Absorbing information from reading.

[sandandfoam]

I have a lot of reading to do this year. I am always concerned that I could be absorbing more. Do any of you use any techniques to increase the amount of info. you absorb from reading? If so can you share please?

 

[3.14]

use intresting ways to store and absorb the data the more it intrest you the better its stored

 

[Peace]

Before reading I make some supplications "prayers" in order to absorb more and memorize.

 

[McBell]

I have found that I retain more if I read right before going to bed.
Don't know if it will help you or not, though.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

The best way is to take notes - but it slows me down while I read.

I alternate between taking notes in a notebook as I read - or taking a break every half hour or so and outline what I have just read. I will also take down page numbers and cross-reference my notes.

And I create annotated bibliographies.

 

[doppelganger]

Read to assimilate information rather than remember it. Build your understanding of the ideas as you read and follow the progression of the author's logic. Once you have a framework for understanding the author's work, you'll find it's much easier to remember because you can fill in the blanks in your memory yourself with some accuracy based on your understanding of what the argument would require in those spots where your memory fails you.


It also helps to be the offspring of a parent with a photographic memory.

 

[doppelganger]

I would second Nate's suggestion for outlines. Great habit to get into while you're developing skills for reading comprehension. Even better: flow charts. You really have to bring yourself to understand the material to chart it out systematically from beginning to end. It depends on the material though. Some things just don't lend themselves to that kind of treatment.

If you do either of these things regularly, eventually it will become second nature to do it as you're reading. Ubung macht den meister!

 

[angellous_evangellous]

It also helps to be the offspring of a parent with a photographic memory.

If I had only known you in grade school.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Also, I've found that listening to Willie Nelson while reading greatly enhances retention.

 

[doppelganger]

Also, I've found that listening to Willie Nelson while reading greatly enhances retention.

Yes, but sooner or later you'll still have to exhale.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I have a lot of reading to do this year. I am always concerned that I could be absorbing more. Do any of you use any techniques to increase the amount of info. you absorb from reading? If so can you share please?

Here's one technique I came up with when I don't want to go whole-hog and do up actual notes:

- read a page, paragraph, section, etc.
- think about what the key points are.
- say those points aloud so you can hear them.

The idea behind it is to engage a number of different learning styles (reading, cognition/analysis, speaking, listening) rather than just one (reading). People tend to be strongest in one or two learning styles (which might not include reading), and tend to learn better, at least in a classroom setting, when multiple learning styles are engaged at once.

This technique works for me, but I don't know if there's some educational psychologist somewhere rolling over in his or her grave because I'm applying ideas about learning styles and multiple intelligences in ways that just aren't valid.

 

[doppelganger]

This technique works for me, but I don't know if there's some educational psychologist somewhere rolling over in his or her grave because I'm applying ideas about learning styles and multiple intelligences in ways that just aren't valid.

I've tried to read up on education psychology to improve my reading comprehension and retention, but I just haven't been able to get anything out of it.

 

[McBell]

The best way is to take notes - but it slows me down while I read.

I alternate between taking notes in a notebook as I read - or taking a break every half hour or so and outline what I have just read. I will also take down page numbers and cross-reference my notes.

And I create annotated bibliographies.

This is something else that helps me retain information.
Writing down what I want to retain helps.
And the more times I write it, the better my chances of retaining it.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I've tried to read up on education psychology to improve my reading comprehension and retention, but I just haven't been able to get anything out of it.

My limited exposure to the field wasn't really through reading... I was a teaching assistant briefly and we took a course on how to teach. I only really got an overview on multiple intelligences; it all mainly boiled down to "people learn in different ways, so teach in different ways. Don't just stand in front of the class and speak; mix things up a bit."