Why Reading Strategically Matters
To stay on top of your assignments and truly understand the material, you’ll need to adopt active, intentional strategies.
College-level reading often involves longer and more complex texts than what you may be used to from high school. Simply reading from beginning to end won’t cut it—especially when you’re juggling multiple courses. These notes will guide you through practical techniques to help you not only get through longer readings, but actually learn from them.
Reading Is a Skill You Build
Like writing or playing an instrument, reading is something you improve with regular, mindful practice.
Reading a lot over time—not just textbooks, but fiction, essays, journalism, etc.—helps train your brain to handle longer texts more efficiently.
Set a Time Goal to Improve Focus
Setting a time-based goal—like reading for 25 minutes—instead of aiming to finish a certain number of pages helps you stay focused and less overwhelmed. Knowing there’s a clear end point encourages you to stay off distractions and read with more intention. It also trains your brain to concentrate for longer stretches over time, making reading feel more manageable and less stressful.
To build your reading skill, try reading in focused 20–30 minute chunk instead of reading “until you finish.” This creates a mental boundary that helps you stay alert and focused. Short bursts are often more productive than long, aimless sessions, especially if your mind tends to wander.
Pseudo-Skimming: Reading for Structure First
Before reading deeply, use a technique called pseudo-skimming to get a sense of the structure and key ideas. This technique can be particularly effective for text books or news articles. Pseudo-skimming means you aren’t reading every word yet—you’re scanning for:
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Headings and subheadings
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First and last sentences of paragraphs
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Bold or italicized terms
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Lists or bullet points
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Summary sections
This quick preview helps your brain build a mental map of the text. When you do read it thoroughly, you’ll already have a framework, which improves both speed and comprehension.
Highlighting: Useful Tool or Crutch?
Highlighting can help—but only when used strategically.
For background, it’s helpful to understand that the brain uses two different memory systems: recognition and recall.
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Recognition is when something looks familiar: “Oh yeah, I remember seeing that.”
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Recall is when you can bring the idea to mind without seeing it first.
Many students over-highlight, thinking it’ll help them remember more. But here’s the problem: highlighting encourages recognition, not recall.
Only recall helps you during essays, exams, or class discussions. If you rely too heavily on highlighting, you may mistake familiarity for understanding. To build recall—the kind of memory that actually helps—you need to actively engage with the material by summarizing, questioning, or explaining it in your own words.
Try The Morse Code Method
The Morse Code method—using dots and dashes to identify textual information—helps build recall by encouraging you to identify and mark key information while you read.
This active engagement forces your brain to process and organize the material, which strengthens memory. Later, those simple marks guide quick reviews and make it easier to remember content without re-reading everything, helping you recall ideas instead of just recognizing them.
This simple margin-marking system helps you take notes as you read—without constantly stopping to write full sentences.
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Use a dot (•) in the margin to mark important main ideas.
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Use a dash (–) to mark supporting examples or explanations.
Later, when reviewing, you can quickly locate the most valuable information without rereading everything. You can also turn these marks into a study guide by writing brief summaries next to them or transferring them to a notebook or flashcards.
Active Reading: Don’t Just Absorb—Engage
Reading actively means you’re doing more than just scanning words—you’re thinking, questioning, predicting, and connecting as you go. It’s a conversation between you and the text.
Here’s how to read actively:
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Ask questions as you read: “Why is the author saying this? Do I agree?”
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Pause to summarize after each section.
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Try explaining a concept to someone else, or even just to yourself.
These habits train your brain to retain and use the material, not just recognize it.
Capture Your *Own* Insights
One of the most important parts of active reading is capturing your own thoughts and reactions as you go. It’s not just about understanding what the author is saying—it’s about noticing what you think about it. Jotting down questions, connections, or points of confusion helps you engage more deeply and makes the reading meaningful on a personal level. These insights are often the starting points for class discussions, essays, or deeper analysis, so it’s worth taking a moment to write them down as they come.
SQ3R: A Structured Approach to Reading
SQ3R stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review—a step-by-step method designed to help you actively engage with reading material and improve understanding and memory.
Here is how each step is defined:
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Survey: Skim the text to get a general idea—look at headings, summaries, and bolded terms.
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Question: Turn headings or section titles into questions to guide your focus.
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Read: Read carefully, looking for answers to your questions and noting key ideas.
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Recite: After each section, pause and say or write what you learned in your own words.
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Review: Go back over the material later to reinforce your memory and understanding.
This method is useful because it transforms reading from a passive activity into an intentional process. Each step gives your brain something to do with the material, which improves both comprehension and long-term retention—especially for longer or more complex readings.
That said, SQ3R can feel rigid or overly formal to some students, especially if you’re used to reading more freely. If the full process feels like too much, it’s okay to adapt it. The goal isn’t to follow every step perfectly, but to develop a reading routine that helps you stay focused and retain information. Use the structure as a guide, then shape it into something that fits how you work best.
Conclusion: Build Your Reading Muscle
Reading for college is a skill—one that you build with practice, just like writing or public speaking. By reading actively, taking purposeful notes, highlighting thoughtfully, and reviewing regularly, you’ll not only survive long assignments—you’ll actually learn from them. Make these strategies a habit, and over time, you’ll read more efficiently and retain more of what matters.