Community Teaching Experience Paper Essay

It was merely a decade ago that the obesity epidemic was thought to only be a minor problem and had only alarmed a small number of endocrinologists interested by the size of the situation (James, 2008). However today, the problem of obesity is vast with more awareness of its presence by doctors and individuals alike. In fact, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention states, â€Å"More than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese (CDC, 2014)†. These numbers are outrageous and eye opening, leaving millions looking for a solution to this troubling epidemic. Obesity is not simply a cosmetic flaw as some might think, but is actually a very dangerous state of being for any individual to sustain long-term. Mentioned further in this paper, obesity leads to several debilitating diseases and disorders such as, type 2 diabetes. The teaching summary provided offers an understanding into the relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes as well as information given to assist those who currently struggle with obesity. Obesity is not simply an inconvenience or a cosmetic issue but a very dangerous and potentially deadly circumstance. In fact, one source explains, â€Å"Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death (CDC, 2014)†. Although obesity is preventable and reversible, it is not easy for most to do. The task of sheading unwanted pounds is not entirely determined by will power alone, defeating cravings and the decrease in the metabolic rate that complements weight loss are also factors (Skolnik & Ryan, 2014). The fact that will power is not the single factor in weight loss, this task is very difficult to achieve, especially with life stressors involved. The teaching summary includes diet and e xercise recommendations as well as information on weight loss surgery. The relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes’ existence has been scientifically proven and continues to remains a real threat for millions. The recognized meaning of obesity, globally, is centered on body mass index (BMI), and is a superior connection of total body fat than body weight alone, particularly on a populace basis (Skolnik & Ryan, 2014). According to one source, â€Å"†Over ­ weight† is defined as having a BMI of 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m2 and â€Å"obesity† applies to patients with a BMI >30.0 kg/m2 (Skolnik & Ryan, 2014)†. As previously stated, obesity has a high likelihood of leading to  co-morbidities such as type two diabetes; but what you may not know is how. Having excess weight, especially belly fat, makes the insulin our bodies produce resistant to fat cells. Therefore, our bodies are making the insulin and because of the adipose (fat) cells, the insulin cannot find the receptors. Furthermore, insulin resistance is due to hered itary, environmental influences and saturated and trans-fat high intake, obesity and an inactive routine (Servan, 2013). Once the insulin is unable to find the receptors, our bodies are no longer able to regulate glucose (sugar) consequently, our blood sugars rise causing havoc in the body over time. Individuals may ask the question, â€Å"Why not just lose the weight?† Unfortunately, for many, simply losing the weight is not a hop, skip, and a jump away! However, weight loss can be achieved through, diet modifications, exercise, or possibly weight loss surgery as a last resort. Quantifiable studies have credibly presented that lifestyle change is the greatest approach in the deterrence or suspension of type 2 diabetes. For overweight and obese individuals, a slight weight-loss goal of 5-10% can considerably decrease the diabetes threat (Servan, 2013). Weight loss surgery is also an option for those who feel they have tried everything and still yet struggle. Weight loss surgery is not a â€Å"quick fix†; its recipients must also change their diets forever. The teaching power point was pre sented in a group setting with other nurses as well as bariatric patients. I felt that it was important to teach the information to other nurses so that they could go and teach others afterwards. During the presentation I was very nervous and dislike speaking in front of crowds; I feel I did well simply because I am passionate about the topic. My own evaluation of the experience was overall a positive one. The information presented to the audience was over thirty-minutes, several individuals had questions, primarily regarding the weight loss surgery. However, the next time a teaching experience such as this one is conducted, I feel that a measure to test the audience would be beneficial. I feel like a fun group quiz or a trivia game would have been valuable in testing the audience’s knowledge. The only complaint I have is the time restriction. I had thirty minutes to present an introduction and the power point and feel I could have went more in depth if given more time. Overall, I feel this teaching experience was a success. The community response was a mixed one. I delivered the power point as planned and about  half of my audience turned out to be really focused on obtaining more information regarding weight loos surgery. Although I provided information in the power point about weight loss surgery, it was not my focus. Answering questions, to the best of my knowledge, about weight loss surgery took up a lot of my time. I did not have the â€Å"know how† to get the presentation back on track after the weight loss surgery slide. However, I did have a lot questions from the audience regarding the relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes that I felt very comfortable answering. Although I did not have a means of measuring the audiences’ knowledge pre and post presentation, I feel the presentation was effective in teaching about the relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes, and how to prevent such co-morbidities with obesity. As for my thoughts on improvement, the provider, as well as myself feel I could have used more eye contact while presenting. The daunting task of speaking in a group setting is nothing less than terrifying. However, I feel like I could have made more of an effort to make eye contact and be more engaging. As previously stated, a pre and post quiz would have been helpful in determining the effectiveness of the teaching. Although the crowd appeared appreciative of the knowledge, I have no way of knowing wheatear or not the audience actually learned the information. The provider complemented my on the variety of information I provided, as well as my confidence in my knowledge. I do agree that I feel adequately knowledgeable on the topic of the relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes however; I feel that if I would have shown more eye contact towards the audience I could have displayed further confidence. The provider also mentioned that I had a keen attention towards the sensitivity of obesity. I personally do not feel inclined to dislike or disrespect any population for any reason whether they be a different race other than my own, extremely short or tall, or obese. The provider also complimented my thorough explanation of disease process in easy to understand way of explaining. Explaining medications and disease processes in non-technical language, or easy to understand ways of explanation is important to ensure the patients understanding. As a nurse, it is sometimes easy to forget that we know medical terminology only because we have taken courses to teach us this as well as working in the medical field. The patient may often times feel inferior to the medically educated professional, leaving the patient to  agree to understanding information when in reality they have no idea what you are saying. My goal as a nurse is to help anyone and everyone I can, through education and encouragement. I realize that change, whether it be smoking cessation, losing weight, or increasing activity; changing our routine that we are comfortable with is not easy. However, if it is harming our health, change is necessary. Health care providers cannot make anyone change but what we can do is educate on the harmful effects of what the patient is doing and provide encouragement. More importantly is to provide a non-judgmental atmosphere. The patient will be more willing to listen to the nurse’s education as well as have trust in that nurse when they feel like an equal and are not being judged. References Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2014, September 9). Obesity and Overweight for Professionals: Data and Statistics: Adult Obesity – DNPAO – CDC. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html James, W. P. (2008). The epidemiology of obesity: the size of the problem. Journal of Internal Medicine, 336-352. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=9ede2d6d-4d02-42e9-aff7-dd9b2486a3c3%40sessionmgr4004&vid=8&hid=4203 Servan, P. R. (2013). Obesity and Diabetes. Nutricion Hospitalaria, 28(5), 138-143. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=11&sid=57543655-ca3d-4380-8d2c-28a71d3ce225%40sessionmgr110&hid=120 Skolnik, N. S., & Ryan, D. H. (2014). Pathophysiology, Epidemiology, and Assessment of Obesity in Adults. Journal of Family Practice, 63(7), 3. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=57543655-ca3d-4380-8d2c-28a71d3ce225%40sessionmgr110&vid=8&hid=119

Bookish Knowledge Vs Knowledge By Experience

Writing an essay on the topic † Not everything that is learned is contained in books.† Compare and Contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source is more important.? And Why? Explain with some real examples.By Payal Gupta (blog: http://mixwritings.blogspot.in)It is an old cliche that experience is a good teacher as compared to books. I agree with it. It can be a question of dilemma whether to prefer books or experience as a good source of knowledge. No doubt books explain us the concepts about any new theory. It introduces us to the new things and enhances our knowledge but in real world, things are different.Our surroundings is an external environment on which we have no control. Working in changing environments gives us experience, an another kind of knowledge which helps us to face real world scenarios. Both books and experience are two channels of knowledge and in my point of view, knowledge gained from real w orld experience is far more important than pedantic knowledge.Firstly, I want to quote my own personal experience to prove my perspective. During my MBA training, I took NCFM Financial Markets module. I had no deep prior knowledge about financial markets. I considered NSE booklet a source for gaining knowledge about markets different terminology and the whole process. But when I had undergone three days training in a Max Growth brokerage firm during training period, the real world came in front of me.Persons working there have only practical knowledge with them and they have no concern with what is written in books. My bookish knowledge proved wrong there. For instance, I asked them whether they give 2.5% commission to agents, they replied to me, in reality, it does not exceed 0.5%. There are many other things which I learnt there and they are nowhere in books. Means my certificate do not provide me the skill to work in any brokerage firm unless I have practical exposure to stock ex change working.This is my own case and it is reality. We cannot ignore this. This is the reason why recruiters prefer experienced persons for their company. The significance of experience attaches to us at a very young age. We start  experiencing success and failure while playing in the playground with friends. This victory and failure makes the child mentally stiff and gives her power to face failure and to handle victory. Further, playing in a playground unconsciously checks child ability to make strategies to ensure her success. The child also learns to be socialized there by making new friends.In this context, another example we can take of personal finance. Making budgets, to organize income and expenses, to manage funds by foreseeing future goals are such topics which can be learnt only through practical exposure. In my MBA, Personal finance is a different subject, it is not just a topic in a book. My teachers taught this subject without any book. We refer to ET Wealth newsp aper, current economy and business news, reading case studies of families who managed their finances well. Books can teach us some formulae and tools to manage finances but all is futile till we apply it to our real life. Managing funds is an important concept in our day to day life and this can be learnt only through experience.Concluding, no doubt books are ubiquitous source of knowledge but its knowledge is constrained to certain conditions and environment. Bookish knowledge is based on assumptions but real world do not take into account any assumption. It follows the law of change. Experience on other hand develops the person mentally and socially which otherwise ensures her survival in the world.

Country analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Country analysis - Essay Example sser powerful sections of the society are prone to expect and accept a powerful autocratic force which acts in paternalistic format and is not in favor of democratic rights of the lesser powerful. b) Ranking2 – The ranking of Mexico 81 suggests that Mexican society experiences lesser degree in distribution of power and wealth. The general mass of the society expects and accepts the superiority of few and has to live with the socio-cultural set-up of the society that has the concentration of power and wealth in few hands. d) Analysis of the difference in ranking – Over 40 ranks differentiates USA from Mexico which means that while in Mexico workplace there is a marked difference between superiors and subordinates and both consider themselves different from one another. While in USA the process of work tends to be bit more democratic and subordinates are expected to provide their views to management. a. Definition3 – individualism outlines the degree of integration of groups among individuals of the society. Individualistic societies are marked by higher degree of stress put on individualistic nature and personal achievements. On the other end of individualistic societies, we find collective societies which are dominated by individuals who remain part of a common group, which are generally marked by huge extended familial ties and relations. b. Ranking4 – The ranking of Mexico 30 which clearly outlines the state of individualism in the Mexican society which is marked by higher degree of collective groups than reliance on the achievements of individuals. d. Analysis of the difference in ranking – The work culture and business systems of individualistic society tend to do business on performance basis contracts whereas in collectivistic society like Mexico the business is usually carried out through family links. a. Definition5 - This defines the society’s tolerance or the lack of the same for uncertainty and ambiguity. It is reflective of the degree

Summery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Summery - Essay Example Compared with the private sector, the public service will value intrinsic rewards such as service delivery to the people, public interest and the importance of work (Houston, 2000). In terms of accomplishment and fulfillment in work, public employees rated higher than their private sector counterparts (Houston, 2000). The motivation rewards will vary depending on social, cultural and ethical environments. Employee attitude is another determining factor in the accomplishment of a successful motivation reward. The reward may be in terms of income; however, it may be dependent on other social and economic structures like education background, experience, service delivery and efficiency. The managerial structures and the bureaucratic stem of governance play a big part in the effectiveness of employee motivation. Streamlining of processes and making the work environment adaptable is a more convenient way of motivating the employees. Better working conditions also play a major role in ensuring that the employees feel valued and appreciated (Houston, 2000). Rules are there to be followed. Sometimes they can be effective or ineffective depending on how they are managed, applied or regulated. In the public management system, certain standards are always required for efficient service delivery. Red tape is an excessive regulation applied in most public corporations and governments that is usually considered to be rigid or bureaucratic as it affects the flow of action, service delivery and decision making. With the aim of reversing the negative effects of this kind of system, public management scholars have come up with a reliable, effective and productive theory known as Green Tape Theory (DeHart-Davis, 2009). Transition is a very delicate topic especially in the public management system. In most cases, the fear of change stops us from taking action. Anxiety in the public system has limited the effectiveness of the Green Tape Theory because of

Equity and Trusts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Equity and Trusts - Essay Example The formal declaration is not subject to any alteration and therefore settles any dispute that would possibly arise from the process of sharing the property. A will is a binding document that is always not subject to any form of alteration. Alan Jones leaves behind a will elaborating how he would wish to share his wealth. The terms of the will just as is the situation with any other are legal terms and therefore require effective analysis and interpretation. Everyone referred to in the will must receive the resources allocated to them and utilize the resources as directed by the deceased. This implies that the lawyer does not only oversee the interpretation of the will by making the terms understandable to the parties but also ensures that the specific parties carry out the mandate bestowed upon them by the author of the will (Ross, 2004). In his will, Alan Jones begins by allocating his former wife, Lucinda an amount of money worth five hundred pounds. In the directive, Alan says th at he hopes the woman puts the money in a trust to help the Ilchester animals sanctuary so that the money helps the sick animals in the sanctuary (Garth, 1998). The terms of the will in relation to the former wife are liberal. Alan gives the woman the amount and in so doing, he bestows on her the mandate to invest the money as she wishes. He later advises that the woman invests the money in a trust, the tone of the directive is an advice and so, the woman has no prerogative to comply with it. He says that he wishes she invested the money in trust to help sick animals in the sanctuary. Despite this, the woman has the right to invest the money as she so wishes only that it would make him happier if she did invest the money in the trust as he advises (McKendrick, 2012). From the composition of the directive, it is possible Allan knew that his former wife and a passion for conserving the animals. He, therefore, presumes that the receipt of such an amount would help her realize her dream of reaching out to the animal orphanage. This information compels Alan to advise her to do so with the money. Possibly, the woman may decide to invest the money in the trust as he advises but the terms of the will does not bind the stakeholders to use the money in the assistance of sick animals since this again is another random advice such he believes that the sanctuary protects only sick animals (Amsterdam & Bruner, 2002). The sanctuary after receiving the money has the authority to invest it in a manner they deem necessary since the terms of the will do not influence their budgetary allocation and internal operations. In the second sentence, he gives his two houses to his brothers Kip and Tim. He makes it clear on the location of the houses by naming thereby making it clear that the two houses include the one on number 12 High Fullchetser while the other in 42 High Ilchester. By naming the location of the houses, Alan makes the will clear and does not, therefore, create confusio n with any other interested parties on the two houses. On the same sentence, he says that Kip to have the first choice, a depiction of presence in which he apportions his brother Kip the chance to choose either of the house before his other brother Tim. Kip, therefore, makes the first choice on which house to retain after which Tim retains the other.     Ã‚  

Frankenstein or the modern prometheus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Frankenstein or the modern prometheus - Essay Example The defiance that Frankenstein displays in the novel, of the natural laws and the divine modes of creation makes him a modern-day Prometheus. This paper shall also seek to show the importance of this analogy to the Romantics. Revolution against established authority was one of the major concerns of the Romantics, who sought to express this concern in their literary creations. Mary Shelley’s own concerns regarding male authority can also be seen in this analogy that is a conscious device within her work. VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN, A MODERN PROMETHEUS Victor Frankenstein, a Modern Prometheus The character of Victor Frankenstein has intrigued critics since the time of the publication of the novel, Frankenstein. Derided by some as a blasphemous character who seeks to appropriate the functions of God and meets his just end by the end of the novel, Frankenstein has also been compared to the mythic character of Prometheus for the defiance that he exhibits by the very act of creation that h e commits. By doing so, he challenges the authority of the Christian god, very much like Prometheus, who questions the right of Zeus to withhold knowledge from mankind. Rebellious figures both, Frankenstein goes one step ahead and actually attempts to appropriate the functions and powers that are conventionally associated with God. Modeling a character on Prometheus is part of an ethos that supports revolution and liberty. This was the prevalent ethos amongst the writers who were a part of the Romantic movement in England during the nineteenth century. By explicitly stating the analogy between Frankenstein and Prometheus, Mary Shelley erases any doubt as to the nature of the character of Frankenstein. The use of the figure of Prometheus for revolutionary purposes can be seen in the work of another writer of this period, P.B. Shelley. Mary Shelley’s husband, in his poem Prometheus Unbound portrays his main character Prometheus as a long-suffering revolutionary who finally mana ges the overthrow of the tyrant Jupiter (Shelley, 2001). The influence of the VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN, A MODERN PROMETHEUS ideas of her husband can definitely be seen in the work of Mary Shelley. Frankenstein, even while he is performing his scientific experiments, is aware of the blasphemous nature of it. When he says, A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs. (Shelley, 2003, p. 36), he proves that he knows his aspirations: become capable of something that only God was capable of. In an act that would provide mankind with the secret of life and death, Frankenstein is similar to Prometheus who aimed to do something very similar through his theft of fire that enabled man to raise himself above the savage state in which he had existed till then. For their crimes, both the characters are separated from their fellow-beings and are tortured by a providential authority, which seems to be a punishment for transgression. Prometheus undergoes separation from his beloved in a manner that is similar to that of Frankenstein’s misery at the death of the members of his family. A thirst for knowledge and the urge to discover what is new characterizes both Frankenstein and Prometheus. Frankenstein is engaged in the constant pursuit of new experiences and it is only when his torture at the hands of his creature begins that he retracts VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN, A MODERN PROMETHEUS from his policy of acquiring new knowledge. Similarly, Prometheus’s attempts to steal fire are born out of a thirst for knowledge. Apart from this thirst for knowle

Conservation of Fresco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Conservation of Fresco - Essay Example Innumerable artists practiced fresco painting during the years to come, and this art became popular through the Greek, Roman and Byzantine Empires. Unfortunately, not many frescos have survived. Some rare Roman frescos are found in Herculaneum and Pompeii. Christians wo lived during the early period from 250 to 400 AD, painted some small frescos as a form of decoration of Roman catacombs, the burial place. The popularity of fresco painting declined after the Renaissance. But Mexican painters Diego Rivera, Jose Orozco, and David Siqueiros were using the techniques of fresco painting in their murals and through this once again the revitalization of fresco art took place. Again during the American Depression, painters like Thomas Hart Benton were engaged in fresco production. Now, fresco art is no longer used as it was used before, the main reason is because of its susceptibility to humidity and weathering. Regard to this reason, many artists have abandoned the fresco painting in the production of serious art. This paper will try to explain a little about fresco painting in general and then move on to the process and technique used in the production of fresco art. Then the paper would deal about the conservation of fresco paintings and finally explain its importance. Calcium carbonate is the binding material that is used in the production of fresco art. ... This results in the formation of calcium carbonate upon the surface of the material thus forming the plaster. The colour is applied before this change occurs so that it gets settled underneath the plaster formation which then looks similar to a glass. When viewed through a microscope, a particle or piece of fresco looks like thousands of minute mosaic put together and creates an astounding appearance. The art produced in such a way is called as fresco art or painting. It is not very difficult to paint a simple fresco if we are well aware of the process and technique. Many people throughout the world are engaged in fresco painting as entertainment or part of their hobby. Finally, to make this process very easy here is a short cut. Fresco painting is nothing but applying pure colour onto wet lime and the next thing that happens is the formation of crystalline substance over the wet surface. Now, the whole thing dries up producing fresco. One of the great things to have in mind is that all over the world ancient people followed this process in the creation of fresco art. Though the people of the ancient civilization had no means of communication, yet they all followed the same process in the making of painting and this is so surprising to us. It has led modern chemists to analyse the process through the study of ancient artists of different places. ELEMENTS OF FRESCO There are five elements that are used for creating a fresco. I have listed out one by one below so that there may not be any confusion. 1. The Structural Wall - This wall is the physical body in which the artist creates the fresco art. 2. The Design - Refers to the fresco's environment or architectural setting. 3. Lime

Statistics Executive Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Statistics Executive Summary - Essay Example Consequently, the small and medium entrepreneurs have to make hard struggle to increase the popularity of their products. The same is applied with the management of the restaurant under study, which aims to launch a comprehensive market research, in the light of which it could devise its strategic plan and implement it in urban and suburban areas. Though the research conducted for the market plan of the restaurant is limited one and discusses only few aspects, yet the given data draws out few aspects of the business plan of the restaurant, which have been analyzed as under: Data Analysis: The given sheet reveals the very fact that the data has been gathered from urban and suburban areas, where the administration aims to improve its already launched food services for the customers. Column A of the given data shows that one hundred and one locations have been selected for marketing purposes, out of which fifty one locations have been taken from urban areas, while the remaining fifty locations have been preserved for suburban areas for the restaurant under study. Column B shows mixed response from both the given locations regarding the food being offered by the restaurant. According to the given data the food is preferred by the visitors with the mean 19.33 in urban category, while the mean for the suburban category is 20.54. It proves the very reality that food of the restaurant is comparatively more popular among suburban population than the urban population. Since the main purpose of the people for visiting the restaurants is to get some food in order to satisfy their hunger, they want to go to such a place where there is peace, calm and tranquility as well as the services offered to them are satisfactory ones. The companies, organizations and entrepreneurs have to introduce new and novel services in a situation of perfect competition

Ocimum Basilicum Laboratory Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ocimum Basilicum Laboratory Report - Essay Example Introduction Basil is a small plant and can be grown in the pot. It is treasured for its many purposes such as, ornaments, fragrance and its medicinal value. It is very simple to grow in the optimum conditions of its growth. It germinates from a seed and takes a period of one year to mature. It is mostly used in cuisines, such as Italian, dental and oral products. It is believed to originate from the Asian content. It is grown in Morocco, Indonesia, California, Egypt, and southern Europe. It takes one year to fully mature. It has green stems and it is leafy. A mature Basil plant has a height of 2-3 ft. It is popularly used as a flavour. It has a spicy and peppery flavour compounded by mint and cover. The flavour is best before flowering .Basil is used in laboratory experiments to investigate many variables such as soil nutrients, soil acidity water, phototropism, gravitropism, and allelopathy (Pay Lucy and Mark 2004). The objective of research was to determine whether, the nutrients in different soils had an effect on the growth of Basil plant. In this experiment, three samples of soil were used. These samples of soils comprised of sand soil (pH 7.5), Black soil (pH 6.0), and Potting soil (6.5). The period of the study was fourteen days. The experiment used ocimum basilicum, which was fourteen inch in height. These plants were purchased at a Home Depot. The researched used three terra cotta pots. Ocimum basilicum was placed in each pot. The plants were watered each day with the same amount of distilled water (118.29Ml). The three pots were exposed to the same amount of light in the balcony. This ensured that they had the same amount of sunlight. The height of the plants was measured after every seventh day of the fourteen experiment period. A control set of experiment was also set, exposed to the same environmental condition but of water. Their heights were also measured and compared with originals. The purpose of the study was to determine whether different so ils minerals contributed to growth of basil plants. The experiment hypothesized that typical potting soil will outperform black soil and sand soil by increasing the growth speed of the Ocimum basilicum by at least 20%. Materials and Methods Acquirement and Management Ocimum basilicum takes one year to mature. It has about 2-3 ft. Basil has two colors of flowers. They are either purple or white flowers. Ocimum bacilicum is leafy and with free branches. It is mostly preferred for fragrances and color. This plant has an optimum growth in a soil with good drainage and sufficient amounts of water. Frost affects Ocimum basicum. It is easy to propagate and can be grown in pots and containers. Terra cotta pots These are special pots that are frost free. They are mostly used in laboratory experiments to grow plants fro experiments. Distilled water. It is water that is purified through a distillation process. It is used in the laboratories for experiments. It has almost pH7.0. Samples of sand , Miracle Grow Potting, and Black soil Miracle Grow potting soil is a combination of different soils. The principle ingredients include peat moss, decayed plant materials, sand, and partite. Black soils are very nutrient rich soils while sand have poor drainage and low water retention capacity. This experiment used three basil plants. The three plants were 14 inch tall each. They were purchased fro a Home Depot. They were then kept in different terra cotta pots. The

Modern Art Essay Example for Free

Modern Art Essay The Post-Industrial Era in which we live in now is characterized by the extraordinary rate in development of technology. In sixty years we have managed to completely redesign every aspect of our lives in a way in which we allow technology to do most of the work. Whether we like it or not technology will keep evolving, and as it evolves it will impact aspects of society differently. The evolution of technology has had a very negative impact on artistic values in society and in aesthetics. In his essay â€Å"The Art of Collecting Lightbulbs,† Kimmelman exposes characteristics and qualities contained in art making. As Richard Restak explains in his essay â€Å"Attention Deficit: The Brain syndrome of Our Era,† Technology serves not only as an ally but also as a distraction from our daily activities. As a distraction it also serves as an escape from peoples daily routines, a place formerly occupied by art. Technology also facilitates the process of critical thinking and inhibits creative imagination, this turns out to be gravely detrimental to artistic development. As Technology distracts more people it will take away from the small group of people who are actually passionate about art. Technology now provides an escape from reality to those who need it. This niche was formerly occupied by art. Before Post-Industrial times people would rely on art to release their thoughts, whether it was on a canvas or a sheet of music. Modernly it is much easier to watch TV, play video games, or browse the web, than to set up a canvas to paint. The ease that technology brings with it makes our brains lazy. More often than not we chose to do those activities, which require less energy. This generally wouldn’t be a problem if the issue was choosing the elevator over the stairs, but when it begins influencing the activities we chose to do as a pastime, energy/thought intensive activities, such as art, will suffer. As stated by Restak, â€Å" In our contemporary society speed is the standard applied to almost everything that we do.†(339) This turns out to be very true when analyzed using a quote by David Shenk used by Restak. â€Å" We often feel life going by much faster than we wish, as we are carried forward from meeting to meeting, call to call, errand to errand. We have less time to ourselves and we are expected to improve our performance and output year after year.†(337) With this type of pressure we are not to blame for wanting to take the easy way out, but technology is. As we find lest time for ourselves, we find less time to release our, already hindered, creative thoughts in the form of art. Undoubtedly, if the dentist from Kimmelman’s essay lived in today’s world he would not have half of the time he had in his days to collect light bulbs. That is because I took an extraordinary deal of dedication, and most importantly, attention for him to collect over 75,000 light bulbs (217). Before it affects the time that we actually have to conduct artistic activities, technology already thwarts our ability to think creatively. As Restak quotes â€Å"The clutter, noise, and constant barrage of information that surround us daily contribute to the hectic pace of our modern lives, in which it is often difficult simply to remain mindful in the moment† (336). Being flooded with imagery, sound and text messages, our brain has to divide its attention to respond to all of these simultaneously. â€Å"Our brain literally changes its organization and functioning to accommodate the abundance of stimulation forced on it by the modern world† (Restak 332). So that even if we do have time for art our mind is divided and not able to think creatively. Hugh Alfred Hicks shares a story with Michael Kimmelman in which he was in Paris at a metro station and spotted a tungsten light bulb from the 1920s and took it for his collection (Kimmelman 217). It would be much more difficult for him to spot the same light bulb in a metro station in Paris today, as he would be bombarded by images, live changing screens with times, and advertising. His thoughts about his collection would likely the last thoughts in his mind. Creative thinking is on a downhill spiral. With the Internet we don’t have to wonder about anything anymore. Long gone are the days where we would have to imagine what the Great Wall of China looks like. We no longer have to yearn for answers with passion and fulfill a newly carved void in our minds; all we have to do now is Google images: â€Å"Great Wall of China.† This instant gratification (although convenient) overwhelms our ability to imagine. Our brains are lazy and after years of instantly answering our own questions, we become unable to create pictures in our head. This turns out to be harmful to creating art, as the first ingredient for art making is creativity. Not only is creative thinking decreasing due to technology, so is the actual population of artists. Not modern artists (as in graphic designers etc.) but classical artists. Technology provides us a virtual reality in which classical art is not involved. Although this is seen by most as the evolution of art, it is actually the demise of classical art. The wonderment of impressionist or French realist art has become a rarity. In the modern world we have not time or enough attention span to concentrate on such elaborate pieces. This is partly due to a phenomenon described by Restak, â€Å"The most widespread consequential speed-up of our time is the onrush in images- the speed at which they zip through the world, the speed at which they give way to more of the same, the tempo at which they move†(339). This seemingly never ending onrush of imagery takes away from our ability to sit still and analyze one single image. Since we are accustomed to quick changes in images and visual stimuli, we lack the patience to appreciate classical art pieces. A quote used by Restak of Blaise Pascal provides a good illustration of why this art is on the decline. â€Å"Most of the evils in life arise from a man’s being unable to sit still in a room†(334). As if we weren’t already disperse with all the technology that we carry around, being worried about our texts and tweets, our thoughts are also dispersed, this allows only for quick less elaborate imagery to get through to us. Since our brains are lazy and take the path of least resistance, most classical forms of Art cannot fill that niche. There are very few people left who can actually appreciate 40 minute long Mozart concertos. The radio now plays 4 minute longs songs and actually speeds them up so that they are shorter. Restak explains that our lack of attention has actually become somewhat normal. â€Å"Many personality characteristics we formerly labeled as dysfunctional, such as hyperactivity, impulsiveness and easy distractibility, are now almost norm†(335). In a world where these attributes are norm there is no room for overly detailed portraits or grand escalating music pieces. Our brains are rewired for instant gratification, a gratification seldom found in classical art. As technology helps our society advance to create a more highly efficient less wasteful machine, we can expect leisurely activities to suffer, mainly art. Technology makes it so that we are in more than two places at once whether we like it or not. This creates a split of thoughts in our brains. We try but are unable to, process two tasks at once. Our brains are pushed to jump back and forth between two or more different sections, which handle different parts of our thought process. While all of this is going on, the last thought in our brains is art. As we devote more and more time to our gadgets and videogames, we devote less time to creating and appreciating art.

The Van Hiele Theory Of Geometric Thinking

The Van Hiele Theory Of Geometric Thinking This chapter will provide a brief explanation of the theoretical framework on Van Hiele theory of geometric thinking. Consequently review and discuss on literature involving van Hiele theory and dynamic geometry software, follow by review of literature on teaching and learning of geometry by dynamic geometry software Cabri 3D as an instructional tool. Then chapter conclude by reviewing literature on designing learning activities. The Van Hiele Theory of Geometric Thinking The van Hiele model of geometric thinking is one theory that offers a model for explaining and describing geometric thinking. This theory resulted from the Dutch mathematics educator doctoral work of Dina van Hiele-Geldof and Pierre van Hiele at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands which completed in 1957. Pierre van Hiele formulated the five levels of thinking in geometry and discussed the role of insight in the learning of geometry in this doctoral thesis. Van Hiele reformulated the original five levels into three during the 1980s. Dina van Hiele-Geldorfs doctoral thesis, which was completed in 1957, focused on the role of instruction in the raising of a pupils thought levels. Her study centered on thinking of geometry and the role of instruction in assessing pupils to move though the levels. The following summary of Van Hiele theory history is taken from Hanscomb,Kerry, (2005, p.77): A convenient location for many primary sources on the Van Hiele model is Fuys et al. (1984).Other primary sources are van Hiele and Van Hiele-Geldof (1958) and Van Hiele (1986). Secondary sources for Van Hiele research are Mayberry (1983), who found that students may operate at different levels for different concepts; Mayson (1997),who claims that gifted students may skip van Hiele levels; and Clements and Battista (1992),who cite finding indicating that the van Hiele levels involve cognitive developmental factors as well as didactical factors. The van Hiele theory has been applied to clarify students difficulties with the higher order cognitive processes, which is necessary to success in high school geometry. In this theory if students do not taught at the proper Hiele level that they are at or ready for it, will face difficulties and they cannot understand geometry. The therapy that offered for students by this theory is that they should go through the sequence of levels in a specific way. (Usiskin, 1982b). It is possible to generalize the Van Hiele model to the other topics such as physics, science and arts. Because the main idea of this theory is the consequence of levels and believing that each level is built on properties of the previous level as many researches has done based on this theory on science education. Characteristics of Van Hiele level of geometric thought Van Hiele theory argues there are some misconstructions in teaching of school mathematics and geometry, which was existed for long time based on the formal axiomatic geometry and was created by Euclid more than two thousand years ago. Euclid logical construction is based on his axioms, definitions, theorems, and proofs. Therefore, the school geometry that is in a similar axiomatic fashion assumes that students think in a formal deductive level. However, it is not usually the case and the students have the lack of prerequisite understanding about geometry. Van Hiele discusses this lack creates a gap between their level of geometric thinking that they are, and the level of geometric thinking that they required for and they expected to learn. He supports Piagets points of view Giving no education is better than giving it at the wrong time. Teachers should provide teaching that is appropriate to the level of childrens thinking. Van Hiele theory suggests: It depends on the students level of geometric thinking the teacher can decide in which level the teaching should be begun.(Van Hiele, 1999) According to the van Hiele theory, a student moves sequentially from the initial level (Visualization) to the highest level (Rigor). Students cannot achieve one level of thinking successfully without having passed through the previous levels. Furthermore, Burger Shaughnessy (1986) and Mayberry (1983) have found that the level of thinking at an entry level is not the same in all areas of geometry. During last decades many researchers and investigators tried to support the Van Hiele model or disapprove of it and still some try to improve or adjust this model. Many of the researcher used Van Hiele level of geometric thought as a suitable and proper theory in their research using dynamic geometry software (Smart, 2008). The Van Hiele levels have certain properties specially for understanding the geometry. First of all, the stages have fixed sequence property. The five levels are hieratically, it means students must go through the levels in order. He/she cannot fit in level N without having gone through the previous level (N-1). Students cannot engage in geometry thinking at higher level without passing the lower levels. Second property is adjacency of the levels. At each level of thought what is essential in the previous level become extrinsic in the existing level. Individual understanding and reflection on geometric ideas are needed to move from one level to the next one, rather than biological maturation. Third each level has its own symbols and linguistic and relationships for connecting those symbols. This property is a distinction of the stages. For example when a teacher use a language for higher level of thinking than students level of thinking, students cannot understand the concepts and try to just memorizing the proofs and do the rote learning. In this case miscommunication emerge (Hong Lay, 2005). The next characteristic, clarifies two persons in different levels cannot understand each other. As each level of thinking has its own language and symbols so students in different levels cannot understand each other. Lastly, the Van Hiele theory emphasize on pedagogy and the importance of teacher instruction to assist students transition through one level to the next one. This characteristic indicates that appropriate activities which allow students to explore and discover geometric concepts in appropriate levels of their thinking are the best activities to advance students level of thinking. Phases of learning geometry Van Hiele theory defines five levels of learning geometry which students must pass in order to obtain an understanding of geometric concept. To progress from one level to next level should be involve these five levels as Usiskin argued: The learning process leading to complete understanding at the next higher level has five phases, approximately but not strictly sequential, entitled: Inquiry Directed orientation Explanation Free orientation Integration (p.6)(Usiskin, 1982a). These five level are very valuable in designing activities and design instructional phases. Phase one: Inquiry First phase of learning geometry starts with inquiry or information satge. In this stage students learn about the nature of the geometric objects.in order to design appropriate activities, Teacher identify students prior knowledge about new concept which need to be learnt. Then teacher design proper activities to encourage and encounter students with the new concept which is being taught. Phase two: Directed orientation During this phase while students doing their short activities with set of outcomes like: measuring, folding and unfolding, or geometry games, teacher provides appropriate activities base on students levels level of thinking to encourage them be more familiar with the concept being taught. Phase three: Explanation As the name of this phase demonstrates, in this stage students try to describe their learning of new concept in their own words. Students in this phase start to express their conclusions and finding with their other classmates and teacher in their own words. They communicate mathematically. The role of teacher in this stage is supplying relevant mathematical terminology and language in a proper manner, by using geometrical and mathematical language accurately and correctly. Phase four: Free orientation In this phase geometrical tasks that appeal to numerous ways is presented to the students. This is the students who decide how to go about accomplishing these tasks. As the way of solid geometry, they have learned to investigate more complex open-ended activities. Phase Five: Integration In this stage students summarize completed tasks and overview whatever they have learned to develop a new network of concepts. By completing this stage it is expected that students attained a new level of geometric thought. One of important properties of these phases of learning in Van Hiele theory is not linear in nature. Sometimes students need a cycle form of these phases by repeating more than one time to overcome certain geometrical concepts. The role of teaches here is providing suitable activities based on these five phases to develop each level of van Hiele geometric thinking. The Van Hiele level of geometric thinking According to Van Hiele theory, the development of students geometric thinking considered regarding the increasingly sophisticated level of thinking. These levels are hierarchies and able to predict future students enactment in geometry(Usiskin, 1982a). This model consists of five levels in understanding, which numbered from 0 to 4. However, in this research we defined these levels from 1 to 5 to be able categorize students, who are not fitted in the model as level 0. Level 1, Visualization Level 2, Analysis Level 3, Informal deduction Level 4, deduction Level 5, rigor Level 1: Visualization The base stage of Van Hiele geometric thinking which is encountered with goals of mathematical domain is Level 1. The objectives of the first level are functions like the underpinning elements of everything that are going to be studied. Understanding at this stage includes visualizing base objects. At this level visualization defines as comprehension or seeing initial objects in students minds. For instance, a number line in this stage could be defined as real numbers in the domain of real numbers. Vectors and matrices can be seen as basic objects in the domain of leaner algebra. So perceiving vector as a directed segment or matrices as a rectangular table of numbers lies in level 1. Elementary teachers know that it takes a few years of school for pupils to master visualization level. For example, it takes long time for students to see real numbers in a number line format. Similarly, perception of an ordered list or array of numbers, or an ordered pair of points is not something that occurs to an untaught mind and eye. Hence, serious teaching effort and introduction needed to students achieve Level 1and it is not assumed the visualization of initial objects to be obvious or trivial for students. Geometry in Iran starts in elementary school and continues until level 8 with introducing geometry shapes like circles, squares, triangles, straight lines, etc. At the level 1 student learn to recognize geometric characteristics in objects that can be physically seen. At this stage student are assumed to be able to categorize geometric shapes by visual recognition, and know their names, for example, in solid geometry in level 1, if shown a picture of a polyhedron like a cube, students would be able to say that it is a cube because it looks like one for him or her. At this stage, it is not required to think of a cube, or any other geometric object, in terms of its properties, like saying a cube has 6 faces and 12 edges. With visual recognition a student would be able to make a copy, by drawing, plotting or using some sort of dynamic geometry software, of a shape or configuration of shapes if they could be shown or told what it is they were supposed to be copying. In this stage, the instruction should be based on the name the student has memorized for the object and not the objects properties. For instance, it could be draw a cube not draw a polygon with 12 equal edges that are perpendicular to the base and 6 equal faces. Level 2: Analysis Stage At analysis stage, students begin to analysis objects that were only visually perceived at pervious level, identifying their parts and relations among these parts. They focus on the properties of these objects. For example, focus on Real Numbers in this stage can be closure under operations. This property can be leading to distinguishing subsets of Real Numbers inside the set which are Integers and Rational Numbers. In solid geometry, the analysis stage is where students begin seeing the properties associated with the different shapes or configurations. A cube will now become a shape with 6 equal faces which opposite faces are parallel and 12 edges and adjacent angles right angles and having opposite faces equal, as well as having the diagonals intersect in their middle. However, at this stage, it is not assumed that students will be seeking logical relationships between properties such as knowing that it is enough for a Parallelepiped as a solid with parallel opposite faces and all the other properties follow. Neither is it assumed that students will think about a cuboid as a special type of Parallelepiped. Therefore, students will identify shapes and solids based on the wholeness of their properties. In other words, relationships between shapes and configurations remain merely on the list of properties they have. At this stage if a student were asked to describe a shape or solid, the description would be based on the objects properties. At the same time, if a student were asked to reproduce a shape or solid based on the list of properties, they would be capable of do so. Students would also be able to verify figures and solids hieratically by analyzing their properties. In this stage student can recognize the interrelation between figures and their properties. For example, knowing the property that the Parallelepiped the student would be able to deduce that cuboid is special kind of Parallelepiped. Level 3: Informal Deduction Stage Informal deduction is known as the third level of geometric thinking. Some of researchers name this level as abstract/Relation level too(Battista, 1999; Cabral, 2004). In this stage students can reason logically. This stage is achieved when a student can operate with the relation of figures and solids and is able to apply congruence of geometric figures to prove certain properties of a total geometric configuration of which congruent figures are a part. They become aware about sufficient and necessary condition for a concept. A student fit at this level after achieving pervious levels (visualization and analysis). At this level more attention given to relations among properties. In other words, in this stage focus is properties of sets of properties. In this level according to relationship between properties of objects students attempt to group these properties into subgroups. Students try to find out what are the minimum of properties that needed to describe of the initial base elements. They intend to categorize properties which are equivalent in certain situation. The mathematical relationships between properties are the main focus in this stage. Understanding and finding these relationships is a kind of informal deduction. For example, in this stage students would start to improve the idea that some operations in real numbers follows from other sets like natural numbers. Then they would start making an approach understanding the Real Numbers axiom as a systematic commutative field. But they cannot make proofs for such informal observation. Just in the next stage student would be able to produce proofs and deductions. That is where using the tools like Cabri 3D as a dynamic geometry software play very important roles. For most of the students jump to the third level, informal deduction, is not easy. Now they can group the properties and identify the minimum amount of the needed properties. For example a cube, which might have had at level 2 the properties of six equal square faces, twelve equal edges with equal diagonal, parallel edges, perpendicular Adjacent edges, now would describe with the smaller amount of the properties such as shape composed of six equal squares. As it is seen, students in this level start formulation definitions for classes of objects and figures. For instance, a right triangle can be defined as a special kind of triangle that has two perpendicular sides or a right angle. As in this stage parallelogram and rectangle are not independent shapes, cube and cuboid also would be a special model of Parallelepiped. In this level students could give informal arguments to prove geometric results. They start deductively thinking about geometry and it is one of important aspects of the present stage. Some simple rules may be using here, because students follow just simple logics. For example, if A=B and B=C then A=c. Most of fitted students in the informal deduction level would able to justify arguments that they presented before with informal logic relationships. Therefore, at this level they can give informal logical relationships and use them about earlier identified properties. All in all, students now start to recognize the significance of the deduction and logic in the Geometry. Level 4: Deduction Deduction is the fourth level of Van Hiele theory of geometric thinking. In this level students start to construct rather than just memorize the proofs. They are able to find differences between the same proofs. The goal of the previous level was discovering the relations among properties of the bases element by the students. At level 4 those relations are used to deduce theorems about base elements based on laws of deductive logic. The main purpose of level 4 is the organization of the statements about relations from level 2 and 3 into deductive proofs. Discussing to the real number example, at this level, it is expected of the students to prove, for real numbers if. Students are ready to accept a system of axioms, theorem, and definitions. They can create the proofs form the axioms and just using the models or diagrams to support their arguments. Thus, students are able to formally prove what they had proved previously in level 3 using diagrams and informal arguments. They also start to distinguish the need for undefined terms in Geometry, which is very hard concept to understand in purely logical system. Another point in this stage is that, students begin to become aware, understand and identify the differences between contrapositive, converse, and a theorem. They can also prove or disprove any of those relationships. In this level students become aware of relationships and connections between theorems and group them correspondingly. These level is the stage at which high school students are taught in Iran. Mesal 3d Level 5: Rigor In level fifth which named rigor, traditionally students hyper analysed the deductive proofs from level 4. They are looking to find the relationships between proves. This level looks to identified organizations of pervious level. For example, at this level the questions of are the proofs consistent with each other, how strong of a relationship is described in the proof and how do they compare with other proofs would be asked. The level of Rigor involves a deep questioning of all of the assumptions that have come before. This type of questioning also involves a comparison to other mathematical systems of similar qualities. For example, in Level 5if we considered Real Numbers we would begin to compare them as a field to other fields in general. It is fair to say that this level is usually only undertaken by professional mathematicians.(Smart, 2008) At Level 5 of van Hiele theory students can work in non-Euclidean of geometric system. So this level does not met by the high school students and it is usually assigned to college or university students in higher education. At non-Euclidean geometry constructing visual models for recognition is not easy and useful, so the focus is more on abstract concepts. So, most of geometry which is done in this level is based on abstract and proof-oriented. Students in this stage are capable to compare axioms systems such as Euclidean and Non-Euclidean. Most of the students who have fitted in this level become professionals in geometricians and geometry so they are able to carefully develop the theorems in different axiomatic geometric systems. Therefore as smart (2008) emphasis, this level usually is the work of professional mathematicians and their students in higher education that conduct research in other areas of the geometry. The Van Hiele started his research after he found that most of the students have difficulty with learning geometry. He observed that these students struggled with geometry, although they easily understood other mathematics topics. The results of their study showed, most of the High school students are taught at level 3and 4. Then van Hiele deduced most of the students had difficulty in learning geometry at level 3 and 4, because they could not understand geometry at level 2 to be able to move onto grasping level. Therefore, for melting this problem more focus is needed at second stage, analysis level and more emphasis on third stage, informal deduction. Then it can be expected that they are able to success at the deduction level.(Battista, 1999) Van hiele noted that students should pass through lower levels of geometric thinking smoothly and master them before attaining higher levels. Van Hiele theory recommends achieving higher level of thought needs a precise designed instructions. Since students are not able to bypass levels and achieve understanding, permanently dealing with formal proof can cause students to relay on memorization without understanding. In addition, geometric thinking is inherent in the types of skills we want to nurture in students. Research involving the van Hiele Model of Geometric Thinking and Interaction with dynamic geometry software Van Hiele described in his article (1999) that the learning geometry can be started in a playful environment to explore geometrical concepts with certain shapes, and properties, parallelism, and symmetry. He advised some mosaic puzzles in this purpose. In the line of his work, geometry based software provide the more powerful environment which can be used to enhance the level of geometric thinking. There are several studies carried out on effects of using some dynamic geometry software such as (geometers Sketchpad) GSP on levels of van Hiele . Different researches had been involving the Van Hiele geometric thinking since last decades. Some researchers used van Hiele Model as the theoretical framework while others used it as an analytic tool. Moreover many researches conduct study on geometric softwares like: Geometry Scratchpad used van Hiele theory to find out their effects on geometric reason, geometric thinking and other aspects. In order to find out whether dynamic geometry software is able to enhance the level of geometric thinking or not several researches has been conducted. In general, the van Hiele Model has been used in their research as an analytic tool and theoretical framework. For example, July (2001) documented and described 10th-grade students geometric thinking and spatial abilities as they used Geometers Sketchpad (GSP) to explore, construct, and analyze three-dimensional geometric objects. Then he found out the role that can dynamic geometry software, such as GSP, play in the development of students geometric thinking as defined by the van Hiele theory. He found there was evidence that students geometric thinking was improved by the end of the study. The teaching episodes using GSP encouraged level 2 thinking of the van Hiele theory of geometric thinking by helping students to look beyond the visual image and attend to the properties of the image. Via GSP students could resize, tilt, and manip ulate solids and when students investigated cross sections of Platonic Solids, they learned that they could not rely on their perception alone. In addition teaching episodes using GSP encouraged level 3 of the van Hiele thinking by aiding students learn about relationships within and between structure of Platonic solids(July, 2001). Noraini Idris (2007) also found out the positive effects of using GSP on level of Van Hiele among Form Two students in secondary school. In addition she reported the positive reaction of students toward using this software in learning geometry. In contrast Moyer,T(2003) in his PhD thesis used a non-equivalent control group design to investigate the effects of GSP on van Hiele levels. His research carried out in 2 control groups and 2 experimental groups in one high school in Pennsylvania. He had used Van Hiele tests written by Usiskin. However, Comparison of pre-test and post-test did not show a significant difference on increasing Van Hiele level of geometric thinking(July, 2001; Moyer, 2003). Fyhn (2008) categorized students responses according to the van Hile levels in a narrative form of a climbing trip(Fyhn, 2008). The theoretical framework used Smart(2008) for his research Introducing Angles in Grade Four was a combination of a teaching theory called Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) and a learning theory called the van Hiele Model of Geometric Thinking. His research findings suggest the usefulness of using lesson plans based on the two theoretical frameworks in helping students develop an analytical conceptualization of mathematics. In this study the model was neither proved nor disproved but just accepted as an analytic framework. Gills,J (2005) investigated students ability to form geometric conjectures in both statistic and dynamic geometry environments in his doctoral thesis. All participates were exposed to both environment and take parted, up to eight lab activities. He also used van Hiele theory as the main theoretical framework with more emphasis on geometric reasoning.(Gillis, 2005) Research that used the van Hiele Model as an accepted framework covers variety of different topics. For example, Gills,J (2005) find out the mathematical conjectures formed by high school geometry students when given identical geometric figures in two different, dynamic and statistic of geometric environments. Burger and Shaughnessy (1986) tested students from grade one to first year of university to determine in what level the students are functioning regarding triangles and quadrilaterals. Cabri 3D Most of the dynamic geometric software until 2005 has been constructed in 2 dimensions. Just a few dynamic geometry software, has constructed on Three-dimensional dynamic geometric software such as, Autograph and Cabri 3. Focus of present study is on Cabri 3D, which is a new version of Cabri II (2 dimensional software). Cabri 3D is a commercial interactive geometry software manufactured by the French company Cabrilog for teaching and learning geometry and trigonometry. It was designed with the ease-of-use in mind. Cabri 3D as dynamic and interactive geometry provides a significant improvement over those drawn on a whiteboard by allowing the user to animate geometric figures, relationships between points on a geometric object may easily be demonstrated, which can be useful in the learning process. There are also graphing and display functions, which allow exploration of the connections between geometry and algebra. The program can be run under Windows or the Mac OS(CABRILOG SAS, 2009). From Euclidean geometry, Compass, straightedge and ruler, for many years, have been used in as the unique method of teaching and learning geometry, and tools used to aid people in expressing their knowledge. With the creation of computers, new world opened up to teaching and learning geometry. The speed and memory of modern PCs, together with decreasing prices, have made possible the development of `virtual reality computer games making use of the 3D graphics chips included on modern graphics cards. some educational spin-off from this has been the development of 3D interactive geometry software such as Cabri 3D, Autograph ,etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ But tools can contain particular conceptions so; the aim of designing a dynamic geometry software package is to provide new instructional tools to study, teaching and learning geometry. While all the dynamic geometry software attempt to model use of straightedge, compass and ruler in Euclidean geometry, other futures like measuring capability and dragging possibilities and changing the view of objects in 3 Dimensional (Gonzaà ­lez Herbst, 2009). Cabri 3D launched in September 2004 by Cabrilog, this software has the capacity to revolutionize teaching and learning of 3D geometry, at all levels, in the same way that dynamic geometry software has for 2D (CABRILOG SAS, 2009). Cabri 3D can share the same aptitude for making new discoveries as a research tool. There are some important practical features of Cabri 3D. First, This program is capable to store the files as text in Cabrilogs development of the Extensible Markup Language (XML). XML is the simplest version of the SGML standard for creating and designing HTML documents (suitable for use on Internet sites).XML designed by the World Wide Web Consortium as a more flexible replacement for HTML. Next, as Oldknow discussed, Files developed in Cabri 3D can be inserted as active objects in web-pages, spread sheets, word documents and etc. It is an interesting future because this objects which inserted in the files can be manipulated by users who do not own a copy of Cabri 3D in the ir computers.(Oldknow, 2006) One of the important charactirisitc of Cabri package is draging.Arzarello, Olivero, Paola, Robutti (2002) found that dragging in Cabri allows students to validate their conjectures. They claimed that work in Cabri is enough for the students to be convinced of the validity of their conjectures. If the teacher does not motivate students to find out why a conjecture is true, then the justifications given by students may remain at a perceptive-empirical level. Students would claim that the proposition is true because the property observed on the Cabri figure stays the same when dragging the drawing, given the hypotheses do not change. When such a belief is shared in the classroom, then Cabri might become an obstacle in the transition from empirical to theoretical thinking, as it allows validating a proposition without the need to use a theory. These researcher asserted, if teacher makes explicit the role of proof in justification, then students will be motivated to prove why a certain pr oposition is true (within a theory), after they know within the Cabri environment, that it is true. To paraphrase Polya (1954), first we need to be convinced that a proposition is true, then we can prove it.(Arzarello, Olivero, Paola, Robutti, 2002). In some researches the centrality has given to dragging in 2D dynamic geometry software and its implications for developing different types of reasoning (Arzarello et al. 2002).in addition because dragging is something which might make motion in 3D (on the 2D screen), it is more difficult to interpret and understand by the user. The various aspects of dragging in 3D DGE are issues that could usefully be the focus for research.(Hoyl

Juvenile Delinquency :: essays research papers

BOOT CAMPS ARE A BAD ALTERNATIVE Boot Camps For Children are A Failure According To Substantial Media Research. Wilderness Therapy Treatment - A non-profit consumer protection information, health, safety, referral & education site. More Information: www.Wilderness-Therapy.Org E-mail: info@Wilderness-Therapy.Org Peter S. Canellos, Contributing Roporter, BOSTON GLOBE, April 30, 1989, PAGE: 29 SHERIFFS, LAWMAKERS EXPLORE ALTERNATIVES TO JAIL //acs-VT2000 At least one former supporter of boot camp has turned into a skeptic, however. Larry R. Meachum, who opened the first prisoner boot camp in the nation while serving as commissioner of corrections in Oklahoma, opposed such a proposal when it came up in Connecticut, where he now serves as corrections commissioner. Meachum, a one-time acting corrections commissioner in Massachusetts, cited three potential pitfalls in the program, said Connecticut corrections spokesman William Flower. - The"widening-net syndrome."Judges, seeing the boot camp as a positive alternative for jail inmates, will sentence to jail young delinquents who would otherwise be placed on probation, adding to the corrections population rather than reducing it. - Limited effectiveness."That 'scared straight' philosophy doesn't work for everyone,"Flower said."Some of the street toughs like it. They like the violence of it." - Brutality."It can lead to training instructors going into excess,"Flower said. Instructors have a hard time taming the street kids, he said, and respond, as in the military, by demanding more and more physical exercise. "He started the first one in the country in Oklahoma,"Flower said of Meachum."What he discovered is the support systems for the program have to be in place before you do a boot camp. It's not the simple solution that it appears to be. It's not the panacea that people think it is." AMERICA'S FOREMOST EXPERT ON BOOT CAMPS SAYS THEY DO NOT REDUCE RECIDIVISM -- THEY FAIL GARY MARX, Chicago Tribune, Oct. 12, 1994, From: NewsHound@sjmercury.com HARD TIME: BOOT CAMPS FORCE OFFENDERS TO SHAPE UP? \ acs-VT2000 ''The simplistic view that military and physical training will work (in reducing recidivism) is wrong,"says Doris MacKenzie, a University of Maryland criminologist who is the nation's foremost expert on boot camps. ''Many boot camps Use punishment for punishment's sake. They try to make it look tough for the public, but they are not doing what really works." BOOT CAMPS ARE NOT WORKING GARY MARX, Chicago Tribune, Oct. 12, 1994, From: NewsHound@sjmercury.com HARD TIME: BOOT CAMPS FORCE OFFENDERS TO SHAPE UP? \ acs-VT2000 There's only one problem: boot camps aren't working, or at least not as well as politicians and other proponents said they would.

Morrisons Bluest Eye Essay: Dying to Fit In -- Toni Morrison The Blu

The Bluest Eye: Dying to Fit In Claudia MacTeer in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye looks longingly upon society from the outside. Growing up the youngest in the family as well as in a racial minority leaves Claudia feeling excluded and left out. She desires a place within the group society has formed without her. She desires to fit in and be accepted. Claudia desperately wants to experience life to the fullest. She does not want to miss out on any event. Claudia's curiosity is often her conscious motivation to get involved, but the reasons that she acts the way she does go deeper than that. Her personality and character traits make fitting in unfortunately hard to accomplish. Claudia has a strong desire to be included, but her different opinions about life unfortunately create difficulties for her fitting into society. She sees the world from a very different perspective than others. From very early on, Claudia's desires differ from the majority's opinion. She desires to have emotions; society,though, desires possessions. Furthermore, Claudia is physically revolted by what seems to be the epitome of beauty in society's eyes. She feels that she is the only one who feels that little white baby dolls with yellow hair and blue eyes are not beautiful. In a bold attempt to destroy the common perception of beauty, Claudia mangles the dolls she receives, "to see of what it was made, to discover the dearness, to find the beauty, the desirability that had escaped me, but apparently only me" (20). She desires to be included in the unity of society. However, Claudia wants to be included on her own terms. She does not want to limit or conform her beliefs to fit what s ociety wants her ... ...dia's position on the outside of everything forces her into a position of greater strength. Although hurt, the observations she makes mold her into being able to handle difficulties more easily. The loss of innocence which Claudia faces unintentionally is vital to the role she plays in society and in her life. Her thoughts hold a more realistic view of life and human behavior. She sees the pains and sorrows that life truly is constructed of. Claudia feels that she has missed out on so many opportunities and is not included the way others are. Her strong character generates a feeling of both isolation and separation, but, in reality, she tastes life more closely than most people are able to in a lifetime. Although Claudia's passion to be included is unrequited, she is filled with the strength, character, and pain that make her a more knowledgeable and resilient person.

Custom Shakespeares Hamlet Essay: Hamlet and Gertrude -- Essays on Sha

Hamlet and the Character of Gertrude  Ã‚        Ã‚   Shakespeare’s sinful woman in the tragedy Hamlet is named Gertrude. Wife of Claudius and mother of the prince, she is not selected by the ghost for vengeance by the protagonist. Let’s consider her story in this essay.    There is no doubt that Gertrude is a sinner in this play. In her book, Shakespeare’s Tragic Heroes, Lily B. Campbell describes the extent of Gertrude’s sin and of her punishment:    And of the Queen’s punishment as it goes on throughout the play, there can be no doubt either. Her love for Hamlet, her grief, the woes that come so fast that one treads upon the heel of another, her consciousness of wrong-doing, her final dismay are those also of one whose soul has become alienated from God by sin.(146)    Courtney Lehmann and Lisa S. Starks in "Making Mother Matter: Repression, Revision, and the Stakes of 'Reading Psychoanalysis Into’ Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet," comment on the contamination of the queen in Shakespeare’s Hamlet:    Hamlet, a play that centres on the crisis of the masculine subject and its "radical confrontation with the sexualized maternal body," foregrounds male anxiety about mothers, female sexuality, and hence, sexuality itself. Obsessed with the corruption of the flesh, Hamlet is pathologically fixated on questions of his own origin and destination -- questions which are activated by his irrepressible attraction to and disgust with the "contaminated" body of his mother. (1)    At the outset of the drama, Hamlet’s mother is apparently disturbed by her son’s appearance in solemn black at the gathering of the court, and she requests of him:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And let thi... ...htm    Campbell, Lily B. Shakespeare’s Tragic Heroes. New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc, 1970.    Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Lectures and Notes on Shakspere and Other English Poets. London : George Bell and Sons, 1904. p. 342-368. http://ds.dial.pipex.com/thomas_larque/ham1-col.htm    Jorgensen, Paul A. â€Å"Hamlet.† William Shakespeare: the Tragedies. Boston: Twayne Publ., 1985. N. pag. http://www.freehomepages.com/hamlet/other/jorg-hamlet.html    Lehmann, Courtney and Lisa S. Starks. "Making Mother Matter: Repression, Revision, and the Stakes of 'Reading Psychoanalysis Into' Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet." Early Modern Literary Studies 6.1 (May, 2000): 2.1-24 .    Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.   

Thistles by Ted Hughes. Question: Critically analyse the poem

Question: Critically analyse the poem, paying attention to diction & imagery, showing how they are effective in describing thistles. P : Thistles are described as if they were nature's avengers. Q : Thistles ‘spike' ‘Against the rubber tongues of cows and the hoeing hands of man & ‘†¦a revengeful burs of resurrection' R : Thistles inflict pain towards ‘the hoeing hands of men' which gives readers the spa image of men destroying the plants in the soil  with a hoe, perhaps for the unnecessary need for urbanization and other recreational purposes. It seems that the thistles are punishing man for destroying nature. Even though the ‘cows' mentioned somewhat destroy plants, or to be specific, grass for it is their staple food, they seem to not be a part of the ones punished for their rubber tongues' gives the image of a lifeless tongue where it does not feel pain, having the qualities of rubber- lifeless and feeling nothing. Hence, the thistles are described as avengers for those who abuse and destroy nature for unnecessary wants. It seems as if avenging is the purpose of the thistles' existence and for their resurrection- the phrase ‘a revengeful burst of resurrection seems to give the image of revenge, powering the process of resurrecting the thistles. Hence, the suggested reason for their existence and their behavior in punishing men describes them as if they are nature's â€Å"avengers†. P : Despite being described as â€Å"nature's avengers†, they seem to have an evil side that is abeing brought alive by what could be perceived as the evil present in the world as represented by – â€Å"underground stain of a Viking†. Q : â€Å"From the underground stain of a decayed Viking†, † the gutturals of dialects† & space every one manages a plume of blood†. R : Readers get the impression that thistles are being brought to life ‘From the spaceunderground stain of a decayed Viking'. Now, a Viking is a monstrous, wild and spaceevil legendary barbarian and the fact that its remnants are absorbed in the growth of spacethistles could suggest that evil is being transferred to them as seen from their evil spaceacts or purpose in trying to hurt innocent animals (‘cows'), men and even plague the space'summer air'. Also, it seems as though the spirits of the dead Vikings are spacewhispering to the growing thistles with ‘the gutturals of dialects' perhaps to impart spacetheir evil nature and character. It is seen that after being grown amongst the space spac ‘decayed Viking' and taking its essence (like fertilizer from a dead animal) and after spacebeing imparted of the Viking's evil nature, the next line that comes shows that evil spaceis being put into action where Every one manages a plume of blood'. R : Furthermore, it seems as though thistles began and end with the presence of blood- spac'From the underground stain of a decayed Viking' they grow and before growing spac'grey like men', ‘Everyone manages a plume of blood'. Hence, this parasite-like spacebehavior gives thistles an evil character for it thrives and is brought alive with blood spaceand that it's suggested sole purpose in life is to hurt those alive (to get ‘a plume of spaceblood') for that is the only thing that they seem to do in the poem before dying. In spaceaddition to that, ‘blood' or rather, bleeding is associated with being caused by pain spaceand those who thrive on it is said to be somewhat inhumane and evil, like thistles. P : Thistles have the characteristics of a Viking, perhaps because they absorb the spaceremnants and essence of Vikings. Q : ‘Of splintered weapons and Icelandic frost thrust up', ‘They are like pale hair and spacethe gutturals of dialects' & ‘Every one manages a plume of blood'. R : The metaphor ‘splintered weapons' and ‘Icelandic frost' gives the idea of spacethistledowns that outline thistles. These thistledowns could be sharp, being like space'splintered weapons' and could be the part that spike ‘the rubber tongues of cows spaceand hoeing hands of men'. One can imagine the image of the thistledowns getting spacestiff and ready to spike (‘Icelandic frost thrust up'). These thistledowns have spacesimilarities to that of a Viking's ‘pale hair' and ‘the gutturals of dialects' are like spacethe whizzing sound thistles make as they disperse through the air, trying to find spacevictims or their prey to spike them for blood. Hence, it seems that the evil nature spaceand the physical appearance of Vikings are being passed down to thistles perhaps as spacethey absorb the essence of dead Vikings which is represented by the word ‘stain' spacethat could of blood. Afterall, it is believed that one would posses the characteristics spaceof whose essence they have absorbed into themselves. In addition to the mentioned spacecharacteristics passed down, the predatory nature of Vikings is similar to that of spacethistles for both is bloodthirsty, ‘a plume of blood' being the goal in life. P : Thistles are also endlessly revengeful Q : ‘Every one a revengeful burst / Of resurrection' & ‘Their sons appear / Stiff with spaceweapons, fighting back over the same ground'. R : Thistles, in this poem is described in an almost chronological form where the spores spaceor seeds are being dispersed (‘crackle open under a blue black pressure') on to the space'underground' where the ‘stain of a decayed Viking' acts as a source of fertilizer spacethat completes thistles' growth before the thistles spike the air again and manages a spaceplume of blood' each. Then they ‘grow grey like men' and die as suggested by the spacewords ‘mown down', perhaps by man in the process of mowing their green lawns in spacethe summer. However, notice that after this batch of thistles are dead, ‘Their sons spaceappear / Stiff with weapons, fighting back over the same ground'. The word ‘sons' spaceand ‘feud' make the situation seem as if it is a battle (for battles are usually fought spaceby men). ‘Fighting back over the same ground' shows the characteristic of thistles spacebeing endlessly revengeful for the thistles are being â€Å"born† over and over again. spaceFurthermore, the fact that the â€Å"battle† is staged in the summer' that occurs in the spaceearlier half part of the year symbolizes the fact that thistles' time would not be up spaceany time soon and that they would continue â€Å"fighting†. The ‘blue-black pressure' spacethat causes the dispersal of the spores or seeds may also symbolize the immense-spacepressure the thistles have on their offspring, perhaps in their expectancy of the spaceoffspring fighting after their time. It may be ambiguous, carrying the fact that after space'Thistles spike the summer air' and get â€Å"injured† by being â€Å"mown down† by men spaceor being chewed by ‘cows' (I do not suppose cows swallow such spiky plants. They spaceperhaps spit them out. Furthermore, thistles are mentioned to only pass through spacecows' mouths and to the ‘rubber tongues' which could imply that thistles are not spacebeing swallowed) they painfully, in their injured condition as suggested by the word space'blue-black', as if having wounds, they ‘crackle open' themselves to disperse the spaceseeds or spores. Hence, even though the process of breeding another generation of space†army troops† is painful, the thistles carry on. This shows their endless revenge for spacethey do not stop at anything to fight. P : Thistles are also described as annoying pests, a nuisance to the living and the dead. Q : ‘Against the rubber tongues of cows and the hoeing hands of men', ‘ Thistles spike spacethe summer air', ‘From the underground stain of a decayed Viking' & ‘Their sons spaceappear†¦fighting back over the same ground'. R : Thistles are portrayed as bothersome. Firstly because they plague the happy and spacecheerful atmosphere of the ‘summer air'. The line ‘Thistles spike the summer air' spacegives this impression. The ambiguous word ‘spike' could mean that they simply spacespike the air with their sharp body. On the other hand, it could mean that they spaceplague the air and sort of poison the cheerful summer air with pain that is delivered spaceas they ‘manage a plume of blood'. Thistles bother animals even when they are spaceeating (cows) as suggested by the line ‘Against the rubber tongues of cows' and spacethistles disrupts men's work by poking them as they work as suggested by the line space ‘Against†¦the hoeing hands of men'. It is not only those alive that are being spacebothered. Ancient ‘decayed Viking' in the ‘underground' are also being fed on, as spacesuggested by the word ‘stain' which gives us the impression of a bloodstain, in the spaceline ‘From the underground stain of a decayed Viking'. It is almost a parasite-like spacebehavior for the thistles seem to be taking blood from animals, man and even spacecompose, which makes them a nuisance for they rob away peace- imagine thistles spacespiking you every moment when you are trying to enjoy the ‘summer air'. In spaceaddition to that, the fact that thistles are being produced after their â€Å"forefathers† spacehave served their purpose (in obtaining ‘a plume of blood' each) let us see thistles spacein the light where they appear to be irksome in the sense that they do not stop spacebothering and disturbing.

Inclusive Education Essay

This report details the role of educational inclusion, individual and general perspectives on inclusion and how the medical and social models have played a great part in the conception and in its application in regards to inclusion in the past and in recent times. Inclusion has different conception and used in certain terminology that relates to inclusion. It is used in different settings such as in social care and in the educational setting in the society today. In this report I will be focusing on the educational part. The Encarta English Dictionary defines inclusion as the addition of somebody or something to the rest of a whole. This definition has not specified who is to be included but a person or group being part and accepted by the rest of a whole. Inclusion have been defined and interpreted by many as just the integration of children with special educational needs (SEN) into mainstream school. According to (Rigby 2000) these kinds of misconception and viewpoints often lead to the misunderstanding and maltreatment in such a way that it creates room for continuous labelling, bulling and rejection by others without SEN. The term Inclusion according to (The Warnock 1978 Report) was initially used as integration, whereby children with SEN who have been educated in special schools where integrated into mainstream school provided they did not have any effect on adequate use of resources. The definition of inclusion is actually changing and moving, in the sense that, its concept and dynamism is now broader, people are now beginning to fully understand what it means and what it evolve in the society today. It is not just about people with special needs integrating or having the same capabilities to perform but having equal choices on where is more conducive they choose to live, having equal opportunity to engage in whatever they choose to do and being accepted the way they are (Giangreco 1997). Social Inclusion/ Social Exclusion There are no definite definitions for social inclusion and social exclusion, both of them has multiply definitions, it all depends on the context which it is used for and is still being developed. Exclusion can be defined as the act of excluding, or of shutting out, whether by thrusting out or by preventing admission; a debarring; rejection; prohibition; the state of being excluded (Inc Icon Group International 2008). According to the definition above, it indicates that social exclusion is multidimensional; people are not only excluded in the society because of their age, sex, religion, colour, disabilities, race and gender it can also be due to unemployment, homelessness, low income, poor mental health, locality, dysfunctional family, educational achievement, status in the society etc (SEU 2004). This group of people are said to be in a Cycle of Disadvantage ( Pope, Pratt and Hoyle, 1986). Article (136 and 137) of The (1997) Amsterdam Treaty was enacted in order to eliminate exclusion and promote economic and social cohesion. Social inclusion promotes integration and community cohesion, it builds the communities, promotes understanding and unity. Inclusive Education and Government Legislation According to (The 1944 Educational Act) it initially stated that, children’s education should be based on their age, aptitude and ability. During the Act establishment, there was a philosophy that children with special need were to be able fit in the school rather than the school making provision to accommodate them before gaining admission into the mainstream school. The (1944 Act) was in use until 1974, when the Warnock Committee was set up to review the provision that was available for children with Special Educational Need. This committee which was headed by Mary Warnock lead to the publication of the 1978 Warnock Report. The Report concluded that, they were about 20% of children in school population that might have Special Education Need and only 2% of which may require support in the mainstream school. The Warnock Report suggested that there should be a proper provision in place for children with Special Educational Need, which then will ensure that the 2% in mainstream school received the adequate provision. The 1978 Warnock Report had since lead to the enactment and development of various educations Act such as, (1981Education Act), (1993 Education Act), (1996 education Act) and the (2001 Special Educational Needs & Disability Act) All these Acts listed above reinforces government’s dedication and commitment to the fully inclusion of children with Special Education Needs into mainstream school and the society as a whole. Inclusive Education and Autism  Abraham Maslow formed a theory on ones personality that has a great influence on education. In his theory of human need, he emphasized that, the student with education need that has a wish or desire to belong to a normal group, that desire creates the motivation to acquire new skills, which the student can only achieve in a learning environment that is void of segregation. He further argued that the sense of belonging is the foundational need that that needs to be met in order to achieve the higher level self actualization. According to (Article 28) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, it stated that every child has a right to education. No child should be discriminated, excluded or deprived on the basis of belonging to a particular group. Therefore Inclusive education can be defined as the integration of adults or children into mainstream school regardless their gender, age, disabilities, ethnicity, colour or impairment (Daniels and Garner 2000). Children with hidden disabilities like autism, which is a life time disability that affects the way a child communicates and interact within the society, are faced with difficulties of being fully included into mainstream school. Prior to the development of the Special Need Education, children with autistic spectrum were viewed under two models of disabilities, Medical or Social Model. These are ways how people viewed and acted towards people with disabilities. The Medical Model of Disability sees the illness in the person first and the individual second, this notion creates a bad and negative conception of disability (Cigman 2007). The Social Model of Disability sees the disable person first before their illness. This model sees the person as an individual, different and unique, who has an equal rights and opportunities to education and other essentials of life. The model recognises the fact that a disable person’s impairment does not regard him or her less than anyone else in the society.

William Jennings Bryan

Much like the Republican problems during the 1892 election, in which Grover Cleveland won his second term of office, the Democratic Party faced problems in the 1896 election. Cleveland, who had won on the strength of labor unions and his policy on monetary policy, lost on both of his signature issues. His use of the military during a railroad strike in 1894 and his comment that he would he would commission the military to do government services if the postal service struck did not endear himself to the growing labor movement within the Democratic Party. These blunders caused the Republicans to gain over 100 House seats and control over the Senate in the 1894 midterm elections. The Populist Party reached a critical juncture in 1896. At the 1896 Democratic nominating convention, the more progressive aspects of the party rallied behind Nebraskan politician William Jennings Bryan. Bryan, a proponent of silver currency, gave a speech now referred to as the â€Å"Cross of Gold† speech in which he derided the Republican administration of monetary policy in the past and hoped for a more populist approach to government in the future. The Democrats rallied behind Bryan and the platform reflected not only his populist agenda but their future fusion with the People’s Party to create a more progressive and rural party. The Democratic platform included advocacy for free silver and the possibility of international bimetallism, a federal income tax, statehood for Western territories, and a decreased tariff. When the People’s Party met at their nominating convention, they voted to fuse their candidates to the Democratic Party and pool resources with the more organized Democrats. The Republican Party, resurgent with their congressional success in 1894, rallied around Ohio governor William McKinley, the namesake of the 1890 tariff bill that was hotly contested in this decade. McKinley and the Republicans shaped a platform around the gold standard, an increase in protective tariffs more vigorous navy, increased standards for immigration, the acquisition of Hawaii, and an opposition to the idea of bimetallism. His monetary policy shifted miners and the lower class towards Bryan, but his measured platform managed to keep labor and business happy. The two campaigns had contrasting styles. William Jennings Bryan crisscrossed the nation giving stump speeches that were both fiery and inspiring to Democratic activists. However, Bryan lost gold Democrats and progressives who were turned off by his policy towards the economy and towards his focus on rural populations. The McKinley campaign, managed by Republican operative Mark Hanna, received several million dollars in donations to aid in the Republican campaign. For the most part, Hanna got these donations out of businesses and the wealthy that were afraid of a Bryan presidency and agrarian revolt. McKinley ran a front porch campaign while 1400 plus Republican speakers went around the nation stumping against the â€Å"radical† William Jennings Bryan. While Bryan did well in the West and the South, the more densely populated industrial North and Midwest went to McKinley who was able to win the election. If Bryan had won the election, things would have been vastly different. â€Å"No one can make a million dollars honestly. † – Bryan was widely regarded as a prominent spokesman for millions of rural Americans who were suffering from the economic depression following the Panic of 1893. William Jennings Bryan believed in free and unlimited coinage of silver, which he thought would remedy the economic ills then plaguing farmers and industrial workers. This inflationary measure would have increased the amount of money in circulation and aided cash-poor and debt-burdened farmers. He blamed big business for the economic depression that was present. If elected President of the United States, he would have advanced his idea for free coinage of silver. Although this would have been beneficial for the majority of farmers, many of the rest of the population would have been extremely unhappy. The big business partners would have gotten together and plotted for the assignation for William Jennings Bryan; which would have been successful. Bryan should have never messed with big business because, they mean business. â€Å"Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. † I believe that it was William Jennings Bryan’s destiny to lose the election of 1896 so that he would not be assassinated. It was for the better of the country that he had not won the election. The economic strategy of farming for the country was coming to an end regardless.