The Science of Productivity. Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek Round Two. How to skim. Below is something I wrote last fall for students in a course I was teaching. I thought I'd reproduce it here for comments and suggestions. I got the idea for doing it from Timothy Burke's very helpful essay "How to Read in College. " If others of you have suggestions you give your students for dealing with high reading loads, let me know. One thing I'd like to develop is another set of suggestions for reading primary source material, which would help students see that some different rules apply to the skimming of, say, Frederick Douglass's Narrative and a modern biography of Frederick Douglass. [Originally written 15 September 2004, and distributed to undergraduate students in an upper-level history seminar.] To get through the reading in this course (or in any course for that matter), you will need to skim some material. All of these tips are based upon a fundamental idea, adapted from the book Style: Toward Clarity and Grace, by Joseph Williams.
But we can also tell more than that. 2. How to Skim Text. Skimming — getting the essence from reading material without reading all the words — boils down to knowing what parts to read and what parts to pass by. Following are some tips and techniques for recognizing what is important to read in the act of skimming. Know what you want Before you start skimming, ask yourself what you want to get from the book or article under your nose. Think of two or three terms that describe what you want to know, and as you skim, keep an eye out for those two or three terms. Aimlessly skimming with no particular purpose can cause drowsiness, and eventually, sleep. Read vertically as well as horizontally When skimming, you move your eyes vertically as much as you move your eyes horizontally. Think like the author Every article, book, and Web page is written to make a point of some kind, and if you can detect the author’s strategies for making his point, you can separate the important from the unimportant material in the course of your reading.
Improve Concentration: 12 Exercises to Improve Your Concentration. Reading in College. How To Read A College Text by Dr. John Weber. Memory Improved By Saying Words Aloud. New study finds memory improved by vocalising or sub-vocalising words. Committing words to memory is a notoriously hit-and-miss business. Over the last forty years psychologists have found three methods which consistently improve memory for words: Imagery: recall is aided by creating an image of what you want to remember.Elaboration: thinking of associations helps anchor words in your mind.Generation: memory is improved when you have to put some work in to generate the target.
E.g. guess the name of your favourite blog from this cryptic clue: _sy_log. In research on trying to remember lists of words, these three methods have each produced memory improvements of 10% over simply reading words once. That might not sound much, but it is an average over many studies and often for things that are hard to remember.
Speak it… And, you’ll be happy to hear, it’s very, very simple. At the expense of unmouthed words. …but be selective Image credit: Florian Seroussi. Tips for Effective Study. The most common barrier to success encountered by college students is a lack of effective techniques for study and exam preparation. If you are one of the vast majority of students whose answer to the question, "How do you study for your tests? " is, "I go over my notes," then you need to take a serious look at your study skills. Here are some suggestions to increase your effectiveness as a student. Day to Day Take good notes. Always take the notes for a particular class in the same notebook.
Date each entry into your notebook. It is usually best to keep the notes for different classes separate from each other. Your notes should contain as complete a record of what the instructor said as possible. Anything the instructor writes on the board should appear in your notes. If possible, try to take your notes in some kind of outline form. You might find it useful to have a second color of pen or pencil available for highlighting important ideas or indicating vocabulary. Keep up on your reading. Study skills. Study skills or study strategies are approaches applied to learning. They are generally critical to success in school,[1] considered essential for acquiring good grades, and useful for learning throughout one's life.
Respicius Rwehumbiza in his book "Understanding Examination Techniques and Effective study Strategies" in 2013 asserted that, most students fail in examinations simply because they lack study skills and/or examination taking techniques. Study skills are an array of study skills, which may tackle the process of organizing and taking in new information, retaining information, or dealing with assessments.
They include mnemonics, which aid the retention of lists of information, effective reading, and concentration techniques,[2] as well as efficient notetaking.[3] While often left up to the student and their support network, study skills are increasingly taught in High School and at the University level. Historical context[edit] Types[edit] Main article: Rote learning.