Disagreement creates discussion and is one of the ways individuals construct their knowledge about the world from birth. Children often develop the naive idea the Earth is flat, which can cloud their ability to understand the reality that it is round. A research study by Cecilia Calero, Diego De La Hera and Mariano Sigman from the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Argentina, explored how children can help one another learn about the true shape of the planet by sharing their knowledge with one another.

Diego De La Hera discusses what they learnt from the experience: Misconceptions about the earth? Children can help

On the other side of the coin, it is assumed that higher socio-economic status offers children opportunities for advancement through better education. But the interplay of advantage offered through genetic inheritance by parents is rarely considered beneficial to a child’s learning environment. A research study led by Eveline De Zeeuw from Vrije Universiteit, the Netherlands, explored whether genes and socio-economic status do make a difference to a child’s education, or not.

The research results highlight a surprising revelation following a comparative study of 12-year-old Twins. Read more: Socioeconomic status, genes and educational achievement

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