The Conversation

Poor teacher training partly to blame for stalled engineering diversity goals

Written by Lisa Bosman, Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University

Black students remain significantly underrepresented in engineering. Tara Moore/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Diversifying the science, technology, engineering and math fields has long been a top priority of many universities and tech companies. It’s also a goal of the National Science Foundation, the biggest funder of university-led...

Asking ChatGPT vs Googling: Can AI chatbots boost human creativity?

Written by Jaeyeon Chung, Assistant Professor of Business, Rice University

AI chatbots can give helpful suggestions.Carol Yepes/Moment via Getty Images

Think back to a time when you needed a quick answer, maybe for a recipe or a DIY project. A few years ago, most people’s first instinct was to “Google it.” Today, however, many people are more likely to reach for ChatGPT, OpenAI’s conversational AI,...

Brain-training games remain unproven, but research shows what sorts of activities do benefit cognitive functioning

Written by Ian McDonough, Associate Professor of Psychology, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Brain-training games sell themselves as a way to maintain cognitive function, but the evidence isn't there yet.Eva-Katalin/E+ via Getty Images

Some 2.3 million of U.S. adults over 65 – more than 4% – have a diagnosis of dementia. But even without a diagnosis, a certain amount of cognitive decline is normal as age sets in.

And whether...

One election victory does not make a new era in American politics − here’s what history shows

Written by Philip Klinkner, James S. Sherman Professor of Government, Hamilton College

New York supporters of Kamala Harris look on as candidate Donald Trump surpassed the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the 2024 election. Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images

According to The New York Times, “… a newly triumphant Republican president” is “once again in the headlines.”

What will it take to...

Informal safety nets help many Americans with expenses – people at all income levels benefit from this ‘financial interdependence’

Written by Jeffrey Anvari-Clark, Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of North Dakota

Even daredevils benefit from their ties to other people.Mauricio Graiki/iStock via Getty Images Plus

About 1 in 5 American adults regularly provide unpaid care or financial assistance to their adult relatives or friends. And about 1 in 7 young adults between the ages of 25 and 34 live with their parents.

But the true extent of support among...

US states are finally starting to put in place protections for the kids of family vloggers

Written by Jessica Maddox, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Creative Media, University of Alabama

Laws protecting child actors were written long before the rise of social media.AzmanJaka/E+ via Getty Images

Ruby Franke was once one of the most popular YouTube family vloggers, posting videos featuring her husband and six children on her channel, 8 Passengers, that racked up over 1 billion views.

In some, she chronicled their family vacations and...

Weight loss plans are less effective for many Black women − because existing ones often don’t meet their unique needs

Written by Loneke Blackman Carr, Assistant Professor of Community and Public Health Nutrition, University of Connecticut

People who are obese or overweight are at higher risk of developing several chronic diseasesandreswd/E+ via Getty Images

The popularity of weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro continue to reflect Americans’ desire to slim down. While these new drugs have offered a solution for people struggling with obesity, many eligible patients...

Mothers, metaphors and dyslexia: What language reveals about the challenges of a child’s learning disability

Written by Jenna Abetz, Associate Professor of Communication, College of Charleston

Dyslexia can affect children's reading, writing, spelling, memory and organizational skills.damircudic/E+ via Getty Images

Alarm bells. Red flags. A labyrinth.

These are just a few of the metaphors that mothers of children with dyslexia use to describe the journey from noticing their child’s literacy challenges to receiving a diagnosis and...

Socioeconomic status explains most of the racial and ethnic achievement gaps in elementary school

Written by Eric Hengyu Hu, Postdoctoral Associate, University at Albany, State University of New York

For decades, white students have performed significantly better than Black and Hispanic students on tests of academic achievement. Explanations for these achievement gaps include poverty and systems that result in discrimination. Others cite struggles to learn English. And some folks believe that some groups simply don’t value education.

Our...

In hundreds of communities across the US, finding a dentist is like pulling teeth − but in 14 states, dental therapists are filling the gap

Written by Donald Chi, Professor of Oral Health Sciences, University of Washington

Experts recommend getting a dental checkup twice a year.Julia Burmistrova/Moment via Getty Images

For more than 50 million Americans, finding a dentist is a difficult – in some cases, impossible – proposition. Many rural communities don’t have a dentist. People of color and those with disabilities often lack access, and only about...