So, when reading for your field, how do you approach it? Is your reading directed or is it something more free form? Also, in your experience how important is it to balance theoretical knowledge with the practical?
Very free form. Once you find a few interesting sources in the subject you're studying, you're in business. That's because a) you develop a huge reading list from the works cited in the current work, and b) you come across things you didn't know and then you have new avenues to explore. I think you need a split between theoretical and practical knowledge, although the exact split probably depends on the field. If all you possess is practical knowledge, then you're probably missing a lot about why it is you're doing what you're doing, and you're probably being terribly inefficient, as well. If all you possess is theoretical knowledge, then you're probably sitting in a chair doing nothing but thinking about how smart you are. The good part is that if you're truly interested in the material, even dry technical crap can be very captivating. Do what you're passionate about and do it all in.
Wikipedia may get you long way these days. I'm studying to be a mechanical engineer because I'd like to be a product design engineer someday. What have I found from wikipedia? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoekens_linkage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maraging_steel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_metamaterials I may not use any of these ever, but stuff like this keeps me motivated and helps me to know what can be done.