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Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Overweight kids experience more loneliness, anxiety, MU study finds As childhood obesity rates continue to increase, experts agree that more information is needed about the implications of being overweight as a step toward reversing current trends. Now, a new University of Missouri study has found that overweight children, especially girls, show signs of the negative consequences of being overweight as early as kindergarten. Contact: Emily Smith Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
UT multimedia program increases middle school interest in science Middle school students who were part of a unique science learning program developed by the University of Texas School of Public Health showed significant increases in interest and achievement scores compared to other students, a recent study found. Contact: Jade Waddy Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Report calls for new initiative to improve math education for preschoolers To ensure that all children enter elementary school with the foundation they need for success, a major national initiative is needed to improve early childhood mathematics education, says a new report from the National Research Council. Contact: Sara Frueh Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Research output in developing countries reveals 194 percent increase in five years The partners of Research4Life announced today at the World Conference of Science Journalists 2009 that a new research impact analysis has demonstrated a dramatic rise in research output by scientists in the developing world since 2002. By comparing absolute growth in published research before (1996 – 2002) and after (2002 - 2008) the advent of the Research4Life programs, the analysis has revealed a 194 percent or 6.4-fold increase in articles published in peer reviewed journals. Contact: Shira Tabachnikoff Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Climate change and the mystery of the shrinking sheep Changing winter conditions are causing Scotland's wild Soay sheep to get smaller despite the evolutionary benefits of having a large body, researchers report in a study that shows how climate change can trump natural selection. Contact: Natasha D. Pinol Public Release: 30-Jun-2009
Improving math education in early childhood Though many consider teaching math to young children to be unnecessary or inappropriate at this stage in their educational development, research shows that as early as infancy, children start to think about the world in mathematical ways Contact: Sara Frueh Public Release: 30-Jun-2009
Relationships improve student success When students are underachieving, school policymakers often examine class size, curriculum and funding, but University of Missouri researchers suggest establishing relationships may be a powerful and less expensive way to improve students' success. In a review of the research they show that students with positive attachments to their teachers and schools have higher grades and higher standardized test scores. Contact: Jeffrey Beeson Public Release: 26-Jun-2009
Race origins and health disparites To understand health disparities, researchers need to understand how today's racial categories evolved from the negative assumptions made hundreds of years ago to justify slavery. Contact: John L. Mitchell Public Release: 26-Jun-2009
Success of the academy approach? A complex picture is emerging about the controversial Academies program. Researchers analyze and report findings about academies in a special issue of the journal Management in Education, published today by SAGE. Among the issues addressed are whether academies are leading to improved student performance and higher levels of student satisfaction. Contact: Mithu Mukherjee Public Release: 25-Jun-2009
Taxpayer Alliance applauds bill to broaden access to federal research results Sens. Joseph Lieberman and John Cornyn today introduced the Federal Research Public Access Act, a bill to ensure free, timely, online access to the published results of research funded by 11 US federal agencies. The proposed bill is welcomed by the Alliance for Taxpayer Access, a coalition of research institutions, consumers, patients and others formed to support open public access to publicly funded research. Contact: Jennifer McLennan Public Release: 24-Jun-2009
New data show jump in science and engineering graduate study New data show that enrollment in US science and engineering (S&E) graduate programs in 2007 grew 3.3 percent over comparable data for 2006 -- the highest year-over-year increase since 2002 and nearly double the 1.7 percent increase seen in 2006. Contact: Bobbie Mixon Public Release: 23-Jun-2009
UT School of Public Health researchers develop game for HIV-positive youth Researchers at the University of Texas School of Public Health have developed a game for HIV-positive youth, +CLICK, designed to reduce secondary transmission of the virus. Contact: Jade Waddy Public Release: 23-Jun-2009
Afghani children suffering from post-traumatic stress Children who live in Afghanistan are more prone to developing PTSD. Contact: Bethany Carland-Adams Public Release: 22-Jun-2009
Zero in on ozone with fluorescent solution that detects harmful molecule in air and body Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a fluorescent substance that glows bright green when exposed to even minute amounts of ozone in the air and in biological samples such as human lung cells. A molecule consisting of three oxygen atoms, ozone is at once a harmful pollutant and lung irritant, and a possible natural weapon that certain research suggests the human body employs against infections. Contact: Morgan Kelly Public Release: 22-Jun-2009
Citizens in 34 countries show implicit bias linking males more than females with science Implicit stereotypes -- thoughts that people may be unwilling to express or may not even know that they have -- may have a powerful effect on gender equity in science and mathematics engagement and performance, according to a new study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Contact: Brian Nosek Public Release: 18-Jun-2009
Online tutorials help elementary school teachers make sense of science Interactive Web-based science tutorials can be effective tools for helping elementary school teachers construct powerful explanatory models of difficult scientific concepts, and research shows the interactive tutorials are just as effective online as they are in face-to-face settings, says a University of Illinois expert in science education. Contact: Phil Ciciora Public Release: 18-Jun-2009
Study promotes educational reform based on school self-management Researchers from the University of Murcia have investigated the issue of cooperation between families and schools, and are proposing changes be made to the organizational structure of schools to allow families to take an active part in managing them and to take on joint responsibility for their educational programs. The study underscores the crucial educational role of the family as a great environment within which to teach children ethical values. Contact: SINC Public Release: 18-Jun-2009
Humans related to orangutans, not chimps, says new Pitt, Buffalo Museum of Science study New evidence underscores the theory of human origin that suggests humans most likely share a common ancestor with orangutans, according to research from the University of Pittsburgh and the Buffalo Museum of Science. Reporting in the June 18 edition of the Journal of Biogeography, the researchers reject as "problematic" the popular suggestion, based on DNA analysis, that humans are most closely related to chimpanzees, which they maintain is not supported by fossil evidence. Contact: Morgan Kelly Public Release: 18-Jun-2009
School program cuts problem behaviors in fifth graders in half A study by Oregon State University researchers suggests that school-based prevention programs begun in elementary school can significantly reduce problem behaviors in students. Contact: Brian Flay Public Release: 17-Jun-2009
Computers can boost literacy Computers do not spell the demise of literacy -- in fact, they may help to create one of the most literate and engaged generations the world has seen. Contact: Claudia Morain Public Release: 17-Jun-2009
Free textbooks The trend toward open-source textbooks raises thorny questions, including how authors will be compensated for their time and how open-source publications will be regarded in the academic tenure process. Contact: Claudia Morain Public Release: 17-Jun-2009
Anime's fan girls Girls are gathering online to remake male-oriented Japanese animation videos into romances -- and in the process are picking up skills in film editing, storytelling and feminist literary criticism. Contact: Claudia Morain Public Release: 17-Jun-2009
Texting in class Texting in class usually gets kids in trouble. But some writing instructors, intrigued by the popularity of cell-phone novels in Japan, are considering phone composition as a way to get students interested in literature. Contact: Claudia Morain Public Release: 17-Jun-2009
Playing video games for better, not worse Some video games can make children kinder and more likely to help -- not hurt -- other people. Contact: Diane Swanbrow Public Release: 16-Jun-2009
Providing health insurance for US children would be cheaper than expected, study says Extending health insurance coverage to all children in the US would be relatively inexpensive and would yield economic benefits that are greater than the costs, according to new research conducted at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. Contact: David Ruth |