1. This is relevant to everyone
Whether you’re in FASS or FEIT, DAB or MAPS, getting students to complete their class pre-work is a notorious issue. And we sympathise, we really do. There can be a whole lot of reasons why students neglect their readings – whether it’s time management, conflicting priorities, or even feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of trying to delve into some heavy theory. All might be valid reasons, but it doesn’t help you reach a solution – that’s what this seminar is for.
2. It’s an age-old problem
Millenial students didn’t suddenly invent bad study habits – they’ve always been around. As Rob Weir writes in Inside Higher Ed, “There’s been no Golden Age of student reading in my lifetime — not when I was a student, a high school teacher, a community college instructor, a lecturer at an elite institution, or a prof at a state university. Move on.” In other words, this isn’t a generational thing, it’s a university thing. That also means that over time, different people have come up with different solutions.
3. It can be fixed
Necessity is the mother of invention, and now that we’re in a world of flipped classrooms and blended learning, it’s essential that students learn how to complete class pre-work so that their in-class experience is effective. There are plenty of success stories from academics who managed to coax their students into doing the readings.
4. Everyone wins if students do the readings
The students get a better experience, and your class will be more animated and dynamic if everyone comes to class ready to talk about the week’s topics. So it’s worth taking the time and effort to try to raise the word count when it comes to students getting their readings done.
So don’t hesitate – book in for our session on Getting Students to do their readings with Dr Eugene Schofield-Georgeson from UTS Law.
Feature image by: Patrick Tomasso