-
Music to Cats’ Ears
The New York Times: In the long battle for feline affection, cat owners may have some fresh ammunition. David Teie, a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, recently teamed up with animal scientists to develop “Music for Cats,” a series of whirring, lilting and at times squeaky musical tracks designed for cats’ brains and ears. Owners often leave the radio or a playlist on for cats alone in the house, assuming they will share human musical tastes, be it classical, country or the lyrical tones of NPR hosts.
-
There’s A Virtuoso At The White House And The Work She’s Doing Is Fascinating
The Huffington Post: A decade ago, Glamour magazine declared Maya Shankar one of the country's 10 most impressive women in college. Asked at the time to name her dream job, Shankar said, "Science advisor to the President." You can guess how this story ends. How it begins is more unexpected. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Shankar was a gifted young violinist, accepted by the Juilliard School of Music at age 9 and later selected for private instruction by violin master Itzhak Perlman. In her early teens, she was performing internationally and playing concertos on NPR; a promising musical career stretched ahead. ... Shankar describes the sullen summer after her musical dreams were smashed.
-
Do 4-Year-Olds Lose When They Share Classrooms With 3-Year-Olds?
Education Week: Four-year-olds enrolled in Head Start made smaller academic gains when they shared their classroom with 3-year-olds, according to a study out this week by a team of researchers at the University of Texas, Austin. "We've known for a couple of years that 4-year-olds don't perform as well in Head Start as other children, and this may be a big reason why," said Elizabeth Gershoff, an associate professor of human development and family sciences at UT Austin. Read the whole story: Education Week
-
L’ansia da matematica non porta brutti voti (math anxiety does not bring bad grades)
La Stampa: L’ansia da matematica, quel nervosismo e disagio che spesso si traduce in una morsa allo stomaco e in sudori freddi, specie nel caso di compiti in classe e interrogazioni, non fa sempre rima con brutti voti. Certo, compromette le prestazioni di alcuni studenti, ma secondo una nuova ricerca questa sensazione è collegata addirittura a prestazioni migliori per altri alunni. Lo studio, che offre una speranza agli «ansiosi», è pubblicato su Psychological Science.
-
Is Fat Stigma Making Us Miserable?
The New York Times: Being overweight doesn’t necessarily make a person distraught, researchers are learning. Rather, it’s the teasing, judgment and unsolicited advice directed at overweight people that can cause the greatest psychological harm. “People assume there is a direct relationship between how much people weigh and their psychological health,” said Jeffrey Hunger, a doctoral candidate in social psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “Our research and other research is showing that no, it’s not about their weight, it’s the treatment they faced and what they worry they will face.” ...
-
How To Get Students To Stop Using Their Cellphones In Class
NPR: Our Ideas series is exploring how innovation happens in education. Almost all college students have a cellphone. They use them an average of eight to 10 hours a day and check them an average of every 15 to 20 minutes while they're awake. Heavier smartphone use has been linked to lower-quality sleep and lower GPAs — oh, are you getting a text right now? I'll wait. Anyway, as I was saying, one professor at the University of Colorado Boulder has come up with a solution to smartphone distraction in one of his astronomy classes. "I was stunned how well it worked," Doug Duncan wrote in an email to fellow astronomy professors, which he shared with NPR Ed. ...
