The Reading Question Method: Encouraging Philosophy Students to Do the Readings, Without Instructor Burnout

Abstract

I propose assigning one “reading question” at the end of each class—based on next lecture’s assigned reading—to encourage undergraduates in philosophy classes to do the reading. From the outset, students are told about the reading question (RQ) method: RQs are due at the beginning of lecture, but students don’t know whether a given reading question will be graded until after it is due. RQs for only about half the lectures are arbitrarily selected for grading, and word limits are imposed for student answers, to ease the grading load. To discourage generative AI use, I offer several measures ranging from moderate to drastic, the latter including students answering RQs by hand in class. I will also respond to two objections: that instructors should just leave reading to the students instead of micromanaging them, and that the RQ method is unfair to those who answered reading questions not selected for grading.