This recent article from Inside Higher Ed noted that students aren’t engaging in a lot of reading for class. According to our survey results, first-year and senior students spend about 5 and 6 hours reading for class per week. The three reasons cited in the article are that students don’t have time, students don’t find many readings relevant, and they don’t need to read for class to be successful, in some classes at least.
Reading has been stable at ISU over the last 10 years, but NSSE results imply ISU students read less for class than students at other universities.
ISU has a highly interactive, collaborative academic and co-curricular culture. Students learn in multiple ways in and outside of the classroom. ISU students spend a lot of time on faculty-student work, internships, co-curriculars, and other activities that have a positive impact on learning. So maybe the data on reading for class reflects that culture.
Evaluating the reasons for not reading at ISU
The Inside Higher Ed article claimed students aren’t reading because they don’t have time, the readings aren’t relevant, and they don’t need to be successful in some classes. How does that pan out at ISU?
- The NSSE data implies that time is not an issue. In fact, students who are more involved and work more hours read just as much for class – if not more – than students who don’t work or spend a lot of time on other activities.
- Students may be strategic about their reading. I am not convinced it’s because they don’t like reading. They will likely invest more engaged reading in subjects they think are relevant to them. Personally, I’ve learned more about organizational theory from fiction (Willa Cather and Leo Tolstoy specifically) than org theory textbooks. So maybe it’s a matter of making what they’re reading relevant to their personal lives.
- Students who read more for class at ISU do have somewhat higher GPAs. Reading for class is not associated with belonging or retention. To me, this implies a strategic approach to reading focused on getting the grade. Or at least completing a class.
Research shows adults with college degrees read more. I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that ISU graduates spend more time reading throughout their lives. So I am hesitant to suggest that a lack of engagement in reading for class is associated with less time reading as adults.
ISU graduates who read less than 10 hours a week do witness higher lifetime earnings. At least those from the class of 2013. A lot of things have changed since then. Still, it’s higher than than students who report not reading at all for class.
