As we have learnt a lot from the PREVIOUS ARTICLE, a member of academic discourse community your duty is to find information you will use for your academic essays and reports. One such way to obtain information is through READING. In this article, you shall be introduced to the concept of reading and study skills. The elements that make a good definition of reading and why reading is important to every students.
READING
From the '' Longman Dictonary of Contemporary English'' Reading is the activity or skills of understanding written words. Or The process of extracting relevant information on a subject from a written material or document (Albert Wornyo)
Elements Of A Definition Of Reading
From the above definitions, we can identify some key elements that make a good definition of reading. Form the definitions given, we note that reading,
- It is an activity and a process
- It is a skill
- It is undertaken to obtain understanding
- It involves the written word or text
Why is reading important??
Reading leads to academic success
Reading helps you acquire new vocabulary
Reading provides the foundation for all other learning, writing, speaking
Types Of Reading
Oral reading or reading aloud
Silent reading
Forms Of Silent Reading
Intensive reading (concentration and effort)
Extensive reading (Own leisure and for pleasure)
Concentrate on abilities or the review methodologies are approaches applied to learning. They are for the most part basic
to progress in school and are thought about basically for securing passing marks and are helpful for which might handle the most common way of getting sorted out, holding data or managing appraisals. They incorporate mental helpers which is the maintenance of arrangements of data, successful perusing and fixation strategies as well as effective note taking.
Concentrate on Skills are discrete methods that can be learned, normally in a brief time frame, and applied to all or most fields of study. They should in this way be recognized from systems that are explicit to a specific field of study for example music or innovation, and from capacities intrinsic in the understudy, like parts of knowledge or learning style.
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Tips to compelling review
Great review propensities incorporate a wide range of abilities like using time productively, self-control,
focus, retention, association, and exertion. That longing to succeed is significant, as well.
For you to have the option to concentrate really and find true success in your investigations consider following the
following tips to viable research:-
I. Go to class - this is the least complex method for figuring out how to concentrate successfully. In the event that you don't go
to class, you won't know which things are totally urgent to review (Gerhard,
2011). What's more, you can not pay attention to the talks or acquire freebees
(Gerhard, 2011)
ii. Sit toward the front of the class to keep away from interruptions, if loquacious understudies toward the rear of the class upset you, attempt to sit where you won't see them (Blogger, 2012).
iii. Express your expectation on why you are considering and what do you mean to acquire from it? Pose yourself this inquiry each time you plunk down to study. Pitiful or occupied examining is an exercise in futility. Relate contemplating to your life objectives. Assuming that your life and future relied upon how well or the amount you contemplated, could it appear to be legit to do it competently? On the off chance that you can't see the point in examining, it will just make it exhausting and monotonous.
iv. Put forth objectives
v. Focus on your time and put off different exercises to take into consideration satisfactory review time. You may track down it important to delay or wipe out specific exercises to satisfy your objectives as an understudy. Take more time for you and perceive that to succeed you want to settle on choices about your needs, your time, and your assets (Cottrell, 2011)
vi. Realize your learning style
vii. Be a functioning peruser - be a text analyst: ask your text great inquiries and it will yield smart responses.
viii. Clarify some things - It is vital to ensure that you find the solutions to your
questions immediately. Try not to hold on until you have concentrated on the material a few times
you actually don't get it. Move help immediately (Gerhard, 2011).
Presentation of Academic Work
A student in college or university is required to do a lot of assignments, CATs, term-papers and
so on. The work to be presented to the lecturer should be presentable with legible hand writing.
Typed work always look presentable but since a student cannot come with a computer or a laptop
and a printer while doing a CAT, so the best thing to put in mind is, let your work be presentable.
Your University, school/faculty, department, names (surname first), adm/reg number, course
title, course code, name of the lecturer, the date and signature should be carefully scribed on the
cover page. A student should have a cover page for every work/assignment they tackled in
campus.
How it should be written
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, WINNEBA
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING
NAME: AGBEWORNU DERRICK
ADM. NO: UEW/ACC/028/12
COURSE TITLE: COMMUNICATION SKILLS 1
COURSE CODE: IRD 100
TASK: CAT II
PRESENTED TO: PROF. KAMAU
DATE: 17TH MARCH, 20..
SIGNATURE:
By so doing, you are assured that your work is safe, it will be handed to the required person if
they were lost and found etc
Planning Your Academic Work
For everything you have desired to achieve or have in life, you have to wake up and go get it.
There is nothing that come easy, hard work and determination make things happen. A good
student should priorities his/her study and work smartly. Dr. Bob Kizlik has said in his article on
effective study skills that study skills must be practiced in order for you to improve (Kizlik,
2012). He added and said, practice doesn't make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect. To
ensure you become successful person in life through education, here are some guide that you can
try to perfect you work.
i. Make a Plan - A good student should have a plan which is
supposed to be followed strictly without fail. A common saying goes a busy
person does not postpone, does not waste time, plans his time well and
more time to leisure means less time for study thus high chances of
stress, panic and failure.
ii. Timetable - The time table should have all the subjects studied in school
without allocation more time to your favorite subjects and denying
time to your weak subjects. Follow your time table strictly.
iii. When to study - according to Kizlik, 2012, the problem of when to study
is critical. A good rule of thumb is that studying should be carried out
only when you are rested, alert, and have planned for it. Last minute
studying just before a class is usually a waste of time (Kizlik, 2012).
iv. Make a Deadline - procrastination is a thief of time, my standard 8
English teacher always said. Now that am grown, I know for sure
procrastination is a thief of time. Time wait for no man, so in case you
have things, assignments you have to handle, do them today not
tomorrow.
Challenges of note taking
While taking notes you are required to listen and at the same time write. In the process one
undergoes a lot of challenges. Here are some of the challenges the note taker go through
i. Misspelling the words
ii. Not hearing properly maybe because of noise or physical maladies
iii. Poor pronunciation from the teacher
iv. Speed of the lecturer at which he is lecturing
v. Dozing in class
vi. Misinterpretation of points
vii. Attitude towards the lecturer/subject/lecture hall
Formation of discussion groups
A student in the university cannot work alone; he need help from others reason for discussion
groups. The students also encourage each other to read and study. Know the members you wish to avoid or include, try to listen to others and correct them. Do not shout at each other, this may lead to depression and feeling inferior. Meet when convenient to all members and avoid destructive members. Leave out 5 leisure during discussion time.
Characteristics of a discussion group
While choosing the members of your discussion group consider:-
i. The characteristics you will like the group to have
ii. Group dynamics
iii. They should have common interests
iv. Committed to the group
v. Manageable group, about 4-8 people should have a chairperson
vi. Respecting one another
vii. Oriented to the same goal/interest
viii. Time conscious
ix. Allow each other a chance to discuss (active participation
Critical Thinking
As a student you may feel that, having only done a few hours of reading on a topic, you can't argue against an author who has spent many years writing a book (Fisher, A., 2011). Yet one of the main purposes of a degree is to enable you to evaluate critically what you read. Critical
thinking is disciplined thinking with accorded or accepted given principles. It focuses on
designing new strategies on what to do. It is attitude of mind and it brings to focus problems and their solutions and help one to learn to make one more stimulating. Problem solving is referred to as critical thinking because at the end one has to solve his problems.
Characteristics of Critical Thinkers
i. A person who is conscious with his work and want to be well informed
ii. He is enthusiastic that is always wanting to gain and he understanding.
iii. Reasonable and fair minded in judgment
iv. Critical thinker is efficient in problem solving.
v. He is clear in communicating ideas and feelings
vi. He ask creative questions
REVISION QUESTIONS
1. List five challenges that the note-taker go through while taking notes.
2. List three characteristics of a critical thinker
3. Give reasons as to why we study study skills in the university
4. Explain any five characteristics of a good discussion group
Reading the Foreword of a book is important because it
Select one:
a. Introduces the reader to the book so as to know what to expect
b. Introduces the reader to unfamiliar words
c. Outlines the content of the book
d. Provides the review of the book and introduces the author
It is important to set SMART Objectives. The reduction technique used for the word SMART in this sentence is
Select one:
a. symbol
b. acronym
c. abbreviation
d. mnemonics
This note is used to show ranking of items
Select one:
a. graphic organizer
b. linear array
c. causal chain
d. hierarchical array
This involves reading for pleasure.
Select one:
a. Scanning reading strategy
b. Extensive reading
c. Skimming reading strategy
d. Intensive reading
Three main reading techniques used in the academic discourse community are
Select one:
a. Wide reading, scanning and strategy
b. Extensive reading, skimming and scanning
c. Skimming, scanning and close reading
d. Extensive reading, wide reading and close reading
Summary, paraphrase and direct quotations are forms of
Select one:
a. patterned notes
b. graphic organizers
c. undiagrammatic notes
d. diagrammatic notes
The two main types of notes are
Select one:
a. graphic organizers and branch notes
b. note making and note taking
c. listening source and reading source
d. diagrammatic and Undiagrammatic notes
To get the full meaning or detailed information from a text, ... is required.
Select one:
a. strategy
b. Scanning
c. skimming
d. close reading
What form of reading would you employ while preparing for the mid-semester examination?
Select one:
a. intensive reading
b. Scanning
c. extensive reading
d. skimming
Select the appropriate paraphrase using synonyms "The framework of the research was altered"
Select one:
a. The design of the examination was dented
b. The generalization of the survey was authenticated
c. The structure of the study was modified
d. The fracture of the method was changed
When a reader needs an introduction to a reading material, the ... may be consulted.
Select one:
a. Blurb
b. Table of Content
c. Forward
d. Index
What form of reading would you employ while preparing for the mid-semester examination?
Select one:
a. intensive reading
b. extensive reading
c. skimming
d. Scanning
When we record salient points from listening sources, we are
Select one:
a. taking notes
b. preparing notes
c. copying notes
d. making notes
When we record salient points from listening sources, we are
Select one:
a. taking notes
b. preparing notes
c. copying notes
d. making note
This note is used to show ranking of items
Select one:
a. hierarchical array
b. graphic organizer
c. causal chain
d. linear array
This is useful when a reader's goal is to preview the text to get a better idea of what it is about.
Select one:
a. Extensive reading strategy
b. Intensive reading strategy
c. Skimming reading strategy
d. Scanning reading strategy
A record of salient information from a lecture, seminar, textbook, journal articles is
Select one:
a. listening source
b. note making
c. notes
d. note taking
One of these is arranged in alphabetical order and it helps a reader to know all unfamiliar words used in a book
Select one:
a. Index
b. Preface
c. Glossary
d. Blurb
Select the appropriate paraphrase using synonyms "The framework of the research was altered"
Select one:
a. The design of the examination was dented
b. The fracture of the method was changed
c. The generalization of the survey was authenticated
d. The structure of the study was modified
It is important to set SMART Objectives. The reduction technique used for the word SMART in this sentence is
Select one:
a. symbol
b. mnemonics
c. acronym
A reading fault is regarded a fault because
Select one:
a. It is normal
b. It makes a read at a desired pace
c. It is hereditary
d. It retards reading
