The Lighthouse

University study involves a lot of reading. Here are a few tips for how to read efficiently:

• Be active (don’t just run your eyes over the words on the page, try and think about and engage with what the author is saying)
• Have a well-defined aim for what you want to get out of the reading (e.g. understanding a concept/argument, finding a definition of a concept).
• If you already know a bit about the topic try predicting what the author might say (e.g. if they are a proponent of a particular theory, what might you expect them to say about this topic/issue/concept)
• If you don’t already know about the topic, try making links to other topics/theories you know about (how is similar/different?)
• Try making links to your own experience
• What objections could be made to what the author is saying?
• How could/would the author respond to such objections?
• Take notes: Try and note down the important points (what these are will depend on your aim when reading the article, e.g. if your aim is to get a definition of a specific concept just make notes on the definition of that concept). Taking notes helps you stay active, understand, and remember what you’ve read! Notes are also useful when you need to revise!

For further help with reading efficiently and note taking see:

• http://owll.massey.ac.nz/study-skills/in-depth-reading.php
• http://owll.massey.ac.nz/study-skills/note-taking.php