Death by textbook
Strategic reading and note-taking
Learning outcomes
By the end of this workshop, you should have a
better idea how to:
• Stay awake while reading…
• Know what to read
• Know how much to read
• Keep track of the information you’ve read (take
notes)
True or false?
1. You need to read most of what’s on your
reading list, starting at the top and working
your way down.
2. All books and articles are well written and
truthful.
3. You can’t really disagree with an academic
text, because you’re not an expert.
4. Intelligent people only need to read things
once.
Stay awake – active reading
I pick up my textbook, but find myself
daydreaming about what to have for dinner, or
the tv show I watched last night…
Reading for study requires not just your eyes, it
requires active effort that engages your brain.
Try active reading: techniques to help you
concentrate and stay focused.
Stay awake – active reading
Active reading techniques:
 Have a clear purpose
– Why are you reading the article? What do you hope to
get from it?
 Make predictions
– What do you expect to find, what do you think they’ll
say?
 Link back to what you already know
– How does it relate to other topics and your life
experience
 Challenge the author
– Who are they? Why have they written the article?
 Take notes
Active reading takes practice
TOP TIPS
Top tip#1: Sometimes new information doesn’t
make sense at first, understand that it takes
time to learn new topics.
Top tip#2: Try writing your own glossary of new
terms.
Top tip #3: If a text is really difficult to follow,
put it down and read something else on the
topic.
How do you know what to read?
• Weekly study:
See Stream: read what you have to read
(text book chapters for that week, selected
readings)
• For assignments:
Start with relevant sections of the text
book and look at your suggested readings
list (if you have one)
Take control of your reading list
• Understand your lecturers’ expectations:
– Sometimes they set out the expected readings for
each week
– Sometimes they provide you will core and suggested
readings, but DON’T want or expect you to read
everything on the list
• Start with the minimum, then think about:
– How much time you have
– Is an assignment due in a few weeks
– Do you feel you need to clarify some ideas or learn
more about a topic
Take control of your reading
Reading for assignments
• If reading for an assignment, understand the
instructions (or question).
– What is the topic? What is the scope? What are you
being asked to write about?
– Use the essay question to guide your selection of
articles.
Essay question:
To what extent is there a correlation between the
levels of happiness experienced by cats, and the
dog being made to sleep outside.
Possible articles from your reading list
Which ones are relevant?
Gibney, J., & Vorster, H. (2002). The psychology of cats
and dogs: An introduction. London, England:
Blackwell.
Whitney, J. (2004). Levels of happiness in cats. The
International Journal of Pet Psychology, 1, 22-45.
McArdle, J., & Katch, M. (1998). The history of domestic
pets in Samoa. London, England: Penguin.
If searching for extra sources
Which one/s would you use?
Graham, C. (2005, January 12). Why cats and dogs fight.
Australian Women’s Weekly, 21(1), 21-24.
Dog-cat
relationship.
(2012).
Retrieved
from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationships_between_cats_an
d_dogs
Frey, T., & James, B. (2009). Addressing levels of happiness
and aggression in felines and canines. Journal of Feline and
Canine Medicine and Surgery, 7(29), 1-2.
Dog, G. (2004). Why cats should be eliminated from the
planet.
Retrieved
from
http://www.dogpreservationsociety.org/
Sources checklist
When deciding whether to use an article/book for your
assignment, go through this checklist:
1. What type of source is it? (book, journal article, information
from a website etc)
2. Who wrote it and when?
3. Is it relevant, reliable and academic? (if not, is that
ok?)
4. Why are you going to read it (what do you want to get
out of it?)
-
a definition
background information
is some relevant for your argument?
is it a major and substantial theorist/topic for your assignment/paper
TOP TIPS
Top tip#4: Reading lists are not usually formatted
using the correct referencing style you will need
to use.
Top tip#5: Check the reference list in your text book
and suggested readings for ideas on other articles
on the topic.
Top tip#6: If searching for your own articles, start by
searching the “Discover” database.
Top tip#7: Check out the library’s online classes (see
the link on the StudyUp registration page).
How do you know how much to read?
Remind yourself:
• Why are you reading this article?
Ask yourself:
• How does it relate to your assignment?
– Does all of it relate, or just some of it?
• Do you need to scan it quickly, or read it
thoroughly?
How do you know how much to read?
How do you read a novel?
What are the differences between reading a
novel and a text book?
– don’t read a textbook or journal article from start
to finish
– don’t pick up academic texts and start reading
them in-depth
– A novel uses one reading technique – different
reading techniques are needed for reading
academic texts.
Three different ways to read:
1. Scanning
2. Gist reading (or skimming)
3. Close reading (in-depth reading)
Scanning
Looking over material quickly in order to pick
out specific information.
Why scan information?
• Useful when:
– Browsing a database for texts
– Scanning a text for specific information
– Looking back over material
Gist reading
Reading something quickly to get the general idea
or feel.
• You can read for gist by reading the headings,
introduction and conclusion.
• Or you can go over the whole article very quickly
- first sentence in paragraph, gloss over bit.
Why read for gist?
• Useful for:
– Deciding whether to reject a text or
– Deciding whether to read in more detail
Close reading
Reading something in detail.
• Why give read an article in-depth?
– To clearly understand the topic
– Research detailed information for an assignment
– Read difficult sections of a text
You will need to do a lot of close reading for
academic study.
Keep track of the information you’ve
read - Taking notes
• Helps you remember
• Helps you learn
• Helps you stay awake while reading!
Have a clear purpose
• Why are you reading the article?
• What sort of information should you note
down?
– All the essential points and arguments?
– Only information on a specific theme?
TOP TIPS
Top tip#8: When taking notes, include full
reference details of the article/book you’re
reading – prevents the stress of wanting to use
information in an assignment and not
remembering where it came from!
Top tip#9: Write the page number down every
time you’re taking notes from a different page
(means you can locate the original information
if you need to double check anything).
TOP TIPS
Top tip#10: When copying direct quotes
consider making them stand out in your notes
– use a different colour, a highlighter, or
obvious quotation marks.
Top tip#11: Avoid “highlighter syndrome” (when
you highlight everything on the page) by
reading first, getting a sense of what is
relevant, then taking notes.
Note-taking
• There are different ways of taking notes
• You may like to experiment with different note
formats
• Some examples:
– Mind maps
– Linear notes/summaries
– Charts
Great resources for note-taking are available
online, see OWLL for details
Mind map
Therapeutic Management
& Complications
Pain Management
1. Paracetamol
2. Oral Morphine
 M-ESLON
 SEVREDOL
3. Codine
Infection
1. Antibiotics
ULCERS
Clinical Features
Clinical Manifestations
(symptoms)
• Redness
•Oedema
•Tenderness
•Actual visable ulcer
• Broken skin area
(ROTAB)
Causes
Nursing Considerations
Assessment
•
•
•
Action
•
•
•Bed bound for long periods
•Not turning patients
•Diabetes
•Vascular issues
Mind map
From the Mind Tools website:
http://www.mindtools.com/media/Diagrams/mindmap.jpg
Outline Summary/linear notes
172.237
A Global Perspective on English – Topic 3
Global Varieties of Eng. Lang. Kachru & Nelson (2001 pp. 14-15)
Inner Circle
USA, UK, Canada, NZ, Aus - last 3 controversial p. 10
All public functions > Eng.
•gov; media, creative pursuits; edu.
Outer Circle
India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, Zambia
+ others
•See table Kachru & Nelson (2001, p. 11) for more egs of
outer and inner countries
Long history as institutionalized lang. & has cultural role
too
•gov/edu.
•Literary creativity / pop cul.
Summary notes
This version of
summary or linear
notes adds a summary
of the main argument,
plus own thoughts
about the material.
Notes like this are a
great way to start
thinking critically about
a topic.
Charts
Especially good for planning compare and contrast questions
3 basic issues
Piaget
Vygotsky
Continuous or
discontinuous
development?
Discontinuous –
stages of
development
Continuous –
gradually acquire
skills
One course of
development or
many?
One – stages are
universal
Many possible
courses
Nature or nurture
most important?
Both nature and
nurture
Both nature and
nurture
Example of a Study Matrix
Displays the similarities and differences
Group
Name
Archybacteria
Methanoger
Halophile
Thermacidophile
Bacteria
Janobacteria
Notorophic
Pseudonomads
Spriochaetes
Endosphere Formers
Reproduction
RNA
O2
Relation
Ob.
Anaero
Habitat
Swamp/
marsh
endobiotic
Morphology
Solitary
Covering
Unique Membrane
Lack paptidoglycin
Get
Energy
H2 + CO2 
CH4 + H2O
Host
Relation
Few(-) &
many(+)