Customer Reviews

What Smart Students Know: Maximum Grades. Optimum Learning. Minimum Time.

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Though WHAT SMART STUDENTS KNOW is intended as an aid for people attending school, I would also highly recommend it for those who, like me, are not currently enrolled but are interested in what is sometimes referred to as "un-schooling," i.e., clearing one's mind of the backward concepts upon which schooling is founded. Author Adam Robinson argues that one of the most backward concepts taught in school is that if you do not enjoy attending, fail to get good grades, and do not learn in the way lesson plans are structured, then there is something wrong with you. "More likely," he corrects, "there is something wrong with school." He does not mince words. The epilogue includes an open letter to teachers, parents, students, school administrators, and politicians, that reveals Robinson's real reason for writing this book: he hates what school does to students.

Robinson is "angry at how school produces submissive students with battered egos." This is exactly what happened to me. I never liked school ("hate" would be a better word for how I felt). I thought this meant that I was stupid (this self-appraisal was aided by the fact that my first grade teacher claimed I had learning disabilities; Robinson sheds light on this outrageous phenomenon, explaining that teachers often use this label as punishment for rebellious, independently-minded students). I eventually developed a phobia of reading and felt guilty about the fact that I enjoy learning on my own, in my own time (going public on Amazon.com with what I have learned has been a great source of personal growth for me). Thanks to WHAT SMART STUDENTS KNOW, I realize that I was never stupid and there was never anything shameful about the fact that I learn better on my own. In fact, Robinson says that we are all our own best teachers, that no one teaches us better than we teach ourselves. Ironically, Robinson has taught me that I in fact possess the attitude necessary for success in school, an attitude built upon the conviction that learning is not important only when it is being graded. Learning happens all the time, in all aspects of life, not just in schools.

I really can't praise this book enough. Adam Robinson has helped liberate my soul. I know that sounds a bit verbose, but I believe this is only because we underestimate the extent to which our school experience shapes our self-conception. As John Taylor Gatto, an associate of Robinson and whose praise appears on this book's jacket (Gatto was voted "Teacher of the Year" several years running in New York City and state), has explained, schools are largely prison-like institutions where we are often abused. We carry this abuse, the damage done to our self-esteem, with us throughout our lives (it wasn't until reading Gatto that I realized how ridiculous it is that economic success is often closely linked to performance in school; for elaboration on this, I recommend Gatto's THE UNDERGROUND HISTORY OF AMERICAN EDUCATION). John Taylor Gatto says that in reality it only takes about 100 hours to learn how to read, write, and do basic math. The trick, he says, is to wait until the student is interested in learning the particular subject, and then move quickly. Why, if the basics can be learned rather easily, does basic schooling take 12 years? Because, according to Gatto, the real goal of compulsory education is to teach students to conform, to become pegs in the corporate system of the nation - they feel they need 12 years to achieve this objective. The aim of totalitarian education, Gatto claims, is not to teach conviction, but destroy the capacity to form any. I had thought there was something wrong with me for resisting this lesson. WHAT SMART STUDENTS KNOW has taught me that I had it right from the start: there is nothing wrong with me; there is something wrong with school!

Andrew Parodi

I received this book when I left for college. Even though I was already successful in high school, I found that this book provided me with new options for streamlining my study habits. It gave straight-forward advice in a very witty format. The book was easy to read and to use as a quick reference. Robinson also includes very helpful visual examples for the struggling student.

While this book was useful to me, Robinson's suggestions may not work for everyone. But it is well worth a try.

I found the way the author goes over the right attitude about school very insightful. He also makes most of the suggestion from the standpoint that there is "something wrong with the system" and not the students who fail to excel. An excellent book for all students with a focus on self responsibility towards ones own education.

Like the other reviewers, I was and am super-impressed with the learning techniques Robinson advocates. A few of the reviewers, however, object that to use all of the techniques requires too much time or effort.

These reviewers miss Robinson's primary point: that traditional "learning" methods are boring, time-consuming, AND ineffective. Think of the methods as a football quarter-back's "playbook:" you don't have to run EVERY play in the book in EVERY game. Robinson himself says that the methods do not apply in every course, and that some methods apply more in some types of courses than others. Robinson does NOT tell students to employ ALL the methods ALL the time.

Another point I'd like to make is that any new set of learning techniques takes time. Heck, typing took me forever to master; but now that I've invested the time it saves me WAY more than the time I spent learning it.

Finally, Robinson's point is that HOWEVER MUCH time you have to devote to your studies, whether it's an hour a day per college course or an hour per week for a high school course -- whatever -- your time is best employed using these methods. If you're short of time, or the test isn't so important, Robinson says to cut back on the methods to fit your time budget and the importance of the test.

The more time you have, and the more important the test, the more you should use Robinson's methods. The less time you have, simply cut back. No biggie.

Either that, or go back to wasting all your time with the old "learning" methods of rereading your notes ad infinitum until test time.

Good luck!

I thought this book was great because it tells you specifically how to go about studying. It isn't some stupid rant that tells you to do your assingments on time and suck up to the teacher. This book gives it to you straight and describes how learning should be done: how you should go about reading; how you should go about note-taking; how you approach assingments...etc.

I have always been really successful in the classroom but I found myself burning out and starting to not care anymore, plus, being a college student, I do want to have a good time too. This book has helped me out a lot. I have re-structured how I go about completing assingments and I have found the materical more interesting and more satisfying to learn. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn.

This book could reshape a student's thinking about education, for example, blaming a teacher or a school for not teaching still does not help students learn. The student must learn to want and find learning. This book shows the student several ways to put knowledge in the student's head as part of the student's day. What the teacher or school board is doing or not doing may help or hinder the student but at the end of the day, what matters is what the student put in his or her head as an act of the student's responsibility for himself or herself.

My guess is the author (perhaps he has a touch of Luddite as expressed in his take on computers in the last part of the book) prefers verbal to math subjects. That is why the math suggestions may touch a responsive chord for math haters. The book provides concrete techniques.

I read books upon books upon books on how to improve my studying. I'm a Network Administrator so I read as much if not more than a Medical Doctor (I know, I've argued with my family practioniar). This is simply the best book I've ever read on the subject. I've read serveral books that are no where descriptive or indepth as this one. It is the complete solution, other books only focus on one skill where this book cover them all.
One thing I like to do that the book has left out is teach the table of contents. After I finish a book (usually a computer book) I go the table of contents and lecture to myself on each chapter and each important topic. It sound funny and you look stupid doing it, but if you can describe the what the chapter and topics are about than you know the book and subject. Some people like to do the index but that is a little extreme if taken to seriously. Yes it is time consuming but so is rereading. If you teach the table of contents, you'll not only know enough to pass the test, but you'll have the all important understanding of it (if you can explain it differently than the text book that is). And if you can't teach the table of contents than you know what you need to review. Of course this is just a tool to add to the tool chest he gives you. But i've found it highly effective. I'm probably the only person I know who isn't confused by the a computer registry :)

"What Smart Students Know" is a five star book because it is a ground breaking book. Robinson has two remarkable qualities as a writer and thinker: he knows how things REALLY work, and is NOT AFRAID to tell you. He used theses two abilities to crack open the SAT in his book "Cracking the SAT", and now he has blown wide open our educational system in "What Smart Students Know". I have been through the educational system, from high school through graduate school, and can only say that Robinson has it all nailed down. From the personal biases of teachers to the incorrect model of learning that all schools embrace. It may be controversial, it may be upsetting, but Robinson is going to tell you how schools really work and how you can use this knowledge to take control of your education and succeed. Through my years of schooling I saw over and over and over again examples of the author's discoveries. Many times after seeing something crazy or hearing something hard to believe (like a student that a teacher liked begin given an "A" after getting half the questions wrong) I would think "Wow, Robinson mentioned that kind of bias in his book!".

As a side note, there is another wonderful book out there that helped me as much as Adam Robinson's in terms of learning and getting good grades. It is Tony Buzan's book "Use Both Sides of Your Brain". It is equally groundbreaking, but it concentrates more on how we understand and process information. It is a fun, slim book that will change your life.

To conclude, Adam Robinson should be in charge of overhauling our education system. He is THAT good. When he speaks, our educational system must listen.

I have 3 children apporaching college age and wish to provide them with every advantage possible to help them excel. Following days of bookstore searches, I bought numerous books on SAT preparation, study improvement and college entrance assistance. Among these was Adam Robinson's "What Smart Students Know." In this book we found a gem among the usual stacks of study guides, vocabulary lists and practice tests.

Robinson provides the reader with insights that cannot be obtained elsewhere. He shows the student how to analyze shortcomings and use this knowledge to perform better in their studies. At times one seems to almost find oneself entering the mind of a standardized test preparer thereby developing a much better understanding of the test itself. Mr. Robinson's experience in this area provides an added benefit. Clearly years of research, as well as trial and error were involved in the preparation of this book.

The reader is taken from preparation to practice to success in a methodical and thorough way. Problems are taken apart and analized in an attempt to discard habits and routines that yield unsatifactory results. Once these problem areas are understood, the reader is encouraged to develop his own improved approach to study and test taking through a series of ideas and suggestions.

Perhaps most striking is the fact that this book is appropriate for all age levels. College students preparing for graduate level tests as well as students approaching the high school years will benefit from its teachings. It is more than a book to be read, but rather a way of learning that should be absorbed, over and over, by students, parents and educators. A must read for all.

A well organised book that uses simple straightforward prose to put forth an effective strategy for learning. It includes useful information for organising notes, completing assignments and preparing for exams. One of the better books on strategies for learning.