Customer Reviews

Becoming A Master Student Tenth Edition

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The only credit I can give this book is in its use of discovery/intention statements...Here is what I have discovered about becoming a master student, buy Walter Pauk's book "How To Study In College". Being a master student does not cover the Cornell note taking method clearly enough, which has been scientifically proven to be the best note taking method for students. Becoming a master student is so politically correct the information gets lost within the HE-SHE flip flops throughout the book. Being a master student fails to give the student the one most important question all students MUST ask themselves after a lecture or a reading session, DO I UNDERSTAND. Being a master student fails to get down to the point. The only thing this book is, or that I consider it to be, is a collection of hints and goofy quotes. If you want to understand what you have read buy "How to Read a Book" by Adler and Van Doren. If you want to take good notes follow these directions.

How to listen.
Attitude: Your obligation to yourself is to maintain a positive attitude towards the lecturer. The person speaking has spent hundreds of hours reading, studying, and researching in order to give you the information in your class.

Attention: Pay attention to how much attention you are paying to the lecture. Notice when you start to drift off. Think actively about the information being delivered. Become mentally involved with the lecture and ask clarifying questions. If you are getting confused ask more questions, this helps both you and the instructor. Anticipate what the lecture is going to be about and think ahead. Review the course syllabus before every class meeting. Listen for ideas not just for facts. Avoid distractions, both internal and external.

Adjust: Be flexible with the instructor. If the instructor goes off the topic, don't become upset, just roll with it. Be open to ideas and facts that might conflict with your own.

How to take notes.
1. Create short statements in the main body of your notebook using telegraphic and declarative statements.
2. Use plenty of paper. Each statement gets two to four blank spaces after it.
3. After the class is over fill in any gaps in your notes. Clarify any vague short-hand 'B5=bloody fifth'.
4. Summarize the lecture in complete sentences at the end of your notes. This is done between classes or at home. The sooner the better.
5. When you are home create questions and write them down on the blank side of the previous note-taking page.
6. Review all (entire semesters or quarters worth) of your notes at least once a week.

How to summarize.
Classify the lecture or book according to kind and subject matter.

State what the whole lecture or book is about with the utmost brevity.

List the major parts in their order and relation, and outline these parts as you have outlined the whole lecture or book.

Define the problem or problems the author or speaker has tried to solve.

Come to an understanding with the author or speaker by interpreting the key words that are being used.

Grasp the author or speakers leading propositions by dealing with the most important sentences that have been used.

Know the arguments, by finding them in, or constructing them out of, sequences of sentences.

Determine which problems the author or speaker has solved, and which were not solved; and of the latter, decide which the author or speaker knew that they had failed to solve

State what the entire book or lecture was about.
Break it into its parts.
Explain how the parts relate to the whole.

How to study your notes.
Read your cue questions.
Attempt to answer your cue question.
Don't struggle for the answer. Peek at the answer if you have to, and then move on.
Make over-learning (instant recall) your goal.
Refresh your memory at least three times a week.

If you want to improve your concentration and attention, put a wide rubber-band on your wrist and every time you notice your concentration or attention wonder snap the rubber-band on your wrist. Take my word for it you'll be a major concentration machine in a few weeks.

To answer your question, why did I buy this book? I received a "B" in a Spanish class and dicided that I may need a study skills class, even thogh I had spent two years researching study skills, I thought I might be missing something in my tool chest. Becoming a master student was the required text. In my opinion, Becoming a master student is the perfect book for someone in the 7th through the 10th grades. My niece who happens to be 13 now owns my copy of Becoming a master student.

It's one of the BEST book I've ever read or seen.. Pages are all colorful and nice design very attracting the eye so we read more, and interesting story inside and motivational. I totally recommend this book if you are trying to pursue a better learning skills wether you are in school or you just want to learn to LEARNING about everything.. it's useful book for you!

This book is really helpful for those who have had difficulty with studying and time management. It also helps highlight some of those "everything I need to know, I really did learn in Kindergarten" moments. Often I don't keep textbooks, because I know I'll never use most of them again. This book is exactly the opposite, in that I know I will use it again, be it with relationship conflicts, time management, a reminder to detach from my identities, or anything else. There is such a wealth of helpful information, that I fail to understand the ranting low reviews. Apparently some people have nothing better to do with their time than bitch. Pity, really.

Chances are you will need this book to take a freshman orientation course. You need to know that the book is designed to used once. There are activities in it that are meant to be torn out by the student and possibly turned in.

If you want to save money you can get a used copy very cheaply but you should make sure it is intact.

There are two audiences for this book. The people who will use it and the people who make the decision to adopt it.

The people who might decide to adopt it are concerned about student success or - more precisely - retaining students until they get a degree. The survival of many publicly funded colleges depends on this. The students that they are most concerned about are functioning at the middle school level. They are immature. They have been babied through high school. They have never learned basic study skills. They don't have a clear idea of what they are doing in school. They are overwhelmed (or underwhelmed until it is too late). Often, they work too many hours. Many are commuters with little family support. Some have children.

The book is designed as a structured grab bag of assignments and classroom activities that can be used with the target population. The publisher provides extensive support to any institution that will require the book.

Not surprisingly, the book is politically correct but not in such a blatant fashion that students would find it ridiculous.

There is certainly good stuff in here that would benefit anyone who isn't ready for the college experience but finds himself there. I would not use it at a college with any kind of restrictive admissions because many students would be turned off.

The typical instructor for an orientation course does not want to spend a lot of time cobbling something together. So the textbook gives him something to work with.

I think the book works for its intended purpose. Is there something better out there? That's a good question.

We'll see. I'm teaching a section of the freshman orientation course next fall using this book.

For me, personally, I love this book. It's very absorbing, and I can lose myself browsing through all the different little articles and stories, nearly all of which are well-written and engaging.

For those who are in patent need of study skills, however, I don't think this will prove a very useful tome: given the simple nature of the lessons it teaches, the book assumes a incongruously high reading level.

Yes, there's a fundamental irony in the premise of Ellis's compilation: anybody who is concerned enough about their study habits to acquire this book (and who is competent enough to read it with the care it requires) is ipso facto already in possession of the very skills the book purports to inculcate.

In other words, the only people who will get anything out of this book are those who aren't in need of what it has to offer!

Fun time-killer for a bored instructor, though.