Monthly Archives: September 2023

Can a child with language difficulties be raised bilingual?

Can a child with language difficulties be raised bilingual?

Families’ expectations about bilingual parenting can be disrupted when they receive the news that their child has a language or communication disorder. What are these disorders?  The most frequent are developmental language disorder (DLD), which affects the abilities to understand or produce sentences or structured speech without being explained by neurological causes, intellectual disability or sensory deficits. Simplifying, […] … learn more→

Sci-fi books are rare in school even though they help kids better understand science

Sci-fi books are rare in school even though they help kids better understand science

Science fiction can lead people to be more cautious about the potential consequences of innovations. It can help people think critically about the ethics of science. Researchers have also found that sci-fi serves as a positive influence on how people view science. Science fiction scholar Istvan Csicsery-Ronay calls this “science-fictional habits of mind.” Scientists and engineers have reported that their childhood encounters with […] … learn more→

A solution to America’s K-12 STEM teacher shortage: Endowed chairs

A solution to America’s K-12 STEM teacher shortage: Endowed chairs

Ever since the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into orbit on Oct. 4, 1957, America has been struggling to recruit and retain STEM teachers in its public middle and high schools. In the 2017-2018 school year, approximately 100,000 teacher jobs in STEM – or science, technology, engineering and mathematics – went unfilled at the high school level. […] … learn more→

How to train the mind to overcome mental laziness

How to train the mind to overcome mental laziness

In today’s society, where immediate returns are valued, it is fair to say that short-termism is in fashion. We live in an age of technology where globalization and unprecedented social interconnectedness are changing the way we live and our social relationships, including our relationships with ourselves . In this context, the search for quick success seems to be […] … learn more→

The book that caused a scientific revolution and hardly anyone read

The book that caused a scientific revolution and hardly anyone read

One of the most relevant books in the history of science is On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres ( De revolutionibus ), by Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543). Its publication caused a true scientific revolution. But what does it count and who read it? Even if the title doesn’t sound familiar to you, you probably remember that it was Copernicus who proposed […] … learn more→

Will AI kill our creativity? It could – if we don’t start to value and protect the traits that make us human

Will AI kill our creativity? It could – if we don’t start to value and protect the traits that make us human

There’s no doubt generative AI’s ability to rapidly produce new texts, images and audio is shaking up creative jobs. In the long-running Writers Guild of America strike, a central sticking point has been the guild’s demand that AI be used only as a research tool and not a replacement for its members. For many creative types, it seems harder to earn […] … learn more→

How to summarize a research paper: Traditional methods and AI tools

How to summarize a research paper: Traditional methods and AI tools

Learning to summarize research papers profoundly is crucial for researchers or professionals out there. In doing so, in the right way, readers could get a quick preview of the main points without covering the whole paper. Previously, research paper summarization was conducted through manual techniques, but this work has been made simpler with the onset […] … learn more→

Is it time for Australia to introduce a national skills passport?

Is it time for Australia to introduce a national skills passport?

As part of the new employment white paper, the federal government has announced it is thinking seriously about a national skills passport. It has set aside A$9.1 million to prepare a business case for the passport to “help workers promote their qualifications and businesses find more skilled workers”. What might this involve? And is it a good idea? […] … learn more→

Microphone check − 5 ways that music education is changing

Microphone check − 5 ways that music education is changing

Music education – which traditionally has been heavily reliant on large ensembles and classical music – is changing with the times. Not since the introduction of the school wind ensemble in the 1920s or the growth of marching band in the 1950s has music education undergone such a transformation. The changes occurring now have been developed to bring more students into […] … learn more→