How To Improve Your Reading Comprehension In Business School

You can improve your comprehension through proper reading techniques like taking good notes, speed reading, and more. These techniques are learnable, and there are online courses that you can take.

If you struggle through assignments in business school, it means your reading comprehension skills need improvement. With some tips and online courses, you can comprehend better and improve your grades.

This post teaches you how to better your reading comprehension skills in business school.

Read on to see how savvy students do so much within a short period.

1. First skim through the text

Before you dive into reading any material, ensure to preview the text. Skimming through will give you an idea of what you’re about to read. It only takes a few minutes or even seconds, depending on the length of the material.

When you have an overview of a book before reading, it makes comprehension a lot easier. Research performed on 54 students found that skimming and scanning strategies effectively improve reading speed and comprehension.

So, before diving into that chapter on your microeconomics textbook, read the title, look for the key points, and check if any reoccurring words stand out. You can also mark the key concepts with a highlighter.

But be careful while using the highlighter as you don’t want your book to look like a coloring book. Mark only essential information, and you’ll be alright!

2. Read in a quiet place

Nothing beats reading in a conducive environment. Your college room can get noisy and may not be the best environment for reading. So, find a quiet place.

You’ll find that concentrating on what you’re reading will be a lot easier when working in silence. The result will be increased productivity, less stress, and better comprehension.

Studies show that too much background noise can distract you and make it hard to focus while reading. While low-level background noise can foster creativity and help you relax, too much noise can negatively impact your comprehension.

Explore your environment and find a quiet reading place. It could be the library or any calm place where you can rest assured you’ll take in every piece of info you read.

3. Don’t just skim through the text

Skimming may seem like the way to go when you have a lot of materials to read within a short period, but it isn’t! Skim reading is unproductive and impairs your comprehension skills.

Practicing this reading technique means going back through the material repeatedly. It takes a lot of time, so instead of skimming, try speed reading. This way, you will be more focused and productive.

Staying focused is a must if you want to excel in business school. It makes your entire academic journey a lot easier.

4. Learn to speed read

Did you know that the average reading speed for most adults is about 200 to 250 words per minute? The reading pace is higher for college students at about 300 words per minute. But a group of students at the University of Chicago found that their ability to understand the material improved after learning how to speed read.

Courses at business school move quickly, and your reading pace should be fast too. Speed reading is an excellent technique that students with lots of reading materials must practice to strengthen their memory.

When you speed read, you are more productive, which means you can promptly get through any amount of material, even when you enter the workforce.

So, feel free to check out speed reading tools and courses and start comprehending what you read a lot better.

5. Create flashcards with key concepts

It’s good to highlight keywords and phrases to refer to when reading a topic for the first time. While this is good, it encourages rereading and can eat up your study time. So, instead of stopping at highlighting keywords and phrases, take it further by creating flashcards.

This way, you’re showing your brain what it should remember. Flashcards help force your brain to retain and dig out the information you read. 

Research has shown that flashcards can even help students with learning disorders improve their reading and comprehension skills.

When you highlight keywords and concepts in your business studies textbook, you’re telling your brain to remember them. But you need flashcards to make sure that happens on your exam day. They make remembering what you read a lot easier.

6. Take good notes

Practicing speed reading is the way to go if you want to get ahead in business school, but it can get better. When you take notes while reading, it makes comprehension a lot easier. Studies show that note-taking improves students’ comprehension skills by attracting their attention to their reading material.

Your note-taking skills can improve with practice, and you’ll no longer have to reread a text over and over again. This way, your comprehension will also improve, and you won’t have issues remembering what you read five minutes ago.

Learn how to take good notes promptly to alleviate all these issues. You’ll be able to do so much more in a short period, which means more time to enjoy more extra circular activities on campus.

7. Summarize what you read

Once you get to a pause in your reading, try to summarize what you just read. You can practice the “what it says” and “what it does” exercise. This exercise requires you to write down a sentence answering the two questions above.

When you can answer those questions, you’ll be able to comprehend the complicated piece of text you’re reading. Make sure what you write down backs up the author’s argument in the chapter you’re reading.

Here’s a detailed guide on how to summarize.

8. Read before bed

When you read before bedtime, it boosts your brainpower and makes you sleep better. Nighttime is usually calm and quiet, making for an ideal reading environment. You can better comprehend and retain what you read in this condition.

Reading before going to bed improves your memory, which means you’ll remember the concepts being taught in business school. Improving your memorization and comprehension skills is a must if you want to excel.

Luckily, you can take a course to improve your memory and thrive in business school. 

9. Take a Holistic Approach to academics

You must know that it’s not a must to understand every component of the concepts being taught in business school. Instead of focusing on becoming “the expert,” you should focus on getting a top-level understanding of key tools and skills. This way, you can identify potential risks and opportunities, ask good questions and make informed recommendations.

Your unit objectives and past examinations can help you identify the key areas.

Conclusion

One way to excel in business school is to improve your reading comprehension skills. 

You can bolster your reading comprehension in business school by:

• Learning to speed read
• Using flashcards
• Taking good notes while reading
• Reading before bed, and more.

Online courses can also teach you how to better your comprehension skills are also excellent and effective.

Feel free to check out Iris Reading Advanced Comprehension & Memory course and let an expert provide you with the best memory improvement strategies. 

The course is compatible with mobile devices and includes three free additional guides.