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Improve your reading skills with SQ3R University libraries contain hundreds of thousands of books: hundreds of these books may be _____ to your academic studies. Unfortunately, you will not have time to read all of them, so you will have to choose carefully which ones you borrow. You will not even have time to read every word of each book you do borrow. You will have to read _____ to find, understand and remember key information quickly and efficiently. SQ3R (Robinson, 1970), a reading technique _____ to help you do this, stands for the following five steps: Step 1: Survey In the first step of this technique, you survey the text to decide if it is useful and interesting before reading it in more detail. Choose parts of the text and read them quickly, trying to _____ key ideas, why the text was written and how it is organised. Do not read the whole text, only look at titles, headings, sub-titles, pictures, introductions, conclusions, topic sentences and concluding sentences. If the text does not have headings or sub-titles, it is a good idea to try to give each paragraph one. If the text is not useful, put it back! If it is, choose one small section of the text and follow steps two to four below. Step 2: Question In step two of SQ3R, you give yourself a reason to read in detail: that is, to answer your own questions. This makes your reading more _____ as you are looking for something in particular. First, think about the general idea you have of the text from step one. Remember the key ideas, why the text was written and how it is organised. Next, write down any questions you think the whole text will answer or you want to find answers to. Make sure you use your own words, as this helps you _____ the information better. Step 3: Read The next step of the technique _____ reading the text to find answer to the questions you set yourself in step two. Remember that you do not need to understand every detail, just the parts which answer your questions. Try to look through the text to find the _____ information you need. It is a good idea to make notes of your answers, perhaps as a mind map, and make sure you use your own words to help you understand more fully. Do not copy answers directly from the text as this does not make you think. Step 4: Recite In step four of this technique, you reread your own questions and answer them out loud. This helps you check that you really do understand the information you have found. Cover the text and your notes and use only your questions. Talk to yourself. Ask yourself your questions then give yourself the answers, explaining them as clearly as possible. If you cannot, read that section again. Continue through the text, choosing a short section and completing steps two, three and four above, until you have read the whole text. Step 5: Review In the final step, you read through all of your questions and notes. This helps you organise the new material in your mind and _____ information from short-term to long-term memory. It is a good idea to do this after one day, one week and one month, explaining to someone else if possible. Although it takes longer to read a text using SQ3R, it has two great advantages. Firstly, it will help you understand and remember the key information in a text more effectively and efficiently. Secondly, it will reduce the need to reread the text so often. As with any new technique, you will not be able to do it perfectly the first time and will have to practise until you become better at it. However, once you can use this technique confidently, the _____ amount of reading you have to do for a degree at a British university will not seem so frightening! Glossary
Reference Robinson, F. P. (1970) Effective study (4th ed.). New York: Harper & Row. |
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