THE STUDY SMART SMORGASBORD

TO REALLY LEARN, QUIT STUDYING & TAKE A TEST

2011-02-06T22:44:00.001+08:00

Here's the link to the above interesting article in the New York Times.

Note-Taking: What Do We Know About The Benefits?

2011-02-06T22:34:00.002+08:00

Here's the link to the above interesting article in the ERIC Digest.

THE 50 BEST STUDY AID BLOGS

2011-02-04T14:38:00.002+08:00

Here's the link to a bonanza of useful & practical information for students.

WISHING READERS A MERRY & PEACEFUL CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!

2010-12-24T09:57:00.000+08:00

[Source of Picture: 'REAL SIMPLE: life made easier, every day' weblog]

A LESSON ON ELEMENTARY, WORLD WISDOM AS IT RELATES TO INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT & BUSINESS, by billionaire investor Charles Munger

2010-11-07T09:23:00.006+08:00

If you are currently a college or university student, preparing yourself for the future of work, the following will be very useful in helping you to understand what you need to know in the world out there.

It is actually a commencement address by billionaire investor Charles Munger [he is the one & only partner of famed billionaire investor Warren Buffet at Berkshire Harthaway] at the University of California Business School in 1994.

It is seemingly dated, but the frank & insightful advice given in the address is ostensibly timeless & timely.

I wish I have had the opportunity of listening to such a profound advisory from a real world pro when I was a college student.

Please pay particular attention to what Charles Munger talked about his concept of intra-disciplinary thinking involving many mental models [he calls it the 'Latticework of Mental Models', which fascinates me tremendously!]. With the understanding, you will soon realise that what you are now studying in school - subjects like Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Economics, Literature, etc. - has absolutely practical relevance to the real world out there.

Yes, he talked about investment management & business much of the time, but don't forget, you are also investing in your life. After all, your life is also your do-it-yourself business.

In a nut shell, when you go out to the world of work in the distant future, you will be able to view situations from many angles.

"I'm going to play a minor trick on you today ‑ because the subject of my talk is the art of stock picking as a subdivision of the art of worldly wisdom. That enables me to start talking about worldly wisdom ‑ a much broader topic that interests me because I think all too little of it is delivered by modern educational systems, at least in an effective way.

And therefore, the talk is sort of along the lines that some behaviorist psychologists call Grandma's rule after the wisdom of Grandma when she said that you have to eat the carrots before you get the dessert.

The carrot part of this talk is about the general subject of worldly wisdom which is a pretty good way to start. After all, the theory of modern education is that you need a general education before you specialize. And I think to some extent, before you're going to be a great stock picker, you need some general education.

So, emphasizing what I sometimes waggishly call remedial worldly wisdom, I'm going to start by waltzing you through a few basic notions.

What is elementary, worldly wisdom? Well, the first rule is that you can't really know anything if you just remember isolated facts and try and bang 'em back. If the facts don't hang together on a latticework of theory, you don't have them in a usable form.

You've got to have models in your head. And you've got to array your experience ‑ both vicarious and direct ‑ on this latticework of models. You may have noticed students who just try to remember and pound back what is remembered. Well, they fail in school and in life. You've got to hang experience on a latticework of models in your head.

What are the models? Well, the first rule is that you've got to have multiple models ‑ because if you just have one or two that you're using, the nature of human psychology is such that you'll torture reality so that it fits your models, or at least you'll think it does. You become the equivalent of a chiropractor who, of course, is the great boob in medicine.

It's like the old saying, "To the man with only a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." And of course, that's the way the chiropractor goes about practicing medicine. But that's a perfectly disastrous way to think and a perfectly disastrous way to operate in the world. So you've got to have multiple models.

And the models have to come from multiple disciplines ‑ because all the wisdom of the world is not to be found in one little academic department. That's why poetry professors, by and large, are so unwise in a worldly sense. They don't have enough models in their heads. So you've got to have models across a fair array of disciplines.

You may say, "My God, this is already getting way too tough." But, fortunately, it isn't that tough ‑ because 80 or 90 important models will carry about 90% of the freight in making you a worldly ‑ wise person. And, of those, only a mere handful really carry very heavy freight.

So let's briefly review what kind of models and techniques constitute this basic knowledge that everybody has to have before they proceed to being really good at a narrow art like stock picking.

First there's mathematics. Obviously, you've got to be able to handle numbers and quantities ‑ basic arithmetic. And the great useful model, after compound interest, is the elementary math of permutations and combinations. And that was taught in my day in the sophomore year in high school. I suppose by now in great private schools, it's probably down to the eighth grade or so.

It's very simple algebra. It was all worked out in the course of about one year between Pascal and Fermat. They worked it out casually in a series of letters.

It's not that hard to learn. What is hard is to get so you use it routinely almost everyday of your life. The Fermat/Pascal system is dramatically consonant with the way that the world works. And it's fundamental truth. So you simply have to have the technique.

Many educational institutions ‑ although not nearly enough ‑ have realized this. At Harvard Business School, the great quantitative thing that bonds the first ‑ year class together is what they call decision tree theory. All they do is take high school algebra and apply it to real life problems. And the students love it. They're amazed to find that high school algebra works in life....

By and large, as it works out, people can't naturally and automatically do this. If you understand elementary psychology, the reason they can't is really quite simple: The basic neural network of the brain is there through broad genetic and cultural evolution. And it's not Fermat/Pascal. It uses a very crude, shortcut ‑ type of approximation. It's got elements of Fermat/Pascal in it. However, it's not good.

So you have to learn in a very usable way this very elementary math and use it routinely in life ‑ just the way if you want to become a golfer, you can't use the natural swing that broad evolution gave you. You have to learn to have a certain grip and swing in a different way to realize your full potential as a golfer.

If you don't get this elementary, but mildly unnatural, mathematics of elementary probability into your repertoire, then you go through a long life like a one‑legged man in an ass‑kicking contest. You're giving a huge advantage to everybody else.

One of the advantages of a fellow like Buffett, whom I've worked with all these years, is that he automatically thinks in terms of decision trees and the elementary math of permutations and combinations....

Obviously, you have to know accounting. It's the language of practical business life. It was a very useful thing to deliver to civilization. I've heard it came to civilization through Venice which of course was once the great commercial power in the Mediterranean. However, double-entry bookkeeping was a hell of an invention.

And it's not that hard to understand.

But you have to know enough about it to understand its limitations ‑ because although accounting is the starting place, it's only a crude approximation. And it's not very hard to understand its limitations. For example, everyone can see that you have to more or less just guess at the useful life of a jet airplane or anything like that. Just because you express the depreciation rate in neat numbers doesn't make it anything you really know.

In terms of the limitations of accounting, one of my favorite stories involves a very great businessman named Carl Braun who created the CF Braun Engineering Company. It designed and built oil refineries ‑ which is very hard to do. And Braun would get them to come in on time and not blow up and have efficiencies and so forth. This is a major art.

And Braun, being the thorough Teutonic type that he was, had a number of quirks. And one of them was that he took a look at standard accounting and the way it was applied to building oil refineries and he said, "This is asinine."

So he threw all of his accountants out and he took his engineers and said, "Now, we'll devise our own system of accounting to handle this process." And in due time, accounting adopted a lot of Carl Braun's notions. So he was a formidably willful and talented man who demonstrated both the importance of accounting and the importance of knowing its limitations.

He had another rule, from psychology, which, if you're interested in wisdom, ought to be part of your repertoire ‑ like the elementary mathematics of permutations and combinations.

His rule for all the Braun Company's communications was called the five W's ‑ you had to tell who was going to do what, where, when and why. And if you wrote a letter or directive in the Braun Company telling somebody to do something, and you didn't tell him why, you could get fired. In fact, you would get fired if you did it twice.

You might ask why that is so important? Well, again that's a rule of psychology. Just as you think better if you array knowledge on a bunch of models that are basically answers to the question, why, why, why, if you always tell people why, they'll understand it better, they'll consider it more important, and they'll be more likely to comply. Even if they don't understand your reason, they'll be more likely to comply.

So there's an iron rule that just as you want to start getting worldly wisdom by asking why, why, why, in communicating with other people about everything, you want to include why, why, why. Even if it's obvious, it's wise to stick in the why.

Which models are the most reliable? Well, obviously, the models that come from hard science and engineering are the most reliable models on this Earth. And engineering quality control ‑ at least the guts of it that matters to you and me and people who are not professional engineers ‑ is very much based on the elementary mathematics of Fermat and Pascal:

It costs so much and you get so much less likelihood of it breaking if you spend this much. It's all elementary high school mathematics. And an elaboration of that is what Deming brought to Japan for all of that quality control stuff.

I don't think it's necessary for most people to be terribly facile in statistics. For example, I'm not sure that I can even pronounce the Poisson distribution. But I know what a Gaussian or normal distribution looks like and I know that events and huge aspects of reality end up distributed that way. So I can do a rough calculation.

But if you ask me to work out something involving a Gaussian distribution to ten decimal points, I can't sit down and do the math. I'm like a poker player who's learned to play pretty well without mastering Pascal.

And by the way, that works well enough. But you have to understand that bell‑shaped curve at least roughly as well as I do.

And, of course, the engineering idea of a backup system is a very powerful idea. The engineering idea of breakpoints ‑ that's a very powerful model, too. The notion of a critical mass ‑ that comes out of physics ‑ is a very powerful model.

All of these things have great utility in looking at ordinary reality. And all of this cost-benefit analysis ‑ hell, that's all elementary high school algebra, too. It's just been dolled up a little bit with fancy lingo.

I suppose the next most reliable models are from biology/ physiology because, after all, all of us are programmed by our genetic makeup to be much the same.

And then when you get into psychology, of course, it gets very much more complicated. But it's an ungodly important subject if you're going to have any worldly wisdom.

And you can demonstrate that point quite simply: There's not a person in this room viewing the work of a very ordinary professional magician who doesn't see a lot of things happening that aren't happening and not see a lot of things happening that are happening.

And the reason why is that the perceptual apparatus of man has shortcuts in it. The brain cannot have unlimited circuitry. So someone who knows how to take advantage of those shortcuts and cause the brain to miscalculate in certain ways can cause you to see things that aren't there.

Now you get into the cognitive function as distinguished from the perceptual function. And there, you are equally ‑ more than equally in fact ‑ likely to be misled. Again, your brain has a shortage of circuitry and so forth ‑ and it's taking all kinds of little automatic shortcuts.

So when circumstances combine in certain ways ‑ or more commonly, your fellow man starts acting like the magician and manipulates you on purpose by causing your cognitive dysfunction ‑ you're a patsy.

And so just as a man working with a tool has to know its limitations, a man working with his cognitive apparatus has to know its limitations. And this knowledge, by the way, can be used to control and motivate other people....

So the most useful and practical part of psychology ‑ which I personally think can be taught to any intelligent person in a week ‑ is ungodly important. And nobody taught it to me by the way. I had to learn it later in life, one piece at a time. And it was fairly laborious. It's so elementary though that, when it was all over, I felt like a fool.

And yeah, I'd been educated at Cal Tech and the Harvard Law School and so forth. So very eminent places miseducated people like you and me.

The elementary part of psychology ‑ the psychology of misjudgment, as I call it ‑ is a terribly important thing to learn. There are about 20 little principles. And they interact, so it gets slightly complicated. But the guts of it is unbelievably important.

Terribly smart people make totally bonkers mistakes by failing to pay heed to it. In fact, I've done it several times during the last two or three years in a very important way. You never get totally over making silly mistakes.

There's another saying that comes from Pascal which I've always considered one of the really accurate observations in the history of thought. Pascal said in essence, "The mind of man at one and the same time is both the glory and the shame of the universe."

And that's exactly right. It has this enormous power. However, it also has these standard misfunctions that often cause it to reach wrong conclusions. It also makes man extraordinarily subject to manipulation by others. For example, roughly half of the army of Adolf Hitler was composed of believing Catholics. Given enough clever psychological manipulation, what human beings will do is quite interesting.

Personally, I've gotten so that I now use a kind of two-track analysis. First, what are the factors that really govern the interests involved, rationally considered? And second, what are the subconscious influences where the brain at a subconscious level is automatically doing these things ‑ which by and large are useful, but which often misfunction.

One approach is rationality ‑ the way you'd work out a bridge problem: by evaluating the real interests, the real probabilities and so forth. And the other is to evaluate the psychological factors that cause subconscious conclusions ‑ many of which are wrong.

Now we come to another somewhat less reliable form of human wisdom ‑ microeconomics. And here, I find it quite useful to think of a free market economy ‑ or partly free market economy ‑ as sort of the equivalent of an ecosystem....

This is a very unfashionable way of thinking because early in the days after Darwin came along, people like the robber barons assumed that the doctrine of the survival of the fittest authenticated them as deserving power ‑ you know, "I'm the richest. Therefore, I'm the best. God's in his heaven, etc."

And that reaction of the robber barons was so irritating to people that it made it unfashionable to think of an economy as an ecosystem. But the truth is that it is a lot like an ecosystem. And you get many of the same results.

Just as in an ecosystem, people who narrowly specialize can get terribly good at occupying some little niche. Just as animals flourish in niches, similarly, people who specialize in the business world ‑ and get very good because they specialize ‑ frequently find good economics that they wouldn't get any other way.

And once we get into microeconomics, we get into the concept of advantages of scale. Now we're getting closer to investment analysis ‑ because in terms of which businesses succeed and which businesses fail, advantages of scale are ungodly important.

For example, one great advantage of scale taught in all of the business schools of the world is cost reductions along the so-called experience curve. Just doing something complicated in more and more volume enables human beings, who are trying to improve and are motivated by the incentives of capitalism, to do it more and more efficiently.

The very nature of things is that if you get a whole lot of volume through your joint, you get better at processing that volume. That's an enormous advantage. And it has a lot to do with which businesses succeed and fail....

Let's go through a list ‑ albeit an incomplete one ‑ of possible advantages of scale. Some come from simple geometry. If you're building a great spherical tank, obviously as you build it bigger, the amount of steel you use in the surface goes up with the square and the cubic volume goes up with the cube. So as you increase the dimensions, you can hold a lot more volume per unit area of steel.

And there are all kinds of things like that where the simple geometry ‑ the simple reality ‑ gives you an advantage of scale.

For example, you can get advantages of scale from TV advertising. When TV advertising first arrived ‑ when talking color pictures first came into our living rooms ‑ it was an unbelievably powerful thing. And in the early days, we had three networks that had whatever it was ‑ say 90% of the audience.

Well, if you were Proctor & Gamble, you could afford to use this new method of advertising. You could afford the very expensive cost of network television because you were selling so many cans and bottles. Some little guy couldn't. And there was no way of buying it in part. Therefore, he couldn't use it. In effect, if you didn't have a big volume, you couldn't use network TV advertising which was the most effective technique.

So when TV came in, the branded companies that were already big got a huge tail wind. Indeed, they prospered and prospered and prospered until some of them got fat and foolish, which happens with prosperity ‑ at least to some people....

And your advantage of scale can be an informational advantage. If I go to some remote place, I may see Wrigley chewing gum alongside Glotz's chewing gum. Well, I know that Wrigley is a satisfactory product, whereas I don't know anything about Glotz's. So if one is 40 cents and the other is 30 cents, am I going to take something I don't know and put it in my mouth ‑ which is a pretty personal place, after all ‑ for a lousy dime?

So, in effect, Wrigley , simply by being so well known, has advantages of scale ‑ what you might call an informational advantage.

Another advantage of scale comes from psychology. The psychologists use the term “social proof”. We are all influenced ‑ subconsciously and to some extent consciously ‑ by what we see others do and approve. Therefore, if everybody's buying something, we think it's better. We don't like to be the one guy who's out of step.

Again, some of this is at a subconscious level and some of it isn't. Sometimes, we consciously and rationally think, "Gee, I don't know much about this. They know more than I do. Therefore, why shouldn't I follow them?"

The social proof phenomenon which comes right out of psychology gives huge advantages to scale ‑ for example, with very wide distribution, which of course is hard to get. One advantage of Coca-Cola is that it's available almost everywhere in the world.

Well, suppose you have a little soft drink. Exactly how do you make it available all over the Earth? The worldwide distribution setup ‑ which is slowly won by a big enterprise ‑ gets to be a huge advantage.... And if you think about it, once you get enough advantages of that type, it can become very hard for anybody to dislodge you.

There's another kind of advantage to scale. In some businesses, the very nature of things is to sort of cascade toward the overwhelming dominance of one firm.

The most obvious one is daily newspapers. There's practically no city left in the U.S., aside from a few very big ones, where there's more than one daily newspaper.

And again, that's a scale thing. Once I get most of the circulation, I get most of the advertising. And once I get most of the advertising and circulation, why would anyone want the thinner paper with less information in it? So it tends to cascade to a winner‑take‑all situation. And that's a separate form of the advantages of scale phenomenon.

Similarly, all these huge advantages of scale allow greater specialization within the firm. Therefore, each person can be better at what he does.

And these advantages of scale are so great, for example, that when Jack Welch came into General Electric, he just said, "To hell with it. We're either going to be # 1 or #2 in every field we're in or we're going to be out. I don't care how many people I have to fire and what I have to sell. We're going to be #I or #2 or out."

That was a very tough‑minded thing to do, but I think it was a very correct decision if you're thinking about maximizing shareholder wealth. And I don't think it's a bad thing to do for a civilization either, because I think that General Electric is stronger for having Jack Welch there.

And there are also disadvantages of scale. For example, we ‑ by which I mean Berkshire Hathaway ‑ are the largest shareholder in Capital Cities /ABC. And we had trade publications there that got murdered where our competitors beat us. And the way they beat us was by going to a narrower specialization.

We'd have a travel magazine for business travel. So somebody would create one which was addressed solely at corporate travel departments. Like an ecosystem, you're getting a narrower and narrower specialization.

Well, they got much more efficient. They could tell more to the guys who ran corporate travel departments. Plus, they didn't have to waste the ink and paper mailing out stuff that corporate travel departments weren't interested in reading. It was a more efficient system. And they beat our brains out as we relied on our broader magazine.

That's what happened to The Saturday Evening Post and all those things. They're gone. What we have now is Motorcross ‑ which is read by a bunch of nuts who like to participate in tournaments where they turn somersaults on their motorcycles. But they care about it. For them, it's the principle purpose of life. A magazine called Motorcross is a total necessity to those people. Arid its profit margins would make you salivate.

Just think of how narrowcast that kind of publishing is. So occasionally, scaling down and intensifying gives you the big advantage. Bigger is not always better.

The great defect of scale, of course, which makes the game interesting ‑ so that the big people don't always win ‑ is that as you get big, you get the bureaucracy. And with the bureaucracy comes the territoriality ‑ which is again grounded in human nature.

And the incentives are perverse. For example, if you worked for AT&T in my day, it was a great bureaucracy. Who in the hell was really thinking about the shareholder or anything else? And in a bureaucracy, you think the work is done when it goes out of your in-basket into somebody else's in-basket. But, of course, it isn't. It's not done until AT&T delivers what it's supposed to deliver. So you get big, fat, dumb, unmotivated bureaucracies.

They also tend to become somewhat corrupt. In other words, if I've got a department and you've got a department and we kind of share power running this thing, there's sort of an unwritten rule: "If you won't bother me, I won't bother you and we're both happy." So you get layers of management and associated costs that nobody needs. Then, while people are justifying all these layers, it takes forever to get anything done. They're too slow to make decisions and nimbler people run circles around them.

The constant curse of scale is that it leads to big, dumb bureaucracy ‑ which, of course, reaches its highest and worst form in government where the incentives are really awful. That doesn't mean we don't need governments ‑ because we do. But it's a terrible problem to get big bureaucracies to behave.

So people go to stratagems. They create little decentralized units and fancy motivation and training programs. For example, for a big company, General Electric has fought bureaucracy with amazing skill. But that's because they have a combination of a genius and a fanatic running it. And they put him in young enough so he gets a long run. Of course, that's Jack Welch.

But bureaucracy is terrible.... And as things get very powerful and very big, you can get some really dysfunctional behavior. Look at Westinghouse. They blew billions of dollars on a bunch of dumb loans to real estate developers. They put some guy who'd come up by some career path ‑ I don't know exactly what it was, but it could have been refrigerators or something ‑ and all of a sudden, he's loaning money to real estate developers building hotels. It's a very unequal contest. And in due time, they lost all those billions of dollars.

CBS provides an interesting example of another rule of psychology ‑ namely, Pavlovian association. If people tell you what you really don't want to hear what's unpleasant ‑ there's an almost automatic reaction of antipathy. You have to train yourself out of it. It isn't foredestined that you have to be this way. But you will tend to be this way if you don't think about it.

Television was dominated by one network ‑ CBS in its early days. And Paley was a god. But he didn't like to hear what he didn't like to hear. And people soon learned that. So they told Paley only what he liked to hear. Therefore, he was soon living in a little cocoon of unreality and everything else was corrupt ‑ although it was a great business.

So the idiocy that crept into the system was carried along by this huge tide. It was a Mad Hatter's tea party the last ten years under Bill Paley.

And that is not the only example by any means. You can get severe misfunction in the high ranks of business. And of course, if you're investing, it can make a lot of difference. If you take all the acquisitions that CBS made under Paley, after the acquisition of the network itself, with all his advisors ‑ his investment bankers, management consultants and so forth who were getting paid very handsomely ‑ it was absolutely terrible.

For example, he gave something like 20% of CBS to the Dumont Company for a television set manufacturer which was destined to go broke. I think it lasted all of two or three years or something like that. So very soon after he'd issued all of that stock, Dumont was history. You get a lot of dysfunction in a big fat, powerful place where no one will bring unwelcome reality to the boss.

So life is an everlasting battle between those two forces ‑ to get these advantages of scale on one side and a tendency to get a lot like the U.S. Agriculture Department on the other side ‑ where they just sit around and so forth. I don't know exactly what they do. However, I do know that they do very little useful work.

On the subject of advantages of economies of scale, I find chain stores quite interesting. Just think about it. The concept of a chain store was a fascinating invention. You get this huge purchasing power ‑ which means that you have lower merchandise costs. You get a whole bunch of little laboratories out there in which you can conduct experiments. And you get specialization.

If one little guy is trying to buy across 27 different merchandise categories influenced by traveling salesmen, he's going to make a lot of poor decisions. But if your buying is done in headquarters for a huge bunch of stores, you can get very bright people that know a lot about refrigerators and so forth to do the buying.

The reverse is demonstrated by the little store where one guy is doing all the buying. It's like the old story about the little store with salt all over its walls. And a stranger comes in and says to the storeowner, "You must sell a lot of salt." And he replies, "No, I don't. But you should see the guy who sells me salt."

So there are huge purchasing advantages. And then there are the slick systems of forcing everyone to do what works. So a chain store can be a fantastic enterprise.

It's quite interesting to think about Wal-Mart starting from a single store in Bentonville, Arkansas against Sears, Roebuck with its name, reputation and all of its billions. How does a guy in Bentonville, Arkansas with no money blow right by Sears, Roebuck? And he does it in his own lifetime ‑ in fact, during his own late lifetime because he was already pretty old by the time he started out with one little store....

He played the chain store game harder and better than anyone else. Walton invented practically nothing. But he copied everything anybody else ever did that was smart ‑ and he did it with more fanaticism and better employee manipulation. So he just blew right by them all.

He also had a very interesting competitive strategy in the early days. He was like a prizefighter who wanted a great record so he could be in the finals and make a big TV hit. So what did he do? He went out and fought 42 palookas. Right? And the result was knockout, knockout, knockout ‑ 42 times.

Walton, being as shrewd as he was, basically broke other small town merchants in the early days. With his more efficient system, he might not have been able to tackle some titan head-on at the time. But with his better system, he could destroy those small town merchants. And he went around doing it time after time after time. Then, as he got bigger, he started destroying the big boys.

Well, that was a very, very shrewd strategy.

You can say, "Is this a nice way to behave?" Well, capitalism is a pretty brutal place. But I personally think that the world is better for having Wal-Mart. I mean you can idealize small town life. But I've spent a fair amount of time in small towns. And let me tell you ‑ you shouldn't get too idealistic about all those businesses he destroyed.

Plus, a lot of people who work at Wal-Mart are very high grade, bouncy people who are raising nice children. I have no feeling that an inferior culture destroyed a superior culture. I think that is nothing more than nostalgia and delusion. But, at any rate, it's an interesting model of how the scale of things and fanaticism combine to be very powerful.

And it's also an interesting model on the other side ‑ how with all its great advantages, the disadvantages of bureaucracy did such terrible damage to Sears, Roebuck. Sears had layers and layers of people it didn't need. It was very bureaucratic. It was slow to think. And there was an established way of thinking. If you poked your head up with a new thought, the system kind of turned against you. It was everything in the way of a dysfunctional big bureaucracy that you would expect.

In all fairness, there was also much that was good about it. But it just wasn't as lean and mean and shrewd and effective as Sam Walton. And, in due time, all its advantages of scale were not enough to prevent Sears from losing heavily to Wal-Mart and other similar retailers.

Here's a model that we've had trouble with. Maybe you'll be able to figure it out better. Many markets get down to two or three big competitors ‑ or five or six. And in some of those markets, nobody makes any money to speak of. But in others, everybody does very well.

Over the years, we've tried to figure out why the competition in some markets gets sort of rational from the investor's point of view so that the shareholders do well, and in other markets, there's destructive competition that destroys shareholder wealth.

If it's a pure commodity like airline seats, you can understand why no one makes any money. As we sit here, just think of what airlines have given to the world ‑ safe travel, greater experience, time with your loved ones, you name it. Yet, the net amount of money that's been made by the shareholders of airlines since Kitty Hawk, is now a negative figure ‑ a substantial negative figure. Competition was so intense that, once it was unleashed by deregulation, it ravaged shareholder wealth in the airline business.

Yet, in other fields ‑ like cereals, for example ‑ almost all the big boys make out. If you're some kind of a medium grade cereal maker, you might make 15% on your capital. And if you're really good, you might make 40%. But why are cereals so profitable ‑ despite the fact that it looks to me like they're competing like crazy with promotions, coupons and everything else? I don't fully understand it.

Obviously, there's a brand identity factor in cereals that doesn't exist in airlines. That must be the main factor that accounts for it.

And maybe the cereal makers by and large have learned to be less crazy about fighting for market share ‑ because if you get even one person who's hell-bent on gaining market share.... For example, if I were Kellogg and I decided that I had to have 60% of the market, I think I could take most of the profit out of cereals. I'd ruin Kellogg in the process. But I think I could do it.

In some businesses, the participants behave like a demented Kellogg. In other businesses, they don't. Unfortunately, I do not have a perfect model for predicting how that's going to happen.

For example, if you look around at bottler markets, you'll find many markets where bottlers of Pepsi and Coke both make a lot of money and many others where they destroy most of the profitability of the two franchises. That must get down to the peculiarities of individual adjustment to market capitalism. I think you'd have to know the people involved to fully understand what was happening.

In microeconomics, of course, you've got the concept of patents, trademarks, exclusive franchises and so forth. Patents are quite interesting. When I was young, I think more money went into patents than came out. Judges tended to throw them out ‑ based on arguments about what was really invented and what relied on prior art. That isn't altogether clear.

But they changed that. They didn't change the laws. They just changed the administration ‑ so that it all goes to one patent court. And that court is now very much more pro-patent. So I think people are now starting to make a lot of money out of owning patents.

Trademarks, of course, have always made people a lot of money. A trademark system is a wonderful thing for a big operation if it's well known.

The exclusive franchise can also be wonderful. If there were only three television channels awarded in a big city and you owned one of them, there were only so many hours a day that you could be on. So you had a natural position in an oligopoly in the pre-cable days.

And if you get the franchise for the only food stand in an airport, you have a captive clientele and you have a small monopoly of a sort.

The great lesson in microeconomics is to discriminate between when technology is going to help you and when it's going to kill you. And most people do not get this straight in their heads. But a fellow like Buffett does.

For example, when we were in the textile business, which is a terrible commodity business, we were making low-end textiles ‑ which are a real commodity product. And one day, the people came to Warren and said, "They've invented a new loom that we think will do twice as much work as our old ones."

And Warren said, "Gee, I hope this doesn't work because if it does, I'm going to close the mill." And he meant it.

What was he thinking? He was thinking, "It's a lousy business. We're earning substandard returns and keeping it open just to be nice to the elderly workers. But we're not going to put huge amounts of new capital into a lousy business."

And he knew that the huge productivity increases that would come from a better machine introduced into the production of a commodity product would all go to the benefit of the buyers of the textiles. Nothing was going to stick to our ribs as owners.

That's such an obvious concept ‑ that there are all kinds of wonderful new inventions that give you nothing as owners except the opportunity to spend a lot more money in a business that's still going to be lousy. The money still won't come to you. All of the advantages from great improvements are going to flow through to the customers.

Conversely, if you own the only newspaper in Oshkosh and they were to invent more efficient ways of composing the whole newspaper, then when you got rid of the old technology and got new fancy computers and so forth, all of the savings would come right through to the bottom line.

In all cases, the people who sell the machinery ‑ and, by and large, even the internal bureaucrats urging you to buy the equipment ‑ show you projections with the amount you'll save at current prices with the new technology. However, they don't do the second step of the analysis which is to determine how much is going stay home and how much is just going to flow through to the customer. I've never seen a single projection incorporating that second step in my life. And I see them all the time. Rather, they always read: "This capital outlay will save you so much money that it will pay for itself in three years."

So you keep buying things that will pay for themselves in three years. And after 20 years of doing it, somehow you've earned a return of only about 4% per annum. That's the textile business.

And it isn't that the machines weren't better. It's just that the savings didn't go to you. The cost reductions came through all right. But the benefit of the cost reductions didn't go to the guy who bought the equipment. It's such a simple idea. It's so basic. And yet it's so often forgotten.

Then there's another model from microeconomics which I find very interesting. When technology moves as fast as it does in a civilization like ours, you get a phenomenon which I call competitive destruction. You know, you have the finest buggy whip factory and all of a sudden in comes this little horseless carriage. And before too many years go by, your buggy whip business is dead. You either get into a different business or you're dead ‑ you're destroyed. It happens again and again and again.

And when these new businesses come in, there are huge advantages for the early birds. And when you're an early bird, there's a model that I call "surfing" ‑ when a surfer gets up and catches the wave and just stays there, he can go a long, long time. But if he gets off the wave, he becomes mired in shallows....

But people get long runs when they're right on the edge of the wave ‑ whether it's Microsoft or Intel or all kinds of people, including National Cash Register in the early days.

The cash register was one of the great contributions to civilization. It's a wonderful story. Patterson was a small retail merchant who didn't make any money. One day, somebody sold him a crude cash register which he put into his retail operation. And it instantly changed from losing money to earning a profit because it made it so much harder for the employees to steal....

But Patterson, having the kind of mind that he did, didn't think, "Oh, good for my retail business." He thought, "I'm going into the cash register business." And, of course, he created National Cash Register.

And he "surfed". He got the best distribution system, the biggest collection of patents and the best of everything. He was a fanatic about everything important as the technology developed. I have in my files an early National Cash Register Company report in which Patterson described his methods and objectives. And a well-educated orangutan could see that buying into partnership with Patterson in those early days, given his notions about the cash register business, was a total 100% cinch.

And, of course, that's exactly what an investor should be looking for. In a long life, you can expect to profit heavily from at least a few of those opportunities if you develop the wisdom and will to seize them. At any rate, "surfing" is a very powerful model.

However, Berkshire Hathaway , by and large, does not invest in these people that are "surfing" on complicated technology. After all, we're cranky and idiosyncratic ‑ as you may have noticed.

And Warren and I don't feel like we have any great advantage in the high-tech sector. In fact, we feel like we're at a big disadvantage in trying to understand the nature of technical developments in software, computer chips or what have you. So we tend to avoid that stuff, based on our personal inadequacies.

Again, that is a very, very powerful idea. Every person is going to have a circle of competence. And it's going to be very hard to advance that circle. If I had to make my living as a musician.... I can't even think of a level low enough to describe where I would be sorted out to if music were the measuring standard of the civilization.

So you have to figure out what your own aptitudes are. If you play games where other people have the aptitudes and you don't, you're going to lose. And that's as close to certain as any prediction that you can make. You have to figure out where you've got an edge. And you've got to play within your own circle of competence.

If you want to be the best tennis player in the world, you may start out trying and soon find out that it's hopeless ‑ that other people blow right by you. However, if you want to become the best plumbing contractor in Bemidji, that is probably doable by two-thirds of you. It takes a will. It takes the intelligence. But after a while, you'd gradually know all about the plumbing business in Bemidji and master the art. That is an attainable objective, given enough discipline. And people who could never win a chess tournament or stand in center court in a respectable tennis tournament can rise quite high in life by slowly developing a circle of competence ‑ which results partly from what they were born with and partly from what they slowly develop through work.

So some edges can be acquired. And the game of life to some extent for most of us is trying to be something like a good plumbing contractor in Bemidji. Very few of us are chosen to win the world's chess tournaments.

Some of you may find opportunities "surfing" along in the new high-tech fields ‑ the Intels, the Microsofts and so on. The fact that we don't think we're very good at it and have pretty well stayed out of it doesn't mean that it's irrational for you to do it.

Well, so much for the basic microeconomics models, a little bit of psychology, a little bit of mathematics, helping create what I call the general substructure of worldly wisdom. Now, if you want to go on from carrots to dessert, I'll turn to stock picking ‑ trying to draw on this general worldly wisdom as we go.

I don't want to get into emerging markets, bond arbitrage and so forth. I'm talking about nothing but plain vanilla stock picking. That, believe me, is complicated enough. And I'm talking about common stock picking.

The first question is, "What is the nature of the stock market?" And that gets you directly to this efficient market theory that got to be the rage ‑ a total rage ‑ long after I graduated from law school.

And it's rather interesting because one of the greatest economists of the world is a substantial shareholder in Berkshire Hathaway and has been for a long time. His textbook always taught that the stock market was perfectly efficient and that nobody could beat it. But his own money went into Berkshire and made him wealthy. So, like Pascal in his famous wager, he hedged his bet.

Is the stock market so efficient that people can't beat it? Well, the efficient market theory is obviously roughly right ‑ meaning that markets are quite efficient and it's quite hard for anybody to beat the market by significant margins as a stock picker by just being intelligent and working in a disciplined way.

Indeed, the average result has to be the average result. By definition, everybody can't beat the market. As I always say, the iron rule of life is that only 20% of the people can be in the top fifth. That's just the way it is. So the answer is that it's partly efficient and partly inefficient.

And, by the way, I have a name for people who went to the extreme efficient market theory ‑ which is "bonkers". It was an intellectually consistent theory that enabled them to do pretty mathematics. So I understand its seductiveness to people with large mathematical gifts. It just had a difficulty in that the fundamental assumption did not tie properly to reality.

Again, to the man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. If you're good at manipulating higher mathematics in a consistent way, why not make an assumption which enables you to use your tool?

The model I like ‑ to sort of simplify the notion of what goes on in a market for common stocks ‑ is the pari-mutuel system at the racetrack. If you stop to think about it, a pari-mutuel system is a market. Everybody goes there and bets and the odds change based on what's bet. That's what happens in the stock market.

Any damn fool can see that a horse carrying a light weight with a wonderful win rate and a good post position etc., etc. is way more likely to win than a horse with a terrible record and extra weight and so on and so on. But if you look at the odds, the bad horse pays 100 to 1, whereas the good horse pays 3 to 2. Then it's not clear which is statistically the best bet using the mathematics of Fermat and Pascal. The prices have changed in such a way that it's very hard to beat the system.

And then the track is taking 17% off the top. So not only do you have to outwit all the other betters, but you've got to outwit them by such a big margin that on average, you can afford to take 17% of your gross bets off the top and give it to the house before the rest of your money can be put to work.

Given those mathematics, is it possible to beat the horses only using one's intelligence? Intelligence should give some edge, because lots of people who don't know anything go out and bet lucky numbers and so forth. Therefore, somebody who really thinks about nothing but horse performance and is shrewd and mathematical could have a very considerable edge, in the absence of the frictional cost caused by the house take.

Unfortunately, what a shrewd horseplayer's edge does in most cases is to reduce his average loss over a season of betting from the 17% that he would lose if he got the average result to maybe 10%. However, there are actually a few people who can beat the game after paying the full 17%.

I used to play poker when I was young with a guy who made a substantial living doing nothing but bet harness races.... Now, harness racing is a relatively inefficient market. You don't have the depth of intelligence betting on harness races that you do on regular races. What my poker pal would do was to think about harness races as his main profession. And he would bet only occasionally when he saw some mispriced bet available. And by doing that, after paying the full handle to the house ‑ which I presume was around 17% ‑ he made a substantial living.

You have to say that's rare. However, the market was not perfectly efficient. And if it weren't for that big 17% handle, lots of people would regularly be beating lots of other people at the horse races. It's efficient, yes. But it's not perfectly efficient. And with enough shrewdness and fanaticism, some people will get better results than others.

The stock market is the same way ‑ except that the house handle is so much lower. If you take transaction costs ‑ the spread between the bid and the ask plus the commissions ‑ and if you don't trade too actively, you're talking about fairly low transaction costs. So that with enough fanaticism and enough discipline, some of the shrewd people are going to get way better results than average in the nature of things.

It is not a bit easy. And, of course, 50% will end up in the bottom half and 70% will end up in the bottom 70%. But some people will have an advantage. And in a fairly low transaction cost operation, they will get better than average results in stock picking.

How do you get to be one of those who is a winner ‑ in a relative sense ‑ instead of a loser?

Here again, look at the pari-mutuel system. I had dinner last night by absolute accident with the president of Santa Anita. He says that there are two or three betters who have a credit arrangement with them, now that they have off-track betting, who are actually beating the house. They're sending money out net after the full handle ‑ a lot of it to Las Vegas, by the way ‑ to people who are actually winning slightly, net, after paying the full handle. They're that shrewd about something with as much unpredictability as horse racing.

And the one thing that all those winning betters in the whole history of people who've beaten the pari-mutuel system have is quite simple. They bet very seldom.

It's not given to human beings to have such talent that they can just know everything about everything all the time. But it is given to human beings who work hard at it ‑ who look and sift the world for a mispriced be ‑ that they can occasionally find one.

And the wise ones bet heavily when the world offers them that opportunity. They bet big when they have the odds. And the rest of the time, they don't. It's just that simple.

That is a very simple concept. And to me it's obviously right ‑ based on experience not only from the pari-mutuel system, but everywhere else.

And yet, in investment management, practically nobody operates that way. We operate that way ‑ I'm talking about Buffett and Munger. And we're not alone in the world. But a huge majority of people have some other crazy construct in their heads. And instead of waiting for a near cinch and loading up, they apparently ascribe to the theory that if they work a little harder or hire more business school students, they'll come to know everything about everything all the time.

To me, that's totally insane. The way to win is to work, work, work, work and hope to have a few insights.

How many insights do you need? Well, I'd argue: that you don't need many in a lifetime. If you look at Berkshire Hathaway and all of its accumulated billions, the top ten insights account for most of it. And that's with a very brilliant man ‑ Warren's a lot more able than I am and very disciplined ‑ devoting his lifetime to it. I don't mean to say that he's only had ten insights. I'm just saying, that most of the money came from ten insights.

So you can get very remarkable investment results if you think more like a winning pari-mutuel player. Just think of it as a heavy odds against game full of craziness with an occasional mispriced something or other. And you're probably not going to be smart enough to find thousands in a lifetime. And when you get a few, you really load up. It's just that simple.

When Warren lectures at business schools, he says, "I could improve your ultimate financial welfare by giving you a ticket with only 20 slots in it so that you had 20 punches ‑ representing all the investments that you got to make in a lifetime. And once you'd punched through the card, you couldn't make any more investments at all."

He says, "Under those rules, you'd really think carefully about what you did and you'd be forced to load up on what you'd really thought about. So you'd do so much better."

Again, this is a concept that seems perfectly obvious to me. And to Warren it seems perfectly obvious. But this is one of the very few business classes in the U.S. where anybody will be saying so. It just isn't the conventional wisdom.

To me, it's obvious that the winner has to bet very selectively. It's been obvious to me since very early in life. I don't know why it's not obvious to very many other people.

I think the reason why we got into such idiocy in investment management is best illustrated by a story that I tell about the guy who sold fishing tackle. I asked him, "My God, they're purple and green. Do fish really take these lures?" And he said, "Mister, I don't sell to fish."

Investment managers are in the position of that fishing tackle salesman. They're like the guy who was selling salt to the guy who already had too much salt. And as long as the guy will buy salt, why they'll sell salt. But that isn't what ordinarily works for the buyer of investment advice.

If you invested Berkshire Hathaway-style, it would be hard to get paid as an investment manager as well as they're currently paid ‑ because you'd be holding a block of Wal-Mart and a block of Coca-Cola and a block of something else. You'd just sit there. And the client would be getting rich. And, after a while, the client would think, "Why am I paying this guy half a percent a year on my wonderful passive holdings?"

So what makes sense for the investor is different from what makes sense for the manager. And, as usual in human affairs, what determines the behavior are incentives for the decision maker.

From all business, my favorite case on incentives is Federal Express. The heart and soul of their system ‑ which creates the integrity of the product ‑ is having all their airplanes come to one place in the middle of the night and shift all the packages from plane to plane. If there are delays, the whole operation can't deliver a product full of integrity to Federal Express customers.

And it was always screwed up. They could never get it done on time. They tried everything ‑ moral suasion, threats, you name it. And nothing worked.

Finally, somebody got the idea to pay all these people not so much an hour, but so much a shift ‑ and when it's all done, they can all go home. Well, their problems cleared up overnight.

So getting the incentives right is a very, very important lesson. It was not obvious to Federal Express what the solution was. But maybe now, it will hereafter more often be obvious to you.

All right, we've now recognized that the market is efficient as a pari-mutuel system is efficient with the favorite more likely than the long shot to do well in racing, but not necessarily give any betting advantage to those that bet on the favorite.

In the stock market, some railroad that's beset by better competitors and tough unions may be available at one-third of its book value. In contrast, IBM in its heyday might be selling at 6 times book value. So it's just like the pari-mutuel system. Any damn fool could plainly see that IBM had better business prospects than the railroad. But once you put the price into the formula, it wasn't so clear anymore what was going to work best for a buyer choosing between the stocks. So it's a lot like a pari-mutuel system. And, therefore, it gets very hard to beat.

What style should the investor use as a picker of common stocks in order to try to beat the market ‑ in other words, to get an above average long-term result? A standard technique that appeals to a lot of people is called "sector rotation". You simply figure out when oils are going to outperform retailers, etc., etc., etc. You just kind of flit around being in the hot sector of the market making better choices than other people. And presumably, over a long period of time, you get ahead.

However, I know of no really rich sector rotator. Maybe some people can do it. I'm not saying they can't. All I know is that all the people I know who got rich ‑ and I know a lot of them ‑ did not do it that way.

The second basic approach is the one that Ben Graham used ‑ much admired by Warren and me. As one factor, Graham had this concept of value to a private owner ‑ what the whole enterprise would sell for if it were available. And that was calculable in many cases.

Then, if you could take the stock price and multiply it by the number of shares and get something that was one third or less of sellout value, he would say that you've got a lot of edge going for you. Even with an elderly alcoholic running a stodgy business, this significant excess of real value per share working for you means that all kinds of good things can happen to you. You had a huge margin of safety ‑ as he put it ‑ by having this big excess value going for you.

But he was, by and large, operating when the world was in shell shock from the 1930s ‑ which was the worst contraction in the English-speaking world in about 600 years. Wheat in Liverpool, I believe, got down to something like a 600-year low, adjusted for inflation. People were so shell-shocked for a long time thereafter that Ben Graham could run his Geiger counter over this detritus from the collapse of the 1930s and find things selling below their working capital per share and so on.

And in those days, working capital actually belonged to the shareholders. If the employees were no longer useful, you just sacked them all, took the working capital and stuck it in the owners' pockets. That was the way capitalism then worked.

Nowadays, of course, the accounting is not realistic because the minute the business starts contracting, significant assets are not there. Under social norms and the new legal rules of the civilization, so much is owed to the employees that, the minute the enterprise goes into reverse, some of the assets on the balance sheet aren't there anymore.

Now, that might not be true if you run a little auto dealership yourself. You may be able to run it in such a way that there's no health plan and this and that so that if the business gets lousy, you can take your working capital and go home. But IBM can't, or at least didn't. Just look at what disappeared from its balance sheet when it decided that it had to change size both because the world had changed technologically and because its market position had deteriorated.

And in terms of blowing it, IBM is some example. Those were brilliant, disciplined people. But there was enough turmoil in technological change that IBM got bounced off the wave after "surfing" successfully for 60 years. And that was some collapse ‑ an object lesson in the difficulties of technology and one of the reasons why Buffett and Munger don't like technology very much. We don't think we're any good at it, and strange things can happen.

At any rate, the trouble with what I call the classic Ben Graham concept is that gradually the world wised up and those real obvious bargains disappeared. You could run your Geiger counter over the rubble and it wouldn't click.

But such is the nature of people who have a hammer ‑ to whom, as I mentioned, every problem looks like a nail that the Ben Graham followers responded by changing the calibration on their Geiger counters. In effect, they started defining a bargain in a different way. And they kept changing the definition so that they could keep doing what they'd always done. And it still worked pretty well. So the Ben Graham intellectual system was a very good one.

Of course, the best part of it all was his concept of "Mr. Market". Instead of thinking the market was efficient, he treated it as a manic-depressive who comes by every day. And some days he says, "I'll sell you some of my interest for way less than you think it's worth." And other days, "Mr. Market" comes by and says, "I'll buy your interest at a price that's way higher than you think it's worth." And you get the option of deciding whether you want to buy more, sell part of what you already have or do nothing at all.

To Graham, it was a blessing to be in business with a manic-depressive who gave you this series of options all the time. That was a very significant mental construct. And it's been very useful to Buffett, for instance, over his whole adult lifetime.

However, if we'd stayed with classic Graham the way Ben Graham did it, we would never have had the record we have. And that's because Graham wasn't trying to do what we did.

For example, Graham didn't want to ever talk to management. And his reason was that, like the best sort of professor aiming his teaching at a mass audience, he was trying to invent a system that anybody could use. And he didn't feel that the man in the street could run around and talk to managements and learn things. He also had a concept that the management would often couch the information very shrewdly to mislead. Therefore, it was very difficult. And that is still true, of course ‑ human nature being what it is.

And so having started out as Grahamites which, by the way, worked fine ‑ we gradually got what I would call better insights. And we realized that some company that was selling at 2 or 3 times book value could still be a hell of a bargain because of momentums implicit in its position, sometimes combined with an unusual managerial skill plainly present in some individual or other, or some system or other.

And once we'd gotten over the hurdle of recognizing that a thing could be a bargain based on quantitative measures that would have horrified Graham, we started thinking about better businesses.

And, by the way, the bulk of the billions in Berkshire Hathaway have come from the better businesses. Much of the first $200 or $300 million came from scrambling around with our Geiger counter. But the great bulk of the money has come from the great businesses.

And even some of the early money was made by being temporarily present in great businesses. Buffett Partnership, for example, owned American Express and Disney when they got pounded down.

Most investment managers are in a game where the clients expect them to know a lot about a lot of things. We didn't have any clients who could fire us at Berkshire Hathaway. So we didn't have to be governed by any such construct. And we came to this notion of finding a mispriced bet and loading up when we were very confident that we were right. So we're way less diversified. And I think our system is miles better.

However, in all fairness, I don't think a lot of money managers could successfully sell their services if they used our system. But if you're investing for 40 years in some pension fund, what difference does it make if the path from start to finish is a little more bumpy or a little different than everybody else's so long as it's all going to work out well in the end? So what if there's a little extra volatility.

In investment management today, everybody wants not only to win, but to have a yearly outcome path that never diverges very much from a standard path except on the upside. Well, that is a very artificial, crazy construct. That's the equivalent in investment management to the custom of binding the feet of Chinese women. It's the equivalent of what Nietzsche meant when he criticized the man who had a lame leg and was proud of it.

That is really hobbling yourself. Now, investment managers would say, "We have to be that way. That's how we're measured." And they may be right in terms of the way the business is now constructed. But from the viewpoint of a rational consumer, the whole system's "bonkers" and draws a lot of talented people into socially useless activity.

And the Berkshire system is not "bonkers". It's so damned elementary that even bright people are going to have limited, really valuable insights in a very competitive world when they're fighting against other very bright, hardworking people.

And it makes sense to load up on the very few good insights you have instead of pretending to know everything about everything at all times. You're much more likely to do well if you start out to do something feasible instead of something that isn't feasible. Isn't that perfectly obvious?

How many of you have 56 brilliant ideas in which you have equal confidence? Raise your hands, please. How many of you have two or three insights that you have some confidence in? I rest my case.

I'd say that Berkshire Hathaway's system is adapting to the nature of the investment problem as it really is.

We've really made the money out of high quality businesses. In some cases, we bought the whole business. And in some cases, we just bought a big block of stock. But when you analyze what happened, the big money's been made in the high quality businesses. And most of the other people who've made a lot of money have done so in high quality businesses.

Over the long term, it's hard for a stock to earn a much better return than the business which underlies it earns. If the business earns 6% on capital over 40 years and you hold it for that 40 years, you're not going to make much different than a 6% return ‑ even if you originally buy it at a huge discount. Conversely, if a business earns 18% on capital over 20 or 30 years, even if you pay an expensive looking price, you'll end up with a fine result.

So the trick is getting into better businesses. And that involves all of these advantages of scale that you could consider momentum effects.

How do you get into these great companies? One method is what I'd call the method of finding them small get 'em when they're little. For example, buy Wal-Mart when Sam Walton first goes public and so forth. And a lot of people try to do just that. And it's a very beguiling idea. If I were a young man, I might actually go into it.

But it doesn't work for Berkshire Hathaway anymore because we've got too much money. We can't find anything that fits our size parameter that way. Besides, we're set in our ways. But I regard finding them small as a perfectly intelligent approach for somebody to try with discipline. It's just not something that I've done.

Finding 'em big obviously is very hard because of the competition. So far, Berkshire's managed to do it. But can we continue to do it? What's the next Coca-Cola investment for us? Well, the answer to that is I don't know. I think it gets harder for us all the time....

And ideally ‑ and we've done a lot of this ‑ you get into a great business which also has a great manager because management matters. For example, it's made a great difference to General Electric that Jack Welch came in instead of the guy who took over Westinghouse ‑ a very great difference. So management matters, too.

And some of it is predictable. I do not think it takes a genius to understand that Jack Welch was a more insightful person and a better manager than his peers in other companies. Nor do I think it took tremendous genius to understand that Disney had basic momentums in place which are very powerful and that Eisner and Wells were very unusual managers.

So you do get an occasional opportunity to get into a wonderful business that's being run by a wonderful manager. And, of course, that's hog heaven day. If you don't load up when you get those opportunities, it's a big mistake.

Occasionally, you'll find a human being who's so talented that he can do things that ordinary skilled mortals can't. I would argue that Simon Marks ‑ who was second generation in Marks & Spencer of England ‑ was such a man. Patterson was such a man at National Cash Register. And Sam Walton was such a man.

These people do come along ‑ and in many cases, they're not all that hard to identify. If they've got a reasonable hand ‑ with the fanaticism and intelligence and so on that these people generally bring to the party ‑ then management can matter much.

However, averaged out, betting on the quality of a business is better than betting on the quality of management. In other words, if you have to choose one, bet on the business momentum, not the brilliance of the manager.

But, very rarely. you find a manager who's so good that you're wise to follow him into what looks like a mediocre business.

Another very simple effect I very seldom see discussed either by investment managers or anybody else is the effect of taxes. If you're going to buy something which compounds for 30 years at 15% per annum and you pay one 35% tax at the very end, the way that works out is that after taxes, you keep 13.3% per annum.

In contrast, if you bought the same investment, but had to pay taxes every year of 35% out of the 15% that you earned, then your return would be 15% minus 35% of 15% ‑ or only 9.75% per year compounded. So the difference there is over 3.5%. And what 3.5% does to the numbers over long holding periods like 30 years is truly eye-opening. If you sit back for long, long stretches in great companies, you can get a huge edge from nothing but the way that income taxes work.

Even with a 10% per annum investment, paying a 35% tax at the end gives you 8.3% after taxes as an annual compounded result after 30 years. In contrast, if you pay the 35% each year instead of at the end, your annual result goes down to 6.5%. So you add nearly 2% of after-tax return per annum if you only achieve an average return by historical standards from common stock investments in companies with tiny dividend payout ratios.

But in terms of business mistakes that I've seen over a long lifetime, I would say that trying to minimize taxes too much is one of the great standard causes of really dumb mistakes. I see terrible mistakes from people being overly motivated by tax considerations.

Warren and I personally don't drill oil wells. We pay our taxes. And we've done pretty well, so far. Anytime somebody offers you a tax shelter from here on in life, my advice would be don't buy it.

In fact, any time anybody offers you anything with a big commission and a 200-page prospectus, don't buy it. Occasionally, you'll be wrong if you adopt "Munger's Rule". However, over a lifetime, you'll be a long way ahead ‑ and you will miss a lot of unhappy experiences that might otherwise reduce your love for your fellow man.

There are huge advantages for an individual to get into a position where you make a few great investments and just sit back and wait: You're paying less to brokers. You're listening to less nonsense. And if it works, the governmental tax system gives you an extra 1, 2 or 3 percentage points per annum compounded.

And you think that most of you are going to get that much advantage by hiring investment counselors and paying them 1% to run around, incurring a lot of taxes on your behalf'? Lots of luck.

Are there any dangers in this philosophy? Yes. Everything in life has dangers. Since it's so obvious that investing in great companies works, it gets horribly overdone from time to time. In the "Nifty-Fifty" days, everybody could tell which companies were the great ones. So they got up to 50, 60 and 70 times earnings. And just as IBM fell off the wave, other companies did, too. Thus, a large investment disaster resulted from too high prices. And you've got to be aware of that danger....

So there are risks. Nothing is automatic and easy. But if you can find some fairly-priced great company and buy it and sit, that tends to work out very, very well indeed ‑ especially for an individual,

Within the growth stock model, there's a sub-position: There are actually businesses, that you will find a few times in a lifetime, where any manager could raise the return enormously just by raising prices ‑ and yet they haven't done it. So they have huge untapped pricing power that they're not using. That is the ultimate no-brainer.

That existed in Disney. It's such a unique experience to take your grandchild to Disneyland. You're not doing it that often. And there are lots of people in the country. And Disney found that it could raise those prices a lot and the attendance stayed right up.

So a lot of the great record of Eisner and Wells was utter brilliance but the rest came from just raising prices at Disneyland and Disneyworld and through video cassette sales of classic animated movies.

At Berkshire Hathaway, Warren and I raised the prices of See's Candy a little faster than others might have. And, of course, we invested in Coca-Cola ‑ which had some untapped pricing power. And it also had brilliant management. So a Goizueta and Keough could do much more than raise prices. It was perfect.

You will get a few opportunities to profit from finding underpricing. There are actually people out there who don't price everything as high as the market will easily stand. And once you figure that out, it's like finding in the street ‑ if you have the courage of your convictions.

If you look at Berkshire's investments where a lot of the money's been made and you look for the models, you can see that we twice bought into two‑newspaper towns which have since become one‑newspaper towns. So we made a bet to some extent....

In one of those ‑ The Washington Post ‑ we bought it at about 20% of the value to a private owner. So we bought it on a Ben Graham‑style basis ‑ at one‑fifth of obvious value ‑ and, in addition, we faced a situation where you had both the top hand in a game that was clearly going to end up with one winner and a management with a lot of integrity and intelligence. That one was a real dream. They're very high class people ‑ the Katharine Graham family. That's why it was a dream ‑ an absolute, damn dream.

Of course, that came about back in '73‑74. And that was almost like 1932. That was probably a once-in-40-years‑type denouement in the markets. That investment's up about 50 times over our cost.

If I were you, I wouldn't count on getting any investment in your lifetime quite as good as The Washington Post was in '73 and '74.

But it doesn't have to be that good to take care of you.

Let me mention another model. Of course, Gillette and Coke make fairly low‑priced items and have a tremendous marketing advantage all over the world. And in Gillette's case, they keep surfing along new technology which is fairly simple by the standards of microchips. But it's hard for competitors to do.

So they've been able to stay constantly near the edge of improvements in shaving. There are whole countries where Gillette has more than 90% of the shaving market.

GEICO is a very interesting model. It's another one of the 100 or so models you ought to have in your head. I've had many friends in the sick‑business‑fix‑up game over a long lifetime. And they practically all use the following formula ‑ I call it the cancer surgery formula:

They look at this mess. And they figure out if there ' s anything sound left that can live on its own if they cut away everything else. And if they find anything sound, they just cut away everything else. Of course, if that doesn't work, they liquidate the business. But it frequently does work.

And GEICO had a perfectly magnificent business ‑submerged in a mess, but still working. Misled by success, GEICO had done some foolish things. They got to thinking that, because they were making a lot of money, they knew everything. And they suffered huge losses.

All they had to do was to cut out all the folly and go back to the perfectly wonderful business that was lying there. And when you think about it, that's a very simple model. And it's repeated over and over again.

And, in GEICO's case, think about all the money we passively made.... It was a wonderful business combined with a bunch of foolishness that could easily be cut out. And people were coming in who were temperamentally and intellectually designed so they were going to cut it out. That is a model you want to look for.

And you may find one or two or three in a long lifetime that are very good. And you may find 20 or 30 that are good enough to be quite useful.

Finally, I'd like to once again talk about investment management. That is a funny business because on a net basis, the whole investment management business together gives no value added to all buyers combined. That's the way it has to work.

Of course, that isn't true of plumbing and it isn't true of medicine. If you're going to make your careers in the investment management business, you face a very peculiar situation. And most investment managers handle it with psychological denial ‑just like a chiropractor. That is the standard method of handling the limitations of the investment management process. But if you want to live the best sort of life, I would urge each of you not to use the psychological denial mode.

I think a select few ‑ a small percentage of the investment managers ‑ can deliver value added. But I don't think brilliance alone is enough to do it. I think that you have to have a little of this discipline of calling your shots and loading up ‑ if you want to maximize your chances of becoming one who provides above average real returns for clients over the long pull.

But I'm just talking about investment managers engaged in common stock picking. I am agnostic elsewhere. I think there may well be people who are so shrewd about currencies and this, that and the other thing that they can achieve good long‑term records operating on a pretty big scale in that way. But that doesn't happen to be my milieu. I'm talking about stock picking in American stocks.

I think it's hard to provide a lot of value added to the investment management client, but it's not impossible."

50 WAYS TO TAKE NOTES

2010-06-27T08:33:00.004+08:00

I suppose techno-savvy readers may want to experiment with many forms of note taking.

Here's an interesting master link. Some of the downward links may not work as the primary site (Solution Watch) has not been updated for quite a while.

Enjoy your exploration, anyway!

TOP UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGES & BUSINESS SCHOOLS IN USA

2010-06-25T15:43:00.002+08:00

Top 25 Undergraduate Colleges:

1 Princeton University NJ
2 Harvard University MA
3 California Institute of Technology CA
4 Swarthmore College PA
5 Williams College MA
6 United States Military Academy NY
7 Amherst College MA
8 Yale University CT
9 Wellesley College MA
10 Columbia University NY
11 Northwestern University IL
12 Wabash College IN
13 Centre College KY
14 Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA
15 Bowdoin College ME
16 United States Air Force Academy CO
17 University of Chicago IL
18 Middlebury College VT
19 Smith College MA
20 Pomona College CA
21 Wesleyan University CT
22 Haverford College PA
23 Stanford University CA
24 Sarah Lawrence College NY
25 Hamilton College NY

Top 20 Business Schools:

1 Stanford CA
2 Dartmouth (Tuck) NH
3 Harvard MA
4 Chicago (Booth) IL
5 Pennsylvania (Wharton) PA
6 Columbia NY
7 Cornell (Johnson) NY
8 Northwestern (Kellogg) IL
9 Virginia (Darden) VA
10 Yale CT
11 Texas-Austin (McCombs) TX
12 UC Berkeley (Haas) CA
13 Duke University (Fuqua) NC
14 MIT (Sloan) MA
15 UNC (Kenan-Flagler) NC
16 Brigham Young (Marriott) UT
17 NYU (Stern) NY
18 Michigan (Ross) MI
19 UCLA (Anderson) CA
20 Iowa (Tippie) IA

[Source: College Atlas]

An In-Depth List of Online Study Help Resources

2010-05-15T08:13:00.008+08:00

I have received, this morning, the following email from Cate Newton of SR Education Group, the contents of which are worth sharing with readers of this weblog:

"Hi Say Keng Lee

I really appreciate your collection of resources for students found here: thestudysmartsmorgasbord.blogspot.com.

Your blog is interesting and informative. You have provided great information and resources regarding study skills and how to effectively develop studying habits.

My interest in study skills sparked an article we just published on our website, 'Guide to Online Schools'.

I noticed that there was an absence of quality resources for students, especially in the realm of study guides.

So we found the best note-taking, test anxiety and general study tips resources on the internet and compiled them into an all in one, easy to navigate article.

The article would be a great addition to your resources. I hope that you and your students find the resources helpful. Let me know what you think.

Sincerely,
Cate Newton..."

Here's the link. Enjoy your exploration & assimilation!

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ERGONOMICS: 50 TIPS & TRICKS FOR SERIOUS STUDENTS

2010-04-02T16:20:00.002+08:00

You might think that just because you're a student, you don't have to worry about the physical stresses & strains that 8-plus-hour 'studying' days put on your body.

But as a student, & besides getting regular exercise & trying to eat as healthfully as you can, you need to monitor your daily posture, especially at the computer & when you are readng or studying.

Here is a link to 50 tips & tricks for serious students.

Think of it as your ultimate guide to ergonomics.

[Source: Julie Watson, Online Education Database;]

COMPETENCIES EMPLOYERS SEEK IN COLLEGE GRADUATES

2010-03-15T09:47:00.003+08:00

According to the Career Services Network of Michigan State University, here are the 'Competences Empoyers Seek in College Graduates' - in a nut shell, they are the essentials for success in the 21st century:

1) Working in a Diverse Environment:

Learning from people who are different from you—and recognizing your commonalities — is an important part of your education and essential preparation for the world you will join.

2) Managing Time and Priorities:

Managing how you spend your time, and on what, is essential in today’s world. Learn how to sort priorities so you stay in control of your life.

3) Acquiring Knowledge:

Learning how to learn is just as important as the knowledge itself. No matter what your future holds, you’ll continue to learn every day of your life.

4) Thinking Critically:

Developing solid critical thinking skills means you’ll be confident to handle autonomy, make sound decisions, and find the connection between opportunities you have to learn and how those opportunities will affect your future.

5) Communicating Effectively:

Developing listening, interpreting, and speaking skills is just as important as reading and writing.

6) Solving Problems:

You may only have thought about problem solving when you’re faced with a crisis. Understand the process and mind-set of successful problem-solving and you’ll more easily handle the bigger challenges that come your way.

7) Contributing to a Team:

In the workplace each person’s contribution is essential to success. Having the ability to work collaboratively with others is vital. This includes identifying individual strengths (yours and others) and harnessing them for the group, building consensus, knowing when to lead and when to follow, and appreciating group dynamics.

8) Navigating Across Boundaries:

Life is filled with boundaries—good and bad. Discover how to avoid the boundaries that become barriers so you don’t hamper the ability to collaborate with other people.

9) Performing with Integrity:

It only takes one bad instance to destroy years of good faith and good relationships. It’s important to develop a code of ethics and principles to guide your life.

10) Developing Professional Competencies:

The end of college is the beginning of a new education. Build on what you already know and keep learning new skills—your job will challenge you to grow and develop in ways you haven’t imagined yet.

11) Balancing Work and Life:

You’ve got a lot to accomplish in limited time. How do you get it all done and still stay sane? The key is maintaining balance among the different parts of your life.

12) Embracing Change:

Just about every aspect of life is in a constant state of change. Sometimes it may seem that no sooner do you get caught up than you have to start all over again. No matter how you feel about change, you have to learn to deal with it.

The full report is accessible & downloadable at this link.

THE ART & DISCIPLINE OF USING 'PSQ7R' TO ACCELERATE YOUR READING

2010-01-30T15:49:00.010+08:00

Firstly, let me introduce you to ‘PSQ7R’:

This is essentially my personal variation of the original ‘SQ3R’ developed by Francis Robinson, a teacher/psychologist of Ohio State University in the 1940s.

P = PURPOSE

Firstly, just before you start to read any new text materials, you need to define your purpose.

In other words, you have to ask yourself mentally the following questions:

- what is the purpose of your reading or why are you reading this chapter or this lesson or this textbook or what is your end goal?...or what are you expected to remember?;

- how important will be the reading materials for you?

- Do you want a global overview or detailed information?

- how much time are you prepared to invest in your reading?

Examples of end goals:

- for a test/exam;

- for a class or group discussion;

- for a short presentation to a group;

- for pleasure or the fun of it;

- for a project assignment or report;

- for general ideas only;

All these reading objectives will eventually influence and ultimately determine your reading method, entry point, depth of navigation and reading speed.

For example, if you are just reading for general ideas only, then you don’t have to read the whole book but skim and/or scan through the book to get what you need.

But, if you are reading for a test or exam, it is a different ball game, as you need to read the book or each chapter or lesson slowly and carefully.

S = SURVEY

Upon defining your purpose, the next thing you need to do just before you commence to read a new chapter or lesson, is do a quick survey of the contents within, as follows:

- Read the chapter or lesson objectives, if any;

- Read the introduction;

- Read the opening paragraph, if any;

- Scan the headings and subheadings;

- Look at the illustrations, pictures, diagrams, graphs, tables, captions, etc.., if any;

- Pay attention to any words or phrases in Bold Print or italics;

- Read any text captured in boxed sections;

- Read any marginal notes (usually alongside selected paragraphs), if any;

- Read the ending paragraph and/or concluding summary, if any;

- Read the chapter or review questions at the end of the chapter or lesson, if any;

If it is a new textbook, do a quick survey of the following additional areas, prior to the above:

- Scan the front, inside, and back covers, especially the credit reviews by others;

- Read the biography of the author;

- Read the Preface;

- Read the Table of Contents;

- Read the Concluding Chapter at the end of the book, if any;

- Browse the Glossary or Appendix at the end of the book, if any;

- Browse the Bibliography at the end of the book, if any;

- Browse the Index at the end of the book, if any;

The purpose of this quick survey is to generate a global overview or big picture of the chapter or lesson or the book. It will definitely give you a rough sense of the overall structure, organisation or plan of the chapter or lesson or book.

With a quick survey, you will find that details in the text are much more easily remembered because of their relationship to the big picture.

In military jargon, we call this quick survey a reconnaissance (recon) patrol to map out the enemy terrain, to identify enemy targets for hits, to flush out enemy hideouts, to locate the safest attack route, and also fastest escape route.

More importantly, this quick survey helps you to build a familiar background and activate your prior knowledge to determine what you know and what you don’t know and also what you want to know

Normally, a quick survey will take only a few minutes, but it is time well spent.

Q = QUESTION

From your earlier quick survey, you have already scanned the headings and subheadings in your chapter or lesson or text book.

Take these headings and subheadings and convert all of them into questions, one by one. By formulating questions in this manner, you are learning to put your mind into a questioning mode. They keep you mentally alert.

Think about it. I am sure you know the graphic symbol for question is "?".

If you turn it around, it looks like a hook do you agree?

Questions serve as memory hooks!

To put it in perspective, reading is fishing for information - and ultimately, ideas.

Next, also from your quick survey, you have already read the chapter or review questions at the end of the chapter or lesson.

Indirectly, these questions are actually telling you what the important points of the chapter or lesson will be.

These questions therefore serve as your reference points as you proceed to read the chapter or lesson also as your memory hooks!

By consciously applying a series of questions to whatever you read, you are actually developing your ability to think critically in your reading.

I always tell my students that reading is a thinking process, not a regurgitating process!

One of the best ways to formulate your questions is to use what I call the '6W3H Questioning Process’ (this is my personal modification of the conventional ‘Journalists Questions’), as follows:

- What?

- Who?

- Where?

- When?

- Which?

- Why?

- How?

- How much or many?

- How frequent?

Now, you are putting yourself on the mark and ready to go.

(At this juncture, I would like to recommend Adam Robinson’s ‘What Smart Students Knows’. This wonderful author has very skillfully crafted a series of additional powerful questions to help readers develop an effective questioning mind, as follows:

- BEFORE YOUR READING (Pre-Reading Questions);

- WHILE YOU ARE READING (Reading-in-Progress Questions; and

- AFTER YOUR READING (Post-Reading Questions);

Please get hold of this book.)

R (1) = READ QUICKLY & SELECTIVELY

This is the quick and selective reading part of the entire process.

In a way, you are reading quickly and selectively to find all the answers to all your questions (in your quick survey).

Learn to read quickly by using your index finger as a pacer as your read.

Move your pacer i.e. your index finger, and glide it horizontally across the width of the paragraph, from left to right, just along the lower portion of each sentence as you read it.

When your pacer reaches the end of the sentence, move it quickly to the front of the next sentence below, and continue the motion as if you are continuously writing a "Z" with your pacer.

First, you can start by gliding it slowly as you read, and then pick up your speed as you feel comfortable reading faster.

The purpose of the pacer is to "guide" your eye balls in a steady manner.

Let me explain.

Our eye balls are hard-wired to move rapidly and naturally. In science, we call them saccadic movements. This has to do with our evolutionary design. Our forefathers were hunters-gatherers our eye balls were already trained to scan the environment at far and open distances... to look out for animals to hunt, and at the same time, to watch out for predators!

So, when we read, which is at close range, we need to keep our eyes under control and guide them to read the small text in a steady manner.

Once you have all the questions formulated from the headings and subheadings, and also the review questions from the end of the chapter or lesson at the back of your mind, you can begin to read quickly.

At this juncture, I want to introduce you how to identify or recognise the many text organizational patterns often used by authors in writing academic materials:

Firstly, learn to recognise "signal words".

"Signal words" tell you what is coming up as you read, and what to watch for as well as what you already have read.

Watching out "signal words" as you read will immediately help to focus your attention or signal you to make note of the information to follow.

Listed below are some common signal words and their meanings:

An addition to original train of thought:

Also;

in addition

further;

furthermore;

lastly;

moreover;

first;

second;

secondly;

too;

author is changing, challenging or contradicting original train of thought:

although;

after all;

but;

by contrast;

however;

nevertheless;

on the contrary;

yet;

still;

despite the fact;

author is defining:

referred to as;

is;

the same as;

means;

termed;

defined as;

means the same;

a synonym for;

author is pointing out similarities/differences:

alike;

similarly;

likewise;

by the same token;

in the same vein;

unlike;

otherwise;

different;

contrasts with;

on the other hand;

opposite;

as opposed to;

author is introducing examples and illustrations:

for example;

for instance;

specifically;

in other words;

i.e.;

author is introducing some causes/effects:

it is because;

because;

due to;

results in;

unless;

effect;

cause;

the quality;

attribute;

for this reason;

if;

as a result;

stems from;

consequently;

thus;

therefore;

hence;

in response;

author is helping readers to follow a sequence in time:

in the meantime;

next;

soon;

after a while;

in time;

of late;

thereafter;

afterwards;

finally;

author is repeating a point already made:

in short;

in brief;

in conclusion;

in other words;

on the whole;

in summary;

to reiterate;

to sum up;

Once you recognise and understand these "signal words", you will begin to understand how the text in each paragraph is organised. This is the basis of the second text reading technique, which I will illustrate under R(2) as follows.

R(2) = RE-READ SLOWLY

This is the careful and deliberate reading part of the entire process.

As you begin to re-read and see a lot of those "signal words" listed under CAUSE/EFFECT in a given paragraph, you will begin to understand that the paragraph is organised in a CAUSE/EFFECT pattern.

All you need to do next is to re-read slowly to gather the relevant information pertaining to the CAUSE or CAUSES and EFFECT or EFFECTS in the given paragraph.

Likewise, when you see a lot of those "signal words" listed under COMPARISON/CONTRAST in a given paragraph, then you will begin to understand that the paragraph is organised in a COMPARISON/CONTRAST pattern.

All you need to do next is to re-read slowly to gather the relevant information pertaining to similarities and differences in the given paragraph.

In a nut shell, I call these text organisational or writing patterns.

Research indicates that readers who can recognise and identify the most common organisational patterns of textbook writing can comprehend the material faster and can also recall the information better. The performance of these readers on summarising and other comprehension tasks is superior to that of readers who are not knowledgeable about text structure.

Other research shows that learning to recognise organisational patterns increases your understanding of key ideas.

The following are some of the most common organisational patterns:

- simple listing;

- order/sequence;

- comparison/.contrast;

- cause/effect;

- problem/solution;

- classification;

- definition;

- example;

- mixed patterns (a combination of two or more patterns);

All of the patterns are found in all academic disciplines.

For a broader and deeper understanding of "signal words" and text organisational patterns, with hands-on application exercises, I strongly recommend you to read:

1. 'Steps to Reading Proficiency', by Anne Dye Phillips & Peter Sotiriou;

2. 'Power Reading Efficient Learning', by Eleanor

Now, let us move to the next R.

R(3) = REDUCE INFORMATION TO KEY IDEAS;

I always tell my students that the purpose of reading, irrespective of the text content, is to gather information and "fish out" the key ideas.

Key ideas help you to recognise and remember supporting information. They are the topics of entire paragraphs or lessons. Key ideas are often found in the first or last sentences /paragraphs, but they can be located anywhere within the text material.

Here are some basic guidelines for identifying key ideas:

- use the headings and/or subheadings in the text;

- ask questions: what is this paragraph all about? What does the author assert or want me to understand about this topic?;

- List details and ask: what do these details have in common?;

- Look for general statements: underline the most general statement and ask: which statement best represent the key idea of the paragraph?;

- State the key idea as a complete sentence;

For additional strategies to reduce information to key ideas, and more precisely, to gather information, please refer to my SEVEN PERSPECTIVES OF INFORMATION GATHERING AT HIGH SPEEDS.

R(4) = RECORD KEY IDEAS;

This is the note-taking and note-making part of the entire process.

There are many effective ways to record key ideas...to be more precise, to take notes and make notes.

You can use outlining and/or mapping formats for your note-taking and note-making.

Please refer to my SEVEN PERSPECTIVES OF INFORMATION GATHERING AT HIGH SPEEDS.

R(5) = RECITE;

It is a useful exercise to stop regularly to silently recite to yourself what you have just recorded as key ideas, without looking at your textbook or notes. Be sure to put ideas in your own words, as this will improve your ability to retain the material. Answer questions aloud and listen to your responses to see if they are complete and correct. If they are not correct, re-read the material and answer the question again. This form of rehearsal increases the likelihood that you will retain the material.

R(6) = REFLECT;

Research indicates that comprehension and retention of information are increased when you elaborate new information. This is to reflect on it, to turn it this way and that, to compare and make categories, to relate one part with another, to connect it with your other knowledge and personal experience, and in general to organise and reorganise it. This may be done in your minds eye, and sometimes on paper.

You can reflect on the text you have just read or learnt by asking.

- What is the significance of these facts or ideas?

- On what principle are they based;

- To what else could they be applied?

- How do they fit in with what I already know?

- What can I see that lies beyond these facts and ideas?

R(7) = REVIEW;

Reviewing is the key to figuring what you have just learnt and what you need to remember. The best times to review are right after reading while the material is still fresh on your mind.

I would suggest that for every 20-30 minutes of reading/learning, you need to spend 5-10 minutes reviewing what you have just read/learnt.

After this immediate review, you need to review your learnt materials periodically and systematically as follows:

- every 7 days;

- every 30 days;

- every 90 days;

- every 180 days;

I call this exercise Spaced Repetition, which is a very powerful memory enhancement tool.

Another important point to remember:

you need to review your lesson or lecture within 24 hours after class, otherwise 80% is lost;

SEVEN PERSPECTIVES OF INFORMATION GATHERING AT HIGH SPEEDS!

1. Highlighting & Underlining;

As you proceed along through a reading, you may have developed strategies to identify, mark and summarise information you find of importance. The most popular way of identifying or marking key information is to highlight the text and/or underline passages so that you can return to them later. In general, the process of marking the text so that you can return to important information is a very important one.

Here are some effective highlighting tips:

Do highlight:

- Keywords;

- Key phrases;

- Key ideas;

- Supporting details;

- Terms, definitions & equations;

- Answers that correspond to your questions;

- Key word items in a list;

- Formulas, principles, rules;

Avoid highlighting:

- whole pages;

- whole paragraphs;

- whole sentences;

- bold-faced headings;

- bullets or numbers without key words when you have no corresponding questions;

- math problems;

The following 12 guidelines will help you master the skill of effective underlining:

- use a pencil;

- develop some system to distinguish key ideas and other important ideas;

- before you begin to underline a chapter, assess your prior knowledge;

- before you begin to underline, survey the chapter;

- read a section or paragraph first, and then underline;

- use your knowledge of text organisational patterns to help you underline effectively;

- observe headings and subheadings to help you determine what to underline;

- underline in telegraphic terms;

- underline no more than about 15 to 20% of the page;

- if you have trouble determining what supporting ideas are important, first read the key idea; then look for support or evidence for the key idea;

- Look for numbers or bullets that are often used to mark important concepts that are in stages or in a list;

- Make sure you do not underline in such a way that you change the meaning of the paragraph;

2. Marginal Notations;

These refer to all of the pencil marks used to call attention to terms and main points and to the remarks written in the margins.

The following types of marginal notations are helpful:

- draw two parallel vertical lines in the margin, next to the paragraph, to mark location of main ideas and/or summary statements;

- circle unknown words;

- put question mark (?) in the margin, next to paragraph you don’t quite understand & for which you need further clarification;

- Defn. to mark an important definition of a word you have marked in the text;

- Ex. To mark an example of a difficult concept;

- Parentheses {} around an example or anything you want to find if you need it;

- Numbers for important lists of people, theories, reasons, historical events;

- Some type of mark (for example, an asterisk *) for an important point;

- GTQ or PTQ to mark a good or potential test question;

- Arrows to show cause and effect relationships or to show association with other knowledge (e.g. This theory is completely similar (or different) from;

- Reflective comments to help you recall or comprehend;

- Reminders to yourself (e.g. search the internet on this;

3. Paraphrasing;

Paraphrasing involves putting learnt information into your own words. It is one of the most useful skills needed by students. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

A paraphrase is...

your own rendition of essential information and ideas, presented in a new form;
a more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single key idea;

Basic Steps to Effective Paraphrasing

1. Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning;

2. Write your paraphrase on paper;

3. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form;

4. Summarising;

Summarising is essentially condensation of your learnt material put in your own words. It is also one of the most useful skills needed by students. This skills helps with all of the following: reading comprehension, monitoring reading and learning skills, textbook study, preparation for essay tests, note-taking/note-making, writing research papers, and recall of information.

The following steps will help you write good summaries:

- Survey the material you will have to summarise;

- Let your purpose guide you in determining the organisation & length;

- Read the material through once or twice for key ideas;

- Note how ideas are related to each other;

- Reread, looking for the key ideas of each paragraph;

- Write the opening statement that you think expresses the key idea;

- Write the ideas that support the key ideas;

- Avoid including details, examples, anecdotes or other material besides the key ideas;

- Do not repeat any information;

- Do not include your opinion;

- Use your own words;

- Remember: Your summary should read like a coherent, unified paragraph in its own right!

(Personal Notes:

To paraphrase and summarize successfully, keep two principles in mind as you read and record notes.

1. When reading materials, treat each passage as a discrete unit of thought to be assimilated into your own thoughts. Try to understand the passage as a whole, rather than pausing to write down ideas or phrases that seem, on first inspection, significant. Read purposefully, with a larger conceptual framework in clear view, and integrate each reading into that controlling purpose.

2. After reaching a clear understanding of the ideas contained in the text, summarize that information in your own words. Remember that you are taking notes, not copying down quotations. Your task is to extract, distill and compress essential content that will be useful in creating a paraphrase.

5. Outlining;

This is one of the popular note-taking and note-making formats.

Here are some basic outlining guidelines:

- Make a simple list of the key points you want to include on paper;

- Scrutinise the list to check for ideas that should be added;

- Determine the best order for the topics in the list;

- Put all ideas in a form that shows the proper subordination of ideas;

- Feel free to revise your outline any time you feel that it is not working;

- Always keep your overall topic in mind as you outline or revise your outline;

From my consulting/training work with kids and teens, I find that the most effective outlining method is the ‘Cornell Notes Method’, which I believed is developed by Prof. Walter Pauk of Cornell University.

With ‘Cornell Notes Method’, firstly, the page is divided into two vertical columns; one is one-third of the page wide (the Recall & Review Column), the other two-thirds (the Notes Column).

About 2 inches from the bottom of the page, you create one horizontal column. This is the Summary Column.

In the Recall & Review Column, you fill it with key words and phrases and with questions. The idea is that you complete this column after the note-taking exercise in the Notes Column.

The words and phrases you place here are meant to represent your selection of the key ideas of a reading or lecture. The questions you enter serve to help you clarify unclear ideas and to elaborate on the notes by connecting ideas together.

You complete your summary of the notes on the page in the Summary Column.

For more information about ‘Cornell Notes Method’, I recommend you to read Walter Pauk's ‘How to Study in College’ and/or ‘Essential Study Strategies’.

6. Mapping;

In addition to the ‘Cornell Notes Method’, you may wish to use a non-linear way of organising your notes, called ‘Mind Mapping’.

‘Mind Mapping’ is developed by Tony Buzan from UK. You can read about it from his book, ‘Using Both Sides of the Brain’.

His other book, ‘The MindMap Book’, is worth exploring as it has many colourful mindmap samples.

Mind maps are diagrammatic ways of organising key ideas from textbooks or lectures, which emphasise the inter-connection of concepts and illustrate the relative hierarchy of ideas from titles, to main concepts, to supporting details.

Because they are diagrammatic, they have the potential to capture a lot of information on a single page. They help to show the conceptual links between ideas and allows for additional material to be added without the need to crowd the page.

And, because they typically feature key words and phrases, they allow for the same kind of review that is facilitated by ‘Cornell Notes Method’.

In a mind map, the central topic is placed in the centre of the page, placed in a landscape format, and the key ideas related to it are placed on branches that directly connect to the central topic.

The details which support these key ideas are then directly linked to the key ideas (and thereby, indirectly to the central topic). There is room to add information on further key ideas and you can add colours or doodles to accent your work

Personal Notes:

If you simply don’t like mind-mapping, there is another simpler and easier method. Its called clustering, developed by Gabriele Rico, in her pioneering book, ‘Writing the Natural Way: Using Right Brain Techniques to Release Your Expressive Powers’.

There is another interesting diagramming method developed by Nancy Marguiles. Its called ‘Mind-scaping’. You can read about it in her book, ‘Mapping Inner-Space’.

7. Recapitulation or Reconstruction;

Here you combine all your outlined or mapped notes into one large global outline or global mind-map, generally on a subject-by-subject basis.

In this global outline or global mind-map, you re-organise and consolidate all the key ideas and other important information from your myriad outlines or mind-maps, subject by subject, and transfer them onto one single sheet of large paper, each representing one subject.

This is the eventual piece of work which you will use to do your final review just before your final subject examination.

By recapitulating your notes and reconstructing the larger outline or mind-map, you are consolidating your whole years learning.

ADDITIONAL STRATEGY:

I like to introduce the follow natural vision improvement exercise:

- drink some water before you read; drink more water if you read extensively;

- do this Palming exercise: rub your palms against each other robustly till you feel the heat, and cup them against your eyes; and feel the heat massaging your eyes; your eyes can stay open if you want to; do it few times;

- occasionally, while standing under the sun, do this Sunning exercise: first, close your eyes, and face the sun; move your head gently as if you are writing the infinity symbol and in the direction of the sun; do this say for about 2 to 3 minutes; remember: don’t open your eyes!!!

- Do this Far/Near Focus exercise often: stand in an open space, where you can see some man-made or natural objects around you, both in the near as well as far distances; close one eye (say, right), stretch out your hand in front of you, clench it with the thumb facing the sky; look at your thumb and describe its features to yourself mentally; do it for a minute; then, pick a distant object; do you best to describe its features; do it for a minute; now, open your right eye and close your left eye; repeat the above instructions; when you have completed with either eye, now, repeat the instructions with both eyes open;

These simple but effective eye exercises are designed to relax your eye balls and also to keep them in peak condition.

[I had originally written this piece as an extended email response to a student in the United States, who had approached me for expert guidance to his reading problem in 2002. By chance, I have recently located this email.]

MIND DEVELOPMENT COURSE 1: HOW TO STUDY QUICKLY & EFFECTIVELY

2009-12-12T22:45:00.008+08:00

Here's the link to the free online 'Mind Development Course 1: How to Study Quickly & Effectively' by Gregory Mitchell following reportedly three decades of research.

The course 1 is part of a complete package of 5. Readers have to pay for the remaining 4, if interested.

However, the author offers a very special price for taking up the complete package.

My personal suggestion is to explore his course 1 first.

HOW TO LEARN ANYTHING

2009-11-22T13:45:00.004+08:00

Here's the link to an interesting & practical book, entitled 'How to Learning Anything', by Harry von Bommel, a Canadian adult educator with three decades of experience in the field.

Appended below is the Table of Contents:

- Introduction
- Taking Notes
- Speed Reading
- Study Skills
- Improve Your Memory
- Researching and Writing Papers
- Time Management
- Stress Management
- Learn by Yourself

You can read the book online, or alternatively, you can purchase the book from the publisher, Legacies, Inc.

HOW TO BE A STUDENT: 100 GREAT IDEAS & PRACTICAL HABITS FOR STUDENTS EVERYWHERE

2009-11-15T16:29:00.003+08:00

Here's the weblink to the book, 'How to Be a Student: 100 Great Ideas and Practical Habits for Students Everywhere', by Sarah Moore & Maura Murphy.

The tapestry of contents in the book is as follow:

1: Remembering That Humans Are Designed to Learn
2: Not Letting Money Issues Get in the Way
3: Being Strict about Part-Time Work
4: Developing Study Rituals
5: Having a Calendar and an Appointments Diary
6: Preparing to Be Disillusioned
7: Turning Up to Your Lectures
8: Getting Your Learning Abilities Checked
9: Getting Help When You Need It
10: Preventing Small Obstacles from Becoming Big Problems
11: Being the First to Admit When You Don''t Understand
12: Decorating Your Study Space
13: Buying a Dictionary and a Thesaurus
14: Organizing Your Study Materials and Learning Resources
15: Regular''Study Snacks'' Are Better Than Occasional ''Study Binges''
16: Understanding Boredom
17: Developing Your Own Personal Coding System
18: Phoning Home
19: Talking to Others about Your Study Tasks
20: Setting Better Study Goals
21: Always Having Someone Know Where You Are
22: Having a Social Life That Supports Your Learning
23: Accepting That Bureaucracy Is Just Part of Life
24: Getting Regular Exercise
25: Eating Wisely
26: Drinking
27: Sleeping Enough (But Not Too Much)
28: Breathing Properly
29: Posture and Positioning
30: Love, Friendship and Sex

Part 2: Developing Your Skills and Sharpening Your Awareness

31: Understanding the Downside of Being Connected and Available
32: Finding the Zone between Resignation and Anger When You''re Staring Problems in the Face
33: Not Treating Learning as a Competition
34: Recording Your Study Habits
35: Remembering That Lecturers and Tutors Are Human Too
36: Recognizing That Information Is Not Knowledge
37: Realizing That Students Are Not Customers
38: Spotting the Signs That You Need to Take a Break
39: Watching out for Study Drift
40: Knowing Whether You Are a Natural Introvert or a Natural Extravert and Adjusting Your Study Strategies Accordingly
41: Understanding and Controlling Knee-Jerk Reactions to Stress
42: Keeping a Learning Diary
43: Knowing about Clashes in Habits, Cultures and Ways of Doing Things
44: How You Feel Impacts on How Well You Learn
45: Remembering That People Thought Einstein Was a Slow Learner
46: Benefiting from the Fact That Students Are Different from One Another

Part 3: Gaining Momentum: Building Confidence and Motivation

47: Just Doing It
48: Focusing on What You Can Do Now
49: Recognizing That Deadlines Don''t Have to Ruin Your Life
50: Interrogating Your Lecturers and Your Tutors
51: Getting to Know Your Librarians and Lurking in the Library
52: Not Being Too Hard on Yourself
54: Being Brave
53: Not Being Too Easy on Yourself
55: Using All of Your Brain
56: Being More Creative
57: Playing
58: Rewarding and Celebrating When Things Go Right
59: Understanding Different Kinds of Reaction to Feedback
60: Getting Negative Feedback
61: Getting Positive Feedback
62: Choosing the Feedback You Want
63: Making Presentations
64: Not Comparing Yourself with Others
65: Checking Rumours before Acting on Them
66: Playing to Your Strengths
67: Hoping and Persisting
68: Controlling Worry
69: Realizing That You''ll Never Be Able to Keep Everyone Happy

Part 4: Being the Best You Can Be

70: Knowing That It''s Impossible to Be Perfect but It''s Always Possible to Improve
71: Paying Attention to Grammar and Punctuation
72: Keeping Track of Your Information Sources
73: Knowing What Plagiarism Is
74: Everything Should Be Made as Simple as Possible, but Not Simpler
75: Learning the Beauty of Summaries
76: Having Some Time Every Day When You''re Doing Nothing at All
77: Organizing Study Retreats
78: Using Listening Skills to Help You Learn Better
79: Not Jumping to Conclusions
80: Reading
81: Recognizing the Importance of Memorizing
82: Learning to Use Memory Techniques
83: Being a Critical Learner
84: Writing a Little Bit Every Day
85: Reflecting
86: Being Generous with Your Lecture Notes
87: Knowing What a Literature Review Is and How to Do One
88: Using Images and Diagrams When You''re Taking Notes
89: Treating Your Cv as a Working Document
90: Going through the Motions
91: Carrying a Notebook Everywhere You Go
92: Finding out More
93: Pulling an All-Nighter
94: Preparing Practically for Your Exams
95: During Exams
96: After Exams
97: Avoiding Snobbery
98: Sharing Your Insights
100: Being a Student
99: Believing in Yourself
Bibliography

ARE YOU REALLY READY TO WORK?

2009-08-16T11:07:00.002+08:00

To prepare yourself for work in the 21st Century, please read the following advisory:

Beginning in school, and continuing at successively higher levels across their college studies, students should prepare for 21st century challenges by gaining:

Knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world:

• Through study in the sciences and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages, and the arts

Focused by engagement with big questions, both contemporary and enduring

Intellectual and practical skills, including:

• Inquiry and analysis
• Critical and creative thinking
• Written and oral communication
• Quantitative literacy
• Information literacy
• Teamwork and problem solving

Practiced extensively, across the curriculum, in the context of progressively more challenging problems, projects, and standards for performance

Personal and social responsibility, including:

• Civic knowledge and engagement—local and global
• Intercultural knowledge and competence
• Ethical reasoning and action
• Foundations and skills for lifelong learning

Anchored through active involvement with diverse communities and real-world challenges

Integrative learning, including:

• Synthesis and advanced accomplishment across general and specialized studies

Demonstrated through the application of knowledge, skills, and responsibilities to new settings and complex problems

[Source: Association of American Colleges & Universities (2007)]

HEALTHY STUDY HABITS FOR STUDENTS

2009-08-15T18:39:00.002+08:00

According to Psych Central, reportedly Internet's largest & oldest independent mental health network, here are some great ideas to help students maintain & improve their mental & emotional health.

There are five main areas to keep in mind:

Social, Physical, Cognitive, Emotional & Motivation.

1) Social Strategies:

• Stay in touch with friends & family – particularly in those early weeks of coming to university;

• Make contact with other people in your course or who live in your hall;

• Suggest possible activities such as having a coffee together or going for a walk at lunchtime & allow yourself to accept offers of activities that others suggest;

• Remember to speak to someone from student support services (or your student counseling center) for help if you are feeling socially isolated;

2) Physical Strategies:

• Get into a good sleep routine;

• Make sure you get regular exercise;

• Eat a good diet;

• Attend to illness as soon as you notice yourself not feeling well;

• Avoid activities that you know are problematic or that could become a problem such as gambling, excessive use of alcohol, using drugs & letting the internet or computer games steal time from you;

• If there is a problem speak to someone at your student counseling center or your doctor;

3) Emotional Strategies:

• Learn breathing exercises, meditation or being in the present (mindfulness). Nearly all our anxiety is about something in the past or future;

• Use distractions such as going for a walk, listening to music or (if you are stuck in a lecture) count the bricks on the wall! Or you may find ‘channeling’ your feelings helpful e.g. if you are angry about something go for a run or sing loudly or try writing your feelings down;

• Notice the good times!

• If you continue to be distressed, seek out the help of a professional or a friend;

4) Cognitive Strategies:

• Aim to think positively. Remind yourself of your skills & abilities;

• Avoid catastrophic thinking e.g. instead of “it’s a disaster that I got that mark”, think “it is unfortunate that I got that mark, what can I do about it”;

• Avoid absolute thinking e.g. instead of thinking “I always mess things up” think “I didn’t do so well that time, what can I do to improve”;

• Avoid comparing yourself with others. You usually end up feeling bad about yourself;

• If you are having troubles talk to someone at your local counseling center or another academic assistance professional;

5) Motivation Strategies:

• Visualize success. Imagine yourself getting your degree, or going out to celebrate – find an image that demonstrates your success & keep that image in your minds eye or find an object to represent success;

• Remind yourself of why you are here & what you hoped for when you started your course;

• Set small, specific, realistic goals;

• Keep good study practices – balance study with fun;

• Talk to others about what you are doing;

• Ask for help from your teachers, professors, or the counseling center if you are struggling;

WHY IT'S BAD TO BE A GOOD STUDENT

2009-08-02T16:07:00.003+08:00

According to career strategist & author of 'Launch Your Career in College: Strategies for Students, Educators, & Parents', psyching yourself up to be a really good student is a bad strategy.

She argues that "students are conditioned to concentrate on racking up their accomplishments from the list of other people's expectations – not their own. And then, even if they do an exceptional job of fulfilling those expectations, they are conditioned to wait & wait & wait – first for their schoolteachers, then for their professors, & later for their bosses to grade, direct, & praise their performance, & then promote us automatically to the next level."

She calls it the 'Good Student Trap'.

Interestingly, she explains that "System dependency is not the only damaging concept we have learned in school... We have also learned our place & hung out only with people who looked like us, acted like us & came from families like ours. We actually blocked out everyone else who was different, & we were locked out in turn..."

"Sadly, the 'good student' attitude can actually block us from being motivated & connected to new ideas & networks of people."

She recommends avoiding these traps by replacing 'good student' behavior, obedience, & passivity with imaginativeness, friendliness, & curiosity.

"Rather than settling, expect more. Work to overcome shyness & fear of involvement by taking risks and building networks".

Her parting shot:

"Don't settle for a boring, grade-oriented college life. Don't turn college into a test. You'll end up merely passing: passing tests, passing time, passing up possibilities for achievement, passing up life."

Definitely, an interesting thought, really worth pondering about.

21ST CENTURY SKILLS FOR TODAY'S STUDENTS

2009-07-04T08:11:00.004+08:00

Core Subjects

- English, reading or language arts
- World languages
- Arts
- Mathematics
- Economics
- Science
- Geography
- History
- Government and Civics

1. Global Awareness

Using 21st century skills to understand and address global issues

Learning from and working collaboratively with individuals representing diverse cultures, religions and lifestyles in a spirit of mutual respect and open dialogue in personal, work and community contexts

Understanding other nations and cultures, including the use of non-English languages

Students will examine how urbanization and suburban expansion has affected their local animal populations and their habitats.
A discussion of how deforestation, poaching, and exotic animal markets contributed to the extinction of species will allow students to make global connections.

2. Creativity and Innovation

Demonstrating originality and inventiveness in work

Developing, implementing and communicating new ideas to others

Being open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives

By exploring different perspectives, students will discover how they stand on animal and habitat preservation.

Students will design a culminating project that advocates change and will communicate their evidence of learning to others.

3. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Exercising sound reasoning in understanding

Making complex choices and decisions

Understanding the interconnections among systems
Identifying and asking significant questions that clarify various points of view and lead to better solutions

Framing, analyzing and synthesizing information in order to solve problems and answer questions

While communicating with experts in the field, students will have the opportunity to ask significant questions that clarify various points of view.
In order to solve the problem, students will frame, analyze and synthesize information.

4. Communication and Collaboration

Articulating thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively through speaking and writing

Demonstrating ability to work effectively with diverse teams

Exercising flexibility and willingness to be helpful in making necessary compromises to accomplish a common goal

Assuming shared responsibility for collaborative work

Each student will be afforded the opportunity to work with a diverse team of students and will be given shared responsibility for collaborating.

5. Information Literacy

Accessing information efficiently and effectively, evaluating information critically and competently and using information accurately and creatively for the issue or problem at hand

Possessing a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information

Since there are many views on the subject of animal preservation and what humans should do on behalf of animal species, students will have the opportunity to assess information while they conduct their research.

Ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information will also be an important part of this research.

6. Media Literacy

Understanding how media messages are constructed, for what purposes and using which tools, characteristics and conventions.

Examining how individuals interpret messages differently, how values and points of view are included or excluded and how media can influence beliefs and behaviors.

Possessing a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information.

Students should recognize how different animal rights groups use media to communicate their messages.

By examining media messages, students will recognize how media can influence beliefs and behaviors.

7. Information, Communications & Technology Literacy

Using digital technology, communication tools and/or networks appropriately to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information in order to function in a knowledge economy

Using technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate information, and the possession of a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information

Students will use technology as a tool for research. In the creation of their projects, students will use digital technology and communication tools to access, manage, integrate, evaluate and create information.

8. Life and Career Skills

Today's life and work environments require far more than thinking skills and content knowledge. The ability to navigate the complex life and work environments in the globally competitive information age requires students to pay rigorous attention to developing adequate life and career skills.

Flexibility and Adaptability

While working in a group setting, students will adapt to varied roles and responsibilities.

Students will recognize changing priorities as their culminating projects unfold.

Initiative and Self Direction
Students will start with basic information about the topic, then will expand that informaiton to explore and expand one's own learning.

They will use the curriculum to demonstrate initiative to advance skills to a professional level.

Students will use time management to manage their workloads.

A committment to lifelong learning will be evident as students solve problems using their own belief systems as well as the new information they have discovered.

Social and Cross Cultural SKills
While students work in teams, they will model appropriate productivity and will help each other increase the overall quality of work.

Productivity and Accountability
As students create their culminating projects, they will use deadlines to set and meet high standards and goals for delivering quality work on time.

Students will be encouraged to practice the skills of puntuality and reliabiltiy throughout the process.

Leadership and Responsibility
Each student will take responsibility for the project by using interpersonal and problem-solving skills to influence and guide others toward a common goal.

The strengths of each student will be recognized as intregal to the common goal.

[Source: Partnership for 21st Century Skills]

BOOK REVIEW: 'MASTER PLAN TO MASTER EXAMS', by Teresa Bolen

2009-05-14T09:48:00.003+08:00

In principle, I like this book very much. It's very well written, but I don't fully concur with the author that stress (or anxiety) management alone is adequate to deal with 'examination fever'.

The author probably has an impeccable track record as an educator working in Japan, a country where 'examination fever' is a national phenomenon. To some extent, I believe this background probably explains her standpoint in the book.

Undoubtedly, preparation for examinations, examination taking strategies, coupled with stress management & energy engineering, are critical survival skills for students. However, these skills have to be managed together in the global context of effective studying, which I have always maintained, is an active, dynamic systemic process.

It involves ten systemic steps: goal setting, priority management, active reading, information gathering, note making, memory management, lesson revision, exam preparation, creative writing & stress management/energy engineering;

Effective studying also involves participation, independence, accountability & mastery on the part of the student.

My stance is very simple: Until a student fully realises that studying is learning for a purpose; reaching out to his or her maximum potential & preparing for the future, tackling examinations in the context of what the author has written, will always become a real burden & even a gargantuan task for him or her, mentally, physically, emotionally & spiritually!

Unfortunately, most of these major issues have not been fully covered in the book.

Nevertheless, the book is still worth reading. The author's extensive treatment of the stress (or anxiety) management as well as mind programming, as applied to handling examinations, is commendable.

HOW TO STUDY THE SCIENCES

2009-03-22T11:26:00.010+08:00

During my years of coaching in the schools, I had developed the following nifty tool to help students navigate their academic subjects more breezily, especially in the sciences.

It's called TP2EDPIA, as an acronym, & applies readily to the study of Physics, Chemistry & Biology.

My purpose is to help students to break down each of the subjects to its critical constituents, so that they can zero in & deal with the individual important stuff quickly:

Here it goes:

1) Terminologies & Definitions;

2) Physical Phenomena & Behaviours [For Chemistry, Physical=Chemical; for Biology, Physical=Biological]

There are 3 parts:

Qualitative Dimension: properties;

Quantitative Dimension: measurements, instruments, apparatus;

Physical Dimension: compare/contrast; causal relationships;

3) Physical Laws; [For Chemistry, Physical=Chemical; for Biology, Physical=Biological]

4) Equations, Formulas, Variables & Their Relationships - models, graphs, with problem solving exercises;

5) Diagrams;

6) Procedures;

7) Investigative Experiments;

8) Applications with their social/economic/environmental implications;

Using the prevailing exam syllabus & past exam papers as guides, students can then easily extract all the relevant stuff from their respective text books or teachers' notes to meet these perspectives.

Once they know what to zero in the first place, I reckon their perceived complexity of each subject at first glance, & hence their information anxiety, will naturally dissipate.

The use of index cards as well as mindmaps or other graphic organisers is highly recommended.

GOOD MEMORY . . . COMES WITH PRACTICE!

2009-03-16T14:33:00.005+08:00

Today's 'Monday Interview' in the Straits Times catches my personal attention.

It features Ms Veronica Tan, 51, one of the founding partners of the popular Peach Garden restaurant chain in Singapore.

To me, I reckon one of her remarks can serve as a great inspiration for today's students:

"Good memory is not inborn. It comes with practice. I used to train myself after work by recalling the events of the day & whom I spoke to."

I am certainly very impressed with her exemplary work ethic during her years as a waitress & later as a resturant manager in the 70s, before starting her own restaurant business, in which she remembered diners' orders & dietary likes & dislikes before computers came along.

100 HELPFUL WEB TOOLS FOR EVERY KIND OF LEARNER

2009-01-17T13:44:00.001+08:00

For those unfamiliar with the term, a personal learning style is a way in which an individual approaches learning. Many people understand material much better when it is presented in one format, for example a lab experiment, than when it is presented in another, like an audio presentation.

Determining how you best learn and using materials that cater to this style can be a great way to make school and the entire process of acquiring new information easier and much more intuitive.

Here's a link to some great tools that you can use to cater to your individual learning style, no matter what that is.

100 USEFUL NICHE SEARCH ENGINES TO FOCUS & FINETUNE YOUR ACADEMIC RESEARCH

2009-01-17T13:35:00.002+08:00

Though Google is often touted as the #1 search engine online, college students sometimes need more specific tools to help them uncover quality information on the Web that they can use for class projects, research papers, & even job and apartment searches.

This link leads you to a huge variety of search engines that can be useful to students, including tools that find photos, sound effects, summer internships, health and medical information, reference guides, & a lot more.

STUDY TECHNIQUES

2008-11-12T10:55:00.003+08:00

I have found this new & interesting website on study techniques on the net. Take a look, especially the M.U.R.D.E.R study system, which apparently has some merits.

IMPROVE YOUR COMPREHENSION & MEMORY FOR BETTER GRADES

2008-11-10T10:38:00.003+08:00

Here's the link to a great resource for students, from Dr Tom Stevens, especially if you are exploring ways to improve your learning.

Additionally, readers can proceed to this link to down a free copy of Dr Tom Stevens' over-300-page book, entitled 'You Can Choose to Be Happy: Rise Above Anxiety, Anger, & Depression'.

The book is actually a self-development program to help you get positive control of your emotions, your relationships, & your life. It is packed with useful self-assessments & checklists.

STUDY TIPS FROM A HARVARD GRADUATE

2008-10-17T17:13:00.003+08:00

The following report was lifted off the 'Mind Your Body' supplement of yesterday's issue of the Straits Times:

Helen Chou is a 26-year-old Columbia University graduate. She is spending a year in Singapore as a dual-degree masters candidate in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

Ms Chou, a Chinese American, majored in Economics and East Asian studies at Harvard University and graduated with honours in 2004.

Before moving on to graduate school, she worked as a financial services consultant in New York City. Passionate about humanitarian causes, she has done volunteer work in Tanzania, Bosnia and Herzegovina & China.

She said she seldom felt stressed come exam time. She shares these study tips that she has found useful through the years:

1) Don't try to understand everything you read, or to study through rote memorisation. Instead, build a hierarchical map of the main ideas or arguments and sub-points of the topic you are learning. Keep in mind that you are not trying to acquire a formless mass of facts.

2) If you don't understand something, break the problem into smaller bits. Take it step-by-step and practise.

3) One of the greatest sources of stress is dealing with the stress of others. Give yourself space and focus on your own process.

4) Lastly, she advised students to take breaks and not to feel guilty when doing so.

She said: 'There's so much to experience outside of academic study, such as sports, music, art, and dance. Explore. Engaging in the world will expand your mind and refresh you for your study sessions.'

50 GREAT FREE ONLINE LIBRARIES

2008-10-04T09:22:00.001+08:00

Here's a link to '50 Great Free Online Libraries'.

DON'T BUY THAT TEXTBOOK, DOWNLOAD IT FREE!

2008-09-21T10:53:00.002+08:00

If you are still a student, you just got to read this article in the New York Times, entitled 'Don’t Buy That Textbook, Download It Free!'

Here's the link.

FEED YOUR BRAIN

2008-09-21T10:02:00.004+08:00

Here are three belated articles which I reckon are worth your time to read & digest:

1) 'New Study Yields Instructive Results on How Mindset Affects Learning' from the Stanford News Service;

2) 'Smart Talk: Tell Your Students to Feed Their Brains' from Edutopia;

3) 'About the Growth Mindset', from Brainology;

In a nut shell, all three articles relate to the brilliant research work of psychology professor Carol Dweck at Stanford University. She wrote the book, "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success', which captured her findings.

According to her, our self-theories about the concept of expandable intelligence, as opposed to fixed intelligence, have a profound influence on our motivation & attitude to succeed in school as well as in life.

If we hold a fixed theory, we are are more likely to be concerned with how smart we are. As a result, we prefer tasks we can already do well, & avoid ones on which we may make mistakes & look bad.

If we believe in an expandable or growth theory, we are likely to constantly seek challenges to increase our abilities, even if we fail at first.

For students, I reckon my quick adaptation of her many suggestions to educators & teachers as follows will help you to gradually build up your growth mindset:

1) Think of your brain as a muscle that strengthens with use;

2) When you are learning skills, like study skills, these new methods will help your brains learn faster & better;

3) Avoid using labels ("I'm smart," "I'm dumb," & so on) - they convey intelligence as a fixed entity;

4) Pat yourself on the back with regard to your efforts, strategies, & progress, & not your intelligence;

5) Welcome fear as a challenge, as it can be a powerful motivator for you to move forward;

6) Don't be afraid to embrace challenging work, as such activities can be fun, & more importantly, mistakes can help you learn better; remember, mistakes are learning experiences.

7) Believe in the efficacy of your own efforts, i.e. view effort in a positive way & feel that you have the ability through your own efforts to learn & master new skills;

8) When faced with difficulties, learn to make more constructive mastery-oriented explanations rather than saying "I'm not smart enough" or "I just can't do this or that"; you can always explain that your difficulties as due to lack of your own effort or inadequate strategies; always remember, your brain listens to you!

9) Your brain is much more malleable than you think; it has the capacity to develop throughout life, & this development depends on the stimulation of challenge & learning;

10) Last but not least, believing in a growth mindset pushes you on to an upward trajectory;

[Please read also my earlier post under the 'Optimum Performance Technologies' weblog.]

THE TEEN BRAIN

2008-09-21T09:52:00.003+08:00

This link will lead you to a fascinating article about your teen brain in the Harvard Magazine.

Read it, so that at least you can understand why sometimes you are still quirky.

DEVELOPING SMART STUDY HABITS

2008-09-08T16:21:00.002+08:00

Here's a link to a great website for students, even though it is apparently targetted at adult pros.

The article, "Developing Smart Study Habits", is worth your reading pursuit as a smart student.

Enjoy your reading, exploration & assimilation!

IS HOME TUITION THE ULTIMATE ANSWER?

2008-07-02T22:42:00.002+08:00

Part I:

Part II:

Part III:

Part IV:

Part V:

THE 7 BIGGEST TEEN PROBLEMS & HOW TO TURN THEM INTO STRENGTHS ebook

2008-06-30T17:16:00.004+08:00

Readers can go to this link to download the above 120-page ebook by Bobbi dePorter, founder & president of Quantum Learning Network (QLN), based in the United States, which runs the 'SuperCamp' programs.

QLN is a 25-year World Leader in Youth Achievement. It has helped more than 45,000 students in 50 states & 80 countries (including Singapore) to achieve personal & academic success.

THE 7 BIGGEST TEEN PROBLEMS & HOW TO TURN THEM INTO STRENGTHS

2008-06-30T16:55:00.008+08:00

Readers can go to this link to download the 18-page handbook of strategies, as a .pdf document, in connection with the book, 'The 7 Biggest Teen Problems And How To Turn Them Into Strengths', by Bobbi DePorter, founder & president of Quantum Learning Network (QLN), based in the United States, which runs the 'SuperCamp' programs.

QLN is a 25-year World Leader in Youth Achievement. It has helped more than 45,000 students in 50 states & 80 countries (including Singapore) to achieve personal & academic success.

STUDY SECRETS

2008-06-24T12:01:00.004+08:00

If you are still wondering how to remember facts better, absorb your study material like a super computer, & ace every exam you take, here's a great link to many of your answers.

It's called 'Study Secrets'. It has been authored by a guy, Norm McIntyre, who calls himself a study freak.

Best of all, it's FREE!

USE THE ART OF STUDY FOR SMART & EFFECTIVE STUDY

2008-06-24T10:28:00.004+08:00

The Student Counselling Centre of the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore has a nice article on how to study smart.

Interestingly, the techniques introduced aptly make up the acronym 'ART OF STUDY', as follows:

Study is hard only when we are not learning in the right way. Use ART OF STUDY for smart and effective study.

Active learning: generate questions, takes notes in your own words, summarise, etc.

Review the materials regularly to remember what you have learnt. For lecture notes, review immediately after the lesson or on the same day to consolidate memory.

Tackle difficult subjects by looking for an easier textbook and do not put them off. You may even have to read a junior college textbook if the problem lies with your foundation.

Organise yourself – Organise your time, study space and the materials you have learnt so that you can study more effectively.

Focus on what you are studying. This requires you to direct your attention and energy to what you are studying. Focusing helps you to absorb the information and aid your memory.

Set goals – Set both your academic and personal goals. During study time, set the goals you want to accomplish for the specific study period.

Teach someone or an imaginary person what you have studied. This helps you to evaluate your understanding of the subject matter and remember better.

Use spaced repetition. Spaced repetition means that the reviews are spread out and that the intervals between each review gets longer and longer. For example, instead of studying Lecture 1 of Chemistry three or four times in one go, spread them out by studying it once on Monday, then again on Tuesday to consolidate the memory, the next review can be a week after that and so on.

Develop a positive attitude toward study by looking for areas where you can inject interest in and seeing it as an important step toward achieving your long-term goal.

You are the one who can make the difference, so understand yourself – your learning style, motivation, goals - and learn to manage your time, feelings, and desires.

TEACHING FOR CREATIVITY: TWO DOZEN TIPS

2008-06-07T15:49:00.005+08:00

Here's a link to a wonderful article about teaching for creativity. It has been written by Robert Sternberg & Wendy Williams.

Robert Sternberg is the IBM professor of psychology & education at Yale University, while Wendy Williams is an associate professor in the Department of Human Development at Cornell University.

In their article, targetted primarily at teachers, the authors first describe this idea of creativity as a decision, which is formalized as an investment theory of creativity. Then, they describe 24 tips which can be used in teaching for students.

Naturally, the 24 tips can also be used for fostering creativity in yourself as a student.

USEFUL LINKS: STUDY SKILLS

2008-05-27T14:27:00.008+08:00

I have found some interesting articles on study skills written by Dr Daniel Theyagu, a keynote seminar speaker & principal training consultant of Lateral Solutions Consultancy in Singapore.

Many of his other articles have been featured in the Straits Times' CATS Recruit pages.

I particularly like his writing style - clear, succinct & no frills.

Here are the relevant links to his articles on study skills, available for download in .pdf format:

Success in Studies for Adult Students part 1 of 4
Success in Studies for Adult Students part 2 of 4
Success in Studies for Adult Students part 3 of 4
Success in Studies for Adult Students part 4 of 4

Developing Razor Sharp Memory part 1 of 4
Developing Razor Sharp Memory part 2 of 4
Developing Razor Sharp Memory part 3 of 4
Developing Razor Sharp Memory part 4 of 4

HOW TO STUDY SMART

2008-05-19T09:24:00.006+08:00

The Internet is a great place to get hold of & to read a wide variety of interesting articles on how to study effectively.

Here's one I found interesting: 'How to Study One Hour a Day & Get Straight A's'. You can read it at this link.

Here are two more:

1) 'How to Study Smart, Not Necessarily Hard'. You can read it at this link.

2) 'How to Make Yourself Sound Smarter Without Spending Hours Studying'. You can read it at this link.

THE SOUND OF LEARNING

2008-05-06T17:32:00.005+08:00

I have found the following cool site for students, especially those with the preferred auditory learning style, while surfing the net.

It's called Liesel.

Liesel is a web-based learning tool that allows you to create & catalog audio notes, & then synchronize them to your iPod or MP3 player for studying on the go. It's easy, it's fun, & it helps you learn.

- Be a better student!

- Create audio notes & take them with you wherever you go & listen to them whenever you want.

- Create audio notes for study groups & share them among colleagues.

- Upload recorded audio files, i.e. previously recorded lectures.

- Catalog & index all of your audio notes in an easy-to-view Desk Drawer.

Listen...Study...Learn! It's that simple!

You can try out the site for 7 days at no charge.

Here's the link.

BOOK REVIEW: 'THE JOYS & PAINS OF GROWING UP', by Peter Lau

2008-05-05T11:32:00.036+08:00

"Success comes early for those who start early!"

This is the first principle, out of a total of seventeen, from a debut book, by a young man, Peter Lau, who traced his early days as a 7-year old problem child at home & in school, to the present time as a 22-year-old success coach to today's problem children attending his training programs.

As a growing child, he thought he was pocket Rambo, but instead he got whacked quite badly by his father, & almost got kicked out of primary school.

The first turning point for him came when he was in Primary V - he became a Christian - & followed by a second turning point, when he attended the SuperTeen Holiday Camp at the age of 16, just about preparing for his 'O' Levels.

Fully charged up with renewed vigour to change his life, he did well & moved on to a junior college of his choice.

While enrolled in the army under his national service commitment, he secured a marketing degree, & also pursued studies in neuro-linguistics as well as neuro-semantics. He became the world's youngest master practitioner on both counts.

Frankly, in many ways for me, reading his book actually brings back reminiscences of watching the American family sitcom, 'Growing Pains', starring Kirk Cameron as Mike, during the late eighties & early nineties or so.

The television series had traced the trials & tribulations of the 15-year-old Mike, as an irresponsible academic slacker, in the Seaver household, comprising 5 at first, then became 6, reaching 7, with a new homeless kid from outside, played by none other than the young Leonardo DiCaprio towards the tail end of the series.

[Younger readers may not recall this series as they would most likely be born just after the demise of the series.]

Like the television series, the book gives readers a very good glimpse of the trials & tribulations of the young author as he grew up joyfully & painfully from 7 to 22.

Peter had very artfully interweaved many valuable principles embedded in experiential lessons he had learned from the SuperTeen Holiday camp, plus the personal interjection of some useful stuff he had mastered from his training in neuro-linguistics & neuro-semantics.

To me, there is a reasonably good balance of 1st person & 3rd person perspectives in his story, although I would prefer more of the former.

Nevertheless, the latter vantage point obviously demonstrated his keen sense of observation as part of his relentless quest to extract valuable life lessons from others, & to attain eventual personal mastery.

A case in point is the chapter on BGR (boy-girl relationship). For someone who had no romantic experience, he certainly knew what he was talking about.

I am confident that the culmination of the 17 principles as expounded in his book would certainly serve as a pragmatic tactical field guide for young readers to emulate his success principles.

In a nutshell, the 17 principles are not ground-breaking, but nonetheless, they accentuate the importance of the mastery of self, or self-leadership, which is the hallmark of all super-achievers.

At the personal level, I would have preferred the author to dovetail his 17 principles down to say 10, since most teenaged readers are likely to have short attention span. Also, since the book is primarily targeted at a teen audience, I would have expected some graphic illustrations in the book to break up the textual intensity for readers.

Notwithstanding that, my favourite principle-chapter is #10: 'Say "Thank You" before it is Too Late!'.

Having known the young author personally through several brief encounters, I must add that he had certainly walked what he had preached.

Another good principle-chapter is #5: 'Love Your Family', especially for today's teens who are often engulfed in never-ending conflict with their parents.

I reckon the last principle-chapter #17: 'Create Your Success Story Now!' serves as an appropriate epilogue to the book, because the mastery of what's in here determines how you can ultimately make a difference in your life.

Frankly, without the elements from the last chapter, nothing changes. The best way for me to summarise the seemingly critical chapter in one sentence for this review is to use an inspiring quote, often attributed to Bruce Lee, but the rightful owner was the German poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”

On the whole, the book has been well structured to give readers a really breezy read. The author had deliberately encapsulated all the take-away learning points at the end of each principle-chapter.

Best of all, the author had also interspersed the passages with inspiring quotations. Many key points are also captured in boxed selections at the margins.

Of course, I noted that there had been some obvious grammatical mistakes & insignificant technical errors in the book, e.g. Arnold Schwarzenegger was 5 times Mr Universe, not 4.

Naturally, I can't stop comparing his debut book to Adam Khoo's 'I'm Gifted, so Are You!", which I had also reviewed earlier, as both authors had been SuperTeen graduates, under the personal tutelage of Dr Ernest Wong, the pioneer of accelerated learning & peak performance in this part of the world.

Peter's book has a strong experiential focus on the soft skills, which are far more important in redeeming value, whereas Adam's book has a greater tactical slant toward hard skills, in the form of study techniques.

I hate to say this: Adam's book reads more like a blatant replicate manual of the SuperTeen Holiday Camp, whereas Peter's book is a humble life manual, documenting the personal journey of his joys & pains of growing up.

Can Peter's book repeat the same marketing success of 'I'm Gifted, So are You!'? I am very confident it can. It all boils down to savvy marketing.

I would strongly urge parents & guardians to buy this book as a gift for their growing &/or teenaged children. If you &/or your children have already read Adam's book, this book will be an excellent complementary reading.

My Best Wishes & Good Luck to Peter in all his future endeavours in life.

[Warning Note: The website, http://www.the17principles.com/, which has been listed prominently on several pages in the book, including the back cover, is still vapourware, to my utter disappointment!]

7 WAYS YOU CAN LEARN 10 TIMES FASTER!

2008-04-18T10:27:00.003+08:00

Here is a link to an interesting article about '7 Ways You Can 10 Times Faster'.

25 ONLINE SOURCES FOR RELIABLE, RESEARCHED FACTS

2008-03-16T12:05:00.003+08:00

In contrast to Wikipedia, which unfortunately is subject to incomplete citations, biased views, & inaccuracies, there are 25 alternatives out there that deliver accurate, high quality researched facts to your eyeballs.

They are listed at this link.

THE TOP 10 STUDY TIPS OF ALL TIME

2008-03-11T12:42:00.005+08:00

Here is a link to Part I & Part II of an excellent article entitled 'The Top Ten Study Tips of All Time' by Michael Tipper, Grand Master of Memory, World Memory Championships. He is a chartered engineer by training.

He is also the creative brain behind the Project Happy Child Directory, which is a huge gold-mine of information nuggets covering accelerated learning & other educational resources for students as well as parents.

LIFE SUCCESS FOR STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES: A PARENT'S GUIDE

2008-02-09T19:53:00.001+08:00

I am very impressed by the 20-year follow-along research study of the problems & challenges faced by people with learning disabilities from childhood to adulthood, conducted by Drs Marshall Raskind, Roberta Goldberg, Eleanor Higgins & kenneth Herman of the Forstig Centre in Pasadena, CA, USA.

Although the study did not define success in exact terms, it nonetheless outlines a set of personal characteristics, attitudes, & behaviors that can help lead persons with learning disabilities to successful life outcomes.

In a nut shell, the study reveals a number of "success attributes", as shown below, that can guide an individual to either positive or negative adult outcomes:

- self-awareness;
- proactivity;
- perseverance;
- goal-setting;
- support systems;
- emotional coping strategies;

The intention of the study is to enable parents to understand these success attributes, so that they will be better prepared to work with & guide their children toward satisfying & rewarding lives.

The study makes it very clear that it is also important to keep in mind that having these attributes does not guarantee success. Rather, it increases the chances of achieving a fulfilling & successful life.

For me, it is very heartening to note that the research indicates that there is a limited correlation between success & IQ or academic achievement. In fact, according to the study, the characteristics may have a greater influence on success than even such factors as academic achievement, gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, & even IQ.

Readers can read more about the study, & the success attributes, as well as how to implement them, by visiting the corporate website of the Forstig Centre.

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE

2008-02-04T06:52:00.000+08:00

"Never regard your study as duty, but enviable opportunity to learn the liberating beauty of the intellect for your own personal joy & for the profit of the community to which your later work will belong."

(Albert Einstein)

THINKING LIKE AN INDEPENDENT LEARNER

2008-01-26T22:43:00.000+08:00

1) What am I curious about?

2) Do I have a favourite subject?

3) Do I have a hobby that I would like to find out more about?

4) What do I like to read about most?

5) What do like to do in my spare time?

6) What do I get my best marks in school in?

7) Was there something that I learned about in school that I would like to find more about?

8) Was there something I did that I was very proud of?

9) Did I ever enter a contest or win a prize for something?

77 WAYS TO LEARN FASTER, DEEPER & BETTER

2008-01-21T18:47:00.000+08:00

The 77 tips are applicable to most students in the quest for learning faster, deeper & better.

To read the article in its entirety, please proceed to here.

TECHNIQUES OF LEARNING EFFICIENCY

2008-01-21T18:18:00.000+08:00

1) know the essential steps to learning;

2) form good study habits;

3) optimise your study environment;

4) build full & clear understanding of new material immediately;

5) revise as soon as you have achieved full understanding;

6) think through & reflect on all key concepts learned;

7) optimise your class time;

8) stick to professionally written text materials;

9) prepare early for tests;

10) get support from teachers & study groups;

11) seek help from teachers;

I will endeavour to describe or elaborate in detail the foregoing strategies in subsequent posts. Please stay tuned!

TWELVE POWERFUL MEMORY PRINCIPLES

2008-01-21T17:27:00.000+08:00

1) Use SELECTIVITY when you study;

2) ASSOCIATE the new information with what you already know;

3) VISUALISE what you are learning;

4) Recognise that learning requires EFFORT on your part;

5) CONCENTRATE when you study;

6) RECITE information when you study;

7) Create an INTEREST if genuine interest isn't there;

8) See the BIG PICTURE & the little pictures;

9) Provide yourself with FEEDBACK to check your progress;

10) ORGANISE information into meaningful clusters;

11) Use TIME to your advantage;

12) Use ONGOING REVIEW to practise information retrieval;

I will endeavour to elaborate further on these memory principles in subsequent posts. Please stay tuned.

CHOICES OF SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS

2008-01-21T17:21:00.000+08:00

1) Accept personal responsibility;

2) Discover self-motivation;

3) Master self-management;

4) Employ interdependence;

5) Gain self awareness;

6) Adopt lifelong learning;

7) Develop emotional intelligence;

8) Believe in themselves;

I will endeavour to share some of my own ideas about executing each of these choices in subsequent posts. Please stay tuned!

STUDENT SUCCESS FACTORS

2008-01-21T17:16:00.000+08:00

1) Getting organised;

2) Motivation & goal setting;

3) Changing attitude;

4) Beliefs;

5) Stress & anxiety;

6) Understanding tasks;

7) Interaction with teachers;

8) Taking notes;

9) Pre-reading strategy;

10) Rehearsing after reading;

11) Review strategy;

12) Preparing for exams & taking exams;

I will endeavour to share some of my own ideas about dealing with each of these factors in subsequent posts. Please stay tuned!

STUDENT INTEREST SURVEY II

2008-01-21T16:57:00.000+08:00

This is just another worksheet of similar nature to the earlier one in 'Student Interest Survey I'.

As I have mentioned earlier, the following worksheet is a very pragmatic tool to help you to find out & understand what interests you, what makes you tick, & more specifically, to appreciate yourself as a unique person.

Upon completion of this worksheet, you will get to realise how you can make use of your personal interests to drive your personal aspirations, dreams & visions.

Just be honest with yourself. Have fun.

1) My favourite subjects at school are ____.

2) The subject I do best in is ____.

3) The subject I like the least is ____.

4) When I am not at school, I like to ____.

5) I know I am good at ____.

6) I like to be with people who ____.

7) I like my friends who are ____.

8) I think the smartest person in the world is ____.

9) I would like to become better at ____.

10) My two best qualities are ____.

11) I admire ____ because ____.

12) I hope someday to ____.

13) One thing I would like to change about myself is ____.

14) I know that I am ____.

15) I would really like to learn about ____.

16) The most enjoyable part of learning is ____.

17) The least enjoyable part of learning ____.

STUDENT INTEREST SURVEY I

2008-01-21T16:44:00.000+08:00

I have recently found two interesting worksheets pertaining to 'Personal Inventory' on the net.

Unfortunately, I have forgotten to jot down the name of the original author. If you are the one, please drop me a note & I will credit you accordingly

One is reproduced here. The other will follow in a separate post.

The following worksheet is a very pragmatic tool to help you to find out & understand what interests you, what makes you tick, & more specifically, to appreciate yourself as a unique person.

Upon completion of this worksheet, you will get to realise how you can make use of your personal interests to drive your personal aspirations, dreams & visions.

Just be honest with yourself. Have fun.

1) Three words that describe me are ____.

2) Things I like to do when I am not at school are ____.

3) The subject I do best at in school is ____.

4) I would like to learn more about ____.

5) Someday, I would like to ____.

6) Learning is fun when ____.

7) If I could do anything I wanted at school, it would be ____.

8) I like to get praise for ____.

9) At school, when I had done something well, I like to be acknowledged by ____.

10) I wonder a lot about ____.

11) I like people who ____.

12) Sometimes, i worry about ____.

13) I learn best when ____.

14) One thing that really bothers me is ____.

15) Something that really challenges me is ____.

16) One thing I know about myself is ____.

[Next: Student Interest Survey I]

GEARFIRE: TIPS FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

2007-12-02T12:13:00.000+08:00

I have recently found this great website.

It's called GearFire: Tips for Academic Success. Its focus is producitivity, & is primarily written by students & essentially targetted at students.

Please pop in & take a close look. It will be worth your while.

HOW TO STUDY LESS BY LEARNING THINGS ONCE

2007-11-16T10:30:00.000+08:00

Here is a link to the above interesting article by Scott Young, a university student who writes about productivity, habits & self-improvement, on the lifehack.org website, which I have introduced to readers in an earlier post.

ADVICE FOR STUDENTS: TAKING NOTES THAT WORK

2007-10-17T13:15:00.000+08:00

Lifehack.org, a highly regarded website which is fully dedicated to discovering any hacks, tips & tricks that get things done quickly by automating, increase productivity & organizing, offers some really brilliant 'Advice for Students: Taking Notes that Work'.

Please read the post at this link.

GUIDELINES FOR GETTING THE MOST OUT OF NON-FICTION READING

2007-10-09T15:08:00.000+08:00

This article had originally been written by Paul N. Edwards, School of Information, University of Michigan.

How can you get the most out of a book when you are reading for information, rather than for pleasure?

It's always very satisfying to start at the beginning and read straight through to the end. If you don't read a novel this way, it's not very satisfying, since a basic principle of fiction is to hold the reader in suspense. In fact, your whole purpose in reading fiction is to follow the writer's lead, allowing him or her to spin a story bit by bit.

But many of the books you'll read during your college career -- and possibly in the rest of your life -- probably won't be novels. Instead, they'll be non-fiction: textbooks, manuals, histories, academic studies, and so on. The purpose of reading books like these is to gain information. Here, finding out what happens -- as quickly and easily as possible -- is your main goal. So unless you're stuck in prison with nothing else to do, NEVER read a non-fiction book from beginning to end.

Instead, when you're reading for information, you should ALWAYS jump ahead, skip around, and use every available strategy to anticipate, and then to discover, what the writer has to say. This is how you'll get the most out of a book in the least amount of time.

Here are some guidelines to help you do this effectively.

1) READ THE WHOLE BOOK.

Your goal should always be to get all the way through the assignment. It's much more important to have a general grasp of the arguments, evidence, and conclusions than to understand every detail. You probably won't remember most of the details anyway, no matter how carefully you read.

2) DECIDE HOW MUCH TIME YOU WILL SPEND.

If you know in advance that you have only six hours to read, it'll be easier to pace yourself. Remember, you're going to read the whole book (or the whole assignment).

There's nothing wrong with setting a time limit for yourself. In fact, setting time limits and keeping to them (while accomplishing your goals) is one of the most important skills you can ever learn.

Using the methods described here, you should be able to read a 300-page book in six to eight hours. Of course, the more time you spend, the more you'll learn and the better you'll understand the book. But your time is limited. The more directly you deal with your limits, the better off you are.

3) HAVE A STRATEGY.

Before you begin, figure out why you are reading this particular book, and how you are going to read it. If you don't have reasons and strategies of your own -- not just those of your teacher -- you won't learn as much.As soon as you start to read, begin trying to find out four things:

Who is the author?

What are the book's arguments?

What is the evidence that supports these?

What are the book's conclusions?

Once you've got a grip on these, start trying to determine:

What are the weaknesses of these arguments, evidence, and conclusions?

What do you think about the arguments, evidence, and conclusions?

How does (or how could) the author respond to these weaknesses, and to your own criticisms?

Keep coming back to these questions as you read. By the time you finish, you should be able to answer them all.

Two good ways to think about this are:

a) Imagine that you're going to review the book for a magazine.

b) Imagine that you're having a conversation, or a formal debate, with the author.

4) READ ACTIVELY.

Don't wait for the author to hammer you over the head. Instead, from the very beginning, constantly generate hypotheses ("the main point of the book is that...") and questions ("How does the author know that...?") about the book. Making notes about these can help. As you read, try to confirm your hypotheses and answer your questions. Once you finish, review these.

5) READ IT THREE TIMES.

You'll get the most out of the book if you read it at least three times -- each time for a different purpose and at a different level of detail.

a) Overview.

Here you read very quickly, following the principle (described below) of reading for high information content. For a 350-page book, this should take no more than an hour.

b) Detail.

Within your time constraints, read the book a second time. Try to answer any questions you generated during your overview reading. Focus especially on the beginnings and ends of chapters and major sections.

c) Notes.

On your third reading, make notes about the book's arguments, evidence, and conclusions. Include just enough detail to let you remember the most important things. 3-5 pages of notes per 100 pages of text is a good goal to shoot for -- more than that is usually too much. Use a system that lets you easily find places in the book (e.g., mark page numbers beside each note).

Remember: you'll get more out of three one-hour readings than you can get out of one three-hour reading.

6) READ THE PARTS WITH THE HIGHEST INFORMATION CONTENT FIRST.

Non-fiction books usually have an "hourglass" structure. More general information (summaries, conclusions, etc.) is presented at the beginnings and ends of:

the book as a whole (introduction, conclusion)
each chapter
each section within a chapter
each paragraph

More specific information (supporting evidence, details, etc.) is presented in the middle:

The "Hourglass" Information Structure

To make this structure work for you, read the book in the following order:

Cover
Table of contents
Index
Bibliography (tells you about the book's sources and intellectual context)
Preface and/or Introduction.
Conclusion
Pictures, graphs, tables, figures (images usually contain much more information than straight text).
Section headings (these help you understand the book's structure).
Special type or formatting: boldface, italics, numbered items, lists.

7) MARK THE BOOK.

Underlining and making notes in the margins is a very important part of active reading.

Do this from the very beginning -- even on your first, overview reading. When you come back to the book later, your marks reduce the amount you have to look at and help you see what's most significant.

Don't mark too much. This defeats the purpose of marking and forces you to re-read unimportant information. As a rule, you should average no more than one or two marks per page.

8) KNOW THE AUTHOR(S).

Knowing who wrote a book helps you judge about the book's quality. Remember that authors are people. Like anyone else, their views are shaped by their educations, their jobs, and their other life experience. Also like anyone else, they have prejudices, blind spots, needs, failings, and desires -- as well as insights, brilliance, objectivity, and successes. Notice all of it.

Try to answer questions like these:

What factors shaped the author's intellectual perspective?
What is his or her profession?
Is the author an academic, a journalist, a professional (doctor, lawyer, industrial scientist, etc.)? Expertise?
Other books and articles?
Intellectual network(s)?
Gender?
Race?
Class?
Political affiliation?
Why did the author decide to write this book? When? For what audience(s)?
Who paid for the research work (private foundations, government grant agencies, industrial sponsors, etc.)?
Who wrote "jacket blurbs" in support of the book?

You can often (though not always) learn about much of this from the acknowledgments, the bibliography, and the author's biographical statement.

9) KNOW THE INTELLECTUAL CONTEXT.

Knowing the author also helps you understand the book's intellectual context. This includes the academic discipline(s) from which it draws, schools of thought within that discipline, and others who agree with or oppose the author's viewpoint.

You'll understand a book much better if you can figure out what, and who, it is answering -- since a book is almost always partly one writer's response to other writers. Pay special attention to points where the author tells you directly that s/he is disagreeing with other writers: "Conventional wisdom holds that x, but I argue instead that y." "Famous Joe Scholar says that x, but I believe that y."

Equally important are the people and writings the author cites in support of his/her arguments.

10) USE YOUR UNCONSCIOUS MIND.

An awful lot of thinking and processing goes on when you're not aware of it. Just as with writing or any other creative thought process, full understanding of a book takes time to develop. The mind, like the body, can also get tired, especially when doing just one thing for many hours. Your ability to comprehend and retain what you read drops off dramatically after a couple of hours.

Therefore, you should read a book in several short sessions of one to two hours apiece, rather than one long marathon. If you follow the method given here, you'll go through the entire book at each session. In between, your unconscious mind will process some of what you've read.

When you come back for the next session, start by asking yourself what you remember from your previous reading, what you think of it so far, and what you still need to learn.

EVALUATE YOUR EFFECTIVENESS AS A TEEN READER

2007-10-05T17:48:00.000+08:00

Ask yourself the following questions:

1) Am I a fluent reader?

2) Can I read with ease and moderate speed?

3) Am I self-motivated?

4) Am I in the middle of a book right now?

5) Do I interact with the books I read?

6) Am I part of a reading group?

7) Do I have a reading journal?

8) Do I write comments or annotate in my books?

9) Do I read for variety or am I stuck in a reading rut?

10) Do I read nonfiction and fiction?

11) Do I only read people who have my point of view, or I do I try to understand other peoples’ perspectives?

12) Do I analyze what I read?

13) When a book is challenging do I resign myself to not understanding it, or do I try to break it down and figure out the author’s meaning?

14) Do I evaluate what I read, or do I simply accept the author’s points as valid without testing them?

15) Am I able to identify the biases in this post, for instance?

16) As I’ve read this post, have I been judging the ideas against my own experience and knowledge to test their validity, or have I simply accepted them as a matter of course?

[Adapted from Nick Senger's blog. It's a goldmine of teen literacy tips!]

BOOK REVIEW: ACTIVATORS & SUMMARISERS

2007-10-02T07:56:00.000+08:00

I bought the following books as one complete package:

1. 'Activators: Activity Structures to Engage Students' Thinking Before Instruction';

2. 'Summarisers: Activity Structures to Support Integration & Retention of New Learning';

Both books are written by Jon Saphier & Mary Haley from the Research for Better Teaching, Inc., formed by a group of educators. Essentially, they are great tools for English & reading teachers!

I am very impressed by their work, even though their books are spring-bound & stretching only from 40 to 60 odd pages. Content-wise, they share some similarities with the work of Rick Wormeli, who wrote 'Summarisation in Any Subject', which I have reviewed in an earlier post. Nevertheless, there are still more different tools & strategies not covered at all in Rick's book.

I believe these two books can serve as companions to Rick's book. I did not realise that these books were written much earlier.

Undoubtedly, 'Activating' (i.e. getting students mind active & engaged) & 'Summarising' (i.e. getting them active in discerning what is important, what they have learned, how it is important &/or how it fits with what they already know) are important part of effective study skills. I will go on to say that they will serve as powerful life skills for the students in the long term.

I like the authors' fundamental premise: "There is no one right way or best way. There exists a repertoire of ways".

Hence the many tools & strategies outlined in these two books, plus Rick Wormeli's book, will continue to expand your teaching repertoires.

THIRTEEN RULES OF SUCCESS

2007-09-15T13:26:00.000+08:00

I have found this interesting article on the net. It has been written by Steven C. Hayes of the University of Nevada. Please read it as it is also very enlightening.

This is his opening statement:

"Let me admit before I start that success is a relative term, and a multidimensional one at that. Too many of us are workaholics and tend to define success too narrowly, downplaying success as a friend, success in enjoying life, success in personal growth, and the like. I secretly hope and suspect that the student who flunked out is in part responding to muses that will lead to success in other areas.

The purpose of this short paper, however, is limited to the work habits and general approaches to tasks that characterize successful students in scientific training.

I’ve tried to distill my opinions down into thirteen "rules of success." None are absolute—I personally violate one or more of these rules almost every day—but I have noticed that when I keep them things work much better than when I don’t. I’ve also noticed that students who keep more of them tend to be much more successful."

NOTES FROM MY SCRATCH PAD: INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING

2007-09-13T16:32:00.001+08:00

1) POSING REAL QUESTIONS:

i) what do I want to know?
ii) what do I need to know?
iii) what do I know already?
iv) how do I know it?
v) what might a possible answer be?

2) FINDING RELEVANT RESOURCES:

i) what kinds of sources might help?
ii) where do I find them?
iii) how do I know the information is valid & who is responsible for it?
iv) what other information is there?

3) INTERPRETING INFORMATION:

i) how is this information relevant?
ii) how does it relate to what else I know?
iii) what parts support the hypothesis & what parts do not?
iv) doe sit raise new questions?

4) REPORTING FINDINGS:

i) how did I arrive at this answer?

[Source: The Youth Learn Initiative: Connecting Youth to a Brighter Future]

BOOK REVIEW: ‘LEARN WITH THE CLASSICS: USING MUSIC TO STUDY SMART AT ANY AGE’ by THE LIND INSTITUTE

2007-09-12T21:33:00.000+08:00

During the years, from the early 90's, of running my own small retail store, aptly called 'The Brain Resource', I often use this book to help my customers in selecting ambient music pieces for their learning environments.

This book is actually the first-of-its-kind, step-by-step guide to using the world's greatest musical masterworks for learning of all types, for teaching, & for corporate training as well as for professional development.
In this well-written book, the authors share twelve powerful learning strategies. It has also a companion music CD sampler of beautiful, scientifically selected Baroque as well as Classical era pieces.

In a nut shell, 'Learn with the Classics' is jam-packed with solid information on how the brain works, how music affects the brain & learning, & how to put that information to practical use.

Judging from my customers' feedback, I have found that it is an essential tool for all those who want to learn comprehensively, rapidly, & without stress. It is also a valuable resource for teachers, trainers, & parents (highly useful for home schooling parents!). Also, I would like to add that the powerful strategies are easy to implement & really effective.

If you ever wonder about the following questions, 'Learn with the Classics' is definitely the resource that will finally provide all the answers you need:

- Why should I use music for learning?
- How do I use Baroque and classical music for learning? For teaching? For training?
- How can I use it on the job, for professional development, and for lifelong learning?
- How can I use music to help my child overcome the fear of learning and make it fun and exciting?
- How can I use music to improve my memory? Can it help me retain large amounts of information for school? For my job?
- How do I choose the music? What music do I choose for specific learning activities?

Highly recommended for understanding the mechanics of creating a brain-friendly & conducive environment for studying &/or working!!!

BOOK REVIEW: 'GET A GRIP ON LIFE: WHAT EVERY TEEN MUST KNOW TO HAVE A GREAT LIFE' by Hanifa Haji

2007-09-08T16:31:00.000+08:00

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is an insightful book that is geared toward a teen/young adult audience. However it offers pearls of wisdom to just about anyone who opens up its pages.

I did not like the first part, which has a fictional story about a troubled teen (even though it is heart-warming). There is nothing wrong with the story. It's just that I don't like stories. I like to cut to the chase, especially when I am reading a book.

The second part of the book, which is designed on the flip side, i.e. you have to read it from the other end after flipping it over, is an excellent exposition.

The author has done a marvellous job of sharing the seven universal truths which every teen must know to have a great life.

They are (with my added comments):

1. KNOW THYSELF:
Socrates was certainly right - "The unexamined life is not worth living." Having a knowledge & understanding of one's character, & being aware of our strengths, weaknesses & learning styles allow us to maximize our performance in any area of life;

2. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER:
This is especially true when it is applied purposefully & meaningfully in one's life! Albert Einstein said this: "Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.";

3. LOVE YOURSELF:
Self esteem has always been an important key to personal growth & development. I like to define 'self esteem' as the feeling of 'being lovable & being capable'. Self esteem reinforces self image.

4. NO MAN IS AN ISLAND:
Relationships & social interaction are important in one's life, especially in today's global community;

5. THE MAGIC WORD IS ATTITUDE:
ATTITUDE is definitely everything. There is a saying - "It's not your aptitude but your attitude that determines your altitude." A positive attitude can really make a lot of difference in one's life!

6. THE MASTER SKILL OF SUCCESS IS GOAL SETTING:
We all know that goals determine one's direction in life. Stephen Covey would love this one, based on his habit #2;

7. THE LAWS OF LIFE:
I am very impressed by the ability of the author to put many of the universal laws into simple, easy-to-understand language. Bravo! I fully agree that the master law of the universe is the Law of Cause & Effect. This is essentially Newton's Third Law;

In reality, I would have preferred to expand the second part of the book, especially the laws of life, & tone down down the first part. This would have added more zest to the substance of the book.

Nevertheless, I am very confident that the ideas & insights from this book can bring any teen reader to the next level! It offers excellent survival insights & life skills:

- how to identify your talents;
- how to improve your self image;
- how to maintain good peer relationships;
- how to get along with those you love; & more importantly,
- how to enjoy school & achieve your goals!

Tactically, the second part of the book serves as a guidebook as well as some sort of a workbook. There are many questions to ponder about as well as some blank areas to complete.

All Mums & Dads: Go out & get this wonderful book for your teenaged children!

HOW TO STUDY: A BRIEF GUIDE

2007-09-08T11:32:00.000+08:00

William Rapaport of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Department of Philosophy, & Centre for Cognitive Science located at the University of New York at Buffalo, has written an excellent as well as fun-to-read guide to studying, covering the following aspects:

1) Introduction;
2) Manage Your Time;
3) Take Notes;
4) Study Hard Subjects First;
5) Read Texts Actively;
6) Do Your Homework;
7) Study for Exams;
8) Take Exams;
9) Do Research & Write Essays;
10) Do I Really have to do all This?
11) Are There other Websites that give Study Hints?

Please visit his website for the full details.

DEVELOPING A GOOD MEMORY

2007-09-02T08:33:00.000+08:00

A good memory requires active participation i.e. physical action on your part as a reader before, during & after the reading/studying activity.

Here are some practical suggestions:

MENTAL ACTIVITY:

- think about what you are reading/studying;

- ask questions & look for answers to your questions;

- organise your learned material e.g. core material like concepts, principles, etc.; elaborative material like examples, illustrations, etc.;

- seek to understand the underlying logic structure of what you are reading/studying;

- visualise what you are reading/studying by turning learned concepts into mental pictures;

- test yourself;

- review after every ten minutes, then within 24 hours, & then periodically, say, every week, every month;

- overlearn;

- think positive;

- relate as much learned materials to your personal life &/or in the real world;

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY:

- use your index finger or a pencil as a pacer while you are reading/studying;

- annotate or write in the margins while you are reading/studying;

- take frequent, but short, mental breaks during reading/studying, say, at least once every 45 minutes;

- get up & walk around while thinking about what you have learned;

- use mind maps, graphic organisers, visual tools;

- do your most demanding reading/studying tasks at times when you are physically at your peak;

- take a good rest after a period of demanding reading/studying;

- practise Brain Gym exercise;

- act out in a role play;

- drink a lot of water;

VERBAL ACTIVITY:

- recite learned material;

- discuss lectures, texts, interesting or difficult concepts with others; quiz each other;

- ask & answer questions in tutorials;

- make audio tapes of your class lectures &/or your own verbal summaries of learned concepts;

- explain to yourself or others about what you have understood about specific concepts;

- teach others;

LISTENING ACTIVITY:

- relax with Baroque or Classical music in the background while reading/studying;

- listen to your own audio tapes of class lectures;

THE PRINCIPAL STAGES OF READING

2007-08-07T14:32:00.000+08:00

In an earlier post, I had described very briefly the principal stages of reading.

What I had actually done was just to dove-tail my working model for reading into the three reading stages.

In this post, I would like to elaborate further on the three stages. My objective is to show you how to leverage your reading with them.

These are the basic considerations: Use the posed questions as thought triggers!

Before Reading (after previewing):

Organisation: What do the structure & layout tell me about this chapter or book?

Type: What type of chapter or book is it?

Readability: How difficult is it?

Reader's Objectives: What do I want from this chapter or book?

During Reading:

Author's Thoughts: What is the author trying to tell me?

Meaning: What does it mean?

Prediction: What is the author going to say next?

Connections: What does it remind me of?

In making connections, there are three aspects to consider or reflect upon:

- you connect what you are reading to what you had read earlier in the text;
- you connect what you are reading to what you had learned before, i.e. your prior knowledge & experience;
- you connect forward, i.e. think about possible applications of what you have just read;

After Reading:

Summarise: What is the central idea? or What are the key ideas?

Evaluate: How do I feel about it?

Revisit: What did I remember about it?

Extend: Are there any questions? Have I questioned anything else?

To summarise effectively, you need to focus & prioritise:

- locate the key ideas;
- clarify the key ideas;
- sequence the key ideas, for note taking/making;
- retell the key ideas, to yourself or to others or in writing;

BOOK REVIEW: ‘THE PRIVATE EYE - A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING THE INTERDISCIPLINARY MIND’, by Kerry Ruef

2007-08-02T12:18:00.000+08:00

At first glance, the book gives the cursory impression that it is a detective novel.

Drawing an analogy, i.e. applying the principles taught by this book, the reader's initial impression is not totally wrong.

If I am allowed to play with key words, this book shows you how to become a "detective": to detect what is around you, your backyard, on this Planet Earth.

It provides you with some novel approaches, plus the use of the accompanying jeweller's loupe, to help you to observe & think about the world around you, draw an analogy, theorise a model, solve a(ny) problem(s), compose & write a report, stay in focus, communicate to & discuss your findings with others.

It then takes the reader on a journey of discovery that incorporates mathematics, science, social sciences, art, literature, creative writing & inventive thinking, plus some wit & humour, which encapsulates the intended inter-disciplinary curriculum.

In comparison with `How to Think Like a Scientist', by Stephen Kramer, which I had reviewed earlier, I would say this book pushes the scientific thinking processes to work, right in your backyard.

The book, not only explains the scientific method in greater depth, & demonstrates real-world applications with simple everyday tools, it helps the reader to develop a multi-disciplinary mind towards understanding & appreciating our beautiful planet. There are plenty of photographs & illustrations in the book.

At this particular juncture, I disagreed with one book reviewer on amazon.com who lamented that this book was "messy." Bear in mind, "messy" is the starting (or flash) point for problem solving & creative thinking.

To share with readers who are teachers (or parents who want to be learning facilitators at home), I would like to add that this book actually provides me with the proper framework to design my 5-day hands-on workshop for young kids (from primary four to six), aptly entitled, `Science & The Art of Discovery.'

In addition to the jeweller's loupe, each participating kid in my workshop gets a copy of `How to Think like a Scientist', as well as a disposable camera, a Einstein note-pad, a 4-colour writing pen, a large pack of colour markers, a 100-gm A3 sized multi-colour art block, plenty of sticker labels, a scissors & a glue stick, together with unlimited access to Googolplex & K'nex construction components in the class.

To sum up, & if you are just looking for a simple working or implementation model to put the scientific method to work, right in your own backyard, this is it!

BOOK REVIEW: ‘HOW TO THINK LIKE A SCIENTIST – ANSWERING QUESTIONS BY THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD’, by Stephen Kramer

2007-08-02T12:16:00.000+08:00

This wonderful book provides an excellent introduction to scientific thinking for young kids!

From the mid to the end of the nineties, I had often bought bulk copies of this wonderful book to be given away to young kids who had come to attend my proprietary 5-Day hands-on workshop, aptly entitled 'Science & The Art of Discovery.'

My principal objective was to teach young kids how to think scientifically, inventively & productively. The two authors had really done a great job in producing this excellent piece of work.

I have always appreciated the central premise of their book:

“Scientists use questions to learn about things. Scientists have developed a way of helping make sure they answer questions correctly. It is called the scientific method. This method can help you find answers to many questions of the questions you are curious about.”

Although this book has only 44 pages, the contents are comprehensively rich. It is also very well-illustrated with many funny pictures, as well as systematically organised in a simple story format as follows:

- How do you answer questions?
- Using the scientific method
- What do you want to know?
- What do you think?

If you want to get your young kids to understand & appreciate the scientific method or simply 'how to think like a scientist', go for this easy-to-read-&-follow book!

THE ACID TEST FOR UNDERSTANDING A TEXT

2007-08-01T14:46:00.000+08:00

Now, I want to talk about the acid test of understanding a given text after reading it.

In other words, how do you know whether you have understood a concept from the book you have read?

For me, you have understood a concept only when you are able to do the following things:

- explain or articulate the concept in your own words, not direct words from the book, either to yourself or to another person;

- relate the new concept to your own personal experience;

- relate the new concept to other known concepts that you have learned before;

- give your own example(s) &/or illustration(s);

I often tell my students this way: if you can explain Newton's Third Law to your grandmother, in such a way that she can understand your explanation, then you have truly understood it very well.

I trust you get the picture.

TEXT RECONNAISSANCE: THE ART OF SURVEYING A CHAPTER OR A BOOK

2007-08-01T14:38:00.000+08:00

Allow me to emphasise one more time:

"Predicting" is just "anticipating" what is coming up next during the reading endeavour.

That is why it is important to do a "survey" of the reading materials prior to the actual reading.

The "prior knowledge" inherent in or generated by the reader in this instance becomes the guiding force in "predicting".

"Survey" is just doing a quick preview (or overview, as you may want to call it) prior to actual reading. When this is done, you have a pretty good global sense of the book terrain. It may be hazy or fuzzy, but you definitely have a rough idea.

Most academic textbooks have these textual & graphical features which you must preview as part of the survey toolkit: (Please read my comments that follow)

- Chapter Learning Objectives: they direct your attention to what is actually important in the chapter;

- Chapter Outline: this allows you to see the sequence & organisation of ideas in the chapter; sometimes, a concept map is included to illustrate the train or scheme of ideas in a hierarchical format;

- Chapter Overview: this explains the purpose & focus of the chapter;

- Headings & Subheadings: they provide the headings or subheadings to key concepts or ideas;- Highlighted Words or Phrases in the form of Bold-faced or Italicised: they signal important words or phrases in the chapter;

- Graphical &/or Pictorial &/or Photographic Illustrations: they elaborate & enhance on key concepts or ideas i.e. "they speak a thousand words";

- Special Interest Boxes: they generally provide perspectives or application of key concepts or ideas;

- Marginal Notations (or Notes in the Margins): they generally offer commentaries, pose questions, provide illustrations & examples, identify key terms;

- Chapter Summary: it consolidates & condenses the chapter content; it is always a good habit to read the summary first even before you start anything;

- Vocabulary Lists - it identifies terminology to learn;

- Review Questions at the end of the Chapter: they test your understanding of key concepts & ideas; these questions often set off the processional effects during the reading because your mind will be searching for answers to these questions as you read, like the servo mechanism in a Tomahawk missile;

- Discussion Questions at the end of the Chapter: they provide further thought & enable you to think critically;

- Suggested Readings or References: they provide additional sources of info; generally useful when you are doing research;

- Glossary: a easy to use mini-dictionary of key terminology;

- Appendix (optional): generally contains useful additional material;

All the foregoing textual &/or graphical features will serve as your "signposts" in your reading journey.

Whenever you open up a new chapter, you must run through the foregoing features. Once you have internalised this activity, & with perfect practice which makes permanent, you will find that reading is no more a chore.

A WORKING MODEL FOR READING

2007-08-01T14:09:00.000+08:00

Further to my earlier post entitled 'Reading Redefined', I wish to take this opportunity to share with readers my working model for reading.

Operationally, the entire reading process will encompass the following activities of the mind, in an iterative manner:

- predicting;
- questioning;
- inferring;
- connecting;
- thinking about words;
- reviewing;
- evaluating;
- summarising;
- applying;

For your easy understanding, I will elaborate further as follows:

1) Predicting:

This is anticipating what is coming up next or ahead of your reading, while you are reading.

The key questions to ask yourself:

- 'What do I already know about this topic?'
- 'What is the author going to say next?'

Always remember, your mind works much faster than your eyes while reading.

To do this part effectively, you need to activate what you already know i.e. your prior knowledge.

Therefore, it is important for you to preview or survey the reading materials just before you start to read.

This is where you need to apply previewing or survey techniques, which I have already covered in my earlier post.

2) Questioning:

This is seeking clarification in your mind of what you have just read, of a definition, a word, or a concept.

Sometimes, as part of an effective reading strategy, you need to formulate questions at the beginning of your reading & on your own to seek out specific answers.

Oftentimes, in the case of academic reading, you can use questions from the book, say at the end of each chapter (they often come in the form of review &/or discussion questions) or you may draw even from past exam questions.

One technique, I will share with readers is how to convert headings/subheadings in a given chapter into questions at the onset, in a subsequent post. There are, in fact, thirteen innovative ways to formulate your questions.

Formulation of questions generally comes after your survey of the reading materials, by which time you should have a pretty idea about what you need to know &/or what you don't know about.

The use of questions in the reading process is a very powerful tool. Just imagine: The graphic symbol of a question mark looks like a fishing hook when it is inverted. Questioning is fishing!

3) Inferring:

This is figuring out the meaning of what you have just read - from the sentence, the passage &/or the entire text. In reality, this is "reading between the lines". This may require a momentary pause from time to time to think about as you read. The first thing to do is to identify the topic, & then to fish out the key idea(s).

The key question to ask yourself: 'What is the author trying to say here?' or 'What does the author wants me to know?'

Sometimes, you may need to ask yourself in another way: 'What is the author trying to imply here?'

There are specific techniques to help you to facilitate &/or expedite this activity. One quick technique is to read the first sentence &/or the last sentence, which often contain the topic &/or key idea(s). For longer passages, the topical ideas may be embedded in the middle.

It is pertinent for me to point out that authors always organise their written materials in specific ways. In other words, there are specific text organisational patterns as well as signal words which they will always use in the presentation of their stuff.

I will outline some strategies in detail on how to recognise them in subsequent posts.

For example, in any statement about a "process", there will always be "stages" involved, starting with the "first" stage, then the "second stage", up to the "final" stage, & all in "sequence".

With this immediate recognition in mind, you naturally can move faster while reading because your immediate job as you read the passage is to flush out the "stages" of the "process". Simple as that.

Additionally, I will also share with readers some specific techniques of annotating the text as you read.

4) Connecting:

This is associating what you have just read to what you already know &/or just to your personal knowledge or experiences in life. To be more precise, you are thinking about more in terms of similarities or commonalities with your life experiences.

The key question to ask yourself:

- 'What does this passage reminds me of?'
- 'How does this information connect with what I already know?'

If you can connect easily as you read, then it is much easier for you to understand what you have just read or are reading.

5) Thinking about words:

This pertains to especially new words or words you don't understand. Oftentimes, when you read, you need a good dictionary at your side.

The key questions to ask:

- 'What do I think is the precise meaning of this new word?'
- 'How can I infer the precise meaning of this new word from the given context?'

In the case of academic reading, the given materials will definitely come with a glossary or a list of terminologies used in the text. You may need to familiarise yourself with them before you begin to read the text.

If your vocabulary is weak, there are, of course, specific vocabulary building techniques. I will share them with you in subsequent posts.

6) Reviewing:

This refers to checking & recapitulating what you have just read.

For complex materials, e.g. computer science stuff, you may need to pause a few minutes after, say ten or fifteen minutes of reading, to check whether you understand the ideas in the passage you have just read.

The key questions to ask yourself:

- 'What is the central idea of this reading?'
- 'What are the important details that support the central idea?'

You also need to do a complete review after you have completed reading a particular chapter.

The more intermittent reviews you can do during reading, you will find that reading the material becomes a breeze.

7) Evaluating:

This is reflecting upon what you have just read & forming your own opinion or point of view during as well as after the reading.

The key questions to ask yourself:

- 'What has this reading convince me of specifically?'
- 'What questions do this reading raise for me?'
- 'What insights do I have now?'

Generally, this is what you would take away from your reading.

8) Summarising:

This is always done at the end of your reading. Basically, as a fluent reader, you need to pull together the central idea, its significant points with all the relevant salient aspects (i.e. all the essential stuff) from what you have just read & put them into a summary.

The key question to ask yourself: 'How can I organise & summarise what I have just read?'

In some way, this is sort of a mental consolidation process of what you have just read.

This is very important step before moving on to the next chapter.

9) Applying:

This is what I call the fire or acid test of your understanding of the reading material.

As a student, can you apply what you have just read in your test?

The key question to ask yourself: 'How can I apply this to my studies? to my work? to my life?'

The fire or acid test of any reading exercise is the ultimate application of the reading material to satisfy your life's goals &/or performance objectives.

To know how to apply, you need to decide what is important or what matters to you, in answering the challenge. In other words, your goals & priorities are the determining factors in your ultimate application.

At this juncture, I would also like to point out that the reading process can be broken down into three principal stages, as follows:

- before reading;
- during reading;
- after reading;

Therefore, I would like to transpose the key elements of my working model into the above three principal stages:

1) before reading:

- predicting;
- questioning;

2) during reading:

- predicting;
- questioning;
- inferring;
- connecting;
- thinking about words;
- reviewing;
- evaluating;

3) after reading:

- reviewing;
- evaluating;
- summarising;
- applying;

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

2007-08-01T12:29:00.000+08:00

"Champions in any walk of life are committed to the pursuit of their true potential."

(Mark Sanborn, author of 'High Impact Leadership' videos)

READING REDEFINED

2007-08-01T11:29:00.000+08:00

Although I am now a very fast reader, I am still fascinated by the process of reading. I am therefore constantly on the look out for new ways to understand the reading process as well as to enhance my life-long reading pursuits.

I have recently come across this definition of reading from the net:

"Reading is a dynamic process in which the reader interacts with the text to construct meaning. Inherent in constructing meaning is the reader's ability to activate prior knowledge, use reading strategies & adapt to the reading situation."

This is attributed to the 'Reading Instructional Handbook: Essential Element of Reading', authored by Barbara Marinak & published by the Pennsylvania Department of Education in conjunction with the 'Framework for Reading, Writing & Talking Across the Curriculum'.

Breaking down the definition, I notice that there are a few critical elements in a reading process:

1) dynamic process;

2) reader interacts with the text;

3) construct meaning;

4) activate prior knowledge;

5) use reading strategies;

6) adapt to the reading situation;

Obviously, reading requires a motivation to read. In order to have motivation, or self-motivation, to be precise, there must be an interest to read on the part of the reader in the first place.

Where does this interest comes from? It comes from what's important to you or what matters to you. This has to be, essentially, your life goals. What drives you? What excites you?

Next, in order to read well or fast, one must make the reading a dynamic process. I would even add the word 'active' i.e. an active, dynamic process.

Once you have your life goals in place, it's quite easy to make the reading process an easy as well as interactive task.

In reality, you are reading to meet your anticipated goals &/or objectives in the longer term.

To put it in perspective, you are reading with a specific purpose in mind. Without a purpose, reading becomes a random activity. Of course, some people will argue that reading for pleasure is a different ball game. For me, it still boils down to: what are your reading for?

From a deeper perspective, you are reading to find out what you already know, what you need to know, & of course, what you don't know about. This is always a good starting point.

As you start to read, & as you make sense along the way, you are connecting what you are reading with what is already inside your head. This is your prior knowledge in action. The more connections you can make as you read, the better you can understand the reading materials.

Oftentimes, it is a good habit to preview reading materials prior to actually reading them. You can easily scan through the materials by looking at the available textual as well as graphical aids to ascertain a rough layout of the contents.

If they come in the form of a new book, a quick browse of the table of contents, preface or introduction, end-of-book summary, credits on the back cover, &/or author's comments on the inside flaps, can reveal interesting nuggets about the book's core ideas in general.

Further probes like reading headings &/or sub-headings within chapters, plus the first or last few sentences of selected passages within the beginning &/or ending chapters, can be helpful, too. All these previewing activities form an integral part of building prior knowledge on the part of the reader.

To use military jargon, this is reconnaissance of the book terrain.

Most of us were not taught how to read in school. In school, we just opened our books, jumped into them, & started to read. I only began to realise these serious shortcomings after I had ventured into accelerated learning & also when I had started to embrace PhotoReading techniques.

Also, I have come to accept that, with the additional knowledge of the four different reading approaches, the SQ5R (adaptation of SQ3R), the annotation techniques & the Cornell method as applied to reading, I had respectively learned from Mortimer Adler, Francis Robinson of Ohio State University & Professor Walter Pauk of Cornell University, I can now truly expedite my reading process exponentially.

In other words, I can now read more or less at warp speeds.

Talking about reading strategies, I have personally experienced that a good complementary working knowledge of the author's text organisational patterns & signal words often helps the reader tremendously in navigating the text.

On top of all the reading strategies I have already mentioned so far, I wish to add that, if a reader knows how to use contextual & other clues to figure out difficult or unfamiliar words in the reading materials, reading becomes a real breeze, especially when a dictionary is not readily available.

That is to say, the understanding as well as the application of a whole gamut of reading strategies always gives a reader an added advantage to the reading process.

I have also come to the conclusion that different reading materials require different reading approaches. In other words, a reader must constantly adapt to the reading situation.

Sad to say, the harsh reality is that schools today are still lacking in understanding the reading process.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

2007-07-27T07:52:00.000+08:00

"Any dream can be achieved with the right attitude, focus, consistent action & persistence."

(John Fuhrman)

BOOK REVIEW: ‘STUDY SKILLS - A Student Survival Guide’, by Kathryn Allen

2007-07-26T19:05:00.000+08:00

This is the first time I have come across a student survival guide for PhD as well post-graduate students. I wish I had this book with me when I was doing a management course at London Business School two decades ago.

The book actually consists of contributory chapters by expert lecturers (from the Institute of Cancer Research, all of whom have supervised students working towards their PhDs), as follows:

- Effective Organisation & Time Management;
- Personal & Interpersonal Skills;
- Information Retrieval;
- Critical Reading;
- Presentations;
- Writing a Paper;
- Writing & Defending your Thesis;

According to the Preface, this book started life as a website for PhD students at the Institute of Cancer Research, the content of which has gone through some evolutions. In other words, the contents have been reviewed by many active PhD students. This revelation certainly makes the book more meaningful & useful for students with similar academic pursuits.

All the chapters are well-crafted by the respective experts & systematically organised by the Editor, & are packed with practical advice & quick reference tips, as well as specific points to remember. Kudos to the editor & the respective authors!

The text format & page layout used are quick-&-easy to read, which make the book very handy for research students with busy schedules.

At the end of each chapter, there is also a checklist, a reading list & a list of web resources.

For me as a strategic explorer & prolific reader, the most rewarding chapters are those on Information Retrieval & Critical Reading. They are superb stuff.

BOOK REVIEW: 'TEEN QUEST: A JOURNEY IN THE PURSUIT OF PERSONAL EXCELLENCE FOR TEENS & YOUNG ADULTS’, by Randy Beck

2007-07-24T17:38:00.000+08:00

I find this wonderful book to be a reasonably good personal strategic planning guide for young adults.

The author writes in a clear, no-frills, easy-to-follow fashion. As a result, his book has only about ninety pages.

The central philosophy of the book is, in the author's words: "...provide a motivationally directed journey toward awareness of the unlimited human potential through a goal setting workshop & personal vision development...this approach will better prepare them to confront life's many challenges & temptations with maturity, poise, & groundedness, thereby making the right choices when faced with unhealthy options."

The chapters, interspersed with many motivating quotations (e.g. one of my favourites, "If you really want to do something, you'll find a way; if you don't, you'll find an excuse!"), are systematically laid out as follows:

1. Introduction;
2. Discussion - Terms;
3. Universal Truths - In a Nutshell & Explored;
4. Family;
5. Relationships;
6. Discovery Exercises;
7. Self Image;
8. Discovery Exercises;
9. The Future;
10. The Heart of a Champion;
11. Five Essential Qualities of Morality Based Leadership;
12. Life Design Pyramid;

The discovery exercises are well thought of. They cover four distinct but closely interrelated dimensions of one's life:

- Family Background;
- Relationships outside the family;
- Self Image;
- Designing the Future;

Also, the author's exploration of six common but undervalued realities in life, designated as universal truths, makes a lot of sense & is commendable. Let me recap them for readers:

1. If anything is going to change in your perception of the world, it's up to you to change it;
2. You cannot stand tall while trying to make someone small;
3. Individual greatness or achievement has as its source God-given abilities & other people;
4. Some of the past has to be sacrificed to discover the future;
5. The questions you ask yourself & the decisions you make because of those questions determine tomorrow's outcomes;
6. Share your dreams, goals, & visions with only those people you feel have your best interests in mind;

I am impressed by the author's advocating of leadership qualities, especially his incorporation of morality in the equation. According to him, the qualities of an effective lifelong leader are: persistence, gratitude, knowledge, humility & integrity.

In the last chapter, the author issues this ultimate challenge: "What do you want on your tombstone?"

If I were him, I would continue, "Do you want to rest in peace or do you want to kick some butt?"

To all the young adult readers out there: Good Luck & Make ALL Your Dreams Come True, with the aid of this guide!

BOOK REVIEW: ‘RICH DAD POOR DAD FOR TEENS – THE SECRETS ABOUT MONEY’, by Robert Kiyosaki

2007-07-22T18:57:00.000+08:00

Despite the adverse controversy surrounding the author, Robert Kiyosaki, I strongly feel that this particular book is still worth reading by teens, as it offers good teen-friendly advice on achieving financial head start & freedom.

Overall, his advice is also given in a straight-talk, easy-to-understand manner.

In a nut shell, this particular book covers basic principles of cash flow, assets & liabilities, savings & investments, as well as spotting money-making opportunities. There is even useful information about personal learning style while developing financial intelligence.

Yes, the author's published stuff to some extent may seem hyperbolic on the surface, but deep down, you can always discern some useful learning from some of his teachings.

[Personally, I have encountered the author in Hawaii. Frankly, I don't like his arrogant attitude & his seemingly characteristic propensity for running circles around people who ask pertinent questions, but I do respect some of his thought-ware.]

His core financial advice to teens is certainly realistic:

- work to learn, not to earn;
- don't work for money, make money work for you!;
- play games to learn!

Allow me to share this simple reading philosophy of mine:

Absorb what is useful; reject what is useless; research your own experience & add what is specifically your own!

MOVIE REVIEW: 'THE TERRY FOX STORY'

2007-07-19T18:57:00.000+08:00

The first time I came across the character, 'Terry Fox', was when I was reading Richard Leider's 'The Power of Purpose' book in the late eighties/early nineties. He did not strike a chord with me, although his remarkable feat exemplified the central premise of the book.

It was much later, towards the mid-nineties, when I was invited to watch a movie shown during a boot camp for teens. The movie was entitled, 'The Terry Fox Story'.

I was really touched by Terry Fox.

In the movie, an unknown actor to me played the central character, Terry Fox. (In fact, most of the other actors were also unknown, at least to me, except for Robert Duvall, who had earlier impressed me in his role as a tough street-wise cop in the movie, Badge 363.)

Terry had lost a leg at the age of nineteen to ravaging cancer. He was an outstanding athlete but had a stubborn & competitive steak in him.

Frustrated by the lack of public support for & recognition for cancer victims, he set himself the task of running across Canada to raise one million dollars for cancer research: his 'Marathon of Hope'.

Unfortunately, Terry did not achieve his dreams but clocked more than 3,000 km at the time of his early death. However, I learnt that his foundation & supporters subsequently raised more money they could imagine & also spawned a world-wide movement known as the 'Terry Fox Run'.

Today, Singapore is one of the international venues.

To me, the movie captured the heart-warming true story of Terry Fox & his immediate family.

I believe that all young people should go & watch this movie. It really teaches two very important life skills:

- the value of facing a challenge;

- the value of having a sense of purpose;

In the movie, Terry Fox's emotional outburst: "Nobody is ever going to call me a quitter!" drives home my point.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

2007-07-18T18:02:00.000+08:00

"I was not a brilliant student, but I had boundless curiosity & I worked very hard."

(Dr. Frederick Banting (1891 – 1941), Canadian Nobel Prize winner for the discovery of insulin to treat diabetes (1923). The Nobel Prize was shared with close colleague Charles Herbert Best from the University of Toronto.)

BOOK REVIEW: 'PROBLEMS ARE THE SOLUTIONS: KEYS TO LIFELONG LEARNING', by Steph Capra & Jenny Ryan

2007-07-14T10:56:00.000+08:00

This is an excellent primer to understanding information literacy!

Actually, I was intrigued by the main title: Problems are the Solution. When I got hold of the book, and at first browse, I was a bit disappointed. It was a ragtag collection of articles, and the presentation layout was somewhat horrendous, probably due to the fact that it was self-published.

Of course, I knew at the onset that the book was primarily geared towards teaching professionals in an educational setting. After browsing through the table of contents, somehow my unconscious instincts drove me to peruse the book from cover to cover.

As usual, I read the book from the standpoint of a business professional. I was glad I did it.

I found

- Chapter 1: Snapshots of Information Literacy;

- Chapter 2: Developing a Learning Culture;

- Chapter 3: The Affective Dimension of Information Literacy; and

- Chapter 4: Transforming Scribes into Thinkers;

quite interesting. They gave me some fresh perspectives, with regard to developing understanding and insight from information glut to guide decisions, solve problems and navigate complexity in today's information economy.

I reckon Chapter 4 would be useful in enlightening those business professionals who are doing evening MBAs.

I found Chapter 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10 to be more relevant towards teaching professionals, especially if they want to gain more practical insights into problem-based learning in an educational setting. Chapter 10 shared some school examples.

I particularly enjoyed Chapter 8: Questioning Toolkit. This chapter blew my mind about the questioning process. I never knew one could have access to so many directions in posing questions, moving from the Essential Question (this provides the organizing focus) right down to detailed, deeper and disparate questions (they help illuminate and build answers to the EQ.)

To satisfy curiosity, I append below the cluster of questions (different type of questions accomplish different tasks):

- Telling Q
- Sorting & Sifting Q
- Clarification Q
- Organising Q
- Probing Q
- Hypothetical Q
- Planning Q
- Elaborating Q
- Strategic Q
- Inventive Q
- Irrelevant Q
- Divergent Q
- Irreverent Q
- Provocative Q
- Unanswerable Q
- Subsidiary Q

From my personal perspective as a knowledge adventurer, the value of this chapter was worth the price of the entire book.

I even took the next step of ordering the book, Beyond Technology: Questioning, Research & The Information Literacy School, by Jamie McKenzie who wrote the chapter 8. After reading it, I strongly recommend readers to get hold of both books, if you have a deep personal interest in understanding information literacy.

To sum up, the gist of both books is actually how to navigate through information glut, how to convert learning tasks into problem scenarios (in the form of probing questions) and how to adopt a critical approach in all our reading - to be more precise, information gathering - tasks so as to create abundant opportunities for the development of original ideas and insights. This is also the essence of higher-order thinking, something which is still lacking in our current school system.

In terms of learning points, I would rate this book 10/10, but 8/10 for the unappealing presentation format, which makes the reading process a little bit difficult for me.

PARENTING FOR AN AGE OF INFORMATION: Preparing Your Children for the 21st Century

2007-07-14T08:59:00.000+08:00

I wish to take this opportunity to direct readers to read an interesting article (I have read it more than a decade ago & it's still relevant today!) by Dr Jamie McKenzie, whose work I have always admired very much, especially from the standpoint of understanding the power of questioning.

He is the founder & publisher of the educational technology journal, 'From Now On', dedicated to educational technology for engaged learning & literacy. He has written many other interesting articles, as well as several relevant books, e.g. 'Beyond Technology', which I have also owned & perused.

His corporate website is a goldmine of valuable information.

BOOK REVIEW: 'STRATEGIC QUESTIONING', by Ronald Hyman

2007-07-14T08:22:00.000+08:00

After several years of intensive search on the internet, I finally managed to lay my hands on this wonderful book. It's a compact paperback, with only 160 odd pages, & packed with practice exercises.

I consider it to be the best questioning toolkit for educational applications

I have read so far. The book is written primarily for educational professionals. However, with some ingenuity, it can be easily adapted for business applications, as proven in my case as a strategic explorer.

At the onset, the author says that the goal of the book is to help you become an effective, strategic questioner. This goal has been achieved in my case. The tools & strategies I have picked up from the author have helped me to produce excellent results in my consultancy work as well as facilitation practices.

The most exciting section of the book is The Twenty Five Questioning Dialogues: A Manual of Questioning Techniques (Chapter 6).

In essence, this section serves as the core training manual for strategic questioning. They provide numerous, wide-ranging scenarios to improve your teaching, probing, learning & dialoguing skills.

In addition, the Fifteen Specific Questioning Strategies (Chapter 5) & Five Overarching Ways to organise your Questions (Chapter 4) are real gems. You can use them to:

- develop concepts;
- generalise observations/experiences;
- analyse a document;
- make predictions;
- explain working procedures;
- explain events;
- explain situations;
- analyse values & resolve value conflicts;
- clarify feelings or attitudes;
- take a stand on issues;

Among all the books on questioning processes for educational applications in my personal library, this one book has been my prized catch.

Readers can well understand why I rate it highly.

So, if you want to turbo-charge your questioning skills to the highest order, go for this book, even if you have to spend time, effort & money searching for it.

BOOK REVIEW: 'CREATIVITY IN THE CLASSROOM: SCHOOLS OF CURIOUS DELIGHT', by Alane J Starko

2007-07-10T14:07:00.000+08:00

I am always fascinated by the subject of creativity.

Whenever I come across a creativity book, irrespective of whether it is intended for the business or academic world, I will always scan it first and if it appears “intriguing” judging from the front/back covers, table of contents and index page, I will peruse it – and then reflect on it. I will often adapt the ideas to my consulting work. In this case, this book did not disappoint me.

In a nut shell, this is a book about practical strategies for teaching and learning creative thinking skills. Although it has been written primarily for teachers and students, I find that, many of the information on theory, strategies and assessment covered by the book are applicable and useful for anyone who is interested in exploring creativity, even in non-academic areas.

The main bulk of the book pertains to approaches to teaching the basic curriculum – mathematics, science, social studies, language - that encourage creative problem solving, and information on how research on motivation and creativity applies to decisions about classroom management, organisation and assessment.

The book is divided into two parts:

“Understanding Creative People & Processes” and “Creativity & Classroom Life”.

The first part gives an excellent grounding in creativity fundamentals. The second part gives practical suggestions for creativity design, development & assessment in a classroom setting. For teachers, this part, especially the assessment tools, is a real gem.

Very fortunately, the author’s fluid writing style, coupled with her interesting case studies and numerous applications, makes the book easy-to-follow.

The author has very masterfully organised many practical activities, such as “Thinking about the Classroom” and “Journeying and Journalling” in every chapter. For readers, there are a lot of points to ponder, several questions to ask and many things to do. This is the part I enjoyed “playing” with them the most.

At the end of each chapter, and also in the bibliography, the author has listed many useful references for further exploration. For research purposes, this is a gold mine.

For parents, who are looking for simple ideas and practical strategies to develop creative activities for their children, I dare say this book is definitely a very helpful guide.

As a matter of fact, if you are just looking for creative opportunities in your own life, this book (particularly chapter 6) can be a valuable source of curious delight.

HOW TO READ A BOOK: THE CLASSIC GUIDE TO INTELLIGENT READING

2007-07-04T15:02:00.000+08:00

Since my college days, reading has been my life-long passion, even though I read mostly non-fiction stuff. I reckon it will continue to be that way.

Currently, I am also a prolific & voracious reader. Amazon, follow by Kinokuniya Bookweb, follow by Alibris & Abebooks, are my active sources of books.

Towards the end of 1991, as part of my journey through mid-life transition, I actually established a small retail store to deal exclusively in learning, thinking & creativity books & other resources, in conjunction with the formation of my own strategy consulting business. Since then (& till mid-2005 when I decided to withdraw from all retail operations), the store gave me abundant access to a lot of great books & other useful resources. At the same time, it fuelled & bankrolled my relentless reading pursuits.

One of the first few books I have read & eventually sold in my own store was `How to Read a Book' by Mortimer Adler.

[It was Patricia Danielson, co-developer of the PhotoReading technology, who introduced me to the book. Many thanks to you, Patricia!]

In a nut shell, it illustrates how to be an intelligent as well as a demanding reader.

It was also the first book that set the ball rolling in my continuing search for better understanding of the reading faster/better comprehension equation.

This book introduced me to the art & discipline of reading, & the four specific levels of reading & reading comprehension, each requiring a specific set of reading strategies. The author made very clear distinctions between the four levels, & argued subtly that each reading level builds on the previous one:

- elementary reading;
- inspectional reading;
- analytical reading;
- syntopical reading;

The author put a lot of emphasis on the third level of reading, with useful techniques for classifying books, probing books, criticising books & challenging - & provoking - the authors.

In addition, for more effective performance in the academic environment, there are subject-specific reading strategies to follow. All these reading strategies, covering literature, history, science, mathematics, philosophy & social science, are systematically covered by the authors.

Frankly, the most productive personal learning experiences I got out of this wonderful book are firstly, the techniques for marking the book while reading (or marginal notations) & secondly, syntopical reading, which enables me to digest several books within the same genre simultaneously. I absolutely love marginal annotations & syntopical reading!

Hence, I have no hesitation at all in considering Mortimer Adler's book, despite the fact that it was originally published in the 1940s, to be the best & unparalleled in the genre.

On the adverse side, I must admit that the book is not easy to read because of its rather sober tone, & also considering the fact the language used dates back to that period.

Nevertheless, I strongly recommend this book to anyone, who wants to read faster & comprehend better, to get hold of & read this book in the first instance.

During the ensuing years, I came across a few other books which have also influenced & helped in expanding my personal repertoire of high-performance reading skills & techniques:

- Super Reading Secrets, by Howard Berg;

- Breakthrough Rapid Reading, by Peter Kump;

- PhotoReading The Whole Mind System, by Paul Scheele;

I will review each of them separately & share with readers what I have learned specifically.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF USING VISUAL TOOLS?

2007-06-29T19:07:00.001+08:00

These are the advantages of using visual tools:

- give us easier access to our brain potential;

- help us focus our attention on the salient aspects;

- help us externalise our working memory;

- allow us to generate more ideas in less time;

- free flowing as well as structured format increases our chances of generating new approaches to idea generation;

- activate our whole brain;

- allow spatial dimensions to highlight relationships among items of data;

- let us develop logical sequence & detailed organisation of data while encouraging imagination & spontaneity;

- allow us to represent tremendous amount of information in relatively small space;

- help us create connections & relationships among disparate elements;

- give us clear view of both details & big picture of our subject;

- improve our ability to communicate more effectively & efficiently;

- make thinking, problem solving & decision making more fun!

BOOK REVIEW: 'A FIELD GUIDE TO USING VISUAL TOOLS', by David Hyerle

2007-06-29T06:12:00.000+08:00

According to my personal assessment, this book is the second in a trilogy of research-based books written by David Hyerle, an educational researcher & founder of Innovative Sciences in the 70's/80's.

The other two research-based books are:

- Visual Tools for Constructing Knowledge;

- Student Successes With Thinking Maps;

The author is very smart to use these three research-based books as a self-promotional vehicle to market his core learning technology, embedded in what they call the 'Thinking Maps'.

In a nut shell, 'Thinking Maps' integrate thinking skills & mapping techniques. They are based on our fundamental thinking processes: We analyze information in more or less eight different ways: define, describe, compare/contrast, classify, break down into parts, sequence, cause/effect, establish relationships between things.

Application-wise, they comprise eight specific types of graphic organisers (the author prefers to use the term, visual tools) to ultimately help students & teachers in constructing knowledge, organising information, solving problems & communicating with others.

The eight tools are:

- Brace Map;
- Bridge Map;
- Bubble map;
- Circle map;
- Double Bubble Map;
- Flow Map;
- Multi-Flow Map;
- Tree Map;

Additionally, the core technology also includes a proprietary software, plus videos & other training manuals.

I can sense that their 'Thinking Maps' technology has been influenced somewhat by the Whimbey method, developed by Dr Arthur Whimbey. He wrote two great classics, 'Analytical Reading & Reasoning' & 'Mastering Reading Through Reasoning'.

There is only one singular snobbish aspect of 'Thinking Maps' products: They are only restricted to schools for system-wide implementation. Hence, the technology is, regrettably, not available to private individuals. They don't even bother to entertain enquires from solos.

In my earlier review of 'Visual Tools for Constructing Knowledge', I had mentioned that "This book is more suitable for teachers and students, and not so suitable for business readers...it cannot be used to cover all kinds of reading materials in schools. For examples, a story grid - which is not covered in the book - would be more appropriate to shape understanding of literature texts; a time line or time series - also not covered - would be more appropriate to track chronological events in history textbooks."

I added further that "For the businessman, this book can be somewhat boring, although one or two of the tools e.g. cluster and fishbone diagrams, can be used to organise visually one's thoughts or ideas while reading business books."

I have concluded in my review as follows: "Nevertheless, this book is still worth reading, especially if you want a deep understanding of why we are 'visual'. Also, David Hyerle's tools and ideas are still useful for the business reader, especially if one is pursuing business management studies e.g. MBA, in the evenings. The visual tools can be useful in that respect, particularly for probing understanding through the text, and taking/making personal notes."

In retrospect, the first book gives quite a good introduction to graphic organisers &/or visual tools, in addition to the 'Thinking Maps' technology. Tactically, it explains in quite elaborate details WHAT visual tools are, WHY we should use them, and HOW to get the most out of these tools.

The second book follows up with more quantified evidence to support their core technology, in addition to more practical applications as part of the educational curriculum.

The third book gives a panoramic view into many schools (sometimes, their promotional literature mentions 3,000 schools, others mention 2,000 schools, so I don't know which one is true & correct?) that have successfully used their core technology on a school-wide basis. In it, there is even one case study from Singapore.

In all the three books, the author shares many stories from teachers, principals, & trainers who have adopted their 'Thinking Maps' to increase student achievement & revitalize learning communities.

I reckon, for a first timer/beginner into visual thinking, especially one looking for applications within an educational setting, the three books are definitely worth exploring.

Readers should also read Nancy Margulies' 'Mapping Inner-space', which adopts a spontaneous, free-form approach to using visual tools. She calls hers, mindscapes.

BOOK REVIEW: 'TOOLS FOR THOUGHT - GRAPHIC ORGANISERS FOR YOUR CLASSROOM', by Jim Burke

2007-06-29T05:51:00.000+08:00

Books & resources on graphic organisers & visual tools have generally fascinated me for more than two decades, probably in the light of my own personal interests in visual thinking. Also, my strategy consultancy work with adults & teens in helping them to formulate strategy & navigate reading materials is a contributing factor. I have already amassed a large collection of them in my personal library.

Strategically & tactically, I am a avid practitioner of visual thinking. When I read, I always annotate in the margins. I also strenuously use the Mind-Manager Pro & SmartDraw Pro to support all my reading - & thinking - pursuits. All the interesting ideas captured in my marginal annotations - & insights from my reflection & assimilation - are always transformed into idea maps.

This book has recently entered my library. It has been written by a English Language teacher. Therefore, I noted that the book has an obvious slant towards applications in language arts.

There are twenty six tools listed in the table of contents & twenty four of them are illustrated graphically in the Toolbox: Visual Directory of the Tools. Each tool has its own description, notes & examples, assessment standards as well as application possibilities. From the teaching standpoint, the inclusion of thirty two reproducible tools for classroom use is certainly an added benefit for teachers.

The 'Annotations' on page 1 is definitely not a graphic organiser. The author admitted that "it looks a little different from the other tools, yet it is no less a tool." The author's idea of incorporating such things as crayons, high-lighters, pencils, coloured pens, sticky notes & symbol codes is a refreshing change to conventional annotations.

The author's introduction of 'Visual Explanations' on page 114 is another refreshing innovation. He has based it on the work of information scientist Edward Tuft. In some way, the many examples shown resemble the 'mindscapes' as formulated by Nancy Marguiles in 'Mapping Inner-Space'. Incidentally, mind-mapping created by Tony Buzan is lumped together in this section.

The graphic format of 'Vocabulary Squares' on page 124 is very useful & practical, but I believe using it in combination with an index card would be much more effective. Sentence constructions can be written on the flip side.

I am intrigued by a number of 'discrepancies' I have found in this book:

1) On page xvii, under 'Making Effective & Efficient Notes', what follows is actually a full description of 'Cornell Notes'. I am surprised that the author did not mention this fact & also did not credit it to Professor Walter Pauk of Cornell University.

2) 'Cornell Notes' is mentioned in the 'Appendices' on page viii, but it is inserted before 'Q Notes' & after 'Pyramid Notes' on that page, thus upsetting the alphabetical order of all the other graphic organisers as listed. Likewise, a reproducible form showing 'Cornell Notes' on page 159 is inserted - against the alphabetical rhythm - before 'Q Notes' on page 160 & after 'Pyramid Notes' on page 158. What is the author's rationale?

3) 'Cornell Notes' is correctly depicted on page xvii, showing the various format components: orienting information (for name, topic, date), connections column (for questions), notes column (for essential information about the subject) & Summary column (for synthesising all the noted information), as originally envisaged by Professor Pauk. The summary column, however, does not appear in the reproducible form for 'Cornell Notes' on page 159. I am quite puzzled by this omission.

I still maintain that, because of the author's English teaching background, the graphic organisers in the book will find more appropriate use in the language arts. These are generally reflected in the many book examples.

Nevertheless, I reckon that, in contrast, Jim Burke's book still surpasses two other books with a similar slant in an educational setting, & they are:

- 'Drawing Your Own Conclusions', by Fran Claggert;

- 'Going Beyond Words', by Kathy Mason;

Readers who want to explore other graphic organisers & visual tools for multi-disciplinary applications should explore these books:

- 'Cooperative Think Tank', Volume I & II, by James Bellanca;

Those who prefer graphic organisers &/or visual tools with a critical thinking perspective, should explore:

- 'Organising Thinking', Book I & II, by Howard Black & Sandra Parks;

For navigating scientific materials, 'Concept Mapping' & 'Vee Diagrams' as postulated by Joseph Novak in his two seminal books on the subject are definitely worth exploring.

Those who want a more spontaneous free-form approach, I guess Nancy Marguiles' mind-scapes in her book, 'Mapping Inner Space', would fit the bill.

For a technology-based system in an educational setting, David Hyerle's 'Think-Maps' as postulated in his two books, 'Visual Tools for Constructing Knowledge' & 'A Field Guide to Using Visual Tools', are recommended, even though they have some limitations.

VISUAL THINKING TOOL-KITS FOR EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS I

2007-06-29T05:21:00.000+08:00

Visual thinking or thinking visually is just a way to organise our thoughts & improve our ability to think & communicate. It's a way to go beyond the linear world of the written word & enter the non-linear universe of spatial relationships, networks, maps, pictures & diagrams.

Why visual thinking?

Tony Buzan gives an excellent answer, in his signature book, 'Use Both Sides of Your Brain', as follows:

"The reason why, to quote the old adage, 'Pictures are worth a thousand words' is that they make use of a massive range of cortical skills: colour, form, line, dimension, texture, visual rhythm, & especially imagination - a word taken from the Latin 'imaginari', literally meaning to 'picture mentally'... Images are therefore more evocative than words, more precise & potent in triggering a wide range of associations, thereby enhancing creative thinking & memory."

Visual thinking is also about using various available visual tools to externalise our thinking processes, making them more clear, explicit & actionable.

Besides capturing & organising thoughts, visual tools are also very useful for instructional design as well as problem solving, decision making & strategic planning.

Drawing on my personal exploration, I have compiled the following books & resources to help you to explore, understand - & apply - various visual tools that are already available in the marketplace.

In this particular instance, the visual tools are intended for educational applications.

I have also compiled a separate collection for business applications. This can be viewed in the Optimum Performance Technologies weblog.

I am now in the process of compiling another collection for educational applications, taking into consideration many more & newer visual tools.

1. Mapping Inner Space: Learning and Teaching Visual Mapping, by Nancy Margulies

Comments: "Excellent guide for beginners as well as business professionals to visual thinking, using free-form approaches. Beautifully illustrated in colour. One of my favourites!"

2. Graphic Organizers (Grades K-8), by Karen Bromley

Comments: "A good preamble to understanding and applying visual thinking to school/home work. Easy-to-follow, fun-to-use, quick-to-learn structured frameworks."

3. Organizing Thinking: Book One : Graphic Organizers, by G. Parks

Comments: "Pretty heavy stuff, but packed with excellent examples of critical thinking from visual perspective, using structured frameworks."

4. Organizing Thinking: Book II : Graphic Organizers (Book II), by Howard Black

Comments: "Sequel to Book I. Pretty heavy stuff, but also packed with excellent examples of critical thinking from visual perspective, using structured frameworks."

5. Infusing the Teaching of Critical and Creative Thinking into Content Instruction, by Robert J. Swartz

Comments: "Written from the critical thinking perspective, it's really very heavy stuff, but packed with excellent approaches and examples to thinking visually, using more focussed, structured frameworks."

6. Visual Tools for Constructing Knowledge, by David Hyerle

Comments: "Gives an excellent research background. Also packed with working tools - mainly structured frameworks, 8 of them - to enhance your visual thinking. Has accompanying software."

7. A Field Guide to Using Visual Tools, by David Hyerle

Comments: "A sequel to earlier Visual Tools book. Nothing much, but gives further application examples."

8. Creating Success in the Classroom!: Visual Organizers and How to Use Them, by Patti Tarquin

Comments: "In terms of smorgasbord, this book is a real gem for the classroom. Excellent coverage/illustration of structured frameworks, with crisp examples. One of my favourites!"

9. Cooperative Think Tank, The by James Bellanca

Comments: "Excellent book. Introduces more fun examples - 12 very simple frameworks - to empower your visual thinking. Suitable even for young kids."

10. Cooperative Think Tank II, The by James Bellanca

Comments: "Sequel to Book I. Also excellent book. Introduces some more fun examples - 12 more very simple frameworks - to empower your visual thinking. Suitable even for young kids."

11. The Mind Map Book : How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize Your Brain's Untapped Potential, by Tony Buzan

Comments: "The only second book here in color, from the creator of mind-mapping. One single radiating approach, hence quite restrictive. Beautifully illustated examples. For brain dumping, the method is useful."

12. Mind-mapping: Your Personal Guide to Exploring Creativity and Problem-Solving, by Joyce Wycoff

Comments: "Shows variations of mind-mapping. Useful from a problem solving and brainstorming perspective. Opens up other application possibilities."

13. Thinking For A Change : Discovering the Power to Create, Communicate and Lead, by Michael J. Gelb

Comments: "Another variation of mind-mapping. Introduces 'syn-vergent thinking' perspectives. Opens up your visual thinking repertoire. Read and explore his other books."

14. Going Beyond Words: The Art and Practice of Visual Thinking, by Kathy Mason

Comments: "Using an arts orientation and your mind's library of images/patterns. Quite a scholarly treatment. Very interesting perspectives for the teacher of visual thinking. Suitable for teaching young kids."

15. Drawing Your Own Conclusions : Graphic Strategies for Reading, Writing, and Thinking, by Fran Claggett

Comments: "More scholarly in treatment of subject. For teaching young kids to read (e.g. literature) and think visually, this book is quite a good starter. Well illustrated with good examples."

16. Beyond Words: A Guide to Drawing Out Ideas, by Milly R. Sonneman

Comments: 'Using free forms. A good companion to the Mapping Innerspace book. Well illustrated, easy to follow, and suitable for all beginners. Methodology also useful for group problem solving."

17. Wake Up Your Creative Genius, by Kurt Hanks

Comments: "Just looking at the graphic illustrations in this book will help to revv up your visual thinking, on top of enhancing your creative potential. Read & explore all his other books (all my favourites)!!!"

18. Writing the Natural Way, by Gabriele Lusser Rico

Comments: "Although written from a storytelling/writing perspective, its clustering technique as a free-form visual thinking process is powerful. Has some similarities to mind-mapping."

19. Mapping Biology Knowledge, by K. Fisher & James Wandersee

Comments: "With understanding biology as background, it has very powerful stuff. It pushes visual thinking to the highest order. Well researched and illustrated. One of my favourites!"

20. Experiences in Visual Thinking, by Robert H. McKim

Comments: "For wide-ranging, in-depth coverage, this is an excellent resource for reference. It's about visual perceptual thinking - the often untapped resource mode of our brain. Also, a classic on its own."

21. The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards

Comments: "Although designed primarily as a drawing-instruction book, many of the exercises are helpful in enhancing the visual-perceptual mode of your brain. Brilliant work."

22. Drawing on the Artist Within, by Betty Edwards

Comments: "Teaches you how to take a new viewpoint, how to see things from a different perspective, how to see the forest/the trees, i.e. how to bring your visual, perceptual brainpower to bear on creativity."

23. Thinking With a Pencil, by Henning Nelms

Comments: "One the the best books I have read on how to make your concepts into recognizable sketches that can help convey ideas to other people. Now, a classic!"

24. Thinking on Paper, by V.a. Howard

Comments: "Not a visual tool per se, but definitely helps to externalise, shape and organise your thoughts on paper. Also, an excellent source of ideas about how to start writing."

25. Visual Thinking, Set A (100 Cards With Teachers Commentary), by Dale Seymour

Comments: "Together with set B, they provide a complete set of very powerful tools for teaching visual thinking to kids!"

[Watch out for 'VISUAL THINKING TOOL-KITS FOR EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS II]