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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Red Rubber Duck's Learning & Study Skill Guide is excellent! Apr 17, 2008
In the next minute, try not to think of a red rubber duck. Just tell yourself: "I will not think of a red rubber duck, I will not...." Well, you get the idea. Not so easy, is it? Some kinds of information just stick in the brain better than others. While this can be annoying, this "stickiness" can also be very useful, especially when trying to learn complex new materials or studying for exams. Red Rubber Duck's Learning and Study skill Guide, by Dan Vandon, is a handy compact tool kit for basic study techniques. The author explains that most students put time and energy into studying (the "sweat strategy"), but often they do it inefficiently, because they are not employing good study tools (the "tool strategy"). With a little investment in effort AND developing the right tools, you can get a much better payoff. To that end Vandon introduces three key tools, each complete with instructions and examples of use: The Association Tool, The Big Picture Tool, and The Structure Tool. There is also a section on basic memory and recall techniques, and a final chapter students will find useful on developing a strategy for a specific exam. To illustrate the challenge of studying, Vandon tells the story of a man trying to fill bottles with a bucket. No matter how careful he is, most of the water doesn't go into the bottle. Similarly, he argues, much of our working memory never makes it into long term memory. Using Red Rubber Duck's tools and memory and recall techniques, we can get more of the water into the bottle, retain more vital information, and recall it later when needed.
There was a time in human history, before the invention of books and recording devices, when individual humans had to keep all the knowledge necessary for their daily existence and survival in their heads. Often this information was preserved in stories. Vandan uses stories in the text to make specific points, and also shows the reader how to construct memorable stories that in themselves will preserve information for future use. He also provides us with techniques for how to use the natural stream of associations that passes through our minds daily to help us remember important information. In an age where we are being encouraged to hand over more and more of our mental tasks to computers, we often neglect mental resources that have been in the human brain since that ancient time when our species survived through hunting and gathering. Vandon's book can help you revitalize and employ some of those resources. As educational materials go, the Red Rubber Duck guide is well designed. It has good internal information mapping, including a series of nicely placed charts and diagrams, and good chapter summaries--making the text easy to study and remember. By practicing what he preaches, Dan Vandon has created a book that is literally hard to forget. Red Rubber ducks forever!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A Dynamic Guide in Helping Us Enhance Our Study Skills Mar 19, 2008
How often have we heard students cry that they botched their exams or didn't do as well as they expected even though they studied so hard?
If you are one of these students or is someone looking for practical guide to improve your study and learning skills, check out Dan Vandon's Red Rubber Duck's Learning & Study Skill Guide.
Vandon, who has a background in intellectual property law and has earned law degrees in several countries, has penned a dynamic guide in helping us enhance our learning and studying abilities with his Red Rubber Duck's Learning & Study Skill Guide.
In essence, this 176- page handbook focuses on three important tools, the Association Tool, the Big Picture Tool and the Structure Tool, which is explored and dissected within distinct sections. One caveat, however, and as Vandon asserts, "you can't expect a quick fix, a one-size-fits-all wonder tool." It is up to the reader to know how to incorporate these tools into his or her daily practice. What is more, in order to reap maximum benefits from this book it is crucial that you involve yourself in all of the various exercises provided by the author.
It should also be pointed out, as Vandon mentions, that that the tools and skills examined in the book will in most likelihood work best with written material such as texts and notes such as law, business, liberal arts, social sciences and other disciplines of a similar nature.
With a great deal of gusto, most likely acquired as a result of his many years of experimenting with these three tools, Vandon commences with the Association Tool. To demonstrate how learning by association is a fundamental component in the learning process, Vandon introduces a picture of a red rubber duck and asks us to recall anything that we are able to associate with the red rubber duck. We are informed that once you can learn how to make associations and integrate them into your everyday practice, you can learn to better recall information, however, it is also important that we learn the various methods to associate such as creating an experience we cannot forget. To illustrate, we are presented with the example of remembering to drop a parcel off at the post office. You would have to agree that in all probability if you place the parcel in the driver's seat of your car, you would not escape remembering the task.
Vandon points out that people find it easier to remember sequences of images, or physical items that we can smell or touch, than abstract information, as information in a textbook. And this leads us to abstract information, how do we remember it? Vandon teaches us about "translating" abstract thoughts into an image where we use triggers to help us recall. One method he tutors us to use is the easy-to-remember trigger that would remind us of the image. Vandon demonstrates this technique by presenting various exercises showing how this can be accomplished. Another helpful device is inventing a memorable story that would feature the information you wish to remember.
Not to be omitted are alternative techniques as the Loci Method and the peg-code method. The Loci method is where new information is mentally associated with old, pre-existing information, a specific, known place. The peg system is where we have a relationship between images of a familiar peg-code and new information. As stated, there is a similarity among all three systems in that they all depend on the creation of an image in one's mind that incorporates, or links, two elements-a trigger and an association.
Immediately following this section, Vandon goes on to probe the basics of memory and recall. Helped along with concrete examples, the text in this segment details what makes us recall real-life information. We are informed that when dealing with abstract information the more active we are in the learning process, the more likely we will be to recall this information over time. This requires personally taking over the responsibility of the learning process. Another important ingredient of the learning process is the adoption of the bird's eye view perspective which is a concept that is part of the Big Picture Tool or as stated: "Understanding and memorizing the big picture before trying to figure out the meaning of the details will provide a solid idea of the information's general framework." Not to be omitted is that once you perceive the big picture, it is essential to know how to structure content and here again Vandon comes to our rescue in showing us the way.
A most interesting chapter is the one dealing with the Big Picture Tool, which refers to the basic ideas, concepts and vocabulary of a particular discipline. For example, if you were to study any subject matter such as law or psychology, you first must understand the terms and concepts that are used in order to grasp the principles. Vandon offers some excellent advice when he states that it is vital that we commence with an overview of the subject matter and then fit in the details. And some of the ways in which this can be achieved are making extensive use of introductory material and identifying key principles that govern the subject. This chapter also shows us how to intelligently attend lectures and to learn how to effectively take notes as well as to summarize and review them after class ends.
The chapter dealing with the Structure Tool shows how to break down information into small comprehensible components where we can more effectively relate information, concepts or ideas. As Vandon points out, this can be effectuated by creating a hierarchy, a sequence, a continuum, and a rule and exception relationship such as a cycle or table where visualization comes into play. All of this will also help us keep the big picture in mind as well as force us to adopt active attitudes.
Vandon provides his readers with a highlighted summary of every chapter as well as a section called making the most of the chapter where a table contains a few questions and blank spaces for our replies. The book ends with a very helpful and comprehensive index as well as a short list of further readings on the subject matter.
If you are looking for a practical guide that includes a great deal of information to help improve your study habits or for general interest, this is about the best book I've seen on this topic. Its material is well structured and intelligently presented evidencing Vandon's comprehensive understanding of study and learning skills. It will surely prove to be quite a gem with students and others and is one book readers will revisit both for its sage advice and easy to follow clever format.
Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures
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