As far back as 1968, it seems, “Assertions that studying is best done at a desk rather than on a bed [were] largely untested.” Prompting Robert Gifford (who was then a research assistant at the University of California, but who is now a professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Canada) along with […]
Tag: students
Are creative students a burden to teachers?
Should this monograph create a stir? “Creativity: Asset or Burden in the Classroom?” Erik L. Westby [pictured here — he is now a teacher at the Russell Byers Charter School] and V.L. Dawson, Creativity Research Journal, 1995, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1-10. The authors, at Union College and Skidmore College, began with this pronouncement: “One […]
Special topics, special journal
Maggie Koerth-Baker writes (in BoingBoing) about The Journal of Physics Special Topics (which we have admired now and again): What’s the point of all this? That’s the really interesting part. You’re right in thinking that the plausibility of fictional scenarios isn’t exactly a great problem of our time. But nobody ever said it was. That wasn’t the […]
Romanian university students & their Transylvanian fruits
The thorny question of which types of forest fruits are preferred by Romanian university students has been largely resolved. “Students eat a large variety of berries, the most commonly consumed being the raspberries, walnuts, hazelnuts, blackberries, wild strawberries, blueberries, which are the most easy to find in the forests of Transylvania or in the surrounding […]
How do students spend their time?
A new study raises questions: “How Students Spend Their Time,” Andrea L. Welker [pictured here] and Bridget Wadzuk, J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., vol. 138, 2012, pp. 198-206. the authors, at Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, explain: “An analysis was performed of how students spend their time … the students self-report their use of time […]
Aesthetic judgement of paintings hung wrong-way-up
It’s alleged that even the most prestigious art galleries sometimes hang artist’s work the wrong way up. But very little scientific research has addressed the issue of whether the public-at-large can correctly guess whether a modern art painting is the right way up or not. Prompting George Mather, who is Professor of Vision Science, School […]
Students, DNA, and hot dogs
Flora Lichtman of Science Friday interviewed “Brenda Tan and Matthew Cost, high school seniors from Trinity School in New York City, used a technique called DNA barcoding to find out what species were present in over 200 animal products.” A surprising finding: most street vendors’ hot dogs — at least the ones the students tested […]