Suggestion 65. Have students read different books and journal articles

IF YOU WANT TO:

• Encourage class discussion

• Motivate students to do their best work

• Have students apply concepts to demonstrate understanding

• Discuss recent developments in the field

Allowing students to select different books and journal articles as a basis for discussion.

A forestry professor who employs this technique gives students a bibliography of 20-30 research articles for each of six major topics in his course. "I tell the students to read until they feel that they are familiar enough with the basic concepts, research methods and findings, to take a quiz and participate in a discussion of the topic," he says. By requiring some level of mastery of each topic and yet giving the students the opportunity to select among readings, he finds that many students read extensively in the areas of greatest interest to them.

"The quizzes are 10 minutes long and consist of three short answer or short essay questions. The questions are at a conceptual level high enough to allow students to respond regardless of which articles they chose to read," he explains.

A class discussion of the topic follows the quiz. "Because the students have not read identical sets of articles, these discussions allow them to share complementary knowledge. I try to get them to generate their own question, to take positions, to engage in debate," he says.

Limitations on Use of Suggestion

  Discipline:  Subject matter which lends itself to this approach
Course Level:  Primarily upper division or graduate
 Course Size:  Small enough for discussion
        Mode:  None

Copyright 1983 by the Regents of the University of California

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