Talk:ISP1

Challenges[edit source]

Mentoring

I'm wondering about our students ability to mentor the foundation year students in the areas highlighted.  Our students are generally not first language English speakers and often will have come from disadvantaged backgrounds with little experience of an academic literacy of any sort.  In addition, they will only be starting on their final year research project at that time (which will cover many of the topics mentioned), and may have trouble mentoring others on topics that they are only beginning to grapple with.

Having said that, I think it'll be a great challenge that some of them will relish and will rise to the occasion.  As long as we're all clear on our expectations of what the South African students can contribute.  I will be trying to provide additional support to our students so that this gap isn't an issue.


Access Most of them don't have internet access at home, which brings many challenges, not least of which is the cost of access at internet cafe's.  The Irish students will need to bear in mind that responses and input may come in chunks / bursts, rather than small but regular updates.