Developmental Mathematics Education and Supplemental Instruction: Pondering the Potential.

Although the success of developmental education is supported by more than 30 years of research and practice, Supplemental Instruction is a more recent educational innovation. As a result, it lacks the familiarity of the course-based approach to developmental education. In recent years a significant amount of research has been conducted on the success of Supplemental Instruction (SI). Most studies recommend adopting institutions use SI in nonremedial settings with highrisk, demanding (Arendale, 1994, p. 14). However, Ramirez (1997) has found a high correlation between SI attendance and persistence rates of the students enrolled in such courses who were deemed unlikely to succeed academically at the time they were admitted (p. 10). The fact that SI is emerging as an effective method of academic assistance for both underprepared and fully prepared students warrants further investigation of that form of assistance for developmental mathematics courses. In order to consider the potential of SI for use with at-risk students, it is important to understand the essential characteristics of the approach. According to Maxwell (1997), SI may be characterized by the following: 1. It is a form of group tutoring requiring the SI leader (usually a peer tutor) to work very closely with the course instructor and those students who wish to participate in the SI sessions. 2. It is designed to assist students not only with course content but also with their competency in reading, critical thinking, and study skills. 3. SI leaders are usually paid undergraduates who, in many cases, have recently shown exemplary performance in the courses for which they serve as SI leaders. Moreover, the SI leaders have high overall grade point averages and exhibit good study habits. 4. SI leaders attend course lectures, take notes, and complete assignments with the enrolled students. 5. The SI leaders conduct and schedule a minimum of two 50-minute SI sessions each week. These are scheduled at times convenient to as many of the enrolled students as possible. 6. Successful SI leaders, like good tutors, are well trained in learning theories, methods of tutoring, and collaborative learning. The Problem The success of students in developmental mathematics courses at a moderate-sized state university in the southern United States reached a crisis point in the Fall of 1999 when only 23% of the 1407 enrolled students successfully completed the courses. At that time the university offered two developmental mathematics courses: the initial course, Math 098: Fundamentals of Mathematics and the follow-up course, Math 099: Fundamentals of College Algebra. The success rate was particularly abysmal in Math 099, in which only 11% of the 866 students enrolled were able to successfully complete the course with success being defined by the final course grade of C or better. In addition to the low pass rates, other easily identifiable problems with the courses included a high student/teacher ratio and reliance by many instructors on traditional teaching methodologies, most notably, classroom lecture. During the Fall 1999 and Spring 2000 semesters, it was not uncommon for instructors to have a Math 098 or 099 class with as many as 48 students. For the 35 sections of developmental mathematics in those semesters the average class size was 40. Some software and video materials were available to both the students and the faculty, and, although interactive computer software is recommended for developmental mathematics courses (Brothen, 1998; Koehler, 1998), little use was made of those materials. The large classes made techniques requiring individualized attention virtually out of the question. Collectively, these factors made clear the need to identify an alternative approach to better support student success. The Academic Assistance and Resource Center Supplemental Instruction is offered and overseen by the Academic Assistance and Resource Center (AARC), which is housed in the university's library. …