7 Habits of

Stephen R. Covey's book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People®, has been a
Highly
top-seller for the simple reason that it ignores trends and pop psychology for
Effective
proven principles of fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity. Celebrating
People »
its fifteenth year of helping people solve personal and professional problems, this
Habit 1 »
special anniversary edition includes a new foreword and afterword written by
Habit 2 »
Covey exploring the question of whether the 7 Habits are still relevant and
Habit 3 »
answering some of the most common questions he has received over the past 15
Habit 4 »
years.

home These quick-reference guides are a great introduction to academic skills - but
we recommend you follow them up with the more detailed study guides.
Learning Styles -
what are they and
how can they help
you study
effectively?
Concentration
and Time
Management -
learn to make the
most of your study
time
Reading skills -
how to use
different reading
styles to save time
and active reading
to learn more
Lectures and
taking notes -
don't just sit there!
Tips on how to
engage your brain
during lectures
Gathering
information and
using the library -
how to gather and
cite references in
your assignments
Seminars,
tutorials and
group projects -
learning to
contribute and
work as part of a
team
Giving
presentations -
how to prepare and
deliver a talk,
including tips on
coping with nerves
Planning Essays
and Assignments -
simple steps to
improve your
essays and reports
Writing Essays
and Assignments -
how to turn your
plan into thousands
of words
Writing
scientifically -
learn to use a clear,
objective style and
structure for your
essays and reports
Revising for and
taking exams -
effective revision
techniques that
minimise stress
Why are you
here? - gaining
 key skills for your
career

10 Habits of Highly Effective Students

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The key to becoming an effective student is learning how to study smarter, not harder. This
becomes more and more true as you advance in your education. An hour or two of studying a
day is usually sufficient to make it through high school with satisfactory grades, but when
college arrives, there aren't enough hours in the day to get all your studying in if you don't know
how to study smarter.

While some students are able to breeze through school with minimal effort, this is the exception.
The vast majority of successful students achieve their success by developing and applying
effective study habits. The following are the top 10 study habits employed by highly successful
students. So if you want to become a succesful student, don't get discouraged, don't give up, just
work to develop each of the study habits below and you'll see your grades go up, your
knowledge increase, and your ability to learn and assimilate information improve.

1. Don't attempt to cram all your studying into one

session.
Ever find yourself up late at night expending more energy trying to keep your eyelids open than
you are studying? If so, it's time for a change. Successful students typically space their work out
over shorter periods of time and rarely try to cram all of their studying into just one or two
sessions. If you want to become a successful student then you need to learn to be consistent in
your studies and to have regular, yet shorter, study periods.

2. Plan when you're going to study.

Successful students schedule specific times throughout the week when they are going to study --
and then they stick with their schedule. Students who study sporadically and whimsically
typically do not perform as well as students who have a set study schedule. Even if you're all
caught up with your studies, creating a weekly routine, where you set aside a period of time a
few days a week, to review your courses will ensure you develop habits that will enable you to
succeed in your education long term.
3. Study at the same time.
Not only is it important that you plan when you're going to study, it's important you create a
consistent, daily study routine. When you study at the same time each day and each week, you're
studying will become a regular part of your life. You'll be mentally and emotionally more
prepared for each study session and each study session will become more productive. If you have
to change your schedule from time to time due to unexpected events, that's okay, but get back on
your routine as soon as the event has passed.

4. Each study time should have a specific goal.

Simply studying without direction is not effective. You need to know exactly what you need to
accomplish during each study session. Before you start studying, set a study session goal that
supports your overall academic goal (i.e. memorize 30 vocabulary words in order to ace the
vocabulary section on an upcoming Spanish test.)

5. Never procrasitinate your planned study session.

It's very easy, and common, to put off your study session because of lack of interest in the
subject, because you have other things you need to get done, or just because the assignment is
hard. Successful students DO NOT procrastinate studying. If you procrastinate your study
session, your studying will become much less effective and you may not get everything
accomplished that you need to. Procrastination also leads to rushing, and rushing is the number
one cause of errors.

6. Start with the most difficult subject first.

As your most diffult assignment or subject will require the most effort and mental energy, you
should start with it first. Once you've completed the most difficult work, it will be much easier to
complete the rest of your work. Believe it or not, starting with the most difficult subject will
greatly improve the effectiveness of your study sessions, and your academic performance.

7. Always review your notes before starting an

assigment.
Obviously, before you can review your notes you must first have notes to review. Always make
sure to take good notes in class. Before you start each study session, and before you start a
particular assignment, review your notes thoroughly to make sure you know how to complete the
assignment correctly. Reviewing your notes before each study session will help you remember
important subject matter learned during the day, and make sure studying targeted and effective.

8. Make sure you're not distracted while you're studying.

Everyone gets distracted by something. Maybe it's the TV. Or your family. Or maybe it's too
quite. Some people actually study better with a little background noise. When you're distracted
while you're studying you (1) loose your train of thought and (2) you're unable to focus -- both of
which will lead to very ineffective studying. Before you start studying find a place where you
won't be disturbed or distracted. Some people this is a quite cubical in the recesses of the library.

9. Use study groups effectively.

Ever heard the phrase "two heads are better than one"? Well this can be especially true when it
comes to studying. Working in groups enables you to (1) get help from others when you're
struggling to understand a concept, (2) complete assignments more quickly, and (3) teach others
whereby helping both the other students and yourselve to internalize the subject matter.
However, study groups can become very ineffective if they're not structured and if groups
members come unprepared. Effective students use study groups effectively.

10. Review your notes, schoolwork and other class

materials over the weekend.
Successful students review what they've learned during the week over the weekend. This way
they're well prepared to continue learning new concepts that build upon previous coursework and
knowledge acquired the previous week.

We're confident that if you'll develop the habits outlined above that you'll see a major
improvement in your academic success.

What Is Critical Reading?

Note: These remarks are primarily directed at non-fictional texts.

Facts v. Interpretation
To non -critical readers, texts provide facts.  Readers gain knowledge by memorizing the statements
within a text.

To the critical reader, any single text provides but one portrayal of the facts, one individual’s “take” on the
subject matter. Critical readers thus recognize not only what a text says, but also how that text portrays
the subject matter.  They recognize the various ways in which each and every text is the unique creation
of a unique author.

A non-critical reader might read a history book to learn the facts of the situation or to discover an
accepted interpretation of those events. A critical reader might read the same work to appreciate how a
particular perspective on the events and a particular selection of facts can lead to particular
understanding.

What a Text Says, Does, and Means: Reaching for an Interpretation

Non-critical reading is satisfied with recognizing what a text says and restating the key remarks.

Critical reading goes two steps further.  Having recognized what a text  says , it reflects on what the text
does  by making such remarks.  Is it offering examples?  Arguing?  Appealing for sympathy?  Making a
contrast to clarify a point? Finally, critical readers then infer what the text, as a whole,   means , based on
the earlier analysis.

These three steps or modes of analysis are reflected in three types of reading and discussion:

 What a text says     – restatement

 What a text does    – description
  What a text means – interpretation .

You can distinguish each mode of analysis by the subject matter of the discussion:

 What a text says – restatement – talks about the same topic as the original text
 What a text does – description – discusses aspects of the discussion itself
 What a text means – interpretation — analyzes the text and asserts a meaning for the text as a
whole

Goals of Critical Reading

Textbooks on critical reading commonly ask students to accomplish certain goals:

 to recognize an author’s purpose           

 to understand tone and persuasive elements
 to recognize bias

Notice that none of these goals actually refers to something on the page. Each requires inferences from
evidence within the text:

 recognizing purpose involves inferring a basis for choices of content and language
 recognizing tone and persuasive elements involves classifying the nature of language choices
 recognizing bias involves classifying the nature of patterns of choice of content and language 

Critical reading is not simply close and careful reading. To read critically, one must actively recognize and
analyze evidence upon the page.

Analysis and Inference: The Tools of Critical Reading

These web pages are designed to take the mystery out of critical reading. They are designed to show you
what to look for ( analysis ) and how to think about what you find ( inference ) .

The first part —what to look for— involves recognizing those aspects of a discussion that control the
meaning.

The second part —how to think about what you find— involves the processes of inference, the
interpretation of data from within the text.

Recall that critical reading assumes that each author offers a portrayal of the topic. Critical reading thus
relies on an examination of those choices that any and all authors must make when framing a
presentation: choices of content, language, and structure. Readers examine each of the three areas of
choice, and consider their effect on the meaning.

What is Critical Reading?

Reading critically does not, necessarily, mean being critical of what you read.

Both reading and thinking critically don’t mean being ‘critical’ about some idea, argument, or
piece of writing - claiming that it is somehow faulty or flawed. 
Critical reading means engaging in what you read by asking yourself questions such as, ‘what is
the author trying to say?’ or ‘what is the main argument being presented?’

Critical reading involves presenting a reasoned argument that evaluates and analyses what you
have read.  Being critical, therefore - in an academic sense - means advancing your
understanding, not dismissing and therefore closing off learning.

See also: Listening Types to learn about the importance of critical listening skills.

To read critically is to exercise your judgement about what you are reading – that is, not
taking anything you read at face value. 

When reading academic material you will be faced with the author’s interpretation and opinion. 
Different authors will, naturally, have different slants. You should always examine what you are
reading critically and look for limitations, omissions, inconsistencies, oversights and arguments
against what you are reading. 

In academic circles, whilst you are a student, you will be expected to understand different
viewpoints and make your own judgements based on what you have read.

Critical reading goes further than just being satisfied with what a text says, it also involves
reflecting on what the text describes, and analysing what the text actually means, in the context
of your studies.

As a critical reader you should reflect on:

 What the text says:  after critically reading a piece you should be able to take notes,
paraphrasing - in your own words - the key points.
 What the text describes: you should be confident that you have understood the text sufficiently
to be able to use your own examples and compare and contrast with other writing on the
subject in hand.
 Interpretation of the text: this means that you should be able to fully analyze the text and state
a meaning for the text as a whole.

Critical reading means being able to reflect on what a text says, what it describes and what it
means by scrutinizing the style and structure of the writing, the language used as well as the
content.
Critical Thinking is an Extension of Critical Reading

Thinking critically, in the academic sense, involves being open-minded - using judgement and
discipline to process what you are learning about without letting your personal bias or opinion
detract from the arguments. 

Critical thinking involves being rational and aware of your own feelings on the subject – being
able to reorganise your thoughts, prior knowledge and understanding to accommodate new ideas
or viewpoints. 

Critical reading and critical thinking are therefore the very foundations of true learning and
personal development.

See our page: Critical Thinking for more.

Developing a Reading Strategy

You will, in formal learning situations, be required to read and critically think about a lot of
information from different sources. 

It is important therefore, that you not only learn to read critically but also efficiently.

The first step to efficient reading is to become selective.

If you cannot read all of the books on a recommended reading list, you need to find a way of
selecting the best texts for you. To start with, you need to know what you are looking for.  You
can then examine the contents page and/or index of a book or journal to ascertain whether a
chapter or article is worth pursuing further.

Once you have selected a suitable piece the next step is to speed-read.

Speed reading is also often referred to as skim-reading or scanning.  Once you have identified a
relevant piece of text, like a chapter in a book, you should scan the first few sentences of each
paragraph to gain an overall impression of subject areas it covers.  Scan-reading essentially
means that you know what you are looking for, you identify the chapters or sections most
relevant to you and ignore the rest.

When you speed-read you are not aiming to gain a full understanding of the arguments or topics
raised in the text.  It is simply a way of determining what the text is about. 

When you find a relevant or interesting section you will need to slow your reading speed
dramatically, allowing you to gain a more in-depth understanding of the arguments raised.  Even
when you slow your reading down it may well be necessary to read passages several times to
gain a full understanding.
See also: Speed-Reading for Professionals.

Find more at: http://www.skillsyouneed.com/learn/critical-reading.html#ixzz4BhI4iw1V

7 CRITICAL READING STRATEGIES

1. Previewing: Learning about a text before really reading it.

Previewing enables readers to get a sense of what the text is about and how it is
organized before reading it closely. This simple strategy includes seeing what
you can learn from the headnotes or other introductory material, skimming to get
an overview of the content and organization, and identifying the rhetorical
situation.

 2. Contextualizing: Placing a text in its historical, biographical, and cultural contexts.

When you read a text, you read it through the lens of your own experience. Your
understanding of the words on the page and their significance is informed by
what you have come to know and value from living in a particular time and place.
But the texts you read were all written in the past, sometimes in a radically
different time and place. To read critically, you need to contextualize, to
recognize the differences between your contemporary values and attitudes and
those represented in the text.  

3. Questioning to understand and remember: Asking questions about the content.

As students, you are accustomed (I hope) to teachers asking you questions

about your reading. These questions are designed to help you understand a
reading and respond to it more fully, and often this technique works. When you
need to understand and use new information though it is most beneficial if you
write the questions, as you read the text for the first time. With this strategy, you
can write questions any time, but in difficult academic readings, you will
understand the material better and remember it longer if you write a question for
every paragraph or brief section. Each question should focus on a main idea, not
on illustrations or details, and each should be expressed in your own words, not
just copied from parts of the paragraph.  

4. Reflecting on challenges to your beliefs and values: Examining your personal

responses.

The reading that you do for this class might challenge your attitudes, your
unconsciously held beliefs, or your positions on current issues. As you read a
text for the first time, mark an X in the margin at each point where you feel a
personal challenge to your attitudes, beliefs, or status. Make a brief note in the
margin about what you feel or about what in the text created the challenge. Now
 look again at the places you marked in the text where you felt personally
challenged. What patterns do you see?  

5. Outlining and summarizing: Identifying the main ideas and restating them in your
own words.

Outlining and summarizing are especially helpful strategies for understanding the
content and structure of a reading selection. Whereas outlining reveals the basic
structure of the text, summarizing synthesizes a selection's main argument in
brief. Outlining may be part of the annotating process, or it may be done
separately (as it is in this class). The key to both outlining and summarizing is
being able to distinguish between the main ideas and the supporting ideas and
examples. The main ideas form the backbone, the strand that holds the various
parts and pieces of the text together. Outlining the main ideas helps you to
discover this structure. When you make an outline, don't use the text's exact
words.

Summarizing begins with outlining, but instead of merely listing the main ideas, a
summary recomposes them to form a new text. Whereas outlining depends on a
close analysis of each paragraph, summarizing also requires creative synthesis.
Putting ideas together again -- in your own words and in a condensed form --
shows how reading critically can lead to deeper understanding of any text.  

6. Evaluating an argument: Testing the logic of a text as well as its credibility and
emotional impact.

All writers make assertions that they want you to accept as true. As a critical
reader, you should not accept anything on face value but to recognize every
assertion as an argument that must be carefully evaluated. An argument has two
essential parts: a claim and support. The claim asserts a conclusion -- an idea,
an opinion, a judgment, or a point of view -- that the writer wants you to accept.
The support includes reasons (shared beliefs, assumptions, and values) and
evidence (facts, examples, statistics, and authorities) that give readers the basis
for accepting the conclusion. When you assess an argument, you are concerned
with the process of reasoning as well as its truthfulness (these are not the same
thing). At the most basic level, in order for an argument to be acceptable, the
support must be appropriate to the claim and the statements must be consistent
with one another.  

7. Comparing and contrasting related readings: Exploring likenesses and

differences between texts to understand them better.

Many of the authors we read are concerned with the same issues or questions, but approach how to
discuss them in different ways. Fitting a text into an ongoing dialectic helps increase understanding of
why an author approached a particular issue or question in the way he or she did.

Back to Academic Success Page

CRITICAL READING STRATEGIES
Reading effectively requires approaching texts with a
critical
eye: evaluating what you
read for not just
what
it says, but
how
and
why
it says it. Effective reading is central to
both effective
research
(when you evaluate so
urces) and effective
writing
(when you
understand how what you read is written, you can
work to incorporate those techniques
into your own writing). Being an effective reader also
means being able to evaluate your
own practices, working to develop your cri
tical reading skills.
IDENTIFY WHAT YOU’RE READING FOR
.
•
Knowing
why
you’re reading a given text can help you organize
both your reading
and how you can use what you read.
•
Before you read a text, ask and answer the following
kinds of questions: Are you
reading only for general content? For data? For
specific information or for general
thematic concerns? For arguments that support or
contest your thesis in a writing
assignment? For information that you know you’ll
need for an assignment, or for
informatio
n to get you thinking
about
what you’ll need?
ALLOW ENOUGH TIME TO READ, AND TAKE
YOUR TIME.
•
Reading critically is not a fast process. Many students
do not set aside enough
study time for reading (and rereading), and read
everything either too quickly o
r at
the same speed. If you know what you’re reading for,
you can better distinguish
information that can be skimmed from that which
should be more closely
examined, and make better use of your reading time.
•
Preview or survey the text before detailed read
ing begins, looking for clues
related to its purpose, its relevance, its difficulty, and
how it connects with ideas or
information you already know.
•
Be willing to struggle with the text in order to
understand it
–
but don’t get hung up
on single, tough details in first readings. Rather, hold
confusing passages in mental suspension, and
continue to read with the idea that what seems
difficult to
understand now may be cleared up as you go along.
REMEMBER THAT RE
-
READING IS A PART OF EFFECTIVE, CRITICAL RE
ADING.
•
Just as having more than one conversation with
another person leads to closer
understanding, conducting a number of readings
leads to a richer and more
meaningful relationship with, and understanding of, a
text.
•
If your first reading is for basic
information and evaluation, subsequent readings
can take on different levels of focus (on style and
tone, on details, on examples,
on intellectual or ideological tradition, etc.).
•
In re
-
reading, work to separate parts of arguments (e.g.,
thesis idea, evid
ence,
preview, counterarguments) and to understand how
these parts work to support
the author’s thesis.

Search Results
an·no·ta·tion

ˌanəˈtāSH(ə)n/

Noun

noun: annotation; plural noun: annotations

1. a note of explanation or comment added to a text or diagram.

"marginal annotations"

note, notation, comment, gloss, footnote; More

synonyms: commentary, explanation, interpretation

"the teacher's copy has annotations in the margins"

o the action of annotating a text or diagram.

 "annotation of prescribed texts"

Origin
Summarizing is a strategy in which readers sort through the information presented in a text in order to
pull out and paraphrase the essential ideas. It requires readers to determine what is important, to
condense this information, and to state it in their own words (Harvey & Goudvis, 2007).

re·spond
rəˈspänd/
verb
gerund or present participle: responding

1. say something in reply.

"she could not get Robert to respond to her words"

answer, reply to, make a response to, make a rejoinder to More

"they do not respond to questions"
synonyms:
say in response, answer, reply, rejoin, retort, riposte, counter
"“No,” she responded"

o (of a congregation) say or sing the response in reply to a priest.

o (of a person) act or behave in reaction to someone or something.

"she turned her head, responding to his grin with a smile"

o react quickly or positively to a stimulus or treatment.

"his back injury has failed to respond to treatment"

react, make a response, reciprocate, retaliate

synonyms:
"they were slow to respond"

o Bridge

make (a bid) in answer to one's partner's preceding bid.

Origin

late Middle English (in the noun senses): from Old French, from respondre ‘to answer,’ from
Latin respondere, from re- ‘again’ + spondere ‘to pledge.’ The verb dates from the mid 16th
century.
Translate responding to
Use over time for: responding
A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information. A mind map is often created around a
single concept, drawn as an image in the center of a blank page, to which associated representations of
ideas such as images, words and parts of words are added.

pla·gia·rism

ˈplājəˌrizəm/
noun
noun: plagiarism; plural noun: plagiarisms

1. the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own.

copying, infringement of copyright, piracy, theft, stealing;

synonyms: informalcribbing
"accusations of plagiarism"
S

Search Results
A quotation is the repetition of one expression as part of another one, particularly when the quoted
expression is well-known or explicitly attributed by citation to its original source, and it is indicated by
(punctuated with) quotation marks.

par·a·phrase

ˈperəˌfrāz/

verb

verb: paraphrase; 3rd person present: paraphrases; past tense: paraphrased; past participle:
paraphrased; gerund or present participle: paraphrasing

1. 1.

express the meaning of (the writer or speaker or something written or spoken) using different
words, especially to achieve greater clarity.

"you can either quote or paraphrase literary texts"

synonyms: reword, rephrase, put/express in other words, rewrite, gloss

 "the reporter was not quoting directly but paraphrasing her remarks"

noun
noun: paraphrase; plural noun: paraphrases

1. 1.

a rewording of something written or spoken by someone else.

rewording, rephrasing, rewriting, rewrite, rendition, rendering, gloss

synonyms:
"this paraphrase of Frye's words"

Origin

mid 16th century (as a noun): via Latin from Greek paraphrasis, from paraphrazein, from para-
(expressing modification) + phrazein ‘tell.’

Translate paraphrase to

Use over time for: paraphrase

Translations, word origin, and more definitions

Feedback

Paraphrasing Tool - Free Online Text Rewriting Tool

paraphrasing-tool.com/

Free Text Rewriting Tool Online - No Sign-Up, No Captcha, No Hassle!

Paraphrase - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraphrase

Wikipedia

A paraphrase /ˈpærəfreɪz/ is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words. The
term itself is derived via Latin paraphrasis from Greek ...

Paraphrase definition, a restatement of a text or passage giving the meaning in another form, as for
clearness; rewording. See more.

Purdue OWL: Paraphrase Exercises

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/1/

Purdue University
Oct 10, 2014 - This resource discusses how to paraphrase correctly and accurately.

Avoiding Plagiarism: Quoting and Paraphrasing - Writing Center

writing.wisc.edu › Writer's Handbook

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Paraphrasing is often defined as putting a passage from an author into “your own words.” But what are
your own words? How different must your paraphrase be ...

a statement that says something that another person has said or written in a different way. Source:
Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary. Examples: ...

How to Paraphrase — Plagiarism.org - Best Practices for Ensuring ...

www.plagiarism.org/citing-sources/how-to-paraphrase/

Plagiarism.org

Paraphrasing involves quoting the work directly or try to convey the information from the original
source in your paper by rephrasing it in your own words.

Article Rewriter Tool - Reword or Paraphrase Text Content

articlerewritertool.com/

Free Online Article, Sentence and Paragraph Rephrasing Tool.

Free Online Paraphrasing Tool

www.goparaphrase.com/

Free Online Paraphase Tool With Best Quality - Text/ Article Rewriter.

paraphrase - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/paraphrase

The verb paraphrase means to sum something up or clarify a statement by rephrasing it. So to
paraphrase that explanation, it means to say something in other, ...

Why use summarizing?

 It helps students learn to determine essential ideas and consolidate important details that
support them.
 It enables students to focus on key words and phrases of an assigned text that are worth noting
and remembering.
 It teaches students how to take a large selection of text and reduce it to the main points for
more concise understanding.

 
How to use summarizing

1. Begin by reading OR have students listen to the text selection.

2. Ask students the following framework questions:
1. What are the main ideas?
2. What are the crucial details necessary for supporting the ideas?
3. What information is irrelevant or unnecessary?
3. Have them use key words or phrases to identify the main points from the text.

Download blank templates