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
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
graduate education teacher development collaborative writing assessment
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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

References (29) · 2 in this index

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    Arts and Humanities in Higher Education  ↗
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    College English  ↗
  5. Boyd (2010)
    The Best of Both Worlds: The Large Lecture, Writing-Intensive Course
    Communication Teacher  ↗
Show all 29 →
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CrossRef global citation count: 7 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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