Scientific research on how to teach critical thinking contradicts education trends
(Hechinger Report)
An education researcher writes that scientists are united in their belief that content knowledge is crucial to effective critical thinking.
Should Students Get Mental Health Days Off From School?
(New York Times)
Two states recently passed laws that allow students to take time off for their mental health. Do you wish your school gave you the option?
Overstressed Students in New York Could Get Mental Health Days Excused If This Bill Passes
(CNN)
“We need to recognize suicide and self-harm among young New Yorkers as the major public health crisis that it is, demolish the stigma around mental health care, and do everything within our power to help kids who are struggling seek treatment,” said New York State Senator Brad Hoylman, the bill’s sponsor.
Head of Counseling at Penn Dies in Suicide
(Inside Higher Ed)
Gregory Eells, executive director of counseling and psychological services at the University of Pennsylvania, died by suicide early Monday morning.
GUEST POST: Reading From Screens Compared To Paper: What Are The Differences?
(The Learning Scientists)
Dozens of studies have compared people reading from screens and paper. I was curious what the overall message of these studies was so I decided to do a meta-analysis.
Strong Student-Adult Relationships Lower Suicide Attempts in High Schools
(Medical Xpress)
High schools where students are more connected to peers and adult staff, and share strong relationships with the same adults, have lower rates of suicide attempts, according to a new study published by the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
Ashman’s Taxonomy
(Filling The Pail)
The intrinsic problems with the taxonomy are that it implies both a order to these different objectives and a commonality between, for example, analysing a graph and analysing a poem. The extrinsic problem is when others have tried to use the order of the taxonomy to imply that some objectives are superior to others.
Can Bite-Sized Lessons Make Social-Emotional Learning Easier to Teach?
(Education Week – Subscription Required, Free Trial)
In practice, however, executing evidence-based strategies to teach skills like empathy and self-control to students can be challenging for schools, and prohibitively so.
How Bullying May Shape Adolescent Brains
(Time)
In recent years, a steadily increasing volume of data has demonstrated that peer victimization — the clinical term for bullying — impacts hundreds of millions of children and adolescents, with the effects sometimes lasting years and, possibly, decades. The problem is even recognized as a global health challenge by the World Health Organization and the United Nations. And yet, researchers maintain there is still a limited understanding of how the behavior may physically shape the developing brain.
And the Winner Is…. Drawing!
(3 Star Learning Expereince)
The researchers carried out a sequence of remarkable experiments – spread out over several years – to determine to what extent drawing has an impact on what someone needs to remember/learn. They also focused on the question of whether drawing as a learning strategy is reliable and replicable. In other words, does drawing actually improve learning outcomes?
More Learning in ‘Active Learning’ Classrooms, But Students Don’t Know It
(Science Daily)
A new study shows that, though students felt like they learned more from traditional lectures, they actually learned more when taking part in active learning classrooms.
‘The Dangers of Fluent Lectures’
(Inside Higher Ed)
A study says smooth-talking professors can lull students into thinking they’ve learned more than they actually have — potentially at the expense of active learning.
Specialized Training Benefits Young Stem Researchers
(Science Daily)
Young college students are capable of leading real research. And according to a new study, students in FRI do better when the instructors who oversee their projects are provided extra training.
Centering the Humanities
(Inside Higher Ed)
Humanities centers and institutes are key to improving the image of the humanities among the public and policy makers, writes Aaron R. Hanlon.
New Study Sheds Light on How a Midbrain Region Helps Us Pay Attention
(Medical Xpress)
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have identified how a key midbrain region plays a vital role in attention in humans, using advanced imaging and modelling techniques.
Graduate Students Need to Think Differently About Time
(Inside Higher Ed)
James M. Van Wyck recommends that Ph.D. students make at least three mental shifts about time as they negotiate graduate school.
Want to Improve Your Teaching? Start With the Basics: Learn Students’ Names
(The Chronicle of Higher Education)
Providing feedback, including real-time feedback, is good pedagogy. It’s the kind of strategy that Andrea Greenhoot, a professor of psychology at the University of Kansas and director of its teaching center, says helps students feel “seen and understood.”
Lab-Grown Human Minibrains Show Brainy Activity
(Scientific American’s 60 Second Science – Recording with Transcript)
As the little structures grow, their constituents specialize into different types of brain cells, begin to form connections and emit brain waves. They could be useful models for development and neurological conditions.
Presenteeism In Graduate Students
(APA’s Psychological Science Agenda)
An overview of the phenomenon and considerations for intervention.
I Was a Low-Income College Student. Classes Weren’t the Hard Part.
(New York Times)
Schools must learn that when you come from poverty, you need more than financial aid to succeed.
Permission to Feel: The Link Between Emotional Intelligence and Academic Success
(Getting Smart)
Educators are interested in student achievement. Managers are interested in maximum productivity. Parents are interested in raising kids that are successful, have opportunities and that might be happy as well.
The Game That Made Rats Jump for Joy
(The Atlantic)
Scientists taught rats to play hide-and-seek in order to study natural animal behavior—but it was also fun, for both the researchers and the animals.
Edtech…We Have A Problem
(Effortful Educator)
Gallup published an article today titled “Educators Agree on the Value of Ed Tech”. With a title like that…what could go wrong? In this article, many pertinent questions were asked of students, teachers, principals, and administrators about ed tech in the classroom and schools.
