This is the kind of study that gets me worried as it states that if the parents have a degree, their children also believe that they have to get one. This can put them under pressure. Reading this when my oldest son is expecting news any time now about his results in the strangest school… Read More Sorry my sons, but… children of academics exhibit more stress when entering the university
A new review study by Amez and Baert examined the existing research on the use of smartphones and the consequences for academic success. In short: A predominance of empirical results supporting a negative association. This finding is driven by studies relying on actual GPA measures. But, there is one important limitation: The literature’s main limitation… Read More Does the smartphone hinder learning? New review study suggests ‘yes’, but…
Yesterday I received this very interesting Freakonomics podcast on the issue of the scalability of interventions. Often we see – also in education – that something works in an experiment or in a field trial, but when everybody starts adopting the new method or the new insight… it fails. There can be several reasons why,… Read More Again: silver bullets are seldom the case in education. E.g. no single solution helps all students complete MOOCs
The word of the day for me is ‘hyperpersistent’. I read this concept in a recent study on STEM education and students from a minority background. From the press release: Scientists report that undergraduate students from underrepresented groups who score below a C- in general chemistry are less likely to persist in STEM classes than… Read More Interesting: Reducing achievement gaps in undergraduate general chemistry could lift underrepresented students into a ‘hyperpersistent zone’
Yesterday I discovered this great new tool that I’m sure I will be using a lot myself and will advise my students to try when working on their papers: connected papers. An important element of scientific work is to build upon earlier insights or to nuance or contradict earlier findings in science. That’s why scientific… Read More Great new handy tool for students and researchers: connected papers
For the past 3 years I have been of the CTTL Summer Academy, but sadly this year everything is canceled because of Corona. But wait, why not take everything online? Click here for more info.
This review didn’t examine the effects of Corona and the different lockdowns around the globe, but did examine what we know about the relation between spanning isolation, loneliness and mental health for young people aged 4 – 21 and it does cause for alarm with effects that can sometimes be lagged. This all can mean… Read More A rapid review does warn: Impact of children’s loneliness today could manifest in depression for years to come
There is a new Best Evidence in Brief and I’ve picked a very relevant but depressing study this time… As COVID pushes more schools online, the call for evidence of online learning is at a premium. Virtual charter schools are one recent innovation claiming to utilize technology for more individualized and flexible learning. However, a recent article published… Read More Virtual charter schools’ consistent and persistent negative impacts (Best Evidence in Brief)
Is something is significantly predicted by higher IQ, higher socioeconomic status and greater parental education you don’t get answers, but more questions such as ‘how do those three elements interact?’ We do know that boys aren’t better at math by definition, but also the possible explanations given by the researchers remain an educated guess backed… Read More Correlation vs causation: Parents with degrees give their children significant advantage in maths
Today we saw a new step in loosening the lockdown in Belgium, but kids still aren’t allowed to play. And this hurts. While this new study by Jennifer Fane and colleagues wasn’t conducted during the pandemic, it does show why losing the ability to play is a bad thing. From the press release: Social and… Read More Something I can relate to: Child’s play is ‘lost’ in pandemic fear
