The researchers found that nine general groups of traits were hereditary from looking at identical vs. nonidentical twins. These traits also correlated with performance on the GCSE. The team determined that about 62% of the individual differences in academic achievement could be attributed to genetic factors.
Academic achievement is influenced by genes that affect personality, motivation, confidence, and other traits that shape intelligence. This study can help find new ways to improve childhood education and find ways to teach kids through different techniques more suited to their genes and personalities. This study could help shape a new way for schools to run because it seems like the educational system is failing a lot of students nowadays. This can also lead to more research specifying which gene(s) go with which trait(s) and ways to help people without these genes or if there are ways around not having specific genes. This article was very interesting to me and the research could expand a lot more and become more specific which would lead to a lot of change in education.
Original Article: http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2014/10/genes-dont-just-influence-your-iq-they-determine-how-well-you-do-school
Wow, this makes me believe our whole lives are already determined by our genes. I really did not think a person's genes affected their academic achievement, unless they had some kind of physical disability. I thought some people just did not try hard enough. This is probably a relief to not only a lot of students, but also parents who could not understand why their child seemed to always struggle through school. Unfortunately I feel like this may become an excuse and "cop-out" for a lot of students also. This discovery could absolutely lead to many different ways of improving childhood education. Schools will be able to shape their teaching methods to their students specific genetic needs. Hopefully, schools will be able to "level the playing field," and find ways to get the children with the disadvantageous genetic factors equal to the students without the disadvantageous genetic factors.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to think how academic achievement is influenced by our genes. I remember hearing about how intelligence is an inherited trait but I never would have thought to take into consideration how genes affect personality which then of course impact motivation and effort put forth in academics. I agree that changes in childhood education can be made from this study which will definitely help overcome barriers some children have when achieving success in academia.
ReplyDeleteThis article grabbed my attention just from the title. I never realized how much intelligence and achievement is influenced by genetics. Its crazy to think that we our intelligence can only go as far as our genes allow it to. I think this definitely allows people to understand why some people do so much better with academics than others. I think it also allows us to understand why some people still can't do well even when they try their hardest. I agree that this could help schools nationwide with how they go about helping kids do their best and pass in every way possible.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting. I honestly didn't believe that intelligence could be determined by our genes. But then again, everything is determined by our genes. Like Jazzmen, i believed most students were lazy and didn't put in the effort. Maybe their genes are holding them back from achieving so much more. Hopefully, our education system can implement programs and help every kid succeed.
ReplyDeletethis brings in the old nature vs nurture argument. are those personality traits 100% influenced by genes or does a child's upbringing and environment play a role here too? I've always thought that the two side both affect us and I personally don't think that intelligence is determined by genes alone. are children someday going to get their genomes sequenced at birth to determine what type of teaching style to be exposed to? it seems a little far fetched to me... perhaps the education system can be benefited from this study (anything to help kids learn more effectively) goodness knows there are serious flaws in it but i wonder if this is a direction that will truly help.
ReplyDeleteI think that this article is very interesting as well. The fact that such a large percentage (62%) could be attributed to genetic factors. Since genes from personality, motivation, confidence, and other traits all influence academic achievement, I think it would be genius if schools could improve childhood education based on of the children’s genes and personality. I agree with you that some educational systems are failing students today, and students deserve to get the best education that they can. I think more studies need to be conducted in students, not just twins to see how much these genes influence children all over the world in their academic performance.
ReplyDeleteThe study's “genetic reasons” term doesn’t mean that the researchers actually took genetic samples. From one news article: “Identical twins share 100 percent of their genes while non-identical twins share just 50 percent of their genes. Because these sets of twins share the same environment, the scientists were able to compare identical and non-identical twins to estimate the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors.”
ReplyDeleteThis estimating method produced an artificial divide between genetic and environmental factors. Identical twins start out sharing 100% of their genes, but then their genes become expressed differently – often because of environmental factors – to produce unique individuals even before birth. The sets of identical twins were definitely not the 100% same genetic makeup between themselves at age 16 as they were at conception, and that assumption was the foundation of the estimating method.
I feel that the researchers didn’t prove their case that “genetic reasons” were a causal factor to the stated extent. Although their estimating method’s numbers may have indicated that the above exercise was valid, that didn’t necessarily mean that the method’s results reflected the reality of genetic and epigenetic influences on the subjects. Better methods of estimating “the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors” are available with genetic sampling.
The funniest thing I saw in the study’s news coverage was one where someone argued that the researchers were wrong and that they needed educational psychologists on their staff to interpret the data. Guess the profession of the arguer!
http://surfaceyourrealself.com/2015/05/16/dividing-genetic-and-environmental-factors-when-assessing-educational-achievement-surfaceyourrealself/