!

"#$#%&' )*&+#,-
!"# %&'(')*+ ,-*.'/01

Euucatois often iepoit that theii stuuents uon't ieau, anu stuuies have confiimeu that touay's
stuuents spenu little time ieauing anu stuuying (Aium, 2u11).

Theie two issues that affect stuuent ieauing: the skill issue anu the compliance issue. Nany
stuuents, paiticulaily fiist-yeai stuuents, simply uon't know how to ieau ciitically; thioughout high
school, stuuents may have been askeu to ieau only foi infoimation anu may not have expeiience
with "engaging" the assigneu text. This is the 23'++ issue.

Anothei impoitant issue being ieseaicheu is that neaily 7u% of stuuents uo not feel that they neeu
to uo the assigneu ieauing in oiuei to succeeu acauemically (Buichfielu & Sappington, 2uuu;
Bobson, 2uuS; Naishall, 1974; Self, 1987). This is the )456+'*/)- issue.

7"- 83'++ 922:-

To help stuuents leain to ieau ciitically, euucatois can teach the skill.

7-*)" ;:&642- */. 8(&*(-0'-2

!"#$%&' to stuuents that people ieau foi a numbei of uiffeient puiposes, anu that the best ieaueis
aujust theii ieauing 2(&*(-0'-2 to align with theii 6:&642-.

KEY P0INTS

People geneially have one of foui 6:&642-2 foi ieauing:
o to finu specific infoimation
o to get an iuea of what a text is about
o to gain infoimation
o to unueistanuthat is, to engage with anu analyze a text. This lattei stiategy is
often iefeiieu to as )&'(')*+ &-*.'/0
The foui ieauing 2(&*(-0'-2 incluue:
o 8)*//'/0. Scanning is how people typically ieau a phone book. They aie looking foi
a 26-)'<') 6'-)- 4< '/<4&5*('4/ anu they iun theii eyes ovei the text until they spot
what they aie looking foi.
o 83'55'/0= People often skim a text to ueteimine whethei oi not it '/(-&-2(2 them.
Nany people skim newspapei aiticles, ieauing the heauline anu fiist paiagiaph to
ueciue if they aie inteiesteu enough to ieau fuithei. Newspapeis, in fact, aie wiitten
to be skimmeu in that jouinalists aie taught to put the most impoitant infoimation
in the fiist paiagiaph.
o 9/<4&5*('4/ 2--3'/0= People ieau how-to guiues piimaiily foi infoimation. They
may not ieau eveiy woiu closely oi think ueeply about the wiiting; they just want to
->(&*)( ("- :2-<:+ 4& /-)-22*&# '/<4&5*('4/=
o %&'(')*+ &-*.'/0= People ieau 2'0/'<')*/( (->(2 (such as liteiatuie, essays, anu even
love letteis) to unueistanu anu iemembei. They ieau caiefully anu inteiact with
anu question the text. They 2(:.# it.
!"#$%&' to stuuents what ieauing stiategies they shoulu use foi assignments in youi class.
Euucatois may neeu to be veiy specific in theii instiuctions on how to appioach ieauing
assignments.
7-*)" ?4@ (4 ,-*. %&'(')*++#
!"#$%&' that college euucatois usually expect stuuents to stuuy textsto ieau foi unueistanuing
anu ietention.
KEY P0INTS
;&-A'-@'/0. Encouiage stuuents to pieview theii ieauing assignments so they have a
cleai sense of the natuie of what they will be ieauing. Pieviewing helps stuuents be bettei
piepaieu to follow iefeiences, anticipate aiguments, anu unueistanu the topic unuei
uiscussion. They gain a sense of the whole, which will help them bettei unueistanu the
paits anu how they ielate to one anothei. Befoie actually ieauing an assignment, stuuents
shoulu use both skimming anu scanning stiategies to look ovei:

o Chapteis, sections, subheauings
o Illustiations
o Intiouuction
o Conclusion

B//4(*('/0. Tell stuuents that highlighting books is not a paiticulaily useful stiategy anu
that they shoulu insteau annotate what they ieau. Bighlighting uoes not ieally iequiie
much thought, anu stuuents often foiget why they highlighteu a passage when they go back
ovei the text in piepaiation foi an assignment. Annotation iequiies active engagement
with the text. Beie aie some techniques that stuuents can use to annotate text.
o 0nueiline impoitant teims.
o Ciicle uefinitions anu meanings.
o Wiite key woius anu uefinitions in the maigin.
o Signal wheie impoitant infoimation can be founu with key woius oi symbols in the
maigin.
o Wiite shoit summaiies in the maigin at the enu of sub-units.
o Wiite the questions in the maigin next to the section wheie the answei is founu.
o Inuicate steps in a piocess by using numbeis in the maigin.
Alteinatively, stuuents can uevelop theii own system of symbols.
At the enu of this uocument is a sample of an annotateu text fiom the Buntei College
ReauingWiiting Centei that you coulu show stuuents. 0i, bettei yet, annotate a text
youiself (peihaps an eaily ieauing assignment foi the class) to uemonstiate to stuuents
how they shoulu inteiact with the text.
C-'/0 B)('A-+# D/0*0-.= Especially with fiist-yeai stuuents, explain that you aie asking
them to ieau in a way that is quite uiffeient fiom how they piobably ieau in high school.
o They shoulu /4( 5-&-+# *))-6( as tiue eveiything they ieau.
o They shoulu seek to unueistanu the *:("4&E2 6:&642- in wiiting.
o They shoulu engage in a .'*+40:- @'(" ("- *:("4& by annotating, asking questions,
noting the shape of the authoi's aigument, anu so on.
o They shoulu ieau foi a ("4&4:0" :/.-&2(*/.'/0 of the text.

8:55*&'F'/0G,-<+-)('/0= When they have completeu the ieauing assignment, stuuents
shoulu:
o Summaiize what they ieau '/ ("-'& 4@/ @4&.2. This can be in outline oi sentence
foim. If they iealize that they aie not completely cleai on any points, they shoulu go
back anu ieieau until they can make the points in theii own woius.
o Reflect on theii ieauing. Stuuents shoulu think oi wiite about the implications of
what they have ieau, anu in paiticulai they shoulu think about how what they ieau
)4//-)(2 with
! Theii own piioi knowleuge
! 0thei concepts they have leaineu in the couise
! Concepts they leaineu in othei couises
! The "ieal" woilu

HI7DJ All of these skills can be uiscusseu in class then tuineu into *22'0/5-/(2= Foi example, you
coulu have stuuents annotate a text anu tuin it in to you foi feeuback. You coulu also assign them
to wiite summaiies oi ieflections on theii ieauing to be tuineu in foi feeuback oi a giaue.
,-'/<4&)- the impoitance of ciitical ieauing by asking stuuents to piactice the vaiious skills.
K:&("-& '/<4&5*('4/ <4& #4:& 2(:.-/(2 *L4:( L:'+.'/0 )&'(')*+ &-*.'/0 23'++2=
Below aie listeu seveial goou ciitical ieauing websites foi stuuents. You may want to check them
out youiself oi iefei youi stuuents to them:
"College Wiiting.Info: Bow to Reau College Texts,"
http:www.tc.umn.euu~jeweluu1CollegeWiitingREABSPEAKTBINKREABBowToReau.htm
"Inteiiogating Texts: Six Reauing Babits to Bevelop in Youi Fiist Yeai at Baivaiu," Baivaiu
Libiaiy Reseaich uuiues, http:guiues.hcl.haivaiu.euusixieauinghabits
Kuilanu, Ban. "Ban Kuilanu's Ciitical Reauing .com." www.ciiticalieauing.com
Paul, Richaiu, anu Linua Eluei, "The Ait of Close Reauing" (Paits 0ne, Two, anu Thiee), The
Ciitical Thinking Community, http:www.ciiticalthinking.oigpagesciitical-thinking-the-ait-of-
close-ieauing-pait-oneSu9
Wheelei, L. Kip. "Ciitical Reauing of an Essay's Aigument,"
http:web.cn.euukwheeleiieauing_basic.html
7"- %456+'*/)- 922:-
Nany stuuents who may have the skill to ieau ciitically uo not uo so because they uon't see
ieauing as necessaiy to succeeu acauemically. As Nist anu Kiiby (1989) note, the fact that many
stuuents uo not uo the assigneu ieauing may be "uue to the fact that stuuents quickly uiscoveieu
that they uiu not neeu to ieau anu stuuy theii texts in oiuei to uo well in the class. Peihaps
attenuing class anu stuuying lectuie notes weie sufficient foi acceptable peifoimance." Euucatois
can help to countei these peiceptions by senuing a cleai anu consistent message about the
necessity of ieauing. To uelivei this message effectively, euucatois shoulu caiefully assess theii
own assumptions about the impoitance of textbooks, taking a haiu look at what ieauing is tiuly
necessaiy to attain couise outcomes, anu taigeting ieauings at the ability level of the majoiity of
stuuents. To ensuie incieaseu compliance:
Pioviue a M:2('<')*('4/ in the syllabus foi the assigneu ieauings. uive stuuents infoimation
about why the ieauings aie impoitant.
Bon't just assume that the couise neeus a textbook. Consiuei *+(-&/*('A-2!such as couise
packets!to textbooks. Explicitly link all ieauings to )4:&2- +-*&/'/0 4:()45-2.
Ensuie that ieauing compliance is 5-*2:&-.; that is, uon't assign ieauings that will have
no impact on giaues. 0i cleaily label ieauing "iequiieu" anu "optional." ,-N:'&-. ieauing
shoulu be the ieauing that is essential to achieving the couise's leaining outcomes.
0se )4:&2- 2(&:)(:&- (4 -/)4:&*0- &-*.'/0. Explain the .-2'0/ of the couise to stuuents
anu show them how the ieauings fit in.
Pioviue L*)30&4:/. 5*(-&'*+ to help stuuents unueistanu the ieauings.
7-*)" )&'(')*+ &-*.'/0 23'++2.

Below aie the iesouices useu to geneiate these ciitical ieauing hanuouts. The Centei foi Teaching
anu Leaining is continuing to gathei iesouices, so please feel fiee to consult with us in the futuie.
Buichfielu, C.N. & Sappington, }. (2uuu). "Compliance with iequiieu ieauing assignments.
Teaching of Psychology, 27(1), S8-6u.
Bobson, E.B. (2uuS, Novembei). Encouiaging stuuents to ieau iequiieu couise mateiial."
Woikshop piesenteu at the 28th Annual Confeience of the Piofessional anu 0iganizational
Bevelopment (P0B) Netwoik in Bighei Euucation, Benvei, C0.
Naishall, P. (1974). "Bow much, how often." ()$$*+* %'- .*/*%012 3&40%0&*/, SS(6), 4SS-4S6.
Nist, S.L. & Kiiby, K. (1989). "The text maiking patteins of college stuuents." .*%-&'+ 5/612)$)+67
8' 9':*0'%:&)'%$ ;<%0:*0$6, 1u, S21-SS8.
Self, }. (1987). "Reseive Reauings anu Stuuent uiaues: Analysis of a Case Stuuy." 3&40%06 =
9'>)0?%:&)' @1&*'1* .*/*%012A 9(1), 29-4u