This is an excellent guide for those readers who want to adopt powerful study habits & who also want to pass their exams with flying colours.



I am very impressed by the author's opening approach. At the onset, he starts off with a unique preamble as outlined in Chapter 1: How to Use This Book. He stresses the importance of asking questions as an initial guiding principle in reading his book (or any other books &/or reading materials), as follows:



- Formulating questions about the topic as you read;

- Formulating questions about what you are doing & how you are proceeding with your reading;



He even goes beyond by showing you how to formulate questions from the headings/sub-headings/first or last sentences of paragraphs in printed or written reading materials, using the well-know Rudyard Kipling method.



In the same opening chapter, he even demonstrates, with two working examples, the process of asking questions as a technique for analyzing assignment question. This is a very powerful technique to acquire for dissecting exam questions. (This technique is part of a larger process known by learning experts as the Question Dissection Protocol.)



Other useful techniques are outlined by the author in the other chapters:



- Chapter 2: Tackling coursework deadlines;

- Chapter 3: Organising your revision;

- Chapter 4: Improving your memory;

- Chapter 5: Taking exams;

- Chapter 6: Coping with anxiety;

- Chapter 7: Using others as supporting aids;



Each chapter is prefaced with a problem checklist, which is a quick way for the reader to access specific information (pertaining to the appropriate technique to use) immediately from the respective chapter. This makes the book a handy reference.



As you can see, a full-scale chapter on lesson revision is incorporated in this book. This chapter is beautifully crafted, covering the entire spectrum of the lesson revision process. This is definitely a rare occurrence for a study skill book, since I often notice that most authors of such kind of book tend to skip (or maybe they themselves are not aware of) this important aspect of the effective study process.



Chapter 5 (Taking exams) & Chapter 6 (Coping with anxiety) are very well-researched & carefully thought of expositions by the author, backed with a vast array of techniques, tools & hints, although a few of which in Chapter 6 seem to be somewhat esoteric.



Nevertheless, the techniques outlined by the author in both chapters are wide-ranging & all-encompassing. I have never seen a DIY Guide to Muscular Relaxation so finely detailed & systematically illustrated in a study skill book.



The last chapter provides many useful guidelines for getting help from supporting aids in your academic pursuits.



There is also a very rich bibliography & further reading list at the end of the book.



Attention Readers: If you are a student, & you want to ace your exams with flying colours, grab hold of this book! The book is targeted as secondary students but I feel that the techniques can also be applied for adults preparing for further academic work.