Reading Skills and Note-taking

Key information

Year of study
2022
Duration
4 weeks
Department
Foundation College

Module overview

The Reading Skills and Note-taking course runs for 4-weeks and aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness with which students deal with academic texts.

Strategies will be introduced and practiced to enable students to gather and keep information more successfully. The course will be very practical and will maintain relevance by encouraging students to use material from their own academic studies as a basis for the classes.

There are 4 two hour classroom sessions in this course. Areas covered Include:

  • reading selectively, handling a reading list
  • reading for a purpose
  • skimming, scanning and reading for detail
  • paraphrasing and summarising
  • identifying key ideas and following arguments
  • selecting and prioritising information
  • developing use of abbreviations, acronyms, signs and symbols
  • laying out notes
  • looking at note-taking strategies
  • reading complex sentences
  • reading critically, identifying counter-argument and ideological position

Scope and syllabus

This course is recommended for those who want to develop the basic skills of skimming, scanning, reading for detail, note-taking, paraphrasing and summary writing, or who want to develop their critical reading skills. Reading is also looked at in relation to writing, such as expressing critical thought. Students will be encouraged to engage with texts from their own reading lists. The reading and note-taking course is available in blocks 1, 2 and 3.

Timetable

The timetable will be available when the application form for each particular block is released. Please keep an eye out for the new application form for each block.

    Important notice

    The information on the website reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session. The modules are indicative options of the content students can expect and are/have been previously taught as part of these programmes.

    However, this information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change. 

     

    Suggested reading

    • Glendinning, E. Holmstrom, B., (2004) Study Reading: A Course in Reading Skills for Academic Purposes, Cambridge: CUP
    • Godfrey, J. (2013) How to use your reading in your essays. Palgrave Study Skills, London: Macmillan.
    • Mosback, (1976) Practical Faster Reading, Cambridge: CUP.