Crash Course Study Skills: Reading Effectively

Introduction

• Host: Thomas Frank
• Topic: Maximizing reading assignments
  • Boosting reading speed
  • Improving retention

Do You Need to Read Everything?

• Not all assigned reading is necessary
  • Time constraints often make it impractical
  • Overlap between lectures and reading material
• Cal Newport's framework
  • Prioritize readings from favored sources (main textbooks)
  • Be selective with supplemental readings
  • Hierarchy: Arguments > Descriptions > Context
• Class-specific strategies
  • Some classes mirror textbook content in lectures
  • Skimming might be necessary in others

Increasing Reading Speed

• Understanding reading limits
  • Humans have hard limits on reading speed due to eye structure
  • Key components: fovea, parafovea, and periphery
  • Reading involves saccades (eye movements) and fixations (pauses)
  • Working memory constraints limit processing speed
  • Regressions (re-reading) account for about 15% of reading time
• Natural reading speed
  • College-level: 200-400 words per minute
  • Beyond 400 wpm leads to skimming and lower comprehension

Critique of Speed Reading Techniques

• Inefficacy of techniques
  • Increasing fixation size is biologically tough
  • Rapid Serial Visual Processing (RSVP) skips function words and prohibits regressions
  • Subvocalization is important for comprehension

Improving Reading Skills

• Practice regularly
  • Read often and widely
  • Material should be suitably challenging
• Preventing daydreaming
  • Set time goals for chapters
• Pseudo-skimming technique
  • Skim but focus on main ideas and important elements

Remembering What You Read

• Highlighting pitfalls
  • Easy to over-highlight and mistake recognition for recall
  • Be selective with highlights
• Morse Code Method by Cal Newport
  • Dot for big ideas, dash for supporting examples
  • Helps avoid slowing down and takes smarter notes

Active Reading: SQ3R Method

• Survey: Pre-read, skim the assignment
• Question: Write down questions beforehand
• Read: Standard reading process
• Recite: Take notes or summarize
• Review: Effective review strategies will be covered later

Conclusion

• SCAR Method: Stop Complaining And Read
• Encouragement to practice and support Crash Course on Patreon

---

Crash Course Study Skills, hosted by Thomas Frank, provides strategies to efficiently tackle reading assignments by understanding reading priorities, increasing reading speeds, and employing active reading techniques.