The results of the 2015 edition of PISA, in which more than half a million students from 72 countries and economies in the world participated, highlighted that students in Latin America and the Caribbean continue to be among the lowest achievers. However, some nuance is needed to understand and contextualize these results. For instance, more countries and students from the … [Lee más...] about Latin America and the Caribbean in PISA 2015 in 7 takeaways
Science
Fashionable to be Dumb
For much of my life, I’ve been obsessed with gender and mathematics. As a kid I loved when my dad made up math games and riddles, challenging me to come up with solutions. But it was clear to me that not all kids and certainly not all girls shared my love for mathematics. Decades later, the aversion for mathematics that I saw among my girlfriends is replicated in new … [Lee más...] about Fashionable to be Dumb
The “Coffee-Stain Puzzle”
I have always found it fascinating to learn about how scientific “discoveries” are made. Scientists have the power of observing the ordinary and seeing the extraordinary. One of my favorite cases comes from an episode I watched some years ago on the Discovery Channel where a Physics professor from the University of Chicago, Sidney Nagel, one morning, as he was pouring … [Lee más...] about The “Coffee-Stain Puzzle”
Extreme STEM
You’ve probably heard of Extreme Sports, but maybe not of Extreme STEM, or X-STEM. The day of my visit to Glenallen Elementary School, United States public X-STEM schools in Montgomery County in Maryland, a group of first graders wears lab-coats and hard hats as they embark on a construction challenge. Another group of students from fifth grade has been challenged to produce … [Lee más...] about Extreme STEM
Targeting Top Teachers to Foster Future Rocket Scientists
Judging from the news it may seem that politicians in the United States dedicate themselves exclusively to political infighting. But one area where there is an opportunity to avoid political gridlock is education. This fall offers a last opportunity for the current Congress to rewrite the country’s major education legislation, known as No Child left Behind. One of the most … [Lee más...] about Targeting Top Teachers to Foster Future Rocket Scientists
