April 2000 

Your responses will be posted here as received, and may be used in other FACCC publications.

Please e-mail responses to Communications Director Katherine Martinez, k7martinez@aol.com, by April 30 (use the subject "April Question").

Answers received:

• Your answer could be here
• DONALDSON_CHARLES@smc.edu I quiz on many of the reading assignments, usually using Scan-Tron answer sheets that take little time to grade. Usually my essay assignments are based on assigned readings. 
  
      Without a test-grade incentive, I fear many students would not complete their reading assignments. They always are concerned about some
  less important subject area, such as math or science, in which they face tests. I cannot understand why students don't realize that English
  composition and literature are the most important subjects in the curriculum.
  
      Charlie Donaldson, Santa Monica College, English
  
• luntcc@earthlink.net  Yes they do! Because I always give them an "open book" exam w/limited time to complete. Simply stated, if they haven't taken time to read the assigned lesson, there is "no way" of completing the test within the prescribed time limits. (Yes, sneaky, but effective!:) Best wishes,
  
  Chuck Lunt
  L.A.Trade-Tech College
  
  
• user@mail.rsccd.org (user) Yes my students read the text. I require them to turn in an outline of the chapter which is graded each week at the begining of class. It has improved my test scores on the identical midterm and final by 20%.
• saterfield@smccd.net (Saterfield, Sondra) I learned very early that students in the courses that I teach need more encouragement to read the textbook than just telling them to do so. At the beginning of each course I build into my instruction the benefits of reading and using the textbook that they have just spend a good bit of money to purchase. I review study skills and reading techniques and suggest resources for students to used in my course syllabus. I also quiz students on textbook chapters as part of the course grades.
• jimklent@home.com (Jim Klent) I have all of the assignments for the semester in my syllabus. Included are reading assignments and problems. The textbook I use for the chem 1A,B series is Silberberg. He has example problems, with full explanations of the thought process and technical skills needed, spread
  throughout the body of the chapters. Attached to each example is a follow-up problem. I assign essentially all of the follow-up problems.
  The students who need help carefully read the example problem and the text surrounding it, and seem to benefit from this.
  
  Here's something else I've just discovered. The text has a web site, and included are sample quizzes for each chapter. There are about 80
  multiple choice questions for each chapter. I give tests that have 20 multiple choice questions and 4 essay and problem questions. I take 10
  to 15 of the multiple choice questions from the web site, and tell the students that I have done so. Ambitious students then work through the
  160 questions from 2 chapters on the test, and hone their skills nicely doing so.
  
  Jim Klent
  Ohlone College
  
  
• beachgal@flash.net (Jeanne Oelstrom) 1. The course syllabus shows what pages in the text to read for each class. 2. I give assignments right from the text. We take a minute to look at them in class. 3. I teach a topic. I then tell students the page number in their text where they can find more information on that topic. There is no doubt that I want them to READ THE TEXT!!
  

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