Grasp takes readers across multiple frontiers, from fundamental neuroscience to cognitive psychology and beyond, as it explores the future of learning. Some of its findings:
• Scientists are studying the role of forgetting, exposing it not as a simple failure of memory but a critical weapon in our learning arsenal. • New developments in neuroimaging are helping us understand how reading works in the brain. It’s become possible to identify children who might benefit from specialized dyslexia interventions—before they learn to read. • Many schools have begun converting to flipped classrooms, in which you watch a lesson at home, then do your ‘homework’ in class. Through such bold instructional changes, MIT has eliminated the gender performance gap in its introductory physics courses. • By structuring its curriculum to better incorporate cutting-edge learning strategies, one law school in Florida has rocketed to the top of its state in bar exam passage rates.
Along the way, Sarma debunks long-held views (such as the noxious idea of “learning styles”), while equipping readers with a set of practical tools for absorbing and retaining information across a lifetime. He presents a vision for learning that’s more inclusive and democratic—revealing a world bursting with powerful learners, just waiting for the chance they deserve.
Drawing from the author’s experience as an educator and the work of researchers and educational innovators at MIT and beyond, Grasp offers scientific and practical insight, promising not just to inform and entertain readers but to open their minds.
Sanjay Sarma is is the Vice President for Open Learning at MIT, which includes the Office of Digital Learning, the MIT Integrated Learning Initiative and the Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab. He is also the Fred Fort Flowers (1941) and Daniel Fort Flowers (1941) Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT.
Luke Yoquinto is a Research Associate at the MIT AgeLab, and a freelance writer.