Latest News and Comment from Education

Monday, November 15, 2010

The Answer Sheet - Willingham: How 'mind-wandering' affects students

The Answer Sheet - Willingham: How 'mind-wandering' affects students

Willingham: How 'mind-wandering' affects students

My guest today is cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?” By Daniel Willingham It may be a uniquely human ability that we are able to think about things that are not in the here and now. We can reflect on the past, anticipate the future, or fantasize about the impossible. This cognitive capacity is doubtless critical to humankind’s creativity, and is thus crucial to innovations in technology, politics, science, and all human affairs. As individuals, however, daydreaming incurs an emotional cost.

China overtakes India as No. 1 source of foreign students in U.S.

China zoomed past India as the main source of foreign students coming to the United States to attend college, with a 30 percent jump in Chinese students in a single year, according to a new report released today. It was the first time that China had sent the most students to American schools. The number of international students in the United States increased 2.9 percent in 2009-10 over the previous year, to 690,923 students. The University of Southern California hosted the most of any other school, and California was the leading state.