Effective Reading Comprehension

 

Effective Reading Comprehension

Have you ever read a paragraph or few pages and thought, "what did I just read." Your eyes passed over the words, but you don't remember a thing. Now you need to re-read the passage, which is 10 more minutes of studying that you don't have to spare.
The act of reading does not guarantee successful comprehension or knowledge retention. But fear not! Even if you first learned how to read decades ago, you can still become a better, more efficient and effective reader.
One enduring technique developed by Francis P. Robinson, an American education philosopher in his 1946 book Effective Study, is call SQ3R. This acronym stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recall, and Review. It may require practice to use effectively, but it is well worth the effort. The steps for SQ3R are as follows:
1.    First, skim or survey through your material to get a high level idea of the content.
2.    List out several questions you have about the content.
3.    Go back and read thoroughly, but this time try to answer the questions you listed.
4.    Next, recall from your memory what you just learned. Pretend you are telling someone about what         you have just read.
5.    Review the material with a closer focus. Were you able to answer your questions? Did new questions arise? If so, repeat the process to try answering your new questions.
Another method for boosting comprehension and knowledge retention is to make annotations to the learning material while reading. Add notes, mark down thoughts and comments, list out questions, and make connections as you are reading. Using this technique will help you make sense of complicated materials, but will also organize your notes for reviewing later.
1.    Read the material once through and mark unfamiliar concepts or words, and identify the key ideas.         Pose questions.
2.    Read the material again, making more detailed notes this time. Mark ideas you agree and disagree             with.
3.    Make connections to other things you have read, studied or experienced. Highlight key phrases and ideas and rewrite them in your own words. Add personal comments.