Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether a peer mentoring program at a Midwestern faith-based institution had an impact on student engagement. The dependent variables for this study included four sub-level engagement indicators from the National Survey for Student Engagement (NSSE): collaborative learning, discussions with diverse others, quality of interactions, and supportive environment. The independent variable was participation in the peer mentoring program and the control variables were socioeconomic status (based on receipt of Pell Grant), gender, SAT score, distance from home, and in-state/out-of-state residency. The sample consisted of 296 freshmen students from the 2012–2013 academic year at Mack College who completed the NSSE during the spring of 2013. The entire freshmen class at the college, totaling 741, was invited to complete the NSSE and 296 completed it. Of the number of students who completed the instrument, 76 were enrolled in the residentially-based, peer mentoring program and 220 were not. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was utilized for the analysis and preliminary results indicated that participation in the peer mentoring program was not a significant predictor of student engagement levels as represented by NSSE scores. However, some of the other control variables were positively and significantly related to some of the NSSE measures. Furthermore, additional analyses found participation in the peer mentoring program to be significantly related to supportive environment for the students scoring in the lower half for that engagement measure. It was concluded that, while the findings provide reaffirming support of some previous research, other research was challenged, particularly by the minimal amount of significant relationships found in the data analysis. The findings of the study indicate the value as well as direction of further research to promote a better understanding of the dynamics and impacts of peer mentoring programs on student engagement.

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