This has been a fascinating discussion - thanks everyone, very thought-provoking. My experience recently has been similar to Tracy's, but in this instance I was working with a professional group,postgraduate mature students, in a session on getting started at pg level. The students raised the question of 'critical thinking' themselves, as something troubling them. They envisaged it as a mysterious hurdle to overcome and doubted their abilities. We spent some time exploring this, very straightforwardly, in terms of thorough exploration of text, forming and asking questions and so forth, much as Tracy did with her students, and there was a strong sense of relief from this (keen) group: as in, 'oh, that's what it is, we can do that'. More and more at induction time, I find myself involved in de-mystifying and confidence building, working to cut down the anxiety levels.
One further thought, a bit of a sideline, drawing on my own experience as a reader. Over the years I have found it more and more difficult to read large quantities of academic text. Working alongside dyslexia advisers, I learnt about scotopic sensitivity (Mears Irlen Syndrome). I now find that printing out text on blue paper makes a big difference; changing screen colour also; and I acquired specially tinted specs for reading. I have no idea how common a phenomenon this is, as this isn't my field, but our Exams Office routinely prints exam papers on coloured paper on request these days. It seems likely to be a factor affecting reading for some students.
Jan
----- Original Message -----
From: Dr Tracy Johnson <
[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 10:08 am
Subject: Re: Motivating students to read
To:
[log in to unmask]> Further to Martin's point about modelling critical reading, I
> agree that
> students really benefit from getting help with basic critical
> thinking
> techniques. I encountered a very motivated history
> undergraduate in a
> workshop I was running last week on reading skills. He
> reads everything
> required for seminar preparation but feels that he isn't sure
> how to get
> the best out of it. Fundamentally, he felt that he didn't
> know 'how' to
> read in a critical way that would help him make more of a
> contribution to
> discussions. I spent a lot of time in that workshop
> getting students to
> work out what it means to read analytically and critically, and
> how to go
> about doing this (asking questions, breaking points down, making
> comparisons, summarising arguments in their own words
> etc.). One younger
> student then complained that I sounded like 'Supernanny' (!) in
> that I was
> asking them to devise a method for critical reading and be
> disciplined
> about how they went about their studies, but the history student
> said that
> he'd realised it was a question of taking a more thorough
> approach and that
> there was no 'magic bullet', as he put it.
>
> I see a lot of students in these general study skills workshops
> who think
> there is some 'mystery' involved in deciphering academic work,
> and who seem
> to lack the basic tools for the job. However, while they need to
> be
> supported in developing a critical approach to study, they do
> also need to
> develop a more positive attitude towards putting in the work
> needed to be
> properly analytical. In my previous role as a lecturer in
> English
> Literature, I was very taken aback by a student who had reached
> the final
> year of her degree who confessed to me at the end of a seminar
> that she had
> enjoyed the work despite the fact that she 'really wasn't much
> of a
> reader'...
>
> Tracy Johnson
>
> --On 27 February 2007 18:17 +0000 Martin Hampton
> <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > I too quite agree with the points in your sample answer, Kate. Some
> > students might also be motivated by:
> >
> > a) (as part, as you said, of making the prep "necessary and
> > purposeful") having an explicit mini-task associated
> with the reading
> > i.e. not just 'read this' but 'read this and come to the
> seminar with
> > three words describing how it made you feel / a bare-bones
> summary of
> > not more than 25 words / a visual summary / something you'd
> ask the
> > writer if you met them / an object that in some way represents
> something> from the text (and if you don't bring one you have to
> choose from a
> > mystery lucky dip and relate it to the article on the spot!)
> etc etc
> > etc
> >
> > b) (especially for new students) having seminar activity (when there
> > has clearly been pre-reading) modelled (e.g. in a short
> video), so that
> > expectations are clear (and, hopefully, the value of prepared
> > participation is also clear)
> >
> > c) having (critical) reading modelled, especially in a way that
> > demonstrates that it need not be dull and arduous, but that it
> can be
> > done in small chunks, and actively, and using skimming and scanning
> > techniques
> >
> > d) encouraging consideration of the wider and longer-term
> personal and
> > professional benefits of this kind of preparation e.g. how will
> > developing the skill of efficient prep impact on job chances? what
> > explicit 'CV' skills does this kind of prep relate to? what
> kinds of
> > personal development can doing this kind of prep facilitate?
> As with all
> > curriculum requirements, clear links to PDP seem to motivate some
> > students (though probably a small minority) more effectively than
> > course-related incentives.
> >
> > Lastly: have tutors considered requiring much less preparatory
> reading?> 'Too few students do it!" must be an extremely
> widespread and
> > longstanding complaint, I reckon. If you were trying to knock
> nails into
> > bricks, and in thousands of attempts it hadn't really worked (even
> > though you'd like it to), you'd reach for a drill. On the whole,
> > students are not evil, lazy so-and-sos intent on wrecking our
> teaching,> just as the nails are not trying to frustrate the
> hammer-wielder. If too
> > many don't do the reading, perhaps a different tool needs to
> be used.
> >
> > That's quite enough of that dodgy analogy!
> >
> > Martin Hampton
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >>>> Kate Smith <
[log in to unmask]> 27/02/2007 16:22 >>>
> > Dear All
> >
> >
> >
> > One issue that lecturers have brought up several times at our
> PG Cert.
> > in Learning and Teaching in HE sessions and in informal
> discussion is
> > the difficulty in getting some students to 'do the reading' before
> > they
> > attend seminars and how their failure to do this impacts on their
> > ability/willingness to participate. We would like to
> focus on this
> > issue in next week's session with lecturers. I have
> pasted below an
> > example of the kind of advice that I have given and would be
> > interested
> > in your comments and further suggestions, including references
> of any
> > articles or books that tackle this issue well.
> >
> >
> >
> > "My suggestions would be to design the seminar activity so that
> > students
> > need to have completed the reading to be able to take
> part. You might
> > randomly select individuals to present a 1 min summary of their
> > corporate report so that they need to do the preparation - this
> > experience would be enough to encourage some students to do
> the work
> > to
> > avoid having to 'wing it' again. Students generally don't like
> to be
> > seen to be letting each other down so if they were working in groups
> > and
> > some hadn't done the prep necessary to complete the group task this
> > might serve to highlight that they are letting fellow students down.
> > These interventions aren't intended to humiliate individuals, just
> > make
> > the prep necessary and purposeful. If it isn't, why do it? It
> may put
> > some students off coming to the seminar if they haven't
> prepared, but
> > that is a different issue.
> >
> >
> >
> > Also, are you sure that they know what is expected and are
> able to
> > carry
> > out the task? You might ask them to check. You might also re-
> state the
> > expectations of the seminar/module or negotiate what they need to
> > prepare in order for you to run a useful session and establish a
> > contract letting them know that this prep is their responsibility.
> > Have
> > you asked the group in general why they haven't done the prep? E.g.
> > "It's clear that some of you haven't prepared for this session
> by....> I'm interested to know why that is." Then
> negotiate accordingly, if
> > at
> > all.
> >
> >
> >
> > Finally, do those who have done the work feel their effort is
> valued,> are they thanked for their contribution? If the session
> is sabotaged
> > by
> > those (majority or minority?) that haven't done the prep,
> those that
> > have won't bother in future, unless you make their effort worthwhile
> > by
> > rewarding them with a session that allows them to make use of their
> > prep."
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks in advance.
> >
> >
> >
> > Kate
> >
> > Kate Smith
> > Education Development Projects Manager
> > Learning and Teaching Development Unit
> > Ext. 65801
> > http://intranet.brunel.ac.uk/ltdu/
> >
> >
>
>
>
> ----------------------
> Dr Tracy Johnson
> Teaching Support Unit
> University of Bristol
>
[log in to unmask]> 0117 331 7168 (x17168)
>