SQ3R Reading Worksheet
Print a two-page worksheet for the SQ3R reading method: a Survey checklist, a Question table for each heading, an answer box for reciting from memory, and a Review section with a summary and review dates. Type in your chapter's headings, or leave them blank to write by hand. Free, no sign-up.
Up to twelve. Each heading gets its own row for a question and for an answer from memory. Leave this empty for blank rows.
Prints at true size on the paper chosen above, with a 0.5 in margin kept clear. In the print dialog choose the same paper, set Scale to 100% (Actual size), and turn off Fit to page and Headers and footers.
How to Use the SQ3R Reading Worksheet
- 1. Fill in the header. Add your name, class, the reading and its page range, or leave any of them empty to write by hand.
- 2. Add the headings. Type the chapter's headings, one per line, and each becomes a numbered row on both pages. If you have not seen the chapter yet, leave the box empty and choose how many blank rows you want; then write the headings in after your survey.
- 3. Pick the paper and print. Choose Letter or A4 and print both pages at 100% scale with headers and footers off. The sheet keeps a 0.5 inch margin on Letter and 12 mm on A4.
- 4. Work through the five steps in order, using page one for Survey and Question and page two for Recite and Review.
The Five Steps of SQ3R
SQ3R was set out by Francis P. Robinson, a psychologist at Ohio State University, in his book Effective Study (1946). The letters stand for five steps, and the worksheet gives each one its own space.
- Survey. Before reading, skim the title, introduction, headings, bold terms, figures and summary. You are building a map of the chapter so each detail has somewhere to land.
- Question. Turn each heading into a question. "Causes of the war" becomes "What caused the war?" Questions give your reading a purpose, because you are looking for answers rather than just moving your eyes down the page.
- Read. Read one section at a time, looking for the answer to its question. Slow down for the parts that answer it and move faster through examples you already understand.
- Recite. After each section, look away and answer the question in your own words, aloud or on paper. This is the step most readers skip, and it is the one that tests whether you took anything in.
- Review. When you have finished the chapter, go back over your questions and answers, write a short summary and mark anything still unclear. Come back to the sheet again later.
Example: one heading, worked through
Heading
Osmosis and the cell membrane
Question
How does water move across a cell membrane, and why?
Recite
Water moves from where it is more concentrated to where it is less, through the membrane, until the two sides balance. Cells swell in pure water and shrink in salty water.
Checked
The text adds that the membrane is selectively permeable and that the movement needs no energy. Add those two points.
Does SQ3R Work?
Honestly, the evidence for SQ3R as a complete package is mixed, and it has often been tested against other study methods rather than against doing nothing. What is better supported are two of its ingredients. In their 2013 review of ten study techniques (Psychological Science in the Public Interest), John Dunlosky and colleagues rated practice testing and distributed practice as the most useful, and rereading and highlighting as the least. The Recite step is practice testing, and returning to the sheet over several days is distributed practice. Roediger and Karpicke's 2006 experiments in Psychological Science found the same pattern: students who tested themselves remembered more a week later than students who reread.
The method is slower than reading straight through, so it is best saved for dense or important material, such as a textbook chapter you will be examined on, not for light reading. Many teachers adapt it: some add a step for reflecting on how the ideas connect, which is where variants such as SQ4R and PQ4R come from.
Tips for Getting More From the Sheet
- Survey with a time limit. A few minutes is enough. If you are reading closely at this point you are not surveying.
- Write questions you can answer. "What is photosynthesis?" is easier to answer than "Why does biology matter?"
- Recite without peeking. Cover the text, then check. Mistakes you find at this stage are the useful ones.
- Use the review boxes. Tick tomorrow, in a week and before the exam as you go back, so the sheet shows how many passes you have made.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What does SQ3R stand for?
- Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review. The three Rs are the last three steps: read, recite and review. The method was described by Francis P. Robinson in his 1946 book Effective Study.
- How long does SQ3R take?
- Longer than reading straight through, since you stop after each section to recite. The survey is brief, and the rest depends on the chapter. Use it for material you must understand and remember, and use lighter reading habits for everything else.
- What if the chapter has no headings?
- Make your own. As you survey, read the first sentence of each paragraph and group the paragraphs into sections of a page or so; write a short label for each in the Heading column. You can also use the questions at the end of the chapter, if there are any.
- How many headings can the worksheet hold?
- Up to twelve rows. If the chapter has more headings, print another worksheet for the second half, or group related subheadings under one question. The rows fill the page, so fewer rows means more room to write.
- Is SQ3R better than highlighting and rereading?
- The research reviews reach that conclusion about two parts of it. Dunlosky and colleagues (2013) rated practice testing, which is what Recite is, higher than rereading or highlighting. SQ3R as a whole has not been shown to beat every alternative, so treat it as a structured way to include the techniques that do work.
- Can I use the worksheet for articles and PDFs?
- Yes. Use section headings, or the paper's own Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion, as the rows. For research papers in particular, see the guide on how to read academic papers.