Materials used for the Swansea University SALT Conference 2013 Round Table session. The aim was to stimulate debate on student reading and how to encourage it. We had a packed, lively session - hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did! Note: the slides were printed on A4 in colour with a set of quotes/ideas to tackle the issue back-to-back. This was used as the focus for discussion.

1. Is the students’ lack of enthusiasm
for reading a fact of life or can we
do something about it?
SALT Conference 2013 (#susalt),
Round Table Session, Swansea University
Sam Oakley, ISS, Swansea University
s.l.c.oakley@swansea.ac.uk
Additional research by Susan Glen

2. 27.4% students do the class reading ?
(Starcher & Proffitt 2011:396)
63% feel they don’t read enough ?
(Barnett et al 2012:15)
“Reading is still at the heart of a
university education but the
content, style, media and setting for it
are in flux”
(Garfield 2008, Conclusion)

3. “there is no one solution...an effective approach
will require us to develop course pedagogy
that will attack multiple reasons for lack of
preparation simultaneously”
(Starcher & Proffitt 2011:405)

4. How I used the slides...
The slide deck was printed for a round table
discussion on encouraging academic reading
at our Learning & Teaching conference. It was
created to stimulate debate: one side of each
sheet suggested a reason for students not
reading, the reverse had suggestions or case
studies for tackling that problem.

5. Reading
Ability
“One student took three
hours...another
skimmed the text for
the main points in 20
minutes”
(Kirkness & Neil 2009:10)
“I made the mistake of
randomly calling on
students to read aloud
from their
textbooks...this actually
caused embarrassment
and angered many
students”
(Artis 2008:134)

6. Reading Ability
• Explicitly teach reading strategies
– How to skim / scan / analyse (Artis 2008 suggests the
SQ3R method)
– Read out a short passage in class & “think aloud” to
show how you make connections & process ideas
• Scaffolding with easier texts initially
• Peer Support:
– 1st year Geography reading group mentored by 2nd
years: “This was by far the most productive thing I
have done in my first year at Uni” (student
quote, Goodman 2008)
– Pair or group reading tasks (share out readings)

7. Lack of Time
“I try to squeeze in time
when I don’t have
lectures labs or
work, which is not often”
(Student quote from Barnett et al
2012:48)
“If lecturers want students
to read things
(particularly extra reading
for lectures or seminars)
they need to make it
MUCH easier and less
time consuming for us to
locate”
(Student quote from Nagy 2012:19)

8. Lack of time?
• Help students prioritize
– Annotated reading lists: “a triaged reading list
should contain fewer, carefully chosen
selections, thereby reducing student perception of
a Herculean workload” (Hobson 2004:4)
– Explicit guidance on how to use them: Advising
students on prioritizing reading lists” video case
study (Fisher 2007)
• Easier access to the readings
– Links to electronic versions (iFind Reading)
– Scan print chapters / articles (ISS Doc Supply)

9. Not knowing
what is
expected
“We can no longer assume
that students arrive at
university knowing what
to read and knowing what
standards are required of
the material that they do
read.”
(Tara Brabazon in Frean 2008)
“it’s like being thrown into
a swimming pool with
lead boots on and no
life saving device”
(Student quote from Siddall, MacLellan & Rose
2009:1)

10. Knowing what to expect
• “Explain explicitly to students how the
documents that they must read relate directly
to the aims and methods of learning...show
clearly how the students’ reading for the
course should be manifest in projects and
examinations, and demonstrate specifically
how students should read the course
material” (Jolliffe & Hurl 2008:614)
• “Two minutes with a book” to introduce
appropriate texts

11. Boredom
“A brutally boring overwad”
(Student describing textbook, Jolliffe & Harl
2008:611)
Academic reading viewed with
“dislike or ambivalence by
the majority”
(Gallagher-Brett 2006:25)
“the change from reading for
pleasure to reading
academically was one of the
principal challenges facing
students...requiring more
effective management of
transition”
(Gallagher-Brett 2006:25)

12. Boredom
• Carrots
– Easy & interesting early readings
– Preview the reading in class & pique their interest
(Hobson 2004:6)
– Some Profs say: ditch the readings. “Current texts are
poorly written and are thus of questionable
value”(Starcher & Proffitt 2011: 403)
• Sticks
– Assessment (“return on investment”)
– “this level of scholarship is non-negotiable and must
be visible in the bibliography” (Brabazon
2007:34, requiring 10 items from supplied readings)

13. Perceived poor
“return on
investment”
“I have found that you don’t
need to read many of
these books to do well in
the subject”
(Student quote from Barnett et al
2012:53)
“*Students have+ very much
a means-end approach”
(Stokes & Martin 2008:119)
“Driving factors for
academic reading were
coursework and
assessment, revision and
examinations”
(Barnett et al 2012:2)

14. “ROI”
• Formal assessment
– Reading Diaries (Wynne 2006) = “it encouraged students to read
widely by rewarding them for it, even if that reading was not
directly used in an essay”
– Exams include material only found in readings
– Brabazon 2007:30-49 = reading from list was “non-negotiable”
(and graded)
• Increasing compliance
– Quizzes / tests on reading before or in class (Hobson 2004:6)
– Set specific questions / feedback needed when assign reading
(Starcher & Proffitt 2011:399)
– Student presentations on reading in class (Harvie & Philp 2006)
– Reward those who do the reading...or you become ‘a piece of
the compliance problems’ (Starcher & Proffitt 2011:398)

15. Subject
differences
“I do engineering so have
very little reading”
(Student quote in Barnett et al 2012:46)
“I think reading is overrated
(at least in Physics). I’m
more the ‘try it out in the
lab’ kind of
person...Writing my
literature review was the
most painful experience
so far in my PhD”
(Student quote in Nagy 2012:16)

16. Subject Differences
• Encourage reading for
– Employability
– Further research
• “Good Reads” e.g. Bradshaw & Richardson
2012 for 1st year Maths students
– “I’m shocked that I have never been so hooked by
a book in all my life! In the twenty one years up
until I started university I managed to avoid
reading a book.” (Student quote)
– Tutors saw a “notable improvement in use of
reference material in final year work”

17. Language
“What is different is not
the amount of
reading, but the level
and wording of the
text”
(Student quote from Jolliffe & Harl
2008:609)
“One undergraduate from
Greece described
reading her text over 30
times in order to be
able to answer
examination questions”
(The HEA, n.d.)

18. Language
“All university programmes need to consider the
language demands of their texts in the light of
vocabulary levels of an increasingly diverse
student body” (Kirkness & Neil 2009:4)
• Academic Language
– Guidance / glossary for academic vocabulary
– Easier texts initially to introduce vocab (scaffolding)
• English reading ability
– Differentiate reading levels on reading lists
– Electronic texts easier to scan / search
– Length of readings

19. Digital Lives
“I find carrying round an
iPad much easier than
carrying around books”
(Student quote from Nagy 2012:28)
“Many will start their
research with Google
and expect booklists to
include links that take
them straight to the
recommended text”
(Swain 2006)

20. Digital Lives
• Two sides of the coin:
– Students read less as distracted by the internet
– Students read more as readings are easier to find
& access
• “Information overload caused by the wealth
of available electronic resources” (Secker
2004)
• Build on the digital skills and devices that
students already have?

21. Credits
Images used under Creative Commons licence
with thanks : Janine, Clio20, Bramstone
Photography, Enokson, Shermeee, leg0fenris,
Marco Bellucci on Flickr
Bibliography at: http://goo.gl/uPxK2

22. This work by Sam Oakley, Swansea University is
licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Please let me know if you find this useful or have
any feedback:
s.l.c.oakley@swansea.ac.uk