Reading for your assignments

Study Skills

Over the next term, we are hoping to introduce some skills you need as a student; skills that can help you get extra marks and help you work more effectively on your assignments. If you are an Access student looking to move to Higher Education, it is particularly good to start practising these skills before you get to University.

Reading skills 

(Some of these points have been taken from the Further resources listed at the end of this blog)

• You need to use a range of different resources (books, journal articles, reports, websites) by different authors to get a rounded view of a subject. The better mix you have, the better your marks are likely to be. However, you need to be smart about this as you don't want to waste your time reading information you don't need. Here are some tips:

• Choose an environment where you can concentrate on your reading - without distractions. This is usually quiet, but some of you might find it easier to focus if you have music on in the background.

• Know exactly what information you are looking for. Have your assignment question clearly in your mind. 

• You may want to read an introduction to your subject in a core textbook first so you have some understanding of the main facts, theories and viewpoints before you start focussing on more specific elements of the topic.

• You can't read everything , so choose what you are going to read by:

1. Scanning contents pages. Use indexes, blurbs and abstracts.
2. Looking for keywords - you should have a mind map or list of those you used when searching for the resources. You can also use these to search electronically within a document or e-book.
3. Looking for resources that demonstrate different viewpoints (not just one).
4. Making sure that it is relevant, relevant, relevant. Keep looking back to your assignment question.

• Make sure you note down all resources you are going to read in more detail (why not write the Harvard reference now so you don't have to do it later?) with the page numbers. Make sure you spell names correctly as a wrong spelling can stop you finding the resource again quickly.

• Read critically. Don't just try and collect facts; analyse what you are reading. This means to read as if you are someone on the outside looking in, viewing things from a neutral standpoint.. Think about what you are reading as much as possible and then when you have read all the viewpoints, bring your own judgement to bear.

• Ask questions like What is the author saying? What is their main argument? Do they have evidence to support their argument? Have they ignored certain facts? Are they biased? How does what I am reading link to other things I've read already?

Finally, for good time management, limit the amount of time  you are going to spend reading (first, to identify resources you are going to read and then in more detail to take notes) before you move on to writing your assignment. 

Photo: CC0 https://pixabay.com/en/to-read-the-book-library-reading-2784895/

Further resources on reading skills.

The SkillsYouNeed website has sections on effective reading and reading for note-taking.

If you are UCP students there are resources in their Study Skills Plus section on academic reading. This includes an interactive module you can work through to help you improve your reading and note-taking.