5 Effective Ways to Understand What You Read – Adult Learner – Part 3 of 4

In the last two segments, I shared with you what you need to do if you want to be successful in your studies as an adult learner. Here, I will share with you how you should study your subject so that you have a better understanding of what you are reading, be it your textbook or class notes.

In order to understand what you are studying, remember the following acronyms:
PQRIT This means:

PREVIEW what you read

Ask questions

READ effectively

INFER what you have read

TEST yourself constantly

1. PREVIEW what you read

This is taken for granted in practice. Many students talk about it, but do not fully practice it. Studying effectively is almost as similar to watching a movie.

Ask yourself what do you normally do before seeing a movie in a theater?

Most likely, you want to know what the movie you are going to see is about. You may have seen the trailer and you may have read the movie review in the newspapers. You have simply “previewed” the movie before watching it.

This is exactly what you should do when reading your textbook or class notes. When you preview your text and lecture notes, what you are doing is primarily generating interest and this will motivate you to engage fruitfully in your studies.

2. Ask QUESTIONS

Questions and more questions will lead you to the path of success in your studies. Even before reading or reviewing a topic, ask questions about what you are about to do. Your questions can be structured using: “who, what, when, where, why and how”. As cliché as it is, asking questions generates interest and also allows you to identify what are the key points you need to know and perhaps need clarification. The questions will also allow you to identify your weak areas and make you try harder in those areas. As I mentioned in my previous segment, adults are basically self-directed learners, so you need to focus on what you want to know and discover. What better way to do that than by asking questions?

3. READ effectively

After you have asked as many questions as possible about what you are about to read, you can start reading your textbook, notes, etc. Keep a notepad by your side and use your finger or a stylus to scroll through the pages you’re reading. Take note of key concepts and phrases. Write them in your notepad. When you practice this conscientiously, you will notice that your ability to concentrate improves and you are not easily distracted. I’m sure you know that most textbooks are relatively boring and difficult to follow. Therefore, the only way to make sense of it is to make inferences from what you are reading. This is the next stage.

4. INFER what you have read

When you learn to infer, you’ll learn to see the connection between what you’re reading and how it relates to the big picture. By inference, what is meant is trying to repeat the main idea of ​​each topic in your own words. When you put it in your own words, it shows that you are able to make sense of what you are reading.

One way to do this is to see how the chapter you are reading fits in with the rest of the material you are reading. Inference skills are especially important in studies, as you need to analyze what you are learning in order to understand it.

TEST yourself constantly

This is the final stage. Test your understanding by summarizing the entire chapter and include as many facts and details from each subheading as you find in the chapter you have read.

Visualize yourself as a lecturer or teacher who is trying to teach this chapter to an imaginary audience (the real one is even better). That’s why I mentioned in my previous segment to involve your family. By involving your spouse or children, you could make this an enjoyable endeavor by having them ask you questions about what you’re reading or explain what you’ve read. If you are able to make them understand, just show that you understand.

When you make this concerted effort, you may be pleasantly surprised at how much information you know.

In the next segment, I’ll share with you how to prepare and write an exam.