chapter 9 active reading effective college learning jodi patrick holschuh * sherrie l. nist

Chapter 9Chapter 9

Active Reading

Effective College Learning Jodi Patrick Holschuh * Sherrie L. Nist

Questions to Consider: Questions to Consider: Why do you need to warm up

before reading and studying? What are some strategies for

warming up? What is the difference between

active and passive reading? What are some strategies for

concentrating on textbook reading?

Warming Up For ReadingWarming Up For ReadingJust as a professional athlete would not

start competing without first stretching her muscles and warming up…

…you should “warm up” before you read in order to improve your concentration and to make the process of learning from your textbooks more efficient and effective.

Strategies for Warming Up Strategies for Warming Up Create a Good Learning Environment.

If the place where you currently read or study in some way distracts you, then make a change! Consider the following factors:

◦Noise level — Some students say that they need complete quiet to study; others need a bit of background “white noise” to focus.

Strategies for Warming UpStrategies for Warming UpCreate a Good Learning Environment.

If the place where you currently read or study in some way distracts you, then make a change! Consider the following factors:

◦Your learning space — your ideal learning space is one where the only thing you do in that place is study, and all needed materials are handy.

Strategies for Warming UpStrategies for Warming UpSurvey Your Textbooks.

In order to determine if your textbooks are reader friendly, examine the way they are arranged. Look for the following features:

◦Preview questions or an organizer at the beginning of each chapter to help readers focus on what they are about to learn.



◦Diagrams, pictures, and figures to give readers a better understanding of the topic.



◦Bold-faced or italicized words to emphasize key terms.



◦Summary or review questions at the end of each chapter.



◦Chapter outlines or guiding maps.



◦Large margins so that readers have room to write notes as they read.


Surveying your texts will help you by:

◦Familiarizing you with the topics to be covered so that you can activate what you already know;

◦ increasing your interest in reading the chapters;

◦giving yourself the time you need to gear up for reading effectively;

◦allowing you to identify the key topics before you begin to read.

Strategies for Warming UpStrategies for Warming UpPreview your Reading

Assignments.

Previewing what you are about to read will help to activate your prior knowledge and build your interest in the topic. Previewing consists of the following steps:

◦Read the chapter title. The title tells you about the overall topic of the chapter and may clue you into the author’s intent.

Strategies for Warming UpStrategies for Warming UpPreview your Reading Assignments.


◦Read the headings and subheadings. The headings and subheadings will tell you about the specific focus in the chapter and may suggest the author’s approach to the topic.

Strategies for Warming UpStrategies for Warming Up

◦Preview your Reading Assignments

◦Previewing what you are about to read will help to activate your prior knowledge and build your interest in the topic. Previewing consists of the following steps:

◦Read the boldfaced or italicized terms. These terms will clue you in to ideas that will be emphasized in the text and will point out new vocabulary.


Assignments.


◦Note the typographical aids. Read graphs, charts, tables, or illustrations to find out what is important in the chapter.



◦Read the introduction. It is a good idea to read chapter introductions when you preview the chapter to identify the main topics and the scope of information that will be covered in the chapter.



◦Read the summary. It is a good idea to read the chapter summary before you actually read the chapter because it outlines the key information you should learn when reading the chapter.


Assignments.


◦Read the end of the chapter material. This may include study questions, vocabulary lists, or application exercises.

Strategies for Warming UpStrategies for Warming UpDetermine Your Reading

Purpose.

As you preview a chapter you should begin to think of some questions about the key topics. Jot down your questions and try to answer them as you read.

You can’t learn every idea contained in every chapter. Reading with a purpose will help you to focus on learning the key ideas.

Staying Active During Staying Active During ReadingReadingHave you ever finished reading a text chapter only to realize that you don’t remember anything you just read?

If so, chances are you were not reading actively!

Put Away Your Put Away Your Highlighters! Highlighters! Highlighting is a popular strategy,

but in reality, highlighting is a passive activity because you can do it without fully concentrating on what you are reading!

As a result, students do not necessarily learn or understand the ideas they highlight!

Put Away Your Put Away Your Highlighters!Highlighters!Some students who highlight are not

being very selective; often entire pages are highlighted in bright yellow!

Students who highlight most everything have not been very discriminating about what to mark. They will have just as much information to cope with when they begin to study!

Put Away Your Put Away Your Highlighters!Highlighters!Other students highlight too little –

just a key word here and there.

When reviewing for tests, these students do not have adequate information and usually end up needing to reread the chapters!

So put away your highlighters and try an active reading strategy!

Annotating Your Annotating Your TextbooksTextbooksSome students believe that reading their

text is a waste of time because they don’t get much out of it.

Others become confused about the ideas when they read and have trouble figuring out which ideas are the most important to remember.

One way to be sure that you are concentrating on and understanding what you read is to annotate your text.

Annotating Your Annotating Your TextbooksTextbooksAnnotation is summing up the

information in your text by briefly writing the key ideas in the margin in your own words.

Unlike highlighting, which promotes passivity, annotation requires that you understand what you are reading. It requires you to actively make decisions about what is important because you are putting the ideas in your own words.

Why Annotate Your Text?Why Annotate Your Text?

Annotation is a powerful strategy because it encourages you to process the information and think about it as you read. Specifically, annotation helps you to:

◦Isolate Information. When annotating your texts, you are selecting the important information you want to remember.

Why Annotate Your Text?Why Annotate Your Text?Annotation is a powerful strategy

because it encourages you to process the information and think about it as you read. Specifically, annotation helps you to:

◦Reduce Information. Annotation condenses the information you need to study into more manageable amounts. In most texts the information can be condensed by more than 50%!

Why Annotate Your Text?Why Annotate Your Text?

Annotation is a powerful strategy because it encourages you to process the information and think about it as you read. Specifically, annotation helps you to:

◦Identify Key Concepts. Annotation also helps you differentiate between major concepts and supporting ideas.

Why Annotate Your Text?Why Annotate Your Text?Annotation is a powerful strategy

because it encourages you to process the information and think about it as you read. Specifically, annotation helps you to:

◦Monitor Your Learning. If you annotate in your own words, you can monitor your understanding of the text. If you can’t write it in your own words, you know you don’t fully understand it.

How Do You Annotate?How Do You Annotate?Read first, then annotate.

To help you decide what to annotate, read an entire section of text and then think about what would be important if you were going to teach that section to someone else.

How Do You Annotate?How Do You Annotate?Write your annotations in your own words.

Don't copy directly from the book, unless you are annotating something that must be learned exactly as it is stated in the book. When you annotate definitions, paraphrase the author's words so that you don’t change the meaning of the definition. Otherwise, put all information into your own words.

What Types of Information What Types of Information Should You Annotate?Should You Annotate?Regardless of the content area,

you should look for the following types of information whenever you annotate:

◦Definitions, especially content-specific terms and concepts. Content-specific terms are words you find in that particular subject.

What Types of Information What Types of Information Should You Annotate?Should You Annotate?Regardless of the content area, you

should look for the following types of information whenever you annotate:

◦Examples are also important to annotate because they depict specific instances, theories, experiments, cases, etc. Text examples often show up on exams, so it is crucial to note them.



◦Predicted test questions. As you read, try to predict some likely test questions about the material. Try to ask higher-level questions that that require more than just memorization of facts.



◦People, dates, places, and events are important in certain types of courses such as history, social science, and political science.



◦Numbered lists or characteristics should be annotated by numbering them in the margin. In this way you will connect and learn those ideas together.



◦Relationships between concepts, such as cause/effect or comparison/contrast, are important to note even if the text doesn’t explicitly point them out. They can help you reorganize the information in a meaningful way.



◦Graphs, charts, diagrams and other visuals are important to annotate because they often contain information that is not anywhere else in the text. They may also summarize and condense large amounts of material.

Studying Your AnnotationsStudying Your Annotations

To study your annotations:

Cover up the text with your hand or a piece of notebook paper.

Read your annotations a few times to be sure that you understand the concepts.

Studying Your AnnotationsStudying Your AnnotationsTo study your annotations:

When you feel comfortable with your understanding and you are certain that your annotations are complete, talk through the major points without looking at them.

You should be able to talk about each topic that is annotated and you should be able to give examples and details as well.

Studying Your AnnotationsStudying Your AnnotationsWhen you talk through your annotations, be

sure that you are precise and complete in your explanations.

◦Preciseness means that what you say is accurate information, that the conclusions you are drawing are logical, and that you can see relationships between ideas.

◦Completeness means that you know all of the important information, not just the main points. Know examples, explanations and, in many cases, details.

Annotation PitfallsAnnotation Pitfalls

There are three major problems students sometimes experience when they are learning to annotate:

◦“Medieval Monk” Syndrome

◦“Nothin’ Here” Syndrome

◦“Rest of the Story” Syndrome

““Medieval Monk” Medieval Monk” SyndromeSyndromeThis pitfall happens when a

student annotates by copying the text almost word for word.

Sometimes students fall into this trap because they are trying to memorize information instead of really learning it.

““Medieval Monk” Medieval Monk” SyndromeSyndromeIf you find yourself experiencing “Medieval

Monk” Syndrome and that your annotations are just copying the author’s words –

◦Be sure to do a thorough job of previewing the text before you read to become familiar with the chapter contents.

◦Read one entire section at a time before marking. Then think about what would be important information to tell someone about the material you just read and write it in your own words.

““Nothin’ Here” SyndromeNothin’ Here” SyndromeStudents who experience this pitfall

do not annotate very much at all – maybe a few random words, or the headings or bold-faced words in the margin.

This is a problem because if there is not enough information annotated there is little content to study. The student may believe that he has learned all the important material when in fact he has not.

““Nothin’ Here” SyndromeNothin’ Here” SyndromeIf you find yourself experiencing this pitfall –

◦If you feel annotation takes too much time, keep in mind that it saves you time when you study because you have already thought about the information and organized it!

◦If you don’t annotate enough because the margins in the text are small, invest in some adhesive notes on which to annotate and stick them in the margins to give you more writing space.

““Rest of the Story” Rest of the Story” SyndromeSyndromeStudents who demonstrate this

pitfall may identify key topics but do not annotate complete ideas.

Sometimes students partially mark ideas to save time, but because they do not pull out entire ideas, they will likely have to reread the text when it comes time to study for a test.

““Rest of the Story” Rest of the Story” SyndromeSyndromeIf you find yourself experiencing this

pitfall –

◦Write everything you think you will need to remember, even if this information seems like common sense now. When you review you will be able to see how the information relates to information you didn’t already know!

◦Read your annotations carefully to be sure that they are complete and that they make sense.

Some Common Concerns Some Common Concerns About AnnotationAbout AnnotationHow do you know what is important to mark?

Deciding what to annotate is a difficult skill and takes practice to learn. You can often tell what is important by looking at the headings and subheadings in your book. The more you annotate in a textbook, the more familiar you will be with how the text is written.

Some Common Concerns Some Common Concerns About AnnotationAbout AnnotationDoesn’t this take a lot of time?

At first, yes! But if you have annotated properly, you have already taken a big step in preparing for exams! You have isolated the information you will need to study, so you shouldn’t have to reread. And because you have effectively interacted with the text material from the start, you will be able to remember more. This will cut your study time prior to an exam!

Some Common Concerns Some Common Concerns About AnnotationAbout AnnotationWhat if my textbook already has

information annotated in the margins?

◦Read the material in the margin to make sure that it makes sense to you. If the definitions seem unclear, be sure to paraphrase them in a way that will help you remember the information.

◦Some textbooks provide a different definition in the margin from what was stated within the text. Be sure to know both definitions when studying!

Some Common Concerns Some Common Concerns About AnnotationAbout AnnotationHow can you be sure that you

are annotating the information that will be on the exam?

Class lectures and discussion will help you determine most of the important information. The goal of annotation is to your learn the concepts that are presented in the text, not to guess exactly what will be on the exam. If you understand all of the information in the text, you will be prepared for almost any exam question on that topic!

Active ReadingActive Reading

NOW, you are on the right track to be Active Readers!

chapter 9 active reading effective college learning jodi patrick holschuh * sherrie l. nist

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