STUDYING AT AN

UNDERGRADUATE
LEVEL

NICOLA NAKASHIMA
TOPICS

Introduction to academic reading in university

Note taking

Reflections

Introduction to report writing

INTRODUCTION
TO ACADEMIC
READING
ACADEMIC READING AT UNIVERSITY

Use various reading techniques

A lot of important academic
to help you research and
reading needs to be done at
understand subjects both
university
broadly and specifically

Gather ideas, theories and key Reading is the backbone to good

themes from your reading writing
ACADEMIC READING

1 2 3 4
STEP 1: STEP 2: STEP 3: STEP 4:
PREPARING ENVIRONMENT SCHEDULING IMPROVING
 ◼ Academic reading can sometimes seem very
daunting.
◼ You will need to concentrate and not lose
focus.
◼ Ask yourself questions:
STEP 01:
- Do I constantly look at the clock when reading?
PREPARING
- Do I think about other things?
- Do noises distract me?

If this happens you should think about what you

need to read, and strategies to avoid distractions
 ◼ Reading takes time and concentration
◼ Select a comfortable place with good lighting
and free of visual and audible distractions
STEP 02:
◼ Put away your phone so that you are not
ENVIRONMENT tempted to go online
◼ Allocate a specific period of time everyday
where you concentrate the most
 ◼ Devise a reading schedule so that you don’t
become overwhelmed by trying to read
everything all at once

STEP 03:
SCHEDULING ◼ Break the schedule into small manageable
chunks
◼ Take regular breaks
◼ Go for a short walk
 ◼ Learning and practicing these simple techniques
will ensure you read faster and gain an
overview of a book, or a journal article, in a
short period of time

STEP 03: ◼ Try not to move your lips while you read, or
IMPROVING ‘read aloud’ in your head
◼ Let your eyes run along the line of the text,
reading phrases rather than stopping at every
word
◼ Use a marker such as a pen, or a bookmark to
follow the lines of text. This minimizes the need
to re-read.
APPROACHES AND TECHNIQUES

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

Background Skimming Scanning Critical reading

reading
 ◼ Background reading provides an overview of the subject
STEP 1: matter
BACKGROUND ◼ Allows a student to grasp main ideas and concepts
READING ◼ Once the basic understanding is there, you should
move on to look at specific arguments and theories
 Skim reading enables you to get a general overview of a text
without focusing on the fine detail

◼ Try reading lightly and quickly

STEP 2:
◼ Read the blurb, the preface and table of contents
SKIMMING
◼ Read the first and last sentence of a chapter,
section or paragraph
◼ Look for format changes in the text, subheadings,
diagrams and photos
 Scanning gives you the chance to read more carefully and
a little bit slower, when you scan a text you are looking
for specific details.

Although you will only work with part of the text, careful
STEP 3: thinking, together with a sense of context gained from
SCANNING skimming will allow you to see a text more clearly and
gain a stronger sense of the overall meaning.

◼ Read introduction and conclusion paragraphs

◼ Identify keywords and phrases
 Critical reading is amore specialized and sophisticated
way to absorb and analyze information for a specific
purpose

STEP 4:
CRITICAL ◼ Read for content
◼ Look for best explanation or answer
READING
◼ Remain open minded, consider alternatives
◼ Weighing influences, motivation and bias
◼ Being actively involved in reading
TAKING NOTES
 At university you will deal with complex information and
ideas and you will need to become more critical of what
you read and learn – developing effective note taking skills
can support this and puts you in control of your learning.

There are many different ways to take notes, including mind

maps, flowcharts and tables, and you should think about
NOTE TAKING which approach works best for you and work you are
doing.
 Taking notes allows you to capture key points,
arguments, discussions and feedback:

WHY TAKE ◼ In lectures, seminars and tutorials

◼ During group work meetings, fieldwork
NOTES ◼ On placement
◼ For personal learning journals and logs
◼ When researching written sources and recordings
 Notes can help you to:

WHY TAKE ◼ Write assignments, dissertations and projects

◼ Avoid plagiarism by recording sources of information
NOTES ◼ Stimulate thoughts and ideas
◼ Trigger memory and support your revision
 Linear
Mind maps
notes

NOTE TAKING
STYLES Tables Flowcharts

Tree Cornell
diagrams notes
 ◼ Linear notes are the most traditional approach
◼ Useful when reading longer sources
LINEAR NOTES ◼ Follows the order of the points made in the source
◼ Helps review complex theories, arguments and
research
◼ Can include as much details as needed
MIND MAPS
◼ Creative and visual
approach to note taking
◼ Write the most
important points in
your own words or
images
◼ Create a structure which
makes it easy to build
arguments and
understanding
TABLES

Pros Cons
• Can’t include as much details as
• Useful for showing linear notes
similarities and differences
between subjects

• Clear and concise

FLOWCHARTS

Flowcharts are particularly useful when you need to understand or create a process, or
memorize the order of events

survey question read recall review

TREE
DIAGRAMS
COMMONLY USED TO DISPLAY
CLASSIFICATIONS AND ARE
ALSO USEFUL IN DECISION
MAKING PROCESSES
CORNELL NOTES

◼ A MORE ACTIVE FORM OF LINEAR NOTES

◼ PAGE IS DIVIDED IN TWO:

◼ NOTES: LINEAR NOTES WITH HEADINGS AND

SUBHEADINGS

◼ REVIEW: REDUCES OR SUMMARIZES THE NOTES

TO KEYWORDS AND PHRASES AND ADDS ANY
QUESTIONS OR LINKS TO OTHER IDEAS
GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Plan Participate Record

Review Organize
 ◼ Read up on the topic and understand what you are
looking for
◼ Check what information is needed for
PLAN assignments/projects
◼ Consider which sources may be useful
◼ Think about how many sources to consider
◼ Write down any initial questions

Plan Participate Record Review Organize

PARTICIPATE
◼ Listen actively during lectures and seminars
◼ Make sure the questions you have prepared are
answered in your notes, and make a note of any others
that arise
◼ Be selective and note only the main points,
keywords and concepts
◼ Paraphrase what you hear and read as this will help to
avoid plagiarism

Plan Participate Record Review Organize

 ◼ Choose a note taking style that suits you and
captures your thoughts and ideas (mind, spider
diagrams, patterned notes etc.)
◼ Note the date, title, topic, module and
lecturer’s name
◼ Develop your shorthand and use standard
RECORD abbreviations
◼ Highlight key points in color, use capitals,
underline or change font if typing your notes
◼ Record quotes, reference details, dates and
figures accurately

Plan Participate Record Review Organize

 ◼ Read back through notes o fill any gaps and /or
clarify anything you don’t understand
◼ Make a note of keywords, main points, links to
REVIEW relevant resources
◼ Do this when your memory is still fresh, usually within
24 hours of taking the notes

Plan Participate Record Review Organize

 ◼ Clearly label your notes so you can find them easily when
you come to write assignments
◼ File your notes with other relevant material, such as
handouts and presentations
◼ Note the references to relevant materials and wider
reading so you can find them easily when necessary
ORGANIZE

Plan Participate Record Review Organize

THE SQ3R METHOD IN NOTE TAKING

S = SURVEY Q= R = READ R = RECALL R = REVIEW

QUESTION
 ◼ Quickly scan the text to see if it is useful
◼ For a book, look at the preface, content page, index,
chapter headings and the first and last paragraphs of
SURVEY chapters
◼ For an article, look at the abstract, reference list and
the first and last paragraphs
 ◼ Ask questions as you read
QUESTION ◼ What are the main ideas?
◼ What does the author believe and why?
 ◼ Read actively, try to pick out key points, read
READ again and return to any sections that are
difficult to understand
 ◼ Close the book or articles you were reading and in
RECALL your own words briefly describe the main points
the author was making
 ◼ Go back to the text and check your notes are
correct.
◼ Make sure you have not missed anything, and jot
REVIEW down how your notes relate to your
assignment, project or essay question.
◼ Record bibliographic details for your reference.
REFLECTIONS
WHAT IS REFLECTION?

◼ A type of thinking
◼ Reflecting on something afterwards helps you identify what you have learnt
for similar situations in the future
◼ Reflection is working on what you already know and the reprocessing this
knowledge, which can lead to new ideas and deeper understanding
WHY IS REFLECTION IMPORTANT

As a student in higher education:

◼ You are not dependent on the views and assessment of other people
◼ You benefit from being able to work out for yourself what you do well, what
you need to improve and what your priorities are
◼ Your performance as a student is likely to improve if you develop a habit of
putting time aside to reflect on how you learn
 Doing
- working on study
tasks

Planning
Reflecting
- taking into
- what did you
account your
achieve and what
understanding of
didn't work out
how you learn

Conceptualizing
KOLB’S - what seems to
help you learn and
what gets in the
LEARNING way?

CYCLE
HOW TO REFLECT

◼ Talk to somebody about it

◼ Write about it
◼ Keep a diary or journal, not only what has happened but also of your feelings and
reactions
◼ Pretend you are somebody else talking to yourself
◼ Record it and play it back at a later stage to see if you still think the same
◼ Make diagrams, charts, mind maps, for example: to show connections
REFLECTIVE LEARNING JOURNALS

◼ Main achievements
◼ Main setbacks
◼ Feelings about study
◼ Lessons learned
◼ Major tasks ahead
◼ Ideas for tackling next tasks
PLANNING ACTIONS BASED ON YOUR REFLECTIONS

Conclusions Actions

• What can you learn from this experience? • How can you improve the areas which did
not go so well?

• What things would you do the • How can you judge if you have
same/differently? achieved/performed better?

• What similarities are there between this

situation and others?
REPORT
WRITING
WHAT IS A REPORT

◼ Investigates and analyses information or findings

◼ Defines and discusses
◼ Recommends actions
CHARACTERISTICS OF A REPORT

◼ Written for a clear purpose

◼ Aimed at a particular audience/reader
◼ Formal and objective
◼ Concise and logically structured
◼ Presentation
◼ May include charts and graphs
TOPICS COVERED

Introduction to academic reading in university

Note taking

Reflections

Introduction to report writing