Scott Young came up with the MIT Challenge super-learning project, during which he mastered the bachelor's degree program in computer science in a year instead of four. From the experience of this and other initiatives, Young derived the concept of super-education and summarized the ideas of organizing self-education projects. It is based on nine universal principles: meta-learning, focus, focus, exercises, reinforcement, feedback, memorization, intuition and experimentation.
The first principle says that before you dive deeply into a new subject, it's worth spending enough time to explore how it works. It is recommended to allocate about 10% of the total expected training time to this. We need to understand why we need to study, what exactly we will study, what resources and methods we plan to use and what results we will achieve. More information about this and other principles is described in the book.
English teacher Anastasia Ivanova, in her book, first of all debunks the myth that a foreign language (and a native one too) can be learned once and for all. How can you learn something that is constantly changing? Instead, she suggests just living with him: watching your favorite TV series, listening to podcasts and audiobooks, discussing exciting issues with foreign friends. A new language can become a hobby, a brain workout, a way to relax.
The book is based on two important concepts: edutainment (learning + entertainment) and lifelong learning (continuous learning). The author tells how to make your life happier, richer and more interesting by using simple learning techniques, explains how to enjoy communication in two languages, and also helps to make an individual lesson plan.
New discoveries in the field of studying the functions and capabilities of the brain are constantly occurring. For example, until 2008, scientists were sure that the organ stops developing after 25 years, but now we know that this is not true. The book by neurosurgeon Rahul Jandial contains perhaps the most relevant information at the moment. The possibilities of the brain are almost limitless, and our task is not to be lazy and try new strategies and techniques that will help to reach the peak of mental abilities and productivity.
Jandial offers an approach tailored to the needs of the brain to what we eat and drink, how much and how we sleep, how we train creativity and memory. He complements the recommendations with exciting and slightly creepy stories from the neurosurgeon's operating room, as well as debunks various myths. In particular, the fact that we use the brain by only a few tens of percent.
If neurosurgeon Rahul Jandial from the previous paragraph inspires exceptional optimism with his work, then his colleague Takashi Tsukiyama rather warns us not to waste brain resources in vain. Like bones and muscles, the brain needs to be constantly used so that 13 billion neurons do their job well, and we stay healthy and productive.
In the modern world, many life factors force a person to use the capabilities of the brain only selectively. Tasks solved according to a template, frequent written communication, the desire to constantly reach for a calculator or a to-do list instead of calculating in your mind or trying to remember information. It is worth diversifying things that have become familiar or giving up some habits in order to keep the brain in good shape.
The book will be useful for those who strive to keep a clear mind at any age. Tsukiyama's conclusions and recommendations, based on many years of research, will help to cope with forgetfulness, fog in the head, difficulties with memorizing information. You can also use the book as a kind of checklist to make sure that you are giving your brain enough work.
Many specialists in the field of education came into the profession seeking to solve their own problems. Most of them found it difficult to study at school, and they wondered if it was because of them or if the traditional system of obtaining knowledge was not so good and effective. Ulrich Bozer is no exception. The result of his work was a book where, based on the results of numerous studies, he answers the question of how best to acquire new knowledge and skills.
Here is an example: it is believed that students should be praised for their intelligence. In fact, it is worth focusing their attention on the process and encouraging diligence, then they will learn more, remember better and pass tests more successfully. Bozer explains how to increase the efficiency of any knowledge-related work.
If you are faced with the task of maximizing learning productivity right now, then this book will help. It contains proven productivity tools and techniques, tells you how to use them to maximum advantage, explains how and why they work.
Here, for example, is how the combination of focused and relaxed attention mode works. Are you going to learn something really difficult and you find yourself thinking that you don't understand anything? Take a pause and let the relaxed mode do its thing. As soon as the brain processes the new information, focus and immerse yourself in the details.
By alternating these states, you will learn and remember more than when you spend hours concentrating on one thing. For example, start a difficult written task (report, speech, project) before lunch — so that a relaxed mode can work on the task in the background while you eat.
Many people are engaged in intellectual work. In fact, we pass on our knowledge to others, but before that we need to get it somehow. The quality of our work largely depends on how quickly and efficiently we are able to do this.
The author's UseClark teaching method by Mark Tigelaar will help you focus more attentively on tasks, assimilate information faster and better, memorize what you have learned better and spend less time processing new knowledge. The author's methodology is based on 8 principles of effective learning, which are described in detail in the book.
