2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The evidence-based practice paper will demonstrate an effective education tool for helping engineering students. Instructors are tasked with providing students with both technical competence and a profound understanding of real-world problems. The study of engineering education is a method of determining solutions to these intellectual demands. Instructors have adopted techniques and methodologies to meet these challenges, including problem-based learning, case studies, and supplemental instruction. The author will specifically examine the use of supplemental instruction (SI). SI is the practice of integrating a student instructor that has previously demonstrated mastery of the course for the corresponding class. The use of SIs has been seen to improve students' performance on exams and knowledge retention throughout multiple courses. When an SI is part of a class, it is crucial for a relationship between the faculty and student to be formed. This relationship between the faculty member and the SI helps the faculty member assess students' needs and how to help them. Once the student is selected to be an SI, it is crucial that the SI is trained to effectively support the needs of students. Once the SI has been trained, they can implement the knowledge from training to improve the overall success of the students. The effectiveness of an SI’s presence in undergraduate courses stems from active learning techniques, peer support, and instruction given from a person of closer age. Some of the strategies enhanced by the presence of SIs include, group study sessions, individual help to students, and redirection of questions. Group study sessions improve students' understanding of course material and allow for study groups to be made outside of class for homework. Individual help provides the extra explanation some students need to grasp a concept and improve their overall success. The redirection of questions increases comprehension of the subject matter because students are able to connect ideas. All of these strategies together provide an opportunity for students to improve through interactions with a peer in their age cohort. With these strategies in mind, the goal is to compare the students that attended SI sessions and their exam grades to students who did not go or went less often. The results shown throughout the paper will convey the need for SIs to be integrated throughout Engineering undergraduate courses.