STEM Education News

January 16, 2016

Textbooks: Climate Deniers Featured in CA Science

Math Skills Count for Premature Babies

Lack of Education as Deadly as Smoking

Public, Scientists: Strikingly Different Views

Latest Headlines

updated 9:30pm EST

Girls Should Expect Poorer Physics Grades, New Report Suggests

Jan. 11, 2016 — Secondary school physics teachers with little teaching experience handed out significantly poorer grades to girls than boys for the exact same performance. This was the conclusion drawn by a learning ... read more

Income-Based School Assignment Policy Influences Diversity, Achievement

Nov. 30, 2015 — When public schools in Wake County, North Carolina switched from a school assignment policy based on race to one based on socioeconomic status, schools became slightly more segregated but the ... read more

Urgent Attention Needed to Improve Education for Syrian Refugee Children, Report Finds

Nov. 23, 2015 — There is an urgent need to improve both short-term and long-term approaches to education for the large number of Syrian refugee children in Turkey, ... read more

Youth Violence Undermines Social and Economic Development in Poorest Corners of the World

Nov. 19, 2015 — Youth violence undermines social and economic development, especially in the poorest corners of the world, according to new ... read more

Pinpointing Poverty With Cellphone Data

Nov. 10, 2015 — Researchers believe that call data records from millions of people, when fused with census and household survey data, can be used to drill down to at least 123 ... read more

Empathetic Teachers Enhance Children's Motivation for Learning

Nov. 3, 2015 — Empathetic teachers enhance children's motivation and academic skills, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. A positive atmosphere created by the teacher also safeguards and increases ... read more

Good Grades in Classes With Immigrants, Norwegian Study Shows

Oct. 27, 2015 — Parents in areas with many immigrants have little reason to fear that a high proportion of immigrant pupils in schools in itself hampers student performance, according to new Norwegian ... read more

Scholars Challenge Colleges to Reform STEM Learning

Oct. 15, 2015 — America's colleges and universities need to transform not only how but what they teach in introductory science courses, a group of scholars ... read more

Sobering Picture of Urban Education in the US

Oct. 7, 2015 — A new report finds widespread inequities and poor performance at public schools in 50 ... read more

Study Examines Antibullying Policies, Bullying in 25 States

Oct. 5, 2015 — Students who lived in states with an antibullying law that includes at least one US Department of Education-recommended legislative component had lower odds of reporting bullying and cyberbullying ... read more

US Leaders To Meet With Tech CEOs To Discuss Fighting Online Terrorism

No Big Deal Or Anything, But Disney's Robot Can Climb Walls

Best 'tech for Good' Projects Revealed in London

When Hologram Performers Get A National Tour

New Lab to Give Nation's Researchers Remote Access to Robots

Jan. 14, 2016 — A new lab will allow roboticists from around the country to conduct experiments remotely, American scientists report. Researchers from universities, as well as middle and high school students, will ... read more

Teaching Social Justice to Privileged Students Necessary for Change

Jan. 13, 2016 — Social justice educational initiatives often focus on giving a voice to students of color and low-income students, but one expert says such efforts alone may not be enough to bring about real ... read more

How Black Men Can Succeed in IT Careers

Jan. 12, 2016 — Expanding the range of black men's career options in an increasingly technology-oriented world will help alleviate high unemployment and poverty they often experience, according to a study ... read more

New Study Tests Three-Step Intervention to Increase Faculty Gender Diversity in STEM

Dec. 21, 2015 — Workforce homogeneity limits creativity, discovery, and job satisfaction; nonetheless, eighty-one percent of US science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) university faculty members are men. ... read more

Universities' Messages About Socioeconomic Diversity Can Affect Academic Confidence

Dec. 14, 2015 — When students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds perceive their universities to be 'chilly' towards students from their backgrounds, their academic confidence and sense of ... read more

Low Wages Not Education to Blame for STEM Skills Gap

Dec. 9, 2015 — Low wages rather than inadequate training are to blame for the STEM skills gap, according to ... read more

Number of High-Skilled Mexican Entrepreneurs Migrating to US Has Increased

Nov. 19, 2015 — The number of high-skilled Mexican entrepreneurs migrating to the United States has increased in recent years, but the trend is not solely in response to organized crime activity in Mexico, according ... read more

School Choice Programs Lead to Private School Revenue Gains

Nov. 9, 2015 — As private school vouchers gain popularity and the financial implications become more complicated, one question remains: Where does the money spent by these programs ultimately go? Researchers found ... read more

End 'Stem Cell Tourism,' Experts Urge

Nov. 9, 2015 — The continued marketing and use of experimental stem cell-based interventions inside and outside the United States is problematic and unsustainable, according to a new paper by science policy and ... read more

Assessing Ecosystem Services: Increasing the Impact on Decision Making

Nov. 5, 2015 — Assessments of ecosystem services, aiming at informing decisions on land management, are increasing in number around the globe, but only in a few cases recommendations are then applied by ... read more

State School Pupils Do Better at University, Research Confirms

Nov. 5, 2015 — State school pupils are likely to do better at university than independent school pupils with similar A Level results, new research confirms. Researchers were investigating how effective the A* grade ... read more

For-Profit and Community College Graduates Earn Same Hiring Interest from Employers

Nov. 2, 2015 — Hiring managers show no preference for hiring people with for-profit college credentials compared to those holding comparable credentials from public community colleges, new research ... read more

Do We Need a National Movement on the Microbiome?

Nov. 2, 2015 — The American Gastroenterological Association applauds the call for a formal approach to understanding microbial communities critical to all ecosystems, particularly the human ... read more

Language Literacy in Kindergarten Important for Success in Learning English

Oct. 22, 2015 — English learners are more likely to become proficient English speakers if they enter kindergarten with a strong initial grasp of academic language literacy, either in their primary language or in ... read more

Teenagers and Mutant Tomatoes

Oct. 21, 2015 — Biology professors and students use tomatoes from campus garden to teach high schools students about genetic diversity. Students learn about dominant and recessive genes and the genetic influence on ... read more

Immigrants Play Increasing Role in U.S. Science, Engineering Workforce

Oct. 5, 2015 — From 2003 to 2013, the number of scientists and engineers residing in the US rose from 21.6 million to 29 million. An important factor in that increase: over the same time period, the number of ... read more

Five Recommendations for Standardized Test Designers

Oct. 1, 2015 — Can standardized tests, such as those created in response to the Common Core, enhance education instead of just assessing it? For standardized testing to benefit students, researchers recommend that ... read more

New System Helps Teachers Gain Back Valuable Instruction Time

Oct. 1, 2015 — Elementary schoolchildren often dawdle between activities during the school day, losing valuable instructional time in the process. New research has found a way to reclaim these lost minutes and make ... read more

Math and Me: Children Who Identify With Math Get Higher Scores

Sep. 30, 2015 — How strongly children identify with math (their math 'self-concept') can be used to predict how high they will score on a standardized test of math achievement, according to a new ... read more

More Obesity Among the Less Educated in Rich Countries

Sep. 30, 2015 — In rich countries, obesity is more common among the lower educated, whilst in poor countries, obesity is more common among the higher educated, confirms new research. Previous studies have shown that ... read more

Thursday, January 14, 2016