The Whole Bible?

I have a question for professors, students, former students and other people with opinions on this subject. If you’ve taught a one-semester course on the whole Bible, did you get students to read the whole Bible, or just some select passages? In the past I’ve done the latter, and I’m inclined to stick with that approach, since I’m afraid that any attempt to read the whole thing would involve much more skimming and much less attention to detail, resulting in even less comprehension. But when one excerpts, inevitably one gives the “greatest hits” and makes judgments about what passages are most important to read, something I’d in an ideal case prefer to let the students do for themselves instead.

What do you think? Has anyone tried both approaches, or experienced both as a student? If so, I’d particularly value a comparison of the two situations, and what was gained and lost in each case. Thanks!