Cougar Mentor Program

Student Success Tips
 

Reading Skills
Skimming & Scanning

Skimming and scanning enable you to select materials which should be read and/or discarded.

When to Use:

• To quickly determine main idea.

• To locate facts quickly.

• To answer test items.

• To answer chapter questions.

How to Use:

• Fix intent for reading (or facts sought) clearly in your mind. Scan table of contents, chapter headings and subheadings.

• Quickly move eyes over material, focusing upon page headings and sub-headings, discarding information that is obviously not related to reading intent.

• Skimming reading rates should be twice as fast as average reading speed.

• Selectively omit portions of reading material.

• Locate as quickly as possible the key or topic sentence of each paragraph (usually, but not always, the first sentence).

• Practice skimming and scanning to locate information. Repeated practice will increase speed.

• Carefully read the last paragraph for summary information.

• Carefully review tables, charts, and any side boxes.

The SQ3R+ Reading Method

SURVEY: Preview the assignment or material to be studied by scanning the text quickly to discover the author’s central concept. From your preview, formulate an overall picture and the purpose of what you’re going to study.

QUESTION: What you need to learn in terms of what, why, how, when, who and/or where to support the central concept. Write these questions in the margins of your textbook or at the top of your lecture of study notes.

READ: Read specifically to answer the questions. Most paragraphs contain one or more main ideas in support of that concept. Locate and highlight them with a marker. Make notes in the margins summarizing key points. Pay special attention to bold or italicized type and to tables, graphs, and illustrations which may explain an idea more powerfully than the text.

RECALL: Pause periodically (every 15 minutes or so) to recall in your own words a summary of what you have read. Identify what the important ideas or concepts are and how the text, examples, graphs, charts, or illustrations support them. Write on notepaper as much as you can recall about what you have read and learned. Each min-review is a knowledge builder.

REVIEW: Did you answer your questions, understand the new material and accomplish your goal? Reread difficult parts, work a few more problems. Recalling and reviewing the same material several times over a period of several days is the best way to fully absorb and remember it!