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

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects by Deep Teaching Solutions

4.8
stars
88,646 ratings

About the Course

This course gives you easy access to the invaluable learning techniques used by experts in art, music, literature, math, science, sports, and many other disciplines. We’ll learn about how the brain uses two very different learning modes and how it encapsulates (“chunks”) information. We’ll also cover illusions of learning, memory techniques, dealing with procrastination, and best practices shown by research to be most effective in helping you master tough subjects. Using these approaches, no matter what your skill levels in topics you would like to master, you can change your thinking and change your life. If you’re already an expert, this peep under the mental hood will give you ideas for turbocharging successful learning, including counter-intuitive test-taking tips and insights that will help you make the best use of your time on homework and problem sets. If you’re struggling, you’ll see a structured treasure trove of practical techniques that walk you through what you need to do to get on track. If you’ve ever wanted to become better at anything, this course will help serve as your guide. This course can be taken independent of, concurrent with, or prior to, its companion course, Mindshift. (Learning How to Learn is more learning-focused, and Mindshift is more career-focused.) A related course by the same instructors is Uncommon Sense Teaching. To join the fully translated Portuguese version of the course, visit: https://www.coursera.org/learn/aprender To join the fully translated Spanish version of the course, visit: https://www.coursera.org/learn/aprendiendo-a-aprender To join the fully translated Chinese version of the course, visit: https://www.coursera.org/learn/ruhe-xuexi To join the fully translated French version of the course, visit : http://www.coursera.org/learn/apprendre-comment-apprendre...

Top reviews

MC

Oct 28, 2019

I enjoyed this course so much. I learned a lot about how I can become a better learner. This course was very interesting and useful. I have some tools that I can use to optimize my learning potential.

ZL

Nov 22, 2015

First MOOC that I can accomplish, even in my busiest days, because I'm motivated to learn the lessons taught in it and I like the teacher and class format (small videos and always repeating concepts).

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301 - 325 of 10,000 Reviews for Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects

By Chansolyka T

May 8, 2020

I had been facing the lack of commitment and strong procrastination for a long time when it come to online learning. I have enrolled and unrolled many courses for years and never had one completed. 4 weeks ago, all of this changed. I logged into my Coursera account again after one year to try for another start and to keep myself learning during this COVID-19 and viola, I saw that I have enrolled in "Learning how to learn" a year ago. It's just a perfect timing. When you are having difficulty keeping your learning going and been giving all the excuses, this is the best course to start and I am happy to say, for the first time in like years since I am on Coursera, this is my first course that I completed and currently I am on another course and is half way through. Pomodoro has been my daily tools for both work and study. 7 to 8 hours sleep and exercise are my priority. To do list before going to bed keep my self motivated waking up next day knowing what I needed to get done. There's so many great tips and I feel like I can do more! Thank you for this amazing course! I can now say with more confident that I am a learner :)

By Lee A

May 23, 2021

I wish I could give this course 10 starts. It is by far the best Coursera course I have taken. It quite possibly could be the best course I have taken in my life. I've had more than a few decades of trips around the sun and have a number of higher education certifications and degrees, so that's quite an achievement.

I will recommend this course to everyone I know well enough to converse with them about learning.

The course was well planned and provides a tremendous amount of substance. Just the required elements go beyond the superficial, but every week provides an extensive list of additional resources and reading to further explore the topics.

The course actually uses the recommended strategies to demonstrate their effectiveness in every lecture.

The instructors are passionate and enthused as well as knowledgeable and accomplished. A variety of techniques are deployed to keep the content engaging and interest. I can't say how much I enjoyed every bit of this course.

I appreciate everyone who was involved in its creation. Kudus especially to Barbara Oakland, whom i've come to view as a friend and coach through this process!

By Laura B

Sep 21, 2015

Amazing course. Concepts and ideas are explained very clearly and thoroughly, and all study techniques taught in this course are based on scientific facts and research. Furthermore, option videos show us fantastic examples of people who succeded at learning, and they are all very inspiring. I don't think I can explain how much the ideas taught in this course touched me deeply. For years I've been thinking that it was pointless for me to study properly because my memory is not that great and I would forget things in a matter of weeks. Well, Barbara & co. made me realize that the development of my memory and my brain is in my hands (and not only in my genes) and I can actively work in order to improve them. Now, I won't probably get a PhD in Engineering, but I feel that -with the right motivation and study techniques- I can really achieve almost everything I want. It's really a great feeling. Thank you so much for this course. Highly recommended to everyone, but especially to those who feel insecure about their study methods and academic achievements. I wish someone taught me all of this when I was actually a student!

By Rufus F R j

Dec 6, 2019

This course is potentially useful to anyone at any age from any background. There are useful tools in this subject matter that can help most any learner learn any subject more easily whether in an academic environment or a non-academic environment. This course is more than a self-help course because the course lays a foundation as to how to learn any subject matter. Because this course is contemporaneously based in scholarly and scientific research, social science, and especially brain science, the learner is benefiting from some of the most recent and sound knowledge available without pedantic complexity. This course takes some very complex knowledge and makes that data easily accessible to most learners such that the learners may become self-actualized. This course can be truly transformative in nature because this course will change a learner's perspective about how to learn anything and change a learner's perspective about one's self. This course is not snake oil. I know because this course has changed how I learn and changed me as a person. In short, this course has positively changed my life.

By Omar A

May 29, 2020

It's strange that I didn't know about the information in this course before. It makes learning fun and easier than what I used to. It's not about math or science, it's about everything you learn in live.

I recommend this course to everyone who want a better learning approach. This course is a good start to know about learning.

a Quick summery for the course:

1- It's important to know you need to study and rest. It's like exercising, You need to work, but you need to rest to let your body build the muscles.

2- You need to get the big idea of what you are learning before diving into deep details. It makes getting the idea easier.

3- Procrastination is a tough problem for learners, but you will be shocked of how easy it's to tackle it.

4- It's important to know how the brain works

5- some people are talented. others need to work harder, but that doesn't mean they are worse. If they worked harder, they will show you their true potential. Example: People with ADHD, They have to work harder to grasp the information, but once they understand it, they will be creative with it.

I wish my review was helpful.

By Oisín M F

May 7, 2020

This easy and accessible course provides some guidance for studying more effectively, based on research in neuroscience and psychology. It gives a grounding in some fundamental cognitive processes like chunking and our working memory systems.

Later sections discuss practical tips for study, test preparation and relaxation / self-care.

It would be nice perhaps to expand on the section dealing with mnemonics and provide some more concrete, practical examples, perhaps discussing systems like PAO (person-action-object), linking sequences and the Major system for memorising numbers.

Also, for language study, there has been a slowly rising interest and awareness of the "comprehensible input" theory of language acquisition popularised by Stephen Krashen's work, and embodied in methods like TPRS or the "natural method". These approaches are very different from how adults typically study second languages, and it would be good to provide some information about them (complimentary, critical or descriptive).

Overall, this is an excellent course that I'd recommend to everybody. I look forward to more from the authors.

By Elias T

Mar 23, 2021

This course gives you easy access to the invaluable learning techniques used by experts in art, music, literature, math, science, sports, and many other disciplines. We’ll learn about the how the brain uses two very different learning modes and how it encapsulates (“chunks”) information. We’ll also cover illusions of learning, memory techniques, dealing with procrastination, and best practices shown by research to be most effective in helping you master tough subjects.

Using these approaches, no matter what your skill levels in topics you would like to master, you can change your thinking and change your life. If you’re already an expert, this peep under the mental hood will give you ideas for: turbocharging successful learning, including counter-intuitive test-taking tips and insights that will help you make the best use of your time on homework and problem sets. If you’re struggling, you’ll see a structured treasure trove of practical techniques that walk you through what you need to do to get on track. If you’ve ever wanted to become better at anything, this course will help serve as your guide

By Scarlett L

Oct 30, 2020

This course has been a life changer. Taking "Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects" and know that there is scientific research to back up the research, has been a eye opener, that anyone can learn new material no matter what the subject. I believe anyone who has ever doubted their ability to learn any new material, or has a "I cannot do this" attitude should take this class: that would be me. I always thought I had a learning challenge, turns out me and millions of others do too. A lot of this is the ability to believe in yourself, keep an I can do attitude and to know that it is okay to make mistakes, to use that as a learning too. Don't let anyone tell you, you can't do something...give it a try, with all your might, heart and brain power. It's okay, keep learning, the world of knowledge is at our feet, only "you' can decide to learn or not to learn. Barbara Oakley and Terrance Sijnowski both do an amazing job presenting the material in their videos. This was my first online class. I can't wait to take another course through Coursera. THANK YOU!!

By Dr M Z R

Apr 20, 2021

Ramesh completed this course, spending 3 hours a week on it.

There are lots of opinions on how to learn, which from this course it has provided me with research-based outputs that somehow or the other gave me a new understanding of learning approaches and techniques.

Some parts are actually within my knowledge and practice, such as metaphors and analogies + visualization.

The teamwork seems to provide great reflection material. As I found that sometimes I am uneasy to perform all the time teamwork as sometimes my opinions are rejected because of my less influential behaviour. And, having a community that looks high on opinions, the influential skills are considered as a leadership norm in teamwork. However, spotting errors and noticing them from other team members are really useful. For example, when we are developing software that requires counter checking our codes. That is why we are now practising Pair Programming, even many similar communities do.

Great course. I will need to train to have a good "holistic" right-brain from now on.

BRAVO to Dr Barb and Dr Terry.

Thanks

Sincerely

Ramesh Zaidi Rozan

By Nina U

Sep 30, 2021

I enrolled in this course for fun and to check some of my assumptions and learning methods. I finished law (practicing for almost 10 years now) and can assure you studying would be a much easier and happier period of my life if I had this knowledge. Many of the positive practices and mistakes one is familiar with, but they really sound different when said out loud with examples and scientific background. I would even argue this course is an absolute must when it comes to social (humanistic) studies and studies where you can't gain much practical knowledge, i.e. legal studies. You learn from the book, but you get seldom practice during your studies. Only when you start working, you learn all over again. So, for the type of studies where you are on your own with enormous amount of pages to learn, I would say this course is an absolute must for your sanity. For everybody else as well, of course, cause it provides valuable knowledge, but students of the 'me and my books' type of studies can really benefit. Instructors are excellent, interviews are interesting, thank you for this course! Best, Nina

By Damien Y

Aug 4, 2022

I'd give it 10 stars if I could! Only 4 weeks to getting a deep dive into, not only how we learn on a habitual and neurological level, but also tips and proven strategies for combating procrastination, stress, and getting stuck in difficult subject areas. I found myself using these strategies immediately during the course, which ultimately helped me retain and complete the course ahead of schedule. I decided to enroll in this course before starting a Software Engineering Professional Certificate on Coursera, and I am so glad I took this course first. I now have proven strategies and tactics for handling stress, imposter syndrome, getting stuck, and a test-taking 'checklist' that will get me through just about every scenario that could derail my studies. I recommend this course to absolutely everyone! From high schoolers looking to improve their grades, to individuals of any age attempting to learn something new, for whatever reason. You will not regret taking this course! It has changed my approach to learning and my belief in my own ability to learn and succeed in my chosen area of study.

By Robyn L

Jun 11, 2016

It's a useful and interesting course for me.

I had graduated from university for several years.The long I graduated the more I felt hard to learn faster and easier.Too much things to make learning planning procrastinated, and I felt fidget, frustrated, and hard to concentrate.

I tried my best to find a solution (I thought).I spent much more time on learning,but that didn't work.Once I thought learning new things was for those who were young or high IQ.

After I learned Learning How to Learn,I found I was terribly wrong.Firstly, the most important thing is,after I use these methods which the course taught,I find self -confidence feel fun and find learning is interesting.No more frustrated,and no more self-denial. Secondly,learning is a life time work,and the brain is ready for it,I just need to know how to make it prepared.

I recommend this course to those who had left school for years,and now who want to learn more.

I also think this course is useful for students to study much better.

Thank you.

(In the end, sorry for those grammar mistakes,English is not my native langue,I studied on my-own.)

By Jun W L

Oct 2, 2017

Initially I thought this course is going to be boring just by looking at the title of the course, but I was wrong. Dr. Barbara Oakley, one of the key speaker of this course was a humorous person, and I can see how she put efforts into all her content to prepare for a course that goes straight to the point where you can see direct practicality in real life, and also cut downs all the jargons into duh-duh easy to understand languages. I really enjoy my time in learning how to learn from her, and it totally re-shaped my understanding towards test-taking and what is the actual best way to study. I benefited a lot from this course. Let me end with my favourite remark from this course by Dr. Sejnowski, "You have not truly learned something unless you can teach it to others." To Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Sejnowski, thanks for your effort in this course. I enjoyed my time learning from the both of you. To those who are struggling with test-taking, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you to consider this course, and I believe it is going to have a momentum change in how you approach learning and test-taking.

By Дарʼя-Асенія К

May 17, 2021

The course has been a gift to me. I was struggling right now from the personal crisis, the feeling of wrong selection of the university, and the inability to achieve something concrete. The course has proved that there is only boundaries inside of our heads. Barbara Oakley herself is an example there is no limits to change life by selecting a new career. I cannot say that I absolutely changed myself after the course because bug changes cannot happen at once, but with no doubts, this course is a great helper for my future changes.I worked on the final assignment for 2 weeks and did a really good job. This is a good feeling of working consistently on something and achieving the results at the end.I have started too many Coursera courses, but this is the first one I am going to finish finally. I will recommend this course to everyone literally because my university was an example of how you SHOULD NOT HAVE study, but this course gives a person an understanding of it and the belief you can provide changes in your life.Thanks for teaching how to learn, Barbara and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski

By Matas M

May 27, 2022

Simple and elegant course to introduce you to the fundamentals of building good study habits that will enhance your abilities to learn and retain information. Topics are presented and bite-sized pieces at an appropriate speed, mini-test and questions encourage you to go back over newly acquired information, and polls and paragraphs entice you to reflect on your own learning experiences and learning journey. This course is very beginner friendly and serves wonderfully as a resource to put you into a productive and upbeat mindset when dealing with having to study. It does appear to be quite old given the presentation style and graphics, however, this should not deter the learner as the production quality is still fairly well done. The course itself will not teach you any amazing secret techniques to ace all of your exams, but will rather build a solid understanding of how we learn, and some techniques anyone could employ to improve their learning skills. This course will build skills that will help you live a more fulfilling life, if you choose to use them. Definitely worth a shot.

By Carl l

Jun 26, 2017

I want to say a special thank you to Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski for this outstanding course on Learning How to Learn. I have plans to put to practice the material from this course and share the key points with friends, students and associates. I am finding myself already reviewing my notes in my head. My next thing to accomplish today is to order the POMODORO Timer the one that looks like an apple. I also have plans to read more of the additional works on Procrastination and Memory. I feel a new sense of purpose after taking this course. Thanks again to Dr. Oakley, Dr. Sejnowski, UC San Diego, Coursera, and all of the folks behind the scenes that helped make this the number one most popular online course in the world. I am wondering what student number I have out of the 2 million who have already successfully completed this course? Is this the end of an era of Learning How to Learn? Just maybe Watson A.I. will become how we learn in the future classroom, or on online or at home. Add VR to the mix and anything is possible. We are living in very exciting times.

By Jakub P

Oct 23, 2017

Couldn't imagine better introduction into MOOCs and strongly believe this course should be included into formal education curriculum as obligatory and one of the most important ones. That's because it deals with the very basics of education - what learning is, how do the brain do it, what processes are involved and how to use them properly. Understanding this in the first place would make huge improvement to any further learning no matter the skill.

Course could be valuable either for those starting their education (giving them proper tools, changing perspective, etc.) and more advanced learners (backing some of their intuitions with scientific data, dealing with some misconceptions, consolidating and presenting knowledge in well structured way). It's all done in layman terms and thanks to dr. Oakley in a very kind, fun and supportive atmosphere.

Another good indicator that creators practice what they preach is the design of the course itself - videos served in digestible "chunks", funny and attention keeping quizzes, little reviews, etc. Overall - highly recommended.

By BIKOUTA-MENGA

May 29, 2017

Hello,

I am an NLP Master from France. I have developped differents skills in learning or life coaching ( Erickson Hypnosis, Neuro Semantics...) Your course is just a very good one. And for free ???? No excuse for anyone who wants to improve its skills about learning how to learn. If You are interested about the functionnal of the Brain that even the best scientist as never talked about until today, I strongly recommand you to read The Hidden Face Of The Brain written By Dominique AUBIER. You have never read something like that. I sware because she reveald what the Brain is for the Traditions and compare the Crown knowledge and the Scientist Knowledge reuniting those both approach that are usually describe as opposite. This books is probably the best TOP interleaving learning you have never read. Thank you so much for what you did. Maybe once a day we will meet. But if we don't you will shall say to all the people you know Cyrille BIKOUTA-MENGA aka WALLO11.37.04 has followed our course. THANK YOU SO MUCH Mrs OAKLEY. Keep going smiling and sharing all your knowledge.

By Starostin K

Mar 12, 2021

An extraordinary course. I came here to acquire 20% of the most valuable tools to learn more efficient (which would give me 80% of the result). I've found exactly that and more! Each tool basically is explained via a similar framework, though not always in that order: a problem (e.g. hard to undestand math), a scientific explanation of a reason (e.g. math is abstract => less connections in the brain => harder to recognize patterns), a tested tool as a solution (e.g. find or create easier to grasp physical metaphors which will create required patterns via a "side door").

I've found more, because I have understood that without the consistency and focus no result can be achieved - both for work or learning, for the latter especially. Now I am actively integrating the knowledge from course to my life and can already see the improvements!

My advice - if you want to seriously grow, please take time and patience to REALLY understand the concepts and REALLY integrate them in your life. Basically you'd want to integrate all valuable tools as habits in your brain.

Good luck!

By Enyu L

Apr 29, 2018

This is by far one of the most rewarding courses I have ever taken! As a psychology major, I really love the way how Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski not only discussed the many useful learning techniques but carefully explained how those methods work neurologically, and I believe understanding the underline neural networks could definitely help us make better use of what we have learned from this course.

My favorite part of this program were actually the optional interviews Dr. Oakley did with many other very accomplished scientists and learners. It was always inspiring getting to know how they learned and what they though would be the best way to learn effectively. Also, I have to admit that the way how this class was presented -- one several-minute video for one small topic -- was in effect quite convenient when I felt the need to review a few concepts. I could simply look at the title of video and recall the points involved in the lecture.

In short, this class was surprisingly rewarding, and I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn better.

By G G

Sep 5, 2019

This is a great course, I wish I had learned it before or during my university studies and not many years later.

When I started university I had a lot of misconceptions about how to learn in a smart way. High school was pretty easy for me so I never learned how to study hard material, and subsequently I struggled through my years in university. This course is for people who lack the correct learning techniques and habits. Not everyone can force their way through university by sheer brain power - some have more and some have less of it. Understanding how your brain works and how to feed it information the right way, when to give it a rest and which kind of rest, how to leverage your diffused mode of thinking and even how to approach an exam - these are all skills that will help you achieve more, while staying focused and energized.

Even if you're busy, this course is well worth your time, and pretty much all of it can be learned without even looking at the screen, so just download the course and listen to it during your commute or your jogging. Thanks Barbara!

By Dr. C R

Aug 20, 2020

I enjoyed the course very much!! Thank you. Highly applicable to my profession (teaching) and really useful. In a nutshell I learnt about - Learning, thinking, memory, chunking, avoiding procrastination, habits, testing, use of analogy and metaphors, and so much more - which I know will directly impact my ability to learn well and to advise my students on how to learn.The videos were short and not too much of a strain on students like me (working people)I enjoyed Dr. Barbara Oakley's way of presenting every topic - very clear, specific and ofcourse warm and friendly. It was like - she was talking to you!! Dr. Terrence Sejnowski tends to do one main video a week, detailing more on the anatomical aspect of the brain.There are plenty of interviews that you can watch, lots of reading material that was available (though I was selective about it). Its however in my list of 'to read'This course was a very rewarding one that I have taken.I highly recommend this course to all teachers, students and even parents who will understand how 'learning' can be improved.

By Mary V

Jul 11, 2016

This course ought to be given in Freshman year of High School and again in Freshman Year of College. Dr. Oakley is a wonderful conduit for this information. In week 4 the ADD brain is discussed with examples of what the world considers brilliant men. Amazing to learn why my learning as well as my daughter's has a "delay". I noticed her brain development when she was a baby. Day after day I'd try and teach her a new word or sign language or body shape in play. Days later after I thought okay, I'll wait and try something new, she'd do the thing I was teaching her days before. I did not understand this at all. For me now, I see how and why when information comes into my mind, it scatters and then days later, I feel a knowledge chunk forming. wow. This is something I wish I knew many years before. But it is good now that I learned so much about learning and how to feel positive about how best to use what I have to learn new things. Great course. I believe everyone should be required to take this course early in life... and then refresher later on.

By Rochelle

Nov 7, 2022

Great compilation of tools and ideas to help people interested in honing how to learn better. I think if I had this class in my youth my educational future and career would have turned out very differently. I loved the interviews and Dr. Oakley having her and the interviewees' personal life tidbits from their lives and bringing what they know about learning to her course. That really kept me engaged and relaxed.

I loved how the course touched on human emotion, science, and health to teach us how to learn. I was aware and used some techniques- like Anki and the Pomodoro technique- but bringing everything together with other topics like interleaving and chunking made this class eye-opening.

As a student that relies heavily on MOOC and self-teaching, I realize I had a very shaken and insecure outlook on my learning because I have to depend so much on myself to get the info in my head. I'm so ready and confident to continue virtual learning in pretty much any subject including my terror subject: Math!

Thank you, Dr.Oakley and Learning How to Learn Team.