Supplemental Instruction
What is Supplemental Instruction?
Supplemental Instruction (SI) is an academic assistance program that provides weekly, peer-led study sessions for students enrolled in high-risk and historically challenging gateway courses. SI sessions bring students together in a collaborative learning environment where they improve their understanding of course material, review and discuss important concepts, develop study strategies, and prepare for exams.
While it is important to know exactly what SI is, it is equally important to understand that SI is NOT a remedial program for three important reasons:
- SI supports high-risk courses rather than high-risk students
- All students enrolled in a targeted class are encouraged to attend SI
- SI starts the second week of classes and continues to the end of the term
Why SI?
The goal of SI is to help students become independent learners. SI benefits students in three primary ways:
- Models effective learning and study skills that students can continue to use when studying independently.
- Offers a non-threatening, low-risk environment where students can ask questions that they might not ask during lecture and gain problem-solving experience through trial and error.
- Encourages content-based discussions among students. SI provides a structured setting in which students can share what they know, ask questions, and solve problems together.
SI is a FREE service offered to all students in a targeted course. All students are encouraged to attend SI sessions, as it is a voluntary program. Students with varying levels of academic preparedness and diverse backgrounds participate.
Student FAQ
Supplemental Instruction (SI) is an academic assistance program that provides weekly, peer-led study sessions (SI Sessions) for students enrolled in high-risk and historically challenging gateway courses. SI is a FREE program for students and faculty.
SI sessions are not remedial, but instead an opportunity for students to work together with a trained leader on course content. Studies have shown that SI improves student learning by about one course grade, providing a time for quality study focusing on key course concepts and modeling more effective study habits.
- Earn higher grades; students who regularly attend get better grades
- FREE casual space to study, ask questions, make mistakes, and improve understanding of important concepts
- Make new friends and compare notes while developing new study skills and learning strategies
- Save time and frustration by regularly participating in an organized and focused study group
At each SI session, the SI Leader will guide you through course concepts in a fun and engaging way. The goal of these sessions is to help you process the information from class, answer questions, and overall improve your understanding and navigation of course materials.
The SI Leader collaborates with your professor to create exclusive study content and develop unique activities and problem sets to reinforce course material, but they do not re-lecture or provide answers.
To prepare, you should attend class, bring your notes, read the required materials assigned, and try the homework assignments.
- Minimum GPA of 3.0
- Earned a grade of B or higher in the course you intend to support
- Must be a current student or an alumnus of Maricopa Community Colleges
- Good interpersonal and communication skills
- Great time management skills
- Ability to take and give constructive feedback
- Ability to follow strict program policies, deadlines, and schedules
- Be available to lead 2 hours (minimum) of SI sessions each week
For the full SI Leader job description, please check out Become an SI Leader.
Faculty FAQ
SI is not intended to create additional work for faculty. The faculty member may be asked to recommend potential SI Leaders who have recently been successful in the course. When partnered with a student leader, the faculty member is asked to support SI by maintaining a working relationship with them throughout the semester.
You can support SI by allowing for occasional in-class announcements, and be supportive by encouraging students to take advantage of SI. Faculty should avoid the suggestion that only those who do poorly will benefit.
It is also recommended that faculty meet with their SI Leader for at least 10-15 minutes a week to discuss course content, upcoming exams, the progress of the SI sessions, and any other additional questions or concerns that may come up
SI sessions are instructor-free zones. The dynamic of the SI session changes immediately when an authority figure enters the classroom. The tone of the session, along with the behavior of the students, alters, and the focus shifts to the instructor and away from the SI leader and collaborative learning environment. Instructors who are curious about the content of sessions should contact the SI Coordinator, Marcy Martinez.
SI Leaders are peers who have successfully completed the course or equivalent in a previous term. Their role is not to re-lecture or re-teach, but rather, they are trained to facilitate group sessions that follow class lectures and encourage students to work together on course content.
The professor delivers course content and material; the SI leader then helps students review and process that information. SI leaders bring structure to the SI session and keep students on task. In addition, they act as model students by exhibiting successful learning behavior and strategies. They attend class regularly, are attentive, and take notes while sitting in on lectures. Prior to conducting SI sessions, SI Leaders are required to undergo SI training at the beginning of and throughout the course of the semester, during which they gain an understanding of teaching and learning styles and strategies. SI Leaders have also completed all FERPA training.
The SI Leader will:
- Attends all class meetings
- Maintains a professional attitude about matters such as class standards, grades, and student complaints
- Discourage students from using SI as a substitute for class lectures
- Share SI materials with the cooperating faculty member before use, if requested
- Provide feedback to the cooperating faculty member, if requested
The SI Leader will not:
- Grade assignments, homework, exams, etc.
- Lecture or fill in as a substitute teacher for the instructor
- Assist students with any graded course submissions
- SI targets high-risk courses rather than high-risk students
- All students enrolled in SI-supported courses are invited and encouraged to participate, not just those who are struggling
- SI starts with the first day of classes and continues to the end of the term (not including finals week)
- Studies show that students of all academic and learning abilities and levels benefit from participating in SI sessions and earn on average a half to full grade higher than those who do not participate
SI targets high-risk and historically challenging courses. In other words, this subject contains content that students consider to be challenging. SI is designed to support faculty teaching and is assigned to a subject because of what is being taught, not because of the manner in which it is taught. We want SI to be a partnership with our faculty to help students succeed.
- Here are some things that faculty members can do to help encourage students to attend SI sessions:
- Include SI information on your course syllabi
- Post announcements on Canvas/MOER to remind students about SI sessions
- Add your SI Leaders to Canvas so that they can connect with students
- Encourage students to attend sessions
If you are interested in learning more about the SI Program and about incorporating SI into your department, course, or program, please contact:
SI Coordinator, Marcy Martinez, at [email protected] or (602) 787-7736.