Supplemental Instruction
Mission
The goal of Supplemental Instruction (SI) is to help students learn how to succeed. Working with faculty in traditionally difficult classes, SI seeks to help students learn to solve problems, organize classroom materials, develop effective study strategies, and meet their own and faculty's expectations.
What is covered during group discussions?
- Key concepts & how to identify them
- Organization of the material
- Identification of important concepts in the lecture
- Possible exam questions
- How to study for the exam
- And much more!
What happens during an SI session?
At each SI session your SI leader will guide you through course concepts. The leader will not re-lecture or give his/her class notes. The leader will not do homework or thinking for you. The leader will help you make good use of study time and allow you to share knowledge and figure things out together. The leader will share the strategies he/she used to be successful in the course.
The leader's job is to help you think about the lectures and the textbooks and put it all together into some kind of perspective during SI sessions, so you can learn more efficiently. During SI sessions, students can compare notes, discuss readings, develop organizational tools, and predict test items. Students learn how to integrate course content and study skills while working together.
If you attend SI sessions regularly, chances are you'll earn a better grade. You'll have developed a better understanding of course content as well as more effective ways of studying. This will help you in other classes also.
SI is a free hour of study with your peers in a very informal atmosphere. It takes place at a regularly scheduled time and place, and is free of the usual study distractions.
RETURN to the Student Success page