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The Merits of Training Mentors

July 6, 2009

The Wisconsin Mentoring Seminar helps science graduate students and postdoctoral researchers learn to communicate more effectively, discuss mentoring approaches, consider issues of human diversity, and to apply a “scientific teaching” approach to mentoring. Developed by Christine Pfund and colleagues at the UW–Madison DELTA program, the Seminar helps mentors sharpen communication skills. Each seminar consists of 8 sessions of discussion facilitated by faculty or staff using a collaborative, problem-solving format. Mentors learn to approach teaching with the same rigor and spirit of experimentation that they bring to their science research. Undergraduate researchers consistently report that mentors who participated in the seminar were more available to them, were more interested in them as individuals, and gave them more independence. More here.