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edX

Learn Like a Pro: Science-Based Tools to Become Better at Anything

via edX

Overview

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 course is for you!

Dr. Barbara Oakley—instructor of some of the most popular online courses of all time—and her co-instructor Olav Schewe, educational coach extraordinaire, have struggled in the past with their learning. But they’ve found ways to succeed—Barb has gone from a math-phobic failure in high school to become an engineering professor, and Olav has gone from a mediocre, muddling student to become a standout in his graduate studies at Oxford. In Learn Like a Pro , Olav and Barb lay out techniques based on easy-to-understand but cutting-edge neuroscientific research that can also help you master any material.

Learn Like a Pro is like no other course on learning—it weaves late-breaking insights from neuroscience into Barb and Olav’s previous research and teaching to show unexpected, yet practical, new approaches. You’ll learn why note-taking isn’t always beneficial and why speed-reading techniques don’t work (they speed up only your eyes, not your brain—but there is something better you can do instead). You’ll also learn why the best strategies for learning a new language as an adult are inevitably different from the approaches you used as a child. And guess what? The same techniques you might use to boogie-down with dance or sink a basketball share can, with clever retooling, also help you gradually become an expert coder or master at chess.

Think you aren’t so smart? Learn why your slower way of learning can help you see the faulty assumptions and discover deeper truths that even geniuses can miss. In fact, you’ll learn how applying useful learning techniques to your slow-learning approach can help you to sometimes perform better than mental superstars. Are you already a great learner? Learn Like a Pro will give you useful tools to become even more powerful in your learning. (Pro tip—what you’ve previously been taught about how to learn successfully is often the opposite of what neuroscience tells us about how to learn most successfully.) This inspirational course will also teach you how to boost your motivation and creatively handle frustration—no matter what you’re learning. You’ll find new pathways to triumph, and you’ll have a lot of fun while you’re at it. Join us at Learn Like a Pro and boost your learning success today!

Taught by

Olav Schewe and Barbara Oakley

Reviews

4.9 rating, based on 201 Class Central reviews

Start your review of Learn Like a Pro: Science-Based Tools to Become Better at Anything

  • A compact course packed with information and techniques to help you learn more quickly and effectively. While some information is the same as in Barbara Oakley's Learning How to Learn, it introduces new material and explains the "Why" behind the strategies presented. Also includes some interactive activities and encourages effective participation in the discussion forums. A well-made course!
  • The best course about how to learn. I became a much better student and more motivate to do everything I need to do. I recommend a lot.
  • Yet another top course from Barbara Oakly, building further on previous successes, improving the material and adding new concepts. This is a short course full of tips & tricks to improve your learning, backed by scientific research. The animations...
  • This was an informative course presented in compact learning modules. The instructors did a great job presenting information on the topic in easy-to-digest ways. I appreciated their inclusion of both visual and auditory learning modalities.
  • Excellent introduction to the process and to smart methods of learning. The teachers are engaging and fun; the course is short and well structured.
  • It has very clear videos and good exercises to practice. Great tools recommended. The two people that teach are very good to explaining the concepts.
  • Anonymous
    I have found this course to be hugely helpful, insightful and inspiring. I find it to be very useful from a practical perspective. I have confidence in the tools and ideas taught in this course as they are based in science and research. I also find that it made me feel a great deal better about problems I have encountered with learning new things in the past, it explained why things may not have gone so well and has given me ways to address that. I can also see that I can apply the techniques to a number of areas of my life - not just formal study. Highly recommend. Thanks Barb and Olav.
  • Profile image for Lory Moore
    Lory Moore
    A fascinating journey through the science and art of learning. Clearly both instructors are fluent in the evidence-based methods for improving cognition and retention, and they have developed a cohesive, entertaining and stimulating presentation to deliver complex topics, such as metacognition. I will be following their guidelines in reviewing the material, to more deeply embed the concepts in my own brain, and to be able to share them with my students.
  • Anonymous
    The instructors explained techniques that were applied immediately and the results were instantaneous. I especially enjoyed the visual description which gave me a picture of what they were talking about and exactly how to apply it.

    Previously, I heard about the concept of a mind palace in the series "Sherlock" and thought it was something only geniuses like Sherlock can use, now I am convinced otherwise and will apply the skills learned in this course to improve my learning of finance.
  • Anonymous
    I loved this course, it was helpful in many ways. Firstly it had many helpful techniques that I would recommend to both teachers and students. Also, the techniques are easier to comprehend because they go over what goes on in the brain. The class is easy to pay attention to as the videos are engaging and fun. Additionally, the teachers are easy to relate to.
  • Liam O'Sullivan
    The course has a gentle, dorky humour which belies the good lessons it taught me - I was convinced to use the creators' techniques as I learned them to study this pithy MOOC in an attempt at metacognition they would be proud of! Definitely a good foundation for getting back into (self-directed) study for someone like me who's been away for a few years.
  • Anonymous
    The course help me to understand the science behind learning, provided good explanation of processes and suggestions to assist with learning. I will take the information and suggestions provided and apply them to my learning of American sign language, a foreign language and music development in playing the keyboard. Thank you.
  • Anonymous
    I have learnt a lot of tips and knowledge from this course. I have managed to use what I know from the course to help me learn like a pro. I understand more about learning and about neural science. I am able to use my knowledge to help me and others in every day life. It was an easy to understand and interesting course.
  • Profile image for Adhiraj Vohra
    Adhiraj Vohra
    Nice course. Since this is the first time I went through such as course i.e. how approach learning ; most of the thing were new to me. If someone wants to delve into this topic than this course is for them. Remember to apply the learnings from this course to THIS COURSE as well. Happy Learning!
  • Anonymous
    I only audited the course. I took a similar course/audited on Coursera about a year or two ago. This is a much better, improved, simpler, and shorter course-while very effective. I recommend the course to parents of school-age children as well. I asked...
  • Anonymous
    This course is amazing, I loved it. I want to thank the authors for this awesome content, the information is so complete and the strategies for improving the learning procese are incredible. I wish I knew all this valuable information before.
  • Anonymous
    Excellent course that is a teriffic companion to Barb's Learning How to Learn MOOC (LHTL is not at all a prerequisite). Firmly grounded in the foundations of neuroscience (a familiarity with which is not needed), this course makes learning what could...
  • Anonymous
    I have found this course to be hugely helpful, insightful and inspiring. I find it to be very useful from a practical perspective. I have confidence in the tools and ideas taught in this course as they are based in science and research. I also find that it made me feel a great deal better about problems I have encountered with learning new things in the past, it explained why things may not have gone so well and has given me ways to address that. I can also see that I can apply the techniques to a number of areas of my life - not just formal study. Highly recommend. Thanks Barb and Olav.
  • Carol Burke
    I have found this course to be hugely helpful, insightful and inspiring. I find it to be very useful from a practical perspective. I have confidence in the tools and ideas taught in this course as they are based in science and research. I also find that it made me feel a great deal better about problems I have encountered with learning new things in the past, it explained why things may not have gone so well and has given me ways to address that. I can also see that I can apply the techniques to a number of areas of my life - not just formal study. Highly recommend. Thanks Barb and Olav.
  • Anonymous
    The course was really amazing and those short videos helped a lot. The practical illustrations and basic quiz helped to retain whatever was taught in class. I liked the concept explained here that online learning is effective as compared to other types of learning and i had a doubt regarding motivation for online learning which was resolved at a later stage of course. I would definitely recommend the course to others who want to learn like a pro.

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