The Bottom Line
About the Authors
Al Siebert is director of The Resiliency Center. He received his MA and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan on the GI Bill, and has taught adult education classes for 35+ years.
Mary Karr started college when the youngest of her four children entered high school.
Pros
- Addresses the emotional side of being a student: common fears, family support.
- Offers lots of specific tips for studying and getting good grades.
- Easy to use: white space, short paragraphs, lists, bullets.
- Includes a chapter on resiliency from Siebert’s book, The Resiliency Advantage.
- Has a companion website with additional tips, resources, and links.
Cons
- The chapter on writing papers could use some beefing up on common pitfalls.
- Quizzes on the two approaches to learning styles would be helpful.
Description
- A list of questions begins each chapter.
- A symbol marks each topic in the book that is reinforced by online resources at www.adultstudent.com.
- Each chapter ends with a checklist or review.
- Clear examples are given of each idea, including how to calculate your grade point average.
- There's an index, something I always appreciate when I'm looking for something specific.
- The work is well-researched, and Siebert and Karr provide a list of resources and suggested reading, chapter by chapter.
Guide Review - The Adult Student's Guide to Survival & Success, Sixth Edition
The guide starts by addressing the common fears I hear from so many adult students. Will I fit in? What if I have forgotten how to study? I'm not good with tests. Siebert devotes an entire chapter to calming such fears.
Early chapters also cover financial aid and making choices that will help you succeed.
The book really gets going for me at Chapter 6: The Best Way to Study. Many of us are so far removed from our studying days that we've simply forgotten good study skills. Siebert and Karr offer tips from setting goals and schedules to taking good notes and understanding your own psychology.
The chapter on taking tests is also full of tips, from how to take the three kinds of tests (recognition, recall, and critical thinking) to what to do when you get stuck in the middle of a test.
There's a chapter on learning and teaching styles that addresses what to do when your style doesn't jive with your teacher's style. It happens, and it's nice to have some guidance on how to handle the situation.
The book ends with how to get moral support from your family, how to balance the many aspects of your life, and, a bonus, why learning to be resilient might be your key to success. The final chapter is adapted from Siebert's book, The Resiliency Advantage.
I almost missed some great stuff in the very back of the book---a list of online resources and tips for conducting good online searches. If you haven't already learned the art of Googling, these final pages will be monumentally helpful. You'll find in no time that you can dig up almost anything on the Internet, which is one fantastic resource most of us didn't have back in our younger school days.
