N4L 070: "Learning How to Learn" by Barbara Oakley, PhD, and Terrence Sejnowski, PhD

Engineering professor and bestselling author Barbara Oakley, PhD, with neuroscientist Terrence Sejnowski, PhD, bring us a handbook for Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All your Time Studying. This guide is all you need to tackle your least favorite subject in school or take on that class you’ve been dreading. The authors, also co-instructors of the wildly popular online courses “A Mind for Numbers” and “Mindshift,” share techniques that train our brains to take on the hard stuff. Written for students from grade school to high school, Learning How to Learn breaks down the science of how our brains process and recall information and reveals how to make the most of our studying time. 00:15   Barbara Oakley, author of Learning How to Learn 00:30   Book aimed at the younger set but valuable for all ages 00:55   Oakley teaches the world’s most popular MOOC (massive open online course) 02:05   Shares her story of being a “lopsided learner” 02:30   Liked books but hated math; chalked it up to not having “the math gene” 03:20   Joins Army to study Russian at the Defense Language Institute 03:30   Becomes a Signal Core Officer with no experience in technology 04:50   Learns remedial algebra and eventually becomes a professor of electrical engineering 05:20   “It’s really possible to change your brain!” 06:20   Becoming proficient in video games can improve attention and focus 08:00   Video games (approved by FDA for older adults) improves metabolism 09:20   Small short-term memory improves creativity 11:20   Poor working memory forces us to simplify and compress information 12:45   Taking breaks from learning 13:15   Procrastination common worldwide 13:40   Having to learn something unpleasant activates pain center of the brain 14:00   Using the “Pomodoro” study technique to alternate learning with rewards 15:00   Learning modes: focus vs. diffuse 17:00   Learning new things keeps mind supple and open 17:55   Reading means we always have something to talk about, a way to find commonalities 18:20   Oakley lunches with Cormac McCarthy (Pulitzer author, genius, and true polymath) 19:20   Learning more gives us overlays for what we already know 19:55   Some anxiety accompanying test-taking can be helpful 20:25   Two reasons tests can cause anxiety 22:15   How to move material from the page to our brains (long-term memory) 22:35   The key to good test performance: active practice (recall from our own brains) 24:00   Oakley defines “active learning” 26:00   What’s the best kind of recall practice? 27:15   “Picture Walk”: paging through chapter subheadings & pictures to get a framework 29:30   Forty percent of our brain is visual 30:15   Westerners tend to struggle with math; Easterners tend to struggle with language 30:45   Practice using a variety of methods to build up neural circuits 31:35   Are there any shortcuts to practicing? 33:00   “Eat your frogs first,” a test-taking strategy for attacking hardest problems 36:50   Not getting enough sleep will negate all other efforts to learn 38:15   Sleeping allows brain cells to shrink and have toxins washed away 39:15   Recommendation: Coursera (100% online learning from the world’s best universities and companies); AKA: “MOOCs” – massive open online courses  BUY Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Kids and Teens For free online learning in almost any subject, check out Coursera. Connect with us! Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube Website Special thanks… Music Credit Sound Editing Credit