Read difficult material

During the course of your studies, it is inevitable that you’ll encounter some dense and difficult texts that will challenge your academic reading skills. Academic reading is an essential skill for your learning so that you can demonstrate your understanding and critical thinking skills, as well as achieve different learning outcomes. Reading difficult texts can be addressed by developing your academic reading skills – in particular, becoming an active reader who applies deliberate reading strategies to unpack difficult texts.

So, what is an active academic reader? This is someone who develops and applies multiple reading strategies and skills to tackle any academic text – but especially those more dense and difficult academic texts. In this module, you’ll be learning skills and strategies to handle difficult texts by becoming an active academic reader.

Eight strategies for reading difficult material

Let’s take a look at a range of reading strategies to help you become an active academic reader so that you can break down difficult academic texts to enhance your understanding.

At the outset, it would be productive if you selected an academic article or text that you currently find challenging and work through the strategies suggested. A required difficult reading for your course would be ideal to work through this module to develop your skills.