Supplemental Instruction (SI)

Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a series of weekly study sessions for students taking historically difficult courses at our university. SI sessions are facilitated by students (SI Leaders) who have already taken and done well in the course. 

SI Leaders will guide you through class material in an environment where you are working with other students to discuss important concepts, compare notes, develop strategies for studying the subject, and test each other before you are actually tested by your professor.

SI was developed by Dr. Deanna Martin in 1973 at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, designed to increase student retention and academic performance. The program has been at Ohio University for more than 20 years and has proven successful in these areas.

My SI Leader

"My SI Leader helped me to not be so intimidated by the coursework and expectations of the class and my major. She made the materials digestible and easy to understand."- SI participant

How SI Works

SI Leaders will contact students directly from class rosters to indicate that SI is available for a course and to provide guidance on how to participate.

Courses & Schedule - Spring 2023

Subject Course Number SI Leader SI Session Days & Times

Location

Accounting ACCT 1010 Micaela Leach

Tuesday at 5pm
Thursday at 5pm

Copeland 107

Accounting ACCT 1020 Brady Neal

Tuesday at 6pm
Thursday at 6pm

Copeland 107

Biological Sciences BIOS 1030 Hannah Cabral Monday at 6pm
Wednesday at 6pm 
Morton 115
Biological Sciences BIOS 1310 Tori Bucci Monday at 8pm
Tuesday at 6pm

Walter 145

Biological Sciences BIOS 1700 Ryan Ward Wednesday at 7pm 
Thursday at 7pm
Grover E234
Biological Sciences BIOS 1710 Riley Zielinski Monday at 7pm
Wednesday at 7pm 
Grover W115
Biological Sciences BIOS 3010 Hayden Higginbottom Monday at 4:30pm
Wednesday at 4:30pm
Walter 145
Biological Sciences BIOS 3100 Bridget Paton Monday at 6pm
Thursday at 6pm
Grover W113
Chemistry CHEM 1205 Corine Cannarozzi Monday at 6pm
Wednesday at 6pm
Grover W115
Chemistry  CHEM 1500 Aidan Smith Tuesday at 6pm
Thursday at 6pm 
Morton 223
Chemistry CHEM 1510 Jolie Bogart Monday at 5 pm
Wednesday at 5pm
Gordy 111
Chemistry CHEM 1520 Jordan Castelli Tuesday at 6pm
Thursday at 6pm
Grover W115
Chemistry CHEM 3050 Sarah Shelley Monday at 6pm
Wednesday at 6pm
Alden 322
Engineering ET2200 Nick Naumovski Tuesday at 6pm
Thursday at 6pm
ARC 106
Exercise Physiology EXPH 1490 Mandy Shults Tuesday at 7:30pm
Thursday at 7:30pm
Grover W113
Math MATH 1200 Sofia Davis Tuesday at 6pm
Thursday at 6pm
Morton 115
Math MATH 1300 Roman Simkins Tuesday at 6pm
Thursday at 6pm
Morton 222
Math  MATH 1350 Maisy Bogart Monday at 5pm
Wednesday at 5pm
Morton 222
Math MATH 2301 Matt Humphreys Tuesday 4:45pm
Thursday at 5:15pm
Morton 227
Math MATH 2302 Kalyn Biggs

Tuesday at 6:30pm
Thursday at 6:30pm

ARC 102
Physics PHYS 2001 Kylee McCorkley Tuesday at 6pm
Thursday at 6pm
Gordy 111
Psychology PSY 1110 Emma Krawiec Monday at 5:30pm
Wednesday at 5:30pm
Porter 105
Psychology Online PSY 1110 Taye Smith Monday at 7:30 pm
Thursday at 7:30 pm
Teams
Psychology PSY 2110 Riley Smoot

Monday at 7pm
Wednesday at 7pm

Porter 105

 

Student Testimonials

  • "I benefitted from SI sessions because they helped motivate me to study more. I did not do well on my first quiz in the class but after I began to attend SI somewhat regularly my grades improved tremendously."
  • "It was awesome having a more in-depth discussion about the topics while they were still fresh in my mind. [The SI Leader] did a great job of facilitating those discussions, was always prepared with handouts despite her hectic schedule, was always cheerful and kept the SI session light and fun, and covered a large amount of material, breaking sections into individual, small group, and class work."
  • "It was a comfortable environment to learn."
  • "Going to SI truly helped me learn these math skills not just temporarily, but in a long-term way. I couldn't have made it through without the help of my wonderful leader."
  • "SI brought my grade up 20%."
  • "I feel that SI really helped my grade in the course this semester. On my first exam, I failed. I started going to SI and got a C+ on my second exam."
How are courses chosen for SI?

SI targets historically difficult courses. These courses tend to have high enrollment, as well as a higher number of students who do not earn a passing grade or withdraw from the course. In other words, these subjects contain content that students consider challenging.

SI is designed to support faculty, and is assigned to a subject because of what is being taught, not because of the manner in which it is being taught.

What are faculty required to do? What can they do to assist?

SI is not intended to create additional work for faculty.

Faculty can support SI by having an open line of communication with their SI leader. Allowing SI leaders time to introduce SI to the class at the beginning of the term, followed by occasional in-class announcements is the minimum amount we would ask of faculty.

We also ask that faculty encourage students to take advantage of SI, since our data shows us that more students attend when encouraged by faculty.

We do ask that faculty avoid the suggestion that only those who do poorly will benefit from SI, especially since our data shows otherwise.

Ideally we would like faculty to collaborate with the SI leader on a weekly basis (30 minutes) to discuss the content for the week and areas students are struggling. These interactions can be very helpful to the SI leader as they prepare their weekly sessions.

In the past, faculty members have also helped encourage students to attend SI sessions by:

  • Allowing SI leaders to have access to Blackboard

  • Posting announcements on Blackboard, or their syllabus about SI sessions

  • Collaborate with the SI Coordinator to discuss ways to improve the program

What can faculty expect from the SI Leader?

The SI Leader will:

  • Attend class meetings
  • Maintain a professional attitude about matters such as class standards, grades, and student complaints
  • Discourage students from attending SI as a substitute for class
  • Share SI materials with the cooperating faculty member before use, if possible
  • Provide feedback to the cooperating faculty member if requested to do so
What can faculty expect from the SI program staff?

The staff in the SI Program will:

  • Cooperate with faculty in selecting candidates for SI leaders
  • Train all SI leaders according to established guidelines and standards
  • Provide supplies, training, in-service experiences and consultations for SI leaders

Aside from SI Leaders and faculty, there is an SI Coordinator and two SI Graduate Assistants.

The coordinator implements and supervises the SI program by: identifying targeted subjects, communicating with faculty, selecting and training SI leaders, monitoring the quality of sessions, and collecting program data.

The graduate assistants support the coordinator in the above areas, focusing most heavily in program quality. To do this, the GAs observe SI Leaders at various times through out the term, giving them immediate feedback and suggestions.