College students resist required reading assignments. Likewise, faculty are reluctant to quiz on reading assignments for fear of evoking disapproval. Measurement of reading compliance allows instructors to demonstrate a connection between reading preparation and subsequent success on final exams. The first study suggested that self-reports of…

Educators value reading as an academic practice and express frustration with student noncompliance with assigned reading. Some research has addressed this issue and recommends multiple strategies for overcoming the problem of student noncompliance. Much of this research, however, treats the problem as exclusively student-centered. This paper…

Extracts from four case studies of student readers describe how students approached the reading of the same text, the students' general approach to academic reading, and their feelings about reading and being a student. Suggests that the normally neutral or pleasurable private activity of reading is disturbed in the academic context by the threat…

Research has documented that collaborative learning groups improve student learning and increase the likelihood that students will have positive attitudes about both the subject matter and their peers. However, researchers know much less about how collaborative learning groups may influence student behavior and the extent to which their utility…

Appropriate strategies may relieve reading deficiencies of community college students. Reading easy fiction and non-fiction materials increases the chances for successful, flexible experiences. Sound utilization of certain mass circulation magazines enhances students' experiential backgrounds. Cooperative strategies should be employed concerning…

Draws on data from a 2-year qualitative study of Chinese students enrolled in an English-medium Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in a Canadian university. Focuses on how students' orientations to reading and writing assignments changed as they moved from an EAP program to their MBA courses. (Author/VWL)

Examines patterns in college students' text markings using texts from three content areas: history, political science, and sociology. Indicates little differential marking between various text-types. Concludes that students seem to have little idea how to mark text efficiently. (MG)

This study sought to compare undergraduate's perceptions of and attitudes toward an educational psychology course in which two distinct types of course readings were used, namely an education psychology textbook versus primary sources. A total of 15 students were enrolled in the course during the fall semester and used the textbooks (Anita…

The Monte Carlo Quiz (MCQ), a single-item quiz, is so named because chance, with the roll of a die, determines (a) whether the quiz is administered; (b) the specific article, chapter, or section of the assigned reading that the quiz covers; and (c) the particular question that makes up the quiz. The MCQ encourages both punctual completion and deep…

The development of a self-instruction package on making notes from reading which was designed for new students at Newcastle Polytechnic in the United Kingdom is described. Notemaking skills involve recognition of topics and topic sentences in a written text, picking out key content words in the text, recognition of key relationships and…

The differences in the ability to write critical and analytical essays among students with individual annotation styles were investigated. Critical and analytical writing was determined by the writer's ability to respond to a text with logical and critical analysis and attention to its thematic argument. Annotation styles were determined by ways…

A program is described that set out to improve/enlarge the reading background of entering students by asking them to read 5-10 specific books before coming to college, featuring one book each year as the "common text," and providing a number of special seminars and activities based on that text. (MLW)

Describes how a college professor incorporates "commonplace books" into his courses, with reading and writing the focal practices in curriculum studies classrooms. He defines commonplace books as collecting places for various writings related to the courses. The books represent fragments of a variety of experiences in a variety of…

Using a reading lesson designed for advanced university students in Brazil, the author discusses different types of exercises that can help students become more active readers and be more critical about the reading materials. The author distinguishes between passive and active reading tasks and argues that active tasks are more beneficial because…

TO DETERMINE WHY ONE-THIRD OF THE STUDENTS ENROLLING IN CORRESPONDENCE WORK DURING ANY CALENDAR YEAR DO NOT COMPLETE THE COURSES AND TO ELICIT SUGGESTIONS FOR REDUCING THE NUMBER OF DROPOUTS AND CANCELLATIONS, QUESTIONNAIRES WERE MAILED TO 762 CORRESPONDENCE STUDY DROPOUTS. DATA FROM THE 135 QUESTIONNAIRES RETURNED ARE TABULATED IN THIS STUDY.…