Summary
In this article, the author, Walter Pauk, presented speed reading as a
method for researchers and executives to read through vast amounts of important
material with a limited window of time. In this article, Pauk wanted to offer
business executives and researches an alternative to reading every page in
order to gain necessary knowledge for their career fields.
Beginning this article, Pauk stated that ‘progress” is an essential
part of everyday life for executive and researchers. Improving daily progress
is vital not only for executives and researchers, but all employees within a business
setting. The author approaches the speed reading topic by addressing key
factors for its importance. Key factors such as, getting out from under piles
of paper work, the need for increased workforce speed and efficiency, and the
fear of being ineffective on-the-job, all add to the desire for executives and
researches to pursue speed reading courses.
The next section of this article is a summary by the author of a
standard speed reading course. According to Pauk, many individuals who begin
speed reading courses often attempt to “race through books, seize phrases, gobble
up sentences, and even mentally photograph whole pages at a glance.” This
tendency often times builds confidence for individuals participating in speed
reading courses. Pauk cautions that this sudden jump into speed reading can
cause a drastic loss in reading comprehension.
Lastly, Pauk articulates “high speed - low comprehension” for people
just starting speed reading. Challenging somebody to specific details within an
article they attempted to speed read can potentially discourage an individual
trying to learn this skill. According to the author, challenging somebody to
specific knowledge after speed reading is not an effective way to gauge if
speed reading is an effective method or not. It only serves to discourage a
person from enhancing this skill and reaching a point where it becomes an efficient
means for them to read numerous articles in a short period of time.
Critique
This article was not a scholarly peer reviewed study however, all of
its sources were scholarly and well acclaimed within the research and academic
community. While this article was written in 1965, much of its content remained
similar to studies and articles reviewing speed reading in the recent past.
Source
Posts
Chad, did the author mention any findings on speed reading from using his methods?
ReplyDeleteAubrey, no the author did not mention any findings throughout this article.
DeleteI agree with the author in the respect that it seems counter-productive to grill someone on a new technique when they are in the beginning stages of comprehension. Like any skill, speed reading is something that takes time to develop and train oneself in. If this were not the case, everyone would do it and it would just be called reading. I'm not saying testing a reader on comprehension is a bad thing either. These checks on learning provide the student with feedback as to whether they're advancing in their skill development. If they find they're not comprehending as much as they feel they should be, that could indicate they need to slow down a bit. If they're remembering every question asked, maybe they can afford to speed up to maximize efficiency. It's all dependent on the individual student's level of comprehension.
ReplyDelete-Eric
I completely agree with you Eric. Challenging a reader does enhance their skill development and also keeps that person accountable in their progress toward improved speed reading.
DeleteI agree with Eric's comment above. It is reasonable to assume that the skill of speed reading is one that must be practiced like any other for the user to gain proficiency. I am curious though, Chad, did the author mention any means of measuring progress early on?
ReplyDeleteTo be honest Hank, I did not see any comments or indicators about progress in the early stages of speed reading development.
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ReplyDelete