Comprehensive Study Guide to College Reading and Study Skills Fourteenth Edition

Preface and New Features of the Fourteenth Edition

• Integration of Skills: College Reading and Study Skills, Fourteenth Edition, by Kathleen T. McWhorter and Brette McWhorter Sember, emphasizes that reading and study skills are inseparable and interdependent. The text utilizes a direct, "how-to" approach for instruction.
• New to the Fourteenth Edition:
  • Discipline-Specific Reading: Chapter $12$ focuses on reading and thinking critically in social sciences, history, life and physical sciences, mathematics, literature, humanities, and career fields. It addresses decision-making, problem-solving, creative thinking, and scientific thinking.
  • Critical Thinking Emphasis: "Thinking Critically" boxes are now featured in every chapter to demonstrate relevance to content (e.g., evaluating highlighting effectiveness in Chapter $4$).
  • Digital Reading Skills: Success Workshop $1$, "Read and Learn Online," covers differences between print and digital reading, focusing strategies, and online challenges.
  • Fake News Coverage: Success Workshop $6$ defines fake news and offers strategies for identifying and evaluating information literacy.
  • Thematic Reading Updates: Part Six includes new themes on non-traditional addictions (Netflix, addictive consumption, food addiction) and discrimination (anti-Muslim bigotry, racial profiling, single-person discrimination). Controversy in science (designer babies, ocean plastic, global warming) is retained.
  • Chapter Reorganization: Chapter $1$ now includes digital study aids such as electronic time management tools and notetaking organizers.

Success Workshop 1: Reading and Learning Online

• Digital Statistics:
  • More than one quarter of all college students (approximately $28\%$) take at least one online course.
  • In a recent survey, $55\%$ of college students reported that at least one instructor required an electronic textbook.
• Print vs. Digital Reading:
  • Linear vs. Multi-directional: Print text is linear (beginning to end). Digital text is multi-directional due to hyperlinks.
  • Progression: Moving via scrolling encourages faster reading but often leads to skimming and less careful reading.
  • Distractions: Shifting screens, varying print sizes, and graphics draw attention away from content.
  • Multitasking: Approximately $95\%$ of students report multitasking while reading digital content, compared to only $1\%$ for print.
  • Decision-Making: Digital readers must constantly decide whether to follow links or read graphics, which can divert concentration.
• Strategies for Online Focus and Concentration:
  • Recognize that digital reading requires as much (or more) time and effort as print.
  • Evaluate sources and hyperlinks for accuracy.
  • Filter out visuals/distractions mentally based on reading purpose.
  • Decide on hyperlinks: either ignore them, read the text first then go back, or follow only necessary ones.
  • Use digital counterparts to active strategies: paraphrasing, highlighting/annotating (if supported), and mapping.
  • Subject digital content to "close and careful scrutiny and analysis."
• Online Learning Aids:
  • Online Quizzes: Assessment tools providing immediate feedback.
  • Electronic Flash Cards: Vocabulary aids, sometimes including images (especially in biology and psychology).
  • Research Citations: Hyperlinks to original source materials.
  • Helpful Links: Resources for deepening knowledge of a topic.
  • Class Message Boards: Tools for collaborative learning.

Success Workshop 2: Managing Your Electronic Life

• Usage Statistics:
  • One study reports college women spend an average of $10$ hours a day on cell phones; men spend almost $8$ hours.
  • In $2012$, $6.7$ million students were taking at least one online class. Top programs include business, health care, and computer science.
• The Storage Interruption Mechanism: Memory storage resembles physical filing. Interrupting a task to check a text message loses the current "file"; the brain must reset and refocus, making study time less productive.
• Technological Management Strategies:
  • Mobile Devices: Turn off ringer and vibrations. If necessary, put the device in another room or in a car during class/study.
  • E-mail: Check at designated times (e.g., lunch or between classes) rather than constantly.
  • Text Messages: Establish "text-free" study blocks.
  • Apps: Keep productive tools (dictionaries, calendars) on the main screen; move social/entertainment apps to later screens.
  • Social Media/Webcams: Use programs like Skype or Facebook only for collaborative group projects or study pages.
• Charge-Taking Guidelines:
  • Technology is a tool, not a director of behavior.
  • Create separate "school" and "social" zones for technology use.
  • Unplug daily, especially before bedtime.

Chapter 1: First Steps to Academic Success - Time and Goals

• Establishing Goals and Priorities:
  • Identify "Want to" vs. "Should do" conflicts.
  • Goal Guidelines: Must be positive (what you want), realistic (based on evidence), achievable (specific, e.g., "buy a house by $30$"), and worth the investment of time/training.
• Analyzing Time Commitments:
  • Total hours in a week: $168$ hours.
  • Class-to-Study Ratio: For every hour in class, instructors expect approximately $2$ hours of study ($hours \ spent \ in \ class \times 2 = study \ hours \ needed$).
• Building a Term Plan: A list of unchanging commitments (classes, transportation, family, job, sleep, meals, sports). This serves as the skeleton for weekly schedules.
• Creating a Weekly Schedule:
  • Assess workload every Sunday evening.
  • Record fixed appointments (doctors, etc.) first.
  • Include $10$-minute breaks after $50$ to $60$ minutes of study.
  • Build in a buffer before switching subjects to allow the mind to refocus.
• Study Order Recommendations:
  • Study difficult subjects first: The mind is freshest at the start of a session.
  • Leave routine/mechanical tasks for later.
  • Schedule study close to the class meeting (the evening before or soon after).
• Time-Saving Tips:
  • Use smartphone calendars for notifications/reminders.
  • Use "spare moments" (waiting for a ride or pizza) for quick reviews.
  • Combine activities (e.g., doing laundry while outlining a chapter).
  • Use daily to-do lists in notes apps.

Controlling Procrastination and Positive Thinking

• The "Why" of Procrastination: Often involves putting off tedious, difficult, or uninteresting tasks, or tasks where skills/information are lacking.
• Management Strategies:
  • Clear clutter and avoid stimulus overload.
  • Break tasks into manageable parts.
  • The "Five-Minute Start": Commit to just $5$ minutes to lower the barrier to entry.
  • Avoid "easy-task" procrastination (e.g., cleaning the room instead of studying).
• Positive Attitude Adjustments:
  • Instead of "This is boring," say "I'll give myself a reward when I finish."
  • Instead of "I'll never remember this," say "I'll highlight what is important for later review."
  • Acknowledge that instructors assign work because it is important, even if the immediate utility isn't obvious.

Analyzing Learning and Teaching Styles

• Learning Style Questionnaire Aspects:
  1. Auditory vs. Visual: Preference for listening vs. seeing (print/pictures/diagrams).
  2. Applied vs. Conceptual: Preference for real objects/situations vs. language/ideas.
  3. Spatial vs. Verbal: Ability to mentally visualize positions vs. relying on language skills.
  4. Social vs. Independent: Preference for group/peer interaction vs. studying alone.
  5. Creative vs. Pragmatic: Imaginative/risk-taking approach vs. logical/systematic/rule-following approach.
• Action Plan for Learning:
  • Auditory: Talk aloud, record lectures/notes, listen to podcasts.
  • Visual: Use mapping, visualization, and videos.
  • Applied: Associate ideas with practical case studies/examples.
  • Conceptual: Focus on thought patterns and outlining.
  • Spatial: Draw diagrams, charts, and sketches.
  • Verbal: Write summaries and translate diagrams into language.
  • Social: Join study groups or work with a tutor.
  • Independent: Use online tutorials and self-tutorial packages.
  • Creative: Use annotation and experimentation.
  • Pragmatic: Use structured environments and step-by-step lists.
• Understanding Teaching Styles:
  • Instructors have styles corresponding to the five categories above.
  • If a style mismatch occurs (e.g., a visual learner with an auditory lecturer), the student must reorganize the material (e.g., by taking exceptionally detailed notes or drawing diagrams after the lecture).

Meeting Instructor Expectations

• The Course Syllabus: A critical operational document including required texts, policies, objectives, attendance rules, grades, and due dates.
• Responsibility for Learning: In college, class time is limited; instructors define content, but students are responsible for the actual learning process.
• Concepts vs. Facts: Facts are a starting point; instructors expect analysis and understanding of principles, trends, and significance.
• Ideas vs. "Right Answers": Essay-style thinking involves defending or criticizing arguments with logic and evidence rather than finding a single correct solution.
• Evaluation of New Ideas: Critical inquiry involves asking for evidence, considering opposing views, and exploring implications and assumptions.
  • Assumption: A firm belief that something is true without evidence.
  • Implication: An idea suggested but not stated directly.

Active Learning and Thinking

• Active vs. Passive Learning:
  • Passive: Copying everything, reading only once, and rote memorization.
  • Active: Identifying important points, asking questions, connecting ideas to background knowledge, and predicting exam questions.
• Digital Study Aids:
  • Quizlet: Flash cards and games.
  • Evernote: Platform for notes and research.
  • Schooltraq: Digital assignment planner.
  • GoConqr: Tool for creating digital maps.
  • Google Docs: Collaborative editing/sharing.
• Levels of Thinking (Bloom/Anderson):
  1. Remembering: Recalling dates or definitions.
  2. Understanding: Explaining ideas/directions.
  3. Applying: Using info in new situations (e.g., using formulas to solve a new physics problem).
  4. Analyzing: Seeing relationships/breaking info into parts.
  5. Evaluating: Making judgments/assessing value.
  6. Creating: Synthesizing ideas into a unique new format (e.g., designing a webpage).
• Note: Critical thinking includes the top three levels (Analyzing, Evaluating, Creating).

Sample Syllabus: Human Anatomy and Physiology I (BIO 201)

• Instructor: Dr. Jack Eberhardt.
• Office: $322 \ Olympic \ Towers$.
• Contact: E-mail response time up to $48$ hours; no text messages.
• Grading: Based on $3$ multiple-choice exams and $12$ weekly lab reports.
• Dates: Exams on October $17$, November $15$, and December $8$.
• Policies: Attendance required for lecture and lab. No make-up labs. Missed exams/labs require written documentation or result in a grade of zero.

Communication Without Words (Case Study)

• Forms of Nonverbal Communication:
  1. Facial Expressions and Body Movements: Rolling eyes (impatience), bent posture (shyness).
  2. Gestures: Waving, pointing, checking a phone to indicate time constraint.
  3. Haptics: Communication through touch, such as a hand on a back for sympathy or tickling an infant.