FAQs

How do I know if SI is offered for my course?

• You should know in the first week whether or not your course has an SI Leader. The SI leader will generally give a 10 minute presentation the first or second day of classes. The session schedules will be posted on blackboard. Actual sessions begin by the second or third week of the semester.
• Although a free service, SI is only offered in classes where the academic program supports SI and where there is a need. Your professor may talk positively about SI during the semester, recommending that students attend the sessions to obtain a deeper understanding of the coursework.

• SI targets difficult, high-risk courses on campus; this means courses that have high percentage of Ds, Fs or withdrawals. They are generally, but not always, 100-200 level courses, which students must take to begin an academic major. These courses are often large lecture courses requiring large amounts of reading with examinations which require application and analysis.

• SI Leaders are not tutors; they are trained peer facilitators, which means they will encourage the group to process the material rather than acting as an authority figure who lectures.
• They will be in class with you every day, taking notes on the same lecture you are listening to and reading the same assignments.
• SI Leaders have demonstrated outstanding skills in their coursework, have previously taken the course targeted and are approved and many times requested by the professor.

• SI is an informally led study session. Students work together to explore important concepts, review class notes, discuss reading assignments, practice test-taking strategies, and prepare for exams. SI Leaders take their cue from the students' questions and requests.

• Each SI Leader provides three hours of sessions each week. Usually these sessions are spread out over three, hour long sessions, but occasionally, students prefer longer sessions so the SI Leader schedules two sessions for one and half hours in length.

• The sessions are open to anyone enrolled in the targeted course, so sessions attract students of varying abilities. Many students attend periodically throughout the semester.

• Quite simply, you will get a better grade.
• Research at ISU, as well as other universities, indicate that students who attend on a regular basis improve their test scores from a half to a whole letter grade.
• SI is not just about passing the course or achieving an A in the course. During these sessions you are incorporating appropriate study skills needed to do well in all of your courses.

• SI helped me understand what was the important information in the course.
• The SI sessions got me motivated to study even when there wasn't a test coming up and helped me keep up.
• The group interaction and the enthusiastic help from the SI Leader kept me more interested in the material. 
• It was extremely helpful to be able to ask questions in a small group and have answers reinforced by someone who had taken the class before. 
• SI sessions were extremely helpful.  I would not have been able to pass the class without them.
• I didn't know I needed these sessions until I went to one.  THANKS!