Notes from SI Presentation

Focus on types of high-risk dropout students

• Sometimes is due to ability to work (freetime), race, access to resources, ...
• To identify, we can quantitatively identify or qualitatively identify
• Quantitative: HS Rank, test scores, course performace grades
• Qualitative: Student referall to resources, student disclosure, observed behavior
• However, only focusing on HS isn't really a good idea
• Any student can be at risk as college status can fluctuate

Overview of SI (Supplemental Instruction)

• Created to solve retension issue of graduation while not reducing expectations AND not losing students
• Goals of SI: Improve learning, perfomance, and retension
• Components: Student-facilitated review sessions lead by "SI Leader" targetting historically difficult courses and sitting aside their work to give advice
• Offered to all enrolled student, regularly scheduled, out of class, voluntary, and anonymous (faculty doesn't know who's in the workshop)

Key Players in the SI Program

• Students -> Faculty Member (Professor) -> SI Supervisor (Lydia) -> SI Leader
• Work closesly with the faculty member
• Again, focus on difficult classes, especially prereq courses (usually have a ~25% D or lower rate)

Shift in Paradigm

• Instructional: Learning is instructor-center, linear, and knowledge is stored and delivered
• Learning: Is student centered, active and messy, sometimes uncomfortable, but knowledge is constructed and refined
• Problems to overcome: Students are more passive with the content, and thus don't really engage with the material, especially in the presence of authority
• Dependency Cycle: The issue where an instructor gives some info, a student asks a question, the instructor tells them again, and then usually there's an example that follows
• We want to break the dependency cycle by allowing students to tell each other, as the SI leader then listens in to students work to see of their understanding

Inside the SI Session

• Not tutoring
• SI is the preventative care, not urgent care. Everyone can benefit the more they use it. Tutoring is mucy more urgent.

SI is

• Organized group study time facilitated by a near peer
• Students that study in groups learn more than those who work alone if they are on task
• The SI leader makes sure they stay on task with the more challenging concepts

SI Learder POV

• Students learn how to organize and study class material
• Can apply course content to real life scenarios
• Students can learn and engage in a safe environment

Benefits of SI

• Lower rates of failing grades
• Participants have higher mean final course grades
• Participants persist (re-enroll and graduate) at higher rates
• Benefits also for faculy and leaders (good prep for mcat, resume booser, leadership skills, ...)