MAP Study Skills

Finding & Reading
Information

Assignment Booklet

Student Name: FADUMO AWIL

Route: MAP Humanities

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|Unit Title |Finding and Reading Information |
|Level |2 |Credit Value | 3 |Unit Code |HC7/2/LN/559 |
|Learning Outcomes |Assessment Criteria |
|The learner will: |The learner can: |
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|1. Recognise the variety of resources available in a library |1.1 Locate and use resources from both reference and loans sections of |
| |library and electronic resources e.g. internet, DVD, CD rom, and video.|
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|2. Know different reading techniques |2.1 Use skimming and scanning techniques to find particular information|
| |in possible sources |
| |2.2 Describe two different ways of reading and explain when they would |
| |be useful. |
| |2.3 Compare the value of one slow reading with 2 or 3 fast readings of |
| |academic text. |
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|Unit Title |Finding and Reading Information |
|Level |3 |Credit Value | 3 |Unit Code |HC7/3/LN/628 |
|Learning Outcomes |Assessment Criteria |
|The learner will: |The learner can: |
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|1. Recognise a variety of resources available in a library |1.1 Locate and use relevant resources relating to his/her own course of|
| |study from e.g. fiction, non fiction, periodicals, library reference |
| |and electronic resources |
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|2. Know different reading techniques |2.1 Maintain focus on purpose of reading by framing questions that s/he|
| |needs answered during the reading |
| |2.2 Analyse ways in which reading techniques can be adapted to |
| |different academic tasks. |
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Finding and Reading Information: Worksheet 1

Learning Outcome 1 – Recognise the variety of resources available in a library
Learning Outcome 2 – Know different reading techniques

Assessment Criteria

Level 2
1.1 Locate and use resources from both reference and loans sections of library and electronic resources e.g. internet, DVD, CD ROM and video.
2.1 Use skimming and scanning techniques to find particular information in possible sources
2.2 Describe two different ways of reading and explain when they would be useful

Level 3
1.1 Locate and use relevant resources relating to his/her own course of study from e.g. fiction, non fiction, periodicals, library reference and electronic resources

For one of the essays that you have been given to write for your subject areas carry out the following tasks:

1. List at least three sources that you chose to research for your essay; one should be from an academic journal or periodical; one from an academic text book and the final one can be an electronic source such as a website

a. Include the full Harvard reference of the source material

b. State where you located the source material

2. Describe which reading techniques (skimming or scanning) you used to select the material

3. Describe how you used the reading technique

4. Explain at least two advantages of that reading techniques for your selection of the material

5. When thinking about the advantages consider the following:

a. The time taken by each technique

b. The accuracy of information gleaned by each technique

c. The depth of understanding reached from employing the technique

d. The usefulness of the technique for note taking

|The Essay Title is: |
|How and why did German doctors participate in the Nazi Policy of mass murder of the disabled between 1939-41? |
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|Source 1 |
|Harvard Reference |Proctor, R. (1998). Racial hygiene: Medicine under the Nazis. Harvard University Press. |
|Location |Textbook |
|Reading Techniques Used |Scanning, |
| |Scanning |
| |Titles/Main heading/ Subheading, |
|Advantages of techniques |Efficient when looking for something specific |
|employed |Selective reading - picking out important information |
| |Time efficient |
| |Finding keywords/key points |
|How did you use it? |Critical reading |
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| |How did you use it? |
| |When I was researching into the acceptance of ‘Racial Hygiene’ ideology in Euthanasia, I first looked for |
| |the subheading titled Racial Hygiene. Then using my finger I scanned through the page until I found |
|What were its advantages? |statistics, percentages of people who either agreed or disagreed with the concept. In order, not to lose |
| |that information I highlighted, key percentages, key sentences and phrases, quotes corresponding to the |
| |topic.. Each colour indicated a level of significance, green being absolutely important to my essay and red|
| |being useful information that I could add on in order to advance my answers. |
| | |
| |What were its advantages? |
| |Scanning is time efficient so you don’t have to waste time reading the whole material. One of the main |
| |advantages of scanning is the technique to look for titles, subheadings, anything relating to what you’re |
| |researching.. Also the validity of scanning is high, because I found that I located key points a lot |
| |quicker when I used scanning to find subheadings as information is grouped into headings. |
|Source 2 |
|Harvard Reference | |
| |http://www.life.org.nz/euthanasia/abouteuthanasia/history-euthanasia6 |
|Location |Internet |
|Reading Techniques Used |Skimming |
| |Skimming |
| |Speed reading |
|Advantages of techniques |Using titles/sub-titles/sub-headings and chapter headings to find the information I am looking for |
|employed |Superficial reading - To direct me to the most important information as quickly as possible |
| |I used the index to help me find the relative chapters and useful data. |
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|How did you |How did you use it? |
| |To skim I look for titles, subheadings, headings that relate to what I’m looking for. For example, when I |
|use it? |wrote about the ‘extending of the Euthanasia Program, I basically scrolled through the page until I could |
| |see a subheading with any of the words ‘extension’ ‘euthanasia for adults’, ‘socially inactive’ and so on. |
| |I also looked for words written in bold, underlined and italics under that subheading, in case they were |
| |useful to my answer. |
|What were its advantages? | |
| |What were its advantages? |
| |The advantages of that are very similar to those of scanning. By skimming I sifted out the important |
| |factors. For example, by skimming I found who the Nazi’s extended the Euthanasia to, why they did it and |
| |how they did it, without having to read the whole page. This also saved me time as webpages can be very |
| |time consuming if you are not sure of what you’re looking for |
|Source 3 |
|Harvard Reference |http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/disabled.html |
|Location |Internet |
|Reading Techniques Used |Deep reading |
| |Advantages of slow reading: |
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| |The advantages of slow reading are in-depth understanding of the topic, a better feel and understanding of |
|Advantages of techniques |the material. Deep reading also allows room for critical thinking, and understanding main arguments in the |
|employed |text. |
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|How did you use it? | |
| |How did you use it? |
| |For slow reading, I just read the text from beginning to end. I also highlighted the points I thought were |
| |relevant to the killing of the disabled children in Germany. For example, when I read the piece on ‘Lives |
| |not worth living’, I highlighted a section on the secret report delivered to state governments, doctors and|
|What were its advantages? |nurses regarding the registration of any child with a defect, as it was important information I needed to |
| |include in my essay. |
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| |What were its advantages? |
| |By slow reading, I can be sure not to miss any important factors, also slow reading helps me understand the|
| |information a lot better than when I speed read, as I find my understanding of text is more effective when |
| |I read slowly. Another advantage of slow reading is that I can think critically when I use this technique, |
| |because I can compare and contrast ideas, looking deeper into the meaning and getting a better |
| |understanding. |

Finding and Reading Information: Worksheet 2

Learning Outcome 2 – Know different reading techniques

Assessment Criteria

Level 2
2.3 Compare the value of one slow reading with 2 or 3 fast readings of academic text

Level 3
2.1 Maintain focus on purpose of reading by framing questions that s/he needs answered during the reading
2.2 Analyse ways in which reading techniques can be adapted to different academic tasks

1. Given the title of the essay; what were the questions you had in mind when you read the source material ➢ Were you looking for the relevance of the material ➢ Were you searching for particular areas of interest ➢ Were you looking for quotes and examples of theory/practise ➢ Were you looking for evidence to support a point of view or hypothesis ➢ Were you looking for areas of imprecision or contradiction in theory ➢ Were you trying to understand a complex piece of evidence or theory ➢ Were you reading to appreciate the style of the author

2. Indicate which of the four reading techniques (skimming; scanning; analytical & critical) were most useful for finding the answers to your questions; explain how and why you used that technique; comparing the value of one fast reading technique used with that of a slow reading technique

|Question 1 |
|Question |What incentives and influences led the doctors and nurses to partipate in the systemic killing of disabled |
| |children? |
|Reading Technique used |Scanning/Deep reading |
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| |Explanation of technique employed |
|Explanation of technique | |
|employed |I used Scanning technique first by flipping through the booklet until I found the ‘Racial Hygiene’ in |
| |‘Lives Not Worth Living’. I then read the first line of every paragraph to see if the words ‘doctor’ |
| |‘midwives’ or ‘nurses’ was mentioned or any term relating. Once I had done that, I highlighted the |
| |paragraphs and started reading in depth to gather the exact information, as to what the incentives where |
| |and why they influenced Doctors, nurses and midwives to take part in the killing system, |
|Question 2 |
|Question |What was the T-4 Programme and what kinds of professional staff were recruited to work on it? |
|Reading Technique used |Skimming |
| |Explanation of technique employed |
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| |I used the skimming technique, by flipping through the booklets provided, looking for the key term ‘T-4’. |
|Explanation of technique |Whenever I found it, I highlighted it and the sections relevant. Once I had found all the pages where T-4 |
|employed |was mentioned, I then went back to thoroughly read over and see which page had the introduction to the T-4.|
| |I did this because I needed to get a better understanding of the text. Typically I found the information on|
| |one of the first pages that I found the term ‘T-4’. |
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|Question 3 |
|Question |How many people were killed by the end of the gassing phase of August 1941? |
|Reading Technique used |Skimming/Scanning |
|Explanation of technique |Explanation of technique used? |
|employed | |
| |Firstly I scanned through the ‘Racial Hygiene’ section of the booklet until I came across the ‘Adult |
| |Euthanasia’ section which I knew was relevant to the question. Then I used the skimming technique until I |
| |found a table with the killing stations, the period of operation and the numbers killed because I was |
| |looking for evidence, numbers/statistics to support my answer. |