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Effective Academic Reading

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Student Life and Learning Support

Graduate Student Support

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native-land.ca

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What do you find challenging about academic reading?

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What do you find challenging about academic

reading?

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  • Too much content to read!
  • The volume of readings assigned
  • Understanding content
  • How to decipher which findings are important
  • Moving through readings quickly
  • The challenge of keeping pace
  • Trying to get navigate and build a literature review
  • Connecting topics between all the readings assigned, how the readings relate to each other

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Learning Outcomes

  • Ways to monitor reading process
  • Overview of various reading strategies to improve the reading process
  • Assess what kind of reading style is most effective for you

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Passive vs. Active Reading

Passive reading

  • Approaching a text without set goals
  • Treating the text democratically

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Active reading

  • Having a purpose
  • Asking questions of the text
  • Thinking about the development and structure of the argument
  • Writing in the margins

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Kinds of Reading - Active Reading

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  • Make annotations relating to the content and meaning of the material�
  • Restate major points in the margins or on a separate document�
  • Underline or highlight the things that you deem to be important

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Image source: https://twitter.com/talebus/status/1169966441279324162/photo/1

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Kinds of Reading - Close Reading

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  • Look for key ideas, biases, opinions

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  • Make annotations that record connections between the material you are reading and your prior knowledge and experience

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Image source: https://www.smekenseducation.com/introduce-the-3-phases-of-close/

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Kinds of Reading - Critical Reading

  • Think critically about the text�
  • Ask questions about what you are reading�
  • Look at how the text is written and how the point is argued

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Image source: https://camiln.wordpress.com/2019/10/31/critical-reading-workshops-introducing-freshers-to-reading-academic-articles/

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The Reading Process - Multi-Stage process

Selecting the Reading

Pre-Reading

During Reading

Annotations

Note-taking

Post-reading

Summarizing

Critiquing

Integrating

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Reading Academic Articles

  • Understanding essay or article structure will help us read more effectively. It will also help us identify key points, evidence, and explanations efficiently. �
  • Critical reading requires us to engage with the text, such as to question it, to reflect on its argument and check its sources.
    • Taking the text apart - analysis
    • Making connections within the text and our knowledge - synthesis

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Organization of Academic Articles

  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • (Literature Review, background knowledge, definition of key terms)
  • Methods
  • Arguments
  • Discussion
  • Implications of findings
  • Conclusions
  • Future research

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Pre-reading Strategies

  • Consider what you already know about the topic
  • Decide what you want to learn about the topic
  • Decide what you want to learn from each specific article
  • Predict what information the article will tell you
  • Think ahead to how you will use the information you gather in your own work

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What kind of reading strategies have you tried and/or liked?

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Reading Strategies 1

Preview and Predict

  • Give the text a quick once over and try to guess at what is to come

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Specify Purpose

  • Figure out why you are being asked to read the text

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Ask Questions

  • Ask questions and develop a dialogue with the author

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Reading Strategies 2

Recognize Topics

  • Use what you know to find out what the text is about

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Classify ideas into main topics and details

  • Separate main arguments/ideas from supporting evidence/details

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Recognize structure and organization

  • Figure out the outline of the article

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Reading Strategies 3

Guess the meaning of unknown words

  • Re-read the sentence or the paragraph to try to guess the meaning of the

word

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Read for keywords only

  • Get a sense of the article by skimming only for keywords

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Skim

  • Glance at an article quickly to get a sense of what it is about

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Reading Strategies 4

Paraphrase

  • Restate some of the text in your own words to make sure that you are understanding it

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Summarize

  • Briefly restate the main contribution of the text in your own words to make sure that you have understood it

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Visualize

  • Draw a picture or flow chart to help understand the ideas

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What is Critical Thinking?

Definition

  • The ability to discern the validity and authority of an argument through reason and logic.

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Two main processes

  • Analysis
  • Synthesis

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Critical Reading Tip 1

Ask questions before reading:

For example

  • What do I know about the author?
  • When was this text written?
  • How does this text relate to the topic of my paper?
  • How do I hope to make use of this text in my paper?

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Asking questions can help focus and direct our reading

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Critical Reading Tip 2

Briefly survey or scan the article:

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  • Identify the argument

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  • Titles, headings and subheadings

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  • Review introduction and conclusion

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The abstract often lays out key points and argument

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Critical Reading Tip 3

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Turn headings and subheadings into questions that guide your reading

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  • Turning headings into questions enables us to read each section of the paper with the goal of seeking out a specific answer.
    • This will help us to grasp the overall argument of the text we are reading.

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  • How could we turn these headings into questions?

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Critical Reading Tip 4 Use your margins

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Next to each paragraph, try to summarize its main idea

Try to be strategic and focused in underlining or highlighting text

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Critical Reading Tip 5

Engage with difficult vocabulary

  • Allow yourself time to unpack difficult sentences
  • Pay attention to how difficult sentences fit into the larger paragraph
  • Search words, phrases or terminology up

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Note: Ignoring difficult sentences and words can confuse our understanding of an author’s argument.

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Critical Reading Tip 6

Examine the Endnotes:

  • What sources has this author cited?
  • Are you familiar with any of them?
  • Can any of them be of use to you in your research and writing?

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Critical Reading Tip 7

Write up Reading Notes

  • In your own words, summarize the argument of the text you just read.
    • Make notes about key ideas or concepts you may use in your writing.
  • Draw links between this text and others you have read.
    • Highlight any holes or weaknesses.
  • Outline how you might make use of the argument in formulating your own perspective on the topic.

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Activity

  • 30 min silent reading activity
  • Please have one reading you would like to read and focus on
  • Goal: Try to use one/multiple critical reading strategies
  • Keep some notes for yourself and identify which steps were easy and/or difficult.
    • What strategies do you like and what does not work for you?
  • If you have any trouble or questions, we will be here with you: feel free to send as a direct message for help
  • We’ll return back as a group and discuss our strategies/experience

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Conclusion: Critical Reading and Writing

How does Critical Reading contribute to better writing?

  • It makes our reading active rather than passive
  • It focuses our attention and energy
  • It saves time (studying and writing)
  • It engages us in critical thinking
  • It helps us to understand argumentation
  • It draws our attention to flow and structure in the writing process

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Post Reading Strategies

  • Consider what new information has been learned
  • Did you understand all of the aspects of the research?
  • Were your research goals met?
  • What sections will you incorporate into your research?
  • Finalize your notes.
  • Summarize, paraphrase, and quote essential parts of the text with the citation for future use
  • Zotero - Keep track of your sources and save notes to each entry (free to use)

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Graduate Student Support

One-on-one tutorial sessions to help students with writing and referencing during any stage of the process.

Two 50-minute appointments per week.

Online workshops on a variety of graduate writing-related topics.

Useful guides and resources on the website.

Be sure to make an appointment on our website a week or two before your desired date as spots fill up quickly.

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4th floor, Student Learning Centre

Visit Student Learning Support website

Student Learning Support Reception: (416) 598-5978

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We are here to help!

Presentation �Title Here

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Connect with Student Learning Support

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https://www.torontomu.ca/student-life-and-learning/learning-support/

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slls@torontomu.ca

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Source

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Based on: Locke, L., Silverman, S., & Spirduso, W. (2010). Reading and Understanding Research (3rd. ed.). Los Angeles, Sage.

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Crenshaw, K. (1989). “Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: a Black

Feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist

politics”. The University of Chicago Legal Forum. 140. Pages 139 – 167.

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Oakley, K, & O’Brien, D. (2016). “Learning to Labour Unequally: Understanding the

Relationship between Cultural Production, Cultural Consumption and Inequality”.

Social Identities , 22 (5), p. 471 – 486. doi:10.1080/13504630.2015.1128800