learning
learning news stories
Glossies
Toughness and learning the 'secret to life'
Esquire Dec 16, 08 2:09 PM CST
(Newser) -
"We live in more of a pussy generation now," Clint Eastwood tells Esquire upon the release of his new film Gran Torino . "Everybody's become used to saying, 'Well, how do we handle it psychologically?' " Eastwood, who grew up having to duke it out with bullies, looks back to a more stoic time: "My father had a couple of kids at the beginning of the Depression. There was not much employment. Not much welfare. People barely got by. People were tougher then."
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Schools give students iPhones, iPods as learning tools
New York Times Aug 21, 08 1:10 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Some US universities have started handing out free iPhones and Internet-enabled iPods to students, the New York Times reports. The institutions view the gadgets as tools for online research, student polling, and as-yet undeveloped educational applications, while Apple gets an in with a new generation with consumers. Professors with easily distracted students stand to lose out, however.
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8 hours of shut-eye helps brain function the next day, study suggests
BBC Jul 14, 08 5:00 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Nothing improves memory like a little shut-eye, a new study suggests. Researchers taught new information and skills to two groups of patients, and allowed one to sleep normally while giving the other none or only a nap. The sleepers tested better the next day–and scans revealed enhanced brain activity to match that performance.
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Kids trained to flex 'executive function' muscles learn better
Newsweek Jun 5, 08 3:43 PM CDT
(Newser) -
EF is the new IQ, and if educators accept that new acronym mantra, more preschoolers will be playing games, Newsweek reports. Executive function—the ability to repress distracting thoughts and focus on a task—could be a better indicator of scholarly success than intelligence alone; psychologist Adele Diamond implemented an EF approach in New England preschools, and the results were striking.
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Stop! Story problems wrong way to teach math, study says
Reuters Apr 25, 08 12:54 PM CDT
(Newser) -
All those sacks of different-colored marbles and word problems about pizza slices may not actually teach kids effectively, Reuters reports. Though meant to offer a real-world grounding, story problems just add extra distractions, a new study says, suggesting that students might be better off learning abstract concepts than figuring out which speeding train will reach the station first.
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Study pits toddlers against primates to see how human brains are different
Time Sep 7, 07 12:05 PM CDT
(Newser) -
What makes humans smarter than their primate relatives? Into the ongoing debate comes a new study that concludes it's not just size, it's the particular kind of computing power. A study matching human toddlers with chimps and orangutans compared their performance on a battery of different kinds of tasks. The children were no better at "physical learning" —i.e. finding hidden objects—but miles ahead in "social learning."
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Learning languages is labor-intensive. Here's how to get you up to speed.
Portfolio Aug 26, 07 5:08 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Get ready for your business trip or vacation with these programs recommended by Porfolio . Pimsleur Approach: 10-day courses offered in 40 languages. Rosetta Stone: Promises competence in 2 weeks in 30 languages. Teach Yourself: CDs and books offer 200 languages at varying speeds.
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Kids stockpile simple words in buildup to vocab explosion
Scientific American Aug 3, 07 4:57 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Toddlers learn to speak by simply using small, familiar words to acquire harder ones, new research says, throwing a curveball at scientists who assumed a more complex cognitive system. Youngsters can rapidly go from spouting babble to intelligible chatter as long as their words have varying levels of difficulty, Scientific American reports.
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Study finds preschoolers in day care
New York Times Mar 26, 07 10:55 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Day care centers enlarge kids' vocabularies--and teach them how to act up, too, says a study that’s followed 1,300 children from birth through 6th grade. Although parental guidance and genes were the strongest predictor of behavior, who attended day care as preschoolers were slightly more likely to be disruptive in school—and the more time spent in day care, the more disruptive.
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