J. Kelly Robison
Read the required materials. Above all, reading is crucial to your success in college. Many students put off reading until just before an exam. Avoid this practice. In most courses lectures are intended to supplement or embellish certain portions of the assigned readings. Lecturers frequently assume that you have done the reading. Sitting through a lecture on a topic about which you know very little may be a most boring and confusing experience.
Do assigned readings before you attend the class at which the instructor discusses that material. This method will enable you to better comprehend the purpose and the theme of the lecture, improve your note-taking, and allow you to ask informed and pertinent questions. Preparing for classes also enhances your confidence when dealing with difficult materials and reduces pre-exam anxiety.
Assigned readings in a college course, especially in textbooks, require greater concentration than the reading you do for entertainment. You will profit from at least three readings of course materials: a skimming, a careful reading, and a review. Here are a few suggestions which you might use for reading a textbook.
1. Examine the tables of contents to determine how the chapter you intend to read is organized.
2. Examine the chapter title and ask: what does this title mean? Keep the title in mind as you read.
3. Skim the chapter; read the first few paragraphs which often provide an overview of the chapter; move through the chapter examining headings to grasp its organization and read the first paragraph under each heading. Scan the text and make note of any words in boldface or italic type. Examine illustrations and graphic materials such as diagrams, tables, and maps. Carefully read the last section or paragraph, which usually provide a summary of the main ideas contained in the Chapter.
4. Re-read the chapter at a separate sitting. This reading should be your most thorough and careful one. Determine the chapter's thesis or central argument and note the important ideas supporting it. After reading each main section of the chapter, pause to summarize the material in your own words, making sure that you understand the point.
5. Once you are sure that you comprehend the chapter, begin making marginal notes, highlighting or underlining important words, sentences, or passages. Highlight or make notes only on the main ideas, key terms, or specific factual material and examples you have decided to remember. Highlighting entire sentences, paragraphs or pages defeats the purpose of highlighting.
6. Review the chapter before an exam by skimming the text, paying special attention to your underlining, highlighting, or marginal notes on significant information, important generalizations, interpretations, examples, and conclusions.
7. Prepare study questions and terms which are likely to be on an exam. Do your preparations in writing. Casual reading, however much repeated, is not as effective a learning tool as writing out or outlining your answers.