Learning is a life-long process that begins from the day we are born.  It is the mechanism that enables us to sense, interpret, and react to what is happening around us.  Throughout the ages, humanity have endeavored to understand how learning is done and how it is affected by biological and environmental factors.  This overview outlines some of the current thoughts on the art and science of learning.  The art of learning refers to a more personal approach, namely a continuous journey that takes in patterns, themes, ideas and performance psychology.  On the other hand, the science of learning deals primarily with memory, namely the mechanism of how information is acquired, and how memory is formed, retained, and retrieved. Currently, how sensory and short-term memory is transformed to long-term memory is actively being investigated.  In other words, we are still “learning” about learning.

While much of what is being studied about learning may be accessed online from multiple sources, and it may even be assumed that application of generative AI will eventually solve the mystery of the brain and the learning process, for example by neural network modeling, Prof. Tuan will present examples to illustrate that “analogue” thinking by great minds will continue to inspire our learning process.  In the final analysis, learning is about igniting and keeping alight the “inner light” in each person, namely the process of “learning how to learn”.