Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Baber, Ceola Ross

Abstract

A correlational explanatory research design examined the relationship between peer mentoring, academic success and social engagement of first year college students participating in a peer mentoring program at a research one university in the southeastern United States. One hundred thirty-eight participants from the peer mentoring program responded to a Peer Mentoring, Academic Success and Social Engagement (PMASSE) questionnaire created and pilot tested by the researcher; the PMASSE had a Cronbach alpha reliability of 0.95. Peer mentoring was the independent variable and academic success and social engagement were the dependent variables. Three primary theoretical frameworks were utilized: social constructivism, theory of student involvement, and the theory of social integration. Descriptive statistical analyses showed several patterns related to the quality of the peer mentoring experience, level of academic success, and social engagement as perceived by the first year students. Inferential statistical analyses including Fisher's exact test and one-way ANOVAs-yielded several statistically significant relationships between peer mentoring, academic success, social engagement, and demographic mediating variables.

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