Effects Of Block Scheduling :: essays research papers

How Block Scheduling Effects In recent years many educators have voiced their concern about as losing our edge in the global marketplace as well as an apparent decline in American students' achievements. This has become a recurring belief for many teachers, parents, and school districts throughout the United States. As a result, many states have begun to increase the amount of units necessary to fulfill graduation requirements in hope to enhance education and make American students more globally competitive. As many districts have found, it is not feasible to add more subjects to the already demanding 6-or 7-period days. The problem in doing so is that there was little time for electives. At the same time they began to find that adding classes only took away time from other parts of the curriculum already established. While some districts fumbled with the idea of adding classes and minimizing losses in other areas, a large number of schools, more specifically 25-40 percent of U.S. high schools adopted block scheduling (American Federation of Teachers, 1999). It is apparent the block scheduling craze is thought to be a fix all solution to the problem, at least for those districts and individuals looking for anything to help increase the status quo. In a nutshell, block scheduling is the practice of breaking up school time into blocks or units of classroom time. More recently we have seen this practice redefined to stand for a restructuring movement for longer classroom periods. Typically average class periods ranged from 45-50 minutes long. Block scheduling has taken this traditional style of time management and have increases class periods anywhere from two to four times longer. As one might be amazed at the novelty of more time in the classroom, it is vital to understand that number of class periods are correspondingly decreased, thus the overall length of time is virtually the same. The majority of information gathered and the studies reviewed tend to overwhelmingly represent the results derived from the two we are describing. Hence from this point forward the term "block scheduling", as used in this paper shall consider the first two categories one and the same. It has been taken into consideration and concurred that there are many variations of block scheduling, however all research, testimonials, cases, and opinions taken into consideration are of the specific type of block scheduling mentioned above. It has also been taken into consideration that there may be many uncontrollable variables that directly and indirectly skew the results of some of the studies.

Metaphysical Language: Does it have any Meaning?

When we speak of something as metaphysical, we speak of something that is usually characterized as supernatural or something that is not perceptible by our senses.   When we talk about the things that our minds’ eyes see and not the things that our physical eyes see, we are talking in the language that is metaphysical. This is one of the things that the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein looks into in his book Tractatus Logico Philosophicus.   Wittgenstein argues that metaphysical language does not have any meaning.   They are as good as words that do not signify anything.   He even contends that the metaphysical statements should not be said: The right method in philosophy would be this. To say nothing except what can be said, i.e. ,the propositions of natural science, i.e. something that has nothing to do with philosophy: and then always, when someone else wished to say something metaphysical, to demonstrate to him that he had given a meaning to certain signs in his propositions. This method would not be satisfying to the other –he would not have the feeling that we were teaching him philosophy—but it would be the only strictly correct method. †¦ Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent. (Wittgenstein, 6.53-7) This does not mean that metaphysical propositions are all automatically false.   What Wittgenstein means is that it is beyond the realm of logic for us to understand metaphysical language.   This is not because they are profound or beyond our reality or beyond our senses but because, for Wittgenstein, they have no sense. To illuminate, let us take for example this scenario.   I saw a huge Blue Heron flying in front of me and the next day, my neighbor won the lottery.   Another day, I saw a Blue Heron again and two days after that, an accident happened in front of my house.   Now, I see a Blue Heron the third time and I conclude that the Blue Heron is a sign of something will happen.   Nobody knows what will happen but I am sure that the sign means that something will happen because I see it in my mind’s eyes, my soul.   My metaphysical statement is that the Blue Heron is a sign that things will happen.   It is like saying that when we see a black cat, bad things will happen to us. For Wittgenstein, it does not have any sense to say that a situation is a result of my perception of a Blue Heron or a bad luck is the result of my seeing a black cat.   He says that sentences like these work like a picture.   Since it is very difficult to explain, let me explain it through an example.   A map of the United States, for example, is a picture that points to the land of the United States.   The map shows that New York is more or less in the Eastern side of the map and Washington is in the Western side of the map. If we are in the Central part of the United States and we want to go to Seattle, we will fly eastward.   We will not fly westward because the map which pictures for us the location of Seattle tells us that Seattle lies east of the United States.   Ã‚  This is what Wittgenstein means when he says that â€Å"there must be something identical in a picture and what it depicts† (Wittgenstein 2.161).   The map mimics the way reality is structured.   It mimics the way the real locations in the US are placed beside each other. Language works like a picture.   It tells us what the situation is.   Wittgenstein says, â€Å"We picture facts to ourselves† (2.1).   For him, the meaning of a statement is whatever it pictures.   The meaning of the statement tells the situation of the world but like the picture, it can not tell us if it is actually true of false.   When we make a statement for example and we feel that it is meaningful, what the sentence is doing is that it is just pointing to a possible situation in the reality but it may be true or false. When we say, for example that a Blue Heron causes things to happen like it is the cause of our neighbor’s winning in the lottery or accident, the statement’s meaning pictures to us situations that can be true but we cannot be really sure because there is nothing in the sentence that makes it true.   Wittgenstein says, â€Å"In order to tell whether a picture is true or false we must compare it with reality† (Wittgenstein, 2.223). If we apply this with the statement, â€Å"The Blue Heron causes things to happen, things like winning a lottery or being the cause of people’s car accident†.   A Blue Heron is a big bird that lazes around the shallow part of water.   By definition, it has wings.   It can fly.   It has a beak, it can catch fish.   It can walk for a few steps.   It can swim.   These are the capabilities of a Blue Heron.   In reality, nothing in its definition or physical make-up can tell us that it can make a man win a lottery or be in a car accident. So the statement that â€Å"The Blue Heron causes things to happen, things like winning a lottery or being the cause of people’s car accident† does not have any sense.   As Wittgenstein says, â€Å"There is no compulsion making on thing happen because another has happened.   The only necessity that exists is logical necessity† (Wittegenstein 6.37).   We can understand the statement but it is nonsensical if we analyze it following Wittgenstein. In the same way, Wittgenstein would say that it does not have any sense to talk about a ‘soul’ or ‘a good life’.   We do not know what a soul is.   Nobody has seen a soul.   Nobody has reported that he or she sees a soul getting out of the body of a person who has just died.   We cannot find a correspondence for the world ‘soul’ in reality.   We have a sign for soul but we do not have a referent for the sign. When somebody dies and we say that he/she has lived a ‘good life’, it is also nonsensical.   What is a good life to one is not automatically the good life to another.   There is no single referent for what the sign ‘good life’.   It is also nonsensical when people at the funeral say about the dead person that lives were changed because of him.   Again, value statements like these are subjective and are not verifiable.   How can this statement be analyzed if there nothing that can be the referent for the sign.   The referent has died.   For Wittgenstein says, â€Å"The world of the happy man is a different one from that of the unhappy man. . .   Soo too at death the world does not alter, but comes to an end† (Wittgenstein 6.43-6.431).      

Recruitment and Selection Essay

DISCRIMINATION,SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECIES IN THE SELECTION-RECRUITMENT INTERVIEW Employers always want to have an interview when they want to select new personal in their company. Ofcourse, they want to be sure about new personal about that he or she does suit in their position in the company. Accordingly, interviews are important for their company in that finding right person. Therefore, it is possible to say recruitment and selection forms a core part of the central activities underlying human resource management: namely, the aquisition, development and reward of workers. Essential aspect of the interview, the social interaction occuring between interviewer and interviewee. The thesis of this paper discussing the influences which effect state of affairs during the interview according to Robert Merton’s ‘Self-Fulfilling Prophecy’. Merton is describing self-fulfilling prophecy as a ‘false definition of the situation evoking a new behaviour which makes the original false conception come ‘true’. This specious validity of the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error.’ We can say that, interviewer’s bias or stereotypes might effect their initial impression about employee, according to Merton’s theory. Giving a spesific example will make it clearer; if interviewer has some stereotypes about black people, when they have interview with one of interviewee who is black, they will behave them according to their bias. Regarding this, firstly pre-interview information on the interviewee will effect interviewer’s pre-interview evaluation of the interviewee’s qualifications; secondly, first step will effect interviewer’s perception of the interviewee’s performance in the interview, then second step will effect interviewer’s post-interview evaluation of the interviewee’s qualifications; finally it will effect interviewer’s last decision on the interviewee. Consequently, it is possible to say having some bias or stereotypes cause of discrimination during the  interviews. Several studies have provided indirect support of the proposition, although they do not constitute direct test of the effects of pre-interview decisions. For instance, interviewers appear to decide on whether to hire or reject applicants before the end of the interview. The findings, however, are somewhat mixed as to just how early they make their decisions. (Springbett, 1958) Springbett (1958) found that 88 percent of the post-interview evaluations of the applicants could be predicted succesfully from pre-interview evaluation of the candidates based on their applications. Huguenard, Sager, and Ferguson (1970) manipulated the interviewer’s pre-interview impressions by providing bogus feedback from personality tests that the interviewee was either warm or cold. Regardless of whether the interview was 10,20, or 30 minutes in length, the interviewers describe the interviewees with words that were consistent with pre-interview set. The sum up, the self-fulfilling prophecy can be used for examine the discrimination in pre-interview step and having stereotypes effects all steps druing the interview. The laws prohibiting discrimination on grounds of sex, race, disability, sexual orientation and religion expressly outlaw discrimination in the process of recruitment and selection.(Daniels K., Macdonal L., 2005) Effective recruitment requires an objective, systematic and planned approach if unlawful discrimination is to be avoided. Also it is important to avoid discrimination during the recruitment process. This not only is a legal requirement, but also gives employers the best chance of getting the right person for the job. The review of articles say us, interviewer might behave to interviewee according to his or her ideas from pre-interview step, during the interview. With an example we can make it clearer, differences between amount of men employers and women employers might be result of discrimination on pre-interview step. If interviewer believe that women should take care of children at home, when interviewer has interview with a woman, he will behave to interviewee according to this idea. Interviewer might not recruit a woman for job because of concerns that she might want to start a family and she might want to have children. Also, according to self-fulfilling prophecy, when women experienced that situation more than once they might be convinced to stay at home and work in less-cost  jobs. REFERENCES Daniels, K., & Macdonal, L.Equality, Diversity and Discrimination, chapter 5 CIPD, 2005 Huguenard, J. M., &Sager, E. B., &Ferguson, L. W. Interview time, inerview set, and interview outcome. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1970. Merton, R., Social Theory and Social Structure. Glencoe, 3: pp. 193-210. The Free Press, 1957 Springbett, B. M. Factors affecting the final decision in the employment interview. Canadian Journal off Psychology, 1958

Life Cycle of a Flowering Plant essays

Life Cycle of a Flowering Plant essays Almost all flowering plants are known as 'Angiosperms', which means plants whose seed production comes from flowering. Seeds are packaged within a fruit to be transported away from parent plant. Angiosperms are vascular plants containing xylem and phloem in bundled Plant cells, unlike animals they have multicellular haploid and multicellular diploid stages in there cycle. By the process of meiosis, diploid sporophyte cells produce haploid spores. Each haploid spore undergoes mitotic division creating multicellular haploid gametophyte. Gametes are the by-product of multicellular haploid gametophyte by process of mitosis. However gametes are not the direct result of mitotic division. Diploid sporophyte is the creation of two gametes fusing together. During fertilization, multicellular haploid cells change to multicellular Meiosis is the process of cell division (reproduction). Process of meiosis a cell undergoes two divisions. A cell divides to produce two cells each new cell holds DNA, the two new cells then divide again. It is not concerned about creating a working cell. Cells genetics are shuffled during meiosis, therefore the first division of cells do not have equal quantity of chromosomes, and it is in the second division of cells that chromosomes are divided equally in the new cells. There are two stages to meiosis. First stage of meiosis is like mitosis, where a cell divides into two both containing equal measures of DNA. Where in mitosis cells share equal DNA, meiosis a crossing-over is when the cells DNA exchange genes. These genes get mixed up producing the opposite perfect duplicate cells like mitosis. Second stage of meiosis DNA that remains in the cell condenses to form short chromosomes. All pairs of chromosome have a centromere. Centrioles begin at opposite sides of the cell. In metaphase ll, all chromosomes are lined in the middle of the cell and the centrioles are...

Atwood present the Commander Essay Example

Atwood present the Commander Essay Example Atwood present the Commander Essay Atwood present the Commander Essay Essay Topic: The Handmaids Tale In A Handmaids Tale the Commander is the most powerful authority figure in Offreds world. He is a high-ranking governement official and he is the head of the household that Offred has been assigned to. The Handmaids are defined solely through their bodies and their Commander and in chapter 15 we see why. The chapter begins with the Commander knocking at the door, the knock is prescribed, this gives the chapter an isolated, clinical feel now that the Commander is entering his wifes territory Atwoods use of language here is very effective, she says how the Commander is supposed to ask permisson to enter and how Serena Joy likes to keep him waiting. This shows the reader the awkwardness and power in the Commander his wifes relationship. Serena Joy in the next chapter is about to have her role as a wife violated, she is taking advantage of the power she has over the Household because in the next chapter she is powerless to the Ceremony. Atwood then uses a rhetorical question Who knows what she said to him, over the silver-encrusted dinner table? Or didnt say to keep the reader interested and get the reader thinking about the relationship between this husband and wife. The Commander is described by Atwood as a museum guard in his black uniform. he is then describes as a semi-retired man, genial but wary, killing time. But only at first glance, this is important as Atwood is hinting to the reader that all is not what is seems at first glance not just in this chapter but throughout the novel. Atwoods description of the Commanders straight, neatly brushed silver hair his sober posture shoulders a little stooped, the description of his shoulders suggests that not only is the Commander feeling awkward but embarrassed aswell. The description continues with the Commanders eyes being described as falsely innocuous, meaning falsely harmless, this adds to the the feeling that nothing is what it appears to be. The Commander looks at the household as though they are inventory something he inherited.. he hasnt figured out what to do with us what we are worth, the Commander thinks of these people, his wife, chauffeur, handmaid and house servants as objects, this adds to the emotionless atmosphere to the chapter. The relationship between the Comander and his wife is revealed again in this chapter, Atwood describes how the Commander nods, in the direction of Serena Joy, who does not make a sound, there is a lack of communication between them and it is on full view for the rest of the household to see. The Commander proceeds to unlock an ornate box, the word ornate is perfect for this box and chapter as everyone is in a complicated situation. The contents of this box is a bible which is kept locked up the way people kept tea locked up, tea was very expensive therefore precious, the Bible can also be seen as precious because this society is based on Biblical teachings. However the Bible is almost described as dangerous to this society, it is an incendiary device.. who knows what we would make of it. The Commander reads this device and the household are expectant here comes our bedtime story, this adds to this view of first apperances are dangerous, this falsely innocuous man is now reading his household a bedtime story from the Bible. Atwood again, describes the Commander as a shoemaker in an old fairytale book, she asks another rhetorical question to make the reader think again about the impression of the Commander: Is there no end to his disguises, of benevolence? Atwood then uses language to evoke sympathy for the Commander, To be a man, watched by women. It must be entirely strange, she also uses the repetition of To have them to evoke sypathy for example, To have them watching him all the time To have them flinch when he moves.. To have them sizing him up. Atwoods use of effective language doesnt stop there, she then goes on to say how the Commander is like a sock over a foot, To have them putting him on, trying him out.. this could reflect Offreds situation, as she is just an object who is tried out. Still continuing with the like a sock over a foot similie Atwood uses adjectives such as expands bulging grows big and they may also reflect the Handmaids as these are words usually associated with pregnancy. The Commander is describes as on a journey into darkness that is composed of women, a woman, who can see in darkness while he himself strains blindly forward. This suggests several things, the journey of darkness could be the view of this dystopian society which the Commander is clearly blind to,(he fulfills his legal obligations within his household but does so without conviction) and the only person who can see in darkness is a woman, this could be Offred, as she is so far seen to be against this society. Atwood uses language to create an intense and uncomfortable atmosphere, for example, She watched him from within Were all watching him since he has entered the room the Commander has been watched by all. Again, Atwood uses a similie to describe the Commander: he is like a boot Hard on the outside, giving shape to a pulp of a tenderfoot, this is another effective use of language in Atwoods presentation of the Commander. The final use of repetition in Chapter 15 is very effective, Atwood is still trying to evoke sympathy Still it must be hell, to be a man, like that but then she corrects herself It must be just fine It must be hell It must be very silent. Atwood is showing that she has not made a decision about whether the Commander is a hard man who is emotionless, if he was this situation would be just fine, however if not then his situation must be hell.

Read a source and write Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Read a source and write - Essay Example Yoga is originally from Hindu, India from early 5000-1000 B.C. The word of yoga, from the Sanskrit yui, has been interpreted as meaning to yoke or join with the divine. The early description of yoga describes it as a set of mental and physical exercises. There are appears to be a strong structural link between early forms of yoga and meditation as a means of achieving unity with a sort of transcendental consciousness. Still, some interpreters claim that yoga is a universal practice, and emphasize that yoga pre-dates Hinduism. Indeed, yoga has become important in many emerging and multifaceted religious traditions (75). Yoga arrived in America in 1805, and it developed fast. Yoga won over the American audience, and quickly became widely popular. With the advancing popularity of yoga in the United States it was not long before hybrid forms of the practice emerged. In a religious context one of the most significant hybrid forms of yoga was Christianity Yoga. Brooke Boon created Christi anity Yoga after attending traditional yoga classes and feeling alienated by what she believed was the subtle Hindu dialectic. For instance, Boon rejected phrases such as ‘achieving oneness with the universe’. Believing that such perspectives were antithetical to Christian doctrine, Boon innovated a form of yoga solely reliant on Christian themes and terminology. Indeed, Boon’s Yoga classes look a lot like traditional Yoga-using many of the same poses, breath control, and meditation practices-but replacing the more obvious Hindu references with Christian language and music, Bible meditation, and frequent references to Jesus (74). That is the difference between the traditional yoga and Christianity Yoga. Many people in the United States are Christian, so people use Christian Yoga as a religious practice. Christianity Yoga is more focused on knowledge than the real physical practice. Ultimately, it seems that the crucial differentiation between

Take home exam paper Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Take home exam - Term Paper Example This â€Å"unnatural† inelastic demand is created as a means of encouraging and influencing the consumer to integrate with the given good or service. This approach is used rather often as a means of encouraging a higher than average integration with a given good or service; hence the way that certain types of goods or services are so heavily marketed and ultimately create an unnatural level of demand as compared to what might otherwise exist should an aggressive level of marketing not be utilized (Van Heerde et al., 2013). Marginal cost refers to the change in overall cost that occurs when the quantity produced increases by an increment of a certain unit. This is useful in terms of understanding at what point a given manufacturer or producer should cease production and/or at what point it will be economically beneficial to upgrade the production capacity to deal with increasing demand or expected increased demand in the future (Rogerson, 2011). As such, marginal cost is not only associated with raw material inputs and/or labor, it can include the cost of building or purchasing new production space and machinery; up to and including a new factory or factories. The decreasing marginal returns can be noted in the graph below as the areas in both blue and red that appear as high values on the x and y axis. An oligopoly can be defined as a type of market form that is dominated by only handful of sellers. These oligopolies then have a high likelihood of colluding as a means of setting prices and reducing the entrants to the market that might threaten to drive down price. Oligopolies exist throughout the world and can be noted in the banking sector, automobile production sector, and telecommunications markets (Goettler & Gordon, 2014). Broadly speaking, governments around the globe have made gestures towards regulating and enforcing