education

Two-thirds of the achievement gap for American children is due to the “summer learning loss”. Here’s how we fix that.

Researchers tracked academic achievement, social cognition, executive function, and creativity in a longitudinal study of kids across the socioeconomic spectrum. 

Following 14,000 people since the 1940s, these cohort studies offer insights into parenting, education, health, and the impact of poverty.

A paper argues that the younger generation is no better at technology and multitasking than older people. 

Would you rather learn philosophy from James Franco or a professor of philosophy? Well, now you don’t have to choose.

An interactive periodic table with pictures makes it easy to see how each element is used.

Can democracy remain vibrant if the public, and especially children, don’t have the tools to distinguish sense from nonsense?

Humans worship at the altar of excellence, but is our complete obsession with this “quality controlled” mode of intellect holding us back?

Dyslexia makes letters float, rotate, and flip on a page. It turns M’s into W’s, q’s into p’s, and so on. Changing the font-face might be able to help keep the letters in place on the page.

America’s most popular conspiracy theories and the science behind them.

Don’t work with children or animals? Sir David Attenborough laughs in the face of danger.

A college course on how to recognize “bullshit” addresses fake news, memes, clickbaiting and misleading advertising. 

Mathematics professor Po-Shen Loh has created Expii, a free education tool that democratizes learning by turning your smartphone into a tutor.

A new genetic study sees us getting gently stupider over time.

How will we deal with the impending overpopulation crisis – and how much of a crisis is it anyway?

A new nonprofit organization aims to elect more scientists to the U.S government.

Students at an English university have demanded that their curriculum be “decolonized”. What does that mean?  

Add to playlist! Stanford University posts its Ho Center for Buddhist Studies series of talks on YouTube.

With President Trump appointing officials who want to abolish the departments they hope to lead, one might ask, “What is the rationale for this?”. Milton Friedman offers us an answer. 

Spain and the US have very similar compulsory school hours and homework requirements. There’s a good argument for rallying against this trend.

Harvard University offers a free course on Buddhist scriptures.

Through an incredible anecdote, Earl Lewis demonstrates why STEM can’t do it alone. Scientists and humanists needs each other, and institutions have a responsibility to continue to fund and nurture the humanities.

The polls are in, and what will be the deciding factor in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election is something a little more human. 

The future success or failure of the economy is up to the young, and many countries could do better to equip them.

People tend to believe that learning in the style they feel best suited to makes them soak up information more efficiently. This study debunks that belief.

Job automation won’t be as bad as we think, so we need to learn how to stop working and prepare so we’re not dragged into the future kicking and screaming.    

As a society we place a high value on the practical nature of science and business degrees. But what about the practical nature of the humanities? 

The U.S. does have one thing in its favor: Inertia. The fact that we have been #1 for so long means that we will continue to live off of past success for several years to come. But, we can’t live on fumes forever.