SQ3R is a study method developed on the basis of research in cognitive psychology
which promotes enhanced learning of reading material (APA, 2020). SQ3R was proposed by Francis P. Robinson, a prominent American educational psychologist, in his book Effective study (1946). In a very recent
article in the journal Reading Literacy, Stahl and Armstrong (2020), define Robinson as a pioneer in the development of postsecondary literacy theory, research, and pedagogy who, despite his enormous and various contributions to the field of reading and learning, is most widely known by SQ3R. SQ3R is the acronym for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review, which
are the five steps proposed by Robinson when actively and effectively reading one specific text. Through this sequence, the readers are expected to increase their understanding of the text by engaging in the reading process, both before, during, and after, intentionally. An infographic showing quite attractively the steps of the SQ3R method can be seen below. The fundamentals of the SQ3R method, including both explanation on how to engage in the five different steps outlined above, and justification of why each of these steps is important while engaged in active and effective reading, are provided in the table below, elaborated by the Academic Success Corner of Oregon State University. On the other hand, for those of you who prefer audiovisual material, below you have three short videos explaining the SQ3R method, and how to apply it.
The SQ3R method and how it improves academic performanceFor those of you interested to know a little bit more about academic research related to SQ3R, in the last years, there has been researching investigating the role of the SQ3R method when improving students’ academic performance. Some examples include the Master Thesis developed by Cantu (2006) and focused on undergraduate students, and the Master Thesis by Casson (2012), which provides a comparison between SOAR (Select, Organize, Associate and Regulate) and SQ3R study methods on college students. Other examples encompass a piece of research showing the improvement in marketing students’ reading comprehension when using SQ3R (Artis, 2008) and an investigation exploring teacher students’ reading literacy and vocabulary mastery when implementing SQ3R (Soma, Mukminin and Noprival, 2015). To know moreCathy Costello (2020) ‘SQ3R. Reading and understanding’. Virtual library. Available at: https://www.virtuallibrary.info/sq3r-reading-4-understanding.html# (Accessed: 10 November 2020). Cook Counselling Center (2020) ‘SQ3R Improving Reading Comprehension’. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Available at: https://ucc.vt.edu/academic_support/online_study_skills_workshops/SQ3R_improving_reading_comprehension.html (Accessed: 10 November 2020) ReferencesAPA Dictionary of Psychology (2020) SQ3R. Available at: https://dictionary.apa.org/sq3r Artis, A. B. (2008) ‘Improving marketing students’ reading comprehension with the SQ3R method’. Journal of Marketing Education, 30(2), pp. 130-137. doi: 10.1177/0273475308318070 Cantu, P. (2006) Learning more: Does the use of the SQ3R improve student performance in the classroom? Master Thesis. Master of Science. Texas A&M University-Kingsville, US. Available here (Accessed: 10 November 2020) Jonson, J. (2013) ‘SQ3R Reading Method’. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dhcSP_Myjg (Accessed: 10 November 2020). Kasson, S. C. (2012) Which Study Method Works Best? A Comparison of SOAR and SQ3R for Text Learning. Master Thesis. Master of Arts. Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska, US. Available here (Accessed: 10 November 2020) Khan (2020) ‘What is SQ3R?’ EdTechReview. Available at: https://edtechreview.in/dictionary/4025-what-is-sq3r-sqrrr (Accessed: 10 November 2020) Manchester Community College (2013) ‘QS3R Reading’. Available at: (Accessed: 10 November 2020) Oregon State University (2020) ‘SQ3R Reading Strategy’. Academic Success Corner. Available here (Accessed: 10 November 2020) Robinson, F.P. (1946) Effective Study. New York: Harper & Row. Soma, R., Mukminin, A., and Noprival, N. (2015) ‘Toward a Better Preparation of Student Teachers’ Reading Skill: The SQ3R Strategy with Authentic and Simplified Texts on Reading Literacy and Vocabulary Mastery’. Learning, 9(2), pp. 125-134. Stahl, N. A., and Armstrong, S. L. (2020) ‘So Much More Than SQ3R: A Life History of Francis P. Robinson’. Reading Psychology, pp. 1-35. doi: 10.1080/02702711.2020.1768979 |