Active reading

This week, for our reading task, we were asked to read 2 pages from The Open University about critical reading and active reading. I’ve always struggled with reading longer academic papers, but I found these pages to be a good place to start. I now know what I need to do to prepare for my reading tasks, how to stay focused and how to find the information I need from the text. I was unaware of the SQ3R strategy until I read the page on active reading, and I believe it will really help me in my work. 

I never really thought of having questions written down to answer after reading a paper for the first time. Knowing the purpose of the reading, the information I need and the task I need to complete based on my readings will greatly help me in this course. 


I put this strategy into use while reading “Using Student-Constructed Questions to Encourage Active Reading” by Ernest Balajthy. I was surprised to find that the paper was written in 1984, I typically wouldn’t question the publication year of what I read, I just tend to assume that it was published sometime within the last two years. I started off by asking myself what the purpose of this reading was. My answer was that it was to practice my active and critical reading skills, as well as my questioning skills. Balajthy promotes the idea of students practicing this skill independently at the end of the paper, which I found ironic. 


As I read, I kept looking for answers to my second question, which was what information I needed. I needed information on how to improve my active reading, and Balajthy includes an entire list of ways students can practice. Admittedly, the paper is more aimed at teachers than students, however I still found many great ways I could improve my active reading.


The task I needed to complete based on my reading was this exact blog, so I gave the paper a second read, making sure I hadn’t missed any important information that I could include in my blog.


I found the paper quite interesting, however I did struggle with the mainly teacher aimed approach at times. Regardless, I found this exercise really beneficial. I haven’t read in this way before and I’m looking forward to developing my skills in active and critical thinking throughout my course.

A shelf filled with old and new books 
By 5477687/127 Images on Pixabay


Reference list

Balajthy, E. (1984). Using Student-Constructed Questions to Encourage Active Reading. Journal of Reading, 27(5), 408–411 available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40032565

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