Before you begin working on your reading skills, evaluate your current reading approach and environment for the following:

• Location.
  • Where do you currently read for academic purposes? Do you have a separate office in your home? Do you read in a comfy chair, at a desk, at the kitchen table?
  • Is there music or white noise in the background? If so, do you find that noise helpful for concentrating?
• Time of Day.
  • Do you typically read in the morning, afternoon, or evening? Some people read better in the morning, after a good night’s sleep, whereas others read better at night, when the house is quiet and other responsibilities have been addressed.
• Length of Time.
  • How long do you typically spend reading in one sitting? If you just spend a few minutes on a text before distractions derail you, consider what those distractions are and how you can avoid them. If you do not have enough time to set aside for a longer stretch of reading, what can you shift around?
• Approach.
  • How do you read? Is there a particular approach you follow (e.g., skimming, reading a certain section first, reading aloud)?
  • Do you read on the screen or print out the material? On screen is certainly easier and less costly, especially if you are reading long journal articles. Hard copy is healthier for your eyes, and some research suggests that it is associated with increased comprehension.
• Interaction.
  • What kinds of notes do you take as you read (summary details, questions, keywords, etc.)?
  • Are your notes electronic or pen-and-paper?
• Difficulty.
  • Do you often reread texts to better remember and/or understand the content?
  • Do you frequently look up terminology in the dictionary or online?
  • Do you feel like you read slowly?
  • Do you have difficulty synthesizing the information to write about it?

Once you have performed this inventory, you can assess whether to make any changes. Consider: How do your current reading practices align with your needs and preferences? What are your ideal conditions for reading?

Reaching those conditions may involve some trial and error. For example, if you are frequently distracted during reading, you could move to a new location and monitor how reading goes there. If that does not help, you could try a different time of day when you may be more focused.

To develop your reading skills and try new approaches, view the pages linked below.

• Reading Retention and Comprehension (Remembering and Understanding the Material)
• Reading/Outlining a Research Article
• Critical Reading (Engaging With the Material By Analyzing, Comparing, and Evaluating)
• Speed Reading 

Academic disciplines have their own vocabularies. It is important to develop your college vocabulary so you can get the most out of your courses and course readings.

The most popular vocabulary development strategy is the Frayer model, a simple, visual organization device. Using the Frayer model is pretty self-explanatory—one need only look at a few templates to understand that the four quadrants (definitions, characteristics, examples, and nonexamples) essentially contribute to your meaning of the central term—but the employment of the strategy can be immensely helpful, from  understanding new terms—perhaps specific to your area of study—to composing your “Definition of Terms” subsection in your dissertation.

• Teacher Toolkit Frayer Model Blank Worksheet
• Teacher Toolkit Frayer Model Example Worksheet
• Literacy Counts Frayer Model Worksheet

Another though arguably less scholarly approach to developing one’s academic vocabulary is using a site like OneLook Reverse Dictionary. OneLook provides its users with the opportunity to describe a concept in a search field and retrieve a set of words or phrases associated with that concept. Again, this might be especially useful when trying to find the precise word to articulate your subject matter. 

Academic Skills is in the process of building its developing your vocabulary resources and tutorials. To help us better understand what sort of areas you'd like us to focus on, please complete this form. In doing so, you'll be helping us build future resource

Academic Skills is in the process of building its studying effectively resources and tutorials. To help us better understand what sort of areas you'd like us to focus on, please complete this form. In doing so, you'll be helping us build future resources.

• Creating a suitable study space
• Finding studying communities
• Organizing your sources
• Preparing for your oral defense