If students are struggling to understand the assigned reading, teachers can opt for something easier to comprehend or they might consider this strategy developed and used by theology professor Ruth Anne Reese. She purposefully assigns students reading materials written at a level most of her beginning seminary students find challenging.
Students must read all the assigned chapters. However, in groups of 3–5, they are assigned one chapter and given the task of becoming experts on that chapter. That means reading the chapter more than once and taking advantage of available resources they need to understand it, including dictionaries, the internet, and fellow group members.
For the rest of the assigned chapters, each student prepares two or three thoughtful questions about the content in those chapters which they turn in at the beginning of a class session. Students then assemble in their groups and Reese distributes the student questions to the group that is “expert” on that chapter. The expert group has 15 minutes to select three to five questions that they discuss and answer as a group. Reese encourages them to select challenging questions. During the whole class discussion, each expert group reads and responds to the questions they have selected. Class discussion follows. Reese notes that approach can also be used in online discussion forums as well as face-to-face classes.
As for what makes the strategy effective, Reese writes, “This tactic helps students to embrace the knowledge they have gained as their own rather than as a set of notes and explanations copied down from the teacher.” (p. 188) It’s also a confidence building technique. Students discover that careful reading, use of resources and collaboration with colleagues enable them to gain understanding of material that at first pass looks way too difficult to figure out. Success at this juncture motivates students to tackle subsequent reading assignments using the same approach. They learn that the payoff from raising questions and digging deeper is more comprehension.
Reference: Reese, R. A., (2015). Book learning: Raising questions and becoming an expert. Teaching Theology and Religion, 18 (2), 188.
