This paper reports on an investigation into peer mentoring at Northumbria University, the results of which indicated that students would welcome a peer mentoring scheme but that, given the piecemeal nature of contact between mentor and mentee, a virtual peer mentoring scheme was more appropriate than one conducted face-to-face. A concurrent project at Northumbria University was engaged in investigating student use of the University's virtual learning environment, the eLearning Portal (eLP). Results of this project gave some indication of what might inhibit the introduction of a virtual peer mentoring scheme based around the eLP

Gannon-Leary, Pat

Smailes, Joanne

Watson, Cate

Northumbria Research Link

VIRTUAL PEER MENTORING: CAN WE CREATE A COMMUNITY OF PEER -SUPPORTED LEARNERS? Pat Gannon-Leary, Cate Watson, Joanne Smailes Academic Registry, Northumbria University ABSTRACT This paper reports on an investigation into peer mentoring at Northumbria University, the results of which indicated that students would welcome a peer mentoring scheme but that, given the piecemeal nature of contact between mentor and mentee, a virtual peer mentoring scheme was more appropriate than one conducted face-to-face. A concurrent project at Northumbria University was engaged in investigating student use of the University’s virtual learning environment, the eLearning Portal (eLP). Results of this project gave some indication of what might inhibit the introduction of a virtual peer mentoring scheme based around the eLP.  KEYWORDS Virtual Peer Mentoring; Virtual Learning Environments; Peer mentoring is a preferred means employed by many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to assist in the integration of first year students into their discipline at university and has been found to be an effective way to improve the first year experience of students.( Watson, 2000; Farrell et al., 2004). Peer mentoring runs very successfully at a number of HEIs in the United Kingdom, for example Bournemouth and the University of Manchester (Capstick & Fleming 2001; Draper 2004).  Potential benefits claimed for peer mentoring include increased rates of student retention and achievement for a relatively low cost (Boud, et al 2001; Hodges. & White. 2001). American research suggests that peer mentoring users gain higher mean grades than non-users (Congos & Schoeps, 1993 among others ). Evidence from Europe and South Africa is less strong but suggests that those students who join a peer mentoring scheme do better than those students who do not (McCarthy et al., 1997). A number of HEIs have found that peer mentoring programmes are of benefit not only to new students (mentees), but also to the students who mentor them since it helps them develop confidence in their discipline, communication, team working and problem solving, i.e. skills or abilities sought by employers (Bond, 1999; Shrestha, 1999). At Northumbria a peer mentoring pilot scheme was run in Newcastle Business School but this enjoyed limited success. Therefore a research project across the University was conducted in order to answer the following research questions: • What needs do students at Northumbria have that might be addressed by a peer mentoring scheme?• What type of peer mentoring system would students like?Key statements derived from articles on peer mentoring were incorporated into a short questionnairewhich was emailed out to students via the University distribution list. In addition, a web-based version of the questionnaire was loaded onto the Students’ Union website. Students were asked to volunteer for a follow-up interview.  A total of 311 questionnaires were returned from 232 females and 77 male students (two students did not indicate their gender). 50% of the students were from the North East of England, 32% were from other parts of the UK; 13% were international students from outside the EU; and 4% were from EU member countries. 42.4% of the respondents were first year students. Ten students volunteered to be interviewed over the phone. • Responses were then categorised under the following headings (Number in brackets indicates thenumber of responses that matched each category)Academic issues (54)Time/timetabling issues(24)• Financial issues(58)• IT issues (22)IADIS International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age (CELDA 2007)359• Accommodation issues(14)• Location issues(34)• Social issues(79)The second part of the questionnaire sought to gain insight about the type of peer mentoring system thatstudents would like, in terms of attributes of the mentor, formality of the system, frequency of meeting and mode of meeting. Students expressed a willingness to have (in order of preference): • One or two mentors whom they could contact about anything• A mentor on the same programme as themselves• Virtual contact rather than face to face• Timetabled mentoring sessionsAlthough Northumbria’s pilot peer mentoring model had enjoyed limited success, it was clear from theinterviews and questionnaire responses that students (over 70% of the sample) did feel there was a need for peer mentoring programmes to be run at Northumbria University.  A close examination of student responses to a number of differing dimensions of a peer mentoring model indicated that the peer mentors were likely to be accessed on a piecemeal basis and that this could be managed mostly through virtual contact.   One suggestion had been that virtual peer mentoring could be achieved via the university’s VLE, the eLearning Portal (eLP). The University as a whole is investing a considerable amount of time in listening to the opinions of student users of the eLP. Concurrent studies being conducted at Northumbria University included the establishment an eLP Student Feedback Group which provided an informal environment for ideas regarding the eLP to be discussed. Another study, designed to ascertain how students were using the eLP, employed questionnaire and interview methods similar to those employed in the Peer Mentoring study but, in addition, used student diaries to record how the eLP was being used. Diary data provided insight into the students’ views of the contribution that the eLP made to their learning, both positive and negative. The quotations used are representative of students’ opinions. Positive aspects are illustrated by the following student comments: • I use eLP to allow me to interact with other students and lecturers via the discussion boards and itoften helps when I am struggling with work, especially when I know others are also finding itdifficult. (2nd year female UK student)• The eLP is an aid to learning, a teaching method for tutors and students…, they can communicatewith each other clearly and talk with each other easily, especially for these shy people who don’tlike to ask questions in class.. (1st year female international student)• The eLP serves as electronic notice board and a link between different stakeholders (teachers,students, and university administration). (postgraduate female international student)These comments indicate that the eLP is already being used to some extent as a communication tool and that this should facilitate its further development as a conduit for virtual peer mentoring. However, the diarists also recorded negative comments: • I found that the eLP was not very exciting to the typical student that feels they have better things todo with their time..(1st year female UK student)• Students use the eLP just because their tutors ask them to do it. They do not use it on their owninitiative…(postgraduate female international student)A 2003 study of the use of the eLP at Northumbria (Gannon-Leary & McDowell) found that students were not using the discussion areas of the VLE. Staff felt that, while students had the potential to learn a lot from each other, they needed to be academically mature to benefit from the interactivity. This lack of use was, in part,  put down to inertia on the part of the students but it was also credited to their feelings that any contribution they made had to be ‘first class’ before it was committed to the VLE. This reported inertia needs to be addressed if the eLP is to be used as a platform for virtual peer mentoring. Another issue involves preparedness to use the eLP. Molesworth (2004) comments that students frequently expressed the need for guidance in study skills when making the transition from school to university, looking to academics to draw their attention to, and use an institutional VLE effectively. Only 19.4% (79/407) of the respondents in the eLP study agreed that they had used a system similar to the eLP at their school or college prior to coming to Northumbria so they were prepared to use a VLE. A number of students identified problems in their preparation. 360• I didn’t receive much support at the beginning of my course on how to use the eLP so found that Ihave taught myself (1st year female UK student)• I think guidance is important especially for first year entry students. As an international student, Ifeel we need more…(4th year male international student)• When first introduced to it we were not really shown how to use it, but mainly told that it was thereand how to log on to it. (2nd year male UK student)• When I first started I wish I had a run through of how to actually use it …because all I got was ‘thisis eLP get on with it’ I was not shown how to use it or what it was for. (3rd year female UK student)While the research indicates that the eLP is used extensively by the students to access learning materials, only 17% (69/407) of students in the 2006 Northumbria survey agreed that they contacted other students using the eLP even if they were not instructed to do so by their lecturers and  only 29.75% (121/407) agreed that they contacted other students via the eLP if their lecturers told them to do so.   The above described factors, namely student inertia, lack of preparedness to use the eLP  and under-use of the communications facilities of the eLP may militate against its use for virtual peer mentoring. Peer mentoring is particularly beneficial to the first year student but this may be the very student who is unfamiliar with the ways in which the eLP can be used. More guidance in such use needs to be given not only from the technological viewpoint but also from the pedagogical, in that students need to be persuaded that they do not have to post the ‘perfect’ question or response in a discussion board.  The issue of student inertia may be partially overcome if confidence in the ability to use the eLP is increased. It would seem from the research into peer mentoring that students are motivated to use a peer mentoring system but the conditions in which is operates need further examination. The authors are exploring the potential of virtual peer mentoring within their institution with a small group of students with the hope that this may be rolled out to the wider student community. The structure of the test eLP  virtual peer mentoring site allows for the students acting as mentors to take full responsibility for the editing and updating of the site, a concept which is unique across the institution. One to one training sessions with the students who demonstrated interest in undertaking this site management role, clearly showed that there is genuine appeal in the virtual nature of the peer mentoring project, and provides the basis for future development. Hence the first seeds have been sown, for example, students involved in the test site have indicated they would still like to be involved next year . The success of schemes such as the virtual peer mentoring is vital in the sense it will encourage students to use the eLP not just for academic reasons but also for personal development. From our perspective if we achieve that during their first year at university, the principle should carry forward into the remainder of their university lives. REFERENCES Capstick, S. & Fleming, H. (2001) 'Peer assisted learning in an undergraduate Hospitality course: Second year students supporting first year students in group learning.' Journal of Hospitality Leisure Sport and Tourism Education, 1(1), 69-75.Bond, A. (1999) Student mentoring: Promoting high achievement and low attrition in education and training. Leabrook, S.A.: NCVER.Boud, D., Cohen, R., & Sampson, J. (2001). Peer learning in higher education: Learning from and with each other. Adult Education Quarterly, 53 (1): 65-66. Congos, D.H. & Schoeps, N. (1993). Does Supplemental Instruction really work and what is it anyway? Studies in Higher Education 18: 165–176. Draper, S.W. (2004) PAL Short Literature Review. http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/localed/pallit1.html  [Accessed May 2006] Farrell, H., Pastore, C., Handa, N., Dearlove, J., & Spalding, E. (2004). Initiating the battlers. Proceedings of the ISANA Conference 2004. December 2004, Melbourne. Freeman, M. & Kelton, J. (2004) 'Peer mentoring programs : enhancing the learning experience in economics and business.' Synergy, (20), np. Gannon-Leary, P. & McDowell, L. (2003) ENABLE: an Evaluation of Northumbria’s Adoption of the Blackboard Learning Environment. Newcastle, Northumbria University. Hodges, R., & White, W. (2001). Encouraging high-risk student participation in tutoring and Supplemental Instruction. Journal of Developmental Education, 24, 2-10, 43. IADIS International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age (CELDA 2007)361Pacific Rim- First Year in Higher Education Conference: Creating Futures for the New Millennium, Queensland University of Technology, July, Brisbane 362McCarthy, A., Bridget, S. & Cosser, M. (1997). Assessing the effectiveness of Supplemental Instruction: A critique and a case study. Studies in Higher Education 22: 221–231. Molesworth, M. (2004) Collaboration, reflection and selective neglect: campus-based marketing students’ experiences of using a virtual learning environment. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 41 (1), 79-92. Shrestha, S. (1999) School of Civic Engineering and Environment, UWS – Nepean, peer mentoring programme. Paper presented at 2nd Asia-Pacific Forum on Engineering and Technology Education. Sydney. 4 – 7 July, 1999. Watson, J. (2000). A Peer Assistance Support Scheme (PASS) for first year core subjects. Paper presented at The Fourth

Virtual peer mentoring: can we create a community of peer-supported learners?

Northumbria Research Link
Citation: Gannon-Leary, Pat, Watson, Cate and Smailes, Joanne (2007) Virtual peer mentoring: can 
we create a community of peer-supported learners? In: Cognition and exploratory learning in digital 
age conference (CELDA 2007),International Association for Development of the Information Society 
(IADIS), 7-9 December 2007, Algarve, Portugal. 
URL: 
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VIRTUAL PEER MENTORING: CAN WE CREATE A 
COMMUNITY OF PEER -SUPPORTED LEARNERS? 
Pat Gannon-Leary, Cate Watson, Joanne Smailes 
Academic Registry, Northumbria University 
ABSTRACT 
This paper reports on an investigation into peer mentoring at Northumbria University, the results of which indicated that 
students would welcome a peer mentoring scheme but that, given the piecemeal nature of contact between mentor and 
mentee, a virtual peer mentoring scheme was more appropriate than one conducted face-to-face. A concurrent project at 
Northumbria University was engaged in investigating student use of the University’s virtual learning environment, the 
eLearning Portal (eLP). Results of this project gave some indication of what might inhibit the introduction of a virtual 
peer mentoring scheme based around the eLP.  
KEYWORDS 
Virtual Peer Mentoring; Virtual Learning Environments; 
Peer mentoring is a preferred means employed by many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to assist in the 
integration of first year students into their discipline at university and has been found to be an effective way 
to improve the first year experience of students.( Watson, 2000; Farrell et al., 2004). Peer mentoring runs 
very successfully at a number of HEIs in the United Kingdom, for example Bournemouth and the University 
of Manchester (Capstick & Fleming 2001; Draper 2004).  Potential benefits claimed for peer mentoring 
include increased rates of student retention and achievement for a relatively low cost (Boud, et al 2001; 
Hodges. & White. 2001). 
American research suggests that peer mentoring users gain higher mean grades than non-users (Congos & 
Schoeps, 1993 among others ). Evidence from Europe and South Africa is less strong but suggests that those 
students who join a peer mentoring scheme do better than those students who do not (McCarthy et al., 1997). 
A number of HEIs have found that peer mentoring programmes are of benefit not only to new students 
(mentees), but also to the students who mentor them since it helps them develop confidence in their 
discipline, communication, team working and problem solving, i.e. skills or abilities sought by employers 
(Bond, 1999; Shrestha, 1999). 
At Northumbria a peer mentoring pilot scheme was run in Newcastle Business School but this enjoyed 
limited success. Therefore a research project across the University was conducted in order to answer the 
following research questions: 
• What needs do students at Northumbria have that might be addressed by a peer mentoring scheme?
• What type of peer mentoring system would students like?
Key statements derived from articles on peer mentoring were incorporated into a short questionnaire
which was emailed out to students via the University distribution list. In addition, a web-based version of the 
questionnaire was loaded onto the Students’ Union website. Students were asked to volunteer for a follow-up 
interview.  
A total of 311 questionnaires were returned from 232 females and 77 male students (two students did not 
indicate their gender). 50% of the students were from the North East of England, 32% were from other parts 
of the UK; 13% were international students from outside the EU; and 4% were from EU member countries. 
42.4% of the respondents were first year students. Ten students volunteered to be interviewed over the phone. 
• Responses were then categorised under the following headings (Number in brackets indicates the
number of responses that matched each category)Academic issues (54)Time/timetabling issues(24)
• Financial issues(58)
• IT issues (22)
IADIS International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age (CELDA 2007)
359
• Accommodation issues(14)
• Location issues(34)
• Social issues(79)
The second part of the questionnaire sought to gain insight about the type of peer mentoring system that
students would like, in terms of attributes of the mentor, formality of the system, frequency of meeting and 
mode of meeting. 
Students expressed a willingness to have (in order of preference): 
• One or two mentors whom they could contact about anything
• A mentor on the same programme as themselves
• Virtual contact rather than face to face
• Timetabled mentoring sessions
Although Northumbria’s pilot peer mentoring model had enjoyed limited success, it was clear from the
interviews and questionnaire responses that students (over 70% of the sample) did feel there was a need for 
peer mentoring programmes to be run at Northumbria University.  A close examination of student responses 
to a number of differing dimensions of a peer mentoring model indicated that the peer mentors were likely to 
be accessed on a piecemeal basis and that this could be managed mostly through virtual contact.   
One suggestion had been that virtual peer mentoring could be achieved via the university’s VLE, the 
eLearning Portal (eLP). The University as a whole is investing a considerable amount of time in listening to 
the opinions of student users of the eLP. Concurrent studies being conducted at Northumbria University 
included the establishment an eLP Student Feedback Group which provided an informal environment for 
ideas regarding the eLP to be discussed. Another study, designed to ascertain how students were using the 
eLP, employed questionnaire and interview methods similar to those employed in the Peer Mentoring study 
but, in addition, used student diaries to record how the eLP was being used. 
Diary data provided insight into the students’ views of the contribution that the eLP made to their 
learning, both positive and negative. The quotations used are representative of students’ opinions. 
Positive aspects are illustrated by the following student comments: 
• I use eLP to allow me to interact with other students and lecturers via the discussion boards and it
often helps when I am struggling with work, especially when I know others are also finding it
difficult. (2nd year female UK student)
• The eLP is an aid to learning, a teaching method for tutors and students…, they can communicate
with each other clearly and talk with each other easily, especially for these shy people who don’t
like to ask questions in class.. (1st year female international student)
• The eLP serves as electronic notice board and a link between different stakeholders (teachers,
students, and university administration). (postgraduate female international student)
These comments indicate that the eLP is already being used to some extent as a communication tool and 
that this should facilitate its further development as a conduit for virtual peer mentoring. 
However, the diarists also recorded negative comments: 
• I found that the eLP was not very exciting to the typical student that feels they have better things to
do with their time..(1st year female UK student)
• Students use the eLP just because their tutors ask them to do it. They do not use it on their own
initiative…(postgraduate female international student)
A 2003 study of the use of the eLP at Northumbria (Gannon-Leary & McDowell) found that students 
were not using the discussion areas of the VLE. Staff felt that, while students had the potential to learn a lot 
from each other, they needed to be academically mature to benefit from the interactivity. This lack of use 
was, in part,  put down to inertia on the part of the students but it was also credited to their feelings that any 
contribution they made had to be ‘first class’ before it was committed to the VLE. 
This reported inertia needs to be addressed if the eLP is to be used as a platform for virtual peer 
mentoring. Another issue involves preparedness to use the eLP. Molesworth (2004) comments that students 
frequently expressed the need for guidance in study skills when making the transition from school to 
university, looking to academics to draw their attention to, and use an institutional VLE effectively. Only 
19.4% (79/407) of the respondents in the eLP study agreed that they had used a system similar to the eLP at 
their school or college prior to coming to Northumbria so they were prepared to use a VLE. A number of 
students identified problems in their preparation. 
360
• I didn’t receive much support at the beginning of my course on how to use the eLP so found that I
have taught myself (1st year female UK student)
• I think guidance is important especially for first year entry students. As an international student, I
feel we need more…(4th year male international student)
• When first introduced to it we were not really shown how to use it, but mainly told that it was there
and how to log on to it. (2nd year male UK student)
• When I first started I wish I had a run through of how to actually use it …because all I got was ‘this
is eLP get on with it’ I was not shown how to use it or what it was for. (3rd year female UK student)
While the research indicates that the eLP is used extensively by the students to access learning materials, 
only 17% (69/407) of students in the 2006 Northumbria survey agreed that they contacted other students 
using the eLP even if they were not instructed to do so by their lecturers and  only 29.75% (121/407) agreed 
that they contacted other students via the eLP if their lecturers told them to do so.   
The above described factors, namely student inertia, lack of preparedness to use the eLP  and under-use of 
the communications facilities of the eLP may militate against its use for virtual peer mentoring. Peer 
mentoring is particularly beneficial to the first year student but this may be the very student who is unfamiliar 
with the ways in which the eLP can be used. More guidance in such use needs to be given not only from the 
technological viewpoint but also from the pedagogical, in that students need to be persuaded that they do not 
have to post the ‘perfect’ question or response in a discussion board.  The issue of student inertia may be 
partially overcome if confidence in the ability to use the eLP is increased. It would seem from the research 
into peer mentoring that students are motivated to use a peer mentoring system but the conditions in which is 
operates need further examination. 
The authors are exploring the potential of virtual peer mentoring within their institution with a small 
group of students with the hope that this may be rolled out to the wider student community. The structure of 
the test eLP  virtual peer mentoring site allows for the students acting as mentors to take full responsibility 
for the editing and updating of the site, a concept which is unique across the institution. One to one training 
sessions with the students who demonstrated interest in undertaking this site management role, clearly 
showed that there is genuine appeal in the virtual nature of the peer mentoring project, and provides the basis 
for future development. Hence the first seeds have been sown, for example, students involved in the test site 
have indicated they would still like to be involved next year . The success of schemes such as the virtual peer 
mentoring is vital in the sense it will encourage students to use the eLP not just for academic reasons but also 
for personal development. From our perspective if we achieve that during their first year at university, the 
principle should carry forward into the remainder of their university lives. 
REFERENCES 
Capstick, S. & Fleming, H. (2001) 'Peer assisted learning in an undergraduate Hospitality course: Second year students 
supporting first year students in group learning.' Journal of Hospitality Leisure Sport and Tourism Education, 1(1), 
69-75.
Bond, A. (1999) Student mentoring: Promoting high achievement and low attrition in education and training. Leabrook, 
S.A.: NCVER.
Boud, D., Cohen, R., & Sampson, J. (2001). Peer learning in higher education: Learning from and with each other. Adult 
Education Quarterly, 53 (1): 65-66. 
Congos, D.H. & Schoeps, N. (1993). Does Supplemental Instruction really work and what is it anyway? Studies in 
Higher Education 18: 165–176. 
Draper, S.W. (2004) PAL Short Literature Review. http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/localed/pallit1.html  [Accessed May 
2006] 
Farrell, H., Pastore, C., Handa, N., Dearlove, J., & Spalding, E. (2004). Initiating the battlers. Proceedings of the ISANA 
Conference 2004. December 2004, Melbourne. 
Freeman, M. & Kelton, J. (2004) 'Peer mentoring programs : enhancing the learning experience in economics and 
business.' Synergy, (20), np. 
Gannon-Leary, P. & McDowell, L. (2003) ENABLE: an Evaluation of Northumbria’s Adoption of the Blackboard 
Learning Environment. Newcastle, Northumbria University. 
Hodges, R., & White, W. (2001). Encouraging high-risk student participation in tutoring and Supplemental Instruction. 
Journal of Developmental Education, 24, 2-10, 43. 
IADIS International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age (CELDA 2007)
361
Pacific Rim- First Year in Higher Education Conference: Creating Futures for the New Millennium, Queensland 
University of Technology, July, Brisbane 
362
McCarthy, A., Bridget, S. & Cosser, M. (1997). Assessing the effectiveness of Supplemental Instruction: A critique and a 
case study. Studies in Higher Education 22: 221–231. 
Molesworth, M. (2004) Collaboration, reflection and selective neglect: campus-based marketing students’ experiences of 
using a virtual learning environment. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 41 (1), 79-92. 
Shrestha, S. (1999) School of Civic Engineering and Environment, UWS – Nepean, peer mentoring programme. Paper 
presented at 2nd Asia-Pacific Forum on Engineering and Technology Education. Sydney. 4 – 7 July, 1999. 
Watson, J. (2000). A Peer Assistance Support Scheme (PASS) for first year core subjects. Paper presented at The Fourth


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Virtual peer mentoring: can we create a community of peer-supported learners?

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