Discipline-specific Reading Skills
Beyond the general reading skills like those above that apply in all areas of study, you will need to cultivate special types of reading skills depending on your field.
Kathleen T. McWhorter provides a list of such skills in Academic Reading:
In Social Sciences:
- understanding theories in the social sciences
- reading reports of research
- making comparisons and applications
In Business:
- reading models
- reviewing case studies
- studying organizational and flow charts
- approaching supplemental readings
In Literature:
- understanding figurative language
- reading poetry, fiction, essays, and drama
- working with literary criticism
In Mathematics
- understanding mathematical language
- reading sample problems
- verbalizing processes
- reading graphics
- approaching word problems
In Natural Sciences:
- previewing before reading
- understanding scientific approaches
- studying sample problems
- learning terminology and notation
In Technical and Applied Fields:
- reading illustrations and drawings
- using visualization
- reading technical manuals
- problem-solving strategies