Tag: Numeracy

Female leadership affects wage-gap and firm performance

A new paper in The Economic Journal, published by Oxford University Press, finds that female executives decrease the wage-gap for women at the top of a firm while widening it at the bottom. This study also finds that the lack of women at the executive level has a negative impact on firm performance, especially in

Migration can promote or inhibit cooperation between individuals: Mathematical model sheds new light on conflict between group interests and individual interests

A new mathematical analysis suggests that migration can generate patterns in the spatial distribution of individuals that promote cooperation and allow populations to thrive, in spite of the threat of exploitation. Felix Funk and Christoph Hauert of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, present these findings in PLOS Computational Biology. Cooperation between individuals is necessary

Helping anxious students excel on science exams: A 10-minute mental exercise helps improve lower-income students’ STEM exam scores

A new study reveals that helping lower-income high school freshman to regulate their test-taking anxiety can cut their biology course failure rates in half. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and conducted by Barnard College President Sian Leah Beilock and her research team found that brief pre-exam de-stressing strategies could

‘Football vision’ as important as ball skills, experts reveal: Young footballers would benefit from more time learning to read the field — and less on ball skills

Young footballers would become better players if coaches spent more time training them to scan the field and less on focusing on the ball. New research by sports experts at the universities of Chichester, Portsmouth, and Limerick suggests reading the game should be taught to players from a young age, in tandem with ball skills,

Does it matter where students sit in lecture halls?

Lectures are a staple of higher education, and understanding how students interact and learn within the lecture theatre environment is central to successful learning. In a new study published in FEBS Open Bio, researchers examined students’ reasons for choosing particular seats in a lecture hall, and investigated how seating positions correlate with student performance. Many

We may have less control over our thoughts than previously assumed

Think you’re totally in control of your thoughts? Maybe not as much as you think, according to a new San Francisco State University study that examines how thoughts that lead to actions enter our consciousness. While we can “decide” to think about certain things, other information — including activities we have learned like counting —

connections between early childhood program and teenage outcomes

A new study published in PLOS ONE by researchers from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development examined the long-term impacts of an early childhood program called the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP) and found evidence suggesting that the program positively affected children’s executive function and academic achievement during adolescence. The

One year of school comes with an IQ bump, meta-analysis shows

A year of schooling leaves students with new knowledge, and it also equates with a small but noticeable increase to students’ IQ, according to a systematic meta-analysis published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “Our analyses provide the strongest evidence yet that education raises intelligence test scores,” says psychological scientist

Multilingual students have improved in academic achievement since 2003

Multilingual students, who speak a language or more than one language other than English at home, have improved in reading and math achievement substantially since 2003, finds a new study published in Educational Researcher by Michael J. Kieffer, associate professor of literacy education at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.

Mu­sic play­school en­hances chil­dren’s lin­guistic skills

Several studies have suggested that intensive musical training enhances children’s linguistic skills. Such training, however, is not available to all children. Researchers at Cognitive Brain Research Unit in the University of Helsinki studied in a community setting whether a low-cost, weekly music playschool provided to 5-6-year-old children in kindergartens affects their linguistic abilities. The children

Education linked to higher risk of short-sightedness: Findings have important implications for educational practices

Spending more years in full time education is associated with a greater risk of developing short-sightedness (myopia), finds a study published by The BMJ today. The researchers say their study provides “strong evidence” that more time spent in education is a risk factor for myopia, and that the findings “have important implications for educational practices.”

Down side of being dubbed ‘class clown’

Class clowns’ off-task antics amuse and delight their classmates during first and second grades, making them the most sought-after playmates on the playground in early elementary school. But by the time these mischievous boys are promoted to third grade, they plummet to the bottom of the social circle as classmates’ disapproval of their behavior grows,