One of the goals of this course is to help you learn how to read scientific materials.  Later in life you’ll find that sometimes the only way to learn new things is by reading; it’s an absolutely essential skill.  But there’s no reason why reading scientific materials should be easy, innate, or the same as reading poetry, USA Today, or romance novels.

The first thing to know about much science writing is that it is information dense.  That is, it seems like there is a new idea in every sentence and every paragraph.  This can make for slow reading since it’s generally quite important that you understand each idea before moving on to the next idea.  Science writing, like science classes, tends to be linear and cumulative.  If you don’t understand paragraph one, it’s unlikely that the paragraphs that follow will become understandable.

When I ask you to read Chapter 2, I am not making the assignment perfectly clear.  Most students interpret this assignment to mean that they should just open their books and begin reading. and not stop until all the words have been read.  This is not a good way to read.  It is slow and often ineffective.  What I expect you to do is to read, worry about, understand, and master the material of Chapter 2.

And how do you do that?

1. Get to know the text. (You should do this before your first reading assignment.)

   The preface may or may not be worth reading but you should at least look it over. Sure go ahead and read it. It shouldn’t take long.

   Start by paging through the entire book. Note topics that you know, kind of know, or have no clue. Be totally unimpressed by how much you don’t understand. If you understood the textbook then you’d be in the wrong class.

   Study the structure of the textbook. What are the topics of the chapters? How are the chapters divided? What kind of highlighting and/or color-code is used? Is there a summary at the end of the chapter? Is there a set of objectives at the beginning of the chapter? Are there examples and exercises imbedded in the text or are they all at the end? What are the levels of the problems? Are there different levels? If so, how are they marked?

   Remember that you are learning a science -- a large and interrelated collection of questions, answers, mathematics, and procedures. What you are looking for now is getting an overview of that science.

   Take your time. The textbook will be your constant companion for a while and you had better get to know its strengths and weaknesses pretty well.
   
    

2. Preview the material.

   Reading assignments are made before the material will be covered in class.  If possible, always do your reading assignment before the class where it will be covered in by lecture, discussion, or any other method of teaching.

   Go over the chapter and make careful note of new ideas, new terms and techniques which you do not know yet.  Study the questions at the end of the chapter and try and think what it will take to answer those questions/problems.  “Pre-read” at a more rapid pace just to get a sense of the overall picture.

   Only the brightest, fastest-uptake folks are going to understand science writing on the first reading.  I assume that you’ll have to read and re-read some paragraphs or sections several times.  If all of this science stuff were easy and obvious, we’d probably have lots more scientists.  Only those who persist and are tenacious are likely to succeed.

    

3. Decide what you will learn from the chapter.

   Now that you have a decent grasp of what new material is coming your way, sit down and decide what you will learn from this chapter. Make a list of questions or develop an outline; the important thing is to read the chapter with attention and the intent to fill in gaps in your understanding.

   You need to be careful. Reading science is not just reading words.  It’s reading equations, reading tables of data, and reading graphs.  (Science textbooks also have lots of beautiful pictures in them; some of these are important and should be studied and some of these are just nice looking pictures to break up the text.)   When reading equations you must make sure that you understand all the variables and the physical interpretation of the mathematical equation.  Simple algebraic equations are... well, simple.  But look carefully at exponential and logarithmic equations to make sure you see the relationships being expressed.  Data tables should be closely examined.  Do trends in data support general relationships or are exceptions seen?  What is the purpose of the data table in the book?   Graphs are extremely important.  Study the x- and y-axes carefully and make sure you know what’s being plotted.  Is the plot linear or not?  How does this relate to some equation?  Why is the plot included at all?  Proving something?  Are there data that don’t fall on the general curve or trend?  Graphs need to be digested slowly.  They often contain lots of information and scientists love to use graphs.  Know them; love them.

    

4. Read a section.

Now that you have a plan go ahead and read the chapter.  Grab your textbook, a dictionary, some pens/pencils and get thyself to a quiet place where you won’t be distracted.  Read slowly and thoughtfully.  Be prepared to stop and think as you read.  Reading just to “get through the material” is a waste of time.  Read small amounts at one time.  Most people can read faster than they can think; so, it is good to read in many short periods rather than one long period.  For example, reading for 45 minutes twice is better than reading for 90 minutes at once.  Read actively. Ask questions, take notes, apply what you learn as you go along.

 Read the text with a dictionary close by.  It’s expected that you’ll run into words that you don’t know; that’s OK as long as you figure them out before continuing.  Everyone has had the experience of reading something and not understanding it.  It’s what you do after that happens that defines who you are and influences your probability of success as a student.  If you are interested in learning, you will re-read and concentrate and make notes as you read.  If you are interested only in “completing the reading assignment” (which means passing your eyes over all the words at least once - with or without understanding) then all of your reading will be easy and fast and worthless.

 

5. Make it your own.

Normally just reading the textbook (even carefully) will not be enough to remember the material, apply it, or use it to construct a larger understanding. For that to happen you will need to keep working with the new material until you have it firmly in your mind. But how you do that depends on what works for you. If you are a auditory learner you might do best to read your notes out loud; if you are a visual learner you might try making a concept map out of your notes. Create flash cards, draw diagrams, whatever will help you make this new knowledge your own.  If you have never taken a learning style inventory, please see me.

Remember these techniques require practice to learn.  The more you practice the better you will become.  The more reading skills you use, the better you will read and understand.  More skills give you ways to change how you read if you do not understand.

 

6. Review the material.

   Once you have internalized the material you cannot let it rest dormant. You have to keep using the knowledge, ideas, techniques constantly. So if you move to a new way of doing things come back to this material every once in a while for review. The outcome of biology is a comprehensive and coherent description of life. We (and you) must constantly weave our new understanding with our old. Everything you learn should be ready and on hand, to use again and again.