learning

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Schools Screen for Dyslexia. 'Dyscalculia,' Not So Much

Hundreds of thousands of students have learning disabilities that make math harder

(Newser) - Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of students face challenges learning math due to disabilities like dyscalculia, a neurodevelopmental learning disorder caused by differences in parts of the brain that are involved with numbers and calculations. There are often obstacles to getting help, and America's schools have long struggled to identify...

Even Insects Have Culture
Even Insects Have Culture
NEW STUDY
Mar 9, 2023 1:54 PM CST

Even Insects Have Culture

Social learning among bumblebees suggests animal culture might be 'widespread'

(Newser) - A new study is helping transform the idea that culture is reserved for humans, primates, and birds, offering evidence of "culture-like phenomena" including social learning in bumblebees. Researchers at London's Queen Mary University trained bumblebees to open a puzzle box holding a sugar solution, either by pushing a...

'Nation's Report Card' Offers 'Sobering' Pandemic Update

Kids' math, reading scores took an unprecedented hit over the past 2 years

(Newser) - It's undisputed that kids had a rough time of it during the pandemic. Now, results from national tests show just how rough, at least in terms of how their academic skills have suffered. The "nation's report card"—ie, the National Assessment of Educational Progress—was released...

Florida County Has Banned the Bane of Kids' Existence

The superintendent wants nightly reading instead of homework

(Newser) - The superintendent of Marion County schools in Florida has just issued a "no homework" mandate for the district's 31 elementary schools starting this fall, reports WESH 2 . Superintendent Heidi Maier cites research that nightly homework assignments haven't been shown to directly impact a child's academic advancement,...

High School Seniors' High Grades May Be Deceiving

Grades are rising, on average, but SAT scores are falling—so are students learning?

(Newser) - If you've got a straight-A student living under your roof, you may want to give your teen a pop quiz once in a while. A new study reveals that even though a larger percentage of high school seniors than their 1998 counterparts are heading off to college with an...

More Studying, Less Playing Is Good for Preschoolers
More Studying, Less Playing
Is Good for Preschoolers
NEW STUDY
May 31, 2017 11:00 AM CDT

More Studying, Less Playing Is Good for Preschoolers

Study finds 'academic-oriented' pre-kindergarten programs help kids

(Newser) - If you think preschool is all about playing with dolls and blocks, think again. There's a growing trend toward more rigorous, scholarly preschools—and a new study supports the idea, finding that children who attended a year at an "academic-oriented" preschool were performing better academically by the end...

Boy Becomes Meme, Helps Spark Village Fundraiser

Jake's story is finally being told

(Newser) - It was a photo shared 'round the world: a little boy, said to be from South Africa, drawing with utter concentration. People sharing it joked he was, for example, a grouchy driving instructor or perhaps a stern security guard . The story behind the image was unclear—until now, reports...

Best Way to Learn May Be to Study, Sleep on It, Review

Sleep can help us relearn things twice as quickly and three times as effectively

(Newser) - It's well established through previous research that sleep after learning is best for many memory-related tasks, including word lists, mazes, auditory tones, and so on. Sleep seems so vital to recall that some speculate it is directly responsible for, not just supportive of, learning, reports Scientific American . So researchers...

Cinnamon Might Make Us Better Learners
 Cinnamon Might 
 Make Us Better 
 Learners 
NEW STUDY
Jul 13, 2016 11:41 AM CDT

Cinnamon Might Make Us Better Learners

Mice who ate cinnamon showed improved memory, learning

(Newser) - Scientists say they've discovered "one of the safest and the easiest approaches to convert poor learners to good learners." And all you have to do is eat cinnamon. Researchers at Rush University Medical Center say that feeding cinnamon to mice with a poor learning ability turned them...

Why Parents Should Surprise Their Infants

Study: When the unexpected happens, it could promote learning

(Newser) - When something surprising happens, it provides a special learning experience for babies, a study suggests. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University set up a series of experiments in which babies were exposed to objects whose behavior did and did not "violate expectations," per the study, published in Science . In...

We Understand Probability as Toddlers
 We Understand 
 Probability as 
 Toddlers 
study says
Aug 31, 2014 10:27 AM CDT

We Understand Probability as Toddlers

Experiment shows their quick learning skills

(Newser) - Don't understand probability? Try asking a 2-year-old. A study suggests they have an instinctive understanding of the ideas involved, and that a little observation goes a long way. Researchers at the University of Washington showed 32 toddlers a machine featuring a pair of blocks and a platform, Quartz reports....

'Thinking Cap' Speeds Up Learning
 'Thinking Cap' 
 Speeds Up Learning 
study says
Mar 30, 2014 11:02 AM CDT

'Thinking Cap' Speeds Up Learning

Users less prone to errors in gaming task

(Newser) - A real-life "thinking cap" is finally here , and it's made by strapping sponges to your head. Scientists at Vanderbilt University have developed headgear that sends a subtle electric current through subjects' brains. It doesn't feel like much—just a little tingling at first—but the current appears...

Ohio State University Study Links Air Pollution to Brain Damage
 Air Pollution Tied 
 to Brain Damage 
study says
Jul 5, 2011 3:03 PM CDT

Air Pollution Tied to Brain Damage

May cause learning and memory troubles, depression: Study

(Newser) - Air pollution isn’t just a threat to the heart and lungs: It can also affect learning, memory, and mood, researchers find. They exposed mice to extended periods of polluted or filtered air, and found that those exposed to pollution were slower to learn, quick to forget, and possibly more...

How Naps Can Help You Learn
 How Naps Can Help You Learn 
Mar 13, 2011 9:20 AM CDT

How Naps Can Help You Learn

New study shows a post-snooze memory boost

(Newser) - If you’re a fan of the afternoon nap, there’s no need to be ashamed—in fact, new research gives you the perfect excuse to stop reading this right now and go grab some midday shuteye. In the study, volunteers who napped for 100 minutes prior to completing a...

Brain Learns New Words in 15 Minutes

... if it hears them over and over and over

(Newser) - It takes the brain just 15 minutes to learn a new word, new research suggests. The trick is hearing it, oh, say 160 times in 15 minutes, the Telegraph reports. If that happens, the brain creates a neural network that is "virtually indistinguishable" from those surrounding familiar words, Cambridge...

Let's Scrap Final Exams

 Let's Scrap 
 Final Exams 
opinion
Aug 28, 2010 4:52 PM CDT

Let's Scrap Final Exams

Harvard is right: They don't help students learn

(Newser) - Harvard made exactly the right move when it declared it would no longer require final exams, writes Jonathan Zimmerman. Critics immediately pounced, calling it yet another example of coddled students and weakened standards. (One example here .) Nope, writes NYU history professor Zimmerman in the Christian Science Monitor . That's an...

For True Knowledge, Close the Laptop and Grab a Book
For True Knowledge, Close the Laptop and Grab a Book
David Brooks
Jul 9, 2010 11:38 AM CDT

For True Knowledge, Close the Laptop and Grab a Book

For now, old-fashioned tomes beat the Internet for learning

(Newser) - David Brooks rounds up the latest studies on books vs. the Internet as a learning tool and comes down squarely on the side of paper and ink. The web may be better at imparting facts, but books are better at imparting knowledge to interpret those facts. The Internet produces "...

Newborns Learn in Their Sleep

Dozing babes better 'data sponges' than adults

(Newser) - Babies start absorbing information about the world around them as soon as they're out of the womb and they do so even in their sleep, according to new research. Scientists played a tune to 26 sleeping newborns and followed it up with a puff of air to the eyelids. Most...

'Puberty Pill' Could Make Kids Smarter

Drug would act on brain, blocking receptor that slows learning

(Newser) - Studying, schmudying: A pill that boosts teenagers’ ability to learn may be in the pipeline soon. A receptor in the hippocampus area of the brain appears to slow down learning when kids hit puberty, researchers at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn report. Give kids a steroid to suppress that receptor, and...

Cash-Strapped School Districts Go to 4-Day Week

Parents, workers miffed, but effect on student learning is unclear

(Newser) - As school districts across the nation find themselves battling massive budget shortfalls, some are turning to the relatively rare but controversial practice of shortening the school week. Four-day weeks usually don’t affect teacher pay or the amount of classroom time for students, as the days are simply lengthened. But...

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