Increasing Reading Compliance of Undergraduates

Abstract

A common source of frustration for college instructors is getting their students to read. Since the 1970s, studies have shown that no more than 30 percent of students complete a reading assignment on any given day. But what can be done? What strategies can instructors use to make certain that their students read? Do pop or announced quizzes work better? Does it help to call on students randomly in class? To date, little systematic evidence exists concerning the relative utility of the many methods instructors use to encourage reading compliance. This study begins to address that lacuna. Specifically, using survey data collected in introductory sociology classes (N = 423), we examine how students evaluate seven commonly used methods ranging from announced quizzes to short writing assignments to being called on randomly in class. We find that students perceive mandatory and/or announced methods to be more effective in motivating them to complete reading assignments than unannounced or optional methods.