Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential

As I read others statement about this Mooc, I really felt that there was a lack of helpful criticism. Barbara knows she is good. You can't get better than #1. What she needs to get better still is to be aware of where she can improve. So here is what I really think.
I loved "Learning to Learn". I learned so many things that I could apply right away to my life. I love Barbara's weekly emails- I always find some good theories and practical actions I can take.

Mindshift seems to repeat the material in "Learning to Learn". Very little practical action on our part is required. I have a bit more theoretical knowledge but little practical things to apply to my life. This is contrast with "Learning to Learn" from which gave theories but also gave practical advice i.e. Pomodoro Technique

I wish Mindshift would have been more deeper insights. I wish there would have been more guests speakers to give their insights on different aspects of a mindsshift. The test questions were too easy, giving you a feeling of competence where there really wasn't much competence.

This is the first course I take under the topic Mindshift. As a non-native speaker of English I found the course easy to understand. The course has covered many concepts that meant a lot to me, which I took time to analyse and deeply think about and relate to events in my life. I have put serious effort to try to memorize them. Here are some:
- The hiker learning style;
- Getting actively engaged into what I am trying to learn: testing myself is a way, using the new information is another;
- Paradigm Shift;
- Broaden my passion rather than following it;
- Focused attention exercises help to increase focusing abilities;
- Activities during my day should vibrate between mental and physical;
- Plan to fight procrastination by: Increasing the expectancy of success and reward, increasing the value and pleasantness of what I am doing, decreasing impulsiveness and distraction;
- Conceptual understanding + memorizing = solid chunks;
- Put a label (a word) on a feeling to start thinking logically about it, then try to put it in a positive frame;
- Take a decision --> define my goal/goals --> choose people who will help me achieve that;
- The environment surrounding me has a huge influence on me --> psychological safety --> increase serotonin;
- T/п: two legs are more stable than one --> develop new skills: 6 months =~ 6 years: skill development curve is logarithmic not linear;
- Approaches of career shifting: dabble, double life, contrarian;
- Selective ignorance is necessary while developing a new skill;
- Persistence and flexibility are essential in learning anything;
- There are 3 important hormones that play a role in learning process: dopamin which helps learn new skills, serotonin that helps form social bonds and noradrenaline that helps us to avoid danger;
- Learning new things help us form new neurons and synapses and requires getting out of comfort zone;
- Mentors play a huge role in life;
- Reading 20 mins a day help me become smarter and healthier;
- Emotional and cognitive intelligence are equally important;
- For things to change --> I have to change --> my thoughts and capabilities;
- Luck = preparation + opportunity + action;
- When you take action --> you get results: if they are positive then you have succeeded and if they are negative you will learn a lot from the experience --> the worst thing is to do nothing;
- Problems can be seen as opportunities;
- Mindshifting = reevaluating relations in my life: cut negative ones, build new short-term ones to achieve short-term goals, build long-term ones to collaborate and achieve long-term goals;
- Skills that I gain from one field can be used in other fields --> creativity.

I hope this abstract will be helpful.
Good luck!

I completed this course for nearly half 1 year. And in this course want to review what I feel. So I write some lines.
In this course, the content lies during 4 weeks:
+ Week 1: Change is focused.
+ Week 2: Getting Deeper into Happy Learning.
+ Week 3: Learning and Careers.
+ Week 4: Adopting a Learning Lifestyle.
For me, I think weeks 1 and 2 will focus more on your learning and will give you more positive thinking about the negative that you before think. About week 3, it will more focus on the career and also learning ( but career is more focused than learning). And week 4, it's not focused on learning as I think, instead, it will perform and teach you some problems like reading, online teaching, mentoring, Surviving in The New Information Economy, etc.
So that is what content will perform and teach in the course. And here is what I think about it:
- First I will talk about the advantages of this course:
+ Easy to learn, especially for who is not a native speaker of English ( I'm also a non-native speaker)
+ Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski have a sense of humor, funny,...
+ The questions are not hard, they are easy to answer.
+ Have some bonus lessons like "Interview Adam Khoo" or some tips memory, I think it's very helpful.
+ ...
- Continue with the first, I will talk about the disadvantage of this course:
+ I think this course can be more deeply about content, especially in Week 4, Dr. Barbara Oakley is seemed to be a tiny over-confident about what she achieved in "Learning How To Learn" ( It's a little fun that Week 3 in the lesson: "The Value Of Feel Like An Imposter", she said that over-coming will lead to failure not worry).
+ As an advantage, the questions are too easy to answer also a disadvantage because it can be marked boring for someone.
+ It has some errors in this course like in week 4, the lesson "4-8 Read, Read, Read" but the title is "Passion and Work Part 1", that's in Week 3,...
=> Therefore, I think this lesson is more suitable for a beginner or a non-native speaker who is still beginning to learn online teaching. For those who have experience of studying online teaching or have lots of knowledge, it's will not help you so much ( you can compare this course with self-help books). But If you want to study, I think that's okay, because I admit that the content is helpful and more interested than you can think.
Hope it's helpful!

I have no complaints whatsoever regarding this course or the previous one, 'Learning How to Learn'.

As an English language teacher of business people, doctors, nurses, entrepreneurs and executives in São Paulo, Brazil, I have a good reputation for being very creative and entrepreneurial, with my own teaching methodology that has used blended learning, technology and flipping since 1996, before universities even began thinking about it!!!! .

I never knew why it was that my focus has always been so limited, and why, at the same time, I was so creative, (ahead of my time in teaching) nor why my students were achieving confidence and fluency so fast.....until these courses.

My own lack of interest in remaining focussed for long periods (unless it was sports or listening to a beautiful or fascinating woman) helped me to create mastery learning for beginners and diffuse thinking for intermediate level speakers without my knowing why the diffuse thinking method worked with the students' brains.

Now I know,! And now I will be able to enhance my students' learning further still.

I would suggest that every teacher and entrepreneur pays more attention to these two courses than any other before they begin anything else, or before they suffer from illusions of competence. There is so much more I have learned....you can't even begin to imagine how my future business, which will be based in Ireland instead of Brazil, will begin to change shape and give students an incredible experience, belief and cultural advantage...but I'll give you all a clue...it will involve their participation in one of Barbara's or Terrence's courses as part of my use of technology and psychology to get the best out of my clients during the month that they are in Dublin.

Last, and by no means least, I would also like to suggest to McMasters , Barbara and Terrence, that they turn this course,, together with their forthcoming 'Productivity', into a "Specialization' with the option of even more courses to form an online degree, mini-masters, with 'team culture or psychology', or 'getting the best out of your kids or colleagues' (coz adults are always concerned about their kids' futures) or whatever they deem to be good, life-long skills and knowledge.

The more courses students take, the better their qualification becomes....4-6 = specialization......10 = mini-degree....30 = mini-masters or something like that....it could be extremely useful for poorer people, busy working mothers, procrastinators, Homecare assistants and nurses with low salaries, etc etc

I would be very willing to offer my services, f.o.c, in translating this course into Portuguese for the benefit of millions of Brazilians in this huge, untapped, market, where my own wife works as a nurse for a company with hundreds of employees who have zero access to higher education and would benefit enormously from these two, wonderful courses.

THAT's how much I liked this course and appreciate it for its insights, motivational factors, and simple explanations of difficult science (as Einstein said....."it is not science that is very difficult, but the language that it is explained/written in."

Now, if they could just create a course that enabled fathers to get their 17-year-old daughters to make them coffee whenever they want one.........................

I very much look forward to many more courses from this inspirational team, and I wish the best of luck to all those who have taken either one of these courses for their future careers, for their health, their happiness, their families and their safety.

I took Mindshift immediately after taking Learning How to Learn, and both courses are taught by the same instructors. Some of the material in Mindshift repeats topics in Learning How to Learn, but I found the repetition helpful for reinforcing the learning techniques. The sections on career change and the intelligence of emotions are new in Mindshift. I recommend reading or listening to the book, Mindshift, as you take the course, because the book contains interviews with a diverse group of individuals who made significant changes in their lives and careers at different ages.

Mindshift contains many optional videos with memory champion Nelson Dellis, which are very practical and helpful.

The instructors have done a laudable job of teaching how to integrate learning into your everyday life, and the importance of doing so. They also make lifelong learning seem practical and possible, which is important to give hope and skills to people who may be stuck in a job.

The reason I didn't give the course 5 stars is that there was no discussion of the role of personality or temperament when considering a career field. I would have liked specific discussions of different types of jobs or fields and what factors helped people be successful in those fields. I also think temperament is something that should be considered carefully when selecting a career field.

I was also a bit disappointed that the optional videos did not include more interviews with the people featured in the book. The interview with the Singapore businessman was very interesting, and I had expected more optional interviews like there were in Learning How to Learn.

Aside from these minor criticisms, the instructors have performed a valuable service of teaching learning techniques and career strategies that can help both working professionals and students navigate changing work environments.

This is the first course I take under the topic Mindshift. As a non-native speaker of English I found the course easy to understand. The course has covered many concepts that meant a lot to me, which I took time to analyse and deeply think about and relate to events in my life. I have put serious effort to try to memorize them. Here are some:

- The hiker learning style;

- Getting actively engaged into what I am trying to learn: testing myself is a way, using the new information is another;

- Paradigm Shift;

- Broaden my passion rather than following it;

- Focused attention exercises help to increase focusing abilities;

- Activities during my day should vibrate between mental and physical;

- Plan to fight procrastination by: Increasing the expectancy of success and reward, increasing the value and pleasantness of what I am doing, decreasing impulsiveness and distraction;

- Conceptual understanding + memorizing = solid chunks;

- Put a label (a word) on a feeling to start thinking logically about it, then try to put it in a positive frame;

- Take a decision --> define my goal/goals --> choose people who will help me achieve that;

- The environment surrounding me has a huge influence on me --> psychological safety --> increase serotonin;

- T/п: two legs are more stable than one --> develop new skills: 6 months =~ 6 years: skill development curve is logarithmic not linear;

- Approaches of career shifting: dabble, double life, contrarian;

- Selective ignorance is necessary while developing a new skill;

- Persistence and flexibility are essential in learning anything;

- There are 3 important hormones that play a role in learning process: dopamin which helps learn new skills, serotonin that helps form social bonds and noradrenaline that helps us to avoid danger;

- Learning new things help us form new neurons and synapses and requires getting out of comfort zone;

- Mentors play a huge role in life;

- Reading 20 mins a day help me become smarter and healthier;

- Emotional and cognitive intelligence are equally important;

- For things to change --> I have to change --> my thoughts and capabilities;

- Luck = preparation + opportunity + action;

- When you take action --> you get results: if they are positive then you have succeeded and if they are negative you will learn a lot from the experience --> the worst thing is to do nothing;

- Problems can be seen as opportunities;

- Mindshifting = reevaluating relations in my life: cut negative ones, build new short-term ones to achieve short-term goals, build long-term ones to collaborate and achieve long-term goals;

- Skills that I gain from one field can be used in other fields --> creativity.

Loved this course! As always, Doctors Oakley and Sejnowski knocked this one out of the park. I marked the difficulty as Medium, but I worked very hard to try and make sure I could apply it to my life. If you don't work as hard on that, you could probably pop it down to Easy... You get out of it what you put into it, so be cautious on that.

The workload and required videos were reasonable (actually shorter than I thought they'd be!), and the order in which information is presented and explained makes this course very easy to follow. Some information from their Learning How to Learn MOOC is covered, but they do not make the assumption that you have already taken it-- but I highly recommend taking the Learning MOOC first, as that will help you to make this one count. The quizzes, discussion prompts, and honors assignments are well done and do not veer off course, and really help the information to sink in further. Put time into the honors assignments!

The only complaints that I have about this young MOOC have nothing to do with the content. Coursera is one of the better platforms that I have used, but I still find myself fighting with the site often. Sometimes I am even surprised by due dates or uncompleted assignments because they were not logically presented by Coursera's system, which is not a failing of this MOOC specifically. It was worth the mild struggle though!

This course has helped debunk ideas I had about myself and my learning style that were very negative. I learned that being a 'slow learner' has it's advantages. I learned that my gut feel has always been right - well-meaning friends or family encouraging me to 'follow my dreams' is not wise. I am 40 years old and looking at making a career change. The advice in this course is very wise. Don't study something that is going to put you in debt with no financial return. Expand your interests. Make life a life-long learning process. Everything you've done in your past can contribute towards what career direction you decide to take in future. Read for 20 minutes each day. Keep your brain trained and active for the rest of your life. Surround yourself with people who are like-minded and will contribute to enabling you to make the changes you need to. Change your surroundings - even aesthetics can make a big difference in how you retain information or absorb it. Learn something new each day. This course has also helped me in gaining insight when choosing future MOOC courses. I would have gone into MOOC learning blindly and probably lost momentum along the way or given up. I have direction now. I'm so glad I've done this course. Thank you so much!

There are three issues I had with this course: the instructors and the material are truly inspiring. 1) What is really bad is that there is no separation between the people who currently take the class, and the people who have taken this class in the past. Hence, you may be responding to people who actually took this MOOC the last time it was offered!! 2) There is little actual discussion between the people who post comments. People write down what they think/experience, and there is only intermittent response from others. As a college teacher myself, I understand the whole idea that people learn on their own ... but I understand also that they need some type of feedback here and there. And here and there, it wouldn't be bad to be challenged!! 3) It was only at the end of week 3 in this 4 week course that I posted a question about who our mentor was supposed to be. The person(s) did not introduce themselves or offer how we could ask for help in the first week, as I have seen in another MOOC. And, BTW, you cannot just select a mentor from the frame offered on the right hand side which has the photographs of some mentors, and the name abbreviations of all of them. I got lost, and since there was no feedback, I often did not know whether I was going in the right direction. I may take this MOOC again, just to enjoy it this time around. I will recommend it to others who are interested in MINDSHIFTING.

The Mindshift MOOC on Coursera is a transformative course that challenges traditional perspectives on learning and personal development. Whether you're looking to pivot careers, gain new skills, or simply adopt a growth mindset, this course offers practical insights that can make a real impact.

One of the course's strengths is its emphasis on reframing perceived weaknesses. It teaches that traits we often consider negative—like procrastination, perfectionism, or overthinking—can be leveraged as strengths when understood and applied in the right context. This mindset shift alone can be liberating, allowing learners to embrace their quirks rather than fight against them.

Another standout element is the exploration of mental tricks to boost productivity and creativity. Techniques like breaking down tasks into smaller, manageable steps, or the use of visualization, help learners stay on track even when faced with overwhelming challenges. These simple but effective strategies are presented in a way that's easy to apply immediately to both personal and professional life.

The course also dives into the powerful concept that rational cognition and emotion together make you intelligent. It dispels the myth that emotions should be excluded from decision-making, showing instead how they complement logic to create a fuller, more intelligent way of thinking. This holistic approach to intelligence is not only insightful but also empowering for anyone who has felt conflicted about relying solely on rationality.

Overall, the Mindshift course is well-structured, engaging, and full of practical takeaways. It encourages self-reflection, which helps learners better understand themselves and how they can unlock new growth opportunities. Whether you're at a career crossroads or simply seeking to improve yourself, this course offers invaluable lessons that can spark real change.

It was a valuable experience going through this course.
It helped me start moving with less fears towards next step in career while understanding that a broader approach to passions can work much better than a fixed "follow-your-passion" mindset.
Also, it made me make the right mindshift to learning (life long learning) regardless the goal I might choose at a moment in time. Goals have to be assessed while going forward, can be even changed, but flexibility and persistence will help you getting closer towards your destination.
In the course there are also presented a lot of tools to overcome inherent menthal setbacks along the way (put negative thoughts in a positive light, labelling thoughts).

Thank you for such a good content!

As an adult learner, I was intimidated by the idea of going back to school. I struggled when I was a high school student and through what I did in college 20 years ago. Learning has just never been easy because I was just bored and could not focus on what was being said. So I gave up the idea that I could ever be a success.
I have loved this class. It has taken away a lot of my anxiety about re-starting an education in mid-life. It has taught me new ways to learn and to view the learning process. I have begun a change in my thought patterns, leading to a reduction in my negative attitude about the possibility of being able to gain an education this time around. I now believe it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks after all.
The instructor, Barbara Oakley, is great. At first, I was struggling to pay attention to what she was saying. But, the more I watched her videos I really connected with her. She shared her own struggles as a learner and it made her much more personable. I could identify with her even though my issues are ADHD related. I retained the information better because of the way she presented the material with video clips and stories. The quizzes after each lesson helped to cement the information into my brain. I now share what I have been learning with my teenagers who are working through high school now. I am also looking forward to taking new classes that will help me transition to a new career path.