Leadership in Teaching Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Leadership in Teaching - Research Paper Example Teaching as a profession requires specific traits in order for a teacher to be effective in achieving for students academic success. There are numerous theories that explore this theme. For instance, Sharick (2007) argued that teachers should have social traits in order to be able to communicate effectively with the students.A â€Å"social† teacher in this theory is one that could display dominant characteristics like that of being enterprising, investigative and a capacity for empathy, among others. The idea is that the relationship between a teacher and the students complement the transfer of knowledge. The concept of leadership, though not a prominent element in this model as suggested by the researcher, can also be considered a social trait. It plays an important role in the way students learn from instruction and classroom interaction because it underpins the efficacy of the social interaction. It takes advantage of the relationship in order to have an authoritative proce ss by which knowledge is imparted and received. Simply put, leadership provides the framework by which a teacher could control the teaching process successfully. Leadership and Best Practice in Teaching Leadership is increasingly becoming a byword in the literature on current best practices in teaching and educational improvement. York-Barr and Duke explained that this is because it is aligned with the notion of individual empowerment and localization of management (p. 255). In this respect, teachers are sought to be empowered and have greater degree of control, with an expanded role in the classroom instruction. This has been the trend in the United States since the 1980s, when leadership came to be considered as an integral component of teacher professionalism (York-Barr and Duke, p. 256). The educational reform aimed to replace the traditional framework of the technical model, which emphasized the transfer of knowledge through systematic inquiry. The new goal is to focus and rely on the teachers’ capability, knowledge and judgment. Leadership figures prominently in this aspect because it allows the teachers to exercise and implement academic decisions, in addition to helping lead pursue educational initiatives. The study conducted by Camburn, Rowan and Taylor in 2003, which evaluated the efficacy of the educational reform found that academic progress was, in fact, achieved in the process. Particularly, the study revealed that those educational reforms that integrated leadership components such as the distributive leadership schemes led to positive outcomes both in the capabilities of the teacher and the students’ academic performance (p. 367). There are numerous studies that reflect these findings. A case in point is that by Ross and Gray (2006), which found that schools with higher levels of transformational leadership had higher collective teacher efficacy, greater teacher commitment to school mission, school community, school-community part nerships, and higher student achievement (p. 798). Also, Copland (2003), in his study of the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative program, found that leadership works well with inquiry-based approach, with distributive leadership playing an important role in implementing inquiry-based practice and collective decision-making at school (p. 375). The empirical evidences that support how leadership contributes to positive student learning outcome are not that surprising. Aside from the quantified direct and positive leadership impact represented by effective cognitive learning outcomes, there is also the deeper socio-psychological discourse that covers education and learning. Here, leadership is critical because it plays an important part in the transformation of behaviors. Encouraging Leaders, Imparting Values According to LeComte (1978), going to school is a socialization process wherein teachers transmit skills, aspirations, norms and behavioral patterns which assist in the assumptio n of roles (p. 22). This is demonstrated in observing the classroom

Comparison of Toc vs Lean Essay Example for Free

Comparison of Toc vs Lean Essay Even though each improvement methodology contributes valuable concepts, ideas and techniques to every organization not all of them serve to the needs of organization if leadership doesn’t actively involve to the efforts of the improvement teams. Theory of Constraints (TOC) At his book Goldratt (2004) defines the primary goal as to make money. This can be achieved by simply identifying and eliminating the constraints that limits the output of the entire system. As a result of the organizational change, he aims to see an increase on throughput and decrease on operational expense and inventory. Theory of constraints (TOC) is based on the premise that the rate of goal achievement is limited by at least one constraining process. Only by increasing flow through the constraint can overall throughput be increased where throughput is the rate at which the system generates money through sales. Inventory is all the money that the system has invested in purchasing things which it intends to sell. Operational expense is all the money the system spends in order to turn inventory into throughput. He recommends a five step process: 1. Identify the constraint. 2. Exploit the constraint. 3. Subordinate other processes to the constraint. . Elevate the constraint. 5. Repeat the cycle. Line Manufacturing (Thinking) Lean is a total operating system for manufacturing plants and has broad application in product or service businesses. On the contrary to TOC, Lean focuses to create a value to customer by the removal of waste, which is defined as anything not necessary to produce the product or se rvice. Lean manufacturing measure the performance of the company by using three dimensions, cost, lead time and value-added percentage. As Reid (2007) says, Lean initiates metric improvement by assessing the system using Value Stream Mapping (VSM). VSM has a standard set of icons and instructions for documenting material and information flows based on actual shop floor observation. Value stream observation starts at the process closest to the customer and follows upstream step-by-step to raw material receiving. Similar to TOC, there are five essential steps in lean: 1. Identify which features create value. 2. Identify the sequence of activities called the value stream. 3. Make the activities flow. 4. Let the customer pull product or service through the process. 5. Perfect the process. Lean involves many people in the value stream. Lean sees an organization as a collection of parts and aims a local optimization system where TOC focuses on a local action with holistic optimization for the organization. The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a relatively new managerial philosophy that has been steadily evolving since the early 1980s. TOC does advocate buffers at inventory at selected points to ensure that neither the constraint nor the customer is left waiting. Lean aims to reduce lead time and inventory and thus costs by eliminating waste; TOC aims to reduce lead time and inventory in order to gain capacity, increase Throughput (i. . the rate at which money is generated through the sale of products) and provide a competitive edge – thus enabling the business to grow. Thus it is evident that TOC methodology can provide Lean techniques with a high degree of focus which is both in tune with reality and achievable on a practical level, effectively bridging the knowledge gap that can exist between Lean in theory and Lean in practice. Because the bottom line benefits to be gained from increasing Throughput are greater than those likely to be realised via Lean waste/cost reduction alone, TOC provides Lean Manufacturing with a forward-thinking framework which not only directs improvement efforts where they will be most beneficial, but which is also an excellent platform for future growth.

Teen Curfew Essays -- Social Issues, Gang Violence

The intention teenagers are given a curfew of a certain time limit in different states is to limit gang violence and use curfew as a key tool to do so. (Wagner, Matt 2). Curfew is a way to control the teens that have diminutive self control along with little or no parental control. (Hall, Maggie 2). Various amounts of teenagers cannot be confidential to act with such autonomy and accountability. (Love, Dennis 2). Having a curfew indicates who the teenager is and what they do. (Love, Dennis 2). To give other teenagers a sense of where they live or reside and to show how much character they have, teens stay out longer and later to give other teens that sense of doing what they desire. (Love, Dennis 2). Admitting that their parents have jurisdiction over their curfew is not a first response for many teens. (Love, Dennis 2). If the parents have a curfew for their child or children to show that coming in on time is important it can show their teenagers what responsibility can do. Most parents did not care about their curfew when they were young, so teens that are more freedom-minded, independent-minded, hormonal, irascible and rebellious contemplate that parents should understand. (Love, Dennis 2). Whether parents take empowerment that curfew restrictions provide is in doubt. (Love, Dennis 3). The parents with children that do not care about where their child is or what they are doing can display how parent competency can be asserted. To a parent a teenager is still a child and it is hard for the teenager to understand how they are looked downed upon. (Love, Dennis 2). Having a curfew in towns and cities can give parents an opportunity to connect and collaborate with their children. The time spent bonding with their children allows ... ... these laws and people to enforce them there will always be corruption. (Stutson, Tamika 1). Keeping our criminal justice system to stay proactive is critically important. (Stutson, Tamika 1). Ultimately, the implementation of the teenager’s curfews must come from the home. (Megan 1). It is easy for children that are underage to get fake IDs, to drink and go to bars and clubs, and furthermore to beat council enforced curfews. (Megan 1). The children that stay in and do not break the rules are the least of parents worries, the children that are harsh and irrational are the ones to worry about. The wild teenagers are the children that did not have parental guidance. (Megan 1). Out of control teenagers set their own rules and curfew times. (Megan 1). By parents setting rules and controlling their child they rules will rarely be broken by that child again. (Megan 1).

The Problems with Human Population Essay -- Carrying Capacity Humans G

The Problems with Human Population In Chapter III of The Origin of Species, Darwin writes: "Even slow-breeding man has doubled in twenty-five years, and at this rate, in a few thousand years, there would literally not be standing room for his progeny.† (Darwin 29) Three hundred years ago, the population was only at about 500 million, and during this time the population was at a slow increase. Another factor during this period of time was the birth and death rates were at much higher levels. Many babies were born, but many also died. â€Å"Living conditions were such that many of the remaining children failed to survive beyond the age of thirty.† (Black 84) The crisis of Over Population should not be a surprise to anyone, currently if you were to look at the world Pop clock, which is a counter supported by the U.S. Bureau of the Census you would find a number that has risen from 6,367,148,920. This is the amount of people on earth May 8, 2004 at 8:39:47 PM; this number is constantly rising at about 8 milli on people per month. At the present rate, the population will rise to a point that it will max out the earth’s carrying capacity leaving humans with a lack of resources and space. Soon people will have to learn to survive off artificial resources to substitute for the inability for agriculture to keep up. â€Å"In 1950 the population of the world was placed at roughly 2,400 million, the rate of growth of the world's population is greater than ever before in history, and the successive net additions, period by period, are breath-taking.† (Hertzler 9) In 1974 the United Nations held the World Population Conference at which it was determined that a solution for the crisis was needed, it was also decided that all countries would create a population policy that would attempt to help the countries deal with social, economic and cultural development. Although the United States has a large population problem to deal with of its own, underdeveloped countries hold 80 percent of the worlds population and are unable to provide methods of birth control, leaving people no choice other than abstinence. A question we are forced to ask ourselves is: Should we help fund family planning in third world countries, or should we leave them to fend for themselves when it comes to the issue of population control. Aside from third world and underdeveloped countries, modernized nations inc... ...ion Explosion and the Natural Environment." Our Crowded Planet, Essays on the Pressures of Population. Ed. Osborn, Fairfield. 1st ed. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1962. 71-79. Darwin, Charles G. "The Law of Population Increase." Our Crowded Planet, Essays on the Pressures of Population. Ed. Osborn, Fairfield. 1st ed. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1962. 29-35. Ehrlich, Paul R., and Anne H. Ehrlich. Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1977. Hardaway, Robert M. Population, Law, and the Environment. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1994. Hertzler, J. O. The Crisis in World Population: A Sociological Examination, with Special Reference to the Underdeveloped Areas. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1956. Lee, Philip R. "The Development of Federal Policies Related to Population Problems." The 99th Hour: The Population Crisis in the United States. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1967. 84-94. Managing Planet Earth: Perspectives on Population, Ecology, and the Law. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, 1990. Sadik, Nafis. "World Population Continues to Rise." The Futurist Mar.-Apr. 1991: 9+. Questia. 11 May 2004.

Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Fahrenheit 451 Synthesis Essay In the book Fahrenheit 451, author Ray Bradbury describes a futuristic society in which it is normal for an average individual to shun and absolutely loathe books. The main character, Guy Montag, works as a fireman, and his job description consists of burning books instead of preventing fires. Television is a major topic in this book, and for the most part, is portrayed as an extremely obsessive and deleterious item.Today, in American society however, television is a much more positive thing, and has a lot to contribute to a healthy, connected, and well informed society. In American society, television can save lives instead of destroying them. Tim Leberecht, a well-reputed blogger and columnist, proclaims, â€Å"studies indicate enormous potential for TV to serve as a health educator† (Leberecht). Television provides us with information about how to keep better health in an interesting and effective way. By using drama and popular culture refere nces, TV educates us about health concerns and ways to prevent them.Bradbury obviously does not realize this aspect of television when he states on page 21, â€Å"If we had a fourth wall, why it’d be like this room wasn’t ours at all, but all kind of exotic people’s rooms† (Bradbury 21). Montag’s wife, Mildred, tries to convince Guy to get her a fourth TV wall, which would completely enclose her in a fake TV world. In reality, however, people make much more out of TV than in this fake, futuristic society. Television today has transformed into a machine that can make us grasp and learn difficult items with ease. TV can make us smarter (as it) contains multi threaded storylines featuring fifteen or more characters,† states www. designmind. com (Leberecht). These complexities in plot make us think extensively and outside the box, and push our minds to the limits of our computing ability. Unfortunately for the natives of the futuristic society in Fahrenheit 451, television only contains useless information that drives viewers to forget information about their families. â€Å"When did we meet? And where? † Montag asks his wife (Bradbury 42).TV has driven them to forget about the people that live in their own homes, as it depicted as a very negative concept. In our modern day television, however, we have the ability to understand and comprehend complicated ideas as a family, and serves to unite rather than disperse families through the art of learning. Television breaks down barriers and taps into our better selves. Tim Leberecht pronounces that â€Å"After the 1965 Watts Riots, CBS Journalist Joe Saltzman produced Black on Black, a documentary about what it means to be black in Los Angeles† (Leberecht).Television series, documentaries, and movies help to break down barriers and restrictions between race, gender, color, and creed, and make us knowledgeable about the fact that everyone is created equally in these measures. Without the aid of TV, many important movements around the world would not have taken place. A study conducted by Hollywood, Health & Society, shows that â€Å"viewers of the episode (of CBS show Numb3rs on an organ donation storyline) were more likely to become registered organ donors† (Leberecht). Television informs us about ways that we can better ourselves as well as help others.On page 20 of Fahrenheit 451, Mildred memorizes the simplistic and useless storylines of the television shows she watches (Bradbury 20). On the other hand, in the real world we have many TV programs where we can learn and apply the right things to do in life, instead of committing to memory the ways to respond to a fake TV family and life. Television brings family and friends together in ways that make everyone feel comfortable and entertained. â€Å"Televised events like the Super Bowl, the Olympics and the World Cup give us a rare opportunity to share a moment in time with the world, † proclaims Tim Leberecht of www. esignmind. com (Leberecht). With our busy lives, we almost never take out time to spend with our loved ones, and these televised events are when the majority of people meet up and have fun. â€Å"Millie? Does the White Clown love you? Does your ‘family’ love you, love you with all their heart and soul, Millie? † Montag asks Mildred (Bradbury 77). Guy Montag is questioning his wife out of desperation, and is extremely curious to know if she believes that her fake TV family really loves her. From this we can see that he is truly disappointed with life and his wife’s immoral addiction to television.We must keep in mind that our society today is not as dumbed down and obsessed with fake parlor shows that spread real, tangible people apart as Mildred is. TV today is a source of knowledge and learning, and creates the perfect circumstances and settings for the getting together of the people that really matter the most. One of the most important aspects of television is its ability to strengthen democracy and teach the law. â€Å"Seventy-two percent (of the US population) learn about elections and candidates from TV news,† states www. designmind. om (Leberecht). TV brings us information that is essential to maintaining our freedom and our guaranteed rights. It also provides us with news about the world, and of countries that have strayed off the path of democracy and the consequences that they are forced to endure through because of that. â€Å"The search is over, Montag is dead; a crime against society has been avenged,† claims the TV news anchor in Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury 149). In reality, Guy is still alive and on the loose, but the news gives out fake information to the population.The news in Montag’s society is just a source of propaganda, instead of the true, insightful, informative, un-biased news we have broadcasting 24/7 in the modern day United States. Television saves lives, empowers health, makes us smarter, breaks down barriers, makes us better people, brings loved ones together, and strengthens democracy. TV is clearly a force that informs, entertains, and makes us the best that we can possibly be every single day. Works Cited Leberecht, Tim. â€Å"10 Reasons Why TV Is Good For You. † Design Mind. 27 July 2010. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. Print.

The Anti War Movement Of The Vietnam War Essays - Free Essays

The Anti War Movement Of The Vietnam War Essays - Free Essays The Anti War Movement Of The Vietnam War The Anti-War Movement J,J,J,J, United States participation in the Vietnam War was a subject of much debate among the American public. While many Americans supported the United States involvement in the War, in agreement with the Government that American assistance was needed in order to stop the spread of Communism, other people felt that it was immoral for the United States to involve itself in another country's internal matters. The antiwar movement against Vietnam in the US from 1965-1971 was the most significant movement of its kind in the nation's history. Anti-war protesters were not confined to the young, radicals, intellectuals, and the disaffected. By 1968, [they] included many powerful individuals within the business and financial communities, the media, and the government itself ( McMahon 466). Also by 68, protesters numbered almost seven million, with more than half being white youths in the college. Students for a Democratic Society, (SDS), announced its opposition of the Vietnam War publicly in 1965. In a public announcement, they state their reasons for disagreement. We feel that the war is immoral at its root, that it is fought alongside a regime with no claim to represent its people, and that it is foreclosing the hope of making America a decent and truly democratic society.We are anxious to help and to change our country; we refuse to destroy someone elses country (McMahon 467). The SDS was not alone in their opposition. Civil-Rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr., declared his opposition in 1967. He stated many reasons. it became clear to me that the war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home. It was sending their sons and brothers and their husbands to fight and dieAs I walked among the desperate, rejected and angry young men, I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problemsBut, they asked, what about VietnamTheir questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today my own government (McMahon 471). One aspect of the anti-war movement were teach-ins. Teach-ins were mass public demonstrations, usually held in the spring and fall seasons. These well-publicized rallies made the antiwar effort more respectable. The White House was plagued by two wars: the war in Vietnam and the war at home. In October 1967, protesters marched on the Pentagon. This was one of the most significant events of the antiwar movement. Although the marchers were unable to get into the Pentagon, this demonstration had a direct influence on the redirection of American policy in Vietnam. The antiwar effort crippled Johnson's presidency. In 1968 he announced that he would not be running for re-election. The antiwar movement inadvertently helped Richard Nixon win the election. Once elected, Nixon was bothered with the antiwar movement. He was convinced that it prolonged the war. He could not understand how the current generation of young people could include brave young marines, hippies and draft-card burners. In May 1970, Nixon ordered an attack on Cambodian sanctuaries to destroy communist command-and-supply buildings. He also tried to contain the protest that he knew his action would provoke. His hopes of controlling the rally failed when poorly trained National Guardsmen killed four students at Kent State University, on May 4. This made the expected protests much worse than anyone in Washington could have foreseen. The wave of demonstrations on hundreds of college campuses paralyzed America's higher-education system. The Kent State tragedy ignited a nationwide campus disaster. Between May 4 and May 8, campuses experienced an average of 100 demonstrations a day, 350 campus strikes, 536 colleges shut down, and 73 colleges reported significant violence in their protests. On that weekend, 100,000 people gathered to protest in Washington. By May 12, over 150 colleges were on strike (Internet source). The overwhelming response to the invasion of Cambodia and the Kent State crisis soon became too much for President Nixon. On December 15, Nixon announced his intention to withdraw fifty thousand troops from Vietnam in 1970 Among the most convincing theories of the movement were that it

monroe doctrine essays

monroe doctrine essays The nineteenth century was an exciting and vibrant era that not only dramatically altered the physical face of our nation due to the rapid development of large cities and manufacturing facilities, but also helped modify and shape the values that have come to define our American character. Unlike the relatively slow-paced lifestyle maintained during agrarian times, which required communal generosity and cooperation in order to weather difficult times, the Industrial Revolution dramatically altered the condition of society, in that qualities such as ambition, avarice, and unmitigated competitiveness came to be required to get ahead in a burgeoning business world. Similarly, an expansionistic desire to move out West gripped thousands of adventurous young Americans, whose pioneering spirit drove them to uproot entire Native American civilizations in the pursuit of their dreams of wealth and prosperity west of the Mississippi. As our nation became more and more intent upon increasing i ts level of financial, economic, and territorial wealth, the qualities that had affected our country domestically began to be incorporated into the way that it conducted global politics as well. American politicians soon gained a better appreciation for and recognition of the immense power and international prestige that the U.S. held and thus began asserting themselves in the realm of international relations, ultimately leading to the Monroe Doctrine, which propelled our nation on a path of global leadership and involvement that it still follows today. By examining the reasoning behind and historical applications of the Monroe Doctrine, it becomes apparent that many of the global conditions that have contributed to the success of this proclamation in the past no longer exist, and that because of the economically interdependent global society in which we now live, it is in the best interest of the United States and the many other countries of the world to...

buy custom What E-Business Is essay

buy custom What E-Business Is essay An e-business is a business that applies information and communication technologies to support all of its business activities. Currently, many businesses have embraced the use of the internet to link both the external and internal data processing systems in a more efficient and flexible manner and help them get more close to their customers and suppliers. E-business is applicable for different business models such as the merchants, auction, the broker, customer representatives among others. This paper discusses the application of e-business as embraced by a merchant and broker models. The paper will review two companies; one for each model, explain the advantages they have over their competitors and recommend other types of businesses that would benefit from using that site type. Pizza Hut company is a superb example of an e-business under the merchant business model. This company deals with preparing and delivery of pizzas. Pizza Hut conducts all its business activities on its website; www.pizzahut.com. This website is an attractive eye-catching site where photos of delicious-looking pizzas will be the first thing to catch your eye. The user finds all details about the company by just clicking on specified bars; he managers, how to order, the ingredients used, the call center info and procurement details. This means that the company links to its customers directly with no intermediaries involved and sources for its employees here. Bounty Quest is another e-business; under the broker or intermediaries model. This means that the company does not engage in the production process; it only connects the manufacturer to the buyer. Bounty Quest deals with the sale of patents where the company looks for buyers, and if successful, the company gets a fee or charges a percentage of the total transaction the person bought. This company operates at a webiste-bountyquest.com. The site offers the user information on how to find patent, patent attorney, the cost of patents and helps patent dealers to sell patents. It offers these services to people in Europe, America and Asia. One can also find contacts of the Patent Attorneys and access patent advice. This site is a one-stop shop for almost all the information one would require to obtain a patent. However, one has to pass through this intermediary so as to access the real patent seller or service provider. Pizza hut site is an ideal location since it is straightforward to navigate. The user understaands easily as the menu bar is simplified into specified topics. The fact that it does not contain many pages or lengthy details makes it less time consuming; which will make it appealing for many people to use. Additionally, it involves dealing seller-buyer direct interaction thus making the services faster than it would be if a third party was involved. The pizzahut.com model would be particularly useful for other companies; for instance book sales and those selling computers. This is mainly because for such goods high levels of trust are needed. A person buying a computer would prefer buying it directly from the manufacturing company so as to buy at a reasonable price and get it in a not-tampered-with form. Also, for books, the seller will capitalize on profit if he sells it direct to the buyer; which will also reduce cases of piracy. Dynamic pricing is fixing prices differently based on such factors as time of purchase, distance and frequency of purchase. This method is applicable for this model since deliveries are made to people from different locations. The company has to offer favorable prices for frequent customers so as to retain them. In addition, when the demand starts falling, they should adjust the prices downwards to attract more purchases. Buy custom What E-Business Is essay

Internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Internet - Essay Example D by the name of Gloria Kindell. The author has divided the article in three different sections mainly with the names "what's the fuss", what is an endangered language", and "so, what should we do" These three parts can be scientifically termed as the problem, the matter and the recommendations. In the first part the author gives a brief overlook of the problem that is the extinction of language due to globalization. As people move towards languages that are more widely spoken dumping their own language. In the second part the writer explains the symptoms of languages that are endangered to extinction. And in the third part the author explains how does SIL International helps in preserving the languages that are endangered. The website also has three more sections that enable a user to browse through links to other resources plus a FAQ's section that helps a user in getting answers to the same questions that have been previously asked. The website content is very interesting but is o f a level for a user that is completely unaware of the language extinction problem which is a major threat and only provides a brief over view of the problem. The website has been designed using the simple Java Language. The website also gives the contact information of SIL their address, telephone number, and fax number.

W7 Legal Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

W7 Legal Discussion - Essay Example Over the years, different interventions have been used in stopping this situation, including the use of criminal fines and sanctions for offenders. It is however debated in this paper that such criminal fines and sanctions are not severe enough to prevent health care fraud. King (2012) outlined different forms of health care fraud that are recorded in various health institutions throughout the country. An important point that King (2012) made while listing the forms of frauds was that as much as the fraud cost the country several billions of dollars year in and year out, the frauds are also very difficult to detect. What this means is that in a situation where there are not very deterring measures to discourage people from engaging in these frauds, they will continue to do them because of the idea that they will hardly be caught in their crimes. In the administration of health care also, prevention has always been noted to be the best way out to dealing with most administrative and clinical issues that come up (Stuart Showalter, 2011). With this said, it is important that there will be stiffer punishment to offenders such that those who have not been involved in these acts of fraud will have no motivation of engaging in them (Morris, 2009). Fraud and for that matter crime is an issue that works on a cost-benefit basis. This means that when people have a feeling that by engaging in crime, they get better benefits than what they suffer as a result of being caught, they are likely to repeat their actions. Even if those involved do not repeat their actions, those who have not been involved will have no deterrent not to be involved in it. To this end, it is important to take a new approach to preventing providers and organizations from engaging in health care fraud. From a very pragmatic perspective, it is recommended that offender who are found should have their licenses of

Lisbon Treaty for the Working of the European Union (EU) Essay

Lisbon Treaty for the Working of the European Union (EU) - Essay Example This growth in the number of members is primarily attributed to reasons that vary from being conducive in nature, to security issues, while some scholars have even suggested standardised or digressive reasons for the rise in the number of member states of EU (McAllister, 2010). To enhance understanding, trust, and collaboration amongst the members, various treaties have been devised from time to time related to regional policies on economy and trade, immigration policies, social policies, defence polices, and home and justice affairs. Some such treaties were Treaty of Rome (1957), Treaty of Maastricht (1992), Treaties of Nice (2001), the treaty that tried establishing a European Constitution and failed in 2004, and lastly the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007 (made effective in 2009). The 2004 and 2007 treaties created a great deal of controversies, and many experts claimed that the last two treaties were aimed primarily at creating a collaborative European superpower. However, the supporters for these treaties contended that these were aiming at making way for a larger EU in the 21st  century (Church and Phinnemore, 2010). ... The critics point out the body’s lack of power within the arena of global or regional politics, and for this reason the body has been often labelled as ‘soft power’ (Fioramonti, and Lucarelli, 2008, 193-210). In the context of security issues, EU as a body is often perceived as being irresolute, ineffective, and inconsistent (ibid). Even though there is no doubt that a war between the any of the members of EU is unthinkable, the body’s response during an on-going war in the neighbourhood, in terms of ‘crisis management,’ has not been very effective, and the Union is still perceived as weak, in terms ‘unity’ amongst its members (Gilbert 2008, 641-658). In this context, to understand whether the Lisbon Treaty (LT) would really work towards creating a stronger union amongst the member states, it is necessary to examine the treaty from close quarters. The representatives from the 27 EU member states signed the Treaty of Lisbon on 18th December 2007, which modified the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) and the Treaty on European Union (TEU). There are seven Articles under the Treaty of Lisbon, where the modifications to TEC and TEU are listed under Articles 1 and 2 (Amendments to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty Establishing the European Community, 2007). Under Articles 3-7, we find that there are provisions for treaty duration, the process of ratification, and article renumbering (ibid). This is unlike the 2004 Treaty, which attempted to establish a European Constitution, and remained ineffective owing to negative referendum votes cast by Netherlands and France. The Lisbon Treaty however retrains itself from trying to replace any of the treaties

Pick the most suitable and easiest to you Term Paper

Pick the most suitable and easiest to you - Term Paper Example Lastly, there needs to be justification that supports p. such justification could be some kind of evidence or reasons. The lack of such support would make p only to be correct but not knowledge. These sets of conditions greatly rely on the necessity and sufficiency relationship that argues that one set of condition has to be true for the other to be true. A necessary condition makes a statement to be true while a sufficient condition links the truth within a statement to its ultimate consequent. A condition can be necessary or sufficient or both. The Gettier problem refers to a philosophical reasoning that questions whether something that is held to be true but is based on invalid reasons counts as true knowledge (Pollock and Cruz, 12). Initially put forward by Edmund Gettier, it is used to refer to all major thought experiments that repute the definition of Justified True Belief. Gettier argued that there were beliefs and statements that were true and justified, hence necessary and sufficient, but were not valid pieces of

Video games are the latest expression of the 'control society' Essay

Video games are the latest expression of the 'control society' (Deleuze 1992) Discuss this claim in relation to ideas of con - Essay Example The children who learn a sort of behaviour from these video games usually affect their own health, their social life and start lacking in physical activity games (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). This essay has explained the Deleuze’s concept of controlled society and how the video games can be, or, are being used in control and improvising of the control society. Evolution of Video Games Video Games have evolved over the past two decades. There was once a time when 16-bit and 32-bit gaming consoles were extremely popular around the world. These games were usually two-dimensional in nature and were relatively clean in terms of violence, nudity, expletives and sexual content (Gottfried, 2005). However, gaming has evolved rapidly with the passage of time and today, three- dimensional games are widely available. These games boast the most detailed and crisp high definition graphics and an addictive game play. Unfortunately, with advances in gaming technology, the level of inappropriate and unsuitable content in games has also increased to an alarming level (Gottfried, 2005). Advancements in Technology and the modern emergence of video games With the rapid growth and development of the society, the modernization of the technology is an important aspect that cannot be neglected. While the advancements continue to pave their path through the society, the concept of a control society, in terms of expressions, is an important phenomenon that has been introduced by Deleuze. The world’s leading producers of electronic games do their best to ensure that they stamp their game CDs with a prominent ESRB rating that gives the potential purchaser of the CD a general idea of the type of content that they might stumble across in the game. The ESRB rating is ideally meant to discourage younger audiences from purchasing games that have an 18+ or similar rating (Vorderer& Bryant, 2012). But is this enough to stop ardent gaming enthusiasts from playing their favourite games? No, it isn’t. Younger addicts of games are regularly exposed to inappropriate content as they are unable to control the strong urge to play the latest games and this usually means that they shun ESRB ratings. The games being developed these days are rich in graphical content and it is common for gamers to control a gung-ho protagonist and go on a killing spree as they match around the city shooting enemies in the head and spilling their blood all over the place (Vorderer& Bryant, 2012). Apart from this, there are also games where blade-swinging heroes swing their swords to cut off limbs and chop off heads. Such content is hardly considered to be appropriate for children under the age of 18. An example taken here is of â€Å"Hercules† and â€Å"mortal combat†. Unfortunately these games are the most common among younger children who have been addicted to them. Concept of Improvisation In testing and complex circumstances performing authorities improvise with a pa rticular deciding objective to pass on request from the holds of turmoil. Highsmith (2002) recommends this as a "choric" practice. Undoubtedly, in a gathering condition, there may be battling depictions for encounters, occasions and issues, however legitimately, translations help accord, that is, equifinality. This has been noted to happen all around crises where gifted people and conglomerations improvise life-sparing happens out of disarray. Deleuze’

Pick the most suitable and easiest to you Term Paper

Pick the most suitable and easiest to you - Term Paper Example Lastly, there needs to be justification that supports p. such justification could be some kind of evidence or reasons. The lack of such support would make p only to be correct but not knowledge. These sets of conditions greatly rely on the necessity and sufficiency relationship that argues that one set of condition has to be true for the other to be true. A necessary condition makes a statement to be true while a sufficient condition links the truth within a statement to its ultimate consequent. A condition can be necessary or sufficient or both. The Gettier problem refers to a philosophical reasoning that questions whether something that is held to be true but is based on invalid reasons counts as true knowledge (Pollock and Cruz, 12). Initially put forward by Edmund Gettier, it is used to refer to all major thought experiments that repute the definition of Justified True Belief. Gettier argued that there were beliefs and statements that were true and justified, hence necessary and sufficient, but were not valid pieces of

International Legal and Ethical Issues in Business Essay - 1

International Legal and Ethical Issues in Business - Essay Example Likewise, workers are also protected against discrimination (based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age), harassment, unhealthy/ hazardous working environments, and unfair dismissal. With these rights, come also the responsibilities of the employee. Aside from arriving at work on time and dressing appropriately (which includes wearing suitable safety equipment if required), employees are also expected to show respect to the employer, colleagues and customers, take care of the company’s property, follow reasonable and lawful orders, obey safety rules and not discriminate or harass other people in the workplace. If these obligations are not met by employees, then their employer also has the right to dismiss their employment (Steingold, 2009). On the other hand, the working hours in the US are considerably shorter than in the UK and the rest of the member nation-states of the European Union. It has been noted that the European Working Time Directive sets the maximum length of working week to 48 hours, and a minimum rest period of eleven hours each day. Although the policy applies to all members, in the UK it is still possible to exceed this limit provided that it is the employee who opts for such a condition (Cressey & Jones, 1995). In France, a recent legislation limits the working week to only 35 hours (but options are still available for those who want to exceed). While in the US, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 allowed for 44-hour work week, which was later reduced to a 40-hour standard in 1950. Despite this law, majority of the American workforce still work more than 40 hours in a week due to the lines of work they have (Mishel, Bernstein, & Boushe, 2003). Challenges in Filing a Formal Complaint If Mary decides to file a formal complaint against her employer on the basis of her somehow ‘insignificant’ situation in the company, then she will face the hardships of proving her case successfully. The burden o f proof is upon her and she needs to provide evidence to back her claims. Although Mary is relived by the fact that the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 guarantees fair treatment towards employees and that violation against this charter is punishable by law, she is still required to substantiate that she is treated in an unfair manner by the management and by her colleague for that matter. Furthermore, Mary needs to prove that the workplace has become a hostile environment for her. In legal terms, a hostile work environment is primarily one of the reasons an employee cannot reasonably perform his or her duties and responsibilities. This is due to certain behaviors by management or co-workers that are considered ‘hostile.’ Nevertheless, the said term is still subject to much debate and substantiation (Cihon & Castagnera, 2008). A boss being rude, one who yells and purposefully annoys is a qualified ground for a hostile work environment -- cause for severe physical st ress and mental anguish on the part of the employee. Certainly, acts of lasciviousness and other forms of sexual harassment are always deemed constituents of a hostile environment. Yet, for Mary’s case these did not occur. She was not discriminated and she was in no way attempted to be

Images of female bodies Essay Example for Free

Images of female bodies Essay Images of female bodies and female sexuality are displayed everywhere. Many images of women portrayed in the mainstream media glorify the ideal image of women and the feminine ideal. This paper discusses the way in which the media portrays the feminine ideal in mainstream media and compares the feminine ideal with the masculine ideal and the ideal image of women depicted in prior periods of history. The perfection that is idealized in the mainstream media is deliberating to women where images of beautiful women are plastered all around them and they feel that they need to aspire to a perfect celebrity image by being the perfect weight, wearing the best clothes and buying the latest make up that makes them look as beautiful as celebrities such as Scarlett Johansen. Media activist Jean Kilbourne is at the forefront of this media debate and argues that the images of women in the media means that real woman’s bodies have become invisible in the mass media. Advertising creates a mythical, mostly white world in which people are rarely ugly, overweight, poor, struggling or disabled, either physically or mentally. ’’ (Kilbourne, Beauty and the Beast). The problem of this `feminine ideal’ is that media images of beauty are unattainable for most of the women that aspire to this perfect image. The portrayal of the ideal body shape in celebrities applies a cultural pressure to be thin and achieve the ideal body shape on women who read magazines and the like. They sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth, love and sexuality, popularity and normalcy. They tell us who we are and who we should be. ’’ (Kilbourne, Beauty and the Beast) In contrast to the way that females are depicted mainstream media today it is interesting to look at ways that females were portrayed in prior periods of history. The more robust female figure was glorified in the past as seen in the art works and described in the literature of yester year. As time goes on the image of the `feminine ideal’ is becoming smaller and smaller. It is not only the female body that is imaged in the media but the masculine form as well. Masculinity is constructed in a similar way to which femininity has been constructed over the past few decades. Mainstream media representations play a role in enforcing the media representations of men and what it means to be a ‘real’ man in society. Traits that are typical of this ‘real’ man image include but are not limited to self -control, control of others, aggression and physical desirability. In conclusion, it is clear to see that the media now portrays an ideal image for both women and men to aspire to and that it is the media that idealizes and constructs this perfect and sometimes unattainable image. References Kilbourne, Jean. The Beauty and the Beast of Advertising. In Diana George John Trimbur (Eds. ) Reading Culture (pp. 178-184). New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. 1999.

Cognitive psychology, retention and learning transfer

Cognitive psychology, retention and learning transfer The way information has been retained and transferred into meaningful output has baffled the minds of Cognitive Psychologists for decades. It is in an effort to discover how this becomes possible that various Cognitive Psychologists have developed hypotheses and presented models. Estes, (1975) posited that some learning theories support hypotheses that are based on instruction that leads to learning outcomes that he regard as a two element paradigm. He however, supports a three element paradigm which involves instructions, memory structure, and learning outcome. If there is not a three structure paradigm how might one account for the retention and the processing that must take place if there is no memory structure? But the structure of the memory system is still a source of controversy. According to the modal model there is not only a memory structure but there are different kinds of memory. But most contemporary researchers assume that there are three types of memory; a sensory memory structure or register, a short term store, and a long term store. There is also support for a two structure model. This is regarded as a two storage system and this is where the emphasis lies. Support for a storage system was highlighted from (Mulner, 1959) research. Her research supports the hypothesis that if the hippocampus was removed it would be difficult for new learning to take place. Eichenbaum, (2000) states that the Hippocampus is seen as critically involved in the rapid encoding of events as associations among stimulus elements and context, in the encoding of episodes as events, and in linking episodes by common features into relational networks that support flexible inferential memory expression. Mulner, (1959) further posited that although items of learning could be held in short term memory, there is no evidence that they were transferred to Long term memory. Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) supported (Mulner 1959) findings. Zechmeister and Nyberg (1982) posited that information enters the memory system through a sensory register that records information impinging on the sense organs. The concept of working memory has been introduced as a part of the short term memory (Bradderly and Hitch, 1974; Hastie and Carlston ( 1980). Short term memory takes information as concepts from the sensory register and maintains activated knowledge drawn from long term memory. Long term memory is comprised of semantic long term memory and episodic long term memory. Semantic long term memory stores structural information. This is information that is not dependent upon a particular time or place. Episodic long term memory stores contextually dependent information. That is information about specific events or episodes. Klatzsky (1980) purports that Episodic Long term memory is constantly changing. This is so because as (Conway, Cohen, and Stanhope, 1991; Semb, Ellis, and Aroujo, 1993) stated, although some of what is learned is lost, the amount is not significantly great. Bahrick, (1984); Bahrick, Bahrick, and Wittingler (1975), Bahrick and Hall (1991); Conway, Cohen, and Stanhope (199 1) reported retention intervals as long as fifty years. From their research they discovered that persons retained a substantial amount of the Spanish, Algebra, and psychology that they were taught in school. Research carried out by Cane and Willey (1939) and Hovland (1940) supported the hypothesis that persons who are given multiple opportunities for learning had better retention. But if one is merely interested in assessing what students have learned over a period of time, the focus will be merely on assessing remembering. However, meaningful learning supersedes mere remembering. Bransford, Brown and Cocking (1999); Lambert and Mc Combs (1998) stated that meaningful learning is recognized as an important educational goal. For meaningful learning to take place instruction must go beyond the simple presentation of factual knowledge and that assessment task should require students not just to recall or recognize but they should be able to construct meaning from what is learned. Hence, students should be able to understand what is learned, apply knowledge, analyze, evaluate and use knowledge to create. If the objective of the teacher is to assess the degree to which students have learned some subject matter content and retained it over some period of time, the focus would be on just one class of cognitive process, namely, those associated with remembering. Mayer (2001) posited that two of the most important educational goals are to promote retention and to promote transfer (which, when it occurs, indicates meaningful learning). Retention is the ability to remember material at some later date in much the same way it was presented during the instruction. Transfer is the ability to use what is learned to solve new problems, answer new questions, or facilitate learning new subject matter (Mayer and Wittrock 1996). In other words retention requires students to remember what is learned, where as transfer requires not only retention but also the application of knowledge to old and new situations (Bradford, Brown, and Cockling, 1999; Detterman and Sternberg, 1993; Heskell, 2001; Mayer, 1995; McKeogh, Lambert, and Marini, 1995; Phye, 1997). Remembering is therefore the sole ingredient of retention. On the other hand transfer involves remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. If the retention of information is the focus then the main focus of the cognitive process is remembering. However, if the focus is transfer it shifts to the other five cognitive processes; understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. Mayer, (2001) stated that students understand when they can associate old knowledge with new ones. In other words if students are able to make connections as they formulate new concepts ideas, and create new schematic formulations, they have demonstrated that they have learned. At the application stage (Mayer, 2001) students are able to use what is learned to execute procedures. In other words they are able to carry out tasks based on that knowledge. For example if instruction is based on how to bake a cake, the student should be able to bake the cake. Therefore the bass for application are remembering and understanding. As (Mayer, 2001) continues to review Blooms Taxonomy, he states that to analyze involves breaking ideas, concepts, and schemas into their component parts and demonstrate how the parts are related to each other and to the whole structure. The bases for analysis are; remembering, understanding and applying. In order to evaluate students must be able to remember, understand, apply, and analyze. Evaluation is the ability to make judgment that is based on a given criteria. Mayer (2001) states that the standards may either be quantitative of qualitative. Evaluation is further described as judgment about internal consistency and critique which is external consistency. At this level of transfer students should be able to detect inconsistencies between an operation and some external criteria. The final stage is that at which students are able to synthesize aspects of what is learned to produce a whole, a concept or a schema or something that is tangible such as a machine or a work of art. It is that which enables one to develop hypotheses with a view to solving problems. Therefore in order to create, one must be able to remember, understand, apply, analyze, and evaluate. Chandler and Sewell (1991); Mayer (2001, 2005); Mayer and Moreno (2003); Sweller (1999, 2005) posited that meaningful learning requires learners to engage in appropriate cognitive processing during learning. These cognitive processes include attending to relevant information, mentally organizing the selected information into a coherent structure, and integrating the incoming information with existing knowledge. This is regarded as the triarchic theory of cognitive load and it postulates three kinds of cognitive processing during learning. The first is extraneous processing in which the learner engages in cognitive processing that is not related to the instructional goal or in some instances there are no instructional goals. It is just learning for learning sake. The other is essential or intrinsic processing in which the learner mentally represents the material and which is determined by the inherent complexity of the material. The third is the generative or germaine processing of material such as organizing and integrating the selected material with the desire to understand the lesson. Generative processing is similar to transfer of learning that produces the ability to create. According to (Mayer ,2005; Mayer and Moreso, 2003; Sweller, 2005) line texts can be converted into a graphic organizer through selected relevant text and organized into a coherent structure. When the scaffolding of graphic organizers is provided, learners are less likely to waste precious cognitive capacity on extraneous processing which thereby reduces cognitive load and frees up capacity for essential and generative processing. De Jong (2005); Kirsner, Sweller, and Clark (2006); Klahr and Nigane, (2004); Lillard, 2005); Mayer, (2003, 2004) forwarded that activity theory is based on the idea that deep learning occurs when students are encouraged to engage in productive learning activities. Constructing a graphic organizer can be considered a productive learning activity because the learner must engage in an activity that is related to the instructional objective selecting relevant ideas from the text and organizing them in a coherent structure. Activity theory purports that learner generated graphic organizers do. However three experimental researches carried out by Stull and Mayer (2007) proved the opposite. Below is the full text of experiment 1. The summaries of the other two experiments along with the summary of experiment 1 are included in the appendix. Experiment 1 (Highest Complexity) The purpose of Experiment 1 was to test whether students better understand a scientific passage when they are asked to generate graphic organizers (following pretraining in how to generate hierarchies, lists, flowcharts, and matrices) in spaces in the margin or when the passage contains author-provided graphic organizers. In Experiment 1, participants read a 1,133-word passage about a topic in biology that was augmented by 27 author-provided graphic organizers (author-provided group), participants constructed their own graphic organizers from scratch (learner-generated group), or participants did not receive or construct graphic organizers (control group). Our primary focus is on comparing the author-provided group and the learner-generated group on measures of understanding. Method Participants and design. The participants were 156 college students recruited from the psychology participant pool at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The study was based on a between-subjects design, with three levels of graphic organizer use (author provided, learner generated, and control) as the single factor. Fifty-one students served in the author-provided group, 51 students served in the learner-generated group, and 54 students served in the control group. The mean age was 19.4 years (SD =1.5), the percentage of men was 29.5%, and the mean SAT score was 1184.5 (SD =161.4). Materials. The paper materials consisted of a participant questionnaire, two pretraining documents (author-provided and learner generated versions), three reading passages (i.e., author-provided, learner-generated, and control versions), six short-answer test sheets (one retention and five transfer questions), and eight sentence-completion (all retention questions) test sheets, each printed on an 8.5 x 11 in. (21.25 x 27.5 cm) sheet of paper. The participant questionnaire solicited basic demographic information, including the participants age, sex, and SAT scores. The full version of the pretraining document was developed for the author-provided and learner-generated group, and the control version of the pretraining document was developed for the control group. The full version of the pretraining document consisted of a two-page document printed on facing pages. The left page described and illustrated four types of graphic organizer (concept list, concept hierarchy, concept flowchart, and compare-and-contrast matrix). The right page contained a four-paragraph reading passage laid out in a two-column design. The left column contained the biology text, and the right column contained each of the four types of graphic organizer, horizontally aligned with the matching type description on the left page. The reading material was extracted from a popular college-level general biology textbook, then edited slightly to meet the desired page format as well as to remove external references, but without altering the book like style or the authors voice in the source material. The passage described three biologically important polysaccharide molecules-starch, glycogen, and cellulose. The control version of the pretraining document contained the identical biology text from the left column of the right page but not the left page describing and illustrating the graphic organizers or the integrated graphic organizers from the right column of th e right page. These modifications were made without alteration to the text layout, so the right column was empty. The control version of the reading passage consisted of six pages containing 1,133 words organized into 12 paragraphs, with three figures containing four black-and-white photographs. The three figures with four photographs were required to augment the written descriptions and to maintain the book like character of the material. The page layout matched the two-column design used in the pretraining document. The material was extracted from the same textbook used for the pretraining to maintain a consistent voice and character between the readings. The material described eight reproductive barriers between species (temporal, habitat, gametic, behavioral, mechanical, hybrid inviability, hybrid sterility, and hybrid breakdown) and was divided into two barrier groups (prezygotic and postzygotic). The author-provided version used the identical text, figures, and illustrations but included 27 graphic organizers, each placed in the margin near the corresponding text. One concept hierarchy graphic organizer augmented the introductory paragraph. Each of the eight reproductive barriers was described by a single paragraph and augmented with three graphic organizers (one hierarchy, one list, and one flowchart). A hierarchy graphic organizer and a matrix augmented the conclusion. The learner-generated version was identical to the author-provided version except that all graphic organizers were removed, which left space for learners to construct their own graphic organizers. The version used by the control group was identical to that used by the learner-generated group. Example pages of the three versions are shown in Figure 1. The six short-answer test sheets and the eight sentence -completion sheets each had a question printed at the top of the page, and at the bottom of each sheet were printed the following instructions: Please keep working until you are asked to stop. Do not go back to any previous questions. The eight sentence completion questions (eight retention questions) are presented at the top of the Appendix, and the six short-answer test questions (one retention and five transfer questions) are presented at the bottom of the Appendix. Procedure. Participants were tested in groups of 1 to 5 and randomly assigned to one of the three graphic organizer treatment groups. Each participant was seated in an individual cubicle. First, participants were asked to read and sign an informed consent form, followed by a participant questionnaire to be completed at their own rate. Then they were given oral instructions to carefully read the pretraining document (with control participants receiving the control version and all other participants receiving the full version). In the author-provided group, participants were instructed to compare the descriptions and illustrations of the four types of graphic organizer with the illustrated example on the facing page. In the learner-generated group, participants were instructed to compare the descriptions and illustrations of the four types of graphic organizers with the illustrated example but also told that they would be asked to construct their own graphic organizers. The training la sted approximately 5 min and was intended to familiarize learners with each of four types of graphic organizers-list, hierarchy, flowchart, and matrix-by providing definitions and examples. In the control group, participants were only asked to read the passage but were not provided with or informed about graphic organizers. Participants were asked to stop reading at the end of 5 min, which proved to be more than adequate for the task. Next, participants were given further oral instructions that described the reading assignment, which they could complete at their own pace. These instructions asked the participants to read the material carefully and to be aware that questions about the reading would follow. In the learner-generated group, participants were told that they could construct their own graphic organizers in the margins of the page as they read the material and were informed that this might help them understand the material. Participants in the author-provided group and the control group were not instructed to generate graphic organizers during reading and did not generate any graphic organizers. The time to complete the reading was recorded for each individual. When all participants were finished reading the material, the stack of six short-answer test sheets was passed out. Participants were given oral instructions to work only on the top sheet, to keep working until they were asked to stop, and not to turn to the next sheet until asked to do so. Participants were carefully monitored for compliance. At the end of 3 min, participants were asked to immediately stop working on the current question, turn that sheet face down onto a finished stack, and begin the next sheet. After the last short-answer question, participants were given oral instructions that described the sentence-completion questions, which followed the same procedure as the short-answer questions except that participants were given 1 min to answer each question. The short-answer and sent ence-completion questions were presented in the order listed in the Appendix. After the last sentence-completion question, all material was collected, and the participants were debriefed and excused. Results and Discussion Scoring. We computed the retention score for each participant by tallying the score for the first short-answer question (worth a maximum of 4 points) and the score for each of the eight sentence completion questions (worth a maximum of 16 points). On the short-answer retention question, participants received 1 point for mentioning each of four concepts: (a) prezygotic barrier with (b) before fertilization and (c) postzygotic barrier with (d) after fertilization. On each sentence-completion question (worth a maximum of 2 points each), the participant received 1 point for writing the correctly spelled term for the appropriate reproductive barrier and 1 point for the correct prefix for the barrier subgroup- prezygotic or postzygotic. The correct answers to the eight sentence-completion questions listed in the Appendix are (a) temporal and pre, (b) habitat and pre, (c) gametic and pre, (d) behavioral and pre, (e) mechanical and pre, (f) hybrid viability and post, (g) hybrid sterility and post, and (h) hybrid breakdown and post. Partial terms (e.g., hybrid or sterility instead of hybrid sterility), parallel concepts (e.g., time instead of temporal or geographic instead of habitat), and incorrect spellings (e.g., pro instead of pre) were not acceptable answers. Partial credit was awarded if participants provided only one of the two correct terms. Each participant could earn a maximum of 16 points on the eight sentence-completion questions and 4 points on the short-answer retention question, for a total possible of 20 points on the retention score. We computed the transfer score for each participant by tallying the individual scores on each of the five short-answer transfer questions-short-answer questions 2 through 6 are listed in the Appendix. We scored each question by counting the unique concepts presented in the reading that were used appropriately by the participant to address each question. Acceptable concepts included the 10 specific reproductive barrier concepts: (a) prezygotic, (b) postzygotic, (c) temporal, (d) habitat, (e) gametic, (f) behavioral,(g) mechanical, (h) hybrid inviability, (i) hybrid sterility, and (j)hybrid breakdown. In addition, two general concepts were also counted: (a) crossing organisms to test whether reproduction was possible or recognizing that two species might have crossed to form a hybrid, and (b) mentioning that reproductive barriers maybe relevant to the explanation. Participants were allowed to describe the concepts with partial terms and parallel concepts, and misspelled terms were not counted as wrong. One point was awarded for each of the 12 concepts, for a maximum of 12 points per question. A second person scored all material. The interrater reliability measure was significantly correlated between these two scores (r =.826, p < .001). Discrepancies in the scores between these two scorers were individually evaluated in a blind, third review, which was used to determine the final score. Data analysis. Data were analyzed with one-way analyses of variance comparing the performance of the three treatment groups on each of the dependent measures-transfer score, retention score, and study time. Our major focus was on comparing the author-provided and learner-generated groups, so for each dependent measure we conducted planned contrasts on the mean scores of these groups and computed the corresponding effect size on the basis of Cohens d (Cohen, 1988).2 Table 2 lists the mean and standard deviation of each of the three treatment groups on each of the three dependent measures. Do readers who generate their own graphic organizers while reading a scientific passage learn better than readers who are given author-provided graphic organizers? The top left portion of Table 2 summarizes the mean transfer scores of the three groups in Experiment 1. There was not a significant effect of treatment on transfer scores, F(2, 153) = 1.32, MSE = 10.15, and the author- provided group did not differ significantly from the learner -generated group, t(153) = 1.30, d = 0.24. There is no evidence that constructing graphic organizers or even studying author- provided graphic organizers results in deeper learning. The top middle portion of Table 2 summarizes the mean retention scores of the three groups in Experiment 1. There was not a significant effect of treatment on retention scores, F(2, 153) = 0.210, MSE = 21.38, and the author-provided group did not differ significantly from the learner-generated group, t(153) =0.56, d = 0.11. There is no evidence that constructing graphic organizers or even studying author-provided graphic organizers results in better memory for the presented material. The top right portion of Table 2 summarizes the mean study times of the three groups in Experiment 1. There was a significant difference among the groups in mean study time, F(2, 153) = 82.86, MSE = 9.99, p < .001, and the author-provided group required significantly less study time than did the learner- generated group, t(153) =8.97, p < .001, d = 1.51. Although constructing graphic organizers did not result in better retention or transfer performance, it did require considerably more study time. Although the main focus of this research was on comparing the test performance of the author-provided and learner-generated groups, the types and number of graphic organizers produced by the learner-generated group were also examined. The author-provided group received 27 graphic organizers containing 506 words, whereas the learner-generate group produced a mean of 5.1 graphic organizers containing a mean of 84.2 words. The mean number of graphic organizers produced fell from 2.0 on page 1 to 0.5 on page 5; the mean number of words produced fell from 34.8 on page 1 to 10.0 on page 5. Although the number of graphic organizers produced in the learner-generated group was lower than that given to the author-provided group, all but 2 of the 51 participants in the learner-generated group attempted to construct graphic organizers. Exclusion of these 2 participants from the analysis did not alter the statistical results. These results are contrary to the prediction that graphic organizers facilitate learning. Furthermore, there is no evidence that generating graphic organizers resulted in better learning than simply viewing them on the page, although there is evidence that more study time was required when students generated their own graphic organizers. The open-ended nature of the learner-generated treatment might have been too demanding and confusing for the learners. Although a majority of participants in the learner-generated group attempted to construct graphic organizers, these graphic organizers varied greatly in form and quality. Participants might have been overwhelmed by the requirement to both select and implement appropriate graphic organizers, both of which might have contributed to extraneous cognitive load. For participants in the author-provided group, the margins of the pages were densely crowded with graphic organizers, which were potentially confusing to interpret as participants attempted to compare the concepts in the text with the appropriate graphic organizer. This might also have contributed to additional extraneous cognitive load. To address these issues, we reduced the complexity of the treatment in Experiments 2 and 3 by offering fewer graphic organizers to both groups and partially completed graphic organizer templates to the learner-generated group. Knowledge of how memory works is important to teachers and Cognitive Psychologists as they seek to discover ways and means to enhance learning. But it is possible that the brain can become so inundated with ideas that much of what comes to it simply decay. Bahrick, (1979) stated that much of what is learned in classrooms is lost soon after final examination. Higbee (1977) posited that people forget what they learned in school (usually within a short time after an examination). Never-Benjamin (1990) forwarded that if this is the case it is very serious. Neisser (1982) expressed that there is a difficulty in finding studies that support retention of academic instruction. But Nesser (1982) might not have been searching wide enough. In fact the literature that is available is replete with the suggestion that much work has been carried out. Wert, (19370 suggested that studies in the area of zoology, biology, and psychology, found retention from a few months to three years. It has also been put forward that (keller, 1968) personalized system of instruction and (Blooms, 1968)learning for mastery often include a measure of retention. Studies by (Gaskey and Gates, 1985; kulik, Kulik, and Bangert- Drowns, 1990) posited that students in all conditions retained much of what was taught. Conway, Cohen, and Stanhope, (1991); Semb, Ellis, and Aranjo (1993) stated that although forgetting does occur, the amount loss is not as great as expected by popular belief. Farrs ( 1987) opinion is that the most important variable in long term memory retention is the degree of original learning. Evidence from laboratory studies shows that increasing the number of learning trials enhances retention. Research has also proven that retention often depends on the instructional strategy that is used. A comparison of studies by ( Austin and gilbert, 1973 ; Breland and Smith 1974, Cooper and Greiner, 1971; Corey and Mc Michael, 1974; Glasnapp et al. 1978, Lu, M., 1976; Lu, P. 1976; Schwartz, 1981; Semb et al., 1993; Sharples et al., 1976) advanced that course objectives, content , length, and tests were the same for all the groups in the stu dies. The only difference was the instructional delivery strategy and mastery criteria. All the studies show that mastery conditions produce superior academic performance at the end of the course. Mckenzie and White (1982) observed high levels of retention for students actively involved in learning. In their study three groups of students learned geographical facts and skills. One group was given a learning program which includes pictures, slides, worded examples, sample test items, indications of relevance of information to subsequent application, and transfer of verbal proportions to maps, diagrams and slides. The remaining two groups were given learning program and field excursion. Treatment groups were formed from eight and ninth grade classes from two different schools. The classes were not ability tracked, and class assignments to treatment groups were random. Students in the excursion classes were assigned to either a traditional excursion or a processing excursion. For the traditional excursion students were given an explanatory field guide designed to reinforce the learning program content. The teacher pointed out the geographic areas of interest, and the student veri fied the information by referring to the guide. Students did not do any recording neither di

Huckleberry Finn Essay examples -- essays research papers fc

River of Life and Realism in Huck Finn   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses the river to symbolize life and the adventures of Huck to show the realism in the novel. These two elements are shown throughout the book in many different ways. Sometimes one would have to really sit down and think about all the symbolism in this classic novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  T. S. Eliot stated, “We come to understand the River by seeing it through the eyes of the Boy; but the Boy is also the spirit of the River'; (333). Throughout Huck’s adventure, as he and Jim are traveling down the river on a raft to Cairo, we see the admiration Huck has for the river. He sets it up to be respected as he would a very dangerous but sincere person. He knows everything of which the river is capable. The river has only to desire something to happen and it will. The different currents and movements are the various personalities of the river. No one can predict the next mood that it might take on. For this reason, Huck chooses to admire the powerful and dangerous body and respect it for its personality(338-46).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The only mode of transportation that Huck and Jim have to flow down the mighty Mississippi is a raft . The river controls the voyage of Huck and Jim. It will not let them land at Cairo, where Jim could have been free. It then separates them and leaves Huck at the Grangerford house for a while. Finally, it reunites the two friends and presses upon them the company of the king and duke (Eliot 332). It is their means of escape. “... ‘stead of taking to the woods when I run off, I’d go down the river about fifty mile and camp in one place for good...'; (31). Huck can always depend on the river to take him anywhere he wants to go.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every move Huck makes seems to get him into some kind of trouble. No matter what the problem, he always goes to that monstrous body of water to solve the mess that he is in. The two friends use the river to slide away from trouble. “...Jim goes again to the raft and lets her go a-sliding down the river';(Angell 131). An example of how Huck uses the river as a safeguard is when he tells Pap he fell in the river in order to escape a great amount of abuse (31). Also, the river repre... ...ealism that was in the world when Twain wrote the book and that same realism is still around today. Even though some times people want to deny it for fear of reality. Works Cited Angell, Roger. “Huck, Continued.'; The New Yorker. New York: June   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  26,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1995:131. Blair, Walter. “The Grangerfords.'; Mark Twain and Huck Finn.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  London: Union   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Press, 1962:199-203. Blair, Walter. “So noble and so beautiful a book.'; Mark Twain and Huck Finn.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  London, England: Union Press, 1962:42,74-9. Budd, Louis T. “Realism in Huck Finn.'; New essays on Adventures of Huck   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Finn.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cambridge University Press, 1985:36,102112. Eliot, T. S. “An Introduction to Huckleberry Finn.'; Form and Symbol:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The River   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  and the Shore. New York: Chanticleer Press, 1950:332-33. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bantam Books,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1993.

The 1994 Stanley Cup Champion New York Rangers :: Hockey History Winning Sports Essays

The 1994 Stanley Cup Champion New York Rangers It is the dream of every child that has ever played hockey to one day be able to hold hockey’s most prized possession over his or her head. The glory, honor, and prestige that goes along with this trophy is by far the most elite in any sport. It is amazing to me how many years and the amount of effort these players put in just to hold this cup over their heads. Why is there such a drive and how did this trophy come to mean so much to so many people? This trophy has such humble beginnings. Originating in Canada, Hockey was taken very seriously. There was a lot of rivalry going on throughout the country, especially in the Amateur Hockey Association, as to who had the best hockey team. It was in response to this that Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor of Central-Canada, decided to present a trophy to the team that won the championship. He said, â€Å"I have for some time been thinking that it would be a good thing if there were a challenge cup which should be held from year to year by the champion hockey team in the Dominion (of Canada)† (Nhl.com). Lord Stanley purchased a cup-like trophy for the equivalent of only $50.00, and from then on, it was presented to the winning team. â€Å"The Stanley Cup—today the symbol of the hockey championship of the world, oldest professional sports trophy in North America, glittering prize of a multi-million dollar industry, was then for amateurs†(McFarlane 14). The cup wa s first awarded in 1893 and the names of each member on the team were engraved on it. As the years went on, they were forced to add more rings around the cup to make room for all of the champion’s names. The cup started as a challenger’s cup, meaning whoever won had possession of it, but any other team could challenge them at any time for their chance at the cup. â€Å"Over the years the Stanley Cup has grown in size and importance† (McFarlane xi). The New York Rangers, who entered into the National Hockey League in the 1926-27 season, quickly became aware of what it was like to rise to the top of the league and to hold the Stanley Cup over their heads. Lead by Lester Patrick, the head coach and Bill Cook, who won the scoring title that year, the Rangers finished at the top of the league.

A Taste of Honey Essay

‘A Taste of Honey’ is a kitchen sink drama, set in the late 1950s. It follows the volatile relationship of a mother and daughter, and the problems that they have to overcome. ‘A Taste of Honey’ presents the harsh reality of what life was like for the working classes. The play explores a variety of controversial issues, which especially in the 1950s, only happened behind closed doors, and would have raised serious questions in society. In ‘A Taste of Honey’ Helen is portrayed as a bad mother, she cares more about drink and men than her own child and there are several preferences to Helen’s alcoholism throughout the play. In a strict and traditional society, it would have been almost unforgivable for a teenage girl to have a child and raise it on her own as Jo ends up doing and Helen did before her. Racism also plays a factor in the play as the father of Jo’s unborn child was black and people felt very strongly about this sort of thing at this time, including Jo’s mother. ‘A Taste of Honey’ shows an insight to the problems and strains that can be brought on by the above issues and those that the working class suffered. In the opening scene of ‘A Taste of Honey’ you are introduced to Jo and Helen’s new flat. It is a run down, dingy, old place and is all that Helen can afford. The optimism that Helen carries is shown right away as when Helen first walks in she is optimistic about the situation by saying, ‘Well! This is the place’. Which shows she has quite an easy-going approach to life as long as she has the necessities in life. Jo then replies with, ‘I don’t like it’, which straight away shows the conflict between the pair and how different their personalities are from one another. You can clearly see form the dialogue between the pair that Helen has never taken care of Jo properly, Jo: ‘I don’t owe you a thing’, and Helen: ‘Do you want me to carry you about?’ which is basically saying look after yourself. At this point Helen is already drinking and Jo says, ‘You make me sick’, in reference to her drinking, which shows that, she disapproves and that it sickens her. It also makes you ask the question, why does Helen drink? Jo also addresses her mum as Helen, this shows us that there is nothing maternal between the two and Jo obviously doesn’t see her as a motherly figure. They also both talk to the audience in third person about one another saying things such as, Helen: ‘Wouldn’t she get on your nerves’ and Jo: ‘She’d lose her head if it was loose’, you cannot see an inch of respect between them and although some people don’t always have a very good mother and daughter relationship there isn’t a trace of any bonding or caring between them. However you do see Helen show a genuine interest in Jo when she sees how good her art work is, although as she stumbles upon it by mistake it shows the distance they have from one another as Jo has never shown her the work before and Jo is quite taken aback by the interest from her mother and says, ‘Why are you so suddenly interested in me anyway?’ which reflects the lack of support that Jo has received. Though language, humor and sarcasm used between them you can see the lack of respect and their clear differences such as Helen being a lot more optimistic and wild to Jo’s more realistic and practical approach to life. You can see Helen’s wild side through her drinking problem, references to men, ‘ Handsome, long-legged creature – just the way I like ’em’, her outbursts of singing and the basic fact that she was obviously out doing her own thing when she should have been taking care of her daughter and not kicking her out of bed w hen she had male company! Also when Helen finds out that her daughter stole the bulbs she is happy and approves, this shows Helens true colours and how she goes about life; she doesn’t mind taking things that aren’t hers as long as she gets what she wants. Helen’s life runs along the same lines as you only live once, as she lets nothing set her back and she also makes regular comments about death and doesn’t look upon it as a big thing really. This contrasts to Jo’s comment in Act 2, scene 2 where she says, ‘We don’t ask for life, we have it thrust upon us’. I think that Jo’s out look on life is that it is hard and unfair; she has always had to fight for her self as Helen has never been there for her, and so she doesn’t expect the good things to happen in her life. Jo and Helen’s relationship about men in Act 1, scene 1 is also very strange, as Helen has clearly had many men in her life as when Peter is introduced Jo says in a very matter of fact way, ‘What’s this one called?’ Jo doesn’t seem to think of men as a necessary object in life and seems to think of men in a more romantic way than Helen and mentions love as well. However in Act 2, scene 2 she has Geoff and although she isn’t linked to him in a romantic way at all she still likes the stability of a man looking after her in her life and would rather have a man than a woman present at the birth of her child. In Act 2, scene 2 where the birth of Jo’s child is looming, Helen isn’t there but comes back before she has it and she shows a different approach towards Jo. Although she shows her true side by being nasty to Geof for no reason when she owes it to him to be nice as he has been taking care of her daughter, she does show genuine concern for Jo, ‘How are you, love?’ and makes enquires about the birth and her pregnancy. She has also made an effort to buy things for the baby and seems to be a lot more motherly towards Jo now. This time round it is Helen making the effort to make the place look nice, and Jo doesn’t seem to care about her living arrangements which is a mirror to the attitude of Helen in Act 1, scene 1. Helen’s effort that she puts into her relationship with Jo is much more motherly and dong things such as, stroking her hair, caring for her, also by saying things such as, ‘we’ll get morbid,’ this is showing a different side to Helen as in Act 1, scene 1, she is very open about death and talks about it on a regular basis. This is also ironic as she is usually the one that is being morbid, not Jo. Also by talking about the children outside shows a total change in character and you see the nice side of Helen. Whereas Jo seems to have turned more like her mum, by not really caring and expecting others to do things for her, such as Geof; although Jo is never nasty towards him. Although Jo and Helen don’t get on with one another in Act 1, scene 1 and Act 2, scene 2 you can see the differences between them. In Act1, scene 1, Helen is very distant from Jo, which Delaney shows through the dialogue and language used between them. She also shows this through the use of talking in the third person, ‘wouldn’t she get on your nerves?’ However in Act 2, scene 2 she seems to be trying to come closer to her daughter, by taking an interest in her and just genuinely being more caring. You also see a change in character with Jo, who in Act 1, scene 1 Delaney portrays her as the parent, with her doing things such as cleaning, but by Act 2, scene 2 when she is about to become a mother herself she is more childlike, this can be shown through the stage directions of Jo throwing the pretend doll that Geof gets her because it’s the wrong colour. She acts like a spoilt child who comes across as ungrateful and shows no maturity in her at all. I think that in Act 2, scene 2 their relationship has progressed form Act 1, scene 1 as Helen is more of a mother figure towards Jo. However I don’t think that they will have a good relationship, as Helen isn’t very supporting when she finds out about the colour of the baby. When she is asked what she’ll do she replies, ‘drown it,’ and she goes back to her old ways of drinking. This also suggests that she drinks to drown her sorrows. Also she leaves Jo on her own at a time that she needs her and there is some uncertainty about whether or not she is coming back. This sums up their relationship as one that is rocky and that there is no stability at all. ‘A Taste of Honey’ Essay Act two, scene one is an important part of the play because Jo is near the end of her pregnancy and Helen comes back to visit her but only because Geoff had asked her too. Previously in the play Helen had married Peter and had gone to live with him, Jo got engaged to a black boy in the Navy, she became pregnant but he didn’t come back after going away with the Navy. Jo didn’t have a very good relationship with her mother and they had moved about a lot as Helen ran every time she couldn’t pay the rent. Jo met Geoff who is a homosexual. He hasn’t had sexual relations with a man but he knows he is gay because he has had liaisons with other men. Jo has left school and was going to work in a pub part-time. The play is ‘A Taste of Honey’ and I am doing part of Act two scene one where Jo, Helen and Geoff are the main characters. This play is mainly set in Jo and Helen’s flat where the time is around the 1950’s. Helen and Jo weren’t very well off so the flat is in a poor condition. It is dirty and there is a lot of dust. The house looks like it is uncared for because clothes are on the floor and the bed isn’t made. It is a comfortless flat. If I was in the audience I would see the settee in the middle of the flat with Geoff’s bedding on it, to the left of the stage would be Jo’s unmade bed it might have some clothes lying untidily on top of it. To the right I would see the kitchen, the sink full of dirty plates and cups, and there would be lots of things scattered about the kitchen sides. In this section of the play the characters use actions in different ways to portray their emotions and feelings. For example: at the beginning of this section Geoff says ‘Let me kiss you’ this lets us know that Geoff likes Jo as more then a friend unfortunately she does not feel the same way. This is shown when she struggles as Geoff forces himself on her. Another show of Geoff’s feelings towards Jo are when he asks her to marry him, Jo just dismisses the idea and tells Geoff ‘†¦I’m not marrying anybody’. When Helen arrives she tries to be motherly towards Jo but Jo doesn’t really want to know as Helen hasn’t really been there for her whilst she has been growing up. I don’t think she understands why Helen suddenly wants to be a proper mother so Jo starts an argument by saying ‘what blew you in’ as soon as Helen comes in to the room. But Helen still tries to by friendly by asking about Geoff, she also tries to change the subject at that point when Jo asks her how she came to know about her pregnancy she replies ‘Come on, aren’t you going to introduce me to your boy friend? Who is he?’. I think at that point Helen hadn’t come to argue with Jo and had come to see if she was alright. When Jo and Helen are angry they both speak their mind and tend to shout when arguing. Jo talks in a steady voice and when speaking to Geoff she talks in a soft voice but her voice is stern when she is speaking to Helen as I feel she is resentful towards her. Helen talks to Jo as if she regrets having her and wishes she’d aborted her like all the others, in this scene though Helen starts off friendly but finishes by chasing Jo around the room trying to hit her. Geoff is the calm one; he doesn’t stand up for himself much but tries to protect Jo. When Geoff is told to do something he does it without complaining. This play is important to theatre history, as it was the first play ever seen about real life and the problems that came with it like poverty, racism, teenage pregnancies and homophobia. This play had them all in. At the time this play was written Britain was just recovering from shortages and rationing, the rationing ended in 1952. Housing was scarce so many people had to live in flats even if they could afford better and bomb sites were still derelict. Shelagh Delaney was the author of this play and she was 19 years old when she wrote it. It was written in 1956 and censorship from the stage was removed in 1963. ‘A Taste of Honey’ is what you would call a ‘kitchen-sink’ drama because it is based on real life, problems, poverty and the working class. A Taste of Honey Essay This essay is about a young woman called Jo. Jo has a mother known as Helen and her boyfriend peter; Jo also has a boyfriend called Boy and a close friend called Geoff who is gay. Jo is pregnant with her boyfriend Boy, Boy is a black sailor, and it was common in those days for sailors to have girlfriends for a short while and then leave them as they go on to other places, and as Jo says â€Å"He’s gone away. He maybe back in six months, but then again, he may†¦Ã¢â‚¬  here she gave the impression that he may not be back. In this case he left her pregnant as well which just adds to Jo’s problems. At the beginning of the play all Jo could think about is the condition of the flat and Jo’s first words were â€Å"And I don’t like it† as Helen said, â€Å"Well this is the place.† At the beginning their opinions of the flat are very different as Helen tries to see the better side as Jo just keeps on criticising the flat, which in way brings th em closer together rather than further apart, they just need to respect each other more. Jo is really serious about her thoughts of the flat whereas Helen is trying to look at the good side although she knows its horrible and even gives into Jo later and says, â€Å"It is a bit of a mess isn’t it.† The author uses Helens cold to revel Helens character by the words that she uses like â€Å"Its running like a tap† she says about her nose. Both characters rely on men to get affection as they don’t really get it from each other. Helen does care about Jo’s future as she shows when she discovers the drawings that Jo had drawn; she says, â€Å"I didn’t realize I had such a talented daughter.† As Peter enters Helens reaction is an unwelcoming one, and she even says, â€Å"Look what the winds blown in. † Helen wants Jo to go away now that Peter had entered and she said to Jo â€Å"Turn yourself into a bloody termite and crawl into the wall or something.† The first impressions of peter are that he’s very arrogant and he treats Jo like a slave as he is telling her what to do as soon as he walked through the door. Jo’s behaviour tells us that she doesn’t like Peter. Helen thinks that Jo is jealous of her because she has a man as Helen says, â€Å"she’s jealous†¦Ã¢â‚¬  They then admit that they never given each other affection as Jo says, â€Å"You’ve certainly never been affectionate with me.† Act two, scene one. Jo suspects that Geoff wants to move in as he said, â€Å"Isn’t this place a bit big for one Jo?† but I think Jo wants Geoff to move in as she invites him to stay the night. Jo later denies the fact she wants marriage as Geoff asked, â€Å"You want taking in hand† an she replied with, â€Å"no, thanks† even though she’s been asked. When Jo told Geoff about the baby he kept asking questions like, â€Å"how are you going to manage then† he says this to suggest that he wants to help. Jo has changed since the start of the play as she is beginning to let some of her feelings out to Geoff. When Helen came back she called the flat â€Å"the same old miserable hole† despite at the beginning of the play she said it was good. A Taste of Honey Essay Human development is a continuous process, but there may be critical periods in our development during which adaptational success or failure heavily influences the course of later development in the life cycle. Adolescence clearly is one of these critical developmental transitions. The number of extent of changes that occur simultaneously during adolescence present major challenges to the development of mature and effective coping strategies. In Shelagh Delaney’s â€Å"A Taste of Honey,† we can observe this adolescent development or the stages of adolescence in the life of the protagonist, Jo. In the beginning, the protagonist is already able to demonstrate some characteristics of early adolescents. She starts to show an attitude where an individual is easily frustrated and anxious. Jo tells her mother, â€Å"Why should I run around after you?† Her mother responded â€Å"Children owe their parents these little attentions† but she instantly defended herself and said â€Å"I don’t owe you a thing.† Somehow, Jo has a rigid concept of what is wrong or right, reflecting traces of being in the early adolescence stage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The protagonist in the story is seventeen years old. At this age, she would express characteristics or behaviors of those in the middle adolescence stage. Usually, at the middle adolescence stage, most of the changes due to puberty already took place. Considering this, Jo would already be very concerned with her living environment, especially with regards to how she looks or how she is presented in the society. Jo states in the beginning â€Å"Can’t be soon enough for me, I’m cold and my shoes let water.† Then she adds â€Å"What a place and we’re supposed to be living off her immoral earnings.† This emphasizes a characteristic of middle adolescents who are able to use speech in order to convey their feelings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When Jo was driven out of their apartment, she manages to confide in the arms or care of a black sailor and she engaged in a one night stand. Due to conflicts at home, the protagonist tried to find love from other people. In addition to this, it can be said that because of her pursuit for love, the risk for sexual intercourse increased. Later on, she was forced to find a job and move to a new place. She had enough with her mother and her interferences and decided to live an independent life; part of being at the middle adolescence stage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In her new place, she was able to meet a homosexual named Geoffrey who was also like her; shy and lonely. Eventually, she finds out that she is pregnant. A good thing about it is that she gains a sense of maturity from the mistake which she committed irrationally. At an early age, she begins to think of her future and her child’s future as well. So she works hard in order to keep herself and her baby alive. At this time, she is already able to make independent decisions for herself and takes pride in everything that she does. Geoffrey on the other hand, despite being homosexual, gains further understanding or development of his sexual identity. He proposed a marriage to Jo, taking full responsibility of the child she is bearing; something which is really admirable for a homosexual.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The reappearance of Jo’s mother in their lives stirred the peace, but Jo was already strong enough to defend herself and her new found family. She has greater ability to tell the things which she feels and thinks. Her ability to embrace causes with conviction made her step up the ladder of adolescent development. When her mother volunteered to change their flat to the way she (Jo’s mother) likes, â€Å"I’m going to make it just the way you (referring to Jo, which is a form of irony) like it.† Jo steps up and tells her â€Å"Oh no!† She tells her that she likes their place the way it is right now. Somehow, Jo’s experiences and maturity definitely honed her up to stand to challenges and cope with life. Works Cited Delaney, S. (1956). A Taste of Honey. New York: Grove Press.