Ashley Pham Named 2016 Outstanding Supplemental Instruction Leader

What’s a biology student doing teaching chemistry supplemental instruction sessions? LSU senior Ashley Pham, recipient of this year’s Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire Outstanding Supplemental Instruction Leader Award, asked herself the same question when the instructor of her general chemistry class, Dr. Elzbieta Cook, suggested she become a chemistry supplemental instruction (SI) leader.

The SI program is just one of the many programs implemented by the Center for Academic Success, or CAS, to help LSU students succeed. SI leaders hold sessions, meet with professors and provide office hours to help students excel in their courses. 

“It’s kind of funny, because I came into college my freshman year loving biology and having a sour attitude towards chemistry,” said Pham.  That all changed when she took a class taught by an instructor in the chemistry department whom her sister highly recommended, Elzbieta Cook.

Pham said that Cook genuinely cared about student learning. While taking Cook’s class, Pham’s relationship with chemistry began to change.

“She really made me fall in love with the subject matter,” said Pham. “She teaches you how to think critically and analyze a lot of things. She really set the standard for the rest of my college classes.”

By the end of the course, Pham was one of Cook’s star students. It was then that Cook asked Pham if she could recommend her to CAS, just in case they needed any extra supplemental instructors.

Next semester when Pham checked her email, she had a message from CAS asking her if she was interested in the position. The rest is history.

Initially, Pham did not know what she was getting herself into. The SI leader position was a lot of work. SI leaders have to go to the classes they’re supplementing, meet with the professors and provide bi-weekly review sessions for the classes.

“It’s very time consuming, but very rewarding,” said Pham.

There’s nothing Pham appreciates more than watching students progress or receiving emails from students when they do well on a test. Despite all her success as a SI leader, Pham still credits a lot her knowledge to Cook.

“She’s hard, but she’s fair. As hard as she is, she really wants her students to understand and think critically because a lot of what you learn in her class, you’ll use in future classes and on future tests like the MCAT,” said Pham.

Likewise, Cook had nothing but glowing remarks about cook and her work as an SI leader.

 “With every passing semester, Ashley amazed me with her enthusiasm, creativity, and work ethics. She was truly my partner in the course (CHEM 1201), one who both complemented my skills and mitigated my many faults. Ashley’s teaching and tutoring skills serve as a testament to the great training CAS provides to the SI leaders,” said Cook.

Pham recently realized that she wasn’t the only one impacted by Cook’s class.

Many of the science supplemental instructors have had Dr. Cook as an instructor at one point in their academic career, including the past winners of the Outstanding Supplemental Instruction Leader award and one international winner.

This year, Pham is not a supplemental instructor leader, but an observation leader. She is responsible for supervising current SI leaders and helping guide them through the supplemental instruction process.

For someone who’s been a SI leader for over two years, Pham feels like she’s in the perfect position to help evaluate current SI leaders.

“I love the people I work with,” said Pham. “Everyone is determined and ambitious. We constantly encourage each other.”

With a year left of coursework, and graduation coming up in December, Pham has looked back on all the good times she has had at LSU. For her, there’s only one way to describe her time as a SI leader.

“It has truly been the most rewarding experience I’ve had at LSU.”