Education News

A program designed to boost cognition in older adults also increased their openness to new experiences, researchers report, demonstrating for the first time that a non-drug intervention in older adults can change a personality trait once thought to be fixed throughout the lifespan.

Families that have high amounts of unsecured debt, such as outstanding credit card balances and payday loans, diminish their childrens prospects of attending or graduating from college, according to a new study by social work professors Min Zhan at the University of Illinois and Michael Sherraden, the founder of the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis.

A new study of more than 346 middle-school children indicates that boys are less likely than girls to intervene to protect a bullying victim, especially if the boy is a member of a peer group in which bullying is the norm. The study also suggests that anti-bullying programs that focus on bystander intervention and empathy training arent likely to have much impact unless attention is given to reducing bullying perpetration within childrens peer groups.

The 3-year-old Illinois Professional Science Masters program got its start during a recession, but most of its 2010 graduates are already pursuing careers in the fields they chose. It took most a few months to find work, although some and at least two of the 2011 graduating class were offered jobs while still in school.

With an increasing number of children wired from an early age, adept at playing computer games and surfing the Web by elementary school, future teachers need to know how to integrate educational games into their teaching practice, according to Wen-Hao (David) Huang, a professor in the department of education policy, organization and leadership in the College of Education.