Reading Strategies Skills for Success

Learning outcomes for this workshop 1.Recognise the reasons for reading widely at university 2.Identify appropriate reading strategies 3.Identify effective note making strategies 2

The context of reading at university All scholarly and professional work involves researching, understanding and building on the work of others.” (The CSU Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism, 2013)The CSU Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism, 2013 Students are expected to become researchers—someone who learns as a result of their investigations. (Wills, 2009) 3

Reasons for reading at university 4 Learn and think critically about the current knowledge in your profession e.g. theories, research, best practice and issues. Gain a new and informed view of the world in general and in your profession/field of study. Develop research skills to continue life-long learning in your profession, field of study. Apply what you have learnt from your reading to your assessment tasks, e.g. essays, reports, exams.

How you learn at university The Subject Outline, lectures and tutorials or study guides/modules introduce you to the ideas, facts, theories and issues of your subjects. You are expected to read: to acquire a deeper understanding of the complexities of these ideas, facts, theories and issues, and To form and communicate your own informed opinions, conclusions, solutions, recommendations based on your understanding of these through discussions and assessment tasks. 5

Reading strategies The first question is: “Where do I start?” Studying effectively Managing my time 6

Reading strategy 1 Read your Subject Outline Why? Your Subject Outline is your guide, not only for learning the content of the subject, but how to approach learning this content. It is the starting point to gain an overview and understanding of the requirements and expectations of learning for the subject. 7

Your Subject Outline 8 Activity: Access one of your Subject Outlines from your Interact Subject Site. Quickly read over the headings and sections. Set aside some time to go back to each Subject Outline, read it carefully, start creating your study schedule for the session. Subject Overview Contact Procedures Subject Delivery Text and Learning Materials Assessment information Assessment items Support Services Policies and Procedures

9 Reading Strategy 2 Suggested order of reading: 1.Subject Outline To find out the required texts (textbook) and scheduled weekly readings 2.Required weekly readings textbook chapters or designated weekly reading (Book of Readings/Resources for DE students) 3.Recommended readings usually journal articles, or chapters from academic books 4.Readings you have found in your research. usually journal articles, chapters from academic books, professional websites, government documents Reading tool: Subject specific dictionary

Reading strategy 3 use a good dictionary when reading 10 Buy a good dictionary: The Concise Oxford English Dictionary will not let you down. Use Online Dictionaries available through the CSU Library: Online subject specific Online reference dictionaries and thesauruses Online reference dictionaries and thesauruses -

Now, ask yourself: “How do I read my textbook and recommended resources in the most efficient way?” 11

Reading Strategy 4 Read with a specific purpose 12 Ask yourself, “Why am I reading this and what do I want to get out of it? Is it: To learn and understand the content of your subject? To find relevant material for your assessment tasks? Examples of purposes for reading: Pre –reading before lectures and tutorials Reading to learn more about a particular topic Reading/researching to find relevant information for an assessment task Reading to revise for an exam

Reading as a cycle 13 Reading to learn and understand Careful, slow reading for basic understanding developing into deeper, critical understanding Reading to find relevant information Quick reading to find particular or specific information or to get an overview for relevance

Reading Strategy 5 Read to get an overview 14 The first time you read any text, that is, textbook, journal article, website, Read the headings, Books – contents section, chapter headings, section headings, glossary, index Journal articles – Abstract/summary, Introduction and other section headings read the first paragraphs, e.g. introduction, overview or abstract, read the last paragraphs, e.g. conclusion, summary. Then choose the sections you want to read next.

15 Reading to answer questions, complete quizzes, practise applying knowledge in exercises is much more effective learning than just copying word for word. Reading Strategy 6 Use all of the learning activities in the textbook. Textbooks

16 Reading for assessment tasks Most assessment tasks require you to research the literature on a particular topic: to learn about the current perspectives, arguments and research; to evaluate these; and then, to decide what your position is on the issue of the topic and to justify your position. You will find in the literature that there are different perspectives and that academic writers refer to the work of other writers. They may support it, highlighting the strengths, but also refer to weaknesses in some areas, for example, in the research, they may criticise it or reject it completely, arguing for a different perspective or explanation, or a new way of looking at the issue. The literature

17 Reading strategy 7 – Analyse your assessment task Why? Analysing the key elements of an assessment task helps to focus your search for relevant information. Click on the following link to find out more about analysing assessment tasks and how this analysis will aid you in understanding the requirements of the assessment task and to identify the key search words for effective research. Topic Analysis

Reading Strategy 8 Learn how to research effectively 18 Effective research strategies include learning how to use the research tools in the library. One of the most effective ways to research is through using search engines or databases. The first step is analysing the assessment question to identify key search words. The next step is to learn how to search for relevant information using the library’s tutorials on researching databases. Click on this link to access tutorials on research skills.research skills. Using Smart Search creates a list of potentially relevant journal articles. Follow the directions on the next slide to find relevant articles and how to read them.

19 Reading strategy 7 Journal articles, edited books, other documents First, read to get an overview If it appears relevant to your purpose, then settle down to read more. Then read carefully to: Identify major and minor arguments and the supporting evidence. Ask yourself how relevant the information is to your assessment task. What is the main argument? Is it good research? Does it support your position? Does it provide another perspective which you hadn’t thought of? What does it say about other articles/research/writers on the topic? Can you use it for your assessment task?

Making notes Making notes goes hand in hand with reading. The purpose of your reading Reading to understand theories, concepts, facts, issues, or Reading to answer an assessment task will determine how you will make your notes. 20 “How do I record or make notes of all this information?”

Making notes One thing you can be sure of is, copying out whole sections of a textbook passively is not effective note making. Why? Because you are not reading actively. Read and make notes with the purpose to, for example, describe, outline, evaluate, compare and contrast, distinguish between, define, explain etc Create your own questions before you start reading. For example, “What do I already know about x?” There are many strategies for effective note-making that go beyond copying. Keep in mind that what you are reading and your purpose for reading will determine your style of making notes. 21

Making notes Golden Rules for Note-Making Be organised! organise your notes: use subject folders for each subject, use dividers in the folders for topics and assessments within the subject. review your notes regularly, add to them as you learn more about your subject. 22

Making notes There are many different ways to make notes effectively. Tree diagrams mind/concept maps headings and subheadings, flow charts classification (Cornell Method) These are all methods you can use to actively interpret what you are reading and to summarise different sources you have read. 23

Making notes Add your own comments to your notes, e.g. “ How does this affect x,y or z?” or “ what about x?!!!” “author’s main argument” Rewrite important information in your own words. (Summarise or paraphrase) Always record complete bibliographic details of the sources of your notes. That is, author/s name, publication date, title of book, Place of publication, publisher title of article and journal, volume number, issue number, page number. Always put quotation marks around quotations and record the page number. “.” p. ? 24

Bibliographic Details: Record in APA Referencing Style Page Number Always remember to include Notes: Paraphrased notes Summary of important information Direct quotations *one source per page the page number Comments on Information Does the information: Relate to my assignment? How? Tell me anything new or particularly interesting? Contradict the opinions or findings of others? Adapted from Tania Ferfolja,The Learning Centre, University of New South Wales 2010 Retrieved from 7/3/ Example of a note-taking sheet:

My argument Reading 1 Main points * Minor points * Evidence Reading 2 Main points * Minor points * Evidence Reading 3 Main points * Minor points * Evidence Notes organised into a plan My essay plan Introduction Paragraph 1 – main point 1 Paragraph 2 – main point 2 Paragraph 3 – main point 3 Further paragraphs Conclusion Notes organised into a plan My essay plan Introduction Paragraph 1 – main point 1 Paragraph 2 – main point 2 Paragraph 3 – main point 3 Further paragraphs Conclusion Example of how to organise your notes to respond to an essay assessment Reading 4 Main points * Minor points * Evidence Essay question 26

Making Notes Summarising, paraphrasing and quoting For information on how to summarise, paraphrase and quote go to the following sites. How do I avoid plagiarism? Learning Skills website of CSU - Quoting, paraphrasing and summarising The Learning Centre- Academic Skills Resources, UNSW

Reasons for reading at university 28 Learn and think critically about the current knowledge in your profession e.g. theories, research, best practice and issues. Gain a new and informed view of the world in general and in your profession/field of study. Develop research skills to continue life-long learning in your profession, field of study. Apply what you have learnt from your reading to your assessment tasks, e.g. essays, reports, exams.

Further Resources For further information on effective reading and note making strategies go to the following websites: CSU Learning Skills - UNSW: The Learning Centre, Academic Skills Resources, Reading strategies - Note making strategies The University of South Australia (UniSA) on Notemaking - Recommended book – also contains advice on reading and note making strategies. Levin, P. (2006). Write great essays!. England: Open University Press, McGraw-Hill.

References Active Reading. (2008). Retrieved May 21, 2008, from University of New England Teaching and Learning Centre, Academic Literacy Online Web site for Bachelor of Education Students: - Levin, P. (2006). Write great essays! England: Open University Press, McGraw-Hill. Notemaking from reading. (2000). Retrieved January 21, 2008, from Note taking: the Cornell method. (2000). Retrieved January 21, 2008, from - Quoting, paraphrasing and summarising. (November 21, 2008). Retrieved January 16, 2009, from Wallace, M. J. (2004). Study skills in English: A course in reading skills for academic purposes. (2 nd ed.) Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Wills, R. (2009). Reading strategically for efficient study and productive learning. [CSU Learning Skills Guide]. Available from: