Homework 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Homework 1 - Essay Example presentative written work execution evaluations and relying upon the quantity of individuals being assessed, it can take hours to compose the divisions Performance Appraisal (PA) additionally hours meeting with staff to audit the PA. Other reason of avoiding this might be Demoralization. On the off chance that the methodology is not an average experience, it can possibly dishearten staff. The methodology needs to be one of consolation, uplifting feedback and a festival of a year of achievements. Another reason can be Conflicting Message. In the event that a manager does not keep notes and exact records of worker conduct, they may not be fruitful in sending a predictable message to the representative. We all battle with memory with as occupied as we all are so it is discriminating to archive issues (both positive and negative) when it is crisp in our personalities so we have it to survey with the worker at execution evaluation time. Biasness may also a reason to avoid performance mana gement. It is hard to keep biases out of the PA procedure and it takes an extremely organized, target methodology and an adult chief to stay fair-minded through the methodology. Execution examination rater blunders are regular for chiefs who survey execution so understanding characteristic inclinations is essential to reasonable assessments. ("Advantages and Disadvantages of Performance Management." Smart Church Management.) The main three objectives of performance management are genuinely steady crosswise over respondents, with circulation of prizes, expanding singular responsibility and enhanced money related and operational results beating the rundown. Overwhelmingly, the top test confronted by associations was that managers are not able to have troublesome execution talks. Representative view of execution as a HR methodology and poor objective setting surfaced as the second also third most noteworthy difficulties. ("EXTRACT: Performance Management."The Role of the Manager in Homework 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1 Homework 1 - Essay Example The hatred comes from Americans trying to convert them to a better way of life, the life of democracy. However, American democracy will not work in the Middle East†¦ever. It is a different culture. We need to respect the differences, instead of trying to make the world see things the American way. Israel is another issue that can be used to attack America. Israel was not given to the Israelis. The Palestinians have been ruled by European countries for centuries before the British pulled out. The Arab countries of Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Syria, and Egypt to name a few attacked the newly formed Israel. The Israelis forced them back. The Occupied Territories were taken by Israel in a war started by their neighbors. If America did not back Israel, they would be hypocritical. America would have to look at giving back states like Texas, New Mexico, and other southern states to Mexico, if they backed the Palestinian cause. U.S. political elites feel that if the Palestinians are so miserable they should immigrate to a neighboring Arab state. The Arab states and Palestinians attacked Israel first. Israel just defended themselves is the attitude. The real reason that the U.S. is committed to Zionism and the State of Israel is it provides an ally in the Middle East. After all of the brave sentiments about freeing people and democracy, the United States has to have put their own interest first. As long as the U.S. supports Israel, the United States can influence the

Globalization Problem Essay Example for Free

Globalization Problem Essay Introduction Globalization has practically changed societies all over the world. It has paved the way for the so called â€Å"borderless economy†. With the advent of the Internet, the role of information has dramatically changed the way people live and do business. As Naval points out in her paper, an immense reduction of time and space barriers among great nations is made possible through interconnectivity. She illustrated that such interconnections result to global transactions being done in the comfort zones of one’s home. This characteristic of the Information Age provides for accessibility to vast reservoirs of knowledge, which is power. 1 It is for this reason that all nations all over the world are adopting ICT-based solutions to address their information needs in this modern era of knowledge explosion. In the Philippines, the government anticipated the importance of Information Technology (IT) as early as the Ramos administration. Ramos in his speech at the First Information Technology and Telecommunications Education Congress outlined the National Information Technology Plan (NITP) of the government. He stressed that IT must be applied to the education sector as a means for national strengthening.2 In 1997, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) reported that the General Appropriations Act of the previous year provided some funds for the CHED-SUCs computerization program. Chairman Angel C. Alcala stated that majority of the fund was used to upgrade the computer capabilities of state-funded institutions. The biggest threat pointed out in the CHED computerization program was the readiness of the people in the educational institutions in the form of computer literacy to cope with the said technological changes. 3 Similarly, the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) engaged in its own computerization program. Undersecretary Alejandro W.D. Clemente described the computerization project as two main thrusts, which are (1) improvement of learning/teaching environment and (2) management of education. While improvement of learning/teaching environment mainly involves direct use of IT tools in the classroom such as multimedia, computer-based training, etc., Clemente stressed that management of education through IT centers on three groups. These groups consist of support staff using application programs such as wordprocessors, spreadsheets and the like for processing. The second group is for the number crunching processing such as accounting, budgeting and others. Finally, the third group affected by IT in educational management is in the area of databanking. Storing of voluminous records such as student scholastic records may be kept and retrieved using computer technology. 4 In addition to government efforts, Malacaà ±ang has issued on July 12, 2000, under the Estrada administration, Executive Order No. 265, â€Å"An act approving and adopting the government information systems plan (GISP) as framework and guide for all computerization efforts in the government.† The order aims to provide a wide-ranging set of reforms to enhance government efficiency and effectiveness in its operations and delivery of basic services to the public. Furthermore, the executive order requires all government units to align their respective computerization projects to the thrusts of E.O. 265, also known as the Philippine Government Online. 5 In the light of these ICT undertakings at the national level, most specially in the education sector, former PUP President, Dr. Ofelia M. Carague was inspired to embark on a university-wide computerization project to address the information needs of the university, as embodied in the PUP Information Systems Strategic Plan (ISSP). The ISSP, in general, aims to address the mission-critical areas of the five sectors of the university, namely: Administration, Finance, Student Services, Academic Affairs and Research and Development. Different systems were lined-up for the different sectors of the university, such as, Admission System (AS), Enrolment System (ES), Student Grades Monitoring Systems (SGMS), etc. under the Student Services sector.6 Despite the massive computerization program of PUP during the early part of the Carague administration, the PUP Laboratory High School department was not included in the initial list of offices to be computerized, mainly due to the limited student population. This view was somehow overturned by a fire incident which threatened to destroy the archived student records in the possession of the high school registrar. This was cited by PUP LHS in its appeal to be included in the computerization project. The Polytechnic University of the Philippines Laboratory High School has been in existence for more than half a century since its inception in 1954. Throughout its existence it has adopted several information systems, both manual and automated, to facilitate in its day-to-day operations. Recently, the high school department engaged in an upgrading of its Student Information Systems (SIS). The semi-automated operations were replaced with a fully automated system known as Laboratory High School Student Information System (LabHiSIS). LabHiSIS is composed to two subsystems, namely: (1) Enrolment System (ES) and (2) Student Grades Monitoring System (SGMS). This transition from a semi-automated to a fully automated system entails a lot of adjustments on the part of LHS students, faculty members and non-teaching personnel. Thus, the researcher aims to assess the implementation of the said subsystems of LabHiSIS in order to understand the efficacy of the said system implementation, using as basis common good qualities of information, which an efficient or effective information system must provide. The study shall likewise identify the pr oblems encountered during the system implementations. Background of the Study The Polytechnic University of the Philippines Laboratory High School (PUPLHS) located in the main campus at Sta. Mesa, Manila is the only surviving high school unit of PUP. Previously, there were high school department in other PUP branches like PUP Bataan and Lopez branches. There were some motions in the past to close the department, but it was vigorously opposed to by certain sectors of the university citing that PUP LHS is an integral department of the College of Office Administration and Business Teacher Education (COABTE). The latter was founded in 1904 formerly starting as the College of Business Teacher Education while the former was established in 1954 to pioneer a unique commercial curriculum. The curriculum’s defining attributes are the subjects on distributive arts, which consist of Stenography, Bookkeeping and Salesmanship, viewed as a tool to make the students more equipped for early employment. The students are required to take one of these as a major in junior and senior year. The curriculum has remained very much intact for the past fifty years with very minimal modifications, like the inclusion of computer subjects. Though COABTE acts as the mother unit of the high school department, certain autonomy in the management of PUP LHS is given to its administrators. For instance, the LHS Registrar is not bound to adhere to procedures implemented by the university registrar to the colleges. In addition, since it is under the university system, the high school department also enjoys a similar type of independence from DepEd control. The PUPLHS enrolment process employs a typical manual enrolment process. Despite of this nature, the LHS administration is able to manage the enrolment due to the small student population. The enrolment starts with the filling up of registration forms at designated enrolment centers. Prior to this initial step, old students must be cleared of any accountability during the previous school year. Next, the student pays Student Council fees along with other organizational fees. The third step is the assessment of fees which is manually computed by the teachers themselves. After which, the students must pay the amount at the Cashier’s Office located at the main building. Finally, the student has to proceed to the LHS Registrar’s Office for the validation of registration certificate.7 This concludes the manual high school enrolment process, which is less complicated as compared to the college enrolment. Common problems under this situation arise from long queues of students waiting to be processed up to incorrect assessment of matriculation and other fees. The grades of the students like most secondary level institutions are likewise computed manually. The process starts with the posting of grades in the summary sheet which is done on a quarterly basis by the teachers. Each section has one summary sheet to which all subject teachers input the grades of students bel onging to the section. The posting of non-academic marks like attendance, conduct and homeroom are also posted on the summary sheet by the section advisers every quarter. Another type of quarterly report being prepared by the teachers is the report cards of the students. On the fourth quarter of the school calendar, the teachers must compute the subject averages and post it on the summary sheet to determine those who passed and failed from among the students. This is very crucial in the deliberation process of PUP LHS faculty members so that they are guided as to whom are the candidates for kick out or transfer. In addition, the advisers are responsible for the computation of the general weighted average and the posting of academic and non-academic marks on the report card of all the students under his advisory. Next, the teacher encodes the grades of the students to the Student Permanent Record form of the LHS Registrar’s office, which serves as the official scholastic record of the student. Finally, the teachers must prepare their grade sheets to be submitted to the LHS principal. The registrar, on one hand, is responsible of producing the Transcript of Records (TOR) of both graduates and students for college application purposes. At this stage, the student grades are encoded to the computer for the very first time. This summarizes the complex and tedious manual process of grades processing in PUP LHS.8 The manual systems in PUP LHS suffer from a lot redundancies. In their manual processing of student grades the only instance where the grades of the students are made in digital form is when the Registrar encodes the grades for the Transcript of Records (TOR) preparation. The rest of the processing stages consist of manual posting of grades unto different reports. When the appeal of PUP LHS to be included in the computerization project was approved by the Office of the Vice President for Finance, the PUP Information Linkage Systems (PUPILS) was tasked to assist the high school department in its request. The initial agreement was to customize the Integrated Student Information System (iSIS) of the college for the high school unit, but due to some differences in business logic the developers decided to create a system from scratch instead. Development started in April 2002 and the developers employed a Rapid Application Development (RAD) strategy in developing its first component – the Enrolment System (LabHiSIS-ES). The LabHiSIS package is composed of the following subsystems, namely: âž ¢ Enrolment System (LabHiSIS-ES) – a system which handles the registration needs of the students during enrolment periods. âž ¢ Student Grades Monitoring System (LabHiSIS-GMS) – a system which monitors the accumulating grades of student s. In a short period of barely two months, the PUPILS LabHiSIS development team prepared a fully functional stand-alone enrolment system. It was implemented in May 27-30, 2002 to all year levels of PUP LHS. LabHiSIS used a pre-printed implementation strategy. In this strategy, the registration certificates of the high school students were printed in advance. This facilitated the simple distribution of registration certificates to the enrollees during the enrolment proper, which were done by the enrolling advisers. After two years of implementing the Enrolment System in the department, the development team started with the development of the second subsystem. The first implementation of the Student Grades Monitoring System was implemented in SY 2003-2004. Throughout the entire development phase of the LabHiSIS systems, the system developers were guided by the following system objectives which they envision to be accomplished by the systems once operational. The LabHiSIS-Enrolment System’s objective is to automate the enrolment processing by generating a pre-assessed and a filled-up registration certificate. It shall also assist with some pre and post admission processing like the generation of unique student number. With the system, the faculty members of PUP LHS would no longer have to manually assess the matriculation and fees of the students. Though it is still not connected online to the university’s Cashiering system, the developers believe that this automation would provide a significant improvement to the LHS enrolment processes and, at the same time, introduce computerization to the PUP LHS community thereby preparing them for the second LabHiSIS module – Student Grades Monitoring System. The development of the more complicated Student Grades Monitoring System followed a multifaceted set of objectives. The objectives are as follows: 1. The Student Grades Monitoring System must automate the entire grades processing of PUP LHS from the time of its initial posting up to the generation of student Transcript of Records (TOR) for the department’s graduates. 2. SGMS shall produce highly accurate reports, namely: Temporary Quarterly Report Cards, Final Report Cards, Quarterly Summary Sheets, Student Permanent Records, Grade Sheets and Transcript of Records. 3. The system shall uphold confidentiality of student grades, thus, preventing unauthorized access to certain subject matters. The teachers will be limited to the subject assigned to them. 4. The system shall promote a high standard of grade integrity and eliminate the repetitive manual posting/inputting of grades into different kinds of reports. It shall centralize the printing of reports which is the sole responsibility of the system administrators. The administrators, though with access rights to view the grades, have no access rights to modify any of the grade entries. The faculty members are, thus, assured that the grades they have entered are the same grades to appear regardless of the report type. With this scheme, discrepancies will be avoided and the faculty would only have to input the grades once. Theoretical Framework In this study, the theory of Prof. Karl Weick, from the University of Michigan, known as Information Systems Theory was used as one of the basis for the study. The theory primarily states that â€Å"An organization should connect with information processing. Information is the key item that all organizations must possess.† 9 According to Sweeney, the theory of Karl Weick can be tested for practical utility. This means that, â€Å"The more effective communication is, the more effective the organization will be, and as a result it [organization] will be more successful.†10 The theory when properly applied to an organization can increase business control which is one of the fundamental functions of management. Efforts, however, to improve organizational performance do not instantaneously arrive as a result of having computer-based information systems. Prof. N. Kano, in his Theory on Customer Satisfaction, identified several categories of quality attributes which influence customer satisfaction. He discussed the importance of Basic, Excitement and Performance Factors as the three attributes directly involved with client satisfaction. He stated that basic factors present the minimum requirements in any product which will cause dissatisfaction if not fulfilled but do not cause customer satisfaction when fulfilled. Excitement factors tend to cause customer satisfaction whenever fulfilled but do not promote dissatisfaction if absent. Performance factors causes satisfaction if the performance is high†¦they cause dissatisfaction if the performance is low. 11 Though this theory mentions of characteristics applicable to a product, it must be noted that software is considered a product. 12 In order to guarantee customer satisfaction the product must be carefully evaluated thoroughly. The Evaluation Theory according to Prof. Mel Mark, from the Pennyslvania State University, as one of its many application provides the important key whether or not to implement a new program. In his article Evaluation Theory and What are Evaluation Methods For?, he mentioned that evaluation theory acts as a performance measurement system that can identify problem areas and provide a feedback mechanism regarding the apparent consequences of a certain decision. 13 Conceptual Framework The conceptual framework employs the Systems Approach technique. It begins with the Input Box, which represents factors that must exist before the study can take place or a phenomenon can be investigated. In this study, the inputs are the respondents of the study and the LabHiSIS-Enrolment System and LabHiSIS-Student Grades Monitoring System. The second box is the Process box. It contains all the procedures taken in the study. In the study, the process begins with data gathering through a survey questionnaire. Other information was also derived from informal interview. After data tabulation the next step was the application of a correct statistical tool. Finally, analysis and interpretation was made on the basis of the statistical results. The third box is the Output box. It shows the findings of the study regarding the efficacy of the systems. Likewise, it also aims to identify the problems encountered in the systems implementation. A return or feedback arrow signifies the repetitive and continuous nature of the process. After the findings have been concluded a new set of problems may arise which requires another inquiry or investigation. Statement of the Problem The study assessed the effectiveness of the Laboratory High School Student Information Systems, particularly its two subsystems; Enrolment System and Student Grades Monitoring System. Similarly, it aims to answer the following specific questions: To what extent do the respondents rate the effectiveness of the LabHiSIS-Enrolment System in terms of the following software quality attributes: 1. Accuracy; 2. Completeness; 3. Timeliness; 4. Reliability; 5. Security 6. User-Friendliness? To what extent do the respondents’ rate the effectiveness of the LabHiSIS-Student Grade Monitoring System in terms of the given software quality attributes: 1. What are the problems encountered in the implementation of LabHiSIS, specifically its two subsystems – Enrolment System and Student Grades Monitoring System? Significance of the Study Change is not an easy thing to embrace. It is the very nature of man to resist change. This resistance is commonly due to the fear of the unknown. Information Technology, as a catalyst of change, is a major fear factor for many institutions and individuals. Thus, this study aims to assess the LabHiSIS implementations made to PUPLHS. The main goal of the study is to identify the efficacy rating of the LabHiSIS system implementations. Findings of the study are expected to contribute to the further refinement of the system and its future implementations. The study, upon its completion, will benefit the following stakeholders of the university, namely: The University Officials/Administrators. Implementation problems identified in this study can help top management arrive at sound decisions regarding budget allocations, policy formulation, etc. The Academic and Administrative Employees of PUP LHS. Through this research the employees would be able to express their comments regarding the system so that positive changes can be taken into consideration by the developers as a result of the system assessment. The Systems Developers. The developers of the system would greatly benefit from this research mainly because the users response to the questionnaire would serve as a gauge in measuring the system performance. The weak points identified in the study can become the focus of their corrective maintenance of the system. The Future Researchers. This research can serve as a model for other studies on system implementations that other researchers might want to investigate. It is important to note that through research the precious feedback coming from the beneficiaries or system users could be obtained. In this case, the beneficiaries of the LabHiSIS systems are the students while the users are the academic and the non-teaching personnel. The Students. The last beneficiary of the system study is the students of PUP LHS. They would benefit from the improved service brought about by refinements in the system which is in turn a result of the problem identification and performance appraisal found in this study. Scope and Limitation of the Study This study is concerned with the system implementation of the LabHiSIS computerized Enrolment System and Student Grades Monitoring System to PUP Laboratory High School in school year 2004-2005. It includes all the following enrolment and grades processing activities: (1) Academic Subject Enrolment and Assessment of Matriculation and Fees; (2) Posting of Academic Grades and Non-Academic Marks and (3) Generation of Periodic and Demand Reports. In addition, the study includes the system stakeholders, namely, faculty members, non-teaching personnel and students of PUP LHS. The study is however limited to 2nd year up to 4th year students only as the first year students, in June 2005, still have no knowledge and complete experience with the two LabHiSIS subsystems. Definition of Terms The following terminologies were used as operationally defined in this study: Accuracy of information simply means that the information system is error free. Administrator is in-charge of the system security for both subsystems. As such he has access to all utilities menu commands. Completeness of the information means that all needed details are incorporated in a report or output produced by an information system. Effectiveness refers to the satisfactory performance or rating of the system based on software quality factors such as Accuracy, Completeness, Timeliness, Reliability, Security and User-Friendliness. End-users are members of the faculty and non-teaching staff of the PUP Laboratory High School who directly interact or use the computer-based information system. LabHiSIS refers to the Laboratory High School Student Information System, a computer-based information system designed to automate the enrolment and grades preparation process of PUP Laboratory High School. The system is composed of two subsystems, namely the Enrolment System and the Student Grades Monitoring System. Reliability is an information characteristic which means that the output or report produced by an information system can be depended upon by its users despite changes in the environment which may affect the system. Security refers to the ability of the system to limit accessibility of the users thus safeguarding confidential or restricted records from any form of unlawful access. Source documents, as used in this paper, pertain to the Summary Sheets from which all academic and non-academic marks of the students are initially posted by the subject teachers from their respective class records. The summary sheet is used for reference by the faculty members during the encoding of grades to SGMS. Timeliness of information is about the prompt release or issuance of a needed detail or report whenever it is needed. User Friendliness pertains to the characteristic of the information system to be easily understood by the users. Figure 1 Paradigm of the Study FEEDBACK OUTPUT PROCESS INPUT Assessed Laboratory High School Student Information Systems (LabHiSIS): Enrolment System (ES) Student Grades Monitoring System (SGMS) Solutions to the Problems Encountered in the implementation of the systems. Assessment of the Laboratory High School Student Information System (LabHiSIS) Subsystems: – Enrolment System (ES), and – Student Grades Monitoring System (SGMS). Identification of the problems encountered during the systems implementation 1Naval, Victoria C., â€Å"Rethinking Prospects and Challenges of Globalization in Education†, The Mabini Review, Vol. 1. 2001 11Kano, N., â€Å"Customer Satisfaction Model†, http://www.12manage.com/methods_ kano_customer_satisfaction_model.html, 1984. 12Sommerville, Ian A., Software Engineering, 4th Edition, Addison – Wesley Longman Inc., 1995) pp. 5. 13Mark, Mel, â€Å"Evaluation Theory or What are Evaluation Methods For?†, http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/eval/issue30/theory.html 9Dudas, Marion, â€Å"Applying the Information Systems Theory to a True Situation†, http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~md413097/is.htm, 2000. 10Sweeney, Matt C., â€Å"Information Systems Critique† http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/ ~ms101996/is.htm 8Gonzales, Jaime Y., interview held during system development start-up, Registrar’s Office, April 2002 7Gonzales, Jaime Y., PUP Laboratory High School Enrolment Procedures, 2004 6Escober, Rosicar E., PUP Information Systems Strategic Plan, College of Computer Studies, Graduate School, Dela Salle University, Manila, 1999. 2. 4Clemente, Alejandro W.D., â€Å"Use of Multi-media in DECS†, IT Education in the Philippines: Preparing for the 21st Century, pp.29-34, February 1997. 5Estrada, Joseph Ejercito, Executive Order 256, Malacaà ±ang Palace, Manila, http://www.neda.gov.ph/ads/gisp/default.htm, 2000. Laboratory High School Student Information Systems (LabHiSIS): Enrolment System (ES), and Student Grades Monitoring System (SGMS). Problems encountered in the systems implementation 2Ramos, Fidel V., â€Å"Taking the Future in our Hands†, speech delivered in the First Information Technology and Telecommunications Education Congress, Dusit Hotel Nikko Manila, February 1997. 3Alcala, Angel C., â€Å"The CHED Computerization Program: Goals, Policies and Projects†, IT Education in the Philippines: Preparing for the 21st Century, pp.25-28, February 1997.

Women in the Scientific Revolution

Women in the Scientific Revolution The scientific revolution is generally considered part of the broader intellectual revolution that began with the Italian Renaissance and the rediscovery and translation of the classical writers, particularly Aristotle, sometime during the fourteenth century. It is only in retrospect that one can understand broad movements, such as this, but one can assert with confidence that the scientific revolution resulted from a confluence of several factors, most particularly the rejection of the Ptolemaic model of planetary movement combined with an increased interest in Aristotelian science (Grant, 1996). Thus, the scientific revolution, insofar as it was a revolution rather than a developing, continuous process, may be claimed to have begun in 1543 with the publication of Copernicus De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, though establishing this as a boundary is as much a matter of convenience as anything else (Linton, 2004). As an intellectual and cultural phenomenon, the scientific revoluti on continues to the present, moving through such advances as Newtonian mechanics, the experimental method of chemistry, advanced in anatomy and medicine, Darwinian evolution, relativity and quantum mechanics, with myriad offshoots at every stage along the way of this development. At the present, there is much dispute about how, or whether, the scientific revolution will end: some think it will continue forever, while others believe it will culminate with grand unification, a theory of everything that explains both gravity and subatomic forces, in effect capable of describing all phenomena (Westfall, 1971). That woman have played pivotal roles in the advancement of science is undeniable; as with male figures, it is possible to isolate selected examples of women who made significant contributions. There is no reason to believe that such contributions were made because of their gender, but given the nature of society at the time of the scientific revolution, one may assert that the contributions were made in spite of their gender. As the scientific revolution may be said to continue to the present day, so too, does the gender bias in the sciences, though there is evidence this is getting better. Women in the Scientific Revolution Margaret Cavendish Perhaps Margaret Cavendish is the best example of such a woman in the midst of the scientific revolution. While biographies of her once concentrated on her eccentric behavior and the more florid aspects of her life (Grant, 1957, Whitaker, 2003), we are the beneficiaries of a recent flurry of scholarly interest in her philosophical and scientific undertakings. She engaged with, and apparently held her own against Thomas Hobbes, Robert Boyle, Renà © Descartes and others in the early Royal Society, though she herself was denied fellowship in that exalted body (Walters, 2014). Margaret Cavendish rejected Aristotelianism and the mechanist philosophies that prevailed through much of that time, adopting a vitalist view instead, holding that living things are different from nonliving things in that they possess a spark of life that subjects them to different physical rules; this is now an obsolete scientific theory (Sarasohn, 2010). ONeill in Cavendish (2001) characterizes Cavendishs natura l philosophy as an outright rejection of Aristotle while adopting stoic doctrines; ONeill (2001) also notes that while women rarely wrote on scientific matters at this time, Margaret Cavendish published six scientific books, two of which are currently in print; it is also worth noting that Margaret Cavendish was a duchess and, as such, had certain social and economic advantages most other women would not have shared. Cavendishs main scientific work was Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy (2001), written in the vernacular, rather than the Latin that was typical of scientific books until well into the nineteenth century, which itself reflects the scientific revolutions origin in the Greek and Latin classics. She had already undertaken earnest study of contemporary scientific and philosophical works and this book of hers clearly shows the influence of Thomas Hobbes, who had instructed her brother Sir Charles Lucas in philosophy; in fact, she was one of the few of her time who accepted Hobbes ideas that incorporeal souls do not exist in nature (Sarasohn, 2010). She certainly expresses herself well in her book, even discussing in the preface whether her excessive writing is a disease (Mendelson, 1987), a question that still plagues modern practitioners (e.g., Flaherty, 2004). As she points out, she wrote primarily for herself and if it was a disease, then it was a wonderful disease suffered by A ristotle, Homer and Cicero, among others (Cavendish, 2001). Women in the Scientific Revolution Maria Winckelmann In Germany, circumstances for women in science were different; few independently pursed their scientific interests. The astronomer Maria Winckelmann Kirsch is perhaps the best and certainly the best remembered example. She married the astronomer and mathematician Gottfried Kirsch and while they functioned as equals, the prevailing attitude of their time was that she was his assistant; Kirsch himself was a product of a scientific family and there is no reason to believe he did not appreciate his wifes collaboration. In any event, we know she wrote of the conjunctions of the planets and, in 1702 became the first woman to discover a comet; she also published the most erudite observations of the aurora borealis to that time (Schiebinger, 1987). Unfortunately, Maria Winckelmann Kirsch has yet to benefit from a revival of scholarly interest in her life and activities that has benefited Margaret Cavendish. Women in the Scientific Revolution Maria Gaetana Agnesi In Italy, traditionally regarded as the birthplace of the Renaissance, the situation for women was different still, and is best exemplified by Maria Gaetana Agnesi, who, like Margaret Cavendish, had the advantages of wealth and social position and also pursued her interests independently. Her father was a professor of mathematics at Bologna and Maria showed intellectual gifts from an early age (Osen, 1975). Throughout her life, he was a very religious person and constantly found herself in the verge of spiritual revelation; fortunately for the history of science, she was a person of rare intellectual energy and she undertook the study of calculus when that was still cutting edge mathematics. Her most important work is Instituzioni analitiche ad uso della gioventà ¹ italiana, which uncharitably translates to Analytic Institutions for Use by Italian Youths an excellent introduction to Euclid and the first work to include both differential and integral calculus; in fact, Struik (1987) refers to her at the first important woman mathematician since Hypatia, some thirteen centuries before; Struik (1987) also calls this work the model for all subsequent calculus textbooks. As it was intended as a textbook for use by students, like Cavendish, Agnesi wrote in the vernacular Italian, and wrote very well, though lacked the Margaret Cavendishs literary charm. Agnesi became a professor of mathematics at the University of Bologna, the first woman to achieve this, anywhere. As noted, she spent much of her life in religious contemplation, though it should also be noted that she devoted much of her she considerable wealth to helping the poor and infirm, to the point that she converted at least part of her home into a charity hospital. She was recognized in her lifetime and was praised by many, including Pope Benedict XIV, himself no intellectual lightweight (Mazzotti, 1987). If Maria Agnesi is remembered for anything now, curiously it is for something she did not discover: the Witch of Agnesi, a curve whose mathematical properties lie somewhat outside the scope of this paper. While others had previously considered this curve, Agnesi was the first to give it a rigorous analytical treatment in her textbook; that it is called a witch is the product of an unfortunate early mistranslation into English that stuck. The curve, however, has one property worth mentioning: it almost exactly resembles an isolated water wave (Mazzotti, 1987). These three are just examples of women who took part in the scientific revolution. There were many others worthy of mention and many others still whose contributions are either lost or unrecognized, in some cases, to this day. The Status of Women in Science Now It is safe to say that of all the scientists ever, an overwhelming percentage are professionally active now, and among there, there are more women than ever before. This notwithstanding, women face serious obstacles in the sciences. Statistics indicate that women do less well than men in terms of degree, tenure and salary. In a field such as nursing, that has traditionally been dominated by women, men hold four percent of the professorships; by contrast women have never held as much as four percent of the professorships in any field dominated by men; even in psychology, were women obtain the majority of doctorates, women do not yet fill the majority of professorships (Schiebinger, 2001). Even so, there have been many noteworthy women scientists at present. To cite just one such example, the American Barbara McClintock discovered the transposition of genes and this explained how certain physical characteristics are turned on or off (Comfort, 1999). For this, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1944 and in 1983 won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine and, in fact, remains the only woman to win that prize, unshared. There is some contention over the exact nature and precedence of her discoveries, but even her critics concede her pivotal role in genetics research (Comfort, 2001). Reducing Barbara McClintock and her contributions to a single paragraph is hardly fair to her, or to women in science today. It is, however, important to recognize that woman have made important contributions to science from the earliest times and while many of these contributions remain unrecognized, this is finally being addressed. Given current demographic and educational trends, it is clear that the influence of women in science will only increase with time. Conclusion As noted, women have played important roles in science from antiquity to the present, though their roles and their contributions have often been lost or gone unrecognized. This paper has examined three such figures from the time of the scientific revolution, as well as one from the postwar era in the United States to demonstrate that their contributions can be meaningful and as important as those of their male counterparts. It is to be understood that if science is to be a truly democratic and fair institution, it must welcome contributions and criticism from everyone and while tremendous strides have been made, the institution of science as a whole still has a long way to go to achieve this egalitarian goal. References Cavendish, M. (2001). Observations upon experimental philosophy. E. ONeill (ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Comfort, N. (1999). The real point is control: The reception of Barbara McClintocks controlling elements. Journal of the History of Biology, 32 (1): 133–62 Comfort, N. (2001). The tangled field. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Flaherty, A. (2004). The midnight disease: The drive to write, writers block, and the creative brain. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace. Grant, D. (1957). Margaret the first: A biography of Margaret Cavendish Duchess of Newcastle 1623–1673. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press. Grant, E. (1996). The foundations of modern science in the Middle Ages: Their religious, institutional, and intellectual contexts. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Linton, C. (2004). From Eudoxus to Einstein: A history of mathematical astronomy. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Mazzotti, M. (2007). The world of Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Mathematician of God. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Mendelson, S. (1987). Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle. In The mental world of three Stuart women. Brighton, UK: Harvester, pp. 12–61. Osen, L. (1975). Women in Mathematics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Sarasohn, L. (2010) The natural philosophy of Margaret Cavendish: Reason and fancy during the scientific revolution. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Schiebinger, L. (1987). Maria Winckelmann at the Berlin Academy: A turning point for women in science. Isis, Journal of the History of Science Society, 78 (292): 174–200. Schiebinger, L. (2001). Has Feminism Changed Science? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Struik, D. (1987). A Concise history of mathematics (4th rev. ed.). New York, NY: Dover Publications. Walters, L. (2014). Margaret Cavendish: Gender, science and politics. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Westfall, R. (1971). The construction of modern science. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons. Whitaker, K. (2003). Mad Madge: Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, royalist, writer and romantic. London: Chatto and Windus.

Requiem for an Aristocrat :: essays research papers

Requiem for an Aristocrat   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"It’s lonely at the top,† a cliche that Faulkner reaffirms in his classical short story, â€Å"A Rose for Emily.† In this southern tale, a social class structure separated the â€Å"high and mighty Griersons† from the rest of the town. After the Civil War, the southern upper class society was dwindling with the northern industrialists rising in national influence. Emily Grierson was the product of an overprotective single father raising a high society child. During this era the southern high society type was considered a dying breed. Emily’s father instilled values and morals that only an arrogant aristocrat could set in a child. Emily’s inability to involve herself in social settings, her blatant disregard of the law, and her radical approach to intimate relationships all stem from her father’s upbringing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The town was filled with people Emily had no desire to interact with. She kept herself locked inside her house and sent Tobe, her servant, to take care of mostly all obligations that required social interactions. She spent the greater part of her life inside this fortress of solitude she considered home. During Emily’s years as a young lady, she was led to believe none of the young men deserved her. The young men did not measure up to her father’s expectations so he dismissed them. Even at thirty years of age, Emily remained single because her father would limit her social interaction. So it was common for the townspeople to refrain from associating with such distinguished people. The entire town attended Emily Grierson’s funeral without knowing her beyond her name. This type o f upbringing left Emily isolated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Emily held an â€Å"above-the-law† attitude that was common amongst aristocrats in the southern states at that time. Once Emily’s father died, the mayor felt obligated to allow Emily to refrain from paying taxes. When Emily visited her druggist for arsenic, he allowed her to purchase the poison without having to give reason for its use even though the law states that you must. Emily even disregarded the unwritten laws of high society. It was unheard of that a person of her stature would date a Yankee laborer. She went against even the most fundamental of social laws and gave a laborer, by the name of Homer Barron, an opportunity to court her. This shocked the entire town and â€Å"reaffirmed her imperviousness† (429).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Emily was unable to produce a healthy relationship with a person because her father kept her single to her thirties, making her feel as though no man deserved her hand.

Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Cconstructivism

Without going in to details, learning is† a permanent change in behavior.† (Burns, R, 1995) and can be gained through observation or interaction. These include behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. In this paper we are going to comprise and have personal reactions toward these three schools of thought. â€Å"Is there any best method in teaching English?†. This is the commonest question that English teachers raise. Most teachers try to be the best in their classrooms, but they even don't know how. Obviously, there is no best method to use in teaching English; we should take all of them in to consideration and manipulate the fruitful points. According to scholars in cognitivism and constructivism students are responsible for their own knowledge; experiences, cultural and social aspects are so important in constructing the knowledge and the teacher is a guider. In contrast to behaviorists who know humans as a programmed machine which achieve knowledge through repetition and conditioning. In my opinion, when learners think about an issue critically and have some ideas from different aspects to solve the problems, they understand the idea better, Thus, collaboration and interaction motivate the students; the motivated student has no time to devote to do other unrelated things in the classroom. Therefore, they can work in groups and have explanation or prediction and make sense of current experience. However, we can't deny the role of conditioning and repetition in learning another language. According to elements of observational learning students pay attention by marking and highlighting and as they memorize the knowledge they can remember it easily. â€Å"when individuals are learning a new behavior, they will learn it faster if they are reinforced correct response.† (Woolfolk, A, 2016). Reinforcement plays a really essential role in learning. When the teacher commends the students systematically they have more positive reactions toward their learning. As a teacher who works in ministry of education, I think behaviorism is more dominant at Iranian school. Students and their inner abilities, intelligence – according to multiple intelligence theory by Gardner – are ignored. The higher level the students are the less creativity and critical views they have. The cultural and social learning (authenticity) are ignored as well. Moreover, group working and collaborating play little role in Iranian schools. Students are not able to predict and organize their knowledge. As they are fed by the teacher they can't use the knowledge they know to understand the subject that they don't know. The focus is most on the operant conditioning and students are likely to memorize the knowledge rather than understand the point. The testing tools also are not that professional in order to evaluate students who are learning through constructivism and cognitivism. The materials which have been covered in the books are not powerful enough to juice up the students discovering abilities and help them to build their own knowledge. In conclusion, as I mentioned before none is superior to another. We have to recognize the advantages of each and use them appropriately. Teachers have to put both students' inner abilities and the effects of habit formation into consideration. But they have to help students to level up their intellectual abilities and build their own knowledge with previous experiences.

Shakespeares Vocabulary

Shakespeares Vocabulary Shakespeares Vocabulary Shakespeares Vocabulary By Maeve Maddox Shakespeare (1564-1616) wrote during the Renaissance, a time when the English language was being inundated with new words. Based on a count from the OED, between 10,000 and 12,000 new words were added to English during the 16th century. About half have found a permanent place in the language. The majority of the new words came from Latin and were used by educated people who wrote books. They jumped quickly from the printed page into everyday speechpresumably by way of such popular entertainments as plays and sermons. The character of Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night may reflect the eagerness of non-scholars to learn new words: VIOLA [to Olivia] Most excellent accomplished lady, the heavens rain odours on you! SIR ANDREW [aside] That youths a rare courtier: Rain odours; well. VIOLA My matter hath no voice, to your own most pregnant and vouchsafed ear. SIR ANDREW Odours, pregnant and vouchsafed: Ill get em all three all ready. Except for a professional translator like Philemon Holland (1552-1637), Shakespeare used the largest vocabulary of any English writer. Some of the words he used in his plays are documented only a year or two before his use of them: exist, initiate, and jovial, for example. Its impossible to say how many words Shakespeare coined, but his works provide the first documentation for words including accommodation, apostrophe, assassination, dexterously, dislocate, frugal, indistinguishable, misanthrope, obscene, pedant, premeditated, reliance, and submerged. He makes fun of some of the new words going round by putting them in the mouths of pompous clowns like Holofernes in Loves Labours Lost: HOLOFERNES The deer was, as you know, sanguis, in blood; ripe as the pomewater, who now hangeth like a jewel in the ear of caelo, the sky, the welkin, the heaven; and anon falleth like a crab on the face of terra, the soil, the land, the earth. SIR NATHANIEL Truly, Master Holofernes, the epithets are sweetly varied, like a scholar at the least: but, sir, I assure ye, it was a buck of the first head. †¦ HOLOFERNES Most barbarous intimation! yet a kind of insinuation, as it were, in via, in way, of explication; facere, as it were, replication, or rather, ostentare, to show, as it were, his inclination, after his undressed, unpolished, uneducated, unpruned, untrained, or rather, unlettered, or ratherest, unconfirmed fashion, to insert again my haud credo for a deer. Shakespearean words we still use are agile, allurement, antipathy, catastrophe, critical, demonstrate, dire, emphasis, emulate, extract, hereditary, horrid, impertinent, meditate, modest, pathetic, prodigious, vast, barricade, cavalier, mutiny, and pell-mell. The meanings of many of these words have changed since the 16th century. For example, we use communicate to mean exchange information. When Shakespeare uses it in Comedy of Errors, it still had the Latin meaning of to share or make common to many. In Merchant of Venice, Lorenzo uses expect (from Latin expectare, to await) in the sense of to wait for: †¦lets in and there expect their coming. The word humorous has been used in English with various senses before coming to mean comical or funny, including the meanings damp, capricious, moody, and peevish. Five of the words that Shakespeare made fun in the speech of Holofernes (intimation, insinuation, explication, replication, and inclination) caught on and survived into modern usage. Some of the same educators who are willing to drop the study of Shakespeare from the general curriculum probably complain about a decline in vocabulary in todays high school graduates. There may be no connection, but the fact remains that the close study of even one of Shakespeares plays will yield a significant jump in vocabulary for the serious reader. Sources: A History of the English Language, Alfred C. Baugh The Complete Works of Shakespeare, The Literature Network Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:30 Religious Terms You Should KnowCapitalization Rules for Names of Historical Periods and MovementsTrooper or Trouper?