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Game design: Craft a world of your own

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Game design: Craft a world of your own

Video games have been around for decades – from arcade games, to Atari 2600, to the 2D classics on CD-ROM. Fast forward to 2019, and the gaming industry has come an impressively long way. With technological advances into highly-detailed 3D, people of all walks of life are becoming self-professed ‘gamers’.

It only takes a quick browse on Youtube to get a sense of how prolific gaming has become – some of the highest paid YouTubers make their money (sometimes in the millions) creating game demonstration videos, to help players learn new skills, and feel included in a community of people who share a mutual passion.

So if you’ve got the drive to succeed as a designer of games and animation, what better time than now to get into the industry?

A multidimensional role

As the gaming sector continues to grow globally, graduates whose skills include visual arts, film, technology, gaming and animation are in high demand across a multitude of industries – such as architecture, building, real estate, medicine, mining, aviation, and defence sectors. “In America alone, Unity Developer is now the 7th most listed job on LinkedIn,” says Jack Gillespie, Director of Digital Reality and Emerging Technology at Deloitte Australia.

Corporates have cottoned on to the benefits of using augmented or virtual reality to help stakeholders understand what it is they’re doing and why. “Not only does game design make complex information easy to understand and fun, it allows corporates to use the same tools to build, visualise and market their products and services,” says Jack. This means you are able to combine your skills in project management, technical expertise and creative storytelling, all in one dream role.

The power of visual storytelling

One of the hardest parts of the job is helping businesses understand how new ideas and technology can solve problems. “People aren’t convinced by data and numbers, people are convinced by stories,” says Jack. “So being able to craft an experience or explain the narrative purpose of what you’re doing does add a lot of value.”

Content being created is no longer just for gamers either. From art installations, to brand activations, to mobile apps – everyone needs to be able to participate. “It’s critical that content is designed with the same sort of accessibility standards as websites or any other mass communication tool,” says Jack. “This means graduates need to understand the different standards and needs of their end user.”

A game and animation degree that teaches both theory, and the fundamentals of narrative construction, is the perfect way to step into the industry, well-equipped. “We prefer to hire people with Unity 3D experience,” says Jack.

The future of gaming

As gaming and animation become just another way to communicate with stakeholders, much like social media has, game design teams will play a central role in corporate communications. “I work with consulting services including strategy and operations, user experience and user design specialists, web developers, and marketing teams on a daily basis,” says Jack. So soft skills in leadership, cross-cultural communication and self-confidence is a must.

It’s also worth noting that the game industry in The Asia-Pacific region is about to explode and they are looking for talent from Australia. “If you want to improve your chances of being employed globally, understanding cultural differences is important,” says Jack. “And being able to work with region-based organisations would be a bonus for any graduate.”

Are you ready to take the controls?

Here are some questions you may want to ask yourself before you make a decision:

  • Do you enjoy the act of creation? Or do you prefer consuming, analysing and critiquing? Building games are different to playing them.
  • Do you get a kick out of creating your own games and solving real-world problems in your work?
  • Do you love working with people of different backgrounds, cultures and nationalities?
  • Are you passionate about using both your technical and professional skill sets in your dream career?

 

If your dream is to work in an exciting fast-evolving industry, perhaps as an animator, 3D artist, motion graphics designer, visual effects artist or educator, then studying a Bachelor of Arts (Animation and Game Design) provided by Curtin University, online through Open Universities Australia (OUA), will give you the skills, knowledge and global industry connections you need to get you on track.

Top tips for learning at work

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Top tips for learning at work

In a world that is always changing, ongoing learning is no longer an option – it’s a necessity. Or as Joyce Russell, a career coach, put it: “learning is not just a nice thing to do – it is essential for staying on top of things” (Washington Post).

Keeping up your learning can help you stay ahead of change caused by globalisation or automation. It can also set you above other candidates when it comes to career changes, promotions or applications for further study, and it can even be good for your long-term health (Harvard Business Review).

So how exactly do you set about learning during work hours?

Explain to your manager what and why you’re learning

By explaining to your manager, or colleagues, what and why you’re learning, you can resolve feeling guilty about taking time to learn. Try to explain why this learning is important for you and how it might benefit your organisation. For more help on this, check out our other post How to convince your boss you should take a FutureLearn course during work.


Put aside the time and be strict about protecting it

During a busy work day it can be really difficult to set aside time to learn. You might feel guilty as if you’re not doing ‘proper’ work or you might feel like learning isn’t a priority. But set aside your guilt and try to be strict – block out time in your calendar, say no to that unnecessary meeting, set your phone to silent and close your inbox. In the long run your employer (and career) will thank you.


Try to find a subject that’s good for work, and good for you

You’re far more likely to stick to your learning if you find the subject interesting. Dedicate some time finding a topic that captures your attention as well as being helpful for your career or personal development. 


Set yourself a goal

Many of us don’t pursue learning for the sake of it – we’re usually learning to achieve something specific like a promotion or career change. While goals like these are helpful, they can often seem quite distant and intangible. So try setting yourself a smaller, more concrete goal. It might be time-related, eg ‘I want to spend 3 hours learning this week’, or subject-related, eg ‘I want to understand the basics of big data analytics’. Achieving these smaller goals will help you feel satisfied with your progress as you work towards something bigger.


Make yourself accountable

If you’re worried you’re still not going to stick to your learning, try to find someone to hold you to account. A friend or colleague can check keep checking in with you to help you keep going. Alternatively, if you’re feeling really brave, you could try agreeing a forfeit if you fail to complete any learning. How does making the team tea for a month sound?


Share what you’ve learnt

Finally, one of the most important things in creating a learning culture: sharing. If we want to try to encourage as many people as possible to learn at work, then we need to talk about learning more. Try doing a presentation to your peers about what you’ve learnt, or share your own advice for keeping up your learning.

Have you got tips for learning at work? Let us know in the comments.

The biggest healthcare questions of the 21st century

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The biggest healthcare questions of the 21st century

Just 16 years into the 21st century seven new vaccines have already been developed; the success of campaigns to eradicate diseases such as smallpox and polio seems likely; and new drugs are able to massively reduce your chance of getting HIV.

It seems that new healthcare advances are regularly in the headlines. But as far as we’ve come, healthcare still faces major challenges and questions. Here are a few of the biggest.

How can we respond effectively to fast moving diseases?

healthc-challenges-21st-century-fast-moving-diseases

In early 2015 rumblings about the Zika virus began to travel across the globe; by February 2016 Zika was declared a full-blown crisis – a ‘PHEIC’ or Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

In recent years there have been several PHEICs – swine flu in 2009, polio in 2014, Ebola in 2014 and then Zika in 2016. There’s no doubt that there will be more to come, meaning those working in healthcare must develop the skills to cope in these situations – considering everything from infrastructure in developing countries to international collaboration.


How can we use genes safely and ethically?

healthc-challenges-21st-century-genes

Gene science has come a long way since 1952, when Rosalind Franklin first captured DNA in Photograph 51. We’ve sequenced all sorts of genomes, saved a young life using gene editing and one company is even aspiring to sequence your entire genome for just $999. The potential for gene science is enormous, if we can ensure it’s used responsibly and effectively.


How do we fight obesity?

healthc-challenges-21st-century-obesity

 In 2016 a study published in the Lancet claimed that for the first time there are more obese than underweight people. Medical intervention for such a large number of people just isn’t feasible. Curbing the number of obesity-related health problems will mean a renewed focus on making exercise and nutrition a priority for all.


How can we create technology that helps healthcare?

healthc-challenges-21st-century-tech

There is now a serious array of tech to help both healthcare professionals and patients – from day-to-day devices like Fitbits and iWatches, to established kit like pacemakers and blood glucose monitors, to more futuristic virtual doctors and VR surgical training.

But creating new technology is a costly and complex process. How can we ensure we’re creating technology that’s fit for purpose? And how can we teach people to use it?


How can we improve mental health services?

healthc-challenges-21st-century-mental-health

One in four adults experience mental health problems. That should mean that improving mental health services is top of every government agenda, but when there is pressure in other areas (like the outbreaks mentioned above) it can be difficult. Are there ways healthcare professionals can help people improve their own mental health.

How to take great notes

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How to take great notes

Taking notes is usually fundamental when you’re learning something new. Thorough notes can give you a strong foundation of learning to build on and something useful to refer back to. Here’s a few tricks we’ve learnt for taking great notes.

1. Find the the right tools

How-to-take-great-notes-find-the-right-tools3

The first step to taking great notes is using tools that suit you: maybe you love scribbling away with a biro and a small notebook, maybe you prefer bright colours and lots of blank paper, or maybe you want to sit with your laptop or tablet and type out your notes straight into an app.

Try out different tools, and find the ones that make note-taking not just easy, but enjoyable (that way you’re far more likely to keep going).

2. Don’t just transcribe

Whether you’re sat watching a video, or in a lecture hall, it’s easy to try and scribble down everything the speaker is saying. The result is usually smudged and nonsensical. Try and filter what the speaker is saying, listen for key points, or note down things to research further. If you really do need to take down the majority of what they’re saying, try and use abbreviations and simplify sentences, that way you can check your understanding as you go along. 

3. Highlight!

Once you’ve finished writing your notes don’t abandon them – now is the time to have a proper sift through. You might highlight the most important parts, or highlight the parts to research further, or highlight key people to remember – the choice is yours. If you find yourself accidentally highlighting entire paragraphs try setting yourself a limit: if you’ve taken 5 pages of notes limit yourself to highlighting 2 lines per page, that gives you 10 key things to remember.

4. Create your own summaries

The process of turning notes into useful knowledge is a bit like distillation. You start out with raw material, you sift through it choosing the most important parts and finally you condense those parts into something usable. This last part is key, it’s here you have the chance to turn your notes into something uniquely useful to you. For instance you might summarise a set of notes in 6 notecards, writing one keyword to jog your memory about an important concept, formula or figure. But that keyword might be something that only you find amusing, or memorable, about the subject, it might even be something entirely random.


Extra tips

  • Get organised – having great notes is useless if you can’t find them. Try and organise your notes in a system you can easily use, whether on the computer or in physical folders.
  • Play to your strengths – prefer learning by listening? Record yourself reading your notes. Prefer visual learning? Get artistic and draw out concepts and illustrations. There’s no one way to take good notes, it’s about what suits you.
  • Write down any questions – even if your questions are tangential you can use these to expand your knowledge, or to test yourself later.

If you have some great advice for taking notes, let us know in the comments.

‘I’ll do it tomorrow’: How to start and keep going on an online course

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‘I’ll do it tomorrow’: How to start and keep going on an online course

Some of the best things about online learning are also the reasons it’s hard to keep going: it’s often free, there’s no real pressure, you can learn at your own pace. Once your past the initial excitement of finding an online course procrastination sets in and soon you’re ignoring the reminder emails and telling yourself you’ll do it next weekend. 

So how do you get started and then keep going? Here are our tips. 

1. Make the time

how to keep going on a course FutureLearn 1

Don’t just say to yourself ‘Tuesday nights are learning nights’ – block out some time for learning in a tangible way. Set an event on your phone (with an alarm) or write it in a diary. Maybe tell friends and family the time, and get them to remind you. Having time that’s been properly set aside will help you learning feel like more of a commitment that you can’t skip. 


2. Try and stay focused

how to keep going on a course FutureLearn 2

If you find yourself on Facebook or Twitter every five minutes when you should be learning you’re not alone. It’s almost an unconscious behaviour for lots of us. But there are solutions. For instance apps like SelfControl allow you to specify a list of sites you can’t visit for a fixed amount of time. It’s also worth removing distractions around you like phones and unrelated paperwork (read more about creating a good environment for online learning). 


3. Know what you want to achieve

how to keep going on a course FutureLearn 3

Whether it’s knowing 100 words of Italian, being able to explain what a gene is, or knowing where to invest a spare £50 – having a goal that you can achieve thanks to your learning is a good motivator. Try and avoid vague goals, if you make it something more specific you’ll really feel you’ve made progress when you achieve it. Write it out somewhere nice and big, and have it in your eye-line – it’ll remind you of why you’re learning.


4. Get yourself the right tools

how to keep going on a course FutureLearn 4

Having something you’ve bought especially, like a nice notebook or pen, to help you learn might help you get excited about your learning. It doesn’t have to be big thing, or even something you’ve bought – it might be a well-organised file on your computer, or a note-keeping app. Either way, have somewhere special where you can write notes and ideas down – that way you’ll feel excited about coming back. 


5. Try not to worry about the workload

how to keep going on a course FutureLearn 5

If you’re worrying about the amount you need to get through on a course learning becomes a chore. Try not to think about all the work you need to do. Often you can learn step by step online – you don’t need to spend two hours or write pages and pages of notes

Category
Using FutureLearn

New on FutureLearn: topics, pick up where you left off, Study UK and more

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New on FutureLearn: topics, pick up where you left off, Study UK and more

Find the right course for you with topic pages

To help you find the right course, we’ve introduced dedicated pages where you can find all the courses, programs and degrees we offer on a specific topic in one place. On some of these pages you’ll also find thoughts from previous learners, and handy career advice on related jobs.

 

A short clip showing the action of scrolling down the FutureLearn Finance topic page.

Just search on FutureLearn for a topic you’re interested in, and if we have a page for that subject area, it will show up in the search results. Want an example? Check out the finance page.


Return to the last step you visited

We’ve added a simple way to get back to the last step you visited in a course. We had feedback from a lot of learners that it would be great to be able to go straight back to the step they were last on, after returning to a course from Your learning.

Now you can do that easily by following a quick link to your last visited step, found at the top of the course to do list.

A screen showing the FutureLearn website with a return to step banner.


See all your certificates in one place

We’ve added an ‘Achievements’ section to Your learning. Now you can see your certificates in one place and choose to make them public on your profile.

Check out the new achievements section

A screen showing the FutureLearn achievements sections.

 


Learn online with a UK university for free with Study UK

We’ve launched the Study UK campaign in collaboration with the British Council for the third time. The Study UK campaign promotes UK education around the world. It gives people the chance to see what it’s like to earn UK qualifications and study at UK institutions. Learners can choose from around 200 courses from dozens of UK institutions.

As part of the Study UK campaign, the British Council and the GREAT Britain campaign are offering 50,000 free digital upgrades to eligible learners on FutureLearn. This includes the opportunity for learners to gain recognition for their hard work by earning digital certificates.

Find out more, including whether you’re eligible for a free digital upgrade

A screen showing the FutureLearn Study UK promotion.


Tell us what you think

We’re always interested in hearing your feedback and ideas for how we can improve FutureLearn.

You can press the support button in the bottom right corner of any page in a course to leave comments, vote on popular ideas that you’d like to see built, and generally help us improve FutureLearn. If you don’t see the button you can email your comments, questions or ideas to feedback@futurelearn.com.

Category
Making FutureLearn

How Siddhant found a #CourseToSuccess in Data Science

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How Siddhant found a #CourseToSuccess in Data Science

Siddhant is an avid learner on Coursera who found his #CourseToSuccess in data science with the Genomic Data Science and Bioinformatics Specializations. He’s studying in a dual degree program in Information Technology at the Indian Institute of Information Technology in Gwalior, India.

“I got into two summer internships and received a job offer for a data scientist role by sharing my Coursera certificates.

I was introduced to Coursera by my older brother, who was doing his undergrad in Aerospace Engineering at the time. I was a freshman at my college starting out with introductory level courses in engineering, mathematics, physics, and computer science. I told him I wanted to learn to how to program in Python. He suggested to look for those courses on Coursera and to look into the field of data science and machine learning since they are important growth areas.

The first course that I enrolled in was Programming for Everybody (Getting Started With Python) from the University of Michigan. The content was simply outstanding — the lecture videos and programming assignments covered the material in breadth as well as depth. I became hooked on Coursera, and took one course after another. After I learned Python, I took computer science courses rlike Automata and Algorithms: Design and Analysis with Stanford. Next, I moved over to machine learning and data science courses.

Before college, I was interested in understanding how to use computational methods to solve biological problems. I decided to explore topics like bioinformatics and genomic data science. The Bioinformatics Specialization by UC San Diego is an excellent program that covers algorithmic ways to solve biological problems. The Genomic Data Science Specialization by John Hopkins focused on the use of tools and pipelines to analyze biological data and make inferences, which I found very interesting.

After I was done with the two Specializations, I applied to a summer internship program at the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB) in Bangalore in 2016.

With the Genomic Data Science Specialization certificate mentioned on my CV, I was instantly selected for the position despite having majored in IT.

At IBAB, I worked to establish a pipeline for data cleaning to support cross-experiment microarray data analysis. I learned about this through one of my Specializations and it was great to apply that knowledge to my internship work.

I am now at the top of my cohort in the institute, thanks to my computer science knowledge. I’m well-informed of the latest research that is going on in the field of deep learning. All this is possible thanks to what I learned through Coursera. Best of all, I earned two summer internships and a job offer for a data scientist role solely on the basis of my Coursera certificates.

My courses on Coursera helped me decide to work towards becoming an AI researcher. I plan to continue taking courses and to apply for a PhD program, where I’ll research the latest deep learning models and their application in Natural Language Processing.

 

Forgetting to Remember

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Forgetting to Remember

Another explanation for how and why we forget has been in terms of disuse or decay (2, 3). Sometimes we forget things simply because we haven’t remembered it in awhile. For example, you can probably remember what you had for lunch yesterday. How about last week? Last month? Unless there was a reason for you to recall the contents of your lunch, you likely forgot it over time. Assuming that you have not had any reason to recall your lunch, you are most likely forgetting past lunches due to decay and not interference.

So how can forgetting – whether it’s caused by interference or decay – help us remember? Let’s take the simple example of remembering where you parked your car. You go out to the parking lot or garage and instead of sifting through a few ideas from today or last week about where you parked your car, you suddenly remember where you parked last Wednesday and Tuesday from 3 weeks ago, and the hundreds of other times you have parked your car. Some of these locations and memories may be helpful to you at present, but many are not.

Forgetting helps us be selective, strategic, about remembering. We don’t get overwhelmed with ALL of the possible information when we try to remember something because our memory system uses certain tricks and hints to help us remember certain things and forget others. We remember certain bits and pieces of information over others based on context, frequency, and recency. Things that we have had to remember frequently and most often typically come to mind much more easily. This also means that things we haven’t needed to remember frequently or recently don’t come to mind as easily.

Forgetting can be frustrating. But it’s the flip side to remembering. Forgetting helps you remember by presenting you with fewer options. Most of the memory strategies that we talk about can also be framed in terms of forgetting strategies. Practicing retrieval of certain information helps you recall that information and forget other information (4). Spacing and interleaving take advantage of difficulty of retrieving information, or potential forgetting, to improve memory (5, 6).

All of this is to say – don’t be discouraged or hard on yourself when you forget something. Forgetting is actually a very useful part of your memory!

  1. Underwood, B. J. (1957). Interference and forgetting. Psychological review, 64(1), 49.

  2. McGeoch, J.A. (1932). Forgetting and the law of disuse. Psychological Review. 39 (4): 352–370.

  3. Bjork, R. A., & Bjork, E. L. (1992). A new theory of disuse and an old theory of stimulus fluctuation. In A. Healy, S. Kosslyn, & R. Shiffrin (Eds.), From learning processes to cognitive processes: Essays in honor of William K. Estes (Vol. 2, pp. 35-67). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

  4. Anderson, M. C., Bjork, R. A., & Bjork, E. L. (1994). Remembering can cause forgetting: Retrieval dynamics in long-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20, 1063-1087.

  5. Bjork, R.A. (1994). Memory and metamemory considerations in the training of human beings. In J. Metcalfe & A. Shimamura (Eds.), Metacognition: Knowing about knowing (pp. 185-205). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

  6. Mc Daniel, M. A., & Butler, A. C. (2011). A contextual framework for understanding when difficulties are desirable. In Successful Remembering and Successful Forgetting: A Festschrift in Honor of Robert A. Bjork (pp. 175-198). Taylor and Francis.

Weekly Digest #134: How to Sleep Well

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Weekly Digest #134: How to Sleep Well

4) Ask A Sleep Doctor: The Questions That Keep You Up At Night, a podcast with W. Christopher Winter, author of The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix It 

Science Friday Q&A with neurologist and sleep expert. Listeners call in to ask their questions about sleep.

5) I Fixed My Terrible Sleeping Habits with Science, by Grant Stoddard

After reading of this man’s impressive success in changing his sleep habits, one is left wondering how long the new habits stuck.

THANK YOU to our guest bloggers from 2017!

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THANK YOU to our guest bloggers from 2017!

We’re right in the middle of a season where a lot of us are giving thanks and reflecting on the year we have had. For some of us it is because of American or Canadian Thanksgiving, Japanese Labour Thanksgiving, or Turkish National Day of Thanks, or upcoming holidays such as Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa. For some of us, it is simply because the year is coming to a close and we are getting ready to celebrate a new year. In light of this, we wanted to take a moment (or, a blog post!) to thank the guest bloggers who generously donated their time to make this blog such a success in its second year.

In chronological order of first post, we would like to thank the following people who contributed guest blogs in 2017:

Blake Harvard, a high school AP Psychology teacher at James Clemens High School in Madison, AL., who contributed posts on Ignorance Isn’t Bliss – It’s Bias and Disconnect in the Classroom

Dr. Amber Walraven, is an Assistant Professor at the Radboud Graduate School of Education (Radboud Docenten Academie), who contributed a post on Teaching Teachers That Research Matters.

Dawn Cox, a secondary teacher in Essex, England, who contributed a post on Strategies for Effective Learning.

Dr. Logan Fiorella, an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Georgia, who contributed a post on Multimedia Learning.

Samuel Sumeracki, staff at the School of Professional Studies at Brown University and a strategic communication expert, who contributed a post on Learning About Current Events and the role of social media in it.

Ashley Bazin, a student at Rhode Island College majoring in psychology and minoring in French, who contributed a post outlining her implemetation of effective learning strategies in tutoring.

Mary Kathryn Cancilliere, a clinical psychology graduate student at the University of Rhode Island, who contributed a post on Attention.

Sarah Lummis, a Psychology major at Goucher College, who contributed a post on Stereotype Thread.

Alyssa DeYesso, a student at University of Massachusetts at Lowell studying Psychology, Disability, and Education, who contributed a weekly digest on Tools for Neurodivergent Brains.

Ray Newins, a Psychology and Criminal Justice major at Washburn University, and is the Program Manager at the Boys and Girls Club of Topeka Indian Creek Location, who contributed a post on brain training and whether it works.

Ulrich Boser, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, who we interviewed about writing, science, and science communication.

Naomi Hennah, a Teacher of Science/Chemistry at Northampton School for Boys, who contributed a 2-part gues blog post on Putting the Learning Scientists’ Work into Practice (Part 1 and Part 2).

Leila Viss, a user of innovative, tech-savvy lesson plans to develop lifetime pianists at her independent, creative-based piano studio, who contributed a post on research-based Practice Strategies for Musicians.

Dr. Sara Fulmer, the Teaching and Learning Assessment Specialist at Wellesley College, who contributed posts on Manipulatives and why they can hinder learning and on sharing learning outcomes with students as well as a weekly digest on Preparing a Learning-Focused Syllabus.

Josh Kurzweil, is an expert in experiential learning, reflective practice, and instructional design, who contributed a post on Supporting Science of Learning in the Language Classroom.

Dr. Stacey R. Finkelstein, an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Zicklin College of Business, Baruch College, City University New York, who contributed a post on SMART Feedback.

Bella Abdurachmanov, a writing instructor and educational writer, who contributed a post on How to Think about Thinking – Metacognition in the Classroom.

Brianna V. Poole, is a graduate from Rhode Island College, who contributed a post on exam study tips.

Oliver Caviglioli, a former special-school head of many years, who later on in his career turned to visualization, who contributed a post on Dual Coding to Support Inclusion.

Danielle E. Jennings, received her B.S. in developmental psychology from Plymouth State University ’16, and is a master’s student in psychology at Rhode Island College, who contributed a post on the role of smell for memory.

Jessica Mokler, graduated Cum Laude from Rhode Island College in May, where she majored in psychology, who contributed A Student’s Guide to Conquering Exams.

Dr. Althea Kaminske, an Assistant Professor at St. Bonaventure University and now one of the Learning Scientists, too, who contributed posts on Two Examples Are Better Than One and a post on Technology in the Classroom.

Tim van der Zee, has a position funded by CEL (Centre of Education and Learning) in the Netherlands, a collaboration between the universities of Leiden, Delft, and Rotterdam, who contributed posts on Guidelines for Designing Edcuational Videos and Why You Should Be a Sceptical Science Consumer.

Jemma Sherwood, is a Head of Mathematics in a Secondary School in England, who contributed a post on Building Effective Learning Strategies into a Mathematics Curriculum.

Dr. Ian Kelleher, the co-author of Neuroteach: Brain Science and the Future of Education, who contributed a post on How to Shift a School Towards Better Homework.

Dr. Marianne Fallon, an Associate Professor of Psychological Science at Central Connecticut State University and has taught undergraduate Research Methods (among other things) for over 10 years, who contributed a post on WOOP – a self-regulation strategy and a post on Putting the Six Strategies for Effective Learning Into Practice.

Dr. Virginia Clinton, an Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations and Research at the University of North Dakota, who contributed a post on Elaborative Interrogation.

Holly Shapiro, the Founder and Director of Ravinia Reading Center, the only reading clinic on Earth owned and staffed entirely by speech-language pathologists, who contributed a post on her Journey from Mayhem to Morphology.

Prof Annette Taylor, has been a member of the USD faculty since 1990. She teaches courses in introductory psychology, research methods and cognitive psychology, who contributed a post on How to Help Students Overcome Misconceptions.

Dr. Debra G. Holzberg, a visiting professor and research associate at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, who contributed a post on Postsecondary Transition for Students with Disabilities.

Rich James, a Human Resources Program Coordinator, for Columbus State Community College, who has specialized in faculty development and workplace learning, who contributed a post on What Does It Take for Students to Exchange Bad Study Habits for Good.

Chris Hilliard, the Second in Science and Associate Assistant Principle at Halewood Academy in Knowsley, England, and his colleague Tom Gilbertson, who contributed a post on Integrating Effective Strategies for Learning into a School Curriculum.

Dr. Lauren Bellaera, Director of Research and Impact at The Brilliant Club, a charity that aims to increase the number of pupils from under-represented backgrounds who progress to highly-selective universities, who contributed a post on How to Develop Critical Thinking.

Dr. Lucy Erickson, a Science and Technology Policy Fellow through the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), hosted by the National Science Foundation (NSF), who contributed posts on Background Noise and Classroom Design, Visual “Noise“, Distractibility, and Classroom Design, Technology, Distractibilty, and the Classroom, and Language about Ability, Mindset, and Motivation and Performance.

Dr. Andrew Butler, an Associate Professor in the Department of Education and the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, who contributed a post on Multiple-Choice Testing.

Tricia Taylor, a former teacher and lead practitioner in schools in London, UK and Brooklyn, who contributed a post on Exploring Retrieval Practice with Younger Students.

Wendee White, a Lecturer in the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Dundee, Scotland, who contributed a post on The Relationship between Affect and Cognition in Teaching and Learning.

Miko M. Wilford, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, who contributed a post on The Dark Side of Interleaving.

Dr. Peter Verkoeijen, an Associate Professor in educational psychology at the Department of Education, Psychology, and Child Studies at Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. He is also professor of applied sciences in the Brain and Learning research group at Avans University of Applied Sciences in Breda. Dr. Anton den Boer, a Lecturer at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Avans University of Applied Sciences. He is also chairman of first-year education committee. They contributed a post on Cumulative Compensatory Assessment in Engineering Education.

Dr Melissa Swisher, a Lecturer in Psychological Sciences at Purdue University, who contributed a post on Equivalence-based Instruction in the Classroom.