The New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony with Your Brain

Learning to learn is the key skill for tomorrow. This breakthrough book builds the foundation every student needs, from freshman orientation to graduate school. The second edition of this bestselling student text has been considerably updated with the latest findings from cognitive science that further illuminate learning for students, and help them understand what's involved in retaining new information. Beyond updating every chapter with insights from new research, this edition introduces a range of additional topics such as cognitive load, learned helplessness, and grit all of which provide students with immediately usable information on how to regulate their lives to maximize learning and fulfillment in college. The premise of this book remains that brain science shows that most students learning strategies are highly inefficient, ineffective or just plain wrong; and that while all learning requires effort, better learning does not require more effort, but rather effectively aligning how the brain naturally learns with the demands of intellectual work. This book explicates for students what is involved in learning new material, how the human brain processes new information, and what it takes for that information to stick, even after the test. This succinct book explains straightforward strategies for changing how to prepare to learn, engage with course material, and set about improving recall of newly learned material at will. This is not another book about study skills and time management strategies, but instead an easy-to-read description of the research about how the human brain learns in a way that students can put into practice right away.