Reading \u201cLearn How to Study\u201d by Derek Rowntree brings the movie Groundhog Day back to mind. It seems as if we were just having these same discussions about the topics that this book takes on and tries to cover. The genre might be called \u201cstudy skills\u201d, and it seems as if we are continuing to read our way through books on this topic.<\/p>\n
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Like some others, such as, How to Read a Book<\/em>, and How to Talk About Books You Haven\u2019t Read<\/em>, this offering by Professor Rowntree is meant to help students, readers, and learners to optimize their ability not only to read or take in information, but to get the things out of a book that we need to. The author encourages readers and students to ask the basic question: why are you studying? He writes, \u201cwhat are your<\/em> purposes in devoting so much of your precious time and money to being a student?\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As if my alarm clock just went off and I woke up to the sound of Sonny and Cher singing \u201cI Got You Babe\u201d, it feels like this is the same question that we\u2019ve been asking week after week. To examine and x-ray a text, to pre-read, to read syntopically, and more, were all skills that Adler encouraged for readers, especially readers who knew what they needed to get from a book and didn\u2019t have time to waste trying to carefully \u201cread\u201d every word.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the same way, Bayard challenges our notion of what \u201creading\u201d really is, and encourages people who are interested in ideas, literature, culture and more to ask themselves what they really are trying to achieve through reading. Is it vanity? Is it pride? Is it \u201cinformation\u201d? Or is it the ability to talk about ideas in an engaging way?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n My impression of \u201cLearn How to Study\u201d is that it brings out even more practical advice and ideas for a learner to follow as grow as students. Rowntree writes, this book is a \u201cone to one tutorial between you and me.\u201d[2]<\/a> He is offering this book as a guide for how to think about studying as well as actually how to do it. Like the other books mentioned, there is a kind of de-construction going on, where the author challenges our prevailing notion of what studying really means.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Instead of passively taking in information, or receiving whatever a writer or teacher wants to give, he challenges the reader to consider what he calls the \u201cthree essential tasks.\u201d These tasks include determining what you<\/em> want to learn, to develop techniques to gain that learning, and then to be able to demonstrate you can engage with the information. In a very similar fashion to our previous authors, Rowntree lines out strategies for reading critically, learning by listening well, how to take notes, etc.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n All of this brings us back to Groundhog Day. Or the feeling that we have had this same conversation before. Or maybe, that we are stuck in a cycle until we find the way out.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Perhaps the message that is being sent through these book assignments is this: unless you adapt to a new way of learning, unless you take on some new practices, unless you figure out how to read a book, how to talk about books you haven\u2019t read, and how to study, you will not thrive in a doctoral program.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since I don\u2019t want to be stuck perpetually in that kind of trap, I\u2019ll take some things away from this book to help me find my way out. One topic that Rowntree writes about that I really resonated with was the idea of \u201cgrit and self-control\u201d. He writes that \u201cthese two behavioral traits from which we can predict the level of an individual\u2019s future effort and achievement. Grit is the tendency to keep on striving toward some valued long-term goal or commitment, even in the face of adversity, set-backs and failures. Self-control is the tendency to ignore tempting alternative activities that might give you brief pleasure but would disrupt or interfere with what you know you must do to progress towards your goal.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of Rowntree\u2019s patterns in the book is to teach a concept and then offer a chance for the reader to engage with that idea. He often does this through a self-assessment or a list of ideas for application. When it comes to \u201cgrit\u201d and \u201cself-control\u201d, he asks how we rate ourselves as “high” or “low”. For me, I would put my grit as above average, maybe even high, but on the self-control scale, I rank at the bottom!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was helpful to me to see these two terms linked in his writing, and to realize that I will need both for the time ahead. Part of my grit probably comes from being a \u201cpeople pleaser\u201d, meaning that I just don\u2019t want to let others down. So I will push myself, I will stretch myself and I will do my work. If not for my own sake, then for theirs! \u00a0At the same time, I am in this program for “intrinsic” reasons. \u00a0I am interested in my topic and in the approach that we are taking. \u00a0So, I have good reason to be gritty.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As for the self-control, this is already something that I\u2019m working on. Rowntree describes studying as a \u201cjob\u201d or as work that you have to do (not an additional\/side\/add-on activity). I like this, and I actually look forward to the time on Thursdays, where I sit down to read, reflect and write. This is one step toward developing self-control and discipline. To say \u201cno\u201d to the other, more attractive things calling my name, and saying yes to studying and doing the work that I have before me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the end, for Phil Connors in Groundhog Day, the cycle is broken as he finally grows and develops as a person. I hope that our cycle of reading this particular genre of books will also be broken soon enough! And in the meantime, I\u2019m bringing out my grit and self-control when it comes to my own process of learning how to study.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Derek Rowntree,\u00a0LEARN HOW TO STUDY: Developing the Study Skills and Approaches to Learning That Will Help You Succeed in University<\/em>\u00a0(Derek Rowntree, 2016). Kindle chapter 2.<\/p>\n