Design of the Program

There are many decisions that need to be made when forming and running a peer mentoring group, and this perhaps becomes more complex when you consider all members to be of equal importance. The question and corresponding decisions that we came up with when forming the group are shown in Table 15.1.

It was decided at the very beginning that we would be as adaptive and responsive as we could to students’ changing needs. This means that, before each semester, we discuss the current issues that students are having and re-evaluate what we have previously done. We consider the time needed to implement an activity, skill sets available to run it, peer mentors’ passion for the topic, university protocols, school or discipline strategies, finance and many more. Our most successful and ongoing activities include sketching evenings/afternoons w'here students gathered together to sketch and render. Different mentors have tried different strategies in these sessions to encourage attendance and engagement, including themed sketching topics; running through tutorials or sketch-what-you-like days; providing pizza or baked goods; various forms of advertising; and trying out various locations, times and frequencies and online participation options for these events. Students felt that the biggest benefit of these was the sense of community and the opportunity for advice and learning feedback, with students valuing the discussions about design and sketching skills in both digital and analogue formats, and just socialising and networking.

First-year information sessions are also one of our most popular ongoing events. This event is hosted annually by staff and the ID Pilots to help first-year students transition into second year. Students in our Bachelor’s degree are able to make more informed decisions about customising their learning through the selection of study tours, internships, electives, second majors/minors/specialisation units, exchange and opportunities for entering design competitions. For many students, making these decisions and navigating the university process in order to do so can be quite challenging. This event covers general course progression information, followed by ID Pilots presenting information about the study decisions that they have made and showing examples of the assessments and/or outcomes, and discussing the benefits

TABLE 15.1

Basic Decision Making When Forming a Peer Mentoring Group

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TABLE 15.1 (CONTINUED)

Basic Decision Making When Forming a Peer Mentoring Group

of this knowledge to their skills as an Industrial Designer. This is followed by a very informal opportunity for students to approach the staff and ID Pilots over pizza and drinks with further questions they would like answered. The result is that many first- year students can more accurately understand the opportunities available and weigh up what they are most interested in based on other students’ advice, not just staff, and this is seen as being incredibly valuable.

The other activities that have consistently encouraged engagement from students are the Facebook groups run by the ID Pilots. There are 2 groups. One focusses on visualisation, where staff, alumni and students post anything to do with digital or analogue sketching and rendering. This can include design work from university or personal projects, artwork, tutorials on sketching or rendering, designers to follow on social media and other relevant articles, as well as queries about supplies, techniques or software, for example. October in particular is a very active month on this Facebook group as some members participate in Inktober (Inktober, 2019). The second Facebook group is focussed on 3D design modelling and includes posts related to Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Modelling, as well as physical model prototyping. Again, this group encourages university and personal projects, as well as knowledge from articles, other designers and tutorials, information about technology, programs, suppliers or conferences, amongst other topics. ID Pilots are the administrators of these groups and are regular posters of content, feedback or advice in order to foster a sense of community in this online environment. These Facebook groups are also great for advertising and encouraging participation in relevant face-to-face events that the ID Pilots run, particularly the sketching events, which are photographed and shared to the visualisation group. We have tried other social media platforms and strategies, such as Instagram and Pinterest, but these Facebook groups have by far been the most engaged in and supportive environment.

Other activities or events that happen perhaps once or twice a year, or to suit the needs of specific cohorts, are diverse. We have run many successful World Industrial Design Day events, which have included industry panels, design competitions and social events. Skills workshops on various software for CAD or visualisations, Arduino, portfolios and resumes, time management, prototype modelling with cardboard and foam, laser cutting and 3D printing assistance have also been popular. Online resources including “Quick Tips” infographics posted to social media to help with skills like the design process, getting used to university life, group work, project management and time or stress management have also been regularly implemented. We have curated online resources into PDFs or Pinterest boards to help develop skills and inspiration - these have included book recommendations, sketching videos, model-making tips, famous designs and designers. We have also held “Co-Pilot” weekly drop-in sessions for students to work collaboratively on assessments and get advice when needed.

Setting Limits

For some of these ID Pilot activities, we have developed very particular strategies or resources for the peer mentors and/or the students. For example, based on the online and face-to-face leadership training that the ID Pilots received, they have come up with an outline of what a drop-in session or one-on-one peer mentoring session might look like:

• • Set a time limit on the discussion
• • Identify the question or problem to be addressed - sometimes it take a few minutes to truly identify what the real question or problem actually is
• • Outline habits and lifestyle (what motivates and rewards the student)
• • Provide a strategy (perhaps using unit information such as handouts and lecture notes, ID Pilot or university resources, or online resources)
• • List personal skills and weaknesses
• • Prioritise how to move forward based on personal skills and assessment requirements
• • Planning of timing of tasks - allowing for contingency, efficiency and effectiveness
• • Get them to reiterate this process (write it dowrn if necessary)

ID Pilots also have rules they developed about what they will and will not do when supporting students in particular settings or situations (Table 15.2).