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Discussion on: How To Be A Mentor

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terabytetiger profile image
Tyler V. (he/him)

a mentor who asks questions to his/her mentee is going to have a higher impact than one who just answers them

I want to jump in and second this. When I was working as a tutor in college, I could usually get a pretty good feel for which students had a chance at earning high marks because they were almost always the ones that were OK with me asking a question back to guide their thought process instead of spoonfeeding them an answer.

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allenheltondev profile image
Allen Helton

One thing that I really like about the back and forth is that it shows that both people fully understand what they are talking about.

It's easy to nod your head while someone is talking even if you don't understand what they are saying. But the dialogue between both parties is what ensures that knowledge transfer.

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terabytetiger profile image
Tyler V. (he/him)

Very true!

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michaelrice profile image
Michael Rice • Edited

This is a pretty great observation. I wonder what it was about the being open to further questions - maybe confidence, being present and interested in learning vs. just getting through the assignment? Now you've got me thinking....

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terabytetiger profile image
Tyler V. (he/him)

I highly suspect so. I mostly tutored Calc I and it all builds off of previous lessons, meaning that those that were just getting through weren't prepared for the next piece while those that actually learned the information were able to recall it later on.

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michaelrice profile image
Michael Rice

Yeah that makes a lot of sense. It's kind of elemental that you can't be ready for the next level if you didn't master the current level. (I was terrible in math - probably would have asked for the easy answer!)

I have gradations in the skills for tech leads that I coach. I should really emphasize this point: master each level before moving on to the next... feel a podcast coming for that one!