READING TECHNIQUES:n Unit 3 Yet to complete

Active reading is also called global understanding, and it is characterized by asking

yourself questions throughout the text.

1. Global Understanding

While you are reading, you will increase your reading comprehension by
maintaining a global understanding of what is being read. Ask yourself questions
such as, “Why did the author add this here?” or “What is the significance of this
fact or event?”

Asking yourself these questions helps you to stay motivated to focus on the
content.

2. Create a Mindmap

A mindmap is a nonlinear collection of related ideas. Putting facts you read about
in a mindmap will help you see the bigger picture and increase your understanding
of the material.

You can create a mindmap by starting with the main idea in the middle of a piece
of paper, or use a computer application such as Canva. You can create new ideas
that stem from that original topic that you come across as you read, and you can
create more ideas stemming from those smaller topics. Use as many colors, and
unique lines as you need to make your mindmap make the most sense to you.

Top Reading Techniques

The best reading techniques are the SQ3R technique, skimming, scanning, active
reading, detailed reading, and structure-proposition-evaluation.

1. The SQ3R Reading Technique

This reading technique involves five different steps, each one with the goal to get
you closer to full comprehension of the text.
  Survey: First survey the piece to get a quick idea of the content and structure
of the reading. By doing this, you are preparing your mind.

 Question: Prepare questions for yourself to go over as you read the material.
One trick on how to create questions is to turn paragraph titles into
questions. For example, a title such as “Women in the Civil War,” could turn
into the question: “Who were the women in the civil war, what did they do
and when?”

 Read: Read with your questions in mind. In this step, you can combine other
reading techniques that may work for you such as scanning or active
reading.

 Recite: Now it is time to go back and answer those questions you created.
Make sure what you read makes sense, and that you understand how it
answers your questions.

 Review: Make mental notes or say aloud what you have learned. Try doing
so without looking at your notes or the text to check what you have or have
not retained.

2. Reading Technique: Skimming

Also called getting the ‘gist’ of the text, skimming is a reading technique where
you can glance over the material to find what you are looking for. This is best used
when you already know the general idea of the text. You can also skim material
before going for further reading. Getting a first glance of how a chapter or article is
laid out, for example, will help you to know where to look for key information on
the second read.

Use skimming for:

 reading service or product reviews

  going over a speech last minute
 quick research
 quick review before an exam

Skimming can save you a lot of time by making you aware of the key points
without fully comprehending the entire text. It will also save you time if you need
to re-read the material more in-depth at a later time.

3. Reading Technique: Scanning

Scanning is a reading method used when simply running your eyes over a text,
usually to find what you are looking for, or to find anything that ‘pops’ out at you.
This is a commonly used reading technique for daily, non-academic reading tasks.

Scan when reading:

 list of email subjects

 news articles
 a food or drink menu

4. Reading Method: Active Reading

Active reading gives you a much more in-depth understanding of the text in front
of you. This reading method should be used when you are reading something
complex or something that you need to think critically about. In order to read
actively, you must ask yourself questions throughout the text, and reflect on those
questions. Try to relate what you are reading to previous experience and
knowledge, and take notes if it helps as well.

Read actively with:

 new, difficult and unfamiliar material

 reading material you will need to know well

5. Reading Method: Detailed Reading

Detailed reading is the most labor-intensive and time consuming reading
technique. Readers carefully read, consume, and analyze each word for meaning.
Piecing together the meanings of words in a sentence to provide deeper
understanding can take time and patience, but in some cases this is the best
technique to use.

Use this method with:

 scholarly research articles

 medical reports
 poetic literature

6. Reading Technique: Structure-Proposition-Evaluation

This reading method, sometimes called the SPE method, was proposed by
Mortimer Adler in his 1940 book titled, How to Read a Book. Mortimer suggests
that the best way to read a book is to find the structure, author-made propositions,
and to create your own evaluations.

To use this reading method, you must first identify the structure of a text and create
an organized layout either in your mind or on paper. After you have the layout, you
go on to find all of the logical propositions that go into each section of the layout.
Then you evaluate the arguments and propositions and make your own conclusion
about the reading.

Active and Critical Reading

If you’ve ever found yourself half a page deep and realize you haven’t taken in
anything that was written, you aren’t actively reading. Active and critical reading
help you to retain the information you’re reading by giving you an in-depth
understanding of the text.

To get into active reading, ask yourself questions throughout. Think critically
about the meaning of the words, the significance of the facts, or the purpose the
author is putting forth. As you continue reading actively, it will become more of a
habit.
Other Helpful Reading Tips

1. Vary Reading Rate

Be flexible as you read your material. There are certain times when you want to
increase your reading speed for efficiency. Do this if you are already familiar with
the material, on repetitive examples or illustrations, and on general concepts.

There might be other times within the same text that you need to slow down and
pay attention. Decrease your reading speed when you find yourself running into
unfamiliar words or if you don’t understand what the word means in context, long-
winded sentences and paragraphs, highly detailed information, and information
you really need to retain.

Shift your reading from faster to slower when you need to and you will retain the
necessary information that you need without wasting time on the sections you
don’t need.

2. Lookout for Pivotal Words

There are several phrases, conjunctions, and other words that will help you
understand what’s coming next. Knowing these can be a big help when deciding
how to read the following section.

Repetitive words such as “in other words,” and “to repeat,” may mean you are
about to get a repeat of information and can skim.

Cause-and-effect words, on the other hand, should be paid attention to. These
words include “because,” “so,” “consequently,” and “therefore.”

Summarizing words will be followed by information that can give you the big
picture. These include, “for these reasons,” and “in conclusion.”

Intensive and Extensive Reading

Intensive reading is the type of reading that is detailed, time consuming, and
ensures that the reader understands the material. Reading rate is usually slow, with
a lot of reflection during reading time. This type of reading helps for information
retention and for multi-language learners.

Extensive reading, on the other hand, is reading for pleasure. It also may be done at
a leisurely pace. Most of the time, readers will not think twice about their reading
techniques while extensively reading because they are enjoying it. Extensive
reading is common for novels and also can be done to increase vocabulary and
writing abilities.

Genetics and Learning

Genes do play a factor in intelligence and learning. Things such as working

memory and musical or athletic ability are heritable traits. Scientists have
discovered the genes responsible for IQ, which can determine how well someone
may do in school.

However, it is extremely important to remember that learning is not IQ, and that
anyone can have the capacity to learn regardless of their family’s past successes or
failures.

Learning reading techniques, for example, is independent of genes and is different

than reading ability or learning disabilities. Anyone can learn the reading methods
we have outlined and greatly improve their reading skills. Just like with learning
any new skill, practice makes perfect.

UNIT 3
NOTEMAKING TECHNIQUES
Techniques and Tips for Listening and Note
Taking
Techniques and Tips

Write phrases, not full sentences. Only record the key words that you need to get
the idea of the point. Skip words like “the” and “a” that don’t add additional
meaning to the lecture content. Retain key technical or discipline-specific terms.
Take notes in your own words. Paraphrase what you hear so it makes sense to
you—it helps you to understand and remember what you hear. Try to paraphrase
everything except where information needs to be noted exactly.

Structure your notes with headings, subheadings and numbered lists. Use
headings to indicate topic areas or to include bibliographic details of the sources of
information. Use outline form and/or a numbering system and indenting to help
you distinguish major from minor points and as a clear way of indicating the
structure of lecture information.

Code your notes—use colour and symbols to mark structure and emphasis.

Use colour to highlight major sections, main points and diagrams. You can also
use different colours to classify and link concepts or information by topic.
However, don’t focus too much on colour coding when you’re in the lecture. It
requires time and concentration, so it’s more useful to do most of the highlighting
and underlining when you’re revising your notes later.

Underline, circle, star, etc. to identify key information, examples, definitions, or

other important materials. Devise your own marking code to indicate each type.

If you miss something, write key words, skip a few spaces, and get the
information later. Leave a space on the page for your own notes and comments.

Use Symbols and Abbreviations

Symbols and abbreviations for frequently used words, phrases or names are useful
for note taking in lectures when speed is essential. It’s important to be consistent so
you remember what they represent and can use them easily. Keep a ‘key list’ of
frequently used symbols/abbreviations and their meanings so that you can refer to
them in the future.

Abbreviations and acronyms for note taking

1. Common etc. (etcetera) = and the rest para = paragraph

e.g. = for example ch. = chapter

info = information no. = number

 i.e. = that is diff = different

n.b. =note well, important C19 = nineteenth

century
p = page (pp = pages)
2. Discipline-Specific These should be whatever is frequently used in your field
of study.

In chemistry: Au for gold, Mg for magnesium.

In the case of quantities and concepts, these are

represented by Greek letters in many fields.

A or a (alpha) B or b (beta)
3. Personal Develop your own set so that you don’t have to write
every word in full. You can shorten any word that is
commonly used in your lectures.

 Gov = government
 nec = necessary

Work out a system you’ll remember and use it

consistently. Introduce a few symbols and abbreviations
at a time to help you remember them.
4. Acronyms Some abbreviations are so well known and widely used
that they have become acronyms—abbreviations
pronounced as words. For example:

Laser = Light Amplification by Stimulation Emission of

Radiation

ABC = Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Symbols for note taking

equals/is equal to/is the same as

is not equal to/is not the same as

 is equivalent to

therefore, thus, so

because

and, more, plus

more than, greater than

less than

less, minus

gives, causes, produces, leads to, results in, is given by, is produced by,
results from, comes from

rises, increases by

falls, decreases by

proportional to

not proportional to

Use concept maps and diagrams

Information can also be recorded using a concept map or diagram. Try drawing
diagrams or pictures for concepts that are hard to note quickly. For instance, draw
a pie chart to roughly indicate the relative strength of political parties in an election
instead of writing these details out. Information can be added to the concept map
later.

Concept maps can easily become cluttered. Use both facing pages of an open A4
notebook to set out your concept map and allow plenty of space for adding ideas
and symbols.
  Begin in the middle of the page and add ideas on branches that radiate from
the central idea or from previous branches.
 Arrows and words can be used to show links between parts of the concept
map.
 Colour and symbols are important parts of concept maps, helping illustrate
ideas and triggering your own thoughts.

Examples