{"id":9958,"date":"2023-09-15T15:09:50","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T20:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/adamscenter\/?p=9958"},"modified":"2023-09-15T15:09:50","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T20:09:50","slug":"supporting-students-in-college-level-reading-what-we-know-about-reading-and-classroom-strategies-for-academic-reading-success-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/adamscenter\/2023\/09\/15\/supporting-students-in-college-level-reading-what-we-know-about-reading-and-classroom-strategies-for-academic-reading-success-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Supporting Students in College-level Reading: What We Know About Reading and Classroom Strategies for Academic Reading Success, part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Faculty regularly express concern about the struggles many students encounter when reading and engaging with course reading materials. This weakness, combined with an unwillingness to read class materials, makes it even more difficult for students to engage your course material. This first session in a two part series introduced research from Dr. Jenae Cohn, Dr. Naomi S. Baron, and Dr. Maryanne Wolf about reading myths students believe; what research shows to be true about comprehension; and how the medium affects comprehension, compliance, and interest in reading.<\/span><\/p>\n

Students often believe things to be true about reading academic texts that are not accurate. Among the most common misconceptions is that for the same amount of material, digital reading should take less time than reading print on paper. College students also think that listening to the audio of a text while reading along in print is for little children or those with accommodations, but in reality, this is a very helpful comprehension aid. Students regularly assert that reading a book is more boring than reading on a screen and many believe that watching a video of content is a better method for learning than reading the content. Unfortunately, video shallowing happens, flattening out the content in a video and creating lower comprehension. Most people\u2019s brains are trained to multitask while watching TV or a video and this carries over to viewing academic content as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

What do we know to be true about college-level reading? Prior knowledge matters a lot when it comes to comprehension. The more an instructor can scaffold and build prior knowledge, the better the students will comprehend the assigned reading. Similarly, students need scaffolding and instruction on <\/span>how<\/b> to read a particular reading or watch a video. Assuming students will know how to read a passage or watch a video for deep comprehension may set you up for disappointment. We know that multitasking does not result in the best learning, but Cohn and Baron reminded readers that taking compliance into consideration might force us to accept that students often read while watching TV or listening to chatter in a coffee shop. If the choice is students reading in a less than ideal environment or not reading at all, maybe a little multitasking is acceptable! Finally, students often think of a reading assignment as passive rather than something they will actively do for a class. Students tend to complete assignments better than readings. One solution is to create an assignment asking students to <\/span>do <\/b>something as they read a chapter or article rather than simply assigning a reading.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The following tips are a collection from Cohn, Baron, and Wolf\u2019s books.<\/span><\/p>\n