Supplemental Instruction Leader
Learning Assistance Center
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In the second year of my undergraduate career at the University of Cincinnati, I began working at the university's Learning Assistance Center as a Supplemental Instruction Leader. In this capacity, I create and implement two optional, hour-and-a-half-long sessions each week that help students master course content in historically difficult courses. In each session, I facilitate collaborative learning between students, engaging them in activities designed to help review course material and build innovative new strategies and techniques for better understanding course content. From data recorded not just at the University of Cincinnati, but around the country, this method of "instruction" has been shown to significantly raise grades both for students that are struggling, and for those that are doing well in a course. Moreover, Supplemental Instruction sessions assist students by developing them into collaborative, well-organized learners.
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In collaboration wit Peer Tutors and Academic Coaches also employed by the Learning Assistance Center, then, Supplemental Instruction is an integral tool to facilitating academic success for students. Not only are students who attend these free, review-based sessions exposed to more instruction and learning, but they play an active role in developing this learning for themselves and their peers. Working with Supplemental Instruction Leaders who have performed well in a given class previously, students also gain insight as to how to approach problems and/or concepts, and have the added benefit of a readily accessible peer resource to rely on for extra academic support. In light of this, the Supplemental Instruction Program is an incredibly important service that the University of Cincinnati provides to its students to ensure their success, and thus is a wonderful way to maintain retention among university students.
POL1080: Introduction to International Relations
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The "regulars" of my Supplemental Instruction Sessions
Pictured above is a sample lesson plan for my sessions as a Supplemental Instruction Leader. Pictured below is an example of some of the concept mapping completed at different sessions during the semester as a result of facilitated group discussions.
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Pictured here is an example of one of the worksheets, complete with answers, that I created during the course of the semester, to help students with some more difficult content and concepts.
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BIOL2083: Genetics
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