Lei, S.A., Bartlett, K.A., Gorney, S.E., & Herschbach, T.R. (2010). Resistance to reading compliance among college students: instructors’ perspectives. College Student Journal, 44(2), 219-229.

Use the below spaces to take notes as you read:

Student self-confidence is positively correlated with task completion (Tuckman, 1991). Although self-confidence plays a vital role in how well a child does in school from the very beginning, it becomes really evident at the college level where instructors are less likely to seek out students to help (Tuckman, 1991). If students do not understand what they are reading from journal articles, they will be less likely to complete required reading assignments or even attempt future readings.

Other student traits, such as procrastination, may also contribute to non-compliance with reading (Tuckman, 1991). In general, procrastinating students are less likely to be motivated to perform class-related activities, such as reading assignments (Tuckman, 1991). The Center for Advancement of Learning recommendations (1998) suggests for college students to complete at least two hours of study and/or reading time per week. However, a majority of students still choose to cram just before the test, and therefore do not have time to complete all required reading assignments. Students, who do not read, either due to lack of motivation or lack of comprehension, come to rely exclusively on lecture and discussion material (Murden, 1997). Although lecture and discussion are important components of learning material, it may be limited because of time constraints.

Students’ natural interest in the research topic and subject matter of the course may also contribute to compliance with reading assignments (Carkenord, 1994). Students in higher-level classes tend to read more often than those in lower-level classes (Burchfield, 2000). This higher compliance level could be due to their intrinsic interest in their chosen course of study. However, much research has shown that students are more driven by extrinsic motivation, such as final semester grades than a desire to learn or gain skills for their professional career (Marchant, 2002; Sappington, 2002).

Another possibility for student noncompliance with required reading assignments is that students do not believe that reading journal articles are an important activity (Sikorski, 2001; Sappington, 2002). Students clearly underestimate the importance of reading assigned journal articles; however, it may not be entirely the students’ faults.

Graham, S., & Donaldson, J. (1999). Adult students’ academic and intellectual development in college. Adult Education Quarterly, 49(3),147-161.

If students need to become meaningfully involved in the college environment to get the most out of college, these traditional forms and conceptions of involvement may cause problems for a majority of older learners. Adults attend college for very practical reasons, often juggling jobs, families, and a host of role expectations (Aslanian & Brickell, 1988; Hughes & Graham, 1990; Kasworm, 1990a). Due to time and other constraints, they are less likely to become involved in student activities and social groups and less likely to spend significant amounts of time on campus interacting with other students and faculty (Aslanian & Brickell, 1988; Frost, 1991; Graham & Donaldson, 1996).

In addition, older learners are often timid about returning to college and wonder if they will be as “smart” as the traditional-aged students; attitudes that could affect their developmental outcomes. Despite adults’ concerns about skills that are too rusty to face the rigors of college work, some research on academic achievement suggests that adults do as well or better than traditional students on many different performance measures (Kasworm, 1990b; Kuh, 1993).

Some suggest adult learners may compensate for their initial lack in confidence or rusty skills by attending college with a clear purpose in mind, by bringing a rich background of life experiences to class, by taking the advice of their professors or advisers more seriously than the younger students (Frost, 1991; Kasworm, 1995), or by working harder than the traditional-aged students (Cupp, 1991).

If college “involvement” and these other factors have a significant effect on student outcomes, adults may very well experience different outcomes from undergraduate education. One recent hypothesis is that the adults’ learning is enhanced by a different type of “involvement,” one that focuses on the broader community and their various adult life roles (Graham & Donaldson, 1996; Kasworm, 1995). This raises a number of questions such as: (a) Should we expect the same developmental impact for adults as we do younger students who attend college or would we expect the adults’ development to be different? (b) Are adults as highly involved in student activities and out-of-class experiences as younger students? (c) What are the broad outcome themes identified by the adults that address their academic and intellectual development? and (d) If there are no differences in reported growth, should traditional forms of involvement be encouraged by college policies? This study attempts to address these issues.

Spee, J., & Fraiberg, A. (2015). Topics, texts, and critical approaches: Integrating dimensions of liberal learning in an undergraduate management course. Journal of Management Education, 39(1), 56-80.

Liberal learning practices have been employed in management teaching settings, furthermore, as a way to introduce discussions of emotion, particularly passion, and emotional intelligence (Bilimoria, 1999; Goleman, 1998; Grisham, 2006; Huffman & Kilian, 2012; Kostera, 1997; Morris, Urbanski, & Fuller, 2005); as a way to provoke creativity in thinking (Brown, 2006; Buswick, 2005; Essex & Mainemelis, 2002; Grisoni & Kirk, 2006); and as a way to promote authenticity of voice and identity (Eriksen, 2012; Gallos, 1997; Hiley, 2006). It is worthwhile to note that this journal has demonstrated a profound and continuing commitment to the integration of liberal learning components

into management education, as evidenced not only by this issue but also by the regular appearance of scholarship devoted to the subject matter.

Most commonly, management course developers have drawn on subject matter and practices within the arts and humanities for such endeavors (Gagliardi & Czarniawska, 2006). Under that substantial umbrella, scholars have turned to the fields of art (Colakoglu & Littlefield, 2011; Cowan, 2007); music (Comer & Holbrook, 2012); history (Kohn, 2013); and, more extensively, film (Billsberry & Gilbert, 2008; Bumpus, 2005; Champoux, 1999; Clemens & Wolff, 1999; Holbrook, 2009; Smith, 2009; V. F. Taylor & Provitera, 2011).

Within the humanities, literary texts have served as a remarkable resource for management classrooms, and those texts have been employed in several ways. Most often, faculty members have used literary texts as nontraditional types of cases to analyze concepts of leadership, management strategy, and organizational behavior. In this vein, literary fiction has become a popular resource (Badaracco, 2006; Brawer, 1998; Clemens & Mayer, 1999; Levy, 2007; Puffer, 1991; Short & Ketchen, 2005; Short & Reeves, 2009; Watts, 2003; Westerman & Westerman, 2009). Drama, particularly Shakespeare, has become a genre ripe for “case analysis” (Corrigan, 1999; Watts, 2003; Whitney & Packer, 2000), and theater skills have also been integrated into management courses (Huffaker & West, 2005). Poetry, interestingly enough, has served as a prominent resource for educators in these areas of study (Morris et al., 2005). Because texts in the literary humanities rely on language complexity, symbolic language, and ambiguity, they demand analytical mulling, invite reflection, and summon multiple perspectives.