Effective Reading

Reading is essential to studying.

Reading for Study vs. Reading for Pleasure

Study

• Active• Need to gather information.• Need to make sense of it.• Need to organise it.• Sometimes need to

memorize certain parts of it.

Pleasure

• Relaxing• Don’t need to remember it.

Academic Reading Strategy

What you need:

1. An overview of your course with main topics.2. Learning outcomes.3. Reading list4. What do you know already?5. What assignments do you have to complete?

Starting point

Finishing point

Current level of

knowledge.

Stated learning

objectives

Take into account:

• The time you have available for studying.• The assignments you have to cover.

Speed Reading

• Get comfortable.• Read with a purpose. Have a question or

questions you want to answer.• Focus on groups of words not individual

words. (with practice you will get quicker).• Use a guide (a finger or piece of paper). Move

it fairly quickly down the page.• Don’t read every word to yourself.

It is not necessary to always speed read.

Exercise 1Practice reading a text using the technique.

SkimmingTo skim a book:• Start with the front and back covers.• Look at the contents page or index.• Next, start with any chapters you have

identified as relevant.• Read first and last paragraph. Read the

summary if included.

You should now have quite a bit of information.

Active Reading

• Active reading requires questioning!• What is the main point of the book, chapter,

essay or article? (Highlight it).• What is the main idea in this paragraph? This

is usually contained in the first sentence. Highlight two or three main words.

• Does this answer my question/questions I have on the topic?

• How does this compare with what I already know about the topic. Is this a different argument?

• Do I think that the author is making a convincing argument?

• What is the author’s conclusion? (Underline or highlight this).

To complete your active reading, quickly reread the text, making notes as you go. Your will help you in this as they will draw you to the important points.

Exercise 2Use this technique to read, highlight and take brief notes on the text ‘Exam nerves’.

highlighted sections