How does a university teacher become a researcher/teacher?

Edith Cowan has a large number of staff whose main role to date has been teaching and who have little research experience. A way of redressing this problem and teaching the teachers how to develop or improve their research skills was required. A Collaborative Research Team (CRT) Programme, based on the Collaborative Research Group Scheme which was conducted at Victoria University of Technology during 1994 and 1995, has been established and implemented during 1997. The programme involves mentors (staff who have research experience, publication experience and/or external research grants) leading a team of eight to ten novice researchers. A novice is defined as a person who has limited research expertise/experience in any area. The second part of the programme is to provide formal training for mentors and novices as required. The Educational Development Unit is conducting the leadership programme for mentors and arranging workshops for novices as required. This vignette will describe some of the theory on the use of mentors as teachers and examine the issues of how the teaching is performed and how effective it might be.

Introduction

The three components of VUT's scheme were:

• Research Skills Training Programme, where inexperienced researchers could acquire discipline-specific research skills in group contexts through participation in project-based research. An experienced researcher acted in the role of mentor to members of the group. Funds were available for training activities relevant to the group, time release for mentors and the employment of a research assistant.

• Mentor Research Leadership Training Programme, to provide support for mentors in their role and support their activities through the facilitation of group meetings and more formal training activities.

• Centrally Delivered (Research Skills) Programme, to provide training in research skills necessary for the conduct of group projects.

Collaborative Research Team Programme at Edith Cowan University

Funds were made available for the programme from central sources and from the faculties and could be used in a number of ways:

• time release of up to 3 hours per week for mentors to participate in the activity;
• research assistance;
• external expertise to provide specialised training relevant to a particular CRT;
• mentor training programme; and
• research skills development - this could be for centrally delivered courses or for direct training for a CRT

Twelve CRTs were selected to participate in the programme with the Office of Research and Development providing administrative support. The Educational Development Unit arranges centrally delivered courses and coordinates the Mentor Training Programme. The programme was launched on 24 July 1997 with an Introductory Training Session for all mentors. Rhonda Hallett, who was the coordinator of VUT's Collaborative Research Group scheme, facilitated the session. She discussed some aspects of the mentor programme at VUT - roles of a mentor, issues faced by mentors and mentor group meetings and then led a discussion of the scheme at ECU. Since then the teams at ECU have been meeting regularly; the mentors have met as a group; and a number of centrally organised courses have been conducted for team members.

What is mentoring?

Mentoring is a relationship which gives people the opportunity to share their professional and personal skills and experiences, and to grow and develop in the process (Spencer, 1996, p. 5)

A number of different descriptions of mentors are available. Geiger-DuMond and Boyle (1995, p. 54) defined a mentor as "a wise and trusted counsellor". They specified the roles for a mentor as communicator, counsellor, coach, advisor, broker, referral agent and advocate. The mentor will fill each of these roles at different times during the mentoring process. Sands, Parson and Duane in Wheeler and Wheeler (1994, p. 95) believe that individual mentors can be of four types: a friend, a career guide, an information source and an intellectual guide. Harris (1995, p. 100) states that the role of a mentor involves being available, making time for mentees, trying to anticipate their needs and being an encourager. Spencer (1996, p. 20) lists the following as part of the role of the mentor:

• facilitates the mentee's professional growth,
• provides information, guidance and constructive comments,
• evaluates the mentee's plans and decisions,
• supports and encourages and, when necessary, highlights shortfalls in agreed performance, and
• maintains confidentiality

The criteria for selecting a mentor according to Harris (1995, p. 99) are:

• willing to put in extra commitment,
• self-confident,
• able to establish empathetic relationships, and
• demonstrate expertise.

• ability to listen, openness and commitment,
• time management and self-management skills,
• challenging, analytical and evaluating,
• motivating and able to demonstrate leadership, and
• able to act as a role model

Wunsch (1994) found that mentors need ongoing instruction, counselling, support and follow through. The ECU scheme provides this with the Mentor Training Programme. The mentors have had lunch-time meetings where they discussed the progress of their team and provided support/suggestions for other mentors. As part of the support for mentors an electronic mailing list (Listserver) has been created to facilitate communication from the Educational Development Unit to mentors and to enable mentors to communicate with each other.

Mentor as teacher?

• A desire to share your love of the subject with students
• A facility for engaging with students at their level of understanding
• A commitment to making it absolutely clear what has to be understood, at what level, and why
• Showing concern and respect for students
• Using teaching methods and academic tasks that require students to learn actively, responsibly and cooperatively

The mentor is providing the team members with situations in which they are learning how to become involved in research, how to develop new skills and how to improve existing skills. It would be expected that the mentor's enthusiasm/love for the process and area of research would be conveyed to the students i.e. team members during team meetings. As the mentor has progressed from the novice stage to the expert end of the experience/expertise continuum, they would have an understanding of the requirements and skills of their team members and could arrange activities within the team to suit the members. A mentor needs to establish empathetic relationships and this includes showing concern and respect for students.

It is expected that the members of each CRT will develop a variety of skills during the twelve month programme as they work together on the team's project. They will be learning actively and cooperatively under the mentor's guidance. Some skills such as planning and goal setting, negotiation and time management, which CRT members were expected to develop, will be learnt as the team works together on its research project. The mentor should have expertise in these areas and the role-modelling of these skills can assist the members' learning. The ways in which the team is managed and members are encouraged to be involved in activities will also affect the members' learning.

Teaching involves the facilitation of learning that engages both the teacher and student in a cooperative activity in order to develop students' understanding and ways of interpreting the world (Chalmers and Fuller, 1995, p. 11).

Conclusion

• a questionnaire mailed to all participants in 1994;
• telephone interviews conducted at random with participants in May and September 1994;
• reports from each of the 1994 CRGs with information about outcomes achieved and methods used to determine outputs; and
• information collected from mentors at an all day workshop in December 1994 and from Heads of Departments who were responsible for administering the scheme at department level.

As ECU's programme is still in progress it is not possible to determine how effective it has been but feedback from mentors indicates that most of the teams are meeting regularly and finding the process worthwhile. Some centrally delivered courses have been conducted already (Use of the SPIN database for research opportunities, SPSS, Journal/thesis writing) thus providing some team members and mentors with skills which they can now apply. ECU will carry out evaluations of participants and mentors using techniques such as questionnaires, interviews and reports. It would be expected that at the end of the twelve month programme a number of teachers will have become researcher/teachers and the research culture within the university will have grown.

References

Geiger-DuMond, A. & Boyle, S. K. (1995). Mentoring: A Practitioner's Guide. Training and Development, 49(3), 51-54.

Hallett, R. (1995). Embedding Plan. Collaborative Research Group Scheme. Victoria University of Technology.

Harris, S. (1995). A Mentoring Program for New Teachers: Ensuring Success. NASSP Bulletin, 79(572), 98-103.

Ramsden, Paul (1992). Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. Routledge. London.

Spencer, C. (1996). Mentoring Made Easy. A Practical Guide for Managers. Office of the Director of Equal Opportunity in Public Employment. NSW Government Publication.

Wheeler D. W. & Wheeler, B. J. (1994). Mentoring Faculty for Midcareer Issues. In M. Wunsch (Ed.), Mentoring Revisited: Making an Impact on Individuals and Institutions. (pp. 91-100). Jossey-Bass Publishers. San Francisco.

White-Hood, M. (1993). Taking up the Mentoring Challenge. Educational Leadership, 51(3), 76-78.

Wunsch, M. (1994). Mentoring Revisited: Making an Impact on Individuals and Institutions. Jossey-Bass Publishers. San Francisco.