by Marijane Suttor

Created on: October 04, 2007

A college freshman is told by a professor to read 90 pages in two different textbooks and to take notes on those texts as well as in class in order to pass the first exam. The student goes in to take this exam only to discover that in all of that material, a 50 question multiple choice test will decide the grade. Many college freshmen do not have the reading comprehension skills to pull this off.

First it is important to realize why many students do not have the proper reading comprehension skills for college.

1) Students simply not reading enough for enjoyment in high school.
2) Not having to read large quantity of material independently
3) Not having to prepare their own notes on the materials
4) Not having the tools for outlining, highlighting and tabbing.

To improve reading comprehension in college students there are several tips that can help.

1) Before reading a textbook be prepared with a notebook, highlighter, sticky tabs and sticky notes.

3) Scan the chapters before reading. Identify the main headings and break the notes down into those manageable categories. Take a short break between categories to refresh yourself.

4) When reading do not highlight everything. If a student is excessive with the highlighter the result is simply a colorful book not a highlighted text. Things to highlight are key terms and definitions. Watch for transitional words such as "First", "Next" and "Finally". These are signal words that the author is moving to another key point. Consider color coding for different types of information.

5) Tabs can be especially helpful. Tab key sections, terms or items that the professor emphasized in the class. If it is in both the book and the lecture notes, it is likely to be on a test.

6) Paraphrase and use a dictionary. If there are terms in the text that you are unsure of the meaning, it is important to look up the meaning and paraphrase the text into words you do understand. Sticky notes can be great for this. Write a paraphrase and then put the sticky note by the text.

7)Prepare your own practice tests for yourself. Write a word bank of terms and then a column of definitions and explanations and practicing matching. Learning the vocabulary is essential to reading comprehension

If a college student applies some of these skills as well as trying to read as much as possible, reading comprehension should improve with every class.

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