Evaluating ICT Use in Teaching Dyslexic Students in the Mainstream Dissertation - 1

Evaluating ICT Use in Teaching Dyslexic Students in the Mainstream Primary Schools in Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example 4Study Sample 40 3. 5Ethics 40 3. 6Administration of the Questionnaire 42 3. 7Conclusion 42 Chapter 4: Result and Analysis 43 4.1.Introduction 43 4.2.Response Rate 43 4.3.Characteristics of the Study Sample (Demographic Data) 44 4..2.1.1Academic Qualifications 44 4..2.2.1Major 45 4..2.3.1Minor Major 46 4..2.4.1Teaching Experience 47 4..2.5.1ICT Training 48 60 4.4.Discussion 83 Chapter 6 Conclusion 88 6.1Achievements of the Study 88 6.2Implications for practice 88 6.3Strengths and weaknesses in the study 91 6.4Implications for further research 92 References 94 Abstract Since the introduction of computers in schools in 1970s the role of computers has progressed form tutor to topic to tool. Today, information and computer technology (ICT) has far reaching implications in every sphere of life. Education and learning process have achieved new dimensions with the integration of ICT in the process. It is of special significance for teaching of children with special needs since these student s are characterized by deficits that have adverse impacts on their academic performance. Among the learning disabilities, one of the major causes of concern is dyslexia due to its high prevalence and multivariant manifestation and is characterized by marked reading disability. Use of ICT based intervention strategies have shown potential for overcoming these deficits. Integration of ICT to learning renders the teacher training for ICT imperative. The current study attempts to investigate the availability and integration of ICT resources for the education of regular and dyslexic students in Saudi Arabia and the perceptions of teachers regarding its efficacy for the purpose. The study involved participants from primary schools of Riyadh, KSA who were provided questionnaires comprising of close ended questions on their educational qualifications, experience and ICT training; use and availability of ICT related hardware and software; and their opinion regarding the efficacy and obstacle s in the use of ICT. Significant results from the quantitative research proved a positive correlation existed between ICT training and efficacy of ICT as an educational tool; thus indicating the importance of teacher training in influencing teachers’ perception and usage of ICT. ICT AND DYSLEXIA For people without disabilities, technology makes things convenient; for people with disabilities†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦it makes things POSSIBLE. (Treviranus, 2000) Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter introduces use of information and communication technology (ICT) for education of students with dyslexia and the importance of study of various aspects of dyslexia for an individual as well as a teacher. In order to achieve this aim, the chapter attempts to outline the rationale behind the study, followed by an update on special education status with special attention to Saudi Arabia as the researcher’s country of residence as well as United Kingdom (UK); researcher residing in UK for the major part of the research process. Finally the chapter outlines the aims of the research along with the various objectives followed to achieve the aims. 1.1 Introduction The last two decades have witnessed tremendous advances in information and c

Accreditation Audit Essay Example for Free

Accreditation Audit Essay With all of the possible problems that could occur during surgery, a wrong-site, wrong-patient mistake is one that should never arise. Nightingale Community Hospital (NCH) fully understands the importance of doing away with these errors and has set up protocol to work towards this goal. While the protocol is in place, it is not fully compliant with Joint Commission (JC) standards. Standard: UP.01.01.01: Conduct a preprocedure verification process. Nightingale Community Hospital has a Site Identification and Verification policy and procedure. Within this policy, and Preoperative/Preprocedure Verification Process is addressed. There is also a Preprocedure Hand-Off form present. This form is a bit misleading as it is essentially a hand-off form in general with a few extra boxes possible for check-off. To prepare for inspection and audit, NCH should create and implement a form for use within the Operating Theater or wherever procedures are performed, such as bedside procedures. This form needs to be more specific in addressing at least the minimum requirements by JC. The form needs to cite that all relevant documentation is present, such as signed consent form, nursing assessment, preanesthesia assessment, history and physical. The form also needs to specify that the necessary diagnostic and radiology test results, rather they be images and scans, or biopsy reports, and properly displayed and labeled. Finally, to fulfill the minimum requirements by JC, any and all required blood products, implants, devices, and special equipment needs to be labeled and matched to the patient. Standard: UP.01.02.01: Mark the procedure site. NCH covers the procedure site marking standard fairly well within their Site Identification and Verification Policy. It mentions that site marking is needed for those cases involving laterality, multiple structures, or levels. Several times in their policy NCH mentions that it is best to have the patient involved, if at all possible. If the patient is unable to mark the site, the policy states that the physician will be called to mark the site. The policy states that the mark shall be made in permanent black marker so it will remain visible after skin preparation, and also in a location that will remain visible after sterile draping is in place. The policy also  includes circumstances in which the marking will be unable to be performed based on the location of the surgery being in an area that is unable to be marked. Standard: UP.01.03.01: A time-out is performed before the procedure. Nightingale Community Hospital has an adequate procedure in place for the time-out performance. Within the Site Identification and Verification Policy, the Time-Out Procedure complies with JC standards. A time-out is to be conducted immediately prior to performance of the procedure, it is initiated by the nurse or technologist, it involves all personnel involved in the procedure, the team members agree to a minimum of patient identity, correct site, and correct procedure to be performed, and all of this information is documented in the record, including those involved and the duration of the time-out. The only issue not addressed fully is the possibility of multiple procedures occurring on the same patient by different practitioners, and in that case, an additional time-out needs to be done for every new procedure. The Communication priority focus area is an extremely important area for any hospital. This is a common sense area that should be able to reach complete compliance. A wrong-patient, wrong-site issue should never arise and is completely avoidable. In 2010, Joint Commission reported that wrong-patient/site surgeries continued to be the most frequently reported sentinel event(Spath 2011).Jay Arthur states that JC reports between four and six wrong-site surgeries per day(2011). The World Health Organization believes that at least 500,000 deaths per year could be prevented if the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist was correctly implemented. These numbers, when compared with the possibility of 100% compliance, are astounding and completely avoidable. Nightingale Community Hospital is well on their way to avoiding these types of sentinel events through usages of proper protocol, procedures, and policy as is seen by the upward trend from their last year of self-checks. With continued diligence and appropriate modifications made, this can be an area that NCH, and any other hospital can be fully compliant in. References Arthur, J. (2011). Lean six sigma for hospitals: Simple steps to fast, affordable, flawless healthcare. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Spath, P. L. (2011). Error reduction in health care: A systems approach to improving patient safety (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Jossy-Bass. WHO (2013). WHO | Safe surgery saves lives. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/patientsafety/safesurgery/en/ [Last Accessed November 5, 2013].

Antony Flew: The Existence and Belief Of God Essay -- Philosopher Anto

Antony Flew: The Existence and Belief of God Antony Flew starts by telling the audience this story of two explorers that accidentally came upon a garden in a jungle. In this garden, there were many beautiful flowers and weeds. One explorer says, "some gardener must tend this plot". While the other disagrees, "there is no gardener". So, these two explorers tried to figure out who was right and who was wrong. They waited the whole night, but no gardener was ever seen. Then the "Believer" said that there must be a gardener, that he "is an invisible gardener". He tried everything he could to convince to the "Sceptic" that he was right, barbed-wire, electrifying fence, patrolling bloodhounds. But no gardener was ever found. Still the "Believer" was not convinced. He gave the "Sceptic" many excuses as to why they couldn't see the gardener. The "Sceptic" told him that he was crazy because what started out as a simple assertion that there was a gardener, turned into "an imaginary gardener".   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This parable that Flew is using is clearly an analogy to the existence and belief of God. The garden represents God, "†¦invisible, intangible, insensible†¦". The "Sceptic" says there is no gardener, just as an atheist denies the existence God. The "Believer" says there is a gardener, like a theist telling everyone that God exists. The "Believer" tries to prove that there was a planter, who planted the seeds for the flowers to grow. This planter takes care of them, a parallelism to God supposedly taking care of "us".   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Flew talks about assertions. He states that "what starts as an assertion, that something exists†¦may be reduced step by step to an altogether different status". He uses the example of how if one man were to talk about sexual behavior, "another man prefers to talk of Aphrodite". They don't seem to make sense. How can one confuse the idea of a sexual behavior with Aphrodite? He also points out the fact that "a fine brash hypothesis may be killed by inches, the death of a thousand qualifications". A good example of this is when he said that "God loves us as a father loves his children". He states that when we see a child dying of cancer, his "earthy father" is there, to help him, nurture him, trying his best for his son. But his "Heavenly Father", God, is no where to be found, that he "reveals no obvious sign of concern". The... ...arden in which I find myself, that I am unable to share the explorers' detachment," said Hare. He tried to point out that if he was in the same situation, he would not share the same views as the explorers. Which is a belief in the g ardener, a belief in God. Both of these man had some strong viewpoints. Flew states, if one asserts something, then one must deny something. What Hare is trying to say is that, there is two sides to every idea or "assertions", a blik. That that is a sane blik and a insane blik. Most people have the sane one and those who don't share this view is point as lunatics. But no one is not trying to deny something here. The person with the insane blik is not wrong or that he's not trying to deny something, it's just that his views are different. Flew states, "what would have to occur or to have occurred to constitute for you a disproof of the love of, or of the existence of, God?" Hare's reply to this question is that he calls this "completely victorious." Nothing have to occur because those who does not share this belief in God have an insane blik. They are not trying to deny that God doesn't but rather that they views are just different.

Dr King vs Dalai Lama

Upon comparing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Dalai Lama it becomes apparent that the two share many similar doctrines and beliefs. Although they come from two totally different backgrounds it seems as though their overall goals and dreams coincide. The most striking similarity is that both men advocated/advocate for peace and nonviolent solutions to problems. While they may have approached matters differently the goal was the same. Analyzing both men one begins to see that they are admired by so many people because of their philosophies. Dr. King said, â€Å"†¦ the nonviolent resister does not seek to humiliate or defeat the opponent but to win his friendship and understanding. † In comparison, Dalai Lama said, â€Å"Real peace is not just the absence of violence or war†¦. A mere absence of war is not genuine lasting world peace. Peace must develop on mutual trust. † Looking at only these two quotes one can see the likeness of thought the two men shared. Dr. King crusaded for civil rights for African Americans, while Dalai Lama is an advocate for the liberation of Tibet. In both situations oppression is/was trying to be wiped out, due to environment and upbringing there are contrasts in the facets the men explored to achieve their goals. Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyasto, was born July 6th 1935 in Takster, Amdo in northeastern Tibet. He came from humble beginnings in farming village and lived with his family in a small hamlet. At the age of two he was deemed the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama and his education began at age six. Studying logic, Tibetan art and culture, Sanskrit, medicine, and Buddhist philosophy Dalai Lama proved to be a good student. At the age of twenty three he took his final exam and passed with flying colors, he received multiple honours and received the Geshe Lharampa degree in Leadership responsibilities (This is the highest degree in Tibet and is equivalent to a doctorate). Dr. King was born January 15th 1929 in Atlanta Georgia to Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King.

Brain Blast! Factors Affecting Retention

Brain Blast! Factors Affecting Retention BY hypoactive Chapter I Statement of the problem: The different factors affecting retention of fourth year students of Vulcan Ecumenical School Three Specific Questions: Why do some people have a better memory than others? ; How do we remember? ; and Why do we forget? Significance of the Study: To widen the knowledge of the readers about retention; Alms to show different ways on how one can have a better retention; This study Is to benefit students especially those from Vulcan Ecumenical School Scope and Limitation This study mainly focuses on the senior students of Vulcan Ecumenical School.The articles gathered here are a combination of local and foreign literature. Chapter II Review of Related Literature Presented In this chapter Is a synthesis of facts that support the topic the researchers would want to prove. Included in the chapter is the definition of memory, parts of the brain that are in charge on remembering and forgetting, connectiv ity of the brain, a deeper understanding on autobiographical and semantic memory, long term and short term memory, how and why people remember and forget, the reason why some people have a better memory than others and some methods on how one can Improve his/her memory.Local Literature According to Alfonse M. Albany of Philippine star, the human brain weighing roughly one-and-a-half kilos, with a volume more or less half that of a medium-sized coconut, with its about 100 billion neurons, each with some 10,000 interconnections, is probably the most complex structure that we know. Yet, that structural complexity hardly begins to hint at the incredible variety and the enormity of its functions. Surely, this is a case of a whole that is vastly greater than the sum of its parts.Albany said that the brain is the seat of our consciousness and of our emotions, the repository of our memories. It synthesizes and analyses our sensory inputs, decides what behavioral responses are appropriate or necessary to promote our continued survival. And when parts of it fail to perform properly, we are burdened with depression, or schizophrenia, or Alchemist's diseases, or other such debilitating disorders. The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates put it well: â€Å"Men ought to know that from nothing else but the brain come Joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, grieves, despondency, and lamentations. No wonder the brain has been the subject of intense scientific scrutiny's for a very long time. A currently active area of study concerns the â€Å"connectivity† of the brain. Physiologists distinguish â€Å"structural† or â€Å"anatomical† connectivity from â€Å"functional† connectivity and both from â€Å"effective† connectivity. The first merely means the physical connections between groups of neurons 1 . The second refers to correlated behaviors of different brain regions. The last involves the transfer of information from one region to another, possibly affecting the behavior of the latter ? a causal connection 2.Our Marvelous Brains On one of the articles of Koruna Sanchez she wrote that because of the amount of information that the human brain receives everyday, a sort of built-in filter kicks in to only allow those that seem important. Otherwise the brain would literally heat up and burn out faster than we would want it to. A good example was when a portrait of the famous Mona Lisa was shown to several persons, they all failed to notice a OF in the background, which of course is not in the original painting.Because we know, or supposed to know what the Mona Lisa looks like, we don't look at other details anymore. Misdirection's is another way to distract the brain. So many examples of seduction were shown, which is the bread and butter of a good magician or illusionist, and yes, even con artists and criminals. Your brain is made to focus on something while ignoring everything else. Watching a basketball bein g passed several times among players while totally ignoring a gorilla that walks among them. And this is what criminals like pickpockets master.That little bump on the shoulder is enough to distract you while they go after your wallet or purse. Or using beautiful women to get the attention of gullible men. You know the rest. Foreign Literature 1. Definition of memory According to lucid research. Mom, the human memory is a complex activity of the brain that allows us to store information and retrieve it again when we need it. There are two discrete memory systems: A system that keeps a record of our personal life experiences is usually called Autobiographical memory. A system that holds the knowledge about the world is called Semantic memory.It is possible for one system to work better than the other because these two work in somewhat different ways. For example, a student might have a good autobiographical memory and recall in detail everything about an event, but a poor semantic me mory o failing to remember things that need to be learned in school. Both memory systems can store information from all our senses – vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch – but in semantic memory visual and auditory-verbal modes of information usually predominate, unless another mode was particularly important.For example, a perfume maker would have a very well-developed semantic memory for doors. 2. Get to know your Brain Parts of the brain that is in charge of remembering and forgetting: The Cortex As said by Dry. Paul Nassau, the Cortex 5 is the outer covering of the brain. It is a word that translates to mean â€Å"bark of a tree†. This is one part of the brain that is responsible for your most complicated thinking abilities. Your memory, language, personality, intentional motor skills, spatial ability and visual perception are all controlled by the Cortex.The Medial Section of the Brain This part tends to be older and more primitive. These are responsible fo r controlling drives, impulses, fears, instincts, emotions, reflexes, subconscious processes and automatic behaviors. Supporter The â€Å"Subcultures† are the deeper brain structures. This permits a smooth integration of information processing in the brain. 3. Short-term Memory According to Keener Cherry, Short-term memory is also known as primary or active memory. It is the information that comes from giving attention to sensory memories.Duration of short-term Memory: Most of the information stored in this memory usually last for approximately 20 to 30 seconds. While many of our short-term memories are quickly forgotten, attending to this situation allows it to continue on the next stage – Long-term memory. The Capacity of Short-term Memory: â€Å"The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two†, expert psychologist George Miller suggested that people can store between five and nine items. More recent research suggests that people are capable of storing approximate ly four chunks of information in short-term memory. . Long-term Memory According to Keener Cherry, Long-term memory refers to the continuing storage of information. The information is largely outside of our awareness, but can be called into working memory to be used when needed. Some of the information is easy to recall, while others are more difficult to access. Duration of Long-term Memory: Long-term memories can last for a matter of days to as long as many decades. Types of Long-Term Memory Long-term memory is usually divided into two types – declaratively (explicit) memory ND procedural (implicit) memory. Declarative includes all of the memories that are available in consciousness. Declarative memory can be further divided into episodic memory (specific events) and semantic memory (knowledge about the world). Procedural memory involves memories of body movement and how to use objects in the environment. How to drive a car or use a computer are examples of procedural memor ies. 5. A deeper understanding about Autobiographical and Semantic Memory According to human-memory. Net, Autobiographical or Episodic memory is a memory system consisting of experiences recollected from an individual's life.Individuals can see themselves as actors in these events, and the emotional charge and the entire situation surrounded by the event is usually part of the memory. On the other hand, Semantic memory is a more structured record of facts, meanings, concepts and knowledge about the external world that we have attained. As stated by Luke Mastic, semantic memory is generally derived from the episodic memory, in that we learn new facts or concepts from our experiences, and the episodic memory is considered to support and underpin semantic memory. 6. Why do we forget? Lucid research. M says that the human memory is a system which is intended to remember information as well as forget information. Generally, we only retain the information we need for as long as we need it , and then it is forgotten. The human brain is constantly bombarded with huge amount of knowledge, and even though the information storage capacity of the human brain is very large, if we store every single item of information that ever reached our senses from the moment we were born, our memory would totally be overloaded before we started school. The fact is: we simply do not need to retain most of the information we receive each day.We only need to preserve some of that information and can safely forget the rest. The trick is to make sure that the information we do need is stored properly in memory ready for memory for a short time provided we strive to keep it there (e. G. By thinking about it or by rehearsing it to ourselves). This process is called short-term memory or at times working memory because we use this when working on any activity, such as listening to a conversation. But unless we also make an active effort to store that information in long-term memory in a semantic form, it will be forgotten very rapidly.Once in long-term memory, information is reasonably permanent. However, if we don't use that information we are likely to find a difficult to access when we need it, and the information is not stored very efficiently, it will also be difficult to access. When we say we have forgotten some item of information what we really mean is either: (a) the information was never properly store in long-term memory in the first place, or (b) the information has been stored in long-term memory but we can't find it because it has been stored in an disorganized way and/or because we haven't used that information for ages. 7.How do we remember, and why do we forget? An article by Shish Uranus said that the notion of memory is so intriguing that we've come up with more metaphors for it than for any other mental phenomenon. Early theories predicted a memory â€Å"Ingram†24, a literal text written by the body to describe past experiences. Freud popularize d descriptions of repressed memories, experiences physically buried in the depths of the subconscious. Modern descriptions are dominated by analogies to computers, in which the human brain is a hard disk that stores experience in electronic files and folders. Our memory represents a change in who we are.Our habits, our ideologies, our hopes and fears are all influenced by what we remember in the past. At the most basic level, we remember because the connections between our brains' neurons change; each experience primes the brain for the next experience. 8. How does the Brain process information Chris McKee said that information processing starts with input from the sensory organs, which transform physical stimuli such as touch, heat, sound waves, or photons of light into electrochemical signals. The sensory information is repeatedly transformed by the algorithms of the brain in both bottom-up and top-down processing.For example, when looking at a picture of a black box on a white ba ckground, bottom-up processing puts together very simple information such as color, orientation, and where the borders of the object are – where the color changes significantly over a short space – to decide that you are seeing a box. Top-down processing uses the decisions made at some steps of the bottom-up process to speed up your recognition of the box. Top-down processing in this example might help you identify the object as a black box rather than a box-shaped hole in the white background.Once information is processed to a degree, an attention filter decides owe important the signal is and which cognitive processes it should be made available to. For example, although your brain processes every blade of grass when you look down at your shoes, a healthy attention filter prevents you from noticing them individually. In contrast, you might pick out your name, even when spoken in a noisy room. There are many stages of processing, and the results of processing are 9. W hy do some people have better memory than other people According to Joyce Ward, people vary in the efficiency of their long-term memory.Some have a good memory and some poor long-term memory. This is probably determined partly by hereditary. But research has shown that most of the difference between people with good and poor memory can be attributed to the methods they use to learn that information in the first place. By developing the appropriate memory strategies we automatically store information in a more organized and efficient way that makes it easier for us to locate when we need it. Despite individual differences in memory, research indicates that in most people memory can be improved significantly by appropriate training. His does not mean that we can enlarge the storage capacity of our memory, what it means is that we can make our Emory more efficient, so that it is more likely to absorb new information and hold that information in a way that makes it easy for us to find i t again immediately when we need it. In order for the brain to process information, it must first be stored. There are multiple types of memory, including sensory, working, and long-term. First, information is encoded. There are types of encoding specific to each type of sensory stimuli.For example, verbal input can be encoded structurally, referring to what the printed word looks like, phonemically, referring to what the word sounds like, or semantically, referring to what the word means. Once information is stored, it must be maintained. Some animal studies suggest that working memory, which stores information for roughly 20 seconds, is maintained by an electrical signal looping through a particular series of neurons for a short period of time. Information in long- term memory is hypothesized to be maintained in the structure of certain types of proteins. 0. Capacity of the Human Memory According to Robert Gonzales, the comparison between the human brain and a computer is not a pe rfect one, but it does lend itself to some interesting lines of inquiry. The capacity of an average human head varies, depending on who you ask. Some experts estimates it in as low as 1 terabyte or approximately 1000 gigabytes. The reason behind the 100-terabyte estimate still has its flaws. It assumes, for example, that each synapse store 1 byte of information. In reality, each one could conceivably store more or less than that. 1 1 .Improving the memory No. 1: Stay Mentally Active Just as physical activity helps keep your body in shape, mentally stimulating activities help keep your brain in shape. Do things that challenge your mind such as solving crossword puzzles and learning to play an instrument. No. 2: Socialize regularly Social interaction helps ward of depression and stress, both of which can contribute and other. No. 3: Get organized You are more likely to forget things if your home is cluttered and your notes are in not in order. No. 4: Focus Limit distractions, and don' t try to do many things at once.If you focus on the information that you're trying to remember, you'll be more likely to recall it later. Understanding – if we understand the information it will be easier for us to remember, and if we understand how memory works, it is easier to make it work well for us personally Practice – the more often one does an activity, the more likely he/she will member it- Memory Strategies – ways of processing information that will help a person remember well. Organization – this ensure that information is stored in a more meaningful and well-organized way which is easy for the brain to recall it. 2. Tips for enhancing your ability to learn and remember According to helped. Org, these are some ways on how one can enhance his/her ability to learn and remember. 0 Pay attention – You can't remember something if you never learned it, and you can't learn something?that is, encode it into your brain?if you don't pay enough att ention to it. It takes about eight seconds of intense focus to process a piece of information into your memory. If you're easily distracted, pick a quiet place where you won't be interrupted. Involve as many senses as possible.Try to relate information to colors, textures, smells, and tastes. The physical act of rewriting information can help imprint it onto your brain. Even if you're a visual learner, read out loud what you want to remember. Relate information to what you already know. Connect new data to information you already remember, whether it's new material that builds on previous knowledge, or something as simple as an dress of someone who lives on a street where you already know someone. For more complex material, focus on understanding basic ideas rather than memorizing isolated details.

Technology in the film Contact essays

Technology in the film Contact essays The film Contact addresses the complex question of whether extraterrestrial life exists. In the beginning of the film, the idea that there could be any form of extra terrestrial life seemed ludicrous and Ellie was made a fool for believing in the possibility. Once Ellie and her fellow scientists receive a radio signal from the planet Vega, the government decided to take over the test site and the entire project. Without any information about the intent of the contact, the government made the assumption that it would be in their best interest to respond with violence. This response is not only true in the movie, the urge to respond to an unknown threat with violence can be seen in the way in which the United States solves world conflicts today. The quarrel between the United States and Iraq is an example of responding to the unknown with violence. Although the conflict between the United States and the extra terrestrial life on Vega is a very different from that of Iraq, there a re many similarities. Due to the lack of common laws or ideas, a sense of the unknown emerges between both parties and as this feeling increases a feeling of fear immerges. Unless the lines of communication are opened between the nations of this planet, the United States will always be on the verge of a third world war. The similarities between Contact and the Iraq versus US struggle can be displayed in Paul K Huth's model of deterrence (Huth, P (1999) Deterrence and International Conflict: Empirical Findings and Theoretical debates. Annual review of political science 2, (25-48)) This model demonstrates the connection of how anarchy leads to a security dilemma and evidently an arms race. The major similarity between the two is the idea that anarchy leads to and arms race and therefore a world war. The first point of the chart is that of anarchy. The definition of anarchy in this chart is the absence of any form of common political authority. An ex...

Outlining Simple Homework Guidelines for K-8 Teachers

Outlining Simple Homework Guidelines for K-8 Teachers Homework; the term elicits a myriad of responses. Students are naturally opposed to the idea of homework. No student ever says, â€Å"I wish my teacher would assign me more homework.†Ã‚  Most students begrudge homework and find any opportunity or possible excuse to avoid doing it. Educators themselves are split on the issue. Many teachers assign daily homework seeing it as a way to further develop and reinforce core academic skills, while also teaching students responsibility.  Other educators refrain from assigning daily homework. They view it as unnecessary overkill that often leads to frustration and causes students to resent school and learning altogether.   Parents are also divided on whether or not they welcome homework.  Those who welcome it see it as an opportunity for their children to reinforce critical learning skills. Those who loathe it see it as an infringement of their child’s time.  They say it takes away from extra-curricular activities, play time, family time, and also adds unnecessary stress. Research on the topic is also inconclusive. You can find research that strongly supports the benefits of assigning regular homework, some that denounce it as having zero benefits, with most reporting that assigning homework offers some positive benefits, but also can be detrimental in some areas. The Effects of Homework Since opinions vary so drastically, coming to a consensus on homework is nearly impossible.  We sent a survey out to parents of a school regarding the topic, asking parents these two basic questions: How much time is your child spending working on homework each night?Is this amount of time too much, too little, or just right? The responses varied significantly. In one 3rd grade class with 22 students, the responses regarding how much time their child spends on homework each night had an alarming disparity.  The lowest amount of time spent was 15 minutes, while the largest amount of time spent was 4 hours.  Everyone else fell somewhere in between.  When discussing this with the teacher, she told me that she sent home the same homework for every child and was blown away by the vastly different ranges in time spent completing it.  The answers to the second question aligned with the first.  Almost every class had similar, varying results making it really difficult to gauge where we should go as a school regarding homework. While reviewing and studying my school’s homework policy and the results of the aforementioned survey, I discovered a few important revelations about homework that I think anyone looking at the topic would benefit from: 1. Homework should be clearly defined. Homework is not unfinished classwork that the student is required to take home and complete. Homework is â€Å"extra practice† given to take home to reinforce concepts that they have been learning in class.  It is important to note that teachers should always give students time in class under their supervision to complete class work. Failing to give them an appropriate amount of class time increases their workload at home.  More importantly, it does not allow the teacher to give immediate feedback to the student as to whether or not they are doing the assignment correctly.  What good does it do if a student completes an assignment if they are doing it all incorrectly?  Teachers must find a way to let parents know what assignments are homework and which ones are classwork that they did not complete. 2. The amount of time required to complete the same homework assignment varies significantly from student to student.  This speaks to personalization. I have always been a big fan of customizing homework to fit each individual student.  Blanket homework is more challenging for some students than it is for others. Some fly through it, while others spend excessive amounts of time completing it.  Differentiating homework will take some additional time for teachers in regards to preparation, but it will ultimately be more beneficial for students. The National Education Association recommends that students be given 10-20 minutes of homework each night and an additional 10 minutes per advancing grade level. The following chart adapted from the National Education Associations recommendations can be used as a resource for teachers in Kindergarten through the 8th grade. Grade Level Recommended Amount of Homework Per Night Kindergarten 5 – 15 minutes 1st Grade 10 – 20 minutes 2nd Grade 20 – 30 minutes 3rd Grade 30 – 40 minutes 4th Grade 40 – 50 minutes 5th Grade 50 – 60 minutes 6th Grade 60 – 70 minutes 7th Grade 70 – 80 minutes 8th Grade 80 – 90 minutes It can be difficult for teachers to gauge how much time students need to complete an assignment. The following charts serve to streamline this process as it breaks down the average time it takes for students to complete a single problem in a variety of subject matter for common assignment types. Teachers should consider this information when assigning homework. While it may not be accurate for every student or assignment, it can serve as a starting point when calculating how much time students need to complete an assignment. It is important to note that in grades where classes are departmentalized it is important that all teachers are on the same page as the totals in the chart above is the recommended amount of total homework per night and not just for a single class. Kindergarten – 4th Grade (Elementary Recommendations) Assignment Estimated Completion Time Per Problem Single Math Problem 2 minutes English Problem 2 minutes Research Style Questions (i.e. Science) 4 minutes Spelling Words – 3x each 2 minutes per word Writing a Story 45 minutes for 1-page Reading a Story 3 minutes per page Answering Story Questions 2 minutes per question Vocabulary Definitions 3 minutes per definition *If students are required to write the questions, then you will need to add 2 additional minutes per problem. (i.e. 1-English problem requires 4 minutes if students are required to write the sentence/question.) 5th – 8th Grade (Middle School Recommendations) Assignment Estimated Completion Time Per Problem Single-Step Math Problem 2 minutes Multi-Step Math Problem 4 minutes English Problem 3 minutes Research Style Questions (i.e. Science) 5 minutes Spelling Words – 3x each 1 minutes per word 1 Page Essay 45 minutes for 1-page Reading a Story 5 minutes per page Answering Story Questions 2 minutes per question Vocabulary Definitions 3 minutes per definition *If students are required to write the questions, then you will need to add 2 additional minutes per problem. (i.e. 1-English problem requires 5 minutes if students are required to write the sentence/question.) Assigning Homework Example It is recommended that 5th graders have 50-60 minutes of homework per night. In a self-contained class, a teacher assigns 5 multi-step math problems, 5 English problems, 10 spelling words to be written 3x each, and 10 science definitions on a particular night. Assignment Average Time Per Problem # of Problems Total Time Multi-Step Math 4 minutes 5 20 minutes English Problems 3 minutes 5 15 minutes Spelling Words – 3x 1 minute 10 10 minutes Science Definitions 3 minutes 5 15 minutes Total Time on Homework: 60 minutes 3. There are a few critical academic skill builders that students should be expected to do every night or as needed. Teachers should also consider these things. However, they may or may not, be factored into the total time to complete homework. Teachers should use their best judgment to make that determination: Independent Reading – 20-30 minutes per dayStudy for Test/Quiz - variesMultiplication Math Fact Practice (3-4) – varies - until facts are masteredSight Word Practice (K-2) – varies - until all lists are mastered 4. Coming to a general consensus regarding homework is almost impossible.  School leaders must bring everyone to the table, solicit feedback, and come up with a plan that works best for the majority.  This plan should be reevaluated and adjusted continuously. What works well for one school may not necessarily be the best solution for another.