Abstract:

This article describes the implementation and evaluation of a peer mentoring programme in a Postgraduate Diploma in IT in a New Zealand polytechnic. The peer mentoring programme improves student support and pastoral care and helps international students adapt to New Zealand society and study. The article defines a peer-mentoring programme that has been implemented at the authors’ institution. The long term objectives of this programme are to support and help students to succeed in their education and to continue to support them as they enter their jobs in industry after their study. The programme has three phases. The first phase is the initial implementation in the computing school. The second is rolling it out to other computing schools in New Zealand polytechnics. The third phase extends the programme to industry mentorship of our students by their peers who have made the transition to industry. This article focusses on the first phase of the project. It discusses the design of the model used and the implementation steps. It evaluates the programme through a qualitative analysis of student mentees’ perceptions, student mentors’ perceptions, manager’s perceptions and lecturer’s perceptions. The article finishes with a summary of lessons learned and suggestions for improvement.

Keywords:

Peer-mentoring, postgraduate computing programmes, international education.