Making Better Use of Your Cognitive Resources to Learn

The purpose of this course is to provide students with up-to-date knowledge in cognitive neuroscience so they can better utilize their brain’s resources to learn more effectively, think more deeply, approach information and themselves with a critical eye, and solve problems more efficiently. The goal is to shed light on certain brain mechanisms involved in learning, enabling students to reflect on their own work habits and helping them select the most effective cognitive strategies from among those presented. The course unit also offers students guidance on how to become better scientists by avoiding cognitive biases in favor of a rigorous, innovative, and creative scientific approach. Workshops and presentations will be offered in this vein during tutorial sessions. Profiles of great and inspiring scientists will also help illustrate how science advances.

 Finally, recognizing that engaging multiple sensory channels helps solidify memory, we offer part of the course in the form of forum theater for those who are interested. This dynamic approach allows students who wish to engage in role-playing to take a proactive role in transforming their learning style and become actors both on stage and in life. For those who are not inclined to perform, there is no obligation; simply observing others perform is a powerful way to become aware of the unconscious mechanisms that hinder their learning and allows them to actively integrate the resources offered to them.

-Gain a better understanding of your brain to succeed in college by developing your cognitive and creative abilities and protecting yourself from cognitive biases

-to better understand how science progresses

-study some great scientists as a source of inspiration

None; only motivation matters

Recommended prerequisites*: an interest in neuroscience and personal development, a desire to explore one’s limiting beliefs regarding learning

Final exam (50%) and ongoing assessment (50%)

Part 1: Understanding Your Cognitive Resources, Using Your Brain More Effectively, Thinking More Effectively

Learning, Automatic Responses

Attention,

Information overload,

Multitasking,

Motivation,

Memory processes,

Emotions and Desire in Learning,

Procrastination,

Part 2: The Scientific Method: How to Discover and Innovate

The scientific method: What is science? What it can and cannot do; its limitations

To be an inventor, a researcher, a discoverer, a scientist

How to establish a scientific fact: evidence, bodies of evidence, clues, cross-checking, deductions, cause and effect, correlations, intuitions, inspiration, 

Experience design (controls, artifacts, replication, traps and illusions, measurement tools, multi-technique approaches, etc.)

Thought Experiments

Modeling, models, mathematical formalism

Group discussion, group work, brainstorming

Knowing how to gather information, choose your sources, and bring your notes to life

Learning Through Direct Experience

The Important Role of Mistakes and Failures in Science, and Serendipity

Cognitive Biases: Understanding Them and Protecting Yourself Against Them

Risk-taking in science, how to learn from one's failures, fear, 

Critical Thinking

Innovation, creativity—how do we discover them?

What should you do when you encounter an obstacle?

Literature Review

Scientific Integrity

Part 3: Profiles, Ways of Thinking, and Advice from Great Scientists, Discoverers, and Innovators

Hourly volumes*:

            CM: 20

            TD: 13.5

            TP: 9