TEDS Videos

This page contains a repository of short films which discuss the findings and implications of some TEDS research publications. Videos are presented in reverse chronological order, displaying videos relating to more recent TEDS publications first. 

 

Are high-stakes exams necessary?

Teacher assessments during compulsory education are as reliable as standardised test scores, according to a new study from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London.

The research, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, suggests that the high-stakes exams which children take across compulsory education may not be necessary.

Dr Kaili Rimfeld and Dr Margherita Malanchini, the study's joint first authors from the IoPPN, discuss the findings and their implications.

 

Scientists herald 'tipping point' in ability to predict academic achievement from DNA

Scientists from King’s College London have used a new genetic scoring technique to predict academic achievement from DNA alone. This is the strongest prediction from DNA of a behavioural measure to date.

 

Genetics affects A-level choice and achievement

The choice of whether to pursue A-level qualifications after compulsory education is substantially influenced by genes, according to researchers from King’s College London. The same goes for what subjects you choose and your A-level performance on the chosen subjects, finds their study published on 16 June 2016 in 'Scientific Reports.'

 

Maths and maps make you nervous? It could be in your genes

Our genes play a significant role in how anxious we feel when faced with spatial and mathematical tasks, such as reading a map or solving a geometry problem, according to a new study by researchers from King’s College London. Dr Margherita Malanchini, a postdoctoral researcher with the Twins Early Development Study explains the implications of the findings.

Spatial skills are important in everyday life, from navigation to assembling flat-pack furniture, and have also been linked to success in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) professions. However, people differ considerably in these skills and researchers think it could be partly down to anxiety. Similarly, anxiety about maths is thought to impair achievement in the subject at school and deter people from using these skills in daily life.

 

Drawing and maths: what's the relationship, and is it genetic?

Differences in children's drawing ability are moderately heritable according to a new study from Goldsmiths, University of London.

The research, published in Child Development, also suggests that drawing ability is related to later mathematics ability. This association was explained by genetic and shared environmental factors.

Margherita Malanchini, the study's first author, discusses the findings and their implications

 

True grit and academic achievement

Personality characteristics – especially conscientiousness - have previously been shown to have a significant but moderate influence on academic achievement.

However, a new study from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London, suggests that ‘grit’, defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals, adds little to the prediction of school achievement.

 

The genetic specificity of face recognition

Differences in people’s ability to recognise faces is substantially heritable according to a new study from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London.

The research, published in PNAS also suggests that face recognition only modestly correlated with intelligence and that almost all of the genetic influence on face recognition was specific to it (rather than shared with intelligence).

Nicholas Shakeshaft, the study's first author from the IoPPN, discusses the findings and their implications.

 

Pleiotropy across academic subjects at the end of compulsory education

Kaili Rimfeld a PhD student with TEDS talks about her research looking into whether the same genes influence exam results across a range of school subjects, not just the core subjects (maths, English and science) as previously shown