I love to bring fresh perspectives into my books by applying knowledge and experience from many different disciplines, as well as from “real world” experiences. Although I’m now a professor of engineering, I’ve also worked in lots of different places and doing very different things: serving as a Russian translator on Soviet trawlers up in... Read more »| Barbara Oakley
Cheery Friday Greetings from Barb Oakley! Book of the Year: Reforming Lessons If you want a powerful, uplifting read about how to turn a struggling education system around — despite the drag of “well-meaning” but harmful inertia — pick up Nick Gibb and Robert Peal’s Reforming Lessons: Why English Schools Have Improved Since 2010 and... Read more »| Barbara Oakley
Cheery Friday Greetings from Barb Oakley! Back to School Deal: A Steal for the Science- and Math-Shy! Heads up! A Mind for Numbers—my classic guide to learning math and science more effectively (even if you’ve sworn those subjects hate you)—is on Kindle sale this weekend only for just $1.99. That’s less than the price of... Read more » The post A Mind for Numbers—Back to School Sale appeared first on Barbara Oakley.| Barbara Oakley
Cheery Friday Greetings from Barb Oakley! 📣 Our New Course, “Making Math Click” Is Live! This is the big day: our new MOOC, Making Math Click: Understand Math without Fear, has officially launched! I can’t tell you how excited I am about this course—it’s a labor of love that combines the best of what neuroscience,... Read more »| Barbara Oakley
Cheery Friday Greetings from Barb Oakley! Teaching Isn’t Just a Belief—it’s a Science! A fantastic new piece from Jim Hewitt and Nidhi Sachdeva reminds us that teaching should be grounded in evidence, not opinion. Drawing on insights from Douglas Carnine’s classic work, the article challenges us to shift from “I believe” to “the data shows”—just like... Read more »| Barbara Oakley
Cheery Friday Greetings from Barb Oakley! Something Big Is Coming: Making Math Click: Understand Math Without Fear! We’ve been quietly building something we think you’ll love: Making Math Click: Understand Math without Fear, our brand-new MOOC designed to help learners truly understand—and maybe even enjoy—math. Together with Canadian mathematician John Mighton (cofounder of JUMP Math),... Read more »| Barbara Oakley
Cheery Friday Greetings from Barb Oakley! Why IQ Scores Are Dropping: A New Neuroscientific Explanation for a 50-Year Mystery What if I told you that well-meaning Western educational reforms and our smartphone habits might actually be making us less intelligent? New research suggests that’s exactly what’s happening. Our new chapter, “The Memory Paradox: Why Our... Read more »| Barbara Oakley
Cheery Friday Greetings from Barb Oakley! A Revolution in Teaching: And We’re Just Getting Started Coursera celebrated Teacher Appreciation Day this week by recognizing a few of their instructors—and, yes, I was surprised (and slightly surreal-ed) to find myself leading the list. What stood out, though, was what this moment reflects. For a long time,... Read more »| Barbara Oakley
Cheery Friday Greetings from Barb Oakley! And I’m a little early with this week’s Cheery Friday–flights will be catching me with dicey internet connections, so better to send early! Our Little Course, One Big Deal Who would’ve guessed? That quirky little course Learning How to Learn—the one you’re in right now—has just been named one... Read more »| Barbara Oakley
Cheery Friday Greetings from Barb Oakley! Book Pick: The Hidden Life of the Basal Ganglia by Hagai Bergman. If you’ve ever wondered about the backstage crew running the show of your everyday thoughts and actions, The Hidden Life of the Basal Ganglia is a fascinating peek behind the curtain. Hagai Bergman takes readers deep into... Read more »| Barbara Oakley
Cheery Friday Greetings from Barb Oakley! Double the Learning Fun! Uncommon Sense Teaching on Sale at Audible Exciting news to share in this week’s Cheery Friday! Audible is running a “Buy One, Get One” sale from now to February 24, and Uncommon Sense Teaching is included in the promotion! During this sale, Audible members can... Read more »| Barbara Oakley
Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners! Thrilling News! Our very own Terry Sejnowski has started a (free) Substack: “ Brains and AI.” In his first three posts, Terry explores the convergence of artificial intelligence and neuroscience, offering rare insight into how advances in each field are accelerating progress in the other. With his... Read more »| Barbara Oakley
Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners! The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values, by Brian Christian, is a surprising contender for the most important book on learning of the decade. Christian tackles the complex challenge of ensuring that artificial intelligence remains aligned with human values as it grows more powerful. The... Read more »| Barbara Oakley
Cheery Friday Greetings to our Learning How to Learners! Book of the Month The Trusted Learning Advisor: The Tools, Techniques and Skills You Need to Make L&D a Business Priority, Keith Keating. With the advent of generative AI, we feel learning and development (“L&D”) is one of the hottest areas around. After all, L&D experts... Read more »| Barbara Oakley
Whether you are a student struggling to fulfill a math or science requirement, or you are embarking on a career change that requires a new skill set, A Mind for Numbers offers the tools you need to get a better grasp of that intimidating material. Engineering professor Barbara Oakley knows firsthand how it feels to... Read more »| Barbara Oakley