Professional Applications of Peer Leader Techniques

This paper provides an example of the required technical and professional skills that an apprentice learned in a building automation workplace, where I was the mentor and trainer. The experiential learning of the trainee through the guided transfer of skills was assessed by my observation and the trainee’s reflections processed in Work Performed Reports. The Work Performed Reports are influenced by an exercise I implemented as an undergraduate Peer Leader. While an undergraduate, I served as a Peer Leader in an Electromechanical Engineering Technology program for a practical hands-on course on how to construct the box holding electrical components, called a “digital trainer.” Toward the end of each class session, the instructor and I implemented a five-minute written exercise in which students answered process and technically-oriented questions drawn from the manual. The purpose was to encourage reflection on the task for that session. This paper describes the application of the technique of reflection I implemented as a Peer Leader and demonstrates that the attributes of PLTL can be applied in the workplace after the university experience.