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Supplemental Instruction

Supplemental Instruction (SI) is an academic support program that targets historically difficult courses (those with a high percentage of Ds, Fs and Ws). SI offers free regularly scheduled out-of-class review sessions to all students enrolled in the course. SI improves student performance by teaching students how to integrate course content with reasoning and study skills. Sessions are facilitated by students who have successfully completed the course in the past. They feature collaborative learning techniques and provide students with a model of appropriate learning strategies for the course.

Program Information

In courses where SI is offered, supplemental instruction leaders will lead your class through a review session of that week's material. Supplemental instruction sessions are not a substitute for class lectures and will not introduce any new material, and are not large question-and-answer sessions. Major components of SI sessions include the following:

  • Collaborative learning techniques.
  • A model of appropriate thinking, note taking and test preparation.
  • Focus on what to learn and how to learn it.

SI sessions are held two or three times each week. SI Leaders document attendance information at each session in order to evaluate the program at the end of the semester. Professors are not provided the specific names of students attending the sessions.

Benefits of supplemental instruction include:

  • Nationally, it has been shown that average grades of students who attend SI are higher than grades of those who do not.
  • A comprehensive statistical analysis of Miami's SI program found a strong correlation between students attending SI sessions and earning a grade of A or B in the course.
  • SI leads to higher re-enrollment and graduation rates.

For more information about supplemental instruction, if you would like to have SI offered in your course or have questions regarding SI, please contact us at 513-529-8741 or via email at carrk@MiamiOH.edu.

Courses for Supplemental Instruction

Supplemental Instruction (SI) is typically offered in the following courses:

  • Science Courses
    • BIO 115/116, 161, 201, 203
    • CHM 141, 142, 241, 242
    • PHY 161/162, 181/182
  • Math Courses
    • MTH 125, 141, 151, 246, 251
  • Business Courses
    • ACC 221
    • ECO 201/202
    • BUS 104
    • FIN 301
    • ISA 125, 225
  • Nursing Courses
    • BIO 171/172, 325
    • CHM 131
    • NSG 261/262, 349

We are continuously evaluating the effectiveness of Supplemental Instruction, and this list may be subject to change depending on the semester.

Spring 2025 SI Courses

Information for Faculty

Faculty members and Instructors choose Supplemental Instruction (SI) because the proactive program is designed to help students refine necessary cognitive and applied study skills to earn better grades. SI targets “high attrition” courses not “high risk” students.

Faculty members and Instructors who participate in the SI program enjoy students who are better informed about classroom topics and who earn higher grades. Participating SI faculty and instructors work closely with the SI Leaders and the SI Coordinator to ensure the effectiveness of SI sessions. SI faculty and instructors meet regularly with the SI Leaders to review course content and develop session strategies.

Faculty members can expect support from the SI Coordinator in the Rinella Learning Center office.

If you would like to have SI offered in your course or have questions regarding SI, please contact Kevin Carr at 513-529-8741 or carrk@MiamiOH.edu. 

The SI Coordinator will administer the following tasks:

  • Interview and hire SI leader candidates based on the recommendation and approval from faculty.
  • Reserve classrooms for SI sessions and exam review sessions.
  • Monitor SI sessions and supervise SI Leaders
  • Compile statistical data and produce SI Summary Reports at the end of the semester
  • Administer overall evaluation of SI through SI Evaluation, SI Faculty Evaluation and SI Leader Self-Evaluation.
  • Provide feedback through end-of-the-semester reports to faculty and SI leaders about the effectiveness of the program.
  • Serve as a liaison between faculty and SI leaders.
  • Communicate with SI leaders periodically through email announcements.

SI Faculty will be expected to:

  • Occasionally, provide time at the beginning of class for the SI leader to give announcements about the SI program and SI sessions
  • Help coach SI leaders in the course content that is most critical for students to understand.
  • Communicate weekly with SI leaders to help guide the structure of the SI sessions.
  • Promote the SI program by encouraging students to attend SI sessions.
  • List SI leader's name and email on course website, course CANVAS page, and/or course syllabus.
  • Pass along any materials to SI leaders that would aid him/her in conducting his/her individual review sessions when possible.
  • If requested, provide a list of students' grades to Kevin Carr, Coordinator of the Supplemental Instruction program, in order to review basic SI versus non-SI performance statistics.
  • Complete the SI Faculty Evaluation at the end of each term.
  • Allow SI leaders to administer the SI Student Evaluation at the end of the semester.

Identification of potential SI Leaders:

Faculty and instructors are an important component for the identification, selection, and hiring process of new SI leaders every semester. Courses have the greatest chance of offering SI support when a student is identified as a potential candidate in the preceding semester. Faculty recommendations are our most important and valuable source of applicants and we prefer candidates who are recommended by faculty.

If faculty/instructor requests a SI leader for the course and a potential candidate has not been identified, the SI Coordinator will select prospective candidates from the course roster from the most recent course taught by the faculty/instructor.

The potential SI leaders should meet the following requirements:

  • SI leaders must have a minimum 3.0 GPA in the courses they hold SI sessions for and maintain a 2.76 cumulative GPA.
  • Interest in the following areas:
    • Helping students
    • Reviewing course information
    • Developing communication and interpersonal skills
    • Working closely with a Miami University faculty member or instructor
    • Holding a unique leadership position on campus
Contact Us

Bernard B. Rinella, Jr. Learning Center

306 Shriver Center
513-529-8741