Instruction Committee Presents: “So You Think Your Students Don’t Read?” | October 28, 2020
Channel: FPD at COD
Date: 2020-10-29

A faculty panel sponsored by the Instruction Committee featuring:
Liz Adames, English; Judy Carino, Nursing; and Jason Ertz, Library

There is an infamous stereotype that has been perpetuated throughout academia for decades: that college students avoid reading assignments like the plague. A study conducted in 2009 found that “a significant proportion of college students do not read course texts either in preparation for class sessions or examinations,” citing that students can be frustrated with heavy course reading loads, dull textbook content, and the extreme cost of purchasing course texts (Aagaard & Skidmore, 2009). An incriminating feature story in the New York Times on the “The iGen Shift” characterized our college students as “A generation that rarely reads books or emails, breathes through social media, feels isolated and stressed but is crazy driven and wants to solve the world’s problems (not just volunteer) is now on campus.” The Instruction Committee has invited 3 faculty from across the college to provide insight on this issue. This panel will address some of the challenges our students face, and will also convey some of the good reading habits they can form in order to flip this stereotype.