Read the following case studies that accompany Essential Study Skills, 5e, Chapter 8. These case studies appear only online; they are not available in your textbook. Type your response to each case study. After you complete this exercise, you can either PRINT your responses or EMAIL them to your instructor.

Case Study 1: Russell's twin has always been an avid reader, but Russell has never been able to enjoy reading. His brother is able to read a book and then retell the whole story, including colorful details, action scenes and physical settings. His brother gets all emotional talking about the books he has read and the information he has learned. Russell does not understand why he can't find the same enjoyment in books. He seems to stumble on a lot of words or just skip over them if he can't pronounce them or doesn't recognize them. Because the entire process is slow, he loses the sense of what's going on. He usually is not able to describe or explain what he read even if the topic is interesting. Russell wants to know why reading is such a struggle. He wants to begin with a few simple techniques to improve his comprehension and, hopefully, his attitude toward reading. What reading comprehension strategies would you recommend Russell learn to use first?



Case Study 2: Half of the test questions in a science class came from the textbook, so knowing how to identify important information is essential. Andy had no problems learning the information presented during lectures; however, he struggled with learning the information from the textbook. Andy scheduled a conference to discuss this with his instructor. His instructor asked to see his textbook. When Andy opened the textbook, the instructor smiled and said he thought he saw the problem. Almost everything in the textbook was highlighted yellow. Andy explained that everything seemed important, so he highlighted it all and then got overwhelmed trying to study it. What highlighting techniques would you recommend to Andy so that he can highlight more selectively and then study from the textbook more effectively?



Case Study 3: Because one of Janice's textbooks almost always placed the topic sentence as the first sentence of each paragraph, Janice assumed that the first sentence was always the main idea. When reading any of her textbooks, she automatically marked the first sentence as the topic sentence. Then she selectively highlighted supporting details that were directly tied to the first sentence of each paragraph. Sometimes she had a lot of supporting details and other times she couldn't identify any details that related to the first sentence. This method brought mixed results. Sometimes she did study the most important ideas, concepts, and details. Other times she completely missed important details that she was expected to know. Discuss why was her approach was faulty.



Case Study 4: Shamika enjoys reading her textbooks for her literature, public speaking, and communications courses because the information is clearly organized, and she can easily predict how the information will flow. However, she struggles to comprehend her history, natural science, and psychology textbooks. She hasn't found a way to feel comfortable with the way information will flow or the way the information is organized. How can Shamika use knowledge of organizational patterns to increase her comprehension in the areas of history, natural science, and psychology?