I have to be careful in reporting this study, as there is a big chance that due to the confirmation bias – and me being a musician – I could be too optimistic. But still, a new randomized control trial led by psychologists shows positive effects on cognitive abilities by learning to play music for… Read More Learning how to play the blues can lift that blues feeling
Found this cartoon here!
The short answer: they help each other! The much longer answer can be found in a new longitudinal study by HyeJin Hwang, Kristen L. McMaster and Panayiota Kendeou published in Reading Research Quarterly: The current findings provide a concrete picture of the nature of the bidirectional relation between domain knowledge and reading. First, even when… Read More Leads prior domain knowledge to better reading or vice versa?
In our book, we discuss the complex interaction between nature and nurture. One of the things we explain is that a negative environment has a bigger effect, while a positive environment has a bigger influence on nature. This new Finnish study is another example of this, as the study shows that cumulative adverse psychosocial factors… Read More The longterm effects of growing up in a negative environment
Originally posted on 3-Star learning experiences:
Paul A. Kirschner & Mirjam Neelen Learning strategies that have a high risk of being ineffective, are usually the ones learners prefer. We say, ‘have a high risk of being ineffective’, because the learning strategies we’re referring to, such as highlighting and summarising, are not necessarily ineffective. It’s the…
There is a new Best Evidence in Brief and this time I picked this study from this biweekly newsletter written up by Winnie Tam in which every element seems to be important: Li and colleagues recently conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the effects of blended learning on K-12 students’ performance. Blended learning, also known as mixed or… Read More The effect of blended learning on student performance (Best Evidence in Brief)
This study is maybe less practical, but this doesn’t make it less interesting, as it states that genetic correlation estimates typically assume that mating is random. But is that really the case? In the real world, partners tend to pair up because of many shared interests and social structures. From the press release: Through the… Read More Interesting: Mating patterns could actually help explain many supposedly biological relationships between traits
This is a must-hear podcast about learning how to read – or better how not to learn how to read. There’s an idea about how children learn to read that’s held sway in schools for more than a generation — even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on… Read More Check this podcast about why a lot of children can’t read: Sold a Story
Found this one here!
Primary schools with vulnerable children are hit harder by the teacher shortage, according to an analysis of Flemish school data by Kristof De Witte and KU Leuven colleagues. This will surprise only a few people, as we’ve seen this to be the case in many countries and regions. Such schools are more common in an… Read More How poor children are often hurt twice by teacher shortages
From experience to meaning... 