Where do you focus best?

Ask yourself where you focus best when you’re reading. At home? In the library? At a café? You need somewhere comfortable, quiet, away from distractions where you won’t be disturbed.

Reading speed

This will vary depending on what you’re reading, whether you’ve read it before and whether you’re familiar with the arguments in the text. It will also depend on what sort of information you need to get from the text. Core reading in your course requires more focus, concentration and detailed reading than texts where you’re looking for a specific piece of information. Throughout the duration of your course you will need to use the following three reading techniques: scanning, skimming, and deeper reading.

Scan reading

Scanning is reading a text quickly in order to find specific information, figures, names, tables, dates. This is a useful technique to use when you know a text contains a specific piece of information you need but you’re not sure where it is. When you scan read, you’re not reading everything but instead focusing on looking for the information you need. Use contents and index pages and headings to help you find this information. When you find the right section of the text, don’t read everything, instead look out for key words which will help you to find the information you’re looking for.

Skim reading

Skimming is reading quickly to get a general idea of the meaning. This is a useful technique to use when you’re trying to decide whether a specific resource is going to be useful for your in your studies. In order to skim read as effectively as possible concentrate on contents pages, introduction and conclusions and chapter/section beginning and endings.

Deeper reading

Scanning and skimming are both helpful techniques but you will also need to read more deeply with some texts.

Time

When you’re reading in depth, you can’t read intensively for long periods of time. Don’t leave reading until the last minute, give yourself time to break difficult pieces of writing down into smaller sections and read them with breaks in between. You’ll be more likely to understand complex information this way.

Making notes

Writing notes and asking yourself questions after reading sections of the text is also a good way to focus your mind and ensure you’ve understood what you’ve read.
"Why is marking up a book indispensable to reading? First, it keeps you awake. (And I don't mean merely conscious; I mean awake.) In the second place, reading, if it is active, is thinking, and thinking tends to express itself in words, spoken or written. The marked book is usually the thought-through book. Finally, writing helps you remember the thoughts you had, or the thoughts the author expressed."
(Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book. Rpt. by Touchstone, 2014)
As with making notes from lectures, don’t feel the need to write everything down. Use headings, bullet points, key words and phrases, colour, images and mind maps to represent arguments and ideas briefly.

Developing a record of your reading

Use a notebook, index cards, or apps to record the information you need – whatever works best for you.
When you read a text for your course, enter it into your reading record. Write the title and author(s) of the piece at the beginning.
As you read or straight after you read make notes under headings similar to these:

• In one sentence, what is the text about?
• What are the main arguments?
• How does this relate to other things I’ve read? Does it confirm, contradict, or further your understanding of other texts?
• Where does it fit into the bigger picture of your course?

Rereading

Over the duration of your course you will be introduced to challenging and complex material. Sometimes this material will be difficult to understand. If you’re struggling with a text, don’t panic. We all find texts difficult and struggle to understand the meaning or the threads of the arguments at some point. Rereading a complex text is key to developing your understanding. Even with texts you think you understand first time, you may discover that new ideas develop as you reread.

Summary

• Work out where you focus best.
• Your reading speed and style will vary depending on what you’re read and why you’re reading it. Scanning, skimming and deeper reading are all techniques you’ll need to use during your course.
• Give yourself time to read.
• Read actively, make notes, mind maps and reading records.
• Be prepared to reread more complex texts.

Further reading

https://activelearningnetwork.com/2018/09/03/effective-reading/
Deep reading
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-deep-reading-1690373