Welcome to Supplemental Instruction (SI)!  Our Job Is Your Grade

Program Rationale:
Considerable research has been done on the benefits of studying in groups.  Students who study together learn two and a half times as much in the same amount of time as students who study alone.  Collaborative learning promotes critical thinking through discussion, clarification of ideas, and evaluation of others' ideas. The SI program focuses on encouraging students to work with their classmates and challenges students to break the cycle of dependency that students may bring with them from secondary school.  SI also avoids trying to identify high-risk students by instead identifying high-risk courses. 

Program History:
The SI Program began at the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1973.  Developed by Dr. Deanna Martin, to address the academic struggles of students of color and women in the schools of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, it was so successful it was expanded to undergraduate programs in the College of Arts and Sciences and certified by the U.S. Department of Education in 1981.  Supplemental Instruction began at the University of Cincinnati Fall of 2006. 

SI Key Program Factors:
*Group learning process facilitated by students
*Targeted to high-risk courses rather than high-risk students (not a stigma)
*Integration of content and skills
*Regularly scheduled sessions
*Comprehensive and ongoing SI leader training
*Faculty supported initiative

What is SI?
Supplemental Instruction (SI) is an academic assistance program that increases student performance and retention.  Click here for the SI promotional video.  It is a quick 3 minute summary of the program!

The SI program targets traditionally difficult academic subjects - those that have a high rate of D or F grades and withdrawals - and provides regularly scheduled, out-of-class, peer facilitated sessions.  SI does not identify high-risk students, but rather identifies historically difficult classes.

Assistance begins the second week of each quarter.  During the first class session, the SI leader describes SI and surveys the class to establish a schedule for SI that will be convenient for most students who show interest.  From these surveys, the SI leader schedules three or more SI sessions per week.

What you can expect:
*SI sessions normally occur in classrooms near the subject classroom or Tangeman University Center.  

*SI sessions are open to all students in the subject and are attended on a voluntary basis.  SI leaders are students who have demonstrated competence in this or a comparable subject. 

*SI sessions are comprised of students of varying abilities and no effort is made to segregate students based on academic ability.

*Since SI is introduced on the first day of classes and is open to all students in the class, SI is not viewed as remedial.

*The SI leaders take part in an intensive two-day training session before the beginning of the academic quarter and throughout the remainder of the academic year.  This training covers such topics as how students learn as well as instructional strategies aimed at strengthening student academic performance, data collection and management details.

*SI leaders attend all class sessions, take notes, read all assigned material, and conduct three or more 50-minute SI sessions each week.  SI leaders DO NOT assist in the preparation of examinations or grade examinations. 

*SI leaders have weekly office hours to provide students with the opportunity to get additional assistance.  This is helpful when students cannot make the regular sessions, need individualized help, or just have a quick question. 

*SI sessions integrate how-to-learn with what-to-learn.  Students who attend SI sessions discover appropriate application of study strategies, e.g. note taking, graphic organization, questioning techniques, vocabulary acquisition, and test preparation, as they review content and material.

*Students have the opportunity to become actively involved in the subject material as the SI leaders use the text, supplementary readings, and lecture notes as the vehicle for learning skill instruction.

*The SI supervisor, is an on-site professional University of Cincinnati staff person, implements and supervises the SI program.  This person is responsible for identifying the targeted subjects, gaining faculty support, selecting and training SI leaders, monitoring the quality of the SI sessions, and evaluating the program.

*The SI leaders meet as a group with the SI supervisor at least three times each quarter for follow-up and problem-solving.

*SI students earn higher subject grades and withdraw less often than non-SI participants.  Also, data demonstrate higher re enrollment and graduation rates.

SI Compared to Other Models
While SI may differ from other types of study sessions, it may also have some things in common.  It may be helpful for you to think of these items below on a continuum:
1. Class Attendance:  unlike traditional programs, SI leaders attend all class lectures and real all     assigned texts.
2. Non-expert/Authority of Study Leader:  While SI leaders demonstrate proficiency in the content area, they also model the learning processes necessary for content mastery.  SI leaders function as model students rather than authority figures.
3. Extensive Training: In addition to demonstrating content-competency, SI leaders are trained to think about how they achieved this content-competency.  Training includes process and methodology. 

     Benefits of SI:
      To students
*Acquire short-term and long-term study skills
*Learn how to organize class materials
*Spend more time on task with class materials
*Prepare more thoroughly for exams, both content and format
*Receive higher mean course grades
Meet classmates and therefore feel more comfortable participating
*Learn to collaborate with classmates
*Become independent learners