TO ALL FACULTY

RARY

: . LLEGE LIB

STUDY SKILLS: _UNDERLINING_DOUGLAS Co HVE :
ARCHIY

Underlining is a skill YOU learned by trial and error or you
wouldn't have succeeded in university.

Students at Douglas may enter classes afraid to mark in their
expensive book. They think the resale value will decrease. Not so.

According to the bookstore, used books are repurchased for 60% of
the origianl price whether liberally underlined of free of a mark.
In purchasing used books, a book well-underlined can be a study boon
in helping the new student select what needs to be remembered. Maybe
you could point out in your classes a few tips on how to recognize
good underlining.

Underlining serves two functions: it helps the student in his
first encounter with the text to highlight the key points. And his
second encounter at exam time is one when hitting the high points is all
he has time for when the volume of material is greater. Therefore,
selection of what to underline is important.

Too much underlining is no help at all. It's like rereading the
entire text. This can be avoided by glancing over all the material
to be read first to see the relationship of parts to whole. Only
main ideas and significant details should be underlined, not tangents,
repetition or trivia.

Too little underlining is also unproductive. You can often
recognize where on the page the student's mind wandered as the under-
lining peters out. Obviously, underling is a useful device to keep
the mind alert. An example of too little might be when not all items
in a list are marked:

Three administrative structures exist within the
institution. The first is the divisional with

deans to manage affairs. Then the campuses furnish

a method whereby the institution touches the community
through their principals and vice-principals. Last

is the department served by a convenor.

As you can see, the underlining has left out a fundamental structure
and the student would not pass the exam question.

Maybe you'll want to go over a page of your text with your students
to illustrate what should be marked. Several handouts are available
on this topic; if you'd like copies, the Reading and Study Skills
faculty will oblige.

from: Reading and Study Skills Faculty

ye bis Al Atkinson, Sherry Ladbrook,
Sandra Carpenter

The Mad Hatter is a D.C. Newsletter published weekly during the Spring
and Fall semester, bi-monthly in the Summer semester. Deadline is

Thurs. noon each week. For further information contact Melanie Falcon,
Surrey Campus, local 283.

(This issue by Liz Glass)