College of Charleston SI Program Data
As part of the College’s Center for Student Learning, the Supplemental Instruction (SI) program helps students succeed in historically difficult courses by providing effective academic assistance. This is done by fostering learning communities within courses, whose focus is on employing essential study skills and learning strategies required for deeply learning course content. SI leaders facilitate regularly scheduled out‐of‐class study sessions three times weekly. SI Leaders are high‐achieving undergraduates who are trained to facilitate learning by actively engaging students in course content by fostering group discussion, focusing on problem solving skills and techniques and modeling appropriate learning strategies and study skills. This program has made a profound difference in the academic success of many students at the College. Data from nearly 30 years of SI at the College reveal that students who attend SI on a regular basis:
- have lower attrition rates
- have significantly higher course grades
- report that SI had a significant impact on their final course grade.
The success of this program has resulted in its growth at the College. Currently we provide SI to all sections of Introductory BIOL111/112, Anatomy and Physiology BIOL221/222, and Introductory CHEM111/112. Additionally the program has spread to some Physics, Psychology, and Business Statistics courses.
Supplemental Instruction Program Data
In a typical semester, 40-45% of students in SI-supported course sections attend at least one SI session.
On average, students who attend SI sessions on a weekly basis earn a full letter grade higher than students in the same course section who did not attend at all.
Students who attend SI report that they believe to have earned a higher grade in the course as a direct result of participation in sessions.