npj Science of Learning Community: Digest #17

In March, npj Science of Learning Community authors announced a new technology that may suppress a student’s motivation to cheat online, presented a study that will identify gaps in our knowledge of education, and explored how the narratives teenagers construct about the world are related to neural connectivity and learning.

Teenagers construct daily narratives about their experiences in the world. These meaning-making narratives are related to the activity and changing connectivity of the networks in the brain, especially the networks that predict long-term outcomes. If teachers are familiar with these dispositions of the mind, they can support their development in the classroom. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and Douglas Knecht described how their fascinating research is bridging gaps in understanding what happens inside the brain of a teenager while they explore and learn about the world in Building Meaning Builds Teens’ Brains. 

The pandemic has changed the way schools and universities approach education, with a rise in online learning courses in response to long term lockdowns. Not surprisingly, an increase in cheating behaviours by students has accompanied this new phase in education, especially online collusion. In a bid to eliminate the chance for collusion during distance online testing, a research lab developed a new technology that may motivate students to study instead of cheat. Ge Wang explains further the effectiveness of this remarkable new technology in Suppressing the Chance to Cheat in Online Exams.

The future of education is an important concern for educators, especially the question of how to equip students with the skills to cope with the challenges the world has to offer. An international research team is conducting an international, scientific and evidence-based assessment about the current state of knowledge about learning and education. The study will draw together insights into students’ learning experiences from the mind, brain and education fields. Nienke van Atteveldt and Anantha Duraiappah discussed how the research outcomes will redefine the learning experience of children worldwide and allow them to flourish in Education for a better future.