By Marielle Byhouwer, CEI Intern Common Obstacles for First-Generation Students There are many reasons for the lack of first generation college students from lower income families. The most obvious reason is that students simply do not apply. Also, Other responsibilities outside of school, such as working part time jobs or looking after siblings or family members, leave little room for these students to apply for college. Other barriers include a lack of motivation, poor acad

By Amber Nicole Dilger, CEI Intern. The clever phrase: “neurons that fire together, wire together,” was born from a 1949 theory by neurologist Donald Hebb. One of the implications of this idea is that the more learning variations are provided to the brain, the stronger the information is embedded. By revisiting Kolb’s Learning Cycle and layering in modern neuroscience research, more effective educational environment Learning Muscles. David Kolb’s 1984 Learning Style Theory

By Marcy Hayes, CEI Intern CEI Note: While CEI tends to focus on preK-12 education, occasionally organizations request that we post information on related topics. In this case, the University of Washington asked for our assistance with circulating material on a new publication on succeeding in Graduate School Considerations for Students with Disabilities When students with disabilities consider graduate school, they may want to begin by gathering and reading information about

By Amber Nicole Dilger, CEI Intern. Is empathy a bad thing? The ability to feel someone’s pain or suffering, joy or excitement. The ability to share in the feelings of what it is to be human. This ability of our brain helps us be better people’… or does it? In a 2015 Aspen Ideas Festival conversation Paul Bloom, chairman of the Cognitive Science program at Yale, and Richard Davidson, founder of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madiso

By Amber Nicole Dilger, CEI Intern  Chances are you have heard about mirror neurons by now, but how have you incorporated the idea of them into your school? If you missed it, there was a fascinating clip on NOVA in 2005 that explained the overview of these specialized so-called ’empathy’ neurons. More research has been done since then, and more questions and controversies (especially related to the question of whether mirror neurons have an affect on autism) have developed,