OZARKA COLLEGE

Eating an Elephant

One Bite at a Time

This week we are looking specifically at ways we can encourage students to take notes and to read their assignments.

Requiring a journal promotes note taking by requiring students to respond to each lesson or idea right away. The student no longer has the option to procrastinate and is therefore much more likely to be attentive and take notes.

Reading quizzes encourage students to keep up with their reading assignments. If they know they will be facing a quiz each class period, they are much more likely to do their reading, or at least skim it, the night before. The quizzes do not have to be difficult, but they do need to pose questions that ask for specific details from the reading. Students who read the assignment may not be able to offer complex critical analysis, but they can answer questions about specific characters or events. Conversely, students who have not read the assignment might be able to babble endlessly about an interpretive question, but can't tell you any specifics.

9. Daily Journal - This allows for more in-depth discussion of or reaction to course material. You may set aside class time for students to complete their journal entries, or assign this as homework. The only disadvantage to this approach is that the feedback will probably take a while. But with this approach, particularly if entries are assigned for homework, you may ask more complex questions, such as, "Do you think that determinism is correct, or that humans have free will? Explain your answer." Or you might have students find and discuss reports of scientific studies in popular media on topics relevant to course material, such as global warming, the ozone layer, and so forth.

10. Reading Quiz - Without a doubt, this is one way to persuade students to read assigned material! Active learning depends upon students coming to class prepared. The reading quiz can also be used as an effective measure of student understanding of the required readings. Additionally, by asking the same types of questions on several reading quizzes, you will give students guidance as to what to look for when reading an assigned text. An additional advantage to this technique is that it can assist with attendance and tardiness issues. If the quiz is given in the first ten minutes of class only, with no make-ups available for any reason, we have seen our punctuality and general attendance improve dramatically.

If you have time and don't want to wait for the next bite, you can find the rest of the toolbox in myOzarka under the "Ozarka Resources" tab.

Or you can follow this link:

https://www.ozarka.edu/files/resources/teachingtoolbox.doc

I will be posting each section in the Student Success Center Blog. So if you are interested in checking out "back bites," you can find them there.

Or you can follow this link:
https://www.ozarka.edu/blogs/success/index.cfm/Weekly-Postings-for-Faculty-

Hope you enjoyed it.