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 مهارات أكاديمية / كتابة بحوث - قراءة - تقديم عروض - إلخ
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مهارة القراءة
Note-Taking and Reading
You will spend a lot of your study time reading about your subject and taking
notes from books, lectures, journals and other sources. This is a guide to how
to get the most from your reading and notes (note-taking and note-making).
Reading
You will do a lot of reading at university, and it is important to develop good
habits as soon as possible.
Why read?
Reading is an essential part of study. At university you are expected to pursue
independent study, and reading will form part of this in almost all subjects.
You will be given reading lists by your lecturers. These are sources which the
lecturer thinks are important to an understanding of the subject and which will
help you pass your assessments. They tend to be divided into Recommended
Reading/Texts and Further Reading/Text.
Try to read as many of the Recommended Reading/Texts as possible, and
read the Further Reading/Texts if you have spare time after reading the
Recommended Reading/Texts or if you are unable to obtain copies of all the
Recommended Reading/Texts.
You will also need to find other sources for yourself. The reading lists are
guides as to what is useful, and you will be expected to look beyond these as
you get further into your degree.
Where to read
It is best to read in places which are comfortable and free from distractions.
This will vary from person to person - you might require silence to concentrate
on your reading, or might prefer somewhere with some ambient noise, or
even music. If you are unsure try out a range of places but remember that if
you find music and noise even a little bit distracting then it is probably best to
read without them as they will affect your productivity.
Where possible read in natural light or a well lit room, so that you do not strain
your eyes.
Sit, or lie, in a comfortable position. Maintain good posture (straight back, feet
flat on floor if sitting, etc).
Find out what time of day suits you best for learning, when you feel most alert
and active. It also helps to eat well, as you will find it harder to concentrate if
you are hungry.
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You will absorb more information if you have breaks. Try reading for 45
minutes then taking a 15 minutes break.
Stay disciplined. Set yourself targets and stick to them. You could choose to
read for a set amount of time, or have a target to read a set number of
chapters, books, articles, etc. You should also stay disciplined with regard to
your breaks, do not let them last longer than planned.
Do not get distracted. Put your mobile phone away or have it set so it will not
disturb you. If you are using a computer, log out of email, Facebook or any
other distracting website.
If you are revising with friends, do not distract each other. It is unfair to
interrupt someone else’s work and you would not like them to do the same to
you. Revising with friends can also help you stick to your targets, especially if
you all set yourselves the same target. You can also help each other by
making sure everyone takes breaks when they are needed, although if you
take breaks together there will be a temptation to extend the break because
you are enjoying being sociable – stay disciplined.
Types of reading
You are not expected to read every single word of every single source. One of
the most important skills you will learn at university is how to read in different
ways and how to decide which way to read each source.
- Glance – read the title and any blurb on the back or inner sleeve of the
book/journal to decide if the book contains relevant information.
- Scan – as above but look at contents page, index, or introduction in
order to get a slightly deeper understanding of the book or article.
- Skim – read through the main body of the text, taking in the
introductions and conclusions to chapters, or looking for keywords and
names.
- Speed – read through the main text using speed reading methods (see
below).
- Concentrated – detailed reading of the text, including footnotes and/or
references.
If you encounter a word you do not understand it is best initially to read on a
bit in order to see if the word is explained or if the context of its use makes its
meaning obvious. However it is always wise to read with a dictionary nearby
so you can check on words which you are unsure of.
If you are finding a text difficult, have a break. Sometimes you need to clear
your mind and think about something else, do something else, or even sleep
on it. This can leave you feeling #######ed and you might understand your
source.
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Active reading
You will find that you remember more of what you have written if you are
actively engaging with your reading. The best way to do this is to take notes
as you go along.
Note-making from books
You will need: paper, a pen, a soft pencil, an eraser, books; or, a computer, a
soft pencil, an eraser, books.
Making notes whilst reading is just that – making notes. You are not being
asked to copy down everything you have read, to do so would be timeconsuming
and unnecessary.
Good note-taking technique comes with practice. Select a piece of text. This
could be as little as one page, or as much as one chapter or article. If you are
reading one of your own books, you can read the whole text and underline
anything relevant with your soft pencil (so you can rub the lines out when you
are finished). However do not do this with library books or books borrowed
from someone else, without their permission. If you want to try this technique
on a library or borrowed book, you can photocopy the pages you want to read
and write on the photocopies. Check the library’s rules on photocopying, as
you are not allowed to photocopy entire books or journals.
When you have finished reading the whole piece go back to the start and turn
the bits you have underlined into notes.
Paraphrase what you have underlined, and condense it into short notes. Do
not copy what you have underlined, but rather put it into your own words. This
will help your understanding as you will have to think about what you have
read in order to turn it into useful notes.
For example (from Ward, J. (1997). Latin America: Development and conflict
since 1945. London: Routledge. p31)
“Latin American development strategies remained too inward looking for too
long, but the policy changes correcting this introversion, begun in the
Southern Cone during the 1970s, and continued more widely after 1982, were
excessively abrupt.”
This can be condensed to:
- Development strategies too long inward looking. 1970s (Southern
Cone)/1982 (wider) changes to address this “excessively abrupt”.
This halves the size of the useful passage, making it less time-consuming to
record. The use of quotation marks around “excessively abrupt” indicates that
it is the writer’s exact words. Short direct quotations can be useful in your
notes if:
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- The quote cannot be rewritten.
- The direct quotation is useful, for instance in this example “excessively
abrupt” could be useful as evidence of how people, specifically the
author, viewed the development strategies of Latin America.
As you do more note-making you will find that you become better at
identifying what to write down and to leave out.
Record exactly where you read everything you note down. When reading for
essays this is essential so you can correctly reference what you use.
- Keep all notes from one source together.
- Write the author’s name, title, date, publisher and location (depending
on what information is relevant for referencing the source you are
using) at the top of each page you take notes on.
- Record the page number next to each note.
You might wish to record this information even if you are not reading for an
essay as it is practice for good habits.
When you have finished reading your source you could try creating a
summary of the notes you have made, perhaps a single side of A4 paper.
This will mean you have engaged with and thought about the piece twice. This
will help you remember.
Handy note-making hints
- Use abbreviations – it will save time if you shorten words or phrases.
There are plenty of common abbreviations (abbr.), for example (e.g.)
“that is” (i.e.), “therefore” (and#8756;), “because” (and#8757;), “equals” (=), etc.
- Make up your own abbreviations. You do not have to use any particular
abbreviations, but it is important that you remember what your
abbreviations mean or you will find your notes unreadable. You could
make a glossary of abbreviations so you can cross reference any
confusing notes.
- Make a record of every source you take notes from.
- Use your own words and condense your ideas into bullet points.
- Notes do not need to be neat, if it helps then draw lines, use colours or
even draw diagrams in your notes.
Taking notes in lectures
Taking notes in lectures is another skill you will improve at as you get more
practice.
Do not try and record everything your lecturer says. You will not be able to
and it will result in you missing things throughout the lecture. Your notes
should record the essential details of the lecture but they do not need to be
exhaustive.
Some lecturers will give out handouts which record important information,
reiterate keys points, or reproduce their slideshow presentations. Lecturers
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can also be contacted after lectures (usually by email but check this) if you
want to clarify a point or ask further questions about the lecture. Do not feel
self-conscious about doing this, it is a form of independent research and
investigation which university students are encouraged to do.
You will also find some courses have reading lists for each lecture, found in
the module handbooks, which will give further reading to help clarify anything
you heard in the lecture.
Tips for lectures
- Do not try to record every word.
- Paraphrase, use your own words to condense what is said.
- Listen – do not write anything until you feel you have understood the
information or argument. This will keep your notes useful and prevent
you taking lots of incoherent notes.
- Use abbreviations (see above).
- Do not feel pressured to take notes because the people sitting around
you are – everyone has their own note-taking strategies, only take
notes you think are relevant.
- If the lecturer gives you a handout it is sometimes a good idea to write
your notes on the handout. This will help keep your ideas together for
each lecture, although this is not suitable for all handouts so use your
discretion.
Making long lists of notes is not always the best way to note-take. For some
people the pace of lectures means they will take very few notes so they can
absorb the information more thoroughly. These can be accompanied by
noting down cues, which might not be comprehensible to the outsider, but
which make sense to the person who wrote them. These can take the form of
symbols, individual words, doodles or colours, amongst other examples.
These more abstract ways of recording lecture information should only be
used if you are confident that they will allow you to recall the information you
need. For some people a combination of traditional notes and more abstract
methods can prove useful, as you will have written words which can help with
understanding the meaning of drawings or diagrams which you have not
looked at for some time.
Some note-taking abbreviations
Some examples of note-taking abbreviations used in different subjects:
X – The Greek letter chi, traditionally used as an abbreviation for ‘Christ’ it can
be used for all related words, ‘Christmas’ becomes ‘Xmas’, ‘Christian’
becomes ‘X-ian’.
and#936; – The Greek letter psi, used to represent ‘psychology’.
and#934; – The Greek letter phi, used to represent ‘philosophy’. In its small form and#966; it
can represent the ‘golden ratio’ in mathematics and architecture and art.
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Greek letters also represent a wide range of mathematical, science and
engineering concepts.
Logic symbols are often used in mathematics and science to represent
concepts and statements. They can also be used in note-taking:
and#8756; - ‘therefore’
and#8757; - ‘because’
= - ‘equals’
and#8800; - ‘does not equal’
¬ - the ‘logical negation’ symbol, ¬A means ‘not A’
and#8658; - the ‘implication’ symbol, Aand#8658;B means ‘if A, then B’
and#8660; - the ‘material #####alence’ symbol, Aand#8660;B means ‘A is true if B is true, A is
false if B is false’
and#8707;- means ‘there exists’
and#8704;- means ‘for all’
The gender symbols:
and#9794; - ‘male’/’man’
and#9792; - ‘female’/’woman’
There are also a wide range of words which are shortened in note-taking.
Some examples include:
adj. – ‘adjective’
adv. – ‘adverb’
c. – ‘century’ (if before a number indicating the century number, e.g.
c.14th
cf. – ‘see this for more information’ (e.g. ‘cf. previous week’s notes’)
)/’circa’ i.e. ‘approximately’ *
cts. – ‘continuous’
diff. – ‘different’/’difficult’/’differential’ *
e.g. – ‘for example’
esp. – ‘especially’
fn. – ‘function’
mkt. – ‘market’
plt. – ‘parliament’
poss. – ‘possible’
ppl. – ‘people’
prev. – ‘previous(ly)’
*These are good examples of something all note-takers should be aware of –
if you are going to use abbreviations, be consistent and use the same
abbreviation for the same words at all times. If you are using ‘diff.’ for both
‘difficult’ and ‘different’, for example, you might find yourself unable to work
out if you have taken notes about a ‘difficult crowd’ or a ‘different crowd’ when
you see ‘diff. crowd’. It is best to apply the abbreviation to word which you
encounter most frequently in your note-taking.
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There are many more abbreviations in common use, and you are under no
obligation to use all or even any. These examples are listed in order to
demonstrate the range and diversity of abbreviations which can be used. Find
your own preferred abbreviations, it is most important that you are able to
read and understand them.
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