Chapter 1: Strategies for Textbook
Learning
From this chapter, you’ll learn
1. about SQ3R, a tested and flexible system for
reading textbooks.
2. the importance of “reading flexibility.”
3. how reading rate should be adjusted to text
and purpose.
4. how the World Wide Web can be used to
improve comprehension.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.1 Using SQ3R: A System for Studying
SQ3R stands for
1. Survey the chapter to get an overview.
2. Question to focus concentration.
3. Read to answer the questions.
4. Recall to test your understanding.
5. Review to see how all pieces fit
together.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.1 Survey to Get an Overview
To survey, read the following:
1.Title and Introductory material
2.Headings and opening sentences of chapter
sections
3.Visual aids such as pictures, charts, graphs,
tables, and highlighted words
4.End-of-chapter summaries and questions
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.1 Survey Goals
The Four Goals of a Survey Are
1. to get a general overview of the
material.
2. to get a feel for the writer’s style.
3. to get a sense of what’s important.
4. to identify breaks in the chapter.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.1 Step 2: Ask Questions for Focus
Using questions to guide your
reading can help you
• remain mentally active while reading.
• maintain your level of concentration.
• keep you alert to key passages in the
chapter.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.1 How to Form Questions
Your questions can be based on
• headings, key words, pictures, or
graphics in the chapter.
• comparisons to other writers on the
same subject.
• your own personal experience.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.1 Step 3: Read in Chunks
When you read a textbook, remember to
• read it in chunks of no more than 10 or 15
pages.
• write while you read.
• periodically paraphrase, or sum up in your
own words, what you have just read.
• vary your assignments whenever you are
studying for more than two hours.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.1 Write while Reading
Writing while reading is critical because
it helps you
1. remember what you read.
2. check your comprehension.
3. maintain concentration.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.1 Write while Reading
Use any or all of these writing strategies:
• Underline key words in sentences.
• Use boxes, stars, and circles to highlight key
names and dates.
• Take marginal notes, jotting down central points.
• Mark important passages with double bars, stars,
or asterisks.
• Identify, perhaps with a “P, ” ideas for papers.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.1 Step 4: Recall after Completing
a Chapter Section
Recalling right after reading can be done in
a number of ways. You can
1. mentally recite the general point and a few
details.
2. write out answers to questions you posed
during your survey.
3. cover up and try to recall parts of your
outline.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.1 Step 4: Recall after Completing
a Chapter Section
You can also
1. make rough diagrams or drawings.
2. ask a classmate to quiz you on the material.
3. use any other method you can think of to
see how much you remember.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
A Word to the Wise
The rate of forgetting is fastest right
after you finish reading. Recalling by
repeating what you just read in your
own words slows down the rate of
forgetting so you forget less.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Another Word to the Wise
As soon as you start a study session,
identify how many pages you plan to read.
This is particularly important if you are
reading a long chapter. Chopping the
chapter into several ten- or fifteen-page
assignments will make it seem more
manageable, and you won’t give up on it.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.1 Step 5: Review Right After
Completing the Chapter
The review step of SQ3R
• takes place right after you finish the entire
assignment.
• focuses on how parts of a text fit together to
develop a general point.
• should either confirm or force you to revise
some of your initial predictions about a
chapter or article.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.1 The Goals of the First Review
Reviewing right after you complete
the assignment
• helps anchor new information in your
memory.
• gives you a sense of what passages might
need a second reading.
• lets you focus more on the overall objective,
or point, of the material
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.1 Methods of Review
1. Look at all the major headings and try
to recall the general point introduced.
2. Work with a friend who asks you
questions about the headings.
3. Use the headings to make an outline
and write down what you remember
about each one.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.1 Create Diagrams that Highlight
Relationships Among Parts of the Chapter
The unfair
taxation
imposed by
the British
The rise of
the
merchant
middle class
in the
colonies
The forced
quartering of
British
soldiers in
American
homes and
inns
Three central factors aroused American fury against British rule
and contributed to the Revolutionary War
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
A Word to the Wise
Few strategies for reading—and for that matter for
life—apply to every single situation. Adapt your
reading strategies to the material. For instance, if
you’re reading a passage that has strong visual
imagery, take notes with diagrams or drawings.
However, switch to an outline if you think the
material doesn’t easily lend itself to pictures. In
other words, BE A FLEXIBLE READER, changing
strategies to suit the material.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
A Word on Multi-Tasking
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Don’t Do It
While Studying !
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Staying Focused is Essential
None of the techniques for mastering
your textbooks will be effective if ,
while studying, you are texting and
checking your cell, RSS feed, or Twitter.
Here’s what one of perhaps twenty
studies has to say on the subject of
multi-tasking. And for the record, they
all say pretty much the same thing:
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Multi-Tasking and Studying Don’t Mix
According to a group of Stanford University researchers,
multi-taskers are “suckers for irrelevancy. Everything
distracts them.” The Stanford researchers say that the
more people multi-task, the more they lose the ability
to separate the significant from the insignificant.
The results of the study are currently available at
stanford study.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.3 Reading Rate and Reading
Flexibility
Make it a point to vary your reading
rate depending on
1. the difficulty of the material.
2. your level of familiarity with the
author’s ideas.
3. your purpose in reading.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.3 Reading Rate and Reading
Flexibility
• For a survey, feel free to skim at high rates of
speed like 600-800 words per minute.
• For understanding easy-to-read and moderately
familiar material, slow down to 300-400 words
per minute.
• For pages of moderate difficulty, maintain
a speed of 200-250.
• For hard-to-read and unfamiliar material, slow
down to around 150-200 words per minute.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
What’s the moral of this story?
There’s an old Woody Allen joke that
goes like this: “I took a speed reading
course and read War and Peace. It
involves Russia.” War and Peace is set in
Russia. It is around 900 pages long.
What point did Allen want to make about
speed reading?
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
A Word to the Wise
It might surprise you to hear that reading too
slowly can be as ineffective as reading too quickly, in
part because reading the assignment can take so
long, it becomes agonizing. Slow your rate way
down only when you feel completely lost. Otherwise
push yourself to keep going at around 200-250
words per minute. If a passage doesn’t seem
completely clear, mark it for re-reading (RR). And
make sure you really do re-read.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.4 Using the World Wide Web
for Background Knowledge
The more you know about a subject,
the easier it is to comprehend what
you read. When you are starting a
chapter dealing with an unfamiliar topic,
use the Web to get some basic background knowledge.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.4 Using the Right Search Term
When it comes to getting background
knowledge from the Web, the right search
term is critical. A good search term should
(1) take into account the chapter purpose
and headings, (2) be focused and specific
rather than broad and general, and
(3) usually be a phrase rather than a single
word or name.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.4 What’s the Right Search Term?
Your search term should
1. be influenced by the headings in the
text.
2. be specific enough to exclude topics
you don’t care about.
3. be phrases rather than single words.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.4 Picking the Right Search Term
Imagine that you are surveying a chapter
about the history of the Supreme Court,
and you run across the heading “The
Origins of Judicial Review.” If you want
some background knowledge about that
topic, which of these search terms would
be more useful to you?
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.4 Picking the Right Search Term
1. History of the Supreme Court
2. Judicial Review
3. Supreme Court and Judicial Review
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.4 Focusing Your Search Term
Although you could probably get background knowledge for the chapter with
all three choices, the fastest would be the
“Supreme Court and Judicial Review.”
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
1.4 Focusing Your Search Term
1.
The “History of the Supreme Court” would take you in
too many irrelevant directions. You want to know about
judicial review in relation to the Supreme Court, not all
about the Supreme Court past and present. This search
term would give you too many sites you couldn’t use.
2.
“Judicial Review” would get you right to a definition of
the term. However, given that you are reading a chapter
on how the Supreme Court evolved, or developed, you
want to know how judicial review came into being as
part of the Supreme Court’s history.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Just So You Know
Judicial Review is the right of the Supreme Court to
review and, if need be, challenge existing legislation
created at the state or federal level. It also means that
the Supreme Court has the right to review decisions made
by the president. The Supreme Court’s right to judicial
review came into being as a consequence of the case
Marbury v. Madison (1803), which set a powerful
legal precedent, or pattern, for future decisions.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Finishing Up: Strategies for Textbook Learning
You’ve previewed the major concepts and skills
introduced in Chapter 1. Take this quick quiz to test
your mastery of those skills and concepts, and you
are ready to read the chapter.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Finishing Up: Strategies for Textbook
Learning
See how well you can describe each of the steps
in SQ3R.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
S
Q
R
R
R
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Finishing Up: Strategies for Textbook
Learning
6. What factors should decide the rate
at which you read?
7. What is reading flexibility?
8. How can the World Wide Web help
your read textbooks?
9. What are the three characteristics of a
useful search term?
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Finishing Up: Strategies for Textbook
Learning
10. Imagine that you were getting ready to
read a chapter titled “The Growing Problem
of Consumer Debt, “ and it was forty pages
long. What’s the first thing you should do
and why?
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Brain Teaser Challenge
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Brain Teaser Challenge: There’s no right or
wrong answer to this question, only
answers that do or do not make a
connection: How does what you have just
learned from these slides relate to this line
from a poem by Emily Dickinson?
“I’ve known her—from an ample nation—
choose one—Then—close the valves of
her attention—like stone.”
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009