Supplemental Instruction leaders undergo training

The fall semester is in full swing, and so is Supplemental Instruction, known as SI. Coordinator Jeanne Bell, an Erskine College graduate, held a training session for SI leaders a few weeks ago.

“All SI leaders receive several hours of training, even if they are returning leaders,” she says.

Supplemental Instruction, free to all students, consists of regularly scheduled class review sessions.

“The goal is to review material that was covered in class, to let students ask questions, do practice problems, and fill in ‘holes’ in their notes,” Bell says.

“SI leaders must have taken the class and done well in it. They are hand-picked by the professors,”  she says. In addition, leaders attend all class sessions, take notes, and read all assigned material for the class they are covering.

Supplemental Instruction sessions are “collaborative in nature and encourage interaction and discussion,” according to the SI page on the Erskine website.

Bell says some 35 SI leaders are working this fall.

Supplemental Instruction is offered for 100- or 200-level courses and part of the purpose of SI is to assist beginning students with the transition from high school to college, but “It is a resource for all students,” Bell says.

The Supplemental Instruction schedule for the fall semester can be viewed here.

Photo above shows SI Coordinator Jeanne Bell, top right, with SI leaders.