OURS308 - Peer Mentorship - Gateway

OURS308: Peer Mentorship - Supporting Students Entering Research is a one-credit, half-term peer mentorship experience that gives undergraduate researchers a unique opportunity to further develop their leadership capacities while serving as peer mentors to students in the introductory course OURS100: Entering Research.

What Is This Course?

OURS308: Peer Mentorship - Supporting Students Entering Research enables student researchers in all fields of study to examine and participate in the practice of peer mentoring. Course participants will serve as peer mentors to students in OURS100: Entering Research. The work of peer mentors in the course will be grounded in discussions and materials that prepare them for their mentoring engagements, and peer mentors will have opportunities to reflect individually and as a group on their experiences as mentors and the ways in which these experiences will inform their future work in research and other settings.

How Will Peer Mentors Benefit?
By serving as peer mentors, experienced student researchers will gain the opportunity to have a meaningful impact on other students’ learning while also learning themselves. They will also derive several additional benefits. Effective leadership in research requires the capacity to mentor others. For students interested in pursuing research as a career, this experience offers a structured, guided opportunity to reflect on issues and develop mentoring skills directly relevant to their future work in research. For students interested in other career paths, serving as a peer mentor provides the opportunity to cultivate skills transferable to many other fields. In addition, peer mentors will gain opportunities to develop relationships and build community with fellow undergraduates from a range of fields who share their interest in research.

Who Should Take OURS308: Peer Mentorship - Supporting Students Entering Research?

Students eager to support other students interested in research.

Students able to commit to working with a small group of peer mentees for half a term.
Students in all fields of study and areas of research.
Students with considerable experience conducting undergraduate research with a faculty mentor at UMD or another university.
We define considerable experience as at least two semesters of part-time research experience or one semester or summer of full-time research experience. We will consider applications from student researchers with less experience who feel they are ready to become mentors. We are especially interested in recruiting experienced undergraduate researchers who faced significant obstacles to becoming involved in research.

What Will You Learn?

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Deploy skills critical to success as a mentor in a research setting, including engaged listening and providing effective feedback.

Identify common barriers to participation in undergraduate research opportunities and provide guidance to peers that is informed by your understanding of these barriers.

Recognize and address common ethical issues and dilemmas encountered in mentoring.

Build rapport with peers while in a mentoring role.

Assess your experiences as a mentor holistically and identify areas for future growth.

What Will You Do?

OURS308: Peer Mentorship - Supporting Students Entering Research utilizes a blended learning format. This means that some weeks will include required in-person class sessions, while others will focus exclusively on asynchronous forms of learning.

The course will focus on developing your capacity as an effective and ethical mentor.

Students enrolled in this course will:

Analyze and discuss course materials relevant to the topic of mentoring.
Work with a small group of peer mentees who wish to become involved in research.
Reflect critically on your experiences with your mentees.
Conduct a conversation with a research mentor from your own life about their experiences as a mentor and learn from these experiences.

Due to the high demand and limited capacity of OURS308: Peer Mentorship - Supporting Students Entering Research, enrollment in the course requires a brief pre-enrollment step. The pre-enrollment form (below) is short and does not ask about previous academic experience or GPA.

This form allows you to discuss your motivations for serving as a peer mentor and your previous experience working on faculty-mentored research projects.

Spring 2025 Pre-Enrollment & Enrollment Process

November 17, 2024: The pre-enrollment form will close at the end of this day.
Week of November 18, 2024: Students admitted and waitlisted will be notified. Admitted students will have approximately two weeks to enroll in the course.
Week of December 9, 2024: Waitlisted students will be admitted on a seats-available basis.

During which weeks of the Spring 2025 semester does this course run?

OURS100: Entering Research will run between January 27 and March 28. Classes will not be held the week of March 17-21 (Spring Break).

This course is described as a “blended learning” course that combines in-person meetings with asynchronous learning. Can you elaborate on how that format will work?

The course will have four required in-person meetings. Beyond attending those sessions, you will be asked to engage in asynchronous learning activities, meet periodically with your assigned mentees, and converse with a research mentor from your own life. You will schedule meetings with mentees and your mentor at mutually agreeable times, which can occur in person or online.

When and where will the required in-person course sessions occur?

Required in-person class meetings will be held four times throughout the course.

Where: The Atlantic Building 2339 (ATL2339)

Time: 11:00 am - 11:50 am

Dates:

Friday, January 31, 2024
Friday, February 7, 2024
Friday, February 28, 2024
Friday, March 14, 2024

How many mentees will mentors be assigned?

We anticipate that mentors will be assigned between 2 and 4 mentees.

How will you match mentors with mentees?

In matching mentors and mentees, we will be attentive to major(s) and areas of research interest. Most mentors will likely be assigned mentees whose majors and research interests differ, and the course will equip mentors to guide prospective researchers in fields beyond their own.

Will students need to purchase any books for the course?
No. We will provide all necessary course materials.

Will there be exams or quizzes?

No. This course will not have exams or quizzes.