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Increasing student success and retention rates are top goals for many higher education institutions. Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a widely used academic support program designed to increase students’ academic performance and provide students the learning skills they need to persist to graduation. Unfortunately, a lack of time, personnel, and resources often prevent in-depth, meaningful analysis on the effectiveness of SI programs. This study examined the relationship of attending SI sessions for first-year chemistry courses to student grade outcomes and retention rates for attendees. The gender of SI leaders and SI participants was also assessed to determine if leader and participant gender were related to SI attendance, final course grades, or retention. The results indicated that students who attended SI earned significantly higher final course grades and were retained at significantly higher rates after one and two terms. A positive correlation was discovered between the number of SI sessions attended and final course grades. Significant differences in final grades were demonstrated between students who attended SI and those who did not at all levels of composite ACT scores. Both male and female students showed a preference for gender-matching with their SI leader, but students who attended SI sessions with both male and female SI leaders earned higher final course grades than students who gender-matched with their SI leader and students who only attended SI sessions with an SI leader whose gender differed from their own. No significant differences were found between male and female students for final course grades or retention outcomes.

År 2007 började ett fåtal gymnasieskolor i Skåne att organisera samverkansinlärning (SI), och nu pågår ett stort projekt som syftar till att sprida konceptet till gymnasieskolor i alla kommuner i Skåne. Meningen med projektet är att öka elevernas kompetens i matematik. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vad eleverna har att säga om frivilliga SI-möten, och vilka erfarenheter de har från SI. Frågeställningarna är:Varför deltar/deltar inte elever i SI-mötena?Hur vill eleverna själva beskriva samverkansinlärning? Hur uppfattar elever nyttan av SI-möten som läranderesurs?För att undersöka detta genomfördes en enkätstudie, i en elevgrupp om 26 personer på en gymnasieskola i Skåne som erbjuds frivilliga SI-möten. Undersökningen genomfördes på en ordinarie matematiklektion. Resultaten visar att eleverna deltar på SI-möten för att de uppfattar dem som bra lärandetillfällen. De tycker det är roligt samt att det finns en trevlig, avslappnad stämning med bland annat fika. Anledningar till att de inte deltar på SI-mötena är på grund av dålig schemaläggning, låg motivation och prioritet, samt för lite eller ingen information om SI och SI-verksamheten. För att beskriva SI använder eleverna till stor del positiva ord. Bland annat använde de ''samarbete'', ''givande'', ''tänka'', ''matte'', ''fika'' och ''roligt'', men även ''svårt'' och ''folktomt'' när de beskrev SI. Eleverna har en positiv syn på SI även om de är neutrala till att införa SI-arbetsmetoder, helt eller delvis, i de ordinarie matematiklektionerna. Ett påstående som sammanfattar elevernas ståndpunkt väldigt väl är: SI-mötena är bra, men jag är så mycket i skolan så att jag inte orkar gå på dem.Nyckelord: Alternativ läranderesurs, enkät, gymnasiet, matematik, samverkansinlärning, SI, Supplemental Instruction

Mirroring the changing demographics of the nation, the community college student population continues to grow in size and in diversity. Almost half of all students who enter these institutions need at least one remedial course, which is often developmental mathematics. Developed in 1973, Supplemental Instruction (SI) has quickly gained recognition as an academic support program that is used to aid student performance, retention, and academic success. This dissertation used a phenomenological approach to identify factors that motivated students' attendance and subsequent learning experiences in SI sessions associated with developmental mathematics. Sources of data included five rounds of interviews (three with SI learners and two with SI leaders), a Multiple Intelligence Inventory, and statistical information from the referent community college. Study findings revealed eight themes that characterized motivating factors for attending these optional instructional sessions. Moreover, nine themes emerged from the data regarding types of activities learners experienced in SI. Findings suggest that SI helps create a climate of achievement for learners taking developmental mathematics in a community college setting.

This study examined differences in academic performance and self-regulated learning based on levels of student participation in Supplemental Instruction (SI) sessions in two introductory undergraduate biology and chemistry courses offered at University of Central Florida in the Spring 2006 semester. The sample consisted of 282 students enrolled in the biology class and 451 students enrolled in chemistry. Academic performance was measured using students' final course grades and rates of withdrawal from the courses. The self-regulated learning constructs of motivation, cognition, metacognition, and resource management were measured using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Relationships between students' gender and ethnic background and levels of SI participation were also analyzed in this research. Findings in both biology and chemistry courses revealed a statistically significant decrease in student motivation from beginning to end of semester. In chemistry, frequent SI participants also showed statistically significantly higher levels of motivation at the end of the semester than occasional and non-SI participants. There were no statistically significant gains in cognitive, metacognitive, and resource management strategies from beginning to end of semester. However, statistically significant differences in resource management were observed at the end of the semester among SI attendance groups in both courses. Students in the high SI attendance group were more likely to use learning resources than those who did not participate regularly or did not participate at all. Statistically significant differences in academic performance based on students' SI participation were found in both biology and chemistry courses. Frequent SI participants had significantly higher final percentage grades and were more likely to receive grades of A, B, or C, than those who either did not attend SI regularly of did not participate at all. They were also less likely to withdraw from the course than occasional or non-SI participants. In biology, no relationship between SI participation, gender, and student ethnic background was found. In chemistry, female students were significantly more likely to attend SI regularly than males. Chemistry minority students had significantly higher representation among occasional SI participants. An important implication involved the use of pedagogical approaches that make lecture classrooms more interactive and encourage student motivation and engagement. This study could be replicated in other science and non-science courses that offer SI sessions. Additional factors in the success of SI programs and student motivation can be added, such as SI leaders' experience and major. Follow-up studies on students who completed the courses included in this study can be conducted to determine whether they reenrolled in other science courses, continued attending SI sessions, and gained self-regulated learning skills.

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The number of students entering the community college in need of developmental math has not changed, remaining at a steady 60% over the past seven years. This study compared the success rate of Mandatory Supplemental Instruction (MSI) sessions within four sections of a developmental math course compared with the success rates of students enrolled in both the Traditional Classroom setting and the Individualized format at Suburban Community College (SCC) during the Fall 2009 semester. These MSI format courses were compared with both the Individualized format of MAT 060 and the Traditional Classroom format of the same course. The students included in these sections were a combination of students who were: 1) suggested by advisors to enroll in this developmental math course after receiving a low score on the college's Accuplacer placement test for algebra or continuing the progression of developmental math from the lower level arithmetic class; 2) mandated to attend MSI after successful completion of the Jump Start Math Program, or 3) self-selected into the MSI group anticipating the need for additional help in the course. The two primary data sets available for this study are student math final grades and student participation/attendance records. Secondary sets of data include informal focus group notes, final exam scores, student attendance records for both class lectures and MSI sessions, and Supplemental Instruction Leader anecdotal records. The findings of this study conclude that success rates of students enrolled in the MSI sections of developmental math do not differ significantly from those enrolled in the Traditional Classroom format of developmental math; however, both groups did differ significantly from the Individualized format of developmental math, in that the students enrolled in the Individualized format succeeded at a lesser rate and withdrew at a greater rate than their MSI or Traditional Classroom counterparts. This study also concluded that female, full-time students succeeded at a greater rate across the board, which is consistent with the literature. These findings were significant for a number of reasons. Although the difference between the treatment group and the Traditional Classroom group was not significant, there are a variety of reasons at the program level as to why this may have been so and there are many future constructs that SCC can put in place to strengthen and reassess the MSI program. Although this study was focused on the MSI treatment, the data revealed a greater issue existing in the Individualized format of developmental math at SCC. Future considerations can be made in this particular delivery method to improve success rates of students involved in this program. Future research on MSI in the form of persistence and retention rates, graduation rates, transfer rates, subsequent math course grades and success in other college-level classes can be explored to provide the MSI program with more data to determine if particular groups of students are benefiting from this format. / Educational Administration

This dissertation reports on two supplemental instruction implementations in courses with high failure rates. In study one, 27 ultra-short on-line tutorials were created for Principles of Accounting II students (N = 426). In study two, 21 tutorials with a similar design were created for Elementary Statistics students (N = 1,411). Accounting students were encouraged by their instructor to use the resource, but statistics students only saw a brief demonstration by the researcher. Neither course gave students credit for using the tutorials. In study one, 71.4% of the accounting students used the tutorials. Students who used the tutorials had dramatically lower drop rates and better pass rates. Tutorial use was correlated with exam scores, although the effect was moderate. Tutorial use remained at high levels two years after implementation without instructors promoting use of the resource. Course grades were higher for the two-year period after implementation compared to the two years prior to implementation. In study two, statistics sections were randomly assigned to intervention (tutorials; 695 students) or control (716 students). There were no significant differences in drop rates or average grades between intervention and control sections. On average, 46.0% of the intervention students used the tutorials. Users were less likely to drop and more likely to pass compared to non-users and control students; these differences were especially pronounced among low-achieving students. Tutorial use was correlated with slightly higher exam scores, but only for low achievers. The lack of differences between intervention and control sections may have been due to the drop off of usage after the first exam and the small learning effect only accruing to the relatively small number of low achievers. Participants reported the tutorials as “important to their course achievement” more often than other course resources. The important features of the tutorials were convenience (24/7 Internet access), efficiency of learning, and clear instruction. These studies suggest that the magnitude of the learning effect of the ultra-short tutorials depends on the tutorial topics, instructor promotion of the resource, and whether or not they are implemented in a course in which students feel the need to seek extra instruction.

Supplemental instruction (SI), a peer assisted learning model, improves course performance, retention, and graduation rates of post-secondary education students. Researchers have questioned if the success of SI is due to students becoming more aware of assessment demands or if SI also promotes construction of new knowledge. The purposes of this case study were to describe techniques utilized by SI peer leaders, explore how sociocognitive learning techniques are implemented, and explore the perceptions of supplemental instruction program stakeholders regarding sociocognitive learning techniques. The research questions focused on what techniques peer leaders are trained to implement and what peer leaders' perceptions of sociocognitive learning techniques are. Piaget's theories on cognitive conflict and construction of knowledge, Vygotsky's theories on zone of proximal development and sociocognitive learning, and Chi's framework on interactive learning provided the conceptual framework for the study. The case study was conducted at a Northeast United States community college, using interviews with SI administrators and peer leaders (n = 8), voice recordings of SI sessions, and review of training material. The constant comparative method analysis of findings suggest that peer leaders trained in traditional tutoring and sociocognitive learning techniques promote construction of knowledge, and while programmatic and peer leader goals align with sociocognitive learning techniques, student goals do not. One recommendation is to clarify the distinction of SI versus traditional tutoring. This study could lead to positive social change by contributing to expanded goals of SI resulting in enhanced quality of learning for student participants at higher education institutions.

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