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Divine, James H., and David W. Kylen. How to Beat Test
Anxiety and Score Higher on Your Exams. Woodbury, New York: Barron's
Educational Series, Inc., 1979.
How to Beat Test Anxiety and Score Higher on Your Exams begins by helping
students to understand how they experience test anxiety before helping them take
steps to reduce it. Suggestions on how to reduce test anxiety include replacing
negative self-statements with self-affirming statements, and learning how to
relax. The second half of the book focuses on developing test-taking skills,
especially those required for multiple choice questions.
Fleet, Joan, Fiona Goodchild, and Richard Zajchowski. Successful
Learning. London, Ontario: University of Western Ontario, 1987.
Successful Learning is an introduction to study skills, an earlier version
of Learning for Success. There is an inventory at the beginning to help
students identify their strengths and weaknesses followed by chapters on time
management, essay writing, science problem solving, exam preparation, and others.
The authors encourage students to be strategic, to study "smarter not harder."
Hanau, Laia. The Study Game. New York: Barnes & Noble Books,
1979.
The Study Game is well titled because the author approaches studying as if
it were a game which students can learn how to win. It covers reading for
information, conveying that information, consolidating information for exams, and
writing exams. The language is informal, frequently using point form rather than
complete sentences, and the text accompanied by sketches, arrows, and circled
major points. Students who like mind-mapping and take non-linear notes, will find
this book helpful.
Jones, Bill, and Roy Johnson. Making the Grade. Manchester,
UK: Manchester University Press, 1990.
In two volumes,
Making the Grade shows how to improve study skills. Volume
I examines input, learning new information, and Volume II examines output,
presenting ideas in papers and exams. The books are organized in brief segments
with prescribed rest and reflection. There are anecdotes to illustrate points and
to help students deepen their understanding of their own experience.
MacFarlane, Polly, and Sandra Hodson. Studying Effectively and
Efficiently: An Integrated System. Toronto: University of Toronto, 1983.
Studying Effectively and Efficiently: An Integrated System provides a brief
introduction (46 pages) to study skills. Topics include concentration, time
scheduling, listening and lecture note taking, reading and learning from
textbooks, writing papers, and preparing for exams. The book contains a brief,
clear explanation of the mechanisms of learning and memory.
Pauk, Walter. How to Study in College. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Company, 1984.
How to Study in College is a book that covers a wide range of study skills,
from improving memory to answering specific types of exam questions. It is
particularly strong in dealing with reading and note taking skills, not surprising
considering that the author is a researcher in reading. The book is well organized
with a thorough table of contents and index. Each chapter has a self-test to
promote learning and remembering.
Richardson, Frank C. Coping With Exam Anxiety. Editor. Arlene
Young. Athabasca, Alberta: Athabasca University, 1990.
This book uses an informational learning approach to help students understand and
reduce their exam anxiety. The book will help students understand the extent to
which their difficulty with exams is due to preparation or anxiety. For many
students, reading the book and doing the exercises will be sufficient to reduce
their anxiety. Others may also wish to seek the help of a counsellor. Athabasca
University Students can obtain the book, free of charge, from the Athabasca
University Students Association (AUSA).
Sullivan, Kathleen E. Paragraph Practice. New York//London:
Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.//Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1984.
If professors or tutors criticize students' paragraphs,
Paragraph Practice
can help. It explains what a paragraph is and how it differs from other writing.
The author breaks the paragraph down into its parts, and shows how several of them
can be united to form a brief composition?the kind of composition written for
exams and tutor marked assignments.