Study Methods 1: Strategic reading
When you start a higher education programme, you may have experience from upper secondary school or from a job that you can build on when it comes to study reading and preparation.
Whether the practices and habits you already have are good or bad cannot be assessed objectively. But if you find that you cannot keep up with the amount of reading or remember enough from your reading, then it is worth considering whether you can improve your reading strategies. Being a good study reader can be learned, and the more you practise, the better you become.
To work out which aspects of your reading habits you want to focus on developing, you can start by answering the questions here. You can also choose to answer the questions in your study group and share your experiences with each other.
| Questions about your study reading |
| How do you read for your programme? e.g.: From the first page onwards? Thoroughly or superficially? In good time or at the last minute? |
| Do you read all texts in the same way? |
| How do you plan your study reading? |
| What time of day do you read best? |
| Where do you like to read? |
| Do you take notes when you read? |
| What disturbs you most when you read? |
| What helps you remember what you read? |
| What is the best thing about reading? |
| What is the most difficult thing about reading for your programme? |
| How do you use your study group or fellow students for preparation and study reading? |
Before you read – Plan your reading
As a student you often want to do everything really well and therefore also read everything on the reading list. That can feel a little overwhelming.
Many people also think that all texts have to be read in the same way and equally thoroughly, and then you can quickly fall behind. If you prioritise your reading and read the texts in different ways, you can ultimately save time and at the same time get a better and more focused benefit from your reading.
Reading for your programme takes time, and you therefore have to set time aside for it. Plan when you want to read, and what you want to prioritise reading first.
You can experiment with reading at different times of day. When do you find it easiest to focus on learning something new and concentrate on your reading? In addition to the time, you can also consider where you read best. Do you have peace and quiet at home, or can you study better at the library or in a reading room?
It can also be a good idea to find a reading partner you can meet and read together with. That way you keep each other to getting the reading done, even if you are just sitting next to each other while you do it.
Pre-reading
Instead of starting on the first page and reading straight on, you should start your study reading with a pre-reading.
With a pre-reading you form an overview of the text you are about to read. It helps you bring your own prior knowledge into play, just as you can better decide how you want to read the text. A pre-reading is a quick skim of the overview-creating elements in a text.
If the text is in a book, look at:
- Front cover
- Back cover
- Contents
- Foreword
- Headings
- Images, graphs and models
For an article you should look at:
- Abstract/summary
- Introduction
- Conclusion
- Headings
- Images, graphs and models
When you have got an overview of the text's structure and content, you should consider the purpose of your reading:
- What are you going to use the text for?
- What would you like to get out of the reading?
The following considerations can help you focus your reading further:
- Are there strategic reading questions for the text?
- Has your teacher emphasised what you should pay particular attention to?
- What knowledge do you already have about the topic?
- How does this text fit into the subject or module as a whole?
A pre-reading can be done in 5 minutes, which is much quicker than reading a text from end to end, and you get much more out of your subsequent reading.
You are then ready to decide whether the text should be skimmed or read more thoroughly.
Reading considerations
Depending on your programme you will meet many different text types during your studies: books, articles, reports, manuals, legislation and descriptions of practice. Have you considered whether any of these should be read in a particular way?
Consider what type of text you have in front of you on the basis of these points: Form, Language and Function.
Ask yourself these things:
- How is this text built up?
- How is this text written?
- What is this text to be used for?
You can get more out of your reading if you are aware that not all texts can be approached in the same way. If a text is, for example, written in complex language and contains many difficult concepts, it may be necessary to read the text more thoroughly. Other texts are easier to read and can usefully be skim-read, so that you get the most important points, and afterwards you can then focus on reading the most relevant passages in depth.
When you read about a new topic or have to get to grips with new material, it is a good idea to focus on terms, ideas and concepts in the text.
When you have to read an article or a report, you should never read it from end to end. Start with a pre-reading and focus on the abstract, introduction and conclusion. Depending on your purpose you can then focus on reading further into the method, analysis or discussion section afterwards. The most important knowledge and the most important findings will always be described in the abstract and conclusion. Note also that an academic assignment is structured in the same way as a scholarly article.
When you know what you want to get out of your reading, you can start reading. Choose the way of reading that best suits your purpose, the time available and the type of text.
While you read
Here you can read about different ways of reading and what they can be used for. Always start with a pre-reading.
Read from the outside in
It is always a good idea to read from the outside in, that is, to start by reading the beginning/introduction and the end/conclusion.
That applies whether it is an article, a book, a chapter or a section.
By reading from the ends in towards the middle you get a better overview of where the text wants to go. When you have read the conclusion first, you can see during the rest of your reading how the various points build up to precisely this text's conclusion. This gives a better understanding of both the content and the argumentation in the text.
Skimming
Skimming is a superficial way of reading that gives the reader an overview of the text's structure and content. Skimming is a useful tool for getting your bearings in more material in less time.
You skim by letting your eyes glide quickly over the pages and only reading the ”most important” things. That could for example be:
- Headings and subheadings
- Beginnings and endings of sections
- Words in italics, bold or underlined
- Keywords that are used repeatedly
- Text boxes
- Bullet points
Sometimes a skim is enough for you to have got something out of the text, while other times you have to continue with normal or deep reading.
You can for example use skimming to investigate whether a text is relevant to read in connection with writing an assignment, or to get an overview of the day's topic before class.
Normal reading
Normal reading is a way of reading where you read the whole content from start to finish. You read at a pace where you neither dwell on sentences nor skip passages. Normal reading is good for introductory texts, where you want knowledge of the whole content.
Deep reading
Deep reading is a very thorough reading, which can take a long time. It is suitable for reading complex texts or passages where you subsequently have to be able to account for the content in detail.
It is therefore a reading where you have both to dwell on the concepts and reflect on whether you have really understood the points.
Selective reading
If you have a specific purpose for your reading, you can choose to read selectively. That means you skim for the most relevant passages in the text and read those thoroughly.
This type of reading can for example be used to read with an eye to keywords and concepts, or to find information about a specific topic.
The descriptions of the different ways of reading are inspired by and adapted from the book: Jørgensen, P. S. (2007). Studielæsning på videregående uddannelser: Læsestrategier og læseteknikker. Samfundslitteratur.
All ways of reading require practice, so do not be discouraged if the reading does not flow easily from the outset. The more you read, the better you become at it. It is also completely normal to use several ways of reading on one text.
Another challenge can be having to read texts in English. Here you should know that it gets better once you start to know the technical terms from your programme in both Danish and English.
If you have to read into a completely new topic, it can be a good idea to start with texts that give an overview, e.g. textbooks, encyclopedia entries or more popular science texts. When you have understood the core of the topic, you can go on to read the more scholarly texts, e.g. theory books and research articles.
If you find it difficult to understand complex texts, see whether you can find other knowledge, e.g. at the library, on Google or YouTube, that explains it in a different way.
For writing assignments, however, it is important to work with texts that have a higher academic level, so that you do not only use the introductory texts.
Active reading
To get the most out of your reading, you have to read actively. Active reading is about activating the information you have read, so that you remember it better. You can for example read actively by preparing strategic reading questions for the text, which you then answer along the way or after reading. This type of question can also be a starting point for taking notes on your reading.
Choose the questions that are relevant for your text, or come up with more questions yourself.
| What is the most important message in the text? |
| Which concepts am I introduced to? |
| What does the author of the text want the reader to understand? |
| How does the author argue for their message? |
| Which sections are most relevant for me right now? |
| How can I relate the content of this text to my future practice at work? |
| If I had to boil the text's content down to 3-5 lines, what would they be? |
| How does this text fit in with the rest of our reading? |
| Is there anything that is still unclear to me? |
Another way of reading actively is to read with so-called ”reading glasses”. You can for example choose to read the text with critical glasses and consider how the argumentation hangs together, or with theory glasses, where you consider how the text fits into a theoretical framework of concepts from your programme. This helps your reading to have a focus, so that you do not just read at random.
Another good way of activating your reading is to write notes. You could say that reading is breathing in, and writing is breathing out. When you write notes, a learning process happens automatically, where you select the essentials, reformulate and create connections.
Did you know?
Research shows that one of the best ways to learn the content of a text is to read it, retell it to yourself and then skim the text again.
Motivation
It can be challenging to keep track of the quantity of texts, to concentrate for long periods and to keep yourself motivated to read.
If you find it difficult to keep an overview, it can be a good idea to plan your reading. That means setting aside time in a weekly plan or calendar, so that you know exactly where and when you are going to read. Then you can distribute the texts across the week according to deadline, level of difficulty or something else.
How long you can read with concentration differs from person to person, but it is also an ability that can be trained. Research shows that you can work with intense concentration for between 1-4 hours a day. By reading in short, intense bursts and then taking a short break, you can set a good framework around your reading and practise concentrating. With time and practice you can then study intensively for longer at a time.
You can either set aside 50 minutes and then a break, so that you work in one long intensive stretch, or make intervals where you alternately work with concentration for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break. The latter is called the Pomodoro technique.
Kick-start your study reading with these tools:
- Non-stop writing. Set an alarm on your phone for 5 minutes, during which you have to write without stopping. You can for example write about what you would like answers to, what you already know about the topic, what you expect from the text or what you are going to use it for. After the 5 minutes your brain is ready to read.
- Spend two minutes finding an angle that you find really interesting. What interests you on your programme? Can this angle be used for anything in connection with the text you have to read? If, for example, you are passionate about a particular target group or a particular type of task, then consider how the text could help you in that connection.
- Give yourself a reward when you have read a certain number of pages.
After you have read – Remember what you have read
If you put the text down immediately when you have finished reading and start on something else, you will not remember the content as well as if you spend a little time recalling the content. Here are suggestions for how:
- Make and answer strategic reading questions for the text
- Read the headings, speak aloud and tell yourself what you now know about the topic
- Follow up on things you are in doubt about. You can for example ask your study group or your teacher
- Write a short summary with the text's most important points
- Make a list of new concepts and their meanings
- If you have taken notes, read them through and write a summary at the bottom
In addition to processing the text on your own, you can also do it in the study group. Here is a list of concrete activities:
Devil's advocate
Agree to read the same text, but with different reading glasses. One person should for example read the text with critical glasses and find weaknesses in the argumentation, while another should find strengths. Other glasses could be:
- How does this text fit into the subject/the theory/our assignment?
- How can I translate the content of this text into practice?
When you meet in the group, you discuss the text on the basis of your different readings.
5 questions for the professor
Everyone writes down 5 questions about the day's text. These can be either clarifying in relation to concepts or more abstract and relate to the rest of the subject/course.
You can either answer the questions together or divide them up and write answers to each other's questions.
Shared mind map
Together make a mind map where you plot in the most important points from the text. Remember to write page numbers, so that you can find the relevant passages in the text again later.
Explain it like I´m 5
Read a text and prepare a short presentation for your study group. The exercise is about explaining the text's message and most important points so simply that even an outsider (or a five-year-old) would be able to understand it. In addition to the fact that you always learn more from having to explain something to others, it is also a good exercise to make the complex simple.