Embedded instructional support within a college-level course as an alternative to remediation

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description

A course-design pattern in which underprepared students are enrolled directly in a college-level course that embeds added instructional time and support rather than being routed into remedial courses. In this study, General Chemistry-IS covered "typical content taught in a freshman-level chemistry course" while requiring weekly 1.25-hour TA-led sessions with small groups of 12 students (maximum), focused on problem-solving practice. The pattern aligns with reform recommendations to integrate underprepared students into college-level content courses while providing additional support.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

• Weekly instructional sessions led by trained TAs, adding 1.25 hours to the weekly course time
• TAs receive substantial training prior to the semester (a 15-hour initial training period in this study)

Constraints

• The study design did not permit analysis of which aspects of the treatment were effective
• Applicability demonstrated at a single institution with students underprepared in math

Target Learners

• College students identified as academically underprepared in mathematics

Learning Goals

• Succeed in a college-level general chemistry course without prior remediation

Claims

• Underprepared students in embedded-support chemistry showed no statistically significant difference from college-ready peers on overall common-question results [+W]
• Late Semester Underprepared Outperform College Ready [+M]

Related Designs

Examples

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Key Sources

• Hesser, T. L., & Gregory, J. L. (2016). Instructional Support Sessions in Chemistry: Alternative to Remediation. Journal of Developmental Education, 39(3). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1104364

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	design
id	embedded-support-alternative-to-remediation-pattern
title	Embedded instructional support within a college-level course as an alternative to remediation
description	A course-design pattern in which underprepared students are enrolled directly in a college-level course that embeds added instructional time and support rather than being routed into remedial courses.
status	review
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-11-03
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	1 — hesser-2016

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