Template for EBL Case Studies

Small Scale Projects

Final Report

Title of project:

Promoting Learner Autonomy through Mentoring

Module/programme of study/student group to which project relates:

Students who have Asperger Syndrome

Faculty / Division/Service Department:

Autism Centre,D&S, and Disabled Student Support Team (DSST), SAS

Project team: Nicola Martin (Autism Centre), Cathy Sellars (Autism Centre)and Arlene Moore (DSST) working closely with staff in Disabled Student Support and the Autism Centre

Abstract

This project was concerned with evaluating existing mentoring provision for students with AS working with students who have Asperger Syndrome (AS) andthe Disabled Student Support Team (including mentors).As a result, a training programme for mentorsas well as a framework for students to mentor their peers was developed.The specific focus of this project was on inclusive practice. Students with AS were the catalyst for development,while the project itself was governed by sound inclusive practices and principles.While this project focused on enhancing the student learning experience of students with AS, it has wider application beyond those who carry this particular label.

Dissemination took place internally, as well as externally via journals, conference presentations and consultancy in Australia and New Zealand.

Background

Students with AS are present in all UK universities and their numbers are increasing. The Disabled Student Allowance, which is provided by the UK government, can be used to fund mentoring. While research evidence suggests that students with AS find mentoring useful in other contexts, there is little evidence in the existing literature of a systematic interrogation of whether this promotes learner autonomy. Research which has asked students to reflect on how far mentoring has developed learner autonomy is therefore lacking. The project aimed to introduce the idea of mentoring for learner autonomy into mentor training and to develop paperwork which mentors and mentees can use to guide careful reflective work towards greater autonomy within the mentoring context.

Aims

to evaluate mentoring arrangements with a view to ascertaining the extent to which they promote learner autonomy
to develop, deliver and evaluate mentor training to promote learner autonomy
to draw up, implement and evaluate guidelines and a format for mentor/mentee agreements which are explicit about the aim to promote learner autonomy
to share good practice locally, nationally and internationally

Approach

As this project was concerned with people, it was necessary to obtain ethical clearance prior to commencing the project. The process of identifying participants was easy and more than twenty took part in training and evaluation.

Structured questionnaires were developed and implemented for students and mentors. These focused on three parts of the year; the first week, the end of the first semester and the year end. Questionnaires were sent to eight participants, but resulted only in two responses from students. This indicated that there was a need to find another method, and so email contact was maintained with the two students who have AS, and who indicated willingness to take part.

The plan was to hold focus mentor-mentee groups at the stages outlined above. However, Students with AS did not want to work in this way so evaluative discussions took place between mentors, mentor co-ordinators and students participating by email.

In August-September 2009 (a year after commencing the project) good practice guidance and a training event was developed on the basis of previous year's evaluation and outcomes. In the current academic year, training events have taken place and mentoring materials have been developed and refined based on feedback from mentors and mentees. The materials are being used within and beyond the university. Staff working in Student Services, Education Guidance, Learner Support have participated in the project, and during the next academic year intend to trial the materials with groups of students who do not necessarily have AS. Feedback from beyond the University took place during a workshop at the National Association of Disability Practitioners conference, and at a similar event in Australia (Pathways conference) and as part of consultancy in New Zealand. In addition, the materials are being used as part of a project at The University of Cambridge which is evaluating services for students who have AS.

Evaluation

Training

After the initial training session, only two students who have AS provided comments, and others cited pressure of work as a reason not to engage with the evaluation.A structured questionnaire was used to evaluate mentor training.

Mentoring process

For the reasons outlined above, evaluative discussions took place via email.It was not possible to fully evaluate mentoring arrangements with a view to ascertaining the extent to which they promote learner autonomy because student participation was difficult to secure. However, plans submitted by The Disabled Student Support Team to develop the project further have been agreed, and further evaluation is built into their methodology.

Feedback and comments

The mentor training was judged by participants to be effective and beneficial with the potential to enhance the professional practice of mentors in the future, to the benefit of students.

Comments from students:

..this is just exactly what I have been looking for all my life…
.. I can use this to organise myself, it's what I need..
..sorry I can not participate in your project because I have got shed loads of my own work to do, but I will probably find it useful when meeting with my mentor
..thanks for emailing me the paperwork-I can use it myself and-is it ok to change things in it at all?...

Comments from mentors:

.. this is really useful and not just for working with students who have AS…
…it's really good to get a clear idea about the barriers faced by students who have AS as part of the mentor training…
..a very positive and straightforward approach..
..not having Asperger syndrome written anywhere on the mentoring paperwork makes things a lot easier - it's a sensitive way of making it more ordinary and -of course - other students who don't have AS would be more likely to use it.
..Having the resource electronically is useful so it can be customised for individuals and can be used in email communication, which some students with AS prefer of course.

Benefits

It was originally envisaged that students with AS would have access to mentoring which was more precisely geared to developing learner autonomy,because it was felt that mentors were better placed to deliver on this agenda. In practice, a broader agenda has been realised in that systems for mentoring with a wider application have been refined and developed via training for mentors in inclusive methodologies designed to promote learner autonomy in more general terms. Mentor training was developed, delivered and evaluated and a model for mentor training to promote learner autonomy has been devised which has application beyond work with students who have AS.

The project is in keeping with the participatory, social model research ethos which has been developed by both the DSST and Autism Centreteams. Closer working relationships between parts of central services and part of the Facultyof Development and Society emerged wasa further benefit.

Limitations

During the project Arlene Moore left the University and Cathy Sellars picked up some of Arlene's engagement with the work. The link with DSST was not broken but pressures of time etc. meant that without a named person in DSST we were relying on goodwill on their part (which was abundant).

Further development

Materials have been developed to support the process, and the next stage has been planned and will be taken forward by the Disabled Student Support Team in the academic year. DSST are taking the project forward in-house, and other teams in Student Services (e.g. Learner Support) intend to adapt the paperwork for their purposes. The team leader, Nicola Martin, is currently a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University, and is working on aproject which is building in part on the work from this project. She is also working with colleagues in New Zealand and London in order to develop further work on this theme.

The Autism Centre continues to be involved internationally in consultancy around themes related to this project.

Mentor training details can be accessed from Nick Hobson in The Disabled Student Support Team and the mentoring paperwork is available on the Autism Centre website for those wishing to make use of the work of the project so far.

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