Students’ lack of completing assigned readings or preparing for classroom activities is a common complaint of faculty members everywhere. Here are a few suggestions for improving students’ readiness for learning.

  • Explain how specific readings relate to course competencies.
  • Make the course content – including assigned readings and out-of-class readings – relevant to students’ lives and futures.
  • Students may not know how to read a textbook effectively. Model reading techniques in class and provide information about tutoring and other campus resources to assist them.
  • Provide direction for reading assignments: tell students what to look for, what questions to answer, what they should learn from the reading.
  • Assign a one page outline for each reading assignment and collect before beginning the class. One exam day, redistribute the outlines for students to use on their tests.
  • Have students email you with questions about the reading prior to class. Count the messages as part of their class participation grade.
  • Post a question about the reading to a discussion board that students need to reply to before class. Use the online conversation as a basis for in-class discussion. Again, count messages as part of their class participation grade.
  • Vary course materials – include chapters from the text, but also journal, magazine, and newspaper articles; essays; movies; and tv shows.
  • Use the assigned readings in class – make explicit references to the text during class presentations, but don’t simply restate the content.
  • Most sources indicate that if the professor teaches as though students have read, students will quickly realize that coming to class prepared is essential.

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