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Study: Idea sharing increases online learner engagement
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Sharing ideas in an online learning environment has a distinct advantage over sharing personal details in driving learner engagement in massive open online courses, more commonly known as MOOCs, says new research co-written by a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign expert who studies the intersection of marketing and digital environments. Online learning engagement […]

Children’s book by U of I students teaches third graders about automotive engineering
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new book written and illustrated by two recent alumnae of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign introduces third graders to the nuts and bolts of automotive mechanics and engineering. “Jenny Saves a Convertible” is the first book written and illustrated by U. of I. students to be published through a project with […]

Study examines how pandemic-related changes affect college students’ motivation
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When the worsening COVID-19 pandemic prompted colleges to shutter their campuses and shift to remote learning in spring 2020, concerns arose that many underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines would be demotivated and drop out in even greater numbers. However, a study of 182 undergraduate students in a biology […]

Four Illinois faculty members elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Education Dean James Anderson, physics professor Nadya Mason chemistry professor Nancy Makri and materials science and engineering professor Kenneth Schweizer have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest honor societies in the nation. They are among 252 new members […]

How are social media changing higher education?
Editor’s note: Fear of career-damaging reprisals from outraged parties in the “Twittersphere” coupled with unspoken rules about what can and can’t be said on college campuses constrain what faculty members teach, research and discuss, says sociology professor Ilana Redstone of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In the recent book “Unassailable Ideas: How Unwritten Rules and […]

K-12 Shield Playbook offers guidance for reopening schools amid ongoing pandemic
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new resource is available to help guide teachers and school administrators as they reopen schools amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, assembled by researchers and experts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. As vaccines for the virus that causes COVID-19 become more accessible, more communities and schools are reopening. However, no vaccines […]

Electronic health record system increases clinicians’ cognitive workload, study finds
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A study at two urgent care clinics found that adopting a new electronic health records system doubled the amount of cognitive effort health care workers expended to perform their work during the first six months after implementation. The increase in cognitive workload also persisted for at least 30 months, the researchers found. […]

‘Whiteness’ undermines efforts to address systemic racism in public education
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Promoting equity and justice orientations in future school leaders is not enough to address systemic racism, researchers say in a new study. Instead, school leaders need educational and professional development programs that cultivate insight into the foundational role of “whiteness” in public education and teach them the skills to dismantle racist policies […]

Are science laboratories truly inclusive if not accessible to service-dog handlers?
According to a new commentary in Disability and Health Journal, people with disabilities who rely on service dogs often are prohibited from bringing their working dogs into teaching and research laboratories. This one barrier can stop them from pursuing careers in science, says Joey Ramp, a researcher in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and […]

How might Freedom Schools promote educational equity in Illinois?
The education reform bill HB 2170, passed by both chambers of the Illinois Legislature, includes the creation of a Freedom School Fund. Jon Hale, a professor of educational history at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, wrote the 2016 book “The Freedom Schools: Student Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement” (New York: Columbia University Press). […]

Projects explore role of social-emotional learning in healing racial wounds
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The impact of the 2020 U.S. presidential election on children’s mental health and the role of social and emotional learning in healing racial wounds will be explored in upcoming online parenting seminars and other activities. Led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign SEL scholars Kevin Tan, a professor of social work, and Durriyyah […]

Technology loan program helps families receive early childhood services online
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When the COVID-19 pandemic forced Illinois service providers to suspend in-person early intervention visits last spring, families of infants and toddlers with disabilities or delays who lacked online access faced challenges obtaining services such as speech, occupational therapy and developmental therapy. However, a technology loan program provided by the Illinois Early Intervention […]