learning

When The Focus Is On The Student, Not The Class

6:57pm October 14, 2017

by Rachel Gotbaum

One small school district in New Hampshire was performing at the bottom of the state when it came to standardized tests and graduation rates. Then, leaders totally changed the way teachers taught.

Queue Listen Now

Not only are kids raising animals and learning the how-tos of vaccinations and record-keeping, 4-H'ers are also being taught how to add up the costs and weigh them against future profits.

National

For 4-H Kids, Saying Goodbye To An Animal Can Be The Hardest Lesson

12:38pm August 30, 2017

by Tove Danovich

After a year of training, feeding and caring for an animal, kids learn what it takes to raise livestock for food and then let it go. And while it can be tough, it's part of the business of farming.

To decide whether a learning app works, we can't really count on reviews from our current selves, says Tania Lombrozo.

Technology Can Be A Tool, A Teacher, A Trickster

9:06am July 17, 2017

by Tania Lombrozo

Shaping technology to some form of learning could depart pretty radically from the more familiar aim of shaping technology to the way we are now, says psychologist Tania Lombrozo.

My Son Is In Special Education And I Want Him To Be Challenged

11:16am July 11, 2017

by Margaret Gilmour

Seeing his potential, one mother wonders why her child isn't held to higher standards at school, despite his learning disability.

Bumblebees have 100,000 times fewer neurons than humans do, but they can learn new skills quickly when there's a sweet reward at the end.

Could A Bumblebee Learn To Play Fetch? Probably

11:19am February 24, 2017

by Rae Ellen Bichell

Scientists found that bumblebees are nimble learners, especially when there's a sugary reward at the end. No wonder they're such good pollinators.

Jozef Jason, 7, reads a book to Ryan Griffin at the Fuller Cut in Ypsilanti, Mich., as part of the barbershop's literacy program.

Checking Back In On The Barber Who Encourages Kids To Read

1:12pm October 19, 2016

by Jennifer Guerra

Our story about the barbershop that takes $2 off haircuts for young readers went viral, so we went back to ask what happened next.

Queue Listen Now

Sure, keeping a teenager's thoughts corralled may seem like lion taming. But that impulsivity may help them learn, too.

Teens' Penchant For Risk-Taking May Help Them Learn Faster

5:25pm October 06, 2016

by Erin Ross

The impulsivity and risk-taking that are common among teenagers may be a side effect of having a brain tuned to learn a lot of new stuff fast, researchers say. So it could be good in the long run.

Earlier studies have found that children who grow up in houses with a TV on many hours a day learn fewer words than children in households with less TV time.

Turning Down The Background Noise Could Help Toddlers Learn

3:47pm July 21, 2016

by Carolyn Beans

Being surrounded by noisy conversations, radio or TV can make it harder for toddlers to learn new words, researchers say. Quieter conversations didn't affect the learning process.

Science

Q&A: What Machines Can Learn From People And We Can Learn From Them

6:25pm October 18, 2015

by Alina Selyukh

Should artificial intelligence mimic human behavior? The executive in charge of developing future generations of IBM's Watson tackles that and other questions about the limits and powers of AI.

The Limbic Reward System lights up when curiosity is piqued.

Curiosity: It Helps Us Learn, But Why?

5:42pm October 27, 2014

by Maanvi Singh

New research suggests that curiosity triggers chemical changes in the brain that help us better understand and retain information.