Students reading the Chapters before class
I have taught at a College, Academy and Technology school. I noticed that the majority of students do not read the materials before class. At a Technology school one students said that is your job. Am I the only one that has this problem? I once had a Dean tell me to give students a pop quiz and they will start reading the chapters, you should have seen my student reviews for that class.
Ron
Hello Ron,
This sounds eerily familiar. When I first started at a local Tech/Art school I had the same issues. So to get my students to reach the chapters I assigned homework chapters in advance of when I lectured on those chapters in class. The homework assignments were very easy and mostly definition and true/false type questions.
The point value of the homework assignments were extremely small, but seeing those low scores or even zeros was enough to motivate the majority of the class to spend just a little bit of time going through the book so they could score better on the homework.
Later on I incorporated short answer questions into those homework assignments...I hope this helps you somewhat.
I like the approach Andres!
Journaling is another way for students to put their thoughts down on what they read. This could become part of their grade, perhaps as extra credit.
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
I tend assign reading every other day in my classes, to make sure that students actually read the material they have to make something like a small book report on what they read. This means I can get students to read the material and also have them write about the subject tends to help in retention of the information.
I found it to be very effective to assign the students a few pages to read every night, and then when they come in the next day I will quiz them on what they have read. Sometimes I will have them read, and the next day divide them into groups and have them teach the lecture to the rest of the class. I found that this brings them together as a class, and it also helps me as the instructor to see if my students, are comprehending what they are reading. It makes the class more enjoyable for them also.
Hi Katrina!
I think most instructors face the same challenges of students not doing their reading assignments. Maybe we should go back to old high scholl idea of supervised, productive study halls. Mayb ethis would prevent instructors from having to rexplain basic concepts. What do you think?
Good job!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
I'm a new instructor and have a very fast-paced curriculum, therefore little time is available to read during class time. Nonetheless, I have that very same problem with students not being prepared prior to the lecture. I feel that I will have to begin referring students back to the text at times when I spend a great deal of class time re-explaining basic concepts prior to being able to introduce and have them apply more technical ones.
I agree Jane. I teach in a vocational program and students often complain of not having enough time to read outside class. So, we read in class. I use the small group reading/discussion groups and then bring groups back for full class discussion of topic-literature class. I give collaborative writing assignments for groups as well.
I teach in both a core program and an elective. In the core program I encourage students to read the chapter before the lecture. I even give them the page numbers to read. Very few take advantage of this. In the elective program it is a must and the lectures are geared around the student having a basic understanding of the topic. I can tell you the elective is not only easier to teach for this reason but the students seem to learn better.
Greetings Ron!
I don't think that it is very unusual for students not to be prepared when they come to class. One thing that I have observed is that if you have a few students who are prepared, other students begin to get on the "bandwagon". If this doesn't happen and I have something that I want to be sure that students get to know, we will read in class.
Further, I will put students into groups assigning them sections of the chapter to read and prepare questions to ask other class members. In other words, they students lead the class discussion. This has work really well for me!
Hope this helps?
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
