AGC 5100 - Critical Reading and Analysis

This course assists graduate students in managing their academic reading load in their field of study. The course focuses on developing and improving efficient reading habits and techniques; improving reading rate and comprehension; increasing vocabulary size; recognizing and developing information structure; and sharpening critical thinking skills. Students practice identifying the rhetorical structures and styles of texts, learning to recognize lexical, grammatical, and organizational signals, in order to better predict the content and styles of various texts. The course incorporates readings from various genres and readings from the students’ own disciplines. Also included in the course are finding and evaluating sources for a topic efficiently; summarizing and paraphrasing source materials effectively; and using various individualized reading strategies to improve reading rate and comprehension.

Requisites:
Credit Hours: 3.0 seminar
Repeat/Retake Information: May be repeated for a maximum of 15.0 hours.
Lecture/Lab Hours: 3.0 seminar
Grades: Eligible Grades: F,CR,WP,WF,WN,FN,AU,I
Learning Outcomes:

Students will be able to apply the concepts of summarizing and paraphrasing in both verbal and written forms.
Students will be able to use discipline-specific vocabulary in their written or spoken work.
Students will be able to evaluate texts critically.
Students will be able to skim texts effectively to identify main ideas.
Students will be able to scan texts efficiently to locate specific information.
Students will be able to recognize and use conventional academic rhetorical styles.