Take on Speed Reading?

[smthngintheway]

Hey guys, I'm considering taking a speed reading course and I was wondering whether you guys think that would be a good or bad idea for Dental School.

I want to take it anyways because I like to read for fun and it would be great if I could read twice as many books in the same time.

I talked to a good friend of mine and he says speed reading has increased his reading by 2-3X AND he says his comprehension has improved by around 20%. I thought that comprehension usually goes down when speed reading but this seems not to be the case.

Anyways, this looks like a win-win for dental school, reading faster and absorbing info better. What do you guys think?

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[white fang]

You are right that comprehension generally goes down with speed reading, but that's not always a problem. For many types of reading, speed reading is great. I would take the class and get what you can out of it.

 

[Tootyfruity]

i find comprehension and retention does go down

you get an overall understanding of the entire passage and you're supposed to go back to find the detailed answers as you work through the questions

you do need it for the RC section though just 'cause time is so ridiculously restricted, but i don't think it's necessary for dental school proper

one of the main paradigms is to not reread lines, but you sorta have to do that a lot if it's a tricky concept or if the wording's too academic, long and dragged out with proper latin names sprinkled all about, and you run out of working memory half way through the sentence, as is so often the case with textbooks

the only other time i've read like that outside of standardized testing is to skim papers i don't really care about

as for recreational reading, if you're reading for the plot then it'll be good for you. but if you like paying attention to the mechanics a lot of it is lost if you try to speedread through it

you probably don't need to spend money on a course, since it's so simple you could just google it

90% of the time spent in the courses i've been was just for practice reading and going over teh answers, and i only took the courses as part of packages for test prep

 

[wired202808]

Hey guys, I'm considering taking a speed reading course and I was wondering whether you guys think that would be a good or bad idea for Dental School.

I want to take it anyways because I like to read for fun and it would be great if I could read twice as many books in the same time.

I talked to a good friend of mine and he says speed reading has increased his reading by 2-3X AND he says his comprehension has improved by around 20%. I thought that comprehension usually goes down when speed reading but this seems not to be the case.

Anyways, this looks like a win-win for dental school, reading faster and absorbing info better. What do you guys think?

Sounds like a waste of money to me. I'm sure majority of dental schools utilize vitalbook which is an e-book format and powerpoint slides. I doubt you will need to read volumes of textbooks so I dont see the big concern. The most important part of any science class is often the smaller details and if comprehension were to decrease than you're just reading w/o a point.

So the answer to your question is: this will probably be "fun" but I wouldn't say its necessary for additional success in d-school. Most people dont take these courses and do just fine. If you feel you need them or want them, then thats a different story. But I doubt your success is going to be any different with or w/o the course.

 

[averagejoedds]

It def works and comprehension generall stays constant with everyday reading material. I just took a course and it was worth it, my speed easily doubled. However, using speed reading on more scientific material will more difficult. I would still say take it or at least try to use some of the techniques you can find via google.

 

[DrDDSman]

I dont see much use from speed reading, but depends on the person. When reading detailed material (physio/path) your comprehension will suffer.

 

[Seamonkey Doc]

Hey guys, I'm considering taking a speed reading course and I was wondering whether you guys think that would be a good or bad idea for Dental School.

I want to take it anyways because I like to read for fun and it would be great if I could read twice as many books in the same time.

I talked to a good friend of mine and he says speed reading has increased his reading by 2-3X AND he says his comprehension has improved by around 20%. I thought that comprehension usually goes down when speed reading but this seems not to be the case.

Anyways, this looks like a win-win for dental school, reading faster and absorbing info better. What do you guys think?

I don't see how it can be a bad idea. Even if it doesn't work for dental school, you can use the skill to read for fun.

 

[rccostner]

i found it to be very helpful with any reading except detailed scientific papers. for me, taking a course was the only way to keep myself practicing and trying to read faster because a grade was attached to the effort. after taking the speed reading course my RC score went up 3 points on the DAT too. it may not be the most useful thing for dental school for the reasons others have already mentioned, but it couldn't hurt to have the additional skills.

 

[wired202808]

i found it to be very helpful with any reading except detailed scientific papers. for me, taking a course was the only way to keep myself practicing and trying to read faster because a grade was attached to the effort. after taking the speed reading course my RC score went up 3 points on the DAT too. it may not be the most useful thing for dental school for the reasons others have already mentioned, but it couldn't hurt to have the additional skills.

👍 thats pretty much the assumption I made. It wouldnt be necessary for d-school.

 

[UltimateHombre]

👍 thats pretty much the assumption I made. It wouldnt be necessary for d-school.

Not necessary.... but a very wise investment.

More than anything it will save you time, that can in turn be used other places. Also, if like to read as a hobby, then it is definitely worth it for that alone.

For a couple hundred bucks and 2 weeks of your time, these courses require a very little investment, with a large return that will pay off the rest of your life.

I can't think of one negative about a speed reading course.

 

[Seamonkey Doc]

Not necessary.... but a very wise investment.

More than anything it will save you time, that can in turn be used other places. Also, if like to read as a hobby, then it is definitely worth it for that alone.

For a couple hundred bucks and 2 weeks of your time, these courses require a very little investment, with a large return that will pay off the rest of your life.

I can't think of one negative about a speed reading course.

Spot on 👍

Definitely not a "waste of money" if you plan on reading material that is not pertinent to dental school. Which hopefully is everyone lol

 

[wired202808]

Not necessary.... but a very wise investment.

More than anything it will save you time, that can in turn be used other places. Also, if like to read as a hobby, then it is definitely worth it for that alone.

For a couple hundred bucks and 2 weeks of your time, these courses require a very little investment, with a large return that will pay off the rest of your life.

I can't think of one negative about a speed reading course.

Thats an opinion and not a fact. Ship the $$$ to me, I'll make good use of it. Point is its either gonna help or its not. OP wont know until he spends his time and money. I dont think its gonna do much and most people dont take any "speed reading course" and succeed in dental school AND specialize.

Will it help? Maybe or maybe not. I doubt theres a guarantee that you'll get something tangible out it.

 

[UltimateHombre]

Thats an opinion and not a fact. Ship the $$$ to me, I'll make good use of it. Point is its either gonna help or its not. OP wont know until he spends his time and money. I dont think its gonna do much and most people dont take any "speed reading course" and succeed in dental school AND specialize.

Will it help? Maybe or maybe not. I doubt theres a guarantee that you'll get something tangible out it.

Of course it's an opinion... Thats what the OP asked for. He asked "what we think" is it a "good or bad idea".

Having taken one before i think it is a very wise investment... just because you don't think so, doesn't make my opinion wrong. And unless you have taken a speed reading course, i really don't think that you have any justification to say it wouldn't work...

I also never claimed it would guarantee success in dschool... i simply said i see no negatives to taking the course.

 

[wired202808]

Of course it's an opinion... Thats what the OP asked for. He asked "what we think" is it a "good or bad idea".

Having taken one before i think it is a very wise investment... just because you don't think so, doesn't make my opinion wrong. And unless you have taken a speed reading course, i really don't think that you have any justification to say it wouldn't work...

I also never claimed it would guarantee success in dschool... i simply said i see no negatives to taking the course.

You're right it worked for you. I'm just saying since most students dont use it and are still successful in d-school and still go on to specializing. Is it worth the money? Maybe or maybe not. I just dont see the merit in spending $$$ on a maybe.

That's my opinion.

 

[white fang]

You're right it worked for you. I'm just saying since most students dont use it and are still successful in d-school and still go on to specializing. Is it worth the money? Maybe or maybe not. I just dont see the merit in spending $$$ on a maybe.

That's my opinion.

Don't you ever read anything unrelated to dentistry?

If I could burn through a novel twice as fast I would personally love it. This thread has me considering taking a course myself.

 

[wired202808]

Don't you ever read anything unrelated to dentistry?

If I could burn through a novel twice as fast I would personally love it. This thread has me considering taking a course myself.

The thread isnt about novels, its about d-school and whether it makes sense to get it for such reasons.

 

[white fang]

The thread isnt about novels, its about d-school and whether it makes sense to get it for such reasons.

That is true. I guess I see it as a valuable skill but specifically to D-school perhaps not.

But, I suppose if you love to read you could spend less time reading a novel and give you more time to study while in d-school.

 

[DJPaulyDDS]

OP take the course, you won't regret it.

 

[wired202808]

That is true. I guess I see it as a valuable skill but specifically to D-school perhaps not.

But, I suppose if you love to read you could spend less time reading a novel and give you more time to study while in d-school.

with the powerpoint slides that majority of schools use, I see less reading and more comprehension.