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A Mind for Numbers Summary
About A Mind for Numbers Book
The companion book to COURSERA®'s wildly popular massive open online course "Learning How to Learn"
Whether you are a student struggling to fulfill a math or science requirement, or you are embarking on a career change that requires a new skill set, A Mind for Numbers offers the tools you need to get a better grasp of that intimidating material. Engineering professor Barbara Oakley knows firsthand how it feels to struggle with math. She flunked her way through high school math and science courses, before enlisting in the army immediately after graduation. When she saw how her lack of mathematical and technical savvy severely limited her options—both to rise in the military and to explore other careers—she returned to school with a newfound determination to re-tool her brain to master the very subjects that had given her so much trouble throughout her entire life.
In A Mind for Numbers, Dr. Oakley lets us in on the secrets to learning effectively—secrets that even dedicated and successful students wish they’d known earlier. Contrary to popular belief, math requires creative, as well as analytical, thinking. Most people think that there’s only one way to do a problem, when in actuality, there are often a number of different solutions—you just need the creativity to see them. For example, there are more than three hundred different known proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. In short, studying a problem in a laser-focused way until you reach a solution is not an effective way to learn. Rather, it involves taking the time to step away from a problem and allow the more relaxed and creative part of the brain to take over. The learning strategies in this book apply not only to math and science, but to any subject in which we struggle. We all have what it takes to excel in areas that don't seem to come naturally to us at first, and learning them does not have to be as painful as we might think.
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Focused thinking and diffused thinking
- Focused mode is used to concentrate on something that’s already tightly connected in your mind because you are familiar and comfortable with the underlying concepts.
- The diffuse approach involves a big-picture perspective. Useful when you are learning and understanding something new. As long as we are consciously focusing on a problem, we are blocking the diffuse mode. Do something else until your brain is consciously free of any thought of the problem.
You need to use both big-picture, or focused mode and detail-oriented, or diffuse thinking to get good at math and science.
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Create the best conditions for focused and diffuse thinking
Focused thinking needs meaningful stretches of undisturbed time to focus and think.
- Prioritize making distraction-free time and space to think deeply
- (SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recall, Review)
- Practice purposefully (Work the hardest bits, generalize through variation)
- Think on paper, there’s magic between the hand and the brain
Diffuse thinking occurs subconsciously by temporarily loosening attention.
- Relax/disengage attention: Sleep, walk, drive, blink, exercise
- Recall and test frequently (e.g., spaced repetition techniques).
Actively build time into each day to alternate between both modes.
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Conceptual chunks
One of the first steps towards gaining expertise in math and science is to create conceptual chunks.
Once you chunk an idea or concept, you don’t need to remember all the little underlying details; you’ve got the main idea - the chunk - and that’s enough.
Basic steps to forming a chunk:
- Focus your attention on the information you want to chunk. No television on in the background, don’t look at your phone, etc.
- Understand the basic idea you are trying to chunk.
- Gaining context so you see not just how, but also when to use this chunk.
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Hey you, the next science master!
You heard it right, you're going to be a science master after reading "A mind for numbers". Here's how you'll never worry about studying again: every chapter reveals the most important methods of studying, explaining the mistakes made, giving the reasons you're failing, simply encouraging you to study smarter. From chunking to using 100% of your mind's ability, you'll have a growth mindset!
Start your journey today!
https://b-ok.asia/book/2364078/e40b27
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" When a student complains of failing and tells me he studied for ten whole hours the day before the exam, I answer, 'That's why you failed.' When the student looks at me in disbelief, I say, 'You should have been studying a little bit all along.' "
RICHARD NADEL
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There are lot of things which I wanted to know. How the continents created? What is big bang, etc. There are lots of things to explore or learn. And before I am wiped out I want to know these things and remember it.
How to read a book or an article
Before reading any book or article or a newspaper first glance through the whole chapter if it's a book or a page if it's a article or newspaper. Read the titles, headings, picture captions, etc. If there a questions or summary read them. You will not understand them because your didn't read the chapter. But you will feel when you spent just 2-3 minutes doing this your thoughts will be organised. You will be prepared of what you are reading. You will able to understand in more organized manner.
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