Comments on: When Students Don’t Do the Reading http://www.teachingprofessor.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/when-students-don%e2%80%99t-do-the-reading A teaching and learning conference. Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:17:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: DG http://www.teachingprofessor.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/when-students-don%e2%80%99t-do-the-reading/comment-page-1#comment-842 DG Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:56:55 +0000 http://www.teachingprofessor.com/teaching-and-learning/when-students-don%e2%80%99t-do-the-reading#comment-842 I came up with a simple solution to the problem. I recalled from my school days that some teachers gave quizzes on the reading material. Even when I didn't feel particularly motivated to read the material, it somehow got me into it. So now, with my grad students, I give several "pop quizzes" with questions they'd have great difficulty answering without having read the material and it really seems to do the trick. I came up with a simple solution to the problem. I recalled from my school days that some teachers gave quizzes on the reading material. Even when I didn’t feel particularly motivated to read the material, it somehow got me into it. So now, with my grad students, I give several “pop quizzes” with questions they’d have great difficulty answering without having read the material and it really seems to do the trick.

]]> By: Dispersemos http://www.teachingprofessor.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/when-students-don%e2%80%99t-do-the-reading/comment-page-1#comment-50 Dispersemos Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:52:00 +0000 http://www.teachingprofessor.com/teaching-and-learning/when-students-don%e2%80%99t-do-the-reading#comment-50 @LGD. The expectation seems perfectly reasonable to me. If the reading is required to fulfill a course outcome and the students don't complete the reading, they fail to achieve the outcome.<br/><br/>If grades are not sufficient motivation (as I believe they are often not, especially in required courses), then it seems that students may need help buying into the course outcomes. A key question for me is: How to get students on board with course goals from the start so that there is intrinsic motivation to do the work? <br/><br/>It's a huge challenge, but I think getting students to develop intrinsic motivation makes the most difference in their willingness to do things like course readings. @LGD. The expectation seems perfectly reasonable to me. If the reading is required to fulfill a course outcome and the students don’t complete the reading, they fail to achieve the outcome.

If grades are not sufficient motivation (as I believe they are often not, especially in required courses), then it seems that students may need help buying into the course outcomes. A key question for me is: How to get students on board with course goals from the start so that there is intrinsic motivation to do the work?

It’s a huge challenge, but I think getting students to develop intrinsic motivation makes the most difference in their willingness to do things like course readings.

]]> By: LGD http://www.teachingprofessor.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/when-students-don%e2%80%99t-do-the-reading/comment-page-1#comment-48 LGD Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:55:00 +0000 http://www.teachingprofessor.com/teaching-and-learning/when-students-don%e2%80%99t-do-the-reading#comment-48 OK, call me out of touch with the latest research, but I expect my students to do the reading ahead of class for several reasons--<br/><br/>so that I _don't_ have to review it in class;<br/><br/>because I have only enough time in class to skim over the reading content if they haven't done the reading;<br/><br/>so that class discussion can follow up in depth with one or more of the key points from the reading that I want to stress. Especially if that discussion is the basis for the next step in the class outcomes.<br/><br/>Now even after the first few times that the students find out that we can't proceed further unless they have done the reading, and even after their assignment grades reveal that the reading would have been helpful, they still won't do the reading.<br/><br/>Now what? OK, call me out of touch with the latest research, but I expect my students to do the reading ahead of class for several reasons–

so that I _don’t_ have to review it in class;

because I have only enough time in class to skim over the reading content if they haven’t done the reading;

so that class discussion can follow up in depth with one or more of the key points from the reading that I want to stress. Especially if that discussion is the basis for the next step in the class outcomes.

Now even after the first few times that the students find out that we can’t proceed further unless they have done the reading, and even after their assignment grades reveal that the reading would have been helpful, they still won’t do the reading.

Now what?

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