How many times have you read a section of a book or a journal article and couldn’t remember a single thing about it?
Reading academic material is different from casual reading, like reading a novel or magazine article.
The process for digesting academic readings takes more time and effort
because books and journal articles have complex or technical language and can be substantial in length.
In fact, researchers have studied effective reading techniques and one method is known as SQ4R.
There are several parts of this technique that will help you learn how to read academic material and understand what you read.
In this tutorial, we'll go through each of these steps
and, though you don't have to remember this specific technique or follow every step,
it's helpful to incorporate some of these steps into how you process the information you read.
First, survey the reading material to determine how the information is organized and how much of the topic is covered in that one source.
For books, take about a minute to scan the table of contents and any headings and subheadings of chapters
that seem particularly relevant to that week's assignment, lesson, or a topic you're researching.
For textbooks, survey the introduction and conclusion paragraphs of a chapter.
Briefly scan graphs, charts, images, and skim their descriptive captions.
This will help you put the information into context and make sense of the body of text when you read through it later.
For journal articles, survey the abstract (the summary), the introduction, and the conclusion
before diving into the research methodology, charts, graphs, and data, that will go into more details about the research.
As you survey the information, turn each heading and subheading into a question.
Ask yourself what you already know about those topics.
Even if you don’t know much, this helps your brain associate new information
with the information you already know about the topic and it becomes easier to remember.
It's only after surveying the information and brainstorming questions that you should begin to actually read the text.
Read one section of the text at a time, and refer back to your questions as you read to actively search for the answers in the text.
As you read, write down definitions, details, facts, explanations of concepts mentioned, or answers to the questions you'd come up with earlier.
Be as brief as possible: use single words or short phrases in the place of sentences, when it makes sense.
When you finish each paragraph or section read your notes out loud to yourself.
Imagine you're explaining what you've just read to a small child.
How would you simplify or summarize the information to make it comprehensible?
By vocalizing the concept you've just read, you'll make more associations in your brain about what you already know
and what you are reading. This helps you to retain the information for use later.
After you finish a few paragraphs or sections, look back at your original questions and make sure you can answer them.
If you have trouble, consult your notes, or go back and re-read that paragraph or section again until you are confident that you know the information.
Move on to the next paragraph or section only after you feel that you can effectively recite or explain the information you've just read.
This process may seem like a lot of work, but if you incorporate these steps, you'll save time by retaining more of what you read.
If you are struggling with the reading or need help, talk to your faculty member or set up a study session with a classmate.
Reviewing your notes or reciting material with another member of the class is a great way to make sure the information sinks in.