Uncommon Sense Teaching: Practical Insights in Brain Science to Help Students Learn

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its clarity. Complex ideas are explained in an accessible way, with clear examples that bring concepts to life. The author clearly understands the realities of today’s classrooms and educational systems, and this shows in the realistic strategies and reflections offered throughout the book.

I learned a lot from this book. HOw best to memorize and that there is more to it in habit formation.

Bought this book to get some up to date insight in teaching and learning to help my son with his big exams. I picked up a few good tips but I was expecting a bit more. Probably best left to educators and not parents. I understood it all and it is pitched at a good level.

I bought this book because I participated in the Learning How to Learn MOOC. This book should be essential reading for all teachers. Easily understandable language and explains complex processes. At the same time very practical as well. Also a very good read, I love it. I can recommend it to all teachers who want to improve their teaching methods.

When you read something that you know nothing about, the thing we all do is just nod along and agree. Then we turn the page and find writing on something we know well about, and suddenly everything the author writes is nonsense. This book was like that for me. There is a lot about the theory of working memory and long term memory. Synapses and the geography of the brain. And since I know nothing about those subjects, it was interesting and informative. But then, the author began to make suggestions about "differentiation" as a method of teaching. I teach high school students and differentiation is a failed and flawed strategy. The basic idea is that you give different work to different students to match their cognitive abilities. Weaker students get more "support". Through this process of weaker students doing less challenging work they are supposed to get to the same place academically as the stronger students. It doesn't work. And even if it did work, it's impossible to implement. Teachers cannot (and should not be asked to) plan 30 different learning activities for the 30 different minds in their class. I think that Barbara Oakley is a university lecturer, and perhaps differentiating a small tutorial group might be possible. If you see them once a week. And they are motivated to learn. A high school teacher seeing 200 students five times a week? No. So in theory this works in practice. But in practice, it only works in theory.