The Conversation

Why your child's preschool teacher should have a college degree

Written by Anne Douglass, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education and Care, University of Massachusetts Boston

Research suggests long-term academic gains for children when they attend programs where their preschool teachers hold a bachelor's degree. Shutterstock.com

How much education does a preschool teacher need?

When the District of Columbia announced in March that it would require an associate’s degree for all lead teachers at child care centers...

'Career ready' out of high school? Why the nation needs to let go of that myth

Written by Anthony P. Carnevale, Research professor and director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, Georgetown University

Students from this 2016 photo work at computers inside Buffalo's Bennett High School -- one of five high schools being redesigned with a focus on specialty programming, such as computer science or solar energy. The goal is to position students to land well-paying jobs being created amid a surge in economic development in the city.Carolyn...

Social media companies should ditch clickbait, and compete over trustworthiness

Written by Barbara Romzek, Professor of Public Administration and Policy, American University

It's time to build trust.Arthimedes/Shutterstock.com

Social media websites and online services, created to profit from connecting people and encouraging global conversations, have a deep and troubling dark side. Malicious users have exploited these forums for free speech in ways that weaken shared norms of civility, trust and openness. This...

How Trump's NAFTA renegotiations could help Mexican workers

Written by Luis Gómez Romero, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong

Donald Trump says cheap Mexican labor is hurting American workers. But isn't it also hurting Mexican workers?AP Photo/Guillermo Arias

Long before Donald Trump dubbed it “the worst trade deal ever signed,” the North American Free Trade Agreement had been portrayed as a threat to U.S. workers.

In 1992, for example, independent...

An X-factor in coastal flooding: Natural climate patterns create hot spots of rapid sea level rise

Written by Arnoldo Valle-Levinson, Professor of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida

A motorist drives through "nuisance flooding" in Charleston, SC, Oct. 1, 2015.AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton

For Americans who live along the east and Gulf of Mexico coasts, the end of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season on Nov. 30 was a relief. This year forecasters recorded 17 named storms, 10 of which became hurricanes. Six were major hurricanes...

This new year -- rethinking gratitude

Written by Jeremy David Engels, Sherwin Early Career Professor in the Rock Ethics Institute, and Associate Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, Pennsylvania State University

What really is the art of gratitude?Joanne Morton, CC BY-NC

It’s a new year, which means that it’s also time to imagine new beginnings and better futures. It’s time, in short, for New Year’s resolutions.

Gratitude, in particular, has become a popular resolution. For many of us, living gratefully seems to promise more happines...

Research on how self-control works could help you stick with New Year's resolutions

Written by Marco A. Palma, Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics and Director Human Behavior Laboratory, Texas A&M University

Let your self-control gain momentum like a snowball rolling downhill.Sira Anamwong/Shutterstock.com

Many of us have already decided that things will be different in 2018. We’ll eat better, get more exercise, save more money or finally get around to decluttering those closets.

But by the time February rolls around, most of us – perhaps...

What can be done about our modern-day Frankensteins?

Written by Adam Briggle, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion Studies, University of North Texas

Can technology be tamed? Or have we already lost complete control?Tom Simpson, CC BY-NC-ND

In 1797, at the dawn of the industrial age, Goethe wrote “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” a poem about a magician-in-training who, through his arrogance and half-baked powers, unleashes a chain of events he cannot control.

About 20 years later,...

Why your doctor may not be able to help you lose weight

Written by Jennifer Kraschnewski, Associate Professor, medicine, Pennsylvania State University

Woman in a doctor's office. Overweight people often turn to doctors for help, but doctors often do not know how to help.Africa Source/Shutterstock.com

Obesity was designated a disease in 2013 by the American Heart Association and American Medical Association. Obesity, defined as a body mass index of 30 or higher, had long been identified as a...

New medical advances marking the end of a long reign for 'diet wizards'

Written by David Prologo, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University

The Wizard of Oz promised results he could not deliver but was convincing in his presentation. Diet wizards have done the same for decades. Insomnia Cured Here/Flickr.com, CC BY-SA

For many years, the long-term success rates for those who attempt to lose excess body weight have hovered around 5-10 percent.

In what other disease condition would we...