Female student sitting on dorm bed reading a book with an NIU Huskies flag on the wall behind her

When students don’t do the reading (and what we can do about it)

Best Practices, Resources, Teaching, Tips

It happens from time to time—students come to class unprepared or without having finished the assigned readings. This may happen for any number of reasons: limited time due to other responsibilities, barriers related to neurodiversity or disability, unfamiliarity with the topic, or confusion caused by the style and structure of the reading. Whatever the reason, not completing the required reading can limit students’ ability to fully engage in discussions and activities during class and impact their understanding (and grades) overall. Fortunately, there are ways for us to encourage students to read by adjusting our activities, offering differing modalities, and incorporating methods of accountability.  

The first step to supporting students with course readings is understanding the barriers. From there, we can explore strategies to help them engage more effectively.

Determine the barriers 

Student reading book in front of book shelves in the Law LibraryIf students aren’t keeping up with or understanding the assigned readings, it’s helpful to start with curiosity instead of jumping straight to punitive consequences. Since every student’s circumstances are unique, checking in individually can provide clearer insight into why they may be struggling with the readings. 

To get a better sense of what’s going on, try gathering feedback through: 

  • Anonymous surveys using Qualtrics or another tool to quickly collect data to determine the most common barriers.
  • Written reflections to get individualized feedback from students while encouraging them to think critically about their habits and circumstances. 
  • Small group check-ins or focus groups to give students a supportive community that normalizes giving feedback and voicing concerns or questions.

Strategies that encourage reading 

Once you determine why students are struggling with completing the required readings, you can implement strategies that target those barriers.

Teach reading techniques  

Academic reading techniques aren’t intuitive. Some students may never have learned how to read a disciplinary text, take notes, or determine the best environment for reading. Some reading techniques you might introduce to students include:

  • Skimming to help students get an overview and learn the main points of the reading.  
  • Note-taking and highlighting to help students recognize what information is important and should be kept for future reference. 
  • Reading reflections or learning logs to encourage students to deepen their understanding by connecting the content to wider discussions within the class. 
  • Methods for focus—like the Pomodoro method or even reserving library study rooms—to encourage students to think about their environment and preparation for completing their work.

Establish and reinforce your expectations 

Reading expectations and styles change from discipline to discipline and class to class. What should students know about reading for your class or discipline? Help students know what to expect and what to look for in the readings for your class by:

  • Creating reading guides to assist students with their learning process.  
  • Discussing features of disciplinary-specific readings. 
  • Identifying the terminology, main ideas, context, or purpose of a reading before students complete it.

Incorporate activities that encourage reading 

Students reading book outside while birdwatchingIf students don’t feel that the readings are necessary, they are less motivated to complete them. In-class activities that draw directly on the readings can encourage students to read and help reinforce key concepts:

  • Student-led discussions or lessons in which students develop thought-provoking questions from the reading or teach one another can encourage conversations and further understanding. 
  • The Jigsaw method where students are divided into groups and become experts on sections of a reading and then teach it to their classmates.
  • CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) paragraphs in which students use information from readings as evidence when making claims about the topic.
  • Authentic learning to encourage curiosity and contextualize the information from class readings within real-world scenarios, such as careers or current events.
  • Low-stakes quizzes—especially those that are gamified—to encourage reading and check understanding while helping students recognize gaps in their knowledge. (Using tools such as Qualtrics, Top Hat, or Kahoot! can help everyone see responses anonymously in real time while keeping track of students individually to follow up with those who are struggling.)

Provide alternative modalities  

Offering materials in a variety of modalities not only meets the needs of students who need accommodations, but it also helps students who feel overwhelmed by the amount of reading they have to finish by allowing them to change the way they engage with materials and choose what works for them. The following strategies can help diversify how students engage with readings:

  • Use audiobooks or podcasts to incorporate a variety of voices into the lesson to make it more engaging. 
  • Share information about e-reading tools and read aloud functions (check out the features of Adobe, Microsoft, and NaturalReader, and Blackboard Ally’s Alternative Formats) so students can listen to printed text whenever they would like.  
  • Include videos to add visual and auditory components to help students understand and retain the information they’re learning. 

We should note that the ADA’s Title II requires digital materials to be accessible and physical materials must be available in accessible formats, as well. Ensure that all of your course materials are compliant (i.e., videos with accurate captions, audio with an accurate transcript, and images with descriptive alt text).

Additional Resources 

The following are some readings, guides, and features of applications to help you as you consider ways you can motivate students to complete reading assignments for your courses.

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