Five steps to writing a great LinkedIn profile - Emphasis

Five steps to writing a great LinkedIn profile Five steps to writing a great LinkedIn profile LinkedIn, thats that online CV thing, right? Well, kind of. But with more than 200 million registered users, 2.8 million company pages and 2.6 billion page views per month, LinkedIn is more than just that, writes Emma Beals. It has 11 million users in the UK, and 74 million in the US. This represents a select audience, too. LinkedIn users are far more likely than non-users to hold university or graduate degrees and be earning in excess of 50,000 per year, which means they are doing some serious business. It has become a powerful professional networking and personal marketing tool. So whether youre keen to get your work or company noticed, or youre on the look-out for a new job, getting the LinkedIn basics right is the first step towards reaching your goals. So here are five sure-fire ways to use your writing skills to up your game on LinkedIn. 1. Complete your profile and keep it up-to-date This may sound obvious, but its very easy to forget this basic step especially if youve been in a role for a while or youve been busy on a project. The very things that are keeping you busy are probably the same ones you should be adding to your achievements and you should mention that promotion as soon as possible. 2. Write a profile summary One of the best ways to stand out is to write a great profile summary. This is a punchy piece that tells the reader something about who you are and what you do. You need to engage the reader from the first line, by writing a great introduction. Your profile statement should be vibrant and distil your skills and experience into a short, clear statement. This is the time for the active voice. You should include your objectives and a call to action. Are you looking to network or for new clients or opportunities? Say so, and suggest the best way to get in touch with you. 3. SEO your LinkedIn page Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) isnt just for websites and Google rankings. Thousands of recruiters and companies search LinkedIn every day, and you want to show up in their search. There are two key ways to push your profile page up the search results: Keywords In your position descriptions, profile statement and throughout your entire profile, make sure you use the words people are searching for. Your can-do attitude might be a wonderful asset in the office but no one is going to search for it. Use specific, search-orientated words throughout your profile, eg project management, social media lead generation, immigration law. Social clout The number of connections you have, the companies you follow and the groups you belong to all affect how far up the search results you appear. If you have shared connections of any kind with the person who is searching, youll come in higher than thousands of other profiles with the same skills and keywords. Prove yourself Once someone is on your page, you need to gain their trust and respect. Links to your other websites or your work, recommendations from colleagues and ex-colleagues and the quality of your connections will all have an impact. 4. Status updates Have you just won a new account, produced a piece of work, or written an article or blog for something related to your work? Here is the place to share it and promote your work to your contacts. This is a great way to be seen as a thought leader in your field and to keep your contacts informed of what youve been doing. It will also help keep your profile relevant and up-to-date think of it as personal marketing. 5. Recommendations You cant make your colleagues and ex-colleagues recommend you (though you can ask), but you can recommend them. What you write will also show on your own page, so its an excellent way to demonstrate the working relationships you have built. Youll find that those youve written about will be more likely to recommend you in return. Using LinkedIn is a great way to keep up-to-date on developments and news within your industry, and in touch with its influencers and to keep them in touch and up-to-date with you. If youre not on it, youre missing out. And if you are on it, come and say hello. Have you been on an Emphasis course? If so, why not join our LinkedIn group Emphasis alumni? You can use it to ask questions, debate issues, or just keep up-to-date with our business-writing articles.

Kentucky staate funding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Kentucky staate funding - Essay Example Additionally, funding has also been supported by district leaders who feel there is a need to support low-income students while emphasizing on the need for equity and fairness among all citizens of the state clarifies (Ellis, 2011). Some of the past and the current funding policies for Kentucky include Free or reduced-price school lunch benefits: Having lagged behind in educational initiatives by around 1990, Kentucky State under commonwealth initiative introduced an economic reform system. The system could see funding of students from low-income districts receiving financial support from the government based on fairness and equity throughout the whole state (Ellis, 2011). Allocation of less funding for higher education: In the past, Kentucky instituted a policy that was aimed at allocating minimal funding to higher education. The state decided to reduce spending in higher education between the periods 1992 to 1993 (Ellis, 2011). Despite the fact that the policy was being visualized by some of the state economist as idea to inflict recession at the national level, it became so important in generation of more revenue to the state. Distribution policy: The council of the state government also came up with education distribution act. The distribution act was based on a formula that mainly targeted funding needs of higher education for Governors and General Assembly. The benchmark for the above model constituted a statistical procedure that only contained 20 nationally reported institutions (Ellis, 2011). Currently, it is impressive to note that the government has put in place new policies targeting to enhance performance at Kentucky schools, which have over the years attribute to high performance at both K-12 and high educational programs states (Welner & Chi, 2008). Tuition and Fees Revenue Standard Deduction: The tuition fee revenue policy was set up later by the end of the year 2001 and again reversed in 2008 clarifies (Welner & Chi, 2008). Having

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

Research Methods - Essay Example In the business of fashion design, it is the role of the designer to transform cultural influences with the use of technology into new products. Fashion design technology research is supposed to be developed in a way that it enhances fashion design understanding in the post-modern context, therefore posing this question: In which way has technology influenced the creativity in fashion design? While focusing on creativity in fashion design, this study should evolve while incorporating a grounded theory approach to qualitative inquiry. There should be an interview of luxury-level fashion designers and industry executives in countries with a rich history when it comes to fashion design, France being a good example. The interview should be in depth and regarding creativity and technological ingenuity especially pertaining to the internet when it comes to fashion design process. There should be a concise data analysis which should lead to the definition of a typology for creativity and te chnology in fashion design in the global competitive environment. There should be a relation of these typologies with the use of technology. ... The fashion technology should encompass all aspects that are concerned with the design, production, and distribution of material and apparel goods. Under the discussion of fashion, there are broad components of women’s wear such as accessories, jewelry, and perfume. The production of basic apparel items does not rely on the same conceptual driving force found on novelty and change. For the purpose of a well grounded research fashion industry technology on women’s wear should involve companies or individuals that are involved in the manufacture, fabrication, marketing, and sale of items which:- (a) Have precise aesthetic and performing properties, (b) Elicit psychological response associated to desire and need and (c) Are embraced by a group of women for a limited amount of time. The fashion industry technology function within industrial societies context and is complex encompassing a wide array of disciplines which include aesthetics, design, product development, econom ics, global business, marketing, consumer behavior, operations, and management as well as anthropology, psychology, and sociology. Historical Context The Origin of fashion design technology In the research on fashion design, there should be a note on the focus on technological phenomenon which was developed in the mid-20th century as a result of the internet which is the crux of technology. It is the Internet which has facilitated users to explore the World Wide Web for information and entertainment thus facilitating the development of a new business model, e-commerce which is the process of business transaction through contact made on the World Wide Web. The founding of brands in fashion design is based on creative and innovative research and development aided by technology facilitating

Why I wish to become an osteopathic physician and why I think Ohio Essay

Why I wish to become an osteopathic physician and why I think Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine is a good choice f - Essay Example However, it is my conviction that an osteopathic physician is a bit different if not way apart from an allopathic physician in the sense that osteopathy is a more pragmatic, realistic and hands on approach towards physical maladies. Administering medicine or surgery does have their importance and relevance in the curing of disease, but more important and practical in any therapeutic approach is to exploit the body’s innate capacity to heal and cure itself. Human body inevitably has a quintessential and undeniable mechanical aspect associated with it and the body’s structures and functions are intimately related to each other. So, being an osteopathic physician offers to me the best of both worlds. To begin with, it allows me to approach a patient’s malady with a more noninvasive approach, using her and if required, aiding her intrinsic healing ability through osteopathic manipulation and approach. At the same time, it extends to me the confidence and reassurance that if the things get drastic and require a more imminent line of therapy, I can always resort to the allopathic and surgical aspects of my training to gain control. Osteopathy is an approach towards healing that is perfectly in consonance with my personal philosophy and beliefs about illness and healing.

Task-Based Teaching and Learning

Task-Based Teaching and Learning Abstract The Task-based Teaching and Learning mode has been enjoyed a lot in nowadays English education process. Not only because it has specified the aims of both teaching and students learning, but also during the process of reaching the goals, it will help stimulate teachers inspiring abilities and students creativities, thus to develop the interest in learning and the state of studying to their best. However, there are various problems occurring in class teaching, of which standout and influential are the low class participation rate and students low efficiency in acquiring the required knowledge. To find out solutions to these problems, the author has studied different materials as well reflected from the teaching experience (case study method), suggesting that applying cooperative study, or teamwork spirit into class teaching will be the most effective. Key words: cooperative study, Task-based English Teaching, participation 1. Introduction It is not easy to reach better education goals when a class has encountered problems like low participation rate, meaning that not all the students are interested in asking or answering questions and participating in activities, simply because the activities are not intriguing at all. And the other problem is students low efficiency in acquiring the required knowledge. There are many factors influencing the quality of a class teaching. Owning better constructions of teaching facilities, like advanced multimedia, is far from enough to make a class get its expected goals. As for this, many teachers and experts have been trying to work out ways to promote students desire to know and willingness to do, for example, having more out-of-classroom activities and setting up more innovative topics to talk and research. But how to make the best of these is still left to explore. By studying previous researches and doing teaching practice in Deyang Foreign Language School, the author believes co operative study, which is also called team-work should be more used in teaching and educating. In the following part of the thesis, the causes for these problems mentioned above will be explained. Following that, the concept of Cooperative Study and its positive relationship with Task-based Class Teaching will be introduced as well as how we can actually apply it into real teaching. The research the author has done in Deyang Foreign Language School will be discussed in the last part. 2. Review of Literature 2.1 Theory of task-based English Class Teaching Task-based teaching is to master the language by using language in the activities rather than simply training for language skills and knowledge of the language learning outcomes. In teaching activities, teachers should focus on specific communications and language projects, design of specific and practical tasks. Students are to complete the learning tasks through expression, communication, negotiation, interpretation and other language in the form of inquiry. Task-based teaching method is to absorb the advantages of the past formed of a variety of teaching methods, while it does not exclude other teaching methods. It was first put forward in the 1980s, stressing on learning by doing in the language teaching method and communicative approach is the development of language education in the world. This has provided teaching theoretical basis for the gradual introduction of English teaching in China, foreign language teaching reform in China as a trend. The features of Task-based Teaching Method include focusing on finishing the tasks instead of manipulating some sort of meaningless language form, and aiming at raising students resounding and interests by providing interactions which are closely related to real life and experience. 2.2 Theory of Cooperative Study Cooperative study (or cooperative learning) is an approach to organizing classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences. Students work in groups to complete tasks collectively. Everyone succeeds when the group succeeds. There are 5 basic elements of cooperative study. They are Positive Interdependence, Individual Accountability, Face to Face Interactions, Social Skills, and Benefits. First, Positive Interdependence requires that group members feel connected to each other in the process of accomplishing the goal. Second, Individual Accountability means that every group member is responsible for being able to demonstrate understanding and comprehension of the learned academic expectations and social goals. Third, Face to Face Interactions suggest that the group must participate by communicating and discussing the goal. Fourth, Social Skills include listening, body language, sharing, accepting ideas and differences, etc. These are the skills needed prior to or being developed during the group work. And fifth, Benefits include higher self esteem, achievement and retention of academic information 2.3 Co-relationships between task-based teaching and cooperative study From a chart, we can see the co-relation between cooperative study and task-based teaching: (chart 2.1) Tasks Proper activities teachers Team goals Group activities students When all the teaching goals are assigned as group work, those proper activities are needed to be fulfilled by all the students with cooperative spirit applied into the process and with the guidance of the teachers. The features of cooperative study fit the measures taken to finish task-based teaching. 3. Causes for problems Before actually getting to know how Cooperative Study can be fully applied into teaching, it is necessary to get to know the causes for those problems (low participation rate and low efficiency in learning) mentioned above. Why not all the students are willing to participate, and what are the obstacles for leveling up students efficiency in acquiring knowledge? Being not interested in the class is the reason why they dont want positively thinking and talking, which directly influence their quality of acquiring knowledge. Maybe it is because of the materials are boring, the way the teacher teaches is boring, or it is their own problems. Students in middle school are in the teen ages, during which many physical and psychological problems will happen to them. Based on the teaching practice done in Deyang Foreign Language, the author has found out that there are mainly three aspects of influential factors listed out as follows: on the aspect of students, on the aspect of teachers, and on the aspect of school. 3.1 On the aspect of students Chai Lujing (2006), who has wrote about how to applying cooperative spirit into technical schools, says that, on the one hand, middle school students are during their teenage period time, in which they are struggling for psychological independence. The embodiment of which is they tend to cut away the attaching emotions from parents and teachers. And thus they need to build other relationships as substitutions either with the outside world, such as social relationship, or with their teen mates, like childhood pals or classmates. Since a lot of middle school students are living on campus, it is an opportunity for them to establish new relationships with more people out of known relationships and realize their life value through their own efforts and endeavors. On the other hand, all those activities to be carried out in classes need the spirit of willingness to share and cope with others, but this is what the students nowadays are lacking. What also should be responsible for is the one child policy. Being the only child and the center at home, they have been spoiled by their families. And their self-consciousness has always made them proud of themselves, contributing to the growing blind acknowledgement of themselves. This is why they are lacking the consciousness and motivations to cope with others. She has also stated that the only child has a strong desire to attack, making them offensive and critic, more seriously, making them take no joy in making friends with people they dont like but to revenge them thus to protect themselves. All these indicate that these kids lack cooperative spirit, making them bear no understanding, compassion and respect towards others. So it is not hard to conclude that this will be obstacles for them to adjust to the society and have a self-acceptance of one self. Therefore, even there are activities and tasks set in a Task-based Class, without students willingness and openness to offer to do, nothing can be achieved. Accordingly, t he class participation rate will not be as high as expected. 3.2 On the aspect of teachers Not all the teachers are making an outline of a class elaborately, for lacking of time or thought of necessity. As we all know cramming teaching and learning has incredibly existed in history and influenced our education for decades. The emphasis of result and grades has made teachers focus more on the results, whatever the process is. Doing more exercise and bending their heads among the books are always what a diligent student should be. Whenever there is a new class, students are burdened with a mass of new knowledge, which should be gained by repeatedly reinforcement and examined through tests. Though the task-based teaching and learning method is been developing, the idea that simply repeat message and cramming knowledge are hard to get rid of. Teachers seldom do investigations on each students personality. Therefore students likes and dislikes are usually carelessly ignored, and their being asked about questions they are not interested in and not able to break the tension of a serious class, has definitely influence students zeal in participation. Because of lack of properly organized activities, which means it is the teacher who is talking and cramming, a class is hard to reach the goals, harmoniously and enjoyably. And this will definitely influence students efficiency in gaining knowledge. 3.3 On the aspect of school In the concept of traditional education, it is more focused on the individuals development and competency instead of a groups. In middle school, this has been reflected by pursuing of high grades. The quality of a school is usually judged by its rate of students acceptance to a higher education. Since all the people are struggling to their own personal success, the sharing of knowledge and the joy of being working together have been ignored. Being fretful and jealous of other peoples achievements, many students have become more self-acclaimed and self-closing, never wanting to shares knowledge with others, never wanting to exchange ideas with others. But things have changed. The new requirements of curriculum claim quality education, aiming at developing a students all-aspects abilities. And more specifically, many useful types of teaching methods are demanded, like Task-based Class Teaching. As for a school itself, the failures of working on harmonious studying teams and social prac tices have influenced the most. Because it is often the competitiveness are highlighted more than the cooperative study. Such as in a sports meeting, classes are accordingly a group for a series of competitions. Another factor is the need to make cooperative spirit as an important social value to be popularized and educated has not been fulfilled 4. Cases of applying Cooperative Spirit into class teaching To find solutions to these problems (low participation rate and low efficiency in learning), many teachers have been trying to put as many activities as they can in a class teaching, and use multimedia facilities. But consider this: if a class is full of activities which are just to warm up the atmosphere and the teacher is the leading role, can the class really inspire the students to participate? If the teachers have put all the information on a computer, voices are taped and descriptions are pictured, can they help the students develop their innovative spirit to think and to discover? And these flaws are exactly many scholars are arguing about. As à ¦Ã… ¸Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ §Ã‚ ¾Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¸Ã¢â‚¬  [Ke Qunfan] (2003) has written in getting out of the new cramming teaching method that to make a class vivid and live, many teachers have done too much, one-sidedly thinking that more activities will be better. However, it then becomes new cramming method, which has simply occupies much time of a cl ass. New standards for English Curriculum has claimed that the development of a student is the destination of teaching. It is essential to make students the active roles of a class. Cooperative study, asking for applying cooperative spirit, also called the team-work spirit, into study, has been approved and suggested by many scholars. Chen Jianhua (2004) has stated in thesis A Little Talk on English Cooperative Study that cooperative study is one of the teaching practices based on group work. Having the same ultimate goal and being valued by achievement of a whole group, cooperative study can stimulate teaching and learning by fully cooperation of each element. If taken into consideration, the requirements of a task-based teaching method will be fulfilled. Cooperating can bring students activeness into play, and form the competitive as well as cooperative atmosphere between groups in class. During the process, face to face interactions are established while each student will have to carry a share of responsibility. And the expectations of making conversations can be reached which is exactly what an English class is aiming at, which is to make a student talk, think positively, and make language a live tool to communicate. 4.1 Teamwork examples in high school abroad When people were interviewed why they had chosen to study abroad, they explained that it was because they could experience the free thinking or free life. Though this is kind of sarcastic about Chinas education which has been traditionally focusing on getting a good grade, letting alone the deep cultural difference, Americans free method of teaching is worthy learning, for which is full of free thinking, more importantly, asking for as much cooperation as possible in a class. Not only in finishing assignment but also interactions between teachers and students, between knowledge and students minds. What free method of American education has impressed the author most were the personal experiences of studying in Plattsburgh College in State University of New York. Though its in college class, its valid to prove the effectiveness of cooperative study. One of the cases was the FLL (Foreign Language and Literature) class. The students were required to do assignments after they finished the literary works (short story and novels). There were 2 parts included in the assignment: answering questions and blank-fillings. Every class, the teacher would form groups of 2-3 students. One of them would do the presentation, and all the group members would have to work on the assignments together. The student who did the presentation was always the one liked to talk, and could vividly explain the answer to the questions, while the answer should be the combined ideas of all the group members. The other example was also cooperative study applied in one of the General Psychology class carried out in Plattsburgh College. The professor asked the students to do preparations for new class in groups of 4-6 people. All the students in a group needed to prepare at least one session of the material, and one of them would act as the leading role to connect the whole presentation. After those classes, several personal interviews have been held of those who conducted the activities. They held positive views about that. One of the students from FLL class said that it was fun for they could easily get the detailed information of a novel when they were mentioned by their classmates. The knowledge became more impressive and they could use to display their point of view freely and creatively. I love that class. she said. This was exactly what teacher and the class wanted. The other student from GP class said he usually sat silently in some other classes, just taking notes. But in GP class, he had to prepare his own speech well and went up to the stage. Though I dont often talk, I will simply go there and tell what I have done, and then I remember all the materials concerning with our lessons. He also said this. It can be seen from these two examples that when students have experienced, they will find interests in doing things. They will study better and more efficiently. Dialectical Materialism has the theory that interaction is one of the ways human beings exist. Schools being a social group, enables interactions and social communications between teacher and students. This also provides explanations for the improvement of students acquiring knowledge in the cooperative study atmosphere, for experiences provided by classmates are easy to be understood, and the activities students have played will depict the meaning of social roles. Nevertheless, students will develop a sense of social value, task awareness, cooperation consciousness, and their social responsibilities as well as team-work spirit. Based on the acknowledgement that students should be the main role, cooperative study has created the chance to interact between students, and distinguished the roles of guiding and playing between teachers and students. Therefore, students can have the opportunities and time to exchange their ideas, pursuing improvement together. More importantly, during the process, the subjectivity of students is fully reflected, their desire for knowledge, enthusiasm will be aroused and happy and effective learning will be achieved. 4.2 Teamwork examples in high school in China (Special case in Deyang Foreign Language School) Teaching practice in Deyang Foreign Language School: Based on the cooperative learning research and practice, the author has carried out a teaching practice in 2 classes of high department in Deyang Foreign Language School, aiming to explore the effectiveness of cooperative studys increasing student classroom participation and their efficiency of student learning in the process of teaching. Method: case study Basic information of subjects: Class 7 is a science class, with 21 boys and 23 girls, middle rank in comprehensive abilities. Class 5 is an art class, with 10 boys and 29 girls, middle rank in comprehensive capabilities. The requirements of English curriculum for both classes are the same. Their English tests grades are of little difference. Content: Warming Up and Speaking in Unit 5 Textbook: Senior English for China Students Book 2A Step1: grouping For class 7: There were all together three main teams grouped according to students personalities. Group 1, active students (talkative, and very quite) Group2, less talkative, over reserved students Group3, reserved student (will take part in the class when needed) For class 5: three groups as well, assigned according to their seats. Step2: assign the tasks Part one: Questions based on the textbook, page 33. a. Give pictures that they are interested in b. Give information about each part of UK on different aspects. Part two: students get to know each other and distribute the assignments by themselves Step3: the process of the class groups discussion manage the information they have collected presentation Step4: evaluation (5 score for each) 1. Students were valued as a whole group. 2. Presentations should be displayed vividly, including every ones message, reflecting their grouping style, which consisted of balanced distribution of work, in-between trust. 3. Accuracy of knowledge is also valued. Step5: testifying the efficiency of learning. All the students are asked to finish the pre-reading tasks on the textbook. 4.2.2 Discussion and flaws 4.2.2.1 Main findings Group presentations description of Class 7: Group one, which is made of talkative persons and very quiet students, talkative students naturally had very flexible minds and they took the job of presentations, while others had shared information collected by them and supported their teammates. Group two, students were less talkative and over reserved. They tended to hold back when promoted to stand on the stage and give a presentation representing their group, which made a loss of their scores of presentation. Group 3 had the highest score. During the process of teaching, the author has found that in Class 7, students in each group made preparations elaborately. They distributed the assignments according to everyones abilities and advantages, for some of them were good at computers, which was important for information collecting, and some had better oral English, which could make the presentation clear to be understand. The reason laid much in their personality, for these properly reserved students usually stand out when they were needed, and always had a clear clue of what to do and what to say. In this group, they had given the information very accurate and presented steadily. The author had consumed that to achieve the ultimate goal that the group to get the best score, the students needed cooperate with each other well. During the process, obedience and compromise were needed but more importantly, the support towards others. What had come out as a result was after each presentation, other group members had given a f irst yet loud applause to their teammate, and they had constantly complete the partners speeches on the stages by providing more supplement. Group presentations description of Class 5: Group 1 happened to consist of several students who were better at English. Group 3 was of students with ordinary abilities, and the second group owned several backward students, whose study results were below average. And group 2 had relatively higher score in the overall column because when it was their turn to do the presentation, they seemed active. Though not much information required was provided, these students were fully participating. And the students in the other average group were just as withdrawal as what some students had seemed in class. The research result was slightest different. Starting from free grouping, which they did according to their seating arrangement, the students tended to cooperate with friends or closed seat classmates. However, this might be influenced by the students gender portion, meaning more boys preferred talking while girls were more reserved. Necessity of proper grouping: these illustrations prove that in order to facilitate cooperative learning, proper classroom grouping and organization will play a crucial role. Their groups turned out to be three groups as well. However, there are more problems necessary to be discussed. First, in class 5, due to the random assignment, students had lost a sense of mutual benefits, which is one of the basic elements, less effective assignment distributions were made, which had lead to students to merely wait for answers from others or they ended up mixing information for lack of group negotiation and full preparation. Second, they tended to escape from responsibilities, for depending on students who were relatively better at talking, while the others were just taking notes or listening. But there were some active students demanded to tell their findings as an individual. These two issues have affected the effectiveness of cooperative study. Through these two cases, the importance of grouping has been signified. The efficiency of learning: in class 7, students appeared easier to find the detailed information and have a better understanding of the context, for the descriptions given were more accurate and were based on what they had known or mentioned by their classmates. In class 5, students were less active to answer questions and appeared less interested in learning and their replies were slightest vague and less in quantity. From this, we can predict that after a self-experience of analyzing and studying materials and sharing with others, students can have a relatively better grasp of the knowledge, which is important for teaching and essential to improve their efficiency in acquiring knowledge. 4.2.2.2 Flaws of the research The author has consumed the research will throw more light on cooperative studys effectiveness on improving students participation and on their efficiency in acquiring knowledge, but because of lacking data, students personality analysis appeared rough, which might influence the grouping. However, cooperative learnings function of mobilizing students enthusiasm has been fully reflected. But, whether the cooperative learning can enable students to improve learning efficiency was not fully proved. Only by examining the students understanding of related reading contexts was not sufficient. According to the principle of memories, even though the students gained a lot of knowledge points in the classroom, they would soon be forgotten if there is no effective ways to be practiced, such as quizzes, in-depth discussions. 5. Solve problems As to improve the low class participation rate and students efficiency in acquiring knowledge, the author has advocated applying cooperative study into task-based teaching. After studying the previous studies and doing teaching practice, more suggestions should be made as well. These suggestions are more likely made for teachers. 5.1 suggestions on doing activities: a. More suitable and thoughtful activities should be arranged. Guarantee the equality of chances for each student to participate through the ways varied, as what the author has done in teaching. Vary the study forms. Take more forms like group discussions, group debate, group searching, group role play, and if allowed, online seminar, since English is a live language class. The more intriguing the topic is, the more passionate the students will be and never make it a burden for students. Scholars have proposed three methods of grouping: homogeneous grouping, heterogeneous grouping, and the free combination. In homogeneous group, students often own same features, like in grades, study ability, and study activeness. By combing them, they can find their interests in common and improve together. While in heterogeneous groups, things are opposite. It is better for students to help each other as well as learn from each other. Free grouping can stimulate students passion and initiative to study by grouping them according to their own choices and has a strong cohesion. The grouping should be depended on teaching materials, teaching conditions, and students actual situations. Teachers should design the interactive activities based on real life instead of superficial content which requires no deep thinking, contains no profound meaning and bears no communicative necessity. Try to help the students to truly participate in the activities from the perception general applications, and develop their abilities in identify problems and solving problems. After a group work, it is helpful that the teacher provide the feedback and evaluation to the study, which will confirm group members sense of equal importance to the group, give the encouragement and support. 5.2 Suggestions on interactions with students: a. To complete a variety of mission activities, help to stimulate students interest in learning. b. In the process of completing the task, teachers should combine the language knowledge and language skills together, helping to train the pupils of language proficiency. c. To help students to actively participate in language communication activities, teachers should inspire their imagination and creative thinking. Students should play the main role. d. In activities to learn knowledge, developing interpersonal communication, thinking, decision-making and adaptability, is conducive to overall development of students. e. In the task-based teaching activities, being inspired by their teachers, each student has to think independently and active participation opportunities, keep the motivation to learn, and develop good study habits. Teachers should respect the views of students to build a broad exchange of teaching background, create an innovative atmosphere, and promote the spirit of ask for develop as a whole instead of succeeding individually. It is also essential for teachers to conduct emotional communication, to develop students spirit of Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as their right sense of competition and social responsibility. 6. Conclusion The internal value of cooperative study is necessary to be signified. As Ma Lan (2004) has stated, cooperative study is not only a teaching method, but also an positive attitude of life, showing peoples appreciation and willingness of cope with others. Cooperative study is not only a method but also the content of a study, from which students learn the principles and social skills to develop. More importantly, cooperative study is not only about the interactions between teachers and students, but also the share of resources among them. And under the requirements of current curriculum, the knowledge base of a student includes knowledge from textbooks as well as from that of a teachers teaching experience and the interactions among them. Cooperative learning itself is a kind of profound spiritual essence, rich content and extensive operational theory of teaching technology strategy. U.S. cooperative learning experts Jacobs (2001) once said, the shortest distance to reach a goal is not necessarily a straight line. As for English teaching, it is not to ask student to recite the English dictionary and teach them the merely forms of language, but the practical usage of English. Combining with task-based teaching method, cooperative study is effective to help students to experience the joy of learning, cultivate a sense of responsibility by sharing different assignments and learn to dedicate to a goal by making use of mutual complement.

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere :: essays research papers

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere, Enlightenment author and greatest comic dramatist of all times Jean-Jaques Rousseau, philosopher, novelist, composer, language and music theorist, and single most important Enlightenment writer Act I SCENE 1. Moliere and Rousseau are up in heaven R: Hey Moliere is that you? M: Yes, may I ask your name again? R: Yeah it’s Rousseau. M: Ah, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. Sorry, my memory doesn’t always serve me right anymore. R: No, you’ve never met me before. I just remember learning about you back when I was on earth. M: Oh, you’re Rousseau, the Romantic writer, not to mention many other hobbies. Yes I’ve heard about you. Speaking of earth, things are really screwed up nowadays. Have you seen what I’m talking about? R: Yes indeed. As a matter of fact, I was just going to check out the telescopes. M: Oh really, I haven’t been there in a while. R: Yeah, you want to join me? M: Sure, might as well. SCENE 2. Moliere and Rousseau at the telescopes R: There’s a couple right over here we can use. M: What do you want to look at? R: Let’s check out this World Masterpiece class where they’re talking about me right now. M: Sounds good to me. R: I can’t believe that. Out of all of my great literature they picked Confessions to read. That was a piece of crap I wrote just to get a few things off my chest and they’re hailing it as a World Masterpiece? M: Well, at least they’re reading some of your work. R: Whopptie doo! Why don’t they have the students read some of my real masterpieces like The Social Contract or Discourse on Inequality? M: I don’t know, why don’t they? R: Haven’t you read any of my works? M: Sorry, after leaving earth and coming to this paradise, I figured it was best to stay away from anymore earthly influence. R: Well yes, you’ve got a point there. But my point is that students aren’t reading my really good literature, like the two I mentioned earlier, for a reason. M: And what might that be? R: It’s simple, the public school systems are set up and funded(poorly) by the government. Trust me they don’t want every college student reading The Social Contract or Discourse on Inequality. They’d have every supposed â€Å"highly educated† person in America trying to overthrow the current and long-standing government. M: Ah, I see quite clearly now. R: Do you really? M: Yes of course, the government, while getting paid by these students to for education, is at the same time choosing very wisely what to teach it’s pupils so as to make them a more ideal citizen and better property of the State.

Overpopulation: The Underlying Cause of Most Environmental Issues Katie Caputo Essay

There are so many environmental issues that are affecting the entire globe today. People often speak of environmental issues as if they have no control over making them better or worse, however, environmentalists feel that many if not all of the environmental problems that we are facing â€Å"are either caused or exacerbated by population growth† (West, 2009). That means that people themselves are the very ones causing harm to the environment. What we do or don’t do about the issue of overpopulation will determine the very fate of the environment in the future. This presents the need for ethical decision making. Global environmental problems are ethical problems† (Brown, 2009). Each and every person has a moral and ethical responsibility toward the environment, the problem is that people often ignore that responsibility, especially when it presents other ethical dilemmas. Defining Ethics To begin, I would like to define ethics. A definition taken from the National Academy of Engineering states â€Å"ethics is concerned with what is right or wrong, good or bad, fair or unfair, responsible or irresponsible, obligatory or permissible, praiseworthy or blameworthy† (2006). So what does ethics have to do with overpopulation and other environmental issues? If we know that overpopulation is the direct cause of many of the environmental issues that are affecting the entire globe, ethically, it is our responsibility as humans to come up with a solution to the problem. Population Growth â€Å"Over-population is the term that refers to a condition by which the population density enlarges to a limit that provokes the environmental deterioration, a remarkable decline in the quality of life or a population collapse† (Biology Cabinet Organization, 2003). In around 1963, the global rate of human population growth peaked, but the number of people living on Earth has grown by more than two-thirds since then, topping out at over 6. 6 billion today (West, 2009). Every year, more than 81 million people add to the world-wide population. Every 10 years almost one billion inhabitants are added to the world’s population (BCO, 2006). By the year 2050, the human population is expected to exceed nine billion (West, 2009). What affect does this have on the environment? Effects of Over-population Global Warming Global warming is considered to be one of the top environmental issues today. Scientists have determined that it is mostly human activities that are contributing to global warming by adding excessive amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, accumulate in the atmosphere and trap heat that would normally exit into outer space. Many greenhouse gases occur naturally and are needed to create the â€Å"greenhouse effect† that keeps the Earth warm enough to support life, but it is human use of fossil fuels that cause the excess greenhouse gases. By driving cars, using electricity from coal-fired power plants, or heating our homes with oil or natural gas, we release carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere (West, 2009). Deforestation Deforestation is another environmental issue and is a significant source of greenhouse gases because fewer trees mean less carbon dioxide conversion to oxygen. â€Å"The most important direct causes of deforestation include logging, the conversion of forested lands for agriculture and cattle-raising, urbanization, mining and oil exploitation, acid rain and fire† (World Rain Forest Movement, 1998). Deforestation and forest degradation occurs both in Northern and Southern countries and its underlying causes also originate in both, although with varying degrees of responsibility. Industrialized countries have not only cut down or degraded their own forests in the past; many are still doing so today. This occurs either through large-scale clear-cutting (as in many areas of Canada, the US or Australia) or through the thinning and therefore degradation of forests, reducing them to a few commercially valuable species at the expense of biodiversity (such as in Sweden, France or Finland) (World Rainforest Movement, 1998). The root of the problem is trying to keep up with the demand of the ever-growing population. Biodiversity Biodiversity is defined by the Washington Biodiversity Council as â€Å"the full range of life in all its forms† (2003). Biodiversity loss is largely a result of deforestation. The worldwide rate of extinction of plant and animal species is estimated to be 10,000 times as rapid as it was in prehistoric times, with more than 27,000 species becoming extinct every year. An example of the loss of biodiversity due to overpopulation is seen in the state of Washington. â€Å"Washington is one of the most biologically diverse states in the union. This is due to the state’s diverse topography, its exposure to Pacific Ocean currents and weather patterns, and its location on the migratory path of many wildlife species. † â€Å"Washington, in fact, contains most of the major ecosystem types found in the western United States, including two found nowhere else in the world: the Olympic rainforest and channeled scablands. However, â€Å"since statehood in 1889, Washington has lost an estimated 70 percent of its estuarine wetlands, 50 percent of its riparian habitat, 90 percent of its old-growth forest, and 70 percent of its native shrub-steppe and arid grasslands† (Washington Biodiversity Council, 2003). As the smallest and second most densely populated of the rapidly growing Western states, Washington’s population in 2008 was 6. 5 million according to the U. S. Census Bureau, and is expected to add over 21 percent by the year 2020 (2009). This puts Washington in great danger of losing much of its diversity of plant and animal life within the next few decades. Although scientists are not fully aware of all the consequences of the continual loss of biodiversity, they do know that a diversity of healthy, functioning ecosystems is essential to the environment. Water Shortages As we in water-rich countries take our daily showers, water the lawn or laze about in the pool, it’s easy to forget that fresh water is a life-or-death issue in many parts of the world. Of a population of roughly 6. 1 billion, more than 1 billion lack access to potable water. The World Health Organization says that at any time, up to half of humanity has one of the six main diseases such as: diarrhea, schistosomiasis, or trachoma, or infestation with ascaris, guinea worm, or hookworm which are associated with poor drinking water and inadequate sanitation. About 5 million people die each year from poor drinking water, poor sanitation, or a dirty home environment, often resulting from water shortage (University of Wisconsin, 2001). The water shortages are becoming more and more evident all over the world. For example: â€Å"Mexico City (home to 20 million people) is sinking because the city sucks out underground water faster than the aquifer can be refilled; Florida wants to refill it’s over pumped aquifer with untreated surface water, despite federal regulations to the contrary; Texas is moving toward private, for-profit water sales. The water will be ‘mined’ from aquifers that are disappearing fast. No word on what the private suppliers, including corporate raider T. Boone Pickens, will do once the aquifers run dry. Aquifers around the world are being over tapped for irrigated agriculture, which fills about 40 percent of the global larder; The Bush Administration has withdrawn a proposed tightening of the arsenic standard for drinking water. Critics say the old rule, dating to 1942, could allow thousands of cases of cancer and other diseases. Meanwhile, in Bangladesh, what’s been called the ‘largest poisoning of a population in history’ has 35 to 77 million people drinking arsenic-laced water;† and last but not least, â€Å"a showdown is looming over the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which originate in Turkey, then water both Syria and Iraq. If Turkey goes ahead with a series of dams, the downriver nations could starve. There are projections that three billion people, half of today’s population, will be short of water in 2025† (University of Wisconsin, 2001). Some Recommended Solutions for Overpopulation Being that this issue is one of such great importance, we need to be proactive at finding some kind of solution. There have been many different ideas that have been presented to try to get the population under control; however, thus far, most of the ideas have been just that- ideas, with no definite plan of action. Some of the proposed solutions, to name a few, have been: â€Å"making sure people around the world have access to family planning services; empowering women in developing countries economically, socially, and legally in a manner that results in them having an equal say (with their husbands) in reproductive decisions; modifying school curricula to include information on population levels and implications for the future; reforming tax laws in a way that encourages couples to have no more than two children. They would still be able to have as many kids as they want, but the tax code would no longer subsidize more than two)† (Jeantheau, 2005). The Need for Ethical Decision-Making People tend to be very opposed to the thought of their freedom being imposed upon, especially when it deals with the amount of children that they can or cannot have. Many people will argue from a religious standpoint that God specifically says in the Bible to multiply and subdue the earth. Some feel that the use of birth control is unethical and against Bible principles. The problem is that people do not want to do anything else about the issues at hand either. For example: If we were still living the way our ancestors did the amount of people living on the earth would not be a problem. Unfortunately, we are polluting the earth with our technology and over consuming our resources. So the argument can also be presented to those against birth control for religious purposes, that the Bible also says that we should not be gluttonous. But again humans tend to want what they want when they want it. Most only keep the Bible principles that suit them. In any case, as in many ethical problems we are faced with a moral dilemma. A moral dilemma is best described as when two or more obligations are in conflict. â€Å"The crucial features of a moral dilemma are these: the agent is required to do each of two (or more) actions; the agent can do each of the actions; but the agent cannot do both (or all) of the actions. The agent thus seems condemned to moral failure; no matter what she does, she will do something wrong (or fail to do something that she ought to do)† (McConnell, 2006). When presented with a moral dilemma, we need to decide which obligation is most important and give preference to the more important one. Unfortunately, when contemplating any solution for an issue such as overpopulation, we are going to be faced with moral dilemmas. Now we have to choose the lesser of two evils. Should we practice birth control even though it violates our moral principles or continue to allow the population to grow to numbers that the earth cannot sustain? Should we object to abortion when a woman does not want to have a child? Abortion may violate our own personal beliefs; however, if it is what the woman wants for herself and it will surely decrease the number of people being added to our population, shouldn’t we support that decision? Utilitarians view the best moral decision to be the one that brings about the maximum amount of pleasures and the least amount of suffering. They do not make decisions based on their own self-centeredness, they â€Å"insist that the joys and sorrows of others must be part of the calculation (when making any ethical decision)† (Waller, 2008). So, from the utilitarian standpoint, trying to find an answer to slowing the population growth would not be an intrusion or a violation of one’s rights, it would be welcomed to lessen the amount of suffering that is caused by the issue of overpopulation. In the very near future, we will have no choice but to make some very important decisions as to what we will do about the issues that plague the environment. Again, environmental problems are indeed ethical problems. The only way that things will get better in our environment is if we get the rate of growth of the human population under control. We can no longer ignore the moral and ethical responsibility that we as humans have toward the environment, regardless of the ethical dilemmas that we are presented with.