Monthly Archives: October 2022

“No Cameras Allowed:” Does Taking Pictures During Lectures Benefit Learning?

Should students use cameras to take pictures of boardwork? My high school students know my fierce anti-cell-phone policy. Nonetheless, they do occasionally ask if they may take a quick picture. (I typically say yes, and then check to be sure



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It’s Funny (but It’s Not): Our Instincts about Learning are Often Badly Wrong

Every now and then, research is just plain funny. Here’s the story: If you’ve spent even a hot minute at a Learning and the Brain conference, you know that multitasking is not a thing. When we undertake two cognitively demanding



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Behind their Screens What Teens Are Facing (and Adults Are Missing) by Emily Weinstein and Carrie James

So, you think you know what effect social media has on teens? There is one problem: too much screen time. Many of us have very strong opinions like this mostly developed through poor media coverage of the research, but you



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Test Anxiety: How and When Does It Harm Students?

When our students learn, we naturally want them to show us what they’ve learned. Most schools rely, in varying degrees, on tests. The logic seems simple: if students know something, they can demonstrate their knowledge on this quiz, or test, or exam.



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Does Mindfulness Help? A Blockbuster New Study

Few ideas in education sound better than mindfulness. If mindfulness programs work as intended, teachers and schools can help students center their attention and lower their stress. We’ve got suggestive research indicating that, when done properly, such programs can improve



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The Unexpected Problem with Learning Styles Theory

I recently read a much-liked Twitter post that said (I’m paraphrasing here): If you try to debunk Learning Styles Theory and you face unexpected resistance, start looking for the profit motive. Hmmm. To be clear: learning styles theory just doesn’t



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