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学习之道
由顾明远、张东娇教授主编的《中国学制百年》 ，回望自清政府颁行《奏定学堂章程》以来中国学校制度的百年变迁历史，透过权威而精当的史料分析，展现了中国教育者在动荡和匮乏的年代，为了传承中华文化，为了强壮民族精神共御外辱，为了新民主主义革命的胜利而做出的艰苦卓绝的努力，也展现了新中国的领导人和教育工作者们，为了改善全体人民的文化素养，为了每一个儿童的全面发展，而付出的辛勤探索。
本书分清末、民国时期以及新中国成立后三个时期，对中国近现代学制形成、改革的背景、内容及意义做了细致的梳理，总结了其中的经验和教训，适合愿意了解中国近现代学校制度改革史的一般读者，也可作为教育学专业本科生、研究生的学习参考资料。
根据美国核心课程标准编写
练习带动学习，互动激发兴趣
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※编辑推荐※
☆学生喜爱，家长信赖，教师推荐，这就是《美国学前/小学生全科练习》。以练代学，学以致用，头脑聪明，自有乐趣!
☆内容设计不但符合美国核心课程标准，而且符合每个孩子在其成长阶段的学习节奏。选择合适的课程级别，制定自主的学习计划，《美国学前/小学生全科练习》将在使用过程中充分激发孩子的潜能。
☆涵盖整个学年所需掌握的各科内容：自然拼读、加减乘除、时间与货币、科学与社会……在提升孩子语文、英语与数学等能力的同时，鼓励孩子创造性地解决问题，深层次地思考问题，在互动中体验学习的乐趣。
☆针对关键概念和学习模块提供参考讲解，有助于孩子巩固在校学习内容，也有助于家长辅导功课、准确评价孩子课业的掌握程度。无论以何种方式使用，《美国学前/小学生全科练习》都将是连...
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为华人量身定制的育儿指南
...................
※编辑推荐※
★ 《华人育儿百科》由台湾长庚纪念医院儿科医疗团队百位儿科医学专家、一线医护人员和营养师合力撰写，针对0~6岁婴幼儿，收录了300个常见育儿问题、70种婴幼儿常见疾病、24个促进亲子关系和幼儿发育的小游戏，为父母提供全方位医疗与教养对策。
★ 本书立足华人传统经验，兼顾儿童身体与心理健康，将西方育儿理念充分本土化，是融西方育儿科学与东方育儿智慧于一身的全能型百科，能让父母更快上手，也更适合华人宝宝。
★ 从妈妈备孕到孩子学前，从婴儿生长到儿童发育，从衣食住行到沟通教养，从日常育儿到应对疾病……分别按时间顺序与不同主题编写，内容广泛全面。另设置特别单元“医生在线”，帮助解决儿童成长过程中各种疑难杂症与常见问题，“亲子游戏”，帮助父母与孩子亲密互动，加深情感纽带，促进儿童发育...
(展开全部)
【内容简介】
这是一本简单易懂而且非常实用的亲子阅读指导手册。作者根据不同年龄孩子的发展特征，将0~16岁划分为0~4岁、5~7岁、8~11岁、12~16岁四个年龄段，告诉父母在每个年龄段应该如何培养孩子的阅读习惯，如何让孩子爱上阅读。
在这本书中，作者不仅提醒父母哪些事情该做、哪些事情不该做。并且以问答的形式解答了父母们共同关心的问题。她还针对当前电子设备占据孩子太多精力和时间的问题，用一整章篇幅教给父母有效限制孩子们的屏幕时间的方法。
【目标读者】
0~16岁孩子的父母
【编辑推荐】
★0~16岁亲子阅读指导手册
★教给父母简单易懂而且非常实用的方法，鼓励孩子快乐阅读。
★将0~16岁划分为0~4岁、5~7岁、8~11岁、12~16岁四个年龄段，告诉父母们在每个年龄段应该如何培养孩子的阅读习惯、如何让孩子爱上阅读！
★教给你如何建立阅读之家，如何...
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《如何培养出优秀的孩子》是2012年“独立读者发现奖”（育儿类）和《序言书评》发起的2011年“年度图书奖”（幽默类）的决选入围作品，讲述了23个有趣、真挚、暖心的故事，帮助父母培养孩子的核心价值观，比如信仰、诚实、勇敢、勤劳、忍耐和爱。每个故事的主题真实而又常见，在父母教导孩子有关正直与品德的重要性时，特别适合用作谈心的话题。《如何培养出优秀的孩子》是一本非常幽默而又富含教育意义的小书，是为孩子成长导航，为父母育儿指路的最佳读物之一。
本书是澳大利亚著名的家庭问题专家、家庭治疗师、亲子教育畅销书作者史蒂夫•比达尔夫和莎罗•比达尔夫的经典著作之一，最早出版于1984年，目前已被翻译成20多种语言，是畅销全球30年的家庭教育经典。
本书包括《快乐儿童的秘密》和《快乐儿童完全解密》这两部分，后者是作者和妻子在第一本书畅销之后的续作，两本书结合了心理学、护理学和社会学的知识，将行为科学、生物研究、情绪表达的法则运用到本书中，使“养育快乐儿童”这一看似宏大的主题，条分缕析，用幽默通俗的语言将“正面管教”“正念”“情绪教练”“父母效能”等亲子教育经典理论娓娓道来，是家庭教育领域不可多得的集大成之作！
同时，书中还向读者展示了从“为什么”到“怎么办”的过程，也提供了父母自我测评、幼儿分龄行为模板、沟通语录等已通过实践验证的育儿工具，是真正的快乐儿童养育指南！
小男孩在某天发现自己的身后有一美团“问题”的云跟着，连他自己都不清楚这个问题是怎么来的。这个问题让他很不开心，但是各种尝试都无法把它吓跑。相反，这个问题似乎还变得越来越大。小男孩终于在某天鼓足勇气要去把它解决掉。他尽自己所能做了最完美的准备，然后勇敢地走进那团问题。出乎意料的是，它和之前的想想并不相同。黑黑的疑云里竟然还有美丽的甚至光芒四射的世界！问题带来的机会给了我们磨砺自己塑造自己的机会，也正是经过这样的磨砺，才能成为更好的自己！
美国畅销书《有了想法你怎么做？》原班创作团队最新力作！一本鼓励你直面问题，发现机遇的书。
纽约时报畅销榜畅销书
荣获2016年美国月光图书奖童书金奖
荣获2016年国母亲选择奖金奖
《聪明养育：像科学家一样养孩子》是爱贝睿学堂魏坤琳等知名育儿专家著作的一本专注于养育聪明孩子的指导书。
本书分为“真正的聪明”“聪明的大脑”“聪明学习”“聪明玩耍”“聪明养育，养育聪明”五部分，作者以“科学评审”魏坤琳为主，囊括知名高校教授、博士、科学家等科学达人，他们以儿童为中心，提倡家庭互动，结合脑科学原理，将科学的育儿思想传递给正在为养育孩子苦恼的家长们。
怎样培养真正聪明的孩子，如何搞定“熊”孩子，走出养育孩子、早教益智的误区，本书为您系统解决育儿难题。育儿即育己，让爸爸妈妈和孩子一起成长。
陪孩子走过小学六年（全新增订版）刘称莲 著 首次增入家庭邮箱沟通全记录，一个家庭的共同成长历程
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编辑推荐
陪伴系列图书是一套奇怪的书，一声不响,却永远站在畅销榜上；刘称莲是一位奇怪的作者，默默无闻，却影响着百万读者。
陪伴系列图书自2011年首次出版以来，。本次推出的第3版在原有版本的基础之上，首次增入专门为孩子们设计的精致别册。一本书，让妈妈和孩子各有所看。
所谓陪伴，是既陪伴孩子享受成功，更陪伴孩子面对失败。让孩子在跌倒时，跌得有尊严；让孩子在坠入低谷时，依然有勇气提灯前行。
陪伴是相信孩子，看见孩子，在孩子做不到的时候接纳孩子。让孩子自然地进步成长，就像风吹过树叶，晚霞映在脸上，宁静而又欢喜。
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本书用讲故事的方式娓娓道来，真实呈现了作者这个曾经被很多人界定为“不适合做老师”的人，如何从一所大山深处最偏僻的乡村庙堂小学出发，一步一步走来，成长为深受学生喜爱的全国知名特级教师的另类历程。作者以幽默风趣的文风介绍了他的多种角色——教师、摇滚乐迷、背包客、越读者，讲述了他跨界成长的生动故事，阐释了他从教以来坚持理性、独立、开放、尊重、包容并贴近自然的教育理想。本书图文并茂，文风如山水般清新自然，感性的文字中不乏理性思考的力量，可读性很强，给人以启迪。
作为鲸媒体出品的首套精品书籍，我们“特意”将这套书分为了两册，主册封面是一条蓝色的鲸鱼，副册封面则是一条玫瑰红的鲸！
更有意思的是，在这本书中，你还能看到教育圈多位大佬的推荐语和亲笔题词！俞敏洪、张邦鑫、朱正东、韩少云、黄娴……（来瞅瞅大佬们的书法如何~）
2015年底，鲸媒体网站上线。今年1月，鲸媒体公众号上线。近一年的时间，我们冷静地观察教育行业的发展和变化。
我们看到曾经热火朝天的赛道，快速地冷却下来，进入了清牌桌的阶段，比如题库赛道、家教O2O赛道等；我们也看到了这一年跑出来的热点和趋势，比如真人外教一对一，比如二级市场对于民办幼儿园和国际学校的追捧。
同时，我们也源源不断地把高品质的内容展现给读者们，直播的风口、双师的优势、资本的力量、技术的稀缺、转型的瓶颈……
透过纷繁，通过我们对行业的观察、思考和记录，《鲸字塔——字里行间的教育...
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谁说那里是学霸学神集中营，听闻这里像活动社团游乐场。学生节、排球赛、辩论会、课本剧……传说中大学一样的高中，离开后才懂得这句话背后的意味。因而七中2014届毕业生们将他们的学习经验、考试技巧、竞赛心得、自招体悟、大学与高中的差距、海外与国内的差距等种种体悟编辑成册，希望广大学生和家长能在这本书里找到自己需要的东西。
本书系世界教育创新峰会（WISE）丛书（中文版）之一。
世界教育创新峰会（WISE，World Innovation Summit for Education）于2009年由卡塔尔基金会主席谢赫•莫扎•宾特•纳赛尔殿下发起，是一项促进教育创新的跨领域全球性倡议。通过两年一度的峰会和一系列全年项目，WISE正在促进全球合作并构筑教育的未来。
WISE丛书致力于传播和激发创新思维和优秀实践，探讨为21世纪的生活做准备所必须面对的挑战。创作团队的足迹遍布全球，寻访教育问题的创新性解决方案。
什么样的创新才能激发学生的学习动机？什么样的创新才能被大规模复制？创新可以通过调动哪些因素来打破让很多学校系统裹足不前的惰性？
本书是一本有关国际教育领域最佳实践的参考指南，记录了全世界16位教育先锋的开拓性实践。这16位先锋都创立了新的有效教育模式，这些教育模式都获得...
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【本卷介绍】
语言、文字在大脑中是如何加工的？
适用于所有阅读形式的理论模型真的存在吗？
中文、英文的认知加工过程是一样的吗？
不同年龄的孩子，认知加工的速度、深度、广度是一样的吗？
本书从心理语言学的角度，回答了关于早期阅读心理加工机制的诸多问题；系统介绍了与儿童早期阅读相关的理论模型、影响因素以及阅读障碍儿童的追踪研究；汇集了全球多个国家与地区权威学者，首次集中呈现了有关中文阅读的心理语言学研究成果。
【丛书介绍】
《国际儿童阅读研究丛书》是中国首部以儿童早期阅读为主题的学术丛书。该丛书汇集中国内地、中国香港、美国、加拿大、芬兰等国家与地区一流学者共同编撰完成，《国际儿童阅读研究丛书》共4卷，分别从儿童阅读研究领域四个主要的研究角度——心理机制研究、生理机制研究、教育理论研究、社会与家庭实践研究——全面而完整地呈现了儿童早期阅读能...
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读完一本书，却不记得讲什么？
美剧看了一箩筐，英语还是没长进？
公众号、指导书、牛人帖，一个都没落，却还是没有形成自己的学习体系？
这些都是典型的低质量学习症状。
不了解学习的原理，就是在无效重复；缺乏有效的学习方法，就是在消耗天赋。
本书从脑科学和心理学的最新研究出发，跨学科解读学习的原理，提供最全面的学习方法和思维模式：
大脑如何...
本书分清末、民国时期以及新中国成立后三个时期，对中国近现代学制形成、改革的背景、内容及意义做了细致的梳理，总结了其中的经验和教训，适合愿意了解中国近现代学校制度改革史的一般读者，也可作为教育学专业本科生、研究生的学习参考资料。
根据美国核心课程标准编写
练习带动学习，互动激发兴趣
...................
※编辑推荐※
☆学生喜爱，家长信赖，教师推荐，这就是《美国学前/小学生全科练习》。以练代学，学以致用，头脑聪明，自有乐趣!
☆内容设计不但符合美国核心课程标准，而且符合每个孩子在其成长阶段的学习节奏。选择合适的课程级别，制定自主的学习计划，《美国学前/小学生全科练习》将在使用过程中充分激发孩子的潜能。
☆涵盖整个学年所需掌握的各科内容：自然拼读、加减乘除、时间与货币、科学与社会……在提升孩子语文、英语与数学等能力的同时，鼓励孩子创造性地解决问题，深层次地思考问题，在互动中体验学习的乐趣。
☆针对关键概念和学习模块提供参考讲解，有助于孩子巩固在校学习内容，也有助于家长辅导功课、准确评价孩子课业的掌握程度。无论以何种方式使用，《美国学前/小学生全科练习》都将是连...
(展开全部)
为华人量身定制的育儿指南
...................
※编辑推荐※
★ 《华人育儿百科》由台湾长庚纪念医院儿科医疗团队百位儿科医学专家、一线医护人员和营养师合力撰写，针对0~6岁婴幼儿，收录了300个常见育儿问题、70种婴幼儿常见疾病、24个促进亲子关系和幼儿发育的小游戏，为父母提供全方位医疗与教养对策。
★ 本书立足华人传统经验，兼顾儿童身体与心理健康，将西方育儿理念充分本土化，是融西方育儿科学与东方育儿智慧于一身的全能型百科，能让父母更快上手，也更适合华人宝宝。
★ 从妈妈备孕到孩子学前，从婴儿生长到儿童发育，从衣食住行到沟通教养，从日常育儿到应对疾病……分别按时间顺序与不同主题编写，内容广泛全面。另设置特别单元“医生在线”，帮助解决儿童成长过程中各种疑难杂症与常见问题，“亲子游戏”，帮助父母与孩子亲密互动，加深情感纽带，促进儿童发育...
(展开全部)
【内容简介】
这是一本简单易懂而且非常实用的亲子阅读指导手册。作者根据不同年龄孩子的发展特征，将0~16岁划分为0~4岁、5~7岁、8~11岁、12~16岁四个年龄段，告诉父母在每个年龄段应该如何培养孩子的阅读习惯，如何让孩子爱上阅读。
在这本书中，作者不仅提醒父母哪些事情该做、哪些事情不该做。并且以问答的形式解答了父母们共同关心的问题。她还针对当前电子设备占据孩子太多精力和时间的问题，用一整章篇幅教给父母有效限制孩子们的屏幕时间的方法。
【目标读者】
0~16岁孩子的父母
【编辑推荐】
★0~16岁亲子阅读指导手册
★教给父母简单易懂而且非常实用的方法，鼓励孩子快乐阅读。
★将0~16岁划分为0~4岁、5~7岁、8~11岁、12~16岁四个年龄段，告诉父母们在每个年龄段应该如何培养孩子的阅读习惯、如何让孩子爱上阅读！
★教给你如何建立阅读之家，如何...
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《如何培养出优秀的孩子》是2012年“独立读者发现奖”（育儿类）和《序言书评》发起的2011年“年度图书奖”（幽默类）的决选入围作品，讲述了23个有趣、真挚、暖心的故事，帮助父母培养孩子的核心价值观，比如信仰、诚实、勇敢、勤劳、忍耐和爱。每个故事的主题真实而又常见，在父母教导孩子有关正直与品德的重要性时，特别适合用作谈心的话题。《如何培养出优秀的孩子》是一本非常幽默而又富含教育意义的小书，是为孩子成长导航，为父母育儿指路的最佳读物之一。
本书是澳大利亚著名的家庭问题专家、家庭治疗师、亲子教育畅销书作者史蒂夫•比达尔夫和莎罗•比达尔夫的经典著作之一，最早出版于1984年，目前已被翻译成20多种语言，是畅销全球30年的家庭教育经典。
本书包括《快乐儿童的秘密》和《快乐儿童完全解密》这两部分，后者是作者和妻子在第一本书畅销之后的续作，两本书结合了心理学、护理学和社会学的知识，将行为科学、生物研究、情绪表达的法则运用到本书中，使“养育快乐儿童”这一看似宏大的主题，条分缕析，用幽默通俗的语言将“正面管教”“正念”“情绪教练”“父母效能”等亲子教育经典理论娓娓道来，是家庭教育领域不可多得的集大成之作！
同时，书中还向读者展示了从“为什么”到“怎么办”的过程，也提供了父母自我测评、幼儿分龄行为模板、沟通语录等已通过实践验证的育儿工具，是真正的快乐儿童养育指南！
小男孩在某天发现自己的身后有一美团“问题”的云跟着，连他自己都不清楚这个问题是怎么来的。这个问题让他很不开心，但是各种尝试都无法把它吓跑。相反，这个问题似乎还变得越来越大。小男孩终于在某天鼓足勇气要去把它解决掉。他尽自己所能做了最完美的准备，然后勇敢地走进那团问题。出乎意料的是，它和之前的想想并不相同。黑黑的疑云里竟然还有美丽的甚至光芒四射的世界！问题带来的机会给了我们磨砺自己塑造自己的机会，也正是经过这样的磨砺，才能成为更好的自己！
美国畅销书《有了想法你怎么做？》原班创作团队最新力作！一本鼓励你直面问题，发现机遇的书。
纽约时报畅销榜畅销书
荣获2016年美国月光图书奖童书金奖
荣获2016年国母亲选择奖金奖
《聪明养育：像科学家一样养孩子》是爱贝睿学堂魏坤琳等知名育儿专家著作的一本专注于养育聪明孩子的指导书。
本书分为“真正的聪明”“聪明的大脑”“聪明学习”“聪明玩耍”“聪明养育，养育聪明”五部分，作者以“科学评审”魏坤琳为主，囊括知名高校教授、博士、科学家等科学达人，他们以儿童为中心，提倡家庭互动，结合脑科学原理，将科学的育儿思想传递给正在为养育孩子苦恼的家长们。
怎样培养真正聪明的孩子，如何搞定“熊”孩子，走出养育孩子、早教益智的误区，本书为您系统解决育儿难题。育儿即育己，让爸爸妈妈和孩子一起成长。
陪孩子走过小学六年（全新增订版）刘称莲 著 首次增入家庭邮箱沟通全记录，一个家庭的共同成长历程
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编辑推荐
陪伴系列图书是一套奇怪的书，一声不响,却永远站在畅销榜上；刘称莲是一位奇怪的作者，默默无闻，却影响着百万读者。
陪伴系列图书自2011年首次出版以来，。本次推出的第3版在原有版本的基础之上，首次增入专门为孩子们设计的精致别册。一本书，让妈妈和孩子各有所看。
所谓陪伴，是既陪伴孩子享受成功，更陪伴孩子面对失败。让孩子在跌倒时，跌得有尊严；让孩子在坠入低谷时，依然有勇气提灯前行。
陪伴是相信孩子，看见孩子，在孩子做不到的时候接纳孩子。让孩子自然地进步成长，就像风吹过树叶，晚霞映在脸上，宁静而又欢喜。
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本书用讲故事的方式娓娓道来，真实呈现了作者这个曾经被很多人界定为“不适合做老师”的人，如何从一所大山深处最偏僻的乡村庙堂小学出发，一步一步走来，成长为深受学生喜爱的全国知名特级教师的另类历程。作者以幽默风趣的文风介绍了他的多种角色——教师、摇滚乐迷、背包客、越读者，讲述了他跨界成长的生动故事，阐释了他从教以来坚持理性、独立、开放、尊重、包容并贴近自然的教育理想。本书图文并茂，文风如山水般清新自然，感性的文字中不乏理性思考的力量，可读性很强，给人以启迪。
作为鲸媒体出品的首套精品书籍，我们“特意”将这套书分为了两册，主册封面是一条蓝色的鲸鱼，副册封面则是一条玫瑰红的鲸！
更有意思的是，在这本书中，你还能看到教育圈多位大佬的推荐语和亲笔题词！俞敏洪、张邦鑫、朱正东、韩少云、黄娴……（来瞅瞅大佬们的书法如何~）
2015年底，鲸媒体网站上线。今年1月，鲸媒体公众号上线。近一年的时间，我们冷静地观察教育行业的发展和变化。
我们看到曾经热火朝天的赛道，快速地冷却下来，进入了清牌桌的阶段，比如题库赛道、家教O2O赛道等；我们也看到了这一年跑出来的热点和趋势，比如真人外教一对一，比如二级市场对于民办幼儿园和国际学校的追捧。
同时，我们也源源不断地把高品质的内容展现给读者们，直播的风口、双师的优势、资本的力量、技术的稀缺、转型的瓶颈……
透过纷繁，通过我们对行业的观察、思考和记录，《鲸字塔——字里行间的教育...
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谁说那里是学霸学神集中营，听闻这里像活动社团游乐场。学生节、排球赛、辩论会、课本剧……传说中大学一样的高中，离开后才懂得这句话背后的意味。因而七中2014届毕业生们将他们的学习经验、考试技巧、竞赛心得、自招体悟、大学与高中的差距、海外与国内的差距等种种体悟编辑成册，希望广大学生和家长能在这本书里找到自己需要的东西。
本书系世界教育创新峰会（WISE）丛书（中文版）之一。
世界教育创新峰会（WISE，World Innovation Summit for Education）于2009年由卡塔尔基金会主席谢赫•莫扎•宾特•纳赛尔殿下发起，是一项促进教育创新的跨领域全球性倡议。通过两年一度的峰会和一系列全年项目，WISE正在促进全球合作并构筑教育的未来。
WISE丛书致力于传播和激发创新思维和优秀实践，探讨为21世纪的生活做准备所必须面对的挑战。创作团队的足迹遍布全球，寻访教育问题的创新性解决方案。
什么样的创新才能激发学生的学习动机？什么样的创新才能被大规模复制？创新可以通过调动哪些因素来打破让很多学校系统裹足不前的惰性？
本书是一本有关国际教育领域最佳实践的参考指南，记录了全世界16位教育先锋的开拓性实践。这16位先锋都创立了新的有效教育模式，这些教育模式都获得...
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【本卷介绍】
语言、文字在大脑中是如何加工的？
适用于所有阅读形式的理论模型真的存在吗？
中文、英文的认知加工过程是一样的吗？
不同年龄的孩子，认知加工的速度、深度、广度是一样的吗？
本书从心理语言学的角度，回答了关于早期阅读心理加工机制的诸多问题；系统介绍了与儿童早期阅读相关的理论模型、影响因素以及阅读障碍儿童的追踪研究；汇集了全球多个国家与地区权威学者，首次集中呈现了有关中文阅读的心理语言学研究成果。
【丛书介绍】
《国际儿童阅读研究丛书》是中国首部以儿童早期阅读为主题的学术丛书。该丛书汇集中国内地、中国香港、美国、加拿大、芬兰等国家与地区一流学者共同编撰完成，《国际儿童阅读研究丛书》共4卷，分别从儿童阅读研究领域四个主要的研究角度——心理机制研究、生理机制研究、教育理论研究、社会与家庭实践研究——全面而完整地呈现了儿童早期阅读能...
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读完一本书，却不记得讲什么？
美剧看了一箩筐，英语还是没长进？
公众号、指导书、牛人帖，一个都没落，却还是没有形成自己的学习体系？
这些都是典型的低质量学习症状。
不了解学习的原理，就是在无效重复；缺乏有效的学习方法，就是在消耗天赋。
本书从脑科学和心理学的最新研究出发，跨学科解读学习的原理，提供最全面的学习方法和思维模式：
大脑如何...
304 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2014
7450 people are currently reading
55299 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Oakley
22 books1,291 followersBarbara Oakley, PhD, a 'female Indiana Jones,' is one of the few women to hold a doctorate in systems engineering. She chronicled her adventures on Soviet fishing boats in the Bering Sea in Hair of the Dog: Tales from Aboard a Russian Trawler. She also served as a radio operator in Antarctica and rose from private to captain in the U.S. Army. Now an associate professor of engineering at Oakland University in Michigan, Oakley is a recent vice president of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Her work has appeared in publications ranging from The New York Times to the IEEE Transactions on Nanobioscience.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,134 reviews
September 10, 2024
Luck favors the one who tries.
When I started reading it I never expected it to be this good. I was amazed and delighted to find this book to be exceptionally good. I have learned, which I feel I have forgotten, how to 'Learn to Learn'. It had shown me my flaws. It has shown me I was trying too hard, that it is easy that does it.
She starts with learning modes, that we have two important modes of thinking, focused mode and diffused mode. Focused modes are highly attentive states that are limited to the prefrontal cortex and diffused modes are diffused throughout the brain. Only one mode can be active at a time. Focused mode is related to logical, sequential, and analytical processes. As soon as you concentrate on something, you are in focused mode. Whereas, when you are not concentrating, when you let your mind just wander, you are in diffused mode. Diffused mode is related to bigger-picture. Focused mode brings you the BRICKS and diffused mode is the MORTAR.
To be attentive and try hard to get the problem inside your head is done by focused mode. Diffused mode actually works in the background under the layer of conscious awareness (and it is not that can ON and OFF, it's always On whenever you are not concentrating, diffuse mode happens when you relax). Now she asserts that the learning happens when you toggle between these two modes.
And then there is Einstellung effect: It refers to getting stuck in solving a problem or understanding a concept as a result of becoming fixated on a flawed approach. Switching modes from focused to diffuse can help free you from this effect. This made me a little more flexible regarding my thinking, and more patient too. And I've also found that sometimes initial ideas about problem solving can be very misleading. To figure out new ideas and solve problems, it is important not only to focus initially but also to subsequently turn our focus away from what we want to learn.
In subsequent chapters, the author deals with:
* The problems of procrastination and how to deal with it. There were four chapters dedicated to it. (And it was here I found myself, a little, dragging the book).
* Memory and how to enhance it. I remember one technique known as Memory Palace which was similar to Mind Palace shown in Sherlock TV series. It was here, once again, that I gained many insights which proved to be useful.
* In the last chapters she gives miscellaneous tips and tricks for enhancing your learning and sculpting your brain.
......................................................................
The central theme of this book is the paradoxical nature of learning. Focused attention is indispensable for problem-solving, yet it blocks our ability to solve problems. Persistence is key, but it can also leave us unnecessarily pounding our heads. Memorization is a critical aspect of acquiring expertise, but it can also keep us focused on the trees instead of forest. Metaphor allows us to acquire new concepts, but it can also keep us wedded to faulty conceptions.
Our desire to figure things out right now is what prevents us from being able to figure things out. Reshaping your brain is under your control. The key is patient persistence: working knowledgeably with your brain's strengths and weaknesses. We can achieve startling insights into how to understand more simply, easily, and with less frustration: By understanding your brain's default settings- the natural way it learns and thinks, and taking advantage of this knowledge one can become an expert.
HIGHEST RECOMMENDATIONS!
When I started reading it I never expected it to be this good. I was amazed and delighted to find this book to be exceptionally good. I have learned, which I feel I have forgotten, how to 'Learn to Learn'. It had shown me my flaws. It has shown me I was trying too hard, that it is easy that does it.
She starts with learning modes, that we have two important modes of thinking, focused mode and diffused mode. Focused modes are highly attentive states that are limited to the prefrontal cortex and diffused modes are diffused throughout the brain. Only one mode can be active at a time. Focused mode is related to logical, sequential, and analytical processes. As soon as you concentrate on something, you are in focused mode. Whereas, when you are not concentrating, when you let your mind just wander, you are in diffused mode. Diffused mode is related to bigger-picture. Focused mode brings you the BRICKS and diffused mode is the MORTAR.
To be attentive and try hard to get the problem inside your head is done by focused mode. Diffused mode actually works in the background under the layer of conscious awareness (and it is not that can ON and OFF, it's always On whenever you are not concentrating, diffuse mode happens when you relax). Now she asserts that the learning happens when you toggle between these two modes.
And then there is Einstellung effect: It refers to getting stuck in solving a problem or understanding a concept as a result of becoming fixated on a flawed approach. Switching modes from focused to diffuse can help free you from this effect. This made me a little more flexible regarding my thinking, and more patient too. And I've also found that sometimes initial ideas about problem solving can be very misleading. To figure out new ideas and solve problems, it is important not only to focus initially but also to subsequently turn our focus away from what we want to learn.
In subsequent chapters, the author deals with:
* The problems of procrastination and how to deal with it. There were four chapters dedicated to it. (And it was here I found myself, a little, dragging the book).
* Memory and how to enhance it. I remember one technique known as Memory Palace which was similar to Mind Palace shown in Sherlock TV series. It was here, once again, that I gained many insights which proved to be useful.
* In the last chapters she gives miscellaneous tips and tricks for enhancing your learning and sculpting your brain.
......................................................................
The central theme of this book is the paradoxical nature of learning. Focused attention is indispensable for problem-solving, yet it blocks our ability to solve problems. Persistence is key, but it can also leave us unnecessarily pounding our heads. Memorization is a critical aspect of acquiring expertise, but it can also keep us focused on the trees instead of forest. Metaphor allows us to acquire new concepts, but it can also keep us wedded to faulty conceptions.
Our desire to figure things out right now is what prevents us from being able to figure things out. Reshaping your brain is under your control. The key is patient persistence: working knowledgeably with your brain's strengths and weaknesses. We can achieve startling insights into how to understand more simply, easily, and with less frustration: By understanding your brain's default settings- the natural way it learns and thinks, and taking advantage of this knowledge one can become an expert.
HIGHEST RECOMMENDATIONS!
September 26, 2015
I first heard of this book from an online course given by the author, Barbara Oakley. The course is called "Learning how to Learn", and you can find it at coursera.
Despite the title of the book, most of the advice here is appropriate for just about any subject. It is especially appropriate for subjects with concepts that might be difficult to grasp. And the book is most definitely geared toward students. There are highlights and questions at the end of each chapter, to reinforce the key points.
There is a useful chapter on how to prepare for tests, and how to take tests. The advice is not always intuitive, but it is all common sense. Study groups are often beneficial. There are some situations, where they may be a waste of time.
Much of the advice in the book is based on common sense. Don't cram for exams; study some each day, and don't overdo it. Lots of advice on how to make sure that you really understand the concepts. Re-reading material and highlighting key phrases is NOT very beneficial. Make up your own test questions, put them on flash cards with answers on the back. Flash cards are your friends.
The book is filled with anecdotes and stories about educators, students, scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. These stories help make the book engaging, where otherwise it would be rather dry and uninteresting.
The main theme of the book is that there are two modes of thinking; focused and diffuse. Focused thinking is what you do when you concentrate very hard to solve some problem. You need to remove yourself from distractions during focused thinking, and you probably should only perform focused thinking for a short amount of time; 25 minutes is recommended. Diffuse thinking, however, is somewhat more relaxed and actually creative. This kind of thinking allows your mind to wander in search of "out of the box" solutions to problems.
If you are a student or even studying some subject on your own, then this book could be very helpful.
Despite the title of the book, most of the advice here is appropriate for just about any subject. It is especially appropriate for subjects with concepts that might be difficult to grasp. And the book is most definitely geared toward students. There are highlights and questions at the end of each chapter, to reinforce the key points.
There is a useful chapter on how to prepare for tests, and how to take tests. The advice is not always intuitive, but it is all common sense. Study groups are often beneficial. There are some situations, where they may be a waste of time.
Much of the advice in the book is based on common sense. Don't cram for exams; study some each day, and don't overdo it. Lots of advice on how to make sure that you really understand the concepts. Re-reading material and highlighting key phrases is NOT very beneficial. Make up your own test questions, put them on flash cards with answers on the back. Flash cards are your friends.
The book is filled with anecdotes and stories about educators, students, scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. These stories help make the book engaging, where otherwise it would be rather dry and uninteresting.
The main theme of the book is that there are two modes of thinking; focused and diffuse. Focused thinking is what you do when you concentrate very hard to solve some problem. You need to remove yourself from distractions during focused thinking, and you probably should only perform focused thinking for a short amount of time; 25 minutes is recommended. Diffuse thinking, however, is somewhat more relaxed and actually creative. This kind of thinking allows your mind to wander in search of "out of the box" solutions to problems.
If you are a student or even studying some subject on your own, then this book could be very helpful.
May 20, 2021
I had always been frightened by mathematics since I was a child. In high school all of my grades were A or B but the highest grade i had achieved in math was D. This trend was continuing until three years ago, when I had to learn maths in order to pass the exam in university. At first I was baffled with algebra, geometry, trigonometry and most of all calculus. It was a total nightmare for me. So I realized that I had to triumph over my fear and learn it properly once and for all. I started to watch khan academy videos on any math subjects.
This was an epic moment in my life because I found out that my greatest fear was indeed my true passion in life. I just loved the harmony and beauty of algebraic expressions and calculus formulas especially the meaning behind all of these abstract symbols. With intuitive method of teaching of the khan academy and some mental exertion I managed to learn so many precious things in maths even difficult parts of calculus and I got an A in my AP exam. Since three years ago I have never stopped learning mathematics (except few months for TOEFL) and currently I am studying for the GRE test. Which I am really thrilled by this process and it is not stressful anymore at all. The most important thing is that I’ve decided to keep learning maths for the rest of my life, especially probability and statistics.
That was my personal experience. But about the book. It is a really good guide for anyone who has similar difficulties regarding math and science. And even it is so helpful for people who are good at math, it could help them get better. The author herself had been so terrible at math until she saw better job opportunities in scientific disciplines like engineering, so she learned some important principles which helped her start learning math when she was 26, she got a bachelor degree in mechanical engineering, a master in computer engineering, and finally a doctorate in system engineering. In her insightful book she collected and explained those principles. She also relate some stories of other people who had the same experiences and how they got successful in this path, and she adds some advice from math and science professors.
This was an epic moment in my life because I found out that my greatest fear was indeed my true passion in life. I just loved the harmony and beauty of algebraic expressions and calculus formulas especially the meaning behind all of these abstract symbols. With intuitive method of teaching of the khan academy and some mental exertion I managed to learn so many precious things in maths even difficult parts of calculus and I got an A in my AP exam. Since three years ago I have never stopped learning mathematics (except few months for TOEFL) and currently I am studying for the GRE test. Which I am really thrilled by this process and it is not stressful anymore at all. The most important thing is that I’ve decided to keep learning maths for the rest of my life, especially probability and statistics.
That was my personal experience. But about the book. It is a really good guide for anyone who has similar difficulties regarding math and science. And even it is so helpful for people who are good at math, it could help them get better. The author herself had been so terrible at math until she saw better job opportunities in scientific disciplines like engineering, so she learned some important principles which helped her start learning math when she was 26, she got a bachelor degree in mechanical engineering, a master in computer engineering, and finally a doctorate in system engineering. In her insightful book she collected and explained those principles. She also relate some stories of other people who had the same experiences and how they got successful in this path, and she adds some advice from math and science professors.
October 6, 2020
I have read a few of these books at this point, I bought a bunch of them when I was on my productivity kick, so a lot of the information was things I already knew. I do think just knowing what to do isn't enough, it's very much the execution that ends up being the issue. That said I think this is one of the better ones. Some of the ideas are repetitive but it's clearly done intentionally to help anyone reading the book internalize those ideas, which is probably really important if this is someone's first time encountering these things. I do also think the advice is solid and the book delivers it in an accessible and easy to internalize fashion. Probably a good book for anyone that doesn't have the best habits or relationship with long term sustained learning, including myself. Mostly its been useful as I've been studying to help get me into a place where I find it easier to do my work. It kind of serves to prime me for what I need to do which helps with execution and maybe I can try to sustain this by replacing reading books on how to be efficient with just journaling and trying to be more mindful of my behavior.
July 31, 2014
This book IS a book on how to excel at math and science -- even if you previously flunked them. However, it is also much more. It's a book that is transformative for anyone who does creative work that requires writing and thinking and taking in information and creating something new out of it.
The science on how to do optimal work in “A Mind For Numbers” has transformed my writing life from hellish to a tough job I love. Through what I learned from about diffuse mode thinking, I’m careful to put in daily work in reading, researching, and writing, especially on tough concepts.
Our minds, as Dr. Oakley explains in the book, seem to do a lot of work in the “background” while we’re sleeping and doing things other than working. Each day, I find that I’m enjoying my work so much more because it isn’t a struggle; I, piece by piece, simply pull together tough concepts into a coherent and far better whole.
Dr. Oakley’s book ultimately helped me enjoy what I do in a way I never could before, when I procrastinated and was stressed out and then tried to shoehorn a bunch of information I hadn't processed into something coherent. This book was a life-changer for me.
--Amy Alkon, syndicated columnist and author, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck" (St. Martin's Press)
The science on how to do optimal work in “A Mind For Numbers” has transformed my writing life from hellish to a tough job I love. Through what I learned from about diffuse mode thinking, I’m careful to put in daily work in reading, researching, and writing, especially on tough concepts.
Our minds, as Dr. Oakley explains in the book, seem to do a lot of work in the “background” while we’re sleeping and doing things other than working. Each day, I find that I’m enjoying my work so much more because it isn’t a struggle; I, piece by piece, simply pull together tough concepts into a coherent and far better whole.
Dr. Oakley’s book ultimately helped me enjoy what I do in a way I never could before, when I procrastinated and was stressed out and then tried to shoehorn a bunch of information I hadn't processed into something coherent. This book was a life-changer for me.
--Amy Alkon, syndicated columnist and author, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck" (St. Martin's Press)
January 19, 2017
This book is not at all what it says on the cover, it's just more tired "study tips" the same as you would get from any Universities student resource center. There's nothing inherently specific about learning Math and honestly I found the book to be full of an awful lot of fluff... It's a rather shockingly callous thing to do considering how many people struggle with Math to continually dance around the one fact present, it just takes a lot of time and effort and work and you may simply never crack it. Terrible book.
February 8, 2015
Probably some of the advice in the book is good. I just wasn't in the target audience. I like math, I'm very good at math, and this book is for those who struggle.
I liked Paul Lockhart's book "A Mathematician's Lament" much, much better. In that one, he really makes you want to DO math, to DISCOVER mathematical truth, to LOVE math. In Barbara Oakley's book, she teaches you how to "get by", and maybe even "get an A". Much, much less inspirational. Where's the fun? Where's the love?
I liked Paul Lockhart's book "A Mathematician's Lament" much, much better. In that one, he really makes you want to DO math, to DISCOVER mathematical truth, to LOVE math. In Barbara Oakley's book, she teaches you how to "get by", and maybe even "get an A". Much, much less inspirational. Where's the fun? Where's the love?
June 30, 2016
tl;dr: Read if you want to learn general study skills, skip if you're interested in skills specifically for math/science.
Why did the author write a book about getting better at numbers and math and science and not really talk specifically about how to get better at math and science? This book is 90% about general study skills with lackluster tie-ins to how it might work with math/science. Don't go into this thinking you'll learn stuff specific to math/science – you'll be disappointed.
As an introductory book to study skills, it's not too bad, though it's overshadowed by more compelling books that specifically talk about general study skills like Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning and Cal Newport's books. Many of the productivity and study tips it mentions are good, but they fall into the classic non-fiction personal development book trap of telling you some common-sensical thing you should be doing and adding an anecdote in there. It's OK if it's common-sense advice, but it's not really that useful if it's common-sense advice without much follow-through information on how to implement that advice.
Maybe it's just me. Admittedly, I've read a lot about productivity and study skills so most of this was a reminder at best, boring repetition at worst. If you've read books like Make It Stick or Cal Newport's books and want to get a more math- and science-focused advice on how to do better, don't pick this up. If you've read some but aren't sure, maybe pick up the audio version (which is what I did). Or go to a bookstore, skim through, and decide from there.
It's not that there aren't gems in this book. There are a few. Diffuse mode vs. focused mode thinking, a core part of the book, is pretty interesting. The fact that the memory palace technique works well for unrelated things, which I never thought about. And some other ones that weren't so memorable. It's good for reminding you about all the productivity tips that you should be doing. But for me, there was nothing novel in here.
I'm not sure what I'll read next to replace this. Here are some that I'm considering, if you're curious:
• What Is Mathematics?: An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods
• How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method
• How to Think Like a Mathematician: A Companion to Undergraduate Mathematics
• The Princeton Companion to Mathematics
Why did the author write a book about getting better at numbers and math and science and not really talk specifically about how to get better at math and science? This book is 90% about general study skills with lackluster tie-ins to how it might work with math/science. Don't go into this thinking you'll learn stuff specific to math/science – you'll be disappointed.
As an introductory book to study skills, it's not too bad, though it's overshadowed by more compelling books that specifically talk about general study skills like Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning and Cal Newport's books. Many of the productivity and study tips it mentions are good, but they fall into the classic non-fiction personal development book trap of telling you some common-sensical thing you should be doing and adding an anecdote in there. It's OK if it's common-sense advice, but it's not really that useful if it's common-sense advice without much follow-through information on how to implement that advice.
Maybe it's just me. Admittedly, I've read a lot about productivity and study skills so most of this was a reminder at best, boring repetition at worst. If you've read books like Make It Stick or Cal Newport's books and want to get a more math- and science-focused advice on how to do better, don't pick this up. If you've read some but aren't sure, maybe pick up the audio version (which is what I did). Or go to a bookstore, skim through, and decide from there.
It's not that there aren't gems in this book. There are a few. Diffuse mode vs. focused mode thinking, a core part of the book, is pretty interesting. The fact that the memory palace technique works well for unrelated things, which I never thought about. And some other ones that weren't so memorable. It's good for reminding you about all the productivity tips that you should be doing. But for me, there was nothing novel in here.
I'm not sure what I'll read next to replace this. Here are some that I'm considering, if you're curious:
• What Is Mathematics?: An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods
• How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method
• How to Think Like a Mathematician: A Companion to Undergraduate Mathematics
• The Princeton Companion to Mathematics
October 14, 2014
The title of the book doesn't do it justice. This is a book about how to get good at anything, not just math and science. It's a light read because it's full of simple advice. But the stuff it teaches is effective, and I wish it had been taught to me back in 1997 when I was starting graduate school.
If you find yourself checking your phone or screwing around on Facebook while you should be working, read this book. If you're having trouble learning stuff you need for work at a higher rate than you're forgetting it, read this book. Do so especially if you're young, because the longer the time you have left to reap the benefits, the more reading this book is worth to you.
Read this book, put your butt on a reasonable schedule, get your sleep and exercise, and the chances are excellent that you will never want for satisfying, well-paid employment no matter your field. This is a book about making your zombies work for you, not about learning how to fight them.
If you find yourself checking your phone or screwing around on Facebook while you should be working, read this book. If you're having trouble learning stuff you need for work at a higher rate than you're forgetting it, read this book. Do so especially if you're young, because the longer the time you have left to reap the benefits, the more reading this book is worth to you.
Read this book, put your butt on a reasonable schedule, get your sleep and exercise, and the chances are excellent that you will never want for satisfying, well-paid employment no matter your field. This is a book about making your zombies work for you, not about learning how to fight them.
April 4, 2017
Fantastic learning hacks! How our brain works concerning learning, retaining. Everyone should read this, every pupil/student in school.
We learn all our lives and sometimes we have exams - this book will tell you how to prepare well.
The title "A Mind for Numbers" is misleading, it's about learning in general.
We learn all our lives and sometimes we have exams - this book will tell you how to prepare well.
The title "A Mind for Numbers" is misleading, it's about learning in general.
March 10, 2025
I'm very fond of practical books, clearly written, that can be immediately applied.
One thing, however, does need to be mentioned from the beginning: This is not only a book for those looking to excel in math and science. These tricks and methods can be used for any subject. My suspicion is that the "math and science" aspect of the title is a marketing ploy more than anything.
That's a shame because there is a lot in this book that I hope to pass on to language learners and students of International Relations.
Getting that out of the way, let's focus on the good. The book is clearly written, easy to follow, and frequently engaging.
The book will introduce you to important concepts like:
*the difference between focused and diffuse thinking (and how to switch between these modes);
*using recall in your studying;
*the idea of chunking concepts;
*tricks for studying such as the Pomodoro technique and spaced repetition;
*the value of walks and frequent breaks; and
*ways to overcome procrastination.
The book also helps you become a deeper learner, someone more in love with education. It does so by:
*helping you understand yourself as a learner;
*promoting the virtues of teamwork and providing tips for how to use partners and teammates; *promoting broad studying and creative exploration;
*by promoting real education over vulgar grade accounting; and
*by demonstrating how much science and math are like poetry.
The book also asks you practice these methods by putting down the book and trying to recall key concepts, and by doing exercises for each chapter. Early in the book, there were also some mental exercises that I quite enjoyed.
Now, a little bit of the bad. There really isn't that much.
I felt like a lot of the "testimonials" in between the chapters and in the sidebar "success stories" gave the book a kind low-rent "kitschy" feel to it. It reminded me of self-help seminars, infomercials, the adverts of private colleges (which emphasize testimonial "successes" and overlook failures), and the other quasi-get-rich-quick, let's-find-short-cuts aesthetics of quasi-education.
I feel like that aesthetic needs to be fought at all costs. I feel like that mentality is destroying education (and America for that matter). Education is hard work. There is no getting around that. And, as several other reviewers have pointed out, by only highlighting the successes, the author is being very unscientific (she is sampling on the dependent variable, as they say).
The book is better than this. It's better than its cheap, attention-getting marketing ploys.
Still -- overall, a great book for just about anyone who wants to improve their learning!
One thing, however, does need to be mentioned from the beginning: This is not only a book for those looking to excel in math and science. These tricks and methods can be used for any subject. My suspicion is that the "math and science" aspect of the title is a marketing ploy more than anything.
That's a shame because there is a lot in this book that I hope to pass on to language learners and students of International Relations.
Getting that out of the way, let's focus on the good. The book is clearly written, easy to follow, and frequently engaging.
The book will introduce you to important concepts like:
*the difference between focused and diffuse thinking (and how to switch between these modes);
*using recall in your studying;
*the idea of chunking concepts;
*tricks for studying such as the Pomodoro technique and spaced repetition;
*the value of walks and frequent breaks; and
*ways to overcome procrastination.
The book also helps you become a deeper learner, someone more in love with education. It does so by:
*helping you understand yourself as a learner;
*promoting the virtues of teamwork and providing tips for how to use partners and teammates; *promoting broad studying and creative exploration;
*by promoting real education over vulgar grade accounting; and
*by demonstrating how much science and math are like poetry.
The book also asks you practice these methods by putting down the book and trying to recall key concepts, and by doing exercises for each chapter. Early in the book, there were also some mental exercises that I quite enjoyed.
Now, a little bit of the bad. There really isn't that much.
I felt like a lot of the "testimonials" in between the chapters and in the sidebar "success stories" gave the book a kind low-rent "kitschy" feel to it. It reminded me of self-help seminars, infomercials, the adverts of private colleges (which emphasize testimonial "successes" and overlook failures), and the other quasi-get-rich-quick, let's-find-short-cuts aesthetics of quasi-education.
I feel like that aesthetic needs to be fought at all costs. I feel like that mentality is destroying education (and America for that matter). Education is hard work. There is no getting around that. And, as several other reviewers have pointed out, by only highlighting the successes, the author is being very unscientific (she is sampling on the dependent variable, as they say).
The book is better than this. It's better than its cheap, attention-getting marketing ploys.
Still -- overall, a great book for just about anyone who wants to improve their learning!
February 10, 2024
Oh my. I wish I had read this in High School or between High School and College or in College. This book is less about Math and Science and more about learning and studying. There are certainly some techniques that are specific to or a better fit for Math and Science, but most of the ideas and material will work for almost any area of study. Many of the recommendations were not new to me. I had used quite a few of them throughout my years as a student and learner. The real insight came from the overall package, putting the techniques together and most importantly, finding ways to use them persistently and with discipline. Developing the techniques and organizational methods as a complete skillset was not something I ever really accomplished. I would use a few techniques in this class and a few others in this other one, but I lacked consistency. I also lacked the discipline. My intentions were always worthy, but my execution was lacking. I would like to think I could give this book to a high school student today and they would get the benefit I missed, but I am afraid only a small percentage of those students would take the time to review the book much less read it.
Even today, I see opportunity to use what I have found in this book. As I attempt to learn something new as an adult, as I take on a new project, the opportunity is there.
Even today, I see opportunity to use what I have found in this book. As I attempt to learn something new as an adult, as I take on a new project, the opportunity is there.
September 6, 2018
كتاب عظيم لا يُفوّت، وقرائته واجبة على كل متخصص في العلوم والهندسة خاصة، وكل من له اهتمام بطرق التعلم وأساليبه. وما زلت مستغرباً، كيف أن كتاباً ذائع الصيت كهذا، لم يترجم بعد للعربية !
~~~
من المباحث الرئيسية بالكتاب، إيضاح طريقة عمل الدماغ خلال عملية التعلم، وكيف بالإمكان توظيف هذه المعرفة في تكوين استراتيجيات تعلم مثمرة وفعّالة. وكذلك تفنيد عدد من المفاهيم الملتبسة عند كثير من المتعلمين، على سبيل المثال، مسألة الحفظ أو الفهم، أيهما أهم؟... وغيرها من القضايا، والتي دُعمّت بتجارب شخصية لأساتذة جامعيين وطلبة جامعات نوابغ، ومن استخلاصات البحوث الحديثة في علمي الإدراك والأعصاب
~~~
رابط الكتاب الصوتي على اليوتيوب 🔗
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahTNm...
August 13, 2016
I didn't like the way Barbara repeats over and over the same agruments for nearly trivial statements. For example she was able to write about 30 pages only about the fact that you need to sleep and relax in order to enhance your learning. For me, it seems like a 1000-year-old advice but she kept repeating it as if I haven't read it already 16 times before in this chapter. The entire book could be summarized in 5 pages. Although I must admit that I surely enjoyed reading her life story, about how she approached the math and the science which was in the beginning of the book.
October 12, 2022
Книга яку варто прочитати кожній людині. Багато корисних поряд про те як сформувати знання в будь якій сфері
October 30, 2017
من درواقع این کتاب رو نخوندم. کورسش رو که با توجه به متریال کتاب توسط نویسنده در کورسارا بود رو گذروندم.
کتاب ظاهرا بیشتر از این که در مورد یادگیری ریاضی باشه به شکل عمومی تر در مورد یادگیری هست. نویسنده به خوبی از آنالوژیهای متفاوت استفاده کرده تا حرفش رو برسونه.
اگر به یادگیری علاقه مند هستید من یک خلاصه سه هزار کلمه ای از کتاب رو در وبلاگم منتشر کردم:
https://sadraa.me/learning-how-to-learn/
میتونید اینجا بخونیدش.
کتاب ظاهرا بیشتر از این که در مورد یادگیری ریاضی باشه به شکل عمومی تر در مورد یادگیری هست. نویسنده به خوبی از آنالوژیهای متفاوت استفاده کرده تا حرفش رو برسونه.
اگر به یادگیری علاقه مند هستید من یک خلاصه سه هزار کلمه ای از کتاب رو در وبلاگم منتشر کردم:
https://sadraa.me/learning-how-to-learn/
میتونید اینجا بخونیدش.
March 22, 2016
Like many of 'these' books, most of the advice seems, to a stud like me, mostly common sense.
But, A Mind for Numbers, has more 'takeaway' value than most.
If you want to grow ya brain (the one up top) then give this book a whirl.
If you want to grow the other one, I have a plethora of www. recommendations.
Either way, stay sexy.
November 20, 2014
Got to this book after reading about it in the Coursera course "Learning how to learn". Some very good ideas not at all obvious, at least not to me, that make perfect sense. Go have a look at the author's website for the 10 principles of learning and, if you find them interesting, grab a copy!
October 31, 2018
Гадаю, я буду не єдиною, хто після прочитання цієї книги (або проходження відповідних курсів на Coursera/Prometheus) подумає: "Чому, чому ніхто не розповідає про всі ці штуки ще у школі?" ;)
Інструменти, прийоми та техніки навчання, до яких багато людей приходять інтуїтивно, повільно, з досвідом, методом проб та помилок, викладені тут чітко та структуровано, причому йдеться не тільки про "як", а й про "чому" і "як це працює", а це дуже важливо і дає більше мотивації все-таки спробувати. Крім аргументованого викладу з прикладами та посиланнями на джерела, дуже сподобалося те, що сама побудова книги відповідає принципам, про які розповідає: вчитися маленькими порціями, з перервами на інші заняття - маєте розділи та підрозділи, розмежовані невеликими історіями; асоціації та метафори дуже важливі - нате яскравий приклад чи порівняння до кожної теми; ефективне навчання базується на регулярному повторенні, поглибленні та самоперевірці - вкінці кожного розділу є підсумки та контрольні запитання, та й навіть сам порядок розділів відповідає цій логічній спіралі, і т.д.
Попри те, що оригінальна назва та чимало акцентів у тексті - про вивчення математики та природничих наук, ця книга - чудовий помічник в опануванні будь-чого.
Ставлю високу оцінку не тому, що вся інформація в книзі була для мене зовсім нова, а тому, що якби я дізналася про це раніше, вчитися в школі та університеті було б набагато легше та цікавіше. Меншій сестрі обов'язково подарую, і вам раджу. ;)
Інструменти, прийоми та техніки навчання, до яких багато людей приходять інтуїтивно, повільно, з досвідом, методом проб та помилок, викладені тут чітко та структуровано, причому йдеться не тільки про "як", а й про "чому" і "як це працює", а це дуже важливо і дає більше мотивації все-таки спробувати. Крім аргументованого викладу з прикладами та посиланнями на джерела, дуже сподобалося те, що сама побудова книги відповідає принципам, про які розповідає: вчитися маленькими порціями, з перервами на інші заняття - маєте розділи та підрозділи, розмежовані невеликими історіями; асоціації та метафори дуже важливі - нате яскравий приклад чи порівняння до кожної теми; ефективне навчання базується на регулярному повторенні, поглибленні та самоперевірці - вкінці кожного розділу є підсумки та контрольні запитання, та й навіть сам порядок розділів відповідає цій логічній спіралі, і т.д.
Попри те, що оригінальна назва та чимало акцентів у тексті - про вивчення математики та природничих наук, ця книга - чудовий помічник в опануванні будь-чого.
Ставлю високу оцінку не тому, що вся інформація в книзі була для мене зовсім нова, а тому, що якби я дізналася про це раніше, вчитися в школі та університеті було б набагато легше та цікавіше. Меншій сестрі обов'язково подарую, і вам раджу. ;)
January 1, 2015
A fantastic book for understanding how we best learn complex concepts. Initially I thought because I already have college degrees in Math and CS that I didn't need to read this book. I though I already knew how to learn match and science. I was wrong.
In retrospect, the subjects and classes that came easily to me were the classes in which I was practicing many of the good habits prescribed in this book. The subjects in which I struggled, were plagued by many of the bad habits and pitfalls outlined by Dr Oakley.
In fact, I have resolved to revisit some of those subjects that proved difficult in school using these techniques.
The book is written at a very easy reading level, making it very approachable for readers as young as 12. I will be testing this theory by making this book required reading for my kids before they start middle school.
This is the companion book to the Coursera course taught by Dr Barbara Oakley. https://www.coursera.org/course/learning
In retrospect, the subjects and classes that came easily to me were the classes in which I was practicing many of the good habits prescribed in this book. The subjects in which I struggled, were plagued by many of the bad habits and pitfalls outlined by Dr Oakley.
In fact, I have resolved to revisit some of those subjects that proved difficult in school using these techniques.
The book is written at a very easy reading level, making it very approachable for readers as young as 12. I will be testing this theory by making this book required reading for my kids before they start middle school.
This is the companion book to the Coursera course taught by Dr Barbara Oakley. https://www.coursera.org/course/learning
September 21, 2021
دقیقاً یادم نیست برای چی سراغ این کتاب رفتم، فقط یک جورایی از لیست خرید کتابم سردرآورده بود (البته نشر چترنگ کتابهای باکیفیتی ترجمه میکنه و یکی از دلیلهاش میتونه این باشه).
ولی با این حال کتاب بدی نبود. مخاطب اصلی این کتاب دانشآموزها و دانشجوها هستند که در یادگیری درسهایی مثل ریاضی، فیزیک، شیمی و درسهای حفظی مشکل دارن. اما غیر از مواردی که بهصورت اختصاصی برای این دسته از مخاطبین نوشته شده بود (مثل روش امتحان دادن و یادگیری با امتحان)، بقیهی مطالب برای افرادی که همچنان بعد از مدرسه و دانشگاه دنبال یادگیری مطالب هستند مفیده و کمک میکنه بهطور موثرتری مطالعه کنند.
ولی با این حال کتاب بدی نبود. مخاطب اصلی این کتاب دانشآموزها و دانشجوها هستند که در یادگیری درسهایی مثل ریاضی، فیزیک، شیمی و درسهای حفظی مشکل دارن. اما غیر از مواردی که بهصورت اختصاصی برای این دسته از مخاطبین نوشته شده بود (مثل روش امتحان دادن و یادگیری با امتحان)، بقیهی مطالب برای افرادی که همچنان بعد از مدرسه و دانشگاه دنبال یادگیری مطالب هستند مفیده و کمک میکنه بهطور موثرتری مطالعه کنند.
January 26, 2015
A Mind for Numbers is a worthy addition to the "owner's manual for the brain" genre. It's billed as a description of how people who did not do well in math or science in school can learn to effectively study topics within those fields.
As someone who did well in math and science in school, this book reminded me of many successful study habits, some cultivated on purpose and some by accident during my preprofessional academic career. The book also has some great ideas that run counter to the conventional wisdom (in this case, foolishness) of our day. I'll list these separately:
Good study habits:
- Building my ability to memorize scripts, movies, jokes, etc. (on purpose: I still love quoting things)
- Not cramming (accidental: I never had the need, though I procrastinated on projects)
- Reviewing before bed (on purpose, but only for subjects I was particularly interested in)
- Reading ahead (on purpose, but driven by annoyance at how similar arithmetic lessons were from grades 1 through 3)
- Focusing on the edge of my understanding rather than burning study time on mastered material (on purpose: I didn't like "studying," so why would I waste "study" time on stuff I already knew?)
- Teaching others (on purpose: helping someone understand new concepts makes you feel like a boss)
- Paraphrasing (accidental: I never enjoyed the physical act of writing longhand, so I was often annoyed by any hint of verbosity in definitions or descriptions. I actually got in trouble once for not copying sections of my science textbook's glossary verbatim for an assignment!)
- Joking about the material (accidental: you have to have a sense of humor)
- Interleaving material (accidental: it just felt right. I never thought of myself as "studying" because "studying" was something that was supposed to feel miserable. I did my homework and I reviewed the syllabus before tests.)
Good ideas:
- Creativity is retrieving from long-term memory something that was never there
- The necessary ping-pong between the brain's focused and diffuse modes
- It's not a coincidence that we experience "aha!" insights when we step away from a problem we've been working hard for a while. Harness this phenomenon.
- Memorization as critical to creativity and effective problem-solving. This is a big one for two reasons:
1. Some nonsense started getting popular around the turn of the 21st century that knowing facts is inconsequential so long as you know where to find them.
2. Memorization assignments fell out of fashion since they're confused with rote-learning. In fact, perfect memorization of longer scenes is *only* possible by "chunking" the details into an outline of overall concepts.
As someone who did well in math and science in school, this book reminded me of many successful study habits, some cultivated on purpose and some by accident during my preprofessional academic career. The book also has some great ideas that run counter to the conventional wisdom (in this case, foolishness) of our day. I'll list these separately:
Good study habits:
- Building my ability to memorize scripts, movies, jokes, etc. (on purpose: I still love quoting things)
- Not cramming (accidental: I never had the need, though I procrastinated on projects)
- Reviewing before bed (on purpose, but only for subjects I was particularly interested in)
- Reading ahead (on purpose, but driven by annoyance at how similar arithmetic lessons were from grades 1 through 3)
- Focusing on the edge of my understanding rather than burning study time on mastered material (on purpose: I didn't like "studying," so why would I waste "study" time on stuff I already knew?)
- Teaching others (on purpose: helping someone understand new concepts makes you feel like a boss)
- Paraphrasing (accidental: I never enjoyed the physical act of writing longhand, so I was often annoyed by any hint of verbosity in definitions or descriptions. I actually got in trouble once for not copying sections of my science textbook's glossary verbatim for an assignment!)
- Joking about the material (accidental: you have to have a sense of humor)
- Interleaving material (accidental: it just felt right. I never thought of myself as "studying" because "studying" was something that was supposed to feel miserable. I did my homework and I reviewed the syllabus before tests.)
Good ideas:
- Creativity is retrieving from long-term memory something that was never there
- The necessary ping-pong between the brain's focused and diffuse modes
- It's not a coincidence that we experience "aha!" insights when we step away from a problem we've been working hard for a while. Harness this phenomenon.
- Memorization as critical to creativity and effective problem-solving. This is a big one for two reasons:
1. Some nonsense started getting popular around the turn of the 21st century that knowing facts is inconsequential so long as you know where to find them.
2. Memorization assignments fell out of fashion since they're confused with rote-learning. In fact, perfect memorization of longer scenes is *only* possible by "chunking" the details into an outline of overall concepts.
September 20, 2024
This book is really helpful if one trusts and follows the tips here that are based on research. One thing needs to be remembered that it will take time to develop the correct learning habits.
Many think that they their natural habit of learning is the best that if they don't 'get' something it's just not for them.
This is not always the case. Many of us have been diagnosed as failed students before we even started.
I also thought this way. Assuming that despite my hard-work getting bad results meant I was defective.
1. The fundamentals: Focus and diffuse
“Not thinking can make you think in ways you never thought of, but thinking can only make you think in ways you already thought”
When you first look at math problems, manys' initial thought's are to analyze, rationalize and look for sequences, Neuroscientists call this focus mode – a highly attentive state the brain goes into when learning.
This was my only strategy, figure it out using focus mode and continue that until the problems solved and if I can't solve it become frustrated and reluctantly give up. People who are good at math and science realize there is actually a 2 part process in solving problems.
The first is the Focused mode and the second is to let your mind wander, be creative or what Neuroscientists call the diffuse mode - a relaxed resting state the brain goes into when learning. more of a meditative approach to solving problems. Just using your diffuse mode doesn’t mean you
can lollygag around and expect to get anywhere. As the days and weeks pass, it’s the
distributed practice—the back and forth between focused-mode attention and diffuse-mode
relaxation—that does the trick.
2. Strategies for learning : Active recall, spaced repetition and active learning.
active recall" (Recalling what you have just learnt from your memory), "spaced repetition" (repeating active recall again and again over increasing gaps of time) and "active learning" (studying in different locations as not to become dependent on the location of study when recalling memories). As it has shown in numerous studies and by numerous geniuses to be the most affective.
(See the book: moonwalking with Einstein.)
3. Using less energy to remember: Chunking
Do you have a skill you can just do on auto-pilot? If so, you’ve probably have together up in your brain. For example, when many people first learn how to juggle, they have to really focus on where the balls were in the air and what why hands and arms were doing. Eventually they can kind of just do it mindlessly. Nothing has changed in my actions, but it’s all been integrated into a single action.
Barbara says this is called "chunking" information and it has 3 parts. The first is directly focusing on what you want to learn (puts information into neurons). Second Is understanding what you are learning (this binds neurons together) and you have successfully made a chunk , but unfortunately it isn't easy to recall yet. Finally you must understand how the chunk does and doesn't fit into the bigger picture to make the information useful and acessable - understanding when to use information creates pathways to the chunks.
4. Why it hurts to work: Eating your frogs and letting your Zombie roam around pain free
Eating frogs: do the difficult tasks first.
Barbara realises there aren't just frogs involved, there are also zombies. She points out that when we engage in a task our brain loses to go into a zombie habit mode, where it just plods along where it won't use much thought or energy. This then makes it easier for the brain to do other things.
Leaving an undesirable task in the back of the mind, activates pain receptors in the brain which hurts your Zombie mode, as more energy and attention are used and it becomes less likely that the task gets completed - the result being further zombie pain. This is where a lot of procrastination comes from.
Do the worst tasks first, and stop them from draining you throughout the day.
5. Get proper sleep and exercise.
... duh.
5/5
Beautiful descriptions to really understand points.
Be wary though, it is DRY , hence me taking so long to get around finishing it. This book helped me get a STEM degree in Biology and get into reading over 50-100 books a year because of it. This book is for high school students who love art and English classes but despise
math.
Many think that they their natural habit of learning is the best that if they don't 'get' something it's just not for them.
This is not always the case. Many of us have been diagnosed as failed students before we even started.
I also thought this way. Assuming that despite my hard-work getting bad results meant I was defective.
1. The fundamentals: Focus and diffuse
“Not thinking can make you think in ways you never thought of, but thinking can only make you think in ways you already thought”
When you first look at math problems, manys' initial thought's are to analyze, rationalize and look for sequences, Neuroscientists call this focus mode – a highly attentive state the brain goes into when learning.
This was my only strategy, figure it out using focus mode and continue that until the problems solved and if I can't solve it become frustrated and reluctantly give up. People who are good at math and science realize there is actually a 2 part process in solving problems.
The first is the Focused mode and the second is to let your mind wander, be creative or what Neuroscientists call the diffuse mode - a relaxed resting state the brain goes into when learning. more of a meditative approach to solving problems. Just using your diffuse mode doesn’t mean you
can lollygag around and expect to get anywhere. As the days and weeks pass, it’s the
distributed practice—the back and forth between focused-mode attention and diffuse-mode
relaxation—that does the trick.
2. Strategies for learning : Active recall, spaced repetition and active learning.
active recall" (Recalling what you have just learnt from your memory), "spaced repetition" (repeating active recall again and again over increasing gaps of time) and "active learning" (studying in different locations as not to become dependent on the location of study when recalling memories). As it has shown in numerous studies and by numerous geniuses to be the most affective.
(See the book: moonwalking with Einstein.)
3. Using less energy to remember: Chunking
Do you have a skill you can just do on auto-pilot? If so, you’ve probably have together up in your brain. For example, when many people first learn how to juggle, they have to really focus on where the balls were in the air and what why hands and arms were doing. Eventually they can kind of just do it mindlessly. Nothing has changed in my actions, but it’s all been integrated into a single action.
Barbara says this is called "chunking" information and it has 3 parts. The first is directly focusing on what you want to learn (puts information into neurons). Second Is understanding what you are learning (this binds neurons together) and you have successfully made a chunk , but unfortunately it isn't easy to recall yet. Finally you must understand how the chunk does and doesn't fit into the bigger picture to make the information useful and acessable - understanding when to use information creates pathways to the chunks.
4. Why it hurts to work: Eating your frogs and letting your Zombie roam around pain free
Eating frogs: do the difficult tasks first.
Barbara realises there aren't just frogs involved, there are also zombies. She points out that when we engage in a task our brain loses to go into a zombie habit mode, where it just plods along where it won't use much thought or energy. This then makes it easier for the brain to do other things.
Leaving an undesirable task in the back of the mind, activates pain receptors in the brain which hurts your Zombie mode, as more energy and attention are used and it becomes less likely that the task gets completed - the result being further zombie pain. This is where a lot of procrastination comes from.
Do the worst tasks first, and stop them from draining you throughout the day.
5. Get proper sleep and exercise.
... duh.
5/5
Beautiful descriptions to really understand points.
Be wary though, it is DRY , hence me taking so long to get around finishing it. This book helped me get a STEM degree in Biology and get into reading over 50-100 books a year because of it. This book is for high school students who love art and English classes but despise
math.
November 5, 2021
Lovely. She pitches it at anxious people - and just mentioning the difficulty, just treating a block as a normal problem with normal solutions, dissolves half the problem. The chapters are tiny and repetitive and cutesy, no doubt also intended.
The other side of being humanistic is that she draws on theories from the dodgiest sciences: social psychology, pedagogy and a bit of pop neuroscience. But unlike similar books by Baumeister and Dweck, the dubious results are like rhetorical ornament rather than the crux. I give it a pass. Also she's a good teacher, so gets plenty of feedback from students about what actually works.
She accounts for human variance, obviously vital for any good advice:
Maybe won't do much for you if you've ever had a good maths teacher.
---
Claims
- Two disjoint brain modes: focused ("studying") and diffuse ("shower thoughts"). Mixture of the two is needed for problem solving: focus, then unfocus. Sleep is [diffuse](https://www.bytestart.co.uk/relaxing-...).
- Einstellung effect: anchoring on the first flawed approach. Focus as the opposite of exploring.
- You need lots of time: time to switch modes, time to chunk content into strong abstractions, time to form long-term memory.
- Spaced repetition duh
- "Chunk creation" (learning suitable abstractions): focus on it, get the gist, practice (how to use it), work out applicable contexts (when to use it), test recall
- Worked examples are good
- But seeing the answer leads to the illusion of competence (hindsight bias).
- Re-reading the formula also leads to illusion of recall ("it's in my head")
- Go walk and chew it over
- Some overlearning ("continuing the study or practice after it is well understood"), not too much
- "If you don’t understand a method, stop and work backward. Go to the Internet and discover who first figured out the method or some of the earliest people to use it. Try to understand how the creative inventor arrived at the idea and why the idea is used"
---
Misc
* Not sure about the examples here:
This is a classic modelling mistake of physicists. I think motor coordination is done by simple rule of thumb plus a control loop (see motion, move hand, predict path, see motion, move hand) rather than unconscious calculus or ODEs.
* One place she overdoes the weak psych is insisting that the world is just when it comes to mental power.
* Happy to see the late Seth Roberts show up. He went too far and dogmatic, but his impulse towards self-experiments is great.
The other side of being humanistic is that she draws on theories from the dodgiest sciences: social psychology, pedagogy and a bit of pop neuroscience. But unlike similar books by Baumeister and Dweck, the dubious results are like rhetorical ornament rather than the crux. I give it a pass. Also she's a good teacher, so gets plenty of feedback from students about what actually works.
She accounts for human variance, obviously vital for any good advice:
Take a step back and look dispassionately at your strengths and weaknesses. If you need more time to learn [a given amount of] math and science, that’s simply the reality. If you’re in high school, try to arrange your schedule to give yourself the time you need to focus on the more difficult materials, and limit these materials to manageable proportions. If you’re in college, try to avoid a full load of heavy courses, especially if you are working on the side. A lighter load of math and science courses can, for many, be the equivalent of a heavy load of other types of courses. Especially in the early stages of college, avoid the temptation to keep up with your peers... learning slowly can mean you learn more deeply than your fast-thinking classmates.
Maybe won't do much for you if you've ever had a good maths teacher.
---
Claims
- Two disjoint brain modes: focused ("studying") and diffuse ("shower thoughts"). Mixture of the two is needed for problem solving: focus, then unfocus. Sleep is [diffuse](https://www.bytestart.co.uk/relaxing-...).
- Einstellung effect: anchoring on the first flawed approach. Focus as the opposite of exploring.
- You need lots of time: time to switch modes, time to chunk content into strong abstractions, time to form long-term memory.
- Spaced repetition duh
- "Chunk creation" (learning suitable abstractions): focus on it, get the gist, practice (how to use it), work out applicable contexts (when to use it), test recall
- Worked examples are good
- But seeing the answer leads to the illusion of competence (hindsight bias).
- Re-reading the formula also leads to illusion of recall ("it's in my head")
- Go walk and chew it over
- Some overlearning ("continuing the study or practice after it is well understood"), not too much
- "If you don’t understand a method, stop and work backward. Go to the Internet and discover who first figured out the method or some of the earliest people to use it. Try to understand how the creative inventor arrived at the idea and why the idea is used"
---
Misc
* Not sure about the examples here:
the brain is designed to do extraordinary mental calculations. We do them every time we catch a ball, or rock our body to the beat of a song, or maneuver our car around a pothole in the road. We often do complex calculations, solving complex equations unconsciously, unaware that we sometimes already know the solution as we slowly work toward it
This is a classic modelling mistake of physicists. I think motor coordination is done by simple rule of thumb plus a control loop (see motion, move hand, predict path, see motion, move hand) rather than unconscious calculus or ODEs.
* One place she overdoes the weak psych is insisting that the world is just when it comes to mental power.
A superb working memory can hold its thoughts so tightly that new thoughts can’t easily peek through. Such tightly controlled attention could use an occasional whiff of ADHD-like fresh air—the ability, in other words, to have your attention shift even if you don’t want it to shift. Your ability to solve complex problems may make you overthink simple problems... their slower way of thinking can allow them to see confusing subtleties that others aren’t aware of.
* Happy to see the late Seth Roberts show up. He went too far and dogmatic, but his impulse towards self-experiments is great.
first self-experiment involved his acne. A dermatologist had prescribed tetracycline, so Roberts simply counted the number of pimples he had on his face with varying doses of tetracycline. The result? The tetracycline made no difference on the number of pimples he had! Roberts had stumbled across a finding that would take medicine another decade to discover—that seemingly powerful tetracycline, which has unsafe side effects, doesn’t necessarily work on acne...
December 23, 2020
This should be a text book for every high school (8th grade or 9th grade) students. Additionally, there should be a mandatory course in the first semester of every undergraduate program which will teach the students how to study well. In schools and colleges students are only taught what to study, however its important to teach them how to study.
A very well written book.
A very well written book.
June 21, 2018
كتاب رائع يعلم كيفية التعلّم بفاعلية. الكثير من الطلاب يواجه صعوبة في فهم الرياضيات والمواد العلمية لأسباب مختلفة، أغلبها عائد لخلل في عملية التعلم في مراحل مبكرة. ولأن هذه المواد هي ذات طبيعة تراكمية (فهم دروس الصف الثاني يعتمد على فهم دروس الصف الأول... وهكذا) فإن معاناة أولئك الطلاب تصبح تراكمية أيضاً، وتستمر إلى عمر متقدم، فيعتقد الطالب أنه غير مؤهل لفهم هذه المواد، فضلاً عن التفوق فيها.
يأتي كتاب (عقل للأرقام) بفكرة صادمة وهي أن الجميع يستطيع أن يتعلم الرياضيات والمواد العلمية إذا عرفنا الطريقة الملائمة لتعلم هذه المواد. ويفكك الكتاب عملية التعلم بشكل علمي مرتكزاً على نتائج دراسات في علم النفس وعلم الأعصاب. ثم يصب هذه النتائج في قوالب من سلوكيات بسيطة وواضحة يستطيع أي طالب أن يمارسها. فالكتاب يسد الفجوة بين النتائج العلمية والنصائح السلوكية العملية (وهو أمر ضروري للغاية في نظري)!
أعجبني في الكتاب أن المؤلفة (د. بربرة أوكلي) كانت تعاني كثيرا من الرياضيات في الصغر وتكرهها بشدة: "كنت أفكر أن الأرقام والمعادلات يجب تجنبها، كما نتجنب الأمراض القاتلة". لذلك هربت من كل ما له علاقة بالرياضيات وتخصصت في اللغات والترجمة. ولكن أثناء عملها، تمت ترقيتها لمنصب يتطلب فهما جيدا لأساسيات الرياضيات، فاضطرت لتعلمها، ثم أكملت دراستها لتحصل على بكلريوس في الهندسة الكهربائية، ثم ماجستير في الهندسة، فدكتوراة في هندسة النظم! والآن هي بروفيسورة في الهندسة!
من المواضيع الهامة التي أسهب الكتاب في الحديث عنها (مثالان فقط):
* العقل المركز والعقل المنتشر: يشرح الكتاب أن التعلم الفعال يكون بالتنقل بين نوعين من التفكير (المركز والمنتشر). فالطالب الذي يحاول أن يحل مسألة صعبة لمدة 3 ساعات (تفكير مركز)، من الأفضل له أن يترك المسألة لبرهة من الزمن، أن يحاول حلها في اليوم التالي. غالباً سيجد أن المسأله صارت أسهل أو أنه أصبح ينظر لها من منظور مختلف. لماذا؟ لأن العقل المنتشر (diffused mind) كان يعمل بصمت على ربط الأفكار واستخلاص النتائج. (أعتقد أكثرنا مر بهذا الموقف).
* التخلص من التسويف: هنا يشرح الكتاب لماذا نحب التسويف، وكيف أنه نوع من أنواع الإدمان، وعادة يمكن التخلص منها بفهم مكوناتها وتغيير بعض الظروف. يحلل الكتاب المكونات الثلاثة للعادات (الإشارة، الروتين، الجائزة) ويشرح كيف يمكن كسرها بسهولة. على سبيل المثال، الطالب الذي يسوف البدء بالمذاكرة لساعات بسبب الانشغال بالجوال، هو يستجيب لإشارة (cue) عبارة عن تنبيهات أو نغمات الجوال، فيقوم بروتين معين (وتساب يوتيوب ....إلخ) لأن هناك جائزة تعوّد على الحصول عليها وهي متعة وسائل التواصل والتخلص من ألم المذاكرة. يستطيع هذا الطالب أن يقلل من أثر الجوال بتركه خارج الغرفة، وبالتالي يقضي على فرصة أن تسرقه منبهات الجوال (إشارة cue). لماذا نتحدث عن التسويف في سياق تعلم الرياضيات والعلوم بالذات؟ لأن هذه المواد – كما أسلفت – تراكمية. بالتالي فإن للتسويف أثر سلبي مضاعف (هل رأيت طالباً يحاول أن يفهم منهج الفيزياء كله في ليلة الإمتحان؟)
كما تحدث الكتاب بإسهاب عن مواضيع أخرى مثل: وسائل تقوية الذاكرة، الاستعداد الأمثل للإمتحانات، الطريقة المثلى للمذاكرة الجماعية، أهمية النوم، التخلص من القلق، كيفية الإجابة أثناء الامتحان، وغيرها.
في رأيي هذا الكتاب رائع لكل من يريد أن يضاعف قدرته على التعلم. تقييمي له هو 4 من 5، فقط لأن أسلوب المؤلفة في الشرح كان متعب قليلاً، ولأن هناك مواضيع متعلقة هامة لم يتم التطرق لها.
يأتي كتاب (عقل للأرقام) بفكرة صادمة وهي أن الجميع يستطيع أن يتعلم الرياضيات والمواد العلمية إذا عرفنا الطريقة الملائمة لتعلم هذه المواد. ويفكك الكتاب عملية التعلم بشكل علمي مرتكزاً على نتائج دراسات في علم النفس وعلم الأعصاب. ثم يصب هذه النتائج في قوالب من سلوكيات بسيطة وواضحة يستطيع أي طالب أن يمارسها. فالكتاب يسد الفجوة بين النتائج العلمية والنصائح السلوكية العملية (وهو أمر ضروري للغاية في نظري)!
أعجبني في الكتاب أن المؤلفة (د. بربرة أوكلي) كانت تعاني كثيرا من الرياضيات في الصغر وتكرهها بشدة: "كنت أفكر أن الأرقام والمعادلات يجب تجنبها، كما نتجنب الأمراض القاتلة". لذلك هربت من كل ما له علاقة بالرياضيات وتخصصت في اللغات والترجمة. ولكن أثناء عملها، تمت ترقيتها لمنصب يتطلب فهما جيدا لأساسيات الرياضيات، فاضطرت لتعلمها، ثم أكملت دراستها لتحصل على بكلريوس في الهندسة الكهربائية، ثم ماجستير في الهندسة، فدكتوراة في هندسة النظم! والآن هي بروفيسورة في الهندسة!
من المواضيع الهامة التي أسهب الكتاب في الحديث عنها (مثالان فقط):
* العقل المركز والعقل المنتشر: يشرح الكتاب أن التعلم الفعال يكون بالتنقل بين نوعين من التفكير (المركز والمنتشر). فالطالب الذي يحاول أن يحل مسألة صعبة لمدة 3 ساعات (تفكير مركز)، من الأفضل له أن يترك المسألة لبرهة من الزمن، أن يحاول حلها في اليوم التالي. غالباً سيجد أن المسأله صارت أسهل أو أنه أصبح ينظر لها من منظور مختلف. لماذا؟ لأن العقل المنتشر (diffused mind) كان يعمل بصمت على ربط الأفكار واستخلاص النتائج. (أعتقد أكثرنا مر بهذا الموقف).
* التخلص من التسويف: هنا يشرح الكتاب لماذا نحب التسويف، وكيف أنه نوع من أنواع الإدمان، وعادة يمكن التخلص منها بفهم مكوناتها وتغيير بعض الظروف. يحلل الكتاب المكونات الثلاثة للعادات (الإشارة، الروتين، الجائزة) ويشرح كيف يمكن كسرها بسهولة. على سبيل المثال، الطالب الذي يسوف البدء بالمذاكرة لساعات بسبب الانشغال بالجوال، هو يستجيب لإشارة (cue) عبارة عن تنبيهات أو نغمات الجوال، فيقوم بروتين معين (وتساب يوتيوب ....إلخ) لأن هناك جائزة تعوّد على الحصول عليها وهي متعة وسائل التواصل والتخلص من ألم المذاكرة. يستطيع هذا الطالب أن يقلل من أثر الجوال بتركه خارج الغرفة، وبالتالي يقضي على فرصة أن تسرقه منبهات الجوال (إشارة cue). لماذا نتحدث عن التسويف في سياق تعلم الرياضيات والعلوم بالذات؟ لأن هذه المواد – كما أسلفت – تراكمية. بالتالي فإن للتسويف أثر سلبي مضاعف (هل رأيت طالباً يحاول أن يفهم منهج الفيزياء كله في ليلة الإمتحان؟)
كما تحدث الكتاب بإسهاب عن مواضيع أخرى مثل: وسائل تقوية الذاكرة، الاستعداد الأمثل للإمتحانات، الطريقة المثلى للمذاكرة الجماعية، أهمية النوم، التخلص من القلق، كيفية الإجابة أثناء الامتحان، وغيرها.
في رأيي هذا الكتاب رائع لكل من يريد أن يضاعف قدرته على التعلم. تقييمي له هو 4 من 5، فقط لأن أسلوب المؤلفة في الشرح كان متعب قليلاً، ولأن هناك مواضيع متعلقة هامة لم يتم التطرق لها.
March 9, 2021
täiesti asjalik raamat, kuigi üldse mitte selline, nagu ma oleks kaanedisaini ja pealkirja ja alapealkirja põhjal oodanud. jääb ju mulje, et see raamat on... numbritest, matemaatikast ja loodusteadustest? aga on hoopis sellest, kuidas õppida. ükskõik, mida.
eessõnas autor kirjeldab, kuidas ta ise oli veendunud, et tal ei ole reaalainetele annet ja need ei meeldi talle, ja hakkas vene filoloogiks. aga elu näitas, et reaalainete oskajate järele oli tema valitud töökohal (USA armee, kui te juba küsisite) rohkem vajadust, nii et tuli tal oma vastumeelsusest üle saada. selle käigus selgus, et kui matemaatika juba hästi välja tuleb, on ta ka tunduvalt meeldivam, kui siis, kui millestki aru ei saa. nüüd on tal mingis reaalaines doktorikraad ja ta õhutab meidki mõistma, et anne ei puutu siin asjasse, tuleb lihtsalt õigesti läheneda ja veidi tööd teha.
siiski, kuigi tal tuleb iga natukese aja tagant meelde, et ta pidi ju matemaatikat, füüsikat, keemiat ja inseneriteadusi promoma, ja seda siis kohusetundlikult teeb, räägib see raamat ikkagi õppimisest üldiselt. ilma liigselt ajuteadusesse süvenemata, aga üldiselt ikkagi neidsamu asju, mida ajuteadlased meile juba tükk aega räägivad - et mälust ammutamine, enesetestimine ja ülesannete läbilahendamine on paremad õppimisviisid kui tuimalt raamatulugemine; et tasub teha erinevaid ülesandeid vaheldumisi, mitte kogu aeg ühesuguseid järjest; et enne kontrolltööd tuleb korralikult magada; et viimasele hetkele ei ole õppimist mõtet jätta ja et mõned asjad tuleb ikkagi pähe ka õppida. ja kõik see kehtib minu meelest küll ühtviisi nii matemaatika kui näiteks keelte õppimisel.
mulle tundub, et selle raamatu hea sihtgrupp oleks koolilapsed alates põhikoolist ja võibolla ka tudengid - kõik on kirjas väga lihtsas keeles ja lisatud on meeldejätmist ja arusaamist soodustavad peatükikokkuvõtted, kordamisküsimused jms. aga samuti võib ära kuluda igaühele, kes on sunnitud ilma suurema pedagoogilise ettevalmistuseta kedagi teist õppimisel abistama (khmkhm, distants- ja koduõpe).
mis puutub pealkirjas lubatud numbritesse, siis kui leheküljenumbreid mitte arvestada, siis esimest ja viimast korda kohtume numbritega 12. peatükis ja seal ei lähe asi ka keerulisemaks kui kaks näidet: 10*10=100 ja 10^4*10^5=10^9. kõik, rohkem pole! mina isiklikult oleks täitsa hea meelega tahtnud mingeid reaalseid ülesandeid kasvõi illustratsioonidena juurde kogu sellele värgile. aga mulle isiklikult ka matemaatika ja füüsika kohutavalt meeldivad.
eessõnas autor kirjeldab, kuidas ta ise oli veendunud, et tal ei ole reaalainetele annet ja need ei meeldi talle, ja hakkas vene filoloogiks. aga elu näitas, et reaalainete oskajate järele oli tema valitud töökohal (USA armee, kui te juba küsisite) rohkem vajadust, nii et tuli tal oma vastumeelsusest üle saada. selle käigus selgus, et kui matemaatika juba hästi välja tuleb, on ta ka tunduvalt meeldivam, kui siis, kui millestki aru ei saa. nüüd on tal mingis reaalaines doktorikraad ja ta õhutab meidki mõistma, et anne ei puutu siin asjasse, tuleb lihtsalt õigesti läheneda ja veidi tööd teha.
siiski, kuigi tal tuleb iga natukese aja tagant meelde, et ta pidi ju matemaatikat, füüsikat, keemiat ja inseneriteadusi promoma, ja seda siis kohusetundlikult teeb, räägib see raamat ikkagi õppimisest üldiselt. ilma liigselt ajuteadusesse süvenemata, aga üldiselt ikkagi neidsamu asju, mida ajuteadlased meile juba tükk aega räägivad - et mälust ammutamine, enesetestimine ja ülesannete läbilahendamine on paremad õppimisviisid kui tuimalt raamatulugemine; et tasub teha erinevaid ülesandeid vaheldumisi, mitte kogu aeg ühesuguseid järjest; et enne kontrolltööd tuleb korralikult magada; et viimasele hetkele ei ole õppimist mõtet jätta ja et mõned asjad tuleb ikkagi pähe ka õppida. ja kõik see kehtib minu meelest küll ühtviisi nii matemaatika kui näiteks keelte õppimisel.
mulle tundub, et selle raamatu hea sihtgrupp oleks koolilapsed alates põhikoolist ja võibolla ka tudengid - kõik on kirjas väga lihtsas keeles ja lisatud on meeldejätmist ja arusaamist soodustavad peatükikokkuvõtted, kordamisküsimused jms. aga samuti võib ära kuluda igaühele, kes on sunnitud ilma suurema pedagoogilise ettevalmistuseta kedagi teist õppimisel abistama (khmkhm, distants- ja koduõpe).
mis puutub pealkirjas lubatud numbritesse, siis kui leheküljenumbreid mitte arvestada, siis esimest ja viimast korda kohtume numbritega 12. peatükis ja seal ei lähe asi ka keerulisemaks kui kaks näidet: 10*10=100 ja 10^4*10^5=10^9. kõik, rohkem pole! mina isiklikult oleks täitsa hea meelega tahtnud mingeid reaalseid ülesandeid kasvõi illustratsioonidena juurde kogu sellele värgile. aga mulle isiklikult ka matemaatika ja füüsika kohutavalt meeldivad.
July 6, 2018
“This is where the Law of Serendipity comes to play: Lady Luck favors the one who tries.”
Wow! I wanna read this book over and over and over again! But actually, that is something this book told me not to do… The struggle is real!
This is an excellent book for everyone who struggles with math. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 7-year old’s problem with multiplication tables or a physics master student trying to understand thermodynamics in quantum systems.
This is also a great book for everyone trying to learn anything new in their life. I am convinced that the majority of people would take a benefit in their personal and professional life from reading this book.
I can’t say that every concept in this book was completely mind-blowing and new to me, but Barbara Oakley manages to explain why things that have worked for you for years are actually excellent learning strategies. This book also inspired me to use my planner more and it had a positive effect on my self-esteem (especially before and during exams). I am completely sure that, would I go through this book again, I’d notice advice that I haven’t put to practice yet and I’m planning to implement more of it to my life. For now I’m just happy with all the help this book provided me with.
5/5
Wow! I wanna read this book over and over and over again! But actually, that is something this book told me not to do… The struggle is real!
This is an excellent book for everyone who struggles with math. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 7-year old’s problem with multiplication tables or a physics master student trying to understand thermodynamics in quantum systems.
This is also a great book for everyone trying to learn anything new in their life. I am convinced that the majority of people would take a benefit in their personal and professional life from reading this book.
I can’t say that every concept in this book was completely mind-blowing and new to me, but Barbara Oakley manages to explain why things that have worked for you for years are actually excellent learning strategies. This book also inspired me to use my planner more and it had a positive effect on my self-esteem (especially before and during exams). I am completely sure that, would I go through this book again, I’d notice advice that I haven’t put to practice yet and I’m planning to implement more of it to my life. For now I’m just happy with all the help this book provided me with.
5/5
August 11, 2014
The book, even though it says so in the title, has no particular drift towards math and sciences.
I was expecting a STEM-put-ultra-simply type books, much in the vogue of some old russian calculus and physics textbooks, which employed plots like conversation and simple language to eradicate the fear for the so called hard sciences. The science I got instead was "memorizing avogadro's constant 6.022x10^7 by making it into a rhyme"
(Avogadro's constant is actually 6.022x10^23)
Two stars for being a general compilation of practical ideas about improving learning (Researchers say so, but your mileage may vary). Go through it using a technique from the book -> Read Chapter Intros, Summaries, and all the boxes.
I was expecting a STEM-put-ultra-simply type books, much in the vogue of some old russian calculus and physics textbooks, which employed plots like conversation and simple language to eradicate the fear for the so called hard sciences. The science I got instead was "memorizing avogadro's constant 6.022x10^7 by making it into a rhyme"
(Avogadro's constant is actually 6.022x10^23)
Two stars for being a general compilation of practical ideas about improving learning (Researchers say so, but your mileage may vary). Go through it using a technique from the book -> Read Chapter Intros, Summaries, and all the boxes.
December 11, 2016
Haven't finished yet... So far so good. Very applicable and readable.
The book is not only for undergrads learning math and science but also for anyone who wants to learn any subjects that require more mental power. It's also good for grad students, faculty, researchers who want to stay productive.
P.S. Finished.
The book is not only for undergrads learning math and science but also for anyone who wants to learn any subjects that require more mental power. It's also good for grad students, faculty, researchers who want to stay productive.
P.S. Finished.
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