How Can I Encourage Undergrads to Think about What They Read Before Class?  

Presenter: Ingie Hovland (University of Georgia, Department of Religion) 

Facilitator: Colleen Kuusinen (CTL)

This talk describes an inductive SoTL project on pre-class reading among undergraduate students in a humanities class. I begin with my initial question: How can I encourage students to think about what they read before class? I describe the types of pre-class reading logs I assigned and what my students thought about them. I also discuss how my SoTL question evolved through five “life stages” as I sought to understand students' perspectives. In conclusion, my students thought “making a map” was the most useful tool for helping them understand what they read before class. I argue this can be translated into a broader concept of “making-while-reading” that can also be useful to instructors in other disciplines.

The SoTL Working Group is open to all UMass instructors with an interest in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.