Tag: school and learning

Boys don’t need to get as good grades as girls

Boys’ grades, on average, are lower than girls’. But researchers found some good reasons they don't need to be as concerned about good grades as the girls.

Why are highly educated people taller?

The taller you are, the more likely it is that you are highly educated. But folks with less education are catching up, according to a new study.

Born late in the year? Then it's much more likely that you will pursue a vocational track

Norwegian researchers have found a strong correlation between our birth month and the educational choices we make.

Highly educated people drink alcohol more often than those with less education

The oldest and the most highly educated drink the most, according to new survey.

Slightly fewer students report having mental health problems

35 per cent of Norwegian students respond that they struggle mentally, but their physical health is better, according to this year's health and well-being survey.

Norway is the country where you get the least return in terms of income from getting a higher education

People with a higher education level from university or college in Norway earn 19 per cent more than individuals with an upper secondary school diploma.

Almost all the students who received top grades in maths have parents with a high level of education

Although the gap has narrowed somewhat in recent years, differences in academic performance due to family background persist.

One in four children between the ages of 10 and 12 use painkillers weekly

As many as 29 per cent of girls in the 7th grade in Norway use painkillers every week. Researchers are surprised by the high figures.

Many immigrants in Norway are overqualified for their jobs

Around 40 per cent work in occupations with lower competency requirements than their education dictates.

Children's school results are more related to parents' income than before

“This may indicate that kindergartens and schools in Norway are not able to even out social differences well enough,” researcher believes.

Binge drinking: When dads get drunk on the weekends, the kids are more likely to drop out of school

Parents' alcohol use seems to affect the children even when the adults have no substance abuse disorder, according to a new Norwegian study.

Adolescents living with pain experience more stress in everyday life

Norwegian researchers have looked more closely at young people's own experiences with pain.

From grassroots to government: far-right threats to academic freedom

In recent years, and particularly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, far right forces have increased efforts to systematically undermine the principles of academic freedom. Léonie de Jonge, Iris Beau Segers and Cathrine Thorleifsson highlight the urgency of defending academic freedom against governmental interference and protecting researchers from threats and intimidation.

Maybe now we know why girls perform better in school than boys

Gender is not what matters, say researchers.

Have we lost a generation of children during the Corona pandemic?

OPINION: I fear that we are neglecting the children most in need because of a Eurocentric focus on the Covid-19 pandemic.

A two-censor-system will be a disappointing setback for higher education in Norway

OPINION: From a scientific perspective, the proposed law revision should be rejected.

Fewer and fewer men want to become doctors

More than twice as many women as men want to become doctors in Norway. The development is worrying, says the leader of the Younger doctors' union.

What do teachers need to feel confident about addressing sexual violence with students?

New perspectives on school leadership and solutions in teacher education and the school curriculum are what’s needed, says the researcher.

Pupils rarely transmitted COVID-19 to others, according to Norwegian study

Children in primary school very rarely pass the virus on to others, according to a new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

Pupils’ skills no better after more math and science classes

Pupils in Denmark receive more mathematics instruction than their Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish counterparts. Yet they still do worse in the subject than Norwegian and Finnish students.

Record numbers apply to nursing and medical studies during the coronavirus pandemic

Never before have so many people applied to universities and university colleges in Norway. Almost every tenth applicant wants to become a nurse. Many also want to become doctors.

Fewer educators want to become school principals

Has the principal's job become so burdensome that no one wants it?

Teachers don't know how to accommodate the smartest pupils

In every elementary school classroom, one to two pupils on average need faster and more challenging instruction than their classmates. Teachers interviewed in a new Norwegian study say these pupils are not prioritized in schools.

Government wants Norway’s universities to compete to be best on environment and climate issues

The Ministry of Education and Research wants to see how students, researchers and other staff measure up when it comes to cutting climate impacts. Not everyone is equally excited.

These four types of cancer are more likely to be detected in highly educated people

Norwegian women and men who are highly educated are more likely to be diagnosed with four types of cancer. More sunbathing and postponed childbirth may be part of the explanation. It may also be because people with more resources are more likely to go to the doctor when they suspect something’s wrong.

Should children be allowed to choose teams in gym class?

ASK A RESEARCHER: Or should the teacher do it? We ask the experts.

Students receiving follow-up support in upper secondary school less likely to quit

Absenteeism in lower secondary school increases students’ risk of dropping out from upper secondary. A social contract and close monitoring of 16-year-old at-risk pupils is showing promising results in a study in Northern Norway.

What happens to Norwegian children of immigrants as adults?

Their performance is a bit weaker than that of other children in elementary school, and somewhat fewer students complete upper secondary school. Compared to their parents, the difference is considerable. Many Norwegian-born persons with immigrant backgrounds are also doing far better financially than their parents. Some earn more than other Norwegians.

Why boys get poor grades

A Norwegian school researcher may have found an explanation.

For high-ability students it can be lonely at the top

Gifted children feel separate them from their peers. At worst, they develop social problems and drop out of school, and they rarely receive help.

Children who stutter should get help as early as possible

One in ten pre-school children has a stutter. The sooner they get help, the more likely they are to overcome it.

Physical education: What if we took away the pressure to be good at sports?

A researcher believes that’s how physical education should be. He’s been studying what gym class could be like when physical skills don’t count for students’ grades.

Finnish method helps Norwegian first-graders who struggle with maths

Problems with maths plague nearly 20 per cent of all school children. Offering children extra help right from the start can make a huge difference, according to Norwegian and Finnish research.

Poker players aren’t like other gamers

Poker is a game played primarily by boys who get good grades in school. It’s an intellectual martial art, according to a researcher.

Norway prioritises aid to support girls’ education, but forgets the jobs

Can education meet girls’ challenges in development countries? Not on its own, according to researchers behind a new report. They call for more goal-oriented measures to combat inequality.

Twice as many Norwegian boys as girls start school late

More boys than girls begin school a year late and more girls than boys begin a year early. But researchers are not certain whether maturity is the explanation.

Pupils from elite schools still rule

The “Old Boys” club still controls the UK.

Easing the transition from kindergarten to primary school

Most children successfully make the leap from kindergarten to primary school. But not every six-year-old is looking forward to this change. Researchers say there is much that can and should be done to make the transition smoother.

This stresses pupils at school

Is school the problem? Is it parents? Or the pupils themselves? Norwegian researchers have compiled and compared information from over 2,000 international studies on the theme of stress in school. They found a variety of answers.

International PISA tests show how evidence-based policy can go wrong

OPINION: PISA gives scores to participating countries so they can be ranked from best to worst for the skills measured, as well as measuring how they stand globally over all skills. Too much importance is being given to these scores and rankings.

Norwegian textbook calls Mexicans “wetbacks”

Mexicans and indigenous people get short shrift in four English-language textbooks for Norwegian ninth graders.

What motivates high school kids to choose a higher education?

Suprisingly, parents and friends have little say in the matter, according to one researcher.

Creative crisis in the university lecture hall

Passive teaching techniques scare creative thinkers from the classroom, a Norwegian study suggests.

Punctuality more important than grades for apprenticeships

Getting to work on time. An interested and cheerful manner. These matter more to employers than an apprentice’s school grades.

Teens with ADHD need more sleep

Sleep issues are more common among teenagers with symptoms of ADHD. And although they need more sleep, they tend to get way less than they need.

Highly educated teachers don’t translate into high student grades

Good grades in primary school and highly educated parents matter more than having highly educated teachers, according to a new study.

The power of popularity: impact of the cool kids on teaching

Pupils who are popular dominate more than the halls and yards of the school campus. They also have the greatest influence on teaching in the classroom.

Offering free kindergarten is only a first step

Low-income families in Norway are offered 20 hours of free kindergarten a week, but more services are needed to even out inequalities among school children, says researcher.

Students who master two written dialects do better in school

Researchers from neuroscientists to sociologists have spent the last several decades documenting the positive effects of bilingualism on cognitive development in children. But do children who grow up with two closely related written versions of the same language get the same benefits?

Women and men still study completely different university subjects

In the past decade few changes have occurred in the uneven gender distribution of Norwegian college and university students.

Nerd camp with hands-on science

Some Norwegian pre-teen children spend a week of their summer holiday to learn more about maths and science. Their instructors hope what they mostly learn is that science is fun.

Norwegian higher education costs vary wildly across disciplines and institutions

Norway is one of the few remaining countries in the world without tuition fees, but that doesn’t mean education is free. Per student costs at Norway’s older universities can be more than twice those of more recently established institutions.

Third-graders write faster on tablets

A study conducted in two Norwegian primary schools shows that children write considerably faster on computer tablets than on paper.

Education researcher points the way to good schools

Many people ask how schools can be improved. A Norwegian researcher says that a positive learning environment makes all the difference.

Well-educated men live seven years longer

Men with more years of schooling can expect to live seven years longer on average than men who only have a minimum compulsory education. The comparable difference for women is five years.

Math teachers need to understand how pupils think

In order to improve the teaching of mathematics, it is essential that teachers understand how the pupils think when they solve a problem. Insights from research can help.

Lost faith in democracy? Blame the teacher!

Students who feel they are treated unfairly by their teachers lose faith in democracy, according to Swedish findings.

Children in rural areas less affected by parental background

Parents' educational levels are important for children's grades and educational choices. But in rural Norway it seems to mean less.

Headmaster can halt bullying

Bullying is less of a problem in schools with principals or headmasters who have the confidence of their pupils and teachers. The head of the school can set the standard for acceptable behaviour.

Geoscience goes down better without the jargon

A stone stemming from magma can be designated as igneous, but it could also be called spotted. A child might find learning geology as hard as a rock – given even a fraction of its formal terminology – or easy as pie if a few ordinary concepts are applied.

More years of education mean a better memory in old age

Public education reforms implemented decades ago are providing new insights. Each additional year of schooling can give mental benefits towards the end of life.

Pupils stressed out from school computers

Merely investing in school computers without a strategy is counter-productive, suggests Swedish research. Pupils struggle with finding reliable information online.

Flipped classrooms don’t need to flop

New technology will forge ahead in classrooms whether we like it or not, according to experts. This poses a challenge for educators who prefer traditional techniques.

Thief of time conquering the classroom

PCs, tablets and smartphones are demonstrably useful aids in schools, but they can also undermine educational results, especially among weaker pupils.

Careers – with a little help from our friends

A solid education and an extensive network of contacts are no guarantees for landing a good job.

Three out of four Africans get their doctorates and go home

Most African doctoral candidates in Norway have to leave the country immediately after defending their dissertations.

Quiet students lose out

Hyperactive pupils demand their teacher's attention, which often means their quiet classmates are overlooked. But these shy students may need just as much help as their boisterous peers.

Young college grads fall through the safety net

The Scandinavian welfare system is recognized worldwide for its generous benefits and cradle-to-grave care. But not everyone benefits equally: Norwegians who pursue higher education and then can't find work are rarely eligible for unemployment benefits.