The Real Learning Curve
Learning is simple, right? It’s the process of moving information from out there — from a textbook, a company report, a musical score — to in here, inside our heads, and making that knowledge our...
View ArticleIn Praise of Tinkering
Last month I watched as my almost-six-year old son paged through a new book I’d given him, inspecting its black-and-white line drawings, its quaint chapter headings — “Useful Tools for Home Mechanics,”...
View ArticleIs English Making Us Dyslexic?
At my house, the mealtime implement used for cutting is called a ka-nife. The joint located between thigh and calf is called a ka-nee. And the medieval warriors who wore suits of armor are called...
View ArticleThe Secret Code Of Learning
Frederic Mishkin, who’s been a professor at Columbia Business School for almost 30 years, is good at solving problems and expressing ideas. Whether he’s standing in front of a lecture hall or engaged...
View ArticleWhy Guessing Is Undervalued
Quick, take a guess: About how many feet high is an eight-story building? Approximately how many tons does the average pickup truck weigh? About how many oranges must be squeezed to yield a gallon of...
View ArticleThe Protégé Effect
For thousands of years, people have known that the best way to understand a concept is to explain it to someone else. “While we teach, we learn,” said the Roman philosopher Seneca. Now scientists are...
View ArticleThe Power of Smart Listening
When we’re learning a foreign language, making sense of what we hear is the first step toward fluency. It sounds obvious, but until recently, we didn’t know much about how listening works. New research...
View ArticleArguing Against the Socratic Method
More than 2,000 years ago, the philosopher Socrates wandered around Athens asking questions, an approach to finding truth that thinkers have venerated ever since. In modern times, the Socratic method...
View ArticleAmerica Needs More Geeks: How to Make Science Cool
A white lab coat. An unsmiling expression. Thick glasses and unkempt hair. In one hand, a device replete with dials and gauges; in the other, a beaker bubbling over with a toxic-looking liquid.read more
View ArticleHow Your Dreams Can Make You Smarter
It’s late in the evening: time to close the book and turn off the computer. You’re done for the day. What you may not realize, however, is that the learning process actually continues — in your...
View ArticleWhat Your Eyes Say About Who You Are
As you read these words, try paying attention to something you usually never notice: the movements of your eyes. While you scan these lines of text, or glance at that ad over there or look up from the...
View ArticleHow Virtuosos Get So Good
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice. In a groundbreaking paper published in 1993, cognitive psychologist Anders Ericsson added a crucial tweak to that old joke. How do you get to...
View ArticleWhy Morning Routines Are Creativity Killers
Brrriiinnng. The alarm clock buzzes in another hectic weekday morning. You leap out of bed, rush into the shower, into your clothes and out the door with barely a moment to think. A stressful commute...
View ArticleWhy We Remember Song Lyrics So Well
The hottest video on YouTube right now is a 5-minute spoken-word composition titled “Why I Hate Religion, But I Love Jesus.” Recorded by 22-year-old Seattle resident Jefferson Bethke, the clip has been...
View ArticleHow Actors Remember Their Lines
So you say you have a wedding toast to memorize? A 20-minute speech you have to know by heart? A list of people’s names you absolutely must remember?read more
View ArticleThe Bigger Ball Drops Faster — and Other Myths of Physics
Seasons are caused by the earth’s distance from the sun. Motors and other machines use up energy. A heavier ball falls faster than a lighter one. If these propositions sound right to you, that’s only...
View ArticleDo You Speak Klingon?
John Carter, the big-budget Disney movie that opened last Friday, has been billed as Indiana Jones on Mars. But the film boasts more than a rakish hero battling giant green aliens. It also features an...
View ArticleCan Education Entrepreneurs Do Well And Do Good?
The history of for-profit educational ventures has not been pretty. Online colleges like the University of Phoenix have come under state and federal investigation for potentially exploitative and...
View ArticleLearning To Dance—Just By Watching
You’ve heard it before, and it’s true: we learn by doing. But we also learn by watching. Whether it’s a salsa teacher running through a dance sequence, a tennis coach demonstrating proper serving...
View ArticleBoosting Memory At Harvard Medical School
Turning a medical student into a doctor takes a whole lot of knowledge. B. Price Kerfoot, an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, was frustrated at how much knowledge his students...
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