Temple UniversityRussell Conwell Learning Center

Office of Senior Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies

When it comes to college reading assignments, most students

have similar areas they need help with.

This workshop will give you solutions to some of the most common problems

you might face with yourcollege readings, such as…..

This is so boring!It makes me fall asleep!

I have so much reading to catch up on!

How will I get it all done?

What I read makes sense at first,but then it gets confusing

again!

It’s hard to concentratewith all these people

around…

I read it. I understand it. I just can’t get it to sink in!

Time of day and location you are completing assigned reading. Read when you are most alert. Find a location where you won’t be distracted.

Read before class: It helps you anticipate what you will need to learn and keeps you from getting overwhelmed.

Follow the Syllabus: Keep on schedule with assigned readings .

Re-read after class: It helps you clarify and reinforce what you just learned.

What do you want to know? What do you want to learn? How will this information help you write

your paper? How might this information appear on an

exam? What more do I need to know about this

topic?

ISOLATE: Isolate the most important areas in the text

USE: Use the summary questions as a checklist

CREATE: Create a study guide and vocabulary list based on the reading

DEVELOP: Create study questions to help you study and prepare further for an exam

ELIMINATE: Eliminate reading you may not need to do (if you can)

This reading method is a classic because students have found it useful since the

early 60’s. It is probably worth your time to try all the steps at first, then choose

and apply only those that work effectively for each of your course texts. Although using the SQ4R method may

seem time consuming at first, once you know the steps the process only takes a

few minutes.

Before you crack open your book, take a few minutes to read the preface and introduction. Browse the table of contents and index. Read all the titles and subtitles, study any pictures, charts or graphs, read the summary at the end of the chapter and any study questions.

Surveying gives you the “big picture”, a framework of the main ideas which will

help hold the details together later

Before beginning to read, take the subtitle of the section and turn it into a question.

EXAMPLE: If you are reading part of a chapter called

“Functions of the Spinal Cord”, ask yourself, “What are the

functions of the spinal cord?”

Read..not passively, but actively. Engage in the text, trying to find the answer to your question.

Be cautious though. Don’t end up skimming for the answers to your question and missing other important information.

Once you have read the section, close the textbook and answer your question-IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

If you cannot answer the question, re-read the section until you can.

If you continue to have difficulty answering the question, see your professor or instructor for help with this section.

Once you understand the material and can summarize in your own words, record the information in some way.

You can do this by…..highlighting, and/or mark the text, take notes or a combination of both.

NOTE: It is important that you understand the material first before

you record information.

Using a highlighter to make readings stand out can have its pros and cons:

Pros: Takes less time than note taking and charts and graphs from text readily availableCons:

Can do incorrectly and fool yourself into thinking you are learning the material, when all you are doing is coloring

Tendency to mark too much information-you should highlight 10-15% of material. Students usually highlight 70-80%

Cons Continued: Difficult to integrate into lecture notes Necessary to use entire, highlighted book to

study for an exam End up re-reading entire book in preparation

for exam because most material is highlighted

Taking notes to record important information from the text has its pros and

cons:Pros:

Time consuming = encouraging you to be concise and more selective about information.

Info. is in bullet point form, but still grammatically correct

Portable, easy to manage study tool Easy to integrate into text and lecture notes, if

done in loose-leaf

Cons: Time consuming Tendency to copy text rather and take notes

in your own words

In a course where there is a lot of factual material to remember, a regular review period can be very effective strategy for retaining information.

Integrating a weekly review period into your study routine will help you remember more of the information longer, therefore changing the nature of the studying done at exam time.

Rather than re-learning the material, you re-familiarize yourself with it

Here are some other things you can do….

Read backwards!

Start with the questions at the end of the chapter first.

Make associations between what you are learning

and what you already know.

The American Transcendentalistsare kind of similar to the British

Romantic poets we studied last semester…

Make comparisons with things that are familiar.

“A saturated solution ………………. is like a sold-out concert!”

Develop an interactive relationship with the text.Take notes from your reading

Don’t skimp on doing your reading!

GOOD LUCK!!!