766 Alignment: Hack Your College Textbook

Learning Problem: Students at Kishwaukee College (a community college) often demonstrate a lack of
appropriate reading strategies to apply to their assigned textbook readings. Preliminary research suggests that
an instructional intervention may help them acquire the necessary skills to improve their reading
comprehension and retention.
Proposed Solution & Delivery Method: The proposed solution is to offer an asynchronous online tutorial.
This tutorial may be deployed in college success coursessuch as college orientation and study skillsas
well as in reading-intensive subject courses in disciplines such as psychology and history.
Terminal Objective #1: Learners will SURVEY content from a textbook chapter.
Assessment
Enabling Objectives
Absorb Activity
Do Activity
Connect Activity
Idea
Given descriptions of key
structural features in a
textbook chapter (table of
contents, introduction,
conclusion, review
questions), learners will
MATCH (answer pickmultiple questions)
these features to the
types of information that
they typically include.

Given some examples of

textbook chapter
headings and
subheadings, learners will
CLASSIFY (drag and
drop) the main chapter
headings and
subheadings in a textbook
passage.

Pick-multiple
questions;
composition
question

Sequencetype
questions
(drag and
drop);
composition
question

Presentation (animated slide show):

Demonstrate how to get started reading a
textbook chapter by using learning features
such as the table of contents. After each
slide demonstrating a concept, learners
practice applying that concept and answer
pick-multiple questions. Provide enough
examples to accommodate both novice and
more advanced learners (let them choose
how much to practice).

Presentation
(animated slide
show): Show how
textbook chapter
headings outline
the topic
hierarchies within
the chapter.

Guided analysis type

Given a textbook
chapter page with topic
headings and
subheadings, learners
drag and drop the
topic headings into a
hierarchical outline
(see Horton p. 140)

Summary type Scenario: Learners

write a text message to a friend who
is dreading an upcoming reading
assignment. They summarize what
theyve just learned about getting
started reading a chapter
(composition question).

Ponder type Scenario: An art critic

sees a painting for the first time in a
museum. Right away, she squints her
eyes to blur out the details of the
painting. She says this helps her to
focus just on the shapes, patterns,
and composition without being
distracted by details like color and
brush-strokes. After she feels like she
has a good grasp of the paintings
outlines, she begins studying the
details. How is her strategy similar to
outlining a textbook chapter?
(composition question)

Terminal Objective #2: Learners will FORMULATE open-ended analytical questions based on chapter
headings.
Assessmen
Enabling Objectives
Absorb Activity
Do Activity
Connect Activity
t Idea
Given a list of questions and a
definition of an open-ended
question, learners will
DIFFERENTIATE (choose from a
list) between open-ended and
closed-ended questions.

Pick-one
questions
(choose
from a list)

Physical
demonstration
(video): Instructor
shows the difference
between closed and
open-ended
questions and gives
examples of each.

Practice-type: Given
several different
examples of
questions, learners
will choose from a
list indicating whether
each one is open- or
closed-ended.

Given sets of chapter headings and

subheadings, learners will MATCH
(choose from a list) headings with
appropriate open-ended questions.

Pick-one
questions
(choose
from a list);
composition
question

Animated slide show: demonstrate how to

match headings with open-ended questions.
Follow each slide with a pick-one question in
which learners choose from a list an
appropriate open-ended question for the given
heading.

Given the chapter headings that

they classified earlier (condition),
learners will CONVERT (choose
from a list performance) chapter
headings into open-ended (criterion)
analytical questions.

Pick-one
questions
(choose
from a list);
composition
question

Animated slide show: demonstrate how to

convert a set of headings into appropriate
open-ended questions. Follow each slide with
a pick-one question in which learners choose
from a list an appropriate open-ended
question for the given heading.

For the NEXT Term. Obj.:

Having formulated open-ended
analytical questions (condition),
learners will ANSWER (choose from a
listperformance) their open-ended
questions with 100% accuracy
(criterion) by means of close
readings of the relevant textbook

Pondering type Asking

the right questions takes
as much skill as giving the
right answers. ~Robert
Half
Think of a practical use for
turning statements into
open-ended questions.
How might this skill help
you in your conversations,
with a hobby or personal
interest, etc.?
(composition question)
Original Work type Given
a chapter heading,
learners will convert it into
their own appropriate
open-ended analytical
question (composition
question) Note: this will
probably require individual
assessment from the
instructor

excerpts.