Learning How to Learn by Barbara Oakley, Summary

Introduction

There’s a course with the same name as the book, and thousands of people have taken it. I read Learning How to Learn a few years ago. The book has some excellent information you can immediately apply. In an age where skills are changing, and technology is changing, professionals need to be learning agile. That’s the only way that you’ll be able to keep up to remain relevant. I thought this book was a godsend, and it gave me hope that I’d be okay.

Learning How to Learn is a comprehensive exploration of how to maximize learning and develop skills for life. Written by Barbara Oakley, Terrence Sejnowski, and Alistair McConville, this book provides readers with the tools and techniques necessary to become highly effective learners. Through an examination of the neuroscience behind learning and memory, authors Oakley, Sejnowski, and McConville guide readers through an understanding of how the brain works in order to successfully acquire new knowledge.

The authors explore two types of thinking: focused attention and diffuse mode. Focused attention involves concentrating on one task at a time; whereas diffuse mode is when you are relaxed but still using your brainpower in creative ways such as problem solving or making connections between ideas. With these two modes combined, readers can learn more effectively by taking breaks from intense focus while still engaging their brains mentally. The authors, Barbara Oakley, Terrence Sejnowski, and Alistair McConville, draw on the latest research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience to offer insights into how the brain learns and how you can maximize your learning potential.

One key takeaway from the book is the importance of “chunking,” or breaking down large pieces of information into smaller, more manageable chunks. The authors explain that our brains are better able to process and retain information when it is presented in this way.

Another important concept discussed in the book, Learning How to Learn is the role of sleep and rest in learning. The authors argue that getting enough sleep and taking breaks to rest and recharge is crucial for effective learning. They also discuss the importance of spacing out your study sessions over time, rather than trying to cram all of your studying into a single, intense session.

In addition to these more general learning strategies, the authors also provide tips on how to approach specific subjects, such as math and science, in a more effective way. They discuss techniques like visualization, which can help you understand complex concepts more easily, and the importance of building a strong foundation of knowledge before moving on to more advanced topics.

Summary of Learning How to Learn

The working world of the future requires creatives. This is important for a few reasons. First, Mark Cuban once said that the only skill you need is creativity. I wouldn't go that far, but creativity is very important. So, creatives play an important role in society. Second, if you're creative, chances are your work is original. If that’s the case, in the age of artificial intelligence, for now, your work is protected because it’s not “copyable”.

Before you read a nonfiction book, it’s important to do a picture walk of a chapter. Look at:

• Pictures, diagrams, and any images.
• Bold and italicized words.
• Section headings
• Summaries.
• Questions at the end of the chapter.

Doing a picture walk of a chapter before you read it gives you the helicopter view of what the chapter is about. When I train leaders, I advise them to preview the entire book before they read. The focus is not on one chapter at a time, but on the entire book. In the book, you’re advised to zone out to solve a problem. This is consistent with the information on problem-solving and creativity models.

Focused Mode vs Diffuse Mode

The brain works in a focused and diffuse mode. Sometimes it’s focused and other times when it wanders. Both modes are necessary to learn effectively. You can be in only one mode at a time. You can change your brain through learning. Diffuse mode uses a different part of the brain than when you’re focused. You can make connections between ideas when your brain is in diffuse mode. When you’re focused, you make trails in your brain. When you first learn a subject, you lay trails in your brain.

You follow the trail you laid for the subject when you are working on a problem. When you want to think, you’re in focused mode. When you want to think more freely, you’re in diffuse mode – when you want to see the bigger picture.

To learn effectively:

• Focus to turn on the relevant parts of the brain to get the process started.
• Move to diffuse mode.

Focused Mode

• Certain parts of your brain go to work when you’re thinking about something.
• Put specific parts of the brain to work.
• Paying attention.

Diffuse Mode

• Activates certain parts of your brain when you’re thinking about nothing.
• Relaxed mind.
• Think about nothing in particular.
• Daydream.
• Doodle.

Procrastination

What is procrastination? It’s putting something off for later. When you put off something that’s important to your success, at first it doesn’t seem like it has much impact, but over time it can have a devastating effect. When you get accustomed to procrastinating, it makes doing important tasks harder. You get stressed and miss deadlines. You’ll also fall behind. Procrastination is bad for effective learning. You run out of time to focus on studying information. No time to focus on what you learned.

To stop procrastination, get going. Francesco Cirillo came up with the Pomodoro Technique. You can use the Pomodoro Technique to avoid procrastination and to focus. Time and practice work hand-in-hand. You learn more effectively. You need the time to practice what you’re learning. Procrastination robs you of time. When you have enough time, you can build learning structures. When you think about something you don’t like, it activates the insular cortex, which is the pain center of the brain.

Have you read?

The Pomodoro Technique by Francesco Cirillo, Review

How Pomodoro Technique Works

1. Get rid of all distractions. Wear noise canceling headphones if you must. That means turning off your phone, TV and computer.
2. Set the timer for 25 minutes.
3. Focus on the task for 25 minutes.
4. Reward yourself for 5 to 10 minutes. Do something that puts you in diffuse mode – dance, watch a video, go for a walk. Get into diffuse mode.

When you switch your focus, you waste mental energy. If the task takes over 25 minutes, don’t sweat it, you could always do another Pomodoro. Your mind may wander during the 25 minutes, so just refocus it. If thoughts come to you while doing your Pomodoro, jot them down so you won’t forget them. Then go back to the task at hand.

If you’re in a state of flow when the 25 minutes are up, you can continue to work. When you stop, reward yourself. Do something that’s very different from the task you were focusing on.

Rest the area of the brain you are using to do the task. Work on only one task when you’re doing Pomodoro. If you complete a task before the 25 minutes are up, you can start another task then. NO MULTITASKING.

Multitasking does not work, you can only focus on one task at a time.Set your timer for your break. Taking a break puts you in diffuse mode, which helps your learning. The insular cortex is the pain center of the brain. When you don’t want to do something, you engage the insular cortex. When you start the dreaded task, the pain disappears in 20 minutes. The insular cortex calms down. The point? Get started!

3 Steps to Powerful Reading

1. Picture walk: This is previewing a chapter before you read it to get a lay of the land.
2. Read with care.
3. Active recall.

Active Recall

This is where you pull key ideas from your mind. Take a couple of minutes to recall the information you’re trying to learn. This is one way you can move something from short-term memory into long-term memory. And even recalling the information in different physical environments can help your brain grasp it better.

Illusions of Competence

• The best way to learn is to recall.
• Reduce the number of highlights. Try to understand the main idea first and then highlight. Highlighting or underlining can also lead to this illusion of learning.
• Notes and helpful words are great.Tests yourself.l
• You can master a new subject by interleaving (jumping between different problems/situations, using different tools/strategies)problems/situations, use different techniques/strategies)

Sleep

Getting enough sleep is important to learning. Sleep:

• Cleans toxic products in your brain.
• Erases the less important parts of memories.
• Strengthens areas you need or want to remember.

Concentrate intently during the day when learning. The brain changes when you learn. Practice what you learn, so you do not forget. Space your practice to remember longer.

Neurons are throughout your body and not just your brain. When you learn something new, practice and get enough sleep. You grow new dendritic spines and synaptic links. The more you do this, the more it happens.

I love this — practice makes it permanent. Space out your learning to allow time to sleep on it after practice. When you learn something new, practice active recall to solidify learning. Build on what you already learned. Each subject you study, give it your full attention. To learn a new subject, after you finish your reading each day, take 10 minutes to recall what you read that day.

Tricks to Build Memory

You put in and take out information out of your long-term memory. Is the information a fact or a picture? The brain has to decide where to put information in the long-term memory. You can work to develop a great memory.

• Facts are harder to store in the long-term memory.
• Facts are often abstract, so it’s hard to picture, so it’s hard to picture them.
• Picture information is easier to remember.
• Figure out how you can convert a fact into a picture to remember it.

More Memory Strategies

1. Use the information you want to remember to make a song.
2. Make up metaphors to remember the information. Tie it to what you know already
3. Take notes to let the information stick. Note taking is learning.
4. Imagine that you’re the object or idea that you’re learning and trying to remember. Write about it.
5. Associate numbers with well-known shapes and characters. What stories can you create to remember?
6. Teach the information to another person. Practice active recall.
7. Use sleep to anchor the new ideas you’re learning.
8. Choose an object to explain what you’re learning.

Healthy Lifestyle

• Exercise and sleep strengthen memories. Learning in one area can give you ideas in other areas.
• Exercise pumps up your brain. Hippocampus is important for remembering facts and events.
• When you sleep, information you learned moves from the hippocampus to neurons in the cerebral cortex. Sleep clears out the hippocampus to make room for new learning. When you suffer from amnesia, you have damage in the hippocampus. New neurons born in the hippocampus every day.
• It’s good to have new learning experiences because it stimulates the hippocampus. New synapses from old and new neurons in the hippocampus make new brain-links. Sleep helps the new brain-links in the hippocampus help to make brain-links in the long-term memory of the cerebral cortex stronger. Exercise helps new neurons to grow.

Two Ideas Behind Linking

How to make brain links:

1. Deliberate Practice
2. Interleaving

Deliberate Practice

1. When you practice enough, you build brain-links.
2. It is important to learn new things and not just practice what you already know.
3. Deliberate practice – focus on the harder stuff.

Interleaving

1. Practice choosing between techniques and items.
2. Practice different aspects and techniques of a skill you are trying to learn.
3. This is interleaving.

Making a Set of Brain-Links

Focus

• Focus is important for memorizing
• Concentrate to form new brain-links

Active Practice

• Practice what you’re learning.
• Try new techniques.
• Get feedback in case you need to correct something.

Practice a new skill over several days.

• Go to bed early.
• Get enough sleep.
• Helps to form new synaptic brain-links.

Practice with interleaving solving problems. At first it will be hard, then it gets easier. Use active recall to create brain-links. Don’t memorize solutions. Look at problems and learn how to create brain-links.

Scramble the hints to develop order in your writing. This allows you to build writing links to pull good writing from your mind.

Conclusion

In Learning How to Learn by Barbara Oakley, Terrence Sejnowski, Alistair McConville, readers are provided with an informative and comprehensive overview of the various strategies they can use to maximize their learning potential. Through the authors' exploration of neuroscience and educational psychology research, readers have gained insight into how to better focus their attention, develop deeper understanding of material, and consolidate knowledge. The book's approach is based on a combination of science-backed tips for improving learning efficacy as well as practical advice for developing good study habits.

It provides practical strategies to help students of all ages better understand how their brains work and how to use that knowledge in learning effectively. With the growing amount of information available today, it is increasingly important for students to become aware of the different techniques they can use to learn more efficiently. The instructors provide an overview of the various methods that can be used before, during and after studying to maximize learning potential.

The book covers a range of topics including working memory, procrastination, chunking and metacognition. It also explains the importance of sleep for memory consolidation as well as identifying obstacles which can impede learning such as anxiety or stress. Ultimately, Learning How to Learn provides an invaluable resource for learners at any level seeking to unlock their full potential in their studies. It emphasizes the importance of taking breaks from studying and actively engaging with material rather than simply memorizing facts or formulas.

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