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In a new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, researchers Albert Kao (Harvard University), Andrew Berdahl (Santa Fe Institute), and their colleagues examined just how accurate our collective intelligence is and how individual bias and information sharing skew aggregate estimates. Using their findings, they developed a mathematical correction that takes into account bias and social information to generate an improved crowd estimate.
Brigham Young University life sciences professors have found that giving students access to their personal biological data has a profound impact on their learning experience. In a summary of their experiment, published in high-ranking scientific journal PLOS ONE, the researchers report students with access to data about their own microbiome -- the trillions of tiny microorganisms that live in a person's gut, mouth and skin -- are significantly more engaged and more interested in course material.
The danger and risk of riding out a storm is symbolic of the decision black men make to pursue a graduate degree in engineering. They do so knowing they will face challenges, but the barriers described by black men who shared their experiences as part of a six-year study show how race was a greater obstacle than they expected.
The demand for high performance computing in Ohio is relentless, and it does not discriminate by field. At Thursday's Ohio Supercomputer Center Statewide Users Group (SUG) spring conference, OSC clients in fields spanning everything from astrophysics to linguistics gathered to share research highlights and hear updates about the center's direction and role in supporting science across Ohio.
China's President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stated his aim of transforming the country into a 'science and technology superpower.' But when it comes to China's science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) research environment, newly published research suggests that they may have a long way to go.
An online study with 168,000 people shows large variation in typing speeds and styles. The dataset is the largest ever on everyday typing and exposed several factors that differentiate fast vs. slow typists. In addition to making less errors, the researchers found that fastest typists rely on so-called 'rollover' where a letter key is typed already before the previous one is released. The data is published and free to use for research purposes.
Montana State University education professor Bryce Hughes' paper, 'Coming Out in STEM: factors affecting retention of sexual minority STEM students,' was published March 14 in Science Advances. Hughes found students who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or queer were 7 percent less likely than their heterosexual peers to complete their STEM degree.
A first-of-its-kind study by researchers at Arizona State University shows that in the college biology classroom, men perceive themselves as smarter, even when compared to women whose grades prove they are just as smart. The study, published April 4 in the journal Advances in Physiology Education, shows that gender greatly impacts students' perceptions of their own intelligence, particularly when they compare themselves to others.
A major hurricane struck the islands of Hawai'i and Maui on Aug. 9, 1871, and wrought widespread destruction from Hilo to Lahaina. A recent study by two scientists, a Hawaiian language expert, and an educator from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa (UH Mānoa) revealed how historical Hawaiian-language newspapers expand knowledge of this and other natural disasters of the past.
An analysis of more than 2,000 college classes in science, technology, engineering and math has found that 55 percent of STEM classroom interactions consisted mostly of conventional lecturing -- a style that prior research has identified as among the least effective at teaching and engaging students.