| If I were to pick one part of that course to share it would be the explanation of how long term memories are formed through practice (1-6 Introduction to Memory). Knowing how something actually works, and knowing precisely how my actions achieve the desired result is important to me. I'm very skeptical of study techniques, and more interested in the underlying physiology that I am trying to manipulate. Long-term potentiation (LTP) "is widely considered one of the major cellular mechanisms that underlies learning and memory."[1] Spaced Repetition[2] and Spaced Learning[3] at techniques directly designed around LTP. The course content is locked, but there is a fantastic paper that gives a thorough overview of what we know about the behavior of memory[4], as well as a video series by the principle author[5] linked below. This is kind of my thing. Please let me know if you are interested in learning more, or if you know of additional sources you'd recommend I check out. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_potentiation [2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition [3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_learning [4]http://bjorklab.psych.ucla.edu/pubs/RBjork_EBjork_1992.pdf [5]http://www.gocognitive.net/interviews/spacing-improves-long-... |
[1] https://leanpub.com/cognitiveproductivity/
[2] a term coined by David Perkins, who provides some of the foundation upon which Beaudoin builds his theories: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/faculty/david-perkins (see also http://amzn.com/089859863X)
Other sources commonly cited by Beaudoin include Carl Bereiter, K. Anders Ericsson, Keith Stanovich, Phillip Ackerman, and Aaron Sloman. I hope this provides as much fodder for you as it has for me :).