Resumen de Leadership development through sequential progressive mentoring in a project-based learning environment
Douglas W. Stamps, John K. Layer
Data from a survey instrument was used to determine the impact that sequential progressive mentoring in an integrated sequenceof design courses had on leadership development. The scope of the research study included all undergraduate freshmen throughsenior students in a mechanical engineering program for five consecutive years (sample size equals 539). Several key findings wereobtained from the survey instrument data. The integrated sequence of design courses had a significant impact on the developmentof professional skills that increased as students progressed through the sequence indicating that the mastering of these skillsrequired multiple experiences. Leadership development through sequential progressive mentoring benefited both the mentor and theprote ́ge ́and the benefits increased with time spent on the relationship. The survey instrument items also became self-reportedmanifest variables that were indexed to the latent variables for leadership experience, past mentored experience, past integrateddesign experience, skill development, and program culture. Structural equation modeling was performed to delineate relationshipsbetween leadership experience and the other latent variables. The modeling showed that the senior leadership experience correlatedwith the students’ skill development and past mentored experiences and not with past integrated design experience in the absence ofa mentor. These results were invariant to any particular class or project type.
