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Research -- StepUp to Learn

How to Boost Children's Letter Sound Recognition

How to Boost Children's Letter Sound Recognition

Children who did this became twice as proficient at difficult letter sounds compared to those who received traditional instruction.
Posted in Education, Engagement, Language, Motivation, Movement & Exercise, Reading Skills, School Readiness, Speech

How The Brain Says 'Oops!'

How The Brain Says 'Oops!'

How do we learn from our mistakes? This important brain research helps us understand how our brains detect our mistakes.
Posted in Education, Engagement, Language, Memory, Motivation, Neuroscience, School Readiness, Social Development, Social Skills, Speech

Learning Through ‘Guided’ Play Can Be As Effective As Adult-Led Instruction

Learning Through ‘Guided’ Play Can Be As Effective As Adult-Led Instruction

Play-based learning may also have a more positive effect on younger children’s acquisition of important early maths skills compared with traditional, direct instruction.
Posted in Education, Engagement, Motivation

How to Help Girls Stay Engaged with Science

How to Help Girls Stay Engaged with Science

This program was linked to higher average science grades and an increase in a measure of science knowledge for a group of fifth grade girls.
Posted in Attention, Education, Engagement, Motivation

How to Make Learning More Effective

How to Make Learning More Effective

Engaging students in these activities resulted in improved academic performance compared to traditional lectures, lessons or readings.
Posted in Attention, Education, Engagement, Motivation, Neuroscience, School Readiness, Technology

Motivation Depends on How the Brain Processes Fatigue

Motivation Depends on How the Brain Processes Fatigue

How do we decide whether or not an activity which requires work is ‘worth the effort’?
Posted in Attention, Engagement, Motivation, Neuroscience

Researchers Find What Motivates Young Children to Learn

Researchers Find What Motivates Young Children to Learn

The study focused on how children’s knowledge level influences what information they find interesting. The findings suggest that children are not simply attracted to information by its novelty.
Posted in Education, Engagement, Motivation, Neuroscience, School Readiness

Not All Recess is Created Equal

Not All Recess is Created Equal

With schools returning to full-time in-person classes this fall now is a good time to rethink, ‘How do we create schools that are more child-friendly?’ 
Posted in Engagement, Motivation, Movement & Exercise, Neuroscience

Youngest Children in Class Are More Likely to Be Diagnosed with a Learning Disability

Youngest Children in Class Are More Likely to Be Diagnosed with a Learning Disability

Children born in December are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with a learning disorder as those born in January. 
Posted in Attention, Engagement, Motivation, Neuroscience, School Readiness

New Experiences Enhance Learning by Resetting Key Brain Circuit

New Experiences Enhance Learning by Resetting Key Brain Circuit

A study of spatial learning in mice shows that exposure to new experiences dampens established representations in the brain’s hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, allowing the mice to learn new navigation strategies.

Posted in Engagement, Memory, Motivation, Neuroscience

Blink! The Link Between Aerobic Fitness and Cognition

Blink! The Link Between Aerobic Fitness and Cognition

Researchers have found evidence that spontaneous eye blink activity, which reflects activity in the dopaminergic system, explains the connection between fitness and cognitive function.

Posted in Education, Engagement, Language, Mathematics, Memory, Motivation, Movement & Exercise, Neuroscience

We Hear What We Want to Hear

We Hear What We Want to Hear

New findings on the importance of anticipation in brain organization, specifically in auditory processing.
Posted in Attention, Language, Memory, Motivation, Neuroscience