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

by M.A., Eric Jensen (Author), Tom Kerr (Author) "Congratulations! You have chosen B's and A's in 30 Days-a proven, user-friendly grade booster..." (more)
Key Phrases: check this box, study buddy, review for the day, Check-in First, First Easy Step First, Hot Tip (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Divided into 30 short, entertaining and instructive chapters--one for each day of this 30 day program--this workbook helps students learn the best way to set goals for better grades, develop efficient study habits, take better classroom notes, develop speed-reading techniques, learn tricks to improve their memory, and tackle tough subjects with confidence.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series; illustrated edition edition (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: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #469,853 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hot Tips!, December 2, 1999

By A Customer

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.

4.0 out of 5 stars The three books which have influenced my understanding of effective studying during the early years!, May 27, 2007

By	Lee Say Keng "KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURER/TECHNOLOGY... (Singapore) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

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)

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!