Fostering Adaptive Learners: Exploring Academic Mentoring Strategies from Students’ and Mentors’ Perspectives During Learning Disruption

Medical institutions have implemented academic mentoring programmes to support students in navigating learning disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the strategies academic mentors employ to assist students in this context remain unexplored. This study utilised a qualitative approach and conducted in-depth interviews with 17 preclinical students and eight mentors who participated in mentoring sessions during the pandemic. The participants were selected using purposive stratified sampling. The data were analysed using a modified grounded theory approach (M-GTA). A total of 24 concepts, eight categories, and two core categories were generated from the data analysis. The primary goal of mentoring is to empower students to adapt to learning disruptions independently. Mentors play academic parenting roles and serve as mediators. Strategic steps in mentoring sessions involve monitoring students’ adaptability, identifying their potential, and encouraging them to determine new learning strategies tailored to changing learning environments. Several enabling factors contributed to the programme’s success, including responsive mentors, acknowledging individual challenges, and offering tailored mentorship; students with effective communication skills and proactivity; and a robust mentoring system equipped with a well-structured curriculum, technology-enhanced mentorship, and regular faculty development. To better prepare students for potential disruptions, this study recommends integrating the development of adaptability skills into the mentoring programme curriculum.