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Do I really have to do my university readings?

In total every week I have about 200-300 pages of reading to do. I do a language course which I love but these other culture modules require so much reading... The teacher seems cover everything in these readings in the class anyway so I feel like it's ok to skip the readings, but it's said that the exam questions always cover content in the readings, so what do people normally do?

Reply 1

Ðeggs

I try and read as much as I can but yes I never fully finish the reading list either. Usually I only read a few pages or one section of the paper / article at most as I just lose concentration and focus.

Reply 2

UELStudentRep

Official Rep

Hi!
Maybe try and read as much as you can and if your teacher covers the readings in class, then make sure you take notes ! Also maybe ask your teacher the best way to do it, if the teacher has any tips for completing readings and being ready for your exams.
Good luck!! 😊

Reply 3

PhoenixFortune

Original post by Anonymous

I think you usually get more out of your lectures/seminars if you do at least some of the reading. If you think the readings might be the basis for exam questions too, try to work your way through them.

Reply 4

hallamstudents

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

Hi Anonymous,

I think it's a good idea to try and do the reading ahead of class. Like you said, the exam questions cover the reading content so it would give you an advantage to do so. For me personally, when I'm asked to do reading ahead of class it often means a seminar activity is based on the required reading so doing it will mean you get more out of the seminar.

200-300 pages of reading a week does sound like quite a lot so it's understandable if it's getting overwhelming. Try to split it up so you do a smaller section each day if you can. Also, are you able to get an audio version of your required reading? If your reading material is on a computer, you can highlight the text, right click and get it to read it back to you. Sometimes I find this so much easier than reading it on screen especially if it's an academic text.

Lucy :smile:

Reply 5

University of Portsmouth Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

Hiya!

Uni can require a lot of reading but it's best to prioritise and find the way that works best for you.

I personally find reading the lecture material prior to the lecture allows me to understand the content, and then I can add to the notes section of a Powerpoint slide when watching the live lecture, and add any notes that the lecturer says that may not have been included in the slides.

I try to complete the reading but sometimes a large amount can be set! I prioritise reading the recommended readings that:
a. contribute to an assignment I am writing
b. is on a topic i don't understand and want to learn more about.
This way I finish readings that will aid my assignments and where I am struggling. I found this allowed me to prioritise all the readings and I managed to read them all. I made notes/summarised the reading into bullet points which helped learn the content for my exam.

Sam- Official Student Rep :smile:

Reply 6

gjd800

there's never an expectation to read everything, but you should be reading parts of it

Reply 7

University of Strathclyde Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

Hey @Anonymous

I usually do the required readings for lectures/tutorials and then look at the additional materials if I have time. Our exam papers were usually based on topics we had covered in our tutorials. I then used the content from tutorials and readings we covered to make exam notes :smile:

If we had an assignment that was on a specific lecture, I would look at the core readings and additional readings for that lecture and make detailed notes for my assignment.

Hope this helps :smile:

Melissa- Student Ambassador

(edited 3 years ago)