History of Supplemental Instruction

Supplemental Instruction (SI) provides weekly, peer-led study sessions to help students prepare for their courses outside of the classroom. SI study sessions are facilitated by an SI leader, a student who has previously completed the course with a high grade.

SI leaders plan and prepare for study sessions in advance and use active learning strategies to encourage comprehension and synthesis of course content. SI emphasizes collaborative, student-to-student learning and processing of information. In addition, SI Leaders also sit through the class again and act as model students.

SI began at 麻豆传媒社区 as a pilot program in the Spring of 2006 with two SI Leaders supporting two courses (POLS 1101 and MATH 1111). Currently, we now have over 140 SI Leaders and support over 200 sections across 30+ courses.

SI is designed to improve student learning and success in historically difficult courses, those with DFW rates of 25 percent or higher. The SI Program targets courses, not individual faculty. Priority is given to General Education and gateway courses, though SI has been successful in several upper-level courses, too.

Purpose of SI

 

SI Sessions are:
  • Offered to ALL enrolled students, not just those who are doing poorly.
  • Regularly scheduled with multiple sessions being held each week
  • Held outside of classroom instructional time
  • Free and attendance is voluntary
  • Anonymous
  • Not tutoring and not re-lecturing
  • Student-to-Student processing of material
The SI Leader will:
  • Attend all class sessions
  • Maintain a professional attitude about class standards, grades, student complaints, etc.
  • Discourage students from attending sessions as a substitute for class
  • Share SI materials with you before use, if possible.
The SI Leader will not:
  • Re-lecture
  • Answer faculty-addressed e-mails
  • Grade assignments and exams
  • Teach the class in the instructor's absence
As a faculty mentor, these are your responsibilities:
  • Allow the SI Leader to make in-class announcements
    • This includes their First Day Speech and allowing them to show the SILA Promo Video before their First Day Speech
  • Enroll the SI Leader as a Non-Grade Instructor or Visitor in the D2L Course Shell
    • This way, they can review the syllabus and course material, as well as e-mail students regarding study session times.
  • Promote SI sessions throughout the semester to your students
  • Hold regular meetings throughout the semester
    • We encourage weekly meetings, but it is your choice and you may choose to hold them as frequently as you deem necessary.
  • Share feedback with the SILA Program throughout the semester about your SI Leader
We ask, as a faculty mentor, that you do not:
  • Attend SI sessions to preserve the anonymity of these sessions
  • Ask your SI Leader to hold class or teach in your absence.
    • It is okay to hold an SI session during class time if you will not be available, but they can only review previous material.
  • Ask the SI Leader to grade assignments.
  • Ask the SI Leader to provide attendance data
    • If you would like to see the impact of our program, please reach out to us on the Contact Us form.
These are the benefits of having an SI Leader in your course:
  • Students who attend SI sessions, on average, earn a letter grade higher than those who don't attend.
  • SI session attendees understand the subject matter better.
  • Students who attend SI Sessions participate more in class.
  • Strategies that are used in SI Sessions can be adopted during regular class time.
  • Valuable feedback is gained from your SI Leader.
  • Course evaluations may improve.