Supplemental Instruction

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

Overview

The Supplemental Instruction (SI) program provides embedded peer support in major gateway courses with historically high rates of D and F/NC final grades and unauthorized withdrawals.

Trained SI Leaders attend course lectures to model effective note-taking and independent study skills and identify difficult content for review in interactive weekly group study sessions.

Any student registered in an SI-supported course may attend group study and regular participation often results in increased retention in target courses and improved performance.

 

Register for SI Sessions

Register for upcoming SI group study sessions with the SCAA's new Nimbus Learning mobile app,
available free for download through the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Step 1. Scroll to the left at top, select "SI Sessions," and confirm Switch Services.
Step 2. Search for your desired course by section; for example, SCAA 123-01.
Step 3. Select an upcoming session and "Save to Calendar" at bottom.

 

Now Hiring for Spring 2025

The SI program seeks high-performing students to facilitate peer support in the following courses.
Interested students should read the complete position description and apply online.

MATH 131: Calculus II (1 Vacancy)
SLHS 303: Hearing & Speech Science (1 Vacancy)

Spring 2025 Schedule (Coming Soon)

ACCT 210: Introduction to Financial Accounting

ACCT 215: Introduction to Managerial Accounting

ACCT 311: Intermediate Financial Accounting I

ACCT 312: Intermediate Financial Accounting II


Note: Students enrolled in asynchronous sections may join another section's sessions.

BIOL 310: Genetic Analysis I

CHEM 111: General Chemistry I

CHEM 112: General Chemistry II

HIST 111: The United States Since 1877

MATH 131: Calculus II

PHIL 100: Workshop in Critical Thinking

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 checking-in weekly 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.

Faculty partners may offer students course credit for participating in SI if they allow other options for receiving that credit. Students must individually request proof of attendance by visiting the SI Coordinator in the SCAA.

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.