"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
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.
Our data shows that students who regularly attend SI earn, on average, 1/2 to 1 whole letter grade higher than non-SI participants.
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 |
Copeland 107 |
| Accounting | ACCT 1020 | Brady Neal |
Tuesday 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 |
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 |
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.