• Desire to participate in the learning/reading process
• The reasons or goals that underlie their involvement or non-involvement are also a part of motivation.

Motivation to Read

The meaningfulness, value and benefit of the academic tasks to the learner, regardless of whether or not they are intrinsically interesting. (Hermine Marshall 1987).

A long-term, quality involvement in reading and commitment to the process of reading. (Carole Ames 1990)

What Factors influence the development of motivation to read in students?

Competence acquired through general experience but stimulated most directly through:

• Modeling
• Communication of expectations
• Direct instruction
• Socialization by significant others (especially parents and teachers)

Home environment and the value of reading in the home

Environment that encourages freedom to engage in academically challenging pursuits, learn to cope with failure and take risk.

Beliefs that teachers hold about teaching and learning, and the nature of their expectations, they hold for students which exerts a powerful influence (Raffini 1988).

To a very large extent students expect to learn if the teachers expect them to learn.

How to Get College Students to do their Reading?

1.      Consequences that are meaningful enough to make not doing the reading an option most will not opt for.

1. Quizzes on reading that add up to a test grade
2. Written summaries that equal 10-15% of the final grade
3. More frequent testing—every two-three weeks to make doing the readings a more urgent need

2.      Use a Guided Reading Tool. Guided reading is where the chapter is broken down into only the most important parts that need to be read. Example pages 2-3, 7-8 and 11-15. Students are assigned only these pages. The key here is NO BUSY WORK.

3.      Making assignments that cannot be completed without the text being read and having the value of these assignments be significant enough that students feel they must do them to get a good grade.

4.      Divide and Conquer. Divide and conquer is a technique where the chapter is divided into 3-4 equal parts and different groups of students are assigned to read their part and make a “TEST WORTHY” set of notes that are to shared with the other students in the class. This means less reading for each student but a greater responsibility to produce study notes for their classmates. The notes are then copied and distributed to each student.

Faculty wanting further information about any of these topics are encouraged to contact Terry Doyle at doylet@ferris.edu



Check back for updates!
Website comments?  Contact danielsl@ferris.edu