Advanced Reading Comprehension For Pre-Med Students

USA DREAM Summer Program

Hybrid Course

Instructor: Mrs. Sandra Rogers

Location: TBA

"The proper function of books is associated with intellectual culture in which you steer clear of generalities and indefinite views. You enlarge your critical sense regarding events and personalities and trends, so that you're no longer at the mercy of theorists and demagogues. It's perfectly possible for a man, one who gives to reading the leisure hours of a business  life, to acquire such a general knowledge of the laws of nature and the facts of history that every great advance made in science and government and business shall be to him intelligible and interesting." ---The Royal Bank of Canada

Course Goals:

• Students will increase their reading rates by incorporating speed reading methods, identifying their reading obstacles, and setting and charting high goals of achievement.
• Students will improve their reading comprehension by learning specific reading strategies and skills through the MyReadingLab (MRL) Pearson software and teacher-created study guides.
• Students will learn how to critically read a scientific article. 
• Students will increase their knowledge of medical terminology by studying word parts. Also, they will distinguish the meaning of color-related Latin and Greek roots commonly used in medicine.
• Students will learn how to magnify their learning by using metacognitive strategies to transfer information to long-term memory. 
• Students will analyze, in debate format, a current medical issue and take and defend a position with a strong rationale and supporting facts. 

Learning Objectives: The student will demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery in the following areas:

1. Reading Rate: 1) The mid-term goal is to increase your current reading rate by 100 words per minute (WPM) in this class.  2) The end of course goal is to read 300 WPM with 85% accuracy to become an average adult reader or better.  3) The long-term goal is to read 450 WPM to become an average college student reader. Reading rate growth will vary according to each individual student’s abilities.  
   
2. Reading Comprehension: Students will demonstrate a grade of 80% or higher on the MRL reading modules. In addition, students will demonstrate 80% accuracy on teacher-made comprehension tests based on current scientific research literature.
3. Lexile Level: Students will demonstrate a lexile of 1330 range as a minimum, as this is the readability of the MCAT. Lexile growth will vary according to students’ incoming level. Your lexile (L) measures your level of reading comprehension. Everyone's long-term goal is to reach 1700L, which is the reading level of a college graduate.

          Phase I: Your short-term goal is to reach 1400L or better at the end of the session, as this would be the age-appropriate reading level of a college sophomore.          

          Phase II: Your short-term goal is to reach 1500L or better at the end of this session, as this is would be the age-appropriate reading level of a college junior.         .

      4. Medical terminology: Students will demonstrate 80% mastery on medical terminology on a final test.

       5. Debate: Students will will work in teams to debate a medical issue and achieve a score of 80% on the rubric. See rubric for criteria required. 

Multiple Measures of Evaluation: Growth Chart

This past summer, students had great success in improving their reading comprehension and vocabulary levels. The instructor gathers evidence of student performance in the following ways:

• Students reading rates will be measured and charted on a weekly basis.  Measurement used is the 1-minute reading fluency tests of words read per minute (WPM).
• Students will be tested on their reading comprehension, academic vocabulary, and critical reading skills of scientific articles from teacher-made tests. Measurement used are teacher-made tests.
• Pearson's research-based, computerized reading program, MRL, will be used to test students'  reading comprehension skills, as well as their level of comprehension as determined by their lexile level. Pearson uses the Lexile Reading Framework (TM) to measure reading levels from 0L-1700L. 
•  The teacher conferences with each student individually regarding their growth. Students set their own goals and chart their performance. See growth chart. Your determination plays a big part in your success according to Bandura's self-efficacy theory, so aim high!