Reading at university: Managing your reading

“A good reader will be able to use a range of approaches to reading, and will possess a variety of helpful reading skills. Perhaps even more importantly, a good reader will be able to make sensible decisions about what reading will be worthwhile.”

Gavin Fairburn & Susan Fairburn, Reading at University

The sheer quantity of literature that you will need to engage with at university means that you will need to develop skills and knowledge to make you a more effective reader. This page considers the best times to read, how to read selectively and introduces a systematic reading technique.

Many students think that reading is something that you can fit in around other tasks. Perhaps something to leave to the end of the day when you're too tired to be writing. This is not the best strategy. Reading is the most essential task you will have to do at university—you will probably spend longer reading for each assignment than you do writing it.

Most people tend to remember the information that they have taken in at the beginning and at then end of sessions:

It is therefore a good strategy to create more beginnings and endings by having regular breaks, say after each half hour:

Before you set off again, you can quickly review what you read earlier and this too will help with retention, although it is what you understand from your reading that really counts.

Tips on when to read

Don't leave academic reading for times when you're tired - you will need to concentrate.

Plan reading times into your day.

Read every day if you can (even for half an hour) - not just when you have to for an assignment.

Have regular breaks when reading.

Make notes to keep your mind focused.

How to read

Effective reading needs to be active. In an academic context the purpose of your reading will probably be to develop your thoughts and to add new information to that which you already have—to see links between the old and the new. By consciously thinking as you read, you will be learning, which involves changing your ideas, seeing them from new angles and combining them in new ways.

Staying focused

Read with a pen or highlighter in your hand. Keep asking yourself: “What is the main idea the writer is trying to get across here?” then highlight or note just the key words and phrases (naturally not in a library book).

Some people find it helpful to create images like drawing mind maps of the main ideas to help see how ideas are associated with one another.

Others benefit from reading important sections aloud and recording them to listen to again later.

As you read, try guessing what is coming up and what the conclusions will be.

Reading systematically

One systematic way of reading is using the SQ3R method:

• Survey – skim the book, article or chapter to discover what it’s about and what you can gain from it. It may also help to have a quick look at the contents and index. If it looks relevant go to the next stage.
• Question – write down questions you’ll be able to answer once you’ve finished reading the text properly. You can formulate the questions on the basis of your survey and your own needs, possibly an essay you have to write or a seminar paper you have to give.
• Read – once you have your list of questions the reading is easy. Find where the answers to your questions are and read those parts carefully. Note key words and checking your understanding. Don’t be tempted to read more than you have to.
• Recall – with the book and your notes to one side, try to answer all your questions. This will tell you what you’ve learned and what you need to go back to.
• Review – return to the text to see if your answers were right. Go over the bits you got wrong or couldn’t answer. Remember, though, that “books have a habit of sucking in the unwary and wasting their time”.

Try out the SQ3R technique for yourself. Start with a fairly short text. It might be interesting to work with a friend and compare (a) your questions, which will probably differ and (b) your thoughts on the technique.