The workshop program was started about seven years ago with funding from the NIH to improve student success in science classes-biology, math, chemistry and physics, by providing focused, high quality interactive learning situations to reinforce students understanding of material presented in the science lecture courses. Our goal is to provide an environment that enables students to pose questions, examine and explore logical approaches to solve problems and communicate succinct solutions in a comfortable, relaxed environment.. Our workshop instructors are committed to student success, excited about science and enjoy the thrills of thinking about and solving challenging questions.

To create this environment we work with small groups of students (20), which not only promotes good student-instructor interactions but also encourages student interactions, which are invaluable for learning.

In the time since the workshop program began, the number of workshops currently offered has almost tripled to meet student demand. Outside evaluations of this program suggests that students who attend workshops raise their grades by ~ one-half grade unit in comparison to their counterparts who do not attend and increases student retention.