Book Review-How Do We Learn? A Scientific Approach to Learning and Teaching (Evidence-Based Education) By Héctor Ruiz Martín

I became aware of this book through the recommendation of Doug Lemov, the man behind Teach Like a Champion and all the publications and videos that is focused on teaching and learning. I am a big fan, and since Lemov thought enough of this book to pen the forward to this book, I was sold, sight unseen.

This book was originally in Spanish and was masterfully translated into English by Oriol Solé Mola. The flow of the language and themes were fluid and continuous, I never had to contend with misconceptions nor confusions due to translation problems.

I have begun to use this book as one of my touchstones when I am thinking about how to teach based on how students learn. As an engineer, the evidence-based approach and more importantly, the science that serves as foundation to the approach is the key to my own thinking and helps form my own teaching philosophy. There are many other books in my arsenal of references, this book has taken a respected place.

There are many principles that form a strong foundation upon which I have started to build my thinking. These are some of the key ones that I had gleaned just from the introduction alone.

·       Cognition and motivation are connected.

·       Proper sequencing of learning goals and adjusting tasks differently is the key to effectiveness and motivation.

·       The brain actively seeks to make connections between new knowledge and prior knowledge; that transfer from working memory to long term memory is learning.

·       Learning is continuous.

·       The center of all the learning activities is the student, or more critically, how the student learns. The teacher is the enabler, the person who creates the environment and situations that allow the students to best learn.

There are so many insights that I deliberately took copious amounts of notes, over 130 pages, so that I can revisit, use, and consult them, knowing that I will not remember it all. The author packed incredible amounts of knowledge, examples, citations of results from studies, and wisdom into two hundred and forty-seven pages, with an additional twenty-nine pages of references that are cited in the book.

Even though teaching and learning is a mutually coupled and nonlinear science, he was able to categorize the areas into five cogent sections to that the delivery of the ideas is in linear form, one that is digestible for the readers. He starts with an introduction of the science of how we learn, introducing the Cognitive Load Theory, before diving into the cognitive processes which form the integrated process of learning. Some of topics within these subjects were reviews while some of the topics were new. The advantage of reading them in totality is that the new knowledge reinforces the prior knowledge, which is actually the definition of the cognitive learning process.

Sections three and four are where the author dives into the fraught subjects of social and emotional factors and the intrinsic abilities of the student to self-regulate impact the student’s ability to learn and retain knowledge. These two subjects are often cited as being important factors in learning, but I have found the discussions amorphous and ambiguous. The author does a great job of explaining these factors and was able to discuss the studies that buttresses his assertions. Of particular interest was his treatment of metacognition, grit, and resilience. These are new areas of research and hold a certain amount of aura. This is especially true of grit and resilience; it seems that the topic had become a pet theory of mass media. The author did yeoman work in exploring the subject while also dispelling some of the mythology that had grown up around the subject without under emphasizing the importance of the ideas.

Finally, the author took on three key teaching processes: instruction, feedback, and assessment. All three are important, but the topics of feedback and assessment can be controversial as it involves honest human communications. He was able to lay out great advice and recommendations and not cookie cutter checklists because the human factor makes the communications variable and uncertain.

The bonus find in the book is the Appendix, which is titled: Pseudoscientific Myths About Learning. These are generally accepted myths amongst the general population which have done long term damage to how the general public treats learning and teaching. These myths frame the discussions about learning and teaching, which in turn affects how learning and teaching are structured within our society.

I obviously found the book informative, full of actionable advices, solid scientific research results which buttresses beliefs, and ultimately will serve as a great reference for me to consult. I highly recommend How Do We Learn.

Book Review-Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop By Hwang Bo-Reum

I was introduced to the author Hwang Bo-Reum through her non-fiction book Everyday I Read (Bo-Reum, 2025). her unique take on reading, the type of reading she does and her personal feeling about reading drew me into the book. As I became more drawn into the non-fiction book, I became curious about this, her fictional book about a woman becoming a bookstore owner. Afterall, it is the secret dream of every bibliophile to one day become a bookstore owner.

I had a premonition that this book would not be a usual bookstore owning story because of the cultural perspective is Asian, which means two things: the first is that the story would not be overwrought with drama and emotions, indeed, the general emotional feel of the story is reserved, although underneath the placid surface of the interaction between the characters, the characters are dealing with intense emotions; the second is that the Asian ethos of duty, societal responsibility, and acceptance of societal assigned role will dominate the narrative, this ethos actually significantly dominate and motivate the plot.

A critical mindset that the reader must possess is that of someone who lives in present day Korea, where the societal definition of success, normality, and expectations dominates the character’s inner life. The inner struggles and conflict that each of the characters is experiencing dominates the stories. While western readers have similar experiences with the pressures brought on by familial, societal, and cultural expectations, the degree of the pressures that the Asian society undergo is orders of magnitude greater than the western society. It is critical that the reader understand or at least empathize with the pressures that the characters are experiencing in order to dig deeper into the conflicts that are central to the story.

As I am reading the narrative, I was thinking about whether the western reader would find the conflict and inner turmoil of the characters to be surreal or overwrought. Since I am Asian, I find the author’s description of the character’s inner life entirely believable, in fact I completely empathize with many of the characters as I have experienced the same emotions.

The story opens with the owner of the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop, Yeongju, pondering whether she was making the correct decision by opening the bookstore. Her story and her reasoning set the tone for all the other characters in the book. They are all characters that are behaving and reacting outside of the accepted societal norms. The characters would all be considered as outcasts from society, as they are not living up to the societal definition of being on a path to success. It just happens that Yeongju’s story opens the story, and it is a compelling story, involving gender roles, traditionally defined familial relationships, and daring to live outside of  traditions.

The book introduces new characters gradually, taking its time to give the readers each character’s background, which all novels do, this novel takes its time, slowly building the character’s story. The pace of the character introduction is integrated within the story’s flow. I initially though the pacing was a bit too slow, but once I understood or what I think I understood to be the author’s rhythm, I slowed down my reader’s expectations and went with the flow. The initial pacing was an integral part of the author’s intention for the story’s feel.

As the number of characters began to increase gradually, and the reader became familiarized with each character, the pace of the story starts to pick up. This is not new to any reader of fiction, it is however, a slow buildup, perfectly in tune with the Asian sense of rhythm of life.

Even as the pace of the story begins to increase, it is never moving as quickly as a western novel would. Every chapter is a gentle addition to the narrative rather than a sudden shock to the status quo. Also contrary to the expectation of the western reader, the denouement never comes, which may agitate some readers, I accepted the gentleness and did not expect dramatic shifts in action. Indeed, the story ends quite gently, even though there were a number of developments that changed the arc of the story and gives the reader a picture of how the story and each of the characters evolves. The gradual resolution felt natural and met with the reader’s expectations, after the reader had slowly accepted the pace of the story for what it is. At the end of the story, the fate of each of the characters is described simply and their stories are resolved, without drama.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, it does make me want to find out about the continuation of the arc for each of the character, which speaks for the author’s ability to draw the reader into the character’s stories, which in the end is what story telling is about.

Works Cited

Bo-Reum, H. (2025). Everyday I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books. NYC: Bloomsbury Publishing.