A Transparent Assignment to Encourage Reading for a Flipped Course

This paper describes a reading assignment that resulted in students completing 80-90% of the assigned reading in a content-heavy science course taught in a flipped format. Students reported almost unanimously that the assignment was valuable in helping them learn the material, and a majority reported that other professors should adopt a similar reading assignment strategy. Achievement on the assignment positively correlated with achievement on the comprehensive final exam. The assignment aligned with the principles of the expectancy-value-cost theory of motivation. I will describe the assignment and offer suggestions for improving it for future use.