Reading Techniques for College Students: Active Reading Vs Passive Reading

Passive reading is perhaps the least effective mode of absorbing information for any reader, especially college students.

Focus in Active Reading for Comprehension

When your brain is wholly focused on the material you are reading, you are considered to be an active reader. In this case you are reading for details and making note (perhaps by highlighting) of the key details as you move along in the material. It is important, though, to understand the role of a highlighter and avoid marking large sections of text. This makes for a combination of passive and active reading where the reader is seeking and making connections to important points, but making note for a later time.

Honing Active Reading Skills

Active reading typically starts with some self-talk. You have to ask yourself important questions such as, “What details do I want to look for?”, “What am I reading and why?” “What did my instructor tell me was important to note?”, “What could I read well enough to contribute in class?”

Being keenly aware of the details you know ahead of time will help make absorbing further detail as you get further into the reading assignment itself.

Different Subjects and Reading

Depending on what kind of reading you’re doing, you’ll be required to actively read in different manners. For example, fiction can be considered more of a ‘fun’ type of reading, so your active skills don’t have to be as focused. With fiction, your mind will wander as it is putting images and characters together in your mind. Mathematical concepts though require more of a stringent active reading style as you need to be more aware of distractions trying to later make connections between previously learned concepts.

For more technical reading, like math, you’ll find it is a good idea to keep a dictionary and/or glossary handy so as to help define words and concepts within a single concept. They say that if a word is not known or understood, the basic gist of of what you’re reading can easily be lost.

You’ll quickly learn that there are portions that you can scan or diligently study based on your style, the subject, type of reading and previously learned knowledge. In college it is very important to know your styles of reading, when to use them, when to spend more time and how to manage your environment for each reading assignment.