EXAMINING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PEER MENTORING IN THE LEARNING OF DIFFERENTIATION

This study examined the performance impact that a trained high-achieving student-mentor, would have on the low-achievement student-mentee via the peer mentoring activities. We explored whether peer mentoring among the Diploma of Electrical and Electronics Engineering students in one of the vocational and technical institutions in Brunei Darussalam was an effective strategy to learning mathematics, specifically on the topic of differentiation. Quantitative data collected from pre, diagnostic and post-tests as well as qualitative data collected from questionnaires, focus group interviews and classroom observations were used to assess students throughout the peer mentoring tasks. Based on the results obtained from the paired t-test, we found that there were significant differences in the pre- and post-tests for each individual student. These findings suggested that peer mentoring had proven to have a positive impact on the students’ performance in learning the differentiation. While the analyses from the survey questionnaires, interview data and classroom observations implied a good relationship had been established between mentor and mentee in terms of performance and mathematical ability on the topic of differentiation.