How to learn

What modern and effective approaches to learning can you use in your life?Discover →

The main problems in learning

Neither at school nor at the institute do they teach us how to study the material correctly. We are preparing for exams and learning tickets. We train ourselves to solve repetitive problems in order to pass the test better, but often in the end this does not give us real knowledge. Cramming quickly disappears and does not bring any benefit.

Conclusion:you also need to be able to learn, but for some reason this is not taught anywhere. What to do with it?

Specific techniques and exercises help to change the approach to learning, make it effective and exciting. The same techniques are applied on the example of training in the Practicum.

Teaching Techniques

Five practices from Barbara Oakley

  • book in hand

    Two kinds of attention

    Deep knowledge arises by alternating between focused and scattered thinking.

  • The statue

    Recall

    Recall what you have learned — this will allow you to connect disparate portions of memory.

  • Hall

    Interleaving

    Learn several skills at the same time, they enrich each other.

  • White room

    Questions

    As you listen to your teacher, come up with a good question that you really care about.

  • Stack of books

    Illusion of competence

    Repeat to yourself, write it down, tell a friend: it just seems to you that you own a new topic.

Video at TED

For those who like to procrastinate

Barbara Oakley’s story

From childhood, Barbara was not given mathematics. She considered herself a complete humanist, and far from being the smartest. In the army, she studied Russian to get a raise, and so successfully that she was promoted to commander. But for promotion, you had to take math. And then Barbara came up with her own approach to the exact sciences. It turned out that if something is «badly given» to you, your knowledge gained by labor is much deeper than that of those to whom everything is clear at first sight.

Feynman method

Learn and don’t forget.

More →

Numbers and facts

About learning and the brain

  • 86 billion

    The number of neurons in the human brain

  • 2.1 billion

    Number of people in need of advanced training

    World Bank, 2017

  • 1000 terabytes

    Human memory capacity

  • 500 trillion

    The number of nerve synapses responsible for learning in an adult

  • 420 million

    Number of adults under the age of 25 without education for employment

  • 17–20 years

    Peak of Learnability

  • 1885

    Discovery of Forgetting Curve

  • 1889

    Discovery of the conditioned reflex

Salman Khan

The whole world is a school

Sala Khan’s passion and innovation is transforming the learning experience for millions of students around the world. The World Is a School is a must read for all educators so that students everywhere can acquire the skills and knowledge that lead to success in school, career and life.

George Lucas

Film director, producer

Book cover of Salman KhanBuy a book →

Learning principles

by Josh Kaufman

  1. Choose an attractive project.
  2. Focus on one skill.
  3. Determine your target skill level.
  4. Break the skill into elements.
  5. Prepare everything you need for class.
  6. Remove barriers to practice.
  7. Set aside dedicated time for practice.
  8. Create fast feedback loops.
  9. Work out on a schedule, in short, intense intervals.
  10. Pay attention to quantity and speed.

Useful Resources

More materials about learning techniques and life hacks