What are the weightier books to read to wilt a largest learner? (Aside from my book, of course.) I get asked this question a lot, though most of my recent reading lists have been increasingly wonk and somewhat removed from firsthand applications.
Today, Id like to transpiration that and share a list of some of my favorite outgoing and violating books on learning. Heres ten I highly recommend.
1. How to Wilt a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport
Although famous for Deep Work, Cals early books were aimed at students (thats how we met). Straight-A is hands the weightier of Cals student-oriented trilogy. Cal derived the content and strategies he recommends from his interviews with relaxed, high-achieving students. He offers concrete, practical translating for getting through higher without urgent out.
Other unconfined books by Cal Newport:
- How to Win at College
- How to Wilt a High School Superstar
- Deep Work
2. A Mind for Numbers by Barbara Oakley
Barbara Oakley has a number of spanking-new books on learning. Her self-ruling course, Learning How to Learn, co-instructed with pioneering cognitive scientist Terrence Sejnowksi, is an spanking-new resource.
In A Mind for Numbers, Oakley shares how to tackle difficult quantitative subjectseven if youve struggled with math in the past. Oakley speaks from experience, having gone from a self-described language person to getting a PhD in engineering.
Other unconfined books by Barbara Oakley:
- Learning How to Learn
- Uncommon Sense Teaching
3. How We Learn by Stanislas Dehaene
This typesetting is an engaging tour through the science of learning led by one of the worlds leading cognitive neuroscientists. Dehaene elegantly links research on how we learn to the science of how the smart-ass works.
Other unconfined books by Stanislas Dehaene:
- Reading in the Brain
- Consciousness and the Brain
4. Why Dont Students Like School? by Daniel Willingham
Daniel Willingham is one of my favorite educational psychologists who writes for a mass audience. This typesetting argues for the importance of preliminaries knowledge, the crucial role sustentation plays in memory, and how cognition changes as we wilt increasingly proficient.
Other unconfined books by Daniel Willingham:
- Outsmart Your Brain
- The Reading Mind
5. Make it Stick by Peter Brown, Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel
I confess I havent read this typesetting in its entirety. But I have few qualms well-nigh recommending it considering Ive profoundly benefited from Roedigers wonk work.
Retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving and other interventions modernize learning, butand this is keywe tend to be unaware of it. There is value in understanding and deploying these studying strategies precisely considering they defy our intuitions.
6. The Power of Explicit Teaching and Direct Instruction by Greg Ashman
Ive shared John Swellers Cognitive Load Theory on this blog before. Ashman, a disciple of Swellers, has written a powerful typesetting explaining why cognitive load is inside to learning how to learn.
Although the primary regulars for this typesetting is teachers, I found it very interesting as a learner. While Ashmans advicethat teachers should fully and thoroughly teach their subjectsdont sund surprising, its an important message considering of the volitional theories it rejects. This typesetting is a must-read if youve overly struggled with teaching or learning.
7. Peak by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool
Anders Ericssons work is perhaps weightier known from Malcolm Gladwells typesetting Outliers, or Geoffrey Colvins Talent is Overrated. Deliberate practice has wilt a buzzword in many circles, but this whoosh has moreover created considerable misconceptions.
In this book, Ericsson works to set the record straight, arguing both for what deliberate practice is and what it isnt. Ericsson argues that much of the prowess we see in peerage performers is due to huge quantities of this specific kind of practice rather than talent alone.
8. How We Learn to Move by Rob Gray
Movement skills have been a gap in my writing on learning. Grays typesetting is a highly-readable summary that highlights some interesting research on how we might learn motor skills better.
Gray argues that a staple of training–repetitive practice in highly constrained conditions to get the “right” movement is not only commonly unhelpful, it isn’t plane possible to train a perfectly repetitive movement. Gray argues versus the orange training pylon tideway to movement skills, instead arguing we can induce new motor patterns largest through adjusting constraints that indulge for dynamic skills.
9. How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens
Zettelkasten systems, which indulge you to organize notes for your studies, research or creative work, are all the rage these days. Ive interviewed Tiago Forte for his book, which covers a similar topic.
Ahrenss typesetting is a helpful guide to zettelkasten as its a bit increasingly nitty-gritty in the implementation details. If you want to know how to organize the things you learn, this typesetting is a unconfined place to start.
10. Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
Joshua Foer dives into the strange world of super-memorizers. Using mnemonic systems, these people can memorize decks of cards, random digits or unshortened poems perfectly in virtually the same time it takes you or I to read them. Foers mixture of psychological science and first-person wits was a major inspiration when I wrote Ultralearning.
I tend to find mnemonics less helpful for studying than they are often hyped to be. From a practical perspective, Id recommend Straight-A or Make it Stick whilom this book. But for a well-written tale to get you inspired to learn better, few books do it better.
Books for Learning Specific Subjects
In wing to these increasingly unstipulated learning how to learn books, there are a few specific ones Ive found helpful:
- Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. Setting whispered the dubious neuroscience, this typesetting will transpiration how you think well-nigh drawing. Highly recommended if you struggle with increasingly than stick figures.
- Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner and Fluent in 3 Months by Benny Lewis offer two perspectives on language learning. Ive long been friends with Benny Lewis, and his efforts inspired my own language-learning journeys. Wyners tideway is moreover great.
- Learning Medicine: An Evidence-Based Guide. My go-to recommendation for med students.
- Math, Largest Explained. My good friend, Kalid Azad, offers a guide to thinking well-nigh math in ways that make largest sense.
Of course, you can moreover trammels out my book, Ultralearning, for my thoughts on the subject!
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