52 Study Skills Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. By reviewing your reading habits, you can look for the areas where your skills need improvement. Here are some suggestions for improving how effectively you read. • • Time yourself. How long does it take you to read and understand a section of text or a chapter of a book? If it takes you longer than average, read more to practice. • • Pay attention to how often you interrupt yourself before you finish reading something. If this happens frequently, look for factors that might be the cause, eliminate the distractions, and work on staying focused. • • Pay attention to your thoughts as you read. If you think about something other than what you are reading, you will not remember what you have just read. • • Recognize whether you read word by word or phrase by phrase. Practice read- ing in phrases. • • Keep track of the number of times you do not fully understand what you just read after you have completed a page. Analyze why this is happening, and use the information in this chapter to try to correct it. Most classes require that students enroll in a digital course, use an online text, or read supplemental materials online. Reading on a screen, however, can have a negative effect on student comprehension. The temptation to multitask rather than focus on the material can be challenging when completing an online assignment. The tendency to skim through digital screens and ignore the details sometimes interrupts the process of comprehension. To improve your reading skills when study- ing online, apply the same suggestions as noted above for reading print. In addition, consider the following suggestions. • • Adjust the zoom of the screen to make it easier to see words and comprehend meaning. • • If videos are embedded in the content, take time to view them. The material will help add clarification to understanding what you are reading. • • Take advantage of annotation or highlighting features of the program to note important terms or content. • • If there is an audio feature for terms or other content, listen for reinforcement. If you feel that you need professional help to improve your reading skills, a class on reading comprehension or time management might be the answer for you. Libraries and schools usually offer classes for reading improvement. Reading assignments should not be taken lightly if you want to pass the tests you will be required to take. Some students have the idea that they can go to class, listen, take notes, ignore reading assignments, and still get a good grade on a test. This might work sometimes, but it is not a good plan if you want to be successful throughout your years in school and earn a degree.