McKay, Melanie (2010) Online Peer Mentoring in First-Year Psychology: Examining Relationships Between Academic Self Efficacy, Psychological Well-Being, and Academic Success. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
This study formed part of a larger longitudinal study led by Dr Lorelle Burton in conjunction with colleagues from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) examining the influence of individual differences (personality factors) on Academic Success. An aim of the research was to examine the relationships between Academic Success, Academic Self Efficacy, and Psychological Well-Being in a sample of first year psychology students. Another aim of the study was to examine the influence of online peer mentoring on first year students’ Academic Success, Academic Self Efficacy, and Psychological Well-Being. First year psychology students were invited to participate and 315 returned an online survey which included demographic questions, measures of Academic Self Efficacy (Academic Behavioural Confidence Scale; Sanders & Sanders, 2002) and Psychological Well-Being (21 item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). After screening the data, a cohort of 180 cases emerged suitable for analysing; 43 of these selfselected to be in the peer mentored group, 137 students did not wish to be mentored and formed the non peer mentored group. An online peer mentoring program was introduced during Semester 1 2010 with peer mentored students randomly allocated into groups of 6-7 students in which 7 third year volunteer students mentored them online for 1-2 hours per week for 8 weeks on the online StudyDesk forum. At the end of Semester 1 data was electronically collated and semester scores acquired for the participants and matched. After data screening, ANOVA and Regression analyses were run on the data. Key findings were that the online peer mentoring program led to higher Academic Success, but not significantly so. Academic Self Efficacy was not a significant positive predictor of Academic Success in the peer mentored group, but was in the non peer mentored group. Psychological Well-Being was not a negative predictor of Academic Success in either group. It was found that Academic Self Efficacy was a better predictor of Academic Success (β = .30, p < .01) than Psychological Well-Being (β = .06, ns). Implications of the study are that online peer mentoring was successful in this instance despite the study’s limitations (e.g., unequal group sizes, no pre or post testing, task relevancy, time constraints), which corroborates previous research. Future studies should take into account the design flaws in this study to further investigate online mentoring programs as an aid to first year university students.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013) |
| Supervisors: | Burton, Lorelle |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Psychology) |
| Date Deposited: | 08 Jan 2026 06:09 |
| Last Modified: | 08 Jan 2026 06:09 |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52560 |
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