By: Kaitlyn Boisvert
Posted In: News
Photo credit: Allison Riendeau
Tricia Smeland, a senior, presented on various learning styles at the NEPTA conference.
On April 2, the Providence College campus was bustling with visitors, all who were from different states and came to represent their school for the 17th Annual NEPTA Conference. The conference is a professional occasion meant for academic tutors and instructors hoping to meet others with similar interests and learn how to improve their teaching skills. Following the opening ceremony, visitors scattered around campus, attending presentations of their choosing. Many presentations are offered, whether the attendees wish to learn about how to get through to the uninterested student or how to take a fun approach to teaching. Each presentation featured speakers from a particular college or university.
Tricia Smeland, a senior and a writing tutor, held a presentation at the conference. The theme of her presentation was “Why Don’t You Learn Like Me?” The goal of the presentation was to present to the audience all of the common learning styles that associate with certain personalities, and how to reach out to a student with a particular learning style. She immediately got the audience engaged by asking the audience to take a personality test to discover what type of learning personality each person has. The possible results were: Verbal/Linguistic, Logical/Mathematical, Visual/Spatial, Bodily/ Kinesthetic, Musical/Rhythmic, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal. For the next few minutes, the room was silent as audience members took the time to think and fill out the questionnaire. Upon completion, almost everyone in the room confirmed that their results matched their respective personality. Following the quiz, Smeland got her audience further engaged by assigning a prompt that enabled everyone to get thinking and involved with the lecture. For the prompt, the audience members were organized into certain groups and were each given a scenario where they had to find the best way to teach a student that had a particular personality and learning style. After hearing each group’s plan for teaching, Smeland often added another piece of advice or suggested another strategy. For example, one of the cases presented a student who demonstrated a Visual/Spatial personality and Smeland denounced that an effective way to teach him or her would be to present something like a Venn diagram chart, so all the necessary information can be laid out and the student can see and manipulate it so everything becomes comprehensible for them. When in a tutoring or teaching session, Smeland offered advice on how to discern a student’s learning style. “Observing their behaviors and mannerisms is always helpful,” she said. “Take note of important clues. Are their notes organized? Did they bring index cards? Ask yourself questions like these and then instruct in different factions, in a sort of trial-and-error test. Then find which way works best and then go with that.” Concluding her presentation, Smeland initiated a question-and-answer session, in which numerous audience members took part. This definitely highlighted the interest the audience had in the session, and marked Smeland’s success in engaging her audience and presenting a good image of Salve. The NEPTA conference marked the 17th Anniversary of the occasion, and it provided teachers and peer tutors alike the chance to learn new tips on teaching and the strategies of tutoring that other schools partake in. It also provided the chance for people to socialize, make friends and learn about other schools in New England. During the opening ceremony, lunch period and open forum, the enthusiasm in the air was infectious, all the attendees coversed and enjoying themselves. The theme of the occasion was “superheroes,” so following the presentations an awards ceremony was held, where people could correctly answer superhero trivia questions to win a prize. Each school that attended the conference had donated a prize, often an item that was branded with the university logo. Salve sponsored a large coffee mug filled with Hershey’s Kisses. Following the awards ceremony, certificates were given to everyone who partook in a presentation–a thank-you for being a part of such an important conference. Smeland was among those who received a certificate and will be displayed Salve’s Writing Center in the basement of McAuley. Cynthia Bassett, Salve’s Writing Center director was among the representatives to attend the conference. “It was great seeing one of our writing tutors represent our University,” she said. “I loved seeing diverse ideas and strategies of different people. It was definitely a great learning experience.” The Writing Center encourages any student working on an essay to visit the Center to receive feedback on their work, as well as advice.
