Failure to Read... What Am I Doing Wrong?

A few weeks ago, I expressed to one of my classes that I was concerned that they were not reading the material listed (by date) on the course syllabus, re-emphasizing that this was important information.  I also announced that within the next week or two, I was going to give an in class quiz on the reading assigned for that week.  "Like a good Boy or Girl Scout, BE PREPARED," I admonished them.

    So two weeks later, I gave a quiz over the reading for that week.  The first question on the quiz was:

   I ___________ read Articles #12-14 on Poverty."  
     a.  did
     b.  did not

There were three other short answer questions on the quiz, each on asking for the gist of the article.  I didn't ask any "picky" questions, or any detailed "trick" questions.  All I wanted to know is if they'd read the articles and had a basic comprehension of the main ideas of each.  The reading totalled less than 25 pages.

Most of the class finished very quickly.  This worried me.  And when I graded the quiz right after class, my fears were confirmed.

100% of the class answered "b." to the first question--not one student had read the articles.

The "answers" (read "excuses") I got from my students were pretty typical.  I heard these before.

• I really don't have time to read all my school assignments.
• I didn't think the articles were that interesting.  
• (Students who read them last semester said they were very interesting.)
• I couldn't find my book. (Seriously??!!!!)

And while these answers didn't thrill, the one that broke my heart--the one I hear most often--was:

• I don't really like to read.  (Often accompanied by the qualifier, "That is, books.  I avoid them if at all possible.")

Even as I write this, my heart is heavy and I get discouraged.  Am I failing as an instructor?  What is going on?

There are a number of reasons, I think, why students don't read.  Here's my beginning list, and I would invite any of the readers of this blog (if there are any out there) to add to the list or elaborate on these:

• Students don't feel competent or confident in their own reading skills.
• Students weren't really required and held accountable for reading in high school.
• What students HAVE read in school has been boring, so they assume ANY school (even college) reading is boring.
• The reading is too complex for their current reading level.  (For college transfer courses at YC, we require only a 9th grade reading level.  It's almost impossible to find books in sociology and psychology that are written at that level.)
• Perhaps the biggest reason is that, for many of our students, technology (that is, entertainment technologies, including smart phones) have replaced text as the primary medium of communication.  Books (even e-Books) and reading is seen as "old fashioned" and unimportant in todays tech society.

The research is clear:  Reading engages and develops the human brain in a much different and deeper way thnt visual images alone.


I see getting students to read as one of the foremost challenges for professors.  Yet developing a love of reading--which goes hand in hand with a love of learning--is perhaps our primary task.

                        
Thoughts, anyone?