Reading Skills

Metacognition means 'big thinking', or the process of thinking about thinking. This is a good skill to begin working on, particularly for your college courses which require you to reach higher levels of evaluation.

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Metacognitive reading allows you to engage with a text so that you learn more about the subject, link the knowledge to other topics and subjects, and develop your ability to evaluate what you're reading and how you are learning through reading. If you know how you positively engage with texts of any kind, then even the most 'boring' topics can become easier to read and learn, and your reading speed and ability will improve.

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Don't worry, it's very easy to do...

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How to be 'metacognitive' about reading:

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Don't just start reading a text!

Before you begin reading, you need to ask yourself a few questions to prepare yourself:-

1. Why am I reading this?
   Hopefully you've followed our earlier steps and chosen an appropriate book/text for your needs. But you can still ask yourself why you're reading it - is it for a general overview of a topic, or to confirm something you've read somewhere else (corroborate facts), or to get a bit more in-depth information, etc.? Is it a recommended book, or an author you know? 
2. What do I need to know?
   Is there something specific you need to find out about?
3. What do I know already?
   If you already know some things about the topic, you can skim over those parts of the book/text!

You might also want to consider how much time you're going to give to reading the book/text, or where you should start your reading (it won't necessarily be page one, chapter one if you've used the contents or index to find what you're specifically looking for). This is all part of the planning stage.

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As you work through your reading, you should also be making relevant notes. Hopefully you've completed the Note-Taking module in the Core Study Skills course, but if not, you may want to take a quick look. Remember, you shouldn't be writing down everything you read! As yourself:

1. Will I use this information?
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2. Does the information answer any of my questions?
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3. Do I know the information is correct? How? What evidence is there?
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4. Can I locate the information again if I had to?
   Tip: always make a note of every book, newspaper article, magazine/journal, website, etc. that you refer to, even if you don't use them for your final project. If you do take notes from a book, it's a good idea to note the chapter/page numbers or the printing edition date to make sure you can easily locate the information again. The same goes for newspapers and journals/magazines (date/edition/article author, etc.). And don't forget that websites can be changed daily, so if you are taking information from the internet, make a note of the date you accessed the site.

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Using the metacognitive approach will help you to focus on what you're reading (ever read a text book page, got to the end, then realised you can't remember a single word you just read...?), which can be really useful if you have to read something you may not have chosen to. It can also improve your evaluation skills, your reading ability, and your general understanding of how knowledge connects across topics and subjects - making you a much more active and engaged learner! All good skills for the future...

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Quick Activity

Use the worksheet to have a go at some metacognitive reading to support your learning or research. You could save this task for a project or piece of coursework in one of your subjects, or you could practice it now by reading around a topic you are studying. This is an essential activity, so you can upload your completed worksheet if you wish.

This worksheet can always be re-used each time you need it. 

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