Book Review
How to Study: Practical Tips for Students
By Phil Race
pp248 Blackwell Publishing Oxford 2003 £9.99 ISBN 1-4051-0693-X
Every Students’ Union bookshop has a pile of books entitled ‘How to Study’ ‘How to Write Essays’ ‘How to get a PhD’ etc. I wonder what evidence there is that students actually read such books. From high school onwards they are given "tips" on how to study how to take notes how to pass exams and many university courses or parts of modules offer similar advice on how to do things how to write winning exam essays and so on. Those of us who mark their work sometimes wonder whether any of this has any effect whatsoever. Should we recommend such books to students? They are mostly full of common sense and would surely repay an hour or two’s study. Most importantly they help students understand how to manage their learning to see learning as something that can be organized and controlled and how good techniques and habits can be consciously developed. But is there any evidence that they read books rather than going onto the Internet?