thegeekyblogger's review against another edition
4.0
Listened for Review (Random House Audio)
Overall Rating: 4.00
Information Rating: 4.00
Audio Rating: 4.00 (not part of the overall rating)
Read It File It (Short Review): How We Learn by Benedict Carey was rather interesting to me. I have always been a person who couldn't study in quiet (no matter how much it was suggested) and always has to have something "noisy" while learning. It was interesting to read how that is a way people learn and the science behind it.
Audio Thoughts:
Steve did a good job with the narration but there are parts of the book that are better suited for reading (or maybe a handout/pdf/cd extra). Overall though (keeping with the theme) listening to the book probably made me get more from it!
Overall Rating: 4.00
Information Rating: 4.00
Audio Rating: 4.00 (not part of the overall rating)
Read It File It (Short Review): How We Learn by Benedict Carey was rather interesting to me. I have always been a person who couldn't study in quiet (no matter how much it was suggested) and always has to have something "noisy" while learning. It was interesting to read how that is a way people learn and the science behind it.
Audio Thoughts:
Narrated by: Steve Kramer /Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
Steve did a good job with the narration but there are parts of the book that are better suited for reading (or maybe a handout/pdf/cd extra). Overall though (keeping with the theme) listening to the book probably made me get more from it!
sterlock's review against another edition
5.0
This is the first review that I've written for a book. That it happens to be a book in a genre that I've generally shied away from (Nonfiction/Self Help/Education) is probably a big indicator of why I feel I need to write about it.
In short: How We Learn by Benedict Carey is about as close to "essential reading" as any book I have read.
Carey speaks to the ideas we have systemically adopted as to how best to study and learn. From a young age, we are offered advice from teachers, parents and peers as to how best to use our time in and out of class to get the most out of our education. Carey's review of the literature of the psychology of learning demonstrates how many of these tips, ideas and schedules have been upended in recent studies, and how to use the findings of those studies in everyday learning, from the classroom to the office desk to the home.
The language is very easy to relate to, and the applications described seem like common sense by the end of each chapter. In the end, the revelations Carey presents on how best to learn a subject or a skill do not feel as "surprising" or "revolutionary" as they do comfortable and snug. It feels like I have just fit a frayed thread through the particularly narrow eye of a needle, or brushed off a smudge from a jigsaw puzzle piece and finally saw how the whole picture came together. There's a sense of accomplishment and triumph that comes from understanding these concepts.
As I read, I constantly found myself adapting my studying of the book using the tools that Carey described. It's very easy to get into the rhythm. I started noticing how I was applying the concepts to my everyday life (which, in itself, is a phenomena Carey explores in detail). And I'm now reeling with how I plan to apply these concepts and practices toward the future.
Do yourself a favor: run, don't walk, to your nearest library or bookstore (or, I suppose, quickly click on your favorite bookmarked book-selling website, or download to your Kindle, or what have you) and get your hands on a copy of How We Learn. It is well worth your time, and will leave you wanting to learn so much more.
In short: How We Learn by Benedict Carey is about as close to "essential reading" as any book I have read.
Carey speaks to the ideas we have systemically adopted as to how best to study and learn. From a young age, we are offered advice from teachers, parents and peers as to how best to use our time in and out of class to get the most out of our education. Carey's review of the literature of the psychology of learning demonstrates how many of these tips, ideas and schedules have been upended in recent studies, and how to use the findings of those studies in everyday learning, from the classroom to the office desk to the home.
The language is very easy to relate to, and the applications described seem like common sense by the end of each chapter. In the end, the revelations Carey presents on how best to learn a subject or a skill do not feel as "surprising" or "revolutionary" as they do comfortable and snug. It feels like I have just fit a frayed thread through the particularly narrow eye of a needle, or brushed off a smudge from a jigsaw puzzle piece and finally saw how the whole picture came together. There's a sense of accomplishment and triumph that comes from understanding these concepts.
As I read, I constantly found myself adapting my studying of the book using the tools that Carey described. It's very easy to get into the rhythm. I started noticing how I was applying the concepts to my everyday life (which, in itself, is a phenomena Carey explores in detail). And I'm now reeling with how I plan to apply these concepts and practices toward the future.
Do yourself a favor: run, don't walk, to your nearest library or bookstore (or, I suppose, quickly click on your favorite bookmarked book-selling website, or download to your Kindle, or what have you) and get your hands on a copy of How We Learn. It is well worth your time, and will leave you wanting to learn so much more.
treyhunner's review against another edition
4.0
Similar to Make it Stick. I wish I'd taken notes while reading because there were definitely some things I have trouble remembering about learning (quite a few of counter-intuitive things).
colin_cox's review against another edition
4.0
Carey argues that what we think we know about learning and educational habits (a draconian emphasis on focus, eschewing distractions, etc.) may, in fact, be false. Therefore, Carey encourages his reader to embrace the myriad of bad habits that traditional thinking has taught us to correct (and by extension feel guilty for).
Suffice it to say, I enjoyed this book. I am a nervous, fidgety reader, writer, and worker. I frequently enjoy standing and walking while reading, I interrupt myself during writing sessions to talk to myself, and I work on assignments piecemeal, instinctually rejecting the culturally-imposed impulse to finish as quickly as possible. This book spoke to and affirmed those habits.
However, there are some moments from this book that irk me. Have I mentioned how much I hate endnotes? Publishers, please, stop with the endnotes. They incentivize and encourage readers to ignore them. Footnotes are a better option, but I recognize that will probably increase prices because of an increase in pages. In addition, Carey's attempts at humor simply don't work. This is a genre convention to be sure, but when did it become a requirement for non-fiction writers to be entertaining as well?
Suffice it to say, I enjoyed this book. I am a nervous, fidgety reader, writer, and worker. I frequently enjoy standing and walking while reading, I interrupt myself during writing sessions to talk to myself, and I work on assignments piecemeal, instinctually rejecting the culturally-imposed impulse to finish as quickly as possible. This book spoke to and affirmed those habits.
However, there are some moments from this book that irk me. Have I mentioned how much I hate endnotes? Publishers, please, stop with the endnotes. They incentivize and encourage readers to ignore them. Footnotes are a better option, but I recognize that will probably increase prices because of an increase in pages. In addition, Carey's attempts at humor simply don't work. This is a genre convention to be sure, but when did it become a requirement for non-fiction writers to be entertaining as well?
dmturner's review against another edition
5.0
"We all 'know' we need to be organized, to develop good, consistent study routines, to find a quiet place and avoid distractions, to focus on one skill at a time, and above all to concentrate on our work. What's to question about that?
A lot, as it turns out." (215)
Varying the setting in which you study, as long as you don't study in silent conditions, can improve your recall. Context cues are important. Distributed (or "spaced") practice is more powerful than longer and fewer periods of studying, with a longer period between sessions if the test is farther away. And forgetting something helps you learn it better the next time.
We do badly on tests because of the "fluency illusion," which is the belief that because we understand something now, we don't need to study it later. The best way to deal with the "fluency illusion" is to test right away. In fact, after preliminary memorization, a good two-thirds of your study time should be spent testing yourself. In fact, pretesting (taking a test before you learn anything) (as long as you get immediate feedback) has been shown to improve your later learning of the subject, even if you got everything wrong. And teaching the subject to someone else also helps.
Problem solving follows a different path from factual learning. The stages of problem solving include preparation (learning and studying the problem), incubation (walking away from it when you're stuck), illumination, and verification.
In fact, interrupting a job before it is finished tends to push it to the forefront of the mind and allows for percolation. The ideal pattern is interruption-percolation-reflection.
We believe in isolated practice, but varied practice (different circumstances, variations of the same problem) is more effective for both motor and verbal learning. Interleaving is also effective - "mixing related but distinct material during study" (163) It helps students decide on the appropriate kind of solution.
Sleep consolidates learning - REM improves pattern recognition, percolation, and interpreting emotionally charged memories; Stage 2 sleep improves motor learning; and Stage 3 & 4 improve retention and declarative memory.
In other words, in order to learn effectively, you need to include distraction in your environment and in your routines, you need to study less at any one time, you should take tests before and during the learning process, and you should start projects immediately instead of clearing the decks but interrupt them just when you get interested. You need to sleep on things, mix things up, and deliberately confuse yourself.
Or so Carey says. It's an enjoyable read, both as an overview of learning theory and as a set of things for teachers and learners to consider.
A lot, as it turns out." (215)
Varying the setting in which you study, as long as you don't study in silent conditions, can improve your recall. Context cues are important. Distributed (or "spaced") practice is more powerful than longer and fewer periods of studying, with a longer period between sessions if the test is farther away. And forgetting something helps you learn it better the next time.
We do badly on tests because of the "fluency illusion," which is the belief that because we understand something now, we don't need to study it later. The best way to deal with the "fluency illusion" is to test right away. In fact, after preliminary memorization, a good two-thirds of your study time should be spent testing yourself. In fact, pretesting (taking a test before you learn anything) (as long as you get immediate feedback) has been shown to improve your later learning of the subject, even if you got everything wrong. And teaching the subject to someone else also helps.
Problem solving follows a different path from factual learning. The stages of problem solving include preparation (learning and studying the problem), incubation (walking away from it when you're stuck), illumination, and verification.
In fact, interrupting a job before it is finished tends to push it to the forefront of the mind and allows for percolation. The ideal pattern is interruption-percolation-reflection.
We believe in isolated practice, but varied practice (different circumstances, variations of the same problem) is more effective for both motor and verbal learning. Interleaving is also effective - "mixing related but distinct material during study" (163) It helps students decide on the appropriate kind of solution.
Sleep consolidates learning - REM improves pattern recognition, percolation, and interpreting emotionally charged memories; Stage 2 sleep improves motor learning; and Stage 3 & 4 improve retention and declarative memory.
In other words, in order to learn effectively, you need to include distraction in your environment and in your routines, you need to study less at any one time, you should take tests before and during the learning process, and you should start projects immediately instead of clearing the decks but interrupt them just when you get interested. You need to sleep on things, mix things up, and deliberately confuse yourself.
Or so Carey says. It's an enjoyable read, both as an overview of learning theory and as a set of things for teachers and learners to consider.
alexriina's review against another edition
4.0
Nice coalescing of a lot of different areas of research in memory and learning. It's hard to tell based on the age of the studies referenced in the book whether the studies are tried and accepted wisdom or areas of research of research with few remaining proponents.
I love that the author ran his own experiment involving designing a perceptual learning module for art history as part of the book.
I love that the author ran his own experiment involving designing a perceptual learning module for art history as part of the book.