Program aims to enhance student learning

Junior Jorge Fragoso, who has served as a Supplemental Instruction leader in Accounting for three semesters, takes pride in lending his expertise to help his peers achieve academic success.

“I love serving in this program and seeing how it benefits the participants,” he said. “It is a valuable resource on campus.”

PACE Director Steve Kenner, who serves as the SI supervisor, said the program focuses on identifying difficult classes rather than high-risk students.

“We are developing a model of student support that will improve learning, increase retention rates and academic preparedness of students,” he said.

LaGrange started with four SI courses in Fall 2022 and has since increased to nine SI courses in Spring 2024.

“The goal is to increase student persistence and retention to graduation,” said Dr. Brian Peterson, Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Kenner said the program is implemented in academic courses that have a high rate of D-F-W grades.

“It integrates ‘what to learn’ with ‘how to learn,’ he said. “SI consists of regularly scheduled sessions—voluntary, out-of-class group study sessions driven by students' needs. These sessions are facilitated by trained peer leaders who utilize collaborative activities to ensure peer-to-peer interaction in small groups.”

The current list of classes that have an SI component include Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, General Biology I, General Biology II, Principles of Economics, College Algebra (2 sections), Anatomy & Physiology and Intro to Statistics.