south texas college

ENGL 1301 Course Guide

Study Skills Information

The information on this page is to assist students with concepts and skills that will be useful in this class and throughout their educational journey. 

Reading Tips

Reading with a purpose

Reading a textbook can be difficult and boring at times. A textbook is very different from reading a novel. Textbooks are not meant to read through page to page like a novel.

 The following strategies are great for reading a chapter of a textbook and retaining what you read. Follow the following steps to help you read with a purpose.

 

Flip through each page of the chapter.

Just look to see what’s on each page, do not read, look at the pictures, how long is the chapter, are there graphs, does anything jump out at you? This will give you a sense of how long the chapter is and what to expect.

 

Check the end of the chapter for a quiz/review questions.

The review/quiz at the end of the chapter is what the author wants you to understand most about the chapter you read. Write down each question, review them, understand what each question is asking, do not answer questions yet.

 

Read the bold print of the chapter.

The bold print is your guideline while reading, it shows you the heading of what you are reading and will help you breakdown the information. So simply look through the chapter and read the bold print quickly. *Keep your review questions handy while reading the bold.

 

Finally, begin to read the chapter.

Now that you have previewed what the chapter is about and your brain is set up and ready to absorb the information, begin to read the chapter. While you are reading have your review questions you wrote down and answer them as you read.

 

As you read the chapter and answer the review questions, you will feel very accomplished because not only are you reading the chapter, but you finally are reading with a purpose and feel a sense of accomplishment which WILL translate to academic success.

 

Tips for Students: Strategies for Reading

 

In Essential Study Skills, Eighth Edition, author Linda Wong defines active reading as “… the process of using effective strategies to engage working memory to achieve specific reading goals” (267). To help students put the active reading process into action, Wong includes a checklist of active reading strategies. We’ve adapted these below. Encourage your students to adopt these strategies for reading… they’ll find that they get even more out of their study time.

 

 

 

Suggested active-learning strategies for reading course materials

  • Before you sit down to study, grab a pen or pencil. Take down notes as you read. If you’re working with printed materials, underline essential facts and ideas and jot down notes in the margins. (Review some additional tips for effective note-taking.)
  • Write the key terms, ideas, and dates from the reading onto index cards; use these as flashcards to review at a later time.
  • Create study tools as you go! For example, you could write your own practice test questions. If you see a diagram, copy it into your own notebook. Or, to take it a step further: take an idea, process, or concept that’s covered in a section of the text, and see if you can create your own chart or diagram that illustrates the information you need to learn, know, and do.
  • Carefully consider how each paragraph of the piece is structured. This active reading strategy will help you think critically about the points and arguments presented in the reading.
  • Look closely at any photographs, illustrations, and diagrams included in the reading material. Make notes on these as well: they’re more than illustrations… they convey important information about the subject you’re studying.

Reference: Wong, Linda. 2015. Essential Study Skills, 8th ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

 

Study Skills

The Study Cycle

Using the Study Cycle improves studying techniques and helps you successfully recall information learned from the class or textbook. 

Preview

  • Skim new material before class
  • Write down important ideas
  • Should take about 5 - 15 minutes

Attend

  • Do not miss class
  • Use effective note taking strategies
  • Participate in class

Review

  • Fill in any notes missed
  • Read notes
  • Mark unfamiliar concepts for review
  • Should take about 10 - 15 minutes

Study

  • Use study strategies that work well for you
  • Such as: traditional flashcards, Quizlet, read material aloud, study groups, annotate text, concept maps, etc.
  • Should take about 30 - 50 minutes

Check

  • Can you teach what you studied to someone?
  • Were your study methods effective?