Supplemental Instruction

What is Supplemental Instruction?
S.I. provides structured study times; it's not another lecture. At an S.I. session a group leader who has already successfully completed the course facilitates cooperative, interactive learning; students are encouraged not to be just passive onlookers. Regular attendance every week helps you to learn the most effective strategies for studying the content of a course; S.I. is not designed for cram sessions right before tests.

In our Supplemental Instruction (SI) program, we connect our tutors with UW-Whitewater instructors in order to provide course-specific support for students both inside and outside of the classroom. Tutors attend classes in order to offer assistance to students in collaboration with their cooperating instructors, then host weekly review sessions in the Mary Poppe Chrisman Success Center for students to attend on an as-needed basis.

Students with an SI attached to their course may sign up to attend an SI session in Navigate. 

How can you benefit?
Data collected over the past 25 years from more than 500 institutions where S.I. is offered proved that people who participate regularly in S.I. improve their grades because the program helps them improve their understanding of course material, guarantees structured study times, and teaches study strategies that can be used over and over in many other courses. Through S.I. you can learn how to make your study time more efficient; you will develop skills in test preparation, taking notes, reading texts, interpersonal communication, and writing papers. You will receive the support of a very dedicated and successful peer leader who has done all of this before; you can feel comfortable asking your S.I. leader any question you would like to (even if you feel that it's stupid), and the leader will also help you learn how to ask the professor to explain what you need to know and will encourage you to not give up until you are truly satisfied that you understand the material. In general, because S.I. students learn more, they get better grades.