STEM Education News

June 9, 2025

Top Headlines

Missed School Is an Overlooked Consequence of Tropical Cyclones, Warming Planet

Apr. 29, 2025 — New research finds that tropical cyclones reduce years of schooling for children in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in areas unaccustomed to frequent storms. Girls are ...

More Than Marks: How Wellbeing Shapes Academic Success

Mar. 11, 2025 — A world first* study of more than 215,000 students, researchers found that while standardized tests measure academic skills, different dimensions of wellbeing -- emotional wellbeing, engagement, and learning readiness -- can play a crucial role in ...

New Study Examines How Physics Students Perceive Recognition

Mar. 5, 2025 — Experts see peer recognition as important to student success in physics, and a new study gives college-level physics instructors insight into how students perceive the message from their classmates that 'you're good at physics.' Even when women ...

Problem-Based Learning Helps Students Stay in School

Feb. 26, 2025 — Education experts are encouraging schools to consider problem-based learning (PBL) in a move to improve engagement and creativity among high school students. New research demonstrates how hands-on, community-based projects can deliver successful ...

Study Finds American, Canadian Universities Vary Widely in Preparing Future Urban Planners for Climate Change

Dec. 3, 2024 — A study of American and Canadian universities found most are including climate change in the curriculum for future urban planners, but they vary widely in their approaches to preparing the future ...

Researchers Highlight Nobel-Winning AI Breakthroughs and Call for Interdisciplinary Innovation

Nov. 26, 2024 — A new article examines the convergence of physics, chemistry, and AI, highlighted by recent Nobel Prizes. It traces the historical development of neural networks, emphasizing the role of ...

Probability Training: Preventing Errors of Reasoning in Medicine and Law

Nov. 6, 2024 — A new study shows how students can better understand and interpret conditional ...

Adapting GenAI for the Next Generation of Learning

Oct. 23, 2024 — A new study by learning analytics researchers presents key considerations for generative AI (GenAI) educational tools so they are carefully developed to support, rather than replace, human ...

Green Education Can Create New Generation of Eco-Leaders

Oct. 8, 2024 — Countries across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region can overcome major shared environmental challenges such as water scarcity and air pollution by harnessing the power of 'green education' to nurture a new generation of ...

Non-Cognitive Skills: The Hidden Key to Academic Success

Aug. 26, 2024 — A study has revealed that non-cognitive skills, such as motivation and self-regulation, are as important as intelligence in determining academic success. These skills become increasingly influential throughout a child's education, with genetic ...

Redefining the Computer Whiz: Research Shows Diverse Skills Valued by Youth

Aug. 11, 2024 — Researchers have uncovered a more nuanced view of what makes an 'ideal' computer science student, challenging long-held stereotypes of geeky, clever, detail-oriented men, who lack social ...

Just Say 'Climate Change' -- Not 'Climate Emergency'

Aug. 12, 2024 — The familiar terms 'climate change' and 'global warming' are more likely to resonate with people than other commonly used ...

Latest Headlines

updated 1:36pm EDT

New, Holistic Way to Teach Synthetic Biology

June 27, 2024 — Synthetic biology combines principles from science, engineering and social science, creating emerging technologies such as alternative meats and mRNA vaccines; Deconstructing synthetic biology across ...

AI Generated Exam Answers Go Undetected in Real-World Blind Test

June 26, 2024 — Experienced exam markers may struggle to spot answers generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI), researchers have ...

Researchers Engineer AI Path to Prevent Power Outages

June 24, 2024 — Researchers developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that could help electrical grids prevent power outages by automatically rerouting electricity in milliseconds. The approach is an early ...

New Study Finds AI-Generated Empathy Has Its Limits

May 8, 2024 — Conversational agents (CAs) such as Alexa and Siri are designed to answer questions, offer suggestions -- and even display empathy. However, new research finds they do poorly compared to humans when ...

Cybersecurity Education Varies Widely in US

May 6, 2024 — Cybersecurity programs vary dramatically across the country, a review has found. The authors argue that program leaders should work with professional societies to make sure graduates are well trained ...

Hey Dave, I've Got an Idea for You: What's the Potential of AI-Led Workshopping?

Apr. 23, 2024 — Sure, ChatGPT can write a poem about your pet in the style of T.S Eliot, but generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots have a potentially more ...

The Evolving Attitudes of Gen X Toward Evolution

Apr. 10, 2024 — As the centennial of the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 approaches, a new study illustrates that the attitudes of Americans in Generation X toward evolution shifted as they ...

Teacher Effectiveness for Students With and Without Disabilities

Mar. 25, 2024 — Research has often focused on how teachers and educators can best instruct and accommodate students with disabilities. However, are the methods used to teach students with disabilities effective and ...

High School Students Contribute to Exoplanet Discovery

Mar. 20, 2024 — A group of high school students from Oakland, California, made contributions to the field of exoplanet research. Researchers worked with the students to use backpack-sized digital smart telescopes. ...

Information Overload Is a Personal and Societal Danger

Mar. 14, 2024 — We are all aware of the dangers of pollution to our air, water, and earth. In a recently published letter, scientists are advocating for the recognition and mitigation of another type of ...

Earlier Headlines

Does Teamwork Fulfill the Goal of Project-Based Learning?

Apr. 7, 2025 — A researcher investigated the impact of the group work environment on motivation in English as a second language classes. The study revealed that the group work environment plays an important role in ...

Education Scholar Calls for Ecological Shift to 'School Within a School' to Give Students Autonomy Needed for Success

Dec. 12, 2024 — An international education expert, argues in a new study for an ecological shift to a 'school within a school' approach that would give students, teachers and parents the ability to guide ...

Math-Selective US Universities Reduce Gender Gap in STEM Fields

Nov. 21, 2024 — Nationally, men in colleges and universities currently outpace women in earning degrees in physics, engineering, and computer science (PECS) by an approximate ratio of 4 to 1. To better understand ...

An Extra Year of Education Does Not Protect Against Brain Aging, Study Finds

Nov. 5, 2024 — Thanks to a 'natural experiment' involving 30,000 people, researchers were able to determine very precisely what an extra year of education does to the brain in the long term. To their ...

Researchers Show Why Cannabis Policies Should Shift to a Harm Reduction, Health Promotion Approach to Safeguard Public Health

Oct. 23, 2024 — A new paper explains why there needs to be a shift in cannabis policies to a public health approach as opposed to the prevailing, more punitive approach that pushes abstinence instead of public ...

Early Active Learning Boosts Skills for Children Born Into Extreme Poverty, but Gains Fade for Black Boys, Study Shows

Oct. 23, 2024 — Research findings provide further evidence that early childhood education can improve educational outcomes for low-income Black children, but that subsequent experiences may erode those impacts ...

Play It Forward: Lasting Effects of Pretend Play in Early Childhood

Sep. 19, 2024 — As the school year revs up, a renowned child developmental psychologist highlights the robust benefits of pretend play on cognitive, social, and emotional development in children and cautions how ...

Belief in Academic Ability Key Factor in Academic Success for Low-Income Students

Sep. 9, 2024 — A strong belief in their own academic ability can help children from low-income families defy the odds and achieve academic success, according to new ...

Study Finds When Self-Determination Model Provided to Schools With Support, Teachers and All Students Benefit

Sep. 4, 2024 — Researchers published a study detailing their work implementing the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction in 15 schools. They found the schools that received training and coaching for ...

Clever Pupils Don't Need to Attend Academically Selective Schools to Thrive, Study Finds

July 4, 2024 — New findings challenge the idea that academically selective schools are necessary for clever pupils to achieve good ...

Rigorous New Study Debunks Misconceptions About Anemia, Education

June 19, 2024 — In low- and middle-income countries, anemia reduction efforts are often touted as a way to improve educational outcomes and reduce poverty. A new study evaluates the relationship between anemia and ...

Computer Game in School Made Students Better at Detecting Fake News

Apr. 24, 2024 — A computer game helped upper secondary school students become better at distinguishing between reliable and misleading ...

Life Goals and Their Changes Drive Success

Apr. 22, 2024 — Though life goals change over time, a study of teen goals indicates that goals of education and high prestige can drive ...

Japan's Premodern Concept of Nature at Root of Distinctive Mindset in Early Childhood Education

Apr. 22, 2024 — Observers of Japanese early childhood education and care have pointed to the mindset of educators watching over and waiting on preschoolers as being an intriguing tendency. This mimamoru approach has ...

School Suspensions and Exclusions Put Vulnerable Children at Risk

Apr. 15, 2024 — Managing problematic student behavior is one of the most persistent, challenging, and controversial issues facing schools today. Yet despite best intentions to build a more inclusive and ...

Innovative Approaches for Addressing Difficult Topics in K-12 Schools

Mar. 13, 2024 — Three peer-reviewed journals have recently published research papers by Penn State's Hammel Family Human Rights Initiative. The papers illustrate how the initiative's programs help K-12 ...

Asthma Rates Climb for High School Students as Cannabis Use Increases

Jan. 30, 2024 — Asthma is more common among high school students who use cannabis, relative to those who do not and the prevalence of asthma increases with the frequency of its use among the students, according to a ...

Education and Information Can Increase the Acceptance of Climate Policies

Jan. 29, 2024 — An important question for policymakers worldwide is how to make climate and environmental policies acceptable among the populations. A new study sheds light on the preferences in five East African ...

From Interests to Employment (or Not): New Study Explores Gender Gaps in Career Paths

Dec. 19, 2023 — A recent study found significant variations in career interests between men and women. Surprisingly, even with these interest differences, gender gaps in career opportunities are more substantial ...

New HS Curriculum Teaches Color Chemistry and AI Simultaneously

Dec. 7, 2023 — Researchers have developed a weeklong high school curriculum that helps students quickly grasp concepts in both color chemistry and artificial intelligence -- while sparking their curiosity about ...