Sialkot College of Commerce & Science

English Comprehension & Composition

Study skills

Study strategies are approaches applied to learning. They are generally success in college & university
considered important for getting good grades, and useful for learning throughout one's life.

Reading and studying skills

A method that is useful in the subject of study is REAP method. This method helps students to improve
their understanding of the text and bridge the idea with that of the author's. REAP is an acronym for Read,
Encode, Annotate and Ponder.

Read: Reading a section to find out the idea.

Encode: Paraphrasing the idea from the author's point of view to the student's own words.

Annotate: Annotating the section with critical understanding and other related notes.

Ponder: To ponder (think) about what they read through thinking, discussing with others and reading
related materials.

SQ3R METHOD FOR THOROUGH STUDY

Step 1: Survey
Skim through the book and read topical/sub-topical headings and sentences. Read summaries at the end of
chapters and books. Try to predict what the author is going to say. Write these notes on paper and then
look it over to get an overall idea.

Step 2: Questions
Turn paragraph headings into questions (e.g. “Basic Concepts of Reading” to “What are the Basic
Concepts of Reading?”). Write these questions out.

Step 3: Read
Read with alertness to answer the questions you came up with. Write notes, in your own words, under
each question.

Step 4: Recall
Without looking at your books or notes, mentally visualize, in your own words and recall what you have
read. Try to recall in the shape of headings. More time should be spent on recall than reading

Step 5: Review
Look at your questions, answers, notes and book to see how well you did recall. Finish up with a mental
picture of the WHOLE.

Taking Notes from Reading:

When engaged in some form of study or reading, either informally or formally, you will probably need to
read and take in a lot of information.

There is no magic formula to taking notes when reading. You simply have to find out what works best for
you. Your note-taking skills will develop with practice and as you realize the benefits.

Good notes from your reading can help you:

 organize your ideas and information from the text

 keep focused and stay engaged while reading
 keep a record of what you read so you can more easily locate it in the future
 Think critically about what you read while you read
 Draw conclusions and identify main ideas of the text
 Be prepared for class and build a foundation for lecture
 Have solid materials to use to study for exams or prepare for assignments
 organize your ideas
 Keep focused while reading.
 Think critically about what you read.
 Engage more effectively with what you read.
 Write notes in your own words instead of copying down information from the book.
 Avoid over-highlighting. ...
 Wait until the end of a page to take notes so that you can better focus on what you are reading.

The importance of good notes

Taking good notes while reading is an important part of academic success in college and university. Most
courses require significant reading, and it can be difficult to understand and master the material and do well in
class without solid note taking and reading skills.
Techniques and Tips for Note Taking

Write phrases, not full sentences:

 Only record the key words that you need to get the idea of the point. Skip words like
“the” and “a” that don’t add additional meaning to the lecture .

Take notes in your own words: 

Paraphrase what you hear so it makes sense to you—it helps you to understand and
remember what you hear. Try to paraphrase everything except where information
needs to be noted exactly.

Structure your notes with headings, subheadings and numbered lists:

 Use headings to indicate topic areas or to include bibliographic details of the sources
of information. Use outline form and/or a numbering system and indenting to help you
distinguish major from minor points clearly.

Code your notes: use symbols to mark structure and important points.

Use colour:

To highlight major sections, main points and diagrams. You can also use different
colors to classify and link concepts or information by topic.

Underline, circle, star, etc:

 To identify key information, examples, definitions, or other important materials. Put

your own marking code to indicate each type.

If you miss something:

Write key words, skip a few spaces, and get the information later. Leave a space on
the page for your own notes and comments.
Use Symbols and Abbreviations:

Symbols and abbreviations for frequently used words, phrases or names are useful for
note taking in lectures when speed is essential. Keep a ‘key list’ of frequently used
symbols/abbreviations and their meanings so that you can refer to them in the future.

Abbreviations and acronyms for note taking

1. Common etc. (etcetera) = and the rest para = paragraph

e.g. = for example ch. = chapter

info = information no. = number

i.e. = that is diff = different

n.b. =note well, important C19 = nineteenth century

p = page (pp = pages)

2. Discipline-Specific These should be whatever is frequently used in your field of study.

In chemistry: Au for gold, Mg for magnesium.

In the case of quantities and concepts, these are represented by Greek letters
many fields.

A or a (alpha) B or b (beta)
3. Personal Develop your own set so that you don’t have to write every word in full. Yo
can shorten any word that is commonly used in your lectures.

 Gov = government
 nec = necessary

Work out a system you’ll remember and use it consistently. Introduce a few
symbols and abbreviations at a time to help you remember them.
4. Acronyms Some abbreviations are so well known and widely used that they have beco
acronyms—abbreviations pronounced as words. For example:

Laser = Light Amplification by Stimulation Emission of Radiation

ABC = Australian Broadcasting Corporation

 
Symbols for note taking
equals/is equal to/is the same as

is not equal to/is not the same as

is equivalent to

therefore, thus, so

Because

and, more, plus

more than, greater than

less than

less, minus

gives, causes, produces, leads to, results in, is given by, is produced by, results from, comes
from

rises, increases by

falls, decreases by

proportional to

not proportional to

 Use concept maps and diagrams

Information can also be recorded using a concept map or diagram. Try drawing
diagrams or pictures for concepts that are hard to note quickly Information can be
added to the concept map later.

 Arrows and words can be used to show links between parts of the concept map.
  Colour and symbols are important parts of concept maps, helping illustrate
ideas and your own thoughts.

Examples