Motivating Students to Complete Pre-class Readings

Defining the Issue

It is a challenge to facilitate learning when close to 70% of students have not read assigned class readings. On any given day, only 30% of students complete assigned pre-class readings (Bhavsar, 2020; Hoeft,
2012).

Reasons for non-compliance with reading assignments:

• Inadequate reading comprehension.
• Time constraints, other priorities.
• Lack of interest in assigned readings.
• No student-to-student interaction surrounding readings.
• No accountability for completing pre-class reading assignments

Strategies and Tips

1. Rethink Syllabus Reading Lists

• Use learning outcomes to determine eading expectations and load.
• Go through the syllabus; make sure that all reading assignments are there for a purpose—tied to learning outcomes.
• Consider the various reading ability levels represented in your class. Choose readings within the cognitive reach of the majority of students.
• Entice students to read. Expand the boundaries of reading; include different kinds of readings and media.
• Make reading and media materials available online through the library for easy access.
• Less is more; assign short reading assignments. Keep in mind OSU Credits- Definitions and Guidelines.

2. Use Transparency

Clarify the relevance of pre-class reading assignment: Use the learning-focused assignment rubric to assess clarity:

• Purpose: Explain the knowledge and skills will students gain.
• Task: Delineate steps that students should take to complete the assignment.
• Criteria: Share the rubrics or checklists for assessing student work.
• Use friendly instructions to show students why it is important to do the readings; make connection to real-world applications.
• Communicate in advance how readings will be used in class. Tie out-of-class readings to in-class instructions.
• Use interactive diealogue to elicit student's perspective on imporantance of completeing reading assignments.

3. Support Deep Reading

• Provide guides or handouts and implement activities to foster deep reading.
• Use the (GSSW): Gather, Sort, Shrink, and Wrap method.
• Incorporate index card reflections, primary and secondary reaction discussion, or Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) to assess understanding.
• Think aloud; demonstrate how you make sense of complex reading materials.
• Provide brief chapter summary videos to walk students through the reading. Avoid rehashing the material.
• Engage students in low stakes pre-writing activities.

4. Build Community Through Peer-to-Peer Interactions

• Use structured reading circle groups. Assign students rotating roles.
• Have students share Question, Quotation, or Comment (QQC) responses in small groups.
• Use the paired reading response or the discussion facilitation task approach

5. Require Accountability

Tie reading assignments to a portion of course grade:

• Use quizzes to increase student engagement with reading materials.
• Alternatively, turn the quiz into a questionnaire. Ask students to respond to questions about the reading material:
  • Which parts they grasped easily.
  • Which parts they struggled to understand.
  • The question raised by the reading for example, “What one question would you like me to answer about the reading?”
• Use reading assignments for instance, Classroom Preparation Assignments (CPA), to get students to come to class prepared, and to stimulate class discussion

References

Bhavsar, V. M. (2020). A transparent assignment to encourage reading for a flipped course. College Teaching, 68(1), 33-44.

Hoeft, M. E. (2012). Why university students don’t read: What professors can do to increase compliance. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 6(2), 1-19.