Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Chemistry Diatomic Molecules Cheat Sheet Essay Example

Chemistry Diatomic Molecules Cheat Sheet Paper Procedure for Negatively Charged Ions (CHIC-) Use the same procedure as outlined above, then as a last step add one electron per negative charge to fill octets. Carbonate ion has a 2- charge, so we have two electrons available to fill octets. Using the procedure above, we arrive a this structure: The two singly-bonded oxygen atoms each have an open octet, so we add one electron to each so as to fill these octets. The added electrons are shown with arrows. Dont forget to assign formal charges as well! The final Lewis structure for carbonate ion is: Procedure for Positively Charged Ions (NH+) Use the same procedure as outlined above, then remove one electron per positive charge as needed to avoid expanded octets. When using this procedure for positively charged ions, it may be necessary to have some atoms with expanded octets (nitrogen in this example). For each unit of positive charge on the ion remove on electron from these expanded octets. If done correctly, your final structure should have no first or second period elements with expanded octets. Using the basic procedure outlined above, we arrive at a structure in which nitrogen has nine valence electrons. (Electrons supplied by hydrogen are red; electrons supplied by nitrogen are black. ) Removal of one of these valence electrons to account for the 1+ charge of ammonium ion solves this octet rule violation. Slathers Rules: All other electrons in the same group as the electron of interest shield to an extent of 0. 35 nuclear charge units except Is group, where the other electron contributes only . 30. ) Write the electron configuration for the atom using the following design;(ls) (ad) (as,up) (ad) (if) (as,up) 2) Any electrons to the right of the electron of interest contributes no shielding. (Approximately correct statement. ) 3) All other electrons in the same group as the electron of interest shield to an extent of 0. 35 nuclear charge units 4) If the electron of interest is an s or p electron: All electrons with one less value of the principal quantum number shield to an extent of 0. 85 units of nuclear charge. All electrons with two less values of the principal quantum umber shield to an extent of 1. 0 units. 5) If the electron of interest is an d or f electron: All electrons to the left shield to an extent of 1. 00 units of nuclear charge. 6) Sum the shielding amounts from steps 2 through 5 and subtract from the nuclear charge value to obtain the effective nuclear charge. Examples: Calculate Z* for a valence electron in fluorine. Rule 2 does not apply; 0. 35 6+0. 85 2 = 3. 8 Z* = 9 3. 8 = 5. 2 for a valence electron. Calculate Z* for a as electron in Platinum. (1 (Dodd) (ass,app) (Dodd) (puff) (zaps) (add) (ass) Rule 2 does We will write a custom essay sample on Chemistry Diatomic Molecules Cheat Sheet specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Chemistry Diatomic Molecules Cheat Sheet specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Chemistry Diatomic Molecules Cheat Sheet specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Digital Self-Portrait Assignment Essay Example

Digital Self Digital Self-Portrait Assignment Paper Digital Self-Portrait Assignment Paper My Life Line A Portrait of Who I am on the Inside. Planning This will be our first major project of the year. We began this year with a Digital Self- Portrait. From this project, we learned that self-portraits are more interesting when they focus on who we are on the inside, rather than what we look like on the outside. We will call these portraits our â€Å"Life Lines† because they tell the story of our life- who we are on the inside. For this project, we will be using an accordion book format to show others WHO WE ARE ON THE INSIDE. The accordion book will have a front cover and 6 inside panels or pages. Your â€Å"Life Line† will be a combination of drawings (pencil, sharpies, amp; colored pencils) and collage (pictures/images you bring in from home). Week 3 Homework: Bring in Images to Collage into your LIFE LINE We will begin our LIFELINE by gathering important DATA about YOU! List carefully as many things as you can think of for each category. INTERESTS amp; HOBBIES: the books you like to read, sports, crafts, outdoor activities, things you collect, what you do in your spare time, do you plan an instrument? Do you take classes to learn things like Yoga or Karate? What games do you enjoy? etc. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | FAVORITE FOODS: Maybe you’re a chef or like to cook and make your own foods. Maybe you have a favorite restaurant. Maybe you LOVE Grandmas’ pot roast. Maybe your family makes a special dinner What are your favorite foods? | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | SPIRITUAL BELIEFS amp; PHILOSOPHIES: Do you believe in a higher being? Are you passionate about any issues such as recycling, protecting the environment, adopting animals, or non-violence? Are there any special holidays you celebrate in connection to your beliefs? You may also want to include your patriotism or heritage. | | | | | | | | | FAVORITE MUSIC: This can be styles of music, music you sing, music you play, favorite bands or songs, etc. | | | | | | | | | ACADEMIC INTERESTS: What do you like learning about? (In school or outside of school). I love learning about nature and foreign cultures. Maybe you love dinosaurs. Maybe you like working on computers. Maybe you like learning about how things work, like cars. PS- lunch and recess are not academic†¦ but ART is! ) | | | | | | | | | FAVORITE VISUALS: What kinds of things do you like to look at? Beaches? Checkerboards? Hot Air Balloons? Rainbows? Plants? Spider webs? Artwork? Album covers? Etc. | | | | | | | | | HEROS: List your heroes below. Who are the people you look up to? Who do you want to be like when you are older? Who are you impressed by? | | | | | | | | | FAMILY AND FRIENDS: Who are the important peop le in your life (and we don’t mean your great-uncle who you’ve never even met). Include people who are important to YOU! | | | | | | | | | | | | PETS: Pets you own, pets that have passed away, or maybe pets you’d like to someday own. | | | | | | | | | TRAVEL: Where have you been? Where would you like to go? | | | | | | | | | EXTRA: Favorite authors? Clubs amp; organizations (4-H, Scouts, Peer Mediator, etc. ), pen pals, AWARDS, favorite smells, favorite time of the year, season, college, poems, etc. | | | | | | | | | YOUR BIRTHDAY: When is your Birthday? You can represent it with a cake, balloon, present, season, etc. __________________________________________ When you have completed the survey, practice sketching these objects on the next page (in pencil). Remember to think CREATIVELY because we want to see pictures to represent these parts of your life- NOT WORDS! For instance, music can be represented by notes or lines coming out of a stereo or instrument. Good luck! NOTE: This is the planning phase of your Life Line. Check off or cross off each item f rom your list as you include it in your final portrait. This way you will not lose track. Procedure: . Fill out the survey 2. Decide HOW YOU WILL ORGANIZE your images a. You may want to have each page represent a category (such as family) or maybe you will represent past/present/future and move throughout your pages chronologically- YOU DECIDE! 3. Sketch lightly in pencil first on your final paper b. FILL up your pages- you don’t want any empty space- even the background should represent YOU! 4. Add collage elements such as photos of your family, etc. 5. Outline each item in black using a sharpie 6. Color in using colored pencils

Thursday, November 21, 2019

SLP - 2 Persuasive Memos Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

SLP - 2 Persuasive Memos - Essay Example In addition, I am also addressing workplace ethics with the hope that professionals will find a solution to help save the image of  the company. Therefore, I am remaining with the faith that this memo will be of a positive help and direction within the organization. The practice of cheating in the corporate culture is both hurting, and poses a great danger to the continuity of  the organization. I would appeal to the management to first find a way of instilling ethical behavior among the employees. Solomon (2012) says that management can do this through a number of methods that would result in a grand boost and help on organization’s ethical culture. Serious communication should be done to encourage members on the benefits of ethics in business. Making ethical decisions may be difficult but it surely is at the best interest of the business. All workers should ensure that whatever they do in the work place is right, and moral meant for the benefit of the firm. The main reas ons why ethics is necessary in business applies both at internal and external environments of any given organization. According to Solomon (2012), employees need to reciprocate ethical conduct to both  the customers who purchase goods and services, and to working partners who we share similar workplace settings. This is the best way we can appreciate their efforts in building healthy relationships; thus ensuring continuity of professionalism in service delivery. Since we really need customers to continue buying the company’s products, we have to demonstrate ethical practices. In this case, employees should ensure that they offer them the best of services that the company can deliver. This will serve to improve customer reliance and dependence on the company’s services. In addition, it will boost their confidence on the company’s profile; hence this positive image will eventually lead to increase in sales. This will also boost morale among workers for the good services they offer. In order to ensure success in ethical development programs, we will need both commitment and consistency among the staff. Management should encourage anybody with new ideas and any suggestions to bring them forward for consideration. The company can introduce new products to the market as a means of gaining a competitive advantage, and advertise  the company’s new policies.  These programs need to become practical since employees acknowledge the importance of good ethics in any business. According to Solomon (2012), ethics does not only help internally but also make the firm gain respect and appreciation at market segment levels. Proper action need to be taken to inform all people of the need of urgency in integrating ethics in daily routines. Management can achieve this by educating people on the behavior and actions they should learn to exhibit towards others in a work place. This education will go a long way towards making workers aware of their ac tions and implications that accompany their workplace conduct. In this context, management should strive towards creating a business that will respect ethics and encourage workers to become ethical in respective duties. Employees need to integrate the culture of ethics into their professional habits immediately upon joining the organization. Management should utilize professional code of conducts that lay down requisite behaviors and actions within the employee population. These

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Research proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Research proposal - Essay Example With this virtue, the research proposal presented here shall provide a specific structure to the ultimate research work mentioning the aim and objectives to be amended in the final discussion of the research. It will also intend to suggest an appropriate research methodology, apparently highlighting the importance of the research topic and evaluating its future scope. Table of Contents Abstract 2 1. Introduction 4 1.1. Research Problem 4 1.2. Background 4 1.3. Research Aims and Objectives 6 2. Literature Review 8 3. Research Methodology 10 3.1. Types of Research 10 3.2. Research Approach 12 3.3. Data Collection Process 13 3.4. Data Analysis 14 3.5. Limitations of the Research Methodology 15 3.6. Recommendations 16 References 18 Bibliography 21 1. Introduction 1.1. Research Problem Research problem is referred to the area of interest identified in the research work. It is termed to be an important element for a research work as it provides a purpose to the research which again signifi es its ultimate objective. The research problem also provides certain specific research questions which in turn simplify the research process specifying the focal point of the research. 1.2. Background Sodexo is an international company which was set up in 1966 by Pierre Bellon. By its origin it is a service based company and renders its customers with a wide range of services. However, the company mainly focuses on its catering services to general public and fine dining customers as well. To be mentioned, the major objectives of Sodexo are attaining a sustainable growth of at least 7% per annum, reaching 6% operating margin, gaining the recognition as a global leader, developing the employee base and increasing its brand awareness and brand image at large (Sodexo, 2010). To encourage its virtues, Sodexo has also been recorded to be the first company to enter the contract of catering with the 2012 UK Events Industry Fair Pricing and Practice Charter. According to this contract, Sode xo Prestige, the catering group of the company is entitled to serve the chief customers in 2012 Olympic Games. This indeed is a great opportunity for the company to move ahead in accomplishing its optimum objectives (Sodexo, 2009). Therefore, the research problem which can be identified is to develop a well-designed uniform with key consideration to the aspect of the brand image of the company in representing 2012 Olympics and its employees’ perceptions. With this concern, the suggested research questions can be stated as follows, 1) What is the Brand Philosophy of Sodexo? 2) What are the Ethos and Values of the company? 3) What kind of uniform look would represent the company in the best possible way? Based on these research questions, certain significant research aims and objectives have been suggested in the following discussion. 1.3. Research Aims and Objectives Being an active participant of the service industries, fashion industry provides an utmost priority to the aspe ct of client satisfaction which enhances the possibility of client retention in future. Hence, it rewards the designer a long-term benefit. In this milieu, it shall be quite supportive to determine the research aim and its objectives focusing on the perception of both the primary and secondary customers (Dickerson, 2004). The primary aim of the research work shall be focused in

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Chicago history Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Chicago history - Assignment Example For instance, voters’ defeat of Thompson showed that many Chicago residents were tired of the ensuing disorder. Notably, reformist and citizens groups advocated for a stringent enforcement of prohibition, in addition to the immediate onslaught on corruption, crime and social vices. Thus, such belief united ethnic voters as well as politicians in Chicago and subsequently reformists’ mayors, such as William Dever were elected (Lecture notesâ€Å"Chicago in the Roaring Twenties† 6). Question 12 Lause, Mark A. "Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement, and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America." Business And Economics--Labor And Industrial Relations 60 (2007): 298-300. The objective of this article is to examine the repercussion of Haymarket riots and its brunt on the labor plus radical movements within the recognizable provisions of defeat as well as demise. The article assesses the repression of labor plus radicalism within Chicago , based on the assumption that there was an extensive authorized repression aimed at destroying the eight-hour movement along with the unity it momentarily inspired. Thus, according to Lause the police basically prevented an imminent revolution. The position taken by the author is that, even though segments of the movement at first backed away from the charged men, the extensive defense campaign shifted to an amnesty movement which inspired modern socialist International that went on to declare May Day an international labor day. Green, James. "Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement, and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America." The Journal of American History 94.1 (2007): 302-303. This journal article re-creates the Haymarket riots in order to demonstrate the growth of the earliest great labor movement following the American Civil War along with the twenty-year fight for the eight-hour working period. Green displays how the movement triumphed over several setbacks to coordinate a sequence of strikes which swept the nation during 1886, and as a result positioning the unions for a triumph on the eve of Haymarket tragedy. Green examines the frustrations, tensions plus exhilarating victories of the Midwestern source of strength of Gilded Age. Question 13 The cost of the Fair is worth the benefits Chicago received, since it generated extensive hysteria in opposition to immigrants and the labor leaders. Moreover, the affair destroyed the labor movement resistance in Chicago and is not worth the benefits Chicago received since it only stimulated the social consciousness of many people in Chicago rather than bridging reforms. However, it enthused generations of leftist activists and artists and it is for the most part considered as the origin of global May Day observances for workforces. The fair also displayed the worst of the city class struggle. Question 14 Paddon, Anna R and Sally Turner. "African Americans and the World's Columb ian Exposition,." Illinois Historical Journal 88.1 (1995): 19-36. The thesis of the article is that even though the fair officials discouraged the attempts of African Americans in achieving reforms, the activities conducted in that fair became the foundation for African American political social along with artistic movement. Hence, the aim of the study was to examine the approach, group alignment, together with mentoring relationships formed by Africans Americans from the fair. The authors Paddon,

Friday, November 15, 2019

Designing an Oral English Teaching Course

Designing an Oral English Teaching Course Introduction: Context Defining context is necessary for developing any course plan because the students, stakeholders and setting of the course have a large impact on all that is taught and learned. The very concepts of teaching and learning are culturally dependent and therefore care must be taken to match student and stakeholder expectations. Or in some cases it may appropriate to gently push the boundaries of what is acceptable and in so doing reveal a new way of learning and thinking. A cursory knowledge of the context is often not enough to push such boundaries. â€Å"The more information you have about the context the more able you will be to make decisions and to plan an effective course† (Graves 2000, p 18). This oral English course will take place at Leshan Teachers College in the mid-sized city of Leshan, in Sichuan province, China. This institution could be considered a 3rd tier college which grants bachelors and associates degrees to students headed for careers as secondary and elementary teachers. A minority of these English majors will go on to careers in translation, business or tour guiding. A minority will also go on for further study in various graduate fields. The institution offers no guidelines for the course except that the textbook titled Challenge to Speak by Wilson, Olson, Li, Chen and Yao (2005) be used as a text. The teacher is required to develop their own test for use in the course. The 1st year students enrolled in this course come directly from high school and the majority of them are from rural areas of Sichuan province. Many of their families work in agriculture or serve as migrant workers in factories or on construction projects in the eastern provinces. Students are often disappointed at being assigned to study at Leshan Teachers College. Many had hoped to attend somewhere with more prestige, but in spite of some initial disappointment, most are willing to study hard to improve their English. Previous to having this class, many of the students have not had a foreign teacher. Though they have studied English for at least 6 years in elementary and high school, they generally dont see English as a way to build relationships. Most of their focus in their English studies had been on reading and writing with the goal of doing well on the college entrance exams. Most of them lack the oral ability or confidence to consider beginning a conversation with the foreigners that they may occasionally see in their daily life. Though educational philosophies are gradually changing throughout China, the college entrance exam still dictates that much rote learning take place. In foreign language teaching, theories of grammar-translation and audio-lingualism predominate. Generally, students are not taught to question their textbooks, their teachers or their learning methods. Students typically follow their teachers recommendations and assignments very closely and rarely initiate studies on their own. That being said, their powers of memorization and grammar knowledge are usually quite good in comparison to their ability to speak extemporaneously in conversation. The course meets one time per week for two 45 minute periods. Due to a late arrival on campus and a week of military training, the 1st year students semester lasts only 12 weeks. With the distractions that come with adapting to life in new surroundings, the 1st semester of the 1st year typically features a lighter academic load. Many of these students have not been away from their parents before and this obviously affects students in different ways; some embrace their new-found independence while some long for home. I. Teacher Beliefs Though a course or a language program is set in a specific locale, and may try to incorporate the desires and needs of many students and stakeholders, ultimately the composition of the course or program flows from one source: the beliefs and identity of the teacher. Successful teaching requires knowledge beyond just the subject being taught; only through self-knowledge can a teacher fully inhabit the combined public and private persona that a teacher must assume (Palmer, 1998). The beliefs of a teacher regarding the subject being taught and nature of teaching and learning will have significant implications in the design of a course; however, a teachers worldview may impact his or her teaching approach in ways that are just as significant, but perhaps less apparent. Since language teaching often involves cultural differences between teachers and students, teachers may need to adjust some of their beliefs when or if they significantly violate the cultural norms of students (Graves, 2000; Lingenfelter Lingenfelter, 2003). While Johnson (1998, as cited in Graves, 2000) points out that many of a teachers beliefs can be difficult to articulate or can hide under the surface of his or her teaching, my experiences with the cross-cultural frictions found in language classrooms have often raised to my consciousness beliefs and values that would have remained hidden in monocultural classrooms. As teachers engage with different student populations, study language acquisition theory or perform action research, they may alter some aspects of their beliefs. This is only natural. The possibility of change ought to propel a teacher toward constant reevaluation of their beliefs because only an intimate acquaintance with ones beliefs allows a teacher to articulat e why a particular lesson was effective or ineffective (Graves, 2000). Nature of Language Just as language is constantly evolving and adding new words from a multiplicity of sources, so my beliefs about the nature of language continue to evolve. Originally, I had viewed language as primarily driven by the lexicon. Through performing action research on form-focused approaches, I have come to realize that grammar plays a role that is nearly as important as vocabulary (Eberly, 2008). But, language goes beyond mundane concerns such as conditional forms or definitions extracted from dictionaries; when forms and words are artfully rendered into literature, the result is somehow more than the sum of its parts. Language is capable of exquisite beauty, but it is not only in its ability to represent the physical world where this beauty is apparent. Its ability to capture the minute inner-workings of the self is peerless among the fine arts, at least in my view. As a literature major in my undergraduate years, I may be biased, yet Ive found the habit of reading literature and writing a journal to be the best means of understanding myself. Language is not only something one engages in alone, it is also a means to develop relationships. Though meanings occasionally get obscured in our speech with others, language is what separates us from animals and allows us to work together as villages, countries and with people from around the world to achieve mutually beneficial objectives. Love, as a supreme human experience, would be incomplete or impossible without language as a means of expressing that love. Language Learning My beliefs on language learning grow out of my view of language and out of my awareness of myself as a learner. The relational nature of languages and my level of connection to native speakers have played a large role in my success in learning Chinese and Korean, and my comparative failure in learning Spanish in high school and as an undergraduate. Coming from a largely monocultural area of Ohio limited my exposure to native Spanish speakers. So, during my high school and undergraduate days, I saw Spanish as book-bound and irrelevant to daily life perhaps akin to how some of my students feel toward English today. Yet living in Korea and China while I have studied those respective languages has allowed me to know the people that are connected with the languages. It has been my relationships to those native-speaking people friends, colleagues, students and above all teachers that have energized my studies and made me successful. This is very much in line with Vygotsky (1978) who first noted the crucial role that sympathetic interlocutors play in forming L1 competence in children (as cited in Lightbown Spada, 2006). Brown (2001) carried this into the L2 arena with his interactive approach which in essence declared that it is through meaningful interaction that learning occurs most effectively. Curran also recycles some of these relational ideas in his Community Language Learning approach (Brown, 2001). World View Not only do my beliefs on this issue arise out of my experiences as a language learner, they are also rooted in my spiritual understanding of my relationship to God. The Bible is a record of mankinds relationship with God and according to the Bible, humans were created for the express purpose of being in relationship with God. The arrival of Jesus on earth heralded the willingness of God to send and sacrifice his only Son so that believers might relate to more than just a book or a set of laws; through Jesus, an intimacy with God is possible. My life has been a gradual discovering of just how fulfilling this relationship can be. But though Jesus calls everyone into relationship with Him, He does not force anyone into a relationship they may not desire. This freedom of choice is an important element in any relationship and endues the weaker party with an agency, or freedom of choice, which is a necessary element in establishing an inquiry-based educational environment (Freire, 1996). Language Teaching This type of mutually respectful relationship causes not only an increase in knowledge about the other with whom one is in relationship, it also forces a reevaluation of the self as the two mutually define and refine each other. Language teaching approaches that do not in some way promote learner introspection run the risk of creating automaton learners, who, when left to their own devices, lack the ability to carry on with their learning. Undoubtedly, some implicit learner reflection on teaching and learning philosophies is inevitable when the teacher is from another culture. Yet, deliberate activities and assignments which nudge students toward greater reflection of their learning processes and preferences have been shown to lead to greater student proficiency over the long term (Snow, 1996; Brown, 2001). A host of surveys and inventories like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Rebecca Oxfords Strategy Inventory for Language Learners (SILL) have frequently been incorporated into l essons as a way to make learners more self-aware (Brown, 2001). However, the simple insertion of these surveys into a lesson does not a reflective learner make, as I have found in the past. The teaching approach itself must be designed to give students some experiential knowledge of whatever declarative knowledge such surveys may inculcate. By introducing learner-reflective strands into an approach, a teacher can foster one of the paradoxes which Palmer claims must be present in a successful classroom; the space of the classroom â€Å"should honor the ‘little stories of the student and the ‘big stories of the disciplines and tradition† (Palmer, 1998, p. 74). II. Needs Assessment Feeling that I know myself well after articulating my beliefs, there is a temptation for me to take some aspects of needs assessment for granted, especially since I have taught at the Leshan Teachers College (LSTC) for nearly 3 years. This is my 2nd year teaching freshman oral English and though I didnt do extensive formal needs assessment last year, I feel very cued-in to student needs in terms of affect, pragmatics and pronunciation. Also, part of my action research (Eberly, 2008) involved significant assessments of the grammaticality of my students speech, so I feel especially familiar with struggles the students may face in this area. Through classroom activities and conversations outside of class, I have learned much about the future plans, hopes and dreams of many of my students. Yet, student populations are not monolithic and even though the collectivist nature of Chinese culture makes it tempting to paint different groups of students with the same pedagogical brush, there wil l undoubtedly be subtle and not-so-subtle differences from year to year or group to group. The foregoing introduction has largely ignored what is potentially the biggest advantage, for experienced teachers in familiar environments, in incorporating well-planned needs assessment into their course: the effect on the learner. In addition to providing the teacher with information about how to structure the course initially or alter it as it progresses, needs assessment helps the learners to reflect on their learning, to identify their needs, and to gain a sense of ownership and control of their learning. It establishes learning as a dialogue between the teacher and the learners and among the learners. (Graves, 2008, p. 98) The dialogic nature of assessing needs is one way in which students can be â€Å"heard to speech,† a process which Palmer (1998) describes as necessary not only for the development of interpretive and analytic skills, but also as an affirmation of the humanity of the student. My hunch is that needs assessment rarely takes on a dialogic quality in traditional Chinese classrooms, which tend to be teacher-fronted or hierarchical (Hu, 2002; Pratt, 2007). Yet the benefits far outweigh any drawbacks that may stem from students initial confusion or discomfort when facing the task of assessing their own needs. Pre-course Needs Assessment Dialogue often is thought to occur between two parties, yet there are other interlocutors who contribute to the process of analyzing needs. Though they may not participate directly in the classroom, they nevertheless have important contributions to make to the direction of the course. The overarching goal of oral English classes in the view of the administration of the LSTC is to prepare students for the TEM4 oral English exam during their sophomore year. For this reason, the foreign teachers at LSTC rarely teach courses to students beyond their sophomore year. For teachers who are unfamiliar with their setting, a discussion or interview with the dean or other departmental leader would be necessary as an initial needs assessment to help establish the criteria for the course. Though I have not spoken to many parents of my students during my time here, my hunch is that they would see test preparation as the main objective of any oral English course, or any other course for that matter. A secondary concern for administrators and parents alike is the oral English requirements for any post-graduation job that the student may deign to pursue. As future elementary and secondary teachers, the students will likely need good facility with pronunciation, but fluency will not be as important. This is slowly changing though, and more and more top secondary schools are demanding teachers who can teach in English. For students who opt for other careers involving English, including business, tour guiding and interpretation, all facets of their oral English will need to be well-developed. I see the value of washback from the TEM4, which is scored on the basis of student competence in pronunciation, grammatical accuracy and fluency through the modalities of an impromptu speech, dialogue and story retelling (Wen, Zhao Wang, 2001). Yet I would seek to augment the criteria of the TEM4 with several of my own. As a firm believer in the value of relationships, I would argue that pragmatic, cultural and confidence-building activities are necessary to promote relationships between the students and foreigners. Though students and other stakeholders may not see much need for these skills, the day of Chinas full integration into the international community is fast dawning. Ive seen almost exponential growth since my arrival here in opportunities for students and recent graduates to go abroad. Also, as Chinas economic growth rate continues to outpace much of the rest of the world, foreigners flock here in increasing numbers to work, study and tour. Beyond these potential encounte rs with speakers of English, the students will have 3 or 4 other foreign teachers during their 4 years of study at LSTC and the ability to form relationships with these native speakers of English will to some degree determine a students success in those courses. The following table consists of stakeholder data collection procedures and descriptions. The procedures contained therein do more than just provide the teacher with a means to assess the needs of students, they also seek to enable students to self-assess. Though student self-assessment is not a significant facet in Chinese pedagogy, I feel these assignments will benefit them in their future language studies and in their life in general. Table 1: Stakeholder Data Collection Procedures Pre-field needs assessment Since my course is a mere 14 hours of total class time not counting the test, incorporating student input into my needs assessment will have to be done as efficiently as possible.   As a way to collect basic initial information, a survey questionnaire will be distributed on the first day of class and assigned for completion as homework. (see appendix A)   Assigning the survey as homework will allow students to use their dictionaries and work at their own pace.   The questionnaire has 2 main foci in addition to basic information needed for classroom administrative purposes.   One focus is students self-perceived weaknesses and strengths in relating to native English speakers.   Another focus is pronunciation; in what ways have students learned pronunciation, successfully or unsuccessfully, in the past? Because the Challenge to Speak 1 textbook by Wilson E., C. Olson, H-Y. Li, X-N. Chen B-H. Yao (2005) will be used in the course, the initial survey includes a list of the language functions included in this text and students are asked to rank their top three preferences in terms of functions to study during the semester as well as designate any of the functions they already feel comfortable performing.   In addition, a significant portion of the initial pronunciation needs assessment will occur in the second week with a recording and transcription project that will test students self-awareness of their pronunciation and spoken grammar. Field needs assessment In conjunction with an action research project on pronunciation, much of the on-going needs assessment will be performed concurrently with end-of-cycle data collection.   These attempts to gauge students feelings on both pronunciation and wider classroom issues will have to be done delicately to avoid overwhelming students who may have difficulty seeing the purpose behind providing the teacher so much subjective feedback.   Each of these short end-of-cycle questionnaires will feature 2 questions requiring written answers and 5 Likert survey items as well as opportunities for students to write further questions or comments about the course.   The initial 2 questions about pronunciation are likely to change from cycle to cycle; however, the Likert statements will remain the same.   Interviews with 3 students will be performed at the conclusion of each cycle, with the intention of gaining deeper insights into some of the issues raised in the surveys. Objective feedback will be obtained through the use of in-class recordings.   Though checking pronunciation will be the overarching goal of this technique, secondary information will be gleaned about the students ability to stay on task, interest in the activity, comprehension of directions, etc†¦ Recordings will be made in both small-group and whole-class settings. Post-field needs assessment My hope is that a large portion of the assessment and analysis at the conclusion of the course can be accomplished through a repeat of the initial recording and transcription project assigned during the second week of class.   By having students record and transcribe a passage which incorporates the gamut of English phonology as well as respond to several prompted questions, I hope to gauge their pronunciation and awareness of themselves as speakers.   If they produce fewer errors overall and are better able to articulate their pronunciation and grammar errors the second time through, I will consider them successful learners who have completed a successful course. III. Developing Learning Outcomes The challenge in developing learning outcomes is to balance the learning space between an authoritarian approach in which the teacher is constantly forcing their goals upon the students and an anarchist approach in which each student pursues their own agenda.   Undoubtedly needs assessment plays a role in giving the students a voice in planning the outcomes of a course.   Yet I have found in my particular locale in China that students accustomed to a teacher-centered approach may have difficulty in articulating what they hope to learn in a course.   Thus in attempting to maintain a space that is both â€Å"bounded and open,† in the words of Palmer, (1998, p. 74) I have often erred in the bounded direction.   I hope in this course, through dialogic needs analysis and attempting to articulate that which my students may find difficult, to be â€Å"open to the many paths down which discovery may take us, to the surprises that always come with real learning† (Palmer, 1998, p. 75). Of course this is not to say that the teacher should approach every course with a blank mindset and allow the students to do all the leading.   Taking into account the context of the course and the beliefs of the teacher will start a teacher down the road of formulating goals for a course.   But it is important to follow up on this start and define the course goals as precisely as possible.   A course â€Å"will be effective to the extent that its goals are sound and clearly stated† (Richards, 2001, p. 112).   The better able the teacher is to articulate the goals, the more succinctly they will be able to inform their students of the direction of the course an important consideration for a course with less than 14 hours of class time. While there are a plethora of philosophies and frameworks to draw on when establishing goals,   I find myself most adherent to theories of cultural pluralism as defined by Richards (2001) and the framework of ATASK formulated by David Thomson (as cited in Graves, 2000).   Obviously, there are pieces from each of the 5 philosophies described by Richards that I find attractive, yet my setting and beliefs make cultural pluralism the most relevant and accessible to me and my students.   I think the inclusion of a teacher parameter in the ATASK (Awareness, Teacher, Attitude, Skills, Knowledge) acronym allows me to articulate learning goals that I may have for a particular course.   Though social reconstructivists or critical pedagogues may wish to explode the teacher/student dichotomy, I dont think we can throw all power structure out the window.   The ATASK framework allows me to view myself as a learner and my students as teachers, which is something likely to be beneficial to both of us. The following table briefly outlines my goals and objectives according the to ATASK framework.   The pre-course portion of my needs assessment informs some of these goals and objectives.   Table 2: Though it is te Designing an Oral English Teaching Course Designing an Oral English Teaching Course Introduction: Context Defining context is necessary for developing any course plan because the students, stakeholders and setting of the course have a large impact on all that is taught and learned. The very concepts of teaching and learning are culturally dependent and therefore care must be taken to match student and stakeholder expectations. Or in some cases it may appropriate to gently push the boundaries of what is acceptable and in so doing reveal a new way of learning and thinking. A cursory knowledge of the context is often not enough to push such boundaries. â€Å"The more information you have about the context the more able you will be to make decisions and to plan an effective course† (Graves 2000, p 18). This oral English course will take place at Leshan Teachers College in the mid-sized city of Leshan, in Sichuan province, China. This institution could be considered a 3rd tier college which grants bachelors and associates degrees to students headed for careers as secondary and elementary teachers. A minority of these English majors will go on to careers in translation, business or tour guiding. A minority will also go on for further study in various graduate fields. The institution offers no guidelines for the course except that the textbook titled Challenge to Speak by Wilson, Olson, Li, Chen and Yao (2005) be used as a text. The teacher is required to develop their own test for use in the course. The 1st year students enrolled in this course come directly from high school and the majority of them are from rural areas of Sichuan province. Many of their families work in agriculture or serve as migrant workers in factories or on construction projects in the eastern provinces. Students are often disappointed at being assigned to study at Leshan Teachers College. Many had hoped to attend somewhere with more prestige, but in spite of some initial disappointment, most are willing to study hard to improve their English. Previous to having this class, many of the students have not had a foreign teacher. Though they have studied English for at least 6 years in elementary and high school, they generally dont see English as a way to build relationships. Most of their focus in their English studies had been on reading and writing with the goal of doing well on the college entrance exams. Most of them lack the oral ability or confidence to consider beginning a conversation with the foreigners that they may occasionally see in their daily life. Though educational philosophies are gradually changing throughout China, the college entrance exam still dictates that much rote learning take place. In foreign language teaching, theories of grammar-translation and audio-lingualism predominate. Generally, students are not taught to question their textbooks, their teachers or their learning methods. Students typically follow their teachers recommendations and assignments very closely and rarely initiate studies on their own. That being said, their powers of memorization and grammar knowledge are usually quite good in comparison to their ability to speak extemporaneously in conversation. The course meets one time per week for two 45 minute periods. Due to a late arrival on campus and a week of military training, the 1st year students semester lasts only 12 weeks. With the distractions that come with adapting to life in new surroundings, the 1st semester of the 1st year typically features a lighter academic load. Many of these students have not been away from their parents before and this obviously affects students in different ways; some embrace their new-found independence while some long for home. I. Teacher Beliefs Though a course or a language program is set in a specific locale, and may try to incorporate the desires and needs of many students and stakeholders, ultimately the composition of the course or program flows from one source: the beliefs and identity of the teacher. Successful teaching requires knowledge beyond just the subject being taught; only through self-knowledge can a teacher fully inhabit the combined public and private persona that a teacher must assume (Palmer, 1998). The beliefs of a teacher regarding the subject being taught and nature of teaching and learning will have significant implications in the design of a course; however, a teachers worldview may impact his or her teaching approach in ways that are just as significant, but perhaps less apparent. Since language teaching often involves cultural differences between teachers and students, teachers may need to adjust some of their beliefs when or if they significantly violate the cultural norms of students (Graves, 2000; Lingenfelter Lingenfelter, 2003). While Johnson (1998, as cited in Graves, 2000) points out that many of a teachers beliefs can be difficult to articulate or can hide under the surface of his or her teaching, my experiences with the cross-cultural frictions found in language classrooms have often raised to my consciousness beliefs and values that would have remained hidden in monocultural classrooms. As teachers engage with different student populations, study language acquisition theory or perform action research, they may alter some aspects of their beliefs. This is only natural. The possibility of change ought to propel a teacher toward constant reevaluation of their beliefs because only an intimate acquaintance with ones beliefs allows a teacher to articulat e why a particular lesson was effective or ineffective (Graves, 2000). Nature of Language Just as language is constantly evolving and adding new words from a multiplicity of sources, so my beliefs about the nature of language continue to evolve. Originally, I had viewed language as primarily driven by the lexicon. Through performing action research on form-focused approaches, I have come to realize that grammar plays a role that is nearly as important as vocabulary (Eberly, 2008). But, language goes beyond mundane concerns such as conditional forms or definitions extracted from dictionaries; when forms and words are artfully rendered into literature, the result is somehow more than the sum of its parts. Language is capable of exquisite beauty, but it is not only in its ability to represent the physical world where this beauty is apparent. Its ability to capture the minute inner-workings of the self is peerless among the fine arts, at least in my view. As a literature major in my undergraduate years, I may be biased, yet Ive found the habit of reading literature and writing a journal to be the best means of understanding myself. Language is not only something one engages in alone, it is also a means to develop relationships. Though meanings occasionally get obscured in our speech with others, language is what separates us from animals and allows us to work together as villages, countries and with people from around the world to achieve mutually beneficial objectives. Love, as a supreme human experience, would be incomplete or impossible without language as a means of expressing that love. Language Learning My beliefs on language learning grow out of my view of language and out of my awareness of myself as a learner. The relational nature of languages and my level of connection to native speakers have played a large role in my success in learning Chinese and Korean, and my comparative failure in learning Spanish in high school and as an undergraduate. Coming from a largely monocultural area of Ohio limited my exposure to native Spanish speakers. So, during my high school and undergraduate days, I saw Spanish as book-bound and irrelevant to daily life perhaps akin to how some of my students feel toward English today. Yet living in Korea and China while I have studied those respective languages has allowed me to know the people that are connected with the languages. It has been my relationships to those native-speaking people friends, colleagues, students and above all teachers that have energized my studies and made me successful. This is very much in line with Vygotsky (1978) who first noted the crucial role that sympathetic interlocutors play in forming L1 competence in children (as cited in Lightbown Spada, 2006). Brown (2001) carried this into the L2 arena with his interactive approach which in essence declared that it is through meaningful interaction that learning occurs most effectively. Curran also recycles some of these relational ideas in his Community Language Learning approach (Brown, 2001). World View Not only do my beliefs on this issue arise out of my experiences as a language learner, they are also rooted in my spiritual understanding of my relationship to God. The Bible is a record of mankinds relationship with God and according to the Bible, humans were created for the express purpose of being in relationship with God. The arrival of Jesus on earth heralded the willingness of God to send and sacrifice his only Son so that believers might relate to more than just a book or a set of laws; through Jesus, an intimacy with God is possible. My life has been a gradual discovering of just how fulfilling this relationship can be. But though Jesus calls everyone into relationship with Him, He does not force anyone into a relationship they may not desire. This freedom of choice is an important element in any relationship and endues the weaker party with an agency, or freedom of choice, which is a necessary element in establishing an inquiry-based educational environment (Freire, 1996). Language Teaching This type of mutually respectful relationship causes not only an increase in knowledge about the other with whom one is in relationship, it also forces a reevaluation of the self as the two mutually define and refine each other. Language teaching approaches that do not in some way promote learner introspection run the risk of creating automaton learners, who, when left to their own devices, lack the ability to carry on with their learning. Undoubtedly, some implicit learner reflection on teaching and learning philosophies is inevitable when the teacher is from another culture. Yet, deliberate activities and assignments which nudge students toward greater reflection of their learning processes and preferences have been shown to lead to greater student proficiency over the long term (Snow, 1996; Brown, 2001). A host of surveys and inventories like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Rebecca Oxfords Strategy Inventory for Language Learners (SILL) have frequently been incorporated into l essons as a way to make learners more self-aware (Brown, 2001). However, the simple insertion of these surveys into a lesson does not a reflective learner make, as I have found in the past. The teaching approach itself must be designed to give students some experiential knowledge of whatever declarative knowledge such surveys may inculcate. By introducing learner-reflective strands into an approach, a teacher can foster one of the paradoxes which Palmer claims must be present in a successful classroom; the space of the classroom â€Å"should honor the ‘little stories of the student and the ‘big stories of the disciplines and tradition† (Palmer, 1998, p. 74). II. Needs Assessment Feeling that I know myself well after articulating my beliefs, there is a temptation for me to take some aspects of needs assessment for granted, especially since I have taught at the Leshan Teachers College (LSTC) for nearly 3 years. This is my 2nd year teaching freshman oral English and though I didnt do extensive formal needs assessment last year, I feel very cued-in to student needs in terms of affect, pragmatics and pronunciation. Also, part of my action research (Eberly, 2008) involved significant assessments of the grammaticality of my students speech, so I feel especially familiar with struggles the students may face in this area. Through classroom activities and conversations outside of class, I have learned much about the future plans, hopes and dreams of many of my students. Yet, student populations are not monolithic and even though the collectivist nature of Chinese culture makes it tempting to paint different groups of students with the same pedagogical brush, there wil l undoubtedly be subtle and not-so-subtle differences from year to year or group to group. The foregoing introduction has largely ignored what is potentially the biggest advantage, for experienced teachers in familiar environments, in incorporating well-planned needs assessment into their course: the effect on the learner. In addition to providing the teacher with information about how to structure the course initially or alter it as it progresses, needs assessment helps the learners to reflect on their learning, to identify their needs, and to gain a sense of ownership and control of their learning. It establishes learning as a dialogue between the teacher and the learners and among the learners. (Graves, 2008, p. 98) The dialogic nature of assessing needs is one way in which students can be â€Å"heard to speech,† a process which Palmer (1998) describes as necessary not only for the development of interpretive and analytic skills, but also as an affirmation of the humanity of the student. My hunch is that needs assessment rarely takes on a dialogic quality in traditional Chinese classrooms, which tend to be teacher-fronted or hierarchical (Hu, 2002; Pratt, 2007). Yet the benefits far outweigh any drawbacks that may stem from students initial confusion or discomfort when facing the task of assessing their own needs. Pre-course Needs Assessment Dialogue often is thought to occur between two parties, yet there are other interlocutors who contribute to the process of analyzing needs. Though they may not participate directly in the classroom, they nevertheless have important contributions to make to the direction of the course. The overarching goal of oral English classes in the view of the administration of the LSTC is to prepare students for the TEM4 oral English exam during their sophomore year. For this reason, the foreign teachers at LSTC rarely teach courses to students beyond their sophomore year. For teachers who are unfamiliar with their setting, a discussion or interview with the dean or other departmental leader would be necessary as an initial needs assessment to help establish the criteria for the course. Though I have not spoken to many parents of my students during my time here, my hunch is that they would see test preparation as the main objective of any oral English course, or any other course for that matter. A secondary concern for administrators and parents alike is the oral English requirements for any post-graduation job that the student may deign to pursue. As future elementary and secondary teachers, the students will likely need good facility with pronunciation, but fluency will not be as important. This is slowly changing though, and more and more top secondary schools are demanding teachers who can teach in English. For students who opt for other careers involving English, including business, tour guiding and interpretation, all facets of their oral English will need to be well-developed. I see the value of washback from the TEM4, which is scored on the basis of student competence in pronunciation, grammatical accuracy and fluency through the modalities of an impromptu speech, dialogue and story retelling (Wen, Zhao Wang, 2001). Yet I would seek to augment the criteria of the TEM4 with several of my own. As a firm believer in the value of relationships, I would argue that pragmatic, cultural and confidence-building activities are necessary to promote relationships between the students and foreigners. Though students and other stakeholders may not see much need for these skills, the day of Chinas full integration into the international community is fast dawning. Ive seen almost exponential growth since my arrival here in opportunities for students and recent graduates to go abroad. Also, as Chinas economic growth rate continues to outpace much of the rest of the world, foreigners flock here in increasing numbers to work, study and tour. Beyond these potential encounte rs with speakers of English, the students will have 3 or 4 other foreign teachers during their 4 years of study at LSTC and the ability to form relationships with these native speakers of English will to some degree determine a students success in those courses. The following table consists of stakeholder data collection procedures and descriptions. The procedures contained therein do more than just provide the teacher with a means to assess the needs of students, they also seek to enable students to self-assess. Though student self-assessment is not a significant facet in Chinese pedagogy, I feel these assignments will benefit them in their future language studies and in their life in general. Table 1: Stakeholder Data Collection Procedures Pre-field needs assessment Since my course is a mere 14 hours of total class time not counting the test, incorporating student input into my needs assessment will have to be done as efficiently as possible.   As a way to collect basic initial information, a survey questionnaire will be distributed on the first day of class and assigned for completion as homework. (see appendix A)   Assigning the survey as homework will allow students to use their dictionaries and work at their own pace.   The questionnaire has 2 main foci in addition to basic information needed for classroom administrative purposes.   One focus is students self-perceived weaknesses and strengths in relating to native English speakers.   Another focus is pronunciation; in what ways have students learned pronunciation, successfully or unsuccessfully, in the past? Because the Challenge to Speak 1 textbook by Wilson E., C. Olson, H-Y. Li, X-N. Chen B-H. Yao (2005) will be used in the course, the initial survey includes a list of the language functions included in this text and students are asked to rank their top three preferences in terms of functions to study during the semester as well as designate any of the functions they already feel comfortable performing.   In addition, a significant portion of the initial pronunciation needs assessment will occur in the second week with a recording and transcription project that will test students self-awareness of their pronunciation and spoken grammar. Field needs assessment In conjunction with an action research project on pronunciation, much of the on-going needs assessment will be performed concurrently with end-of-cycle data collection.   These attempts to gauge students feelings on both pronunciation and wider classroom issues will have to be done delicately to avoid overwhelming students who may have difficulty seeing the purpose behind providing the teacher so much subjective feedback.   Each of these short end-of-cycle questionnaires will feature 2 questions requiring written answers and 5 Likert survey items as well as opportunities for students to write further questions or comments about the course.   The initial 2 questions about pronunciation are likely to change from cycle to cycle; however, the Likert statements will remain the same.   Interviews with 3 students will be performed at the conclusion of each cycle, with the intention of gaining deeper insights into some of the issues raised in the surveys. Objective feedback will be obtained through the use of in-class recordings.   Though checking pronunciation will be the overarching goal of this technique, secondary information will be gleaned about the students ability to stay on task, interest in the activity, comprehension of directions, etc†¦ Recordings will be made in both small-group and whole-class settings. Post-field needs assessment My hope is that a large portion of the assessment and analysis at the conclusion of the course can be accomplished through a repeat of the initial recording and transcription project assigned during the second week of class.   By having students record and transcribe a passage which incorporates the gamut of English phonology as well as respond to several prompted questions, I hope to gauge their pronunciation and awareness of themselves as speakers.   If they produce fewer errors overall and are better able to articulate their pronunciation and grammar errors the second time through, I will consider them successful learners who have completed a successful course. III. Developing Learning Outcomes The challenge in developing learning outcomes is to balance the learning space between an authoritarian approach in which the teacher is constantly forcing their goals upon the students and an anarchist approach in which each student pursues their own agenda.   Undoubtedly needs assessment plays a role in giving the students a voice in planning the outcomes of a course.   Yet I have found in my particular locale in China that students accustomed to a teacher-centered approach may have difficulty in articulating what they hope to learn in a course.   Thus in attempting to maintain a space that is both â€Å"bounded and open,† in the words of Palmer, (1998, p. 74) I have often erred in the bounded direction.   I hope in this course, through dialogic needs analysis and attempting to articulate that which my students may find difficult, to be â€Å"open to the many paths down which discovery may take us, to the surprises that always come with real learning† (Palmer, 1998, p. 75). Of course this is not to say that the teacher should approach every course with a blank mindset and allow the students to do all the leading.   Taking into account the context of the course and the beliefs of the teacher will start a teacher down the road of formulating goals for a course.   But it is important to follow up on this start and define the course goals as precisely as possible.   A course â€Å"will be effective to the extent that its goals are sound and clearly stated† (Richards, 2001, p. 112).   The better able the teacher is to articulate the goals, the more succinctly they will be able to inform their students of the direction of the course an important consideration for a course with less than 14 hours of class time. While there are a plethora of philosophies and frameworks to draw on when establishing goals,   I find myself most adherent to theories of cultural pluralism as defined by Richards (2001) and the framework of ATASK formulated by David Thomson (as cited in Graves, 2000).   Obviously, there are pieces from each of the 5 philosophies described by Richards that I find attractive, yet my setting and beliefs make cultural pluralism the most relevant and accessible to me and my students.   I think the inclusion of a teacher parameter in the ATASK (Awareness, Teacher, Attitude, Skills, Knowledge) acronym allows me to articulate learning goals that I may have for a particular course.   Though social reconstructivists or critical pedagogues may wish to explode the teacher/student dichotomy, I dont think we can throw all power structure out the window.   The ATASK framework allows me to view myself as a learner and my students as teachers, which is something likely to be beneficial to both of us. The following table briefly outlines my goals and objectives according the to ATASK framework.   The pre-course portion of my needs assessment informs some of these goals and objectives.   Table 2: Though it is te

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Causes and Effects of Cheating Essay

School systems today are so indulgent in their rules, guidelines and consequences; thus causing cheating, copying or forgeries to be regularly used. Students take advantage of copying someone else’s work whenever they are given the chance, because they abhor doing their own work. Other times, students will have someone else do their work and turn it in as their own, not realizing the aftermath this can create. This creates a lack of creativity, no sense of responsibility and the students will never acquire new knowledge. This type of behavior should be discussed academically by the school administration. Thus, the school teachers should try to abolish and try to amend this type of cheating. These practices of cheating, copying and forgery by students are unethical and should be brought to the surface whenever possible. Students that copy other student’s work are hurting themselves in the long run. Their creativity altitude plunges every time they copy or have someone el se do their work. After a while of copying and forging, the student’s ability to think creatively and successfully becomes almost nothing. In order for people to keep their minds as functional as possible, they need to do their own work. Students also accommodate others in school work,and don’t acknowledge what they are doing is amiss. When teachers catch students cheating they shouldn’t grant amnesty to the student and also chasten him/her. It is easy for students to buy a student’s paper that had the same class the year before, modify it a little, and turn it in as their own. Students are no longer able to do their own work like writing essays by themselves because someone else can do it for them. Students also begin to lose the sense of responsibility when they have other people do their work. Some losses of responsibility comprise the following: they feel that they have to do nothing to pass a class, only that as long as they turn in a paper, their thoughts or not, they will receive grades for the assignment. This creates the feeling that life will always be a handed to them easily. Beside with losing their responsibility, the students that copy other’s work never get to feel that sense of accomplishment that comes when the paper you have been working on is finally complete. They don’t get the inspiring feeling when they get their paper back if their grade is good. The feeling isn’t there because the work isn’t their own. They use other people to receive the grade, but they feel nothing, and this is very wrong. If they never have that feeling, there is nothing to motivate these people  to do better the next time around. This is why cheating is catastrophe. Up till now, there may be one thing that is the worst of all when people pass off someone else’s work as their own. That would be that the faker doesn’t gain any knowledge. Teachers should censor the person who did the paper for the student. People can only learn from the things they do, and if someone else is doing their work, they are never going to learn anything. Making mistakes and learning from them may be one of the most effective methods of learning. For instance, if a student performs extremely poorly on a very important assignment, some chances are that student will always remember what they did wrong and what would have been better. If people donâ€⠄¢t do the work themselves, they can never learn from their mistakes. These people that cheat will go through life expecting someone else to always be there to do their work. When the time comes that they will actually have to do the work themselves, they aren’t going to have a clue on what to do or where to start from. They will be so used to simply taking someone else’s work. These people need to be stopped not only for their sake but because it is not fair to the people whose work they are always stealing. People work hard and should receive credit for the things they do, the people that don’t work hard, should not receive any credit. In conclusion, it is very consequential for each student to do their own work without anyone’s help. If a student doesn’t do his own work he won’t gain anything and the he won’t care for the grade because he didn’t do any work. These students that cheat will always think there will be someone to help them. In the future, these students will regret what they used to do because they will come to one point in life and will be stuck and won’t know what to do.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Green Branding Effects on Attitude

Introduction There have been a lot of literature reviews over the years on consumers’ behaviors towards green products as well as green marketing resulting from consumers’ concern on environmental protection. Using Hallin (1995) and McCarty and Shrum (2001), Lorache, Bergeron, and Barbaro-Forleo (2001) and Yam-Tang and Chan (1998), the study was conducted to test among New Zealand consumers’ behavior towards purchasing green products. This study was done on New Zealand’s consumer as the country has always been perceived as a â€Å"clean and green† country and its consumers were assumed with high environmental conscious.Review of the Literature The authors begin with a brief review of literature that supports the ideas that consumers’ indication of positive attitude towards environmental issues do not necessarily lead to actual environmental friendly purchasing behavior (Laroche et al. , 2002). This research provided theoretical and managerial implication. Theoretical implication is to add support to previous research which showed that consumers are concerned about the environment, but not necessarily prepared to seek out or buy green products (Foster, 1989: Wasik 1992).In terms of managerial implication, it provides indication to marketers on targeted consumers that purchase green products. This research also identified factors that discriminate between those who purchase green products and those who don’t. The authors point out the gaps in existing literature. They mentioned that most studies have focused on general environmental behavior. Therefore, the authors suggest studies on more specific consumers’ purchasing behavior are done. The authors conclude that their study provides some important contribution to the green marketing theory for future research agenda.Method of the Study The authors state they used qualitative choice models in analyzing participation in a variety of activities. Data collectio n from mail surveys that were sent to households in New Zealand are described in considerable detail. The authors state that â€Å"reliability test† of each construct was conducted to ensure reliability and validity of data obtained. The gathered information was retained for data analysis. Findings The analysis in this study was tested for green purchasing behavior only.Environmentally conscious behavior also relates to different types of behavior like recycling and energy saving. However, testing and literature on these behaviors was not mentioned in this study. In future, research on New Zealand consumers should also incorporate cultural and psychological factors. In Table 1, pp 97-98, number of tested respondents are 521 i. e. 296 male and 225 female. However, errors were spotted in this table where a total respondent is not consistent for other categories in the same analysis.For example for Age Group and Number of Dependant Children categories, numbers of respondents sud denly become 522. For other categories, total number of respondents reduced: Marital Status (520), Education Background (517), Household Income (498) and Ethnic Group (521). However, the statistical method used in this study is appropriate to determine factors that influence consumers’ purchasing behavior. Conclusion The authors relate their research findings with the overall purpose of the study i. e. to reveal that consumers behavior towards purchasing green products.From the study we learned that even if consumers are profess strong support towards environmental like New Zealanders, they are not necessary purchase green products. From other literatures, we found that similar results would also affecting consumers in other countries. This is because most consumers are more price sensitive, quality sensitive and brand sensitive/loyalty. Other factors affecting consumers’ behavior are socio-economic characteristic, convenience in locating products and transparent infor mation on green products label.In summary, further studies must be done and better procedures must be developed. Larger samples should be used to improve our understanding concerning the factors affecting consumers behavior. Suggestion for future research, analysis on respondents from other developed countries should also be undertaken for comparison purposes and it would further conclude the factors affecting consumers’ behavior globally. Information from the findings would assist marketers to strategies on green marketing.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Whats the Average College GPA By Major

What's the Average College GPA By Major SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’re still in high school, you might be curious about how college GPAs work and what you can expect for grades given your major of choice. Just like high schools, colleges vary in how they calculate GPA. Grade inflation also significantly affects college GPA at most schools, causing many students to end up with higher GPAs in college than they had in high school. In this article, I’ll give you the facts about average GPAs at different types of colleges and within a variety of college majors. What's the Average College GPA? The average GPA for students at four-year colleges in the US is around 3.15, or a B average. This is much higher than it’s been in the past, a trend that demonstrates that grade inflation is a very real phenomenon for colleges. For example, a C used to be the standard average grade, but now a B is considered average. Why is this? One factor might be that professors are more vulnerable to student critiques in online forums and are sometimes forced to answer to angry parents if they give poor grades. The job of a professor can partially depend on how pleased his or her students are with the class, which is inevitably tied to what grades students get. As college becomes more and more expensive, both students and parents expect high grades so they can feel as though they're getting their money's worth. This is also a likely reason for grade inflation, especially considering the disparity in average GPA between public and private colleges: according to GradeInflation.com, public schools have around a 3.1 average GPA, whereas private schools have around a 3.3 average GPA. Grade inflation might also be happening because professors don’t want to jeopardize students' future chances at grad school or job opportunities by doling out low grades in an academic environment that has now come to expect Bs as the norm. However, telling you the overall average GPA across colleges and majors is somewhat meaningless as a statistic since GPAs vary so drastically by school and by major. Many schools give students two different GPAs: a cumulative GPA that takes into account all their classes, and a major GPA that only includes classes that count toward their major. In the next few sections I’ll get more specific about the average GPAs you can expect for different major fields and types of schools. GPAs by Major Science majors tend to have lower GPAs on average, with chemistry being the major with the lowest average GPA. Meanwhile, education majors earn the highest GPAs on average. Why this disparity? Grade inflation is more rampant in non-STEM fields because assignments are usually more open to interpretation, and there aren’t always clearly defined right or wrong answers. Professors tend to give students the benefit of the doubt due to the factors I mentioned previously (i.e., the impact of student evaluations, the expectations of high grades by students and parents, and professors being "too nice"). If a student gets a problem wrong or follows incorrect procedure in gathering data, it’s clear that he or she will earn a lower grade. If the student doesn’t write a clear enough thesis for an English paper, on the other hand, it’s a more subjective situation. The majors I’ve listed here come from a 2010 report by Dr. Kevin Rask of Wake Forest University. It’s difficult to say what the average GPA for one major is when you’re looking across a bunch of different schools. Each program is different, so the average GPA for these same majors at your college might be much higher or lower than indicated in the table. Major Average GPA Education 3.36 Foreign Language 3.34 English 3.33 Music 3.30 Religion 3.22 Arts 3.19 History 3.19 Computer Science 3.13 Political Science 3.11 Physics 3.10 Geography 3.09 Philosophy 3.08 Geology 3.03 Biology 3.02 Psychology 2.98 Economics 2.95 Math 2.90 Chemistry 2.78 Bonus: Curious about what the easiest college majors are? Read more here! Chemistry is a tough subject (except when it's between u and me, baby). GPAs by School Below, I've listed 10 schools for each category of selectivity (highly selective, selective, and less selective) and their average GPAs so you can get a sense of the distribution of college GPA. Here's what I mean by these levels of selectivity: Highly selective schools are schools that have a less than 15% acceptance rate Selective schools are schools that have a 20-50% acceptance rate Less selective schools are schools that have an acceptance rate higher than 50% You’ll notice that the most selective colleges have higher average undergraduate GPAs. This could be because they are more vulnerable to the factors I listed earlier that contribute to grade inflation. Moreover, because these colleges are admitting increasingly higher-achieving students, it’s more difficult to set standards in classes that are high enough to prevent most people from earning As. I consulted GradeInflation.com to find these GPAs. The years next to the GPAs indicate the most recent GPA data available from the school. All schools are arranged alphabetically. Highly Selective Colleges College Acceptance Rate Average GPA Brown University 9.3% 3.63 (2012) Columbia University 6.1% 3.45 (2010) Cornell University 12.7% 3.36 (2006) Dartmouth College 10.4% 3.46 (2014) Duke University 10.8% 3.51 (2014) Harvard University 5.2% 3.65 (2015) MIT 7.2% 3.39 (2015) Princeton University 6.4% 3.39 (2014) Stanford University 4.8% 3.57 (2011) University of Pennsylvania 9.3% 3.44 (2015) Selective Colleges College Acceptance Rate Average GPA Bates College 21.9% 3.36 (2006) Boston University 25.1% 3.16 (2014) Carleton College 21.2% 3.42 (2004) Emory University 22.0% 3.38 (2012) Grinnell College 28.9% 3.34 (2007) Kenyon College 33.8% 3.42 (2015) Lehigh University 25.2% 3.17 (2012) Spelman College 40.1% 3.16 (2013) UC San Diego 34.2% 3.14 (2015) Vassar College 23.8% 3.58 (2015) Less Selective Colleges College Acceptance Rate Average GPA Butler University 65.1% 3.25 (2007) Drury University 72.4% 3.30 (2013) Furman University 61.2% 3.20 (2014) Hope College 84.0% 3.39 (2009) James Madison University 75.2% 3.15 (2013) Portland State University 92.0% 3.14 (2011) Rutgers University 57.8% 3.09 (2013) University of Alabama 53.3% 3.13 (2015) University of Northern Iowa 80.8% 3.02 (2014) University of Utah 66.2% 3.10 (2013) Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. What Do Average College GPAs Mean for You? Average college GPAs won't mean much for you if you're still in high school, but it's good to know how GPA works in college because it can impact your future career. If you end up going through a job recruiting process toward the end of college, your GPA will likely be one of the factors that is strongly considered by recruiters. As I've said, however, GPA varies quite a bit across different schools and majors. Recruiters will be looking at how your GPA compares with that of other students at your school who are in the same field. Overall, your experiences with projects and other jobs will carry more weight than will your GPA in most hiring decisions. It's safe to say that if your college GPA ends up being at least a 3.0, most employers won't be concerned with it. Another matter to take into consideration is grad school. You'll have to be a little more serious about keeping your GPA up in college if you plan to go to grad school (especially if you have your sights set on law school or medical school). Grad programs want dedicated students who are passionate about the field of study they've chosen. A high college GPA in relation to your peers in the same field will demonstrate that you were able to consistently exceed expectations. If grad school might be on the horizon for you, don't slack off during your freshman year of college! You should make sure your GPA is solid from the beginning so you don't mess up your plans later on (but also try and have fun sometimes because college is awesome). Let's face it, we all kind of want to be lawyers just so that we can be as cool as Saul Goodman (aka James McGill ... you should really watch Better Call Saul) Conclusion: What's the Average College GPA? Figuring out the average college GPA is not as straightforward as you might assume it is. Because students take such different classes at a wide variety of institutions, it’s difficult to compare one GPA directly with another if both students aren’t attending the same college and taking similar classes. Overall, college GPAs have risen in recent years due to grade inflation caused by a variety of factors, including the easier accessibility of professor reviews, parents' expectations of students' grades, and grad school competition. Don’t choose a major or a college because you think you’re going to be able to get a higher GPA in that program. If you work hard in a field you truly enjoy, the good grades will most likely follow! What's Next? Trying to figure out where you should apply to college? Check out our complete guides on how to choose a school that's right for you and how to figure out what you should go to college for. If you just want to start exploring what's out there in terms of college offerings, read our guide to the best college search websites and our breakdown of how long a bachlor's degree takes. Aiming for the top schools? Learn how to get into Harvard and the Ivy League. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Once Upon A Psychological Theory Essays - Freudian Psychology

Once Upon A Psychological Theory Essays - Freudian Psychology Once Upon A Psychological Theory Once Upon A Psychological Theory An Analysis of Psychological Hypotheses in Fairy Tales and Their Affect on Childhood Development INDEX I. Personal Statement II. Introduction III. Piaget A. Childhood Development i. Sensory-Motor Stage ii. Preoperational Stage ii. Stage Of Concrete Operations iii. Stage Of Formal Operations IV. Erikson A. Autonomy And Social Development i. Theory ii. The Goose Girl V. Freud A. The Id, The Ego And The Super Ego i. Theory ii. The Three Little Pigs B. Oedipus i. The Myth Of Oedipus ii. Theory ii. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs iii. Cinderella iv. Rapunzel VI. Conclusion VII. Bibliography PERSONAL STATEMENT The object of psychology is to give us a totally different idea of the things we know best. -Paul Valry Once upon a time.., perhaps one of the single most famous phrases, the key that opens the door to a world of fantasy, enchantment and entertainment, the world of fairy tales. Fairy tales can mean different things to different people, each finds a different type of sanctuary within the realm of the make belief. Children may like fairy tales because good triumphs over evil; adults may favor them because they trigger childhood nostalgia; in the end, everything boils down to the fact that fairy tales were written to be enjoyed, and have become universally beloved. For my personal project, I decided to take Paul Valrys notion of psychologys objective to a universal level, by psychoanalyzing the effects of fairy tales. I chose psychology because its the field that I wish to pursue in post-secondary studies. The idea of fairy tales naturally sprung into mind after my initial choice to do a paper on psychology, as the notion of psychology and fairy tales was not completely inane, nor alien, and fairy tales are a substance with which the majority of the population has had relations. I decided to demonstrate, in depth, the hidden effects of fairy tales, to uncover a different perspective of this timeless method of amusement. After thorough research of Piagets developmental psychology, I concluded the best way to illustrate the alter ego of fairy tale repercussions was by outlining the fact that many of these mythical stories are correlated with psychological theories of behavioral conduct, and how they affect behavioral developments. Subsequently, I conducted a survey, of 75 adults and children, to establish the most popular of the worlds fairy tales, and from the results, researched various psychological theories and where they were applied in the five important fairy tales. This project was also ideal in respects to the areas of interaction, as it encompasses the principles of Homo Faber, Health and Social Sciences, and Environment. Fairy tales, a manifestation of the human imagination, embraced the ideals of Homo Faber, as they are original and created by man. In respects to Environment, fairy tales constitute an aspect of a childs environment, as an environment is the external conditions or objects that influence the development of a person. Psychology is the science of mental health, and as it is the central theme of this project, the project directly falls into the category of Health and Social Sciences. INTRODUCTION Developmental psychology is the study of the human mind across the life span. Unlike other areas of psychologypersonality, cognitive, socialdevelopmental psychology is explicitly concerned with how the rules of human behavior change over time. All of the methods used in psychology can be, and are, applied to the study of development. These range from neurobiological studies of the brain's growth to studies of the effect of social context on a child's future behavior. There is currently no overarching theory of developmental psychology, but there are several approaches to which researchers more or less adhere. One useful way of categorizing these theoretical approaches is based on the way each theory passes the developmental trajectory. Some theories, called stage theories, divide the life span into qualitatively different segments. Jean Piaget introduced the most influential stage theory, in fact, the most influential theory in developmental psychology, in books and papers written in the 1920s and the decades after. Piaget suggested that children went through four stages of development through their childhood, during which qualitatively different rules applied to their behavior and growth. Although there were some similarities between the stages and some rules of behavior that applied throughout the life course, Piaget argued that the best way to understand development

Sunday, November 3, 2019

STARBUCKS Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

STARBUCKS - Term Paper Example This will allow the licensor firm to collect a royalty fee from the licensee. This can be of great benefit to a licensor that has limited capital to enable it engage in full operations in the foreign nation. A major disadvantage though is the fact that this mode gives the firm much less tight and central control over the foreign operations. This entry mode is almost similar to licensing. The franchisee obtains the main business know-how through an agreement with the franchiser by paying a royalty fee. This know-how also includes patents and trademarks. The main difference when compared to licensing is that franchisee operates under certain rules dictated by the franchiser. This is mainly so as to maintain its reputation and standards. This is very common in the service industry. The main advantage with this is that the firm can efficiently explore this new market with minimal development costs and risks. The disadvantage is that the franchisee will have to abide by strict rules set by the franchiser. This is not always possible and the franchisor may have its reputation tarnished if the franchisee does not maintain the high standards. This is a very common entry mode that is used all over the globe. It can be explained by having two or more firms forming an alliance that will put them in a better position to penetrate the new international market. These are often based on a 50/50 type of agreement. This operation is always separate from both companies. There are situations whereby one of the firms invests more than the other leading to more shares in the Joint venture hence handing it a controlling stake. The advantages of this method of foreign market entry are;- This mode in simple terms means that the company owns all the shares in the overseas firm/entity. There are two main means of establishing such kinds of subsidiaries: Greenfield venture and

Friday, November 1, 2019

Miss Brill or The Grave Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Miss Brill or The Grave - Essay Example Miss Brill’s character clearly demonstrates her solitary nature. She is a foreigner in Paris, living by herself in a â€Å"little dark room† (Mansfield, V-8). She lives a life of unvaried, dull routine, visiting the park â€Å"at just the same time each week† (Mansfield, IV-1). She is obviously of modest means - her stole is shabby and a slice of honey cake is her Sunday treat. She is a teacher who is introverted even with her pupils and has â€Å"quite a queer, shy feeling at telling her English pupils how she spent her Sunday afternoons† (Mansfield, IV-1). The invalid gentleman she visits, sleeps through her newspaper readings and does not interact with her. Miss Brill is so isolated that she develops the habit of eavesdropping: â€Å"She had become really quite expert, --- at listening† to other peoples’ conversations (Mansfield, II-1). Miss Brill is portrayed as a lonely, friendless character whose self-perception is in conflict with real ity. Miss Brill sets up a conflict within herself by taking a romanticized point of view towards her life. She imagines all the people in the park as actors in a play and gives herself an indispensable role: â€Å"No doubt somebody would have noticed if she hadnt been there; she was part of the performance after all† (Mansfield, IV-1). She asserts that she is not merely an onlooker but is an active participant in the drama of life. This version comes into conflict with the reality as represented by the setting of the story. Miss Brill is not a part of the cheerful, noisy crowd of pleasure seekers who throng the park. On the other hand, she belongs to â€Å"the old people (who) sat on the bench, still as statues† (Mansfield, II-3). Miss Brill’s clinging to fantasy, and her refusal to accept the reality of her situation, only emphasize her loneliness. Miss Brill’s loneliness is further highlighted by the author’s use of