We teach English literature in South Africa, to third- or fourth-language English speakers. Increasingly dissatisfied with the effectiveness of our pedagogy under conditions of massification, we seek to agitate propositions about our students' reading and what these propositions means for our pedagogy. Drawing on narrative theory we analyse our…

Literature circles are student-led, small-group discussions that promote active learning and engagement with literary texts. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of literature circles on student engagement and learning outcomes in a pedology course. For various reading assignments throughout the semester, students either…

The COVID-19 pandemic and remote lessons changed extensive reading (ER) implementation because online libraries became the only way for educators to continue ER assignments. Online libraries with audio narration make audio-assisted reading easily available to L2 learners. Research on audio-assisted extensive reading has shown that there are…

Motivating students to learn and engaging them in the learning process is a constant struggle among teachers. The lack of motivation and engagement in reading lessons is one-reason elementary students are struggling to reach proficiency in reading. This systematic review used current literature to investigate the best practices seen in elementary…

Most courses are taught almost exclusively using lecture and, despite gaps in textbook coverage of empirical economics, do not incorporate academic readings. The authors of this article present a "jigsaw literature review" cooperative learning activity to address these shortfalls. The jigsaw guides students through formulating a position…

Journal clubs are widely used as an educational tool in graduate life science programs. In journal clubs, students are assigned to read specific journal articles to achieve a broad knowledge in their field of study and to gain competence in reading and assessing scientific publications. However, students often show low motivation to read assigned…

This case study explored the relationship between levels of content choice in three high school online English language arts courses and evidence of student motivation in student work and students' thoughts about motivation. These courses were designed around the main components of Self-Determination Theory (autonomy, competence, relatedness) and…

Synthesizing theory from literacy scholars with strategies derived from classroom inquiry projects, "Rethinking Reading in College" argues for more--and more systematic--attention to the role of reading comprehension in college as a necessary step in addressing the inequities in student achievement that otherwise increase over time.…

This paper draws on Bakhtin's (1981) notions of discourse and ideological becoming to investigate how adolescents' experiences with young adult literature and other texts might inform their thinking around issues of social justice. We engaged in a number of activities with the young adolescent participants: thought maps, illustrations of poignant…

In a Food Processing-Unit Operations course, students learn the basic equipment that comprises unit operations and techniques commonly used in the food industry to prepare, process, and preserve a variety of food products. Due to the complexity of these operations, students frequently struggle with applying food processing principles to predict…

Can a class assignment covering the reading help students do better in an introductory chemistry class for nonmajors? Two sections of the same course have been compared where one section had a reading assignment that "forced" the students to interact with the text while the other class had the typical homework, quiz assignments, and…

Background: Parental involvement in early childhood is foundational to a child's later academic achievement (Heckman, 2007). Parent-child book reading is frequently recommended as a way to build a child's early cognitive skills. Evidence suggests that mother-child reading time increases children's vocabulary and reading skills (Price & Kalil,…

The rising cost of textbooks is a barrier to higher education for many students. Open textbooks are one potential solution, though few open textbooks exist for agriculture and natural science disciplines. Here, I present a case study examining my selection of assigned reading material for a college course on soil and water conservation. Potential…

The study evaluated reading habit among students in Ekiti State Secondary Schools. The study specifically examined the frequency and time of reading among Junior Secondary School students in Ekiti State, the extent students read, how teachers' attitudes affect their students reading habits, and ways reading habit can be improved. The descriptive…

Instructors expect students to read before class to engage them in using higher-order thinking skills that are critical to performing in group work and engaging in discussions. As many instructors are aware, however, for various reasons many students don't read the assigned textbook. In this study, science news articles were used as prereadings to…