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Critical reading; literacy instruction; college writing; pedagogy; creativity; engagement; motivation; active learning; student-centered learning
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Full-Text Articles in Education
Cultivating Critical Reading: Using Creative Assignments To Promote Agency, Persistence, And Enjoyment, Nate Mickelson
Cultivating Critical Reading: Using Creative Assignments To Promote Agency, Persistence, And Enjoyment, Nate Mickelson
Publications and Research
Skillful and attentive critical reading is crucial for success in college. Research has shown that pedagogies that foreground the transactional nature of reading are more effective than those that frame reading as a process of decoding meanings transmitted in the text. Despite this, existing approaches to reading instruction often reinforce a transmission model of reading that prioritizes the decoding of textual meaning over more active engagement. Assignments that explicitly or implicitly define reading as a process of identifying correct interpretations in this way risk reinforcing the shame and frustration students experience as they struggle to interpret texts. As an alternative, …