Students often underestimate how much study time is required to master course concepts for an exam (Chew, 2014). Weaker students in particular tend to be grossly overconfident about how quickly they can learn. As a result, many students wait too long to begin studying for
I didn’t always offer full-throated endorsements of audiobooks in my literature courses. Maybe that’s because I’m not really an audiobook person. Call me old-fashioned, but I’ve always preferred to engage in real reading than outsource the job to some random celebrity voice actor.
Do people learn in the same way or different ways? According to cognitive science, the answer is the former. There are general principles of learning that apply to everyone, such as the importance of attention and the value of good learning strategies like spacing and
A common piece of teaching advice—“Teach them like they are your own children”—takes on new meaning when a close friend’s children, one of your relatives, or your own children get ready to go to college. If you have tried giving your children advice, you, like
This semester I am teaching an undergraduate biology course on biofeedback, self-regulation, and intergenerational resilience. One of the books we read is Robert M. Sapolsky’s Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. The book’s thesis is that humans experience chronic stress in ways that animals like zebras
It’s hard to determine just how well students understand the concepts we teach. Our usual criterion for understanding is that students give a correct answer on an exam, but that leaves much to be desired (Uminski et al., 2024). In multiple-choice exams, the student may
I recently met with my summer research students to discuss their project findings. During our check-in, nearly every student expressed anxiety about the upcoming semester and how worried they were about deadlines and exams and becoming overwhelmed quickly. Their unease resonated with me deeply; I
Over the past two decades, there has been an increasing interest among researchers in studying meditation-based interventions with college students. Historically high rates of psychological distress and mental health challenges on campuses have colleges and universities pressed to handle demands and provide adequate services. As
This essay covers student learning, misconceptions, search engines, and AI, but first a story to set the context. Most every academic discipline has an organization dedicated to teaching, and I’m active in mine, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP). STP hosts a Facebook
From an early age, I was immersed in the Muslim tradition that taught me to learn from every facet of the natural world—from the majesty of mountains to the quiet diligence of ants. This philosophy is meant to cultivate a sense of humility within us
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