npj Science of Learning最新文献

Grit, a non-cognitive skill that indicates perseverance and passion for long-term goals, has been shown to predict academic achievement. This paper provides evidence that grit also predicts student outcomes during the challenging period of the Covid-19 pandemic. We use a unique dataset from a digital learning platform in the United Arab Emirates to construct a behavioral measure of grit. We find that controlling for baseline achievement, students who were grittier according to this measure before the pandemic, register lower declines in math and science scores during the coronavirus period. Using machine learning, behavioral data obtained from the platform prior to the pandemic can explain 77% of the variance in academic resilience. A survey measure of grit coming from the same students, on the other hand, does not have significant predictive power over performance changes. Our findings have implications for interventions on non-cognitive skills, as well as how data from digital learning platforms can be used to predict student behavior and outcomes, which we expect will be increasingly relevant as AI-based learning technologies become more common.

This Perspective article expands on a working memory-dependent dual-process model, originally proposed by Zheng et al.¹, to elucidate individual differences in the testing effect. This model posits that the testing effect comprises two processes: retrieval-attempt and post-retrieval re-encoding. We substantiate this model with empirical evidence and propose future research. This model invites further studies on the trade-off between testing benefits and WM demands, facilitating the development of personalized educational practices.

We show that learners generalized more broadly around the learned stimulus when they expected more variability between the learning set and the generalization set, as well as within the generalization set. Experiments 1 and 3 used a predictive learning task and demonstrated border perceptual generalization both when expected variability was manipulated explicitly via instructions (Experiment 1), and implicitly by increasing temporal distance to the anticipated application of learning (Experiment 3). Experiment 2 showed that expecting to apply learning in the more distant future increases expected variability in the generalization set. We explain the relation between expected variability and generalization as an accuracy-applicability trade-off: when learners anticipate more variable generalization targets, they "cast a wider net" during learning, by attributing the outcome to a broader range of stimuli. The use of more abstract, broader categories when anticipating a more distant future application aligns with Construal Level Theory of psychological distance.

The move away from transmission-based lecturing toward a more student-centred active learning approach is well evidenced in STEM higher education. However, the examination of active learning has generally remained confined to formal timetabled contexts, with assumptions made that students independently manage the transition between timetabled and non-timetabled learning. This paper introduces research findings from a mixed methods study that used an ecological approach when investigating student transitions between a formal lecture theatre and adjacent informal breakout space in a UK STEM university. Using quantitative occupancy monitoring data to analyse usage patterns of both spaces, in combination with qualitative ethnographic observations and field interviews, permitted a purposeful exploration of student engagement with transitions within and between the two learning spaces. The ecological approach aided the discovery of spatial, pedagogic and agentic transitions and tensions, which subsequently informed strategic modification of space across the institution to facilitate the adoption of active learning pedagogy.

Reading difficulty (RD) is associated with phonological deficits; however, it remains unknown whether the phonological deficits are different in children and adults with RD as reflected in foreign speech perception and production. In the current study, using functional Near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), we found less difference between Chinese adults and Chinese children in the RD groups than the control groups in the activation of the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during Spanish speech perception, suggesting slowed development in these regions associated with RD. Furthermore, using multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA), we found that activation patterns in the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG), premotor, supplementary motor area (SMA), and IFG could serve as reliable markers of RD. We provide both behavioral and neurological evidence for impaired speech perception and production in RD readers which can serve as markers of RD.

Stereotypes can exert a powerful influence on our interactions with others, potentially leading to prejudice when factual evidence is ignored. Here, we identify neuroanatomical and developmental factors that influence the real-time integration of stereotypes and factual evidence during live social interactions. The study uses precisely quantified communicative exchanges in a longitudinal cohort of seventeen-year-olds followed since infancy, testing their ability to moderate stereotype tendencies toward children as contrary evidence accumulates. Our results indicate that the impact of stereotypes on communicative behavior is linked to individual variations in gray matter density and cortical thickness in the right anterior cingulate gyrus. In contrast, the ability to moderate stereotype tendencies is influenced by developmental exposure to social interactions during the initial years of life, beyond the effects of familial environment and later experiences. These findings pinpoint a key brain structure underlying stereotype tendencies and suggest that early-life social experiences have lasting consequences on how individuals integrate factual evidence in interpersonal communication.

Applying 10 Hz (α-rate) sensory stimulation, not 5 Hz (θ-rate), prior to introducing novel speech-print pairs can reset the phase of θ oscillations and enhance associative learning. This rapid gain indicates coordinated mechanisms to regulate attentional/cognitive resources (α oscillations) and facilitate memory storage (θ oscillations) early in learning. The present findings may inform educational practices for children with reading difficulties.

With the opportunities and challenges stemming from the artificial intelligence developments and its integration into society, AI literacy becomes a key concern. Utilizing quality AI literacy instruments is crucial for understanding and promoting AI literacy development. This systematic review assessed the quality of AI literacy scales using the COSMIN tool aiming to aid researchers in choosing instruments for AI literacy assessment. This review identified 22 studies validating 16 scales targeting various populations including general population, higher education students, secondary education students, and teachers. Overall, the scales demonstrated good structural validity and internal consistency. On the other hand, only a few have been tested for content validity, reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness. None of the scales have been tested for cross-cultural validity and measurement error. Most studies did not report any interpretability indicators and almost none had raw data available. There are 3 performance-based scale available, compared to 13 self-report scales.

To examine the role of inequality in academic achievement, we analyse a cross-national dataset including data from three cycles from 2012 to 2018 from the PISA, an international assessment of 15-year-old students' math, reading, and science performance. The Gini coefficient and gender inequality index (GII) were used as metrics for a country's economic inequality and gender inequality, respectively. The results show that gender inequality has a negative association with academic achievement for both boys and girls. Moreover, gender inequality has a stronger association with academic achievement than does economic inequality. We also find that gender inequality in reproductive health may contribute substantially to the association between gender inequality and academic achievement. Despite substantial advances in gender equality worldwide, multisectoral and multilevel approaches from the community to the country level are needed to ensure substantial long-term reductions in economic, gender, and educational inequalities.

Our nervous system has the remarkable ability to adapt our gait to accommodate changes in our body or surroundings. However, our adapted walking patterns often generalize only partially (or not at all) between different contexts. Here, we sought to understand how the nervous system generalizes adapted gait patterns from one context to another. Through a series of split-belt treadmill walking experiments, we evaluated different mechanistic hypotheses to explain the partial generalization of adapted gait patterns from split-belt treadmill to overground walking. In support of the credit assignment hypothesis, our experiments revealed the central finding that adaptation involves recalibration of two distinct forward models. Recalibration of the first model generalizes to overground walking, suggesting that the model represents the general movement dynamics of our body. On the other hand, recalibration of the second model does not generalize to overground walking, suggesting the model represents dynamics specific to treadmill walking. These findings reveal that there is a predefined portion of forward model recalibration that generalizes across context, leading to overall partial generalization of walking adaptation.