Ep17 - Barbara Oakley | Learning How to Learn

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Dec 4, 2018

Barbara Oakley, Professor of engineering at Oakland University, discusses effective strategies for learning math and science, including the importance of creative thinking, different modes of thinking in the brain, the role of sleep in learning, the limitations of working memory and multitasking, the benefits of spaced repetition, and the relationship between working memory and creativity.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Learning New Things and Finding Yourself

01:40 • 2min

Overcoming Struggles and Finding Success in Engineering

03:30 • 4min

Modes of Thinking: Focus and Diffuse

07:52 • 16min

The Importance of Sleep in Brain Function and Learning

23:57 • 6min

Exploring the Limitations of Working Memory and the Negative Effects of Multitasking

30:19 • 2min

Effective Learning and Spaced Repetition

31:59 • 7min

Working Memory and Creativity

39:14 • 19min

Mastering One Method of Learning

58:32 • 12min

Barbara Oakley is a professor of engineering at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. She has received many awards for her teaching, including the coveted National Science Foundation New Century Scholar Award.

About the Book:

Whether you are a student struggling to fulfill a math or science requirement, or you are embarking on a career change that requires a higher level of math competency, A Mind for Numbers offers the tools you need to get a better grasp of that intimidating but inescapable field. Engineering professor Barbara Oakley knows firsthand how it feels to struggle with math. She flunked her way through high school math and science courses, before enlisting in the army immediately after graduation. When she saw how her lack of mathematical and technical savvy severely limited her options—both to rise in the military and to explore other careers—she returned to school with a newfound determination to re-tool her brain to master the very subjects that had given her so much trouble throughout her entire life.

In A Mind for Numbers, Dr. Oakley lets us in on the secrets to effectively learning math and science—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. For example, there are more than three hundred different known proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. In short, studying a problem in a laser-focused way until you reach a solution is not an effective way to learn math. Rather, it involves taking the time to step away from a problem and allow the more relaxed and creative part of the brain to take over. A Mind for Numbers shows us that we all have what it takes to excel in math, and learning it is not as painful as some might think!

Get the book here: https://goo.gl/rLUHLC

Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.