If You're Not Reading Your Textbooks Like This, You're Doing It Wrong

By Timothy Hayes on May 11, 2015

As a man in our machismo culture, few things make me cry. Wicked the Musical, when my friends get hurt, and buying textbooks can be said to be the times I cry.

We all know that struggle of looking at the course we have selected for the semester, seeing the textbooks required, tallying up the total, and falling into a heap of sadness when the amount is more than your rent for the month. Of course, we have to get the text books, one way or another, so there’s no way around it aside from used copies or renting.

Do you like my new $1000 TV stand? (image via www.reddit.com)

The sad fact is that for some classes, the only reason the course has a textbook is so that they can put it in the course. Most universities require a textbook for their courses, so even if the professor doesn’t need one, they are obliged to include one in their course and usually adjust accordingly so that you don’t waste money. That is not always the case though and some courses would be better off without textbooks. However, while you’ve got them, you might as well use them.

The textbooks used by professors are almost always a valuable resource on their own. Many are constructed as self-contained courses that you could, hypothetically, teach yourself. Consequently, they can be something of a second complimentary or supplementary course to go along with the actual in-class portion. This is ideally how textbooks should be used.

When you are given an assignment, check to see if there are any suggested pages or chapters for your book. Either these are crucial connecting points or else they provide excellent examples and context for the material you are learning. If the textbook is a novel or similar text, read the article carefully to pull out discussion material.

Repeated motifs and focuses topics the author describes are the most important factors to take away from reading. If you have the time, I’d recommend reading your chapters relevant to the next lecture before class. This way you have the context and clues and the professor can iron out the rest in class. This works well with professors who go chapter by chapter. If you want to do this in a class that’s arranged more loosely, ask the teacher if they have a day-by-day schedule for the lectures.

When reading the text, skim larger sections and look for key words and phrases. Repetition is there to draw the eye, so note things that are repeated. Vocabulary words you’ll probably know to write down, but make sure to find them, connect them together, and reword their definition in your own words. If you trip over one of them, ask the professor after the corresponding lecture. Make sure you can summarize the chapter yourself. Remember the question-answer format of note taking. This will help you get vocabulary, how it relates to the topic, dates, and how they play into each other.

When you go through the book, highlight sparingly. Vocab words are great things to highlight if the book hasn’t emboldened them already. Other suitable examples are the abstract of the concept, explaining whatever the main topic is. So if you’re discussing speech making and your chapter is about delivery, you might want to highlight important points that you can turn into bullet points. These make excellent points for notes later on.

“I’ll just highlight the important stuff.” (image thanks to sharpie.blog.com)

Write notes in the margins. Whatever you’re thinking. Well, not how attractive that one guy/girl across the library is, but about the text. If you’ve got a tangent the text made you think of, write it down. It could be useful later if you have an essay to write. Any questions can be written in the margins and the related section circled and connected to the question.

When you’re in class, have the book open. If you can manage to flip along with the professor, you’ll have a better idea of what’s going on. Also, this is the perfect time to raise your hand and ask those questions you scribbled down. By following along, you can ask questions other students might have and provoke a good discussion of the problem. Write down the answer in the book next to the question. This will also allow you to take notes from the book and the lecture at the same time. By taking notes from the book and the lecture, you get a bigger, better picture of the topic than if you just listened and took notes.

When going back through your book to study, make sure to look for those questions you asked and had answered. Those points will be important and helpful to remembering the whole lecture if you can jog your memory with a conversation you had with the professor. Look back for the vocabulary words or dates and make some flashcards out of those. From the tangents and questions you asked, look and see if you can continue down those trains of thought. Usually these make good avenues of approach when tackling a paper.

You have to buy them, so you might as well use them. Crack the spine, dog-ear the pages, and scribble vigorously. Even most rentals will let you take notes in the book, so keep reading and keep writing.

For more on note taking, check out my article on the topic here.

If you need a refresher on close reading, check out this one.

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