Book Examines the Challenges of College-Level Reading

A group of University College faculty is among the editors of the first book of its kind ever published by the largest reading association in the world, the International Reading Association. The book, College Reading Research and Practice – Articles From the Journal of College Literacy and Learning, examines reading solely on the college level. The proposal for the endeavor came from Eric Paulson, University College assistant professor of reading.

Terry Bullock, one of the book’s editors and professor of reading for University College, says he and colleagues Paulson and Michaeline Laine, assistant professor of reading, developed the concept for the book after researching articles published in the 30-year history of the Journal of College Literacy and Learning, of which Bullock is associate editor. Shirley Biggs, associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh, was also a contributing editor for the book project.

Any student who’s hunched over a textbook with a highlighter would likely say that college-level reading isn’t like it was in high school. “The reading level becomes more difficult in terms of the technical vocabulary,” Bullock explains. “The vocabulary becomes more specific to subject areas, such as psychology or history or economics.”

Bullock says students may not even know about the techniques that can increase their comprehension at the college level. “College students need help from time to time with understanding content and learning other reading strategies. That’s what Eric and Missy and I do here at University College. We call it developmental reading, because students are working on developing their reading skills.” Similar programs are operating in universities across the country, and Bullock says there’s a growing interest in these programs—from theory to practice—on how to build student success. “I think this book will be filling a niche that hasn’t been tackled before.”

The book examines developmental reading and writing programs over the past century and is divided into three sections: theory, research and practice.

The first section analyzes the theory applied toward teaching, designing and implementing reading programs. The second section explores the research from studies on different strategies, materials and techniques used in college classrooms. The diverse population of college learners – ranging from the non-traditional student who has spent years out of the classroom to students who learned English as their second language to the at-risk student population – is examined in connection with the challenges they may encounter as they study their college reading materials. The third section suggests successful strategies that educators can use to help students build their reading techniques.

Bullock adds that the three principles – theory, research and practice are all linked as the editors not only laid out chapters describing strategies for success but also why those strategies worked. The book can be ordered for $29.95 from the International Reading Association’s online bookstore.

This isn’t the first time University College faculty have worked to spread the word about improving teaching and learning in college reading. Bullock and James Harter, a retired associate professor of psychology, developed a paired reading program 20 years ago that led to the development of the professional annual conference, Teaching Academic Survival Skills. The 14th conference was held last March in West Palm Beach.

Presentations at the conferences resulted in the development of the Journal of Teaching Academic Survival Skills, co-published by University College. Journal founder Terry Bullock remains on the national editorial board, along with Harry Prats, University College assistant professor of humanities and social sciences.