Natural Sciences Division

In-class problem solving, group discussions and similar instructional approaches collectively known as active learning are more effective for student learning than lecture-based instruction, studies have shown. But many postsecondary instructors still spend the bulk of class time lecturing. Why resistance to active learning persists has not been clear. Scott Freeman, teaching professor emeritus in biology at the UW, is quoted.

Bryn Bandt-Law, lead researcher and psychology graduate student, discusses the results of her study, which showed that traditionally feminine women are more likely to be believed when making accusations of sexual harassment.

While one would hope that cases of sexual harassment are treated very much on their merits, research from the University of Washington shows that this is sadly not the case. It finds that women who are young, who act and appear feminine, and who are “conventionally attractive” are far more likely to be believed in any accusations they make about sexual harassment.

A team from the University of Washington wanted to see if a computer vision system could learn to tell what is being played on a piano just from an overhead view of the keys and the player’s hands. The UW’s Eli Shlizerman, assistant professor in the applied mathematics and the electrical and computer engineering departments, and Kun Su and Xiulong Liu, doctoral students in electrical and computer engineering, created Audeo.

Take a look back at the last year of the UW's research of and adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chantel Prat, associate professor of psychology, has co-authored a new study on reasoning and decision-making.

“Hybrid or all-remote schedules make powerful recruiting tools and look great on paper — carrying the promise of improved equity by giving employees the flexibility to better juggle work and life. But as the head of a women’s college and a cognitive scientist, I have some serious reservations,” writes Sian Beilock, president of Barnard College. A UW study is referenced.

Sam Colgan, junior majoring in English and Economics; Natasha Lavides, sophomore majoring in Psychlogy; and Nuria Alina Chandra, freshman majoring in biochemistry are the 2019-2020 UW President's Medalists.

Jawbones and an assortment of teeth found in the Hell’s Creek formation of northeastern Montana are the oldest primate fossils ever discovered, according to newly published research. Gregory Wilson Mantilla, Burke Museum curator of vertebrate paleontology and professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Biology professor Horacio de la Iglesia and biology postdoctoral researcher Leandro Casiraghi explain the results of their new study on the moon's effects on sleep.

UW scientists explain new developments in the field of quantum computing.

Do we apologize too much? Thirty-one per cent of British adults think so, according to a YouGov poll of more than 1,600 British people and 1,000 Americans. Dr. John Gottman, professor emeritus of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

"Without the knowledge of [James] Webb’s silence at State and his participation in making psychological warfare a tool of the military industrial complex, perhaps our gratitude for his work was sufficient. With that knowledge, we think it is time to rename JWST [James Webb Space Telescope] because the name of such an important mission, which promises to live in the popular and scientific psyche for decades, is a reflection of our values," write Sarah Tuttle, assistant professor of astronomy at the UW; Chanda Prescod-Weinstein of the University of New Hamphsire; Lucianne Walkowicz of the Adler Planetarium; and Brian Nord of the University of Chicago.

Elese Washines, who studied mathematics at the UW, is the current program manager for the Yakima Nation Higher Education Program and featured as one of the Yakima Herald's 39 under 39.

A study by Adrian Raftery, statistics professor, is cited in this article about how much global emissions must fall to halt climate change.