What Does the Research Say About Testing?
(Edutopia)
One of the most useful kinds of tests are the least time-consuming: quick, easy practice quizzes on recently taught content. Tests can be especially beneficial if they are given frequently and provide near-immediate feedback to help students improve. This retrieval practice can be as simple as asking students to write down two to four facts from the prior day or giving them a brief quiz on a previous class lesson.
Mental Health Challenges Require Urgent Response
(Inside Higher Ed)
They are serious and complex problems and should not be the sole purview of our campuses’ counseling centers, write Ted Mitchell and Suzanne Ortega.
American Students’ Performance Lags On Nation’s Report Card
(New York Times)
Daniel Willingham, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, said it’s hard to find a coherent story across different state and local school districts, but that he hoped the results would “spur us to do something a little more vigorous.”
Using Colors, Images And Cartoons To Support Learning
(Learning Scientists)
An interesting debate has taken place in the past decade over whether learning materials should be aesthetically appealing to promote learning. This debate has made me think much more deeply about how I prepare my own handouts and seminar slides for my students.
Babies Understand A Fundamental Aspect Of Counting Long Before They Can Say Numbers Out Loud, According To Researchers
(Washington Post – Free Trial)
What she and Lisa Feigenson, a cognitive scientist at Johns Hopkins, learned from experiments is revelatory: Babies are able to understand something important about numbers long before they can say them out loud. The researchers discovered that children as young as 14 months old are capable of recognizing that counting is related to quantity — even if they’re still a few years away from truly understanding what “one, two, three” means.
It’S Time To Talk About The Mental Health Effects Of Student Loan Debt
(Yahoo! Finance)
Lately, a number of US politicians, but especially Democratic presidential hopefuls, have been offering promises of loan forgiveness, interest-rate caps, and tax-code changes, all designed to reform a broken system of educational finance—and to no doubt appeal to more than 43 million people who hold America’s $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. Arguably, the public conversation about student loan debt has lately become more emotionally charged, and a lot more personal, if social media is any guide. Now it appears that a similar shift, toward the acknowledgment of debt as not just a financial burden but an emotional one, is occurring among employers who offer student loan benefits.
NYU’s Artificial Affordability Issue
(Washington Square News)
Due to the long wait times for a counseling session, students are left with few options: either resort to replacing therapists with friends and family — which is regarded as unethical and dangerous by the American Psychological Association — or find their own therapists and pay for counseling themselves. NYU’s counseling services, on the other hand, are offered free of charge.
The Connection Between Student Wellbeing And Outcomes
(The Educator – K/12)
But while teachers have an important role in helping students, they are not as influential compared to other factors when it comes to raising student outcomes – according to a University of New England research published in the Journal of Educational Psychology.
The State Of The Learning Profession: Neuromyths And (Lack Of) Evidence-Informed Practice
(3-Star Learning Experiences)
For both topics (neuromyths and evidence-informed practice), the Online Learning Consortium research results clearly show that people who read journals related to neuroscience, psychology, and MBE science have greater awareness of neuromyths, general information about the brain, and evidence-informed practice.
Faith, Truth And Forgiveness: How Your Brain Processes Abstract Thoughts
(Science Daily)
Researchers have leveraged machine learning to interpret human brain scans, allowing the team to uncover the regions of the brain behind how abstract concepts, like justice, ethics and consciousness, form.
Coordinated Brain Activation Supports Spatial Learning And Decision-Making
(Science Daily)
Specialized brain activation ‘replays’ the possible routes that rats can take as they navigate a space, helping them keep track of the paths they’ve already taken and choose among the routes that they can take next, according to a new study.
Assessing Social and Emotional Learning
(Edutopia)
A review of three types of SEL assessment, with suggestions for ways to collect and report student growth to families.
Practical Advice for Real-World Teaching
(Society for the Teaching of Psychology – Division 2 of APA)
I first started teaching college courses at the age of 25. I was in my 2nd year of graduate school and had just finished my master’s degree, which was the requirement to be an “instructor of record” at my institution. I taught a summer class – Introduction to Personality – to a small and largely uninterested group of psychology students (including a few very large football players, but that’s another story). I vividly remember the advice that was given to me, a 5’2” female, before I began teaching.
Explaining The Science Of Learning To Teachers
(Ambition Institute)
Professionals have specialist knowledge. Pilots must understand the physics and mechanics of flight; doctors must know the biology and chemistry of the body; teachers must know how students learn. Those who teach these professionals must have similar – deeper – knowledge and must also be able to make it comprehensible and useful to the professionals they support.)
The Messy Minds of Creative People
(Scientific American)
The creative process– from the first drop of paint on the canvas to the art exhibition– involves a mix of emotions, drives, skills, and behaviors.
How To Help A Child Struggling With Anxiety
(NPR)
Childhood anxiety is one of the most important mental health challenges of our time. Here are six takeaways that all parents, caregivers and teachers can add to their anxiety toolkits, including information on how anxiety works, how parents can spot it and how to know when it’s time to get professional help.
Access Our New Database Of Retrieval Practice Research In Classrooms!
(Retrieval Practice)
We are thrilled to announce and share our new database of retrieval practice research conducted in classrooms! Click here to access the database and download our project summary.
Insiders’ Tactics For Securing Tenure
(APA’s Monitor on Psychology)
Advice from newly minted associate professors on how to assemble portfolios that impress tenure review committees.
