If an exam determines half the students' grade, it is important to explain what that means. Don't overestimate the level of freshman sophistication concerning the ways of the university. In the SI model, mentorship stands at the center of students' relationship with the SI leader. The leader assumes the mantle of the model student who attends all lectures, takes exemplary notes, and in every way demonstrates the qualities which will assure success in the course. The leader convenes sessions outside class hours.
Students attend voluntarily.
SI produces the most dramatic results in the traditional high risk classes where assistance is available to all students in the class. Improvement in student performance and reduction in attrition rates attest to the overall success of the SI model and the mentorship it embodies. First, the professor must become something more than the dispenser of lectures. That there are multiple educational roles has been known as long as there has been formal education. In recent memory, when education was a prerogative of the privileged classes of society, faculty could elect a single role, that of the writer and lecturer.