Literature circles are student-led, small-group discussions that promote active learning and engagement with literary texts. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of literature circles on student engagement and learning outcomes in a pedology course. For various reading assignments throughout the semester, students either…

In a Food Processing-Unit Operations course, students learn the basic equipment that comprises unit operations and techniques commonly used in the food industry to prepare, process, and preserve a variety of food products. Due to the complexity of these operations, students frequently struggle with applying food processing principles to predict…

This study used a post-test-only control group experimental design to determine the effects of prelecture online quizzes on the students' perceived preparation and academic performance. The participants included 54 pre-service Turkish teachers of English enrolled at a state university in Turkey. The participants were randomly selected from a list…

This qualitative study explores the uses of reading and note-taking in two pre-service teacher training Social Sciences courses. Data analysis of in-depth interviews with professors and students, class observations and course materials suggested two polar teaching styles according to how bibliography was included in the course and the presence or…

This paper reports the findings of a study of undergraduate student use of, and attitudes toward, textbooks and other assigned reading. More than 1200 students of various subjects at three Swedish universities were surveyed. Most students said reading played an important role in learning generally and attributed positive characteristics to their…

Team-based learning (TBL) is an instructional strategy that combines independent out-of-class preparation for in-class discussion in small groups. This approach has been successfully adopted by a number of medical educators. This strategy allowed us to eliminate anatomy lectures and incorporate small-group active learning. Although our strategy is…

Three studies evaluated a method for developing prior-knowledge structures that prepares students to learn from a text or lecture. Findings indicate that there is a place for lectures and readings in the classroom if students have sufficiently differentiated domain knowledge to use the expository materials in a generative manner. (TJQ)

Educators value reading as an academic practice and express frustration with student noncompliance with assigned reading. Some research has addressed this issue and recommends multiple strategies for overcoming the problem of student noncompliance. Much of this research, however, treats the problem as exclusively student-centered. This paper…

Describes a study in which one group of community college students expected to be questioned orally and at random in class about a reading assignment, whereas another group expected to volunteer answers. The students expecting questions read more pages and had higher quiz scores. Discusses lack of preparation for lecture classes. (DMM)

Examines the role of the teacher in enhancing students' reading comprehension. Finds that the teacher is a more significant factor in the comprehension of lengthy natural texts than is the ease of the text itself. (MG)