Module C5 – Reading strategies 1

Module C5 – Reading strategies

Introduction
Many first year courses at university are based around textbooks specially written for
students by academics. Lecturers often set a chapter a week as course reading. In this module
we will look at using textbook chapters and suggest some strategies which may assist you to
read more effectively. We will continue our work on the importance of acknowledging the
use of other writers’ ideas by looking at end-text referencing.

You will find the first section of module C5 is for WELFARE REFORM (C5.1–C5.5), and
the second section (C5.6–C5.10) of module C5 is for SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.
We hope this is not confusing but we know how irritating it can be having to go backwards
and forwards between topics. The reading for welfare reform in this module is an article
from a journal, not a textbook. The reading for sustainable development textbook is from a
textbook. Students studying welfare reform should not feel disadvantaged in any way.

Remember you have to read only the pages that refer to the topic area you have chosen. That
is, if you have chosen ‘Welfare reform’ as your focus, do only C5.1–C5.5 in this module. If
you chose ‘Sustainable development’, do only C5.6–C5.10.

Objectives
Please refer to the course introduction for the overall objectives for this course.

Learning resources

Selected readings (for Welfare reform)

C5.1: Saunders, P 2006, ‘A perennial problem: employment, joblessness and poverty’, SPRC
discussion paper no 146 January 2006, The Social Policy Research Centre, University of
NSW, Sydney.
This reading has not been included for copyright reasons. Use the reference details to
search either online or through your local library.

Selected readings (for Sustainable development)

C5.2: Beder, S 2006, Environmental principles and policies: an interdisciplinary approach,
UNSW Press, Sydney.
This reading has not been included for copyright reasons. Use the reference details to
search either online or through your local library.
2 TPP7120 – Studying to succeed

USQ Library Harvard Referencing Guide.

Guide to referencing: the Harvard style.

C5.1 Reading textbooks – welfare reform

Textbook chapters are often long and time consuming to read if you start at the beginning
and read to the end. The reading for this module is only one third of its entire chapter and as
you will see, it is quite long. We suggest that you use textbooks in a more targeted way to:

● follow up and clarify ideas or concepts you have come across in course notes or
activities, lectures, lecture notes, tutorials or other more advanced readings.
● provide material for assignments.

C5.1.1 Reading as follow up

If your course has a set textbook the lecturer will probably indicate to you which chapter
matches each week’s topic. If you are reading a textbook that you have found independently
begin by checking the contents page to see if there is a chapter or major section on the
lecture or tutorial topic you are following up. If the topic is not mentioned turn to the index
and check for an entry there.

Textbook chapters are usually divided into sections or sub-sections under headings. If you
can match the topic you want to follow up with a heading then you can simply read the
relevant section and decide if you want to take notes to add to your lecture notes.

Activity C5.1
In the lecture we learned that the opponents of the governments’ welfare
reforms argue that many Australians want to work rather than take
unemployment benefits but they cannot find jobs suited to their skills and
experience. They argue that one of the main causes of unemployment is
economic restructuring. We also learned about economic restructuring through
module C4’s readings. Suppose we want to follow up or check our
understanding of economic restructuring.

Turn to reading C5.1 ‘A perennial problem: employment, joblessness and

poverty’. Read the Introduction. Write down what Saunders considers to be one
of the causes of people not being able to find a job.

Throughout the study book we have said that it is important to read using an active rather
than a passive approach. Here are some suggestions of activities which you can often do as
part of reading for follow up:

● compare what is written in this article with your lecture notes and think about any
similarities or differences.
● use the article to clarify or extend any ideas you did not fully understand in the lecture.
 Module C5 – Reading strategies 3

● write a list of questions you that you still need to answer after having read the textbook.

Activity C5.2
Compare your lecture notes on economic restructuring with what is written in
the reading C5.1. Notice that the article focuses on the link between
unemployment and poverty. Your lecturer did not go into this issue in detail.

Do the lecture notes and the article agree on where the focus of change should
be in order to best assist those on welfare?

Is there anything that is new that you want to add to your existing notes?

C5.2 End-text referencing

Before we move on to using textbooks for assignment writing we need to learn about end-
text referencing. You have already learned that at university if you use someone else’s ideas,
whether you copy the exact words or put the idea in your own words, you have to
acknowledge the person’s work by providing a reference. So far we have learned about in-
text referencing. In the Harvard system you also have to provide end-text references in the
form of a reference list at the end of your assignments. The purpose of the reference list is to
allow the reader to follow up any of your sources.

Activity C5.3
Turn again to reading C4.6 by Curran. Turn to the end of the reading and you
will see the reference list. Look through the list and try to identify what type of
readings the items are. For example, the third reference is a book with three
authors. The fifth reference is a chapter from an edited book. The eighth
reference is an article from a journal. Notice how each one is referenced.

Activity C5.4
Turn to your referencing guide and go to page 1 where you will see a heading
‘List of references’. Read the paragraph under the heading.

Pages 1 to 2 of the referencing guide show you how to reference each of the different types
of academic material. Do not try to remember how to reference. Always have the guide
by you when you are writing a reference and make sure you follow it exactly (USQ
Library Harvard Referencing Guide).
4 TPP7120 – Studying to succeed

Activity C5.5
In the referencing guide, look down to the third example on page 2 which shows
how to reference a journal article with one author. We will use this as an
example to help reference a journal article. Now turn to the reading by Eardley
(C4.2), which is a journal article.

Write down the author’s surname followed by a comma. Leave a space and add
the initial. Now write down the year the article was published. You will find this
at the bottom right hand corner of the page.

Now follow the example in the referencing guide to complete the reference by
adding the name of the article and the name, volume and month of the journal,
followed by the page numbers. Use exactly the same setting out and punctuation
as in the example. Note, when you are handwriting, underline the name of the
journal instead of using italics.

Activity C5.6
Turn again to reading C5.1 ‘A perennial problem: employment, joblessness and
poverty’. It is a discussion paper with one author. Write down a reference for it.
Write down the first author’s surname followed by a comma and then the initial
followed by a comma.

The first step in referencing is to decide what type of source you are dealing with. Then you
must follow the referencing guide exactly. Referencing is tedious (or a pain or a bother) but
it is only a matter of copying correctly and it is not a difficult task. It simply requires
discipline and patience.

C5.3 Reading textbooks for assignments

The most common purpose for reading at university is reading to gather material for writing
an assignment. We will use the essay task about the reform of the welfare state to guide us in
reading the textbook.

When you are reading for an assignment use the task or question to make a list of keywords
that will help you decide which part or parts of a long chapter to read.

It may turn out that the keywords indicate you should read the whole chapter but this is
rarely the case.

Once you have your list of keywords you can look through the headings in the chapter to find
the section or sections which are relevant to your assignment.
 Module C5 – Reading strategies 5

Activity C5.7
Based on research, formulate a thesis statement about the Howard government’s
proposals for reform of the Australian welfare system. Include in your essay the
reasons why the government considers reform of the system necessary, the goals
of the reform and the criticisms which have been directed at the reform
proposals.

In the lecture we learned that the welfare system is often referred to as the
welfare state. We can use the words welfare, welfare system and welfare state as
keywords to help us search for material that is relevant to the essay task.

Look at the major headings in reading C5.1 to find the section or sections that
deal with any of the keywords.

You will find a section of C5.1 entitled ‘Unemployment, joblessness and

poverty’

C5.3.1 Making an outline

If you have find a section in a textbook or an article which is divided up by headings into
sub-sections, you can use the headings and their different levels to form an outline of the
material before you start to read. Once you have an outline you can decide if you need to
read all the section or only part of it.

Activity C5.8
In reading C5.1, read the section ‘Unemployment, joblessness and poverty’.
This section has two tables. Using the first Amended Henderson line in Table 1,
note the percentage of households in poverty where there is no full-time
employed person. Compare this to the percentage rate of poverty when there is
at least one full-time employed person.

Activity C5.9
Now that we have read some of this article, we can look back at the essay task
(assignment 4) and decide which parts may be useful. The essay task asks us to
look at criticisms of the government’s reforms of the welfare state.

We can check our understanding of what Saunders believes is the main cause of
unemployment and welfare dependency by reading the Abstract. This then is the
basis of his criticism of the government’s handling of the welfare issue.

Now read the Conclusions section. This should confirm and clarify Saunder’s
main criticisms of the government’s approach to the welfare system and those
people caught up in it.
6 TPP7120 – Studying to succeed

Activity C5.10
Re-read the Introduction.

In the first column below, list at least three reasons that unemployment needs to
be reduced. In the second column note at least three problems caused by
poverty.

Problems caused by unemployment Problems caused by poverty

Activity C5.11
Read section 2 ‘Measuring poverty: into a statistical cul de sac’ in reading C5.1.

What criticisms were made of the research into poverty and its findings?

Write one sentence about why Saunders believes there was such criticism of the
research.

C5.3.2 Summary of strategies for reading textbooks for assignments

Use the essay question to help you decide which sections of the chapter to read. If you need
to read a whole chapter take it a section at a time.

Write down the headings and sub headings to get an outline of the section.

Decide which parts of the section you will need to read.

Read in an active way by using some or all of the following strategies:

● comparing and contrasting concepts or ideas using columns

● summing up paragraphs using concepts you have already learned
● writing main ideas that you could use in your essay and organising the material from the
reading under the main idea
● writing the main idea of relevant paragraphs in your own words.
 Module C5 – Reading strategies 7

C5.4 Reading strategies to avoid

Reading without a clear purpose.

Summarising whole sections of chapters without a clear purpose.

Highlighting blocks of text. Remember that the basic unit of sense in academic reading is the
paragraph. Try to read at the level of paragraph main ideas NOT individual sentences or
groups of sentences. We will practise this skill in the next module.

C5.5 Reading

C5.5.1 Welfare reform

Criticisms of the welfare state

Activity C5.12
In one paragraph outline the two contrasting opinions about the problem with
the welfare state in Australia. Use reading C5.1 from this module and the
Abbott reading (reading C2.1). Aim to write about 120–40 words.

The paragraph must have a clear main idea and follow the structure which we
learned in module C3. The main idea should reflect your individual response
and be written in your own words. You should not need to reference the idea in
this main idea sentence because it should always be your own idea. When you
explain, analyse or elaborate on the main idea you will need to paraphrase
material you have found in the readings. When you paraphrase you will need to
give an in-text reference. For this activity we are asking you NOT to use direct
quotes. Provide end-text references to both readings after your paragraph under
the heading ‘References’.

Please do not attempt to remember how to reference. Always use the referencing
guide.

In text (textual) referencing

Begin by revising the different ways an in-text reference can be incorporated by
looking at the examples under the heading ‘Textual references’ in your USQ
Library Harvard Referencing Guide.

In this module the ideas you use will probably come from specific parts of the
readings so you will need to include page numbers in your in-text references.

End text referencing / List of references

Identify what type of reading you are using. Then find the correct example on
pages 5–6 of your referencing guide. Follow the example exactly.
8 TPP7120 – Studying to succeed

Feedback
Feedback for activity C5.11 and activity C5.12 can be found at the end of this module.

C5.6 Reading textbooks – sustainable development

Textbook chapters are often long and time consuming to read if you start at the beginning
and read to the end. We suggest that you use textbooks in a more targeted way to:

● follow up and clarify ideas or concepts you have come across in course notes or
activities, lectures, lecture notes, tutorials or other more advanced readings.
● provide material for assignments.

C5.6.1 Reading as follow up

If your course has a set textbook the lecturer will probably indicate to you which chapter
matches each week’s topic. If you are reading a textbook that you have found independently
then begin by checking the contents page to see if there is a chapter or major section on the
lecture or tutorial topic you are following up. If the topic is not mentioned turn to the index
and check for an entry there.

Textbook chapters are usually divided into sections or sub-sections under headings. If you
can match the topic you want to follow up with a heading then you can simply read the
relevant section and decide if you want to take notes to add to your lecture notes.

Activity C5.13
In the lecture we learned that the concept of sustainable development emerged
from the limits to growth debate in the 1970s. Suppose we want to follow up or
check our understanding of what is meant by ‘limits to growth’.

Look at reading C5.2 by Beder and use the headings in the text to locate
material which deals with the ecological footprint and read through it.

In the reading, read through the section entitled ‘Partial measure’. Think about
the limitations of footprint analysis and list them.

We have said that it is important to read using an active rather than a passive
approach. Here are some suggestions of activities which you can often do as
part of reading for follow up:

● compare what is written in the textbook with your lecture notes and think
about any similarities or differences
● use the textbook to clarify any ideas you did not fully understand in the
lecture
● draw a diagram that shows the relationship between the concepts covered in
 Module C5 – Reading strategies 9

the textbook
● write a list of questions that you still need to answer after having read the
textbook.

C5.7 End-text referencing

Before we move on to using textbooks for assignment writing we need to learn about end-
text referencing. You have already learned that at university if you use someone else’s ideas,
whether you copy the exact words or put the idea in your own words, you have to
acknowledge the person’s work by providing a reference. So far we have learned about in-
text referencing. In the Harvard system you also have to provide end-text references in the
form of a reference list at the end of your assignments. The purpose of the reference list is to
allow the reader to follow up any of your sources.

Activity C5.14
Turn to reading C4.3 by Curran. Turn to the end of the reading and you will see
the reference list, ‘References’. Look through the list and try to identify what
type of readings the items are. For example, the third reference is a book with
three authors. The fifth reference is a chapter from an edited book. The eighth
reference is an article from a journal. Notice how each one is referenced.

Activity C5.15
Turn to your referencing guide of these notes and go to page 1 where you will
see a heading ‘List of references’. Now read the paragraph under this heading.

Pages 1–2 of the guide show you how to reference each of the different types of academic
material. Do not try to remember how to reference. Always have the referencing guide
by you when you are writing a reference and make sure you follow it exactly.

Activity C5.16
In the referencing guide look down to the third example on page 2 which shows
how to reference a journal article with one author. We will use this as an
example to help reference a journal article. Now turn to reading C4.1 by Salih,
which is a journal article.

Write down the author’s surname followed by a comma. Leave a space and add
the initial. Now write down the year the article was published. You will find this
in the small print in the bottom right hand corner of the page.

Now follow the example in the referencing guide to complete the reference by
adding the name of the article. You now need to add the name, volume and issue
of the journal, followed by the page numbers. You will also find these in the
10 TPP7120 – Studying to succeed

small print at the bottom right hand corner of the page. Use exactly the same
setting out and punctuation as in the example. Note, when you are handwriting,
underline the name of the journal instead of using italics.

Activity C5.17
Turn again to the reading C4.5 ‘Sustaining Australia: sustainable development
issues facing Australia to 2025’. It is a research paper which is like a conference
paper. It has a body of researchers as its author i.e. it has a corporate author.
Look this up in the referencing guide.

The first step in referencing is to decide what type of source you are dealing with. Then you
must follow the referencing guide exactly. Referencing is tedious (or a pain or a bother) but
it is only a matter of copying correctly and is not a difficult task. It simply requires discipline
and patience.

C5.8 Reading textbooks for assignments

The most common purpose for reading at university is reading to gather material for writing
an assignment. We will use the essay task about sustainable development to guide us in
reading the textbook.

When you are reading for an assignment use the task or question to make a list of keywords
that will help you decide which part or parts of a long chapter to read.

It may turn out that the keywords indicate you should read the whole chapter but this is
rarely the case.

Once you have your list of keywords you can look through the headings in the chapter to find
the section or sections which are relevant to your assignment.

Activity C5.18
Go back to the introductory materials and find assignment C4. Read the essay
task on sustainable development:

Based on research, formulate a thesis statement about the need for sustainable
development in Australia. Include in your essay a paragraph which sets out your
understanding of the concept of sustainable development. Then discuss whether
you think economic growth and environmental protection can go together.
Assess how successful Australian governments have been in implementing
sustainable development.

We can use the words sustainable development, economic growth,

environmental protection and ecologically sustainable development in Australia
 Module C5 – Reading strategies 11

as keywords to help us search for information to use in the assignment.

Look at the major headings and the subheadings in reading C5.2. Examine them
to see if you think the sections will deal with any of the keywords in the
assignment.

C5.8.1 Making an outline

If you have found a section in a textbook which is divided up by headings into sub-sections,
you can use the headings and their different levels to form an outline of the material before
you start to read. Once you have an outline you can decide if you need to read all the section
or only part of it. Unlike many textbooks, the Beder reading does not use extensive headings
and subheadings. However we have provided an activity using the headings which you can
apply to longer chapters or chapters which do use headings more extensively.

Activity C5.19
In reading C5.2, list the chapter title and headings and subheadings used in the
chapter.

Activity C5.20
Now we have an outline of the section we can look back at the essay task
(assignment C4) and decide which parts we need to read.

We know from the lecture and our earlier reading that in the 1980s the concept
of sustainable development replaced the idea of limits to growth. The essay
topic is about sustainable development so we know that the whole of this
reading will be useful for the assignment.

Activity C5.21
One of the tasks you have to do as part of your essay (assignment C4) is to
discuss whether economic growth and environmental protection can go together.
Read the section ‘Continuing debate’ with your essay task in mind. It presents a
definite view about the relationship between economic growth and
environmental protection. In your own words, outline the view that it is possible
for economic growth and environmental protection can go together. Note what
is required for this to happen.
12 TPP7120 – Studying to succeed

Activity C5.22
Note taking takes many forms. It is often helpful to use tables or diagrams to
analyse the material you have read as part of the note taking process once you
have identified the parts of a text that are pertinent to your assignment. The
C5.2 reading discusses the ecological footprint method of measuring economic
impact on the environment. Use the grid below to take notes on the positive and
negative aspects of the method.

Advantages Limitations

C5.8.2 Summary of strategies for reading textbooks for assignments

Use the essay question to help you decide which sections of the chapter to read. If you need
to read a whole chapter take it a section at a time.

Write down the headings and sub headings to get an outline of the section.

Decide which parts of the section you will need to read.

Read in an active way by using some or all of the following strategies:

● comparing and contrasting concepts or ideas using columns

● summing up paragraphs using concepts you have already learned
● writing main ideas that you could use in your essay and organising the material from the
reading under the main idea
● writing the main idea of relevant paragraphs in your own words.

C5.9 Reading strategies to avoid

● Reading without a clear purpose.
● Summarising whole sections of chapters without a clear purpose.
● Highlighting blocks of text. Remember that the basic unit of sense in academic reading is
the paragraph. Try to read at the level of paragraph main ideas NOT individual sentences
or groups of sentences. We will practise this skill in the next module.
 Module C5 – Reading strategies 13

C5.10 Reading

C5.10.1 Sustainable development

Activity C5.23
Write a paragraph about economic growth in high income countries. Use this
module’s reading, Beder (reading C5.2), together with the first part of the Beder
chapter (reading C3.3) and the Brown reading (reading C2.2). You can indicate
both sides of the debate OR write from your own position.

Aim to write about 120–40 words.

The paragraph must have a clear main idea and follow the structure which we
learned in module 3. The main idea should reflect your individual response and
be written in your own words. You should not need to reference the idea in this
main idea sentence because it should always be your own idea. When you
explain, analyse or elaborate on the main idea you will need to paraphrase
material you have found in the readings. When you paraphrase you will need to
give an in-text reference. For this activity we are asking you NOT to use direct
quotes. Provide end-text references to both readings after your paragraph under
the heading ‘References’.

Please do not attempt to remember how to reference. Always use the referencing
guide.

In text (textual) referencing

Begin by revising the different ways an in-text reference can be incorporated by
looking at the examples under the heading ‘Textual References’ in your USQ
Library Harvard Referencing Guide.

The ideas you use will probably come from specific parts of the readings so you
will need to include page numbers in your in-text references.

End text referencing / List of references

Identify what type of reading you are using. Then find the correct row in the
table on page 4 of your referencing guide. Follow the example exactly.

Feedback
Feedback for activity C5.22 and activity C5.23 can be found at the end of this module.
14 TPP7120 – Studying to succeed

Feedback for activities

Feedback for activity C5.11, activity C5.12, activity C5.22 and activity C5.23 is given below.

Activity C5.11

The neoliberal (new right) criticisms of the welfare state assume that it encourages people to
live on social security payments rather than find a job and work to support themselves.

Activity C5.12

Some people believe that the welfare system encourages dependency and is too costly.
Abbott (2000), for example, suggests that generous welfare payments discourage some
Australians from supporting themselves through paid work, even though there are jobs
available. Some see the need to access welfare as a symptom of personal, moral failure
which threatens to undermine the social fabric. They think that welfare recipients should
have to meet more stringent work tests before they are eligible for unemployment benefits
(Abbott 2000). Critics of the government’s management of welfare however, argue that the
main issue underlying the problem is that there are insufficient full-time jobs. They believe
the government should be focusing on job creation schemes (Saunders 2006).

References

Abbott, T 2000, ‘Renewing the social fabric’, Policy, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 38–42.

Saunders, P 2006, ‘A perennial problem: employment, joblessness and poverty’, SPRC

discussion paper no 146 January 2006, The Social Policy Research Centre, University of
NSW, Sydney.

Activity C5.22

Advantages Limitations
● highlights human dependency on ● It is a conservative measure
environments
● It does not include toxic pollutants
● it quantifies the amount of nature needed
● It cannot distinguish sustainable
to produce the resources people want
practices
● the concept is easy for people to
● Is based on current not future
understand
technologies
● Reduces land to just its productive
capacity
 Module C5 – Reading strategies 15

Activity C5.23

There has been vigorous debate about continued economic growth in high-income countries.
In the 1980s it was believed by some that technological innovation and human
resourcefulness could locate new resources or create alternatives. Economists argued that
there was so much to gain from economic growth and it could even provide the solution to
poverty in poorer countries (Beder 2006). In the same vein, it was argued that economic
growth could provide the conditions needed for environmental protection. However,
environmentalists and some economists today disagree. Economist Robert Ayres (cited in
Beder 2006) argues that economic growth today is benefiting only the wealthiest people to
the detriment of the poor and the powerless and the environment. Brown (2002) thinks that
current levels of economic growth in high income countries maximise profit regardless of the
consequences for the environment.

References

Beder, S 2006, Environmental principles and policies: an interdisciplinary approach,

UNSW Press, Sydney.

Brown, L 2002, ‘The eco-economic revolution’, The Futurist, March-April, pp. 23–6.