By Scott Palat

How Too Read Your Text Book Efficiently And As A Result, Get Better Grades

Below are eight tips to help you read and understand your text book so you can guarantee yourself better grades.

1. Skim through all titles and headings before reading the

first paragraph. This will give you an idea regarding the

material covered in the chapter or section and help you

create a mental picture of the material as you read.

2. Quickly read through the material in the section the first

time to pick out the basic concepts. Do not try to remember

or write down specific details yet. Just get an idea of what

is discussed in the reading.

3. Re-read the section carefully and take notes as you read.

Read a paragraph or even a few sentences if the

paragraphs are complicated, stop, and think about what

you read. This is the RST method. Read, Stop and take a

few minutes to digest the material and Think about what

you read. Paraphrase the material. Put it in your own

language; what does it mean to you? You may even want

to recite what you read out loud. A lot of students find the

Thinking part easier when they actually get their thoughts

down on paper. Do not try to write everything, just little

phrases to remind yourself of what you just thought

about.

4. Be sure to look at figures, diagrams, and inserts. One

picture or graph may contain the same amount of

information found in a lengthy paragraph and be much

easier to decipher. Be sure to read all captions.

5. Record all boldfaced words and their meanings in your own

words in your notes. They must be important if the

textbook authors and publishers went out of their way to

boldface them!

6. Once you are finished reading, summarize what you just

read out loud. Your ability to discuss this will serve as a

true test to determine whether or not you understood

what you just read.

7. Skim through the text a few more times, especially prior to

and after lectures that compliment the material in the text.

8. Try to organize all of your notes to create the big picture.

Add information from your class notes to your text notes

and/or add information from your text notes to your class

notes. This combination is easily accomplished if you type

over your notes, leaving yourself with a neat, organized

and thorough copy of everything you need to know for

that chapter/unit.

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