Pedagogy Oct 2013

Teaching Close Reading Skills in a Large Lecture Course

Theresa Tinkle ; Daphna Atias ; Ruth M. McAdams ; Cordelia Zukerman

Abstract

This article presents the authors’ innovative approach to the challenges of teaching students in a large lecture survey course to perform effective close readings, and sets forth a rigorous qualitative assessment of students’ learning. It describes a combination of teaching strategies integrated to encourage students’ skills acquisition as well as content mastery, and to make the course writing intensive without also being grading intensive. It demonstrates the effectiveness of these strategies by analyzing evidence of student learning. The authors advocate for an instructional model that gives students ample opportunity for active learning and for practicing close reading skills. The authors conclude with a brief coda calling for more scholarship and reflection on faculty-graduate student collaboration in both scholarship and teaching.

Journal
Pedagogy
Published
2013-10-01
DOI
10.1215/15314200-2266432
Open Access
Closed
Topics
multimodality multilingual writers

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (7)

  1. Reeds (2026)
    Defining and Teaching Close Reading as Disciplinary Method
    Pedagogy
  2. Li (2025)
    Beyond Surfaces and Depths: An SFL Analysis of Fine Gradations of Meaning in Un…
    Written Communication
  3. Zito (2023)
    “I Could Never Say That Out Loud”
    Pedagogy
  4. Carter et al. (2022)
    Too Close for Context
    Pedagogy
  5. Schechter (2018)
    “On the Outside Facing the Wooded Ridge”
    Pedagogy
Show all 7 →
  1. Corrigan (2017)
    Teaching What We Do in Literary Studies
    Pedagogy
  2. Adams (2016)
    The Line That Should Not Be Drawn
    Pedagogy

Cites in this index (2)

  1. Lauter (2010)
    Contexts for Canons
    Pedagogy
  2. Chick et al. (2009)
    “Pressing an Ear against the Hive”
    Pedagogy
Also cites 13 works outside this index ↓
  1. Bass (2008)
    On the Evidence of Theory: Close Reading as a Disciplinary Model for Writing about Teachi…
    Arts and Humanities in Higher Education  ↗
  2. Bialostosky (2006)
    Should College English Be Close Reading?
    College English  ↗
  3. Boyd (2010)
    The Best of Both Worlds: The Large Lecture, Writing-Intensive Course
    Communication Teacher  ↗
  4. Gallop (2010)
    Close Reading in 2009
    ADE Bulletin  ↗
  5. Harpham (2011)
    The Humanities and the Dream of America
     ↗
  6. Langer (1998)
    Thinking and Doing Literature: An Eight-Year Study
    English Journal  ↗
  7. Laurence (2011)
    From the Editor: Ambiguities of Assessment
    ADE Bulletin  ↗
  8. Manista (2011)
    Using Enquiry-Based Learning Methods to Teach Finnegans Wake to Undergraduates
    Arts and Humanities in Higher Education  ↗
  9. Mompo (2010)
    Some Internet-Based Strategies That Help Solve the Problem of Teaching Large Groups of En…
    Innovations in Education and Teaching International  ↗
  10. Summit (2010)
    Literary History and the Curriculum: How, What, and Why?
    Profession  ↗
  11. Watts (2010)
    Goldilocks Meets Gertrude Stein: Poetry Explication for the Verse-Averse
    Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues, and Ideas  ↗
  12. Weber-Fève (2009)
    Integrating Language and Literature: Teaching Textual Analysis with Input and Output Acti…
    Foreign Language Annals  ↗
  13. Weller (2010)
    Comparing Lecturer and Student Accounts of Reading in the Humanities
    Arts and Humanities in Higher Education  ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 7 View in citation network →

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