Building Networks through Peer Interaction

Abstract

The profession of civil engineering needs graduates with many technical and generic skills. A program of peer instruction and peer mentoring within courses taken by first-year students at Queensland University of Technology in Australia builds networks between junior and senior students, leading to a culture of collaboration and teamwork and a learning environment more akin to that in which professional engineers find themselves. Among the benefits of this program are high student satisfaction, opportunities for development of leadership and organizational skills, and dramatically improved academic results.