A Study of the Effectiveness of Supplemental Instruction on Developmental Math Students in Higher Education Page: 18
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In a landmark study on the effectiveness of Supplemental Instruction
in mathematics, Kenney (1989) used two intact college calculus courses to
examine the issue of whether or not the extra time on task made the difference
in achievement. Each class was divided into three statistically equivalent
discussion sections: one group received assistance in the Supplemental
Instruction model, the second group received assistance in the traditional
tutorial, content-based discussion-only assistance of a graduate teaching
assistant, and the third group in each class did not participate in the study.
One class met in the morning; the other met in the afternoon. Using a variety
of statistical methods, Kenney found that students in the SI groups earned
significantly higher final course grades than the students in the other
groups. In a follow-up study the following semester which tracked the
students in the original studies, no significant difference was found between
their final course grades when Supplemental Instruction was not an option.
Kenney's studies are unique in that they examined the effects of Supplemental
Instruction in a mathematics course, used a graduate student as an SI leader,
and used regularly scheduled adjunct times for meetings. Students were
required to meet for one type of assistance as a part of the class requirement.
The factor of time alone did not account for the increase in achievement.
Supplemental Instruction and Brain Theory
In order to better appreciate the benefits that Supplemental Instruction
can offer to developmental students, one might first consider a learning
theory concerning brain changes that occur during learning. The theory of
neuroplasticity advocates a physiological basis for learning (Fishbach, 1992;
Jacobs, Schall, & Schieibel, 1993; Kandel & Hawkins, 1992; Milgram, MacLeod &
Petit, 1987; Shatz, 1992). In contradiction to traditional beliefs that the life's
supply of dendrites, the branching fibers of neurons, or brain nerve cells, are
in place by age two, the new theory claims that they grow throughout life in
direct relation to both the amount of non rote processing an individual does as
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Stephens, Jan (Jan Ellen). A Study of the Effectiveness of Supplemental Instruction on Developmental Math Students in Higher Education, dissertation, May 1995; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc279019/m1/27/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .