COMM331Effective Reading:

Unpacking the text for better understanding

Dr. Celeste Rossetto: Learning Development 2013

Impact Stats from the LibraryNumber of students by resource usage and WAM, 2010

Frequency of usage

No. students % WAM Cumulative difference

No. students % WAM Cumulative difference

No Usage 6,902 32% 63 0 1,707 8% 58 01 - 5 5,363 25% 65 2 7,316 34% 63 56 - 10 2,713 13% 67 4 4,058 19% 66 811 - 20 2,751 13% 68 5 4,556 21% 69 1121 - 40 2,325 11% 70 7 2,923 14% 71 1341 - 80 1,217 6% 72 9 923 4% 73 1581 - 160 317 1.5% 73 10 122 0.6% 74 16161 - 320 25 0.1% 74 11 7 0.0% 77 19Outliers 0 1Total 21,613 100% 21,613 100%Note: excludes students with null or zero marks, and excludes UOW offshore

Books Electronic resources

Used with permission

Reading broadlydevelop understanding of issues involved in a topic

identify the important writers in a field

overview of theories related to a topic

seek information relating to an essay question

work out which issues/books/journals to read in more detail

Evaluating your sources

 

 authority: is the source published in a reputable book or journal? Is the writer an expert, or often quoted by other writers?  originality: are there new ideas in the text or is a repetition or summary of what others have said before? objectivity: is there a bias in the writer’s approach (e.g., the writer is American commenting positively on America’s foreign policy)

 

Evaluating your sources

 

  currency: is the information recent or is it outdated (when was it written? what cases, examples and sources is it referring to?) balance: does it cover the relevant issues evenly, or are some only given a cursory treatment?  purpose: of the source material that you are reading. This is closely tied to what kind of text it is (a government report, a scholarly article, a text book) and relates to what the author is trying to do (describe, report, argue) 

Reading and Note taking

Read texts with the question in mind.

Read material that is relevant to the question and its sub-topics.

Remain focused on the question.

Read efficiently and critically.

Take notes as you read, being careful to record all bibliographic details.

Note-taking should …

assist in concentrating on and understanding the information being read by helping to summarise the ideas and arguments in the text

keep a focus on the points that are relevant to the assignment project (rather than just underlining everything)

help organise and start to evaluate the research

provide the necessary evidence to inform and develop a critical argument in the response

Organising your reading

Keep relevant articles together (themes)

Number your journal articles / photocopies

Cross reference immediately when you see a connection

Make sure if your journal articles are in a pdf format that you

write in the access date and the database name – keep

track of bibliographic details

How to read a journal articleJournal articles are divided into discrete sections. To assist in

the reading and understanding of journal articles, students should look at the structure of journal:

Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion or recommendations

Textbooks

Check the divisions of a book

chapters

sections

subsections

Textbooks

Gaffikin’s text comes from his textbook. This genre has particular features

that help the reader identify it as such, for instance:

it highlights key terms and definitions

its structure offers a clear road map for the reader to navigate through

the information

it uses discipline-specific language

it engages the reader by using personal pronouns, e.g., ‘we’, and ‘our’

each paragraph has a topic sentence that contains the idea and the rest

of the paragraph expands that idea

it relies on evidence to support its ideas

it is more descriptive than analytical

Stating the problem

Elaboration of the point by explaining the reasons for this

Evidence

Analysis - ‘so what does this mean’

Concluding sentence and segue to the next paragraph

TS.1 Many students of accounting eschew theory

TS.2 Generally speaking, theories provide the reasoned basis for actions—for

practice.

TS.3 No precise definition exists for theory.

TS.4 There is no one view of a theory that would permit a single definition

acceptable to all.

TS.5 In developing theory, a theorist will undertake research.

TS.6 In fact, research will be undertaken also to improve practice.

TS.7 A prerequisite for a full understanding of accounting theory is an awareness of

the processes involved in developing a theory and the implications of these for

practice.

TS.8 If this aim is to be met, it is necessary to determine and understand the

elements of theories and theory construction.

Topic Sentences

Heading

Subheading

Impo

rtan

t te

rms

Philosophical foundations

The development of Western knowledge

Modernity

Scientific revolutions

The discipline of accounting

Headings