What Skills Do You Use When Reading?

When you are reading to collect data and retain information, critical thinking skills should be applied in a systematic way. This is different than passively reading something merely for entertainment in which the story unfolds like a movie in your mind. As you begin to apply active reading skills to reading for entertainment, you may find the movie in your mind becomes more enriched. Properly applied active reading skills will better enable you to recall and apply information you read.

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Think about a recent reading assignment that was related to an upcoming exam. Describe how you approached this reading assignment by answering the following questions.

• While reading the material, did you think about what might be on the exam?
• Did you ask yourself any questions while reading the material? If you did, what happened? If you did not ask yourself questions, why not?
• Do you have a method for examining the reading material (e.g. looking at the headings or the table of contents)?
• Do you use a method for helping you to comprehend the material, such as outlining or note taking?
• Do you think what you do could be classified as "active reading?"
• How effective do you think your reading techniques are?