The two-hour workshop was on adaptive mentoring of undergraduate research.
Sabrina Thurman, assistant professor of psychology, and Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, professor of psychology and director of the Center for Research on Global Engagement, co-facilitated a two-hour workshop on “Adaptive mentoring of undergraduate research” at the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) on March 26.
Considering collective traumas like the coronavirus pandemic and systemic inequalities, Thurman and Vandermaas-Peeler explored, “How can undergraduate research mentors respond adaptively to personal and professional uncertainties while considering students’ unique identities and project-related goals?”
In this reflective, constructive workshop, they examined evidence-based mentoring practices and models, applied them to cases and considered participants’ own mentoring contexts and capacities.
Workshop materials described foundational mentoring practices, including instrumental, psychosocial and relational approaches; and mentoring models that move beyond a one-to-one hierarchy and include developmental constellations, co-mentoring, scaffolded apprenticeships and communities of practice that support and extend students’ and mentors’ learning and development.