NOTES on:
Burns, T. and Sinfield, S. (2003) Essential
Study Skills. The complete guide to success @
university, London: Sage
Dave Harris
The authors have a background in FE, and have
attracted a lot of support from colleagues. They
make the claim that the techniques work in schools
colleges and FE [and universities,
presumably?]. The book contains lots of
activities, checklists, pauses for reflection and
so on, and is spattered with the use of bold
fonts. It warns constantly against institutional
discomfort, and recommends that learners become
active. Six easy steps are recommended -- students
persuade themselves they can do it by use of
effort, they need to get the big picture, foster
their creativity, manage their emotions and pursue
reflections. These steps lead to the first of
several mnemonics -- SOCCER (5). They
offer a list of tricks of the trade and skills,
and advocate a creative approach to maximize
grades and overcome fear.
Chapter 1 what is learning. Students should
gather ideas and organize them. Learning should be
active rather a matter of storage. There is a
mention of surface and deep approaches (11).
There is using information and overcoming fears,
especially of tests. Activities include listing
good and bad learning episodes and then comparing
reactions to those remarks of other students,
leading to reflection. Students should write their
own learning contract, including reviewing their
own personal list of hopes and fears. They should
discuss with others and refer to this book. There
is then a descriptive account of different types
of university. Students are encouraged to network,
join the academic community and learn the rules
leading to an odd section on epistemology and a
formal treatment of rules, arguments, the use of
evidence and so on, especially in the foundation
year. Readers are urged to use this material to
press tutors. There is a description of basic
components of university education, such as a
lecture leading to tips such as the need to
prepare, be active in seminars. Independent
learning is also required and readers should
choose a study partner. They should use the
library, and take advantage of useful people. They
should begin constructing their CV, for example by
beginning to make a list (35).
Chapter two organizing yourself. Students
have to want to be good at study, and then
'practise, practise, practise' (38), just like
learning to drive [a common analogy in these
books]. Students should learn from the mistakes
and try to improve their scores on a personal
skills questionnaire. They should organize their
time, and remember to reward themselves, pace
themselves, break their work into steps, and try
to approach their work systematically rather than
wait for inspiration (42). They need to
construct a timetable, juggle, and plan rest and
recreation [lots of blank spaces with dummy
timetables and so on are provided]. They need to
choose a suitable study space after some
experiments, and experiment with a range of pens,
papers and colours to get 'an injection of
energy and enthusiasm' (52). The Web gets a small
mention. Students need to stay positive and say to
themselves 'Now I am working. I enjoy being
a student' (52). A number of comments are included
from other students [real ones?]. Family members
have to be dealt with, and goals set. Students
need to focus, be active, constantly review their
activity and try to always end on a good note.
They also need to rest and relax, reflect and
change.
Chapter three research and read. Research
is defined as finding out something [!], and there
are both primary and secondary sources [no
explanation of the fetishism of primary sources in
some subjects]. Students need targets when they
research and read actively, and familiarize
themselves with the library [little
checklist provided]. They need a clear idea of why
they are reading, and read around and beyond the
syllabus -- e.g. 'read the latest journal
articles' (63). There are some elementary
questions to bring to the text. Students should
aim at a basic knowledge and then build up to a
question. There is another mnemonic --
QOOQRRR [pronounced cooker] -- question,
overview overview, question, read, re-read and
review [SQR3 on stilts] What this means in
practice is that you should skim read to get an
overview, while avoiding reductionism. Use the
assignments to guide reading -- skim, use intros
and conclusions, and any questions. Calm fears
about all the work. Pursue active reading, which
means marking the text to help reduce the load.
Ask questions like -- what is the author's
argument, what are the main ideas, where were they
encountered, what is the evidence for them
[quite good, 74]. This technique should be pursued
one paragraph at a time [!], although after
an initial selection of relevant points. Texts
should then be read again to develop permanent
notes. Boxed entries advise using proper
references. There should be a final check.
Constant practice will help overcome fear.
[nb, some early examples of mind maps also
provided, 80, 81].
Chapter four overview. Students need to
work out how the course has been designed
[but this is seen as pretty bland and descriptive
rather than working out micropolitics etc, and
with a touching faith in the rationality of the
process -- 85 F]. Students need to know the
assessment requirements and the outcomes, they
should highlight key words. They should remember
to not only answer the questions but try to meet
the learning outcomes (87). They should look
at past questions, and ask their tutors.
Chapter five passing exams. Students are
often victims of their earlier bad experiences,
but these can be overcome by active learning.
Techniques can be learnt and exams are still very
important [there is even an argument that
they test deep learning!]. Students should change
their attitude, and be positive (95). They
should use partners. They should check if they are
dyslexic. They should practice answers. They need
to get into the habit of learning as the course
proceeds rather than leaving things to the last
minute. They can train the memory. Active revision
can be important, for example Buzan's revision
cycle (98) [the one where you go back
to your notes after 20 minutes then a week, then 2
weeks -- cited a lot]. Students need to choose
what to revise make a decision and then commit
themselves to get the necessary information into
the long term memories. They need to practise
their own memory systems -- more mnemonics
(99). The trick is to make things memorable.
Information can then be reduced to index cards
which can themselves be memorized.
The mnemonic QOOQRRR seem to guide the rest
of it.
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