Teaching Mentor Program

All academics in the Faculty of Economics and Commerce are eligible to participate in this program. The Teaching Mentor Program was established in 2007 with one overarching aim: to improve the quality of teaching in the faculty. The program is designed for staff at any level of appointment and with varying degrees of teaching experience and expertise. The focus is on providing an opportunity for staff to reflect on their teaching practice and to share their successes (and frustrations) with a view to improvement.

While it is recognised that the quality of student learning is influenced by multiple variables, the context of learning – teaching, curriculum and assessment – is an area where academics have significant influence.

The focus on mentoring recognises the importance of discipline and course-specific issues. Mentoring has been shown to be an effective way to build confidence and expertise in relation to teaching and learning and it promotes an open exchange of views, ideas and knowledge amongst participants in relation to teaching and student learning outcomes.

Detailed below are the basic components of the program; however each mentoring situation is different and an important part of this program is that it is designed to be flexible, and thus tailored to the unique needs of each individual participant.

1. Participating academics are allocated (with their agreement) a discipline mentor from the participant’s department and a TLU mentor.
2. An initial meeting will be arranged with the lecturer and the two mentors to discuss the way in which the scheme will unfold, principles of effective lecturing and to identify all the resources available in the department and in the TLU which can be called upon to assist the group if required.

1. Normally, there will be two peer observations of the lecturer, one each from the department mentor and the TLU mentor, and feedback from both mentors will be provided based on those observations. These observations are confidential and are between the mentors and the staff member only
2.  Participants will be encouraged to seek feedback from their students in weeks 3 or 4 of the semester to gauge any issues of concern. The feedback may be in the form of a questionnaire survey that may address three basic questions: What are the best features of this subject; what are the worst features of this subject, how do you think this subject can be improved? Alternatively focus group interviews may be conducted. The choice will be up to the academic in consultation with the mentors.
3. Meetings with the academic and mentors may be scheduled according to need. Ideally, the group may meet at the commencement of the program, after the peer observations and at the end of the program. The final meeting should be at a time when student feedback and QoT scores for the current semester are available.
4.  A brief report to the academics’ direct supervisor or nominee should be drafted by the TLU mentor with the provision for input from the discipline mentor and the participating academic.

Staff participating in the Teaching Mentor Program are encouraged to refer to their participation in applications for promotion, awards and grants. Participation should be viewed as evidence of a willingness to:

Reflect on teaching practice and student feedback;
Accept feedback from colleagues that may equally be about outstanding teaching practices as well as areas for improvement; and
Act on that feedback as deemed appropriate.

Ultimately, improving the quality of teaching is the key focus.