Annotated Bibliography on Reading Comprehension

Anderson, Trela, and Ji Young Kim. "Strengthening College Students' Success Through The RAC." Journal Of College Reading And Learning42.1 (2011): 61-78. ERIC. Web. 7 June 2012. The Reading Across the Curriculum program at Fayetteville State University was designed to reduce aliteracy in at risk students and boost success and retention rates. Professors who volunteered for the program were asked to pre-test and post-test students as well as actively teach content specific reading strategies along with the curriculum for their course. Overall, the program was a success. Participants saw improvement in their students’ scores on the comprehension tests. Moreover, they saw more confidence in their students when it came to class discussion because their students had read and understood the material. The article cited a number of sources that showed a disparity between the amount of reading comprehension skills taught in high school and the necessary proficiency students need in college. The article cited a study that said “20% of first-year college students are placed in remedial reading classes or reading assistance labs.” What this means for me this summer is that I need to equip the students I am working with to read for any course. They need to be taught how to navigate a textbook and utilize the tools in it such as the index, glossary, etc. This is a very critical time in the lives of these students and a number of them can be taught the comprehension skills that will be necessary to take them through college. It’s all about the strategies that are implemented. Hsu, Hui-Yin, and Shiangkwei Wang. "The Impact Of Using Blogs On College Students' Reading Comprehension And Learning Motivation." Literacy Research And Instruction 50.1 (2011): 68-88. ERIC. Web. 7 June 2012. In this study, the use of blogs in a developmental reading program did not boost scores on reading comprehension exams. It did, however, create a significantly higher retention rate for students who used the blogs in their course sections versus those who did not. This is thought to be because students who were required to use the blog developed more of a learning community and were encouraged by their peers to stay in school despite hardships. This information correlates directly to my job this summer because I have been helping my supervisor and the instructors I work with research strategies to increase retention. We are planning a bridge program for the summer to bring in students and help them meet friends and try out our program before they come to school in the fall. Our goal is to help familiarize them with the university and our program, but also to help them develop a learning community before they come so that they will be more encouraged to stay in school. This study is really encouraging along those lines. Linderholm, Tracy, and Adam Wilde. "College Students' Beliefs About Comprehension When Reading For Different Purposes." Journal Of College Reading And Learning 40.2 (2010): 7-19. ERIC. Web. 7 June 2012. This study on student belief about reading performance found that actual comprehension of material didn’t change based on students’ belief about performance. Students were tested on reading for entertainment and reading to study—they were given similar texts and simply assigned at random whether they were reading to study or reading for pleasure. Interestingly, though scores between modes of reading were comparable, readers predicted that they would score much higher on material they read for study. This suggests that readers are more aware they change strategies for different reading purposes. The practical conclusion of the study is that students need to be taught more effective strategies for reading study material and more realistic methods of self-appraisal in comprehension. What I should take form this study in relation to my work this summer is that my students need to be taught more effective study strategies. The study showed that students attempt to memorize information when reading for study whereas when reading for pleasure, they are more likely to be analytical. There needs to be more of a happy marriage in these strategies if students want to be successful in comprehension of study materials.

Gagne's 9 Events of Instruction

I never really thought about it before today, but most every lesson plan I write follows this pattern or one very similar to it.

The reason why the Cycle of Instruction and Gagne's 9 Events work are because they take the student through the whole process of learning. When your parents taught you how to swim or how to ride a bike, they didn't just throw you in or stick you on the bike and force you to go (hopefully!) More than likely, there was a process. They introduced you to the concept. THey showed you how to do it by modeling. They helped you do it be gradually giving you more control and practice. Eventually, you developed the skill. This is how learning works in the classroom too, but so often educators neglect to think of it that way. They cover a grammatical concept o nthe board then hand the kids a worksheet and call it a day. Learning should be more applied than that if we expect students to retain the skill for life instead of until the next test. The old saying "it's like riding a bike" is based in the truth that you never forget. You never forget because you were trained properly in that skill. We should train our students in every skill as thoroughly.