Supplemental Instruction (SI)

A group of students in front of the East Bay monument letters on campus

Overview

The Supplemental Instruction (SI) program offers peer-led support for historically difficult subjects and major gateway courses with high rates of D and F grades and unauthorized withdrawals (DFW). SI Leaders, high-achieving students recommended by faculty members and recruited and trained by the SCAA, attend assigned lecture sections to model successful behaviors and identify challenging content for review in regularly scheduled group study sessions.

Group study sessions generally consist of interactive discussions and collaborative practice activities facilitated by SI Leaders. Any student enrolled in a supported course may benefit from voluntarily attending sessions and frequent participation often results in improved comprehension and performance, contributing to student retention and progress to degree completion. Sessions typically meet twice weekly in CORE 342 and/or online.

Hiring for Fall 2024

The SI program seeks high-achieving students to facilitate embedded peer support in high-impact courses starting Fall 2024. Interested students should read the complete position description and may apply online.

Upcoming Fall 2024 Vacancies

Economics

  • ECON 380: Managerial Economics & Business Strategy (1 Vacancy)

Philosophy & Religious Studies

  • PHIL 100: Workshop in Critical Thinking (2 Vacancies)

Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences

  • SLHS 301: Anatomy & Physiology of Speech & Hearing (1 Vacancy)

Fall 2024 SI Session Schedule (Coming Soon)

ACCT 210: Introduction to Financial Accounting

  • Section 01 (Dr. Robert Lin): Coming Soon
  • Section 02 (Dr. Tammy Tang): Coming Soon
  • Section 03 (Dr. Jing-Wen Yang): Coming Soon

ACCT 215: Introduction to Managerial Accounting

  • Section 01 (Dr. Robert Lin): Coming Soon
  • Section 02 (Dr. Tammy Tang): Coming Soon

ACCT 311: Intermediate Financial Accounting I

  • Sections 01 & 02 (Dr. Tina Lang): Coming Soon

ACCT 312: Intermediate Financial Accounting II

  • Section 01 (Dr. Jing-Wen Yang): Coming Soon

Note: Students enrolled in asynchronous sections or sections without an SI Leader may join another section's sessions.

BIOL 310: Genetic Analysis I

  • Sections 01 & 02 (Dr. Maria Gallegos): Coming Soon

CHEM 111: General Chemistry I

  • Section 01 (Dr. Patrick Fleming): Coming Soon

CHEM 112: General Chemistry II

  • Section 01 (Dr. Xiaoling "Cocoa" Wang): Coming Soon

ECON 200: Principles of Microeconomics

  • Sections 02 & 03 (Dr. Christian Roessler): Coming Soon

ECON 380: Managerial Economics & Business Strategy

Note: Students enrolled in asynchronous sections or sections without an SI Leader may join another section's sessions.

PHIL 100: Workshop in Critical Thinking

  • Section 02 (Dr. Jacob Blair): Coming Soon
  • Sections 03 & 09 (Dr. Susi Ferrarello): Coming Soon
  • Sections 04, 07, & 08 (Dr. Craig Derksen): Coming Soon
  • Section 06 (Dr. Jennifer Eagan): Recruiting for Fall 2024
  • Sections 10 & 11 (Dr. Nicholas Baiamonte): Recruiting for Fall 2024

Note: Students enrolled in asynchronous sections or sections without an SI Leader may join another section's sessions.

SLHS 301: Anatomy & Physiology of Speech & Hearing

SI Program FAQ

SI Leaders will attend assigned lecture sections to model effective learning, notation, and organizational skills and identify challenging content for review during regularly scheduled, interactive group study sessions.

Group study sessions consist of course content reviews, interactive group discussions, and collaborative practice activities. Regular participation often results in improved comprehension, performance, and preparation for future coursework.

Any student enrolled in a course supported by SI, and regardless of current course grade, may voluntarily participate in SI. Many high-performing students regularly attend group study sessions to learn cooperatively with peers.

The SI program will provide SI Leaders for every section of a supported course. Students enrolled in asynchronous sections may attend synchronous sections' regularly scheduled group study sessions.

SI Leaders adhere to specific expectations outlined in the official position description which differentiate them from tutors and other academic support providers.

Conversely, SI Leaders will not fulfill instructional responsibilities, e.g., lecturing, grading assignments, proctoring exams; disclose peer students' confidential information or group study session attendance; record lectures or share notes with
peer students; or offer peer students extra credit in exchange for participating in group study sessions.

Contact the SI Coordinator directly with questions or concerns related to SI Leaders' expectations and responsibilities.

Partner faculty members' few SI-related responsibilities include allowing time in lectures for announcements and surveys, granting "Student Assistant" access to the course Canvas and necessary materials/resources, and meeting 1:1 weekly for approximately 30 to 60 minutes to discuss recent lecture content and upcoming assignments and exams.

Though not guaranteed, the SCAA will always attempt to pair SI Leaders with the faculty members who nominated them. However, if not possible, the SCAA will assign other, equally qualified and trained SI Leaders to provide support.

Ideally, yes. However, circumstances may prevent the SI program from recruiting enough SI Leaders for every supported course section. Should this happen, faculty members may invite their students to attend another section's group study sessions while the SI Coordinator searches for additional SI Leaders.

Unfortunately, no. Whereas the SI program typically recruits students based on their capacity to support specific courses, circumstances may prevent newly recruited SI Leaders from receiving intended course placements, e.g., course schedule changes. If this happens, the SI Coordinator will place the affected SI Leader on a reserve list and continue searching for new placements or alternative employment within the SCAA, if available.

Due to the voluntary nature of SI, the SCAA discourages offering extrinsic motivation or requiring students to participate. Faculty members should encourage all students to attend group study sessions to develop subject area comprehension
and practical study skills in a safe, collaborative learning environment.

The SI Coordinator and SI Leaders will share general information regarding group study session attendance but not specific students' names/other identifiers or attendance until final course grades post in the Pioneer Data Warehouse.

At the conclusion of every semester, the SI Coordinator sends summative reports to faculty members containing students' final course grades, group study session attendance, grade distributions by attendance, and related enrollment and DFW information extracted from the Pioneer Data Warehouse and Bay Advisor.

The SI program traditionally supports courses with 20% or higher average rates of D and F/NC final semester grades and unauthorized withdrawals (DFW) across all sections. Additionally, term enrollment in "gateway" courses, impact scores within the CSU Student Success Dashboard, and support available throughout campus, e.g., STEM LAB, help determine which courses may receive SI.

The SCAA values the relationships formed with faculty instructing SI-supported courses and neighboring learning centers and will make every effort to provide consistent and equitable SI service across academic years.