Online Course Recommendation: Learning How To Learn

I recently came across this post on Hacker News: Ask HN: What are the best MOOCs you've taken? (note: MOOC = Massive Open Online Course).

One course that came up several times in the comment section was Learning How to Learn on Coursera. It sounded interesting, and it was only 4 weeks long, so I signed up. Now, 4 weeks later, I've finished the class, and am here to recommend it.

Class Overview:

• It covers several topics related to learning, including:
  • Memory
  • Habits and how we form them
  • Procrastination: why it happens and how to avoid it
  • The science behind how we learn new information
  • Techniques to learn new concepts more effectively (no surprise here)
• It consists of 4 weeks of content, mostly videos followed by quizzes or reflections afterwards.
• The class seems to have been written with high-school or college-age students in mind, but the learnings covered are applicable to people of any age.
• Overall, the time commitment is very manageable
  • I completed each week's coursework (videos, reflections, quizzes) on Sunday in 2-3 hours at the end of each week (usually while eating lunch or folding laundry)

My takeaways:

• I'd highly recommend the course.
• For me the biggest learnings were:
  • The importance of things like exercise, taking breaks, and getting lots of sleep in keeping your brain healthy and in learning new material.
    • This, like some of the other parts of the class, might seem obvious in retrospect.
    • However, for me at least, hearing the science behind these findings was super interesting AND helped me take these things more seriously.
    • Again, for me at least, having a feeling that something might be good isn't the same as hearing why/how it's helpful.
    • Especially interesting for me was the discussion of how things like breaks or exercise help the brain process things in parallel even when you're not focusing on them.
  • Procrastination: the course gives context on why we procrastinate, and, armed with that knowledge, offers suggestions for avoiding the natural urge to put off work.
  • The whole course is a reminder that the mind isn't that different from the body.
    • Everyone knows that by changing your eating and training habits, you can build muscle, get better at rock climbing, or run a faster mile.
    • Fewer people (I think), really internalize the concept that our brains can also "build muscle" through training.
    • For me, this course was a good reminder that my brain isn't static / unchange-able. Everyone can make their brains more effective the same way they can make their bodies more fit.
  • Worst case scenario, the course was interesting, and helped me learn more about the brain.

So, if you have 4 weeks free and want to try out an online course, I'd recommend Learning How to Learn. It's free, it's a fairly low time-commitment, and (in my opinion), has a lot of interesting / useful content.

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