2/01/02

Geography 100. That looks like a good course to knock out my Bachelor of Science requirement. Easy, right? The number did say 100. But now I have to remember global pressure zones atmospheric pressure inches mercury millibars latitude longitude Hadley cells doldrums horse latitudes and yeah. This class had me in over my head until Megan Elder's smiling face walked into CHIE 129 and promised a strong advantage in the course: Supplemental Instruction.

The fail rate for this deceptively Mickey Mouse course is staggering. Supplemental Instruction (or SI) offers a risk-free, involved and casual environment that could help me bring my letter grade in the course up at least an entire letter grade. Megan did warn us it would mean less than two hours out of my week. After weeks of grueling self-sacrifice (not hardly) I can already tell a difference.

Supplemental Instruction leaders are students who have already taken the course and done extremely well in it. After a short orientation session, SI leaders find out the best times for most students to attend an SI session. Normally this will be later in the day.

The sessions meet about twice a week. Students can study with each other and participate in activities that test the students before the professor does. The SI leader knows what's up the prof's sleeve because s/he is in constant contact with the professor. Megan normally attends our MWF Geography class in order to determine what to work on Monday and Wednesday nights.

Sometimes I even get the luxury of learning something before students who don't attend SI do. Dr. Woodward has a very straight-forward teaching style and concepts like the direction of surface winds were only more reinforced by Megan's dwelling on these concepts two nights before.

SI sessions are available for sections of astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology and economics as well. The SI website lists the times SI is held. If you're in a class that offers these sessions, I can't begin to tell you how much SI has helped me so far. Go to these 50-minute meetings even if you think you've got a good handle on the coursework. You'll be very, very glad you did.