ACTL
Reading Workshop Follow-up
Virginia Johnson and Farah Marklevits ran the first in a series of workshops devoted to reading comprehension last Thursday afternoon. They introduced some basic principles on reading comprehension and then asked faculty to participate in an exercise to illustrate the impact of reading with purpose. The exercise was adapted from John C. Bean's Engaging Ideas, specifically from his chapter titled "Helping Students Read Difficult Texts." Faculty reflected on how this exercise affected their understanding and attitudes towards the reading. We wondered whether it is an unrealistic goal to expect that students comprehend a reading text the way we hope in only one reading. And do we need to do a better job at helping students wade through the many layers of understanding by explicit modeling and instruction? Virginia and Farah ended the session by distributing a reading guide from Linda Flower's "The Construction and Purpose in Reading and Writing."
Those in attendance hope that more faculty participate in follow-up workshops on this important topic. Chuck Hyser and Katie Hanson are planning a follow-up workshop that will focus on more practical ways in which we can work with our students on their reading comprehension. Stay tuned for specific information via email.
- "Students 101: How to tailor your teaching to the interrupter, the hijacker, and other familiar types."http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i06/06a12001.htm
- ACTL Website: http://www.augustana.edu/x10019.xml
- The Teaching Professor: http://www.magnapubs.com/issues/magnapubs_tp
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