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Reading from Text
Books
It is important to properly learn how to most effectively work with
material in textbooks. Instead of simply opening the book and
beginning to passively read, you need to take an active role in reading,
which will allow you to recall and learn the information. Active
reading involves interacting with the material. If you are an active
reader you will only have to read the material once, and that will save you
a lot of time when it comes to studying for exams.
The way that you read the newspaper, magazines or novels will be very
different from how you read from your textbook. There are some
different techniques and strategies for helping you become an active
reader:
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Read required readings before the lecture
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Be realistic about how much you can read in
the time you have
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Take breaks, a good standard is to take a 10
minute break after 20-30 minutes of reading. The time varies for each person –
do what works for you!
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Use a slow careful pace, it is time
consuming but necessary for comprehension and retention
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Ask yourself what you want to know after
reading the material, see a purpose for your reading.
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Skim over the chapter, look at the
introduction, headings, graphs, charts and summary
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Create questions to be answered from the
headings
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As you read, keep these questions in mind
and answer them, create new questions if you have to.
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After reading answer your questions from
memory, see what areas you had trouble with and review them
Underlining, taking notes and highlighting are useful tools for active
reading, however you need to make sure that you are only making note of the
relevant and important material and not simply highlighting or underlining
everything.
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Do not underline or highlight too much
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Use numbers, stars or double underline to
highlight major points
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Make margin notes
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Use keywords and brief summaries for notes
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Put a question mark next to anything that
needs clarification, then discuss with your professor
Active reading will allow you to:
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Recall the information from memory
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Relate new knowledge to old knowledge
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Make patterns and connections
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Know what you are looking for and where to
find it
If you are having trouble concentrating you should evaluate the
environment in which you are reading and what is distracting you - is it
your computer, cell phone, the lighting, noise level etc. You may
need to change your reading environment to something that works for you.
For more information
please see the following websites:
http://www.yorku.ca/gcareers/study%20skills/reading_textbooks_effectively.htm
http://www.learningcommons.uoguelph.ca/LearningServices/Fastfacts-SQ4R.html
http://students.usask.ca/support/learning/studyskills/textbook/
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