Why It Matters: Reading Strategies

Why improve your reading skills in college?

Reading is important and it’s most of the work you’re supposed to do in college. Note that we’ve said “supposed to do.” Interestingly, there seems to be a strong split between professors and students when it comes to the importance of reading in college courses. According to a 2006 survey of Business professors and students, “ninety-five percent of the professors compared to 52.4% of the students believe that reading the textbook is important or very important to course grades.”[1]

Bar chart showing the difference in perception between students and professors about the importance of reading to course grades. 95% of professors thought "reading the textbook is important or very important to course grades." Only 52% of students thought so.

Figure 1. Just over half of students said that reading the textbook is very important to grades in a course, while nearly all professors emphasized its importance.

Let’s assume for now that the professors are right about this, and that reading is one of the keys to doing well in a college course. Easier said than done! This module will help you find strategies to read more effectively, so that you feel better prepared for class and more engaged with the material.

Writing Workshop: Your Working Document

Every component of the working document will be introduced throughout this module in a blue box such as this one.

Open The Working Document now and keep it open as you progress through the module.

  1. Go to the assignment for this module in your LMS. Click on the link to open the Working Document for this module as a Google Document.
  2. Choose “file” then “make a copy” to make your own version of the document. If you prefer to download it as a word or other file, you may.Screenshot of the file, make a copy, button inside of google docs
  3. Rename it as “YOUR NAME: Working Doc – Writing Essentials” and move it to a folder where you can easily find it.screenshot of copy document and renaming settings inside of google docs
  4. Next, go to the sharing settings and change it so that “Anyone with the link can comment.” This will enable your instructor to make comments on the document.Screenshot of GoogleDocs sharing settings set to "Anyone with the link can comment"
  5. Now hold onto this document—we’ll need it soon! (You’ll submit the link to your instructor once you’ve completed the Writing Workshop activities).

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  1. Braguglia, K. H. (2006). Perceptions of Reading Assignments: A Comparison of Business Students and Professors. Journal of College Teaching & Learning (TLC), 3(3). doi:10.19030/tlc.v3i3.1735 ↵