The skill of developing efficient a

The skill of developing efficient and selective reading techniques is necessary to underpin
all types of academic work. It is necessary to glean information efficiently from what you
read, but also to learn to interact creatively and critically with it. It is essential for students
to become disciplined readers who form and maintain good reading practice, use their time
efficiently to gather, evaluate and use reading materials
What reading methods should I employ?
Active Reading
The reading process involves more than the act of reading; it involves five distinct,
yet complementary, areas of activity.
Survey, Question, Read, Recall, Review (SQ3R)
1 Survey Skim over the text
2 Question Write down questions you want answered
3 Read Read through the text
4 Recall Go over what you have just read
5 Review Record the information
• Skimming involves reading to get a general view of what you are reading. You skim-read
by looking at section headings and subheadings of books and long journal articles to
establish whether they are worth reading or not.
• Scanning involves looking for particular information. You do this, for example, when
you are looking for a name of an author on a page, a date, a topic in an index, etc,
disregarding the rest of the text.
• Critical reading involves analysing and questioning what you are reading, challenging the
assumptions made. For more information, see Section 5: Analysis and Critical Analysis.
What should I do before reading textbooks and journal articles?
• You need to be quite discerning when you read because you will not have time, or indeed
need, to read everything on your reading list. To discover what texts are relevant to
your subject or if you need to clarify lecture notes, start by using the table of contents
or index to go straight to the subject. You can also read the introduction and conclusion
chapters to ascertain that the book is worth reading. A good bibliography is also a useful
indication of the type of information given in the book/article and of its worth.
• Anticipation questions based on the information you are seeking i.e. say to yourself: “Is
this section dealing with such and such a topic? Shall I find the answers to such and such a
question?” These will help you to read actively and critically.
• If you are reading to prepare for an essay, you will probably want to read a chapter or
section of the book. Start by scanning through the section to be read, looking at headings
and sub-headings to get an overall perspective, then read in more detail.
• Select or discard material based on your skim reading. Make sure you only read material
that is relevant to your needs; you will never have time to read all the material on your
reading list in its entirety, let alone all material that is freely available to you in your
entire academic life.
What should I do while I am reading?
• If you are satisfied that the text you have identified is the right material for your
research, go back and read it more slowly for maximum comprehension.
• Keep in mind the questions you are trying to answer and question what you are reading.
• The actual reading finishes with a review of what you have read. This is the time to
compare what you have read with the anticipation questions you formulated at the
outset. Did you find answers to these, or was there a mismatch?
• You will need to record what is essential.
Having read this section, are you confident with your effective reading
skills?