Reviewing
The final step in active textbook reading is reviewing. Reviewing involves looking through your assigned reading again. Many students expect to be able to read through their text material once and remember the ideas four, six, or even twelve weeks later when it’s time for their exam. More realistically, you will need to include regular reviews in your study process. Your notes, study questions, margin notes and annotations, flash cards, visual maps, or outlines will prove very useful during the reviewing process. Your study goal should be to review the material from each chapter every week. Here are some strategies:
- Consider ways to use your senses to review.
- Recite aloud.
- Tick off each item on a list on your fingers.
- Post diagrams, maps, or outlines around your living space so that you will see them often and will likely be able to visualize them while taking the test.
Mark and Review
Marking the text and reviewing carefully are among the best approaches to getting more from your reading. These strategies seem to be good enough for George Clooney. Are they good enough for you?
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