Learning Strategies, Study Skills, & Paired Courses - College ...

Supplemental Instruction and Paired Courses
Description
Students in the Student Support Services Program (SSSP), a federally funded TRIO Program for
first-generation, low-income and disabled students, are enrolled in a non-credit, semester-long
study skills or critical reading course paired with history or social studies. The study skills
instructor attends the academic course lectures, liaisons with the instructor, and conducts
modified Supplemental Instruction (SI) in the study skills class one day a week. This SI differs
from the national model in that it is the instructor, not a peer, who attends the class. Also,
attendance at SI is not voluntary for students.
The advantage is that students not only receive instruction in study strategies, they see the
strategies modeled, and have guided practice in applying them directly to a credit-bearing course.
Additional Recommendations
Since SSSP students are at very high academic risk, individual sessions with peer tutors or the
instructor are recommended for students who continue to have difficulty dealing with course
content. Also, additional test preparation sessions should be made available on a voluntary basis.
Contributor
Gladys R. Shaw, Director Student Support Services Program, University of
Texas at El Paso, TX (grshaw@utep.edu)
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