Education Conferences

The Better Choice: Open- or Closed-Book Quizzes

Andrew Watson
by: Andrew Watson
Posted on: March 25, 2019

As predicted by research into “retrieval practice,” closed-book quizzes do in fact help students learn better than open-book quizzes do. Once again, the right kind of difficulties can be desirable in school. Continue reading →

The Limitations of Neuroscience in Guiding Teachers

Andrew Watson
by: Andrew Watson
Posted on: March 22, 2019

Neuroscience offers fascinating insights into brains; psychology provides specific teaching suggestions. However much we enjoy and learn from the former, we should keep our eye on the latter. (Helpful links provided.) Continue reading →

The Best (Counter-intuitive) Sleep Advice You’ll Get This Year

Andrew Watson
by: Andrew Watson
Posted on: March 20, 2019

How to fall asleep faster? According to this research, take 5 minutes a write a to-do list for the upcoming days. This technique offloads stress, and promotes faster sleep onset. Continue reading →

Studying Wrong Answers Helps Learn the Right Ones

Andrew Watson
by: Andrew Watson
Posted on: March 18, 2019

With teaching as with baking, sometimes you should follow steps in a very particular order. If you don’t do this, and then that, and then the other, you don’t get the best results. Two researchers in Germany wanted to know if, and when,

How Can We Encourage Girls to Pursue STEM Disciplines?

Andrew Watson
by: Andrew Watson
Posted on: March 16, 2019

When we see alarming statistics about gender disparities in STEM disciplines, we quite naturally wonder how to fix this imbalance. (This hope – by the way – isn’t simply a do-goody desire to sing “It’s a Small World After All.”

PEERS® for Young Adults: Social Skills Training for Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Other Social Challenges by Elizabeth Laugeson

Rebecca Gotlieb
by: Rebecca Gotlieb
Posted on: March 14, 2019

Young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) typically want social relationships but have trouble building them. Extensive social skills training research has been conducted with young children with ASD, but research about social skills training for young adults with ASD is scant.

Can We Boost Our Students’ Self-Control?

Andrew Watson
by: Andrew Watson
Posted on: March 12, 2019

You have, no doubt, heard about this research before. Walter Mischel tested preschoolers on self-control. In the famous “marshmallow test,” they got either one marshmallow right now, or two if they waited for fifteen minutes. (I have to include an

A Handy Summary of Memory Definitions, for Teachers and Students

Andrew Watson
by: Andrew Watson
Posted on: March 9, 2019

Here‘s a quick summary of information about memory: sensory memory, working memory, long-term memory, and (crucially!) forgetting. Author Steven Turner presents this brisk overview to combat “buzzword wasteland.” He fears the education-world habit of coming up with fancy new terms

Does Music Promote Students’ Creativity?

Andrew Watson
by: Andrew Watson
Posted on: March 7, 2019

Music played during a creative task distracts students…but, music played before the task might increase creativity. Continue reading →

research-based advice for students

Taking Notes with Graphic Organizers

Andrew Watson
by: Andrew Watson
Posted on: March 4, 2019

Researchers office us concrete advice on the best form for handwritten notes: outlines vs. graphic organizers; incomplete vs. complete. Continue reading →