2015 HASS Peer Mentors’ Guide
...So did you find the peer mentoring
Thank you for offeringuseful?
to assist the 2015 first-year Humanities and Social Science (HASS) students via the
HASS PeerFab!
Mentoring
The guidance each of you will provide, in all its various forms, is
– I learntCommunity.
lots of new things,
gained
usefulprovides
insights and
new tips to get you started.
invaluable. This
guide
a few
skills...and I think the students I was
mentoring learnt something too!
Aims for the HASS Peer Mentoring Community
This peer mentoring community aims to assist and engage first-year HASS students both academically and
socially and assist communication and community building across the broader Faculty, as well as within
discipline areas.
We’re looking to make use of our best resource – successful senior HASS students (that’s you!) – to help
the new 2015 first-year students make the crucial but often difficult transition to university-level study. You
know better than we do what pleasures and perils await this year’s commencing students. Some of the
areas we’re looking to help new students understand better are:
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how much work is required and how best to work on their studies in order to succeed, with particular
focus on essay and assignment tips;
ways that their discipline areas approach learning and scholarly research;
how to select appropriate courses and, when relevant, how to select a major or majors;
how to manage their time and their commitments;
how to build resilience including how to manage the ups and downs and stay focused; and
other tips and insights you feel would help guide the new students.
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What you will receive
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An opportunity to assist first-year students in your discipline and help build an online
community;
Membership in a learning community using educational technology and online
communication tools at UQ;
A signed ‘Certificate of Merit’ confirming your participation in the program;
Credit towards a UQ Advantage Award, see
http://www.uq.edu.au/undergraduate/advantage-award/ for further details.
What will it involve?
How often do I contribute or add posts?
This
is completely up to you. You can choose your level of
involvement and the amount of time you’re able to assist. This
may vary throughout the year, depending upon your own
study schedules, e.g. you may have more time early in the
semester (also the time of greatest need for new students).
We are grateful for whatever level of assistance you are able
to contribute.
If you would like to receive a ‘Certificate of Merit’ and/or credit towards the UQ Advantage Award
Program, then you will need to complete some minimum requirements. The ‘HASS Peer Mentoring
Database’ includes details of these minimum activities and will enable you to log your participation in these
activities online. The database is available at: http://peer-mentors.hass.uq.edu.au/ [Logon with your UQ
username and password, then click on the ‘My Profile – 2015’ to register or to add details of your ongoing
participation - just follow the prompts. Once you have added your registration details, click ‘save’, and your
‘participation’ section will appear at the top. You can return to this at any stage. [Please contact Inge Matt
i.matt@uq.edu.au if you have access issues.]
You can choose your preferred approach for online peer mentoring, either via the HASS
program-level Facebook groups, or the Blackboard community site: ‘Knowledge-Making in the Arts,
Humanities and Social Sciences’ (KM Site). The KM site includes a ‘Peer Mentor’ Forum within each of
the disciplines and offers a direct email option to guide and communicate with the first-year students.
Peer Mentoring Do’s & Don’ts:
What you don’t need to do:
You are not
expected to meet students face-to-face – ours is an
online peer mentoring community. However, if you
choose to meet up with students from the online
community for coffee catch ups etc. we recommend
you email Inge i.matt@uq.edu.au (Faculty Educational
Designer) first with their name/s so we can check
they’re enrolled with UQ/HASS.
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You are not expected to assist students with:
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technical/computing enquiries -- refer students to Ask IT http://askit.uq.edu.au
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course requirements or getting extensions on assignments -- refer students to their Schools, Course
Coordinators or Faculty

troubled students - refer students to UQ Student Services whose staff are qualified and experienced

inappropriate posts -- don’t respond to the posts yourself but please alert Inge via i.matt@uq.edu.au
or mobile text or ph. #0419 440 374.
What you can do
The two main approaches to assist the first-year students are via the following online mentoring activities.
1. HASS program-level Facebook groups; and
2. ‘Knowledge-Making in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences’ Blackboard community site.

1. HASS Program-level Facebook Groups
The ‘BA@UQ’ Facebook group was started many years ago and has a large following. More recently we
have also started Facebook groups for our other undergraduate programs. We welcome you to add your
greetings via the 'File' tab (Doc tool). Your post will pop up automatically on the 'Wall'. You may like to
add a post about your discipline area or on a more general topic.

The Facebook platform offers the learning community dynamic real time exchange of information
and dialogue. First-year students and previous peer mentors value its ease of access and
familiarity and its flexible privacy options. Some potential concerns about Facebook may include
being easily distracted by random adverts or the plethora of ‘news updates’ that spring up when you
open your Facebook homepage, but one click on the ‘BA@UQ’ or other HASS program group icon
and you’re back to your focus! To date we’ve been largely free of inappropriate posts, but we’ve
included information about safety on online networking sites in each of the Facebook groups (under
the ‘About’ info at top right) from the Commonwealth Govt. Stay Smart Online site:
http://www.staysmartonline.gov.au. Remember, if you notice any inappropriate posts -- don’t
respond to the posts yourself but please alert Inge via i.matt@uq.edu.au or mobile text or ph.
#0419 440 374.
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2. ‘Knowledge-Making in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences’ –
Blackboard community site.
The other key online mentoring option is the Blackboard-based ‘Knowledge-making in the Arts, Humanities
& Social Sciences (KM)’ site to which you will be added shortly after your registration. If you don’t yet have
access to this site, click on this self-enrol link:
https://learn.uq.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/enrollCourse?context=Course&course_id=_27503_1 .
To re-access the site later, click on the link under the ‘My Communities’ heading on your Blackboard
Welcome page http://learn.uq.edu.au.
The ‘Knowledge-Making’ site aims to assist first-year students to better understand how to create scholarly
essays, assignments and research projects. The 2015 site has been extended across all the HASS
discipline areas and has been enhanced on the basis of feedback from the 2014 evaluation.
Your participation at any level is encouraged and appreciated whether it is by adding a welcome/guiding
post in your discipline via the ‘Peer Mentors’ forum, or to the broader ‘Life@Uni – Surviving & Thriving’
forum; or by adding an assignment to the your discipline-based ‘Exemplar Assignment Galleries’. Tip:
Subscribing to a ‘Peer Mentors’ forum will keep you updated and save you having to check for new posts.
Getting Started
– 2015 HASS Peer Mentors’ Community Program
There are two steps involved:
1.
2.
Register with the ‘2015 HASS Peer Mentors’ Database’
Decide on your preferred options to assist the first year students
1. Register with the 2015 ‘HASS Peer Mentors’ Database’
Go to http://peer-mentors.hass.uq.edu.au/ and follow the prompts to create your 2015 Peer Mentor Profile.
This will take approx. 5-10 minutes. (No. 2 below will assist to decide on mentoring choices on the form).
Once you have added all your registration details, click ‘save’ and your ‘participation’ section will appear at
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the top. You can return to this at any stage to update any details. Please contact Inge Matt
i.matt@uq.edu.au if you have access issues.
2. Decide on your preferred options to assist the first year students
– for this semester, or year, either through the HASS program-level Facebook groups
or the ‘Knowledge-Making’ Site.
 Using the HASS Facebook groups
Getting onto Facebook
If you are new to Facebook, you first need to register and start up your own Facebook profile:
Go to www.facebook.com and follow the prompts. It’s important to consider the privacy settings
you’d like for your site – just click on the ‘cog’ icon at top right hand corner of the page. Once you’ve
registered, locate your preferred group as above.
Remember the safety tips re online networking sites available via each of the Facebook groups (under
the ‘About’ info at top right) from the Commonwealth Govt. Stay Smart Online site:
http://www.staysmartonline.gov.au.
1. Locate your preferred Facebook group. Once you have a Facebook profile, locate the Facebook
group by typing the name into the Facebook search box or by copying and pasting the url into the
Facebook search box. It may be difficult to locate the new Facebook group via the title, so try the direct url
from the list below. First-year students also received bookmarks with a direct QR Code to access the sites.
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'BA@UQ' Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BAatUQ/
 'Bachelor of Communication@UQ' Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/UQBCommu/
 'Bachelor of Education@UQ' Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/UQBEducation/
 'Bachelor of International Studies@UQ' Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/UQBIntSt/
 'Bachelor of Journalism@UQ' Facebook group
https:// www.facebook.com/groups/UQBJournalism/
 'Bachelor of Music@UQ' Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/UQBMus/
 'Bachelor of Social Sciences@UQ' Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/UQBSocSci/
2. Join the Facebook group - simply click on the ‘Join’ at top-right.
3. Decide on the blog topic/s or disciplines that you’re most interested to blog for. Start up your own
new blog topic or join blog topics already started. We encourage you to share your blog topic/s with HASSBloggers who may also be interested in your topic areas, although in some cases you may be sole host for
a topic.
4. Start your blog topic. The best option to create topic or discipline-specific blogs is via the ‘Docs’ tool:
click on the ‘Files’ tab at the top of the Facebook group homepage (this leads to both the ‘Docs’ and ‘Files’
options). Unless you want to add a file (ie. Word doc etc.), the ‘Docs’ tool is the more flexible/user-friendly.
It allows you to create your own saved blog topic/s that you can easily locate again next time, and edit if
desired. It also allows first-year students to search the list of blog topics rather than scrolling through
hundreds of random posts on the Wall.
Steps to start a new Facebook blog topic or to join an existing topic:
1. On the Facebook group
homepage, click on the ‘Files’ tab
at the top of the page as shown (this
is different to the ‘Add a File’ link
below the top tabs).
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2. Check for existing ‘Docs’ (ie. blog
topics) that have already been started. If
your topic choice is not there yet, or you
prefer to start your own, you can start one up
by clicking on the ‘+ Create Doc’ button, as
highlighted. If a similar topic to your own
choice is there already, decide whether
you’d like to add to that topic or start your
own. To add to the existing topic, click on
that Doc/Topic, and add your post by typing
in the comment box.
3. Type your new blog topic choice in box at top, then click ‘Create Doc’. Use a major
keyword as the first word in your title to assist student searches for topics (eg. ‘History’, or
‘Stress – how to beat it’). [Your chosen topic may be your discipline choice or a of interest that
you feel will benefit the new first-year students, eg. something you wish you had known about
when you started out at uni or in your program. You can also see the suggested ‘Calendar of
Hot Blog Topics’ below for further ideas.]
4. Add your introductory text in the text box below. Your ongoing blog posts can be added
as separate entries via the ‘comments’ box that will appear at the base, once you have clicked
on the ‘Create Doc’ button at the top. This will give each new blog entry a date stamp that
assists students to understand the progress or stream of thoughts across the blogs and who
said what.
5. Once you’ve clicked on the ‘Create Doc’ button at the top, your new blog topic will be
saved and you can add any further posts via the comments box at the base (or you can edit the
top part again whenever you choose). Your blog will be able to be accessed via the ‘’Files’ tab
on the homepage and will also be auto-added to the homepage Wall to alert students to the
new blog topic.
6. Adding urls to your blog. You can add urls into your text by pasting them in or typing the
whole url - eg. incl. http://www....etc.
7. Images and Videos
can be added via ‘Wall
posts’ or the ‘Add
Photos/Video’ link at top of
the Wall (ie. not via the
Docs). Just make sure they
are either your own images
or copyright free.
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Tip: to receive email notifications about activity on your Facebook group blog posts
from Facebook (or to turn it off) – click on the ‘Notification’ link at top of the Facebook group
homepage/ and then select your choice of notifications.
It’s good to remember that some students choose to visit and read blogs and online communication,
but not add entries, and this is a valid form of learning. Students may visit your blog without you knowing
they have visited.
 Using the ‘Knowledge-Making in the Arts, Humanities and Social
Sciences’ Blackboard site.
Aims for the site:
First-year students don’t possess a full understanding of the uni-level scholarly essay/assignment
process. As you’ve all excelled in this area, we’re looking to you to guide new students towards a
better understanding of this process, particularly within your own discipline.
There are three main peer mentoring activities within the ‘Knowledge-Making’ site that you can choose
from (or you can do all if you like!). Participation in these activities contributes towards qualification for
the ‘Certificate of Merit’ and/or credit towards the UQ Advantage Award.
To access the ‘Knowledge-Making’ site:
If you don’t yet have access to the site, click on this self-enrol link:
https://learn.uq.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/enrollCourse?context=Course&course_id=_27503_1 .
If you already have access or to re-access the site later, click on the link under the ‘My
Communities’ heading on your Blackboard Welcome page http://learn.uq.edu.au.
Peer Mentoring Options:
Subscribe to the ‘Peer Mentors’ forum within your discipline space (by clicking on
‘Subscribe’ button inside the forum at top left). Once subscribed you will receive email
alerts to posts, and you won’t need to keep checking them for new posts. (To unsubscribe,
just click on ‘Unsubscribe’).
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Add a welcome/guiding post to the first-year students via your chosen Peer
Mentors’ forum.
 You can start a post by adding a bit about yourself, your program of study or tips for
the students about your discipline/s or more broadly, or anything you think will
assist the first-year students. To add a new post, click on ‘Add a new thread’ (at top
right).
 Reply to a post already started in your chosen ‘Peer Mentors’ forum. We
encourage mentors to reply to each other’s posts, particularly within your own
discipline forum, as this will be of much interest and insight to the new students,
who are trying to learn about how it all works!
Add a post/s to the new ‘Life@Uni’ – ‘Surviving & Thriving’ forum.
(accessed from the homepage (on right), or via the left menu bar). We welcome your
participation in topics of interest to you.
Transition to Uni /Getting started
Choosing courses to enrol in
Time management
Handling large lectures
Developing resilience (eg. beating stress)
Maintaining motivation to study
Staying healthy
Making new friends
Mature-age students
International students
Balancing work, study, family & social life
Staying financially afloat
Choosing Majors
Working out what's expected of you
academically
Adjusting to a different way of learning
General essay or assignment tips
Preparing for exams
Preparing for honours
Career directions, etc. etc…
Add an exemplar assignment to your discipline’s ‘Exemplar Assignment Gallery’.
Please first add your assignment to the new ‘HASS Peer Mentors’ Database’. This
provides a secure, safe repository for your Exemplar Assignments. But before you do this,
it’s important to prepare your Exemplar Assignment as below. It’s a little complex, but well
worth the effort!
1. Choosing and Preparing your Exemplar Assignment prior to posting
1st year assignments are best! We encourage you to add your first-year assignments. Other
assignments are also very helpful. Just ensure to specify the year level of the assignment.
Annotated assignments are especially helpful! First-year students value essays that show
the markers’ notes or have otherwise been annotated to communicate key strengths. We
encourage you to use your online-marked essays (or scan in your hardcopy marked essays).
The only criteria we require is that they received a Grade of 6 or higher, to ensure we’re
providing good models!
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Important Tip!!
Make sure you remove your student
ID no. and any reference to your
Lecturer/Marker’s name. It is
optional whether you leave your
name on or not.
Make a PDF of it! It’s a good idea to turn your essay into a PDF if possible. This means you
can see the exact layout the students will see and can deter possible copying of the doc (if the
copy/edit option is turned off in the Security tab). However, adding your essay to ‘Turnitin’ is the
most important action to ensure protection of your intellectual property.
Some examples of ways to turn your doc into a PDF:
 If using MS Word 2010 onwards, click on ‘File’ tab / ‘Save As’, then
browse for location, then select ‘PDF’ from ‘Save as Type’.
 Many printers have an option to: ‘Print to PDF’ –when you click on ‘Print’ –
choose the ‘PDF’ option.
 You can register for free with ‘Google Docs’ – then free function to create
PDFs.
 Or the prof. version of Adobe Acrobat installs an ‘Acrobat’ tab at top right of
your Word Doc – that allows to create PDFs
2. Next, put your text–based exemplar assignment through ‘Turnitin’ if it
hasn’t already been submitted this way. We will be letting all first-year
students know that all assignments have been run through TURNITIN to protect
the author’s intellectual property rights.
If your text-based exemplar assignment has not yet gone through
TURNITIN, follow these steps to safeguard your intellectual property before
posting your essay into the Exemplar Assignment Gallery.
Go to the ‘Knowledge-making’(KM) site and
1. Click on the ‘TURNITIN – Add Exemplars’ link at base of the left menu bar.
(ensure ‘Edit’ button is on at top right. If you can’t do this, pls contact Inge
i.matt@uq.edu.au #0419 440 374).
2. Click on ‘View/Complete’, then follow the prompts to add your
essay/assignment.
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How to Post your
Essay/s &
Assignments to the
‘Exemplar
Assignment
Galleries’:
Once your assignment has been run through TURNITIN follow these steps:
1. Register with the program at http://peer-mentors.hass.uq.edu.au/. Login
with your UQ student login, then click on My 2015 Profile and follow the
prompts. If you have any access issues, please contact Inge i.matt@uq.edu.au
or via text or mobile :#0419440374.
2. Click on the ’Exemplar Assignments’ tab at top, and follow the prompts.
3. Add your assignment to the Knowledge-Making site via your chosen
djscipline’s Exemplar Assignment Gallery (via steps 4-6 below).
4. Choose ‘Edit’ mode, at top right to turn on – this is very important, or you
won’t see the required edit links. (If you can’t do this, please contact Inge
i.matt@uq.edu.au #0419 440 374 to arrange for editing access).
5. Choose a discipline on left menu bar, (and discipline subfolders if required).
Then scroll down to locate the ‘Exemplar Assignment Gallery’ and click on title
to open it.
6. To add your exemplar assignment, click on the ‘Create wiki page’ button.
Please add the following details in title + content area:
Title for new Wiki Page: [Course Code – key word/s for the assignment
topic (+assignment type in brackets)]
Headings within the actual wiki page:
Course - [Course Code - Course Title]
Name - [Optional. Please don't include your ID no. or any staff details]
Type of Assignment - [write your details here]
Title of Assignment "
Assignment Question - "
Referencing Style "
Grading Received "
Optional Comments "
You will also receive an email copy of these headings in ‘Notepad’ format.
Please use ‘Notepad’ format if copying into Blackboard (as Word can cause
bugs). It’s also fine to type directly into BB.
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Please do not add any of your essays to the Facebook groups as these are not secure pages.
Note to previous mentors: Thanks for the great exemplars we have already received. Please contact
Inge i.matt@uq.edu.au if you notice your exemplar in a Gallery without your name, and we will add your full
detail preferences, or we welcome you to add them in yourself.
We wish you all the very best for your HASS Peer Mentoring experience
and thank you for your assistance!
Keep in touch:
Associate Professor Julie Duck
Associate Dean, Academic
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
adacademic@hass.uq.edu.au
Engagement Officer
hass@uq.edu.au
Inge Matt
Educational Designer
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
i.matt@uq.edu.au
Text / ph. 0419 440 374
Or for computing/technical assistance
/or Blackboard Student Support
AskIT
http://askit.uq.edu.au
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Calendar of Hot Topics
Hot all year round
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how to select courses that are right for them, and then, later, how to select a major or majors
how to work on their studies in order to succeed;
how to manage their time and their commitments
how to stay focused
insights about your own journey as a student - how you have found it so far and any tips
your background, to help students understand you’re a real person too, e.g. where you’re from,
things you’re interested in - uni-wise and apart from uni, favourite links.
any mistakes you may have made and what you have learnt from them.
Discipline-specific insights, e.g:
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Insight into the various courses and which ones you especially enjoyed
Knowledge/skills specific to that discipline/major/course
How to do well – eg. including how to research and draft high standard essays and to do well in
exams.
Current news and events related to that discipline
Research happenings
Student groups
Contacts/associations
Career ideas and prospects
Lifestyle related topics, e.g:
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Getting to know others
Ways to balance work, study, family and social
Staying fit and healthy
Financial survival / ways to stretch the $
Living away from home
Places for good food / entertainment
Where to find help
Start Sem1
Enrolling in Uni
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Surviving orientation / the first few weeks
Choosing first-year courses that are right for them
Enrolling in courses
Selecting tutorials
Contemplating majors
You’ve survived orientation - what now?
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Adjusting to uni
New study skills – eg. note taking, researching and drafting high standard essays
How much and how to work on their studies in order to succeed;
How to manage their time and their commitments
How to manage the ups and downs so that they stay focused
Getting to know others
Where to find help
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Mid Sem1
Staying focused
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Study tips - general as well as
discipline-specific
Tips about core skills, e.g. research /
essay writing / information literacy
etc…
End Sem1
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You’ve nearly survived the first semester
Hang in there - holidays are nearly here
Exam tips
Start of Sem2
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Welcome to new students starting in Semester 2
Suggest to new students to check out early blogs (at bottom of blog) for welcome/intros
Hi to continuing students
What you did over holidays
Reflections on first semester
Tips for those who did well in 1st semester - e.g. congratulations + ideas to keep the momentum
going
Ideas to help improve outcomes for those who were less satisfied with their performance
Regaining focus & momentum
Mid Sem2
Staying focused
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
Study tips - general as well as discipline-specific
Tips about core skills, e.g. research / essay writing / information literacy etc…
Essay /assignment tips
End Sem2
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You’ve nearly survived the first year
Hang in there - holidays are nearly here
Exam tips
Further contemplation of Majors and tips re.
choosing majors
Reflection on which courses you particularly
liked or achieved well in
Career considerations
Plans for holidays
Ideas for earning $ over holidays
Congratulations – you made it!
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