Can I Help With That? The Role of Goal Setting in a Technology-Enabled Peer Mentoring Program

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Student Affairs
• Higher Education Technology

Background:

• College students encounter substantial mental health and academic difficulties, often struggling with university resource navigation.
• Students from marginalized backgrounds face greater obstacles in seeking help and are less likely to use campus services.
• Peer mentoring programs can mitigate these disparities, particularly when emphasizing goal-oriented interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate a peer-mentoring platform designed to support incoming first-year college students.
• To assess the impact of goal setting within a technology-enabled peer mentoring context on student outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A peer-mentoring platform was utilized, allowing first-year students to communicate with mentors and track goal progress.
• Statistical analyses were performed to determine the association between goal setting, platform engagement, academic performance (GPA), self-efficacy, and life satisfaction.

Main Results:

• Goal setting demonstrated a significant positive association with first-semester grade point average.
• Even after accounting for platform engagement, goal setting remained a significant predictor of enhanced self-efficacy and life satisfaction.

Conclusions:

• Goal setting within peer mentoring relationships offers a scalable intervention for college students.
• This approach can effectively promote academic success and psychological well-being during the critical transition to higher education.