Author: studyblog

Key points: In 2023, Catherine Hartmann, a professor at the University of Wyoming, gave students in a history of meditation course a deeply personal assignment: try a contemplative practice and write a reflective analysis on the experience. One student turned to AI instead. The evidence was impossible to miss – the student had accidentally left the copy-pasted AI prompt sitting right at the top of the submitted paper. For Hartmann, the issue extended far beyond one student using a shortcut. Generative AI in education was quietly fracturing the foundational contract between teacher, student, and classroom assessment. Take-home writing, long considered…

Cardiovascular September 17, 2026 Joseph Dearani and surgical team in the operating room. DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My older sister was recently diagnosed with thickened heart muscle, and her doctor recommended a procedure called a “septal myectomy.” I’ve never heard of it before. What does this surgery do, and how do doctors know when it’s the right treatment?  ANSWER: Hearing that someone you love may need heart surgery can be scary, especially when you’re also trying to understand an unfamiliar heart condition. Treatment usually starts with medication. However, for some people, surgery becomes the best option when symptoms continue despite medical…

Key points: According to research I recently saw , About 16% of young people ages 18 to 24 are not in employment, education, or training. Researchers call them NEETs, or disconnected youth. After 35 years in public education, I read the number a different way. Almost every one of those young adults sat in somebody’s classroom a few years ago. Somebody had them at 14. Somebody had them at 16, the year they missed 32 days and the system recorded the absences and moved on. Disconnection at 20 is rarely a surprise. It is the final step in a long…

Medical Innovation September 15, 2026 ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic announced today that its Mayo Clinic Care Network reached a 15-year milestone as a global community of more than 50 member organizations, representing 80 hospitals and nearly 20,000 physicians. Created in 2011, the Mayo Clinic Care Network includes carefully selected independent organizations worldwide committed to enhancing the quality of healthcare to advance patient care. Members have access to Mayo Clinic’s clinical knowledge and specialists while continuing to serve patients in their local communities. Altru Health System in Grand Forks, North Dakota, was the first member to join the Mayo Clinic Care…

Cancer September 16, 2026 Sky at her college graduation in May 2024. After being diagnosed with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia at age 19, Sky Toyne came to Mayo Clinic for a potentially curative stem cell transplant. Thanks to advances in transplant medicine, a lifesaving donation from her brother, and comprehensive care that addressed both her physical and emotional recovery, Sky overcame leukemia and returned to the life she loves.   In August 2021, Sky Toyne had just begun her sophomore year of college at a university in Iowa, where she was born and raised. With a love of learning and being…

Cancer September 16, 2026 Radiation oncology medical physicist Dr. Michael Grams holds a device called a tungsten collimator that divides a conventional radiation beam into submillimeter-wide beamlets. ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers report encouraging results using a new radiation technique called minibeam radiotherapy to treat patients with treatment-resistant cancers in or near the skin. The technique delivers very high doses of radiation through closely spaced, extremely narrow beams while limiting radiation exposure to healthy tissue between the beams.  In a study published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, researchers found symptoms improved in 86% of patients.…

Key points: It’s quite rare to hear someone say, “I can’t read” or “I’m illiterate so I don’t read.” On the other hand, lots of people claim that they’re “not a math person.” The phrase isn’t just “I don’t like math.” It’s “I’m not a math person,” signifying that they don’t know how to do math, not just that they don’t like it. We believe this single sentiment is significantly impacting students’ perceptions of math in school and their efficacy with it in life. As educators, what we say matters, especially when talking in front of impressionable students. Our central…

Mayo Clinic Children’s September 15, 2026 Mayo Clinic Children’s in Rochester has been recognized for excellence in pediatric care in U.S. News & World Report’s 2026–27 “Best Children’s Hospitals” rankings. The recognition reflects broad-based excellence across pediatric specialties and the commitment to provide exceptional care for every child and family. “Families come to us looking for answers, often at some of the most difficult moments in their lives,” says A. Noelle Larson, M.D., Chair, Mayo Clinic Children’s.  “Many of the children who come to Mayo Clinic Children’s have serious, complex, or rare conditions. Families benefit not only from our pediatric…

Research September 15, 2026 Pioneering initiative will generate data at the frontier of healthcare to help transform early biological signals into new opportunities for prevention, diagnosis and treatment ROCHESTER, Minn. and WALTHAM, Mass. — Mayo Clinic today announced the launch of Precure, LLC, with founding partner Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, to help transform how the life sciences community understands the biological changes that occur as people move from health toward disease. Precure, LLC will create one of the world’s leading biomedical datasets through one of the largest human multi-omics data-generation efforts, integrating proteomic, genomic and…

Key points: Every district leader has experienced it. A new instructional program promises stronger student achievement. An intervention arrives with compelling testimonials. A technology platform highlights impressive pilot results. The presentations are polished, the early outcomes are encouraging, and the potential seems significant. The challenge isn’t finding innovative ideas. It’s deciding which investments are most likely to improve learning across an entire district. As budgets remain tight and expectations for measurable student growth increase, every instructional decision carries greater weight. Choosing one initiative often means delaying another, making it even more important to separate promising ideas from approaches supported by…