Reading Difficult Writing is a Problem Solving Process

Abstract

A four-week course in reading comprehension which attempts to provide students with a repertoire of techniques to use when they encounter difficult reading passages is described in this paper. At the end of the course, students must demonstrate their ability to skin a short reading passage and write a one-sentence summary of its central theme and main ideas, as well as to outline the passage so that relevant details are organized to reflect the original. The course consists of two parts. In the first part, the, teaching of various methods of attacking study reading is discussed. Students are taught to read for the Rain idea, locate topic sentences, distinguish between general and specific statements, read for paragraph structure, and practice writing concise summaries. The second part of the course consists of problem solving with difficult reading materials in order to give the students experience. The teacher guides the learner through the problem-solving process by helping the learner identify the problem and by suggesting bases for possible solutions. It is concluded that teaching problem solving develops human potential and enables individuals to maximize their skills and resources so that they can establish their independence and fulfill themselves in relation to their environment. (TS) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION MELVA, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATIOA THIS DOCUMENT !AS BEEN REPRO OUCEO EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OA ORGANIZATION ORIGIN ATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. C2> -PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS COPYMGHTE0 MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTEO BY CZ) Jo Ann Cope TO ERIC ANO ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING UNOER AGREEMENTS WITH THE NATIONAL IN. STITUTE OF EDUCATION FURTHER REPRO. DUCTION OUTSIDE THE ERIC SYSTEM RECORES PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER' READING DIFFICULT WRITING IS A PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS Jo Ann Cope The University of Texas at Austin At the Reading and Study Skills Laboratory, a voluntary noncredit student service of the University of Texas at Austin, we offer essentially two programs through which a student may devote time to improving his reading comprehension. He may enroll in a four week long class, or he may work in our self-help laboratory under the guidance of an instructor and a lab advisor (a peer tutor) for an indefinite time. Two or three times as many students enroll in classes as choose the self-help lab. Since the latter requires considerable self-motivation, we tend to counsel students in the direction of the classes. Students in our Study Reading (comprehension) classes are typical of the whole RASSL population in a number of ways. There are about six men to every four women; they are taking their first RASSL program, having been referred by their friends; most of them come from the Colleges of Natural Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Business; about 35 to 40 percent say they are doing okay academically but want to become more efficient in their schoolwork; about the same percentage are transfer students. But there are several differences which distinguish our Study Reading population. They are markedly younger: almost half are freshmen (compared with the RASSL average of one quarter freshmen), 75% are in their first two years of school, and 65% are in their first semester at U.T. This may be in part because an unusually larger percentage of them cite Freshman Orientation as their referral, and again we often counsel freshmen to take classes in either Study Techniques or Study Reading. More significantly, a larger number of them