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University of North Georgia | "Exemplary Veteran SI Program" Winner 2024
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What is Supplemental Instruction?

Supplemental Instruction (SI), created at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, is a non-remedial approach to learning that supports students toward academic success by integrating “what to learn” with “how to learn.” SI consists of regularly scheduled, voluntary, out-of-class group study sessions driven by students’ needs. Sessions are facilitated by trained peer leaders who utilize collaborative activities to ensure peer-to-peer interaction in small groups. SI is implemented in high-risk courses in consultation with academic staff and is supported and evaluated by a trained supervisor.

Our Purpose

  1. To increase retention within targeted historically difficult courses
  2. To improve student grades in targeted historically difficult courses
  3. To increase the graduation rates of students
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.

US Department of Education 1995 Validation

In 1995 the US Department of Education validated three claims about the effectiveness of SI:

  1. “Students participating in SI within the targeted high-risk courses earn higher mean final course grades than students who do not participate in SI. This finding is still true when analyses control for ethnicity and prior academic achievement.
  2. Despite ethnicity and prior academic achievement, students participating in SI within targeted high-risk courses succeed at a higher rate (withdraw at a lower rate and receive a lower percentage of fail final course grades) than those who do not participate in SI.
  3. Students participating in SI persist at the institution (reenroll and graduate) at higher rates than students who do not participate in SI” (Lang, 1995)