mentors did at school that they are now finding particularly useful.
"One mentor is now working in the computer gaming industry in Wellington and he talks about how valuable he's finding linear algebra, and also the experience of the programming competitions he entered as part of the computer science scholarship at Waikato."
She has also surveyed current students
to identify ways in which the scheme has been useful and whether they would be willing to participate in the scheme after leaving school themselves.
Student survey:
Would you be keen to offer to be a mentor when you leave school? Why ?
- Vidur - Year 12
Probably; I would be keen to help other students who will be soon leaving school and joining the workforce. Give back to them, as gratitude for receiving mentoring in the first place. - Bob - Year 12
Yes; it is good to learn from others who remember how it feels to be a teenager. - Nathan - Year 12
Yes, to aid others. - Renee - Year 13
Yes, because it has helped me, but it would depend on time availability. I think it would also encourage more girls to continue with computer science.
