Progress-focused

Through a post on LinkedIn , I came across an article by Nidhi Sachdeva about MicroLearning. As a researcher at the University of Toronto, she has focused on the need for concise and purposeful learning methods. In an ever-faster-moving world where we are bombarded with information, micro-lessons can help us learn with focus and effectiveness.

Canadian researchers Marlee Mercer and Duygu Biricik Gulseren investigated the potentially harmful consequences of negative feedback aimed at undergraduate students ( Mercer & Gulseren, 2023 ). Performance feedback is essential in higher education, especially to support students in their learning process. Giving negative feedback can also be necessary and useful. However, negative feedback can be unintentionally harmful, especially when it is more general than constructive criticism and does not target specific behaviors.

Feedback can be valuable. Feedback, information about the effects of our behavior, can help us become better at what we do. By definition, we ourselves have only a limited view of the effects of our actions. Other people look at what we do from a different perspective and can therefore see different things. In addition, they may have more or different knowledge and skills, so that their feedback can be extra instructive for us. Whether these positive effects of feedback are realized, however, depends on what the feedback is about and how effectively the feedback is provided. But when do you give feedback and how do you do it effectively? Read more about that question below.

Just over 10 years ago, there was a scandal about the psychologist Diederik Stapel, who had committed fraud on a large scale in his investigations. Recently, there have been some reports about scientists who probably did not act ethically. 

Difficult conversations play a central role in personal development, conflict resolution, and social progress. These conversations can range from parents discussing sensitive topics like death and racism to professionals needing to convey uncomfortable truths. A recent publication by Emma Levine, a University of Chicago honesty researcher, which she co-authored with several colleagues, sheds new light on the complex dynamics of awkward conversations.

  What values and goals young people embrace has a major impact on the identity they develop, how they function, and how good they feel. If so, then the next question is important: what kinds of values and goals are good for us and which are less good? Broadly speaking, there are two types of answers for which there is some evidence but which are at odds with each other: the self-determination theory ( Ryan & Deci, 2017 ) and the person-environment fit perspective ( Kristof-Brown et al., 2005 ).

  Do you know the following feeling? You go to a conference or a farewell reception, and you walk into a room full of strangers. You feel insecure and find it scary to approach people to start a conversation. You worry about whether they will like you and whether you will make a positive impression on them. Just because they look at you kindly doesn't automatically mean you like them. People are good at acting sometimes. If you recognize this kind of insecurity in yourself, read on. A study by Boothby et al. (2018) shows surprising findings that are important for the types of situations described above.