For Teachers

The researchers conducted six experiments. I will focus on the details of the first experiment here, and I will note the overall findings from the paper in the conclusion.Experiment 1Students from Year 8 in Wollongong, Australia (8th grade equivalent in the US) participated in the experiment. The students were randomly assigned to one of three…

References1.      Lewis, J. & Stiebahl, S. (2025). Student mental health in England: Statistics, policy, and guidance. Research briefing, House of Commons Library. https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8593/CBP-8593.pdf2.      McEwen, B. S. (2006). Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators: central role of the brain. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 8(4), 367–381. https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2006.8.4/bmcewen3.      Schneiderman, N., Ironson, G., & Siegel, S. D. (2005). Stress and…

Cover image by ViJakob from PixabayDigest compiled by Megan SumerackiFor those of us in the northern hemisphere, summer* is coming! Whether you have two weeks or almost two months left in your academic year, the warmer weather and growing plants are a regular reminder that we’re getting closer every day to our summer break. Summer…

ResultsIn Experiment 1, participants who justified their answers scored about 10% higher on the test than those who did not. Importantly, that’s their MC correctness; the researchers didn’t examine their actual justifications (which happens to be great news for busy teachers). When looking at how students thought they would do, there was an interesting interaction.…

Cover image by Prawny from PixabayBy Megan SumerackiIn the first year that our blog was created—2016—I wrote a piece titled, Retrieval Practice Improves Learning, But Will it Help ALL of My Students? In this piece, I covered an experiment conducted by Pooja Agarwal and colleagues (1) about the benefits of retrieval practice for students with…

How do use the science of learning in your classroom? Describe one activity in detail so other educators can use it too!Both biology and anatomy and physiology are vocabulary rich courses. Without the foundational vocabulary, it is difficult for students to gain true understand of the big concepts. At the beginning of each unit students…

References1.      DuPaul, G. J., Eckert, T. L., & Vilardo, B. (2012). The effects of school-based interventions for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analysis 1996-2010. School Psychology Review, 41(4), 387–412.2.      van der Oord, S., Bögels, S. M., & Peijnenburg, D. (2012). The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents.…

Participants received feedback about their percentile after every task they did. After receiving all of the tasks, they were again assessed on their anxiety and motivation as well as their perception of their performance.ResultsDespite receiving varied feedback, there were no actual performance differences on any of the tasks. However, there were differences for perceived performance.…

Generative chatbots like ChatGPT also have a remarkable ability to pass for human-like performance in some limited social contexts, scoring well on standardized exams assessments typically used to measure aptitude and performance in a field (2). However, the lack of agency in chatbots means that they are unable to take responsibility for their actions.They cannot…

Cover Image by cottonbro studio from PexelsBy Althea Need KaminskeNote: To the best of my knowledge I did not use generative AI to write this post. Any mistakes or insights are my own. AI is big right now. It’s been big for a while, but it seems to be more and more aggressive in the…