Active Books

It just goes to show, you can always learn something new.

That's what the author should use as a tag line. I thought I was pretty good with a map & compass, but I learned several faster, easier techniques from this book. This text is suitable for beginners to intermediates. It includes key info for people who've been delaying their first USGS map purchase, because they've been intimidated by the "experts" at their local outdoors store. You'll be happier with your next compass purchase if read this book FIRST. The section on GPS is brief but useful as a primer for a more specialized text on that subject. One of the trickier diagrams on declination **might** be wrong but the text is correct. Overall I was very pleased with this book.

The book has beautiful photos of O.B. programs around the world. It also contains a good synopsis of OB History and origins. It is rather outdated however - since 1991 there are now 50 Outward Bound schools, many of them not included in this edition. Also, information on the schools is no longer entirely accurate. As a current staff member for the Australian Outward Bound School, I noticed that the photos and text show activities we no longer run and areas in which we no longer operate. But fear not OB fans - rumour has it from a source at the Canadian Outward Bound Wilderness School I recently visited that another book is on the agenda for the author. I'm hanging out for that!This book is still a beautiful investment, especially for those interested in capturing OB before the 21st Century.

Many wonder about tissue damage in day to day life but really, has anyone ever imagined HOW it came about? This book explains to the very last molecule of hydrogen, what happens to your tissue. Fascinating as it is, it is also very complicated to understand. The chapters are not ordered in the most easiest way to read and comprehend but overall, the content is superb. I'd recommend this book to any scientist at any level.

The book covered the basics of circuit network theory. Needs more relavent examples though. Would reccommend buying a study guide also.

Praguewalks is like having a friend who lives there and knows this wonderful city well giving you a private walking tour. Inside you will find 5 different tours showing you sights that you would never find on your own. Unlike tour books that give you just the highlights of the city, this guide will take you on a pleasant stroll through five different neighborhoods, telling you a bit of history along the way.

You cover little out of the way streets finding a wonderful statue that can only be seen by going around to the back of an embassy. Enjoy reading about the female patron saint of unhappily married women who grew grew a beard to be unattractive to her promised husband. These and other interesting stories are covered as you explore the sights of this beautiful city.

For friends heading to Prague, I tell them this book is a must! Even if you have time to take one of the walking tours, the book is well worth the money. Read all five tours before you go and find the one that is your favorite.

This book is about changing teaching strategies in the classroom. The authors advocate using an "active learning" system in the classroom and believe this approach is more successful and is needed in the 21st Century classroom.

The authors took two years to finish their work. By their own admission, the authors stated their work drew heavily on the work of others. They structured the book in three parts with ten chapters.

The first part of the book focuses on defining active learning and making the case for this teaching strategy. They discuss the "empty vessel" theory of education and the evolution of the fifty-minute lecture. In order to clarify for the reader the "empty vessel" theory of education, the authors briefly explain how Socrates nurtured some of the prominent roots of Western education as he questioned, prodded, and cajoled those who came to learn from him. "Consistent with Plato's view of reality, Socrate's dialogues tried to bring forth from his followers a truth he believed they already possessed." However, this theory of learning ultimately was put aside in Europe and the United States, in part as the result of the industrial revolution. At this point in history, professors no longer saw their role as Socratic midwives, laboring to bring forth knowledge from their students. They adopted a different approach of delivering knowledge directly to the uninitiated. Today, researchers on teaching and learning remind us that students don't come to class as "empty vessels". On contrary, students arrive in class with experiences of successes and failures that can add value to a class. In part one the authors also discuss what is active learning and how it works. They state there is no generally agreed-upon definition of active learning and propose a working definition that they hope will clarify for the reader their assumptions of what active learning is. They explore the four elements of what they believe active learning is and defined them as talking and listening, writing, reading and reflecting. According to authors, these four elements are the building blocks for active learning strategies because each element, in its own way, involves a different type of thinking and helps students create a new mental structure. Part one concludes with a chapter on creating an active learning environment. This chapter focuses on coping with teaching space and explores in detail the different seating arrangements or designs of classrooms that support effective active learning environments.

Part two of the book explores in detail the different strategies and techniques used in active learning. The authors discuss informal small groups, cooperative student projects and simulations. Each of these strategies brings value to a class but they can also bring problems if the basics of these strategies are not comprehended.

In part three the authors discuss integrating reading materials and guest speakers in an active learning environment. They also focus on using technology effectively. I believe the chapter on technology summarizes the changes teachers need to bring to the classroom for effective and efficient teaching in the 21st Century. They conclude that in an active learning environment, teachers will not be the center of attention and that teachers should not be afraid of giving up this power. Instead they should work to instruct in such a way that it empowers students to learn from each other.

RDL 6/27/99

This book was excellent for teaching Psychology. I took the class correspondence and was able to learn all the necessary materials without a problem.

After picking this book up and reading the first several pages I almost put it down. Unfortunately it's a slow start with a lot of background on the author's business ventures. Once I got past that, however, Quantum Business was a book I could hardly put down. You might find their cartoon character, "Captain Q", to be a bit silly, but don't let that be a reflection on the content of the book itself.

Quantum Learning is all about finding means and methods for improving your personal and business skills. You'll learn:

* How to find your own intrinsic motivation
* The power of taking responsibility for your life
* How to identify your preferred learning style
* How to take meaningful notes
* How to read faster with greater comprehension
* The benefit of turning failure into feedback
* How to memorize anything: names, numbers and lists
* Creative thinking and problem solving
* The power of clear communication

One of the drawbacks in which books that offer how to scenarios is that the only provide a single way (the authors way) of doing things. Quantum Learning doesn't push the reader into a single method that may or may not be right for them. Instead the authors offer multiple methods and variations which allow the reader to find a method most suitable to them.

For instance, one of the sections I found most interesting was learning how to read faster and with more comprehension. The authors provided not just one or two scientifically proven ways to improve reading skills, but three. Being able to test each method I found one that was most comfortable to me. I must add that this immediately improved my reading speed!

The chapter I found least helpful was on memorization, due to the amount of detail and, well memorization involved in just being able to learn how to memorize through the methods they had shown. But even still I walked away with the basic idea which I have since applied and was able to remember something I would have otherwise forgotten.

Quantum learning isn't a self-help book; it's a book about training yourself to do things in ways that you probably had never thought about before. In doing so, you'll find yourself far more productive, able to do and remember far more than before and able to achieve a new level of success in every area of your business life.

This is a great book by Ms. Bauer that focuses on different approaches and techniques to help students learn creative and fun ways to reading. The author focuses on a case study approach, where she uses several examples of techniques that have been successful, mapping out the how-to process. One approach to a creative reading is called storytelling in which students act out a short story the have read and memorized, involving the entire class on one person's adventure through a book. The author gives several examples of how to get students involved in this. This technique was used in my elementary school where it was proven very successful.

This is a great book for teachers, librarians, and other professionals interested in teaching elemntary and jr. high age students more creative ways to enjoy reading.

"We define reflective learning as a process which involves dialogue with others for improvement or transformation whilst recognizing the emotional, social and political con text of the learner."
This is essentially a book of detailed case studies, preceded by five short chapters which discuss the authors' purpose, the nature of learning and the distinctive features of reflective learning, as the authors have defined it. The case studies are then brought together in a three page conclusion. The forty or so pages of part 1 and the Conclusion provide a good summary of key questions relating to effective learning and the key themes that can be found in reflective learning. Readers are likely to want to scan the 16 case studies for examples that relate to their situation. Each is carefully written up, but the style makes for dense reading and is more likely to appeal to the specialist than the general management reader.