

Episode 68: Learning How To Learn with Barbara Oakley
In this engaging discussion, Barbara Oakley, a professor and author known for her insights into how we learn, shares her journey from a Russian translator to a leading educational innovator. She outlines the two pathways of memory—declarative and procedural—and emphasizes the importance of thoughtful practice and pattern recognition in mastering skills like coding. Oakley also explores the thrill of the 'click moment' in learning, the balance of failure and iteration, and the role of curiosity in education. Plus, she highlights her upcoming books and courses.
01:04:14
Discovery Of A Mind-Explaining Book
- Barbara found a book that finally explains the brain's flow and algorithms in a satisfying way.
- She felt excited and eager to read more after a poor prior book experience.
Coach More, Lecture Less
- Give students curated tutorials that match their interests while allowing divergence.
- Coach them with questions instead of supplying every answer to boost agency and learning.
Two Memory Highways
- The brain uses two pathways: declarative (conscious) and procedural (unconscious).
- Effective learning mixes explicit instruction with lots of practice to build both pathways.
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Intro
00:00 • 2min
Barbara's Win: Finding a Great Book on the Brain
02:00 • 2min
Kelly Solves a Regex Kata and the Value of Planning
03:50 • 2min
Sean's Tutorial Projects: Balancing Guidance and Choice
05:59 • 4min
Fails and Challenges: Writing Multiple-Choice Questions
09:33 • 7min
Direct Instruction Misunderstood: Mixing Explanation with Active Learning
16:15 • 7min
Two Learning Pathways: Declarative and Procedural Memory
23:00 • 5min
Drill to Skill: Pattern Recognition and Well-Designed Practice
28:18 • 3min
Overfitting in Brains and Machines: Training Data Matters
31:04 • 8min
The Click Moment: Motivation, Prediction Errors, and Dopamine
39:29 • 8min
Designing Rewarding Learning: Failure, Iteration, and Safe Practice
47:40 • 8min
Questions Over Answers: Encouraging Curiosity
55:42 • 4min
Where to Learn More: Courses and New Books
59:24 • 5min
Outro
01:04:01 • 3sec

#1629
• Mentioned in 18 episodes
A Thousand Brains
A New Theory of Intelligence

Jeff Hawkins
In this book, Jeff Hawkins presents a revolutionary theory of intelligence that explains how the brain creates intelligence through the use of maplike structures to build tens of thousands of models of the world.
The book delves into how these models enable us to perceive the world, understand our sense of self, and originate high-level thought.
It also discusses the implications of this theory for machine intelligence and the future of humanity, highlighting potential threats and opportunities.
#34139
Uncommon Sense Teaching
None


Terrence J. Sejnowski

Beth Rogowsky


Barbara Oakley

#8868
• Mentioned in 4 episodes
Lead Like a Pro

Eric Girard
Lead Like a Pro: The Essential Guide for New Managers provides a roadmap for new managers to succeed in their roles.
The book covers topics such as goal setting, empathy, delegation, and managing change, offering practical advice for building trust and motivating teams.
It is designed for new managers, those about to be promoted, and senior managers seeking to support new leaders.
This week, Kelly & Sean chat with Barbara Oakley, author of the upcoming books Uncommon Sense Teaching and Learn Like a Pro. Together, we talk about everything from learning Russian to the ways that the brain processes information and how teachers can best help students learn.
Barbara Oakley is a professor of engineering, former Russian translater on Soviet fishing trawlers, Antarctic researcher (where she met her husband), author, MOOC creator, and so much more. Kelly and Sean talk to her about the ways that our brain learns and retains knowledge, and how we can use that mechanism to learn how to learn better.
Special Guest: Barbara Oakley.
Links:
- Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects | Coursera — 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.
- Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential | Coursera — Mindshift is designed to help boost your career and life in today’s fast-paced learning environment. Whatever your age or stage, Mindshift teaches you essentials such as how to get the most out of online learning and MOOCs, how to seek out and work with mentors, the secrets to avoiding career ruts (and catastrophes) and general ruts in life, and insights such as the value of selective ignorance over general competence. We’ll provide practical insights from science about how to learn and change effectively even in maturity, and we’ll build on what you already know to take your life’s learning in fantastic new directions. This course is designed to show you how to look at what you’re learning, and your place in what’s unfolding in the society around you, so you can be what you want to be, given the real world constraints that life puts on us all. You’ll see that by using certain mental tools and insights, you can learn and do more—far more—than you might have ever dreamed!
- A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra) 1, Oakley, Barbara - Amazon.com — In A Mind for Numbers, Dr. Oakley lets us in on the secrets to learning effectively—secrets that even dedicated and successful students wish they’d known earlier. Contrary to popular belief, math requires creative, as well as analytical, thinking. Most people think that there’s only one way to do a problem, when in actuality, there are often a number of different solutions—you just need the creativity to see them.
- Amazon.com: Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Kids and Teens eBook: Oakley, Barbara, Sejnowski, Terrence, McConville, Alistair: Kindle Store — A Mind for Numbers and its wildly popular online companion course "Learning How to Learn" have empowered more than two million learners of all ages from around the world to master subjects that they once struggled with. Fans often wish they'd discovered these learning strategies earlier and ask how they can help their kids master these skills as well. Now in this new book for kids and teens, the authors reveal how to make the most of time spent studying.
- Amazon.com: Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential eBook: Oakley, Barbara: Kindle Store — At a time when we are constantly being asked to retrain and reinvent ourselves to adapt to new technologies and changing industries, this book shows us how we can uncover and develop talents we didn’t realize we had—no matter what our age or background. We’re often told to “follow our passions.” But in Mindshift, Dr. Barbara Oakley shows us how we can broaden our passions. Drawing on the latest neuroscientific insights, Dr. Oakley shepherds us past simplistic ideas of “aptitude” and “ability,” which provide only a snapshot of who we are now—with little consideration about how we can change.
- Amazon.com: A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence eBook: Hawkins, Jeff, Dawkins, Richard: Kindle Store — A bestselling author, neuroscientist, and computer engineer unveils a theory of intelligence that will revolutionize our understanding of the brain and the future of AI. For all of neuroscience's advances, we've made little progress on its biggest question: How do simple cells in the brain create intelligence? Jeff Hawkins and his team discovered that the brain uses maplike structures to build a model of the world-not just one model, but hundreds of thousands of models of everything we know. This discovery allows Hawkins to answer important questions about how we perceive the world, why we have a sense of self, and the origin of high-level thought. A Thousand Brains heralds a revolution in the understanding of intelligence. It is a big-think book, in every sense of the word.
- Amazon.com: Uncommon Sense Teaching: Practical Insights in Brain Science to Help Students Learn eBook: Oakley, Barbara, Rogowsky, Beth, Sejnowski, Terrence J.: Kindle Store — A groundbreaking guide to improve teaching based on the latest research in neuroscience, from the bestselling author of A Mind for Numbers. Neuroscientists and cognitive scientists have made enormous strides in understanding the brain and how we learn, but little of that insight has filtered down to the way teachers teach. Uncommon Sense Teaching applies this research to the classroom for teachers, parents, and anyone interested in improving education.
- Amazon.com: Learn Like a Pro: Science-Based Tools to Become Better at Anything eBook: PhD, Barbara Oakley, Schewe, Olav: Kindle Store — Do you spend too much time learning with disappointing results? Do you find it difficult to remember what you read? Do you put off studying because it’s boring and you’re easily distracted? This book is for you. Dr. Barbara Oakley and Olav Schewe have both struggled in the past with their learning. But they have found techniques to help them master any material. Building on insights from neuroscience and cognitive psychology, they give you a crash course to improve your ability to learn, no matter what the subject is. Through their decades of writing, teaching, and research on learning, the authors have developed deep connections with experts from a vast array of disciplines. And it’s all honed with feedback from thousands of students who have themselves gone through the trenches of learning. Successful learners gradually add tools and techniques to their mental toolbox, and they think critically about their learning to determine when and how to best use their mental tools. That allows these learners to make the best use of their brains, whether those brains seem “naturally” geared toward learning or not. This book will teach you how you can do the same.