Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 10:03:15 -0700 From: "Dr. James G. Goll" Subject: paper 7-SI on a commuter campus MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Are there any SI programs at primarily commuter campuses? Do they have the same effectiveness that is found at UN-L? I was involved in an SI program two years ago as a visiting professor at Mercer University and found similar positive results. James G. Goll Glenville(WV)State College ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 09:54:17 -0500 From: Paul Kelter Subject: PBK reply: paper 7-SI on a commuter campus MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Dear Dr. Coll, Thanks for the note. The place where the program was conceived, the University of Missouri- Kansas City, is very much a commuter campus in an urban community. Other examples of successful SI programs at commuter campuses (or at least campuses in urban areas, such as Saint Xavier University in Chicago), can be found in the book "Supplemental Instruction: Increasing Student Achievement and Retention," by Deanna Martin and David Arendakle (Editors) Jossey-Bass Pub, San Francisco, Winter 1994 ISBN 0-7879-999-7. However, I am not aware of any formal data base on SI location. (That doesn't meant that there isn't one - I am just not aware of it...) Cordially, Paul Kelter Associate Professor of Chemistry University of Nebraska Lincoln, NE 68588-0304 402-472-3512 fax = 402-472-9862 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 15:20:37 -0500 From: George Long Subject: Paper 7, GRL: statistics and biases MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT I enjoyed this paper, particularly the comments concerning the relative cost effectiveness of the program, and think it provides a useful model of a Supplemental instruction program. I do have a question or two about the results shown, though. First, If the sample is biased by the motivation factor, why do the statistics at all ?? Shouldn't we expect that students who get (seek) supplemental instruction would do better just as we expect that students who study more do better ? Do you have any plans to determine just what biases the students who choose SI have (e.g. particular learning styles, difficulty with specific types of questions, etc.). I would think that the SI worked well for some students and not so well for others, what were the factors that effected this ? **************************************************************************** George R Long, Ph.D. Department of Chemistry, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana, PA 15705 grlong@grove.iup.edu, http://www.iup.edu/~grlong/ Technology has made the world a neighborhood, now it is up to us to make it a brotherhood - Dr. M.L. King **************************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 15:55:52 -0500 From: Mike Epstein Subject: Paper 7 ME: Student leaders MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I think this is a great program. It formalizes the study group concept and makes it available to everyone. However, I wonder about the toll it takes on the SI leaders. So, some questions on the SI leaders: What is the failure rate for SI leaders (i.e., what percent of SI leaders drop out of the program because the extra workload is hurting their academic performance)? What is the average amount of time that an SI leader must dedicate to his activities (attending lectures, preparing for sessions, answering questions out of sessions, etc.) compared to an undergraduate teaching aide? I am curious as to how much extra burden being an SI leader puts on a student. I would think that if the student lived on campus that it would be difficult for them to avoid being barraged by questions prior to exams. Is there a waiting list of students anxious to do this or do you have to look hard for the SI leaders? Thanks p.s. - I love the flashing $$$$$ ... that says it all! I am reminded of the Wizard of Id cartoon where (if I remember correctly) the question is asked: "Why are athletes worshipped while scientists go unnoticed?" The answer: "Would you pay to watch a scientist?" ME Mike Epstein Research Chemist, Analytical Chemistry Division National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899 USA [Opinions expressed are mine ... not necessarily theirs] PHONE: (301) 975-4114 FAX: (301) 869-0413 Michael.Epstein@nist.gov WWW Home Page: http://esther.la.asu.edu/sas/epstein/epstein.html ======================================================== "From tomorrow on, I shall be sad - from tomorrow on! Not today; no! Today I will be glad. And every day, no matter how bitter it be, I will say: From tomorrow on, I shall be sad, not today!" Motele - Theresienstadt ======================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 15:20:19 -0500 From: Paul Kelter Subject: Re: Paper 7, GRL: statistics and biases MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Dear Dr. Long, Thanks for the kind words - most appreciated!! Regarding your specific questions: 1. What we hope to prove with or statistical study is that the effectiveness of the SI program goes **BEYOND** the 'bump' that students would get just by self-motivation. As shown in Table 2, the grade difference in chem for the top and mid group (lower group had too few to make a meaningful comparison) is LARGER than the grade difference in all the courses these students took. This says that they did better in gen chem than even their general motivation could account for. We'd like to think this was based, at least in part, on SI. We don't plan on looking at biases at this time - I won't be teaching the 200 student lecture for the first time in 8 semesters (!!) but this would be fun for the future. The SI program really worked pretty well for most of the students who attended regularly, save for one group (and this is an opinion, rather than a statement supported with data) - I believe that students with poor math abilities, who insist on taking the 2nd semester course, put themselves at such great risk that even SI can't help them beyond a certain point. This goes to the issue of preparation for the course, which is a bit off track. That's it for now! Cordially, Paul Kelter Associate Professor of Chemistry University of Nebraska Lincoln, NE 68588-0304 402-472-3512 fax=402-472-9862 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 15:46:05 -0500 From: Paul Kelter Subject: Re: Paper 7 ME: Student leaders MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Dear Dr. Epstein, You raised some vital questions. I just got off the phone with an SI leader (Emal, one of the authors of the paper). We had to shorten the converstation because a fire alarm just went off in the chem building - I'm at home at the moment...) But we did have enough time to agree on our responses. Here goes!::: Mike Epstein wrote: > So, some questions on the SI leaders: > > What is the failure rate for SI leaders (i.e., what percent of SI > leaders > drop out of the program because the extra workload is hurting their > academic performance)? NO SI LEADER HAS EVER LEFT THE PROGRAM IN THE MIDDLEOF A SEMESTER. TWO OF THE 8 HAVE CHOSEN TO TEACH ONLY ONE SEMESTER. ONE OF THE TWO WHO DID NOT CONTINUE HAD AN EDUCATION COLLEGE PRACTICUM, AND WAS MOSTLY OFF-CAMPUS. THE OTHER ONE WANTED TO DO MORE PRIVATE UNDERGRAD RESEARCH WITH THE TIME. THE WORKLOAD APPEARED TO HAVE NO AFFECT ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF ANY OF OUR SI LEADERS - THEY ALL MAINTAINED > 3.9 GPA'S. > What is the average amount of time that an SI leader must dedicate to > his > activities (attending lectures, preparing for sessions, answering > questions > out of sessions, etc.) compared to an undergraduate teaching aide? I > am > curious as to how much extra burden being an SI leader puts on a > student. > I would think that if the student lived on campus that it would be > difficult for them to avoid being barraged by questions prior to > exams. GOOD POINT. THE TIME IN PREP VARIES GREATLY - CORYDID NOT SPEND MUCH TIME AT ALL, OTHER THAN SITTING IN ON MY LECTURES (WHICH MIGHT WELL SEEM LIKE AN ETERNITY...). ANOTHER STUDENT, NAMED BRADETTE, SAT IN ON MY LECTURES AND SPENT SCADS OF EXTRA TIME PREPARING SAMPLE EXAMS AND SUCH. 'JUST A DIFFERENCE IN APPROACH. EMAL WAS VERY CAREFUL **NOT** TO GIVE OUT HIS HOME PHONE NUMBER. FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, THE SI LEADERS WERE FAR, FAR MORE HIGHLY PRIZED BY THE STUDENTS THAN THEIR GRADUATE TA'S, WHO WERE OFTEN NOT NEARLY AS KNOWLEDGEABLE OR COMMITTED TO THE TASK. > Is there a waiting list of students anxious to do this or do you have > to > look hard for the SI leaders? I GENERALLY PICK THE SI LEADERS FROM AMONG MY200 GEN CHEM STUDENTS AFTER THE 2ND SEMESTER. BECAUSE THE TOP STUDENTS ARE ***REALLY*** SUPER, AS THE TOP 1% WOULD BE ANYWHERE, THEY TEND TO WORK OUT GREAT AND ARE LESS FILLING. > Thanks A PLEASURE! > p.s. - I love the flashing $$$$$ ... that says it all! I am reminded > of > the Wizard of Id cartoon where (if I remember correctly) the question > is > asked: "Why are athletes worshipped while scientists go unnoticed?" > The > answer: "Would you pay to watch a scientist?" I ONCE SAW A STEPHEN JAY GOULD LECTURE AT MY OLDSTOMPING GROUNDS - THE UNIV. OF WISCONSIN-OSHKOSH - WE PAID HIM $15,000 FOR THE TALK (AND VISIT). I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND MUCH OF WHAT HE SAID - SPOKE SOOOOOO FAST!!!! I THINK OF THIS EVERY TIME A STUDENT GIVES A QUIZZICAL LOOK IN CLASS. CORDIALLY, Paul Kelter Associate Professor of Chemistry Univeristy of Nebraska Lincoln, NE 68588-0304 402-472-3512 fax = 402-472-9862 > ME > > Mike Epstein > Research Chemist, Analytical Chemistry Division > National Institute of Standards and Technology > Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899 USA > [Opinions expressed are mine ... not necessarily theirs] > PHONE: (301) 975-4114 FAX: (301) 869-0413 > Michael.Epstein@nist.gov > WWW Home Page: http://esther.la.asu.edu/sas/epstein/epstein.html > ======================================================== > "From tomorrow on, I shall be sad - from tomorrow on! > Not today; no! Today I will be glad. > And every day, no matter how bitter it be, I will say: > From tomorrow on, I shall be sad, not today!" > Motele - Theresienstadt > ======================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 17:30:46 -0700 From: Bob Bruner Subject: Paper 7. BB: short questions MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" 1. The large turnout for occasional sessions is obviously somewhat of a problem. How about allowing the Instructor to close the session at (say) 25, and to give priority to regular attendees. (Easy way... only regular attendees are allowed in before 7:15, for a "7:00" session. After that, it is open until full.) This preserves the special character and rewards the regulars. One step better would be to deal with the overflow, by having a supplemental Supplemental Instructor available for the newcomers. Since the high attendance sessions seem to be largely predictable, this might be practical. 2. Do you tell the students about the success of SI? That is, can you "create" motivation? 3. You mention that you ask non SI students why they didn't come. What did they say? Of course, some who did well undoubtedly just didn't "need" it. More interesting would be the response of C and D non SI students. Bob Bruner Contra Costa College and UC Berkeley Extension bbruner@uclink4.Berkeley, edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 20:03:28 -0500 From: Paul Kelter Subject: PBK Response: Paper 7. BB: short questions MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Dear Dr. Bruner, Your first question deals with one of the very few troublesome areas of SI - irregular participation. My response to each question follows: Bob Bruner wrote: > 1. The large turnout for occasional sessions is obviously somewhat of > a > problem. How about allowing the Instructor to close the session at > (say) 25, > and to give priority to regular attendees. (Easy way... only regular > attendees are allowed in before 7:15, for a "7:00" session. After > that, it > is open until full.) This preserves the special character and rewards > the > regulars. Ideally, 15-30 attendees is about the right number, according to my SIleaders. Any more gets unwieldy. After tolerating for a number of semesters the "one-timers" who wanted to use the SI session, before the exam as a cram session, we put our proverbial foot (feet) down and started prohibiting folks who did not show up regularly. For what it's worth, we noticed that the one-timers (who were invariably fairly disruptive because they did not buy into the Socratic approach of the sessions) were nearly always boys, and often fraternity members (I am not a fan of fraternities on my campus..) but I digress..... > One step better would be to deal with the overflow, by having a > supplemental > Supplemental Instructor available for the newcomers. Since the high > attendance sessions seem to be largely predictable, this might be > practical. > We really want folks there from day 1. > 2. Do you tell the students about the success of SI? That is, can you > "create" motivation? You bet! We do so at the opening class period, where we discuss qualitatively theresults in our paper (ie; nearly a full point better, etc...) > 3. You mention that you ask non SI students why they didn't come. What > did > they say? Of course, some who did well undoubtedly just didn't "need" > it. > More interesting would be the response of C and D non SI students. At UNL, a majority of the student body work at least part-time. Sometimesit is tough to reconcile a work schedule with the evening or late afternoon sessions. Some students don't like the occassionally large sessions. Sometimes students fall through the cracks. Interestingly, although the grades in Chem 109 are never super high (typically averaging a 2.2 - 2.6 on a 4.0 GPA scale), most students who work at it do OK. The large number of kids who simply give up but don't drop, thus taking an "F", has a significant impact on the class GPA. Thanks again for the questions. Cordially, Paul Kelter Associate Professor of Chemistry University of Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0304 402-472-3512 fax=402-472-9862 > Bob Bruner > Contra Costa College and > UC Berkeley Extension > bbruner@uclink4.Berkeley, edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 00:03:14 -0500 From: Larry Rosenhein Subject: Paper 7 - LR : SI Programs MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT I am particularly interested in Paper 7 because we also have an SI program. A few questions: 1. It sounds like your program is structured similarly to ours. I'm guessing for instance that SIs poll the class to find out what the most convenient times for sessions are. This inevitably will exclude some students, however. I've heard that at one campus at least, the session times are decided on beforehand and placed in the class schedule so students can plan around this. Maybe they are even supposed to sign up. Have you considered pros and cons of that? Incidentally, the idea of a two-hour session is excellent, and I will certainly suggest it here; I could never see, given the desire to have the sessions run in a highly interactive way, how very much could get done in an hour. 2. You mention a part-time supervisor; do you mean one for chemistry sections only, or is that all SI courses? What are the duties of the supervisor? 3. How much collaboration between SIs and instructors is there, generally? How is it supported/encouraged/required by the SI program structure you have? And do you think this is an important component of the program? 4. Assessment: It's difficult to untangle the self-selection factors from the intrinsic differences due to the program. But I think it's important to attempt to do this evaluation. I wasn't fully convinced by your last table. The differences between ACT scores within quartiles may be too low to be meaningful; and since chemistry GPAs are always lower than overall GPAs, a larger difference between chemistry GPAs in SI and non-SI students may just mean that chemistry is more discriminating among students than the average course, where grades tend to be compressed toward the high end. [Indeed, just this morning, NPR interviewed a professor about grade inflation, who claims that "you have to try" to get a grade as low as a C in most courses!] Sorry to sound picky on this subject; I do admire the authors for tackling it at all. Certainly I agree that even a total lack of statistics would not invalidate the program, if one feels that it is doing good; but there is always the possibility that some other sort of method for providing help to students might be better, and then it is very useful to have measurements. Since some sections were using SIs and some were not, it might be interesting to have a comparison between the grades in the sections, but this would probably require at least a standardized final exam to be very meaningful. I don't suppose you do that? And the other problem is that it appears not a large percentage of students were using the SI anyway, so the differences would be small. That raises the question again of why more students aren't taking advantage of it. I think one could argue that a partial measure of the success of the program _is_ the number of students who use it. I am very interested in this issue because although our statistics run along the lines of Nebraska's (first table), probably even fewer students actually participate here. Well, I'll stop before someone reminds me that these are supposed to be short questions. Larry Rosenhein Indiana State University (Terre Haute) chrosen@scifac.indstate.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 09:31:15 -0500 From: Paul Kelter Subject: Re: Paper 7 - LR : SI Programs MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 DEAR DR. ROSENHEIN, OY! SO MANY QUESTIONS! WE HAVE GIVEN THOUGHT TO EACH ONE, SO MAYBE IT PROVES THAT STRANGE MINDS THINK ALIKE? RESPONSES, IN SENTENCE CASE, ARE BELOW: Larry Rosenhein wrote: > I am particularly interested in Paper 7 because we also have an > SI > program. A few questions: > 1. It sounds like your program is structured similarly to ours. > I'm guessing for instance that SIs poll the class to find out what > the most convenient times for sessions are. Yes, they do this on the frist day of class. > This inevitably will > exclude some students, however. Indeed. With a class of 210, there will be NO time, short ofWednesday 3 A.M. (which was a very good Simon and Garfunkel album of 32 years ago, BTW) which will match all the schedules. Life ain't always fair, though we compromise as best we can. > I've heard that at one campus at > least, the session times are decided on beforehand and placed in the > class schedule so students can plan around this. Maybe they are even > supposed to sign up. Have you considered > pros and cons of that? For UNL, this is would not be an advantage - the students alreadytake exams in the evening and most work. We can not legally (legal here in the "rules of UNL"sense...) list something in the student bulletin that is only optional. Also, we really do not want too many students taking the thing! Interaction is the key. > 2. You mention a part-time supervisor; do you mean one for chemistry > sections only, or is that all SI courses? What are the duties of the > supervisor? There is a rather ineffective graduate student "supervisor" for the program.The most recent one was going for her Ph.D. in English, which, a priori, is not a disadvantage. The disadvantage is that she wasn'r organized. Her role is to make sure that the SI leaders are getting in their data reports, eval's, etc. But the SI students are really better teachers and more organized than the SI "supervisor." > 3. How much collaboration between SIs and instructors is there, > generally? Quite a bit - the SI leaders see me and their other instructorseach class period and then again in separate meetings. Now I have to back off that claim just a bit - we had one SI section last year in which the goal of the SI leader was to save the students FROM the professor, who was less effective than having the students stare at a blank chalkboard for an hour. she did not see him, because he was too busy running his own business. She saw me or the gen chem coordinator instead. > How is it supported/encouraged/required by the SI program > structure you have? And do you think this is an important component > of the program? I hire the kiddies, and we are quite close because they have all had me as an instructor in Chem 109/110. So we easily work together. > 4. Assessment: It's difficult to untangle the self-selection > factors from the intrinsic differences due to the program. But I > think it's important to attempt to do this evaluation. I wasn't > fully convinced by your last table. The differences between ACT > scores within quartiles may be too low to be meaningful; and since > chemistry GPAs are always lower than overall GPAs, a larger difference > > between chemistry GPAs in SI and non-SI students may just mean that > chemistry is more discriminating among students than the average > course, where grades tend to be compressed toward the high end. > [Indeed, just this morning, NPR interviewed a professor about grade > inflation, who claims that "you have to try" to get a grade as low as > a C in most courses!] > Sorry to sound picky on this subject; I do admire the authors > for tackling it at all. Thanks. I confess my undergrads did the statistical analyses for part of theirhonors thesis work - I'm just the talking head. > Certainly I agree that even a total lack of > statistics would not invalidate the program, if one feels that it is > doing good; but there is always the possibility that some other sort > of method for providing help to students might be better, and then it > is very useful to have measurements. > Since some sections were using SIs and some were not, it might > be interesting to have a comparison between the grades in the > sections, but this would probably require at least a standardized > final exam to be very meaningful. I don't suppose you do that? In fact, we DO have a common final, and all common exams. so thereis ample opportunity for comparison. The difficulty with the comparison is really the number of variables involved - faculty, IMO, important motivators, critical for student success. Also, lab TAs have a large impact. Time of day MAY be important (post-prandial torpor and all after lunch...) Common exams do help us tease out some of this information. > the other problem is that it appears not a large percentage of > students were using the SI anyway, so the differences would be small. I don't understand this point. > That raises the question again of why more students aren't > taking > advantage of it. I think one could argue that a partial measure of > the success of the program _is_ the number of students who use it. > I am very interested in this issue because although our statistics > run along the lines of Nebraska's (first table), probably even fewer > students actually participate here. Good point. > Well, I'll stop before someone reminds me that these are > supposed to be short questions. Thanks for the thoughtful questions/comments. Cordially, Paul Kelter Associate Professor of Chemistry University of Nebraska Lincoln, NE 68588-0304 402-472-3512 fax=402-472-9862 > Larry Rosenhein > Indiana State University (Terre Haute) > chrosen@scifac.indstate.edu Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 10:11:52 -0500 From: cory d emal Subject: Paper 7: CE Response to opening questions MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text Good morning all! There is a small change in plans on our end - Paul Kelter is currently in Winnipeg, so I will be handling the bulk of the responses for this discussion. We will remain in contact by phone, so most of what you will see will be a collective Emal/Kelter response coming from the student's (my) point of view. With that said, I'll jump into responding to some questions posed by Dr. Rosenthal. I don't have the original email handy, so I'll enter in my own interpretation of the question - please correct me if I have erred in doing so, Dr. Rosenthal. >> 1. a) Can you provide more details about SI training? SI training at UNL generally takes place the Thursday and Friday before classes start for the semester and is required for all SI instructors, whether they are rookies or veterans. The idea behind this is that the experience that veterans have from being in the SI sessions is far more valuable than what can be ascertained from the training manual, which is valuable in its own right for background and strategy ideas. Typically covered in the training sessions are the fundamentals of SI and the mode of thought needed to successfully run a session, procedures for record keeping (grades, attendence, etc.), approaches to boosting attendence and keeping it at a desired level, tips and tricks from the veterans, and a mock SI session where leaders develop a discussion tool or study aid to help with the "session". We feel this training is vital to "sell" the SI mode of thought to the new leaders, since it is all too easy to fall back into a "lecture-mode", particularly early in the semester when the students themselves have not gotten used to the interactive style of learning that we try to present. >> 1. b) Do you have any printed material that you can send by email? Unfortunately, no. However, a wonderful starting point for SI-related matters is the Arendale/Martin book referenced throughout the paper. It contains many papers specifically devoted to SI - a few are specific to chemistry or other subjects, and others have a more general approach to SI and its methodology. It also contains numerous other references to SI-related material. The reference is: Martin and Arendale, Supplemental Instruction: Increasing Student Achievement and Retention - Josey-Bass, pub. No. 60, Winter 1994 >> 2. Have you taped any SI sessions? No. Many students view SI as a sanctuary of sorts where they can be as anonymous as they wish to be, yet still engage in meaningful learning activities. We want sessions to be as free-flowing as possible, and a tape recorder would counteract that. Thank you for the questions! Cory Emal University of Nebraska-Lincoln cemal@unlgrad1.unl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 14:50:20 -0400 From: Robert Richman Subject: Paper 7 - RR: Tinkering with success MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII The timing of this paper is ideal for me. I am dissatisfied with my College's "peer tutoring" system. So, armed with a sign-up list of 15 volunteers from last year's class, I had planned to spend the summer developing an alternative. Your SI program provides an ideal model. This seems to me to be an excellent first step in designing a program to optimize retention in General Chemistry. But not all students fail for the same reason. I think the largest number fail for any number of reasons related to working alone, such as hitting a roadblock, getting frustrated, and quitting. SI is an ideal format for helping these students. But I think there are other students who might be better served by, say, a "special topics" SI session, or a visit to the university's study skills office. With my typical professor's training (i.e., a Ph.D. in chemistry but absolutely no education courses), I still feel like an amateur in diagnosing specific student problems, but I would start by itemizing the following common syndromes. Others can probably add to this list. 1. "I was never any good at math." As if, with this fatalistic dismissal, they can get on with their lives and succeed in chemistry. These students need to address this problem. Have you considered a "special topics" SI session on math skills in chemistry? 2. "I read the book but didn't get anything from it." These students are probably speed-reading. They don't know how to read a science or math text. Have you considered a special topics SI session that meets weekly to work through the text? (I think many humanities courses that deal with difficult primary texts actually do this in the lecture part of the course.) 3. "I really understood the material, but I just froze up." Test anxiety. What do you do about these students? Study skills center? 4. "I really understood the material. I don't understand why I did so poorly." These students probably do not know what it means to understand the material at the college level. They may benefit from a group format such as SI, but only if it is structured to require individual accountability. It sounds like you've tried to do that. Do you find that you don't get this excuse as much? Have you considered adding "second order corrections" such as these to the SI program in an attempt to maximize retention? Or, since your stated goal is more modest -- "SI is meant to help students achieve a satisfactory level of comfort in the class before facing the major stresses of research papers and exams, while sustaining and adding to this level as the semester progresses" -- would you be disinclined to tinker with success? -- Robert Richman (richman@msmary.edu) Mount St. Mary's College Emmitsburg, MD ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 14:21:26 -0500 From: Larry Rosenhein Subject: Re: Paper 7 - LR : SI Programs MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Paul Kelter wrote (in response to my earlier questions): > Also, we really do not want too many > students taking the thing! Interaction is the key. > Well, I suppose it's a matter of balance, and if you had more students wanting to use the program, you would find a way to get more SIs to keep the interaction high. Our problem at ISU is that not enough of the students who should be using the SI program are doing so. An alternate way of providing extra help to GenChem students is to allow/require them to enroll in a preparatory course given as a prerequisite, or a course (often < 3 cr) that runs concurrently with GenChem. [This is currently a thread in Chemed-l.] Have you given any thought to the compartive ad/disadvantages of the two approaches? Do you think there are things that can distinctly be accomplished by one approach compared to the other? (Hard questions, I know. But I'm hoping that you or other people on the list have more experience than we do with these matters, and can provide some guidance.) Larry Rosenhein Indiana State University (Terre Haute) chrosen@scifac.indstate.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 18:04:50 -0400 From: Bert Ramsay Subject: Re: Paper 7 - RR: Tinkering with success MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ---------- > From: Robert Richman > To: CHEMCONF@UMDD.UMD.EDU > Subject: Paper 7 - RR: Tinkering with success > Date: Monday, July 07, 1997 2:50 PM > > The timing of this paper is ideal for me. I am dissatisfied with > my College's "peer tutoring" system. > This seems to me to be an excellent first step in designing a > program to optimize retention in General Chemistry. But not all students > fail for the same reason. I think the largest number fail for any number > of reasons related to working alone, such as hitting a roadblock, getting > frustrated, and quitting. SI is an ideal format for helping these > students. ----- > 1. "I was never any good at math." As if, with this fatalistic > dismissal, they can get on with their lives and succeed in chemistry. > These students need to address this problem. Have you considered a > "special topics" SI session on math skills in chemistry? ---------- comment from Bert Ramsay ---- Problem is that a special SI session will not be attended by those who need it until too late. You need the personal attention of the sort provided by peer tutors. How can you do that? ------------------------ By the end of the summer I will have completed the first version of "Personal Tutor" that will provide every student with a "personal tutor" to help them develop their paper-and-pencil problem-solving skills. The tutor will check and provide suggestions for correcting incorrect answers, as well as "anticipated incorrect answers" (e.g. "I believe you left out a conversion factor." or "Did you count all of the elements inside the parentheses of the chemical formula you used to calculate its molar mass?" [eg calcium hydroxide]) The Personal Tutor can also help the student set up the solution - but the Learning Curve Monitor is keepting track of how much help is used, time spent, as well as the number and type of incorrect answers. --- In short, I believe a student working with this personal tutor will eliminate the comments of the students coming to you: "I spent hours studying for this exam! I can't understand why I did so poorly." With a personal tutor available for every student, the responsibility for success falls back on the student. They will know what they have to do to succeed. You can get some idea of how this works at my web site: http://www.BizServe.com/c3 ---- Since I know this message may strike some of you as too commercial, I do not plan to say anything more about it. Possibly a press release before the ACS meeting - if that is o.k. with the organizers. I would welcome your comments and suggestions. And again, my apologies if I have strayed outside of what is acceptable in this conference. Bert Ramsay, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, Eastern Michigan University - and struggling entrepreneur at c3@BizServe.com ------------------ > 3. "I really understood the material, but I just froze up." Test > anxiety. What do you do about these students? ..... > 4. "I really understood the material. I don't understand why I > did so poorly." These students probably do not know what it means to > understand the material at the college level. --- I don't think it has much to do with the level of the material. It is more related to a critical concept that was missed early on. Or perhaps not quite enough practice, or learning through mistakes. How many times do students look through the "Solutions Guide" first for confirmation that they understand how they could solve a problem (in their head), rather than demonstrating that they could do it on their own first? ------------------------------ Bert ----------- > They may benefit from a > group format such as SI, but only if it is structured to require > individual accountability. -------------------------------- Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 12:07:07 -0500 From: cory d emal Subject: Re: Paper 7 - RR: Tinkering with success MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text > > The timing of this paper is ideal for me. I am dissatisfied with > my College's "peer tutoring" system. So, armed with a sign-up list of 15 > volunteers from last year's class, I had planned to spend the summer > developing an alternative. Your SI program provides an ideal model. > > This seems to me to be an excellent first step in designing a > program to optimize retention in General Chemistry. But not all students > fail for the same reason. I think the largest number fail for any number > of reasons related to working alone, such as hitting a roadblock, getting > frustrated, and quitting. SI is an ideal format for helping these > students. You hit the nail right on the head. It is far to easy for students in this situation to fall between the cracks and give up, all because of a couple of frustrating instances. > > But I think there are other students who might be better served > by, say, a "special topics" SI session, or a visit to the university's > study skills office. With my typical professor's training (i.e., a Ph.D. > in chemistry but absolutely no education courses), I still feel like an > amateur in diagnosing specific student problems, but I would start by > itemizing the following common syndromes. Others can probably add to this > list. > > 1. "I was never any good at math." As if, with this fatalistic > dismissal, they can get on with their lives and succeed in chemistry. > These students need to address this problem. Have you considered a > "special topics" SI session on math skills in chemistry? Based on my four semesters of leading SI sessions, I can tell you that sessions devoted to "study skills" fly about as well as a brick. Most students (myself included) have convinced themselves that their study skills are just fine and any problem must lie somewhere else - time spent overtly on study skills is wasted because we aren't looking for the real problem! After encountering this attitude in full force my first semester leading SI sessions, I realized that I needed to surreptitiously include study skills in the sessions so the students wouldn't get too defensive. For example, drawing organizational matrices on the board and remarking, "This is a good way to organize your notes after class." I would try to do something along these lines at least a couple of times per session. The point is, we generally know what types of "study aids" and "study skills" are available to us to use, but it's tough to initiate their use out of context. A normal SI session provides this context and catalyzes their use. > > 2. "I read the book but didn't get anything from it." These > students are probably speed-reading. They don't know how to read a > science or math text. Have you considered a special topics SI session > that meets weekly to work through the text? (I think many humanities > courses that deal with difficult primary texts actually do this in the > lecture part of the course.) A great book that deals with all of the problems that students face that you raise is "How to Survive and Even Excel in General Chemistry" by Elizabeth Kean and Cathy Middlecamp, published by Mc Graw-Hill. We make this book available to our students, both as an optional purchase at the bookstore and for checkout in our General Chemistry Resource Room. We have found that this helps many students each semester realize that studying chemistry is not impossible and is not written in a foreign language. > > 3. "I really understood the material, but I just froze up." Test > anxiety. What do you do about these students? Study skills center? Test taking skills are about the only study skills that we have spent time on without boredom setting in on the students part. Generally I have spent one or two sessions early in the semester going over test taking strategies - how to identify major topics, how to anticipate test questions (Side note:this is where having UNDERGRADUATE leaders is very beneficial. Undergrads have been through the same courses that they are leading and are much more familiar with the tendencies of specific professors in testing situations than are grad students.) how to organize a "formula card", if available, etc. I have revisted the topic at length later in the semester if there is interest shown. Unfortunately, sending students to the study skills center is no longer an option here at UNL, as the powers that be decided we didn't really need our Academic Success Center all that much, at least not when there are "green spaces" to be put in and parking garages to be erected. > > 4. "I really understood the material. I don't understand why I > did so poorly." These students probably do not know what it means to > understand the material at the college level. They may benefit from a > group format such as SI, but only if it is structured to require > individual accountability. It sounds like you've tried to do that. Do > you find that you don't get this excuse as much? I haven't heard this excuse a lot, but you're right, most students I've heard it from are first or second semester students just now facing the realities of college work. > > Have you considered adding "second order corrections" such as > these to the SI program in an attempt to maximize retention? Or, since > your stated goal is more modest -- "SI is meant to help students achieve a > satisfactory level of comfort in the class before facing the major > stresses of research papers and exams, while sustaining and adding to this > level as the semester progresses" -- would you be disinclined to tinker > with success? At this point we are not inclined to make any real changes to our stated goal, although we are trying to improve the program with each semester. With increased funding we hope to first spread the SI program to uncovered sections of gen chem, then embark on new programs to hopefully pick up the students that SI and all of the other support programs that we have in place are missing. Thanks for your questions! Cory Emal University of Nebraska-Lincoln cemal@unlgrad1.unl.edu > > -- Robert Richman (richman@msmary.edu) > Mount St. Mary's College > Emmitsburg, MD > ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 12:21:21 -0500 From: cory d emal Subject: Re: Paper 7 - LR : SI Programs MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text > > Paul Kelter wrote (in response to my earlier questions): > > > Also, we really do not want too many > > students taking the thing! Interaction is the key. > > > Well, I suppose it's a matter of balance, and if you had more > students wanting to use the program, you would find a way to get more > SIs to keep the interaction high. > Our problem at ISU is that not enough of the students who should > be using the SI program are doing so. > An alternate way of providing extra help to GenChem students is > to allow/require them to enroll in a preparatory course given as > a prerequisite, or a course (often < 3 cr) that runs concurrently > with GenChem. [This is currently a thread in Chemed-l.] Have you > given any thought to the compartive ad/disadvantages of the two > approaches? Do you think there are things that can distinctly be > accomplished by one approach compared to the other? (Hard questions, > I know. But I'm hoping that you or other people on the list have > more experience than we do with these matters, and can provide some > guidance.) > > Larry Rosenhein > Indiana State University (Terre Haute) > chrosen@scifac.indstate.edu > Here at UNL (as, I'm sure, many other schools) we have a clear pecking order at to which classes get funded/teachers. 1) Graduate courses 2) Honors courses (this is on the rise here) 3) Mainstream courses 4) Remedial courses While Dr. Kelter and I agree that lower level intro or prep courses are desireable and necessary, the financial reality is that a "Chem 099" would not get the support that it would need for it to be effective. This underscores the importance for programs that can reach everyone, such as SI, and for (and this is the certified high school teacher in me speaking) better preparation for our incoming students in ALL subjects, not just the sciences. Thanks for the responses! Cory Emal University of Nebraska-Lincoln cemal@unlgrad1.unl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 12:22:21 -0700 From: Doris Kimbrough Subject: Re: Paper 7 - RR: Tinkering with success MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >> 3. "I really understood the material, but I just froze up." Test >> anxiety. What do you do about these students? Study skills center? > >Test taking skills are about the only study skills that we have spent >time on without boredom setting in on the students part. Generally I >have spent one or two sessions early in the semester going over test >taking strategies - how to identify major topics, how to anticipate >test questions (Side note:this is where having UNDERGRADUATE leaders >is very beneficial. Undergrads have been through the same courses that >they are leading and are much more familiar with the tendencies of >specific professors in testing situations than are grad students.) how >to organize a "formula card", if available, etc. I have revisted the >topic at length later in the semester if there is interest shown. I think these are all excellent approaches. I have also found that by allowing a student to take the exam away from the rest of the class (in an empty office, laboratory, etc. an hour or two or even a day early) really helps some students. Just being in the lecture hall is stressful and overwhelming, and having a quiet, private place can have a very calming effect. Often after a few successful exams, they are confident enough to rejoin the rest of the class. Doris Doris R. Kimbrough Chemistry Department Box 194 University of Colorado at Denver Denver, CO 80217-3364 dkimbrough@castle.cudenver.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 16:50:57 CST From: Anne T Sherren Subject: Re: Iota Sigma Pi If you send me an address, I will be happy to provide information on Iota Sigma Pi. Anne Sherren, ats@noctrl.edu ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: Iota Sigma Pi Author: pmabrouk@lynx.dac.neu.edu at internet Date: 7/3/97 8:02 AM Concerning Iota Sigma Pi, for further information contact: The National Historian Dr. Anne Sherren Department of Chemistry North Central College P.O. Box 3063 Naperville, IL 60566-7063 (708)420-3491 fax: 708-420-4234 e-mIl: ATS@nccseq.noctrl.edu You may also contact: Sr. Frances Crean Saint Xavier University 3700 West 103rd Street Chicago, IL 60655 (312)298-3517 fax: 312-298-3517 Prof. Patricia Ann Mabrouk Department of Chemistry 111 Hurtig Hall Northeastern University Boston, MA 02115 617-373-2845 fax: 617-373-8795 pmabrouk@lynx.neu.edu --------------------------------