Geography Tutorial
Reading in college means learning and building meaning from text. When we read texts, we must identify the important information, learn that information, and be able to recall that information when needed.
Accomplishing these tasks requires strategies. Readers must identify the important material in the text. Readers have been taught to do this since the beginning of their reading instruction, and they have to use those skills in a very conscious way to make their reading efficient and effective.
For college reading, readers must identify the “geography” of text. Geography refers to the topographical features of a region. The term “geography of reading” implies that readers must identify important features of text. The geography of reading includes: topic, main idea, and details. Identifying the geography begins the process of learning from text. The following tutorial provides some practice in identifying the geography of sample text.
Readers need to be aware that different texts may require different strategies; however, we need to begin with the geography of all text. Explore the tutorial and realize that you can certainly seek further help from the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence as you encounter the many texts that you will be required to learn from.