Active Reading
Before
Before reading the assignment, see what other ways help you understand the material within the text. Determine why you are reading this. Is it to:
- Learn for a test
- Understand so you can explain to others
- Explore other perspectives
- Gather evidence for an argument
- Or another reason?
Analyze or Dissect the Reading
| Part of Book | Location | How it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Table of Contents | The front of the book | Gives you the layout of the book so you can see where your reading fits in |
| Title and Headings | The beginning of the chapter | Turn these into a question so your brain is focused on finding the answer |
| "Spoilers" — key words, summaries, objectives, questions, etc. | The end of the chapter | Read this FIRST! Check your understanding, make connections, get familiar with this information before reading deeply |
| Pictures and Graphs | Within the reading | Visual images help you remember better. Viewing this before reading will keep you more engaged. |
| Different text features | Throughout the reading | These are trying to emphasize important points, so figuring out what is being emphasized can help you concentrate. |
During
Read to Understand
- Answer your title and heading questions
- Connect the pictures to the text
- Compare your previous understanding with the current reading
- Note the important points — especially if they have been discussed in class
- Explain your reading in your own words (out loud if you can)
- Make note of things that are confusing
After
- Quiz yourself on the key terms, title and heading questions, or your own predicted test questions.
- Review your notes — do you still understand everything? You reinforce your understanding.
- Clarify points of confusion with classmates or your professor in class, group study, or office hours.
Potential Examples
Table of Contents
If I'm wanting to find information about Reading, I know that Chapter 9: Active Reading is going to be the first place I'll look. With a physical book, I'll turn to page 130, but if it is a digital book, it will probably be linked to go directly there.
End of the Chapter Material
The box gives you a summary of the last section. Then you can ask the 1.6 questions to see if you can answer them before looking at 1.7 to double check which ones you actually know. There's also references you can skim to see what other sources were added to this chapter.
Radiobiology Textbook, edited by Sarah Baatout, Springer International Publishing AG, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/usu/detail.action?docID=31893974 . Created from usu on 2026-07-21.
Graphs and Pictures
In the chapter titled "Racialized ornament in the exotic musical imagination," by Gurminder Kaur Bhogal, there is a picture of the musician Khan who created a musical ornament style. There is also a video recording you can listen to in the digital book! (pp. 113–114)
Source: Epstein, L., & Barolsky, D. (Eds.). (2022). Open Access Musicology: Volume Two. Lever Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.12714424
This information was compiled from: Effective College Learning pp. 134–147, Simplify your Study pp. 15–24, Keys to Effective Learning pp. 144–164, Skim, Dive, Surface p. 128, College Success, Chapter 5.2, Anatomy of a Textbook .