Supplemental Instruction with Mentoring Support

Principal Mentor

Rosemary Wolfe, Education Program

Adapters:

Ashland Community College, Community College of Philadelphia, Daytona Beach Community College, Dutchess Community College

The Innovation

Supplemental Instruction with Mentoring Support (SI) provides academic help to students enrolled in difficult required introductory courses (defined as those which students frequently fail or leave), while creating opportunities for faculty professional development. The program trains students and faculty to work together through a learner-centered approach of peer-group study and faculty mentoring support. Study sessions are led by community college students who have successfully completed the course and who attend classes again with enrolled students. During the study session, the student leader uses course material to teach skills for learning and organizing the content. Faculty, who are trained in learning strategies, attend classes and study sessions in courses outside their disciplines and serve as mentors to student leaders.

Outcomes

All four campuses established programs within the first year of the project, expanded them to additional courses, and plan to continue their work. Two of the campuses deviated from the mentor's program by focusing part of their efforts on non-credit developmental courses, while a third targets bridge courses for English as a Second Language (ESL) students. Two of the adapters use the model solely in mathematics and science courses. One uses the instructors who teach the courses, rather than faculty in other departments, to mentor the student leaders.

Two of the adapters were able to integrate program support into their budgets, because their units can designate funds for their own purposes. The others succeeded in getting long term allocations from higher levels in their institutions. The adaptations are fully institutionalized at all four colleges.

This project followed the model plan of Disseminating Proven Reforms more closely than any other. The mentors conducted a workshop on their own campus, followed by site visits to each of the adapters in both years of the project, and a concluding workshop. The opening workshop for this group was exemplary. The mentor had prepared a large collection of materials: descriptions of various aspects of the program, forms for program administration and evaluation, reports of outcomes at the mentor institution, and hands-on exercises. Activities for the group were varied: short presentations, observation of various aspects of the program, conversations with student discussion leaders and faculty mentors, active learning exercises and discussions, individual team planning and meetings with the mentors. Timing, design of materials and practical arrangements had been carefully thought through.

The initial site visits were used to provide an explanation of the program to a broad campus audience and to help the team with a range of practical details. The mentor was of particular help to some faculty project leaders who had little experience with administrative details and structures.

Assessment

The adapting institutions replicated the assessment that Anne Arundel Community College had used for its own project. The central question of this assessment was whether those students who chose to participate in the entirely voluntary supplemental instruction sessions earned a greater percentage of A, B and C grades (as opposed to Ds, Es and withdrawals) than those who did not participate.

Across institutions, SI participants on the average earned significantly higher course grades and a lower percentage of D/F/W grades than nonparticipants. This result held for business, math, and science courses, which are the ones usually designated for SI support, as well as for ESL students. SI participants in developmental courses had final grades significantly higher on average than nonparticipants, but they did not receive a higher percentage of A, B and C grades. Developmental students also tended to attend both SI sessions and regular classes less assiduously. The superior performance of the SI participants did not appear related to any measurable academic superiority that they brought to the courses, although they may have been more motivated than nonparticipants.

Surveys and observations of faculty teaching and faculty journals showed positive effects of SI on teaching. Faculty incorporated active classroom assessment techniques as a result of the program's training and their participation as mentors. The interdisciplinary experience of having faculty become students in a content area outside their own promoted collegiality as well as a clearer understanding of how students learn.

Further Dissemination

Ashland Community College, through the Kentucky community college system office, and Dutchess Community College, through the New York State system office, plan to bring their work to the attention of institutions statewide. Daytona Beach Community College has begun to work with branch campuses to introduce SI.

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