006: The Science of Learning with Dr. Barbara Oakley (Part 2)

What you'll learn

  • The value and power of career changers and self-taught coders
  • The concept of “second skilling“, or building on our marketable skills with equally useful skills that satisfy our passions
  • Why it’s important for anybody to learn programming principles
  • That even college professors could stand to learn a thing or two about learning
  • The necessity to simplify versus complicate already complex topics

Tweetables

  • 2:53  Barb explains why she admires career changers (of which she is one!).
  • 5:18  Find out how coding is like knowing how to manage a horse (??? I admittedly did not know horses could be milked).
  • 9:05  We talk about a concept Barb introduced in Mindshift called “second skilling”—building on our marketable skills with equally useful skills that satisfy our passions—and what kind of “second skills” a coder might consider learning.
  • 11:17  What are the benefits of a rational, logical mind? Barb shares her thoughts.
  • 13:36  If you have difficulty learning spoken languages, you may have the incorrect approach. Barb explains why approach is important.
  • 15:04  What are the benefits of a rational, logical mind? Barb shares her thoughts on the subject.
  • 16:39  Barb and I discuss the bad teaching habits plaguing traditional academic environments.
  • 19:12  Hear about why it’s imperative to simplify, versus complicate
  • 22:27  Learning to code is like learning to play an instrument. Be sure to practice your scales, however boring they may be!
  • 24:06  Barb and I “play around” with the topic of gamification, or making learning more like play, and why it works so well
  • 29:47  Barb plugs her awesome new book companion course on Coursera, Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Unlock Your Hidden Potential
  • 30:32  Barb totally makes me blush. :3 I’m so lucky to be working with such incredible people!
  • 31:11  Nicole plugs a special offer for new Treehouse students: a 7-day free trial, and 50% off your first month

In this two-part discussion, we welcome special guest Dr. Barbara Oakley, Professor of Engineering at Oakland University, to adapt some key topics from her record-setting Learning How to Learn and Mindshift Coursera courses, as well as from her new book, Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential, to self-taught web development students.

If you haven’t listened to it yet, check out Part 1 of The Science of Learning with Dr. Barbara Oakley!

Barbara Oakley’s Coursera course, Learning How to Learn, is currently the world’s largest Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

It is here that students may have their very first exposure to the inner workings of the brain. And, if you’re a new coder, you know that our brains are very good at pushing back against our attempts to teach it complex new information.

When you learn how to learn this information, your coding experience will change completely. Things will become easier. You’ll be able to move along faster, and with less frustration. I think that’s everyone’s ultimate goal!

This episode is packed with so much information, you’re going to want to start from the beginning. Please be sure to check out Part 1 of the two-part interview, if you haven’t heard it yet.

Question of the Episode

What are the main LEARNING-based challenges you’ve encountered learning to code?

I’d love to hear your answers in the comments below, or:

On Twitter at @lavie_encode

On the La Vie en Code Facebook page

Or, via my Contact page!

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What you'll learn

  • The value and power of career changers and self-taught coders
  • The concept of “second skilling“, or building on our marketable skills with equally useful skills that satisfy our passions
  • Why it’s important for anybody to learn programming principles
  • That even college professors could stand to learn a thing or two about learning
  • The necessity to simplify versus complicate already complex topics

Tweetables

  • 2:53  Barb explains why she admires career changers (of which she is one!).
  • 5:18  Find out how coding is like knowing how to manage a horse (??? I admittedly did not know horses could be milked).
  • 9:05  We talk about a concept Barb introduced in Mindshift called “second skilling”—building on our marketable skills with equally useful skills that satisfy our passions—and what kind of “second skills” a coder might consider learning.
  • 11:17  What are the benefits of a rational, logical mind? Barb shares her thoughts.
  • 13:36  If you have difficulty learning spoken languages, you may have the incorrect approach. Barb explains why approach is important.
  • 15:04  What are the benefits of a rational, logical mind? Barb shares her thoughts on the subject.
  • 16:39  Barb and I discuss the bad teaching habits plaguing traditional academic environments.
  • 19:12  Hear about why it’s imperative to simplify, versus complicate
  • 22:27  Learning to code is like learning to play an instrument. Be sure to practice your scales, however boring they may be!
  • 24:06  Barb and I “play around” with the topic of gamification, or making learning more like play, and why it works so well
  • 29:47  Barb plugs her awesome new book companion course on Coursera, Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Unlock Your Hidden Potential
  • 30:32  Barb totally makes me blush. :3 I’m so lucky to be working with such incredible people!
  • 31:11  Nicole plugs a special offer for new Treehouse students: a 7-day free trial, and 50% off your first month

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