Learning How to Learn
by Barbara Oakley, Terrence Sejnowski and Alistair McConville
A version of the famous online course written for younger students and parents: focused and diffuse modes, pomodoro-style sessions, chunking, spaced repetition, sleep, and why procrastination is a habit loop. It is short, illustrated and clear enough for an eleven-year-old and useful for adults who never learned how to learn.
Read it if…
you want learning science made simple for a student in your house, or for yourself.
Skip it if…
you want the adult version with more depth; see A Mind for Numbers.
Three things you will actually use
- Alternate focus and rest; the diffuse mode does the connecting.
- Recall, do not reread.
- Sleep is when learning consolidates.
Do this first
Teach one chapter to a child or friend; teaching is the test.
Our verdict
Simple, accurate, useful.
Compare with other Focus books
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