Who is Barbara Oakley?
Barbara Oakley is an American Professor of Engineering at Oakland University and McMaster University whose online courses on learning are some of the most popular MOOC classes in the world. She is involved in multiple areas of research, ranging from STEM education, to engineering education, to learning practices. Oakley also co-created and taught Learning How To Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects, the world’s most popular online course.
Chapter 1:
I started reading this book yesterday because it got recommended to me by my tutor Greg Smith from Northwest Tutoring. I got through the first chapter where Oakley goes over what she has done in her life and things she’s accomplished. She talks about how math and science were her least favorite things to do in school, she looked at them like poison or disease, but amazingly she ended up making these things her profession by becoming an engineer, just by doing these simple learning techniques.
Oakley goes on to talk about how in college she had to go to the lowest math class possible, because she never took an interest and was missing many key parts that she needed in math. Oakley also goes through who helped her co-write the book, which includes people who specialize in neurology. Near the end of the chapter she talks about a technique of before reading a chapter in a textbook go through it and look for bold word, pictures, etc. so you give your brain an idea so you understand it better.
