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Take Fear Head on, Actor Tom Hanks Tells Yale Seniors

By Guest PostMay 23, 2011Culture, Educationacademy awards, apollo 13, big, catherine lew, class day, eliza gonzalez, eric randall, Facebook, fear or faith, forest gump, graduates, ivy ode, john paul jones, old campus, old country, oscar-winning actor, philadelphia, preparing to leave, saving private ryan, tom hanks, toy story, tweets, Twitter, veterans of the iran and afghan wars, woody, yale, yale baseball cap, yale class day, youtube viral sensations

How Yale’s newest graduates make their imprint on the world and on history will be determined by how well they handle fear and inspire faith, Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks told the seniors in his Class Day address on May 22.

In the ceremony on the Old Campus, Hanks urged the soon-to-be graduates to begin their future by coming to the aid of the U.S. veterans of the Iran and Afghan wars, whose “faith in themselves is shadowed by the fear of not knowing what is expected of them next,” he said. (more…)

Study Shows Interactive Teaching Methods Double Learning in Physics Classroom

By Guest PostMay 15, 20111 commentEducationinteractive activities, interactive class, interactive teaching methods, science education, teaching methods, traditional class

Interactive teaching methods significantly improved attendance and doubled both engagement and learning in a large physics class, according to a University of British Columbia study involving University of Colorado Boulder Distinguished Professor Carl Wieman that is being published today in Science. (more…)

New Use for Kinect: Teaching Kids in Africa

By Guest PostMay 7, 2011Education, Technologykinect for xbox, kinect games, kwazulu, larry venter, school in vryheid, south african schoolchildren, structured gaming

*Microsoft employee Larry Venter, a native South African, had a hunch that Kinect for Xbox 360 could help the children at a rural school in his hometown get excited about learning English and that gaming could help in the fight against widespread illiteracy.*

REDMOND, Wash. – A story that began with a mischievous Icelandic volcano has ended happily with South African schoolchildren using Kinect for Xbox 360 to learn English. (more…)

Coming To A Computer Near You: Google Apps For Education

By Guest PostApril 19, 2011Education, Technologyapplemail, blackberry, calendar, chuck powell, docs, electronic protected health information, email system, ephi, Google, google apps, google apps for education, google talk, groups, information technology services, iPhone, its, peter salovey, sites, thunderbird, yale, yale systems

It’s official. Yale is making the switch from its current email system to Google Apps for Education — a move that is expected to cut costs and free up resources, while expanding the features available to the Yale community.

“This will be a huge improvement for students, who will benefit not only from a better Web-based email client, but also from the entire suite of Google Apps for Education: Google Talk, Groups, Docs, Sites and Calendar,” says Chuck Powell, associate CIO for operations, support and services at Information Technology Services (ITS). He also noted that the switch means that ITS has one less commodity service to provide, which frees up time to work on more institutionally-important initiatives that outside vendors like Google can’t deliver. (more…)

Just Like Me: Online Training Helpers More Effective When They Resemble Students

By Guest PostMarch 5, 2011Education, Technologygeorge washington, giving feedback, north carolina state university, online training programs, similarity effects, specific aspect, teaching children

Opposites don’t always attract. A study from North Carolina State University shows that participants are happier – and perform better – when the electronic helpers used in online training programs resemble the participants themselves.

“It is important that the people who design online training programs understand that one size does not fit all,” says Dr. Lori Foster Thompson, an associate professor of psychology at NC State and co-author of the study. “Efforts to program helper agents that may be tailored to individuals can yield very positive results for the people taking the training.” (more…)

Users Worldwide Can Now Unite in Online Study Groups for Open Yale Courses

By Guest PostFebruary 22, 2011Educationbehavioral finance, Beijing, diana kleiner, donald kagan, financial markets, fundamentals of physics, introduction to ancient greek history, open yale courses, openstudy, ramamurti shankar, robert shiller, roman architecture, sao paulo, social networking pilot project, spring, undergraduate courses, yale academic content, yale economist

Open Yale Courses, which will be releasing another set of undergraduate courses this spring, has added a new dimension to its offering by engaging in a social networking pilot project with the website OpenStudy.

OpenStudy is designed to connect users in a study group that allows them to collaborate in real time on open content regardless of their location. For example, if a person viewing Yale economist Robert Shiller’s lecture on behavioral finance in Beijing is unclear on an issue, he can post his question to the course’s study group and receive assistance from a fellow Open Yale Courses user in São Paulo. (more…)

Writing About Anxiety Helps Students Ace Exams

By Guest PostJanuary 20, 2011Culture, Educationanxiety, average grade, choke, classroom, counterintuitive, effective way, exam, exam performance, gerardo ramirez, gregg solomon, high pressure situations, improve, mental logjams, negative thoughts, performance, research, secrets of the brain, sian beilock, test scores, university of chicago, writing about test related worries

*Research says test performance improves when students write about their worries*

Sian Beilock, lead author of a new study that appears on January 13 in the journal Science, says writing about test-related worries for ten minutes immediately before taking an exam is an effective way to improve test scores in classroom settings.

“By writing down one’s negative thoughts, students may come to realize that the situation is not as bad as they thought or that they are prepared to take it on,” said Beilock, an associate professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago. “As a result, they worry less during the test.” (more…)

College Students Lack Scientific Literacy, Study Finds

By Guest PostJanuary 9, 20111 commentEducation, Sciencebiological principles, bioscience, carbon sequestration, charles andy anderson, climate change, college students, environmental problem, fundamental scientific, global climate change, introductory biology, laurel hartley, michigan state university, scientific basis, scientific carbon cycle, teaching the fundamentals, university of colorado, vice-versa

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Most college students in the United States do not grasp the scientific basis of the carbon cycle – an essential skill in understanding the causes and consequences of climate change, according to research published in the January issue of BioScience.

The study, whose authors include several current and former researchers from Michigan State University, calls for a new way of teaching – and, ultimately, comprehending – fundamental scientific principles such as the conservation of matter. (more…)

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