SQ5R strategy: A proven method to learn better

As a new academic year has begun in schools and colleges, students have become busy with studies. Among the various means of learning, reading is considered the most important.

However, many students lack a proper idea about what to read and how to find books that would help in their studies. This problem mostly troubles students pursuing courses in Biology, Psychology, History, Sociology and Material Sciences which require a vast amount of reading.

Students, in general, adopt a lazy method to read. All that they do is read the first couple of paragraphs and keep the book aside. However, experts say that laziness is not the only reason for poor reading by students. According to experts, students are not given proper guidance on reading lessons in a time-bound manner.

In order to tackle these issues, several experts have developed ‘reading strategies’, of which ‘SQ5R’ is the most popular.

Among the first such strategies was developed by Francis P Robinson, a noted educational expert and psychologist based in the US, and it was named SQ3R. This strategy was later improved, leading to the creation of SQ5R, which has the following seven steps:

Survey

The first step consumes the most time as the student would have no idea about the topic. In fact, the main purpose of the first step is to create a preliminary awareness about the subject. This could be achieved by reading the introduction, going through the topic headings and glancing at the pictures, charts and graphs.

Question

After the first phase of reading, you may develop some questions over the topic. What? How? Where? Why? Who? These questions will help you understand the subject better.

Read

This is the most important step, for which you have to divide the topic into sections which could be read in 20 minutes each. Read each of these sections keeping the questions in your mind. Study the charts and graphs also in detail during this step.

Respond

After reading each section, try to find answers to the questions which cropped up in your mind. This enables you to grasp details during the first reading itself.

Record

You would certainly note the important points while reading under this method. These points in each section could be marked after reading.

Reset

After gaining a good idea about the topic by following the first five steps, write down what you have learnt on a paper. Then, read it aloud and try to recall any points you might have missed. Never miss this step after reading each section.

Review

This is the last step of the SQ5R method. Attempt to remember all points in each of the sections. If possible, share these facts with friends or parents. In case doubts crop up, clear them.