Evolving Perspectives in Postsecondary Reading and Learning: A Review of the Handbook of College Reading and Study Strategy Research, 3rd Edition

Abstract

In the Foreword of the third edition of the Handbook of College Reading and Study Strategy Research, Norman Stahl discusses the status of this work. He describes this Handbook, as well as its predecessor volumes, as a “scholarly benchmark,” “the go-to source for in-depth coverage,” and a must-read for postsecondary reading specialists, graduate students, administrators, and policy makers, as well as high school teachers. Moreover, he claims this Handbook has the potential to focus research and pedagogical efforts on upcoming changes, a similar claim Martha Maxwell (2000) made in the Foreword of the first edition. In this review, we aim to highlight the evolving perspectives in college reading and learning with a focus on topics and themes that are not only significant and worthwhile but also ever-changing and thus worthy of making this edition a landmark volume in the field of postsecondary literacy. Part I of the Handbook, edited by Eric J. Paulson, has three main foci: to highlight the historical aspects of literacy, to provide an updated framework of college reading, and to draw attention to issues related to literacy and college reading. Across the five chapters are a multitude of discussions centered around literacy and college reading. Some of the discussions include aspects related to college reading policy issues, a changing student population, and the need for a broadened and expanded understanding of literacy. There are two notable chapters in this opening section. In Chapter 2 “College Reading,” authors Eric J. Paulson and Jodi Patrick Holschuh describe why the three terrains of college reading (i.e., the foundational terrain, the theoretical terrain, and the instructional terrain) are vital to the instruction of developmental reading. In addition to this main point, Paulson and Holschuh also argue that there is a significant need for expanded postsecondary literacy instruction and support, noting that literacy should be approached as a social practice. Barbara Guzzetti and Leslie Foley make a clear case in Chapter 5 “Social Media” for how young adults have become facile users of social media and that, because Journal of College Reading and Learning, 49: 146–149, 2019 ISSN: 1079-0195 print/2332-7413 online