Survey Question Reading Recitation Revision

　　1）Survey 。In brief，this means that instead of picking up a textbook and reading one of the chapters over and over，you should first survey：that is ，find out all you can about the aims and purpose of the book，read the author’s preface ,study the table of contents and the index ,read the chapter summaries (if there are summaries) and skim your way rapidly through the book ,And if the book does not suit your purpose ,search around until you find a better one .

　　2）Question .The second preparatory step—asking questions—is also important .This requires going rapidly through the chapters of the book which you are going to tackle，and jotting down such questions as occur to you .This is useful because it motivates you and to arrange such knowledge as you already have .And if you persist in maintaining a questioning attitude ,you will in time come to read books critically.

　　3）Reading .Next comes reading properly. The first reading of a chapter in the textbook usually needs to be rather slow and thorough。Most good textbook chapters have a structure of headings and subheadings ，which you need to keep in the back of your mind as you read。Often you must turn back to previous pages to remind yourself of some fact or argument。If the subject is illustrated by graphs or by diagrams ，you will often be well advised to copy them out or elaborate them。

　　4）Recitation。A single reading is never enough，even though you read actively with intent to remember。The next stage in study is therefore recitation。Bacon said：“If you read anything over twenty times，you will not learn it by heart so easily as if you were to read it only ten，trying to repeat it between whiles，and when memory failed，looking at the book。”Recitation here does not mean word for word repetition，or learning by heart。It means outlining the substance of a passage。The outline provides the framework into which more details can be fitted in subsequent recitation。

　　5）Revision。The final step of SQ3R is Revision。Revision should not be regarded as something to be undertaken just before examinations。One of the most practical results of memory experiments is that material that has to be retained over long periods should be studied and re-studied。Memories become stronger and stronger with each relearning，and forgetting proceeds more slowly。

　　You will realize that the amount of time that you give to each of the steps of the SQ3R study technique will depend on the subjects you are studying。The natural sciences，the social sciences，the arts，and practical and vocational subjects differ in their aims and methods，but the SQ3R method can be applied in principle to all fields of study。