Teaching Tip: Getting students to do the reading
By: Barbara Millis
October 25th, 2007
Not as many students do their assigned readings as we would like. Try some of these techniques to get your students “in the books”:
- Explain to your students at the beginning of a course that you do not lecture on everything in the assigned readings. Tell them that the lectures will be much more interesting if they are not just lists of details the students can read for themselves.
- Following through by testing students on required reading material.
- Using the book frequently in class is also important. Have your students turn to the charts, graphs, and tables in the book when lecturing rather than using the transparencies or Power Point slides provided by the publisher. This will encourage them to have their texts on hand.
- Point out the book’s pedagogical features. Guide the class through reading a short section and then have them answer the questions at the end.
(Source: Denise R. Boyd, Psychological Science, http://www.psychologicalscience.org)
One comment on “Teaching Tip: Getting students to do the reading”
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Another teaching strategy to motivate students to complete assigned readings is to ask them to participate in a online discussion before class that would be difficult to participate in if they had not done the readings beforehand.
Online self-tests and/or quizzes in WebCampus could also provide motivation.
Jill Wallace
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