Reading effectively is an important skill for
students.
Here are some suggestions and strategies to
increase your reading skills.
We’ve also included some links to other sites
that you might find useful.
DIFFERENT
READING SKILLS FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES
There are lots of different reasons for reading
something. As a student you might be reading:
To get a general impression of what something
is about
To find the answer to a particular question
To read for detailed understanding
SKIMMING
If you are reading to get a general impression,
you should use a skill called skimming. When looking
at a book, this will involve looking at the cover, title and
contents page, chapter headings, sub-headings, the first and
last sentence or paragraph within the chapters.
SCANNING
To search for the answer to a particular question,
try scanning. This is the skill you use when finding names
in the phone book – let your eyes scan down the page till
you see the information you want.
Skimming and scanning are speedy and efficient
techniques for getting what you need out of books and articles.
Many students think it is cheating not to read every word
in a book. Not so. You are cheating yourself when you waste
time reading material not essential to your purpose.
READING
FOR A DETAILED UNDERSTANDING - USE SQ3R
For a detailed understanding you might
like to try the SQ3R method. Here’s how it works:
Step 1. SURVEY Look over
the whole text. Check out the headings and the
way it has been set out.
Step 2. QUESTION Ask yourself
some questions about the text. Why am I reading this
text? What do I need to find out from this text? Does
it look useful for my assignment?
Step 3. READ the text.
Take some notes while reading. Sometimes this helps
to keep you mind on the content.
Step 4. RECITE Stop every
now and then and try to put into your own words what
you have just read.
Step 5. REVIEW After you
have finished look back over your notes and see if you
can recall the main the points.