Seminar: "Impact of Supplemental Instruction on Students in STEM Courses"
A discussion with Alan Peterfreund and Ken Rath of Peterfreund Associates, Amherst.
Student performance associated with STEM-related supplemental instruction (SI) courses at San Francisco State University from 1999 through 2005, using the records of approximately 12,000 individuals, showed that: 1) students taking SI classes have higher course performance, both in terms of average course grades and the proportion of students passing with a C- or better, 2) SI takers tend to have weaker academic indicators than non-takers in terms of SAT I scores and high school GPA, 3) SI takers have higher rates of taking subsequent courses in the discipline, 4) more females participate in SI than males (although both receive substantial benefits, men benefit more than women) and 5) in entry-level courses, the higher pass rates associated with SI are particularly important for underrepresented minority students, whose rates of failure in these courses are otherwise strikingly high. Performance levels for these students taking SI reach and often surpass the levels found among non-SI takers in the classes as a whole.
This is part of STEM Education Institute Tuesday Seminars.