Desarrollo y evaluación de una experiencia piloto de mentoría de primer ciclo de evaluación superior a distancia, en el Centro Regional Villaflora de la Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja en el periodo académico

Abstract

The current research paper is the result of a pilot program created by the Private Technical University of Loja, which is aimed at students who are beginning the first cycle of the Career of Psychology through an open distance mode in the period April – August 2014, who have a high probability of dropping out and certain difficulties in achieving their academic goals. Its main objective is the improvement of the quality of the academic counseling processes on this educational group. The final product is a Mentor’s Guide, which might be a future reference for next mentoring processes. Regarding the participants, ten students were the mentored ones, one Psychology-degreecandidate was the mentor, and some professors were the academic counselors. The research methods used were: action, descriptive, analytical-synthetic, and statistical research. Several interviews, surveys, and observations were applied. As conclusion, the mentoring process presents multiple benefits: students are allowed to their self-realization, the university has a better approach to the mentored, and a clear improvement of the quality of education is observed. Besides, a beginning of a support culture is created.