Article: This is a common myth held by students. Particularly if you’re a slow reader, you may find it more effective to read the beginning and end of the chapter, along with pull-outs (information placed in a box, graph, or other attention-grabbing area on the page) and anything bolded or italicized in the text. Another common mistake students make is to read their textbook once and then never look at it again. A better strategy is to practice layered reading.  On your first read-through, skim the material. Determine what the main idea or goal of the text is (often signaled by the chapter title and subheadings), and mark any places that you didn’t feel as though you understood well. Read headings, subheadings, and other organizational elements. Textbook authors often construct their chapters so that it is very clear what the goal of each section is. Use this to your advantage. Read for more detail in later readings. Sometimes, students will just move their eyes along the page again and again and feel like they’re not getting anything from their “reading.” Reading is an active process: you need to be engaged, paying attention, and thinking about what you read. While it’s tempting to break out the rainbow of highlighters when you read through a chapter, avoid this temptation. Research has shown that highlighting actually can hamper your reading because you may feel tempted to highlight every single thing you feel is important without thinking critically about the ideas presented. If you must highlight, wait until you’ve completed your first read-through, and use the highlighter sparingly to point out only the most important ideas. It can be tempting to just read past words or elements you don’t understand in an effort to “just get it done.” This actually damages comprehension. If a dense textbook on Marxist economics has terms that you don’t initially understand, don’t just read on: stop what you’re doing, look up the word, and understand it before continuing.

What is a summary?
Understand that you do not have to read every single word. Plan to read more than once. Understand that reading is not the same as studying. Know that highlighting is not ideal for first-time reading. Understand that you may need to look things up while reading.