Supplemental instruction is a form of student-led mentorship, where senior students support new students in their learning. The pedagogical model is based on student-student interaction and collaborative learning, with the intention to increase students’ critical thinking and increase student achievement grade in complex subjects (Barrineau & Anderson, 2018). Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a model that is spread throughout the world, within various universities and respective faculties (Santa et al., 2004). Among several universities, the SI program is conducted at Uppsala University and Method supervisors are trained at the European center for SI-PASS at Lund University.
The present study is based on a thematic analysis of weekly reports composed by active SI-leaders at Uppsala university. The purpose is to evaluate the academic development and leadership qualities in peer-learning instances that are described in such reports. Special attention is paid to the development of the SI-leaders problem-solving and solutions to the various adversities that may be experienced in a study circle (Rowe, 1974; Ogle, 1986; Kletzien & Baloche, 1994). Other aspects that have been focused on are the successive development of interactive activities during the semester, and the improvement in communication between SI-leaders and students (Barkley et al., 2014). It has been evaluated how the pedagogical model is applied within different disciplines and how it is shaped according to the respective needs of each subject. Results have been compared between students who are in their first semester as SI leaders with those who are in their second or third semester. Also, individual strategies among SI leaders have been taken into account, such as the SI leader’s preferences of different methods to check students’ understanding of the subject, etc.
The most important aspect of the SI methodology is the ability of the SI leaders to redirect questions, in order to achieve the goal of SI-PASS, to increase students critical thinking and activate student interaction during the session. This is an aspect that has been evaluated in the SI-leaders weekly reports, in order to detect how its evolution is related to the experience and successive interaction with students through different types of activities related to pedagogical strategies within the SI-PASS model