The Almost Perfect Day Essay Example For Students

The Almost Perfect Day Essay Some of the best times I have in the summertime are riding my jetski. One of my best friends, who also has a ski, go out almost everyday in the summer. We would sometimes even wake up around six oclock in the morning just to ride the glossy surf at Sandy Hook. There was one great day I had on the skiIt was around seven in the morning when I heard my phone ring. It was my buddy Jared waking me up to tell me to meet him at the Channel Club Marina to go out on our jetskis. I told him I would meet him there in about a half-hour. When I got to the marina Jared told me the swells at Sandy Hook were about five foot, which makes for nice wave jumping. We will write a custom essay on The Almost Perfect Day specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We got our skis all ready; we filled them up with oil and gas, checked the spark plugs, and checked the engine. Finally, we were ready to head out to the ocean for a day of fun. We made our way out down the Navesink River, passing McCloones and The Quay in Seabright doing around sixty miles per hour. Man, thats the best feeling around. We then headed under the Sandy Hook Bridge, and I could already feel the swells beneath my ski. It was early morning, so all the fishing boats from Highlands were heading out with us. The early morning fog was just lifting too, so that made for some nice scenic views of all the little islands and coves that make up Sandy Hook. We entered the channel that leads right into the ocean and just flew the rest of the way to our destination. As we came around the northern most tip of the Hook we clearly saw that the waves were pretty huge, especially for jetski riding. We both raced to the first big wave we saw, hit it head on, and must have launched at least six feet into the air, which was nothing compared to the air that would come later. About an hour went by and both of our gas tanks were running a little low. We decided to head back toward the Sandy Hook Bridge to get gas at a place called Bahrs in Highlands, which is also a restaurant. So we jetted back toward the bridge and filled our jetskis up to the brim with gas. Immediately after, we bolted right back to where the waves were. As soon as we returned to our favorite riding spot we started jumping the waves again. This time around, we were getting as high as about ten feet in the air. About an hour into our second run at the Hook, Jared remembered something, something important. He opened up the little compartment on his ski and took out his waterproof camera. We took several dozen pictures that entire day. My favorite one was one Jared took of me. It was a picture of me launching off of a wave at about forty miles per hour, getting about eight feet in the air, and jumping off of the jetski. That awesome shot is hanging on my bedroom wall right now. After taking a good beating from the waves, which definitely wears you out, we would just chill for about a half-hour on the beach. Then, getting bored of just sitting there, we went right back out into the surf. We spent the whole day at the Hook. We must have filled our gas tanks up at least three or four times throughout the course of the day. Around five oclock in the afternoon we felt it was time to start heading back to the marina. We headed into the channel, and to make a great day perfect saw the Sea Streak ferry returning from the city. This boat goes about fifty-five miles per hour and puts out a huge wake, which is perfect for jumping. Just to keep up with that boat takes up a lot of energy, but once you go off the lip of its wake its likewell nothing, because there is no other felling like it. We followed the ferry all the way inland until it docked in

Eli Whitney and his help to the economy essays

Eli Whitney and his help to the economy essays Whitneys genius came about at the perfect time. He helped the United States start its road to success that so many of us are used to now. With his cotton gin and the concept of interchangeable parts the United States was able to compete with England, and in effect, slowly become self-sufficient. Before the cotton boom the U.S. had problems with its economy. There were no highly tradable crops or goods for the U.S. to export. The southern farmers started to find that green seed cotton was highly marketable, but there was a problem it had a rival in Island or black seed cotton. The island cotton was longer and had less clutter to be cleaned. The problem with black seed though was it could be grown in a very small area. Whitney had an idea to solve this problem. He worked and worked, then finally came up with what is now called the cotton gin. The gin could clean the green seed cotton allowing to be shipped just as the island cotton. At the time Whitney was building this, textile mills had started springing up all over the north. Now the cotton was both an exportable product as was it a natural resource used to make more goods to export. With the invention of the cotton gin, farmers could start planting more cotton and cleaning it even quicker than usual. This sped up the process which in turn would allow the farmers to charge a little more. With these raises in price and quantity, the U.S. government would benefit with the farmers on the export income. The second of Eli Whitneys inventions may have been the most important. The United States was preparing for war with France and they were in dire need for weaponry. The Springfield Armory was well equipped and slowly producing muskets, while the newly built Harpers Ferry Armory was lightly stocked and had yet to produce even one gun. This brought about a rather large problem for the Americans. They needed rifles and they needed them fas ...

Business context Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Business context - Essay Example The main philosophy of R&D is that the money invested today will fetch higher profits for the company in near future. It is a complex process with a structured framework. The steps of the process consist of â€Å"synthesis and extraction of new helpful molecules, biological screening & pharmacological testing and pharmaceutical dosage formulation with stability testing.† (Pharmaceutical R&D: Costs, Risks, and Rewards, 1993) This process of developing, testing and offering the drug to the market is time consuming and expensive. Due to these factors R&D cost is gradually increasing which is directly affecting the increment of new drug prices. This will be evident if we carefully notice the new drug prices, which are growing more rapidly than the inflation rate, whereas the prices of old drug show decrement. Global pharmaceutical market scenario is extremely complex; here the large public sector investments is in basic biomedical R&D that influences the private sector to intensiv ely fund on new research and development programs. Here the demand for the drugs are also indirectly generated i.e. the doctors and the health insurances act here as mediators to initiate demand for the drugs by prescribing them. Recently apart from the growth in the R&D cost a new crisis also gained prominence in the pharmaceutical world and that is the patentability of drugs and health related innovations. The pharmaceutical companies pour in billions of dollars on the R&D of new products and without the Intellectual Property (IP) protection law the formulations of the drugs are simply being duplicated. These duplicate formulations are synthesized at much low cost and the company, which initially developed the formulation, loses huge amount of revenue. Due to this reason the pharmaceutical companies utilizes the IP Law to monopolize the production and marketing of these innovative drugs. Here this report will make an attempt to focus on the recent scenario of pharmaceutical sector regarding the causes of growing cost in R&D segment and the importance of the intellectual patent tenure alterations for maintaining monopoly of the pharmaceutical companies. (OTA, 1993; Wei, n.d., p.1)     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Industry Overview on high R&D costs and Patent rights As mentioned earlier, the pharmaceutical companies annually endow billions of dollars in R&D. Recent studies reflect there is a staggering growth of expenses in R&D costs of the global pharmaceutical industry. Though R&D costs are tremendously increasing day-by-day, the pharmaceutical companies think of it as a necessary evil. It is because R&D cost enables the company to synthesize new formulations and helps to open new avenues of opportunity to generate greater profits. R&D costs vary widely between different drugs as this cost depends upon the type of formulation b eing developed. The factors influencing the R&D cost are the probability of success, the molecule base of the new drug or modification of an existing generic drug. Development of innovative drugs cost the most, a rough estimation reveals it generally amounts to more than $800 million (CBO, 2006. p.2); it also includes the cost of failed attempts. This estimate

Compare and Contrast the United States Healthcare System with the Term Paper

Compare and Contrast the United States Healthcare System with the Healthcare System of Japan - Term Paper Example It is a combined effort of governments, creeds, charities, or other organizations to provide healthcare services to the common masses. According to World Health Organization (WHO), the concerned goal of healthcare system is to ensure effective care process with minimum financial costs. Healthcare system depends on four important factors that are source generation, provision of healthcare services, financing and stewardship (World Health Organization, 2012).Concerning the healthcare services being provided, it has been viewed that there can be several shortcomings a nation can face in terms of increased expenses, mortality rate and improper funding among others. In present day context, it has been revealed that healthcare system of the United States is deteriorating in the global platform due to the prevalence of certain major gaps within the entire system. Focusing on these aspects, the paper intends to present a comparison and contrast between the United States healthcare system and the Japanese healthcare system. This study focuses on determining the various setbacks faced by the healthcare system of both the countries and thereby would assist in deriving better knowledge regarding the loopholes of the entire healthcare system that need to be addressed. ... Consequently, government and concerned authorities require developing sustainable budget based healthcare plans that can address the evolving needs. Considering health statistics, it can be comprehended that it is applied to derive actual information about the cost, time-consumption and the difficulty level associated with the existing healthcare plan. In the United States, healthcare facilities are broadly operated and owned by the private organizations. Government provides health insurance for its employees but to a certain limit. It has been perceived that 60-65% of healthcare expenses of the US come from the Tricare, Medicare, Medicaid and child care programs (World Health Organization, 2012). Life Expectancy is a term that indicates the number of years an individual is expected to live according to the statistical estimates. The statistical factors of life expectancy entails certain calculations associated with a few imperative factors such as sex, occupation and physical condit ion. The United States’ life expectancy measures reveal the country to be ranked in the 42nd position worldwide. With regard to the report of WHO, it has been evaluated that the life expectancy rate associated with birth in the USA is 78 years (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). As per the recent study of the WHO, it can be ascertained that the depicted result related to life expectancy shows loopholes within the healthcare system of the US. In this regard, the reasons behind such setbacks include income and geographical factors. On the other hand, according to a recent survey conducted, it has been revealed that Japan has the longest life expectancy at birth worldwide. With regard to the detailed analysis

Physiology Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Physiology - Case Study Example This condition is known to cause nerve problems which may be responsible for her numbness and weakness on the lower limb. Since she might be suffering from inflammation in his pelvic or cervical region, this may result to elevated body temperature referred to as fever. Fever causes disruption in the body thermal balance causing chills which is responsible for shivering in patients. In addition, the presence of inflammation results to generation of neutrophil from the bone marrow with reduced maturation time. Toxic granulation in the body therefore occurs due to the accelerated maturation of neutrophils in response to cases of acute inflammation (Crowley 72). This will help the medical practitioner figure out if it is a recurrence case, how developed it is or if it is genetically linked (Fogel & Nancy 610). Past medical and drug history will help determine if it is an allergic reaction and any know the form of treatment previously done on the patient. This involves checking for vitamin deficiencies, abnormal immune response or presence of toxic elements. Vitamin deficiency can cause general body weakness, anemia, loss of appetite and neurological problems e.g. lack of vitamin B12 and vitamin D (Fogel & Nancy 209). Elevated levels of white blood cells signifies the presence of an infection or inflammation while toxic elements from pesticides are known to cause neurological problems. The blood test would help rule out certain conditions that are known to cause some of the symptoms depicted seen on the girl. 3. The pelvic exam revealed a foul-smelling discharge. What might this indicate? Might this condition be related to the loss of lower motor control? What might the sedimentation rate and the WBC’s indicate? A foul smelling discharge detected by pelvic examination is an indication of presence of infection in the pelvic region. The infection can

Learning English Through Videogames

Learning English Through Videogames This paper presents a study of the viewpoints on video game playing toward second/foreign language learning among ESL/EFL students in Xalapa, Veracruz. The results showed that students insights on playing video games aimed at foreign language learning were positive. This paper also made a comparison with factors such as gender and years of playing that support these insights. The results indicated that types of games and English proficiency have strong influences on students perceptions. This papers purpose is to present several of the latest theories in videogame studies and new media literacies, in addition to theories of language learning. Several examples are shown of how computer video games and web applications such as The Sims 2, Grim Fandango, jumpcut, Apple imovie, Windows movie maker and others could radically change the way in which we approach language learning and instruction. Introduction The role of technology as an alternative tool for instruction of English foreign language learners increases as educators recognize its possibilities to create both independent and collaborative learning environments in which students can acquire, immerse and practice a new language (Butler-Pascoe, 1997). Through the use of the Internet, word processors, video games multimedia, and practice programs, students can engage in individualized instruction designed to meet their specific needs and participate in cooperative projects that will foster communication with peers in their classrooms and throughout the global community. This research focuses on the potential of video games as a powerful tool for foreign language instruction and acquisition. This is a very important topic for many reasons, the least of which is that so many people do not really understand this medium and regard it in the worst possible manner. What many outsiders of the video game culture do not understand is that video games can be an expressive and interesting medium that can easily compete with the best that other mediums have to offer, and, like any type of expressive medium before them, video games have gone through a harsh trial by those who are bigoted, uninformed and prejudiced against this medium. This paper provides a great opportunity to explain why computers and video games can take an important part in language learning, and why therein we have an extraordinary opportunity to educate, not only our children but the population at large through video games. Video games can provide the ability to shape events, environments and positions in a way which is not feasible through any other medium. According to Larson (1999) and Li (1999), the transactional nature and the pedagogical relevance of some state-of-the-art videogame-based interactive technologies make videogames a viable vehicle for foreign language learning. This thesis aims to reach the following objectives: 1. to make the reader aware of new learning strategies and possibilities for all types of learners; 2. to discover students views on the feasibility of videogames for language learning and instruction; 3. to suggest a new range of activities that can be performed in a classroom using videogames. This thesis firstly discusses findings from various research studies, as well as current language teaching methodologies, in order to explain how video games can contribute to language acquisition by evaluating several video game genres and emphasizing that virtual pet, simulation and RPG (Role playing games) are beneficial for language acquisition. It also provides various sample activities that can be performed in the ESL classroom using video games in their own right. Secondly, the context and participants are presented as well as a research instrument, after which the data is analyzed and given an interpretation and finally pedagogical implications are presented. Chapter 1: Literature review This chapter firstly attempts to explain why videogames can be suitable for learning a language based on several studies that are described next. Secondly, it also outlines how videogames are slowly being incorporated into the field of education. Thirdly, it provides the readers with an overview on videogames and modding and finally how teachers can benefit their lessons from modding and how it can be used in the ESL/EFL classroom. 1. Videogames and Research Using video games to educate has long been a much thought-of goal, yet rarely an achieved one. Although video games may not yet be able to educate users in a content area effectively, language learners may benefit from video games. Educational software developers have struggled to present a substantial amount of content and context without sacrificing the degree of control game players expect. Very little research has specifically targeted language acquisition through video games; however, various studies carried out over the years in several universities of the U.S, England and Sweden with students of different majors, as well as current language teaching methodologies support the use of video games to learn language. Interestingly, in one study Hulstijn Laufer (2001) found that language acquisition may hinge on the level of involvement in a task, and video game players are often quite immersed in game play, a trait that may enable them to acquire language, since video games often contain simultaneously presented aural and textual language. Another study done by Prensky (2006) suggests that videogames allow learners to analyze and decode language at their own pace. During game play learners may use one input channel to decode the other because videogame players have a great deal of control over the game play (various in-game choices can be made, games can be paused, actions can be repeated, and conversations can sometimes be initiated at the players own beck and call. Dornyei Clement (2001, p.399) claimed that one of the main premises for using video games to educate has been to harness learners motivation. Although, motivation is a crucial element in language learning, motivation alone does not guarantee the acquisition of a language. This was stated in another study performed by Prensky (2004) who found out that one of the most difficult things teachers had to do was to aim for a balance between video game interaction and learning its language which may result too strenuous for some players cognitive abilities. Nevertheless, Brett (2001) emphasizes in his research that the natural repetition which is present in video games, such as the constant set-up of mini-battles in role-playing games and the frequent use of interactive menus in virtual pet and simulation games, allows a language learner to be continuously exposed to the target language and creates more opportunities for acquisition to occur as opposed to other media, such as movies or books, which often do not reuse the same vocabulary or grammar, making acquisition more difficult and slow-paced. Interestingly enough, the repetition in video games allows a language learner to use their own initiative to use known language (semantic context, vocabulary or grammar) to decode unknown elements through constant exposure. Furthermore, Crawford (2003, p.261) made a stunning discovery in his research when he stated that a videogame provides players with a useful kinesthetic link to its language resulting in players having to give a total physical response to actions prompted. Total Physical Response (TPR) activities are used in order to connect the language item whether, vocabulary or grammar, to a physical action, hopefully making the language easier to grasp, which is quite similar in videogames where players perform on-screen actions that may serve to link the language they learn to their native language. 2. Video Games and Education Video games evoke different emotions in people. Some might perceive them as nothing more than a tool of entertainment, while others might consider them useless and tools of bad influence. Academics, such as Gee (2005, p.13), will say that video games are a new form of interactive media worthy of academic multidisciplinary study regardless of what videogames may be, it is a well-known fact that they are a distinct yet entertaining way for youngsters to spend their time. It comes as no surprise that many educators and teachers are trying to add video games to their lessons and curricula design both to catch and retain the attention of students, not to mention to enhance the course content and likability. Many business, medicine, and law schools in northern Europe are implementing video games such as Kristens Cookies, Dexter and Objection as part of their curricula, whilst other schools introduce more commercially known titles, for example Brain Age and Trauma Center to their science and math courses. According to Hoggs research (2006) carried out in some European universities, students motivation and therefore grades, have soared exponentially as opposed to slump since the implementation of video games in their curricula. Video games have become increasingly widespread in their use, both as a hobby and as an educational tool. ESL teachers should be no exception and be able to make use of this technology to help students in teaching grammar points as much as in developing students speaking ability. 3. Video Games and Modding For over twenty years there have been many attempts at designing educational software with all of them resulting in failure and thus a sense of hopelessness prevailed through much of the educational software community. Fortunately, the emergence of new models have made education and entertainment games stop competing with one another. If we look at todays entertainment video games, many will be nothing like the games prevalent in the late 90s when educators and game developers first teamed up in an attempt to insert artificial learning moments inside games. Back then, in-game worlds were relatively fixed and did not have much depth whatsoever, enabling the player only to play out the action of a pre-programmed story. Today, nonetheless, according to Hansson (2005) games are presumably more open-ended, with many of them encouraging players to take an active role in the construction of the game itself through the use of various mod tools. The term mod means modification, in videogame terms mod refers to a user made add-on to an already existing game. For example, one of 2007s best selling video games, The Sims 2 does not determine any explicit goal or winning outcome. Rather, the game presents itself as an open-ended virtual doll house in which users play out and share stories with one another should they choose to. As a result of the enormous flexibility of this game, thousands of players created content add-ons or game modifications now available for free on the web. Surprisingly enough, so far, little has been attempted by educators to use the extensive mod tools available for The Sims 2 to implement learning content in a way that naturally integrates with the in-game experience (Goldfayn, 2006). However, mod tools provide full access to all the language data used in all the different international versions of a game. This allows curriculum designers to easily manipulate popular video games to create opportunities for foreign language learning. Johnson,( 2005, p.191) claims that for most educational disciplines, the main rule when choosing a video game to be modded is that the closer the original contents of the game are to the educational discipline involved, the smoother the process will be. Most people play video games nowadays and everyone seems to work on a computer, so learning a foreign language through video games can be as viable as learning it through traditional classroom instruction. For example, in order to make a game like Civilization III relevant to a history classroom, one simply needs to edit a few maps, scenarios and variables; while a game like The Sims 2 actually does have a distinct similarity between the contents of the game and the contents of an introductory language textbook (parts of the body, furnishing the house, finding a job/professions, emotions, etc), the fact that almost all games use language in one way or another allows a far wider range of games to be modded for usage in foreign language learning than other educational disciplines. 4. Modding in ESL There has been a recent increase in the number of game environments or engines that allow users to customize their gaming experiences by building and expanding game behavior. What is described here is the use of modifying, or modding, existing games as a means to learn English. A case of game modding in classroom settings is described to illustrate skills learned by students as a result of modding existing games, in this case the game which was modded is The Sims 2. Below are some examples of how you can mod a videogame to suit your needs as a teacher as well as your students. These are two sample activities that have been put into practice by teachers such as Mylene Catel, (http://www.mylenejcatel.com/) who have put an enormous amount of effort into this. Simply by playing the modded version of the game (The Sims 2), students are gradually exposed to heavy amounts of reading practice in the foreign language. However, designing specific reading comprehension tasks helps the teacher assess learning better. Next, I describe an activity which can be performed using the previously mentioned game: Step 1. Students write a description of their favorite imaginary landscape in the foreign language including any number of specific details (There is a pristine water creek, there are many leafy trees in which birds gather to chirp, There is a family having a picnic nestled under the trees , etc). Step 1.5. The teacher helps correct any mistakes in the students descriptions. Step 2. Students randomly exchange their descriptions with one another via the game. Step 3. Use the cheat mode to give students unlimited money. Step 4. Students avail themselves of a mod tool given by the teacher and create the landscape outlined in their description. Step 4.5. The teacher assesses how many of the specific details students correctly incorporated into their creations. Step 5. Students once again exchange their finished descriptions. Step 6. Students verbally describe to one another their creation. Students try to discern which landscape is the one they originally designed. Chapter 2: Methodology This research was conducted in order to determine whether playing videogames plays a significant role in the personal development and learning of a second language. It weighs the pros and cons of using this medium for learning and expresses what videogames are suitable for learning English and what videogames can enhance students reading, listening and speaking skills. I opted to obtain the view of language students from different schools. Specifically, students aged 18-25 from 2 schools within Xalapa were selected for this task, 10th semester students of the teaching area from the English B.A of the Universidad Veracruzana and advanced level students from Bristol Institute as informants from December 2007 to April 2008. Selected participants answered a questionnaire about the role of videogames in ESL/EFL learning. In order to determine whether videogames play an important role in learning English more efficiently, a total of 20 respondents were asked to participate, 10 of them were from the Universidad Veracruzana and the other 10 were Bristol students. Instrument. A questionnaire was administered to collect as much data as possible. The questionnaire consisted of 10 open-ended questions of which five questions had to do with the participants learning English through videogames and the other five questions had to do with the participants views on whether or not videogames have enhanced their learning and comprehension of a foreign language. To achieve pertinent information, certain inclusion criteria were imposed. The participants chosen had to be students who had been studying English for at least 4 years. This qualification ensured the participants understanding the nature of this questionnaire and its use for teaching English, making the questionnaire items easy for them to understand. My questionnaire which was administered to both populations was based on the following criteria: How much English and how well these students had learnt it by using videogames. The types of games they preferred in their learning process and how such games had helped acquiring their skills in English. Procedure. The administration of the questionnaire to the U.V student population was done when I was studying 10th semester of the English B.A. Therefore, the questionnaire was administered to my classmates at that time. However, to administer my questionnaire to the Bristol student population I had to ask for permission to the school principal, and after granting such, I was able to administer it, all in all both populations seemed to have no problems or questions at the time they answered it. Chapter 3: Results and Discussion In this chapter, I will present all data gathered from the questionnaire related to my research questions I administered to several students as well as charts representing the analysis of what was said in each question. The questions will be divided in two sections according to my research questions How do students learn English through videogames? What type of games do students play in their learning process and how they help? Analysis of questions 1, 2,3,4,5 of the questionnaire refer to section one. 1. Is vocabulary, rather than syntax, more easily and consistently acquired from video games? Out of the 20 students who answered this question 16 students said that vocabulary was best learned through this medium while 4 thought that syntax was the one best acquired. From these answers it can be inferred that these students mostly learn vocabulary, and syntactical patterns from games. Nonetheless, the focus of what is to be learned will fall into what the students needs are. From my perspective students also benefit from learning pronunciation subconsciously because speech is present in most games. 2. What grammatical patterns or chunks of language do you usually learn from videogames? Out of the twenty students who answered this question, eleven answered that they usually learn phrasal verbs and idioms from videogames while the other nine students said they revise through videogames grammatical patterns such as reported speech and conditionals. From these answers it can be inferred that for these students videogames help best as an aid to learn phrasal verbs and fixed expressions while others use them as revising materials. 3. Do video games help language learners actually acquire language, or do they serve more as a linguistic priming or practicing device? Out of the twenty students who answered this question twelve believed that videogames help language acquisition whereas the remaining eight believed they just serve as a practicing device From these answers it can be assumed that videogames can serve as both a learning tool and a practicing device for these students. However, as a teacher you should have in mind the reason why you will employ them. 4. Can language be acquired more effectively (more quickly and be retained longer) through video games than through other media? From twenty students who answered this question seventeen agreed on their learning being quicker, more effective and easier to retain through videogames. However, another three said videogames had no benefit for them. From these answers it can be assumed that for these students videogames are the perfect medium that can enable them to learn faster by learning the language subconsciously through something they might find entertaining because videogames lower their affective filter. 5. Do students retain lexical or syntactic language studied through video games longer than identical language studied through traditional classroom and self-study activities? Out of the 20 students who were asked this question, 14 answered that they thought retention was easier and lasted longer for them through videogames whilst other 6 claimed they benefitted more from traditional classroom instruction. From these answers it can be inferred that even though for these students retention is generally easier through videogames due to their interaction capabilities with players, how well students retain language patterns through either way will depend on what type of memory they possess. Analysis of questions 6, 7, 8,9,10 of the questionnaire refer to section two 6. Which genres of games are the most useful for language learners? The answer to this question was a bit variant since out of the twenty students fourteen considered themselves to be advanced learners while six considered themselves to be upper-intermediate learners. Therefore the advanced students claimed that the most useful game genres for them were Role playing games (RPGs) and action/adventure games as they can employ various decoding strategies. While the remaining six said that in their view the most useful game genres were sports videogames because they can benefit from the repetition patterns present in these games From these answers it can be inferred that videogames can cater for every mood and personality and can certainly aid these students in their learning process. However, which game genre is most useful to them depends on their language level. Bristol students often resort to playing RPGs because of their language level while some teaching area students of the English B.A in the Universidad Veracruzana opted for sports games as their games of choice because they feel they benefit more from the language patterns present in such games. 7. Does the learners language level make a difference? Out of the 20 students who answered this question 19 believed that the language level of a learner made a difference in understanding while just 1 student believed that the level did not matter From these answers it can be assumed that the level of a learner will play a crucial part in taking full advantage of the videogame approach toward language learning. For example advanced students are always eager to play RPGs which are more complicated than other game genres while intermediate or basic students try to look for games in which actions can be describe more than once. 8. Do voice recognition games force native and non-native speakers to modify their pronunciation in unnatural ways? From twenty students who answered the question thirteen said that voice recognition games were a valuable tool to help their pronunciation subconsciously while the remaining seven said their pronunciation could only be improved through direct interaction with an English native environment which leads to demonstrate that these few students have a conservative way of thinking. From the answers of these students it can be inferred that voice recognition games are just as good as interacting within an English speaking environment since the pronunciation used in such games is usually done by native English speakers. 9. Do language learners benefit from having their actions described by a sports video game? All twenty students who answered this question said they did benefit from this approach because it was quite practical. From these answers it can be assumed that videogames can come as a new refreshing approach toward language instruction that students would really appreciate since both males and females showed much interest in sports videogames 10. How long would it take a learner to acquire a language through a video game rather than through classroom instruction or self-study textbook? All students had different views on this particular question. Eleven believed you could learn English through this medium in one year while another four believed you could learn it in six months time, two more students said in a few weeks and yet another three claimed the time you learn it was entirely up to the learner. From the answers given by these students it can be inferred that theres no agreement on a learning curve. According to these students how fast students learn the language depends on other factors such as motivation and what kind of learners they are. Conclusion: In these data most of these students claim that they can learn a language using videogame classroom instruction. According to them not only is it a refreshing new approach but it is also quite beneficial for vocabulary acquisition and the subconscious learning of pronunciation. However, a teacher should always keep in mind the objective as to why they will use videogames. Chapter 4: Pedagogical Implications In this chapter, I provide some examples of how videogames can be exploited to design many immersion activities for the ESL/EFL classroom. This chapter is organized into the following sections: RPGs, RPGs and the ESL classroom, elements of literature, debates on cultures, portfolios, character analysis, oral presentations, quizzes/tests and suggested games for classroom use. 1. Role Playing Games Not all video games can be considered classroom-safe. Many video games, while being visually stunning games in their own right, may either be too violent or too devoid of content to be used in an ESL classroom. There is, however, one genre of video games that is ideal for the ESL classroom: Role Playing Games (RPGs) (Goldfayn, 2006). Traditionally, role plays are associated with a person pretending to be someone else. This is exactly what a RPG is. In RPGs, players take control of a character and embark on chilling journeys similar to those told in Edgar Allan Poes horror novels or heart-pounding adventures like those told in Jules Verne stories. According to Din (2002) students become exposed to long hours of in-game dialogue, as well as substantial amounts of written text while being immersed in a quest, perhaps one to save a kingdom, slay a demon or vampire, or save the world. As players retrieve information by interacting with other characters, they advance through the game with the purpose of reaching a final goal and objective just like in any lesson plan. 2. RPGs in the ESL Classroom If there were to be any kind of video games in an ESL classroom, it would be RPGs. In a video game ESL classroom session, the students will play through the game. During this play time the students become exposed to English language dialogue with various accents, which undoubtedly helps students develop their aural skills. RPGs also help them develop their reading skills, as the game will not continue unless the players, in this case students, meet certain requirements which are communicated to them through either spoken communication or written dialogue. Truly, exposure to a language or text does not create bilingual students; it is just not enough. That is why the teacher should plan certain activities to encourage students to share the experiences they just had playing the game and some other complementary activities to reinforce what they learned in the game. 3. Elements of Literature (writing activity) Every story, just like every game, has an introduction, action development, a climax, descending action, and an ending. Many stories, just like many games, have flashbacks, foreshadowing, and personification. It is always advisable to give students a brief introduction regarding these elements, so that they may be familiar with them when they run into them while playing through a game. 4. Cultural Debates (oral activity) The majority of RPGs have good stories, and all good stories have a setting. Before students get round to playing a game, the teacher should survey students knowledge of other cultures. Getting the students to start a debate on the similarities and differences in their culture or on different cultures in general is always a good way to start. You may begin the class by asking the students what they know about other cultures, a discussion on the Mayan culture, Feudal Japan or the American civil war usually get the students in a talkative and lively mood, as they can bring forth experiences they have had throughout their lives whether these be by watching movies, reading books or personal experiences. After the discussion, the teacher explains to students they are about to play a video game that has elements of different cultures in its world. The teacher should then provide a little information on the game and its characters, so that the students do not feel completely lost when they begin. 5. The Portfolios A portfolio is a collection of evidence that represents achievement and learning within a module/course or programme of study. The portfolio is a tool that can be used once a week, after playing the game. The student would have to write a short summary of what happened in the game as well as comment on the events from the game that they liked or disliked most. If students are at an advanced level they could be asked to comment on some of the more abstract concepts that appear in the game, such as love, friendship, and parenthood. Once the students have finished the game, they could be asked to write an entry regarding the elements of literature in the video game they played. Their writings would have to include short summaries of the events that happened in the game, so they would sort those events into the introduction, the rising action, the climax, the descending action, and the resolution of the game. Some games have open endings and require the players to fill in the gaps with t heir imagination. In case of such games, a good entry to ask the students for would be one in which they will have to account for what they think happened after the game ended. 6. Character Analysis (oral activity) Students can be asked to analyze their favorite character from the game. Starting with a drawing of the character, intermediate or beginner students could discuss how the character looks, speaks, and acts, while higher level students could discuss their characters behavior, thoughts, and purposes. The student should always say what their chosen characters stand for (for example, Alex from Lunar: the Silver Star for the Playstation could be seen as someone who represents friendship, love, and heroism). This would be a great opportunity to teach students to empathize by asking them questions like how would you have felt during this specific event in the game, had you been the character? 7. Oral Presentations Another course of action is having students make short oral presentations on characters, themes, or plot segments of the game. If there is enough time and resources, the whole class could put together a play about an event or events from the game. 8. Quizzes / Tests A quiz or a test about a video game would be conducted in the same way a quiz or test about a short story or novel would be done.

Kate Chopins The Awakening Essay -- Chopin Awakening Essays

Kate Chopin's The Awakening In Kate Chopin's, The Awakening, Edna Pontellier came in contact with many different people during a summer at Grand Isle. Some had little influence on her life while others had everything to do with the way she lived the rest of her life. The influences and actions of Robert Lebrun on Edna led to her realization that she could never get what she wanted, which in turn caused her to take her own life. In the Creole culture, outward affection and expression were a common thing. Edna, being brought up in Kentucky, "was at first a little confused. . .by the Creole's gentle caress. She was not accustomed to an outward and spoken expression of affection, either in herself or in others," (Chopin 22). Robert knew that Edna was not of Creole background and that she might not take his flirting as simply that. Yet, he still continued to playfully pursue Edna like the women which he had been devoting himself to each summer for the past eleven years. He did not understand that what he was doing was wrong in the culture that Edna had been brought up with. Once, when Robert laid his head against Edna's arm, she brushed him off. He then did it again and Edna "could not but believe it to be thoughtlessness on his part; yet that was no reason she submit to it," (15). Edna was at first disturbed by Robert's actions. Because she did not know about the Creole culture, she allowed Robert to f lirt with her and she actually took him seriously. The flirting resulted in her starting to have feelings for him and to wonder about her place in life. Another thing was that Robert was not blind to the whole situation and that Edna would not understand his flirting. When Madame Ratignolle was walking back to the house with Robert, she flat out warned him about what he was doing. "Let Mrs. Pontellier alone. . .she is not one of us; she is not like us. She might make the unfortunate blunder of taking you seriously," (27). Robert argues that there is no possibility of Edna taking him seriously. That whole conversation only reiterates that Robert does not understand what he is getting Edna and himself into. Robert finally realized what was happening between Edna and him. He started to have feelings for her that he could not control. When he told everyone that he was going to Mexico for business, it was actually to get away from ... ...ike almost everyone else, Leonce also did not think that anything would come out of Robert's flirting with Edna. Leonce did not realize that Edna was not brought up in the Creole culture and would not know how to deal with the way that Robert acted. He allowed Robert and Edna to go out together without even thinking twice. He did not see anything wrong with the two of them doing everything together. Even though it was common in the Creole culture for people to openly show their feelings, Leonce should have realized that Edna, because of her different upbringings, would not know how to deal with Robert's actions. In one way or another he was the one that helped start their feeling towards each other. Although there are a few more small examples about how Leonce might have caused Edna to take her life, the influence that Robert had over her is even more overpowering. Because of Robert, Edna realized that she was not happy with who or where she was and decided to drastically change everything that she was accustomed to. If Edna Pontellier had never met Robert Lebrun, she may never have realized how unhappy she was, and, in turn, may never have chosen to end her life.

High School Reflective Essay

First Time Stepping out under the bright lights, Crowd roaring with cheer and shouting our names. The feel of adrenaline going through my body is almost ecstasy like. Knowing that this doesn’t represent you, it’s for your school and even more your community. This is the kind of things that were going through my mind when I first stepped out onto the field as a Varsity Football Player. All the years of playing the game since I was a little kid had paid off, and now it would be time for the big show and the highlights of my career.All the hills and the Two-Twenty’s we put in day in and day out, end up being worth it. The summer days spent in the blazing sun and not at the beach take a lot out of me but the cravings for big games drive you through it. Even though we condition for almost five months in the end the two month season is all we live for. Football begins to be all you can think about, whether it is training hard at the gym or just eating better at home it drives you to be a better person.It pushes you to do things that will improve your skills and talent, usually things you wouldn’t normally do. This is why I love the game; it’s become a part of me. The lessons of hard-work, dedication and brotherhood have been drilled into me for years already. These things are going to forever be with me, as well as the people that I got to play alongside with. Our coaches sometimes sit us down and talk to us about life and how football will teach us things, we might sit there and just nod our heads. But we all do know that it really does.They tell us that when we walk around we don’t represent just us, not just our households anymore. But that we are our school, our community and that we have to be exemplary people and lead in a positive way. These are things that I’ll never forget due to the vast amount of times I’ve heard these speeches before, but also because I believe them. The rush that I feel when I get o nto that field is like nothing else; when you hear the crowd go wild after you make a big play is just a feeling that you can ever get enough of.It’s like an addiction to be the best and do great. Football has become more than just a sport to me but somewhat of a lifestyle. On and off the field everybody knows who you are because you play. But it affects me outside of school too, I’ve meet some of my best friends through football. When you hear people asking â€Å"Is that so and so from the Mililani Football team? † You get a feeling like no other. These are just some of the things football has taught me, done for me and gotten for me.

Impacts of Playing Video Games on Learning in Children Essays

Impacts of Playing Video Games on Learning in Children Essays Impacts of Playing Video Games on Learning in Children Essay Impacts of Playing Video Games on Learning in Children Essay Impacts of playing video games on learning in children EDIT 6900 Dr. Janette Hill Spring 2006 March 29, 2006 Myoungjin Yang Tollett Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia Introduction It has been fascinating for me to watch my 6-year old nephew playing video games since he was three. Many family members have expressed their concerns regarding the number of hours he spends playing video games, about consequences related to his social and behavioral development, and so forth. Thus far, we see no negative influence in his social and behavioral outcomes. According to his mother, he learns Bible stories by playing video games, and he has even learned how to read through a video game. His mother who is a high school teacher is a strong believer in using computer or video games for children in learning. She also stated that more educationally structured computer or video games are needed for young children. Ironically, the video games that taught my nephew how to read were not considered â€Å"educational† games. I have another nephew with severe learning disabilities, Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) being one of them. The only thing that keeps him focused and stable for more than 30 minutes is playing computer or video games. His caregiver has tried different games to engage him with learning. Regardless of the caregiver’s strong belief in using games for him to learn simple arithmetic, he has not made significant progress yet on learning basic mathematics. Nonetheless, the caregiver insists that it is because there are not many computer and video games that are designed for children like my nephew with severe learning disabilities regardless of whether or not the games are educational. It is commonly known that the average attention span in young children or children with learning disabilities is very limited. Considering that, it is amazing to watch my nephews intensively playing video games for hours at a time. According to EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 1 VanDeventer White (2002), an average child (not an advanced video game player) may spend from 50 to 300 hours annually playing video games and that by the age of 10, a child may have had thousands of hours of experience with video games. It is no surprise that the video game market grew in annual sales from $100 million in 1985 to $4 billion in 1990 (Emes, 1997) and $7 billion in 2005, more than doubling sales within the software industry since 1996 (Entertainment Software Association, 2006). Today, it is obvious that children spend a lot of time playing video games and their parents spend a lot of resources providing their children or even themselves with video games in America and worldwide. While it does not seem realistic to prohibit children from playing video games, researchers have attempted to answer questions for concerned parents, caregivers and educators: â€Å"Are video games harmful to our children? † (Emes, 1997, p. 409), â€Å"Do children who play video games learn better than peers who do not? † (Din Calao, 2001, p. 8), â€Å"Can video games be a useful tool in promoting learning within the classroom? † (Rosas et al. , 2003, p. 71), â€Å"What are the consequences of game play on the cognition of those who play them? † (Squire, 2004, p. 34), â€Å"Can meaningful learning occur while children play video games? † and so forth. To start exploring the potential impact or implications of playing games at a young age, I inform ally interviewed several adult game players. They indicated that they started playing video games when they were between 8 and 10 years of age. They stated that they typically prefer playing video games with friends and acknowledged that playing games with friends is a valuable social activity. They also admitted that violent contents or other negative contents might influence young audiences in negative ways. At EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 2 the same time, they also acknowledged potential positive impacts of playing video games on problem-solving skills, decision-making skills, and cognitive development. That leaves me with an overarching question: If children can learn something and/or benefit from playing video games, why should we not find a way to facilitate and guide the activities? Research Questions I intend to synthesize potential advantages and disadvantages for children who play video games in regard to learning, cognitive development, and social and behavioral issues. More detailed research questions are as follow: o Can meaningful learning occur while children play video games? o What are the positive and negative consequences of game play on children? Methods In this review, the term video games is used to refer to electronically controlled games played on any platform such as computer, over the Internet, handheld devices, console systems, and various game-like technology toys. I originally narrowed this research focus to young children between ages 3 and 8. However, it has been extremely difficult to locate such literatures with credible authors. Therefore, I have expanded the focus to include studies targeting children at any elementary school age or younger. Literature searches have been conducted through the GALILEO databases including Education Full Text, ERIC, Psyc INFO and Web of Science. I also have found Google Scholar useful for locating more general articles or documents. I have used the following search terms to identify relevant literature: children and video game, children EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 3 and computer game, children, violence and video game, children, and cognition and video game. In addition, an online journal Innovate was thoroughly reviewed for potential literature since the journal featured â€Å"gaming and education† in multiple occasions. I also solicited Dr. Lloyd Rieber, a professor in Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia, and Michael Barbour, a doctoral candidate in Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia, for advice in locating such literatures. The Journal of Computing in Childhood Education was reviewed as recommended by Dr. Reiber, and he also led me to a book chapter written by Dr. Yasmin Kafai (1994). Michael Barbour recommended an electronic journal, Games and Culture from Sage Publications and Innovate, and an online magazine Game Developer Magazine. He also offered his collections of gaming literatures that are related to education. As a result, I located over 40 peer-reviewed publications and many other related documents and articles to write this literature synthesis. reference Literature Synthesis The influence of video games has been one of the most controversial issues regarding children. Some researchers have proposed that children could become violent by playing video games and children could also become less sociable as a result of playing video games (Griffith, 1999). By contrast, Squire et al. (2005) found playing games (a computer game, Civilization III, in this case) to is fundamentally a social experience with every participant showing a desire to share his or her game play with other people. In order to understand consequences of playing video games on children, it EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 4 s important to understand today’s children, â€Å"the new generation†, and how they are different from their predecessors. The New Generation The average American child grows up in a home with two televisions, three tape players, three radios, two VCRs, two CD players, one video game player and one computer (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005). According to parents, children between the ages of 2 and 17 spend almost 6? hours a day in front of electronic video screens – television, video games or a computer (Woodward Gridina, 2000). A study of over 2,000 young persons ages 8 to 18 years (3rd through 12th graders) found that 83% of them have at least one video game player in their home, 31% have 3 or more video game players in their home, and 49% have video game players in their bedrooms (Roberts, Foeher, and Rideout, 2005 as cited by Institute on Media and the Family, 2001). According to Prensky (2001b): |Our children today are being socialized in a way that is vastly different from their parents. The numbers | |are overwhelming: over 10,000 hours playing video games, over 200,000 emails and instant messages sent and | |received; over 10,000 hours talking on digital cell phones; over 20,000 hours watching TV, over 500,000 | |commercials seen – all before the kids leave college (p. 1) | Prensky (2001a) uses the term Digital Natives to refer to today’s children: ‘They – K through college – are all â€Å"native speakers† of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet’ (p. ). Recently, more researchers have shared the similar notion that there is a new generation entirely different from their predecessors and those differences are driven by one central factor: growing up playing video games and EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 5 surrounded by other electronic media (Beck Wade, 2004; Carstens Beck, 2005; Kirkley Kirkley, 2005; Shaffer, Squire, Halverson, Gee, 2005; Gros, 2003; Simp son, 2005). According to Prensky (2001a), it becomes clear that as a result of this ubiquitous environment and the sheer volume of their interaction with it, today’s children think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors. Therefore, they are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach. This new generation – Digital Natives – is accustomed to the twitch-speed, multitasking, random-access, graphics-first, active, connected, fun, fantasy, quick-payoff world of their video games, MTV, and Internet (Prensky, 2001b). Of the ubiquitous environment that today’s children are exposed to, this paper is focused on video games and synthesized foundations of the relationship between video games and well-known learning theories in the next section. Foundations of Video Games and Learning Rieber, Smith Noah (1998) introduce two distinct applications of games in education: game playing and game designing. Whereas game playing is the traditional approach where one provides ready-made games to students, game designing assumes that the act of building a game is itself a path to learning. Learning by designing is a central idea in constructivism (Harel Papert, 1990, 1992; Perkins, 1986 as cited by Rieber, Smith, Noah, 1998) and game design is beginning to attract attention in the constructivist literature (Kafai, 1992, 1994a, 1994b as cited by Rieber, Smith, Noah, 1998). Nonetheless, the scope of this paper is limited to the â€Å"playing† aspects of video games in relation to learning. EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 6 Play is one of the most natural and spontaneous activities for young children (Curry Arnaud, 1995). Rieber, Smith Noah (1998) assert that play is derived from the longstanding goal in education of how to promote situations where a person is motivated to learn, is engaged in the learning act, is willing to go to great lengths to ensure that learning will occur, and at the same time finds the learning process to be satisfying and rewarding; therefore, play is an essential part of the learning process throughout life and should not be neglected. Rieber, Smith, Noah (1998) call it â€Å"serious play† to refers to a special kind of intense learning experience in which both adults and children voluntarily devote enormous amounts of time, energy and commitment and at the same time derive great enjoyment from the experience. This kind of play is an ideal construct for linking human cognition and educational applications of technology. It is important to note that for many of today’s children, the chosen form of play is video games (VanDeventer White, 2002) as more children play video games for longer periods of time and the average age that a child starts playing video games is getting much younger now a days. Kaiser Family Foundation conducted random-digital-dial telephone survey of more than 1,000 children and their parents (2003): 30% of children ages zero to six have played video games; by the time they are preschoolers, 16% of children are more likely to play video games on a daily basis (24% of boys; 8% of girls). Although the primary purpose of video games is entertainment, the underlying design employs a variety of strategies and techniques intended to engage players in â€Å"gameplay† (Dickey, 2005). Research into psychological and sociological benefits of play also revealed that games support intrinsic motivation as well as opportunities for EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 7 imitation and learning by providing feedback, fantasy, and challenges (Rieber, 1996). Gee (2005) argues that good commercial video games are already state-of-the-art learning games because they have been so successful in attracting and maintaining players. Although the games are often long, hard and complex, it is clear that commercially successful games appear to have solved this central paradox of learning. The theoretical foundations of engaged learning can be found in both cognitive and constructivist perspectives. Research from a constructivist perspective focuses on the relationship between the player-learner and the environment, and the social aspects of the design, whereas research from a cognitive perspective focuses on the internal aspects of motivation and schema as fostered by design (Dickey, 2005). It is productive to view these perspectives as mutually complementary points of view (Sfard, 1998). Conceptualized by Piaget (1970) but also applied within the work of other influential figures such as Vygotsky (1978), Biggs (1999), and Wenger (1998), constructivist theory suggests that learning is intrinsically linked to learners’ sense of identity. While playing video games, learners come to know themselves and what they are becoming through personal experience and critical reflection on their beliefs about the world in which they live and the domains in which they hold affective agency (Begg, Dewhurst, Macleod, 2005). By creating virtual worlds, games integrate knowing and doing. Games bring together ways of knowing, ways of doing, ways of being, and ways of caring: the situated understanding, effective social practices, powerful identities, and shared values that make someone an expert (Shaffer et al. , 2005). Too often, â€Å"fun games are designed and instructional designers come in and suck all the fun out of it† in the quest to meet instructional goals (Kirkley Kirkley, 2005, p. 43). With advances in EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 8 echnologies, there are exciting opportunities to design learning environments that are realistic, authentic, engaging and extremely fun (Kirkley Kirkley, 2005). Some researchers have proposed criteria for the elements that make video games effective on attracting and engaging players and retaining their attention. For example, according to Rosas et al. (2003), the most highlighted features that make video games effective ar e as follows (p. 75): A clear goal: almost all video games are goal-related; the games have a clear and specific goal that children must try to reach (e. . rescuing the princess, etc. ) Adequate level of complexity, not too low but not too high High speed: most video games have a much faster speed than traditional mechanical games Incorporated instructions: in most video games, children are given instructions while playing the game and do not need to read instructions Independence from physical laws: video games normally do not follow the physical laws of the nature Holding power: they capture players’ attention and continue to do so as the game builds a microworld with its own rules and regulations Therefore, enjoyable educational video games must include elements of 1) challenge: clear, meaningful and multiple goals, uncertain outcomes, variable difficulty levels, randomness, and constant feedback, 2) fantasy: a character with whom players can identify, use of an emotionally appealing fantasy directly linked to the activity, and use of metaphors, 3) two types of curiosity: sensory curiosity (audio and visual effects) and EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 9 ognitive curiosity (surprises and constructive feedback) (Beltra, 1990; Kafai, 1997; Lepper Malone, 1987; Malone, 1980 as cited by Rosas et al. , 2003). Findings from Research Studies Like books, movies, and television show, video games can be used in antisocial ways. Games are inherently simplifications of reality, and current games are often associated with violent and sometimes misogynistic themes (Shaffer et al. , 2005). As Griffiths (1999) points out, one of the main concerns that has const antly been raised against video and computer games is that most of the games are claimed to feature aggressive elements. This has led some critiques to state that children become more aggressive after playing such games (Koop, 1982; Zimbardo, 1982 as cited by Griffiths, 1999). However, these assertions have been made without adequate empirical support. As cited by VanDeventer White (2002), earlier studies of â€Å"non-educational† video games have focused largely on issues of sex stereotypes, aggression, and equity and culture. Some studies have examined motor and spatial skills, simulation and tracking tasks. For example, a study by Irwin and Gross (1995) sought to identify effects of playing an â€Å"aggressive† versus â€Å"non-aggressive† video game on second-grade boys identified as impulsive or reflective. Boys who played the aggressive game, compared to those who had played the non-aggressive game, displayed more verbal and physical aggression to inanimate objects and playmates during a subsequent free play session. Moreover, these differences were not related to the boys’ impulsive or reflective traits. Kirsh (1997 as cited by Cesarone, 1998) also investigated the effects of playing a violent versus a non-violent video game. After playing these games, third- and fourth-graders were asked questions about a hypothetical story. On three of six questions, the EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 10 children who had played the violent game responded more negatively about the harmful actions of a story character whose intent was ambiguous than did the other children. These results suggest that playing violent video games may make children more likely to attribute hostile intentions to others. Nonetheless, Funk, Germann, and Buchman (1997) state that there is insufficient laboratory research to support strong causal statements about the effects of playing violent video games on children’s aggression based on a review of video game research in the 1980s and 1990s. They note that in studies that use behavioral observation to measure aggression, trends suggest some increases in aggression after children play or watch violent games. However, these trends are not so clear in studies that use other measures of aggression (e. g. measuring children’s willingness to help or hurt another child). According to Griffiths (1999), a growing number of studies examining the effects of video games on aggression have only involved a measure of possible short-term aggressive consequences. The majority of the studies on very young children – as opposed to those in their teens upwards – tended to show that children do become more aggressive after either playing or watching a violent video game but these were all based on the observation of a child’s free play. There is much speculation as to whether the procedures to measure aggression levels are valid and reliable. An interesting study was conducted by Fortis-Diaz (1998) on children’s aggressive behaviors after watching or playing violent contents through video games, television or any other media. She observed her kindergarten students during several periods of free play. Particular attention was given to the occurrences of aggression in their play and the circumstances surrounding them. Different strategies were EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 11 implemented in an effort to redirect the aggressive acts after watching or playing video games which may or may not include â€Å"violent contents†. She reports a slight decline in the children’s aggressive play. She concludes that â€Å"we can do something to help redirect the aggression that they are so ready to imitate, if we just take the time to watch and guide† (p. 237). On the other hand, studies of â€Å"educational† games have primarily examined design, cognitive and curriculum aspects (VanDeventer White, 2002). Din and Calao (2001) conducted a study with 47 preschool age children from two classes of an urban school in the northeastern region. The experimental group who played educational video games showed significant increase in spelling and decoding areas than the control group but no difference was found in the math area. The authors concluded that playing the Lightspan educational video games for these young students might have played a facilitative role in their learning of the verbal skills, which are age appropriate tasks for them. However, the experimental group did not show significant improvements in math perhaps because these children were not ready in terms of maturity. A similar study was conducted by Rosas et al. 2003) in Santiago de Chile with 1,274 first- and second-grade students, their 30 school teachers, and directors of six schools. The authors used mixed quantitative and qualitative methods over a 3-month period. Although no significant differences were found in academic performance that would suggest a relationship with playing video games, teacher reports and classroom observations confirm an improv ement in participants’ motivation to learn, and a positive technological transfer of the experimental tool. The authors concluded that further studies regarding the effects of learning through videogame use are imperative. However, they EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 12 acknowledge positive effects on motivation and classroom dynamics indicating that the introduction of educational video games can be a useful tool in promoting learning within the classroom. In the similar notion, Squire et al. (2005) conducted design-based research attempting to find consequences of game play on the cognition of those who play them. Eleven elementary students who were African-American and socio-economically challenged attended twice a week in two-hour sessions and were observed and interviewed for five weeks. The authors argue that these children developed expertise in playing the historical simulation game Civilization III as a form of digital literacy. This study suggests that expert strategy simulation game knowledge is a flexible, systemic level understanding of a game system rather than a simple heuristic understanding. All participants reported increased knowledge of maps, timelines and historical terms and, as has been hypothesized by game theorists, factual knowledge â€Å"came for free† for these players. Children playing in pairs led to increased engagement as they had 1) someone with whom to discuss strategies, leading to greater reflection and less confusion and 2) someone to share in struggles, leading them to not â€Å"blame themselves† for their confusion. Game play was fundamentally a social experience and every participant showed a desire to share his/her game play with other people. The multiplayer game format amplified interest for most male players. This finding suggests the potential value of collaborative/competitive multiplayer games for literacy. The role of the facilitators as expert game players thoroughly mediated gamers’ experience. Another approach of determining educational effects of playing video games was introduced by VanDeventer and White (2002). They conducted a study investigating the EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 13 display of â€Å"expert† behavior by outstanding video game-playing children. Seven highly proficient, video game playing, 10- and 11-year-old children were observed in the act of teaching adult â€Å"foils† how to play one of two popular home video games. The evidence indicated that the children demonstrate expert behaviors. The authors assert that this finding has significant potential import for educators because it may be possible to leverage these expert skills to more commonly valued academic domains. For example, can pattern recognition skills demonstrated in video game play be applied to pattern recognition in mathematics and science? Conclusion As indicated in the New Generation section, it is clear that today’s children live in a whole different world than the one in which their parents and teachers grew up. Like it or not as a parent or a teacher, children play video games and will continue to play them. As Carstens and Beck (2005) state, â€Å"sooner or later, those who grew up without video games will have to understand the gamers† (p. 22) which means not only learning what encourages them to learn and how they learn, but also finding ways to redesign educational and training curricula around their needs. This paper provides a strong foundation of video games in relation to learning and suggests potential benefits that well-designed video games can bring to the community of practice (parents, teachers, educators, researchers and students/children). As cited in the Foundation of Video Games and Learning section, many studies suggest that good video games engage children and sustain their attention for a longer time than any other educational environment can. The question is whether or not we, as parents, teachers, EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 14 educators and researchers, are ready to support learning for the new generation in the ways that today’s children are accustomed to. As we know there is no one perfect standardized environment for our children to learn and live and there never will be, and worst of all, the world is continually shifting on us: Are we ready to guide our children of the new generation in the ever-changing world? In the past, I have not believed in exposing young children to multimedia especially video games. However, I am beginning to believe that there might be something that we, as adults who did not grow up with the same kinds of multimedia and technologies that are presently available, simply do not understand. Implications for Practice Are you ready for the game generation? Prensky (2001b) defines that â€Å"those of us who were not born into the digital world but have, at some later point in our lives, become fascinated by and adopted many or most aspects of the new technology are Digital Immigrants†(p. 1) as opposed to the new generation of Digital Natives. As video games become a bigger influence on our culture, we will need to pay attention to the ins and outs of what gamers are thinking not only today, but also tomorrow. It is going to take some effort, but in the end, it will keep you in the game (Carstens Beck, 2005). Shaffer et al. (2005) assert that our children will learn from video games. This interest in games is encouraging, but most educational games to date have been produced in the absence of any coherent theory of learning or underlying body of research. We, as researchers and educators, need to understand 1) how the conventions of good commercial games create compelling virtual worlds 2) how inhabiting a virtual world EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 15 develops situated knowledge 3) how game players develop effective social practices and skills in navigating complex systems and 3) how those skills can support learning in other complex domains. Video games have the potential to change the landscape of education as we know it. According to the survey conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation (2003), whereas 72% of parents of young children (ages six years or younger) believe that using a computer â€Å"mostly helps† children learn, and just 5% believe that it â€Å"mostly hurts†, parents are less enthusiastic about the educational value of video games than any other medium – computer, Internet and television – addressed in this survey. 0% of parents from the same group believe video games mostly hurt children’s learning, 22% think they mostly help children’s learning, meanwhile 27% believe they don’t have much effect one way or the other. Parents of older children (ages 8 through 18) think either they do not feel that their children spend too much time playing with electronic media including video games or they have given up trying to discourage them from playing (Kaiser Family Fo undation, 2005). Nonetheless, parents are the driving force behind the video game industry (Simpson, 2005). In 2004, over 50% of parents polled said they were going to buy their child a video game for Christmas (Entertainment Software Association, 2004 as cited by Simpson, 2005). Today’s parents are clueless as to what their children are doing with the video games that they are so eager to buy. The majority of today’s teachers are women (79%) with an average age of 46. In some states, 60% of the teachers are over 50 (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2003). Teachers typically do not see the video game as a learning tool. Many school leaders and teachers react negatively to video games and gaming culture, bashing video EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 16 games as diversionary threats to the integrity of schooling or as destructive activities that corrupt moral capacity and create a sedentary, motivation-destroying lifestyle (Halverson, 2005). While teachers are working within an environment where change tends to be slow, money scarce and bureaucracy plentiful, their students are living in an environment where change is rapid, constant and anticipated (Simpson, 2005). The success of video games at motivating students suggests that schools may bring gaming in from the periphery to reconsider the institutional barriers to change. Simply recognizing games as potent learning environments would be a start for counteracting the current anti-gaming rhetoric. Schools can then take steps to incorporate gaming principles in the design of school learning environments (Halverson, 2005). As a parent, teacher, or educator, Prensky (2006) suggests taking these seven steps to ensure your children’s education and future (pp. 141-149): Educate yourself by locating sources of positive information about digital kids, about video gaming, and what your kids are learning from their games and by getting a feel for what it’s like to learn from games Start asking your kids the right questions: ask open-ended questions that show you are truly curious to find out about what they are involved in. Educate your family by sharing articles and quotes Look over yo ur kid’s shoulder (with permission) Go game browsing with your kids Play a game or two yourself Help organize LAN parties and/or start a game club: this is a radical solution for those who really get into games

Psychopathological disorders Essay Example

Psychopathological disorders Essay Example Psychopathological disorders Essay Psychopathological disorders Essay Psychopathological disorders are not as common as other forms of illnesses. In this analysis, I will look at the nature of Dissociative identity disorder with special analysis to the movie Sybil.Dissociative identity disorder is a mental condition in which a person suffering from it experiences two or more different identities or personalities. In each of these personalities, the person usually has different patterns of perceiving information as well as interacting with the surrounding environment. In addition to this, the disorder involves abnormal memory loss. This abnormal memory loss is commonly referred as acute Dissociative disorderINTRODUCTION:Psychopathology is a medical or scientific term that refers to mental distresses or mental illnesses. In another context, the term can be used to refer to the manifestation of characteristic behaviours and or experiences that are usually indicative of psychological impairment or mental illnesses.In the context of this paper, I will look at one movie and or book that have a psychological theme. In addition, I will analyze the plot as well as the characteristic features of the disease and how it is analyzed or dramatized in the movie/book.ANALYSIS: BOOK/MOVIE REVIEW:SYBILThe movie Sybil analyzes the live of a person living with Dissociative Identity Disorder. The movie revolves around the true life of Shirley Ardell mason. Shirley was born in 1923 and died in 1998. She was a psychiatric patient, although she was a commercial artist. Shirley’s life was documented in a book by the name Sybil and later it was made a movie under the same name.The book was written by flora Schreiber and was published in 1973. The movie by the same name was adapted in 1976. The book and movie, in order to protect mason’s privacy and identity used the name Sybil Isabel Dorsett.The movie starred sally field (Sybil Dorsett), Joanne Woodward (Doctor Cornelia Wilbur), brad Davis (Richard Loomis) amongst others. The movie was direc ted by Daniel Petrie and was nominated for the globe awards.The plot outline of the movie reveals the true story of a beautiful young woman, Sybil Dorsett. Dorset’s child hood upbringing was so traumatizing, to a point that she developed more than twelve different personalities.For purposes of this paper I, will look analyze the movie and point out the key issues of Dissociative identity disorder (formerly multiple personality’s disorder). In this analysis, I will also look at the issue of whether the disorder really exists or it is just a medical creation.Shirley Mason was born and brought up in Dodge Centre, Minnesota. Within the early years of the 1950s, she was a teacher and a student at Columbia University. Mason had suffered for a long time from blackouts and emotional breakdowns. After this lengthy suffering, she finally entered psychotherapy under the guidance of Doctor Cornelia B. Wilbur. Doctor Wilbur was a Freudian psychiatrist. Shirley’s sessions und er Wilbur are the core basis of the book and movie.SYBIL:The book and movie made the implication that Shirley suffered from the Dissociative identity disorder as a result of several incidences of sexual abuses from her mother whom unfortunately is speculated to have been suffering from schizophrenia. Schizophrenia lies on axis one on clinical disorders. It is classified in the field of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.Schizophrenia is a psychiatric or medical diagnosis that describes a mental illness that is usually characterized by perception or expression of reality impairments. In most cases, schizophrenia manifests itself as aural hallucinations, bizarre or paranoid delusions. It also manifests itself in the form of disorganized thinking and speech coordination problems. There are no laboratory tests that are currently available to test for schizophrenia.Shirley’s parents were Mr. Walter Mason and Martha Hageman Mason. Shirley under went treatment for eleven ye ars after which she was well adjusted to live in the society. After the publication of the book, Shirley moved to Lexington.COMPARISON WITH OTHER PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL ILLNESSES:Mental disorders vary depending on the time of diagnosis and or the cause of the disorder. This is why diagnostic systems like DSM are used in order to facilitate the level of communication between professionals as well as standardizing the criteria for diagnosis.In this movie Daniel Petrie takes us through real life aspects of personality disorders to their fullest. By introducing a mix of schizophrenia, suffered by Sybil’s mother and the Dissociative identity disorder that Sybil suffered.In addition to this Sally Field provides an awesome award-winning performance when she plays as Sybil, a disturbed woman who is suffering from a multiple personality disorder. Since Sybil was living alone in an apartment, she was tormented by numerous flashbacks and disturbing visions of her painful childhood. Since sh e was unable to live a normal life, Sybil met Doctor. Wilbur (Joanne Woodward).Dr Wilbur was a kind-hearted psychiatrist who ended up being extremely dedicated to help Sybil heal the wounds that were haunting her. Dr Wilbur was able to diagnose the 16 different personalities that Sybil was suffering from.CONCLUSION:The Dissociative identity disorder, that Shirley is believed to have suffered from is not very common. Regardless of this fact, issues arose after the publication of the book that indeed mason never suffered form the disorder; rather it was a deal between her and doctor Wilbur to seal a book deal.Although there are claims of sexual abuse these claims are rather hard to verify. Recent interviews with some of Shirley’s former friends have revealed that indeed she had an unusual relation with her mother. On the other side of the story if indeed Shirley’s mother was indeed schizophrenic, this then complicates issues further.On the other hand, Schizophrenia, as a mental disorder is very hard to detect. This is because not unless it is detected by people or the person suffering from it tells about it, it can never be detected. John Nash’s decision to deal with the disorder, with the help of his wife is a great motivation to people living with the disease. Although the diseases prevalence is quite small, it is necessary for the wider public to accept and help people living with the disorder.

International Business (4) Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Business (4) - Case Study Example Over the last decades, business has seen its way because of globalization, globalization has enabled countries to expand beyond its territories and get assessed to the wider market (Smith, 2009). Success of any nation in its business undertakings and operations is measured by its ability to form coalitions and work jointly with business partners in different nations. No country or nation works in isolation if success is to be realized, these business partnerships can be between neighboring nations, regional and between countries of different continents. These coalitions normally aims at marketing one another’s products, assisting their partners when in need of finances, buying products from its partners and actively participating in promotion and other activities related to marketing of its partner’s products. Choice of members to form coalition with is the most crucial aspect to be considered when reaching at a conclusion about the country to operate jointly. These coalitions and joint operations are, however, faced with challenges and accompanied by risks. China and United States of America are example of nations, which has successfully worked jointly as business partners. Business in China has significantly developed and prospers because of joint business formed with other nations of the world. One such joint business is with the USA, through this partnership, China has benefited in various ways like access to international market, foreign goods, and market for its products and access to wider variety of goods at subsidized relationship because of good relationship with USA. Business in China requires that there exist personal relationship with the country of interest for them to form these partnership long procedures are also involved. USA on the other hand, has benefited with this joint business with China. The diverse technologies available in China have been adopted by the US, thus leading to progress in technology. This

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Marketing - Essay Example However, this is not the only concern that will eventually give out the whole picture of Apple’s marketing environment. There is a substantial need to actually look in detail the two major components of marketing environment. The first component is the microenvironment which substantially deals with concerns regarding the company, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customers and publics (Kotler et al., 1999). The second component on the other hand is the macroenvironment which consists of influential forces such as demographic, economic, natural, tefchnological, political and cultural (Kotler et al., 1999; Boone and Kurtz, 2006). The Microenvironment and Macroenvironment Since its manufacturing and logistics are relied on the third parties, Apple Incorporated tries to give significant emphasis on the level of impact of this relationship on its actual marketing operation (Apple Incorporated, 2011). This gives Apple a more meaningful approach in order to come up with effective service that could sustain the current needs and trends in the market. Apple does not need to keep too much focus on its suppliers since as mentioned earlier; it relies on its manufacturing activity on the third parties. Apple does not need to give time on where to find the needed resources in order to address effective customer value delivery system for product manufacturing. As Kotler et al. (1999) emphasised, the effective customer value system is the basic impact of suppliers in the marketing environment. It seems this is true in other organisations which have integrated manufacturing activity in their operation. However, it is definitely different from Apple. Such of this difference from other ongoing activities in other organisations of the same industry gives Apple considerable time to monitor effectively its products’ quality, innovation and substantive differentiation. This offers a competitive advantage for Apple to give more priority for its total quality manageme nt system. In fact, this can be elaborately pointed out as one of the reasons why Apple was able to reach for its competitive advantage. The good thing about this full reliance of Apple of its manufacturing activities on the third parties is a close monitoring of other related marketing intermediaries such as promotion and other marketing related activities. With this, Apple has remarkably created control over its entire marketing operation from the manufacturing point of view. Since Apple is one of the leading organisations in its industry, it can substantially demand higher quality for its line of products. It can demand the most innovative design that would greatly enhance its marketing performance. Marketing intermediaries are able to help Apple to promote and distribute its line of products to prospective customers. After all, marketing intermediaries are an organisation’s alliances prior to creating services and offerings that will substantially address the needs of cus tomers (Kotler et al., 1999). Marketing is also about the study of customer market in the first place which substantially involved customer, business, reseller, institutional, government and international markets (Kotler et al. 1999). All of these are actually considered by Apple prior to creating on-time and quality service for its customers (Apple Incorporated, 2011). It gives too much emphasis on its relationship with resellers for there is substantive control of its marketing system in here. Apple Incorporated (2011) emphasises that its performance particularly in