Reading for your degree LDU – LearnHigher CETL and LDHEN

What ’ s going on Why look at reading? Students are not reading Students are not critical Students do not see the point …

Why some don ’ t read Studying seen as part time Reading less in the ‘ real world ’ Sheer amount of information … More reading expected of students with less time Subjects seen as vocational rather than academic

What ’ s it for? Reading is thinking Reading = access to ideas & knowledge claims Reading is learning Reading = answering the question!

What do these mean? Have you seen these – do you understand them?  Independent learner  Reading list  Read around the subject  Read and make notes

Activity Brainstorm: Why do we read? How do we know what to read? How can we read effectively? How much should we read?

Reading strategy Use the SQR3 system: S- Survey what you are reading (read intros & outros): what is it about? Q – Question – why am I reading this now? Which bit of my assignment will it help me with? R – read actively and interactively – marking up the text R – re-read your annotations and make notes R – review you notes and set new goals.

Active, interactive & critical reading Active reading - for EACH significant section ask: What is this paragraph about? Where is the writer coming from? Who would agree/disagree with this position? What is the argument? Who would dis/agree? What is the evidence? Is it valid? How do I know? Tips : Annotate – make key word notes - make index cards of all sources – re-cycle reading

Writing questions: Use the same questions to structure your writing: What is this paragraph about? What exactly is that? What is your argument? (Tell me more) What is the evidence (for & against)? What does it mean? How does this relate back to the question as a whole?

Reading tricks Read and come up with: Three words that describe how it made you feel A bare bones summary (25 words) A visual summary An object that represents something from the text One question that you would ask the author A one minute presentation on the topic

Research For a literature review on the topic of academic reading please go to:

Review List three things that you have taken from this session Discuss with your partner Now make a note of something that you are now going to do to improve your reading.