Impact of Supplemental Instruction in Entry-Level Chemistry Courses at a Midsized Public University

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of supplemental instruction (SI)—nonremedial workshops that support regularly scheduled courses—on four different chemistry courses: General Chemistry I and II, and Organic Chemistry I and II. Differences in how SI impacts student performance in these courses are discussed, particularly in terms of whether students from underrepresented minority groups are affected differently from their peers. We found that SI appears to be most effective in courses at the beginning of the chemistry sequence and least effective in those in which students have already had to demonstrate effectiveness with the material in order to succeed in the course; its impact on performance in General Chemistry I appears to be quite high compared to a negligible impact in Organic Chemistry II. Impacts appear to be due to SI itself rather than the academic fitness of the students who opt to enroll in it. In the four courses examined, SI did not appear to have a different impact on students from underrepresented minority groups than it did on their peers.