Supplemental Instruction in Organic and General Chemistry

This project sought to improve the pass rate in the traditionally difficult courses of organic and general chemistry. Through the implementation of SI, students served as peer leaders and mentored other students in group study sessions. Students attending these optional sessions performed significantly higher on standardized assessments and GPA than those not attending, and the gap between underrepresented students and non-underrepresented students narrowed for students attending SI. Online resources such as homework and exams led to increased student performance on standardized exams and led to students feeling more engaged in their studies than students completing written homework. These proven practices were implemented at CSU Bakersfield, CSU Stanislaus, and CSU Long Beach, and each institution has had success in their bottleneck chemistry courses.