PONITICIA UNIVERSIDAD

CATÓLICA DEL ECUADOR

Schools of Linguistics
Introduction to Teaching

MOOC
Learning How to Learn:
Powerful mental tools to help
you master tough subjects

Angie Charpentier & Jefferson

Imbaquingo

Quito, January 2018

Statement of accomplishment
Angie

Jefferson
What is it about?
This MOOC gives you information about how human beings process knowledge
and how our brain works and processes info. Based upon this, professors teaching the
class give you invaluable information of how you can enhance your learning and
information processing. It covers topics such as illusions of learning, memory
techniques, dealing with procrastination, and best practices shown by research to be
most effective in helping you master tough subjects.

This course was created by the university of San Diego and it is taught by Dr.
Barbara Oakley who is Professor of Engineering, Industrial & Systems Engineering in
Oakland University. Her co-professor is Dr. Terrence Sejnowski who works in the
Computational Neurobiology Laboratory.

Why?
We have chosen this MOOC because it gives us access to new information that is
multidisciplinary. In this sense, this knowledge acquired in the course can be applied in
other subjects and everybody can benefit from this.

ANGIE’S EXPERIENCE WITH THE MOOC

My Feedback
This course seems to me a very good one for the students who are just getting into
college and do not know how to defend themselves or how to organize themselves in the
tasks that can be presented in the student life. This course is very good because it brings
us new topics of which we learn a lot by the way teachers teach through videos and exams.
On the other hand, apart from the new information provided in our brain we have
information about learning and how to learn different subjects or topics to know how
everything is related to learning and what learning is what takes us further and further to
be great .

In addition to having subjects such as art, music, language, mathematics, also has
a week in which focuses on anatomy and learning related to psychology since these topics
have served me a lot to be able to have more knowledge to certain topics that are he learns
in the university or in the daily life. What I liked the most about the course is that it has
enough Motivation from the professors, since in its videos it shows us how to organize
ourselves with techniques to study that make us be much more attentive in the method of
study. It was also very important that the course was logical and that he had easy steps to
follow.
Forum participations
My participations in the forum were two, but I had problems since I did not have any
answers in my questions and I had to ask my friend Jefferson or search the internet for
some of the topics I did not understand.

• What is poliphastic sleeping?

No answers.

• What about our neurons?

No answers.

How was the forum organized? What was interesting? What

would you change?
The forum in the course was total chaos, all the people were much disorganized,
and everyone asked of all the weeks in a same set of questions. Also, in the forum of the
course many people asked the same thing all the time. On the other hand, there was
nothing of organization, with respect to the weeks, nor to the themes of each video.
However, what I would like to change a bit the organization to ask about each topic in a
section of each week.

The forum: personal feedback

My opinion of the forum is that nobody responds in the forum, because they ask
the same thing or simply do not want to answer. It was very chaotic because when reading
the answers of the question that interested at that moment, none of them coincided and
there were different opinions of the same subject.

What I thought was best was to close the forum and search the internet for the
topic that I had not understood at that time.

What did I learn?

I learn a lot of subjects such as:

• How to use the Focused and Diffuse Modes

• Anxiety, Depression and PTSD from a learner in Learning How to learn

• Illusions of Competence
 • Helpful Hints for a Test

• Tackling Procrastination

Personal relevance?
Personally, the course is very effective to be able to have knowledge of many
subjects for people who are relevant, since it depends on each person studying or learning
in their own way.

Did the MOOC meet your expectations?

Yes, I learned new subjects and study theatricals.

How was this experience different from a face-to-face classroom?

I prefer the face-to-face classes because it's easier to ask something that is not
understood or to be explained better, I felt that I was not learning nothing, but later I got
used to it, it was difficult.

General personal feedback

I loved the course in general, the organization, the topics, among others,
recommending it blindly. It is very useful.
 JEFFERSON’S EXPERIENCE WITH THE MOOC

My feedback
Personally, I liked the content of this course a lot. I think this course is perfect
and suitable for students who are just starting with their college life and have not
developed proper studying habits. This course is great since it brings up new topics and
new fields of study such as psychology, neuroscience, anatomy etc. However, I would
have loved to see other topics, or at least less scientific. By this, I want to say that topics
should be more applicable and reachable by students whose psychology base is not as
rich. This, of course, does not undermine the effectiveness of the course.

However, I found the MOOC enjoyable and enriching. The connection between
psychology and learning is fascinating. It helped me become self-aware and more
mindful about the way I learn.

Also, I must admit that this course provides you with good and easy-to-
understand example. Most of them, in fact, were related to music, art, sports and so.
First theory was presented, and then practical knowledge was demonstrated. The
professors in charged were Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski. This
course was housed by the University of San Diego.

FORUM PARTICIPATION
In this educative platform, forums are available for discussion. Although they
are optional during the course, forums appeal to many students who are eager to ask
questions. In my case, I had some participation in the forums. I participated in two
forums: the first one was originally proposed by one of our professors. There is an app
online whose main objective is to assess your studying habits and help you create an
ideal schedule to study as it gives you tools and techniques to overcome learning
difficulties. Many people in the forum inquired about the effectiveness of this app and
up to what extent it can help.

In the second forum in which I took part of was a thread about dyslexia. The
controversy was if this course could also help people suffering from dyslexia. As it is
commonly known, dyslexia is the condition in which a person has difficulties to learn
and interpret letters, words, and other symbols, but this does not intervene in
intelligence. It was disappointing to receive no answer for my intervention in the forum.
Also, in this thread specifically, many people came up with different topic and did not
follow the common thread. Few answers were satisfactory.
How was the forum organized? What was interesting? What
would you change?
The forums were organized differently. In the first one, the professor was the
initiator of the thread about the app. She would ask a question and let students answer it
or make a comment on it. We could also make comments on other students’ comments.
In the second forum, a student initiated the thread about dyslexia. I cannot expand on
this thread since people did not answer my comments.

Participation in forums is very productive because you get to know that there are
many people that think differently from what you do and can contribute to
enhancement. Another positive aspect about these forums is their popularity. Coursera
appeals to many communities around the world. Hence, the large number of cultures
and worldviews is a must-have to boost up any class.

The forum: personal feedback

The forums in Coursera are really enriching and popular. Nevertheless, I would
have liked to have more organization when it comes to initiating threads. Many people
made completely irrelevant comments on the subjects; even worse, no one would give
an answer to a question or comments.

I had a good experience in the first forum, but there is still much to do about
more complex-themed forums such as the case of dyslexia. For these topics a professor
can be a moderator in the forum and serve as a filter.

In general, I think forums are pivotal to encourage critical thinking and they
have to be organized and administered carefully, so students can benefit the most out of
them.

What did I learn?

• This course was full of theory (in fact too much) that approach learning. I learned
what is behind many mental processes and techniques. The topics dealt in the
course were:

• How to use the Focused and Diffuse Modes

• Anxiety, Depression and PTSD from a learner in Learning How to learn

• Illusions of Competence
 • Helpful Hints for a Test

• Tackling Procrastination

There were applicable tips and easy steps to follow to overcome studying and learning
problems. For example, the Pomodoro technique is used to stop procrastinating. It is a
reward-based technique. One must focus on a topic or really concentrate on a task for
only 25min and then the person can reward him/herself for this achievement.

Personal relevance
As a university student, it helps me to boost up my learning and hence, my time
management. Personally, I think that knowing how to learn is an essential asset, not
only for a student, but also for a teacher. As a teacher in formation, having studied this
material enables me to help my students to sail though exams, have a better academic
experience, and maninly to be better students.

Did the MOOC meet your expectations?

Yes, though I think students’ experiences can enrich this platform. Maybe more
accessible material instead of tough theory. The professors excel at their field of study
and helped me to grasp the subject. I am looking forward to doing the course again with
more updated formats.

How was this experience different from a face-to-face classroom?

This was an interesting experience because I have never taken an online course or any
MOOC in my life. Certainly, it was a difficult experience. I had no physical teacher
who can push me and get me to work. Face-to-face classrooms are warmer, cozier and
more sociable. Maybe I could take another MOOC in the future, but I am afraid I will
have the same results.

General personal feedback

I totally recommend everyone to take this course. It provides you with essential tools
that are extremely advantageous to master tough subjects. Especially if we consider that
we are always learning and facing challenges.