Education: Research Guide

Conventional wisdom suggests that searching online to evaluate the veracity of misinformation would reduce belief in it. But a new study by a team of researchers shows the opposite occurs: Searching to evaluate the truthfulness of false news articles actually increases the probability of believing misinformation.

In a recent study, researchers systematically tested an early version of ChatGPT's understanding of statements in six categories: facts, conspiracies, controversies, misconceptions, stereotypes, and fiction.

Living through a historic pandemic while handling the stress of the first year of college sent one-third of students in a new study into clinical depression. That's double the percentage seen in previous years of the same study.And while certain genetic factors appeared to shield first-year students in pre-pandemic years from depression, even students with these protective factors found themselves developing symptoms in the pandemic years.

Researchers have developed a weeklong high school curriculum that helps students quickly grasp concepts in both color chemistry and artificial intelligence -- while sparking their curiosity about science and the world around them.

The sound a disc makes while soaring through the air is full of information about how fast the disc is flying and how quickly it spins. This inspired Kyle S. Dalton of Penn State University to combine disc golf and acoustics into an interactive acoustic signal processing lesson. He set three microphones in a line and connected them to equipment that converts each microphone's signal to a data point. Then he threw a disc with a small whistle mounted on top and recorded the flying disc's acoustical signal. The resulting dataset can be used to learn basic processing tools and practice data visualization.

Researchers have introduced an innovative methodology for reconstructing data on fertility and education, particularly in developing countries with inconsistent or unreliable data sets.

A new study shows that dopamine release in the human brain plays a crucial role in encoding both reward and punishment prediction errors. This means that dopamine is involved in the process of learning from both positive and negative experiences, allowing the brain to adjust and adapt its behavior based on the outcomes of these experiences.

Phonetic information -- the smallest sound elements of speech -- may not be the basis of language learning in babies as previously thought. Babies don't begin to process phonetic information reliably until seven months old -- which researchers say is too late to form the foundation of language. Instead, babies learn from rhythmic information -- the changing emphasis of syllables in speech -- which unlike phonetic information, can be heard in the womb.

Children must be taught more about the importance of plants if education about climate change and sustainability is to be effective, experts have warned.

Communities can prosper by providing attentive education and social services to their youngest residents -- but the challenge is for leaders to work together, according to scientists.

Melting of glaciers, rising sea levels, extreme heat waves: the consequences of climate change are more visible than ever, and the scientific community has confirmed that humans are responsible. Yet studies show that a third of the population still doubts or disputes these facts. The cause is disinformation spread by certain vested interests. To try and prevent this phenomenon, a team has developed and tested six psychological interventions on nearly 7,000 participants from twelve countries. The research highlights the extremely persuasive nature of disinformation and the need to strengthen our efforts to combat it.

Civil and environmental engineers have determined the factors that may help identify the schools and daycare centers at greatest risk for elevated levels of lead in drinking water. The most telling characteristicfor schools in Massachusetts is building age, with facilities built in the 1960s and 1970s -- nearly a third of the facilities tested -- at the greatest risk for having dangerously high water lead levels.

Debunking, 'prebunking,' nudging and teaching digital literacy are several of the more effective ways to counter misinformation, according to a new report.

Our ability to pay attention to tasks—a key component of our everyday lives—is heavily influenced by factors like motivation, arousal and alertness. Maintaining focus can be especially challenging when the task is boring or repetitive.

The researchers studied decisions that more than 150 children ages 10 to 13 made while playing games that offered opportunities to risk a little and explore for potential gains.

New research has shown that extra practice in blending printed letter sounds can help struggling beginner readers (age 4-5) learn to read.

Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT) has propelled AI into the mainstream, raising concerns about job displacement and creative work. Experts nowemphasize a need to focus on 'co-creativity,' the human-AI interaction instead. Extensive research is needed for comprehending co-creativity which is crucial for the future development of AI.

Time spent watching television or playing computer games has measurable and long-term effects on children's brain function, according to a review of 23 years of neuroimaging research, which while showing negative impacts also demonstrates some positive effects.

For the first time, teachers in a nationwide study have told researchers what strategies they think work best to deal with student violence against educators.Teachers rated suspending or expelling students as the least effective way of addressing violence, despite the popularity of 'zero tolerance' policies in many school districts.

Cooking and recipe demonstrations encourage healthy eating and adoption of unfamiliar foods by class participants.

Using EEG and ECG data, researchers were able to demonstrate that video conferences and online education formats lead to greater fatigue than face-to-face alternatives.

People in many parts of the United States possess few chances for the robust community engagement that underpins healthy democracies, according to a new report that for the first time maps civic opportunity across the country. The heat map reveals patterns of inequality in civic opportunity tied to race, class, immigration status and education.

Physical fitness since childhood is associated with cerebellar grey matter volume in adolescents. Those who were stronger, faster and more agile, in other words, had better neuromuscular fitness since childhood, had larger Crus I grey matter volume in adolescence.

A team of researchers has found that slightly higher, but mild anxious or depressive symptoms in fathers were associated with fewer behavioral difficulties in the first years of elementary school and better scores on a standardized IQ test in their children.

Cognitive skills underlying the ability to plan, switch from task to task and resist tempting distractions usually matures by the time an individual turns 18 years old, a new study says.

Researchers in the field of human-technology interaction have demonstrated how a custom-built 'data-to-music' algorithms can help to better understand complex data. The transformation of digital data into sounds could be a game-changer in the growing world of data interpretation.

High engagement, high return. That's the advice from education experts for teachers looking to improve student outcomes. Researchers found that less than a third of teachers are engaging students in complex learning, limiting student opportunities for building critical thinking and problem solving.

Youngest children in their class with ADHD are just as likely to keep the diagnosis when enter adulthood as older pupils in their year group. In the past, scientists have questioned the validity of ADHD in younger pupils, arguing they are only diagnosed because they are less mature than their peers. But this study shows that thesechildren are no more likely to lose ADHD diagnosis over time than those born towards the start of the school year.

Adult listening abilities are critical to the ability to understand children's early linguistic efforts, according to new research.

A holistic transformation is needed for the planet to accommodate people's pursuit of well-being. A new study explores a Theory of Planetary Social Pedagogy as a driver of a transformative process based on a learning society.