Coursera上精品课程很多，在一堆computer science这类专业课程之后又一门课显得很特别又很受欢迎——《learning how to learn》。
这门课的开课方是加利福利亚大学圣地亚哥分校，而课程的主讲人Barb Oakley博士本人的故事也很精彩。
她作为一门从小对数学类学科就不感兴趣的人，之后从军，然后学习俄语，去南极当无线电话业务员，跨越千里遇到了现在的丈夫。然后26岁才开始学习工程学，现在已经是一名工程学博士与教授了，在大学教授工程学。
Barb Oakley博士的故事极大的鼓舞了我，其实很早之前我在看已过世伊朗女数学家玛丽亚姆·米尔扎哈尼的故事的时候，有一句话打动了我：很多时候我们没有给数学机会。
我也决定不要因为刻板印象而去为自己对一些问题而过早的对自己下定论，这也是为什么我开始学习数据分析的原因。
而另一位导师 Terry Sejnowski博士，是真正意义上的学霸大牛。他在神经网络和计算神经科学上有开拓新的研究，是Howard Hughhes Medical Institute的研究员，管理Salk Institute的神经网络生物学实验室。同时被美国国家学院的工程学院、科学院和医学院聘为院士。
这样一门有大神教你如何学习的课换你你会不感兴趣么？反正我是花了约一周的时间如饥似渴学习完了所有的内容。
这门课确实没有什么让你一下子成为学习高手的诀窍，甚至Barb Oakley博士请来了许多和他一样的跨学科学习者，你听着他们分享的知识其实并不特别：熟能生巧、劳逸结合、刻意联系等等。
但这门课帮我解决了一个本质的问题就是：我们的大脑究竟是怎么样学习知识的。从神经学上来说，海马体上诞生的神经元直接的突触是我们记忆的根源。这些神经元即使在我们长大之后依然会有新的发出，也会有旧的死亡。
而我们的记忆分为短期记忆也叫工作记忆与长期记忆，短期记忆主要分布在前额叶，它要经过反复的联系才会放进长期的记忆中好好保存。
就像我们认识新的道路一样，因为我是个路痴，因此我要重复去一个地方很多次，才会慢慢的知道怎么走，记忆就是如此。
既然我对我的路痴属性报以耐心，那么如果我在理工科领域学得慢一点，我也会更加从容。
作为人类出生后就开始接触许多社会学科的知识，就已经在大脑中练习过解决这类问题，神经元在这方面锻炼较多。而如果有孩子从小生活在生意人家，比如从小要跟着父母算账，那么他在这一块神经元会得到更多的锻炼。
因此理工科的学习要多做 练习，并且不要被自己蒙蔽。很多时候这类问题，我们需要的是完全脱离书本去独立解题，这样学到的才是自己的。而很多时候，人们会像翻小说一样看课本，看错题集，这几乎对理工学科一点用也没有。
除了理解“熟能生巧”的本质，另一点，我深刻的理解了休息的重要性。
以前我总认为休息是对自己的一种补偿，它似乎像一个额外的赠品，只是平添你对学习的乐趣，或者是增加我们的创造性。但其实大错特错。
在本门课中讲解到，其实人们在绝对清醒的时候是会释放有害物质的，而在夜间会萎缩，从而留出了更多的空间让液体冲刷掉这些有害物质。因此你休息并不仅仅是一种放松，更要紧的是它在保护你。
同时，休息的时候，大脑还在做一件重要的事情，就是帮你重新整理你的知识。在本门课中是用砌墙来比喻的。
如果你不休息，你学到的知识也是杂乱不成体系的。所以我们的学校教育拿掉了许多休息时间与体育锻炼的时间，是大错特错的。
要记住你的身体与大脑是一体的，当你的大脑疲惫的时候，身体是疲惫的。而你激活了身体也就激活了大脑。
还等什么呢，用上番茄工作法吧！
本文结束后再附上课程中总结的10大学习法则，enjoy：
10 Rules of Good Studying
Use recall.After you read a page, look away and recall the main ideas. Highlight very little, and never highlight anything you haven’t put in your mind first by recalling. Try recalling main ideas when you are walking to class or in a different room from where you originally learned it. An ability to recall—to generate the ideas from inside yourself—is one of the key indicators of good learning.
Test yourself.On everything. All the time. Flash cards are your friend.
Chunk your problems.Chunking is understanding and practicing with a problem solution so that it can all come to mind in a flash. After you solve a problem, rehearse it. Make sure you can solve it cold—every step. Pretend it’s a song and learn to play it over and over again in your mind, so the information combines into one smooth chunk you can pull up whenever you want.
Space your repetition.Spread out your learning in any subject a little every day, just like an athlete. Your brain is like a muscle—it can handle only a limited amount of exercise on one subject at a time.
Alternate different problem-solving techniques during your practice.Never practice too long at any one session using only one problem-solving technique—after a while, you are just mimicking what you did on the previous problem. Mix it up and work on different types of problems. This teaches you both how and when to use a technique. (Books generally are not set up this way, so you’ll need to do this on your own.) After every assignment and test, go over your errors, make sure you understand why you made them, and then rework your solutions. To study most effectively, handwrite (don’t type) a problem on one side of a flash card and the solution on the other. (Handwriting builds stronger neural structures in memory than typing.) You might also photograph the card if you want to load it into a study app on your smartphone. Quiz yourself randomly on different types of problems. Another way to do this is to randomly flip through your book, pick out a problem, and see whether you can solve it cold.
Take breaks.It is common to be unable to solve problems or figure out concepts in math or science the first time you encounter them. This is why a little study every day is much better than a lot of studying all at once. When you get frustrated with a math or science problem, take a break so that another part of your mind can take over and work in the background.
Use explanatory questioning and simple analogies.Whenever you are struggling with a concept, think to yourself, How can I explain this so that a ten-year-old could understand it? Using an analogy really helps, like saying that the flow of electricity is like the flow of water. Don’t just think your explanation—say it out loud or put it in writing. The additional effort of speaking and writing allows you to more deeply encode (that is, convert into neural memory structures) what you are learning.
Focus.Turn off all interrupting beeps and alarms on your phone and computer, and then turn on a timer for twenty-five minutes. Focus intently for those twenty-five minutes and try to work as diligently as you can. After the timer goes off, give yourself a small, fun reward. A few of these sessions in a day can really move your studies forward. Try to set up times and places where studying—not glancing at your computer or phone—is just something you naturally do.
Eat your frogs first.Do the hardest thing earliest in the day, when you are fresh.
Make a mental contrast.Imagine where you’ve come from and contrast that with the dream of where your studies will take you. Post a picture or words in your workspace to remind you of your dream. Look at that when you find your motivation lagging. This work will pay off both for you and those you love!