Proactive help for your students
› “Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a student academic
assistance program that can increase student
performance and retention” (Arendale, 1994, p. 11).
› SI targets high risk courses instead of targeting high risk
students, like traditional tutoring, and is open to all
students taking the course (Arendale, 1994).
– Does not blame instructor
– Does not blame students
– Recognizes that students in high risk courses tend to need
more academic support to raise to the level required to be
successful in the course.
› Proactive rather than reactive
› Attached to a specific course
› SI leaders attend all class sessions
› SI is not remedial
› Promotes student interaction and mutual support
› Gives course instructor useful feedback from SI leader.
(Arendale, 1994)
› Caffey College in California found that students who attended
supplemental instruction had a 54%-93% success rate based on
how many times they attended SI. Students who did not
attend SI had a 46% success rate. The more sessions the
students attended the higher their success rates (2012)
› Cypress College in California had similar findings. Students who
attended less than 12 hours of SI had a 54% success rate,
students who attended more than 12 hours had an 83%
success rate versus 42% for students who did not attend SI
(2010).
› Citrus College found that for chemistry and biology students
who attended SI had an 82% success rate versus a 70% success
rate of those who did not attend (2011-2012).
› Courses for which students have not mastered
prerequisite skills.
› Students who cannot read, take lecture notes, write,
or study at the high school level.**
› Needs to be modified for courses where practice is
needed for mastery.
(Arendale, 1994)
› Has successfully completed the course or a similar
course.
› Is a “model student”—attends class, takes excellent
notes, and effectively uses study strategies.
› Attends all class meetings. **
› Conducts three or more out-of-class SI sessions per
week modeling how and what to learn.
› Facilitates learning—is not a “mini-professor.”
(Arendale, 1994)
› Students do not do optional.
› Can be affective with developmental courses but
needs modification.
› Instructors responsible for training and/or
communicating wants and needs to SI leader.
› Can be difficult to coordinate SI hours with all student
schedules, which makes requiring and giving points
for SI difficult.
› Used for English 0095 & 0096.
› Required students to attend 5 hours per semester.
› One of my former English 1101 student.
› Did not require SI to attend course.
› Treated like embedded tutor.
› Split class with SI leader sometimes.
› With one instructor with multiple sections of a course,
schedule multiple sections of SI with different SI Leaders.
› My most successful semester I had 5 sections of a class
with 3 SI sessions 3 times per week. One session (by
request was at 8 am (gave out PopTarts), one was
between 2 classes 12:15 – 1 pm (bring a brown bag lunch)
and one was later in the day.
› If there were a lot of students, I’d pitch in.
› The sessions were based on the midterm and final exam
study guides (make sure the SI Leaders can do it).
› SI was part of their grade (3% - 5%)
› Significantly increased retention.
› The in-class SI attendance was less useful to the students than the open-lab times.
› It is important to impress upon SI's that they need to adapt to new course materials.
› Sometimes SI's need to be coached on what to help students with.
› Some students need to be told they should see the SI .
› The feedback from the SI is very useful .
Arendale, D. R. (1994). Understanding the supplemental instruction
model. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 1994(60), 11-21.
Retrieved from http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/docs/Arendalex.pdf
Caffey College. Supplemental Instruction Section Offerings, Student
Participation, and Performance Outcomes. Spring 2012. Retrieved from
http://www.chaffey.edu/research/IR_PDF_Files/Research_Reports/Aca
demic_Success/1213-SI_SP12_Pre-Post_Survey_Report.pdf
Cypress College. Effects of Supplemental Instruction on Performance.
Spring 2010. Retrieved from
http://www.cypresscollege.edu/IRP/Resources/Research/SE/SIperform
ance_Sp09.pdf
Citrus College. Fall grade comparisons between students who
attended SI and those who did not. Retrieved from
http://www.citruscollege.edu/admin/research/Documents/STEM/2012
/Fall2011_Winter2012.pdf