Sweat poured down the side of a sullen student’s brow as a clock clicked an anxious beat inside the person’s head. In less than an hour class would begin and the teacher was expecting discussion related to the reading from last week. Due to extracurricular activities and extenuating circumstances, this student was unable to complete the chapter work. Class participation is an important aspect of success in school. Luckily, this student had studied variable speed reading techniques. After wiping sweat from their brow, the student proceeds to read the chapter six times in the next 45 minutes. Reading the chapter once through, would normally take about 45 minutes yielding about 20 percent retention. However, utilizing the skill outlined below, the student gained a 50 percent retention of key concepts through practicing variable speed reading.
Steps:
- Prepare the book: Done at the start of the semester or before study begins.
- Pre-Reading: Five Seconds per page
- Questions: Ask questions about the chapter. Spend no more than ten minutes on this, unless you have extensive knowledge about the chapter as you may only need a couple concepts from the chapter. The challenge here is to know when you have reached the edge of your knowledge.
Write down what do you know about the subject already.
What is the point of the chapter?
Why are you being asked to read the chapter? - Mind-Map Notes: Skim and Scan the chapter at a rate of 15 seconds per page, jotting down one to four-word notes in a mind map. That is, somewhere on the page write the title of the chapter, circle it then write one to four-word descriptions of key words, concepts, and ideas. Sometimes it is important to us multiple mind maps per chapter, in this case leave the back of the map blank and use another sheet of paper.
- Scan for Complex Ideas: Read at 10 seconds per page.
Seek out ideas that are confusing and underline them for further review. - Re-Scan for any missed ideas:
- Review Mind Map: Five minutes, once per week for the next month, then once per month for three months.