Each year the CIE Board selects a book which has connections to the classroom but that also has ties to our personal and professional lives. The book for 2015-2016 is How We Learn.

In the tradition of The Power of Habit and Thinking, Fast and Slow, comes  a practical, playful, and endlessly fascinating guide to what we really know about  learning and memory today – and how we can apply it to our own lives.

From an early age, it is drilled into our heads: restlessness, distraction, and  ignorance are the enemies of success. We’re told that learning is all self-discipline,  that we must confine ourselves to designated study areas, turn off the music and  maintain a strict ritual if we want to ace that test, memorize that presentation or nail that piano recital. In fact, says author Benedict Carey, what we think we know about learning is often all wrong.

Faculty can get a free copy of the book compliments of CIE. Please contact Rita Kucera at rkucera@nmc.edu to request a copy. We will also discuss the book during a session of the October Professional Development Day in the fall.