Course Development

What to Do When Students Don't Read

What To Do When Students Don't Do the Reading
A common observation among college instructors is that their students do not seem particularly motivated to read the assigned readings, especially on a regular basis. Students come to class unprepared, and worse yet many save the readings until the night before the exam. This problem is universal enough that it tends to be a constant source of irritation and frustration for most college faculty, who after conscientiously preparing for class an instructor use to encourage students to come prepared for class having done the assigned readings.

Scaffold Student Work
Help students learn to read efficiently and effectively. Give them a map for what they should be looking for in the readings. A series of questions given out the classroom session before can allow students to identify main and supporting points, understand the author's perspective, and reflect on the ideas as they read.

First Inspire, Then Instruct
Give students reasons to read. This means do more in class than repeat what is in the book. Students learn quickly that if class is dedicated to pouting over the readings and nothing more, there is no reason to prepare in advance.

Incorporate Readings into Class Activity
Use book material in class. Refer to passages in the readings that are particularly explanatory or invite exploration. You can even read aloud. This gives students hints as to the important points in the text, and emphasizes the importance of reading and comprehending.

Promote Active Learning
Assume that students have done the reading. Don't make it easy for students to get by comfortably without doing the reading. Make sure that students who have not done the reading will feel some dissonance&emdash;that they are a bit "out of it" or have missed something important.

Model Student Behavior
Enjoy and value the reading. Make sure that you have done the reading yourself, and that you communicate with students the connections you have made with the readings&emdash;relating your own experiences to the reading, comparing ideas between readings, even expressing doubt or confusion about some of the author's points.

Adapted from "What to Do When the Students Don't Do the Reading," The Teaching Professor 3(4), April 1989.