The present invention provides for a tunneling magnetoresistive element and a method of reading a logical state of the element. An embodiment of the magnetoresistive element, for example, provides a tri-layer device having a storage layer, a sense layer and a barrier layer. The storage layer is a conducting, magnetic layer having a magnetization direction along an easy axis of the element. The storage layer is configured such that its magnetization direction will invert in response to an externally applied magnetic field of at least a first threshold strength. The binary state of the tunneling element is determinable from the magnetization direction of the storage layer. The sense layer is also a conducting, magnetic layer having a magnetization direction along the easy axis of the element. The sense layer is configured such that its magnetization direction will invert in response to an externally applied magnetic field of at least a second threshold strength. The sense layer is designed with a lower coercivity than the storage layer, thus the second threshold strength is less than the first threshold strength.