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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Theresa Cheng
Theresa Cheng is a doctoral student in the Developmental Social Neuroscience Lab at the University of Oregon and earned her Master’s degree in Mind, Brain, & Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is interested in how the environment (including stress, adversity, culture, and context) relates to developing aspects of social/affective behavior and the brain. Previously a middle and high school science teacher, she loves engaging kids, families, and educators in understanding and connecting with science.
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ADHD adolescence attention bilingual education boundary conditions classroom advice conference speakers constructivism/direct instruction creativity critical thinking desirable difficulty development elementary school embodied cognition emotion evolution executive function exercise experts and novices gender high school homework intelligence long-term memory math metacognition methodology middle school mindfulness Mindset motivation neuromyths neuroscience online learning parents psychology reading retrieval practice self-control skepticism sleep STEM stress technology working memoryRecent Comments
- Andrew Watson on The Hidden Lives of Learners
- Andrew Watson on Test Anxiety: How and When Does It Harm Students?
- Elizabeth Lutsky on Test Anxiety: How and When Does It Harm Students?
- Jack D Cerva on Warning: Misguided Neuroscience Ahead
- Jennifer Kresge on The Hidden Lives of Learners
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Blog Roll
Can growth mindset really grow your brain?
The Olympics have just come to an end. Though this year’s games have been mired in controversy, it’s hard to deny the awe that Olympians can inspire. But behind each astonishing feat of athleticism is a lifetime of training and

Why Your Brain Has Better Things to Do than “Grow”
Intuitively, the idea of “growing” sounds great. It’s become synonymous with making something bigger, better, or more mature. We’re inundated with messages to grow our wealth, grow our networks, grow our following;it was just a matter of time before people
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3 Strategies for Giving Yourself a Smarter Pep Talk
“I am a lean, mean, mathing machine.” In college, I’d repeat this phrase to myself, muttering under my breath before every calculus exam. This mantra reminded me that I was tough, prepared, and capable of setting aside my nerves. People
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What One Massive UK Study Says About How to Design a Great Classroom
To commemorate World Teacher’s Day last year, Reuters’ photographers shared images of students around the world in different classrooms—including those without electricity, books, chairs, or walls. These photos serve as a reminder of extreme global inequality in the distribution of
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Messy Science: How to Prepare Students for the Real World of Evidence
Last year, a paper in Science led to a public spotlight on the scientific process. It pointed to a problem that’s being called the replication crisis (or reproducibility crisis) that has led many to wonder: Is science broken? Here’s what
5 Ways to Use Rewards in the Classroom
My first year of teaching, I was all about bribery; I had no problem stocking an endless supply of bulk mixed candy bags, so long as I thought it could help my students learn. Though the Starburst and Twix caught
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Same Word, Different Meanings: Common Miscommunications between Neuroscience and Society
Academics have a reputation for using overly technical language. Just as any career comes with its own terminology, scientific fields often use highly precise and specialized vocabulary that is not easily comprehensible to anyone else. Unfortunately, in science this poses
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Giving Back: Can pro-social behavior be self-protective?
Humans are social beings, and we need others: Celebrating the good and coping with the bad is hard without friends and family. A loss of interest in social activities can be a sign of depression and mental illness. And social
Family Matters: Do Obligations Encourage Teens to Play it Safe?
The teenage years have long been described as a period of “storm and stress.” It’s a time for parental clashes, moodiness, risky behaviors, and a lot of cringe-worthy confessional songwriting. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Teen angst