Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Education

Education People who believe they have an abundant supply of self-control are more likely to feel invigorated by mentally taxing activities than people who believe their willpower is a finite resource, according to a new study by University of Illinois educational psychology professor Christopher Napolitano.

Key to willpower lies in believing you have it in abundance

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Americans believe they have less stamina for strenuous mental activity than their European counterparts – an indication that people in the U.S. perceive their willpower or self-control as being in limited supply, a new study suggests. More than 1,100 Americans and 1,600 Europeans – including 775 Swiss and 871 German-speaking adults – […]

Education Ming Kuo and her colleagues found that student engagement in the classroom improved after an outdoor lesson.

Lessons in nature boost classroom engagement afterward, researchers report

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Third-graders who spend a class session in a natural outdoor setting are more engaged and less distracted in their regular classroom afterward than when they remain indoors, scientists found in a new study. This effect, reported in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, was large and occurred week after week, regardless of teacher […]

Education Social work professor Kevin Tan found in a recent study that addressing middle school students’ problems with bullying, fighting and attendance may be critical to ensuring they graduate high school on time.

Only half of youths involved in problem behaviors graduate on time

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Children who experience high rates of peer victimization or engage in problem behaviors such as fighting or absenteeism during seventh grade are at significantly greater risk of not graduating high school on time, a new study suggests. The study examined patterns of high school graduation and students’ experiences with victimization, physical fighting, […]

Expert viewpoints Professor Angela Lyons

Does revoking professional licenses prompt borrowers to repay student loans?

Angela Lyons, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics and director of the Center for Economic and Financial Education, is an expert on financial education and consumer financial protection. Lyons spoke recently with News Bureau education editor Sharita Forrest about aggressive techniques to collect student loan debt. The New York Times recently reported on people […]

Expert viewpoints Professor Jennifer Delaney

Does tax reform bill spell trouble for higher education?

The tax reform bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, now under review in the Senate, proposes sweeping changes to federal tax regulations, several of which have implications for higher education. Education professor and higher education finance expert Jennifer Delaney spoke with News Bureau education editor Sharita Forrest about the possible ramifications for college […]

Education The Education Justice Project is expanding its academic programs and technology for students at Danville Correctional Center with the support of a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The project’s director is Rebecca Ginsburg, a professor of education policy, organization and leadership and of landscape architecture at the University of Illinois.

Education Justice Project receives $1 million Mellon grant

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Education Justice Project at the University of Illinois is expanding its academic programs for men in prison with the support of a three-year, $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Based in the College of Education, EJP offers education programs to men incarcerated at the Danville Correctional Center, a […]

Announcements Nancy Brady, an expert on nonspeech communication and a faculty member at the University of Kansas, will be the main speaker for the Goldstick Family Lecture in the Study of Communication Disorders at the University of Illinois.

Expert on pre-language communication to give annual Goldstick Lecture

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Nancy C. Brady, an expert on pre-language communication and language development in young children, will give the annual Goldstick Family Lecture in the Study of Communication Disorders at the University of Illinois. Brady’s talk, which is titled “Show Me What You Mean,” will describe her research and clinical activities, which led to […]

Education Pay-it-forward financing programs could have differing effects on college access and voter support for tax subsidies, depending on how individual voters fare economically, suggests a paper co-written by University of Illinois education professor Jennifer Delaney.

Pay-it-forward college financing policies examined in new study

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Pay-it-forward college financing programs that enable students to pay tuition upon departure rather than entry may make college more accessible to greater numbers of students in the U.S., a new analysis suggests. And despite some critics’ fears, PIF programs could increase – rather than erode – public funding for higher education, say […]

Expert viewpoints Professor Eboni Zamani-Gallaher

Is affirmative action in college admissions under threat?

Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, the director of the Office of Community College Research and Leadership and a professor of higher education/community college leadership at the University of Illinois, is an expert on affirmative action in higher education. Zamani-Gallaher spoke recently with News Bureau education editor Sharita Forrest about the U.S. Justice Department’s plans to investigate possible racial […]

Education University of Illinois educational psychology professor Kiel Christianson found in a recent study that readers’ likelihood of being offended by taboo words and the context in which the words were used accounted for some – but not all – of these words’ impact on readers’ attention and memory.

Taboo words’ impact mediated by context, listeners’ likelihood of being offended

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Taboo words provoke certain responses in readers’ heart rates and brains, diminishing their attention and memory, research has shown. A new paper by scholars at the University of Illinois suggests that the physiological and psychological effects of profanity and other taboo words on people who read or hear them may be due […]

Announcements Culture’s pivotal role in effective educational and social assessments – and how related research findings can spark social change – will be the focus of the Center for Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment's 2017 conference. The center is based in the College of Education.

Culture’s influence on testing, evaluation to be focus of conference

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Culture’s pivotal role in effective educational and social assessments – and how related research findings can spark social change – will be the focus of an international conference in Chicago this fall. “Evidence Matters: Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment Translating to Action and Impact in Challenging Times” is the theme of the […]

Humanities

Illinois information sciences professor edits book about trigger warnings

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When the University of Kentucky assigned the book “Picking Cotton” for all incoming freshmen to read before the start of the 2015-16 school year, the university included a note alerting students that the book includes descriptions of sexual assault and systematic racial discrimination. In summer 2016, the University of Chicago’s Dean of […]

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