Topographic Map

MS 217 Dennis Borzakov Class 723 January 15, 2013 Problem HOW IS A TOPOGRAPHIC MAP MADE Hypothesis I think that to make a topographic map you have to see the form of the object from up top. To do this you need a satellite image. These images are called aerial photographs. Using elevation calculators and ground measures cartographers then make topographic maps. Materials †¢ Clay model landform †¢ Water tinted with food coloring †¢ Transparency †¢ Clear plastic storage box with lid †¢ Beaker †¢ Metric ruler †¢ Tape †¢ Transparency marker Procedure 1.Using the ruler and the transparency marker, make marks up the side of the storage box one centimeter apart. 2. Place the clay model into the storage box. The bottom of the box will be zero elevation. 3. Secure the transparency to the top of the storage box with tape. 4. Using the beaker, pour water into the box to a height of one cm. 5. Use the transparency marker to trace the top of the water line o n the transparency. 6. Using the scale 1cm=10m, mark the elevation on the line. 7. Remove the transparency and add water until a depth of 2cm is reached. 8. Map this level on the transparency and record the elevation. . Repeat the process of adding water and tracing until you have the hill mapped on the transparency. 10. Transfer the tracing of the hill onto a white sheet of paper. 11. Use the ruler to transfer the hill from the white sheet of paper to graph paper. Analysis The counter interval of this topographic map is 1cm is equal to 10 m. The distance between contour lines on the map show steepness of a slope on the landform model because the closer the lines are the steeper the hill is, the farther apart the lines are the more the gentle the rising of the hill will be.The elevation of Hill A is 80 meters and the elevation of Hill B is 90 meters. Elevation was presented on the map by the number of counter lines. The one with the most counter lines is the taller one. Conclusion I n this experiment we took on the job of a cartographer. We graphed clay model hills to express elevation. We traced images of the forms from the transparency to the white sheet of paper to express the difference in counter lines.

Face-to-Face versus Online Socialization Essay

Imagine how much human social interaction has been affected since the introduction of online communication. It has redefined the concept of socialization. Socialization is being with and a part of other people. It is enjoying and sharing other’s company, confiding in them, and working together towards common goals. There are two kinds of socialization methods. The first is face-to-face socialization, which includes going to church, joining a club, or hanging out with friends. The second method of socialization is online communication. This includes chatting on line, text messaging, communicating with e-mail, playing online games, or other virtual communications. Socialization banishes feelings of loneliness and promotes the sense of safety, belonging, and enjoyment that helps people to feel secure. Although face to face socialization and online socialization are competing to fulfill these goals, there are noticeable differences between them in the amount of real world experience they deliver, in how they are implemented in the teaching and learning process, in the level of threat they pose to teenagers, and on their size of geographical area coverage on socializing. Face-to-face socialization provides deeper personal connection to the real world than online socialization. In their entire life, people go through different types of face-to-face interaction with their families, friends, and other people around them. As they engage themselves in the community they live in, they communicate through their speeches, body languages, and facial expressions. The lesson they take from these interactions gives them the necessary knowledge to grow from childhood to adolescence and adulthood. For example, when a child makes mistakes, he comes to know what he does is wrong through the responses others give to his mistake. These responses are not limited to speech. They include body languages, facial expressions, and actions. He learns not only what is wrong but also how to correct them by observing the corrections others make to his mistakes. This makes the learning process fast and easy. The repetition of this learning process helps him in passing through the stages of human development to be a matured adult. On the other hand, online socialization depends on the virtual world, which represents what exists in the real world in a digital format. However, it is not possible to represent every aspect of society’s activity digitally. Society’s activities are full of feelings, emotions, and actions that are difficult to be expressed in speech or writing. The digital world is restricted to recorded information on a media. This makes it difficult for online socialization to provide all the social interactions that exist in the real world. For example, the feelings one gets while sitting with a lover cannot be totally substituted by text messaging or online chatting. These technologies transmit the written letters but not the feelings and emotions, which are easily expressed in the body languages and facial expressions. As a result, the transmitted message is not complete. In addition, online socialization has a negative effect on children’s maturity. Many children use inappropriate words in their online communication because no one is there to correct them. Hence, children who are entirely dependent on online communication sometimes behave out of the socially accepted norms and lack the necessary knowledge to pass through the natural process of maturity. It is also important to see how these two types of socialization are implemented in the teaching and learning process. Online classes and face-to-face classes are created for different reasons and administered differently. In face-to-face classes, instructors and students meet in a physical class room at scheduled time. This creates favorable conditions for transferring ideas. Instructors give lectures. Students comment or ask questions, interact with others in verbal discussion at any time in the class. Instructors provide feedback vocally, with body language or writing. By contrast, in online learning students have varied personal schedules and don’t necessarily need to be online at the same time with their instructors. In a typical online class, the instructor provides the necessary instructions in written and students follow the instructions to do what is expected from them. Writing is the primary form of communication in online classes. If students need explanations, they need to write their questions and wait for hours or even days to get a reply. If the reply is not clear, they need to go through the process again. For this reason, online students are expected to refer to more books and do most of the learning part independently. This is what makes face-to-face classes more favorable than online classes in most cases. Online classes, however, are more comfortable for adult working students who do not have the time to attend face-to-face classes. In addition, online classes are also good options for students with physical disabilities and for those students who are not comfortable with the face-to-face interactions for different reasons. The other major point for consideration in socialization is the threat associated with it on teenagers. In recent years, the effect of online predators on teenagers has become a serious issue for many parents. It generates unwelcome situations in to the teenager’s life that may have long lasting impact. Teenagers are more vulnerable because they are highly motivated to participate in online communities and are not mature enough to protect themselves. Online socialization is seen as a source of this threat because it gives access to the predators to gain the trust of vulnerable teenagers. In addition, controlling their children’s online communication is not an easy task for many parents since they communicate from their bedrooms at any time of the day. In contrast, face-to-face socialization doesn’t have much associated threat to teenagers because it is visible and more restricted to small geographical area by its nature. Hence, it is possible for parents to control their children’s communication easily. In general, in face-to-face socialization, parents can get to know their children’s friends, and how they spend their time together. The other main point for comparison is the geographical area coverage on socializing. It is possible to say that there is almost no geographical area limitation for online socialization. It goes across borders, oceans, and continents in an electronic speed. For example, a 13 years old girl from Pennsylvania can have an intimate friend in India. She may know what is going on in India more than what her parents know. In contrast, in face-to-face socialization we are practically restricted to the geographical area we live in, most probably, to the city. This unlimited geographical access, however, has both its own advantages and disadvantages. Even though it helps people to get more information and coordination to tackle community level problems, such as preventing the spread of a new computer virus, it also allows the spread of false and counterproductive information. Currently, face-to-face socialization and online socialization are the two competing available options for socializing. Most people are attracted to one option or the other. Competing School advertisements for face-to-face and online classes are common everywhere. Face-to-face socialization uses speech, body languages, facial expressions, and actions in the communication process, and it has deeper personal connection to the real world. On the other hand, online socialization is a new method based on technological advancements on specific methods of communication, such as written or voice. It is revolutionary, as it has eliminated many restrictions that are inherent in the traditional face to face socialization. However, it has also brought new concerns to our society. Thus, it is possible to say that the two socialization methods have noticeable differences. They are both needed to address different social problems. As technology advances, online socialization has got wider acceptance; however, like any other technology, it has its own inherent limitations.

Cemex Case

d) What recommendations would you make to CEMEX regarding its globalization strategy going forward? In particular, on what kind of countries should it focus its future expansion? CEMEX expansion is a process where the company performs its due diligence and the aim of expanding into a country with a large population and high population growth. As the text stated CEMEX should continue to focus on developing Asian economies, Central America, the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa. CEMEX should keep its eye on China even though the cement was produced via obsolete kilns by authorities. However, China’s had tremendous growth and ever changing political environment. India is another tremendous area of growth and many competitors also recognize this. CEMEX should aim to get a foothold in this market as it will continue to grow and its restructuring process was more advanced than China’s. Even though there are some barriers to entry CEMEX should keep its eye on Brazil as well. Brazil’s population is nearly 191 million and even though the main language is Portuguese, Spanish is a major language which is also taught in the schools as this will help entry into the country. CEMEX should look at other emerging Latin American markets with growing with growing populations, especially since they speak Spanish. Lastly the Middle East, especially Dubai and the Arab Emirates should be on CEMEX’s radar due to the growth of these areas due to its oil riches and recent growth. However these areas should be carefully studied due to the political environment.

Impact of english in the arab world Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Impact of english in the arab world - Essay Example Basically, there exists a unanimous understanding among individuals that the use of English in communication helps in enhancing social status in different countries. As a result, the governments have made efforts in improving English in the countries through different means such as adopting strict state control of the educational systems (Ramaswami, Sarraf & Haydon 71). Concerning education in the Arab countries, English has been made a primary language in the education systems. The reason for making the English language is because of the feeling that English enhances career prospects the individuals speaking other languages may not have their scholarly works published throughout the world. Besides, English might attract the interest of other highly esteemed western countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom (Ramaswami, Sarraf & Haydon 86). Through English language, the Arab world has been able to share the educational resources with the rest of the world. This in turn has enabled the Arabic speakers into enjoying the utilization of researched materials of different versions and enhancing the ease in their education. The education in the Arab world has also been able to formalize through the English language to a significant degree for instance, allowing individuals for utilization of the internet and other digital media mainly prog rammed in English. Individuals of different ages have shown interest in studying the English language due to the rising needs worldwide. Moreover, several institutions have been established to offer education on the English language such as the AMIDEAST. English language has attributed to improved exposure of the traditional media that principally use English language as the medium. For instance, there is higher exposure of television in urban regions hence; the people are exposed to more English in such

ETHICS and GOVERNANCE Kickbacks Question in textbook Chapter 2 page 61 Essay

ETHICS and GOVERNANCE Kickbacks Question in textbook Chapter 2 page 61 - Essay Example The code of conduct also requires protection of confidential information as well as intellectual property. It also requires the selection of suppliers depending on the business criteria and the adherence to all public reporting requirements. Corporate Compliance Programs for organizations help them in integrating their commitment to ethics and integrity into their day-to-day operations. The global teams of most organizations’ compliance areas ensure that their employees have procedures as well as training on the regulatory requirements that are related to their jobs. In so doing, it makes compliance an integral part of the organization’s everyday activities. The organization monitors and assesses compliance with regulatory requirements and it investigates each allegation related to noncompliance. In case any problems are detected, the management conducts root cause analysis of what has happened and it modifies internal controls to prevent any reoccurrences. They then track their report progress and compliance performance quarterly to their executive management team and the audit committee of their board of directors (Wulf, 2012, pg. 136). Almost all companies and organizations are supposed to prepare their financial statements depending on standards set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The standards set by FASB are generally principles-based. In the recent years, their have been debates on whether principle-based accounting is likely to be more efficient compared to the popular rule-based accounting. The debates have been in response to the popular accounting scandals such as the WorldCom and the Enron. The current way of accounting has faced a great deal of criticism and it therefore means that the stakeholders are supposed to do everything to ensure the situation is back to normal. Rules-based ethics in accounting basically has a list containing detailed rules that have

United States of America and sale of weapons Essay

United States of America and sale of weapons - Essay Example Many world leaders like the then Russia President Vladimir Puttin expressed their concerns that the US ideas of creating a uni-polar world was the main cause for increased arms race that seems to have reawakened since the era of the cold war.There have been other sentiments that the idea of US to arms its allies while it works hard to curtail their rights to develop defensive weapons is a world catastrophe that may explode to war at any time.In most of the time, the arms transfer by the US has ended up in fuelling conflicts in the region where the arms are exported. There have also been a lot of abuses of human rights by the regime which acquires the arms. The high level of tension that is caused by these transfer have always escalated to conflicts. For example the recent decision by the US to provide F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan which has been upheld with an aim of providing compatible military hardware to threat of rivals like Indian have lead to a lot of tension between the two n ations which is feared that it might soon escalate to conflicts. Rather than bring forces of stability in these regimes, US weapons sales has shown to serve as the source of power of conflicts, unstable and undemocratic regime which is detrimental to the US security in the world and the global security at large. There is already a big conflict between the two nations and India has expressed that the sell of F-16 jet to Pakistan is not meant to fight the Al-Qaeda as the US proposes but it is rather meant to fight India. It has been shown that the two countries have fought each other for more that 3 times and once one of the country acquired high tech weapons, the other will not feel safe and it is likely to acquire the same weapons in order to protect itself. Therefore the US may be creating a lucrative market for the jet since India is also likely to buy the same or other at a higher level (Deconde 2002, p. 534). The ABC of arms sales in the US There are two ways that have been used by the arms manufacturers in the US to sell their weapons to other nations. One of such way is the Foreign Military Sales which are government-to-government sales that are based on an agreement that has been negotiated by the two nations ostensibly involving the pentagon and the purchasing nation. The other one is the direct commercial sales which involves an agreement that it agreed between the manufacturing company and the country that wants to purchase the arms. This is then licensed the state department which gives the approval for the sale of the arms. (Gary 2003, p. 4) The US government in most cases can transfer from the stock of weapons that it is holding which can be for free or at a reduced price. This is usually implemented through the Excess Defense Articles (EDA). Allied government is also allowed to receive fast track grants of weapons in order to address crisis situation in their countries through the Emergency Drawdown Program. The above two departments are managed by the department of the Defense (Ohlson, 2006 p. 3). US is the top provide of weapons The US has consistently used the technologies that it has developed in its industries as the currency of friendly is not with the foreign nations where it has an interest to protect. It has been increasing its exports of deadly technology which helps to fuel conflicts in this nations rather than helping to bring peace and stability. With time, the US has been increasing its military export to regimes which are considered unstable like the Middle East and some parts of Africa. This has been against the pledge of President Bush of ending tyrannical in the world by fighting for the protection of democratic institutions and helping the world to come to peace with one another (Kriegers 2001, p. 121). The experience that US has had with Iran and Iraq has demonstrated that selling of arms to the strategic allies can sometimes backfire and work

Personal statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 33

Personal Statement Example It will be interesting to be among the first people to introduce the services of pshychobiologist in my home country. I intend to work in a government institution as a researcher since there will be facilities and resources to further the knowledge on this field. I also wish to go around the world disseminating the research knowledge through seminars and practice in helping in treating patients with behaviour disorders that can be linked to their biological characteristics. I believe by the time I am through with the course there will be numerous areas requiring further research and will be more than willing to engage in uncovering the hidden clues on how biology is linked to human behaviour and mental phenomena. I will ensure I work very hard as a biology student so that I can sharpen my knowledge before starting Psychobiology. It will be my life-long goal to serve the people of Macau in changing their mentality towards those suffering from mental illnesses and especially those that have biological basis. I look forward to being a productive member of the society after studying this very interesting and relatively new

Research proposal and outline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Research proposal and outline - Essay Example Her actions and physical features and traits are antithesis for the low regard accorded her and seems to be purposely taken cared of to spite her husband for his utter disregard for her existence. The unfair and unequal treatment for women during that time is an interesting topic given that the tragic outcome of the novel could be interpreted as a consequence of Curley’s wife needing to be acknowledged and respected as a productive member of society. Since she felt disregarded and neglected, she opted to find ways and means to solicit positive response from men through deliberately flirting with them, dressing provocatively, and seeking attention and acquaintances from men whose perceived status in society equal hers. The main research to be explored is the status of women in America in the 1930s. A wealth of secondary references could verify, support and validate the contentions of comparative similarities with those depicted by Curley’s wife in the novel. Various feminist movements, whose enlightenment on inequality issues which started in the 1920s could be researched as a theoretical framework to rationalize Curley’s wife’s actions. In this regard, possible sub-questions that can be further researched are: (1) what are the significant effects of oppression in women during the period under study? (2) What have women done to enforce rights and equality to fare on parallel grounds with men? (3) Have significant changes in women’s role brought more benefits to society in contemporary times? Some preliminary ideas about the types of sources one proposed to use to gather information would be from history books, journals and academic published reports written by historians and academicians. The electronic sources are replete with authoritative references that could support arguments and validate conclusions, as required. The

E-Marketing (The strengths and weaknesses of E-Advertising) Essay

E-Marketing (The strengths and weaknesses of E-Advertising) - Essay Example This essay is a critical evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of E-marketing. With the current developments in the Information Technology sector, it has become possible for businesses and organizations to conduct their businesses over the internet, a process that can be referred to as E-commerce (Hanson, 2000). This is facilitated by the accessibility of personal computers among the world’s population with internet connection which interfaces the suppliers with their customers through interactive websites, which enables the customers to make orders as well as to compare and to contrast the services offered by different vendors. Through their websites, the businesses are able to generate attention through the use of graphics that depict the true nature of the businesses for example by including photographs of the business premises, some of the products sold as well as the management teams among other important aspects of the business which may be helpful in building confidence in the buyers on the services offered (Reynolds, 2004). These help to create a picture on the customer’s mind on the credibility of the business, reason being that photographs communicate more on the image of the organization. Creating awareness is the main importance of advertising (Haegele, 2001). Through the internet, this goal has been achieved by businesses, which have exploited the global market at a cheaper price than the other media of advertising such as the yellow pages, through the mass media i.e. news papers and radio as well as Television etc. It is estimated that the price of creating a website is cheaper than the price of advertising on the yellow pages thus making it affordable to all types of businesses (Brown, 2006). With thousands of potential customers around the world using the internet for other purposes such as research, sending and receiving e-mails as well as communicating through chat rooms and entertainment, internet advertising offers the best

Aspirin Preparation Case Essay Example for Free

Aspirin Preparation Case Essay * How drugs are discovered and developed Pharmacologist along with chemist focus on a specific disease and unmet patient needs in order to discover new drugs. They search for biological targets within the body that play a role in a given disease. Unique molecules are found or created that some day might be medicines. Lead Compound Selection, is the testing of compounds that might undergo the long expensive drug develop process. Random Screening- uses existing library of chemical agents. This is the simplest method but the odds are low and patience is needed. Combinational Chemistry Screening- uses a compound (from existing library) as a base, then randomly adding amino acids or molecule segments of other agents to the base compound in order to enhance the base compounds activity and disease fighting potential. The enhanced compounds are then tested in rapid screening test. However this method is complex and costly but it improves the odds. Target Synthesis- targets the disease for drug intervention. For example High Blood Pressure would be studied in detail. Consequently this method still requires screening of hundreds of compounds and extensive amount of research to understand a particular disease process. Drug Modeling- uses more high technology. This method manipulates chemical structures by computers so that they can attach to, activate or deactivate proteins that interfere with or maintain the bodys normal functioning. The model is used to enhance the properties of the other methods but the cost for designer compounds are significant because of the huge amount of research that is needed to identify biochemical target and establish their molecular structure. * How safety of drugs is checked before being used on the public A drug undergoes 3 clinical phases before being used on the public. PHASE 1 This is designed to determine the safety of the new drug, how best to administer it and the correct dosage- (one that will minimize desirable side effects). 20-30 patients (volunteers) are used to find out how the drug behaves in their body, so their blood and urine will be frequently monitored. Even though drugs in this will have been already tested in a laboratory. PHASE 2 After the correct dosage has been determined in phase1 clinical trial, it can enter phase2. This trial consists of determining the drugs effectiveness in treating a specific disease. Phase2 involves more patients (volunteers) and they are tested for the number of platelets in their blood and take frequent blood samples. If the drug being tested brings a positive change in at least 1/5 of the patients then it can be tested in phase3. However if the drug shows very positive effects in-patients, the Food and Drug Administration also have the option of approving the drug for general use at this point. PHASE 3 This trial involves hundreds of patients and is divided into two groups. The control group receives a standard treatment (placebo) and the treatment groups are given the new drug. Results are then compared from the two groups. Blinded studies are used to prevent biased study results. If the new successfully passes a phase3 trial the FDA will approve the drug for marketing to the general public. Purification -The acetylsalicylic acid is washed with distilled water until all the acetic acid is removed. -It is pressed to be as dry as possible and then dried more by a current of warm air at 60-70 degrees Celsius. The yield of pure acetylsalicylic acid is between 1780-1795kg per batch using this reaction process. * History of Aspirin and its modern development * How aspirin is prepared on the large scale Main reactor for the process- a glass lined 1500 gallon fitted with a water-cooled reflux condenser, thermometers with automatic temperature register and an efficient agitator. The Mother Liquor- 1532kg of acetic anhydride in 1200kg of toluene (this does not get used up.). The reactor is charged up with the mother liquor. 1382kg of salicylic acid is added to the mother liquor. The reaction mixture is heated to between 85-92 degrees Celsius and kept at this temperature for 20 hours. The reaction mixture is transferred into an aluminum-cooling tank and is allowed to cool for 3-4 days. By the end the cool mixture will have reached room temperature 15-25 degrees Celsius. At this point the acetylsalicylic acid has precipitated as large regular crystals. Mother liquor is removed by filtration or centrifuging. Filtrate solution- 180-270kg of UN-precipitated acetyl acid, 510kg of acetic anhydride, 600kg of acetic acid and 1200kg of toluene. The acetic acid is obtained as a by-product of the acetylation step of the process. An well-agitated reactor using a diffusion plate will introduce Ketene gas, to be passed through the recycled filtrate at a temperature between 15-25 degrees Celsius. When a weight increase of 420.5kg of the Ketene gas is observed, the mother liquor contains 180-270kg of UN-precipitated acetyl acid and 1532kg of acetic anhydride in 1200kg of toluene. The Mother liquor is recycled and 1382kg of Salicylic acid is added to continue the reaction cycle BC- the first and most influential physician wrote about the bitter powder extracted from the willow bark that could ease aches and pains and reduce fever. 1700- The scientist Reverend Edmund Stone found out that the part of the willow tree bark that was bitter and good for fever and pain is a chemical known as Salicin. This converts into another chemical called Salicylic acid when eaten. 1829- A pharmacist known as Leroux showed that Salicin is the active willow ingredient and for the first time an Italian chemist Piria used Salicylic acid to treat pain and swelling in diseases such as Arthritis and to treat fever in illnesses like Influenza. The problem was that these chemicals was causing the users upset stomachs. Some people had bleeding in their digestive tracts from high doses needed to control swelling and pain. It was thought that the reason of stomach upsets were because of the acid in the chemical, therefore the compound Salicylic acid went through a couple of chemical reactions that covered up one of the acidic parts with an ACETYL group, converting it to ACETYLSALICYLIC ACID (ASA). It was found that ASA reduced fever and relieve of pain and swelling but also it was much better for the stomach and worked better than Salicylic Acid. 1899- ASA was given the name ASPIRIN- that comes from the plant relative of a rose that makes SALICYLIC ACID (several plants makes this compound not just willow). * How drugs such as aspirin work Prostaglandin is a chemical that is released to make the nerve ending register an even stronger pain to the brain. It is made in working cells of the damaged tissues by using an enzyme called CYCLOOXYGENASE 2 (COX-2). Prostaglandin makes you feel the pain of the damaged area and causes it to swell up (inflammation), to bathe the tissues in fluid from the blood so that it will protect it and help it heal. Pain serves the purpose here to remind you that the damaged area cannot be used, as it is not healed. However sometimes we endure pain when there is no real reason to. For example Period Pains and Arthritis. It can make people feel really uncomfortable and arthritis can damage joints permanently. ASPIRIN works by locking itself to the enzyme that makes the chemical Prostaglandin. The enzyme C0X-2 that is found in normal tissues but mostly in tissues that have been damaged in some way, can no longer convert floating chemicals into Prostaglandin because they are unable to move with the aspirin lock on. Aspirin does not treat the cause of the pain; it just lowers the pain signals getting through your nerves to the brain. * How effective aspirin is New researches suggest that an aspirin a day is a preventive measure against Heart Attacks. However the effectiveness of aspirin has differential effects depending on genetics.

The Social Mobility Of My Family

The Social Mobility Of My Family The following paper includes research of Social mobility within social classes and how this has affected my family. This is a controversial issue whether socioeconomic inheritance or the class one is born into plays a role to the social mobility of the individual in one direction or another. I will give examples of my familys social mobility for the past four generations. Some may argue that starting off at a lower social class can restrict one from social mobility. From this perspective, it is thought that not having access to education or many opportunities for success make it much harder to get out from under a life of always working from paycheck to paycheck. On the other hand, others argue that we all have the same opportunity to advance our social status and move up or down the class structure within generations. The textbook spells out several different philosophies in regards to social class. Karl Marx believed that social class was created by a persons relationship with labo r. Marx separated people into those who own the means of production, and those who sell their labor (Henslin 188). Another concept the textbooks talks about was established by Joseph Kahl and Dennis Gilbert, and they based their opinions on Max Weber. Weber alleged social class is a large collection of individuals who are categorized carefully to each other in property, power and prestige (Henslin 202). Kahl and Gilbert added to this notion to include a persons education or lack thereof. Kahl and Gilbert state that today the quality of education that an individual receives also denotes the capabilities a person may possess. Kahl and Gilbert created a class social structure that contained of capitalist, upper middle class, lower middle class, working class, working poor and underclass. The higher one is in social class the greater their property or income is, along with prestige of the university they attended and the power they hold in their occupation. After analyzing the two diffe rent ideas of social class structure, I believe the most adequate structure is the social class structure of Kahl and Gilbert. Their structure allows for more wisdom and inconsistency in social class as well as superior means for explaining the difference of classes. My familys story My analysis of my familys social mobility starts with my mothers grandparents. Prior to the great depression they were that of upper middle class and would have been considered very well off. They had several farms a very large house with servants and over 1000 acres. My grandfathers part within the family of 8 was to work on the farms with his older brother getting a management role and other siblings going to college and waiting to be married. My grandfather was a very hard worker and fell into the role to handle the farms and such even though he was from the same class as the rest of the family he was seen as lower because of his younger age and hardworking mentality. Much of the family looked down on him for getting his hands dirty. His father did not allow him to continue school and he dropped to work the farms in the 8th grade. His older brother and father handled the money and management of the farms operations until the Great Depression occurred in the late 20s. After a fire which resulted in them losing several animals, a house and barn as well as other circumstances from the depression they ended up losing it all. My grandfather ended up renting a farm being a time of the dust bowl he was unable to raise sufficient crops so he began buying horses and cattle that were in poor health for very little. He would clean them up train the horses and sell them back months later for a large profit. He did this several time until he eventually saved enough to buy back the family farm where he began to milk cows and cash crops as the land was much better. My grandmother came from a very low social class but did get to go to college as her oldest sister and her husband made it possible by paying for all of their siblings to go to college as well as they both became professors and continued to live very frugal lives never having children and having a very giving life. My Grandmother graduated college at 16 and soon met my Grandfather they had 5 children with my mot her being the youngest. My grandmother started teaching soon after the children were out of diapers. A very large age gap made it so that my mother was still young when the oldest brother joined the navy during WWII. A few years later my mothers other siblings went off to college as the economy recovered as a result of the war. My mother and father started dating while my mother was 16 and they married soon after meeting and had my oldest sister at age 17. They moved into a small house just down the road from my grandparents farm and had three more children. Eventually my father built us a house on the family land that my grandmother gave them. My father is a very hardworking man and worked as a farmhand then a machinist and a carpenter until an accident in 1975 that left him disabled and unable to work. This along with a recession in the 1980s hurt my parents financially. After struggling to make things work they divorced in 1981. My mother, brother and I moved to an apartment in M adison. My sisters moved out by themselves or with boyfriends and got working class jobs as my parents did not have the means to help pay for college. Our income, status and social class level dropped to the poverty level. Living in a single parent household led by the mother we experienced the Feminization of Poverty (Henslin, p. 206). My father was on disability with very little means to even care for himself let along his children. My mother took on several jobs but with no education it never seemed to be enough. I started working to pay for food and such and help out with clothes and such. I was washing dishes and odd jobs mowing lawns. On my fifteenth birthday I decided to move out on my own. My mother had met someone and they were getting married. He had moved in and I did not get along with him or my mother very well. I tried to do well in school but trying to make rent made that a difficult task. I did try and go to college but never having enough money for rent or food made that impossible. I eventually dropped out of school and took on construction jobs. I guess I inherited some of those skills from my father and I am not afraid of hard work so I focused on that. I did well in construction and eventually married and had two children. During the 2000 construction boom I flipped several houses and built myself a very nice house. I had moved my family back up to middle class life. After my children were born my wife struggled with depression and eventually it got so bad that we decided to separate and were divorced in 2002. I had decided I would not make my children go through what I went through with my parents divorce so I decided to give it all to them and my ex-wife so we would not have to sell the house and make them possible change schools. I had paid down the mortgage to around 100,000 on a house that is worth well over 500,000. I took all other bills credit cards and car payments. I felt with my skills that I would be able to rebuild my life and they would be taken care of. Then a recession hit slow at first with construction getting slower and slower and eventually in 2008 the economy got really bad. It has been hard to turn around and the recession could not have hit a worse time. I have actually moved several times in the past years downgrading to a lesser quality home and car to save money. With very little work and the economy slow to recover I decided to apply to go to school. This is my second semester at Madison College and I am doing well. I am on the deans list with a current 3.9 GPA. Being the only one of my siblings going to college it is important that I finish. I am hopeful that the US economy turns around and I can find a decent job or get my business back making money. The problem is that I am now somewhat stuck not making enough to borrow money to buy my way out and with no college education to get a great paying job while the construction market is saturated and not coming back very fast. Having circumsta nces affecting each generation has had an impact on the social mobility of my family in a negative way starting with the great depression and continuing with the current recession. I feel that education is a key factor for social mobility. In the past younger siblings lost out on getting to go to college and getting to take over families businesses with the oldest male child usually taking over. My view My own view is that while there is a real disadvantage with education and opportunity advantages it is still possible to move up or down within social class that we were born into but for some it is very hard if not impossible. Though I concede that this may be a hard thing to overcome and defiantly harder for the lower class than within the middle or upper class. I still maintain that good work ethic and faith can increase the success of social mobility. For example my grandfather took an approach to find new innovative ways to make money and save for the right opportunity to come and then follow through. Although some might object that upper middle class and upper class should not have to pay for those born into lower class. I would reply that it is our social responsibility to give everyone an education and increase the opportunity for success for each and every individual within the United States. The issue is important because of how we are evolving humanity and making everyone so they can contribute to their potential is better for all. The alternative is that many will go on welfare or break laws and end up in prison as they have no way out of the life they were born into. This cost is much higher than the cost an education would be. Family disruption or economic loss The experience of family disruption during childhood substantially increases the odds of ending up in the lowest occupational stratum as opposed to the stable families having a better chance to be in a high class. Family disruption also weakens the association between dimensions of occupational origins and destinations. The socioeconomic destinations from nonimpact family backgrounds bear less resemblance to their socioeconomic origins that those from intact backgrounds. Those from traditional two-parent homes exhibit a stronger pattern of intergenerational occupational inheritance than those from disrupted families. Upward income mobility has decreased to such a point that the United States appears to have the highest rate of income inequality in the industrialized world, according to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service. Longstanding partisan battles in Congress about policy issues such as instituting a more progressive tax code, the tax treatment of capital gains and in heritance, and the expansion of social welfare benefits like food stamps and healthcare in recent years have not ended very well for the nations poor. Empirical analyses estimate the United States is a comparatively immobile society, that is, where on starts in the income distribution influences where one ends up to a greater degree than in several advanced economies (Cite). Reports suggest the U.S. is no longer, if it ever was a nation where the poorest can feasibly lift themselves up by their bootstraps. If income were equally distributed, each fifth household would account for 20 percent of total income. The poorest of these has long since accounted for far less than its proportionate share, barely budging from about 4 percent in recent decades, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (Cite). Meanwhile, since 1968 the middle class has seen its total income share decrease steadily, while those among the top-fifth of earners particularly the top 5 percent have seen their incomes skyr ocket. For instance, the top 5 percent held 22.3 percent of the nations wealth in 2011, up from 16.3 percent four decades earlier. The advantages offered by an affluent lifestyle clearly influence an individuals chances for economic mobility, the CRS reports. According to an analysis of empirical data, the study authors estimate there is a positive relationship of about 0.5 between a parent and adult income. Children of parents with above-average salaries are more likely, on average, to also bring in high incomes. Half the economic advantage the children of well-off families enjoy comes from having been born into wealthy families in the first place. On top of that, the chances of adults moving up from their initial income economic position has decreased or remained stagnant in recent decades, which is of particular concern since most Americans still believe economic mobility in the U.S. is completely within their reach. Americans may be less concerned about inequality in the distrib ution of income at any given point in time partly because of a belief that everyone has an equal opportunity to move up the income ladder. Different types of family structures experienced during childhood have varying effects on socioeconomic attainment and social mobility. Those within the middle class will, statistically, experience some economic mobility. According to a study by the Pew Economic Mobility Project, 43 percent of children whose parents were born in the bottom one fifth remained at the bottom when they became adults. In contrast, 40 percent of children born to parents at the top one fifth were also at the top as adults. The study compared intergenerational mobility rates between 1984 to 1994 and 1994 to 2004. Conclusion The topics of particular importance in contemporary sociology seem to be the inequality of educational opportunity and mechanisms of social mobility or immobility. Also the effects of the households saving behavior and the implication of this behavior for the distribution of wealth and the relationship between the extent of free enterprise and opportunity in the economy and socioeconomic mobility, that is, the movement of families across wealth classes over time. Some studies suggest that as technology advances, lower income workers do not have the skills or educational requirements to keep up with changing labor needs. The demand for highly skilled workers trained in engineering or information technology has elevated, while the need for lower skilled and middle skilled workers has diminished which is one of the casualties of globalization. The philosophical battle over how to achieve economic growth and social mobility has escalated to a point that conservatives have resisted attemp ts to direct more investments in programs such as early childhood education and college tuition aid. The battle continues as Democrats are pushing for more investments in social safety net programs while Republicans are calling for a self-reliant approach. Education gap creates more inequality and arguably promote equality in the opportunity to move up the income ladder, which an increasingly unequal distribution of income may suggest a lack of and which may itself curb the potential productive capacity of the economy an education gap is one of the main reasons commonly offered to explain the nations widening income inequality. Although many still firmly believe, and constantly argue, that Americans have an equal opportunity to move up the economic ladder, the researchers conclude that opportunity is far from equal.

The Acquisition Vs Learning Education Essay

The Acquisition Vs Learning Education Essay The innateness of language structure is most relevant to the process by which a child learns its first language. The first language is learnt informally, naturally and spontaneously without the child being aware of the fact that it is learning something. But there comes a stage when the child learns a new language which may be the second or third language. As second or third language learning happens through a formal process, exposure to an altogether different kind is required where the learning situation is artificial. It is generally said that people acquire the first language and learn the second language but experts in the field often use it interchangeably. People learn or acquire these languages in different circumstances with different results. The difference between first language and second language acquisition are presumably due to different conditions that either facilitates or constraint language acquisition/learning. In First Language Acquisition (FLA) abundant exposure is available but it is not so with the second language where natural circumstances are available. It is through instruction that second language is mostly learnt. Second Language acquisition appears to be a process which exhibits certain regularities, is constrained by a number of factors determining its course, rate of progress, and final outcome, is subject, within certain limits, to external influences such as (methods of ) instruction(Klein, 1988.1). Krashen attempts to distinguish between the first language acquisition and second language learning by saying, there are two independent ways to developing ability in second languages. Acquisition is a subconscious process identical in all important ways to the process children utilize in acquiring their first language, while learning is a conscious process that results in knowing about language (1985.1). Hence, Acquiring a language is picking it up i.e. developing ability in a language for use in natural, communicative situations. Language learning is knowing the rules, having a conscious knowledge of the grammar (Chaudhary, 2002, 96). A second language can be acquired rather than learnt in situations where children have exposure to a wide range of languages i.e. a multilingual situation is conducive to language acquisition. However, it is necessary to keep in mind that there is a wide range of learners from different environments and settings which affect the degree to which learners have the opportunity to acquire the second language. Moreover, cognitive processes of learning by rule formation helps learners to acquire language faster than by the natural processes of unconscious acquisition. Teacher Education in India The development of both, Pre-service and In-service teacher education in India is explained, in order to gain a good knowledge of the objectives of the programmes, the developments that have taken place in various teacher education programmes and the current state of affairs in the field of teacher education in India. Pre-service teacher education Teacher education programmes have existed in the country for over a century. In the 1850s, teacher training existed as an undifferentiated course of study meant for school teachers. Later, on the recommendations of the Indian Education Commission (1884), the teacher training programmes were mode more differentiated and for graduates the course was designed to be of shorter duration. During the twentieth century, greater differentiation was sought and practised with respect to the stages at which teachers were expected to teach. Alongside this, different training modes were introduced, such as regular campus-cum-practicing school experience, correspondence-cum-contact programmes and the more recent distance learning programmes of teacher education. Despite such diversification, the basic features of these programmes as well as the theoretical premises have not altered significantly. Although newer concerns surface from time to time have been taken cognizance of, for e.g. learner-centeredness and the break-with-methods. These concerns have not influenced in any major way the main stream system of teacher education (Stern, 1983). The professional preparation of teachers has been recognized to be crucial for the qualitative improvement of education since the 1960s (Kothari Commission, 1964-66). The Commission, in particular notes the need for teacher education to be: brought into the mainstream of the academic life of the Universities on the one hand and of school life and educational development on the other. Recognizing quality as the essence of a programme of teacher education, the Commission recommended the interdiction of integrated courses of general and professional education in Universities and a comprehensive programme of internship. Subsequently (1983-85), The Chattopadhyaya Committee Report of the National Commission on Teachers envisioned the New Teacher as one who communicates to pupils: the importance of and the feeling for national integrity and unity; the need for a scientific attitude; a commitment to excellence in standards of work and action and a concern for society. The Commission observed that: what obtains in the majority of our Teaching Colleges and Training Institutes is woefully inadequate If teacher education is to be made relevant to the roles and responsibilities of the New Teacher, the minimum length of training for a Secondary teacher should be five years following the completion of class 12. Reiterating the need to enable general and professional education to be pursued concurrently, the Commission recommends that: to begin with we may have an integrated four year programme which should be developed carefully it may also be possible for some of the existing colleges of Science and Arts to introduce an Education Department along with their other programmes allowing for a section of their students to opt for teacher education. The Chattopadhyaya Commission recommends a four-year integrated course for the secondary as well as the elementary teacher. (NCERT, 2005) The National Policy of Education (NPE 1986-92) recognized that: teachers should have the freedom to innovate, to device appropriate methods of communication and activities relevant to the needs of and capabilities of and the concerns of the community. The policy further states that teacher education is a continuous process, and its pre-service and in-service components are inseparable. As a first step, the system of teacher education was to be overhauled. The Acharya Ramamurti Committee (1990) in its review of the NPE 1986 observed that an internship model for teacher training should be adopted because the internship model is firmly based on the primary value of actual field experience in a realistic situation, on the development of teaching skills by practice over a period of time. The Yashpal Committee Report (1993) on Learning without burden noted: inadequate programmes of teacher preparation lead to unsatisfactory quality of learning in schools The content of the programme should be restructured to ensure its relevance to the changing needs of school education. The emphasis in these programmes should be on enabling the trainees to acquire the ability for self-learning and independent thinking. (NCERT, 2005) In-service Teacher Education Similar developments have taken place in respect of in-service programmes of teacher education. However, it may be noted that the in-service programmes have drawn their substance from the emerging needs and concerns of education appeared from time to time. As a result these programmes have, at at best, been awareness programmes in respect of specific concerns and not teacher development programmes, as visualized. As an outcome of the National Policy on Education (1986), orientation of school teachers gained momentum on a mass scale. Efforts have been initiated over the past few years to gradually develop a network of institutions like DIETS, IASEs, CTEs with the mandate of providing in-service education to primary and secondary school teachers respectively. During the last decade the use of satellite interactive television based activities have been provided for teacher up-gradation as part of the SOPT and DPEP projects. The majority of them however continue to perform their legacy functions (NCERT), 2005). The major indicator of quality of training is its relevance to the needs of teachers. The transactional approach and other concepts like activity based teaching, joyful learning, classroom management for large size classes and multi grade situations, team teaching, co-operative and collaborative learning which require demonstration and participatory training are also planned to included in in-service education programmes. The potential for radical shifts in school practices and programmes via effective in-service education programmes has been acknowledged by most Education Committees and Commissions. The Report of the National Commission on Teachers (1983-85) highlighted the absence of of clear-cut policies and priorities for in-service education and lack of systematic identification of needs. It recommended planning ahead of time and closure scrutiny of methodologies adopted for in-service education of teachers. It also recommended that strategies used for in-service education must be imaginative, bold and varied. It further states that the most effective among them are the services organized through the school complex put forward by the Kothari Commission intends to link primary and secondary schools with a view to pulling resources and including the educational processes. The commission mooted the idea of Teachers Centres that could function as: a meeting place for teachers located in a school that has resources that it would like to share with others it is a forum where workshops practical in nature are organized for teachers of all faculties and at all levels it pools in the talents of all teachers of various schools who act as resource personnel for centres workshops and it arranges book fairs. What teachers need most is a change in the climate of schools, an atmosphere conducive to educational research and enquiry (select) teachers could be given study leave and sent to advanced centres of learning for furthering their professional competence through visiting fellowships. The landmark National Policy on Education (1986) linked in-service teacher education as a continuum with pre-service education. A Centrally Sponsored Scheme of restructuring and strengthening of teacher education was evolved and implemented. The scheme visualized the establishment of DIETs in each district, up-gradation of 250 Colleges of Education as Colleges of Teacher Education, establishment of 50 institutes of Advanced Studies in Education (IASEs) and strengthening of State Councils of Educational Research and Training (NCERT, 2005). In all these reports, common ideas expressed are: the need to restructure the teacher education programmes to the changing needs of education, and to make these programmes more as awareness- raising programmes. Also, these programmes needed to be demonstrative and participatory in nature, with varied strategies to explore methodologies. With all these developments in teacher education, it is interesting and important to see the outcome of these changes from the perspectives of teachers, teacher educators and researchers. REFERENCES Stern, H. H. (1983). Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) (2005). Fifth Survey of Educational Research (1988-1992). Vol. I and II. New Delhi: NCERT. NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) (2005). National Curriculum Framework. New Delhi: NCERT. II CHAPTER In order to organize and interpret the descriptive data, the following three related areas in the literature were reviewed. These are: (a) Theories of language teaching and learning, (b) The methods of language teaching and language skills and (c) In-service teacher education. This chapter puts together the summary of the review findings from these three major areas. Researchers acknowledge the complexity involved in teaching and in learning to teach effectively (Ballentyne, Bain and Packer, 1999; Calderhead, 1996; Clark and Peterson, 1986). At the primary and secondary levels, the difficult and complicated process of learning to teach has been well studied (Ethell, 1997; Wideen, Mayer-Smith, and Moon, 1998). Emerging from these researches is the understanding of the central role that teachers views and theories play in teaching practice (Pajares, 1992; Richardson, 1996; and Trumbull, 1990). The field of language teaching is subject to rapid changes. This is because the profession responds to new educational paradigms and trends, changes in curriculum, and students needs. Educational institutions also face new challenges resulting from changes in language teaching. As a result, teachers need regular opportunities to update their professional knowledge and skills. This update is necessary for teachers to take appropriate decisions in the classroom. Decision taking depends on teachers understanding and assumptions about language teaching. The dominant conception of teacher learning and development as development of skills of performance which is largely unreflective has led to a formal procedure of following instructions from authority. The result is that teachers are growing more alienated for a lack of personal significance in the teaching and learning processes. So, the search for an alternative model of development is motivated by dissatisfaction with the existing one and possibility of an alternative view as holding more potential to address issues of concern to this study. This could be in form of providing opportunities to teachers voice their views about teaching/learning English as a second language. It could also be reflecting on their practices, thus finding out their own insights in more concrete terms and, through INSET programmes, rethinking of their teaching practices for better understanding of teaching and learning processes. In the reconstituted view of teacher change, teachers are seen as playing an active, developmental and constructivist role that is based on both understanding and skills. This alternative view of teachers receives support in the literature where, for instance, teachers have been seen as authors of reform (Krishner, 2002.47), as researchers and curriculum developers (Stenhouse, 1975), and as progressing towards self-authorship (Baxtor Magolda, 2001, 2002, 2003, 200; and King, 2004). The responsibility this entails in making informed choices as a teacher is a moral and intellectual meaning making process involving the teacher in self-reflection. Beyond acquiring behaviour, it centres more fundamentally on the views of teachers about the nature of knowledge, nature of teaching and learning, and, their role in making explicit their implicit theories of teaching/learning, among other things. In this chapter, the theories of teaching and learning, methods of teaching language skills will b e discussed in detail. It will also discuss the INSET programmes offered in India and, look at some studies in these areas in order to arrive at a methodological framework of the present study. Theories of Teaching Teachers teach within the context of framework of assumptions that shape their planning and interactive decisions. Theories of teaching are central to how one understands the nature and importance of classroom practices. As Posner (1985) observes, different theories of teaching lead to a different understanding of classroom life. A didactic view of teaching is based on the belief that teaching is primarily concerned with transmitting knowledge through providing clear explanations, or discussions. A discovery view of teaching by contrast, is based on the idea that students can develop knowledge themselves through active investigation and discovery, with a minimum of teacher explanation and with a provision of opportunities to learn inductively from observation. An interactionist view, on the other hand, holds that students come with well-formed ideas, so that there is a necessary interaction between the students own ideas and the learning materials. While general teaching theories such as these have informed approaches to mainstream teaching, such as behaviourist, cognitive-developmental, social-psychological, theories specific to second language teaching and learning have been developed and formed the basis for specific methodologies for language teaching such as the Communicative Approach and Natural Approach. However, teaching is an individual activity. As such, teacher development involves teachers in creating an approach that draws on their experiences and understanding as well as their personal principles about food teaching. These are known as the teachers implicit theories of teaching. the explanations given by teachers for what they do are typically not derived from what they were taught in teacher education programmesRather, the classroom actions of teachers are guided by internal frames of reference which are deeply rooted in personal experiences, especially in school ones, and are based on interpretations of these experiences. (Marland, 1995. 131) Theories of Learning There are numerous approaches and theories which have a huge impact on learning. Generally, approaches provide information about how people acquire their knowledge of the language and about the conditions which will promote successful language learning. Five major approaches to language teaching/learning will be discussed below. The Naturalistic Approach This approach is based on the assumption that language acquisition is innately determined and that one is born with a certain system of language that one can call on later. Numerous linguists and methodologists support this innateness hypothesis. Chomsky, who is the leading proponent, claims that each human being possesses a set of innate properties of language which is responsible for the childs mastery of a native language in a short span of time (Brown, 2002. 24). According to Chomsky, the mechanism, which he calls language acquisition device (LAD), governs all human languages, and determines what possible form human language may take (Dulay, Burt, Krashen, 1982. 6). Some linguists, in particular Stephen Krashen, distinguish between acquisition and learning. Acquisition is supposed to be a subconscious process which leads to fluency. Learning, on the other hand, is a conscious process which shows itself in terms of learning rules and structures. Furthermore, Krashen claims that there are three internal processors that operate when students learn or acquire a second language: the subconscious filter and the organizer as well as the conscious monitor (Dulay, Burt, Krashen 1982. 11-45). The organizer determines the organization of the learners language system, the usage of incorrect grammatical constructions as provisional precursors of grammatical structures, the systamatical occurrence of errors in the learners utterances as well as a common order in which structures are learnt. The filter is responsible for the extent to which the learners acquisition is influenced by social circumstances such as motivation and affective factors such as anger or anxiety. The monitor is responsible for conscious learning. The learners correct mistakes in their speech according to their age and self-consciousness (Dulay, Burt, Krashen 1982.45). Cognitive Approach Cognitive psychologists claim that one of the main factors of second language acquisition is the building up of a knowledge system that can eventually be called on automatically for speaking and understanding. At first, learners have to build up a general knowledge of the language they want to understand and produce. After a lot of practice and experience they will be able to use certain parts of their knowledge very quickly and without realizing that they did so. Gradually, this use becomes unconscious and the learners may focus on other parts of the language. The cognitive theory is relative newcomer to second language acquisition and there have been only a few empirical studies about this approach so far. Although it is known that the processes of automatizing and restructuring are central to the approach, it is still not clear what kinds of structures will be automatized through practice and what will be restructured. Also it cannot predict which first language structures will be transferred and which will not. As far as the phenomenon of restructuring is concerned, psychologists state that things that one knows and uses automatically may not necessarily learned through a gradual build-up of automaticity but they may be based on the interaction on knowledge one already has. They may also be based on the acquisition of new language which somehow fits into an existing system and may, in fact, restructure this system (Lightbown and Spada, 1995. 25). Two important models in this approach are Attention processing model and Implicit and Expli cit models. The Constructive Approach In the constructive paradigm, learning emphasizes the process ans the product. Learning is process of constructing meaningful representations, of making sense of ones experiential world. In this process, students errors are seen in a positive light and as means of gaining insight into how they are organizing their experiential world. The notion of doing something right or correctly is to do something that fits with an order one has established oneself (Von Glasersfield, 1987. 15). This perspective is consistent with the constructivist tendency to support multiple truths, representations, perspectives and realities. Multiplicity is an overriding concept for constructivism. It defines not only the epistemological and theoretical perspective but also the many ways in which the theory itself can be articulated. Researchers and theorists have developed variants of constructivism or have evolved the theory in different directions. Nonetheless, there are many common themes in the literature on constructivism which permit the derivation of principles, instructional models and general characteristics. Social Interaction Approach According to Vygotsky, social interaction plays a vital role in the learning process. He emphasizes the role of shared language in the development of thought and language which stands for social interaction. According to Vygotsky (1962) children develop higher order cognitive functions such as linguistic skills, through interactions with adults or more knowledgeable peers. Eventually these skills are internalized independently. The most important interactions take place within a childs Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). It is the teachers duty to try to take each child to the next level (X+1). The teacher does this by giving maximum help to the children. Perhaps he/she can give learners just the prompt they need. This prompt provides for the learners a breakthrough he/she needs. Sometimes the teacher can take the whole class through a series of steps, which help them solve the problem. Learning depends on the differences in their areas of zones of proximal development. Children are to be exposed to the social interaction first and it will eventually enable them build their inner resources. Vygotskys contention is that language is the key to all development and words play a central role on the development of thought but in the growth of cognition as a whole. Therefore, child language acquisition is the result of social interaction. Teaching is social responsibility and a cognitive activity. The Communicative Approach Proponents of this approach state that the goal of language teaching is communicative competence. Another aim is the development of procedures for the teaching of the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing). Moreover, the four skills build the basis of the independence of language and communication (Richards and Rodgers, 1986. 64-66). According to Littlewood, one of the most important aspects of Communicative Language Teaching is that it plays systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language (Littlewood, 1981.1). Another important aspect is pair and group work. Learners should work in pairs or groups and try to solve problematic tasks with their available language knowledge. Generally, communicative language teaching focuses on communicative and contextual factors in language use and it is learner-centred and experience-based. A central aspect of Communicative Language Teaching is communicative competence. (See also ) Also there is little discussion of learning theory, there are still some elements that, according to Richards and Rodgers (1986), can be defined as communication principles and meaningfulness principles. The first one includes activities that involve real communication which are supposed to promote learning. The second element describes activities in which language is used for carrying out meaningful tasks which are also supposed to promote learning. The last one states that language that is meaningful to the learner supports the learning process. Of great importance is meaningful and authentic language use (Richards and Rodgers, 1986. 72). In-service Teacher Education (INSET) Teachers can continue to be learners and develop their pedagogical understandings using their beliefs, by engaging themselves in ongoing professional development opportunities. One of these opportunities is the In-service teacher education programmes where teachers can learn to reflect on other teachers teaching and, think meta cognitively about teaching and learning which is a key factor in being able to resolve problems and dilemmas that arise in their daily teaching practices. There are fundamental assumptions underlying teacher education (Fullen, 1991): Teacher education must be thought of as a career long proposition. Teacher development and the academic development of the school in terms of curriculum, materials, and methods of teaching must go hand in hand. We cannot have one without the other. The role of teacher education programmes in preparing teachers for the difficult endeavour of teaching a second language (English) in India, and particularly the role of in-service teacher education programmes and their impact of teachers classroom teaching would be examined, keeping the above said assumptions in the forefront. In-service Teacher Education (INSET) in India The need for ongoing teacher education has been a recurring theme in language teaching circles in recent years and has been given renewed focus as a result of the emergence of teacher-led initiatives such as action research, team teaching and reflective teaching. Opportunities for an in-service education are crucial for long term development of teachers. The well established tradition of teaching and learning in India has retained its inherent strength even under adverse circumstances. The post-independence period was characterized by major efforts being made to nurture and transform teacher education. The system of teacher education has come under considerable pressure as a result of expansion and growth of school education. Having inherited the foreign model of teacher education at the time of independence from Britain in 1946, major efforts have been made to adapt and upgrade teacher education curriculum to local needs, to make it more context-based. The current system of teacher education is supported by a net work of national state and district level resource institutions working together to increase the quality and effectiveness of teacher education programmes for serving teachers throughout the country. The changing role of teachers in the changing definitions of teacher effectiveness have been frequently studied and analysed. The current focus on teacher education is to develop professional competencies, and achieve higher levels of commitment and motivation for higher level performance in teaching. Emerging information and communication technologies is an added dimension to the teacher education programmes. As a result of all these developments, teacher education in India is on the verge of major transformation. Bolam 1986) define teacher education as: Education and training activities engaged in by teachers following their initial professional certification, and intended primarily or exclusively to improve their professional knowledge, skills and attitudes in order that they can educate childrenmore effectively. In-service training for teachers in India is provided by: The State Department of Education. Colleges of Education. Educational associations. Voluntary Agencies. In-service programmes are often conducted via short term instructional courses and workshops. Many teachers take part in these programmes which contain a mix of many-courses and expository lectures. Each state has a State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) and whenever a new curriculum is implemented, massive training programmes are arranged across the state. At the district level, District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETS) undertake education programmes to train the teachers at district level. In the absence of DIETS, the Colleges of Teacher Education (CTEs or IASEs) are entrusted with the responsibilities of training the teachers. The INSET programmes currently in practice can all be put under five different categories based on the aims of the programmes. The following table familiarizes with some types of INSET programmes currently offered in India. Types of INSET programmes in India INSERT PROGRAMME AIMS Organized by educational Institutions such as CIEFL or RIE Enriching teachers subject knowledge and pedagogy Centrally designed programmes such as KV schools Teaching approaches such as orienting all teachers towards CLT approaches Locally determined programmes. For e.g. ALC School courses Attending to the felt needs of schools One-off short programmes Specific aims such as teaching vocabulary, or developing materials Programmes determined by individual needs Pursuing higher education or self-development Table 2:1: Types of INSET programmes in India (Source: Mathew, R.2005) These programmes differ mainly in their aims of the programmes and thereby differ in their training methodologies also. The takers of the programme also vary in each of these INSET programmes. As a result, the impact of these courses also differ. For example, many teachers who are willing to attend the three month INSET courses offered by the Regional Institute of South India (RIESI) are serious about updating themselves with the latest developments in the field of ELT and re-equipping themselves to meet the changing demands made by the students, parents and the society. Another example of an INSET course was the 5-Day intensive training programme for teachers working in rural areas which used to be offered by the RIE (i

Observational Learning of Violent Behavior Essay -- essays research pa

Today violence has become an every day experience in life. Playing video games or turning on the television, and flipping through the channels at random, you will most likely stumble upon various forms of violence. Does it desensitize or help us tolerate violence? And the most controversial issue, does it cause violence? Most humans learn by simply watching, and then imitating the action rather than trial and error or direct experiences of the consequences of our actions (this is not to say that watching and imitating is the only way of learning). This method of learning is called observational learning. The highly recognized psychologist with observational learning is Albert Bandura. Bandura’s theory states that observational learning is the result of cognitive processes that are actively judgmental and constructive opposed to mechanical copying. Bandura created an experiment to prove his theory. The experiment consisted of three different films, and four year old children that watched them separately. On each of the three films, a female adult aggressively played with a Bobo doll (hit, punch, kick, throw, etc.). The only differences in the three films were the endings. One ending showed the woman being rewarded with soft drinks, candy, and snacks, after playing with the Bobo doll aggressivel y. The other version of the film portrayed punishment by scolding and spankings by other adults, after performing aggressive behaviors towards the Bobo doll. In the last film the aggre...

Sigmund Freud: His Life And His Work Essay -- essays research papers

Sigmund Freud was born on May 6th 1856 in Freiberg, Moravia, which is now in Czech Republic. He is the eldest of eight children born to Jacob and Amalie Freud. Because of the anti-semetic riots who were ragging in Freiberg , Freud’s father, who was a wool merchant, lost his business and the whole family had to move to Leipzig (1859) and shortly after to Vienna where Freud spend most of his life. When he lived in Vienna, Freud had, once more, to come accross anti-semetism : jewish people had been persecuted in Europe for hundreds of years and they would often be attacked on the streets or called names. Freud was a very intelligent and hard working student, but when he left school, he was not sure of what he wanted to do. At first, he decided to become a lawyer. Then, he decided to study medicine and to become a doctor, for this reason, he enrolled in the medical school of the University of Vienna (1873) and he often came top of the class. To the eyes of Freud, working hard and wanting to find out about things were the two most important qualities in life. In his 3rd year at the University, he started a reasearch work on the central nervous system in a phisiological laboratory under the direction of Ernst Wilhelm von Brucke. During this period of reasearch, Freud neglected his courses and as a result, he remained in medical school 3 years longer than it was normally required to qualify a physician. He received his medical degree in 1881 . He spend three years working at the General Hospital of Vienna - working successively to psychatry, dermatology and to nervous diseases -. In the year 1885, he is given a government grant enabling him to spent 19 weeks in Paris to work with French neurologist Jean Charcot - director of the mental hospital, The Salpetriere - who tried to understand and treat nervous disorders, and most especially hysteria. Charcot used hypnosis to prove that the real problem of his patients was a mental one. From this demonstration, Freud realised the power that the mind had on the body, and he came back from Paris, determined to make a name for himself in this new field of study. When he came back from Paris, Freud immediately married his sister’s friend Martha Bernays. At first, the other doctors laughed at him and noboby baught his books. He was therefore very poor and in addition, he had a growing family to support. His only friend, Wi... ...pose of having a child with him. At this stage, the mother becomes the object of rivalry and jealousy. For the girls, the castration complex comes first ( in opposition to the boys case ) and then they desire to kill the mother and marry the father and have a baby. If for the boys the castration complex ends the Oedipus complex, and creates the unconscious and the superego, what happens with the girls ? Freud says that the oedipal cathexis in girls may be repressed or abandonned. The result is that women never really create a very strong superego. He is also not quite sure of how women’s unconscious is formed, since they do not have the castration anxiety as the motive to repress their incestuous wishes, some sort of repression might happen but Freud is not entirely clear on how it happens. Freud succeeded in finding clear solutions for many human problems with the help of psychoanalysis : he demonstrated the existence of the unconscious and created a totally new approach to the understanding of a person’s personality. Although he was never accorded full recognition during his lifetime, today, Freud is acknowledged as one of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century.

Extended Family Cover Essay

Survey respondents believe that women are not as â€Å"internationally mobile† as men, yet 80 percent of female expatriates have never turned down a relocation, compared to 71 percent of men. A second powerful assumption is that women encounter more work-life conflict while managing a global schedule. However, nearly half of both women and men report that they find work-life balance difficult. Finally, survey respondents believe clients outside the United States are not as comfortable doing business with women as they are with men. In fact, 76 percent of women expatriates said being a woman had a positive or neutral impact on their effectiveness overseas. Both women and men, managers and human resources executives, hold the preconceptions that emerged in this study about women’s ability in the international arena. Yet paradoxically, 90 percent of female expatriates, 91 percent of women with global responsibility who haven’t relocated, and 93 percent of men married to expatriates said they would accept their current assignments again. In fact, current expatriates (85 percent) and former expatriates (86 percent) believe global experience makes them more marketable to other companies. Compared in the past, companies at present become more open in having women as part of the workforce and consider them in equal footing as their male employees. Working Woman magazine cited Philip Morris as a company where 31 percent of all managers are women. With respect to international assignments, Philip Morris makes sure that women are tapped for those assignments. Another company, Hewlett-Packard, has a woman leading the company. The chair, president, and CEO of Hewlett-Packard is Carly Fiorina. She makes Hewlett-Packard one of only two companies in the Fortune 500 with a woman as chair, president, and CEO. Hewlett-Packard, which has a strong international presence, has a long history of supporting and promoting women (Palagano & Lee, October 2005). The next items are the list of favorable companies that provide as much benefits to working mothers in their organization: Microsoft, Bacardi and Computer Associates all offer family healthcare benefits packages for partners and their children. It helps to maintain high worker performance and establishing a caring reputation are the important motivating factors, as employers believe satisfied employees will spread the word about a company’s practices (â€Å"Extended Family Cover,† 2004). While BMW Plant Oxford, manufacturer of the Mini Cooper, presents different options of flexible, voluntary family benefits, that include insurance products, dental coverage and healthcare cash plans; workers have an option to devise their own benefits packages tailored to individual family needs. BMW also offers family social events, it is one of their strategies to improve worker morale and performance, intensifying job engagement and encouraging better relationships among employees (â€Å"Extended Family Cover,† 2004). IBM provides its employees with schedule flexibility, extended personal leaves and dependent care referral services. Also, IBM has recognized the need to conduct training programs that sensitize its managers to the problems that employees may encounter as they try to balance family and job demands. (â€Å"Extended Family Cover,† 2004). A pioneer in lactation support benefits, Procter and Gamble (P&G) has such programs at all its major worksites and in most of its production plants. This kind of strategy has helped maintain high morale and retention rates. It is also enhanced productivity and reduced absenteeism among female workers. Mothers schedule their own breaks in lactation rooms that have hospital-grade pumps, refrigerators for storing milk, curtained-off nursing stations for privacy and a supply of educational materials along with a registered nurse for onsite support (Callahan, 2005). Aetna Inc. ‘s Mothers at Work program, which received a 100% satisfaction rating from participating nursing mothers, has lactation rooms in its 50 locations and an in-house Web site with information for breastfeeding mothers returning to work. Nursing mothers receive an individual pump and professional lactation consultation. In 2004, 62% of Aetna employees nursed for six months, as compared with the 27% national average of nursing mothers (Callahan, 2005).

An Overview Of Collaboration Procurement Construction Essay

Procurement is a term which describes the activities undertaken by a client or employer who is demanding to convey about the building or renovation of a edifice. Procurement has great influence on the clip, cost and quality. The made-to-order nature of many building undertakings increases the built-in hazards. These hazards include finishing a undertaking which does non run into demands, which is delivered late or costs more than the client can pay or fund. All these hazards can impact the client ‘s nucleus concern, earnestly. The procurance scheme developed balance hazards against undertaking aims at an early phase of building. This method of procurance involves the contractor being responsible for design every bit good as building, it can be suited for all clients, including inexperient clients and those necessitating distance from the undertaking and cost certainty and faster path. It is of import at the beginning to guarantee that the field of treatment is clearly defined. One of the jobs that have beset this peculiar country of building research is a deficiency of clear definition. ( rowlison, steve ) As procurance the undertaking squad will be selected. After the undertaking squad has been selected the undertaking can come on through developing initial design work to fixing drawings and paperss to exemplify the undertaking, accomplishing be aftering consent, specifying criterions to be met and apportioning duties. During this period the client ( or undertaking patron or undertaking director ) should guarantee land purchase is completed on clip, if necessary guarantee the design procedure is consistent with the strategic brief, guarantee an internal decision-making system is in topographic point to avoid design holds. Keep the wider client organisation informed set up. An appropriate support model to guarantee payments can be made on clip. Construction stage will come on under the direction of the undertaking director or the undertaking squad. ( online ) Collaborative procurance is non popular but this method is increasing in the worldwide. Collaborative procurance is seen as horizontal coaction between different local governments during one or more stairss in the procurance procedure. In this method contact is made with different little companies with the regard of their forte. Through this procedure many companies take complete equipment and make their ain undertaking. Different advantages can be gained by collaborative procurance in footings of effectivity and efficiency. In this signifier the rate of success depend on the manner of organisation which is used. The collaborative procurance proposals are the manner to utilize the professional purchasing organisation by puting up a different companies in one panel and it drive to greater coordination, consistence and transparence. ( Online ) Partnership may hold somewhat different contents and range so coaction, but the lowest common is that the parties will work as a group jointly in any regard and that the parties must hold assurance in each other. The term collaborative contract, a definition of a collaborative contract is to be controlled by client and contractor and it is besides modulate the regular interaction between the client and a contractor. It besides makes the regular contact with contractor and adviser of different undertakings. Therefore the Collaboration procurance is really of import for multi undertakings. This client will salvage the clip and cost. Quality will besides better by doing contract with all specializers in their ain Fieldss.Method statementIntroductionNahar al-wafa Est. has the expertness and resources to transport out this developing undertaking and welcoming the chance of fall ining the professional squad during pre-tender phase. From our probe program of this undertaking will done on fast path method in the order to supply our clients with the complete contract at earliest possible day of the month together with high quality.Method statementSite constitution:Investigating the site is an of import undertaking ; a study will be done to transport out indispensable pre stamp work. Before the taking the duty of work all the job of bing site must be notified to client ‘s representative. During the probe of site, contact will be made with statutory governments to place the local existing s ervices.Site Adjustment:Contact should be made to allow section sing the possible posing for adjustment. On the site after the completion of slab floor the full adjustment will be installed as followers: Client ‘s demand will stipulate on measure page Nahar AL-wafa Est Accommodation Provision for: undertaking executive building undertaking director, Site Agents, Engineers, Surveyors, General Forman and disposal. Welfare Facilities Canteen, Draying Room, Toilets and First assistance. Extra demand for chief sub contractor ‘s supervising offices and security office will setup on the demand.Site entreeDuring the infrastructure work there is opportunity of hurt. So chief entree should from north gate and south gate should utilize for issue. For lading and droping trim country is available in the site.Materials DistributionIn the order to run into the agenda and maximal coverage of site 2 Cranes will be suggested. It is besides suggested to put in the Cranes in early phase so it can be used in sub-structure work. Crain should be topographic point on rain force concrete construction. After doing the floor, riders and goods hoists should be distribute in all floors before taking the Cranes.Infrastructure works:Basement building would make with pilling. It is assumed that pile testing will be carried out to chief contract work with pilling plan. Extra clip for pilling trial will non be granted it is expected that successful pilling contractor would utilize at least three rigs. We have assumed that pre tiring pilling will non be indispensable and the advancement of pilling contractor will non enforce any consequence on other work. For velocity and efficiency, the retaining wall signifiers would be fabricated off site. Concrete universe should transport out with Cranes in the order to salvage clip and money. ( Construction Methods And Planning )Ace construction:In the order to fast method a carefull survey of model systems is carried out in the relation to rapid advancement. The selected methods showed that it is verified to acquire best consequence in less clip. Aluma system will be used on the land slab which is portion of our strategy. This system can be installed rapidly. It will besides do the building visible radiation weight. For upper slabs we have planned for the usage of winging signifiers. Round signifier work to columns would be manufactured off site in glass reinforced plastic or steel to supply the quality coating required. Distribution of concrete support and signifier work for the frame would be by crane concrete. In the order for rapid building it is suggested to utilize nomadic concrete pumps. It will salvage the clip and cost every bit good.External envelopeDue to the wellness and safety ground impermanent fencings barrier must be installed as a frame of building. It is really of import to procure the site. Curtain palisading type and industry is non being specified. Full research is non possible for the design and industry. It is designed harmonizing to the tendency of market. ( Construction Methods And Planning )Site organisation construction:Organization of this site will be provided by the Nahr Al wafa est company. This company has the directors and technology. In assorted instances they been trained by the company and have established their place on varied undertakings over long periods.Training and employment of local peopleIt is really of import that local people should use after some prepar ation. The divisional policy is to advance the formal preparation of employees at all degree. Most of these sort of preparations carried out in the houses with to the full equipped developing school. Engagement in external preparation strategies is supported and encouraged the immature people. For senior degree, the preparation is given about direction development.Health and safety:Division has the duties to do guarantee that the employs are working under safe system. The full safeguards measure has been taken and all the staff will non consequence by any operations. ( Construction Methods And Planning )

Lily’s Fulfillment of the Hero’s Journey Essay

The classic story line of the hero’s journey can be recognized in almost every book, movie, or short story written. Even in some stories that would not be that obvious, such as the historical fiction novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Although not very recognizable two out of the three main stages of the hero’s journey are departure and initiation. These are apparent through out Lily’s journey to find herself and her mother’s history. The third main stage, return, is not as apparent in the novel. Departure, the first stage of the hero’s journey, is portrayed in Kidd’s historical fiction novel. This stage includes meeting the mentor, the call to adventure, and crossing the first threshold. Lily’s mentors through out the story are the bees. She goes back to them as a source of knowledge because she feels they have life figured out. The call to adventure happens when Lily realizes the only way to find answers for her many questions about her mother is to leave and search for them. â€Å"Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open. In a matter of seconds I knew exactly what I had to do- leave†(Kidd 41). Crossing the first threshold occurs after Lily’s realization. When she packs a bag leaving a note for T-Ray, her abusive father, and going to the hospital to get Rosaleen. The second stage, the initiation, takes place through most of the story and explains all of Lily’s trials to find herself and information about her mother. Through out Lily’s journey to find information about her mother, she encounters many hardships that help her mature and find herself. One of the biggest advances of her finding herself and maturing is when she falls in love with Zach. â€Å"Zachary Lincoln Taylor, resting there, along my heart.†(Kidd 231). This quote shows her feelings towards Zach and how much she cares about him. Although some trials created joy others created sorrow. â€Å"I looked away. I knew then. May was dead.†(Kidd 193) These three sentences make what happened really prominent and it enhances dread and sadness. Another example of a hardship Lily has to go through is when T-Ray comes to Tiburon to get Lily back and bring her home. â€Å"How dare you leave me! You need a lesson, is what you need!†(Kidd 294). This quote increases the understanding of T-Rays anger at Lily for leaving him. Lily’s hardships all affected her either positively or negatively. The third and final stage of the hero’s journey, return, is not as visible in this novel as the other stages. The return stage includes the refusal of the return. Although Lily refuses to go back to the peach farm with T-Ray, this is not a refusal to return to her ordinary world. Lily’s ordinary world is at the honey farm with August, June, and Rosaleen. Because Lily’s ordinary world is at the honey farm she doesn’t need to return to Sylvan, South Carolina. The step the master of the two worlds, where the character has become comfortable with themselves and everyone around them, is shown. At the end of the book Lil has come to accept the fact that she killed her mother. Also she has matured and found herself through out all of the trials she has gone through. The story line of the hero’s journey follows Lily Owens through her journey to find herself and information about her mother. The three stages she follows are departure, initiation, and although not as apparent return. After completing the hero’s journey she is now able to go on with her.