Supplemental Instruction Leader receives award at international conference

Jose Martinez-Galvez recently received the Outstanding New SI Leader award at the 13th International Conference on Supplemental Instruction. 

The conference, hosted by the International Center for Supplemental Instruction, took place in Baltimore, Maryland. 

Martinez-Galvez is a linguistics major expecting to graduate with his bachelor’s degree in Spring 2025. He has served as a Supplemental Instruction (SI) leader in the university’s Learning Center since Spring 2023.

Martinez-Galvez (right) with other award recipients

“I was born and raised in the Central Valley,” Martinez-Galvez said. “Coming from an immigrant household, I learned early on from my parents, who both worked tirelessly in the fields, that getting an education was the gateway to better opportunities…Everything I strive to accomplish, I do it to honor my mom and dad, because I owe it to them for having immigrated to the US to give my siblings and I a better life.”

The Learning Center’s Supplemental Instruction program provides students with peer-led group study sessions and office hours outside of the classroom for historically difficult courses. The sessions are facilitated by SI Leaders, students who have passed the course and now collaborate with faculty and attend lectures alongside current students. 

In SI sessions, students work with classmates and their assigned SI leader to develop successful study strategies, exchange creative ideas, gain a better understanding of course material and improve their overall course grade. 

On average, students who participated in SI regularly had a 100 percent passing rate in their class, a significant contrast to the 57 percent passing rate observed among students who did not engage in SI. Students who took advantage of Martinez-Galvez’s SI sessions at least once a week earned a mean grade point average of 3.0 compared to those who did not at 1.60.

“Jose is incredibly innovative and sincerely genuine,” said Mai Kou Vang, Supplemental Instruction coordinator. “Not only is he a driven young man, he approaches SI with passion and dedication. He is open-minded, embraces challenges, and is always willing to learn from others…he took the initiative to understand the needs of his student population and made himself into an SI Leader who can successfully prepare students for the course through the use of innovative activities.”

Martinez-Galvez and SI staff members

Martinez-Galvez traveled to the conference with professional staff members from the Learning Center’s Supplemental Instruction team to receive his award. 

Vang said, “I am extremely proud of Jose for receiving such a prestigious award. He absolutely deserves it. Despite the demanding nature of the SI Leader role, Jose shows up every day with passion, dedication, and always willing to go the extra mile for his students.” 

by MARISA MATA

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