1. Gaye Özarslan Bilkent University, Ankara
Action Research Why don’t they come to class having read the texts and prepared ? Student Perspectives on Pre-reading Task Homework as Class Preparedness
Gaye Özarslan 
Bilkent University, Ankara

2. Plan Content- Context Problem Literature Research Question Methodology
Results
Discussion

3. Content- Context
ENG 101 is a freshman English for Academic Purposes Content –based course
The theme of the course is TV and TV Shows
Students are required to read academic texts in various genres, in different length and use these sources in their essays.
Come to class prepared, having read the assigned texts before class, is essential for students success in this course.
Before moving to the next slide, I want to ask teachers how often do they tell their students to read the assigned text for the next week or next lesson? And how do you make sure that students read the text for the next lesson?

4. Content Pre- reading Tasks
10 tasks in total ( only 1 task was completed after class)
3 Parts
Pre- While- Post Reading Questions
Vocabulary
Discussion Question
Submitted to MOODLE on every Sunday before the first class of the week

5. Problem
However, most of the students did not seem to be aware of the importance of having read the texts and come prepared to participate in class.
Furthermore, they had problems with completing pre-reading tasks on-time consistently.
The problem is that the students come to class not prepared, not having completed pre-reading tasks ; therefore, they are not actively participating in class activities.
My motivation was should I quit assigning pre-reading tasks as homwork and instead implement them into in class activities.

6. Purpose of the Study
To Find out the ways to increase the likelihood of students coming to class prepared having read the texts and completed pre-reading tasks
To make necessary adaptations in accordance with the study results

7. What Literature says Pre-reading tasks,
Serve as pre-reading instruction, students can access background information that can facilitate subsequent reading,
provide specific information needed for successful comprehension
stimulate student interest
set up student expectations
model strategies that students can later use on their own
(Grabe and Stoller, 2001)

8. Pre- reading Tasks as Homework
Homework assignments are believed to be helpful for learners’ academic development since activities completed outside of the class give opportunities to students to practice and review course materials which in return positively affect the students’ performance in class (Radhakrishnan, Lam, &Ho, 2009; Epstein & Van Voorhis, 2001; Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Römer, 1993).

9. Some of the reasons of not students’ completing homework reported are
Students do not know how to do the work as in they do not understand the instructions (Darling-Hammond & Olivia, 2006)
Students do not feel that assignment is meaningful especially when they do not get immediate feedback (Darling- Hammond &Olivia, 2006)
Students do not complete homework when they feel the homework is boring and routine such as , repetitious work sheets and handouts(Pasi, 2006 as cited in Wilson and Rhodes, 2010)
Extracurricular activities or family responsibilities affect students’ motivation in completing homework (Pasi, 2006 as cited in Wilson and Rhodes, 2010)
Students become overwhelmed by the amount of homework assigned by their other teachers (Lacina-Gifford & Gifford, 2004 as cited in Wilson and Rhodes, 2010).

10. In other words, students want
Clear instructions
Meaningful assignments with immediate feedback
Not boring, repetitive, routine worksheets and handouts
Extracurricular activities, family responsibilities or motivation
The amount of homework should not overwhelm

11. Research Questions
1. How can I increase the likelihood of students coming to class prepared and having completed pre-reading tasks?
a. How do students perceive the assigned tasks?
b. What are the underlying reasons why students complete, attempt to complete and not complete homework assignments?

12. Methodology Qualitative Data Collection Tools Subjects
Questionnaire (Open- ended questions)
Online Interview (semi- structured )
Student Work (On- time submissions of pre-reading tasks)
Field Notes (In class Observation)
Subjects
Students who enrolled in ENG 101, Sections: 18, 34, 60 in Fall Semester

13. Methodology Sampling Time Frame Qualitative Data Analysis
41 Students answered the Questionnaire
4 Students were planned to be interviewed
(2 students who completed all tasks on time and
2 students who completed 4 or less tasks on time)
45 Students ’on-time pre-reading task submission performance were evaluated
14 students were observed in classroom
Time Frame
Fall Semester which is15 Weeks
Qualitative Data Analysis
Content Analysis

14. Validity and Reliability of Qualitative Data
To validate qualitative data “Data and Investigator Triangulation Methods” are employed.
Data Triangulation
Data is collected from different sources and 2nd investigator's field notes.
Questionnaire
Online Interview
Student Performance

15. Validity and Reliability of Data
Investigator Triangulation
2nd investigators’  findings from in class observation field notes and my notes were compared.
We looked at the effects of pre-reading tasks in term of participation of students who complete , partially complete and not complete the pre- reading tasks before coming to class.
We had 92 % match in our interpretation of student participation and performance in class activities.

16. Limitation of the Study
As a class instructor, I am the main investigator in this research.
Sampling is done with 41 students who are currently enrolled in ENG 101, sections 18,34 and 60.
The participants have various backgrounds such as direct entry students, students who completed prep school
English Proficiency is diverse
Quality of student answers to Pre-reading Task questions is not evaluated in the study since the aim of the study is to increase the likelihood of students’ completion of tasks before coming to class.

17. Results Questionnaire 41 students filled the questionnaire
Questionnaire includes 6 questions
Students’ perception of
Pre-reading tasks
Their own performance
What they are feeling when they complete and not complete the tasks
Suggestions

18. Q 1: What do you think about pre-reading tasks in ENG 101
Q 1: What do you think about pre-reading tasks in ENG 101? Please explain by providing reasons.

19. 29 Students think pre-reading tasks are useful in terms of

20. Q 1 : Sub- Categories Reading Class Preparation Writing Language
Comprehension (10)
Topic/ Author (7)
Main ideas/ details (6)
Preparation (3)
Topic Familiarity (4)
Read text before class(4)
Think/ Critically (3)
Topic (2)
Essay (4)
Source/ Sp. Ideas/ Evidence (3)
Essay prep (1)
Essay Topic Familiarity (1)
English (2)
Vocabulary (1)

21. 3 Students think pre-reading tasks are not useful because
It is more useful to answer the questions in the class rather than doing them as a homework.
Pre-reading tasks are not helpful for me because they do not affect my grades or my understanding readings.
Tasks should not be graded if someone write an essay, he/she does not have to complete tasks.
Note: These two students answered Question 3 as “NO”.

22. 9 Students have Other Comments
Tasks
Texts
So many tasks so they are boring (3)
Questions are always the same so it gets boring (1)
Long, not related to the topic(1)
Exhausting, stressing me out, destroy my reading desire (1)
Half of the questions do not require to read the whole text which is good for who don’t find the text interesting (1)
Complex, needs background information (1)
Long, hard to focus (1)
Boring texts (1)

23. Q 2 : What do you believe the purpose of the pre-reading tasks is?

24. Q 2 : Sub- Categories Reading Class Preparation Writing Language
Comprehension (10)
Topic/ Author (7)
Main ideas/ details (6)
Preparation (3)
Familiarity (4)
Read text before class(4)
Think/ Critically (3)
Topic (2)
Essay (4)
Source/ Sp. Ideas/ Evidence (3)
Essay prep (1)
Essay Topic Familiarity (1)
English (2)
Vocabulary (1)
The answers to the first question and the 2nd question are mostly overlapping, very similar answers. It can be inferred that students and the instructors purposes are overlapping or the same.

25. Q 3 : Do you do your pre-reading tasks consistently before coming to class?

26. Teacher Notes of on time Task Submissions
Only 26 of them completed half of the tasks consistantly…

27. Q 3. a : If yes, please explain the reasons why you do pre-reading tasks consistently.

28. Q 3. a. Sub-Categories Course requirement Class Prep Comprehension
Other
Graded (10)
HW/ Assign (8)
Self-Motivation(3)
Responsibility (1)
Focus/ Follow Lesson (7)
Participation (5)
Essay Writing (3)
Text (10)
Opinion/Ideas/Topic (4)
Make sts read (4)
Reading Skills(1)

29. Q 3. b: If no, please explain the reasons why you do not pre-reading tasks constantly
Text
Time
Motivation
Boring
Too long
Not have enough time
Tasks take much time
Lazy
Not a good student

30. Q 4: How students feel when they complete the tasks
Positive Feeling (35)
Neutral (2)
Negative Feeling
Comfortable (10)
Relaxed (6)
Confident (5)
Ready (3)
Happy (3)
Better (2)
Fine (1)
Proud (1)
Satisfied (1)
Peaceful (1)
Accomplished (1)
No feelings
None

31. Q 5: How students feel when they do not complete the tasks
Positive Feelings
Neutral
Negative Feelings(26)
Relaxed(1)
No feeling (4)
Uncomfortable (4)
Not happy(3)
Not ready (2)
Ashamed
Curious
Anxious
Guilty
Bored
Terrible
Not understand
Regretful
Not able to follow the lesson
Stressed
Inadequate
Not want to participate
Ignorant

32. Q. 6. What do you think would increase likelihood of your completing the tasks before coming to class? Please give any suggestions by explaining the reasons why you think so.
Text
Task / Task Content / Design
Assessment / Time
Enjoyable
Linked to tasks
Shorter texts
topic
Less number of questions
Interactive questions
Question quality
Optional grading
Class quiz
Extended due dates

33. Interview
I conducted an interview with 2 students to further understand the students ‘suggestions
2 students who have completed their all pre-reading tasks on time ( Student A and Student B)
2 students who have completed 4 or less pre-tasks on time

34. Q 1: How did the reading texts affect your completion of the task?
Student A: Hard/ long texts – hard to focus on the task properly
Students B: More interesting text- answering questions is enjoyable
Student B: Simple texts- detailed questions
Student A:
“If the reading is interesting, it has a huge effect .For example I hated the first task because the text was boring.”

35. Q 3: What do you think about number of the questions in the tasks
Q 3: What do you think about number of the questions in the tasks? Q 4: What kind of questions would you like to see? Can you give examples?
Task / Task Content / Design
Student B: Questions were about details that were not relevant to the essays
Student B: Some questions seemed like a clear copy paste from the text, and required no analysis by me
Student B: “What do you think- do you agree” type of questions that relate to with things from my life
Student A: 3-4 questions which require detailed answers were enough

36. Q 5: What is the ideal submission date for you
Q 5: What is the ideal submission date for you? How much time do you need to work on the task? How many days earlier would you like to have the tasks?
Task / Task Content / Design
Students A: 6-7 days ideal or minimum 3-4 days to work on the tasks
Students B: Almost all texts available from the beginning of the semester, their tasks could be available with them, too.
Student A: Good idea

37. Q 7: Do you think you need a pre- reading task for each text
Q 7: Do you think you need a pre- reading task for each text? If yes, why? If no, Why?
Task / Task Content / Design
Student A: I think we do need tasks for each reading but the depth of the questions can change according to the reading.
Student A: Tasks are necessary for me
Student B: Tasks seemed redundant after a while
Student B: If there is task only for each cycle “questions can be a bit more detailed and we can give longer answers. We can use these answers to help with our essays”
Student B: Short answers do not help me to understand the texts better.

38. Q 8: What do you think about grading
Q 8: What do you think about grading? Should pre-reading tasks be graded? Or should the students choose which ones to be graded? Or not graded at all? What about class quiz instead of doing pre-reading tasks?
Assessment
Student B: Students who want to get a good grade will read. If they do not read, You can say you will drop their participation grades
Student A: If there is no obligation, most of the students will not read the texts
Student B: Class quiz would be more efficient, max 15 min
Student A: Class quiz is not a good idea because I get nervous every time and actually it affect my performance. I prefer tasks personally
Student B: If it is graded, choosing which ones are graded seems fair
Student A: If we put some effort there should be some grading.Choosing the ones may be good.

39. Discussion and Interpretation of Findings

40. How do students perceive the pre-reading tasks?
Most of the students find pre-reading tasks beneficial, although few students do not find them useful.
Some students think tasks are too many, some of them are difficult and boring.
Most of the students are well aware of the purpose and benefits of the pre-reading tasks.
Completing and not completing the tasks affect their motivation, confidence and participation in class.
Most of them assume that their performance is enough but actually reality is different.
Awareness is there but there is need to motivate and increase the completion of tasks.

41. Students see Pre-reading tasks helpful in terms of mainly
What are the underlying reasons why students complete, attempt to complete and not complete homework assignments?
Students see Pre-reading tasks helpful in terms of mainly
Reading (comprehension, main ideas, supporting details etc.)
Grades
Class preparedness (familiarity with the topic)
Writing Essays
Feeling confident in class

42. Why Students do not complete the Pre-reading Task consistently are
Text
not interesting
Boring
Long
Hard
Tasks
takes too much time,
questions not relevant to students’ real life,
not require personalization and critical thinking ,
many number of questions,
redundant questions
not relevant to essay
Individual issues
laziness
not being a good student,
not motivated

43. How can I increase the likelihood of students coming to class prepared and having completed pre-reading tasks?
Keep the tasks as they are since pre-reading tasks are valuable to both the students and the teacher.
Try to include more interesting texts
Less number of questions
Questions more relevant to their real life experiences
More questions about their opinions, fewer comprehension level, copy –paste questions
More connection to essay writing process
Provide all the tasks at the beginning of the semester
Keep as an assessment item in the syllabus
Option to submit their best tasks

44. Further Questions to Investigate
How does use of MOODLE affect rate of tasks submitted on-time?
To what extent does the quality of answers to pre-reading tasks affect students’ participation in class?

45. Thank You