Creating and Growing

a SI ProgramStudent Success at Purdue

International SI Conference May 24, 2014

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• 4-year land-grant institution

• 39,000 students – 30,776 undergraduates

– About 47% of our students get a degree in 4 years

– 69% graduate in 5 years, and 71% in 6 years

• Supplemental Instruction (SI) Program

– Begun in Fall 2011

– Initially Established/Guided by a SI Task Force

– Fall 2014: 18 different courses/26 leaders

Purdue University SI Program

Four Areas of Progress

Marketing the Program

Technology Innovations

Evidence of Success

Campus Partnerships

Fall 2013 SI Leaders

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• Develop a Strategy

• Build Trust

• Discover Needs

• Create and Communicate Value

• Manage Objections

• Ask for Action

• Deliver Value

Seven Selling Stages

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Sell the SI Culture • To advisors• To faculty• To students• To the Purdue

community

Develop a Strategy

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Discover Needs• End-of-semester student survey

–30% never heard of SI

• End-of-semester faculty survey–3 completed the survey

• Individual meetings with professors–40% understood what SI was

• Advisor contact –New advisors think SI is another form of

individual tutoring

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Create and Communicate ValueWhat’s the value of attending SI?Doing analogous problems

Having varied activities/reaching learning styles

Encouraging taking risks/mistakes welcome

Explaining it to peers in student speak

Discussing in small groups/examining why & how

Evaluating how someone else does it/comparing

Acquiring good study habits and solution tips

Making applications of concepts to new material

• Send information to SI-Linked professors– Faculty Agreement

– Faculty Brochure

– Two pieces of research

• Meet with professors individually in their offices– Provide an informational slide for PowerPoint and

a syllabus SI insert

– For large, multi-sectioned courses with recitations -attend the first TA meeting of the semester

Develop a Strategy

Must have an A or B in the course the potential leader wishes to supplement*

*Math leaders need to have higher level mastery

• MA 153 – Calculus 1 & 2 (223/4 ok)• MA 154/159 – Trig-based Calculus or 161/2

or 231/2 or equivalency • MA 161/2 – MA 261/2 or 265/6 or 366 or

303 or 304 or equivalent

Build Integrity

Build Trust among Faculty Let faculty set the prerequisites for leaders

Nominate leaders (if possible)

Assist with individual interviews for leaders in their course

Provide a set of problems for interviewees

SI Leader Training

Faculty Pizza Party

Send them a save-the-date memo

Send them a formal invitation

Send them a reminder two weeks before

Greet them as they arrive

Use this time for some faculty training

Thank them for coming

Faculty/Student Leader End-of-Year Luncheon

May 9, 2014

Recipients of Fun Awards at the Luncheon

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S

Myths about SI (from faculty)• The leaders just took the course, so how

can they possibly help their peers?

• The leaders are really teaching assistants.

• The sessions are simply recitations.

• There is no need for me to meet with the SI leader weekly.

• Only the good students attend SI

Manage Objections

Course HS GPA SAT (V+M) ACT

SI Non SI Non SI Non

Fall 2012

BIOL 110 3.70 3.61 933 959 25.6 25.9

CHM 116 3.68 3.64 924 952 25.2 27.0

MA 162 3.75 3.67 749 919 27.5 28.6

MGMT 200 3.57 3.53 865 924 24.9 25.8

PHYS 172 3.74 3.75 819 993 28.2 29.1

STAT 113 3.68 3.35 860 888 22.9 23.9

Manage Objections

Bold means difference between groups was significant at p<0.05

Bold Italic means difference between groups was significant at p<0.10

Spring 2013 HS GPA SAT ACTBIOL 111 3.68 3.72 976 985 24.9 26.8BIOL 204 3.65 3.61 897 871 25.3 25.3CHM 116 3.74 3.76 947 891 25.8 28.6MA 153 3.30 3.36 669 804 21.6 23.4MA 162 3.82 3.61 922 943 27.5 27.9

MGMT 200 3.55 3.59 798 911 25.1 26.2PHYS 172 3.82 3.76 834 906 28.9 29.4

Manage Objections

Bold means difference between groups was significant at p<0.05

Bold Italic means difference between groups was significant at p<0.10

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Faculty AgreementMeet weekly with the SI Leader at an agreed upon time and place

– Provide a course outline and advance notice of upcoming exams

– Provide advice and insight regarding the areas of content in which students often struggle

– Allow the leader to provide feedback from the sessions and from students attending

Ask for Action

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In their weekly meetings, SI leaders and faculty provide feedback to one another on the most difficult content, why it is difficult, and what strategies will help students better understand

it. Faculty appreciate feedback from leaders on the questions and difficulties students are having. Too often they hear such feedback only at the end of the term, when it is too late to make changes for that group of students. SI personnel are trained in processing content, facilitating group work, and developing curriculum. Through conversations with faculty they share these ideas. The most expert faculty realize that they must not only know the content but also know how to make the content understandable to all their students. (Zerger, 2006)

Encourage Action with Research

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When course instructors enthusiastically embrace SI and vigorously promote it during their lectures, regular attendance at SI sessions is higher than in courses in which this is not the case. It is therefore important for institutions to help faculty members understand the relationship between SI and student learning, and to disseminate information on how the SI program benefits the institution, the students, and the faculty. (McGuire, 2006)

Encourage Action with Research

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Myths about SI (from students)

• It’s just another form of tutoring.

• Students can just drop in any time for help.

• If the leader doesn’t do exact homework problems, how can this help?

Manage Objections

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Create and Communicate Value• Website www.purdue.edu/si–Student comments

–Faculty comments

–Key statistics

–Shots of students in actual sessions

–Leader introductions and pictures

–Video describing SI

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“What helped me the most at SI was the instructor [peer leader] asking questions like, ‘Why did you take that step there? Why didn't you do this instead?’ It really helped me to think about why I was taking the steps I did and why I was able to come to the answer that I did.”

Communicate Value

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Create and Communicate Value

Providing Interactive Study Sessions

BIOL 204 Session, Spring 2012

MA 162 Session, Spring 2011

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Communicate Approachability

• Website Makeover• Attendance Gathering• Sharepoint• Student Leader Resource Library• Student Leader Clerical Documents

• Session Changes and Announcements• Mobile Master Schedule – Boilerguide

Paperless Innovations

Data Base

Excel File

www.govconnection.com $47.09/each

Card Reader

Analysis

Magnetic Card Readers

Sharepoint

Sharepoint Sorting

Deliver ValueGrade Fall 2013 Aggregate Number of Sessions

0 1-2 3-4 5-7 8+

A 26% 31% 33% 38% 46%

B or better 55% 65% 73% 75% 76%

C or better 81% 89% 94% 95% 95%

DFW 19% 11% 6% 5% 5%

N= 7527 1548 356 232 322

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Deliver Value• Of the students who attended SI sessions

8 or more times . . . • 95% earned a C or better• 76% earned a B or better• 46% earned an A

Significant at the point of .001

• We recommend attending SI weekly!

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Number of Visits Semester

2,717 Fall 2011

4,522 Spring 2012

5,996 Fall 2012

5,659 Spring 2013

9,111 Fall 2013

7,232 Spring 2014

Showing attendance increases

Academic Year

CohortOne Year Retention

Rate

Two Year Retention

Rate

2011-12SI 95.15% 90.80%

Univ 90.57% 84.37%

2012-13SI 94.38%

Univ 91.01%

Helping the University Reach its Goals

2011-12 significant at the point of p<.001 both first and second year2012-13 significant at the point of p<.001 first year

Deliver Value – Prove Cost EffectivenessCumulative Tuition Generated by SI Retention

Fall 2011 Spring 2012 Fall 2012 Spring 2013 Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Total

Cohort Alpha Cohort Alpha Cohort Alpha Cohort Alpha Cohort Alpha Cohort Alpha Cohort

Retained 96 96 96 96 96 96

Revenue $0 $374,944 $374,944 $374,944 $374,944 $374,944 $1,874,720

Beta Cohort Beta Cohort Beta Cohort Beta Cohort Beta Cohort

103 103 103 103 103

$0 $409,539 $409,539 $409,539 $409,539 $1,638,155

Gamma Cohort Gamma Cohort Gamma Cohort Gamma Cohort

149 149 149 149

$0 $657,055 $657,055 $657,055 $1,971,165

Delta Cohort Delta Cohort Delta Cohort

111 111 111

$0 $466,975 $466,975 $933,950

Epsilon Cohort Epsilon Cohort

215 215

$0 $986,230 $986,230

TOTAL $7,404,220

Deliver Value – Prove Cost EffectivenessForming PartnershipsCost-sharing with Colleges and Departments

Adding a leader to a course only after proving a needResults in steady growth of program

Partnering with the Math DepartmentSI/Tutor Hybrid

Cost-sharing 4 leaders

More Cost-sharing DevelopmentsMechanical Engineering Department – paying for 2 leadersSchool of Management – paying for 2 leadersComputer Science – still discussing arrangement for cost-sharing

Residential PartnershipsProviding space for SI sessions

Co-Rec PartnershipProviding space for some weekly study sessions

Recent Endowment specifically for SI from a chemistry professor

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Downey, S, & Downey, D. (2011). What Do Teachers and Salespeople Have in Common? CIEWorkshop Presentation, Purdue University, October 20, 2011.

Dwyer, F. Robert, Paul H. Schurr and Sejo Oh. (1987). Developing Buyer-Seller Relationships. The Journal of Marketing, Vol. 51, No. 2 (Apr., 1987), pp. 11-27.

McGuire, S. Y. (2006). The impact of Supplemental Instruction on teaching students how to learn. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2006: 3–10. doi: 10.1002/tl.228

Zerger, S., Clark-Unite, C. & Smith, L. (2006). How Supplemental Instruction benefits faculty, administration, and institutions. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2006: 63–72. doi: 10.1002/tl.234.

References:

CHM 112 Office Hour, Spring 2013

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Contact:Ethel Swartzendruber

Senior Assistant Director of Student SuccessSupplemental Instruction Coordinator

swartzen@purdue.edu

Marta BauerAssistant Director of Student Success (SI)

bauer42@purdue.edu

studentsuccess@purdue.edu