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Research -- StepUp to Learn

Playfulness Can Be Trained - Here's Why You Should Do It

Playfulness Can Be Trained - Here's Why You Should Do It

Playfulness is a personality trait that is expressed differently in people. "Particularly playful people have a hard time dealing with boredom....
Posted in Engagement, Health & Wellness, Motivation, Social Development, Social Skills

Young Children Would Rather Explore Than Get Rewards

Young Children Would Rather Explore Than Get Rewards

Young children will pass up rewards they know they can collect to explore other options, a new study suggests. Researchers found that when adults and 4- to 5-year-old children played a game where certain choices earned them rewards, both adults and children quickly learned what choices would give them the biggest returns. But while adults then used that knowledge to maximize their prizes, children continued exploring the other options.
Posted in Attention, Engagement, Motivation, Social Skills

Academic Achievement Is Influenced by How Pupils 'Do' Gender at School

Academic Achievement Is Influenced by How Pupils 'Do' Gender at School

Pupils' achievements at school are often shaped by the way that they 'act out' specific gender roles, according to a new study which warns against over-generalizing the gender gap in education.
Posted in Attention, Education, Engagement, Motivation, Social Development

Achievement Gaps May Explain Racial Overrepresentation in Special Education

Achievement Gaps May Explain Racial Overrepresentation in Special Education

School districts may be flagged as over-identifying students of color as having disabilities when other factors, such as achievement gaps, may explain these disparities.
Posted in Attention, Education, Engagement, Mathematics, Motivation, Reading Skills, School Readiness

Rethinking Role of Technology in the Classroom

Rethinking Role of Technology in the Classroom

Study finds added access can lead to decrease in students' academic motivation. Engagement "is more than a matter of providing children with access to the latest electronic devices."
Posted in Attention, Education, Engagement, Motivation, Social Skills, Technology

Elementary school student support leads to lower high school dropout

Elementary school student support leads to lower high school dropout

Elementary-school students who participated in a comprehensive support intervention in the Boston public school district had about half the odds of dropping out of high school as students not in the intervention.
Posted in Education, Engagement, Health & Wellness, Motivation, School Readiness, Social Development

Simple Directions From Parents Can Guide Children’s Discovery

Simple Directions From Parents Can Guide Children’s Discovery

Simple cues from parents for their children to either “explain” or “explore” influences learning behavior and abilities, particularly as it relates to scientific reasoning.
Posted in Attention, Engagement, Motivation

Report examines origins and nature of 'math anxiety'

Report examines origins and nature of 'math anxiety'

Research reveals that teachers and parents may inadvertently play a role in a child's development of 'math anxiety' and that girls tend to be more affected than boys.
Posted in Education, Engagement, Mathematics, Motivation, School Readiness, Social Skills

Do persistent babies make for successful adults?

Do persistent babies make for successful adults?

University of Washington researchers argue that greater study of infant persistence can shed light on the factors that instill persistence, and the outcomes that may emerge from it later in life.
Posted in Attention, Engagement, Motivation, Neuroscience

Connection of children to nature brings less distress, hyperactivity and behavioral problems

Connection of children to nature brings less distress, hyperactivity and behavioral problems

University of Hong Kong study found that parents who saw their child had a closer connection with nature had less distress, less hyperactivity, fewer behavioral and emotional difficulties, and improved pro-social behavior. 
Posted in Attention, Health & Wellness, Motivation, Movement & Exercise, Social Skills

Intellectual Curiosity and Confidence Help Children Take on Math and Reading

Intellectual Curiosity and Confidence Help Children Take on Math and Reading

Characteristics related to openness, such as intellectual curiosity and confidence, made children more adept to take on math and reading than characteristics describing conscientiousness, such as diligence and perseverance.
Posted in Attention, Education, Engagement, Mathematics, Memory, Motivation, Neuroscience, Reading Skills, School Readiness

The powerful impact of real-world learning experiences for kids

The powerful impact of real-world learning experiences for kids

Researchers found that 4- to 9-year-old kids knew more about how animals are classified after a four-day camp at a zoo. It wasn’t that children who attended just knew more facts about animals, the researchers noted. The camp actually improved how they organized what they knew – a key component of learning.

Posted in Attention, Education, Engagement, Memory, Motivation