When students arrive in college, faculty often make the assumption that they know how to read for comprehension and retention. Unfortunately, and for a variety of reasons, many students are not well versed in how to read for class. In today post, I want to share an excerpt from my book, Teaching for Learning, about how you can use SQ3R to help college students read.

SQ3R

Overview

The SQ3R activity provides a framework for students to better comprehend and retain information from readings assigned for class. Students often read course readings as they would any other text: start at page 1 and read to the end without framing the content, thinking critically about the content, and engaging the content. This IDEA offers a more systematic approach to better study the material while reading (Artis, 2008).

SQ3R is a five-step process:  survey, question, read, recite, and review. The activity helps students engage with material and improve their processing of the information through framing and reflection. Although the use of these five steps take longer than simply reading a text, the advantages of improved understanding and recall are beneficial for students and they improve the teaching experience.

Guiding Principles

SQ3R is built on the foundation of an information processing theory of learning (Newell & Simon, 1972; Tadlock, 1978). This theory suggests that people structure and organize information into systems of meaning. The limitations of learning are frequently attributed to limits on the ability to organize information and by encoding information in a way that facilitates recall. By providing a framework to organize new knowledge, SQ3R helps students develop understanding faster and more efficiently. 

The activity also makes use of the ways the brain stores and retrieves information using short and long-term recall. The framework of SQ3R encourages students to slow down and spend time on information which activates the processing strengths of particularly long-term memory. By asking questions and encouraging recitation, SQ3R allows students to better store and recall information from course readings.

Preparation

Most frequently, the SQ3R activity is completed by the student outside of class as part of assigned readings. Prior to assigning SQ3R, provide the framework for students and also explain why the activity proves useful. Students often complain that this process increases the time it takes to complete the reading and in doing so they often fail to see the value. Providing an understanding of why it works based on the guiding principles above can help students know the value and use the activity (Tadlock, 1978).

Process

• Explain the framework of the activity in the class and assign (or suggest) students use it on the readings for homework. The following steps explain the process of the activity.
• Survey helps students gather the basic structure of the topic presented in the reading including reading the title, headings, graphics, and any text called out such as definitions or objectives. 
• Question involves turning headings and other main ideas identified in the survey stage into question. Students should then seek answers to the questions as they read. 
• In the Read stage, students read the text to capture the main ideas as identified in the survey and question stages. The goal is to write down the answers to the questions raised by filling in the main ideas without getting too bogged down by the details. 
• Next, students Recite material, which assists with concentration and recall. Students look at each of the questions of a section and attempt to answer the question (while covering up their notes).
• The Review step allows the students to consolidate learning and comprehension by reviewing each of the questions and answers.   

Pro-tips

Many students have never been taught how to read texts or study content rich material. This activity presents a great strategy to help students by providing a versatile framework to use while reading. Many instructors find it helpful to walk students through how to complete the steps in class. Taking the time to model the process in class can improve students’ use of the activity and improve their reading comprehension as a result.

There are many different variations that have grown out of SQ3R such as, SQ4R (survey, question, read, recite, wRite, and review) (Pauk, 1984),  PQ4R (preview, question, read, reflect, recite, and review), and FAIRER (facts, ask questions, identify major/minor details, read, evaluate comprehension, and review) (Lei, Rhinehart, Howard, & Cho, 2010). Fundamentally, these all provide frameworks for self-regulation of reading. You can use any variation of this system, as the goal is to provide a way for students to work through a framework to organize and comprehend new information.

One of the more difficult, yet important, aspects of the SQ3R activity is developing good questions. Students often can easily turn headings and other readily identifiable major points into questions, but struggle with developing good topic spanning questions. As part of other class activities and in debriefing this activity, help students develop good questions. You may do this by sharing good questions raised by classmates or by providing some starter questions early in the course you identified. Helping students learn to ask questions can assist students in your class and throughout their education.