Newsletter 011: “That’s How Learning Works?!?! A Comprehensive Model for Understanding the Learning Process”


The Learning Engine

27 October 2024

Newsletter 011: “That’s How Learning Works?!?! A Comprehensive Model for Understanding the Learning Process”

Hello from Bluefield, Virginia!

This newsletter will take a different approach — I want to share a 5,501-word essay on learning!

I’ve been working on this essay for a while, so I am excited to publish the essay and get feedback. The ideas in the essay were the foundation for the previous newsletters (so some of the writing will be familiar), but the entire essay has more detail and ideas.

Here is the link to the essay: That’s How Learning Works?!?! A Comprehensive Model for Understanding the Learning Process.

If the essay resonated with you, please share on the socials and with someone who you think would also benefit; I would greatly appreciate any help in spreading these ideas! Also, I would love to hear your thoughts on the ideas — let me know by responding to this email.

Thanks for reading this newsletter — and all the best!

Nathan


Have comments or questions about any part of this newsletter? Please reply and let me know — I respond to every email!

Did someone forward this newsletter to you? If you want to start receiving the newsletter sign up here.

Want more information about learning? Choose your adventure below!

600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246
Unsubscribe · Preferences

The Learning Engine

We teach you the principles of learning, helping you understand and apply the principles of learning in your leading, coaching, and teaching. By using the principles of learning, your leading, coaching, and teaching will be more effective!

Read more from The Learning Engine

The Learning Engine 10 March 2026 Newsletter 041: A Walk, a Problem, and a Clearer Direction A good day to you! On a recent morning walk, I finally named a problem I had been carrying for months – and with the naming came the clearest sense of direction I’ve had in a long time. Meetings were happening; interest in my ideas was real. The diagnosis I kept returning to was the same: My framing needed to be sharper, with the vision for The Learning Engine more compellingly described. Somewhere...

The Learning Engine 4 February 2026 Why Learning is the Ultimate Meta-Skill [Video] A good day to you! For the last couple of years I have used this newsletter to share long-form essays regarding how we process information and build capability. These explorations have been a joy to share with you – I hope the essays have been interesting and useful. Recently, my focus has shifted toward the engine that drives every other part of our lives. Most professionals possess systems for finances,...

Image

The Learning Engine 1 February 2026 Learn21 — A Redesign That Expanded What Was Possible A good day to you! I want to share a moment when I saw the principles of learning work deeply — from the results of my physics students. In 2018, I moved from teaching high school physics in South Carolina to an international school in Singapore. I was hired partly to take over AP Physics C — known as one of the hardest courses in the school — from a teacher who had taught the course for over 20 years....