EdNeuroLab Zeroes in on Math Learning
March 26, 2020 | By Lynn Armitage, WCER Communications
In 2012, Edward Hubbard, an assistant professor in UW‒Madison’s Department of Educational Psychology, created the Educational Neuroscience Lab to understand—through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)—how the physical changes that occur in children’s brains as they learn may help improve education practices.
Tips for families working and learning from home
March 23, 2020 | By NBC15 News
For families with young children, University of Wisconsin-Madison educator and family engagement researcher Lorena Mancilla offers advice on how to create spaces and establish routines for learning and working effectively from home.
Education on the Home Front: How to Keep Young Children Learning in the Early Days of COVID-19
March 20, 2020 | By Janet L. Kelly, WCER Communications
For families with young children, UW–Madison educator, doctoral alum and family engagement researcher Lorena Mancilla has some advice on how to create spaces and establish routines for learning and working effectively from home.
First Analysis of UW System Hmong Undergrads Finds Low & Declining Enrollments, Grad Rates
March 10, 2020 | By Janet L. Kelly, WCER Communications
A team of HMoob (Hmong)* American undergraduates mentored by UW–Madison education researchers in WCER's Center for Research on College to Workforce Transitions has completed the first analysis of University of Wisconsin System student data disaggregated by race and ethnicity for the state’s largest Asian ethnic population.They find that except for UW–Oshkosh and UW–Green Bay, UW System enrollment of HMoob Americans is proportionally low and declining, particularly at the state’s flagship UW–Madison campus.
“Meet Your Immigrant Neighbor” Series Pitched by UW-Madison Researcher Airs this Week
March 9, 2020 | By WCER Communications
Starting today, a television news series pitched by Ruslana Westerlund, a researcher in UW-Madison's School of Education, begins on Madison’s NBC affiliate during its "News at 4" time slot. "Meet Your Immigrant Neighbor” will air at 4:15 p.m. today through March 13, featuring immigrants and the contributions they make to Dane County. Westerlund, who has lived in the United States for 25 years, pitched the interviews to highlight the positive contributions of immigrants and counteract negative rhetoric in the media.
Meet Your Immigrant Neighbor: Ruslana Westerland
March 9, 2020 | By Leigh Mills, Ch. 15 NBC News at 4
All week on Madison's NBC15 News at 4, Leigh Mills is sharing stories of those who have made the United States their home. This video news segment introduces Ruslana Westerlund, a Ukrainian American Educational Researcher at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, who also suggested the idea to Ch. 15.
Nicholas Hillman: How students and teachers approach college in ‘education deserts’
February 27, 2020 | By Laura Edghill
Sunshine Bible Academy Superintendent and Principal Jason Watson wishes his students had better access to college representatives. The private Christian school in Hand County, S.D., serves 75 students, nearly two-thirds of whom live on campus. The universities within a four- to five-hour driving distance are scattered in different directions, making tours impractical for many families. Sunshine Bible Academy is in what scholar Nicholas Hillman of the University of Wisconsin calls an “education desert.”
Gloria Ladson-Billings announces new inductees to the National Academy of Education
February 27, 2020 | By Annemarie Mountz
Fifteen people nationwide will be elected to the National Academy of Education (NAEd) in 2020. Election to membership in the academy is one of the highest honors accorded to educational researchers by their peers. "This diverse group of scholars are at the forefront of those who are improving the lives of students in the United States and abroad through their outstanding contributions to education scholarship and research," said Gloria Ladson-Billings, president of NAEd, in making the announcement.
Connections, Conversations & Communities: Engaging with the World’s Largest Collection of Type
February 27, 2020
Stephanie Carpenter, a graphic designer and letterpress printer, discusses how she helps facilitate learning through storytelling and hands-on experiences at the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum. She will share how she fell in love with type and the importance of history, art and design at a working museum. This lecture is part of the Wisconsin Ideas in Education Series, presented by the Early Career Faculty of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin--Madison with support from the Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
Jerlando F.L. Jackson to deliver keynote address at statewide diversity conference
February 19, 2020
At least 70 Diversifying Faculty in Illinois (DFI) Fellowship recipients and other graduate students of color interested in the professoriate as a career path are expected at the fifth-annual statewide conference at Northern Illinois University. UW-Madison's Jerlando F.L. Jackson will deliver the keynote address. The program will take place Friday-Saturday, Feb. 28-29 in the Holmes Student Center.
Op-Ed: Sacramento’s army of interns deserves to be paid
February 19, 2020 | By Victoria Pfau
Research from Matthew T. Hora, director of WCER's Center for Research on College-Work Transitions, is mentioned in this opinion piece advocating for student intern pay in the California State Capitol.
Wisconsin ACT scores reveal glaring disparities, DPI, UW work to address
February 18, 2020 | By Erin Gretzinger
As a new analysis captures persisting disparities in Wisconsin’s ACT scores for college readiness, state officials and researchers work to understand and combat issues within the educational achievement gap. In a recent analysis conducted by the Wisconsin Policy Forum on Wisconsin ACT data from the past few years, researchers found “areas of concern” with declining and stagnant college readiness scores of high school juniors.
Teacher-Guided Play Seen as Key to Deeper Student Learning
February 14, 2020 | By Karen Rivedal, WCER Communications
An errant paper airplane, and a teacher’s insightful response to it, led to one of the best examples of successful play-based learning in a classroom that Angela Pyle, a faculty member in early childhood education at the University of Toronto, has witnessed in her extensive research.
Termed “inquiry play,” it’s a type of teacher-guided play in which an instructor seizes on young students’ expressed passions for a topic or activity, even if it means shifting gears to pursue an unexpected interruption as a multi-faceted learning opportunity.
Beyond the “English Learner” Label: Recognizing Latina/o/x Students’ Multilingual Repertoires
February 12, 2020
In this talk, Ramón Martínez delves beneath the label of “English Learner” to reveal the complexity of Latina/o/x students’ everyday language. He highlights how their everyday linguistic dexterity overlaps with the kinds of language and literacy privileged in academic settings. He shares examples and findings from his ethnographic research in a Los Angeles school that can inform the design of robust learning environments for Latina/o/x children and youth.
Internships can ease the path from college to career — but they often don’t.
February 12, 2020
It’s becoming increasingly clear how critical internships are in landing a job after college and accelerating one’s career. So I was very interested when I learned that Matthew Hora, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who studies the path from college to career, had turned his attention to internships because I knew he would challenge some common assumptions.
