Fuck this shit

I broke every rule of efficient and effective learning until I met this course, Dr. Barbara Oakley Dr. Terrence Sejnowski, and the book: “A Mind for Numbers”.

I wish I had met your group and this powerful vehicle of learning earlier –university wouldn’t have been so costly (studying the inefficient way) and the rewards could be even more phenomenal with this awareness. Nevertheless, your incredible work will continue to help mitigate the cost.

Although I maintained good grades through university primarily because of my high enthusiasm, interest and determination to achieve excellence in life–long learning, but the personal cost was undue stress –over studying, keeping many late nights, dependency on caffeine and life-work-family balance. However, I imagined there had to be a better way.

The frustrations and occasionally being at my wits end in solving some of the problems in the computer programming languages I am currently learning have instantly dissipated because of this course. I have completely changed my old and inefficient learning methods and formed new habits for learning.

Amazingly, I failed to solve the triangle problem on the first try at the end of a long day of work and study (after staring at it for about 45mins) in the book: “A Mind For Numbers” by Dr. Barbara Oakley. However, determined, I gave it another shot the next morning, right after waking up -it took me less than 30 seconds to solve. You’ve got to love the diffuse mode…

While I love academia and stand ready to dance with whatever pain it dishes out at me in my life-long learning journey, this course has single-handedly removed current and whatever inherent or perceived pain that may be associated with life-long academic learning for me.

There is a better way to rote learning method -a different, efficient and effective approach… Academic goal or any subject matter no longer need to take many years of painful endurance to achieve or master.

This course has armed me with the ultimate set of tools to expertly construct efficient and effective learning methods with measureable success. Essentially, I have learned how to hack my academic growth and goal.

Finally, in the past, I stumbled upon one or two of the methods taught in this course in academic journals and other articles. However, these occasional, inconsistent and isolated pieces of information were not cohesive to form a powerful enough force to help build a fundamental understanding and practice of efficient learning methods. Additionally, overpowering the well-formed habit of the inefficient rote learning method was a challenge.

Fortunately, this course and the book: “A Mind For Numbers” by Dr. Barbara Oakley, compiled and put all of these scientific data on efficient learning methods in to proper perspective, easy enough for anyone to understand and practice.

In the afterword chapter of the book, Dr. David B. Daniel said it best:

“There has long been a stream of potentially productive study advice coming from scientists. Unfortunately, it has seldom been translated so the average student can easily grasp and use it. Not every scientist has a knack for translation, and not every writer has a firm grasp of the science. In this book, Barbara Oakley threaded this needle beautifully. Her use of vivid examples and explanations of the strategies reveals not only how useful but how credible these ideas are.”

Thank you Dr. Barbara Oakley and the Learning How to Learn Team for a job well done! Your work is indelible in my mind and I can be certain, in others too.

This is the first real elaborated review I´ve done in my life. That´s the kind of impact this course can produce. I felt like I wanted to express my opinion about it and my gratitude. If you are someone who likes learning or teaching, or need to perform those activities in your everyday life for any reason, then you should take this course without hesitation. The information given is so valuable and eye opening. I personally like to read a lot and gain new knowledge about anything, but I always had that little feeling that I was not being truly efficient in doing it, that I was doing something wrong or, going further, that I wasn´t capable or smart enough to retain the information I was trying to learn, because I usually found myself investing a lot of time reading over and over again a material to realize, weeks later, that I had forgotten almost all of it. That, of course, caused me a lot of frustration. I used to feel that I was wasting my time. I knew that the best way to learn something was trough practice, but this course helped me understand how the process of learning really works, the correct way of practicing and the mistakes people usually make (illusions of learning).

I had read years ago a book about memory and memorization (Una Mente Prodigiosa by Ramón Campayo), originally written in spanish (I´m a native spanish speaker), which gave me a lot of insights and tools for memorizing better, but I never applied it to my learning process. This course has filled the gap between memorizing and learning, the missing piece that I needed to complete the puzzle. The tools mentioned in that book are also mentioned here, but joined together with the process of learning subjects completely, with understanding, creativity, flexibility, associations and long term memorization.

I have used the tools given in this course to learn and memorize the course itself, and they have been truly effective. I have also used them in studying in my own area of work, which is mechanical engineering, and also have proven to be quite useful. I now feel that the information stay in my mind for longer, which helps to understand new and more complex concepts better. Of course, memorizing is not learning, real learning comprises a lot of other things, but it´s a very important part of the learning process. If you can´t remember the material, then you can´t use the information to solve anything, to learn new things or to use the information creatively.

I also play the piano, and I have even used some of the information while practicing and learning new songs. This demonstrates that the concepts of the course can be used in any field, as long as you´re learning something.

Another important and pleasant aspect of this course, is the way Dr. Barbara Oakley presents the material. She is so kind and friendly, which gives you the sensation that you are listening to a close friend or someone that you´ve known for a long time. That makes the course material more accessible and enjoyable. Dr. Terry Sejnowski also does a very good job at teaching. They´re just so easy to hear. The material is very clear and well organized.

I will say like Dr. Barbara says very often: I can´t thank you both enough for this course. I´m really grateful. Learning is a lifelong process, and that´s where the importance of this course lies.

This is a great course. The concepts and techniques taught here should be required by every teacher and student in our school systems from kindergarten on. Of course, some of the material is well beyond the grasp of a kindergartner, but the techniques and methods can be taught by how their teacher manages the delivery of curriculum. It is never too early to teach our children how to learn.

This is a wonderfully succinct presentation of key concepts that I wish had been available to me in my youth. I was very fortunate to have an anatomy and physiology professor in college in 1979 that took time in his lectures to teach about how the brain learns and some methods and principles for study, retention, and recall. I saw many of his concepts in this course.

I later went on to teach college myself. I found the students in my Freshman course on data communications were particularly lazy about making an effort to learn material thoroughly. I knew this bad habit would hinder their progress in the semesters to come.

I adopted a practice of making my mid-term exam a thorough (not to be confused with level of difficulty) test of their understanding. Consequently, 60% would fail that test. When delivering the bad news I also delivered a path to recovering from that score. I provide several hours of lecture on what I learned about learning from my A&P professor. Then I offered a retest. The questions were posed differently in wording and type (multiple choice vs short answer essay vs T/F). Everyone improved their score significantly and the pass/fail distribution reflected more of a bell curve distribution.

Interestingly, when I tried teach how to learn before the mid-term I still saw a 60% failure rates. I expect somethings require more motivation. The risk of failing a course proved to be motivating, so I capitalized on that human behavior. I wish I could have found a better way, because this approach cost several lecture hours of data communications instruction. However, teaching them to learn proved so much more valuable.

I, unexpectedly had the same high failure rate on a term test teach an Algebra class. I responded in kind with lectures on how to learn. On student that started with failing the first term test almost dropped. Another student that had taken other classes encouraged her stay on and to learn how to learn. She finish Algebra with an A-. At the end of the course she came to me with the most treasured compliment of my teach career, "You taught me that I can learn anything I want to learn."

Hello!“Learning how to learn” at first might seem quite absurd.But I assure you that this would be by far the most quintessential course you have ever taken.The course itself is taken by Terry Sejnowski (Professor at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies) and Barbara Oakley, (Ph.D., PE is a Professor of Engineering at Oakland University.)Where she explains, How by considering herself as the “belligerent queen in math” she flunked her way through high school math and science courses, before enlisting in the army immediately after graduation.But it was when she saw how her lack of mathematical and technical savvy severely limited her options :Both to rise in the military and to explore other careers.She returned to school with a newfound determination to re-tool her brain to master the very subjects that had given her so much trouble throughout her entire life.In “Learning how to learn”, Dr. Oakley and Terry Sejnowski lets us in on the secrets to effectively learning math and science ( or any field in particular) secrets that even dedicated and successful students wish they’d known earlier. In the course many important topics likeProcrastination, Chunking, the difference between Long-term and short-term memory and Focused and diffused modes are taken up and discussed in depths (step by step).Moreover many small topics like Test taking, Teamwork, Spaced repetition and Memory retention techniques (including memory palace, usage of analogy and visual representation) are also included which is quite unconventional but extremely helpful especially for students and learners learning a new language.Plus the small Finger exercises and Peer-graded Assignments with a grading percentage criteria always helps students to strive for the “best. Hence, whether by introducing the idea of Zombie mode and other sophisticated processes like Einstellung, Deliberate practice and Transfer idea all by taking examples of great personalities like : Thomas Edison, Santiago Ramón y Cajal and, Salvador Dali, or by providing optional interviews and redings from one of the renowned scholars : Dr. Robert Bilder, Keith Devlin, Dr. Richard Felder and Dr. Rebecca Brent never failed to enthuse our interest in a particular topic and always encouraged us to achieve our highest creative potential.Thank you !

This review is also found in the General Discussion Forum.

Realizing the Capabilities to Learn is My Biggest Motivation

Before starting this MOOC, I was very nervous and anxious about the materials I needed, the type of information I will learn, and how successful I’d be at completing this course. There was also some skepticism on whether or not this course would actually teach me anything useful in my journey for higher education. It took me a week to commence studies, but I quickly became engaged after introductions from Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski. I believe it was their own nervousness that gave me comfort in the beginning, and then watching them transform with a higher sense of confidence allowed me to trust their discourse.

After the first two weeks, I had the opportunity to speak creatively during Sunday dinners with family on some of the scientific factors involved with Learn2Learn. I was surprised at how much of the information I was able to recall and how it led to us reminiscing about past experiences we thought were long forgotten. I’ve definitely changed my perspective or thought process on a lot of events, circumstances, and choices discussed with family, which leads me to have a better understanding of Dr. Sejnowski’s lecture on memory consolidation.

Now that my confidence level has experienced a significant boost, it motivated me to take on a second MOOC. This could not be possible without the information I’ve obtained from “Learning How to Learn.” I had given up on myself and didn’t think I was mentally ready or capable of successfully completing college-level course work. I was wrong! After applying several of the techniques captured from this course, I am motivated to move forward with my educational goals, and will only look back to remember the skills I developed from this MOOC.

Thank You Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski for your inspiration.

This course is like one of those nostalgic memories, which force us to desire foresight. Generally speaking though the course is helpful for everybody, but it will be a boon for many students. Many techniques and scenarios discussed in the course will definitely help both during learning phase and also during revision as well as in tests.

The course rightly points out many blunders that students commit due to bad habits acquired through students life. The bad habits I am talking about is about learning only and not of ethical values!! For e.g. practicing easy questions enough or first thing and not focusing on hard questions and many more like them.

So for me the course has:

PROS:

1. A very short duration of course.

2. Easy teaching style of Prof. Oakely combined with relevant examples.

3. Synthesis of various learning techniques, so that week by week students gain a better understating of learning process.

4. Easy and simple steps to follow to see improvement.

5. Interviews with relevant figures to give a flavor different and at the same time similar thinking process across the successful.

6. The course is free.

CONS:

1. The second instructor Dr. Sejnowski is very knowledgeable and have a firm grasp of the material, but the things that he taught could be trimmed by 60% easily and it still will not take away anything relevant from the course. Dr. Sejnowski also didn’t feel comfortable talking or explaining in the front of the camera so his videos appeared to be forced.

2. Most of the quiz question were taken verbatim from the transcript. As this course is about creativity that part could have been avoided to inculcate depper understanding of the subject.

But in the end, I profited handsomely from this course.

Thank you Prof. B. Oakley, Dr T Sejnowski and their entire team.

Me being very grateful to the Coursera and the Learning How to Learn (and another Coursera Course, somewhat similar to this one) Community. + sharing some works that I personally loved and which were brought to my mind by this particular course.

I have been introduced to the world of wonderful opportunities to gain knowledge for free and in as comfortable environment as possible qute recently by a lovely russian-speaking YouTuber- Anastacia Kay (a link to her video on courseral: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGR5yJn-GZo) and I`ve been learning here ever since. Thanks to Nastya and Coursera! And to his particular course, which has made me a much better student, I believe. For now I know why I couldnot remember things well, though I`ve spent a lot of time studying. =) And now I have a deeper understandying of some of my earlier experiences (for instance, I`ve read a fictional book by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child 'the reliquary' (detective-story & horrors -lovers might like it) and the main character used such a mental technique as 'Mental Palace'. I now know hot to use it too). + Some ideas from a great book (though its author could have argued with me on the title 'great' I gave and will continue giving it) "How to read a book" by Mortimer Adler, the ideas from the book and the course also matched and explained one another.

Plus I would say, that this course workes best together with another insightful Coursera course "Neurobiology of everyday life". They provide a look on somewhat the same topics, giving different perspectives to it!

All in all, I am really greateful to the creators of the course and the site! You help people learn about the world arround us with wonder and without limitations (financial, locational, health...)! Thank you!

très intéressant !!! je le recommande pour les amoureux de l'apprentissage et du savoir . Je le recommande pour les apprenants qui ont des difficultés de concentration , de baisse de motivation et de blocage .

j'ai beaucoup aimé les astuces qui aident à mieux apprendre , à mieux gérer l'apprentissage , à prendre plaisir en apprenant !

j'ai bien utilisé la technique de "pomodoro " qui m'a vraiment aidé à arriver jusqu'au bout de ce cours et je la recommande !

je dois revoir des lectures et réécouter des vidéos pour bien fixer les informations dans ma mémoire, je compte aussi les utiliser dans mon travail avec mes apprenants et donc je dois faire mon propore récapitulatif qui m'aiderait a mon tour de bien expliquer les choses et aider les apprenants dans leurs parcours d'apprentissage .

Je dois juste dire que j'ai trouvé qu'il y a beaucoup à lire , chose qui est très intéressante mais j'avoue que je n'ai pas eu le temps de lire les extras ( lecture , vidéos , lien internet ) je ne sais pas s'il y a quelqu'un qui a réussi à le faire pendant le cours ? je serais très intéressée de savoir comment la personne a procédé pour le faire ? ou Si les enseignants pourront nous donner des astuces comment pouvoir tout lire ? est ce possible ? pour ma part je vais le faire dans un deuxième temps et en utilisant la technique de "pomodoro" :-) et "recall" pour bien me souvenir de l'essentiel et j'ai aussi beaucoup aimé le mode "dufuse" je l'adore et je crois en ce mode car je l'ai déjà essayé mais d'une manière spontanée et inconsciente maintenant je sais qu'il fait parti des stratégies d'apprentissage .

merci pour tout Mme Barbara

Oakley, Terry Sejnowski! Thank you very much !

(+) Manageable bite-sized online lectures with interesting content that are highly relevant to the topic of Learning How to Learn

(+) Assessments are pitched at the right level, with questions requiring recall of the concepts learnt and some other comprehension- and application-typed questions that require a bit more thinking to apply the concepts learnt.

(+) Professor Oakley has a very interesting style of presenting the topic that makes the material very easy to digest and learn. She communicates key learning points in a concise and succinct manner using a variation of simple analogies, wacky (but meaningful) graphics, life stories and other examples to draw out or to associate to important lesson takeaways.

(+) Personally, I did not managed to finish all the optional interviews but I really appreciate the time and effort used to glean additional inputs and insights from multiple perspectives and I hope to be able to revisit this course at a later time.

(+) Professor Sejnowski's insights into learning how our brain works is something new to me. It is also an important part of this course. Although I could barely recall the terminologies, but certain images that he has shared to assist in scientific explanations, and the true accounts of HM as well as the two scientists who swollowed poison without being poisoned, did stay in me and helped me understand the material better.

Thank you, Professor Oakley and Sejnowski, the course was meaningful and well-paced, offering insights into learning and how the brain works. I greatly appreciate the effort and time spent to make the materials and information illustrative for learners.

This course, the professionalism of the teaching staff and the content impressed me to the extent I sent emails to every thinking person I know. One of my students has done weeks one and two several times.... she is a grade 11 school student and an original thinker. She is the only one that looked at the course and gave me feed back.

I am so grateful to be able to learn from great thinkers without feeling that I am one of the world's failures. How very much I do appreciate not being talked down to and being given the time to write down words that I might not know well and, finding that as I learn meanings from an ordinary dictionary, I am able to use those words on a day to day basis. I am also so grateful that I did not have to buy anything either from the University or from needing extra books to understand the course.

I have changed several of my home tutoring practices. In fact as it is school holidays here I have been practicing to 'teach' as well as the teachers on this course.

My nature is such that I need to thank people for the service they do to others. I wish I could thank you by buying a million certificates. As I am unable to do this or even buy one - what I can do is acknowledge that I learned what I know from the University of California, San Diego and mention the names of those who helped me learn. The other way of saying thank you is to remind my thinking friends that if they wish to avoid loss of their abilities to think rationally, as they age , they could look at the courses available to everyone.

Sincerely,

Ruth St. Claire

Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

I loved this course! The material was presented in a clear, easy-to-remember fashion, with lots of memory devices to help remember (whodathunkit?) the material, not just the usual powerpoint slides. The quiz after every video was low-stakes and I appreciated knowing up front that each quiz can be tried again, with the highest score kept. This made it low-stakes and less stressful, and made me more likely to complete it on time. The professors were cheerful and upbeat and made class a pleasure. The material is all solidly researched, and I loved the optional interviews and extra reading material. Much of the course information tied in with things I'd already read, like telling yourself a racing heart means you're excited, not afraid (I read that in The Upside of Stress, by Kelly McGonigle). But even the things I knew or had tried were presented in a new context, in such a way I'm more likely to remember them in the future. Great job! One piece of constructive criticism: the demeanor of both professors on camera is wooden. I expect they're both *much* better lecturing in person. I know from experience that you can vastly improve your performance on camera with practice and some mental tricks---like having someone watch you just beyond the camera and lecturing to them, not the camera. As this didn't cause functional problems with the course, I'd still rate the course at 99% . :) . The stiffness of the interviewing could also be improved, but rest assured, I LOVED the class and would definitely take a class from Dr. Oakley again. I've bought her book and look forward to reading it.

Truly incredible course. It was rewarding experience to learn how our brain works. It opens many doors in our life when we know how our brain works, at least we can understand why we have certain kind of feeling. As sometimes we can't understand why we have feeling of discomfort, but it is the brain's signal coming from the subconcious that you have messed up something and now you have to look up where you've goofed up and make it correct. What I have learned is that pain is incredibly powerful tool created by nature. I mean how can know if something bad happened to you if there's no pain(both physical and mental). It's a nature's way of grabing your attention to address that problem so now and next time you be careful and not repeat that mistake. Pain, anger and frustration are really powerful feelings that can do wonders in our life if you acknowledge their existence. It is the path towards the truth. Just like in one of the optional interview we've seen the pain of his grandmother's death due to Alzheimer motivated Nelson Dellis to become memory champion. This course is also helpful for the people who are dealing with Depression, Social Anxiety, PTSD, chronic fear and much more because when they are dealing with those problems it creates a lots of confusion as to why they have certain kind of feeling.

Internet is such an incredibly powerful tool if it is used smartly. I can't believe we have access to such a high quality material for free. Thank you Barbara Oakley ma'am, Terry Sejnowski sir, Coursera team and all the people who are associated with this course.

Taking the Learning How to Learn class was one of the best decisions I've made in the past ten years regarding maintaining my skills current and relevant to my professional life in high tech. I used to fall prey to a sense of being perennially "behind" regarding the amount of technical knowledge I need to master for my work. Since my University days, my modus operandi used to be: repetition and brute force, i.e., more or less, cramming.

After this class, I now have a set of tools I can actually relate to. I can use them proficiently to learn smarter, retain information better, and foremost, understand what my particular "cues' are if procrastination gets in my way again. I cannot thank Drs Oakley and Sejnowski enough for the deliberate pace of this course: they carefully pared down its content, with luminously clear explanations often delivered with a down-to-earth approach sprinkled with humor.

I sincerely hope that this small message of gratitude will encourage whomever is "on the fence" to register for the course. By the way, by requesting a Certificate of Completion, I felt that I had"skin in the game,"I had a deadline to honor. Whether tired, or pressed for time, knowing that I had paid the modest sum for my Certificate encouraged me to make time for myself to go through each lesson carefully and learn the special vocabulary associated with these new tools.

Very best wishes to all, you will be so happy you took the time to go through the class!

Sincerely,

Catherine von Dennefeld

Napa, CA

I’m really thankful to Barb & Terry for the course!

If you like me spending too much time for videos and reading loads of articles about productivity you might have kinda mess in the head about putting all the information in the right order. There are so many of them and you are, reasonably, could get lost in it!

Lucky me, I’ve tried the course and now, finally, the general picture of how to be more productive become clearer to me.

Here are some main reasons why you need to try the course (whatever you feeling confident in learning or not):

1. First of all, it is all about how closely connected neuroscience and learning (+other life aspects) – everything has scientific proof of why is it reasonable to act this way not the other one. And yet it’s not a dogma (because loads of things we need to discover so far), but the ideas and techniques which were presented in the course are really reasonable and perspective.

2. The second important reason why it is a great idea to enroll the course – is about concepts and ideas of how to deal with procrastination – the boss-devil of nowadays, I might say.

3. Also I really enjoy the way of simplicity and openness of how Barb presented every piece of information adding examples and being funny (but concrete!) all the time.

I’m not putting a big review in here but saying what I found the most useful for me from the course. So try the course and share your own thoughts about it! I’m sure you will not regret it :)

Good luck to all and happy learning! :) Andrew

At the very beginning the course seemed somehow easy and pretty basic. Nonetheless, once that you start understanding the biological reason about how and why we learn, you get the feeling that this course will definitively change your life. And that is exactly what has happened to me. Before this course I had the illusion that what I was doing was normal, I mean the way in which I was accustomed to learn. However, I had that sense that something was wrong with my approach. It turns out that my intuition was right because I was completely wasting my time while rereading or highlighting the material all the time, just to give you an example.

Additionally, I knew that procrastination could affect your life and your productivity in a way that you do not catch until you start getting anxious, for instance. Therefore a simple technique like the pomodoro, which I have been using during the last month, has been enormously beneficial for your studying and productivity.

Furthermore, there are some techniques like the memory palace, or the use of metaphors and analogies that will definitively ease your job while learning any subject.

Apart from that, understanding how your brain works and why you have certain behavior under certain circumstances, will change the way that you process any new information and it will boost your cognitive abilities up.

Please, give it a try, then you will understand what I have written here.

Learning how to learn, in my opinion, is a must, not an option.

Happy journey.

Since the original book "A Mind for Numbers" written by Dr. Barbara Oakley came out some years ago alongside the other books and studies, if you have been highly interested in learning method you might see the ideas in this course whether via books or online like I did. In spite of the fact that there rarely was a totally new method I got to know, it was great to see all the brilliant ideas in one place with supportive references so I don't need to worry about false myths and unreasonable remedies.

The lecture is about learning, and the best point of this lecture is that it is about not only 'study' itself but also things for a better study such as preventing procrastination and test-taking tips. Dr. Barbara also gives you some mindful advice for learning to help you not to be afraid of taking a new step and not to judge your own ability and give up too early and too easily. Personally, I do not like most of the self-help books which point out all the problem could be changed if you think differently. However, her lecture was a bit different since she actually helps you find a better perspective on your problem and let you know it is not only you who have the same problem and it is able to be solved.

You could finish this course without paying option and there are honour contents that will give you further understanding and extra recognition for the course. There is no doubt that by having this course I would be better prepared for my further study.

Since the original book "A Mind for Numbers" written by Dr. Barbara Oakley came out some years ago alongside the other books and studies, if you have been highly interested in learning method you might see the ideas in this course whether via books or online like I did. In spite of the fact that there rarely was a totally new method I got to know, it was great to see all the brilliant ideas in one place with supportive references so I don't need to worry about false myths and unreasonable remedies.

The lecture is about learning, and the best point of this lecture is that it is about not only 'study' itself but also things for a better study such as preventing procrastination and test-taking tips. Dr. Barbara also gives you some mindful advice for learning to help you not to be afraid of taking a new step and not to judge your own ability and give up too early and too easily. Personally, I do not like most of the self-help books which point out all the problem could be changed if you think differently. However, her lecture was a bit different since she actually helps you find a better perspective on your problem and let you know it is not only you who have the same problem and it is able to be solved.

You could finish this course without paying option and there are honor contents that will give you further understanding and extra recognition for the course. There is no doubt that by having this course I would be better prepared for my further study.

GREAT COURSE: Are you a passionate learner but sometimes feel that you could do better with your learning? Well, this course could do magic for you. I have loved every bit of the course from the moment I signed up. It has given me an opportunity on reflect on my learning and the effectiveness of the methods I use. The course takes a deep look into how the brain works and how we can make our brains better because brains are the part of the body responsible for our learning. The facilitators especially Terry made me feel like I have studied the brain for loving. Barbara keeps on provide valuable techniques for learning which i surely wouldn't have known if I didn't take this course. Thanks for those tips. As a result of this course, I am sure that my learning and study time is going to be more enjoyable and I hope to improve my grades in my masters study because the techniques and tips from here can not leave you the same. Same of bad habits like procrastination and last minute study we tackled and ideas to overcome them provided. Who am I to remain the same? I am truly grateful to God that I found this course. A big thank you to the facilitators once again and Coursera for this Knowledge. I highly recommend anyone looking to improve their learning methods to start with this course if he/she has not done it. If you are indeed passionate about learning, this course could do all the Magics for you. Thank you

I can't even begin to describe how helpful this course was for me. In school, I thought I had a learning disability. My reading comprehension was poor, my memory was not that great. I had terrible study habits.

I didn't do that great at tests...

What this course has helped me conclude is that, I just didn't know how to learn very well. In fact, I don't think schools teach this enough to students when they are learning to form their "very first chunks".

Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terry Sejnowski have broken down the learning process and have explained it in a very simple way, using a ton of visual examples, (which by the way is a great way to retain information) and have given me a deeper understanding of using creative learning techniques to simply learning better.

They are also very passionate and excited about teaching and that makes a huge difference. They are wonderful instructors and enjoy what they do. It shows in their lectures and course material. Their videos are funny and it just made everything so much more enjoyable.

My biggest take away from this course is that you can use science to explain how something works, but learning - that's where it becomes personal. It is a journey that is special to you, that is unique to you and only you. And if you know how to do it better, you're rewarding yourself, and you will enjoy everything you do and learn much better moving forward in your life.

Take this class. I loved it!

This is an excellent course on learning how to learn. The videos are engaging and lively, and the instructors have an interest in the subject that rubs off on you. Dr. Oakley in particular manages to teach the material in a vibrant and lively way, although such things are a bit subjective so you may or may not appreciate her style as much as I did. Dr. Sejnowski, while clearly engaged and inspiring, seemed uncomfortable and at times a bit stuttering in front of the camera. On the other hand, I am in the second week of the companion course “Mindshift” now, and he is much more comfortable there.

One of the important points in this course is active learning. The team behind the course have eaten their own dogfood by providing a lot of quizzes, polls, and pauses for freestyle reflection (text-boxes) for the student to test their knowledge of the material, as well as reflect on it. The “honors” assignments provide even more opportunities for learners to reflect and consolidate their knowledge.

All videos are well-cited, and each module has a healthy dose of optional readings, as well as optional videos. On the whole I feel that this optional material has given me good pointers for further self-study, as well as helping me to relate what I've learned in this course with other resources that are unaffiliated with this course.

Disclaimer: This is only the first course I've finished on Coursera.

I am not sure if the course will help me in any degree but that is solely due to my laziness, low self-esteem and year long struggle with depression. However, with regards to the course itself, I think it can be very usefull. A lot of the learing tips seem common sense but for me it was very important that all of them were supported by science , not only the kind of advice that any person could give you. I can only regeret that I did not take a similar course when at school or at the universtiy. I am sure I will use, or at least try to use, some of the techniques and do more reading on the subject (using both the Web and the publications mentioned throughout the course of the lectures). In my opinion, the fact that the lectures are divided into rather short segments is beneficial as it helps to go through the course even without having much time and incresaes motivation to continue, as one is not faced with having to listen for a lecture for an hour or so. I often found myself only plannig to view one short videos and ending up in wieving a couple one after another, not noticing how much time passed. Finally, I think that both of the lecturers are a great benefit of the course as they bring a lot of enthusiasm and good will and seemed people I would like to know in person (or at least that was my impression).

Greetings and thanks from Poland to both of them!

I took this class before beginning completion of a formal bachelors degree at an online university. It’s been 13 years since I went to college and quit, and since it’s so much more expensive now than it was, I wanted to make sure my more mature and rusty brain would get the most out of it.

I’m really, really glad I did! I feel more confident that I’ll be able to handle the workload when spring semester starts. Not only that, but I’ve learned quite a few good techniques to handle issues in daily life as well. I also recently received an ADD diagnosis, and these techniques are already helping me learn how to use my brain better.

The most impactful is her discussion on process vs product with procrastination, and the pomodoro technique. A lot of advice that I’ve previously read said to focus on a task until it is done, no matter how long it takes; which never really worked for me, and now I know it’s because my brain is not wired for long focus on something I’m not deeply interested in. Using the pomodoro and process focus techniques, I can muster up 25 minutes of solid focus, while not letting the anxiety of getting it completed distract me for that time.

I would recommend this course to everyone. Let’s face it, most of us probably aren’t using our brains that well, and this course gives some great insights on how brains work, and how to use them better.

I graduated from college 5 years ago and have been looking to get back into the swing of taking courses and studying to further my education, both for my career and leisure. But it's been a daunting prospect because it's been so long and I'm not in a regimented program (I work full time, so school is no longer the only thing in my life). My brother introduced me to Professor Barbara Oakley's work and suggested I take this MOOC as a "warm up", if you will, to not only help get me back into "student mode", but also gain a better understanding of how the process of learning works. I have to say, this course was well worth it! I learned a lot of valuable information, and the course has helped with some of my habits - I find myself recalling concepts like "chunking" and "Einstulling" in everyday life - and I plan on reading the optional material now that I've finished the course. The optional videos are also worth watching and help reinforce the ideas being taught in the primary lessons. I have to say that it wasn't easy taking this course - by Week 3 and 4 real life started creeping in and I found it difficult to keep to the schedule I had set for myself to "focus" on the material. But I dealt with it head on. The entire experience online and offline was worthwhile because this is how things are going to be for future courses I take.

This was a fantastic course.

The course was in small chunks, therefore, I found it easy to complete the weekly modules without it taking up much of my day or week.

I appreciated the mini-tests after the majority of the videos as this would help me gauge my understanding of that particular video.

Having tests at the end of the week also was helpful to my learning.

The interweaving of information also helped me recall information from previous weeks.

Great tips, techniques, advice on how to be a better learner - practical tips. So just doing the course and NOT enacting the advice won't be of much use to you, however, practice the techniques over a period of time IS.

It's stuff even as someone who has completed her bachelor degree believes anyone can find this useful. I actually also was able to relate some of the things I've learned on this course to how I would answer interview questions.

The pace was consistent.

The content was manageable.

The structure was well put together.

It's free. With options to pay, so if you don't feel like you benefited from this course (I doubt it) you haven't wasted your money.

I can not say enough positive things about this course.

CONS:

Taking so long to find this course. Wish I was able to find this course BEFORE I started my undergraduate degree. But I can not in all honesty fault this course.