Wow, I'm like...SMARTER!
I love learning about simple solutions to complex issues. Over and over, people approach issues in a costly and ineffective way while overlooking “old-fashioned”, do-it-yourself approaches that are surprisingly effective. I was intrigued to read this article about how chewing gum can actually improve kids’ test score performance. For all the knocks kids get for popping bubbles, sticking the gum under the desk or in a classmate’s hair, according to this study, there appears to be some tangible benefit to chewing in an academic setting.
According to the article,
“Those who chewed gum had a 3% increase in standardized math test scores and had final math grades that were significantly better than the other students. Teachers observed that those who chewed gum seemed to require fewer breaks, sustain attention longer and remain quieter.”
While the 3% may not seem statistically significant, and the observation piece may very well be attributed to the “placebo effect”, the fact that Baylor’s College of Medicine endorsed the practice as showing significant improvement over a control group is pretty impressive. While no specific mechanim was cited, it is postulated that chewing induces increased bloodflow to the head, which in turn, translates into improved cognitive function.
A Much More Expensive Solution – That May Not be Worth it
Now, on the flip side of the coin, I read an article today at wsj.com showing that the hefty fees parents pay out for SAT Test Prep courses provide only a marginal benefit, if that. And many of the outfits boasting about their services and results cannot back it up and had to alter their advertising statements when challenged.
One report put the average benefit at 30 points on a 1600 max point SAT exam (study conducted prior to increase to 2400 total points on the SAT). I don’t know about you; my parents didn’t have thousands of dollars to shell out for the test prep stuff and I did OK. I took the exam twice, got about the same score each time and got into the college I was after.
Perhaps the solution is to just replace $4000 course with chewing gum – it’s a lot cheaper and it actually seems to work!
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello,
Interesting, I`ll quote it on my site later.
AnnaHopn
i love that you juxtaposed these two articles. i actually blogged about them both, too (well, i was an early commenter on the wsj article)– but to use them in tandem is *hilarious*. insofar as serious test prep tips, maybe it’s not the absolute greatest advice, but it makes for a great post! kudos to you!
Please pass the word, the Carnival of Homeschooling is up (and this post is in it).
Thanks for participating!
I’m skeptical of the methodology – I suspect that there are some groups which get significantly more benefit than others out of these programs, and that what may be true for SAT test takers as a whole may not be true for those trying to get from 1500 to 1600. Additionally, I wonder if the study distinguished between those who took the course and those who did some other sort of preparation for the test – I bought both ACT and SAT books, and while I never took the practice tests, I read through them and can certainly say that I learned things from them which I was able to apply on the test – but then again, I scored in the 99th percentile on both, so perhaps there were other complicating factors.
I am so buying a pack of gum for my kids next time we do testing! Great post!
Great post!
First time visitor, from the CoH. I’ll definitely be back again, though!
As I recall that study was funded bu wrigley’s gum though…