The Experience of Mentoring Students Online - An Evaluation of the Transition from Face-to-face to Online peer mentoring

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa

The study investigates how undergraduate students in Greece experienced and evaluated their roles as learning facilitators when peer mentoring shifted from face-to-face to online formats. Qualitative thematic analysis was conducted on verbatim semi-structured interviews with facilitators who had experience in both settings. Results indicate that all peer mentors prefer face-to-face mentoring and believe online mentoring cannot replicate face-to-face practices. The paper further examines factors enabling or constraining effective online peer mentoring and the role of technological mediation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Peer mentoring in higher education

Purpose and research questions

Literature Review

Defining Peer Mentoring

The Mentoring Environment

Findings and Discussion

Preferences for face-to-face mentoring

Limits of e-mentoring

Factors affecting online mentoring effectiveness

The Experience of Mentoring Students Online: An Evaluation of the Transition from Face-to-face to Online peer mentoring By Chara Gkioka ∗ Peer mentoring has long been employed as a method of facilitating the learning process with peer mentors or learning facilitators as also described in this paper, serving as an alternative to faculty teachers. However, thereis dearth of qualitative studies exploring the experiences of learning facilitators teaching or mentoring (the two terms will be used interchangeably) in an online environment. The aim of this study is to examine how undergraduate students at the largest college in Greece experienced and evaluated their roles as learning facilitators and to what extent their role was hindered or enhanced in a virtual setting. I conducted semi-structured interviews with learning facilitators who have experienced both online and face-to-face peer mentoring. Upon the transcription of the interviews verbatim, I performed qualitative thematic analysis. The results revealed that all peer mentors prefer face-to-face mentoring to e-mentoring and unanimously believe that online mentoring cannot replicate the practices of face-to-face peer mentoring. Keywords: mentoring, online, higher education, impact Introduction Although the popularity of peer mentoring has increased in higher education in the United Kingdom, good quality, evaluative research on peer mentoring remains scarce (Collings et al. 2014). The findings ofthe bulk of research focus on the positive effects peer mentoring exerts on academic achievement and retention (Drew et al. 2000; Budney et al. 2006; Crisp 2010). However, the growth of mentoring programmes in a technology-mediated environment and their potential to raise student engagement warrant further research on processes and the factors enabling or even constraining successful online mentoring. This study aims to contribute to existing research on the effects of peer mentoring by studying such effects in the underexplored area of online peer mentoring. In particular, this study has shed light on online peer mentoring with a specific focus on the mentor’s perspective and experience. While the mentor’s perspective is more likely tobe overlooked with emphasis being placedon the mentee’s perspective and how the latter would evaluate the method, it is worth examining the mentor’s perspective while delivering their mentoring online. That is to say that the feelings of the service provider need to be examined prior to examining the service itself. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of ∗Senior Academic Advisor, PhD Candidate, Lancaster University, UK. technological mediation on the mentoring process such as on mentor-mentee relationships and learning. In other words, the paper seeks to shed light on the effectiveness of online peer mentoring compared to face-to-face peer mentoring. As Zuhari et al. (2019) concluded, further research is worth conducting, specifically in the area of student support provided online, in line with the changing needs of students and recent advances in new technology. The objective of this paper is to illuminate the contributing factors for successful online peer mentoring and help us gain insight into the kind of support that is necessary for mentors in order to engage in effective online peer mentoring relationships. Therefore, the study has been carried out as a qualitative study with the following underlying questions: 1) What factors enable successful online peer mentoring? 2) What factors constrain successful online peer mentoring? First, the key components of effective mentoring relationships are presented. Then, the way in which a virtual environment impacts peer mentoring is examined. Finally, factors that could moderate the effects of technological mediation on interaction with the student are discussed. It was found that online peer mentoring cannot replicate face-to-face mentoring; possible reasons are examined

FAQs

What is the purpose of the study?

The study examines how students experienced and evaluated their roles as learning facilitators during the transition from face-to-face to online peer mentoring, focusing on the mentor’s perspective.

How was the research conducted?

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with learning facilitators who had experience in both online and face-to-face peer mentoring, followed by verbatim transcription and qualitative thematic analysis.

What do the peer mentors conclude about online mentoring?

All peer mentors prefer face-to-face mentoring and unanimously believe that online mentoring cannot replicate the practices of face-to-face peer mentoring.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa