All Points North: A Compass for Interactive Tutor Training Sessions Kim DeMur Marissa Loon Kelley Tiarks

Who We Are  Kim DeMur  Assistant Director of Academic Advising at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester, MA)  Marissa Loon  Director of the Academic Resource Center at Nichols College (Dudley, MA)  Kelley Tiarks  Assistant Director of the Academic Center for Excellence and Peer Tutoring at Bryant University (Smithfield, RI)

Objectives  Review the characteristics of our common target population  Learn strategies for implementing effective, interactive pedagogical tools for tutor trainings  Discover engaging and practical tutor training activities  Learn strategies for implementing the same or similar activities into your own training  Learn about resources for locating training materials and activities

Importance & Framework  Millennial students (our tutors) are team- orientated and favor learning in groups.  Research suggests educators spend no more than 15 minutes lecturing before group discussion. Carlson, S. (2005). The net generation in the classroom. Chronical of Higher Education, 52(7), Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials rising: The next generation. New York: Vintage.

 Engagement between tutors during training = increased confidence and pedagogy for working with peers during sessions.  As tutor trainers, we should be incorporating interactive, experiential components to build community amongst our staff, and help them further develop their skills and confidence. Importance & Framework

Today’s Agenda  Group activities  Discussion of how these activities can be administered  How we as an organization can share tools, activities, and ideas

Activity 1 - WPI  “How It’s Done Challenge”  Training Topics:  Techniques for successfully beginning and ending a tutor session  Modeling problem solving

Activity 2 - Nichols  “Communications Through Construction”  Training Topics:  Communication Skills  Learning Styles  Active Listening  Probing Questions

Activity 3 - Bryant  “Agree, Disagree, Unsure”  Training Topics:  Ethical Dilemmas  Problem Solving

 Too often, we as tutor trainers have grand plans and ideas for implementing interactive and engaging tutor training modules that get lost in the shuffle of our many other daily tasks.  Wouldn’t it be great to share our ideas with each other, and utilize our resources, just as we tell our students to do?!  Dropbox -

Discussion  How many of you have had grand ideas that just fall flat?  Ever look for training ideas but just can’t find any?  Ever find that you just don’t have as much time to prep as you would like?

Discussion  Who trains your tutors?  What is the structure of your training?  Do you find all training topics relevant to your center?  How do you balance training new vs. veteran tutors?  How (if at all) do you engage “head tutors”?  What are the modes of training that you use?

References  Calma, A. & Eggins, M. (2012). Enhancing the quality of tutorials through peer-connected tutor training. Issues in Educational Research, 22(2),  Carlson, S. (2005). The net generation in the classroom. Chronical of Higher Education, 52(7),  Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials rising: The next generation. New York: Vintage.  Werth, E.P. & Werth, L. (2011). Effective training for Millennial students. Adult Learning, 22(3),  Wilson, W.L. (2012). Dealing with difficult tutoring situations. In K. Agee, & R. Hodges (eds.), Handbook for Training Peer Tutors and Mentors (pp ). Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.