Friday, May 1, 2020

Professional IT Culture Ethical Analysis

Question: Discuss about theProfessional IT Culturefor Ethical Analysis. Answer: Introduction An electric car company that has a successful name in the market is now ready to launch the advance cars with the components of Artificial Intelligence (AI) installed in them. The cars will require a very little human intervention and will be automatic in terms of operations. John is the AI consultant of the company and is also responsible and accountable for the functioning of all the AI components present in the car. It has been devised that certain modeling of accident scenarios will be required to be done which might delay the actual launch of the cars in the market. An ethical analysis of the entire situation has been covered in the document. Ethical Dilemma for AI Consultant John is the AI consultant for the company and has devised that the cars will require going through modeling of the accident scenarios to understand the behavior and functioning is such risk situations. However, such activities will delay the launch of the cars in the market which will allow the competitors of the company to have an advantage as they will release their cars before the electric car company which may cause huge damage for the company. The management along with the IT department of the organization has refused to delay the launch and believes that the AI system installed in the cars is competent enough to deal with any accidental situations. They have agreed to carry out the modeling of the accident scenarios and related tests after the launch is done. The ethical dilemma that is present with the AI consultant is in terms of decision making to whether agree to the decision of the management or to stick to his own analysis of the requirement of the tests to be carried out before the launch. John is aware that if the AI system installed in the cars fails to function properly in the scenario of an accident then it may have a very adverse impact on the driver as well as the co-passengers which may risk their lives. Also, it is the responsibility of John to make sure that there are no errors with the AI systems and he will be accountable for the errors in the later stages. Disagreeing with the management and IT leadership will be damaging to his career as the launch will be delayed if he will not give a go-ahead from his end. The ethical dilemma therefore is to whether go ahead with the actual launch date or to release the cars only after all the validations and checks are performed in the AI system that is installed. Ethical Theory of Consequentialism As per the ethical theory of Consequentialism, an activity can be evaluated and termed as an ethically correct activity only when the consequences that come out from it are beneficial for every entity and do not result in any sort of damage to anyone. In case of the ethical dilemma associated with electric car company and its AI consultant will have the following consequences on the AI consultant and the car customers. The customers will be put at the risk of losing their lives as the AI system that is installed in the cars has not been verified and validated in terms of certain accident scenarios (Tanner, 2007). The AI consultant is accountable and responsible for the AI system functioning and if it turns out to be faulty then the job of the AI consultant will be at risk and there will be legal obligations that will also be levied. AI consultant will also be answerable to other stakeholders and partners of the electric car company if an incident regarding the failure of the AI system is reported. The customers will be able to purchase a car with the advanced and automatic systems installed in the agreed timeframe if the launch is made as per the estimated date (Copp, 2009). The consequences that have been listed above are negative in nature for both the customers as well as the AI consultant. Also, the degree of the negative impact that these consequences will have on both the parties is extremely high. The decision to go ahead with the launch of cars without performing required validation is therefore considered as ethically incorrect as per the ethical theory of Consequentialism. Consistent Application of Principles As per the consistency principle, it is stated that a product shall reflect utmost level of consistency in all of its applications and there shall be no faults or deviations involved in any of the associated components in terms of consistency (Vazquez, 2016). In case of the cars of electric car company, there can be inconsistency that may be observed in the AI system and its functioning that is installed in the car. There may be certain scenarios wherein the AI system may function well and there may be certain scenarios wherein the system may fail leading to huge damage. Also, there may be situations in which the AI system of one of the cars may function correctly whereas the AI system of the other car may be faulty (Sieber, 2008). AI consultant of the company is therefore responsible to ensure that consistency is maintained and reflected in all the cars that are released along with all the components of the cars that are installed. It will be the duty of the AI consultant to ensure that the behavior of the AI system that is installed is not faulty and functions without any errors (Moore, 2006). Ethical Response Care Ethics As per the Care Ethics, care is a virtue that is kept as a basis for evaluating an act as ethically correct or incorrect. In case of the ethical dilemma that is associated with electric car company, the ethical response will be to come up with a strategy that may not delay the launch date of the cars to make sure that there are no damages caused to the company (Juujarvi, 2003). Simultaneously, the required tests shall be carried out and modeled in the timeframe that is left. There may be lesser number of cars that have passed the test may be released instead of the promised number. In such a manner, there will be no risk to the lives of the customers and there will also be no damage caused to the company (Held, 2006). ACS Code of Professional Conduct There are six values that are includes in the ACS Code of Professional Conduct which are primacy of public interest, competence, honesty, enhancement of quality of life, professional development and professionalism. These codes are evaluated in terms of requirements associated with the case of the electric car company. Primacy of Public Interest The public interest is to experience good quality cars with automatic features that ensure the safety and protection of the passengers and drivers at all times which is violated as the cars may risk the lives of people. Competence Competency is also violated in this case as the interests of the stakeholders are put at risk and it would be essential to maintain transparency with all the stakeholders. Enhancement of Quality of Life Instead of enhancement of quality of life, the cars are putting the lives of people in danger. It will be necessary to carry out the checks and tests before the launch of the cars (Acs, 2014). Honesty The act of launching the cars without carrying out the validation checks will be an example of dishonesty as the associated risks are already known. Professional Development The value says that an individual shall work in such a manner that there is professional development of self and staff done in the process which is not the case with electric car company and it will be necessary to ensure that development is reflected in the duties Professionalism Integrity of the code is violated as most of the values are not reflected. It will be required to carry out the activities as per the values in the code. Defense of Ethical Grounds for AI Consultant Agreeing to the decision of the management to go ahead with the launch as per the original launch date can only be backed on the ethical grounds of the benefits to the company that will result out with this move. AI Consultant is an employee of the electric car company and the profits and higher revenues for the companies are the aim of the consultant. John can only hope that the AI systems do not behave in an incorrect manner and there are no incidents reported unless the rest of the validations and checks are performed after the launch (Keiser, 2008). Solution for Ethical Dilemma Conclusion AI consultant can solve the ethical dilemma by including additional staff to carry out the remaining validations and checks to make sure that all the cars are completely tested before the launch. There may also be checks performed on lesser number of vehicles or one car from each category to understand the behavior as all of the cars have the same design and features (Hadjistavropoulos, 2016). Such steps will make sure that there is no loss to the company as well as to the customers and it will be a win-win situation for one and all. References Acs. (2014). ACS Code of Professional Conduct Professional Standards Board Australian Computer Society. Retrieved 2 May 2017, from https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/rules-and-regulations/Code-of-Professional-Conduct_v2.1.pdf Copp, D. (2009). The Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory. Retrieved 2 May 2017, from https://davidobrink.com/sites/default/files/publications/SomeFormsandLimitsofConsequentialism.pdf Hadjistavropoulos, T. (2016). Ethics Behavior: Unlimited Prospects. Ethics Behavior, 26(6), 449-450. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2016.1201675 Held, V. (2006). The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global. Retrieved 2 May 2017, from https://voidnetwork.gr/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/The-Ethics-of-Care-Personal-Political-and-Global-by-Virginia-Held.pdf Juujarvi, S. (2003). The Ethic of Care and Its Development. Retrieved 2 May 2017, from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Soile_Juujaervi/publication/28373493_The_ethic_of_care_and_its_development_A_longitudinal_study_among_practical_nursing_bachelor-degree_social_work_and_law_enforcement_students/links/00b7d5284b9e797ebb000000/The-ethic-of-care-and-its-development-A-longitudinal-study-among-practical-nursing-bachelor-degree-social-work-and-law-enforcement-students.pdf?origin=publication_detail Keiser, J. (2008). Business Ethics and Ethics Education in American Business Programs. Competitio, 7(2), 195-200. https://dx.doi.org/10.21845/comp/2008/2/13 Moore, G. (2006). The Institute of Business Ethics/European Business Ethics Network-UK Student Competition in Business Ethics. Business Ethics: A European Review, 15(3), 292-292. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8608.2006.00443.x Sieber, J. (2004). Empirical Research on Research Ethics. Ethics Behavior, 14(4), 397-412. https://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327019eb1404_9 Tanner, C. (2007). Influence of deontological versus consequentialist orientations on act choices and framing effects: When principles are more important than consequences. Retrieved 2 May 2017, from https://groups.psych.northwestern.edu/medin/publications/TannerMedinIliev2007.pdf Vazquez, P. (2016). Family Business Ethics: At the Crossroads of Business Ethics and Family Business. Journal Of Business Ethics. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3171-1

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Crucial Scene in Macbeth The Dagger Soliloquy Essay Essay Example

Crucial Scene in Macbeth: The Dagger Soliloquy Essay Paper So far. the drama has hurdled through seven scenes of mounting tenseness and now tithers on the threshold of regicide. At this point. Shakespeare freezes the action. In the tenseness of silence. both character and drama develop on new degrees. For Macbeth. this monologue. in A. C. Bradley’s words: â€Å"is where the powerful workings of his imaginativeness rises to a new degree of seeable strength as his scruples manifests itself as an air-drawn sticker. † This is the first glance of a vigorous imaginativeness from which stems the guilt-inspired hallucinations that will torture him. Bradley concludes that â€Å"his imaginativeness is a replacement for conscience† . but this isn’t all. This soliloquy expresses macbeth’s most profound frights and hopes. and the sticker symbolises the fulfillment of his black desires. We will write a custom essay sample on Crucial Scene in Macbeth: The Dagger Soliloquy Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Crucial Scene in Macbeth: The Dagger Soliloquy Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Crucial Scene in Macbeth: The Dagger Soliloquy Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It conveys his internal battle to deprive himself of fright and consciences to go entirely committed to slay. His effort to catch the sticker indicates his despair to carry through the title before any declinations. Yet the past tense in â€Å"the manner I was going† suggests that realization of his desires has blunted blind bravery. Macbeth’s trouble in get the better ofing his scruples demonstrates that slaying goes against his individual. and he has to contend his ain nature to transport it out. This monologue halts the action for us to absorb this important component in his word picture. His battle besides alerts us to his agony and gallantry. The â€Å"heat-oppressed brain† and his confusion as his eyes and touch contradict each other emphasises his anguished. conflicting head. Macbeth seeks the reassurance of world. pulling his ain sticker in fright and defeat of confusion. He finally rejects the semblance. imputing it to the ‘bloody business’ . S. T. Coleridge suggests that Macbeth â€Å"mistranslates the recoiling of scruples into selfish logical thinkings due to his cowardliness. † From so on. there’s a inexorable credence of the title and Macbeth bids the Earth to â€Å"hear non his steps† . Harmonizing to Samuel Johnson. â€Å"that Macbeth wishes to get away the oculus of Providence is the extreme extravagancy of determined wickedness† . yet Bradley interprets Macbeth’s alining himself with immorality as â€Å"frightfully courageous† . From such varied analysis emerge a humanly complex adult male driven by his internal convulsion to the point where endurance requires that bravery straddle fright. On the play’s degree. this scene guarantees Duncan’s decease. The sticker is a symbol of Macbeth’s declaration. turning its grip toward his manus. spurring him to ‘clutch’ it. The personification of ‘withered Murder† gives the title a concrete tangibleness. And Macbeth’s concluding words â€Å"whiles I menace. he lives† demo his cold finding. In corroborating Ducan’s decease. it marks a turning point in the drama. as Macbeth fulfils the witches’ prognostication. Another turning point is in Macbeth. He lets the sticker marshal him toward the title. prosecuting the illusory wagess offered by immorality. In David Elloway’s words: â€Å"He’s entered a universe of delusory dreams and moves through it with the inanity of a somnambulist. † Macbeth expresses his fright of the ‘sure and firm-set earth’ . which is a symbol of world. This shows his inclination to take significance at face-value. warranting his blind assurance in the enchantresss subsequently. The soliloquy’s dark imagination enforces the magnitude of Macbeth’s offense. and foreshadows its effects. Blood appears both on the blade and grip of the sticker. insinuating that he can non emerge flawlessly from the title. Associates of dark and immorality are evoked to put the scene for slaying. The evident decease of nature during dark connotes the unnaturalness of the title. Coleridge believes that â€Å"the dimensions of slaying are expressed in the portraiture of its motion. † Murder moves in three ways: stealthily. as that of a trained bravo. Then. with Tarquin’s ravish. comparing it with colza. And. like that of a ghost’s. a mindless ghost â€Å"alarumed† to carry through his exclusive intent. By portraying the diverse aspects of slaying. Shakespeare demonstrates its profound unnaturalness. and the magnitude of its effects. Besides. this important scene reinforces the subjects and motives of the drama. widening upon their importance. Chiefly. it illuminates the struggle between visual aspect and world. Despite the evident solidness of the sticker. Macbeth can non hold on it. This dramatises the delusory nature of visual aspect. The latent significances of many lines epitomise the thought that the full truth is hidden by face value. The phrase: â€Å"dagger of the mind† doesn’t simply mean an fanciful arm. but besides the curse of the head – a resentment in his peace. Merely both significances together can convey Macbeth’s convulsion and the deepness of his ideas. The image of blood in ‘gouts’ . the darkness of dark. and the non-restriction of action to simply human bureaus are powerful elements of this monologue. These are what create the baleful atmosphere of the drama. Harmonizing to Bradley. â€Å"macbeth gives the feeling of a black dark broken by flashes of visible radiation and coloring material. † Here. the inkling sticker and the powerful coloring material of blood create this consequence. Such vivid and violent imagination are what characterises Macbeth. Shakespeare’s pre-eminence as a playwright is due to his capacity to make graphic images that embody powerful human emotions. This monologue brims with such imagination and symbolism. and is imperative in advancing Macbeth. the simplest of Shakespearian calamities. to be the most wide and monolithic in consequence.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Botany essays

Botany essays The tree investigated was the Quercus. Pinus, L. This was a very interesting tree. To find out all information on this tree, steps were taken by doing hands on work to determine height, age, circumference, leaf and stem differences. Taking layers off the epidermis of the leaf, a transdermal section along with a cross section was done to show differences in the sun and shade leaves. Chromatography and stomata counts were also done in the sun and shade leaves. Stem longitudinal sections were also used to show differences in sun stems and shade stems. By investigating the parts of the tree mentioned, also proved information that was noted for the Q. pinus. A computer was also used to find very accurate descriptions of this tree to help with data noted. Stomata counts showed the shade leaf produced more stomata than the sun leaf. The sun leaf also showed more chlorophyll than the shade leaf, showing more energy is trapped for photosynthesis in the sun leaf. The Q. pinus can grow from a range of fifty hundred and fifty feet. Its native habitat is dry soils even though it is a moist driven tree. The Q. pinus is a tree thats fruit is not just utilized by squirrels, its also used by other mammals including humans. This tree also has many uses for it, making it an all around tree. Its used for nesting, lumber, furniture, and ink. Trees are without doubt, the most valuable things on earth. They are a source of the raw materials for many useful products. They purify air, keep our soil from washing away, and affect our weather patterns (Rost, 1998 p. 101). For these reasons, the Botany laboratory class was given a semester assignment to completely describe a tree located on campus. My colleague and I was given was the Quercus pinus, L.. The family name is the Fagaceae Quercus pinus and the common name is the Chestnut Oak tree. Identity, morphology, anatomy, transpiration and photosynthesis, f...

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

A Child at the Playground Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Child at the Playground - Essay Example The researcher states that one day, while he was waiting at his bus-stop to catch his homeward bound bus, the author’s attention was arrested by a shrill ringing of a bell. The researcher looked around him and noticed a daycare center just behind his bus-stop. A noisy stream of children was released into the outdoors for their play time. The author saw at a glance that the playground was filled with equipment. They looked as if they were self-assembled items from Marston's book. The children lost no time in reaching for their favorite playthings. There was general pandemonium as they rushed to be the first to use their favorites. They looked as happy as larks, screaming and shouting in their excitement. Their teacher stood at attentive observation at her post just in front of the front gate. She was facing the children and had her back to the author. The researcher could stare as long as he liked without fear of any reprisals from the adult. The children did not mind me lookin g at them. They were too busy at play to notice a stranger at the bus-stop staring at them. One child particularly caught the author’s attention. She was a small, fair-haired girl. She stood patiently by the swing and was waiting her turn. However, the bigger boy who was using the sole swing gave no sign of indication that he was ready to share the swing and vacate his hold over it. The little girl grew tired of waiting and simply walked away. She did not proceed to the other playthings but had squatted down to the grassy ground and was plucking selected grass to gather in a bunch. She was as patient as an experienced gardener, seemingly intent on her task. Although she was alone, she did not look forlorn. She looked as if she was enjoying herself in her preoccupation. She did not interact nor play along with the crowd. The researcher was puzzled as to why she behaved as she did. Soon, the author’s doubts vaporized. The little girl walked over to the rabbit hutch and d eposited her offerings for the rabbit. She looked delighted, enjoying the sight of the fruits of her labor. Pretty soon, another girl joined her at the hutch. Then another child and yet another. It was evident that the children were now fascinated with the rabbit. The children made a commotion in their excitement to feed the rabbit. There was a frenzy of grass plucking. The researcher lost sight of the little girl as her friends crowded around her. The author saw a sea of excited children giving tribute to a new found leader. The author knew that she must be feeling pleased to have initiated such an interest in the rabbit.

Monday, February 3, 2020

European Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

European Business - Research Paper Example A major reduction in demand in the largest market of EU, Germany, was the main reason for export reduction in countries like France, Italy and UK which are its main export partners for automobiles. The following figure shows that the proportion of companies exporting in the EU countries in 2006 had substantially declined over the 1997 period. The situation worsened post financial crisis of 2008 following which countries like Ireland, Greece and Turkey suffered deep economic downturn. The tourism industry also suffered immensely on account of the financial crisis of 2008. All the 27 members of the EU block suffered both resident and non-resident night spends decline since 2008 (Leviev-Sawyer 2010). With the exception of Sweden which saw a positive 0.1% increase in night spend, there was up to 23.3% reduction in member countries like Latvia (Leviev-Sawyer 2010). Another notable feature was that non-residents formed only 44% of nights spent in hotels and residents formed 56% of the nigh t occupancy in 2009 across all the EU member countries. This shows that the proportion of tourist movement across the member countries was much lower as compared to the internal tourist night spends. Thus, the present crisis had a major negative impact on cross border tourism industry within the member countries. ... ows the following pattern (Luff 2008): UK stands at the sixth position in the list of countries which had investments in Turkey between 2002 and 2007 (Luff 2008). If we look at the number of companies of British origin which have invested in Turkey, we can see a substantial rise since 2002. The following figure shows the pattern of investment (Luff 2008). All the major British companies like Tesco, Vodafone, HSBC, Shell, Imperial Tobacco and BP have their investments here. The following chart shows the top 5 FDI inflows into Turkey in 2006 (Luff 2008). The top 3 companies are from the EU member countries and have invested in telecom and banking sectors. This is mainly because of the opening up of these sectors by the Turkish government. Another industry which has substantial impact for the EU member countries is the outsourcing industry. Poland experienced the largest inflow of outsourcing business during the period 1995 to 2002 (Lorentowicz, Marin and Raubold 2005). Austria was the next in line. The following table shows the FDI patterns of Austria and Poland during the various periods. The pattern shows that Austria has substantially increased its investments in new member countries like Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria while investments into UK have decreased over the previous decades. If we look at Poland’s inflows, we can see that France, Germany and Netherlands accounts for around 51% of the FDI (Lorentowicz, Marin and Raubold 2005). This shows that Poland is a favorite destination for these countries for outsourcing businesses mainly because of the availability of low cost and highly skilled work force. The major drivers of outsourcing business to these new member countries are low labor costs and cultural affinity of these countries to the

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Why Teach Vocabulary Through Literature?

Why Teach Vocabulary Through Literature? Why Teaching Vocabulary Through Literature? We may consider creating an anthology of literature for secondary, young adult, and students studying English as a foreign language. It may include authentic poetry, essays, plays, and short stories, whose writers represent a diversity of cultures, backgrounds, and points of view. In addition to providing students with skills for understanding and appreciating literature, the application components complement and reinforce each other by giving students integrated practice in key language skills. Literary fragments offer multiple activities for students to access background knowledge of the themes and ideas presented in the literary pieces, and poses questions for them to consider as they read. In post-reading activities, students check comprehension of main ideas, and discuss and interpret the more subtle points of the selections. In special Focus on Reading and Focus on Literature , students practice reading skills and identify some common literary devices. Also, they provide students with ideas for creative writing as well as opportunities for critical thinking and values clarification. Moreover, they emphasize sharing and peer feedback, giving students a real audience for their work. The paperwork takes the approach that giving students a genuine opportunity to experience literature and encouraging their direct, active participation in discovering literature are the best ways to engage them. It promotes the importance of personal experience and pleasure in the teaching of literature and vocabulary and embraces the notion that literary pieces should also serve as models and catalysts for generating students own creative writing. The selection of contemporary literature pieces offer a diversity of experience and opinion, allowing for comparison and contrast of different writing styles, literary elements, and ethnic and gender issues. While the specific activities for presenting each poem, story, essay, or play vary, there is a predictable lesson format for introducing, reading, discussing, and reacting to each piece. The purpose of the pre-reading is to activate students background knowledge regarding the theme and key ideas or issues raised in the particular literary piece. Having students share their personal experiences before they read serves several functions: it encourages group knowledge, generates useful language for discussing the piece, and prepares students to make personal connections with the reading. Discussion include films or illustrations and questions. Since the purpose is to elicit students ideas and help them share knowledge, it is suggested that you discuss these questions as a class. However, if you have a large class, some students may feel more comfortable sharing their ideas in smaller groups. In this case, you can ask each group to present its ideas to the whole class. If students seem reluctant to talk, you can break the ice by relating a personal experience or observation regarding one or more of the discussion questions. Vocabulary support in the lessons with poems consists of a gloss below each fragment. Providing definitions for some potentially difficult or unfamiliar words and expressions (such as idioms and slang) helps students understand and appreciate the larger meaning of the text. In the lessons with stories, poems , essays or plays-which typically include a heavier vocabulary load-a vocabulary exercise is provided in addition to the glosses. These exercises encourage students to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words and expressions from context. The purpose of reading is to pose one or more questions for students to consider as they read the piece, giving them some aspect, feature, or idea on which to focus their attention. Students are referred back to these questions after they read and discuss the pieces to confirm their understanding. Post-reading questions enable students to clarify their ideas through activities that focus on specific reading skills and literary elements. The activities offer students guided avenues for interpretation, while giving them space to make their own personal connections to the literary pieces. Comprehension questions check students understanding of the main ideas and the more objective or literal aspects of the extract they have read. Some questions require students to identify details in the piece and to make inferences. Focus on Reading highlights important reading skills such as getting meaning from context, making inferences, distinguishing between fact and opinion, and identifying pronoun referents. Some Focus on Reading presentations treat linguistic features as they relate to literature, such as the uses of reduced forms and register. As a class or in small groups, students read a short presentation on a specific reading skill or linguistic feature, then do an activity to practice it. Focus on Literature helps students identify key literary elements such as metaphors, similes, personification, and alliteration. After reading a short presentation describing a particular element, students do an activity to demonstrate their understanding. Expansion questions are interpretive and require critical thinking. They are designed to probe the more subjective aspects of the pieces. These questions lend themselves to various interpretations, and allow students to connect their personal experiences to the literature. Sometimes questions in this section deal with issues of values clarification, requiring students to reflect on their personal values as these relate to the unit themes. Because of the personal and open-ended nature of these expansion questions, it is suggested that students discuss them in small groups, where they may feel more comfortable sharing their ideas, values, and feelings. It may sometimes happen that a student feels uncomfortable discussing or has no opinion about a particular question, such as one relating to personal values or perhaps some aspect of his or her culture. Accordingly, it is important to let students know that they always have the chance to opt out of discussing any question, for example by saying, I pass, or I have no opinion. Other students need to be encouraged to respect these responses. The writing response activities provide a venture for students to connect personally and creatively with aspects and elements of the literary piece they have read. As with the previous post-reading discussion activities, the goal of these writing activities is to offer students starting points-to suggest ways of responding to the poem, story, essay, or play-while encouraging them to use their imagination and explore their own feelings, impressions, and interpretations in crafting their personal responses. While students are given a choice of three writing response activities for each piece, you should feel free to give them the option of creating a response of their own choosing related to the piece. Since the purpose of an anthology is to encourage students to connect their experiences to literature, they should not feel restrained or discouraged from connecting creatively in their own ways with the different pieces. Of course, you may want to check a students idea before he or she writes to make sure the response is appropriate to the piece and/or lesson theme. Peer Response activities are pair or small group activities. Students read each others writings, comment on them, and, as appropriate, offer suggestions for improving them. The emphasis here is on giving and receiving positive and constructive feedback-for example, pointing out what they like best about a classmates writing, indicating if some part of the writing is unclear, or asking for more information. Moreover, by sharing their work, students are writing for a real audience-for their peers, not just for a single teacher. Finally, students stand to gain additional insights into a literary piece through their classmates personal responses. About the Author biographies give students information about the authors of the pieces they have read. Students who enjoy particular pieces may be moved to read other work by the authors, or to search the Internet or library for more information about particular authors. On Further Reflection These consolidation and extension activities appear at the end of every unit in a text book. They provide additional opportunities for students to react and relate their experiences to the different literary pieces in the unit-for example, to compare the way the characters in different pieces reacted to a similar or a totally different situation, or to explore further some values that may relate to a particular theme. There are also suggestions for relating aspects of the unit theme to a larger area. Language Writers choose their words very carefully to create a particular mood or feeling; often, they do this to help the reader see, hear, taste, smell, or feel what is being described. This kind of sensory language and description is called imagery. Authors also use words to communicate ideas above the common, or literal, meaning of the words. This use of words to create a special kind of meaning is called figurative language. Some examples of figurative language include metaphor (a comparison between two things), simile (a comparison between two things, using the words like or as), and personification (giving human qualities to an animal, object, or idea). Vocabulary items may be unfamiliar. One of the underlying principles of an anthology is that students should be encouraged to figure out unfamiliar words and expressions from the context, and in some cases, to accept uncertain definitions. The vocabulary exercises in the lessons support this idea, and they are written to help students apply this reading strategy. To help them become more fluent and independent readers, students should be encouraged to read through the literary pieces without stopping to look up words in a dictionary. If, after reading a piece, they have questions about some words, they can use their dictionaries to look up definitions. Student participation and group work help build students confidence. The more comfortable students are with their peers, their teacher, and the overall classroom atmosphere, the more confident they will become in sharing their ideas and opinions as a class and in groups. Whenever possible, encourage student participation. Another guiding principle is that, in studying literature, readers experiences and points of view are as important as those of the writers-that reading literature is a cooperative and interactive activity, whereas everyones experience and ideas are valid in contributing to understanding the larger meaning of a piece. Using the literary fragments as models is a way to stimulate students imagination and elicit their personal connections. An anthology is intended in part to serve as model for students who wish to produce literary works. Not all students may choose to write, or to write literature in response to every literary piece. Even the title of a book suggests that an important purpose of literature is to make us feel a sense of wonder about life. The writers remind us that life is a special gift: one full of possibilities and full of unique and wonderful people, places, and things. The themes should be selected as to explore both common and less common topics that people everywhere can understand, think about and respond to. WHY READ LITERATURE? Literature is a way to pass on good stories. All of us know good stories, but most of us dont write them down. If we dont write our stories down or tell them to others, when we die, our stories disappear with us. Without some written record, how will we remember the stories of our own and others lives? How will future generations know them? Literature connects us to something greater. Reading literature connects us to other points of view-lets us see life through others eyes-so that we may know and appreciate more of it. Literature lets us walk inside other peoples shoes and discover how that feels. Literature introduces us to people so completely different from us that we discover how much we have in common. High-school language teachers have many responsibilities. In addition to teaching literature and reading comprehension, grammar and the writing process, they must also teach vocabulary. Vocabulary instruction is not an easy task. Sometimes it is difficult to teach because students tend to be unwilling to learn new words as they grow up in a society where sophisticated language can be deemed undesirable. Manzo, Manzo, and Thomas (2006) reported that the influx of reality television, rap and hip-hop music, and other pop-cultural factors make those using intellectual language appear conceited. Similarly, the increase of students coming from lower socio-economic families and from diverse backgrounds is on the rise. The state of deprivation means that educators need to make instruction as meaningful as possible because, no matter the obstacles they may face, students are expected to become productive citizens, and the development of a compelling vocabulary encourages reading comprehension and allows people to contribute to society. Teachers have to be willing to teach students the value of improving their vocabularies in order to close the gap between the reality of the child’s life and the expectations of the child’s school (Blachowicz Fisher, 2004). Because it can be difficult, especially for overwhelmed teachers, to create an effective vocabulary program, they sometimes rely on their colleagues for previously-given vocabulary tests, or they may simply use school-adopted materials (Brabham Villaume, 2002). â€Å"Consistently, the most common recalled vocabulary instruction centers around receiving an arbitrary list of words on Monday [and] looking up the definitions of the words in a dictionary† (Rupley Nichols, 2005, p. 240). However, this type of word study is unproductive when the students take the initial definition and try to make sense of the word. For instance, if students took the definition of â€Å"brim† to be â€Å"edge,† they may think that, â€Å"The knife has a sharp brim,† is a logical sentence (Brabham Villaume, 2002). Furthermore, the vocabulary words may mean something entirely different when used in another context, or the definition of the vocabulary word may contain words that the students do not recognize (Rhoder Huerster, 2002). A similar method of instruction involves students completing drill-and-practice activities like workbook exercises, but these should not be the only strategies to teach new words (Venetis, 1999). With these word-lists/drill-and-practice approaches to vocabulary instruction, students often forget the meanings of the words and do not develop the skills necessary to use the words in their own speaking and writing. Even if memorization is mastered using this technique of instruction, that does not suggest that the students have enough knowledge of the word to apply its meaning to their own writing. Dixon-Krauss (2002) observed that even after ninth-grade students had taken their vocabulary tests, they had problems incorporating the words into writing, and their papers suffered from incorrect usage and incoherent paragraphs. Francis and Simpson (2003) reported that students were able to respond correctly to multiple-choice questions about vocabulary words, but they were not able to relate words to texts that they were reading or to write significant paragraphs. There was a need for teachers to consider another technique of vocabulary instruction that might assure students learned a word’s meaning and also how to use the word properly in speaking and writing. Another method of teaching students vocabulary is through reading, and students who read widely have expansive vocabularies (Blachowicz Fisher, 2004). However, all students do not read extensively, and many only read what they are required to read for school classes. Francis and Simpson (2003) reported that the average high-school student is assigned about 50 pages per week from assignments for their content courses. That number will increase to nearly 500 pages per week when that student reaches college. Additionally, by the time students reach college, professors expect them to be able to learn the text independently â€Å"because they do not have the time or inclination to discuss the information during class†. What does this report mean for high-school teachers? They are faced with the duty of not only developing their students’ vocabularies, but also helping them create strategies to learn vocabulary on their own. â€Å"A serious commitment to decreasing gaps in vocabulary and comprehension includes instruction that allows all students to learn and use strategies that will enable them to discover and deepen understandings of words during independent reading† (Brabham Villaume, 2002). To approach the instruction of vocabulary through literature, teachers often choose to teach vocabulary through context. Teaching vocabulary through context simply means to look for clues in the sentence that might tell the reader something about the meaning of the word in question; furthermore, researchers have studied the impact of visual and verbal clues on learning words in context. Terrill, Scruggs, and Mastropieri (2004) studied mnemonic strategies used in vocabulary instruction for eight 10th-grade students with learning disabilities and found that using keywords with pictures that hint at a word’s meaning increased the students’ vocabulary test scores. By the end of the study, students had learned 92% of their vocabulary using this strategy compared with 49% of words learned using the word-list approach. Several other studies have been performed that examined the contextual method of vocabulary instruction together with the word-list approach to vocabulary acquisition. Dillard (2005) explored definitional and contextual methods of vocabulary instruction in four secondary English classrooms with a mixture of students in grades 10 through 12 and found that students using the contextual method of instruction outperformed the ones using the definitional, word-list approach on three of the four tests given in the study. In order to really know a word, students must be able to use it in more than one context; it must be used in writing, speaking, and listening (Rupley Nichols, 2005). Having presented all these, indeed, literature is one of the best ways of teaching vocabulary. Both students and teachers benefit from the advantages of a rich language literary piece . For teachers is a pleasure and for students can be the beginning of a new passion – reading. Every teacher`s of language dream is to have students who enjoy reading, accomplishing that simplifies the daily class routine and serves the purpose of obtaining performance.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Explain different methods of feedback Essay

Learning is an active process. To learn, we need to plan what we’re going to do; attempt to do it and then receive feedback on our work. We then use this feedback to improve the work we have just done; or, more often in education, to ensure that the next work we do embraces what we have learned. Feedback also affects how we feel about our work, and inevitably also about ourselves; feedback thus also affects student motivation. Feedback can be delivered in a number of styles. Methods which can deliver a higher payoff for both trainers and students are: Self assessment, Students comparing work, Individual learning development plans, Peer-marking with feedback, Presentations by students, Verbal feedback to individuals, Feedback Sandwich and Verbal feedback to whole class. Carl Rogers places self assessment at the start and heart of the learning process. And the learning from experience cycle devised by Kolb places heavy emphasis on self assessment. It is most important that we reflect in a way that enables us to learn. This involves not blaming the students or our self for anything that went wrong but instead trying to identify why things worked or didn’t work. Try to learn the general principles of what works, and then you can use these principles to work out how to teach better in the future. It can be made by learners as well where they can make judgement about their own work. An easy method of feedback is just by allowing the learners to compare their work. This will allow them to correct their mistakes and improve their work. And Peer Assessment is where a pupil’s work is judged by fellow pupils. Individual learning plans form a ‘route map’ of how a learner will get from their starting point on a learning journey to the desired end point. They may be for one course and include the acquisition of qualifications and skills, or may link several courses that give progression to different  levels (from level 1 to 3, or from level 2 to Higher Education). They should be individual for each learner to reflect aspirations, aptitude and needs. Peer Assessment is where a pupil’s work is judged by fellow pupils. Self Assessment involves pupils making judgements about their own work. These strategies involve more than using marking keys, but give opportunities for exploration of the fundamentals of the assessment process, including various types of evaluation. One of the most popular methods is Sandwich Feedback. The sandwich feedback technique is a popular three-step procedure to help tutors who are ill at ease with providing corrective feedback. The sandwich feedback method consists of praise followed by corrective feedback followed by more praise. In other words, the sandwich feedback method involves discussing corrective feedback that is â€Å"sandwiched† between two layers of praise. The purported benefits of this technique are twofold: (1) it â€Å"softens† the impact of the criticism or corrective feedback on an employee/learner, and, (2) given that a manager/tutors is probably more comfortable with praising the employee/learner, the manager/tutor finds it easier to discuss problems with the learner/employee’s behavior if this discussion begins and ends with praising the employee/learner. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Dr R. Paton and Dr S. Fearnley, Asssesing Students’ work (Undated) http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsld/firstwords/fw21.html (Accessed on 1/12/2011) Geoff Petty , Self Assessment: Evaluating your teaching (2004), http://www.geoffpetty.com/selfassess.html (Accessed on 1/12/2011) EXCELLENCE GATEWAY, LEARNING AND SKILLS IMPROVEMENT SERVICE (LSIS) 2011 HTTP://WWW.EXCELLENCEGATEWAY.ORG.UK/PAGE.ASPX?O=108288(ACCESSED ON 1/12/2011) THE HIGHLAND COUNCIL,( 20/08/2010), HTTP://WWW.HIGHLANDSCHOOLS-VIRTUALIB.ORG.UK/LTT/FLEXIBLE/PEER.HTM(ACCESSED ON 1/12/2011) NAGESH BELLUDI, THE SANDWICH FEEDBACK TECHNIQUE (FEBRUARY 20, 2008) HTTP://WWW.RIGHTATTITUDES.COM/2008/02/20/SANDWICH-FEEDBACK-TECHNIQUE/(ACCESSED ON 1/12/2011)