Better Learning Through Better Reading and Reflecting

Karl Wirth (Macalester College) and Fahima Aziz (Hamline University)

Summary
Learning from texts is an essential skill for college success, and in an increasingly
complex and interconnected world it is ever more important that students develop the
intellectual and practical skills for lifelong learning. The aim of this project was to
evaluate the impact of reading reflections on student reading, learning, and self-
awareness as learners. Students submit reading reflections after completing each
reading assignment. These reflections not only encourage students to read more
regularly, they also promote content mastery and foster student development of
monitoring, self-evaluation, and reflection skills. For the instructor, reading reflections
can also be used to facilitate just-in-time teaching. Our results thus far confirm that the
introduction of reading reflections in our courses has resulted in significant
improvements in student reading and course performance.

Context
At Macalester College, the project was conducted in two different sections of the
Dynamic Earth and Global Change course (GEO-150) during Fall 2009. This is an
introductory course that serves both majors and non-majors. One section of the course,
the experimental section, was limited to first-year students and was capped at an
enrollment of 17. The second section, the control group, enrolled 35 students ranging
from first years to seniors. The courses were otherwise identical (e.g., same textbook,
exams, classroom activities, projects).
At Hamline University, reading reflections were introduced into one of two sections
of the Microeconomics course (ECON-1210). Majors and non-majors who ranged from
first years to seniors enrolled both sections. The experimental section (with reading
reflections) enrolled 34 students, whereas the control section enrolled 27 students.
These courses where otherwise nearly identical.

Teaching Practice.
There is an extensive body of research on reading and reading comprehension that
tells us much about the reading process. There is little question that metacognitive
skills (thinking about, and regulating, ones own thinking) play a critical role in learning
from texts (e.g., Paris et al., 1996). Compared with novices, expert readers are skilled
at using a wide range of strategies during all phases of reading (e.g., setting goals for
learning, monitoring comprehension during reading, checking comprehension, and self-
reflection). It is often assumed that students generally learn these skills prior to coming
to college. Even when not assumed, it is rare for students to receive explicit instruction
on reading in college.
Reading reflections, first described to us by David Bressoud (2008), are designed to
address some of the challenges students face with college-level reading assignments.
Students submit online reading reflections (e.g., using Moodle or Blackboard) after
completing each reading assignment and before coming to class. In each reflection,
students summarize the important concepts of the reading and describe what was
interesting, surprising, or confusing to them. The reading reflections not only encourage
students to read regularly before class, they also promote content mastery and foster
student development of monitoring, self-evaluation, and reflection skills. For the
instructor, reading reflections facilitate just-in-time teaching and provide invaluable
insights into student thinking and learning.
The work of this project has helped us be more explicit about reading in our courses.
We now use reading reflections in all of our courses to encourage regular and frequent
reading. I also have students complete reading strategy surveys, which are designed
both to survey their reading habits, and to educate them about the strategies available
before, during, and after reading. In our introductory courses, we also talk explicitly
about reading strategies and we model the process of reading college level texts.
As a result of the project, we have also become more metacognitive about our
teaching, and we approach each of our courses more like a research problem. It has
helped us be more explicit about cognitive and metacognitive skills in our instruction,
and we feel more confident in adding reflective activities to our courses. We are also
more likely to seek evidence of improved learning after making pedagogical changes.

Conclusions and Evidence.

As with most aspects of student learning, the story is complex. There is no question
that reading reflections have a significant positive impact on student reading. In
courses with reading reflections, students report more regular (Figure 1) and deeper
reading before coming to class. Students in reading reflection courses also report using
a greater number of strategies during the pre-reading, reading, and post-reading
phases. On average, students in Macalester courses with reading reflections earn
higher overall grades than students in courses without reading reflections, and this trend
holds across SAT scores (Figure 2). Analysis of course grade data suggests that
improved preparation to participate in, and learn from, classroom activities is the likely
cause of the improved course grades. Data from the two sections of Microeconomics at
Hamline University yield similar results, but also tell a slightly different story; reading
reflections there also have a powerful positive effect on content learning (exam scores),
and there is evidence that this effect may be more significant for underprepared
students. Analysis of student response data from the MSLQ (Motivated Strategies for
Learning Questionnaire) suggest that reading reflections have little impact on student
motivation, affect, or cognitive/metacognitive skills, but students in the intervention
group reported decreased test-anxiety and slightly increased help-seeking in post-
course surveys compared with those in the control group.

Implications
There is no longer any question in our minds whether reading reflections are a powerful
intervention for improving learning. With reading reflections, students read more
regularly before coming to class, they read more deeply, and they use a wider range of
reading strategies. They are better prepared to participate in, and learn from,
classroom activities resulting in deeper content learning. There is also evidence that
this intervention might hold even greater potential for under-performing students.

Figure 1. Plot of student self-reported reading from clicker surveys given on eight
different days throughout the semester. Students in the experimental
group (red bars) consistently reported reading more deeply than those
in the control group (all students = dark blue; first and second-year
students only = light blue).

Looking ahead
The significant positive results of this intervention indicate that reading reflections are an
effective way of improving student learning. We will continue to utilize reading
reflections in all our courses. We are still trying to figure out the best approach to
providing instruction to students on reading. At present, some students interpret this
instruction as remedial, and so are less than enthusiastic learners when it comes to
improving reading skills and knowledge. We are also interested to know if varying the
questions on the reading reflection (making them more topical and specific) might result
in even greater learning gains. Finally, textbooks and college reading seems to be in
somewhat of a state of flux (rentals, PDFs, ebooks) right now, so it is difficult to know
exactly the implications of all of this as more classrooms move to electronic texts. In
particular, how might our reading strategies need to be adapted fit these new media?
 Figure 2. Plot of student SAT scores versus course grade. Students in the
experimental group (red circles) generally earned higher course grades
than those in the experimental section (all students = open blue
squares; first and second-year students only = filled blue squares)
across all levels of SAT score.

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