Let’s try to pull this all together…
- Reading (for the sake of learning something) is an active process.
- Academic texts have structures that you can use to help you better comprehend what’s being written about
- Start your process by exploring the Macro-level structures (title, abstract, headings and sub-headings, graphics, and conclusion) to get an overall sense and organization of the research and the argument being presented.
- Use the headings and sub-headings to create a framework for notetaking once you begin to read
- As you read, look for the kind of information that should appear in an abstract, introduction, and discussion to make sure you aren’t missing the standard elements found in most research
- Understand the different strategies for dealing with difficult words in the text:
- functional words (look up in the dictionary) – substitute simpler words for the more complex words you find
- technical words – look in the text itself for definitions and examples that further explain the important concepts from the research
- Choose your overall approach to reading based on the purpose and goal of the reading. What do you have to ultimately do with the information? That should drive your choices. The more you are responsible for and the more you have to do with the research means the more of these strategies and approaches to use.
- The more difficult the text, the more these strategies help to “uncover” the meaning (Weimer)
Now ask yourself…
Could you answer these questions about the research without looking at the article?
- What is the purpose of this article?
- What is the main point the authors are trying to make?
- Who is the main audience?
- What are the main challenges they see?
- What do they suggest as a possible solution?
- What evidence do they provide to support their ideas?
- What is left for future research to figure out?
If you can answer these questions, that is a job well done!! If not, it just means it’s time to go back to the article to find out! Reading is never a once and done activity. Think of it as peeling the skin of an onion – each peel uncovers new understanding – it takes time, but you’ll get there. As the quotes said in the beginning – we don’t know exactly where our reading will take us – but if we keep at it, great happiness can be ours when we make progress!
After finishing this final reading, let me know in chat that you are done.
