A lot of us are guilty of opening our textbooks to do the assigned reading and then never opening them again. We do the assigned readings, go to class and hope to not get called on, and then immediately use our notes and/or a supplemental to help form a study guide. But there are several ways to use the textbooks that some people are not aware of.
#1: Outlines
I prefer to use my textbook to help structure my outlines. I also reference my syllabus to double check that I am hitting the correct main points, but the table of contents is a great way to structure outlines. I prefer to write out the headers and subheaders for each chapter that are listed in the table of contents. I then fill in each section with relevant information from my book notes and class notes. Sometimes syllabuses do not list every point so your information can get lost very easily. Table of contents is an easy way to make sure that you are listing everything you need. Better to have more information, right?
{Tip: use class notes first and then fill it in with color-coded book notes}
#2: Summaries
In most books there are chapter summaries at the end of each chapter. I make a separate document of the chapter summaries. I will use these summaries when I am creating my outlines and study guides to make sure that I am hitting the main points of each chapter. The summaries tend to word the main points differently and get to the point.
{Tip: look at these at the end of your assigned reading to help drive in the main points. I also include these in my book notes so I can reference them and impress the professors when they call on me.}
#3: Quizzes
At the end of each chapter there are quizzes on that chapter. Look to see if your textbook is available online (some books are on ebooks.westacademic.com) because there are online quizzes available along with explanations. Some professors use these questions on their exams. ;)
{Tip: check the front few pages of your textbook for an access key. If you rented or bought the textbook second hand, the access key most likely will not work but the websites will usually give you a new access key for free}
#4: Supplementals
Going off of #3, websites that have your textbook online will also have supplementals that you can reference and, sometimes, they are free. I will only use hard copies of my textbook because I love writing in them but I like to use the websites as an extra studying tool.