Professor Barbara Oakley is a Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Oakland University. Barbara’s research has been described as “revolutionary” in the Wall Street Journal. She is New York Times best-selling author who has published in outlets as varied as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. Her book A Mind for Numbers, on effective learning in STEM disciplines, has sold over a million copies worldwide.

Together with Terrence Sejnowski, the Francis Crick Professor at the Salk Institute, Barbara co-teaches Coursera’s “Learning How to Learn,” one of the world’s most popular massive open online courses with some four million registered students, along with a number of other leading MOOCs.

Barbara has adventured widely through her lifetime. She rose from the ranks of Private to Captain in the U.S. Army, during which time she was recognized as a Distinguished Military Scholar. She also worked as a communications expert at the South Pole Station in Antarctica, and has served as a Russian translator on board Soviet trawlers on the Bering Sea.

Barbara's latest books:

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

Learn Like a Pro: Science-Based Tools to Become Better at Anything

Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Kids and Teens

You can find others here: https://barbaraoakley.com/books/

Social Links

LinkedIn: @barbaraoakley

Instagram: @barb_oakley

(Un)common Sense Teaching - A Conversation with Dr. Barbara Oakley

Future Learning Design Podcast