Read smart: How to avoid being a passive reader!

As many of you might have already realised, there is reading where you just look at a book and there is actually reading. With the former, you might get through the chapter faster, but will end up coming back to the same pages to remind yourself of what exactly you read. Have you found yourself doing that lately? Do not fear, I will share a technique to bring your reading to a higher level and also give general tips on managing your reading well!

Introducing SQ3R: reading with a purpose

SQ3R is a reading comprehension method comprising of 5 easy steps: 

1. Skim
2. Question
3. Read
4. Recite
5. Review

By using this method, you will force yourself to engage with the study material and begin to read actively. So, what do you have to do?

First glance (skim) through a chapter in order to identify headings, sub-headings, and other outstanding features in the text. This is in order to identify ideas and formulate questions about the content of the chapter. These could be specific or more general questions such as, "What is this chapter about?", "What question is this chapter trying to answer?" or "How does this information help me?"

Now you are ready to read actively. Start by reading your text in order to answer the questions you raised previously when skimming the content. Then, using key phrases, identify major points and answers to questions that you have identified. This may be done either in an oral or written format. It is important to use your own words in order to evoke the active listening quality of this study method. 

Finally, it’s time to recite! You should have a study sheet and should test yourself by attempting to recall the key phrases. Immediately review all sections pertaining to any key words forgotten.

General tips on managing your reading

Now, you might already be engaging with the text and might not be a passive reader, but just having trouble managing your reading. This can happen because there is a lot of it or it might be taking too long. Don't worry, here are a few tips for that too:

• If it is a paper you are reading, you can often skip over sections (such as a results section) to focus on what you need to know. Similarly with books and book chapters, selective reading and prioritising is great. This is where formulating a question and deciding what you want to find out is vital!
• Use lists and set goals for your reading as this will help you to split up the work load. For example, if you know you have to read a 300-page book in a month, then that's 10 pages a day - easy! You can even use apps (such as Strides) to help you stay committed and to calculate how much reading you should be doing.
• You can also train your reading speed, using a range of speed-reading techniques and tools (such as Spreeder). But note, speed-reading anything that you truly need to comprehend is not the best of ideas. As long as your reading speed is above 200wpm (you can test this online), training your reading speed might not be necessary.

By Natalia Mladentseva, UCL alumna

The resources linked above are recommendations of the author.