Being Transformed by Being a Peer Mentor: An Examination of High-Impact and Transformative ...

210 Pages·2016·0.74 MB·English

Brigham Young University
BYU ScholarsArchive
All Teses and Dissertations
2014-12-01
Being Transformed by Being a Peer Mentor: An
Examination of High-Impact and Transformative
Peer Mentor Experience
Bryce D. Bunting
Brigham Young University - Provo
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Being Transformed by Being a Peer Mentor: An Examination of High-Impact and
Transformative Peer Mentor Experience
Bryce D. Bunting
A dissertation submitted to the faculty of
Brigham Young University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
David D. Williams, Chair
Andrew S. Gibbons
Stefinee E. Pinnegar
John D. Bell
Jennifer R. Keup
Department of Instructional Psychology and Technology
Brigham Young University
December 2014
Copyright © 2014 Bryce D. Bunting
All Rights Reserved
ABSTRACT
Being Transformed by Being a Peer Mentor: An Examination of High-Impact and
Transformative Peer Mentor Experience
Bryce D. Bunting
Department of Instructional Psychology and Technology, BYU
Doctor of Philosophy
This multi-article dissertation explores the potential for the undergraduate peer mentoring
experience to contribute to transformative learning for those who serve in peer mentoring or peer
leadership roles. While past research has established that peer mentors experience a variety of
positive outcomes associated with their leadership experience, there are gaps in the literature
with regard to how the peer mentor experience can be intentionally designed as a high-impact
practice for student leaders. Through three qualitative studies, as well as a comprehensive
literature review, this dissertation addresses this gap by exploring what peer mentors report
learning through their mentoring experiences (Article #1), the types of experiences that
contribute to transformative learning (Articles #2 and #3), and how transformative learning can
be facilitated through a particular designed training intervention (Article #4). Based on the
findings of these four studies, an emerging framework is proposed to describe the characteristics
of high-impact and transformative PM learning environments. This framework suggests that
transformative PM learning is most likely when (a) the learning of PMs themselves is an explicit
objective of the program or initiative, (b) PMs are engaged in purposeful routines and structured
practices that facilitate learning, (c) PMs are exposed to unfamiliar and challenging situations in
their mentoring practice, (d) theoretical and conceptual understandings (e.g., selected readings)
are integrated into PM development; (e) PMs are provided with frequent and structured
opportunities for reflection on their experiences, and (f) PMs are part of a supportive mentoring
community. Recommendations for the design of high-quality PM learning environments are
made based on the elements of this framework. Additionally, directions for future research on
peer mentoring as a high-impact practice are made.
Keywords: communities of practice, high-impact practice, knowledge integration, narrative
research, peer educator, peer leader, peer mentor, reflection, transformative learning
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank the chair of my dissertation committee, Dr. David Williams, for his
encouragement, guidance, and feedback throughout this project. His thoughtful questions and
gentle nudging have strengthened my ideas, while ensuring they remained my own. I am also in
debt to Dr. Andrew Gibbons for taking the time to review early drafts of this dissertation, page
by page at times, and for introducing me to new ways of considering the role of theory in both
my scholarship and practice. Additionally, Dr. John Bell’s thoughtful feedback has helped to
both clarify my thinking and help me be more articulate in expressing it. I am also tremendously
grateful to Dr. Jennifer Keup for her willingness to participate in my dissertation experience as
an external committee member, as well as to her colleagues at the University of South Carolina
for allowing me to borrow her expertise. Her willingness to travel to Utah for my dissertation
defense represented a generous sacrifice of both time and energy. Further, I am appreciative of
her graciousness in mentoring me through the early stages of my career in higher education
administration and brokering professional opportunities that have significantly contributed to my
growth. And, to Dr. Stefinee Pinnegar, I express thanks for seeing my potential as a scholar
before anyone else, and patiently encouraging me to take the plunge into academia. Over the last
10 years, she has been the consummate teacher, mentor, research colleague, and friend.
I am also grateful for the generous support of the First-Year Mentoring department at
BYU, particularly Dr. Pat Esplin, who supported my initial foray into graduate studies, and Dr.
Phil Rash who has been generous in allowing me to marry my professional work and graduate
studies.
Finally, I wish to thank my wife and daughters for putting up with an absentee husband
and father for far too long. For the last six years, they have kept dinner warm, given me hugs on
hard days, and listened to me talk about “boring doctor of philosophy stuff” on more nights than
I could ever count or thank them for.
v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Description of Research Agenda and Structure of the Dissertation ............................................... 1 
Problem ....................................................................................................................................... 1 
Practical significance. ............................................................................................................. 4 
Theoretical significance. ......................................................................................................... 7 
Goals, questions, and the proposed research program. ......................................................... 11 
Outlining the Components of the Research Agenda: A Multi-Article Approach ..................... 12 
Article #1: Understanding the Dynamics of Peer Mentor Learning: A Narrative Study .............. 17 
Understanding the Dynamics of Peer Mentor Learning: A Narrative Study ................................ 18 
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 19 
Understanding the Dynamics of Peer Mentor Learning: A Narrative Study ................................ 20 
Method .......................................................................................................................................... 21 
Participants ................................................................................................................................ 21 
Context for the Study ................................................................................................................ 21 
Data Collection ......................................................................................................................... 22 
Analysis..................................................................................................................................... 23 
Findings......................................................................................................................................... 24 
Vicarious and Self-Reflective Learning of Peer Mentors ......................................................... 24 
Facilitating Change through Developing Community .............................................................. 28
vi

Personal Responsibility in Learning ......................................................................................... 32 
Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 36 
Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 38 
Recommendations for Future Research .................................................................................... 38 
References ..................................................................................................................................... 40 
Article #2: Stories of Transformation ........................................................................................... 43 
Stories of Transformation: Using Personal Narrative to Explore Transformative Learning ........ 44 
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 45 
Stories of Transformation: Using Personal Narrative to Explore Transformative Learning ........ 46 
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................... 48 
Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................. 49 
Legitimate peripheral participation. ...................................................................................... 49 
Transformative learning. ....................................................................................................... 51 
Experience and education. .................................................................................................... 52 
Method: A Narrative Approach .................................................................................................... 53 
Sampling and Participants ......................................................................................................... 53 
Collecting, Analyzing, and Representing the Narrative Data: A Hybrid Approach ................. 56 
Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 58 
Findings and Discussion ............................................................................................................... 58 
Narrative Fragment 1: Kat’s First Weeks as a Peer Mentor ..................................................... 59
vii

Theme #1: The meaningfulness of everyday experience. ..................................................... 60 
Theme #2: Pretending to be transformed. ............................................................................. 62 
Narrative Fragment 2: Developing a Reflection Rubric ........................................................... 63 
Theme #3: Unfamiliarity as a catalyst for transformation.. .................................................. 66 
Theme #4: The role of reflection. ......................................................................................... 68 
Narrative Fragment 3: Becoming a Leader ............................................................................... 70 
Theme #5: Participating alongside supportive mentors. ....................................................... 72 
Narrative Fragment 4: An Unexpected Return to Mentoring ................................................... 74 
Summary: Characteristics of Transformative Peer Mentor Experience ....................................... 77 
Conclusions and Implications ....................................................................................................... 79 
References ..................................................................................................................................... 83 
Article #3: Transformative Mentoring .......................................................................................... 90 
Transformative Mentoring: Examining the Experience of Undergraduate Peer Mentors ............ 91 
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 92 
Transformative Mentoring: Examining the Experience of Undergraduate Peer Mentors ............ 93 
Theoretical and Conceptual Framework ....................................................................................... 94 
Peer Mentors in Higher Education ............................................................................................ 94 
Peer mentor roles. ................................................................................................................. 94 
The benefits to peer mentors. ................................................................................................ 95 
Transformative Learning .......................................................................................................... 97
viii

Method .......................................................................................................................................... 99 
Findings and Discussion ............................................................................................................. 101 
Holistic and Transformative Development among Peer Mentors ........................................... 101 
An Integrated Model of Transformation ................................................................................. 103 
Encountering trigger events. ............................................................................................... 105 
Self-examination and reflection. ......................................................................................... 106 
Liminality: Exploration of new meanings and revisions of assumptions. .......................... 108 
Integrating and internalizing new understanding. ............................................................... 108 
Transformative Peer Mentor Learning .................................................................................... 110 
Trigger events in peer mentor experience. .......................................................................... 110 
Reflection and discourse in peer mentor transformation. ................................................... 114 
Navigating liminality: Providing support for exploring new meaning. .............................. 116 
Making transformation visible: Integrating and internalizing new understanding. ............ 118 
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 120 
References ................................................................................................................................... 124 
Article #4: Integrated Learning among Peer Mentors ................................................................ 130 
Using Reflective Story Cycles to Facilitate Integrated Learning among Peer Mentors ............. 131 
Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... 132 
Using Reflective Story Cycles to Facilitate Integrated Learning among Peer Mentors ............. 133 
Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................... 133
ix

Literature Review........................................................................................................................ 135 
Ways of Knowing ................................................................................................................... 136 
Knowledge Integration: Personal Practical Knowledge ......................................................... 137 
Integrated Learning among Peer Mentors ............................................................................... 139 
Method ........................................................................................................................................ 140 
Participants and Sampling ....................................................................................................... 140 
Context for the Study .............................................................................................................. 142 
Data Collection ....................................................................................................................... 143 
Data Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 144 
Findings....................................................................................................................................... 145 
A Pattern for Integrated Knowing: Toward deepening personal practical knowledge ........... 146 
Initial storied beliefs. .......................................................................................................... 146 
Search for confirmation and explicit articulation of initial beliefs. .................................... 148 
Grappling with the introduction of new propositional knowledge. . .................................. 150 
Expansion, revision, and new questions: The beginnings of integration. ........................... 153 
Re-callings, re-tellings, and looking ahead. ........................................................................ 156 
Design Principles for Promoting the Development of Personal Practical Knowledge ........... 160 
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 164 
References ................................................................................................................................... 167 
Dissertation Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 173