Articles tagged with Learning
Animated speech and language tutors, developed by UC Santa Cruz professor Dominic Massaro, help remedial readers, language learners, and autistic children by modeling natural human speech and articulation. The technology is being incorporated into a new remedial reading program and tailored to teach languages such as Arabic.
A study by University of Missouri researchers found that US students from low-income families are less likely to have access to highly qualified teachers compared to their peers globally. The study's findings highlight a significant 14.4% opportunity gap between high- and low-socioeconomic status students.
A new computerized tutoring system aims to help middle school students develop a deep understanding of scientific concepts by teaching them to 'think like scientists.' The system will guide students' learning, assess their progress, and provide feedback automatically to teachers.
The GABAA receptor's inhibition of learning has been reversed by its overexpression, revealing a complex relationship between neurotransmitters and cognitive processes. Fruit flies exhibit impaired learning at high temperatures but retain memory, suggesting that the receptor's absence may enhance neural plasticity.
Researchers studied how Christianity brought written material from Mediterranean to NW Europe, including Biblical weights, measures, and glossaries. They aimed to understand various forms of transferring Greek and Roman knowledge about the natural world.
Researchers found that learning different names for things makes it easier to place them into the correct categories. In a series of experiments, participants learned labels for aliens on a computer screen and categorized them into two types, demonstrating that redundant labels facilitate learning of novel categories.
Researchers at Kent State University investigate middle-school students' ability to judge their own learning, finding that overconfidence is a major issue. To address this, the team develops a 'study buddy' tool that combines accurate monitoring with effective schedules of learning.
A new study from the University of Texas at Austin found that teaching white children about historical racism significantly improved their positive attitudes toward African Americans. In contrast, African-American children who learned about racism did not experience changes in their racial attitudes.
The university is implementing an active learning approach in computer science education, focusing on studio courses with team projects and interdisciplinary collaboration. This transformation aims to raise student interaction levels and promote motivation through creative problem-solving activities.
New study reveals that overlearning vocabulary through repeated drilling results in no long-term retention, while massing all study on a single topic into a single session reduces long-term retention. Breaks of at least a month between study sessions also improve learning outcomes.
Researchers have identified two techniques to improve people's ability to accurately evaluate their learning: rereading or summarizing text, and focusing attention on key details. These methods demonstrate promise for helping individuals learn complex materials more efficiently.
A new study by the Economic and Social Research Council's Teaching and Learning Research Programme found that schools can be turned into places where students become independent learners. The project showed that teachers who receive proper professional development and support can help children take responsibility for their own learning.
A study by Ohio State University sociologist Paul von Hippel found that students in year-round schools showed similar improvement in math and reading test scores compared to traditional nine-month schools. While disadvantaged children may gain slightly more in reading, the overall impact on academics is minimal.
A study reveals that monkeys learn through active engagement, mirroring human learning strategies. By generating answers themselves from memory, monkeys outperformed passive training with hints in long-term retention. This finding supports the importance of active learning in both humans and animals.
A study found that hand gestures significantly enhance learning, with 90% of students recalling algebraic concepts after three weeks. The method taps into the need to experience information through interacting with the environment, making it a free and effective teaching aid.
A new teaching method uses SimMan simulation technology to teach basic science concepts, with 98% of students rating the correlation as 'very good' or 'outstanding'. Students engaged actively through guided group discussions and interactive simulations.
Researchers found that young birds learned more than half of their songs by eavesdropping on adult tutors interacting with another bird. Direct interaction with a tutor accounted for only 19% of the songs, highlighting the role of eavesdropping in song learning.
A US-Asian teaching gap exists in math instruction, with US teachers utilizing fewer spatial supports and gestures that encourage active reasoning compared to Hong Kong and Japan. This could contribute to lower US student performance on international math tests.
Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute have received a four-year, $2 million award to continue development of the ASSISTment intelligent tutoring system. The system will provide teachers and parents with immediate feedback on student performance, helping them offer individualized instruction and track student progress over time.
Researchers found that taking breaks from studies, including getting a good night's sleep, enhances relational memory and 'big picture' inferences. This 'off-line' processing period allows the brain to unconsciously mull over information, leading to improved performance on complex tasks.
Researchers found that sleep enforces the temporal sequence in memories by replaying experiences in a forward direction. This process enhances word recall when students were asked to reproduce learned words in the correct order.
Researchers found that adults exhibit a 'curse-of-knowledge bias' when reasoning about false beliefs, with their own knowledge influencing their ability to reason. Additionally, age affects false memory development, with children showing improved performance at older ages. The study also discovered a circadian rhythm in central process...
A study by the University of Virginia found that only a small percentage of elementary school classrooms provide high-quality instruction, leading to mediocre student outcomes. High-quality teaching involves active learning environments, teacher-student interaction, and emotional support, but is often lacking in US schools.
Researchers found that 18-month-old toddlers listen and watch emotional reactions directed by one adult to another, then use this emotional information to shape their own behavior. The study indicates infants understand other people's emotional states at a very young age.
A study found that temporary inhibition of native language words helps learners focus on the new language. Fluently bilingual speakers were less prone to this effect, suggesting it's an adaptive strategy during initial second language learning stages.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks has received a $1.3 million federal grant to create a graduate-level training program in second-language acquisition, focusing on the Yupik language. The program aims to provide K-12 teachers with tools to increase fluency and address second-language issues in the classroom.
A new study finds that publicly schooled kindergarteners outperform privately schooled peers in terms of learning gains, contrary to expectations. The research suggests that instituting all-day kindergarten could help narrow the achievement gap between public and private schools.
Researchers at Tufts University are developing a new curriculum that combines engineering with basic science to improve student engagement and understanding. The curriculum, funded by the National Science Foundation, will be tested in Boston-area elementary schools over the next five years.
A recent study published in the Canadian Journal of Surgery found that many medical school graduates in Canada lack proficiency in basic surgical skills such as suturing and tube placements. The researchers surveyed 123 recent graduates and 55 surgeons, revealing a significant gap between expected and actual skill levels.
A new study by the University of Illinois found that faith-based youth groups provide the highest rates of personal and interpersonal growth experiences for teens, compared to sports, performance and fine arts groups, academic clubs, and community-oriented activities. The study surveyed over 2,000 eleventh graders and found that teens ...
A new program in Ohio State University's phys ed class encourages students to plan their own exercise routines, leading to a significant increase in physical activity outside of school. Nearly half of students were inactive before the program, but after participation, over 90% became more active.
University of Alaska Fairbanks Professor Larry Duffy has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to develop a new polar science education course. The two-year project will help increase students' and the public's understanding of polar science through an interdisciplinary approach.
The Federation of American Scientists has developed a new educational video game called Immune Attack, which engages students in learning about immunology concepts. The game features a first-person strategy game where immune cells face off against bacterial and viral infections, aiming to make learning fun and exciting.
Teachers from Alaska, Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Sweden, and England participate in a 33-day polar research expedition to collect data on atmospheric measurements, ice cores, and ocean systems. The expedition aims to better understand the impact of anomalous warm Atlantic water on Arctic Ocean temperatures.
Research by Professor Mary James and the Teaching and Learning Research Programme found that teachers are unhappy with the pressures of high-stakes exams and tests, which prioritize targets over teaching for learning. Only 20% of teachers felt able to put effective teaching for learning before meeting performance targets.
A new study found that frequent naps in infants improve their ability to learn abstract concepts and generalize knowledge to new phrases. The research, published in Psychological Science, suggests that sleep plays a crucial role in cognitive development.
Biomedical engineers at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered a new learning strategy called categorical adaptation, which suggests that learning does not necessarily scale proportionally with error size.
Researchers found that novelty activates brain's midbrain region, regulating motivation and dopamine release. Combining new facts with familiar information improves memory recall, even after a delay.
A study by UCLA psychologists found that multi-tasking impairs the ability to learn new information, especially in tasks requiring attention and declarative memory. The researchers used fMRI to examine brain activity and found that multi-tasking disrupts the hippocampus, a critical region for learning and memory.
A recent study at the University of Southern California found that motivated students excel in Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS), while disengaged students surprisingly show high levels of learning-oriented behavior. The research suggests that ITS can reach struggling students through private learning opportunities, and future models ...
A study found that when participants shared negative attitudes about someone else, they felt closer to a stranger with the same dislike. In contrast, those who learned they shared positive attitudes with another person felt less connected. This research challenges traditional views of gossip and its impact on relationships.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is testing wearable sensor systems at the US Army Aberdeen Test Center. The sensors aim to capture data such as vehicle sound, images, speech, and specific types of weapon fire, which will be compared to soldiers' after-action reports.
A joint study between Dr. Spencer Behmer and researchers at the University of Oxford found that locusts preferred odors associated with a deprived state, even when well-fed. This suggests that physical state plays a significant role in learning and decision-making for these insects.
Researchers at Mayo Clinic are testing a revolutionary classroom concept that promotes increased physical activity among children, using advanced technologies such as standing desks and wearable devices. The goal is to prevent childhood obesity by encouraging kids to move more during learning.
Researchers found that students who self-test frequently while studying on their own perform better in retention tests compared to those who study the material repeatedly. This phenomenon is known as the testing effect, which enhances long-term retention through a mechanism different from restudy alone.
A Washington University partnership created a data analysis course for urban high school students, raising cognitive demand and improving math and science test scores. The pilot study found that quizzes were not a harmful activity and may be an effective teaching tool.
A Dartmouth study reveals that the brain's parietal cortex plays a crucial role in understanding the goals of other people's actions. This finding has implications for our understanding of human social interactions and may help explain impaired social behaviors in individuals with autism.
Florida Institute of Technology is developing an interactive tutoring system to improve student competency in statistics and problem-solving skills. The software will be available in English and Spanish versions to reach a more diverse audience.
A study by cognitive psychologists Helga Noice and Tony Noice found that actors acquire lines quickly by focusing on the character's intention, rather than just memorizing the words. This 'active experiencing' principle is effective not only for actors but also for improving memory and cognition in older adults.
A nursing professor is calling for a total review of the nursing education system to address the 'reality gap' between theory and practice. The professor believes that sufficient funding and modernized practice learning requirements are needed to bridge this gap.
Professors Jung Oh and Judith Collins from Kansas State University presented their information literacy instruction project at the American Chemical Society Meeting. The project focuses on teaching students to evaluate information sources critically and apply these skills in various academic disciplines.
Dr. Irene Pepperberg's research shows an African grey parrot, Alex, understands the absence of a numerical quantity by using the label 'none', challenging current understanding of avian cognition. This discovery also holds potential for teaching autistic and learning-disabled children
A team of four Johns Hopkins University students adapted a tractor for use by people with disabilities, including those who are paraplegic. The modifications included a hydraulic lift, hand-controlled throttle, and mechanical device to enable drivers without disabilities to operate the tractor.
A three-year course in the stock market and investing resulted in improved attendance and academic performance among at-risk middle school students. The program, which allowed students to buy shares of stock by improving their grades and attendance, showed statistically significant gains in vocabulary, reading comprehension, and applie...
A Carnegie Mellon study reveals that infant-directed speech aids infants in learning words more quickly than normal adult speech. This research also sheds light on why adults struggle to learn a second language, as they can use their native tongue effortlessly.
A study by Boston College and UMass found that students' MCAS English/Language Arts exam scores improved when they used computers to write papers for school, but decreased with recreational computer use. The study controlled for home learning environments and teacher practices.
According to psychologist Roese, regrets serve a necessary psychological purpose and provide benchmarks for reality. He suggests that acknowledging counterfactuals and their impact on human cognition can lead to hope for the future and corrective action.
A study by Rachel Herz at Brown University found that responses to new odors depend on emotions experienced while the odor was present. Participants who played a game and watched a film clip rated the new scent as enjoyable and familiar, whereas those who played a frustrating game rated it as unpleasant.
A study found that stereotype-vulnerable black participants predicted their abilities less accurately and experienced fluctuating self-efficacy, highlighting the fragility of academic perceptions. This uncertainty can lead to unrealistic optimism and decreased motivation in the face of prejudice.
A recent study at McMaster University reveals that fitness experts can significantly increase self-confidence in beginner exercisers. By setting and achieving specific goals, individuals experience increased motivation and confidence in their abilities.