Why good reading and comprehension skills are crucial for student success
Reading and comprehension skills are crucial for attaining overall student success. This may seem obvious but with so many educational resources available as video and podcasts; many students today are learning via the spoken word and easy to understand graphics and may lack the basic comprehension skills founded on reading.
You may think that lack of reading skills are not important when information can be conveyed in so many different ways, but the truth is that reading and comprehension is the only way to efficiently undertake course work and understand any topic. Without these basic core skills you are unlikely to succeed in your life as a student.
First up what is reading comprehension?
Reading comprehension is the ability to understand what you have read and is very different from the ability to simply recognize words.
For example a child who is a good reader may be able to read the words in a newspaper but is unlikely to grasp the details of any subject if it is complex and beyond their capabilities of understanding.
When we read, we form a mental picture of the written information by integrating the sense of the words and sentences into a meaningful whole entity. If you have good comprehension skills you may forget the exact words of the text but you will remember the general information contained in the reading material and be able to recall it when needed.
For understanding the difficult concepts required by your college course, reading and comprehension is of paramount importance. When you read you can take in the information at your own pace, refer back to difficult pages and ensure you understand completely before you move onto the next topic. None of this is easy if you are relying on video and podcasts for your information.
Reading and comprehension enables you to form your own opinion
The ability to read and understand facts and concepts enables the student to form his or her own opinion based on real information. If you are accustomed to having your information delivered by podcast or video, the presenter will have already done the research for you and will have presented the information in a format for the consumer. This may sound like a quick and easy way to pass your exams or succeed on your course work , but it will not enable you to easily draw your own conclusions if you simply parrot somebody else’s findings.
Get back to the habit of reading
Many students are time pressed and prefer to watch videos, movies and engage in social media rather than reading for pleasure. This means that when a student needs to deliver a concise assignment based on reading material, many may struggle to concentrate on reading lengthy texts due to lack of reading practice.
Getting back into the reading habit will help you strengthen your concentration skills so picking up a book rather than your Smartphone may help you improve your college performance.
Reading and comprehension makes life easier for students
In truth reading is a far easier way of absorbing information than obtaining knowledge via the spoken word. It enables the student to absorb facts and information at their own pace from a wide range of sources far faster than obtaining the same information via spoken word sources and graphics.
Obtaining information via visual aids and videos is a great way to reinforce a message, especially if the topic is complex. But without a solid background based on reading and comprehension, students who lack these basic core skills are likely to struggle with their coursework.