Archive of entries posted on March 2021

I Know We Have Science-Minded Moon Nukers… So What the Hell Passes For Science These Days?

Posted by on

‘Explicit Instruction’ Provides Dramatic Benefits in Learning To Read
Association for Psychological Science | Feb. 26, 2021

The ability to read is foundational to education,

Duh.

but prolonged school closures and distance learning due to the pandemic have imposed unique challenges on the teaching of many fundamental skills.

Duh.

When in-person classes resume, many students will likely need a period of catch-up learning, especially those who lag behind in basic reading skills.

Duh.

New research published in the journal Psychological Science shows that people who were taught to read by receiving explicit instructions on the relationship between sounds and spelling experienced a dramatic improvement compared to learners who discovered this relationship naturally through the reading process.

Without teachers?

These results contribute to an ongoing debate about how best to teach children to read.

A team of researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London, tested both techniques on a group of 48 adults

Such a useful sample!

who, over an intensive two-week period, were taught to read a new language that was printed in unfamiliar symbols.

One half of the participants learned spelling-to-sound and spelling-to-meaning regularities solely through experience with reading the novel words during training.

?

The other half received a brief session of explicit instruction on these regularities before training commenced.

?

So they were trained before . . . ?

Never mind. It gets better:

At the end of the two-week period, both groups were given reading tests to gauge how well they had learned the new language.

“Our results were really striking.

!

By the end of the two weeks, virtually all learners who had received explicit instruction

— note that well, teachers.

That is sort of, kind of, the definition of your job.

were able to read words printed in the unfamiliar symbols,” said Kathleen Rastle, a researcher at Royal Holloway and lead author on the paper.

? (burp)

In contrast, despite up to 18 hours of experience with the new language, less than 25% of the “discovery learners” reached the same standard, and some showed very poor learning.

Were they at a freaking pub?

And I’ll make a wild guess: more study is needed?

Scientists: Bearded Seals Are Drama Queens and Poofters

Posted by on

No, he’s not in distress: it’s mating season, and the ocean is like ten or twelve feet away.

From spring through early summer, the under-ice habitat near Utqiagvik, Alaska, is flooded with the vocalizations of male bearded seals—a sound that can be best described as “otherworldly.”

Meanwhile, thank God, the local natives go on happily munching on them:

Bearded seals—or ugruk in the Inupiaq language—are highly valued by Alaska Native communities in the high Arctic. Since bearded seals are at the center of subsistence and cultural activities in Inupiaq communities, threats to them threaten the communities that rely on them.

“This work never would have happened without the insight and guidance of Arctic communities,” Fournet said. “It was their energy that led the Cornell Lab to place hydrophones in the water. It is our job to continue listening.”

1