EFFECTIVE &

CRITICAL READING
KEMAS YAKUB R

Medical Education Unit (MEU)

Faculty of Medicine UNSRI (FAMUS)

Reading with a Purpose

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Why are you reading?

Reading has many purposes, and there are many ways to read:
To locate specific information means skimming rapidly over
text until you find what you're looking for ~ a newspaper.
To understand reasons and facts and to learn, read slowly and
deliberately.
To enjoy words and descriptions, as in poetry and some
prose, slow or repeated reading is needed to get the feel of the
language or to picture a scene.
To escape into a novel, you might skip the dull parts and pick
up enough detail to see what happens and how it ends,
skimming some parts and dwelling on others.
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Reading at University

Lectures Pre-reading material before

lectures makes them more relevant.
Tutorials Tutorials are often based on a set
of readings. If you haven't read the material,
you can't participate in the discussion.
Assignments You can't write your
assignment until you have done the research.
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Begin Reading with Questions

What do you already know about a topic?
When the topic or material is new:
Begin with a general introductory text and
read slowly.
Jot down any new terms and make sure you
understand their meanings and spellings.
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Is your reading relevant?

1)

2)

3)
4)

From your reading list, select a book or article that

gives an overview of the topic. Ask yourself what it
is you must find out.
Use the contents page first. Is the information you
are looking for listed?
Go to the index at the back. Locate key words.
Skim through the first chapter. If the chapter is
relevant, read the first and last paragraphs. Ask
yourself what the author is saying.
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For Your Bibliography

Record details of:

Author
Title
Place of publication
Publisher and date
Record page numbers with any notes you take.
http://hedc.otago.ac.nz

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03/17/15

BMJ VOLUME 326 5 APRIL 2003

Topics to be covered

EFFECTIVE READING

Why do we read?
Why do we have to do effective reading?
How can we do effective reading?

CRITICAL READING

What is critical reading?

What is the purpose/significance of critical
reading?
How can we do critical reading?

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EFFECTIVE READING

Why do we read?

Gather information
Locate specific information
Find facts and to learn
Enjoy words and description
Examine language from the writer
Learn about writing

READING IS DRIVEN BY THE READERS

PURPOSE
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EFFECTIVE READING
PURPOSE

Type & difficulty

of the text

Effective reading

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WHY DO WE HAVE TO DO
EFFECTIVE READING

Because a large of time at university is spent

working with written sources of information,
and
Because there is a great deal of material to be
covered in a short amount of time.
Knowing how to read effective involve

Understanding the structure of texts,

How to read for different purpose, and
How to reflect on your reading

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HOW TO DO EFFECTIVE READING

Understanding the structure of a text will help you to know how
to read it. The two main aspects of structure to look for are:

The development of ideas in sentences and paragraphs;

Ideas are built up from sentence to paragraphs to whole text

Ideas and concepts tend to be developed from parts or segments to a whole

The development of the argument.

Argument can be developed by way of amplification (ie. When a proposition is

stated in some kind of preliminary form, and then expanded upon)
Argument can be developed by analogy (ie. When ideas are developed by
comparison with a similar situation), or the writer may use illustration
(exposition by way of examples);
Argument is usually either inductive or deductive

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WHY OF READING TEXT

SKIM READING
SPECIFIC READING
IN-DEPTH READING

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SKIM READING

This is the strategy we employ when we want to

obtain a quick overview of a text.
We may

Be looking for something quite specific.

Be wanting to get a general idea before putting effort into
close reading.
Have already read the text thoroughly, and be wanting to
recall the main points.
ITS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR THOROUGH
READING
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SKIM READING

If you have any of the above reason for reading a

text, it will be helpful to:

Read the opening paragraph and the conclusion carefully

Read the first and last sentence of each remaining
paragraph to gain some idea of the main points.
Look for words and phrases that act as sign posts to the
main ideas or messages in the text, or that are clues to
anything specific you might be looking for.
Use a marker pen to mark out any items that you want to
re-read, or refer to later.
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SPECIFIC READING

This strategy is usually employed in conjunction with skim

reading.
It is especially useful if you are looking for specific
information which may be contained in a variety of books,
journals or articles.
The process is one of search and discovery. It requires you to
skim read, locate, mark and then return to close reading.
When doing this across a number of texts, you will need to
reference the materials as you proceed.

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IN-DEPTH READING

This is the most essential of all reading skills.

It involves reading a text thoroughly in
order to comprehend the ideas and
arguments it contains.
In-depth reading is consequently much
slower than skim reading, and you may find
that you need to read certain sections of a
difficult text more than once.
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IN-DEPTH READING

When reading in-depth it is useful to:

Read the opening paragraph and conclusion first. This will

help you to digest the intention and conclusion of the writer
prior to a closer reading of the text.
Go back to the beginning, and read through the whole text,
marking out and noting

Key words and phrases;

Ideas, facts and data you think are important;
The structure of the argument.

Make sure you understand the writers main ideas and

argument, and the overall message of the text.
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GENERAL STRATEGIES OF
EFFECTIVE READING

Be selective
Focus on the question and purpose in mind
Address what you already know about the topic
Check for relevancy
Preview the material (without taking notes, underlining,
highlighting, JUST SCAN) by reading abstracts, listened
objectives, heading, subheadings, introductions and
conclusions
Taking notes

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DIFFICULT MATERIAL

A text may be difficult to read because it:

Has unfamiliar structure & organization

Uses unfamiliar technical vocabulary
Uses an abstracs & impersonal style (uses ideas and relationship instead of
people and events)
Uses a compresses style (a computerized weather simulation project
rather than project using computers to simulate weather simulation)
Deals with concepts and ideas that a re new to the reader
Assumes that the reader has background knowledge which the reader may
not yet have
Has too much detail
Is badly written
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DEALING WITH DIFFICULT

MATERIALS

Choose a moderate amount of material or a chapter to begin

Get a grasp of how the material is organized:
(Scan
the section for titles, heading, sub-heading, and topic sentences to get its
general idea; pay attention to graphs, charts, and diagrams)
If there is a summary at the end of a chapter, read it
Check the beginning and the end for leading questions and exercises
Read first for what you do understand, and to determine difficulty.
Mark what you do not understand to review later.
As you read, practice the look-away method: (Periodically look away
from the text and ask yourself a stimulus question relating to the text)
Respond, or restate, in your own words
Make connection and association, but dont use this exercise to
memorizebut rather understand

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DEALING WITH DIFFICULT

MATERIALS

Look up words whose meaning are important to you understanding of

the material, but you can not discern from the context.
Read to the end (if needed)
Ideas
can become clearer the more you read. When you finish reading,
review to see what you have learned, and reread those ideas that are
not clear.
Organize your notes by connecting ideas.
If necessary, repeat. This allows your brain to process the material,
even while you sleep. This is referred to as distributed reading.
Re-read the section you have chosen with the framework (outline or
concept map) you have constructed in mind
Separate out what you do understand from what you do not.
If the reading is still a challenge, do not be hesitate consult with either
your teacher, academic counselors, or reading specialists.

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CRITICAL READING

Analyzing and evaluating what we read; to repeat,

working out what is good and what is not, and why
Critical reading is a further dimension of in-depth
reading
Reading a text critically means that you do not
accept what you are reading at face value; it means
that you question and judge the merit and worth of
the information it contains.
A number of inter-related process are involved in
critical reading: interpretation, analysis, synthesis,
and evaluation.
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CRITICAL READING

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Interpretation

When we read critically for interpretation, we

read to discover meaning in a text, that is, to
determine what conclusions can be drawn about
the various messages the text contains.
Sometimes, there is more than one possible
interpretation, and in such cases it is possible that
our reading may be directed at the best, or most
likely meaning.
Interpreting a text will also frequently involve the
processes of analysis and synthesis.
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Analysis

This is the problem by which we examine the way the

ideas and messages in a text fit together to create the
overall meaning.
When analyzing a text we focus on:

Identifying assumptions (ie. The hidden values that underlie what

a writer is saying e.q. that everyone who cleans their teeth uses
toothpaste, or that everyone is interested in Rugby);
The structure of the argument (ie,the development and sequence
of ideas, the relationship between ideas, whether the argument is
inductive or deductive);
The relationship between evidence/data and argument (ie.
whether the evidence supports and illustrated the argument, and
whether it supports any conclusions that are drawn).

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Synthesis

Synthesis usually occurs in conjunction with

analysis, and
Involves the drawing together of the results of the
analysis into a conclusion on which to base an
interpretation or evaluation.

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Evaluation

This is a process by which we establish the worth or merit of

a text.
Evaluation is a higher order process that involves all of the
other processes described so far, ie. interpretation, analysis,
and synthesis.
When evaluating a text we attempt to look at the ideas and
messages in a broader context. We might say this is a good
argument, but is it worth anything, does it have any merit? We
competing arguments, to establish the merit or worth of the
argument.

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Evaluation

How do we arrive at an estimate of merit or worth?

First we use interpretation to discover the meaning of the text.

Second we use analysis to determine whether the writer has a

consistent argument, and whether or not it is logical (ie. whether
it follows from the evidence presented, or supports the
proposition or thesis that has been put forward).

Third we can put a value on the case or argument.

To put a value on a case or argument we draw on:

Our own knowledge and expertise;

Other knowledge and expertise (eg. scholarly literature).

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ARE YOU READY TO DO

EFFECTIVE AND
CRITICAL READING??

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THANK YOU

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A WINNERS CREED
If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you dont;
If youd like to win, but think you cant,
Its almost a cinch you wont
If you think youll lose, youre lost,
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a persons faith;
Its all in the state of mind.
Lifes battles dont always go
To the stronger or faster hand;
They go to the one who trust in GOD
And always think I can
I can
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CME

Continuing Medical Evaluation

CPD

Continuing Professional Development

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