MALIBU, CALIF. — University professors are modifying teaching approaches and adjusting standards to address reading comprehension issues among Gen Z college students.

Jessica Hooten Wilson, a professor of great books and humanities at Pepperdine University, said, "It's not even an inability to critically think. It's an inability to read sentences." She added, "I feel like I am tap dancing and having to read things aloud because there's no way that anyone read it the night before. Even when you read it in class with them, there's so much they can't process about the very words that are on the page."

Wilson assigns reading passages to be read aloud and discussed line by line in her courses. She reviews single poems or texts repeatedly over a semester to develop students' critical reading skills. "I'm not trying to lower my standards. I just have to have different pedagogical approaches to accomplish the same goal," Wilson said. She has taught at five institutions over more than 20 years and stated that selective universities tend to enroll better-prepared students.

"Today, if you assign that amount of reading, they often don't know what to do," said Timothy O'Malley, a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame. O'Malley noted that many students rely on AI summaries instead of reading assigned materials. "They've been formed in a kind of scanning approach to reading," O'Malley said. He stated that standardized testing has trained students to scan text for information. Early in his career, O'Malley assigned 25 to 40 pages of reading per class. Students report a lack of confidence and stamina as barriers to reading.

Brad East, a theology professor at Abilene Christian University, maintains original reading lengths in his courses while adjusting assignments to account for generative AI. East stated that reducing grade anxiety increases student willingness to attempt assigned reading. "It isn't important to me to have stress-filled cumulative exams, nor do I particularly care about grade inflation. I want them to learn," said East.