RH
Sep 16, 2019
I loved it very much , it helped me in improving my skills and trying to find my passion by learning and have a great energy to do great things , it is my pleasure to have this course from you doctors
JR
Oct 22, 2017
This Course Is awesome it gave me a new look on how my brain works and that i should actually take breaks which is probably why i get frustrated. I am Excited to Put what i have learned into practice.
By Sourindra B
•Apr 9, 2020
Brilliant course, which makes learning how to learn very simple. The step-wise tips shared as so useful and doable. Understanding the physical and mental preparations towards learning are very well explained. How learning takes place and what are those barriers to learning, that need to be avoided, has been explained in detail. Every concept has been explained without any clutter around it. Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski have taken great pain in developing and explaining the various mental tools and their usages, very clearly. I specially liked the parts covering the 'focused and diffused modes', 'chunking', 'memory', 'rebuilding', habits, 'procrastination', the pomodoro technique, 'Einstellung', 'eat your frogs first' etc,
Overall, a program that I should have years ago. Luckily I have now undertaken it and very happy about it.
By G A
•Jul 1, 2020
I am a sports coach. I learn by doing, best. This course helped me retain some of the other courses I am learning about sports coaching, accountancy, finance and management. I was struggling to retain all of it because I was unable to use these lessons (Corona lock down).This course showed me how the brain works with analogies. I have a good plan to study and retain what I learn now. It will also help me reinforce and keep information that I need to do different things (stay healthy, cook, etc.).The second category of value provided by this course is how it helps you create a learning process for yourself that will make your learning deeper, help you keep procrastination at bay and teach you to reduce your dependency on motivation and will power for various projects.It's a life skill. Learning how to learn.Grateful that I found this course.
By Dan M
•Feb 6, 2018
While procrastinating preparation for the Series 7, I somehow ended up on the signup page for the course. It sounded interesting and since I was already having difficulty studying, I figured I'd give it a try.
It was not at all what I expected... to say that 'I learned how to learn' from this course is an understatement.
Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr.Terry Snejowski (and team) integrate current information, sophisticated concepts, and effective techniques into a simple educational message for a broad audience to understand.
The tools to gain from this class are universally applicable and will always be useful . The time commitment is light, convenient, and flexible- it works with anyone's schedule.
As instructors, Dr. Oakley and Dr. Sejnowski are warm, welcoming, and motivating about their coursework.
There is something for everyone to learn.
By Gwen C
•Feb 14, 2018
I highly recommend this informative course for anyone pursuing educational courses or interested in life-long learning. I became interested in this course, and coursera, through reading Dr. Oakley’s Mindshift book. I’ve gained many valuable insights which I’ve started applying to projects at home and work, and plan to put the techniques to work in upcoming MOOCs.
The tips on overcoming procrastination are helping me make significant progress in home organization efforts I have been putting off for months - all while listening to the encouraging course lectures online.
Dr’s Oakley and Sejnowski use gentle humor, fun illustrations, and an engaging manner to communicate valuable tips. I’m looking forward to joining the other courses that they have developed. A big thank you to both of them for helping me jump-start a new journey in learning!
By Aishwarya N
•Oct 26, 2020
Amazing!!! absolutely amazing! The course is so exceptionally simple to understand, with every technique and example that has been given, I could imagine myself and put my learning habits for verification leading me being able to point out my problems exactly.
Dr Barbara does not only points out the problem but also gives a solution which is so easy to follow and understand. All the optional interviews are also quite good and eye opening in terms of various kinds of learners and the different combinations of techniques they apply to do well.
Lastly, the pace and the friendly way of teaching by DR. Barbara built a certain amount of confidence in me to enter new courses and subjects. Thank you! Dr.Barbara Oakley, Dr.Terry Sejnowski and coursera.
I recommend this course to all especially to those trying out things out of their comfort zone.
By Rohan J
•May 25, 2020
Its a very practical and useful course, and applies to people of all age groups and disciplines. The concepts and techniques are useful to become aware of how our brain learns new material, and how we can adopt effective learning strategies in our lives. Although, I am not in school anymore, I was able to incorporate the teachings in my regular schedule like when reading books, viewing videos or taking other online courses. It is not a very demanding course, which makes it an easy recommendation even if you are squeezed for time. Also, it helps that the instructors keep a very motivating atmosphere and are cognizant of participants in all stages of learning difficulties. As a bonus, there are interviews of experts from various different fields and it is great to get another perspective from them on how they manage to learn effectively.
By Jacqueline M
•Jul 13, 2020
I am an upcoming junior in high school, and I discovered class central through one of my teachers. As I searched for a course that I wanted to dedicate my time to better myself as a student and individual, I came across this one, and I am very happy and grateful that I did. This is because all throughout, both instructors constructed this course with a very interesting, intriguing and fun foundation. With their guidance, and energetic teaching I was able to grasp at new ways to look and take on my studies. My most valuable take away from this entire course was the pomodoro method, which I now apply to my academics daily, and has so far worked efficiently and has helped me slowly suppress procrastination. I really really recommend this not only to students, but to anyone who finds themselves in need of some self-enriching guidance.
By Abhinav C
•Apr 9, 2020
Great course. I completed it over two years with long breaks in between the sessions. Though I didn't do it deliberately, I think it is better to complete it this way, slowly letting the lessons sink in, instead of finishing in one go. The content delivered is pretty simple but it is something which every person needs to know since improving ourselves is essential for improving our society and these basic lessons can help you learn ANYTHING faster and more thoroughly. The reason this course is so awesome is that deals with a bottleneck in the current generation's personal development process - ie. they know very little about how to learn effectively, and this course deals with it pretty well.Everyone should start this course, and there is a pretty decent chance that with a little drive you'll be able to complete it.Happy learning!
By Gaurab C
•May 8, 2020
This course is really great for the people who don't have habit of learning new things. This course definitely hep how to deal with more Scientific, Logical, Art, Literature, Technology type of topic. This helps us to get confidence that we can Learn Anything and Everything, it's matter of time some people do it fast and slow. Understanding the context is more important and foundation come with understanding and using best techniques to learn the new things. Metaphors and analogy should be used while learning, in order to shift from to transfer the items from current working memory to Long Term Memory.
We should periodically recall, attend the test, avoid triggers to procrastination and be prepared as well as relaxed before the Final Test. Better to be excited on learning through processes and automatically will get the result.
By Barton C
•Nov 15, 2015
This course is extremely interesting and useful, regardless of age, profession or future prospects.
I already knew about most of what is covered in it regarding the brain, the techniques and everything, but only superficially. This course goes in-depth on a lot of known things about the brain, procrastination, time management etc. and summarizes it very well, in addition to dispelling false knowledge in the same domains.
The course itself is very well structured and comprises regular quizzes and tests that, although seemingly silly, help a lot in memorizing the contents and realizing how true what is explained is.
It also offers a very wide range of additional material, be it video interviews or further reading, for anyone wanting to dig even deeper on one particular subject.
I personally enjoyed it from the beginning to the end :)
By Vincenzo C
•Jan 30, 2020
This course is amazing. It teaches us about many interesting things about how our brain works, how what we experience are related to the mental models we have, and the best ways to make our learning journey easy and fun to experience. I didn't know much of the stuff in this course even though I am a learner, I love to learn and I'm trying to find every day a way to improve myself. Learning how to learn provides us with both practical and biological explanation about how we do effectively learn about a subject. Moreover, I found the "extra" interviews to be very very interesting, I want to thank Barbara Oakley, Terrence Sejnowski, and the whole Leaning how to learn team. You made a great job. I loved the course. Thank you, guys. I hope you and every person taking this course will have a meaningful life full of thriving and joy.
By Erin I
•Mar 31, 2017
I absolutely loved this course--it's fun, a confidence-booster, and it has completely changed the way I study and think about the world around me. I love that it takes concepts that would normally be intimidating, such as 'neural pathways', and 'diffuse and focus modes', and puts into them simple terms, like "pin ball paths" and "zombies". I've learned why certain chemicals in the brain react the way they do, and what stimulates them, and how to better plan and learn the subjects I'm taking. This course also has special tips for those learning science, algebra, and languages, as well as how to better prepare for tests, and how to take breaks efficiently. This course works for all ages and levels; middle school to college, and all subjects, from music theory to chemistry. Do yourself a favor and enroll. You will not regret it.
By Tri
•May 8, 2019
Learning how to learn is a fundamental subject. I would recommend it to everyone who considers themselves a scholar/academic/student of life, take this course if you're pondering about it. Becoming a better learner improves everything you're studying. I wish this course was around when I was in high school/university.
The intro didn't hook me right away like an award winning TV series but it quickly became very interesting.
The course is sectioned into four parts: Introduction, procrastination, memory and renaissance learning (more tips and advice). As a procrastinator, I benefited from this course tremendously. But I enjoyed the entire course not just that section.
I can say with confidence it's helping me with my TAFE studies right now.
Thank you to Barbara, Terrance and Coursera for creating this MOOC.
Ancora imparo, Tri Tran
By Luna N V
•Apr 23, 2020
It's such an amazing course which inspire me a lot in learning. I'm kinda keen on self-studying and this course help me a lot of things to enhance my self-study ability: using both focused and diffuse modes when studying, practice makes perfect, using pomodoro technique for a specific of time to enhance your focus, time break and sports are also important to enhance your brain's activity, many techniques to avoid procrastination and improve memory... You must figure it out!
The lessons were awesome with many useful information and visual examples with awesome teaching ways of Professor Barb Oakley, Terry Sejnowski. You will like the way the talk, it's not only about teaching, it's about sharing. I also love the interviews between Professor Barb Oakley with many professional people in their fields, can learn a lot from them.
By Brian S
•May 21, 2024
Wasn’t sure what to expect with this course when I signed up, other than my own struggles to follow through with self-paced online courses. And sure enough, I was soon distracted by the next shiny new thing after barely scratching the surface. But I came back to this several months (years?) later and with a bit more time than before (or more control of time) was able to go through the course in its entirety. It was well worth it. I got through school and university without ever learning or being disciplined enough to “study”, relying on my classmates notes and dumb luck. This was extremely eye-opening and makes me wish I had discovered this years ago, when, of course, it didn’t exist… The teachers are great, and the material is relevant and sometimes just common sense, but the explanations behind it are eye-opening.
By Deleted A
•Nov 13, 2020
I absolutely loved this course. I truly believe that these techniques should be taught in primary school, I think it would change a lot of lives for the better. I was never taught any of these techniques but I'm 32 y/o so hopefully they do now. I have been working since I (barely) finished High school because I thought that higher education wasn't for me, which might have worked a few generations back. But in order for me to be able to get where I want to be I need to go back to school, so I started this course just to test myself and my own abilities to learn new things. Turns out that I wasn't stupid, I just didn't have the skills I needed to be able to be a good student. Now I actually feel a little excited to go back to school rather than being afraid. Thank you Coursera, Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski!
By Ir R
•Oct 31, 2015
Very clear, crisp teaching. One can see that much effort of thinking and design went into constructing the course. I especially appreciated the use of illustrations (the zombies, vampire, and such) to illustrate the ideas while creating a powerful (humorous) visual associations with the material covered. The sections were short and concise, making it less threatening to engage, as well as a feeling of accomplishment and progress. I also liked that the quiz questions weren't about tricking the student; rather, the testing were part of the teaching process. In short, the teaching method put into practice what is being taught. It was the first Coursera class I've taken, which has been a true positive experience which inspires me to take additional classes, using, of course, the tips and skills I learned in this course.
By JoAnn K
•Oct 23, 2020
Fantastic course for anyone wanting to learn solid and proven studying techniques. The material was presented in a very easy to understand format. It's a great course for any age group. There are great visuals, analogies, and a lot of humor. Interviews with industry experts were very informative and interesting. Many techniques and tips for learning are provided along with the science behind them. I find it useful to understand why some things work and others don't and the explanations about how the brain works were especially helpful. For my final project I prepared a PowerPoint presentation with many of the techniques and tips in the course with my high schooler in mind. He does not know how to study and is not a reader so the quick tips in the slides provide him (I hope!) with the basics to help him get started.
By Sheila B
•Nov 11, 2018
This was a fantastic course--one that I wish I had taken years ago. The nuns always told me I shouldn't cram for a test, but they never really told me why. Not waiting till the last minute was an admonition right up there with "Eat everything off your plate" and "be nice to your sister." If I had know that that I would actually learn more, probably study less in the long run and do far better in school if I studied at regular intervals and actually tried to recall the material--as opposed to highlighting text and re-reading chapters--I would be less inclined to put homework and studying off till the last minute. And I would have done far better in school and remembered much more from my classes. This course is a must for anyone who wants to be a better learner, whether it be in math and science or in the humanities.
By Mostafa A
•May 6, 2020
I just finished this great course about learning how to learn and finally understood the reason of its great popularity.
Although the learning process and the tips may seem simple and logical, but the design of course is outstanding and highly creative. The course applies practically the princibles it conveys already through the videos which is brilliant. In addition, the instructors teach you why are these ways or tips of learning important through neuroscience and provide you with great amount of resources and research papers that make your subconscious mind more aware about the importance of how you learn the material.
The course also intends to change your mindset about the importance of continuous learning and exploring your potentials through your whole life.
For me it was a great and exciting experience.
By Arie P
•Nov 18, 2016
Superb course, simply exceptional.
This course has hit home in many of the problems I've faced throughout my life not only in studying and learning, but in doing the very tasks I consider important on a daily basis.
The material is fun, engaging, intuitive, and above all interesting.
Professor Oakely and Dr. Sejnowski have done a marvelous job producing such a great course, and presented the material in exceptional grace and compassion.
To say I've enjoyed the journey this course has taken me would be an understatement - it is one of the most important experiences I've ever had.
I cannot thank you enough, and I will be recommending this course to as many people as I can - I believe this course can be timely for anyone, at any age, at any level of education.
A 6 stars out of 5 possible ones for you,
Thank you so very much.
By Doruk D
•Jun 15, 2017
Learning How to Learn is a beginner level study skills course. Its content can be compared to all sorts of text books written for junior year college students to help them put things in order from the beginning. However, this course is informed by most recent neuroscience. What you will hear in the videos is not only practical, but also the simple truth about how your brain works and how you can learn. As a beginner level course, it doesn't take you to the roots of things they teach or any technicality. If you are curious about why and how, you won't find the answers here. But that makes you a specialist, not one of the target audience of the course. In general, Learning How to Learn does an excellent job for its purpose. The course and Barbara Oakley's 2016 book with more elaborate content, are highly recommended.
By captpadua p
•Jul 16, 2022
Ao buscar por um curso que tivesse elementos que me agregariam conhecimentos na área da Neurociência, não pude imaginar o quanto este curso tinha tudo o que eu procurava. Ótimo conteúdo, bem administrado por instrutures comprometidos, com boa didática e principalmente com excelentes formações acadêmicas. A professora Barbara Oakley, tem um carisma espetacular, sabe se expressar e sua calma nos transmite não só o seu conhecimento mas sua experiência de vida. Adorei ter sido seu aluno. O professor Terrence Sejnowski tem profundo conhecimento em neurociência e abordou assuntos super interessantes de forma clara e objetiva. O curso deve fazer parte do currículo de todo profissional que busca complementar sua especialidade pois aumenta potencialmente sua qualificação. Todos estão de parabéns pela criação deste curso.
By Valli G
•Nov 1, 2018
This is the most useful course I have taken in my life.
The lessons are practical and useful.
I see much improvement in my learning abilities & I am more confident now, than before taking this course.
By adopting the techniques I learned in this class, I am learning new subjects to advance my career.
I had been working for years and out of college, I had many doubts about my learning abilities, in particular of new subjects. This course cleared my doubts, dusted off my core abilities.
Great collaboration of the instructors, Dr. Barbara Oakley & Dr. Terrence Sejnowski.
I am very inspired by Dr. Barbara Oakley. I have Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Engineering.
This is the BEST value for my money.
Grateful to Dr. Barbara Oakley & Dr. Terrence Sejnowski for putting this invaluable course. Best Regards.
By Nghia N
•Dec 4, 2019
I first heard about this course through others learning to program. I finally decided to start it, and I'm very glad I did. Barbara Oakley and Terrence Sejnowski both clearly know what they're talking about and their lessons and information opened my eyes to how to efficiently learn. I will likely have to pour over my notes again and again to make sure I am learning correctly.What I found the most interesting was how sleep rids our brain of metabolic toxins and that there was two modes of thinking: focused and diffused. I believe these will have the most impact in my studies. If anyone is on the fence about taking this course, as long as you are interested in improving then I would suggest taking it. It's free after all!Thank you for making this course, and I'm interested in reading the book as well.Best Regards