A Guide to Surviving Higher Education Reading Assignments

Higher education typically involves numerous reading assignments and an effective guide for surviving this time consuming, albeit necessary, undertaking is needed to grasp their importance. All too often students get behind in their reading assignments due to procrastination, life’s obligations, course overload, or dread of reading boring course materials. These same students quickly founder in their courses, as they revert to mindless skimming through required readings hoping to inexplicably understand course material.

This guide to surviving higher education reading assignments goes beyond the traditional method of highlighting text as it is read. All this strategy accomplishes is needless marking of text with what a student feels is important, which more often than not is unimportant. This also leads to mechanical reading, no comprehension, with the thought of coming back to reread the material later to commit to memory - a needless duplication of effort.

Online Technology Tools: Note Taking Programs and Text-to-Audio

When adults go back to school, they sometimes need a refresher or an update of new strategies for managing and understanding written assignments. These strategies are included in the following guide to surviving higher education reading assignments.

Online technology tools provide students with the ability to use the latest technologies to organize and comprehend important information garnered from their reading assignments. These tools include:

●      Note taking programs such as the free version of EverNote. There are also additional online note taking technologies such as EndNote and OneNote, both offer free trial periods.

●      Another option is using Google Docs, which is a free online office program for storing notes in a word processor or data base for later retrieval and study.

●      A final option is the use of the iTunes – Speak It – application. Online texts, web-based reading materials, PDFs, or e-books are converted into an audio format using a text-to-speech process. This App is designed for both the iPhone and iPad. Example uses include listening to written assignments while working out on treadmill, walking, or driving.

The primary advantage of these online programs is the ability to access them anywhere with computer or iPad internet access or through the use of mobile phone Apps.

Strategies for Comprehension: Analysis of Written Assignments

The following are strategies for improving comprehension of written assignments, along with adult education success. These strategies work regardless of whether in book form or online course materials.

Prioritize Readings – allow more time to read written materials in courses in which the subject material is difficult or outside your main area of program concentration. However, this does not mean to simply browse material in less difficult courses or courses in which you are more familiar with the subject. Prioritizing your readings assists in focusing time on materials which need more attention or extra help.

SQ3R – survey, question, read, recite, and review reading strategy involves actively reading material for better comprehension. The SQ3R strategy entails:

●      scanning a reading assignment to obtain a broad overview of the essential nature of the material.

●      writing down questions which come to mind while scanning the material.

●      finding answers to questions through a more in-depth reading of the written work, then recite the answers out-loud and record your answers in note form.

●      reviewing notes to write a summary of the main points of the assignment.

Specific Strategies for Textbooks – approaches to reading textbooks are different than web-based resources, journals, or papers for a course and include:

●      using the learning objectives provided at the beginning of each chapter to help focus on the most important information within a textbook chapter. This strategy involves thinking processes as you read, helping to understand and commit the information to memory.

●      not becoming disheartened by difficult material contained within a chapter. Everyone, both strong and weak students, encounters confusing material in a textbook. The best approach is to seek answers to confusing material by seeking clarification from course instructor in class, asking members in a study group, or personal learning network.

●      avoiding the urge to delay reading difficult material or trying to memorize facts within a chapter without truly understanding the material. Both of these less than positive approaches increase anxiety and the likely hood of failing the course. Rote memorization of facts works for some in the short term; however, not so well for end of course exams or assignments which frequently require application and interpretation of these facts.

●      avoiding last minute cram sessions by skimming material in a textbook chapter just before a test or exam. This less than positive approach results in little comprehension of reading material and the inability apply facts in applications which require interpretation or inference.

●      not being afraid to read a textbook. Textbooks provide important information needed to pass a course and failing to read required readings in a textbook on average results in a poor grade.

The importance of this guide to surviving higher education reading assignments is its focus on strategies and techniques used to support learning – not just studying. The use of poor reading strategies often leads to feelings of anxiety, confusion, and being overwhelmed. These feelings are avoided and successful habits are developed when using the recommendations in this guide to improve learning, understanding, and test or exam scores.