Browsing by Subject "Supplemental Instruction"
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Item Cognitive, demographic, and motivational factors as indicators of help-seeking in supplemental instruction(Texas A&M University, 2005-08-29) McGee, Joel VickThe purpose of this study was to determine how cognitive, demographic, and motivational factors can be used to understand help-seeking behavior in college students. Specifically, the study examined engagement in Supplemental Instruction (SI) of undergraduate students at Texas A&M University. An additional purpose of the study was to determine the efficacy of SI. The sample for the study was 2,407 undergraduate students who were enrolled in eight randomly selected courses at Texas A&M University in the spring 2004 semester. Students enrolled in multiple course sections were eliminated from the study. The revised sample consisted of 2,297 students. Data collected for all students in the sample included student demographic information, SI attendance and participation, and final course grades. Students were also requested to complete an on-line survey instrument containing a modified version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and questions related to parent education and household income. Ultimately, 1,003 students from the revised sample submitted surveysfor a response rate of 43.7%. Based on attendance data and participation ratings, students were classified into three engagement groups for subsequent data analysis: high engagement, low engagement, and non-SI. The following were among the major findings from the study: ?? Hispanic students were significantly more engaged in SI than their White peers. ?? Engagement in SI was inversely related to grade level classification. ?? SI participants had significantly lower mean SAT math and verbal scores than students who did not attend SI. ?? The motivational variables as a set had a statistically significant relationship with SI engagement. ?? Extrinsic motivation, organization, academic self-efficacy, control beliefs, help-seeking, and peer learning were the motivational scales which best predicted SI engagement. ?? Students who were highly engaged in SI had significantly higher mean final course grades than either non-participants or low engagement students even controlling for differences in SAT scores, cumulative grade point average, and motivation. The study helps provide some insight into the dynamics of academic help-seeking. It also contributes to the growing body of evidence which shows that SI is an effective intervention for improving student success in traditionally difficult courses.Item Experiential Learning Theory, Transformational Leadership, and the Supplemental Instruction Leader: An Exploration of their Relationship and Influence on Recurring Attendance to Supplemental Instruction Sessions(2014-07-29) James, Adrian MThe purpose of this study was to explore the learning preferences and leadership behaviors of Supplemental Instruction (SI) leaders at Texas A&M University, and the impact of those preferences on recurring attendance to their sessions. The Learning Style Inventory (LSI) 3.1, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), and a demographic instrument were administered to 34 SI leaders employed in the fall 2013 semester. A majority of participants preferred a diverging or accommodating learning style and perceived themselves to display transformational leadership behaviors the most. Analysis of variance and Pearson product-moment correlations revealed that learning preferences and leadership behaviors did not have a significant relationship with recurring attendance. Significant relationships for variables on the LSI and MLQ were found for transformational and transactional leadership behaviors and learning preferences. Most of these relationships were found for preference for transforming information. Literature concerning the SI leader is narrow. Supplementary studies exploring their characteristics, preferences, and personality are needed. The relationship between leadership and learning is an area that can benefit from further research.Item YOUTUBE, POWERPOINT, AND TUTORS: THE IMPACT OF OUT-OF-CLASS LEARNING OPTIONS ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE(2010-01-16) Hamilton, Sommer B.This research project sought to measure how students in large-classroom environments respond to supplemental, out-of-class learning options. Is their performance positively impacted by tutoring or by online, always-accessible lessons? Above and beyond demographics and skills, what motivates students to engage in use of supplemental learning options? Responding to theories of ?just-in-time? learning and the learner-centered philosophy of distributed learning, this study put three out-of-class tools in place during the course of a fall semester to allow the learner to decide what form of out-of-class aid he or she would rely upon. Those three options included tutoring services, streaming voice-over-PowerPoint lessons, and short YouTube.com-hosted videos featuring the instructor. Over the course of the fall 2008 semester, students responded to two surveys intended to (1) capture their motivational approach and preferred study strategies and learning styles; and (2) capture measures of their usage of these tools and their reported perception of the tools. In tests of data to determine what led to the most improvement in student scores and what led to students? highest reported levels of satisfaction and perceived value with the course, the short, lab instructor-created videos hosted on YouTube.com were the only significant predictor among all three supplemental learning options. This finding provides broad-based support for ?just-in-time? theories of learning, in which information and help are readily available just as students are seeking that information and extra guidance. Therefore, instructors seeking to improve student performance may serve their students well by preparing materials to facilitate any-time access to course content needed to complete major assignments or prepare for exams. But there is a caveat to simply making any form of content available online or available any-time, any-place. This study advances the theory of always-available resources and learner-centered environments by further refining what type of media stimulates the most improvement in performance. The answer, in part, seems to hinge on what is most appealing to students (video plus audio, shorter material, content geared toward assignment specifics rather than broad-based lectures), and warrants future study.