Why you should shift reading to an after-class activity

As a literacy specialist, I noticed a contradiction in my practice. While teaching students about effective comprehension strategies for young learners, I was asking my university students to do the opposite—read complex academic texts without considering whether they knew anything about the concepts or had the vocabulary to understand these texts. Research shows us that many university students experience barriers to comprehension, particularly when engaging with academic readings that assume prior background knowledge and a developed disciplinary vocabulary. This realisation inspired a key innovation in my practice: modifying the role and timing of required readings to better support student comprehension.

Rather than assigning readings before class, I ask students to read after class—once they have already been introduced to key concepts, used relevant vocabulary in discussion, and begun developing background knowledge through collaborative, scenario-based activities.

Series of steps

	Students begin with a pre-class task designed to activate their background knowledge and introduce key vocabulary in accessible, everyday language.
	During class sessions, we build upon these foundational concepts by connecting them to research and developing the specialised vocabulary necessary for teaching practice. To further support comprehension, I integrate excerpts from the assigned readings into our tutorials and provide structured reading prompts that guide students through these complex texts.
	Only after this preparation do I assign academic readings, which students can now comprehend more effectively due to their established background knowledge and familiarity with terminology.
	The cycle continues in the subsequent class with a 10-minute discussion where students engage with open-ended prompts, visual stimuli, and real-world scenarios that encourage rich, exploratory dialogue about what they have read. This active engagement is aimed at supporting students' comprehension and confidence.

By removing the barriers that impede comprehension—specifically, the lack of background knowledge and limited disciplinary vocabulary—students demonstrate enhanced engagement with academic texts. While I haven't conducted formal research yet, anecdotal evidence suggests students feel as though they have greater access to complex academic material. When they are in class, I see them open up their readings or notes about their reading and I have noticed great attention to the content, with more considered highlighting and more thoughtful annotations.

In using this cycle, I can plan more creatively for the discussion stimuli at the beginning of each class, where we revisit the reading content in dialogic group tasks. Many students exhibit confidence in bringing their understandings into these guided discussions. Anecdotally, I believe that the students are more confident in their conversations. Comments from students include reflections on the reduced difficulty of the reading in general and the increased motivation for reading they feel when knowing that the articles are going to be easier to read.

I believe the significance of changing when our students read extends beyond logistics; it represents a fundamental shift in how we support students' access to and understanding of complex academic content.

Choose readings strategically: Select articles that serve multiple purposes—those with appropriate readability levels that build upon tutorial concepts, support assessment tasks, facilitate meaningful dialogue, and connect seamlessly with course content. This careful selection process requires time but creates a stronger alignment between readings, class activities, and learning outcomes.

Create reading prompts: Guide guide students' interaction with complex texts by drawing their attention to key concepts and terminology. Integrate parts of the readings into tutorials to create later recognition, “aha” moments, as students engage with the texts. Use strategic signposting throughout the tutorial, such as "You'll learn more about this in your reading". I use AI to help me design the prompts, note making frameworks, or other materials and find Google NotebookLM to be particularly useful for this task. Additionally, when reading prompts align with assessment tasks makes students’ reading effort more engaging and productive. This scaffolded approach reinforces learning and helps students recognise familiar concepts when encountering them in academic language.

Design discussion starters: Use a range of images and authentic scenarios to stimulate rich, exploratory discussion about the practical application of theoretical concepts. Consider using schort scenarios that demand a connection between theory and practice. I use AI to help me design prompts and find Google NotebookLM to be particularly useful for this task. Dedicating the initial portion of each class to these structured discussions reinforces comprehension and engagement with the practical application of their learning.

I recommend educators start with existing complex reading tasks where students typically report having difficulty. By strategically building background knowledge and introducing key vocabulary before assigning academic texts, you create foundations for more confident engagement with complex content. This approach acknowledges established comprehension principles that will make readings more accessible and engaging for all students.