The Virtual Mentor Program: An Initiative to Support First-year Students and Students at Risk

Abstract

The college/university culture of study is rarely the same as high school, making the transition difficult even for talented students. In many countries, the massification of higher education has opened up education to all, with the only limiting factor being a student’s ability to meet entry requirements and pay for subjects. A virtual mentor program can provide support to all first-year students regardless of whether they are in online, blended, or traditional learning environments. One such initiative, implemented by The University of Newcastle in Newcastle, Australia, and later by Avondale College of Higher Education in Cooranbung, Australia, also supported students in other years of study experiencing difficulties who had been identified as “at risk.” Results indicated that student academic performance correlated to active interaction across each system classification, but only in purely online learning.