Getting Students To Do Assigned Readings

Peter Henry — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 13:05:30 -0600

Here's a topic highly germane to classroom practice, particularly in Humanities.

So, you have a text that you want students to read. It's good and important content, likely the heart of what you want them to learn.

Yet, you come to class and you can tell, using your well-honed teacher's antennae, that almost no one has done the reading.

What went wrong?

Likely, everything. Starting from the fact that most kids have a ton of things vying for their attention on a daily basis. Whether it is working, sports, music, cell phones, instant messaging, videos, the internet, TV, partying or hanging out at the Mall, young people have more to do, more they want to do and less time than ever.

East Carolina University

East Carolina University

Getting Students To Do Assigned Readings