When Students Don't Do the Reading, What Can You Do?
We love it when students come to class well-prepared, engaged by the material, and ready to learn. But what happens when they don't do the reading? What can you do aside from giving (still more) quizzes, or dismissing the students to come back another day, or (shudder!) assigning less reading (lowering your standards)?
The Resources listed below offer some terrific suggestions. Take a look; try one; and share the results by emailing me (Cheryl Spector). With your express permission, I'll post a summary of what you did and how well it worked to address your classroom challenge.
Photo credit:
Katia Kelly at www.pardonmeforasking.blogspot.com
Resources:
- Barbara Gross Davis, "Motivating Students." Tools for Teaching. Scroll down to the section "Motivating Students to Do the Reading."
- Eric Hobson, Getting Students to Read: Fourteen Tips (.pdf file). This is paper #40 at The Idea Center. With 14 tips, surely at least ONE will be useful.
- John Immerwahr, "Reading Assignments." Teach Philosophy 101. 21 Apr. 2009.
- Jennifer Romack, "Enhancing Students’ Readiness to Learn." The Teaching Professor, 27 Sep. 2006. An instant classic by a CSUN faculty member. This article is quite brief; it's also easily adapted to suit your own courses.
- Cindy Wallace and Joni Webb Petschauer. "Admit/Exit Cards." Instructor's Resource Manual and Test Bank to Accompany Power Learning by Robert S. Feldman. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. 149. In essence: have students write their names on a 3x5 card along with something (you decide what) drawn from or about the day's assigned reading. (Such as: a key quote copied verbatim on one side, and their description of why it matters on the other side; or, a question they have about the reading). Only students with the card in hand are admitted to class on the day or days you collect them. But they should prepare a card for EVERY class. (They do have to buy 3x5 cards but as these are readily available and cheap, that shouldn't be a problem.) Exit cards are another variation but they don't work as well as Admit cards when the aim is getting students to complete the reading in advance of class.
- From Maryellen Weimer at The Teaching Professor: "When Students Don't Do the Reading." Posted 20 Nov. 2008.
- Rob Weir, "They Don't Read!" Instant Mentor, Inside Higher Education, 13 Nov 2009. Accessed 17 Nov 2009.
- Kiren Dosanjh Zucker (Faculty Development at CSUN) offers this suggestion, adapted from a 2003 ALSB conference presentation by Andrea Giampetro-Meyer, Law & Social Responsibility Department, Loyola University, Maryland: "Whether you already take attendance in class or not, add in a second form of attendance: the 'Participation' sign-in sheet. By signing the Participation Sheet, students indicate they are prepared for class--they have completed the assigned reading--and are ready to answer questions you will pose during the class session." Whatever point system or approach you devise for the Participation Sheet, Kiren recommends that it be clearly explained in the course syllabus and consistently applied. If you add this system in mid-semester, make sure that you give students advance notice (both in print and electronically) of the change. Ideally, you would have included in the course syllabus a statement that it is subject to change. Benefits: you can expect students who sign the Participation Sheet to be able to answer at least basic and introductory questions about the material. Students who don't sign get no participation points. You get a higher level of discussion (in theory). Kiren adds that you can also deduct points for people who sign the Participation Sheet but who in fact clearly are not prepared (a judgement call: you make the call).