Master Your Textbook FasterUse the SQ3R systemThe SQ3R is probably the first truly systematic method for studying a textbook. It was developed by a University psychologist, Francis P. Robinson in 1941 and has been very popular since then. Almost all textbook study systems are either based on or inspired by this system. We shall provide some of these other systems later in the book.Perhaps this quote from Prof. Robinson on the benefits of the SQ3R system are in place:These five steps of the SQ3R system – Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review – should result in faster reading, and fixing of the important points in the memory. You will find one other worthwhile outcome. Quiz questions will seem familiar becuase the headings turned into questions are usually the points emphasized in quizzes. By predicting actual quiz questions and looking up the answers beforehand, you know that you are effectively studying what is considered important in the course.STEP 1. SURVEYA. How to Survey the Entire Text Book: When you read your textbook for the first time, get to know the entire textbook by doing the following:Read the Preface: Coming before the table of content, the preface is a brief essay in which an author gives reasons for writing the book. Not every book has a preface but authors who write them are giving a personal message to the reader. In the preface you get an idea of :- the kind of reader the author is writing for- the aims of the book- what the author expects you to learn as a result of reading it- the topics in the book and the best approaches to those topics.Assignment 1: Read “ Preface 1 & 2 ”in CD 2 / Preface & Table. This is the preface to “Legal Terminology” by Gordon W. Brown .Can you answer the following:1. What kind of readers has the author in mind?2. How does he provide opportunities for the student to use legal terminology?3. What has he provided by way of reinforcement?4. What is the emphasis in the book?5. What new features are included?6. What is the highlight of this particular edition?Study the table of contents. Please note the italics: yes, do study the table of contents just as a builder studies a blue print before starting on construction or a traveler studies a map before venturing into an unknown land. Look at the divisions and subdivisions and ask yourself : “what is the logic behind the author’s decision to include a particular topic or sub topic.?”By studying the table of contents, you get an idea of the overall organization of the book that in turn will help you understand how the author wants to present his material. Remember, the author and the publisher have spent countless hours on selecting the material and organizing it.If you can memorize the table of contents, it will be much easier for you to keep track of the ideas in the book. Just as with a road map you know exactly where you are in your journey, so the table of contents gives you the bearings in relation to the contents of the book.Run through the Index to see the number and types of words listed. You will get a glimpse of what topics are important, from the number of pages devoted to it.Check to see if there is a glossary or appendix.Note if there is an answer key at the end of the book.Assignment 2. Study the table of contents given in CD 2/ “Preface and Table ” folder .( Please note the Tables are marked from 5 -10 to correspond with the page numbers.)Make a one page Table of contents of only the 10 Parts of the book.B. How to Survey a specific chapter.After surveying the entire textbook, you are now ready to survey a specific chapter that you want to study in detail. If you have surveyed a text book titled; “LAQCs: What Are They and How Do They Operate? “ in your survey, you should1. Study the title: Do you know what an LAQC is? If not, look it up in the glossary, or the dictionary.2. Read the general objectives to the chapter if they are listed. They provide you important indicators regarding the major questions the chapter will try to address.3. Look over the headings, sub headings, and note the words in bold or italics. These are the words that you need to master when you have finished reading the chapter.4. Look at any diagrams, tables, and charts. Do they help to explain an LAQC or to answer questions that arise from the objectives?5. Read the chapter summaries and discussion questions at the end of the chapter to see what the author considers the most important issues for you to learn?STEP 2. QUESTION.Your survey of the chapter should enable you now to formulate questions. When you have questions to answer, your reading will be more focused. Questions have an intrinsic quality that makes us curious, and alert. Consider the following two sentences:(i) “The sky is blue “- notice the effect on your mind. You may respond – so what? Everyone knows that.(Ii) “Why is the sky blue? “ – notice the difference in your response?If there are no questions at the beginning or end of the chapter, make up your own questions by changing headings, sub headings, words and phrases in bold or italics into question.Use Rudyard Kipling’s “Five Wise Men” to formulate questions: Why, What, Who, When and How.As you already know very well, one of the most important skills that you will need to develop in your legal career is the ability to ask the right questions. Therefore, asking questions as you read, not only makes you an educated reader, but also a smart legal student. Interestingly, as you continue to ask questions, you will notice that the quality of your questions also increases, as well as your understanding of the text.Here is the punch line: you will soon realize that the questions that you ask yourself are the same questions that your tutor or lecturer will ask in class and in the examination!STEP 3: READKnowing the chapter’s organization, and having asked your own questions, you are now ready to read with a purpose and concentration. You should find a quiet area and time when your mind is the most alert.Remember the pacer in module 1. Do not read without a pencil. Mark your textbook, taking care not to fill the page with too many markings either. Develop your own system of colours and codes. Margins are best left to identify definitions, steps, cause or effect, and for insights!Do not be disheartened if you realize you need to re read. One of the commonest mistakes adult readers make is to expect to read, understand, and remember everything in the first pass.Read in a variety of ways: silently and at times aloud and sometimes with gestures as if, you were delivering a lecture.MARKING AND UNDERLINING TIPS:1. Double line = for main ideas. Underline only the key words of the main idea, not the entire sentence. If there are many ideas, number them 1, 2, 3 and so on or 1.1, 1.2 and so on in order to highlight their relationship to each other.2. Single Line: for major details. If there are several of them, again number them as you did for the main ideas.3. Asterisk; * in the margin: a very important point.4. Margin: make your own abbreviation to point out any example, step, cause or effect, or characteristic.5. Definitions: use your own special symbol for these.6. Questions Marks:? – when you do not understand or want to read more about it. Also, if you want to challenge the concept.7. Comments: write your own reflections in the margins: right/left or top/bottom. These could be insights, summaries, and references to similar concepts, rewording or your own thoughts.8. Do not begin marking at the very round of reading. Wait until the second or the third round.9. Use a consistent system.Assignment 3: Refer to the folder named “ Homicide “ in CD2. Study the four pages of Chapter 4.“ Homicide”.Print a copy and make your markings using the suggestions above.STEP 4: RECITE:Surveying, Questioning and Reading by themselves will not help you master a chapter in your textbook. If you cannot remember what you have read, you cannot claim to have learned the material. One method to ensure you have learned the material is to practice reciting from memory what you have just learned.Recite means speaking out what you have read but if you are self – conscious about hearing your own voice, it is okay to write down your notes. If you are not entirely happy about what you have written down, review your markings and notes in the textbook.At first read only for about 10 minutes and then recite. Gradually increase it to 15, 20 and then to 30 minutes. Soon you will be able to read for an hour at one sitting and give an accurate summary of what you have read.These summaries will be invaluable when the exam time comes around. You will not need to cram the whole textbook a few days before the exam. All you need to do will be to go over your notes.STEP 5: REVIEWReview your under linings of main ideas and supporting details.Carefully review all marginal notes – your comments and questionsRead your recite notes from the previous step.Review at least twice – once after your first reading and again a day or two later.MORE ON RECITE :The following notes are from the highly successful book “ How to Study in College” by Prof. Walter Pauk. The book is now in its 10 th edition.Prof. Pauk starts with the warning that forgetting is your major academic concern and the remedy he prescribes is recitation, which he calls a “powerful weapon.”i) “Recitation is to say out loud, in your own words, the major points and details of a paragraph you have just read, without looking at the printed page for help. Numerous studies show that alternately reading a paragraph and then reciting, then reading the next paragraph and reciting, and so on, leads to quicker learning and better remembering.”In support of this claim, Prof. Pauk states that reciting after each paragraph triggers mental and physical actions that1) promote concentration,2) form a sound basis for understanding the next paragraph.3) provide time for the memory trace to consolidate4) ensure that facts and ideas are remembered accurately, and5) provide immediate feedback on how you’re doing.To this list, I would add the fact that when you recite, you are adding the sense of sound to reading which is a visual task. – the actions of speaking and then hearing your own voice can trigger more mental neural pathways. Learning experts will tell you that the more senses are engaged in a learning task, the more likely that learning will take place.I am sure you will have experienced the truth of 5) above. When you recite and know that you know what you have read, it gives you a sense of confidence and encouragement to progress. Prof. Pauk further states that experiments have shown that the greater the proportion of reciting time, the greater the learning.Here are some practical tips from Prof. Pauk on how to recite:1) Simply cover the printed paragraph in your text book. If you have written cue words in the words in the margin, leave them exposed. Repeat the ideas of the paragraph aloud, in your own words2) Avoid mental mumbling; express the idea in complete sentences.3) If there is a list of items ideas or facts, enumerate them by saying, “first,” “second,” and so on.4) Do not fall into the trap of thinking that re-reading can take the place of reciting.( We learn by creating new neural paths in the brain. Reading a paragraph once, creates one neural path. Re-reading the same paragraph does not create a new neural path. A different approach is needed.)Note on Assignments : This is a chapter taken from my book :Master Your Legal Text Book Faster. The assignments related to this book.This article appears also on my WordPress blog QUANTUM SPEED READING