15-Week Syllabus

How to Learn Anything: Evidence-Based Strategies for Acquiring Knowledge, Skills, and Expertise

Format: 15 weeks | 2–3 class sessions per week | 50–75 minutes per session Recommended format: Two 75-minute sessions per week, or three 50-minute sessions

Course Overview

This course applies the science of human learning to the way students actually study, practice, and develop expertise. By the end of the semester, students will have not only a thorough understanding of what the research says about effective learning, but a personalized study system built on that research — and empirical evidence from their own experience that the techniques work.

The course is unusual in that the subject matter (how learning works) is the same as the mechanism of the course (learning). This creates productive meta-learning opportunities throughout. Every class session is itself a demonstration of either effective or ineffective pedagogy. You should name this explicitly and often.

Required Materials

• How to Learn Anything: Evidence-Based Strategies for Acquiring Knowledge, Skills, and Expertise (the textbook)
• Learning journal (physical notebook or digital equivalent — student's choice, to be maintained throughout the semester)
• Access to Anki (free download at ankiweb.net) or equivalent SRS software

Progressive Project

The Progressive Project is a semester-long applied learning challenge that runs parallel to the course. Students select a skill, subject, or knowledge domain they genuinely want to learn (a language, a musical instrument, an academic subject outside their major, a technical skill) and use it as the laboratory for every technique covered in the course.

Deliverables: - Week 1: Project proposal + baseline assessment (2 pages) - Weeks 3, 6, 9, 12: Brief progress journals (300–500 words each, with technique documentation) - Week 15: Final presentation + retrospective report (8–10 pages)

The project is assessed on the quality of technique application, honest self-assessment, and evidence of iterative refinement — not on achieving mastery of the chosen skill.

Weekly Schedule

WEEKS 1–2: Part I — The Foundations, Chapters 1–3

Learning Objectives: - Identify at least five ineffective learning strategies that feel effective - Explain the multi-store model and working memory model in plain language - Distinguish between retrieval strength and storage strength

Week 1, Session 1: Course overview and the Learning Audit - Before class: No assigned reading (begins fresh) - In class: Complete the Learning Audit (Appendix C) individually and in silence. Discuss initial reactions in small groups. Introduce the Progressive Project. Assign Chapter 1 for next session. - Assessment: Progressive Project Proposal due Week 1, Session 3

Week 1, Session 2: Chapter 1 — Everything You Think You Know About Learning - Retrieval practice cold open: "Without looking at your notes, tell your partner the three things you most remember from Chapter 1." (5 minutes) - In class: Discuss the fluency illusion and rereading ineffectiveness. Mini-lecture on the Dunlosky et al. findings. Show the 10 techniques and their ratings. - Homework: Read Chapter 2. Write a 200-word reflection on one study habit you now believe is less effective than you thought.

Week 1, Session 3: Chapter 2 — How Memory Works - Retrieval practice cold open: Students write from memory the main components of working memory before opening books - In class: Discuss Atkinson-Shiffrin model, Baddeley-Hitch model. Demonstrate the limited capacity of working memory with a digit span exercise. Discuss the Bjork storage/retrieval distinction. - Assessment due: Progressive Project Proposals

Week 2, Sessions 1–2: Chapter 3 — Your Brain on Learning - Cover neuroplasticity, sleep consolidation, exercise effects - In-class sleep tracking activity: students record last 7 nights of sleep and discuss correlation with study sessions - Guest speaker if available: exercise physiologist, sleep researcher, or neuropsychologist - Homework: Read Chapter 4

WEEKS 3–4: Part I Continued — Chapters 4–6

Week 3, Session 1: Chapter 4 — The Myth Graveyard - Retrieval practice cold open: Recall test on Chapters 1–3 (10 questions, no notes, graded for participation not accuracy) - Myth busting activity: students come in with one "study tip" from a parent, teacher, or YouTube video. Class discusses whether each is evidence-based. - Core discussion: learning styles. Why do people believe it so strongly if it isn't true?

Week 3, Sessions 2–3: Chapter 5 — What Makes Learning Stick - Introduce desirable difficulties framework - Small group activity: take a class assignment each student is currently working on in another course and redesign the study approach using the principles from Chapter 5 - Assessment due: Progressive Project Journal 1

Week 4: Chapters 5–6 — What Makes Learning Stick and Metacognition - Chapter 6 is the pivot of Part I. Give it a full session. - In-class calibration exercise: predict your score on a 20-question test on Part I material, then take the test. Compare prediction to actual. Discuss the Dunning-Kruger-adjacent finding that students with least knowledge tend to be most overconfident. - Metacognition self-assessment: using the criteria from Chapter 6, students rate their own metacognitive accuracy in a current course and identify one specific area for improvement.

WEEKS 5–7: Part II — The Techniques, Chapters 7–11

This section is the practical heart of the course. Every technique should be practiced in class, not just discussed.

Week 5, Session 1: Chapter 7 — Retrieval Practice - The most important session of the course. - In class: Demonstrate the blank-page method live. Students read a 500-word passage, then do a blank-page recall before seeing it again. Discuss the gap. - Commit to using retrieval practice in every session from this point forward. Students should know they will begin every class with a 5-minute retrieval exercise. - Assessment: From this week forward, all class sessions begin with a 5-minute retrieval cold open.

Week 5, Sessions 2–3: Chapter 8 — Spaced Repetition - Anki setup session (in-class or as homework if devices not available) - Walk through: how to install Anki, make a card, understand the review interface, download a shared deck - Students create 20 cards from the first 4 chapters of this textbook - Assign: review Anki daily for the rest of the semester. This is not optional.

Week 6: Chapters 9–10 — Interleaving and Elaboration - Interleaving exercise: Give students 30 practice problems from three different topics (10 each). Half practice in blocked order; half in interleaved order. Brief quiz 1 week later to demonstrate the difference. (This is a memorable demonstration.) - Elaboration exercise: Take any concept from Chapter 9 or 10. Ask "why" and "how" questions about it for 5 minutes. Students compare depth of their explanations to the textbook explanation. - Assessment due: Progressive Project Journal 2

Week 7: Chapter 11 — Dual Coding and Visualization + Midterm Prep - In-class sketchnoting exercise: students read a 2-page excerpt and recreate it as a sketch note - Discuss the research honestly: handwriting vs. typing replication issues. Teach students to read research critically. - Week 7 is also midterm preparation week: Practice test from Instructor Guide distributed. Students review using only retrieval practice methods covered so far.

WEEK 8: Part II Continued + Midterm — Chapters 12–16

Week 8, Session 1: Chapter 12 — Desirable Difficulties - Connect to all previous techniques: every technique in Part II is a form of desirable difficulty - The metacognitive paradox: the techniques that produce the most learning feel the least effective during practice. Why does this happen? (processing disfluency)

Week 8, Session 2: Midterm Exam - Covers Chapters 1–16 (see midterm exam in Additional Assessments) - Return midterm with feedback at the beginning of the following session - Assessment due: Midterm Exam

Week 8, Session 3: Chapters 13–14 — Note-Taking and Reading for Understanding - Note-taking comparison exercise: same lecture, two students take notes on laptop vs. longhand. Debrief. - Reading for understanding: SQ3R and its evidence base; previewing before reading.

(Chapters 15–16 can be assigned as readings with a focused retrieval quiz at the start of Week 9, freeing class time for Part III.)

WEEKS 9–10: Part III — Building Expertise, Chapters 17–19

Week 9: Chapters 17–18 — Stages of Skill Acquisition and Deliberate Practice - Dreyfus model and its implications for how students should evaluate their own progress - OK Plateau exercise: students identify a skill where they are plateau'd and diagnose why - Critical reading: what Ericsson actually said vs. the "10,000 hours" popularization. Use this as a model for research communication distortion. - Assessment due: Progressive Project Journal 3

Week 10: Chapter 19 — Feedback - Role-play exercise: students give each other feedback on a short piece of writing. First round: vague ("great job," "needs improvement"). Second round: specific, actionable, referenced to criteria. - Discussion: Why is the first type of feedback so much more common if the second is so much more effective?

WEEKS 11–12: Part III Continued — Chapters 20–22

Week 11: Chapters 20–21 — Transfer and Mental Models - Case study: why physics students can solve textbook problems but fail real-world problems (Chi et al. novice-expert study) - Mental model mapping activity: students draw their mental model of any concept from their major and compare to an expert representation - Discussion: what is the difference between understanding and familiarity?

Week 12: Chapter 22 — Motivation and Mindset - Begin with honest discussion: has motivation fluctuated during the Progressive Project? What caused the dips? - Growth mindset nuance session: the difference between the research and the pop culture version. Why is this distinction important? - Self-determination theory worksheet: students evaluate a current learning project against all three needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness) and identify which is most undermined. - Assessment due: Progressive Project Journal 4

WEEK 13: Part IV — Learning in Specific Domains, Chapters 23–26

Week 13: Chapters 23–26 (two sessions; assign 27 and 28 as readings) - Academic, physical, language, and coding learning all apply the same underlying principles differently. Use this week to show the generality of Part I–III. - Domain rotation discussion: students identify which domain is most relevant to their Progressive Project and which chapters of Part IV apply most directly - Panel discussion (if logistics allow): invite a language learner, an athlete, and a programmer to discuss how deliberate practice has or hasn't shaped their development

WEEK 14: Parts V and VI — Environment, Teaching, and Social Learning

Week 14: Chapters 27–34 (reading; selected chapters for discussion) - Chapter 29 (study system design) is essential — give it a full in-class session with worksheets - Chapter 33 (teaching others): in-class teaching demonstrations begin (5 minutes per student, teaching one concept from the course to classmates, assessed by peer rubric) - Discussion of Chapter 34: Designing Learning Experiences — ask the teacher education and aspiring educator students to reflect on what they will do differently as instructors

WEEK 15: Part VII + Final Presentations and Manifestos

Week 15, Sessions 1–2: Chapters 35–38 and Personal Learning Manifestos - Chapter 37 workshop: students spend 30 minutes drafting their Personal Learning Manifesto in class - Share and discuss in pairs: what did you commit to? What will you actually do? - Complete the Learning Audit (Appendix C) for the second time. Compare to Week 1 scores. Discuss as a class.

Week 15, Session 3 (or dedicated presentation session): Progressive Project Final Presentations - 8–10 minute presentations per student - Each presentation should cover: what they tried to learn, which techniques they used, what worked, what didn't, what they will do differently - Final Exam distributed as take-home or administered in final exam period

Final Exam Period: Final Exam (see Additional Assessments)

Grading Structure (Suggested)

Key Pedagogical Commitments for This Course

1. Every class session begins with retrieval, not review. No exceptions after Week 2.
2. Exams are cumulative. Students should expect to be tested on all prior material at every assessment.
3. The instructor models the techniques. If you use slides, don't read from them. If you ask a question, wait 30 seconds for answers. Practice retrieval cold opens yourself — write out your lecture plan from memory before preparing.
4. Resistance is data. When students resist techniques or express skepticism, that is the most productive discussion material in the course. Engage it directly and empirically.
5. Application beats comprehension. A student who has correctly applied retrieval practice to their organic chemistry course but can't define "storage strength" has learned more than a student who can recite definitions but studies only by rereading.