tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post2891730938148923487..comments2024-03-14T04:16:20.472-07:00Comments on In Socrates' Wake: On making reading unavoidableMichael Cholbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02012523929044363216noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-54944648440383260362010-02-20T10:15:41.420-08:002010-02-20T10:15:41.420-08:00I DO do the pop quizzes, but with this angle. The...I DO do the pop quizzes, but with this angle. They are all open-note quizzes. Students can use any (handwritten)notes they've taken on the reading, and the questions are T/F, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, so it's quite easy to grade. The students end up with a nicely detailed set of (their own)notes on the readings. They don't complain about the "pop" part too much - I give about 8 throughout the semester, so they're never sure when a quiz is coming.<br /><br />I like Morrow's suggestion. I've seen a coded set of metacognitive strategies students can use to mark as they read: <br />X - contradicts what you thought<br />(check mark)- confirms what you thought<br />? - puzzles you<br />?? - confuses you<br />* - strikes you as very important<br />→ - is new or interesting to you)Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16670915689403381230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-92046766933830946222010-02-19T14:08:37.941-08:002010-02-19T14:08:37.941-08:00Two suggestions—one from me and one from a friend:...Two suggestions—one from me and one from a friend:<br /><br />(1) Reading summaries or reading response questions. (These are particular variations on the "frequent writing assignment" technique.) I've asked students to either (a) summarize a specific argument, provide an objection, and explain how the author might respond to that objection, or (b) answer one or two pre-assigned questions about the reading. In each case, I'm looking for about 150–200-words. Rob's article covers my techniques for grading all of those assignments. I've had pretty good success with these techniques.<br /><br />(2) Require students to submit questions on the reading before class. A friend of mine does this, and he reports great success. Students must submit three questions about the reading by email no later than the day before class. The questions are supposed to be substantive questions about things the students don't understand, not "Is Marx a Communist?" or "Who wrote the thing we were supposed to read?" My friend gives feedback on the questions early in the semester (e.g., "too specific," "too vague"), but the need for that drops off later in the term. He usually works answers to the question into his lectures or brings them up for discussion in class.<br /><br />I'm ambivalent about Rob's suggestion about giving lectures that merely allude to the readings. I worry that it leads to students neither doing the reading nor understanding the lecture. Do other people here do this? If so, can you give specific examples of readings you give and what you cover in the corresponding lecture?david morrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17628941227584383772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-2644109782679774252010-02-19T09:27:58.985-08:002010-02-19T09:27:58.985-08:00I recall reading in a biography of Descartes that ...I recall reading in a biography of Descartes that when he was in his early schooling days, the kids used to get in trouble for sneaking out at night to read by the moonlight. The Golden Days must have ended soon after that.Scott Wilsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-66255061609015769822010-02-19T08:54:45.549-08:002010-02-19T08:54:45.549-08:00I think the biggest change that could be made is e...I think the biggest change that could be made is employ the Socratic method and just call on student's randomnly and take account of what they know and have read. The humiliation of not having anything to say, over and over again, should be enough to get some sort of response. <br /><br />I also found the first suggestion, from your source to be part of the problem. Finding more digestable or dumb-downed text isn't going to make anyone read more. I agreed with the initial point, make it impossible for the student not to read, but I disagree that the answer to this is to shoot for simpler texts.Philosopher's Messhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07770394141063859023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-60477569881548759782010-02-18T18:10:43.925-08:002010-02-18T18:10:43.925-08:00I put a 'reading question' on the board ju...I put a 'reading question' on the board just before class. Not philosophical, not requiring more than a few words to answer, with a definite and clear answer. Something that anyone who'd done the reading would either know right away, or at least be able to find in the text very quickly. They write their answers on slips of paper (which I provide) and put the slips in a box - before class begins. The nice thing about this is that it also doubles as a check on attendance and timely arrival.Gary Bartletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02844319062429953816noreply@blogger.com