Study Skills for Effe ctive Learn ing
Rapid Reading
SQ3R
Survey ------------ Question Read Recall Review
SURVEY
Preview
- prepare the mind and categorise the material. Check the publisher's blurb i.e. what the book covers, who it is intended for, the academic level and maybe something about the author(s). Be wary of out-of-date texts especially of the text relates to the law, the British economy, Europe etc. Check the bibliography, how extensive are the author's sources?
- Scan - for something particular. Get an overview of what you are planning to read - familiarising yourself with the essence of a chapter.
- Diving straight into a book and working through to the end is time consuming and may be a time waster. Often after 50 pages you will ditch the book as being useless.
Scan
- the contents i.e. areas covered, organisation. Also scan the preface or introduction to identify the book's scope and writer's approach. Look at the summaries , diagrams, charts and other visual material.
- Look up an item of personal interest from the index and read one or two paragraphs to see how the material is dealt with. Is it at the right level for your work?
- Scanning takes only a short time but savesÊtime in the future. It makes the mountain climb-able and can be applied to journal articles.
Skim
- Run your eye down a page or a couple of paragraphs with questions in mind - use your finger - focus your attention on the search. Keep you mind active and skim quickly. Don't worry about the odd phrase. Don't slow down. Read summaries, headings and sub-headings and look at figures, diagrams and other visual material. Then decide whether:
- the book/periodical is suitable for your needs
- certain sections are inappropriate
- whether you need to read all of it
Read in detail only what you have to - scan/skim the rest
QUESTION
- Are you a critic or a dust-bin! Decide what questions your reading must answer; this will depend on your purpose e.g. exploring background to a topic or looking for material from which to write an essay or make a presentation.
- Think about the writer's assumptions - who and what is he/she, who is paying the piper? How they are seeking to persuade? Do they have a particular platform? Is the text just pure, bland description? Is there a main argument(s)? Does the writer take up a particular social, economic, political or technical viewpoint? How do other writers (and you) argue differently?
- Remember Kipling's
`I know six honest serving men They taught me all I knew. Their names are what and why and how and where and when and who'.You have extra critical insights if you have scanned the preface/introduction, know the publication date and scanned the book's bibliography.
READ
- Use SCAN and SKIM. Identify sections needing to be read in detail. Read actively in search of answers to your questions. Do not deface the book if it DOES NOT BELONG to you. Instead POST-ITS. If you are reading a photocopied article use highlighter pens.
- Read actively. You don;t need to read allowed but use your finger to help keep your eye and mind working. Force concentrated skimming of a page. Snap out of looking at the same sentence for minutes on end.
- Look for the main ideas - BOOK, CHAPTER, SECTION, PARA
- Confirm that you really have picked out the main ideas by entering the RECALL stage. Read again (quicker second time round) and make key word/ notes of the main points.
RECALL
- We quickly forget 8O% of what we read, so try actively to recall what you read and make your notes then. Put the book/article on one side and write down recalled, useful points. Do this at appropriate intervals e.g. at the end of a section or, if the material is particularly complex, at the end of a paragraph.
REVIEW
- Go back over the text to check you've got it right and fill in any important details or quotations. Do a quick re-run of SQ3R.
Study Skills Index
© This resource was developed by C. Jarvis