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Instead, research shows that active reading strategies lead to comprehension and retention and help students perform better in classes. Neither approach leads to a high level of comprehension or retention of what you just read. Though very different, both approaches are passive in that they don’t involve active, critical thought-the first approach turns the reader into a copying machine, and the second is much less time-consuming but doesn’t include any active engagement with the text. They then typically fall into one of two categories: those who painstakingly read each word and copy pages of notes for hours, or those who casually skim over the words and flip the pages. Many students approach reading textbooks by opening up the book and starting with the first sentence in the chapter. This will help you to have a better purpose and focus going into the reading and will help you to be able to pull out the important ideas more easily. You should always spend a few minutes previewing a chapter or section before you start to read so that you can get an idea of the main concepts in that section. These features provide a wealth of information and clues about the text. Textbooks contain numerous features that you don’t always encounter in novels, articles, or other types of texts.
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Effective reading strategies can ensure that you truly comprehend the course material, come to class prepared, and perform better on class assignments and exams. This handout will provide practical strategies to help you read textbooks more effectively. Do you feel like you spend too much time reading textbooks? Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the amount of information they contain? Do you have a hard time focusing or figuring out what’s important? Textbooks can be tedious and difficult, but they contain many features designed to help you learn.