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Will MOOCs be Flukes?
The New Yorker: On July 23rd, 1969, Geoffrey Crowther addressed the inaugural meeting of the Open University, a British institution that had just been created to provide an alternative to traditional higher education. Courses would be conducted by mail and live radio. The basic mission, Crowther declared, was a simple one: to be open to people from all walks of life. “The first, and most urgent task before us is to cater for the many thousands of people, fully capable of a higher education, who, for one reason or another, do not get it, or do not get as much of it as they can turn to advantage, or as they discover, sometimes too late, that they need,” he told his audience.
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Gifted Men and Women Define Success Differently, 40-Year Study Shows
Researchers spent four decades studying a group of mathematically talented adolescents, finding that by mid-life they were extraordinarily accomplished and enjoyed a high level of life satisfaction.Gender, however, played a significant role in how they pursued — and defined — career, family, and success. This conclusion comes from the most recent round of results from the largest scientific study of the profoundly gifted to date, recently published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth is a longitudinal research project conducted at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development.
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Battling Ageism With Subliminal Messages
The Atlantic: Let’s try something. Take a moment and imagine yourself in old age. Not just a more wrinkled version of your face or more gray in your hair, but the bigger stuff, too: What do you do? How do you feel? There’s no shortage of stereotypes to choose from: Are you in the prime of your life, the golden years, dispensing an endless stream of wisdom? Or are you cantankerous, forgetful, fearful of your own decline? In this imaginary scenario, are you spry or wizened? Are you beloved by your family, or are you their burden? The answers to these hypothetical questions matter in very real ways. Read the whole story: The Atlantic
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Playing High-Action Video Games May Speed Up Learning, Studies Say
Education Week: Contrary to the popular stereotype of a distracted teenager lost in Halo or Call of Duty video games, new evidence suggests playing such high-action video games may help students learn and react faster—but not more impulsively. The new findings run counter to recent studies that have linked extensive video game playing to attention-deficit and impulsiveness disorders, stoking concerns that playing highly stimulating video games reduces students’ ability to pay attention in less-stimulating academic settings.
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More Bad News About Sitting: It May Harm Workers’ Mental Health
For many people, sitting at a desk for hours at a time is just part of the job, even as research continues to reveal links between prolonged sitting and a number of serious health issues ranging from a heightened risk of Type 2 diabetes to increased rates of obesity and heart disease, and even premature death. But a recent study on the psychological impacts of sitting all day at work may get managers to stand up and take notice. New research demonstrates that sitting for longer than 6 hours a day at work not only carries a physical toll, but may also increase risks of mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression.
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Too Many Kids Quit Science Because They Don’t Think They’re Smart
The Atlantic: For most students, science, math, engineering, and technology (STEM) subjects are not intuitive or easy. Learning in general—and STEM in particular—requires repeated trial and error, and a student’s lack of confidence can sometimes stand in her own way. And although teachers and parents may think they are doing otherwise, these adults inadvertently help kids make up their minds early on that they're not natural scientists or “math people,” which leads them to pursue other subjects instead. So what's the best way to help kids feel confident enough to stay the STEM course?
