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  • I'm Geri Markel.

  • I'm an educational psychologist and my focus is

  • on learning and performance.

  • So in that capacity, I help students with time management,

  • organization, and other study skills.

  • And today's topic is going to be reading efficiency.

  • And reading efficiency and effectiveness, is something

  • that is frequently not taught as a separate category

  • as students increase in the complexity

  • of the responsibilities that they have.

  • And so if you ask many people

  • when is the last time you had some reading instruction?

  • They say oh sixth or seventh grade.

  • And so we can imagine the kinds of pressures that are

  • put on even extraordinarily bright students,

  • those who are very competent,

  • but who don't really have the strategies

  • and maybe the attitude to look at effective reading.

  • And so for example this cartoon is talking

  • about blocking everything out except the important parts

  • and goes to the idea that people frequently underline.

  • But we'll be talking about that later, but underlining

  • without thinking doesn't bring good memory and retention.

  • So we want to have strategies that ensure

  • that when a student is finished

  • with an assignment they can understand it, talk about it,

  • and then retain it so they can integrate it later

  • with other information.

  • And so the goals of today are to make students aware

  • and counselors aware of the kind of strategies that do exist

  • to enhance reading, comprehension, and retention,

  • and integration with other sources, maybe multiple sources,

  • and to read, relieve the stress that comes

  • with inadequate reading kinds of things.

  • And it's very important for students

  • to start looking more deeply of, at the kinds of things

  • that tend to be barriers.

  • And so we've included a little self check,

  • which looks at what a student might be experiencing

  • when they're reading.

  • And so a student or a counselor, advisor, could use a checklist

  • like this and just see if they could identify

  • some of the problems.

  • For example, some students read rapidly,

  • but they don't remember.

  • Some students read slowly, but they read

  • so slowly they don't remember and they get distracted.

  • Some people can read and understand, but not remember.

  • And so we want to really start focusing on the kinds

  • of barriers that exist and the kinds of strengths

  • that students might have.

  • When we talk about attitude and perception, we want to look

  • at reading as information processing

  • so that the words trigger ideas, concepts,

  • help us understand the definitions of terms,

  • and later create a scaffolding

  • so that we can integrate information

  • from different sources.

  • And frequently, because people have not looked at reading

  • as a set of specific strategies, strategies that they can use

  • to self regulate the kinds of information that they need

  • to read and remember, they don't really get, get efficient.

  • So one of the myths is that you can read everything

  • at the same rate and in the same way.

  • And as course work becomes more complex,

  • content areas become more differentiated,

  • we need to have a set of strategies that depend

  • on the purpose for which we're reading.

  • And so we're looking at reading as a basic building block

  • and vocabulary as a critical variable.

  • And too often people don't spend enough time

  • in new fields learning the jargon,

  • learning the nuances perhaps of different vocabulary words

  • and without that basic block of learning,

  • they fail to really comprehend well.

  • This is an idea slide looking at a ladder of learning,

  • which is applied to most parts of learning.

  • And when students look at this in terms

  • of general academic performance, reading, note taking,

  • test taking, it helps to clarify what they need to do

  • for particular situations.

  • For example, these learning objectives are set up so

  • that the lowest level revolves around knowledge,

  • which would be some basic vocabulary, perhaps a map,

  • some calculations, the very basic

  • building blocks of knowledge.

  • At the next level, comprehension, we want students

  • to be able in their own words to be able to explain a term,

  • a topic, a definition, a concept.

  • At the next level, application,

  • the student maybe has to do a problem.

  • So if you were doing a word problem that would depend

  • on basic reading, basic calculations,

  • understanding the difference between multiplication

  • and division, and then being able to solve a problem.

  • When you look at these three levels,

  • we can look at what is necessary when you're reading.

  • Do I, am I reading this first time

  • through for some basic definitions and main ideas

  • or am I going more in depth and going to the next level,

  • am I needing to analyze, am I needing

  • to breakdown the components, or the next level synthesize,

  • synthesis if I could say it, synthesis.

  • Am I required to combine a bunch of topics or concepts

  • so I can do relationships?

  • At the top is the more creative, the evaluative type of thinking

  • in which you might do a critical analysis

  • or create your own design.

  • So when students are looking at assignments, they might want

  • to look at a chart like this and decide,

  • am I reading this perhaps for the first time

  • to get some main ideas and vocabulary?

  • Can once I do that, can I describe things in my own words

  • and then how am I going to apply this to the basic problems

  • and principles that I have to do for assignments or projects?

  • And so the idea that we have different strategies,

  • different rates, depending on what we read,

  • is sometimes a foreign concept for many, many students.

  • So if for example you were reading poetry or trying to get

  • through something you didn't know anything about,

  • you might slow down because you were looking

  • at particular critical keywords, vocabulary,

  • trying to piece together what the main ideas were.

  • If you're sort of familiar with something, you might be moving

  • through the material a little bit more quickly.

  • If you were reading a James Bond book or some kind of novel

  • where you knew the characters, understood the style,

  • then you would ratchet it up a little more quickly,

  • perhaps if the book was boring skipping over some boring parts,

  • and then over 350 words a minutes

  • where you're rapidly locating information.

  • Your eyes don't move probably more quickly

  • than 600 words a minute from the old studies that we did

  • in rate of eye movement.

  • And you might be doing that when you're looking at a glossary,

  • an index, a table of contents, a telephone book,

  • a series of tables, where you really know what you're looking

  • for and you're really sort of scanning and you have

  • in your mind an idea of what you're doing.

  • So looking at this and combining it with the levels of learning,

  • students begin to see how they can modulate what they're doing

  • and how they're doing it.

  • Another kind of thing that helps students is

  • to begin analyzing what a text is like.

  • Is this is a text that's probably just listing terms

  • and it's really quite scientific or specific?

  • Is it a text that's describing a con, a concept or a topic,

  • and it has lots of increasingly detailed information?

  • Is it a passage or a chapter

  • that's doing contrast or pro/con?

  • Is it looking at cause and effect?

  • Is it looking at sequence?

  • Frequently, when you ask students how you read something,

  • they say oh, well I open the book and I start to read.

  • They don't do anything to look at what kind of text it is

  • and then adjust the kind of strategy they might use.

  • Sometimes students begin to do this spontaneously,

  • but depending on one's personality and style you,

  • you might be used to reading everything, learning everything,

  • being able to memorize everything in a book,

  • but not really being able to integrate it.

  • And at the undergrad level, by the time one gets

  • to their major area or the graduate level,

  • the mass of information that needs to be read has

  • to be handled with a little bit more finesse.

  • Students frequently again spontaneously,

  • but maybe unconsciously because they are so familiar

  • with the language, begin to look for keywords and signal words.

  • One way of making reading more effective is

  • to become increasingly aware of the signal words and be looking

  • at sentences when you read in terms of clauses

  • and where does particular kinds of words come, come in.

  • So if it was perhaps a pro/con and an argument,

  • the student would be looking for words like 'although',

  • 'however', 'on the other hand.'

  • And it doesn't take much practice for students to begin

  • to look for these kinds of words.

  • They can practice in newspapers, they can practice in magazines,

  • and they can also practice in the kinds of articles.

  • But this is a separate kind of activity.

  • It's one where you are trying to analyze what the text

  • and what the writing style is.

  • And this becomes particularly important

  • when students are reading multiple kinds of articles.

  • When you used to have a textbook,

  • you would have a traditional organization.

  • You might have lots of bold headings and separations

  • of chapters or topics.

  • That's not necessarily true in some of the research articles

  • or literature that students are reading and so they have

  • to have this internal framework or structure

  • upon which to build their comprehension.

  • One of the tried and true strategies is called the

  • SQ4R method.

  • It's a method of thinking and processing information,

  • first talked about by Robinson in the '40s

  • and then embellished upon by Don Smith in the '50s and '60s,

  • and it talks about using multiple modalities in going

  • through a reading, passage, textbook, or taking notes,

  • or studying for tests, using the same strategy for multiple uses

  • and emphasizing one or two

  • of the steps depending on what's going on.

  • So at the first level, you want

  • to survey what it is you're going to read

  • and what the purpose is for reading.

  • Is it for review?

  • It is for new knowledge?

  • It is for collecting more detailed information?

  • The next reason is that when you're using different

  • modalities at the simplest level, if you are looking

  • at something one part of your brain is sort of lighting up

  • and active, if you're writing, another part,

  • and the more activity you have,

  • you seem to reinforce the integration of knowledge

  • and the awareness and the discrimination

  • of various kinds of ideas.

  • And so what we're looking at is not just a reader

  • who is efficient reading one source,

  • but at the more sophisticated level,

  • a reader who can integrate information

  • from multiple sources and be, do some critical analysis

  • and then application of the information

  • to new kinds of problems.

  • The steps in the SQ4R are first to survey, to look at a chapter

  • or a book or an article, to see what the components are,

  • perhaps see if you can identify the main idea.

  • The next step would be asking questions.

  • And the kind of questions you ask can be at the grossest level

  • such as who, what, why, where, when, or it can depend

  • on what the assignment is and the focus

  • that lectures have taken.

  • And so frequently a student might have 200 pages to read,

  • the lecture or the PowerPoint notes that are given ahead,

  • only focus on one-third of the chapter.

  • If a student is pressed for time, a slow reader,

  • inefficient reader, hates reading, then they might focus

  • on the aspects that are covered in the text that will be covered

  • in the lecture and just cutdown on the amount.

  • So surveying and questioning provide an avenue

  • in a way to approach reading.

  • The next step in reading is a very specific, targeted,

  • interactive process, so that you have a question in mind

  • and you are seeking and searching information

  • that answers the question.

  • The next part is that you're reciting.

  • Perhaps the material is so difficult

  • that when you're actually reading it you sort of talk it

  • out to yourself as it's, as if it's a foreign language,

  • because you're not really clear about the terms.

  • The next part would be to say it in your own words.

  • If you can't say it or do the next step, write it in terms

  • of writing keywords or diagrams, if you can't say it, write it,

  • draw it, you don't know it,

  • and you're certainly not going to remember it.

  • So the important part is

  • to really have a step-by-step procedure, which guides you

  • into learning and processing the information

  • so it can be understood and retained and then later applied.

  • And then the next step is a step that's frequently forgot.

  • Read it and forget it.

  • I read it.

  • Put it away.

  • But the idea that you're working in short-term or working memory

  • when you're actually reading something

  • and perhaps writing it, means that when you put it away

  • after an hour or a day you take out a blank piece of paper

  • and see if you can write the notes from memory.

  • See what you remember and then go back and fill it in.

  • That way you're not just reading and reading,

  • which tends to be boring and not particularly productive.

  • So if we look in depth at what a survey does,

  • it's sometimes looked at as a waste of time.

  • I don't have time!

  • I just got to get into it!

  • I just got to get into it!

  • Well, what happens is you've really going over it.

  • You're really not understanding it.

  • And the survey ensures that you really understand

  • what the whole picture is.

  • A perfect example of this in that, in some,

  • in some courses a student will get an article

  • that describes a study.

  • Their assignment is to look at how the study was done,

  • the parts of the study.

  • It wasn't necessarily to understand the concepts

  • of the study and what the study proved.

  • Now if you don't understand that you might with lack of knowledge

  • about the content be struggling through this

  • to understand what the content was rather than looking

  • at the methodology, the reliability, the validity,

  • and the kind of sampling they used.

  • And so another thing that the survey does is help a student

  • identify the useful reading aids that might be attached

  • to a textbook or a particular resource.

  • And too frequently, especially naïve students, maybe students

  • who are great listeners who didn't really have

  • to do too much reading to get the good grades, forget to look

  • at these illustrations and pictures

  • and graphs and diagrams.

  • And for many people, especially those who are visual learners

  • and don't like reading or don't want to take the time,

  • they can benefit greatly in a survey

  • by knowing what pictures are there, because usually pictures,

  • illustrations, reflect the main points

  • of a chapter or an article.

  • And so just by looking at that, people begin

  • to become much more aware

  • of what the critical aspects of the material is.

  • Then, we want to arouse our curiosity.

  • We want to look at previous knowledge.

  • We just don't want to get stuff coming in as a blank slate.

  • The more you question, the more curious,

  • the better your questions are, and are aligned to what you have

  • to learn, the better your reading will be.

  • So even if you take 10 or 15 minutes to survey and 5 minutes

  • to get good questions, you will make up that time by being

  • a more efficient reader.

  • Now where to the questions come from?

  • First, they come from the syllabus.

  • So usually, every class session has a name.

  • Turn that name into a question.

  • The title of an article, turn it into a question.

  • Any of the bold headings, turn them into questions.

  • Look at the last lecture, turn into questions

  • about how does the last lecture reflect upon the next lecture,

  • so you get some integration.

  • And then again you want to ask what illustrations are there,

  • are any of these provided ahead of time

  • in the, in the PowerPoint.

  • If there's a problem with somebody raising questions,

  • that's the perfect kind of thing to talk

  • to at office hours or after class.

  • So we're always talking about reaching out and going

  • to experts if you just have barriers

  • in reading or you hate books.

  • Oh, don't give me that it's, it's too thick,

  • it's too wide, the print's no good.

  • And I think one of the difficulties occurs

  • when you're talking about surveying and questioning,

  • when the material is on a computer and you're scrolling up

  • and down, it's very difficult to keep a focus on the whole thing.

  • So you're scrolling up and down, scrolling up and down.

  • Sometimes you can see a couple of pages

  • at once on your computer.

  • Sometimes you can refer to the book,

  • but looking at the big picture prior to reading is critical

  • and many of the things that are

  • on the computer preclude anybody even thinking

  • about looking at the whole thing.

  • Then when you're reading, one of the critical things

  • that happens is the ability

  • to paraphrase what it is you're reading.

  • You don't necessarily do

  • that with every sentence or paragraph.

  • But you, if textbooks are written in a certain way,

  • it's usually that the main idea opens a paragraph,

  • and the first paragraph or second paragraph

  • of the section contains the most important information

  • with more detailed information.

  • So if you're going to read and paraphrase, you might look

  • at the bold heading of a section,

  • turn it into a question,

  • see if there are any critical definitions that you have

  • to look for, and then read the first and second paragraph,

  • and then stop, take a minute, paraphrase what you're saying.

  • Can I say it?

  • Even using really brief short-term memory am I

  • integrating this, because if I can't, then I have to go back

  • and say do I understand the definition.

  • Is there a concept that I have to go back to so

  • that I can learn something new?

  • Another key aspect of reading uses visualization.

  • So that old phrase 'one picture is worth a thousand words' is

  • really true in this situation.

  • So for many people they're just using their verbal skills

  • without any visualization or imagery.

  • They're not using one part of their brain.

  • So even if you ratchet up just a little bit by evoking a graph,

  • evoking a chart, writing a chart,

  • seeing if you can visualize a sequence, a process,

  • then you are enhancing your memory

  • and your capacity to retain.

  • Reciting is this, is, is making sure that you get it more

  • into your memory bank and using these pictures.

  • The next thing would be to write things down.

  • I'm not talking about reading and being a scribe,

  • because many students feel that if I just write it down

  • I sort of, I learn by writing.

  • I learn by writing.

  • Well, what's happening is, my silly analogy is

  • that your eyes are seeing some information, goes to your eye,

  • and what happens is that information just dribbles

  • down your neck, [Audience laughing] out your arm,

  • out of the pen, and onto the page,

  • and it never touches that grey matter.

  • However, if you have an image of it or you say it to yourself

  • and you write after you read and understand,

  • you then can check back to see how accurate you are.

  • So it's okay to write notes.

  • It's okay to outline.

  • It's okay to highlight or underline, but you only do it

  • after you have said it yourself in your own words.

  • If it's important enough to underline,

  • it's important enough to say to yourself.

  • Another thing that you do when you write is

  • to write a test question that might reflect the information.

  • So for many students taking multiple choice tests is

  • very difficult.

  • And so if at the end, and we'll talk about this

  • when we do note taking, if at the end of what you're reading,

  • if you see things that are alike

  • and only have one subtle difference, you might make up

  • an objective question.

  • If you see a big idea that's in contrast to another big idea

  • from another lecture, make up a compare and contrast question.

  • And by doing that on an ongoing basis,

  • you ensure that you're ready for that application part,

  • you're not only doing the reading, the knowledge

  • and the comprehension.

  • And the last thing is that review.

  • Now we know that for many,

  • many decades students had been told review your notes.

  • One, they don't do it.

  • Two, if they do it, it's right before the test.

  • And three, if they do it, they just read and reread and reread,

  • and by some miracle of osmosis it's going to be in their brain.

  • If you're visual and if you're smart

  • and have a great memory, sometimes that works.

  • However, when it comes to reviewing, the critical thing is

  • to test yourself and learn as you go.

  • So if you're reading to process information, then you have

  • to stop, see if you can say it out loud, write it,

  • do that diagram again, maybe an hour after, a day after,

  • or at least every single week.

  • So if you're going to read and learn and understand and retain,

  • and then integrate and apply, it means that you have

  • to do periodic review.

  • Reviewing notes or reviewing the reading,

  • preferably doing some previewing before a lecture,

  • and then after the lecture seeing if you can read

  • and review the lecture, and then doing it, making test questions

  • and seeing if you can write it from memory.

  • For many students, there's a need

  • for learning technical vocabulary,

  • and again it's really advisable to use a multimodal approach.

  • So one of the things you might do is learn one word at a time.

  • Of course, writing it.

  • But that visualization, humor in trying to memorize it,

  • and then the next thing is taking another technical term

  • and saying what is a term that's like this but different,

  • because those are the kinds of issues that crop up on tests.

  • Are there words that sort of, are spelled similar, similarly,

  • do they have the same prefix, are they used

  • in a different kind of context.

  • So it's not just memorizing a list of words,

  • it's memorizing words in context.

  • If students were studying for the GRE

  • or learning particular vocabulary in the humanities

  • or other fields, what you want to do is you want

  • to learn one word and then identify a number of synonyms

  • for that word, so you begin to get shades of meaning.

  • And then get two or three words that are antonyms.

  • That way for one word, you're getting a family of words

  • and a way to become more precise when you're writing

  • or when you're reading, you become a lot more sensitive.

  • And then of course, quizzing yourself.

  • Learning is correct spelling, how boring.

  • Wish we didn't have to do it.

  • But the more technical and the more complex the vocabulary,

  • the more important the spelling is, and especially

  • in PowerPoint presentations,

  • so many students have to do projects.

  • Sometimes just spell check isn't enough, as we all know,

  • but often students are rushed, even faculty are rushed,

  • and we get some very embarrassing words that get

  • through the, get through the spell check,

  • but don't look very good.

  • And that's especially true in writing,

  • so when you're writing tests you want to make sure

  • that at least most of the vocabulary is spelled well.

  • Okay, so how do you manage this reading process?

  • We got some strategies.

  • You want to use SQ4R.

  • [Audience member coughing]

  • What do you actually do to get yourself revved up

  • to be efficient when you are reading?

  • One of the things is not to think that a person is going

  • to read for two or three hours straight some complex test,

  • text.

  • It's not going to happen.

  • And if it does, it's for most people it's usually

  • not efficient.

  • So the critical thing is to set some small goal,

  • maybe you can read for 20 to 40 minutes.

  • Interspersed with, in that time you're writing, you're talking,

  • you're interacting, you're not just [Slurs words].

  • You get so tired that you can't remember.

  • Another thing is to set a strategy.

  • Is this a place where you just have to scan to look

  • at what's going on, you have to pick up some details?

  • Is this a place where you have to do some deep reading,

  • because you don't understand the content?

  • Is this where you need main ideas or is this a time

  • where you have to get examples and specific details?

  • And then what are the positive conditions that you need to use

  • or create for yourself?

  • If you are a student who really needs quiet, then you need to go

  • and be in a place that's quiet.

  • You might have to have some white noise.

  • If you're able to study in a room, but it's too quiet,

  • you might want to put on a fan.

  • For some students, classical music works.

  • If students want to know should I use music,

  • should I have other things on, all you have to do is

  • set up two different conditions.

  • Condition one is what's thought as the optimal, non-distracting,

  • quiet situation, and then go in a coffee shop

  • where it's noisy and see which works.

  • For some students, it's easier to read in a coffee shop

  • if they're reading humanities.

  • But if they're doing math or science, they have to be quiet.

  • So as the course work becomes more complex,

  • it's more important for students

  • to understand what are the conditions

  • that are going to be most helpful.

  • In addition, because we're so frantic and harried,

  • it's more important before you start to read

  • to just take a minute to relax.

  • Just spend a few minutes breathing deeply, in, out,

  • get a visual image that's positive,

  • and then set a small goal.

  • Perhaps you're a person who is just has do a little warm up,

  • maybe you want to review what you read before

  • just to get you going, okay.

  • But we can't think of running and rushing,

  • and then I [Inaudible].

  • That usually does not contribute.

  • Okay, and then doing the reading you are focused.

  • You're not answering the phone.

  • You're not looking at the Internet.

  • You're not perhaps even eating, okay.

  • You want to be focused.

  • So you want to think of yourself as a sprinter.

  • Ask a question, find the answer, think about it, take two minutes

  • of a break, find another question, okay.

  • Relate, okay.

  • Whatever you know of a strategy that works for athletics

  • or music or dance performance, works for studying.

  • Okay? So even if there's hours of practice, there's breaks,

  • there's mass practice.

  • So it may be that for some portion

  • of time you're just looking for main ideas,

  • and then you're looking for evidence for the main ideas,

  • and then you're looking for some details, and then you're looking

  • for some examples, and then you're looking

  • for some comparisons.

  • So when you mass practice this,

  • you begin to get more control.

  • Strategies give you control.

  • Control gives you efficiency.

  • Efficiency gives you lower stress and greater motivation.

  • So you have a nice cycle that goes.

  • And so taking breaks, not two hour breaks, but five

  • or ten minutes breaks, and the breaks mean you stand,

  • you walk around, you get a healthy drink or snack,

  • you stretch, maybe listen to music, hear something humorous.

  • You want to get your mind in a relaxed state.

  • It doesn't necessarily mean checking Facebook,

  • looking at the Internet, because you're still focusing those eyes

  • when you're doing that,

  • and we want to give your body, your mind, a break.

  • After reading, you have to think.

  • I know this is a foreign concept.

  • But we want reading to reflect thinking.

  • If there is no thinking in reading, there's no learning.

  • So we want to really be able to sit down and review

  • in our head what we read, why it was important.

  • Can I write a summary in my own words?

  • Can I make up a self-quiz and what is the goal

  • for the next assignment?

  • Many people never really learn to read quickly enough.

  • There's, although they may be bright and competent,

  • they're stuck at the word-by-word level.

  • Sometimes it's just reading, sometimes it's fear

  • of missing something, sometimes you always did it

  • that way and it's fine.

  • And so you may need to have some exercises not

  • with your schoolwork, but to practice reading rapidly

  • with a newspaper or a magazine.

  • And so frequently I ask people to just take the front page

  • of a newspaper, turn the title of the article, the headline

  • into a question, and then just read for a minute to see

  • if they can pick out who, what, why, where, when.

  • Do that with magazines, articles, you can do it

  • with blogs, they're a little bit more difficult.

  • But wherever the information is really stable,

  • so a newspaper is required to say who, what, why, where, when,

  • and the vocabulary is usually one in which you, you're aware

  • of and also the concepts are not very difficult.

  • And in addition, you have some background information.

  • So when you're reading the newspaper or a magazine,

  • you might be looking at what information don't I have,

  • what is new that I need to put, put in my memory bank?

  • If you're asking a question, you can say do I know anything

  • about it? And then read for a minute.

  • So that kind of thing helps just with one minute reading.

  • For 10 or 15 minutes, take a book that you like

  • and that you're interested in, and read for 10 or 20 minutes

  • and keep a graph of how many pages you read,

  • trying to increase your rate

  • as you understand the author's style,

  • the character development, the information.

  • The more familiar you are with the information,

  • the more rapidly you can read it,

  • because you have information in your head.

  • The words just trigger a remembrance of the information

  • or a question that you need to answer.

  • So reading again is interactive and looking for information,

  • processing the information.

  • And also I think it's very useful and helpful

  • in social interactions just to do some of this with a friend,

  • just meet for 15 minutes, each reading you know one

  • or two paper articles and then summarize them to each other,

  • because frequently when we talk about doing things

  • for one minute or two minutes, it seems so inane

  • that we don't do it, but really it helps.

  • And for many people, talking information out

  • with another people is a primary way of learning.

  • So reviewing textbook summaries is critical.

  • We've talked about using visualization and so

  • when you're looking at an image you're more focused.

  • You can look at one part at time, you know for many science,

  • PowerPoint presentations the visuals are very complex.

  • It might be that the person preparing the plot,

  • slide has studied this for 20 years.

  • And this slide is so laden with information that it has

  • to be looked at in sections.

  • So for some visual images, it's necessary to print them

  • out in a large size, perhaps fold them or cut them

  • so you only look at one part at a time,

  • then see if you can make a reproduction of it.

  • Compare, so the real learning comes from looking at things

  • and seeing what you know and you don't know.

  • The use of visuals really increases retention and memory.

  • If you're in a test, if you can evoke an image, a flowchart,

  • you can more easily set things down.

  • If you have a blue book, if you have a visual in mind,

  • you can open the blue book, put down what you remember

  • in the forms of a chart or some kind of visual, and then refer

  • to it as you're writing your essay questions.

  • Therefore, the visual helps you organize

  • and get more clarity into your answers.

  • So here's just a few simple visuals that can be used

  • to help you with your reading.

  • So if you know you're reading something

  • that has a pro/con argument, you can set these up

  • and just do the bullet points and it brings a clarity

  • and a purpose to your readings,

  • so that you feel more comfortable.

  • The cause and effect is caused a fishbone diagram,

  • came from the quality work within the auto industry,

  • because it might be that you had an effect,

  • you assumed there was a certain cause, you went to solve

  • that problem, but it wasn't the root cause.

  • So for many students in difficult complex situations,

  • if you can list all the causes for a particular effect,

  • then you can go through the notes and say what,

  • how could I prioritize these,

  • or if I have a cause that's political, can I then talk

  • about the three options that were political.

  • So these kinds of things allow you to consolidate information

  • and provide a framework

  • that helps you process the information.

  • So in terms of a roadmap to efficient reading,

  • we want to preview and plan, that's a strategy to get you

  • to be more efficient, more effective, lower stress

  • and increase, increase control.

  • So you want to know what information do I need?

  • What is the assignment? How is the information going

  • to be used? Under what conditions is the information

  • going to be used?

  • It's really a different thing

  • if you're moving toward multiple choice,

  • moving toward giving a presentation or a project,

  • or taking an essay test.

  • So in summarizing to look to improve comprehension,

  • you want to look at interaction, your mind

  • and questioning what you're reading,

  • understanding the purpose, understanding the depth

  • of information that you need, paraphrasing it

  • in your own words, perhaps writing it out,

  • and then comparing it with the lecture or the reading

  • that you've done, and summarizing using charts.

  • One of the things to do is that if you make a chart, then

  • two or three days later you take a blank piece of paper,

  • this is called the blank page exercise.

  • You take a blank piece of paper and you try to recreate it.

  • And it's such a funny thing.

  • There's so many blank holes that you'll find.

  • And that's where the real learning and retention comes.

  • And I, I saw this with several medical students who made,

  • read and made wonderful charts and bring in the charts say,

  • well I summarized the chapter.

  • Really? Did you do this from memory?

  • Oh no, I wanted it to be accurate.

  • So there was a chart in the book and they wrote it.

  • Oh, that's a great idea.

  • Did you then test yourself?

  • Uh, well I didn't have time.

  • Okay. Here's a whiteboard or here's a blank

  • piece of paper, recreate the chart.

  • And it's very interesting that as you try to recreate it,

  • you are able to put more and more detail in.

  • So what happens is you really are creating information

  • from the core out.

  • You learn the main ideas, get some further explanation,

  • get some details, get some examples.

  • And then to improve retention, again you're going to summarize,

  • visualize, use charts, talk to other people,

  • write practice questions, and review.

  • So if you're a student who wants to become more efficient,

  • you could identify one goal and practice that one goal.

  • It might be that you want

  • to just practice reading faster other kinds of material

  • because it's too stressful to try and change anything

  • with your course work.

  • I'm just going to read newspapers and magazines.

  • If you need help with,

  • if you think you have a reading problem, you might want to go

  • to Services for Students with Disabilities.

  • If somebody is looking at your writing and it doesn't,

  • your writing doesn't reflect adequate reading

  • and information processing, you might want to go to Sweetland.

  • So there are many places on campus.

  • If you're very nervous when you read,

  • you seem to be having blockage because of stress or anxiety,

  • depression or whatever, you might then want to go to CAPS.

  • And so you might decide I'm just in one course where I tend

  • to be missing the main idea, I'm going to look at the chapters

  • and use SQ4R and I'm just going to use it to survey and preview

  • and write questions so I'm better ready

  • when the lecture comes.

  • That one step might be your avenue

  • to better reading efficiency.

  • So that's it for reading efficiency.

  • I hope this helped you.

  • I have a study tips program.

  • It's called "A Study Tip A Day Gets You an A",

  • 365 secrets of study success.

  • It's a free download.

  • Each study tip is a 140 characters or less.

  • So look under study tips for iPhone,

  • soon to be for Droids too.

  • And the name of my company is Managing Mind located

  • on State Street.

  • My email is geri@managingyourmind.com,

  • and I'm open for questions or concerns.

  • Thank you very much.

I'm Geri Markel.

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