My Project

College developmental reading faces a number of theoretical and practical hurdles. Unlike writing, in which syntactic, structural and conceptual errors are evident, reading errors must always be inferred and presumed from what is often a very different end product. Thus we tend to evaluate students' comprehension by indirect and inexact methods that are subject to misinterpretation. One method which partially avoids this trap is "think-alouds" in which readers articulate their thinking processes and schema in real time. But think-alouds are time-consuming and especially difficult to put into practice in a college reading classroom. Technology provides a possible solution. By using Word's Comment feature, students are able to create individualized, written "think-alouds," facilitating both the production and collection of student artifacts as well as providing a record of their reading process. These artifacts can then be studied to see what they reveal about the reading process and about students' reading development over the course of the semester.

The Course -- RDG 075

RDG 075 (Reading and Study Skills III) is BMCC's upper-level developmental reading course for students who scored below "10th-grade" on the ACT COMPASS, a computer-adaptive reading test. Students place into RDG 075 for a variety of reasons: they may be ESL students, weak test-takers, uncomfortable using computers, have learning disabilities, and/or be older, returning students. But whatever the reason, they are mostly unprepared for the rigors of academic literacy: the reading, writing and critical thinking skills they need to succeed in college. My developmental reading class follows the Critical Inquiry model developed by the SEEK Department of Brooklyn College (see link below). Using a student-centered, inquiry-based approach, we work with thematic primary and secondary source texts that students would encounter in typical general education courses. more...

Links

Critical Inquiry
A method of focusing on questioning, annotation, close reading and writing. Students are taught to acquire control over their own learning.

How to Annotate a Text
Class handout with directions on how students should read and annotate their texts

Theoretical Underpinnings

Schema Theory
A visual map of how we construct meaning and acquire knowledge

Pre-Reading Strategies
The necessary factors for preparing to understand a text based on schema theory

Student Paper Annotations

Students' comments on The Declaration of Independence using post-its.

Student Electronic Annotations

Student's comments on The Declaration of Independence using MS Word's comment feature.

Questions About Student Learning

• Can technology help students become more active readers?
• Can technology make evident the reading process?
• To what extent are remedial readers able to display the same processes as proficient readers?
• Do annotating and questioning techniques help students become more proficient readers?
• Can students' annotations and questions illuminate their reading problems and their reading strengths?
• Can remedial readers become metacognitively aware of their own reading process? And does it make any difference if they do?
• Are there certain common features that indicate a breakdown of comprehension?

 more...