We investigated students' academic achievement in three highenrollment, introductory-level history sections at a large, public, Hispanic-serving university. Using a conditional indirect-effects model, we analyzed supplemental instruction (SI) attendance and class absences as predictors of course success, after accounting for sex, ethnicity/race, and SAT/ACT scores. Results suggested a positive direct effect of SI attendance on course success and a negative direct effect of absences. A significant interaction effect between ethnicity/race and SI suggested that Hispanic students reaped stronger benefits from SI than Caucasian students, and that the course achievement gap between these groups was smaller when students attended more hours of SI. Our study contributes new findings to research supporting the effectiveness of SI by examining mediation and moderation effects and controlling for confounding variables.Large-section introductory core courses that have low course success rates can be a major stumbling block for students. It is, therefore, critical to investigate interventions that can help students succeed in these courses. The particular introductory history course that was the focus of this study was a core curriculum
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.