Support Our Students (SOS) Program
The SOS (Support our Students) Program, which is unique to FDU - Teaneck, was established in 1990, under the guidance of Dr. Richard Bronson of the School of Mathematics and Computer Science. The SOS program is designed to enhance the academic performance of all students - it is not a remedial program. Many disciplines within University College have courses that are taught using a SOS format. These notes will be confined to SOS courses within the School of Natural Sciences (SONS).
Features of the SOS Program
Two of the key characteristics of SOS are "Structure" and "Support".
Structure
Reinforcement of classroom material and very close monitoring of student performance are important features of SOS. The following items are generic descriptions of the various "structural" components of SOS.
- Quizzes
During the semester, students take a total of eight Quizzes. The best six of these quizzes are retained, and these constitute the student's "quiz evaluative measure. During weeks when students have an hourly exam in a SOS course no quiz is given in that course during
that week. Graded quizzes are returned to the students very promptly. - Homework Assignments
Fully graded homework assignments are given throughout the semester. Graded papers are returned very promptly to the students. Late assignments are not accepted. - Group Study
Group study is approached differently for different courses. These sessions are held once each week at no additional cost to students. Working, in groups, students solve problem sets. Each student's problem set is fully graded, and the graded papers are returned promptly to the students. Late assignments are not accepted.- General Chemistry Group Study
SOS group study activities are scheduled as a fifty minute additions to the day General Chemistry laboratory periods. Every student taking General Chemistry lecture during the day, is required to participate in a SOS study group. During group study sessions, students, working in small groups of 3 or 4 students, are given problem sets to solve. The group study sessions are designed to have students assist each other in solving problem sets. Efforts are made to integrate the problems appearing on quizzes, homework and group study. There is constant reinforcement of the lecture material. Each student must submit a separate answer sheet, and late assignments are not accepted. Faculty members monitoring the group study sessions can discuss general problem solving strategies or give generic guidance to the students, but this is the extent of a Faculty member's involvement. Faculty members may change the composition of the groups if a particular group is ineffective. It is important to emphasize that the grades received in the group study sessions are a component of each student's lecture grade. - Physics Group Study
Physics also has a group study session, but the session is held early in the morning prior to the start of regularly scheduled classes.
- General Chemistry Group Study
- Hourly Examinations
Each SOS course has four hourly exams given during the semester. The exam period is from 8:00 am to 8:50 am. Students are permitted to start at 7:30 am so as to have additional time in which to complete the "hourly" exam. Each exam constitutes an "evaluative measure" towards a student's final grade. - Lecture Outlines
SOS Instructors are required to distribute a lecture outline at the beginning of each lecture period. These outlines assist students in taking class notes. - Grading Policy
The SOS grading policy may differ slightly for one SOS course to another. The grading scheme used in SOS General Chemistry is as follows:Evaluative Measure
Points
Hourly Exam #1
100 points
Hourly Exam #2
100 points
Hourly Exam #3
100 points
Hourly Exam #4
100 points
Quizzes
100 points
Homework
100 points
Group Study
100 points
Final Exam
100 points
Final Exam
100 points
Note that there are nine evaluative measures and the Final Exam counts as two measures. In determining the final grade, one evaluative measure is dropped. If the Final exam is the lowest evaluative measure, it will count as 100 points rather than 200 points. Thus, the total number of points that a student can earn is eight hundred.
Support
- Early morning exam periods to provide additional time for exams. Free breakfasts, which may consist of coffee, juice, bagels, donuts, and muffins, are given to the students prior to the hourly exams.
- Detailed Assessment Reports indicating grade averages, praise for doing well, and specific suggestions for improving performance, are distributed to each student after each hourly exam.
- Recognition of Achievement
- Mid-semester gift for those students doing "B" or better work.
- Outing (e.g., trip to local restaurant) for students with an "A" average at the three- quarter point of the semester.
Although most SOS courses follow the same general framework, there are some variations regarding quizzes, homework, and group study. These variations are indicated in the following table.
SOS Course | Quizzes | Homework | Group Study |
General Biology I and II | Y | N | N |
General Chemistry I and II | Y | Y | Y |
Organic Chemistry I and II | Y | Y | N |
General Physics I and II | Y | Y | Y |
Results for the SOS program have been very encouraging. Student failure rates have decreased dramatically without any lowering of academic standards.
