Knowledge construction mediated by academic mentoring

a learning experience

Abstract

This article reports on an experience of academic mentoring in the curricular teaching activity of Introduction to Scientific Methodology, which is part of the undergraduate Dentistry course offered at a public university located in the South of Brazil. It presents the perception of students-mentors, in both the in-person and remote modalities, in the period 2021-2022. The activity takes place in the first year of the course and aims to enable students to read scientific articles critically, recognize the stages of the scientific method, and develop research projects. The pandemic context of emergency remote teaching (ERT) brought the need to adapt teaching and mentoring activities, which became synchronous-asynchronous, mediated by information and communication technologies. In this period, the pedagogical role of mentors gained prominence in view of the need to promote interaction, arouse interest, and stimulate student participation in the proposed remote activities. The mentors acted in a coordinated way, reorganizing the Moodle virtual learning environment, monitoring/participating in activities, answering questions and guiding students, in constant dialog with the teachers. After training and with teacher supervision, the mentors contributed to the assessment of research projects. Upon returning to in-person activities, the mentors supported teachers in developing the teaching plan, adding pedagogical strategies established in ERT. Academic mentoring enabled the student-mentor to experience academic-personal growth, teaching, scientific research, and interactive-collaborative learning, and to perceive communication, problem-solving, and didactic-pedagogical skills. Balancing academic-personal life with mentoring responsibilities is a constant challenge.