Study Skills (Skl 001)
Sameh Saadeldin Ahmed
Associate Professor of Environmental Eng.
Civil Engineering Department
Engineering College
Almajma’ah University
smohamed1@ksu.edu.sa
http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/SaMeH
2010/2011
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Reading Skills
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The key to knowledge
3.3 Why read at all?
3.3.1
3.3.2
3.3.3
3.3.4
Four ways of reading
Use your eyes
Eye gymnastics
Other tips for fast reading
3.4 Handy in your job search
3.5 Read for life
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3.1 Introduction
• Reading is something we take for granted; it has
become automatic.
• We read to :
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–
–
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acquire knowledge, or
purely for pleasure
take informed decisions
locate very specific “facts”
to escape from boring or anything.
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3.2 The key to knowledge
• When you start your higher education, you will be
expected to do a great deal of reading. Reading:
– books and journals,
– some of your reading may be from online information,
• You need to develop the techniques of selecting,
remembering, and using the right information
and learning to read quickly and effectively.
• Reading is a marvelous key to the doorway of
knowledge and a wonderfully enriching
experience.
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3.3 Why read at all?
• To gather information for very precise instructions, such
as how to programme a mobile phone or how to follow a
statistical procedure. This means you read carefully, pay
attention to detail, and return to particular sections.
• Reading for enjoyment: go through a novel as fast as you
can, knowing you are not going to be tested on it.
• Reading for quick information: skimming through a
magazine to gain a quick idea of what it contains.
• Reading for specific information, e.g., scanning a recipe
book for cooking specific meal.
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3.3.1 Four ways of reading
• Background reading gives you the big picture
and a general overview; a lot of pre-course reading
comes into this category.
• Skimming helps you gain a general impression
and gives you a good knowledge; you tend to use
cues like headings or key words.
• Scanning gives you a more detailed knowledge
than skimming; here you read only what is
necessary and look for things of specific interest.
• Detailed and critical reading gives you deeper
knowledge and the ability to analyze and evaluate
what you have read.
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3.3.2 Use your eyes
During reading, your eyes:
 make a series of small jumps,
 fixating on one word at a time, and the then
 pausing for 0.25 to 0.50 seconds between fixations.
Most of us make several little backward movements with our
eyes as we read, wasting more time .
Learning to read quickly and take in what you read
does take practice, you can read up to 1,000 words
a minute.
• if you can reduce the number of jumps and
pauses, you will suffer less eye strain.
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3.3.3 Eye gymnastics
• Fixate a page of paper
• Use a pointer
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3.3.4 Other tips for fast reading
• You might think that as you read faster it is harder
to absorb information, but, with practice, it
appears that perhaps the contrary is the case.
• Be selective
• SQ3R
• S = Survey and selective
• Q is for Questions Questions Questions
– what, where, why, how, which, and who
• It sounds obvious, but read
• The second “R” - Recall, Rehearse, and Recite
• The final R
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• When you begin to read, be aware of trying to find answers
to the questions you have raised.
• If you can, try to read the whole chapter,
• marking, underlining, and noting anything that is
important; this also helps to keep your concentration sharp
and alert.
• Having read the material through once, divide it into
smaller sections and reread, note all the underlined text,
and reduce your reading speed for any difficult
sections.
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The second “R”
• When you have read the material, look away for a
while and then try to recall answers to questions.
• The more quickly you recall and rehearse
information, the more likely that information will
be stored in your long-term memory and also
recalled when you want to remember it.
• Your deeper knowledge of a subject will also
grow by doing this.
• Note in your own words what you have read – this
is far more likely to guarantee your understanding
than just copying phrases from the book.
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The Final “R”
“relief”, or
“refreshment”?
“review”
When you have finished reading the chapter or
article, employing all the steps listed in SQ3R,
review what you have read and learned. Skim
through the chapter once more, checking that
you can still answer your questions.
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3.4 Reading and employment
• Most jobs, require effective reading of many
kinds.
• There is, written text to suit every job: sales
reports, technical manuals, medical notes,
annual reviews, or project bids.
• The written word is everywhere and you
will be expected to read it and to use it.
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3.5 Handy in your job search
• There are many places where being able to draw
out relevant information and, most particularly, to
read between the lines is a truly valuable life skill.
 when you start your job search this is an
example.
“It is nasty to work here and I wouldn’t apply
if I were you”?
Do they mention the word “flexible”, or is
there any mention of ongoing training and
staff development?
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3.6 Read for Life
• reading is not just for the time you spend in
higher education.
• The reading techniques and approaches you
develop will stand you in good stead in all kinds
of situations at work, in further training and
professional development, and in all aspects of
life.
• The amount you have to read while you are a
student can be overpowering, so use whichever
techniques seem to suit you best.
Reading should remain a key, not a lock
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Thanks for your attention
Get ready…..
Quiz 2 will be After Adha Eid
Chapter 2
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