Planning students’ experiences of interdisciplinary near-peer research mentoring

Abstract

This article describes planning students’ experiences of an interdisciplinary near-peer research-mentoring program in the context of experiential learning. A group of final-year undergraduate planning students, who were required to conduct research and write a report, were mentored by master’s degree students in research psychology. Data obtained from independent focus group discussions with two cohorts of students yielded three themes. The merits and demerits of near-peer research mentoring are presented, and planning lecturers’ approach to improving students’ research skills by providing similar (especially interdisciplinary) programs is considered.