The Smart Study Guide: Psychological Techniques for Student Success

Table of Contents:
Finding Your Way Around. Introduction. 1. Becoming an Effective Learner. 2. Preparing for Study. 3. Multiple Intelligences: Using All Your Strengths. 4. Learning Preferences. 5. Working with Others. 6. Reading Techniques. 7. How to Remember Everything You Need To!. 8. Making Notes. 9. Generating Ideas. 10. Becoming a Critical Thinker. 11. How to Write an Essay. 12. Portfolios, Reflective Journals and Learning Logs. Next Steps. Appendix 1 Gardner’s Criteria for Intelligence. Appendix 2 Answers. References. Index

About the Author :
Louise Tamblin has many years' experience in adult education having taught with Thames Valley University, the Open University and acted as an external examiner with the Royal College of Nursing. She is skilled in designing educational programmes and assessments, authoring distance-learning materials and undertaking and applying research. Pat Ward has designed and delivered e-learning for over a decade, in both the education and corporate sectors. She has also run staff development programmes at universities around the world, advised government agencies and blue chip companies on assessment strategies, and is currently developing e-facilitated programmes to promote successful learning among adult learners.

Review :
"At long last, a study guide that's not only useful but actually fun to use and evidence-based to boot! Congratulations to Tamblin and Ward. This deserves to become the standard text in this area. Not only will I recommend it to my students (and my children) I'm going to mine it for tips for myself!" Dr Susie Page, Principal Lecturer, University of Greenwich "This book is a breath of fresh air. It turns a vast range of expertise and experience about how learning happens into a usable form, with hot tips, questions and answers, and much more. It’s the ‘off-the-wall’ study guide – ‘out of the box’ – and it works. It liberates the human brain from all the stuffy thinking about effective studying being simply hard work, and encourages owners to make use of all of their brains – not just a few academic bits." Philip Race, Senior Academic Staff Development Officer, University of Leeds "The Smart Study Guide by Louise Tamblin and Pat Ward is a comprehensive and evidence-based guide about how to study and learn effectively. It has an easy to read layout with hot tips, activities, questions and answers plus diagrams, mind map flow charts and key learning points.", Jacqui Tisch, tutor, Waitakere Adult Literacy Inc "Having read just about every study skills book out there, there is not a lot that excites me about yet another new one …but this one is in line with current thinking by being research and evidence based. To my delight I could dip into it and use two – three good ideas straight away without much adaption. Overall, this is essential for the staff shelf and student resources section – well worth the reasonable price", Jan Stewart, Manager, Student Learning Support Service, Victoria University of Wellington "The value of books like this lie as much in how they motivate as much as what they cover. The authors have done very well in this respect. The book reads like a mixture of quiz and ideas with some research thrown in...With it's mixture of good ideas and lighter reading style this is one of the best study books that has come on the market in some time. A "must-buy"; it should be on every library shelf." Dr Paul Ganderton, British Ecological Society's Teaching Ecology Group "This book is a ‘must have’ for all senior students or adults considering returning to education after some time away. It gives an excellent insight into the actions of learning. ….it is helpful in getting you to understand not only how to study but also how you should be studying… It could also give some current students a reality check, while motivating them and encouraging them to focus in a different way. ….the reviews are all stunning and supportive…. This book should be essential reading in any place when study and learning is occurring." Barbara Hudson (Director), Good Teacher Magazine, Term 1, 2007 "What a find! Here is a book which is so informative, so useful and easy to apply, that it is difficult to resist the temptation of putting the advice and lessons of each chapter into practise before going on with the next...After twenty-five years of teaching adult students I was frankly amazed at the value of the material for me, and I am delighted to be able to make immediate use of a great deal of the contents. As parents and grandparents I’m sure that many of my students will want to get their families involved in trying out some of the approaches and guidelines. In my opinion no student is too young or too old to benefit from this book, and my congratulations to the authors!" Colin Knox, Director, Te Wananga o Raukawa, Otaki, New Zealand "This is a good book and is strongly recommended for those students that still read books. It is full of excellent advice (how to read, how to write essays, how to pass exams, etc.), and although it would probably not be read in its entirety (and there is a section on speed reading for those in a hurry!) it is packed with useful tips...Any student reading this would surely improve his/her performance immensely" E. J. Wood, Centre for Bioscience, Higher Education Academy