Student Comments
“I used to be intimidated by my reading assignments, but now I feel prepared to handle any book my teachers throw my way.”
“I feel now like I can take on the academic world and not only read my textbooks with more understanding, more ease, with less procrastination, but that I can also CONTRIBUTE something!”
“I received my first 4.0 ever last semester [the semester he took the course]. The strategies helped me learn more in less time and made school more interesting, even with my busy extracurricular life. I’m in Chemistry right now, and while others are overwhelmed with the readings and have already decided they “hate chemistry,” I look forward to class, readings, and assignments with a vast artillery of skills I can adapt for any reading situation. A subject that I once dreaded is now fascinating to me.”
Fading are the drudgery-filled days of reading without any learning!
I would say the #1 thing I have taken away from this class is my reading attitude and confidence. My attitudes have changed, and I have been equipped with tools for success.
Before when I got stressed or frustrated about a text, I would stop and let myself get distracted by something else. Now I think about other strategies and target one or two that will help me get through and understand difficult texts.
As I have become aware of how to be in charge of my reading, I have been able to take control of my classes instead of my classes controlling me.
I am no longer a passive reader. Now I know a whole bunch of different reading strategies that can help me face any problem I come across in my reading.
Comments by Professors of the Course
Professor #1:
We have a population of very bright college students at my institution, yet they often are overwhelmed by the enormous amount of reading assignments for each of their courses. Dr. Marne Isakson helped us create a reading course that shows students how to approach their reading, how to get the most out of their reading and how to think critically and analytically about their texts.
As former students have spread the word about their personal successes, our sections fill up within the first week of registration. Dr. Isakson is a brilliant master pedagogue who with much humility embraces and mentors anyone interested in learning these reading strategies. I have taught for 23 years, but these recent 6 years with reading strategies have been the most joyous years in making a difference in the lives of student—hearing their personal stories of reading faster yet maintaining understanding and even gaining deeper understandings–and for some students, developing an enjoyment of reading for the first time.
Students have time to share their experiences, practice strategies in class, and receive personal coaching from the instructor. This is the best teaching experience ever–being a coach to eager, self-motivated learners as they learn reading strategies that help them become critical thinkers and scholars in their field.
Comments by Workshop Attendees
We want our students to succeed, then we present them with mountains of difficult reading but no training on how to conquer the mountains. The Isaksons can provide the training to help our students succeed. Marne and Richard Isakson wrote the book (literally) on advanced reading strategies. While most students would benefit from taking the full semester course, most of them won’t do that. The Isaksons have condensed the most useful strategies into an 80-minute workshop and a helpful pocketbook.
Here’s how it has worked in Dietetics:
- Last year junior and senior Dietetics majors, and from this fall on only junior students,
participated in the workshop. Both years the students gave us very positive feedback on
the value of the workshop and identified strategies that had been helpful to them. - Between last fall and this, the faculty attended a 10-hour workshop in the spring designed
to both acquaint faculty with the strategies, but more importantly, to help them reinforce
and support the strategies in the students’ assignments. - This year, two faculty members have specific strategies built into their courses that
require use of some advanced reading strategies in place of quizzes. Learning any skill
requires time and practice. Because they are built right into the courses, students don’t
view the reading strategies as “extra work,” they are part of their assigned work. Other
faculty members reinforce the use of strategies in their courses. - Our hope is students will develop the skills to not only read their many assignments
efficiently, but effectively; that they will develop the scholar’s ability to comprehend and
synthesize the textual material.
Not all departments have a major cohort, so what has worked for us may not be feasible for all
programs. However, the advanced reading skills workshop could be made available once or
twice a year for interested students in a department, could be required in a specific core major
course, or offered in some other way suited to the department (all with or without the 10-hour
faculty workshop—but we certainly found that valuable).
Nora Nyland, PhD, RD
Dietetics Program Director
Comments by Administrators
The following statement is part of a letter the president of the university wrote expressing appreciation and congratulations to Richard upon his retirement:
“You were certainly involved on a committee within the Counseling and Career Center in the development of our advanced reading course. In the last five years, a significant amount of outcome research has shown the course to be highly effective and producing remarkable results in benefitting student academic performance.” (October 10, 2013)