How Satisfied Are Psychology-Degree Holders With Their Jobs?, How One High School Saved Lives with a Survey…and more in this week’s news roundup!

How Satisfied Are Psychology-Degree Holders With Their Jobs?
(American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology)
Good news for those with psychology doctoral degrees: Compared with doctoral degree holders in all other fields, people with psychology doctorates were more likely to report satisfaction with their jobs overall, according to a 2017 national survey of the college-educated U.S. population.

‘It’s OK to not be OK:’ How One High School Saved Lives with a 34-Question Survey
(KQED)

In classrooms around the building, the school’s ninth-graders whizzed through an online mental health survey that would soon deliver real-time data to the group in the conference room. They were a triage team of sorts — particularly interested in the answers to question 24, which asked how often students had had thoughts of hurting themselves within the past week. By 10:35 a.m., most of the results were in. Over the next few hours, team members pulled students who had responded “very often” or “often” out of class for private one-on-one conversations.

To Save The Science Poster, Researchers Want To Kill It And Start Over
(NPR)

“We are about to walk into a room full of 100 scientific posters, where researchers are trying to display their findings on a big poster board,” says Morrison, a doctoral student in psychology at Michigan State University.

Your Child Bullied Someone? That’ll Cost You $313.
(New York Times)

Mr. O’Brien, a 38-year-old paper mill employee, said he pleaded with school principals, teachers and a guidance counselor to find a way to stop the abuse, but none of it had made much difference. Now he is hoping a proposal in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., where his daughters go to school, will help stem harassment in the district: making parents pay up to $313 in fines and fees if their children bully others.

Four Research-Based Strategies Every Teacher Should Be Using
(Cult of Pedagogy)

Cognitive scientist Pooja Agarwal and K-12 teacher Patrice Bain have collaborated on a new book, Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning. In the book, they go into detail about what it looks like when we actually apply four research-based “Power Tools” in the classroom: retrieval practice, spaced practice, interleaving, and feedback-driven metacognition—which is one we haven’t covered at all yet. On the podcast, Agarwal and Bain talked with me about these strategies, the research behind why they work, and some ways you can start using them right away in your instruction.

A Deep Dive Into Adolescent Development
(American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology)

Spearheaded by psychologists, a new long-term study will produce mountains of open-access data on adolescents.

Don’t Deny Breaks To Punish Pupils, Say Psychologists
(tes.com)

Play is ‘crucial’ for child development and should not be taken away for misbehaviour or to finish work, schools warned.

Supporting Students with Adverse Childhood Experiences
(American Federation of Teachers)

One mechanism responsible for the effects of ACEs—toxic levels of stress—can be substantially buffered by stable and supportive relationships with caregivers. Schools and educators can also play a critical role by promoting these kinds of caring relationships, as well as social and emotional skills, that support healthy youth development for all students; removing exclusionary and punitive disciplinary practices; and supporting the physical and mental health needs of students.

Summer Reading Picks for 2019
(Behavioral Scientist)

In the spirit of summer selections, I’ve picked a list of behavioral science reads for you.

Inside the Elementary School Where Drug Addiction Sets the Curriculum
(New York Times)
About half of the student body at one Ohio elementary school has witnessed drug use at home. Educators spend time every day teaching the children how to cope.

Mother of Gay Alabama Teen Who Died by Suicide Claims His School Ignored Warning Signs
(NBC News)
“People at his school knew that he planned to take his own life,” Camika Shelby said. “I need to find out who knew and why nobody told me until after he died.”

Students Most at Risk of Getting Spanked at School Are Black or Disabled, Data Show
(Education Week – Subscription Required, Free Trial) 
Nineteen states, the vast majority in the South, permit school personnel to strike students with belts, rulers, homemade wooden paddles, or bare hands in the name of discipline. But even within those states, whether a student is actually at risk of physical punishment often depends on race, geography or disability status, according to a new analysis of 2013-14 federal education data by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Reaching and Grasping: Learning Fine Motor Coordination Changes the Brain
(Science Daily)
When we train the reaching for and grasping of objects, we also train our brain. In other words, this action brings about changes in the connections of a certain neuronal population in the red nucleus, a region of the midbrain. Researchers have discovered this group of nerve cells in the red nucleus. They have also shown how fine motor tasks promote plastic reorganization of this brain region.

How the Brain Changes When Mastering a New Skill
(Science Daily)
Researchers have discovered what happens in the brain as people learn how to perform tasks, which could lead to improved lives for people with brain injuries. The study revealed that new neural activity patterns emerge with long-term learning and established a causal link between these patterns and new behavioral abilities.

The Potential Risks of Mindfulness
(Filling the Pail)
It therefore seems plausible that young people may be more vulnerable to any adverse effects from mindfulness training. The fact that we lack evidence at this stage does not mean that the practice of mindfulness is completely safe.

Oral Language Competence
(AFT’s American Educator)
Some developmental disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), are widely known, albeit possibly overdiagnosed and subject to ongoing debate regarding optimal management strategies. Less widely known and understood, however, is the impact of developmental language disorder (DLD) on behavior and learning.

Teaching Strategies for Helping Make Students More Responsible for Their Own Learning (Opinion)
(Inside Higher Ed)
I discourage note taking. All of my lectures are online. I go over them, point by point, in class. Students can access them any time they wish. This frees me to interact more with students about concepts. A 2009 study in the Journal of Educational Psychology documents how discussion increases student talk and decreases teacher talk with “substantial improvements” in comprehension.

The Early-Stage Ph.D.’s Guide to Summer
(Inside Higher Ed)
As a graduate career coach, I meet with many doctoral students who are within a year or two of graduating. They may be focused on obtaining a faculty position but are simultaneously considering other career paths. Or they may have decided to forgo a teaching position and are at a loss for what to do next. Many wish that they’d made time for career and professional development earlier in their academic program.

Concrete Ways To Help Students Self-Regulate And Prioritize Work
(KQED – Mind/Shift)
There are a lot of skills necessary to succeed in school that aren’t directly about mastering content, including the ability to recognize, name and control ones emotions. The school day often comes with lots of emotion, everything from elation to frustration, which makes it the perfect place to practice self-regulation.

What You Told Us About the Challenges of Training Grad Students to Teach
(Chronicle of Higher Education)
Recently I described the benefits that one classics department has seen from preparing its graduate students to teach, and I asked if your college or program has a good model for providing such training. The question seemed to hit a nerve.

Helping College Students Cope With An Epidemic Of Anxiety And Stress On Campus
(Yahoo News)
Colleges around the country are reporting more cases of depression, anxiety, and suicide among students than ever before. Psychologist B. Janet Hibbs joined CBSN to discuss her new book, “The Stressed Years of Their Lives,” and the mental health challenges facing students and their parents.

 

About the Author

Amanda's passion for advancing the conversation around mental health coupled with her background in marketing has made for an exciting career at the American Psychological Association. She received her undergraduate degree in Marketing from Emerson College and her graduate degree in Public Health Communications from the George Washington University's Milken School of Public Health in Washington, DC. In her free time, Amanda loves hiking, pyrography, collecting mid-century modern furniture and spending time with her family and dogs, Mia and Becky.
Hunter is a communications professional who came of age in the digital revolution, and has witnessed big changes in how we communicate. In his eclectic 20 year career he’s seen vast changes across multiple industries from advertising, B2C, professional services, publishing, and now non-profit. During his time at APA Hunter has watched the growth of the organization’s web presence; a shift from print to digital media; and the pickup of social channels like the PsychLearningCurve. A tech geek at heart, Hunter is naturally drawn to all things shiny and new especially when it comes to communicating – particularly social media and apps. Hunter seeks to understand the world around him -- add in a penchant for creative design and a reporter’s curiosity and you’ve got Hunter. Through this blog he hopes to help translate quality psychological science into practical uses for educators, students, and parents.