First year student engagement, discussion forums, and reflections on mentoring practice

Abstract

As part of the ascilite community mentoring program, an exploratory study was initiated on the use of discussion forums and online activities for first year student engagement in the life sciences. This was started in first semester and based upon the discoveries made, modified for second semester. The results indicated that outcomes were poor for first semester, and positive for second semester when marks were assigned for the participation in the discussion forums. © 2009 Mark Schier and Jennifer Curtin.