Back in 1983/84, we used a program called "structured tutoring"
for developmental courses. Tutors would work with students in the
classroom and in the tutorial labs. When I came to my current place of
employ, SI was in place but called "Peer Mentoring." This followed the
same paradigm of the SI model with a few local modifications. To make
sure that the program was working and that the "hype" about SI was
relatively true, I did a small research project on the efficiency and
effectiveness of the program.
I found a number of interesting indications: students would
attended five or more study sessions earned a course GPA of .583 higher
than students who did not; the students who never attended fell into
essentially two groupings -- students who were doing poorly in all of
their classes and didn't see the value of the study group and students who
were doing exceedingly well in most of their classes and did not see the
value of the study group; the cost of the endeavor was roughly $4.83 per
hour when contact hours were divided by the cost of the program.
For us, the program works.
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Jim Valkenburg [log in to unmask]
Delta College
University Center, MI 48710-0002
(517) 686-9034 FAX (517) 686-8736
