Supplemental Instruction and critical thinking. In SI, academic and critical thinking skills are developed within the framework of regular core curriculum courses. Supporters of SI contend study skills cannot be easily taught in isolation from course content. It is a position similar to the one held by some theorists who affirm general critical thinking skills cannot be developed in isolation from a specific context.
SI taps the otherwise natural and uninterrupted process of inquiry.
Inquiry begins when some aspect of the subject matter is unsettling, problematic, or just not understood. Critical thinking is employed when knowledge is uncertain. It may also be that peer-facilitated study sessions encourage students to go beyond blindly accepting material as unquestionably clear and settled. Presumptuous clarity serves to paralyze thought. Genuine inquiry recognizes no disciplinary boundaries, nor does it limit itself to mechanical processes.