The document emphasizes the importance of effective reading and study skills for college success, highlighting various approaches to reading such as skimming and studying. It outlines strategies for time management, note-taking, and vocabulary enhancement, as well as methods for understanding and retaining information. Additionally, it details the skills necessary for active listening and notes various note-taking methods to improve comprehension.

1. Reading skills

2. Reading skills
• Effective reading skills are very important at college
for one to succeed.
• Without acquiring them a student is bound to fail

3. IMPORTANCE OF READING/STUDYING
AND READING SKILLS AT COLLEGE
• Reading is how we discover new things. [Academic
questions are answered through reading a lot]
• One develops his/her point of view through
reading. Reading develops one’s imagination or
creativity
• Reading is fundamental to function in today’s
society.

4. Cont’d
• At college reading expert advice is required and
therefore provided through the reading skills.
• Academic work is demanding and requires new
reading skills which simplify everything.

5. SKILLS WHEN READING
• When reading do not rush to find meanings from a
dictionary if you do not know the meaning of the
word you come across. It is as if you are reading
two books. (The Dictionary and the actual book you
are reading).
• There is already help in the passage itself. Our task
is just to find this help.

6. USING CONTEXT
This is what to do
• Read on and look at words you already know and
try to link them to the new word.
• They will help you guess the meaning of the new
words.
• Is it possible to use this skill and know the
meaning of words?

7. • When we help people to use the context to find the
meanings of words, we are helping them to rely on
their natural intelligence, and not first use a
dictionary or ask another person. If there is
something in a passage that one does not know he
should not stop because by reading on the
problem is often cleared up. The skillful reader
understands as he iwots the meaning of the
unknown words from the context. Even if he does
not get the full meaning, he gets enough to
continue for awhile. People who are reading in their
mother tongue, even when their vocabulary is
limited, do not often stop to ask for the meaning of
a word in the story. They read on because the story
itself is what is important and not the word.

8. Cont’d
• What could be the meaning of IWOTS?

9. USING EXPERIENCE
• On his shaven head the man wore a puggree to
protect it from the sunlight.

10. USING REPETITIONS

11. Cont’d
Here we use one word to interpret the other and fit
the new word in what we already know.
• She poured water into a tock then lifting the tock
she drank. Unfortunately, as she was setting it
down again the tock slipped from her hand and
broke only the handle remained in one piece.

12. USING SPACES BETWEEN LINES.
• Wide spaces between lines are sometimes used to
mean another idea is being started or a shift from
the topic.
• Two paragraphs mean we have two ideas being
presented.

13. USING BOLD WORDS OR ITALICS.
• You have to ask yourself why the writer thought of
putting that word into italics or dark ink.
• Why do you think a writer could write in bold or
italics.

14. TYPES OF READING
• Could reading be put in types. There are various types of
reading. Did you know that?
• Do not use the same approach to reading all the time.
• Choose your approach to reading to suit the task at hand
since it could not be only you who would want to read
the book that time.

15. Studying vs. Reading
• Studying is reading with a focus and purpose – reading for
meaning / comprehension. There’s much attention involved
and it is more serious than reading. When studying, you
hope to retain the information for a long time
• Reading is casual and could simply be for leisure.
Sometimes reading can be for an appreciation of a subject
for the sake of intellectual pleasure. When reading, you
don’t pay much attention and you don’t aim at retaining the
information for a long time, unless you read and read again, which in a
way becomes studying

16. RAPID SURVEY/SCANNING
• You check for the exact information particular or
specific detail
• Check what you are reading - a rapid glance is all that
is necessary
• Is it what you need?

17. SKIMMING
• This is making a rapid survey of the subject
• This is may be to get a rough idea or to get a gist of the
information contained in a book
• Glance through the book quickly and pick up the main
point and try to get a general picture of what it is all about
• This is a very useful skill which becomes easier with
practice.

18. STUDYING
• It is the most common approach in any serious form
of study .Here you are reading to understand the
contents of a book
• You need to concentrate whilst reading
• You try to understand what the writer means

19. • You might also be taking notes whilst reading
• The reading may be part of your coursework or
research for a project
• You might also need to read a book more than once
to grasp the point it is making

20. Cont’d
• Look at the rest of the selection for possible clues
to important points ,are there any subheads you
can relate in some way to the title
• Are there any words author emphasized by putting
them in italics or boldface type are there any major
lists of items signaled by words such as first,
second, also another and so on
• Next formulate basic questions out of the title and
the other parts that you skim.

21. FACTORS AFFECTING STUDYING
• There are so many factors that affect studying. Four are
outlined here:

22. HEALTH I.E. MENTAL AND
PHYSICAL CONDITION
• Stay in good mental and physical condition, sickness
would make one not to concentrate properly.
• If you are tired give yourself a simple subject to study

23. AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE FRIENDS OR LECTURERS
Use available assistance
• Studying with other people is important so that you
can discuss wherever you did not understand at the
end of the study time if you study with other people
bear in mind that you have to study same topic.
• If you study with friends. Force yourself to make the
group to stay on track and be helpful
• If the institution has tutorial services – do not hesitate
to get the service

24. ABILITY TO MANAGE TIME
• Plan properly how to use your time
• All of us need free time, it’s easy to lose track of time if you
do not manage it.
• Every one is given equal time per day it is management that
matters.

25. Cont’d
[To manage time a student needs to have:
• A large monthly calendar to scribble onto it
deadlines of assignments and should make sure to
put it at a position that he will not miss to look at it
every day
• Master study program that should guide him what
to read on weekly basis. The program should have
some breathing spaces for some unexpected
things.
• Weekly to do list or daily to do list. A list of priority
things to be done and not be missed]

26. ENVIRONMENT
• If possible study in a well lighted place where you
can sit comfortably and be quiet.
• The place should have nothing to disturb you.
• Get used to your study place so that you shift into
gear and begin studying when you go to that place

27. ITEMS THAT HELP A STUDENT TO
MANAGE TIME
There are three things at college that assist in time
management:
• A large monthly calendar
• A weekly study programme
• A weekly or daily to do list

28. A LARGE MONTHLY CALENDAR
• You should buy or make a large monthly calendar
• Such a calendar is your first method of time control, because it allows you,
in one quick glance to get a clear picture of what you need to do in the
weeks to come.
• Be sure your monthly has a good sized block of white space for each date.
• Then as soon as you learn about exam dates and paper deadlines enter
them in the appropriate spot on the calendar.
• Hang the calendar in a place where you will see it everyday

29. A WEEKLY
SCHEDULE/PROGRAMME
• A weekly study schedule will make you aware of
how much time you actually have each week and
will help you use that time effectively.

30. POINTS ABOUT MAKING A WEEKLY STUDY SCHEDULE/PROGRAM
• Plan at least one hour of study time each hour of
class time
Depending on the course, the grade you want and your
study efficiency, you may schedule more time later.
A difficult course, for example, may require three hours
or more of study time each course hour.
Remember that learning is what counts and not the
time taken to learn

31. Cont’d
• Schedule regular study time
To succeed in your college work , you need to establish
definite study hours
If you do not set aside and stick to such hours on daily
basis you are bound to lose control of your time.
When you are used to this study time you will not have
to remind yourself about it, it will be as if you are
programmed.

32. Cont’d
• Plan at least one hour blocks of study time
Regular study sessions are better than a single long cram
of session
If you schedule less than one hour period will be over
when you are just fully warmed up.

33. Cont’d
• Reward yourself for using study time effectively
As the section on operant conditioning in the chapter on
learning in your Psychology textbook explains positive
reinforcement a certain behavior will likely lead to an
increase in the probability of its occurrence

34. Cont’d
• Try to schedule periods before and after classes
Ideally you should read a textbook chapter before a
lecturer covers it
When it is being covered in class it is like second
exposure when one is exposed to a thing for the second
time the thing is always remembered easily

35. Cont’d
• Work on your most difficult subjects when you are
very alert and fresh
When tired you can not study effectively

36. Cont’d
• Balance your activities
Allow free time for family and friends, sports and
entertainment
Keep your schedule flexible, have some open spaces
When unexpected events occur trade your time on the
schedule

37. A DAILY OR WEEKLY TO DO LIST
• If you wish you may want to carry your to do list in
case you may forget
• A weekly to do list should be prepared on a Sunday
for the week ahead; while a daily to do list should
be made the evening before or first thing in the
morning
• The monthly calendar, master study schedule and
to do list combined with your own determination
to apply them, can reduce the disorder of everyday
life

38. STRATEGIES FOR STUDY
• Although you are expected to study and learn a
wide range of materials you are rarely taught any
systematic strategies allowing you to study more
effectively
• You can increase your ability to learn and retain
information by employing them in any subject

39. SQ3R
• These are standing for the steps that are involved in
the strategy itself.
• Lets look at each letter.

40. S
• 1. Survey the material by reading the parts of the
chapter that give an overview of the whole of it.
Read chapter title, introduction, prologue and
epilogues, learning objectives, summary and end of
chapter questions.
• Also check bold face headings and subheadings,
graphics and italics throughout the chapter
• This will provide an overview of the chapter and
create a mental framework for understanding the
chapter more thoroughly as you read

41. Q
• 2. Formulate questions related to what you are
expected to read in the chapter some books
already have these questions at the beginning of
each chapter.
• Before reading each section, turn each heading into
one or more questions you think the section should
answer.
• Some books already have these questions at the
end of the chapter.
• This step helps one’s mind engage and concentrate
and creates an active learning environment.

42. 1st R
• 3. Read the material carefully and answer the questions
that you gave yourself to see if you have understood the
passage.
• Think of what the material means to you and what it implies
• Find if there are any contradictions
• This fills in the info. around the mental framework you have
created in the previous steps

43. 2nd R
• 4. Recite or explain to yourself or a partner what the
chapter is all about.
• Before moving on to next chapter go back to see if you can
answer the questions.
• If you can then you are ready to move on to the next
chapter.

44. 3rd R
• 5. Review or look over again the information that you
read.
• Amend the notes you made
• Compare it with some relevant material you have.
• Again review the questions and see if you can answer them

45. VOCABULARY
• When reading any text, you are likely to have a
better understanding if you know the meaning of
the words.
• If you are not familiar with the specialised
vocabulary used in a particular field of study, you
may not understand, and your listening and reading
may well be affected.
• Many students fail to perform well because they
are handicapped by a poor vocabulary.

46. Cont’d
• To expand your vocabulary, choose a larger
dictionary. Do not usually use dictionaries when
studying refer to them only when you really stuck.
(Meanings of words are in the sections we are
reading, use your experience).
• If you have not mastered the skill of finding
meanings of words on your own, keep your
dictionaries at hand when studying. Improve your
vocabulary by reading widely
• Names in science have their roots from classical
languages – LATIN in some cases: memorise them.

47. NOTE TAKING

48. Note-taking -
• Note-taking is writing in condensed form the
content of a chapter or a whole book or classroom
lectures or speeches.
• It also requires the ability to select and organize
ideas or concepts to be taken down.
• It involves activities that require mental alertness,
concentration, reflection and analysis.

49. Purpose of note taking during
lectures
• To enable active listening, since it is impossible to take
every word and detail that is presented in the lecture;
you need to take down important points. If you attempt
to take every word and detail you will be unable to
listen actively.
• To identify the key ideas, if you pre-read, you easily find
key ideas in the lecture and you take them into your
notes.
• To gain information that is not available in texts.
• To record facts that are being presented for reference
sake.
• To clarify the subject matter.

50. Taking Notes
Involves 3 major tasks:
• Effective listening
• Effective observation
• Effective note taking

51. Effective and active Listening: In
Class
• Find a good seat, comfortable
• Pay attention purposefully
• Listen for cues
• Resist distractions
• Don’t let your mind wander
• Take notes while you listen
• Be in the moment

52. Methods of Note Taking
• The Outline Method
• The Mapping Method
• The Cornell Method
• The Charting or PEPPS Method
• The Sentence Method

53. The Outlining Method
• Main points on farthest left side, subsequent points follow
indents
• Example:
• Note Taking
• 2 skills needed
• Effective listening
• Effective note taking
• 5 methods
• Cornell Met., Outlining Met., Mapping Met., Outlining Met.,
Sentence Met.

54. The Mapping Method
• A graphic representation of the lecture content or
any other content

56. The Cornell Method
• Draw a line down the page vertically 2 ½ inches
from left hand side
• Take notes on right side, leave few lines between
each point
• After class, write cues or questions in left margin
• Review and test yourself by covering notes and
leaving cues

57. The Charting Method (PEPPS)
• Good for history lectures
• Draw columns/ categories and insert notes as
necessary
PERIOD EVENT PLACE PEOPLE SIGNIFICANCE
1939-
1945
WWII Europe, West
Pacific
Hitler, Tojo
FDR,
Churchill,
Mussolini
Atom Bomb, Cold
War, Holocaust

58. The Sentence Method
• Write every new thought on separate line
• Thought 2
• Thought 3
• Thought 4
• Thought 5
• Phrases are quicker than sentence form

59. Notetaking 101 9/17/2008
1. We take notes: when instr. offers “new” ideas; to facilitate learning
and/or remember info.
2. To take notes need to prepare i.e. rev. syllabus; compare txt /class;
identify test types (i.e. mult. choice, short ans. or essay); find a class
buddy; develop ? attitude and select effective method (i.e. Cornell,
Outline, Mapping, Charting, Sentence/Para.)
Numbered thoughts, facts or ideas Use abbreviations to
expedite process

60. Common Abbreviations and
Symbols
• w/ - with
• w/o – without
• + or & - and
• ppl.- people
• @ - at
• Q - question
• A – answer
• ? – I’m lost
• Ex – example
• Imp- important
• -> - leads to
• Etc. – and other things
• Con’t- continued
• Gov’t- government