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B's and A's in 30 Days: Strategies for Better Grades in College
 
 
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B's and A's in 30 Days: Strategies for Better Grades in College [Paperback]

M.A. Eric Jensen (Author), Tom Kerr (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)


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Book Description

January 1997
Thirty short, entertaining, instructive chapters-one for each day of the program-advise students on how to set goals they can reach, study more efficiently in less time, take better classroom notes, develop speed-reading techniques, improve their memory, and tackle tough subjects with confidence. Amusing cartoon illustrations keep the mood appropriately light.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (January 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0812095820
  • ISBN-13: 978-0812095821
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #344,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ERIC JENSEN
Background

Eric Jensen has always been passionate about learning. As a child, he seemed to read every book he could find in his own home and any library nearby. There are rumors that he "over-borrowed" from local libraries and a nearby Boy's Club. To make up for that, today he donates back up to 50 books a year to others. He graduated early from high school (age 16) and averaged reading two books a week in college. He graduated with distinction with a bachelor's degree in English. Even today, Eric is still learning, completing his doctorate in Human Development from Fielding Graduate University.

As a teacher, Eric has worked with a wide range of students. He taught middle school, high school students though a private school, focusing on reading and study skills. While he began as a completely average teacher in terms of technique, he's always been know for his passion for learning. Later, he became adjunct faculty for three universities, serving as a professor for adult learners at the University of California at San Diego, National University and the University of San Diego. In 1988, Jensen was selected as an Outstanding Young Man of America.

In the workplace, Eric Jensen co-founded the world's largest brain-compatible academic enrichment program, SuperCamp, which now has over 50,000 graduates. In 1985, he founded Turning Point and which later became Jensen Learning with over 50,000 educators attending programs. These programs introduced the science of teaching and learning to teachers from around the world. Eric Jensen has introduced brain-based teaching to Denmark, UK, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa, New Zealand and other countries. Jensen was the founder of the Learning Brain EXPO, the world's first conference that linked neuroscience to everyday educational practices.

Part of the leadership in the field is literary scholarship. Jensen has authored ten journal publications to his credit, twenty-six full-length books through five different publishers. Jensen has appeared on over 250 television and radio stations, both domestic and international including CNN. Articles on his work have appeared in USA Today, CNN, Wall Street Journal and major educational journals such as Education Leadership, Education Week and PDK International/ Phi Delta Kappan. His work has appeared in The South China Post and he's been interviewed on stations in Asia and his books have been translated into 15 languages including Chinese.

Jensen is currently an active member of the Society for Neuroscience, The President's Club at Salk Institute of Biological Studies, NY Academy of Science, American Psychological Association and International Mind, Brain and Education Society. Jensen is on the Advisory Board for Body, Mind and Child in Barnstead, New Hampshire. He is a partner and consultant in the Temporal Dynamics Learning Center Project at University of California at San Diego. This project involves over 50 scientists and affiliates to bring neuroscience into the classroom.

Later, with his passion for neuroscience, Jensen made over 45 visits to neuroscience laboratories to interact with countless scientists. At the world-renowned Salk Institute of Biological Studies, Jensen is a member of the select President's club, which interacts often with neuroscientists as well as supports their work financially. Jensen has become one of the leading translators in the world of neuroscience into education. Currently he is the Master Trainer and Consultant to the Association of Brain-based Learning in Education in Hong Kong. This is the first long-term brain-based program focusing on classroom pedagogy in Asia. (http://www.brainbased.net).

Jensen's best known books are Teaching with the Brain in Mind, SuperTeaching, Enriching the Brain and Teaching with Poverty in Mind. He's an incurable writer who seems obsessed with doing another book every year.



 

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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Hot Tips!, December 2, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: B's and A's in 30 Days: Strategies for Better Grades in College (Paperback)
Ah! Where was this book when I was a freshman? B's and A's offers a plan to raise grades that took me almost an entire college career to discover. A must have for any student (even seniors). If you like this book, you'll love "Major in Success." The invaluable tips are worth their weight in GOLD.
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4.0 out of 5 stars The three books which have influenced my understanding of effective studying during the early years!, May 27, 2007
This review is from: B's and A's in 30 Days: Strategies for Better Grades in College (Paperback)
1) Student Success Secrets (1979), by Eric Jensen;
2) You Can Succeed: The Ultimate Study Guide for Students (1979), by Eric Jensen;
3) B's & A's in 30 Days: Strategies for Better Grades in College (1994), by Eric Jensen;

Over the last two decades & within the realm of study strategies, I have amassed a vast repertoire of books & resources on the subject. They cover a very comprehensive & broad academic range from young children through teen/college students all the way to university/matured students. This is attributed to my deep personal interest in understanding the `concept of studying' as well as my relentless search for the `study smart process'. Many of the ideas & techniques have been adapted & put to work in my own public workshops as well as in collaborative school projects.

Amidst the many books I have owned & read about the study process, only a few of them have been my personal favourites. They include: Walter Pauk's 'How to Study in College' (1974), Adam Robinson's `What Smart Students Know: Maximum Grades. Optimum Learning, Minimum Time' (1993) & William Armstrong's `Study Is Hard Work: The Most Accessible and Lucid Text Available on Acquiring & Keeping Study Skills Through a Lifetime' (1995).

However, there are three books which have influenced my understanding during the very early years. They are listed above.

The decisive factor in acquiring all the three early books, by Eric Jensen, more or less lies in his impressive track record in education. As a teacher in the middle schools, he co-founded the internationally-acclaimed SuperCamp, a residential summer camp for teens, pre-teens and college-age students, with Bobbi dePorter in the early eighties.

[In the late seventies, Bobbi studied with Dr Georgi Lozanov, father of accelerated learning, & applied the innovative methods to her highly-successful, but now-defunct, Burklyn Business School. Seeing an urgent need to teach school children how to learn, she later applied the techniques in SuperCamp, a youth program. In the years since, SuperCamp has helped over 45,000 students re-learn how they learn & reshape how they live their lives.]

Eric left a few years later to create Turning Point for Teachers, a training outfit applying the innovative accelerated learning techniques to teaching staff development, which eventually become Jensen Learning, a consultancy outfit. The specialty of Jensen Learning is the integration of brain research into practical, user-friendly training applications & it has trained more educators/teachers in brain- based learning than anyone else in the world with over 50,000 graduates. He also subsequently wrote more than two dozen books about how to apply brain science to learning & education, including `Super-Teaching' & `Teaching with the Brain in Mind'.

All Eric's early three book as mentioned above essentially focus on the development of effective study strategies.

`Student Success Secrets' is primarily targeted at younger students, whereas `B's & A's in 30 Days' is catered more for college students. To me, `You can Succeed' is a condensed version of the first book with a more crisp writing to cater for high school students. This book is packaged like a handy pocket guide.

All the three book share these common features:

- An illustration of the author's sure-fire study process, even though I feel it applies more specifically to only reading, which is one vital component of the entire process. [In `Student Success Secrets', the author breaks it down to 1) Prepare Your Mind; 2) Ask Questions; 3) Gather Information; & 4) Evaluate Your Understanding. In the second book, the author tweaks it a little bit: 1) Browse; 2) Prepare; 3) Read; 4) Review & Check; & 5) Recall. In the third book, it's 1) Pre-study; 2) Ask Questions; 3) Gather Information; & 4) Evaluate/Correct. In reality, these are playful variations of the original SQ3R reading methodology created by Francis Robinson in the late forties.]

- Review points at the end of every chapter;

- Amusing cartoon illustrations to keep readers' mood appropriately light;

In `Student Success Secrets', I believe the first four chapters of the book, particularly, Chapter 2: Success Habits, provide an excellent preamble for readers. Strategy-wise, it is jam-packed with more than a hundred practical, time-saving tips. I like the author's `Stop & Take Action' at the end of each chapter. I reckon his timely use of Jane Roberts' quotation in the prologue:

"There are no limitations to the self. There are no limitations to its potential. You can adopt artificial limitations through ignorance."

is a very meaningful gesture.

My most favourite chapter in the book is the last chapter, i.e. Chapter 13: The 1% Secret. Here the author talks about the importance of taking baby steps & making incremental changes in your skills & attitude, coupled with affirmations & positive suggestions. This certainly helps to narrow the knowing-doing gap in learning & performance.

In `You Can Succeed', the Daily Scroll & the sample Self-Improvement Contract' in the introductory pages are useful tools to help readers to get started in developing effective study strategies.

In terms of breadth & depth of coverage, the other two books, namely, `Student Success Secrets' & `B's & A's in 30 Days', stand out comparatively better than this one.

Unlike the first two books, thirty short, entertaining instructive chapters are organised specifically in `B's & A's in 30 Days' to create an unique thirty day format of structured daily "learning menu" for readers. Application-wise, the reader can implement specific action one day at a time. This is really great!

One thing that strikes me most about Eric in all his writings is his uncanny ability to communicate eloquently in plain language with readers. He can write about (more specifically, talk to readers), from the most mundane stuff like reading & gathering information from a passage to the more complex stuff like understanding the impact of neurons on learning. Today, he is recognized as one of the leading translators of educational neuroscience in the world.

On the flip-side, one vital component of the `study process' is missing in all the foregoing three books. It pertains to lesson revision & rehearsal as a preparatory step to test/exam preparation. From my work with students, I find this step to be very significant in helping students to consolidate &/or recapitulate what they have learned prior to taking a test/exam. This step often helps to moderate the students' test/exam anxiety.

[To me, the `Study Smart Process' involves ten requisite steps or components:

- Goal setting;
- Time management;
- Active Reading;
- Information Gathering;
- Taking & Making Notes;
- Organising Information for fast Recall;
- Lesson Revision & Rehearsal;
- Test/Exam Preparation;
- Creative & Logical Writing;
- Stress Management/Energy Engineering;]
-
In the case of the first & last book, the last component or step in the process, i.e. stress management, is given only perfunctory treatment by the author. For some reasons, it is missing from the second book. In the case of `Student Success Secrets', Eric talks very briefly about `Eat Smarter' but offers limited advice on `Reduce Study Stress' in Chapter 2. Likewise, in `B's & A's in 30 Days', the author's advice on `Handling Stress' is seemingly sketchy.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for every college student!, October 26, 2002
By 
Wooyong Ee "ewoo" (Louisville, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: B's and A's in 30 Days: Strategies for Better Grades in College (Paperback)
It's been 5 years since I graduated from college. I recently found this book in one of my storage boxes--and had to write a review because it helped me so much!

This book was truly useful for me. Like the other reviewer, I wish I had knew about it during my freshman year. The book has some very practical and easy-to-adopt tips on studying and getting motivated (with lots of research to back-up those tips, for skeptics).

I really enjoyed it becuase of it's earnest, helpful tone. Very easy to read too. Highly recommended!

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Congratulations! You have chosen B's and A's in 30 Days-a proven, user-friendly grade booster. Read the first page
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