Teacher collaboration boosts cognitively activating teaching practices

 

Research further highlights the moderating role of collective innovativeness in this relationship

Cognitively activating teaching is recognized as an innovative and effective instructional approach, yet it is still underutilized worldwide. These practices require teachers to design challenging tasks, encourage open-ended reasoning, and engage students in active knowledge construction.

In the study led by Bellibaş from the Department of Public Policy, University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, researchers have analyzed data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018, covering 48 countries and economies. Using multilevel modeling, the findings show that teacher collaboration is a significant predictor of the use of cognitive activation strategies, even after controlling for teacher characteristics and school contexts. Their work was made available online on June 2, 2025, and was published in Volume 8, Issue 4 of journal ECNU Review of Education in November, 2025.

“Such collective endeavors, through positive interactions, could promote innovative teaching strategies and foster their motivation to transform classroom instruction,” state Bellibaş et al.

The study also identifies the moderating role of collective teacher innovativeness, which can be defined as teachers’ shared openness to new ideas and their willingness to experiment with new teaching approaches. In schools where innovativeness is high, the positive impact of collaboration on innovative teaching practices becomes notably stronger. Factors such as school size, location, and socio-economic composition also affect the prevalence of cognitively activating practices, raising equity concerns.

The study highlights the importance of fostering both collaboration and an innovative school climate to improve instructional quality globally. Encouraging collaborative professional cultures and fostering school environments that support innovation may lead to more widespread adoption of high-impact teaching strategies.

“Our findings underscore that simply encouraging collaboration is not enough; we must also actively cultivate an innovative school climate where teachers feel empowered to experiment with new ideas, ultimately leading to a more equitable and widespread adoption of high-impact teaching strategies worldwide,” emphasize Bellibaş et al.

 

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Reference
DOI: 10.1177/20965311251327234

For teens, any cannabis use may have impact on emotional health, academic performance

 

Using marijuana just once or twice a month was associated with worse school performance and emotional distress for teens, according to a large national study of adolescents led by Ryan Sultán, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. The more frequently teens used cannabis, the more likely they were to report emotional distress and other social and academic problems. 

“While previous studies have focused on the effects of frequent cannabis use among teens, our study found that any amount of cannabis use at all may put kids at risk of falling behind in school, and the kids using most often may have the greatest risk,” says Sultán, who studies adolescent substance use. “A few ‘harmless’ joints can snowball into real academic consequences. Teens using it regularly often struggle to focus, miss school, and may lose interest in their future plans.” 

Shifting trends in teen drug use 

The new study arrives amid a national backdrop of shifting trends in teen drug use. While use of many substances is at record lows among US youths, cannabis remains an exception. About 1 in 5 high school students currently use cannabis, and approximately 6% of 12th graders use it daily – a rate that has increased in the past decade.  

“The real-world impact can be dramatic,” Sultán says. “It’s not uncommon for a young teen to smoke marijuana only a few times before showing signs of withdrawal and worsening mood.” 

Scientists are especially concerned because today’s cannabis products contain two to three times more THC (the ingredient that causes a high) than in the past, making them more potent. And previous studies have shown that using cannabis during adolescence, when the brainis still developing critical neural connections, may have lasting effects on cognitive functions that are critical to academic performance. “A teenager’s brain is still developing the circuits for learning, self-control, and emotional regulation,” says Tim Becker, a child & adolescen tpsychiatrist at Weill Cornell Medicine and study co-author. “Using cannabis, even casually, during these critical growth periods interferes with those processes and can derail normal development.” 

Study details  

The new study analyzed data from a nationally representative survey of over 160,000 U.S. 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students conducted from 2018 to 2022. Over one-quarter of the respondents reported cannabis use; less than 20% reported monthly or less frequent use; and much smaller percentages said they used cannabis weekly or almost every day. 

In the study, adolescents who used cannabis once or twice a month reported higher rates of depression-like symptoms, anxiety, and impulsive behavior than those who abstained. Near-daily users were almost four times as likely to have poor grades and were frequentlydisengaged from school activities. These associations were even stronger for younger cannabis users. 

What should parents and caregivers do?  

Experts recommend having frank, nonjudgmental conversations with teens about cannabis early and often.  

“Make sure they understand that “natural” doesn’t mean “safe,” Sultán says. “Parents also need to keep an eye out for warning signs like declining grades, mood changes, or loss of interest in hobbies – and consider that cannabis could be a factor.” 

Journal

PEDIATRICS

DOI

10.1542/peds.2024-070509 

Familiar video games boost happiness and help protect young adults from burnout

 A new study published by JMIR Serious Games reports that popular video games, such as the Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi games, may offer meaningful emotional benefits for young adults. The research, titled “Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi Games’ Affordance of Childlike Wonder and Reduced Burnout Risk in Young Adults: In-Depth Mixed Methods Cross-Sectional Study,” found that these lighthearted, familiar games can spark a sense of childlike wonder that boosts overall happiness, which in turn reduces burnout risk.

The research team conducted in-depth interviews with university students and a survey to understand how and why these games resonate. Students described Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi games as uplifting and reminiscent of carefree childhood experiences. Many said the games offered a refreshing break from academic pressure, constant digital demands, and the broader “always-on” culture affecting today’s young adults.

The survey confirmed these insights. Those who felt greater childlike wonder while playing also reported higher overall happiness. In turn, happier players showed significantly lower burnout risk. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that happiness fully explained—rather than simply contributed to—the link between wonder and burnout reduction. In essence, the joy sparked by these games initiates a chain reaction that helps promote emotional well-being.

The study, led by researchers at Imperial College London and Kyushu Sangyo University, is among the first to identify childlike wonder as a psychological pathway linking everyday gameplay to mental well-being. This research suggests that familiar, creatively designed games can serve as accessible, low-pressure digital microenvironments, offering emotional reset moments. Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi games may provide an easy entry point for university students seeking moments of genuine restoration.

“This study suggests that the path to combating burnout in young adults may lie not just in traditional wellness but also in reclaiming joy. Games like Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi may offer a potent antidote to the cynicism and fatigue characteristic of burnout," says author Andreas B Eisingerich.

Games that evoke childlike wonder may hold untapped potential as tools for mental wellness. For young adults navigating high stress and limited downtime, everyday play may quietly support resilience in ways previously overlooked.

Original article: 

Tam W, Hou C, Eisingerich A. Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi Games’ Affordance of Childlike Wonder and Reduced Burnout Risk in Young Adults: In-Depth Mixed Methods Cross-Sectional Study. JMIR Serious Games 2025;13:e84219

URL: https://games.jmir.org/2025/1/e84219

School meals could unlock major gains for human and planetary health

Healthy, sustainable school meals could cut undernourishment, reduce diet-related deaths and significantly lower environmental impacts, according to a new modelling study led by a UCL (University College London) researcher.

The study is part of a new collection of papers published in Lancet Planetary Health by members of the Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition – the independent research initiative of the School Meals Coalition. The papers find that well-designed school meal programmes could be a strategic investment in a healthier, more sustainable future.

Drawing together modelling, case studies and evidence from multiple disciplines, the six-paper collection demonstrates how planet-friendly school meal programmes can simultaneously improve child nutrition, reduce the prevalence of long-term diet-related illness, lessen climate and environmental pressures, and stimulate more resilient, agrobiodiverse food systems.

School meals: a strategic investment in human and planetary health

Global food systems are responsible for a third of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions while also contributing to rising malnutrition and diet-related diseases. At the same time, national school meal programmes feed 466 million children every day, representing 70% of the global public food system – a scale that provides governments unparalleled leverage.

A global modelling study, led by Professor Marco Springmann, modelling lead for the Research Consortium based at UCL’s Institute for Global Health, finds that providing a healthy, sustainable meal to every child by 2030 could:

• Reduce global undernourishment by 24%, with particularly strong impacts in food-insecure regions. This translates to 120 million fewer people in the world not getting enough vitamins, minerals, and energy from food
• Prevent over 1 million deaths every year from diet-related illnesses such as diabetes and coronary heart disease, assuming today’s schoolchildren retain, at least in part, preference for healthy foods into adulthood
• Halve food-related environmental impacts, including emissions and land use, when meals follow healthy, sustainable dietary patterns, for instance by increasing the proportion of vegetables and reducing meat and dairy products
• Generate major health and climate savings, significantly offsetting investment needs

Currently only one in five children in the world receive a school meal.

Professor Springmann said: “Our modelling shows that healthy and sustainable school meals can generate substantial health and environmental gains in every region of the world. Importantly, the climate and health savings that result from healthier diets and lower emissions can help offset the costs of expanding school meal programmes. The evidence is clear: investing in school meals is both effective and economically sound.”

A framework for transforming food systems

To support governments to transition to planet-friendly school meal programmes, the collection sets out a conceptual framework for how school meals can drive systemic food systems transformation at scale, structured around four essential pillars:

• Healthy, diverse, culturally relevant school menus
• Clean, modern cooking methods
• Reduced food loss and waste
• Holistic food education that connects children, families and communities

Together, these pillars offer governments a pathway to improve child health and food literacy, strengthen agrobiodiversity, stimulate ecological local production and build climate-resilient food systems. Crucially, the framework emphasises that these pillars must be embedded in public procurement rules, nutrition standards and policy reforms to unlock their full potential and shift demand towards healthier and more sustainable food systems.

Dr Silvia Pastorino, Diets & Planetary Health Lead for the Research Consortium and curator of the collection based at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), said: “This framework highlights how school meals are not just a nutrition programme – they are a powerful lever for transforming food systems. When meals are healthy, sustainable and linked to food education, they improve children’s wellbeing today and foster long-term sustainable habits, while helping countries protect biodiversity, reduce emissions and build resilient communities. Few interventions deliver such wide-ranging, long-lasting benefits.”

The framework builds on insights first published in the Research Consortium’s 2023 White Paper, School Meals and Food Systems, which brought together 164 authors from 87 organisations worldwide, also coordinated by Dr Pastorino.

Food, learning, energy, and biodiversity

To further explore each of the four pillars laid out in the framework, the wider Lancet Planetary Health collection includes:

• A viewpoint from FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations) on integrating food education into learning to build lifelong sustainable habits
• A personal view from a Loughborough University team on the critical role of clean, reliable energy in delivering safe, planet-friendly meals
• A scoping review from Alliance Bioversity-CIAT on the importance of agrobiodiversity in providing nutritious, climate-resilient school menus
• A personal view from an Imperial College London team on promoting regenerative agriculture, agrobiodiversity, and food security through school feeding

From evidence to action: supporting governments to implement planet-friendly policies

In partnership with international organisations and government partners, the Research Consortium is now developing a Planet-Friendly School Meals Toolkit to help countries assess the costs, environmental impacts and health benefits of shifting to sustainable school meal models. Co-created with partners in Kenya and Rwanda, the first results are expected in spring 2026.

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Journal

The Lancet Planetary Health

DOI

10.1016/j.lanplh.2025.06.002 

How cultural context shapes teacher noticing

 

Teacher noticing refers to how teachers attend to, interpret, and respond to classroom events, which is known as a crucial skill of effective mathematics instruction. A new article synthesizes multinational research across five countries, finding that teacher noticing varies significantly across different cultural settings, and the frameworks for developing teacher noticing cannot be simply transplanted from one culture to another.

Teacher noticing is increasingly recognized as a crucial component of effective teaching across the globe. However, most existing models originate from Western educational contexts and may not fully capture noticing practices in Asian, African, or other cultural settings. A new study synthesizes research exploring how teachers notice student thinking within diverse cultural and institutional frames.

In a study made available online on June 12, 2025, and published on August 1, 2025, in Volume 8, Issue 3 of ECNU Review of Education, a team of researchers led by Dr. Qiaoping Zhang from The Education University of Hong Kong synthesized comparative studies from China, India, Sweden, Spain, and Germany, to examine teacher noticing. The analysis highlights that teacher noticing is a global phenomenon influenced by various factors such as their experiences, professional norms, and cultural frames.

“Our research shows that teacher noticing is deeply situated in local educational cultures. What teachers pay attention to and how they interpret student thinking varies significantly across countries,” explain Dr. Zhang et al.

The study shows that in exam-oriented systems like China’s, teachers initially focused more on instructional delivery and correct answers, but through structured professional development, they learned to notice student reasoning more deeply. In contrast, teachers in Sweden and Germany showed greater initial attention to student participation and collaborative reasoning, reflecting their local pedagogical norms.

The study emphasizes that culturally responsive noticing, valuing diverse student thinking and participation, is essential for equitable and effective teaching. It also cautioned that commonly used research tools like vignettes may carry cultural biases and limit cross-cultural validity. “To support teacher noticing globally, we need frameworks that are adapted to local contexts, not simply imported from other educational systems,” Dr. Zhang et al. conclude.

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Reference

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311251350160

School leadership plays a vital role in digital equity

A study on U.S. K–12 schools shows that digital equity goes beyond technology access and that school leadership plays a key role in inequities

Although laptops and tablets have flooded into schools over the past decade, a new study published online on March 1, 2024, in ECNU Review of Education warns that the real “digital divide” has not disappeared but has become more hidden. The study points out that in the “post-digital era,” digital inequality has shifted from a lack of hardware to how technology is used, and school leaders play a critical role in this.

The study conducted a systematic literature review of the current state of digital equity and school leadership in K-12 schools and found that the mere availability of devices is no longer the only challenge. Technology access, educational practices using technology, and the social context of technology implementation—a lack of equity and social justice in any of these three elements results in digital inequity.

The researchers proposed an approach to digital equity based on Selwyn’s three interlocking elements of technology—access, educational activities and practices, and the social context of the implementation—to recognize inequities not just in what technology students and teachers have at hand but also in what they do with that technology and in what contexts.

The article specifically notes that school leaders often overlook the latter two aspects. When school leaders fail to create a school culture that emphasizes educational equity, digital inequities do not inhere in the technology itself, its implementation, or the tasks teachers and students undertake with it, but in the school leaders and the organization they cultivate. If leaders lack sensitivity to social justice, technology can instead magnify existing inequalities.

“The implications of our model for school leaders are clear: Technology integration requires openness and responsiveness from all stakeholders, especially school leaders,” Dr. Liu et al. stated.

The study encourages school leaders, teachers, and policymakers to take actions that are more conscious of social justice. Dr. Liu et al. noted, “In this way, school leaders can work together with teachers, students, and families to address equity and substantially improve the learning of all students.”

 

Reference

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311231224083

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Journal

ECNU Review of Education

DOI

10.1177/20965311231224083 

 

Short, light-intensity exercise boosts executive function and elevates mood in children

 Researchers investigate how even brief, light-intensity exercises can significantly improve the mental health of children

 In modern society, physical inactivity and sedentary behavior have become common issues globally. This trend is also growing among children, raising concerns for their mental and physical health. Sedentary behavior in children can affect the development of executive function (EF), higher-order cognitive processes that govern goal-oriented behavior and self-control, necessary for daily life. Strong EF during childhood forms the foundation for self-regulation and social functioning, academic achievement, and emotional well-being throughout childhood and adolescence.

Previous studies have shown that both acute and chronic exercises can enhance EF. While chronic exercise is essential for long-term cognitive development, even brief bouts of activity can offer immediate, but short-lived, cognitive and emotional benefits that may help improve children’s learning efficiency during the school day. Other studies have also highlighted the importance of short-duration exercise interventions, such as light-intensity exercise, that can be delivered within the classroom. While many studies show that light-intensity exercise improves inhibitory control (a core component of EF) and mood in adults, very few studies have examined whether these same benefits occur in children.

In a new study, a research team led by doctoral student Takashi Naito from the Graduate School of Sport Sciences at Waseda University in Japan investigated whether brief, light-intensity exercise improves EF and psychological mood in children. “Studies have shown that more than 80% of children worldwide do not meet WHO’s recommended level of physical activity, and their sedentary time has increased by about 1 hour per day over the last decade,” says Naito, explaining their motivation. The team also included Professor Kaori Ishii and Professor Koichiro Oka from Waseda University. Their study was published in Volume 15 of the Scientific Reports on December 05, 2025.

Thirty-one healthy school children, aged 10-14 years, participated in the study. Researchers ensured that none had a history of mental or neurological disorders, physician-imposed exercise restrictions, or color vision deficiency.

The participants were randomly assigned to either a control group or an exercise group. During the experiment, all participants completed a psychological mood questionnaire followed by a cognitive task twice, before and after a break session. The psychological mood questionnaire was based on the Two-Dimensional Mood Scale, which measures pleasure and arousal scores. For the cognitive task, the well-known Color-word Stroop task (CWST) was administered, which measures inhibitory control ¾ defined as the ability to control attention, thoughts, and emotions to override internal impulses or external distractions and instead carry out a more appropriate or required action.

During the break session, the participants in the control group rested for 15 minutes. Those in the experiment group rested for 10 minutes, then engaged in a light 3.5-minute exercise, followed by an additional 1.5-minute rest. The exercise program comprised six easy-to-perform movements, including dynamic stretching, static stretching with trunk rotation, single-leg balance, and hand dexterity exercises, all associated with prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation. The researchers also conducted heart-rate measurements during the exercise for the experiment group and examined PFC activation during CWST for both groups.

Children who performed the light-intensity exercise showed significantly reduced reaction times in the following cognitive task compared to the control group. “Our findings show that incorporating short bouts of light-intensity exercise in school, such as before the beginning of classes or during breaks, can improve inhibitory control and mood in children, with potential to improve learning efficiency,” remarks Naito.

Importantly, this is the first study worldwide across all age groups to demonstrate improvements in both executive function and mood using light-intensity exercise, lasting less than 5 minutes.

Journal

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-025-27358-2