You have to read a lot of text in your classes, but you don't want to spend hours summarizing it.
It is not that you are lazy or anything. In fact, reading is something you love to do and would happily do all day long if it weren't for the fact that there are other things on your schedule too.
We have created this guide with 5 different strategies for summarizing academic texts quickly so that you can save time and get back to doing what really matters - Learning!
5 Easy Summarizing Strategies for University Students
Students at University are often faced with the task of summarizing a passage. Whether it be an article, book chapter or lecture materials to prepare for quizzes and exams, students can use these 5 Easy Summarizing Strategies:
A process-oriented strategy focused on creating a mental outline is the perfect summarizing technique for any university student.
This type of summary focuses mostly on what was said in the passage, and not simply rewordings or sentences from other sources to fill space like some people might do when they summarize an essay.
It allows them to review their notes better by giving them more than just bits and pieces of information that are hard to put together into coherent thoughts later down the line. Plus it will help clarify things you may have missed while reading at first glance.
While this idea should be used sparingly depending on whether your professor prefers paraphrasing passages instead of quoting directly if there is one thing you are doing.
This is great because your university professors are most likely looking for this type of summarizing style when they assign papers or readings from the course material.
First, then finally...the last word you hear is the most important one.
A First Then Finally technique for university students can be a great summarizing strategy to keep in mind when taking notes on lectures and reading textbooks that use this structure of presenting the information.
This strategy ensures that the important points on any topic are addressed and provides an easy-to-follow, chronological order of events or thoughts.
One of the most efficient ways to learn and understand information is through summarization.
Give Me The Gist technique, also known as "GIST," helps students quickly grasp key points from reading material with specific questions. That focuses on what is important in a passage without re-reading it word for word or looking at all the details.
A Give Me The Gist technique provides university students an easy way to minimize their time spent studying by only focusing on what they need for success after first understanding how this strategy works when meeting new people.
You ask them about themselves before asking any other questions which are likely things that do not matter anyway.
In order to understand the information in a text, one must summarize it.
This technique is especially helpful for university students who are tasked with reading and comprehending lengthy texts or articles that may not be easy to grasp on first read-throughs.
A Whole Text Strategy Technique can help you better understand an article by summarizing key points of what was written.
This strategy works best for individuals facing large assignments where they have been assigned long essays or research papers which might require them to reread parts multiple times before understanding their meaningfully.
A Reader's Digest Approach is a summarizing strategy for university students.
With only 3-5 sentences, this technique requires you to highlight the main idea and summarize key points of what was read in detail without getting overly wordy or too much into detail about each sentence that supports your summary.
A Reader's Digest approach is one way we can better retain information from our readings.
Because it gives us an overview of all important aspects at once instead of going through every point individually with some being more interesting than others.
This method also allows readers time to digest new concepts before delving deeper which keeps them interested.
Some Tips For University Students
We often underestimate the power of a concise and descriptive summary.
When you summarize an important essay or research paper for your professor, it is not just about getting through all the information in as few words as possible.
It is also about capturing meaning and main points to engage their interest. Here are some extra tips that can help:
One easy way to make your writing more interesting and engaging is by avoiding the use of a lot of passive voice.
Passive language does not convey information as well because it is often vague or misleading, so try to rely on active verbs instead, especially in formal essays like these. Finding the right active verbs can sometimes be tricky. If you struggle with word choice, an essay generator can be a helpful resource.
Another good strategy for making your paper seem less boring is incorporating creative ideas into your words.
If not literal creativity, then at least imaginative ways that help illustrate points better without being too repetitive about how great they are.
Wrapping Up!
The strategies that we’ve outlined can help you achieve anything in your life. We want to hear from you!
What are some of the goals you have for your future? Have any of these summarization techniques helped make those dreams a reality, or do they seem like an overwhelming task?
Let us know and we will be happy to offer our assistance with this process.
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