by Dr. Steve Warner Hello everyone and welcome to my first educational book review. In my ongoing quest to help as many students as possible realize their full scholastic potential I am always looking for new teaching and learning methods. One of the biggest questions I am constantly thinking about is “why is it that some students seem to have very little trouble absorbing and retaining information, while for other students these tasks seem almost impossible?” More importantly, are there certain methods that a “smart” student is using that a struggling student can replicate to become “smarter?” Well author Scott Young seems to think so and he claims to teach these methods in his book “Learn more, study less.” Click here to visit the website As an educator I felt compelled to read through this book carefully with an open mind. Before I discuss some of the details about the book, I think that it is important that you understand how I would classify myself as a learner. A bit about me Throughout elementary school, high school, and college I never had any trouble learning. I would absorb and retain the information taught to me very quickly. I spent very little time outside of the classroom studying. I was always very “book smart.” Well at least until graduate school. When I began my graduate program in mathematics I struggled to understand the material for the very first time. There were huge gaps in my knowledge that needed to be filled, and my level of mathematical maturity was not high enough to be able to solve homework problems. But I worked extremely hard, and by my second year of graduate school I was no longer struggling and other students were coming to me for help. If you asked me a week ago why I was always so smart in school, I would not have been able to give you a reasonable answer. If you asked me how I went from struggling in my first year of graduate school to becoming top of my class in the second year I would have given an incomplete answer at best. But now, after reading Scott Young’s book I believe that I can give a pretty clear explanation. During my time in school I have used almost every technique that Scott describes. At the time I never would have thought to describe what I was doing as “using techniques,” but I suspect that if I were to describe these methods to a “slow learner,” they would not be familiar with them, and might find them helpful. Click here to visit the website What is in the book? In “Learn more, study less,” Scott Young describes what he calls “holistic learning.” Holistic learning is essentially the opposite of rote memorization. The methods that he describes are very simple to understand. Some can be applied very quickly and others may require a concentrated effort on the part of the student. An example of a simple technique described in the book is the link method. This is a good method to use when you are forced to memorize a sequence of arbitrary information. This method involves creating vivid and exaggerated mental images that associate two symbols in the sequence. For example, we could link the entry “tiger” with the entry “tennis ball” by creating an image of a tiger standing upright juggling three tennis balls. This image is so ridiculous that it would be almost impossible to forget. An example of a more advanced technique is what Scott calls visceralization. This is similar to visualization, but allows for the possibility of involving sounds, sensations, and emotions in addition to simply imagining a mental picture. Click here to visit the website My thoughts on “Learn more, study less” There is nothing that I have read in this book that I would consider “groundbreaking.” As I have said, once I read the book I realized that I have been using these techniques my whole life. I just never put a label on any of them. But I am really happy that I read it. I now have a way to describe, in simple terms, methods of studying that I believe can be effective for many students. When a student comes to me with retention issues, I now have a list of suggestions I can recommend to help them. I think this is definitely a great book for educators to read. Academics that read this book will probably realize they have been using at least some of the techniques presented here their whole lives. After reading the book they will be able to describe these methods more easily to their students that are having retention issues. Will the information in this book help students? Well I cannot answer this with 100% certainty since I have not tested it, but I am fairly confident that these techniques will work for some, if not many, students. If you are a student struggling to absorb and retain information, then I think that investing in this book would be a good decision. Try one or two of the techniques out for a month or two. I suspect that your scholastic performance will improve. If not, it was just a small time investment, and you can get your money back for the book (Scott Young has a four month return policy). Click here to visit the website Final Analysis “Learn more, study less” is a really interesting book. Reading it has allowed me to name and describe some of the learning methods I have been using my whole life. I think that it is an especially good resource for educators. And for the struggling student I say “give it a try.” My gut feeling is that it will be extremely helpful for some students, and at the very least somewhat helpful for most students. Get the book, practice one or two of the methods that you connect with for a couple of months. My guess is that it will be a positive experience. Final Score: 9/10 Click here to visit the website Note: There is actually a full video course available as well. At this point in time I have only read the book, so I cannot give any feedback regarding the course. Extra Bonus If you visit the “Learn more, study less” website using a link on this page, and then purchase either the book or video course, I will give you a free PDF of the “SAT Prep Math Survival Guide.” Simply forward your order confirmation email to steve@SATPrepGet800.com to receive your free bonus. Click here to visit the website Full Disclaimer: I have received no compensation for this review. Scott Young did provide me with all materials at no charge, but I have no personal interest in this product. I spent several days reading this book carefully, and the opinions that I have shared about this book are all my own. I take great pride in providing accurate, useful, and honest information to my audience. The links in this blog post are affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and decide to make a purchase I will receive a commission on the sale. This does not cost you anything additional. These small commissions help to keep the rest of the content on my blog free, so thank you! Comments comments