Reading and understanding

Reading is another cognitive skill you will need to master and deliberately practice. We are not talking about being a ‘strong’ reader, being able to read a sentence, recognize words, and stuff like that. Adler (1940) describes how to REALLY read different types of documents and publications. It is a classic (yes, humans have been reading for a long time!) and is a good starting point if you are interested in reading at a professional level. In post-secondary education, you have to be a professional reader. Upon graduation and entering the workforce, most situations require the graduate to be a professional reader. A professional reader comprehends what is written and understands it and knows if they do indeed comprehend (meta-cognition). The reader knows if something is expected of the reader, expected of others, if there are any special caveats or issues embedded in the material, and knows if there are any directions or qualifiers associated with the tasks.

Note taking is important and there are good tips at Waterloo's Student Success Office has a page on note taking and reading. Another page from the SSO has specific tips about the SQ3R method which can help with STEM and non-STEM reading, remembering, and comprehension.

Reading with care

In most cases, formal material needs to be carefully read - everything from word problems, assignment/project descriptions, to job ads, resumes, contracts, and specifications. Unless you are very well versed in the subject and similar writings, it is not wise to quickly read something once and then start on whatever actions you think are needed. You should read formal material several times - especially when starting out or when the risks associated with misreading the piece are substantial.

Here is one strategy for improving comprehension and understanding on ‘wordy’ questions and term projects:

The first pass should be relatively quick and skimming. The purpose of the first pass is to get the main point and get the big picture. In the case of a question, the student needs to size up the basic topic and the type of assessment that is being asked for; same for a project.

The second pass involves going back through the material and identifying any ‘deliverables’ which you are expected to deal with. Do not worry about these on the first pass - focus on the topic, what you might know about the topic and what you do not know. In the second pass process, note the dates and sequence of the deliverables. Also note any relevant facts and information that relate to the deliverables as objects. This can be format, naming conventions, style, voice, tone, etc. Once you get this stuff out of the way and parked where you cannot forget it later, you can focus on what is actually expected.

The third pass (yes, a third pass) highlights any nouns, verbs, or adjectives that constrain or provide elasticity in the problem and solution space. This pass should also identify any emphasis words or phrases that imply order or priority. You are looking for specific words (i.e., the verbs) that define what you have to do - like 'how to' or 'include' or 'provide'. This is perhaps the most important pass to slowly and carefully do.

Things you may miss

Without careful parsing of the question or project, it is unlikely that you can really understand what is expected of you. You need to know if you are being asked to do something specific, create a specific answer, or develop and describe a process. Too often students will see something like ‘how to analyse and control’, but really only get the ‘analyse and control’ and then proceed to create a nice answer to a different question. This happens all of the time. The reading is quick. The key words like ‘how to’ are overlooked. Here are a few specific tips:

Phrases like ‘how to’ imply processes and methods - not a specific answer.

It is important for you to also pick up key words like could, should, would, can, may, or must. Phrases that imply minimums, maximums, priorities, and preferences are also important.

There are two types of constraints that need to be understood as well. There are the constraints that force something within a space; it must be between a and b. There are also the constraints that force something out of a space; it cannot be between a and b.

If the author took the time to use strong ‘words’ or other ways to emphasize something (e.g., diagrams) - it is probably important, so pay attention to it.

There is another page (see below) on comprehension that helps understand different levels of understanding.

Adler, M.J. (1940). How to read a book, Simon and Schuster, NY.

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