Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects

Before reviewing, I would like to note that I was a straight-A student in school, graduated Magna Cum Laude from university, and have taught myself both Japanese and Chinese. I love learning, hence why I took this course.

With that said, this should not be titled "Learning How to Learn", it should be titled "The Amazing Brain Science to Help You Make the Most of Yourself". I signed up for this course with the intention of using it to help me make the most of later courses I'd like to take, but I was shocked at how much of it is applicable in everyday life. I have many projects that I (would have liked) to be working on but had trouble finding the motivation to do so. What I learned here about handling procrastination - the pomodoro technique, focusing on process rather than product, etc - has helped me become both more focused but also helps me allow myself to relax, meaning I'm more ready to take on other projects, positive cycle etc., etc. What I learned about short- and long-term memory, chunking, creating interesting metaphors, and so on, has had a direct impact on my ability to do my job well and commit relevant information to memory quickly. True, there are some things in the course I already knew and did (such as using flashcards - if you don't already, DO IT), but there was so much more that I was either able to understand the how and why things worked or were just flat out helpful.

If you are considering taking this course at all, do it. It's quite worth it.

A very useful course covering concepts behind how to learn effectively and efficently. Barbara Oakley is a warm and friendly presenter whose videos make a potentially dull subject fun and enjoyable (with the use of zombies, flying mules, etc). Terrence Sejnowski tends to do one main video a week, detailing more anatomical/medical aspects. I'd recommend it to anyone who is about to undertake some serious studying as it covers techniques such as overcoming procrastination and learning fallacies.

There is no statement of achievement for this course, which has caused quite a bit of upset and negativity on Coursera. If you wish to have a certificate, the only option is the (paid) Signature Track which requires extra assignments to be completed. If you can't afford the fee, Coursera do offer some assistance. Please check their FAQs for details.

If you're like me, you probably thought that the steps to proper learning were obvious. And in a sense, they are obvious, so you'd be right. Those people who told you to stop procrastinating, start early, and try harder/smarter if you weren't putting in enough effort/reasoning were right. But most of those people who tell you those things only focus on trying to persuade you into doing better. They never tell you HOW to do it better.

If you're stuck in understanding the how of learning, this course is great in helping you figure that out (I mean, that's kind of what it's supposed to do considering the title, but take this as a confirmation from an "alumni" of this course. I put the quotes because I'm not sure if that term is appropriate, but humor me for a bit).

Adding on to what I said earlier in this review, this course does indeed talk about the obvious in terms of being a good student, but it also goes a step above that by providing details that I never even considered. Now I understand the process of learning better, and because I understand a little better, I've become more motivated in trying new things out. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even if you learn noting from this course, this course can help you re-open your mind if it ever felt closed at any point in your life.

The only reason why I'm not giving this course a perfect score is because while this course teaches you how to learn, it's hard to confirm if it actually works. Yes, it tests you now and then to see if you actually understand what it's trying to teach, and personally I think it does a pretty good job at it, but I have yet to find out if this applies to other topics that I want to learn. It seems that the course tries to get your feet wet with the learning that you have ahead of you too, but until I actually get to those topics and try to understand them in greater depth, I can't really confirm if these learning methods that were presented will be effective for said topics.

But I hope you won't let my uncertainty scare you. While I don't know about how the rest of my learning will go or what it has in store for me, finishing this course has gotten me to look forward to studying them. It's made me more active than I've been in a while, and I can't be more excited than I currently am to tackle new subjects and broaden my horizons.

So to close up this review, the last thing I want to say is that I would not waste my time writing this extensive review if I didn't think it was enjoyable or worth the time. For me, it clearly was. In fact, I've never written a review this long. This is a first. Consider me a believer of this course, because I am convinced it did something for me. I don't regret going through any of these lessons one bit. Thanks for reading.

tl;dr - If you think you know how to get good at learning, then you probably do, but this course can help you get even better at it because it has details to learning that may not seem as obvious. It was worth my time, and I feel like a better person after finishing it.

This was one of the most rewarding courses I have taken. It's also very conveniently the most time-effective one because it teaches you a broad variety of tips and "cheats" for hacking into your own mind and making yourself feel and BE more productive.
In barely 4 weeks, and without any technical language (even the optional course book is written as if it were a friend talking to you!!) I've learned how to beat one of my biggest problems -procrastination , how to become more productive in the way I study (learn more in less time) , how to memorize things strongly and when to use long/short term memory and how to improve them, how we sometimes unconsciously block out correct answers while taking tests, in which order it is best to answer questions on tests and why focus on things in a broader context rather than seeing only the small picture (forest vs tree analogy) amongst many, many other things.

My advice on this course is to take it without thinking about it twice. It will leave you in a very short time (for a mooc) with a lot of knowledge and gained wisdom on many aspects of your life. Truly a life-enhancing experience that is free(!!) and nobody should miss out on. Are you still reading this review??What are you waiting for!Look for the next starting session!!

The farmer who wishes to maximize the yield from his crops could pursue the strategy of spending all of his working hours in directly maintaining his crops by hand. A superior strategy would be for the farmer to spend time inventing a tractor, a period during which he yields no crops, with the justification that once this tractor is completed the rate at which he will henceforth yield crops will outpace the rate at which he would be yielding them by hand. Given enough time, the net yield using the tractor strategy will catch up to and then soar past the net yield he would obtain if he continued with his original strategy.

Similarly, it is my opinion that learning how to learn is a meta-skill that ought to be taught from the onset of a child's education. By sacrificing a fraction of school hours every day to teach a student how to improve her learning efficiency, the rate at which she can learn in all of her other subjects will be vastly improved so that the total sum of all knowledge and understanding will be greater over the long-haul than if that sacrificed time had instead been spent on traditional subjects. What information and particular strategy the teacher should use in teaching his students how to learn should of course be catered to the age group of the students; it would be silly to bombard a group of kindergarten students with in-depth explanations of einstellung, consolidation and aceytlcholine. However, students are generally thrown into the education system with the instruction 'do' but without solid advice on 'how?'. They receive vague, uninspired advice like 'do your best', but it's left up to the students to figure out how. This is particularly evident in mathematics, more specifically as students reach the higher levels, where following algorithms by rote to solve a problem is no longer sufficient as it was when learning long-division. It's true that through trial-and-error many students eventually do discover learning techniques that work for them, but even then, it's unlikely that their method is optimal.

Improving my learning efficiency is something I have wanted for myself for years but never bothered to actually pursue. I'm glad I finally buckled down and devoted myself to absorb the contents of this online course. Had I learned this material earlier in my life, a substantial fraction of the personal suffering I endured making my way through high school as a competitive student then two university math degrees could have been alleviated, and the process of teaching myself Spanish would also have been accelerated. I am new to Coursera -- Learning How to Learn is the first online course I have taken, and that was on purpose. I knew that if this course offered the appropriate information for learning how to learn then the digestion of its contents would be the construction of the tractor that would accelerate my learning in all future online courses, as well as learning in general. And although I admittedly haven't yet put to practice all aspects of the information presented in this course, I am confident that it does indeed offer the appropriate information for learning to to learn.

Fantastic course. No wonder it's so popular. It's thorough, engaging, cleverly challenging and most importantly leaves you longing to keep learning for life. I cannot recommend it enough. As a taste thereof (that will hopefully help you gauge if it's right for you), here are some of my key takeaways:

1. Focused and diffuse modes of thinking: the idea here is that after initially being in a state of purposeful concentration you need some time to unwind and let the magic happen. One of the ways to do just that is to take a walk which research by Dr. Oppezzo has shown to substantially increase creativity.

We'll call this one concentrate first and then take a walk.

2. Practice testing: we've all heard the old adage "practice, practice, practice". What I didn't know is that as long ago as in 1909 a doctoral student at the University of Illinois already demonstrated that practice tests improve student performance.

So we'll call this practice, practice, practice.

3. Distributed practice: less obvious, however, is the notion that practicing over a period of say days as opposed to all at once, such as the night before an exam or the like, is better for longer lasting learning including mastering material you never thought you could learn.

So we'll call this learning is a marathon, not a sprint.

4. Interleaved practice: this is about mixing up problems of different kinds (e.g., ABCABCABC vs. AAABBBCCC) as it can dramatically improve student problem solving achievement.

So we'll call this mix up the subjects.

5. Procrastination: who doesn't suffer from this one? As Paul Graham wrote "Big problems are terrifying. There's an almost physical pain in facing them", and the most natural temptation is to work on every other possible errand there could exist rather than face the big problem first. As a quite clever way to consciously manage that, try the Pomodoro Technique, which consists of setting a timer for 25 minutes and committing yourself to continuously work on the big problem for that period of time before taking a short break to just relax.

So and finally, we'll call this hey Siri, set a timer for 25 minutes.

So there you have it:

1. Concentrate first and then take a walk.

2. Practice, practice, practice.

3. Learning is a marathon, not a sprint.

4. Mix up the subjects.

5. Hey Siri, set a timer for 25 minutes.

Happy learning, y'all.

Learning How to Learn is a 4 lesson self-paced course that summarizes key findings in neuroscience about how we learn. The course touches on brain function, working and long-term memory and various methods for improving learning as well as overcoming hurdles like procrastination.

The lecture content in learning how to learn is very good. Videos aren't too long, the lecturer is clear and personable and everything is easy to understand. There are more bonus/guest lectures than you'd see with a typical MOOC and I find engaging, memorable guest lectures are rare. Also, you can't fully complete the course unless you verify your identity before submitting quizzes, even if you don't want a verified certificate.

One of the main pitfalls with MOOCs is that you can get into the habit of watching hours of lecture content without taking time out to practice, recall and commit ideas into long-term memory. Good courses help students learn with quizzes and homework; this course teaches students other things they can do, such as making flash cards, taking breaks and getting adequate sleep, to maximize learning. Considering the main lecture content only takes a few hours complete, this course offers a good amount of value for your time.

I give this course 4 out of 5 stars: Very Good.

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.

An excellent course, thoroughly worth the time taken to complete. I learned so much about the way our brains work, which gave me a completely new appreciation of the mind.

The messages are pretty simple: get a decent sleep, exercise, stop procrastinating, used spaced repitition, and chunk in order for your brain to better absorb the information taken in. It sounds easy, and all-too predictable when written this way, but there is so much more to each of these, and understanding that makes it much easier to spots the mistakes you make and the bad habits you've created. For me personally, the most important aspect was dealing with procrastination (something I have a degree in) and the negative effect is has not only on your brain but on your well-being. There are swathes of self-help gurus, websites and books dedicated to the best way to study and beat procrastination, and you may think, oh here comes another, but I think what makes this so brilliant is the way it is explained and how you can visualise the harmful effect of procrastination. Not only that, but how to deal with it is simpler than you think, and importantly, it is backed up by hard science, but in a way that is simple to understand. I found the scientific aspect fascinating, and that in itself is a powerful persuasion tool for combating it. The tools you gain to combat procrastination are simple but effective, and it is something I started using during the course, and it has been immensely beneficial already. I know this is going to make a huge difference in my life, and have given me the kick up the backside I needed to attempt study of subjects I am not comfortable in, but which are work-related.

Another aspect of the course that I found extremely useful was the optional reading. I will admit that I often gloss over loads of links, feeling I've read enough, but I was determined to finally get to the bottom of many of my deep-rooted problems in my 47th year of life. I love to learn new things, but have always been bad at studying, and I still have thirst for knowledge but could never retain it, having forgotten most of it by the time I reached the end of the page. So now, in my determined state, here I am reading all the links in the optional reading, and many of these are fascinating articles in their own right which helps me to learn more deeply and widely. Not only that, but I developed new tools as a result, such as using the Cornell notetaking method, which I'd never heard of, but I have been doing it since the end of week one. I know this is how I'll take notes from now it, as it is brilliant. This was an unexpected and extremely rewarding bonus.

I cannot recommend this course highly enough. I know I will keep going back to it to refresh my learning until I have it down pat, and I suppose that's what we're being taught.

I would like to thank the tutors for their excellent course and their videos, and I look forward to seeing more of their work.

Excellent MOOC, excellent Instructor great content overall.
The instructor was clear, precise and concise in presenting and delivering the material.
The material was great, great insights backed by research. Assignment and Quizzes were on point and engaging with them helped a lot to reinforce what I learned into memory. The course also offers a number of techniques for learning, dealing with procrastination memorizing.
This is such a treasure trove of insights as well as techniques for learning, memory, procrastination and how to deal with it, memorizing, test-taking tips and tricks, useful advice on how to understand hard subjects better and commit important information to memory. The best of all, its well researched, transparent with their research and highly reliable information, in a short and concise video format.

Excellent job, Highly recommended.
Overall is an excellent MOOC, I'd recommend it to anyone that is learning anything academic, and especially those that are attending university or will do so, to take this MOOC before they do so. Learning in a structured, effective and efficient way is the single most important thing for students, and this course teaches you that.

Dr. Oakley was fantastic. Sure, the videos are graphically simple, but she has done a great job of visually breaking up sections of her teaching by changing what you see on screen. She uses different combinations of camera angles and pictures to focus (and keep) your attention which helped me mentally organize the ideas presented. The course coincidentally provided me with tremendous tools to use to finally start to manage depression. The optional reading in the first week about depression, anxiety, ptsd sounded like I could have written it.

I had purchased the book, A Mind For Numbers during the second week of class and am currently reading it. It's a terrific book, now reinforcing what I have learned by presenting a different form of representing the organization of ideas. It all works really well for the way my mind works, especially as I am learning programming at the same time (I left college with two semesters to go about two years ago, and I'm finally re-ramping up my learning, this course being a major stepping stone).

Unfortunately, whenever Dr Sejnowski had a video (and corresponding quiz questions), I became increasingly irritated as the weeks went by. It was painfully clear that he was reading something he had written seemingly the night before. His videos showed very little effort had been put in, and I was a little insulted. His contributions to the course apparently did not manifest as intended. I don't immediately remember most of what his videos were about, which is disappointing because I would love to learn more about brain chemistry and physiology in general. I wouldn't necessarily want to see him out of the videos entirely, but they need to be completely reformatted and he should change the way he prepares and presents himself if he wants to make a more positive impact on learners. Otherwise, his contribution might be better as an author or suggestor of readings.

I love the content of this course, but some aspects of its presentation could be improved. Perhaps some video student interns!

Yes, with my best possible truthfulness, honesty & sincerity (if I have those virtues to a satisfactory degree), I should, nay; must attest this most valuable course as an extraordinarily helpful one I ever have completed. Additionally, aspirational learners, students as well as carefully advanced parents looking after their kids and teachers-all should try their hands to it, for they would certainly find this exceptionally bright course a much handy one opening horizon of horizons in front of them like the neurons themselves! And, the instructors, especially Barbara Oakley are beyond what you could think of-they are, as the course they offer, exceptionally bright persons to motivate and inspire you through not the "bunch of magic words", rather by recalling straight evidences to substantiate their motivating materials. Thanks Barbara and other professors!

Learning How to Learn is a wonderful course for any student, education professional or lifelong learner. The course itself is full of useful information and scientific evidence on the process of learning. I highly recommend watching the optional interviews and reading up on some of the optional readings, many of those are fascinating and worthwhile on your path of learning. Barb Oakley and Terry Sejnowski do a wonderful job presenting in an entertaining and concise manner, you can tell they are truly passionate about this subject and want nothing more than to help other learners to learn more effectively.

I was very grateful for the short tests after many sections that helped keep me focused and ensure that I understood the material. I also enjoyed the short comment sections at the end of many videos (even though I am doubtful that anyone actually reads them) it felt good to write out my thoughts about a subject or finding. I also very much appreciated how the course is “at your own pace” and you can do as much (or as little) as you want, that made it really easy to fit into my schedule. My favorite part about this course was the credibility of having it presented by two renowned doctors and that every section had works cited that backed up any claims made within the videos. You can find a lot of information online in the realm of learning and less and less of it is actually backed up with scientific evidence, it comforted me knowing that the team behind this course had done their due diligence and could back up any claim they made with evidence. As with anything you will get as much out of this course as you put in, however, as someone who scours the Internet for resources on helping students there is no better centralized place with scientifically supported tools and information on learning. I work in a role as a university professional that focuses on helping students navigate college successfully and positively, I have no doubt that this course will help me to be a better resource to students.

Summary: I would highly recommend this course to anyone looking to improve upon his or her knowledge or ability in the realm of learning. It is full of scientifically backed up information, presented clearly, entertaining and is absolutely free to take! What do you stand to lose?

I am on a self-teaching path towards becoming a software engineer with no formal training in college-level math or Computer Science. One of the main frustrations that I was having was my inability to problem-solve effectively or coming up strategies for getting through challenging material. A prime example was trying to complete coding challenges on sites such as HackerRank or CodeWars and being continually frustrated with my inability to understand the scope of the problems, the ability to think critically, and being able to power through and eventually solving the problem. Taking the "Learning how to learn" course has allowed me to reset my approach to learning and setting a more solid foundation for learning more effectively.

In my review of the course and the accompanying book, "A Mind for Numbers", I learned how the brain approaches learning from some of the top researcher in the fields of Neuroscience and Psychology, learned about topics such as the focused and diffuse modes of learning, the Einstellung Effect, chunking, Memory Palaces, the structure of Habits and the power to harness our "Zombie" mode to work to my own advantage, and more.

The main benefits that I got from the course was learning how to structure my day more effectively to maximize my learning. Examples include: The power of creating a list of your daily tasks the night before, Using the Pomodoro technique to make learning more manageable segments, the importance of chunking related things that you learned to make more room into working memory, the importance of moving between the focused and diffused modes that allows your brain more time to learn the material and to come up with more creative way to solve problems, the power of recall/testing yourself frequently while learning, intermittent learning, most importantly, the power of taking naps.

I really enjoyed the additional resources and video interviews, they really helped add additional context to the material being covered.

Lastly, Dr. Barbara Oakley is a fantastic teacher and author. I really enjoyed the enthusiasm and empathy that she displayed while watching her lectures. Her story of how she got good at learning Math at an advanced level is inspiring to say the least.

"Learning How to Learn" is one of Coursera's most popular courses, created by Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski. It offers a comprehensive overview of key techniques and principles aimed at helping individuals improve their learning abilities, regardless of their field of study or profession. Here's a review of the course:

Content: The course covers a wide range of topics essential for effective learning, including understanding how the brain works, overcoming procrastination, mastering difficult concepts, and utilizing various learning strategies such as focused and diffuse thinking. The content is well-structured, presented in a clear and accessible manner, and supported by research-based insights.

Instructors: Dr. Barbara Oakley, an acclaimed educator, and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski, a prominent neuroscientist, bring a wealth of expertise to the course. Their engaging teaching styles and enthusiasm for the subject matter help to make complex concepts understandable and relatable to learners of all backgrounds.

Engagement: The course incorporates a variety of multimedia elements, including video lectures, interactive exercises, quizzes, and readings, to keep learners engaged and reinforce learning. The inclusion of real-life examples and case studies helps to illustrate the practical application of the techniques discussed.

Community: "Learning How to Learn" fosters a sense of community among learners through discussion forums where participants can interact, share insights, and support one another. The community aspect adds value to the learning experience by providing opportunities for collaboration and peer-to-peer learning.

Practicality: One of the strengths of the course is its emphasis on actionable strategies that learners can immediately apply to their own learning endeavors. Whether you're a student facing academic challenges or a professional seeking to enhance your skills, the techniques taught in this course can help you become a more efficient and effective learner.

Overall, "Learning How to Learn" is a highly recommended course for anyone looking to optimize their learning process and unlock their full potential. Its blend of neuroscience, psychology, and practical tips makes it a valuable resource for lifelong learners striving for continuous improvement.

Fantastic course for individuals who may not have received education/information throughout their life on good study habits. I personally left high school in early 9th grade due to medical reasons, to never return. Going into college, I was terrified that I wasn't studying effectively, taking notes efficiently, and just generally not retaining what I genuinely WANTED to learn.

This course surprised me with how much I already knew about learning, but simply wasn't using as I didn't understand the impact. I was able to utilize the tips covered in this course not only for the course itself, but for other MOOCs I am taking alongside it, with immediate noticeable effect.

As I almost only have good things to say about this course, and have very legitimately recommended it to all of my personal friends who are actively studying, I feel it important to cover the negatives for anyone going into this course. Barbara and Terry are both very well spoken and clearly passionate individuals. At times, it can feel the content is overly spaced out, I do not believe that in itself is a negative, but rather a goal of the instructors, and should be expected.
What I do believe is almost strictly negative about this course were the quizzes/examinations prior to the final. While they did still require studying, recall, etc, almost EVERY question on EVERY quiz had 1-2 correct answers and 1-2 blatantly false/trick questions. When I refer to 'blatantly false', I mean answers that are strictly comical and could be written off without a thought. If someone who had never taken this course or covered any of its materials took the quizzes associated with it, they would undoubtedly pass by just eliminating joke answers. I understand they were mostly intended to be genuine trick questions, but at times it is clearly a case of "We need another answer just put whatever.". I can't say this is due to lack of effort on the instructors part, in many of these cases it pertains to questions that would be quite difficult to assert several perspectives/solutions, and the final examination had significantly less occurrences of this.

Overall, despite some silly multiple choice answers, this is by far one of the most vital and important courses I have taken in my entire life, and will without a doubt or exaggeration be used for my entire life. For that, I am extremely thankful to Barbara Oakley and Terrence Sejnowski for their work.