Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:
Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:
Given:
Contextual factors include community, school, and classroom factors; characteristics of students; students’ varied approaches to learning; and students’ skills and prior learning. It is important for classroom teachers to realize how contextual factors will affect their instructional planning and assessment.
Task:
A. Write an essay (suggested length of 5–7 pages) in which you describe the contextual factors in your classroom and discuss how these factors affect the teaching–learning process. In your essay:
1. Describe two environmental contextual factors for each of the following areas:
a. Community
b. District
c. School
Note: Environmental factors may include geographic location, community and school population, socioeconomics, race and ethnicity, stability of community, and community support for education.
2. Describe each of the following four classroom contextual factors:
• Physical features
• Availability of technology equipment and resources
• Extent of parental involvement
• One other classroom contextual factor
Note: Other classroom factors can include grade level, classroom subjects, classroom rules and routines, grouping patterns, and classroom arrangement.
3. Explain how four student contextual factors impact the design of instruction and assessment of learning.
Note: Student factors can include age, gender, race and ethnicity, special needs, achievement and developmental levels, culture, language, interests, learning styles and modalities, and skill levels.
4. Discuss student skills and prior learning that may influence your development of each of the following three components: learning goals, instruction, and assessment.
B. Submit a completed “School Demographics Survey” attached below.
C. When you use sources, include all in-text citations and references in APA format.
Note: For definitions of terms commonly used in the rubric, see the attached Rubric Terms.
Note: When using sources to support ideas and elements in a paper or project, the submission MUST include APA formatted in-text citations with a corresponding reference list for any direct quotes or paraphrasing. It is not necessary to list sources that were consulted if they have not been quoted or paraphrased in the text of the paper or project.
Note: No more than a combined total of 30% of a submission can be directly quoted or closely paraphrased from sources, even if cited correctly. For tips on using APA style, please refer to the APA Handout web link included in the General Instructions section.
Student Performance Review
The key to understanding the students’ performance is through having an insight into their entry behaviors and comparing them with their current performance.it helps in categorizing them into groups based on their academic achievements that are achievers, average, and underachievers. This will help me in knowing how to approach them technically according to their level of knowledge. With colleagues, I will inquire about the code of conduct of the students and the strategies they use in teaching and monitoring them during their class time. Will also approach the administration for the provision of the academic grading record to enable in arranging the students according to their ability before insinuating strategies of how to guide them to improve.
By the end of the academic year, every student should be able to attain a grade above the grade level. This can only be achieved through knowing the weaknesses of each student and knowing a suitable criterion in cubing the problem this will be achieved by; for the below-average students I will divide the given timetable into various slots for completing each topic, revise and give exams. For those with Attention deficit if reading is hard use previewing strategies to shorten the amount required in reading, avoid oral reading. This will enable the students’ performance to improve gradually because will all these strategies their confidence and relation with me will improve, as a teacher I will also include speaking to students encouraging them to handle their responses, and reinstitute them. Those performing well will make sure they assist those below by group discussions and self-monitoring. With the help of the administration, fellow teachers, and the positive approach of the students to the strategies will induce self-driven characters that will ignite them towards improving their mean score and even their personal performance academically.
Immigrants and patient education on health care.
Immigration is one of the key problems affecting countries like American where 44.8 million immigrants were recorded in 2018. Despite this, they have a positive effect on the country’s economy through their complement in the country's labour force. They help in making the country more innovative due to the increased competition in the market. The high completion leads to the development of a better education system helping the country to grow economically through the provision of a more specialised labour force. Due to their low education qualification and other difficulties associated with the difference in culture, ethnicity and social aspect, they are disadvantaged in taking the manual work in the community. The effects on the cultural level amount to the negative effects in their accessibility of the patient education due to the difference in language used and cultural beliefs.
The main problem affecting immigrant education by the health care provider is the difference in the cultural language. The most difficult thing the health care profession has with the immigrant is how to create a rapport especially when they do not speak in English (Filler, Jameel, & Gagliardi, 2020). Their inability to communicate more directly affects their shared decision-making between the patient and the health care. This makes it ineffective for the health care workers to provide patient education due to the language barrier caused by differences in culture. The language barrier creates a sense of insecurity in the health care providers and the patient. The patient’s inability to understand the physician creates a lack of trust thus affecting the aspects that require their combined effort in the health care education. This affects the information provided to the patient as the physician withholds information to reduce confusion. The failed communication leads to the physician making decisions for the patient as shared decision-making is hindered.
The main cultural barrier is the beliefs and customs exercised by the various immigrant especially the tradition. Most of the immigrants are reluctant to involve themselves in the western methods in health care due to their traditions. This makes them express some hesitation when seeking the western model of health care provision from the physicians. Education thus becomes hard, as they tend to depend on their cultural means to get the health care services. The effects are commonly felt in cases of the use of the current technology that provides the main source of education on the patients’ health care. This is due to the immigrant's reluctance to use the technology. The difference in culture requires the health care providers to understand the cultural differences thus determining the right language and phrases to use. This is due to the differences in the meaning of words and phrases in the different cultures. The failure to understand the differences creates the biggest obstacles to patient education.
Devising a common language can be the key measure in solving the cultural differences in dialects. The language will be the key in enhancing the communication between the patient and health care provides that allowing the patient education and shared decision making. A common language will also allow the patient and the physician to communicate effectively allowing shared decision-making. This eliminates the difficulties associated with the understanding of the patient culture thus providing a good means for patient education (Ahmed, et al., 2020). Trust in health care is achieved through the development of a rapport between the patient and the health care providers. This allows the provision of high-quality services as all factors that affect health education are sorted through communication between the two parties. Factors affecting communication include the difference in cultural beliefs and language differences that are sorted through the common language.
References.
Ahmed, S., Lee, S., Shommu, N., Rumana, N., & Turin, T. (2017). Experiences of communication barriers between physicians and immigrant patients: A systematic review and thematic synthesis. Patient Experience Journal, 4(1), 122-140.
Filler, T., Jameel, B., & Gagliardi, A. R. (2020). Barriers and facilitators of patient centered care for immigrant and refugee women: a scoping review. BMC public health, 20(1), 1-12.
Problems in the United States education system
Education was originally intended to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. The skills and knowledge gained in the classroom were meant to help students secure promising jobs after school. Students were encouraged to maintain good grades in school because this would in turn increase the chances of getting high-paying jobs. For people living in poverty, education acted as a stepping stone that would help them to raise themselves out of their poor living conditions. Although education is meant to help all citizens alike, there are major challenges in the United States education system that makes it difficult for all students to enjoy the same opportunities offered through education. The problems that exist in the United States education system are a result of the system's inability to accommodate the different needs of the United States' diverse population.
The major problems that the education system experience are attributed to geographic and economic isolation. They include lack of access to high quality education for people living in poverty; poor learning environments; lack of resources and proper infrastructure in school; existence of stereotypes that encourage discrimination; language barriers and racial discrimination; and oppression of teachers. Despite the various attempts to offer equal opportunities to all students, various factors favor some individuals more than others. Issues such as class and race influence where people live, what opportunities are available to them, and how convenient they can access them (n.a 1). Access to good schools and high quality of education is restricted to students in the suburb. The population in such an environment comprises Whites mostly while African Americans and other indigenous people are forced to live in poverty where the quality of education is poor and access to good schools is limited. The geographic and economic isolation is a disadvantage to both students and teachers alike. A significant number of teachers living in poor neighborhoods are forced to take on more than two jobs to sustain their livelihood (n.a 1). This means that teachers have to take on extra workload other than the work they do in school. The strain in maintaining multiple jobs can negatively affect the impact they have in school and the attention they give to their students. Teachers are forced to divide their time between school and their other careers and this can negatively affect the efficiency and competence when teaching.
The constantly growing population is another problem that troubles the education system in the US. Other than American citizens, the schools in the US are also expected to accommodate students who immigrate from other countries. At present, there are over 43 million immigrants in the US who have fled their country in search of a better life. In the period between 1970 and 2000 the number of students in k-12 school triple with over 17.9 million children living with at least an immigrant parents in the United States. Immigrant children aged 18 years and younger make up 26% of the student population in the United States (Anderson et al 4). These students apply for the same schools that American citizens attend thereby contributing to the rise in population. Although the United States infrastructure can accommodate the growing population, the growing number of students in a classroom makes it difficult for teachers to attend to the needs of all students equally. This is especially because a significant number of schools lack the resources to accommodate a large number of students per class. The diverse population in the US contributes to the growing population as was the case in 2014 where “White students made up 50 percent of school-age children in the United States; 25 percent were Hispanic (or Latinx 4 ), 16 percent African American, and 5 percent Asian” (Anderson et al p.4)A high number of students in one classroom also add to the workload that teachers have to handle in a day. Teachers are therefore forced to generalizing teaching as they are unable to offer special treatment even to students that may need it.
To offer high-quality education teachers are expected to be mindful of the needs of each student. With a large population however it becomes difficult to attend to the needs of each student because the time is divided across all students in the classroom. Treating all students alike creates a lot of problems because the understanding ability of each student differs. In classrooms that employ the dictation mode of study, some students may find it difficult to grasp what is taught and may require explanation and interpretation. There are however those that grasp concepts easily and do not require more explanation from the teachers. In classrooms that have an adequate number of students, teachers have the time to identify students that need special attention and structure their lessons to accommodate the needs of every student. In an overpopulated class however teachers at first treat all students as equal regardless of the disadvantage that this presents to students that require special attention.
The quality of learning is also affected why stereotypes exist in society. Schools dominated by African Americans, Latinos, and other ethnic groups are the most affected by stereotypes. A good example is a misconception that African Americans are more susceptible to crime than other races. Schools with a high population of African Americans and are influenced by such stereotypes fail to recognize students contributing members of society I may not invest fully towards helping students achieve a good grade. The belief that the student will end up in a Life of crime discourages professors, parents, and guardians from investing in their child's education and may fail to properly motivate them (n.a 5). Such notions and their dominance in society is influenced by the existence of “…connections among oppressive beliefs, habits, and social structures such as racism, sexism, homophobia, religious discrimination, and so on. Intersectionality emphasizes that these -isms do not exist in isolation; rather, they intersect and operate together. In doing so, they contribute to systems of privilege and oppression, layers of discrimination, and patterns of social inequality” (Anderson et al 9). Also attaining good grades and performing well in school is the responsibility of the student the motivation and guidance from parents and teachers greatly contribute to the overall academic performance of the student. The existence of such stereotypes is therefore a hindrance to high-quality learning as it creates a negative image of the student.
The stereotypes that govern society also greatly influence how resources are divided into different communities. Students in the African American communities are greatly affected by “racial disparities in wealth and income” especially because they “lead to corollary disparities in children’s access to the basics of life—food, health care, housing, and safety—as well as access to high-quality schooling (Anderson et al 11). Despite the various attempts to promote equality, white people and the wealthy class living in the suburbs have better access to opportunities compared to the poor living in rural areas. Some stereotypes like the belief that whites are more hardworking and more productive in society have created an environment where communities with a high white population have access to better resources and infrastructure. Anderson et al (11) claim that there is a misconception about what motivates students to become successful and “that what might look like relative success at school is often a function not of students’ skills or smarts but of the synergy along class lines between their families and their schools”. African Americans and other minority groups are forced to live in poverty-stricken areas where the infrastructure is poor and there is little motivation and opportunities to improve the standard of living. Families in such environments face various challenges such as lack of resources and parents that were “once assumed to be “middle class” now find themselves on the margins of being unable to afford college for their children” (Anderson et al 7). The resources that exist are divided among a high population making it difficult for all students to fully benefit from their learning experience as compared to students in schools in the well of communities like the Whites.
The belief that's some races are superior or require special attention at the expense of others has greatly contributed to the education system's inability to embrace diversity. The majority of the policies and laws enacted fail to recognize the different needs of each student. A good example is the use of English as the main language in schools despite having a diverse student population. There are more than 12 million students who speak different languages other than English in the United States. In 2015 the number of students that did not speak English as their native language accounted for 22% of the student population in the United States (Anderson et al 4). Despite the diverse population schools in the US continue to use English as their major language. This place is a lot of students at a disadvantage especially for those who come from countries that speak languages like French and Spanish as their national language. The reliance on English as the official teaching language in schools forces students from countries that do not use English to learn the language on top of their educational curriculum. This adds to the already huge workload that students have to take on not to mention the difficulty it creates when trying to learn new things. Students that do not understand English have a hard time keeping up in class and often have to revisit what is taught to develop some level of understanding. This combined with the challenge that teachers face where teaching is generalized makes it harder to identify students that are struggling in class due to the language barrier (Anderson et al 4). Despite having embraced diversity the policies and processes that are used in the United States education system are yet to accommodate the needs of the diverse school population. Teaching in English only offers more opportunities to American-born citizens because they already know how to communicate and understand English. Native speaking students however have a hard time understanding the course structure and lectures given in class until they learn English.
Although there are major challenges in the United States education system they are problems that can be resolved using the right approaches. One method that can be used to resolve the problems that exist is through teachers' unions. Throughout history teachers' unions have been used to resolve issues related to public education, rights for workers, and also as a way to give back control to teachers and the educational institution in general (Green and Hagopian 141). The unions give teachers a voice to air their grievances and protect their rights from being infringed upon. A good example of how teachers' unions help teachers can be seen in the improvements that have occurred concerning access to healthcare (Knopp 11). Through them, teachers have been granted better healthcare and medical covers which allow them to perform better at their job. Other than access to quality medical care the unions have also helped to improve the teaching environment for teachers and students alike.
If used correctly teachers' unions can be used to advocate for a better working environment for teachers and students alike. There is however I need for the teacher's unions to shift their attention from just teachers and focus on the entire education system. Other than advocating for the rights and freedoms of teachers the unions can also seek out different ways to improve the learning environment break stereotypes and encourage the government and relevant organizations to promote equality (Knopp 12). Their influence will encourage people to alter any negative perceptions they may have about learning and promote high-quality education. The teacher's unions can also help to educate people on the importance of embracing diversity and giving equal opportunities to all students despite their background or racial orientation.
Education plays an important role in society as it determines the type of life the individual is likely to lead in the future. Given its importance, the government teachers and other stakeholders have a responsibility to ensure that all students can access high-quality education regardless of their background social status class, or race. Although there are a significant number of problems in the United States education system they are problems that can be resolved if the country embraces diversity and alters its systems to accommodate the needs of its diverse population. Teachers' unions can therefore be used to create awareness of the problems that exist and also to advocate for positive change. The unions can also help to make learning student-centered thereby pushing policymakers to enact policies that have the interest of the student as their foundation.
Work cited
Anderson, Martin., Lipton, Jeannie., and Stillman, Lauren., “The U.S Schooling dilemma: Diversity, inequality and democratic values” n.d
Green, John and Hagopian Jesse, “Teachers’ Unions and Social Justice” Education and Capitalism, n.d
Knopp, Sarah, “Schools, Marxism, and Liberation” Education and Capitalism, n.d
n.a “Building social movement teachers unions” n.d
n.a “The roots of revolt” n.d
Dissertation Prospectus
Introduction and statements of thesis
Principals are regarded as the key to the implementation of school rules and regulations. They are the sole drivers for effective adherence and achievement of external accountability objectives of the school. They are the ones together with other school members who come up with rules and regulations that guide both teachers and students in the institution. Other things that high school principals do include overseeing school administration, curriculum, programs, and resources. Further, they communicate the school goals, vision, and needs of teachers, parents, and the community at large. They also establish academic and behavioral standards for students and administer students' discipline, and ensuring compliance with all laws. This is the reason why principal’s leadership has received a lot of attention from all over the world. Principal’s leadership styles are critical in understanding schools’ performance and anything concerning the school management.
Methods and approach
Research design
The research design refers to the process of coming up with an empirical test that is going to support the claim stated (Snyder, 2019). This research will use the ex post facto design, which is a research study where the variables or data that already exist have almost the probability of one that they have been occurring under noninterference by the researcher. The only reason why this method will be applied is that principals’ leadership styles were already applied in high schools and the students' entrance scores to colleges and universities were already there. Final scores for high school students will be there as well. Therefore, there will be no need of going to the field and collect data again.
Target population
According to the Ministry of education, the State of Missouri had over two hundred universities and over five hundred colleges. The number of high schools was thirty thousand two hundred and two with the total number of teachers and lecturers was more than five hundred thousand.
Sample size and sampling procedures
Sampling is the method of selecting a sub-group from the total possible accessible population of your interest so that it can act as the representative of the total population (Snyder, 2019). The research will be done on this sample but the results will be about the whole population. The research will use the probability method of simple random sampling to draw its sample from the population discussed above. One hundred and fifty universities and three hundred colleges will be randomly chosen to represent the rest. The same method will be used to choose the number of high schools that will act as the sample and a total number of two thousand will be chosen by the method of simple random sampling. The strata will include 50 public universities and 100 private universities. All principals together with their staff will be used in the study. About 50 percent of the total high school staff will be included in the research.
Research instruments
The research will use a different number of research instruments. Though some instruments will be used often compared to the other. These instruments are the principals’ questionnaires, teachers’ questionnaires, students’ questionnaires. A questionnaire is a written set of questions where the subject or respondent responds to it in writing (Snyder, 2019). Usually, questionnaires are one of the cheapest means of data collection in a research or study. It is also easy to administer in case of a large population hence the most convenient tool for collecting information from a large data set as the case of this research (Romero, 2018). Other instruments that will be the interviews. This method is efficient and reliable since it has higher chances of getting authentic answers. Though in case of sensitivity of the information needed, this method becomes unreliable since many people do not like disclosing their confidential information (Romero, 2018). The three questionnaires will have part A and part B. Part A will have contained details about demographic variables while part B will gather a bit of aspect concerning leadership skills.
Instrument’s validity
Validity is the degree to which results and findings that were obtained from a research or a study represent the real-life situation being investigated. The research will use data validity scales in these questionnaires to access whether the data obtained is valid or not. We will hire a panel of experts to further investigate whether the results obtained is valid and accept the logical nature or not.
Instrumental reliability
Reliability refers to how consistent the data is to the test (Snyder, 2019). One of the methods that will be used to establish the reliability of the study is piloting. A pilot study, which will consist of three schools will be conducted and then use the method of test-retest, which is giving the respondents the same questionnaire several times to see whether the respondent will give the same responses as the first one and vice versa. The results will be 0.97, 0.94, and 0.96 reliability coefficients for students, teachers, and other staff and principals respectively. With these levels of significance, we will conclude that the instruments as reliable.
Annotated bibliography
Berth’s (2002) study was meant to examine how the social and cultural practices of an area can make the principals change some of the rules and regulations guiding the school. He defined school culture as complex norms and behaviors that can change the minds of many people. The leadership of principals in schools therefore greatly depends on the social lives of the people around them.
Berth’s (2002) research is a study that used a case study to analyze the previous effects of the cultural practices on the principals in making decisions and running the school. Several data points were plotted in graphs to show whether the effects are linear. Some of the methods used include:
Berth’s (2002) study came up with many negative findings of culture in the principal’s decision-making. The findings were clearly explained in the chapter of the research. Some of the findings are as shown below:
The purpose of this Patton’s (2015) qualitative study is to explore the leadership behaviors of system leaders and best practices of high school counselors in highly effective school districts that prepare students for college and career readiness. The following two research questions guided his study:
A qualitative, multiple case study research design and methodology were utilized by the researcher to identify the leadership behaviors of system leaders and best practices of high school counselors in four, highly effective upstate New York school districts. Face-to-face interviews with the superintendent of schools, the high school principals, and high school counselors were conducted in each school district.
3.0. Research Article Analysis -3
Aduma’s (2012) study examined leadership practices in low-performing and high-performing schools. The following research questions guided the study:
3.2 What was the methodology used by the authors to answer their question?
Aduma (2012) conducted his study to determine if principal leadership practices based on teacher perceptions differed in low-performing versus high-performing schools in two school districts in Southeastern State. Kouzes’s and Posner’s (2003) Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) instrument was used to measure the five leadership practices. This quantitative study incorporated survey data to determine if teachers’ perceptions of principals’ leadership practices varied depending on whether the teachers were in a low-performing or high-performing school. The quantitative research approach was appropriate because the data from the LPI were transformed into numeric measures, which were then used in statistical tests to answer the research questions.
4.0. Research Article Analysis – 4
Mann’s (2020) study was designed to examine how the leadership of principals in schools with high student academic growth aligns with transformational and instructional leadership theory. She explored the experience of principals and teachers as they sought to improve student learning, relating their experiences to the constructs of transformational and instructional leadership. The two questions that guided her study were as follows;
Mann’s (2020) research is a qualitative study that used a case study as the approach. A qualitative case study was selected by her as the design because the focus of this investigation occurred in the natural setting of a school community. In this research study, several data points were utilized. To select the school of interest, she reviewed student achievement data in the form of state assessment results over time.
I was not able to clearly identify findings in Mann’s (2020) study. Interview responses presented as study findings. The first research question investigated how teachers in a high-performing school view the principal’s leadership style with regard to transformational and instructional leadership theories. Through analysis of the review of evaluation documents and interviews with the principal and four teachers, she identified aspects of the principal’s leadership that align with both transformational leadership theory (Bass, 1985) and instructional leadership theory (Hallinger, 2005)
5.0. Research Article Analysis – 5
5.1. What were the research questions, hypothesis or reason the authors cited for the research project?
Beteille’s (2009) talks about the effectiveness of principal’s decisions in recruiting teachers, the development of infrastructure of the school, and the leadership qualities that can make the teachers remain or retain in the same institution for a long period. The study tried to explain the principal’s leadership qualities as said about and the effects on students’ performance and college admission. The research questions include:
5.2. What was the methodology used by the authors to answer their question?
Beteille’s (2009) conducted different methods of data collection, recording, analyzing, presenting, and analyzing of the data. The majority of data in this research was qualitative data. Therefore, very few statistical methods were deployed in the process. The use of a t-test was one of the statistical methods used to analyze the data. The study included 100 high schools and 50 colleges and universities in which more than 20000 students and learners were chosen randomly as a sample. More than 2000 teachers, lecturers, and other subordinate staffs were also in the study. The general ways used are:
5.3. What were the findings of the research project? Did they answer their research question?
Beteille’s (2009) responded to the above research questions and indicated the following findings:
6.0. Research Article Analysis – 6
6.1. What were the research questions, hypothesis or reason the authors cited for the research project?
Blasé (2019) study was designed to establish the characteristics of instructional leadership styles of principals of different schools. Since instructional leadership is one of the main aspects of leadership quality a leader must have, it tries to explain how these leadership qualities of a principal may affect the final scores of the students. Instructional leadership can be how principals teach, how they relate with teachers and students, and how they carry out the supervision of the day-to-day activities of the schools. The main reasons that made Blasé come up with this project were:
Blasé (2019) is a quantitative study. It used a case study approach to come up with the findings, and therefore, conclusions. Since this problem was locally in its occurrence, a lot of data points were used in the process of data collection up to the final step of data interpretation. The study was taken in the local schools in the state of Missouri. More than 5000 schools comprising of high schools boarding, day, girls’ and boys’ schools were chosen in which more than 750,000 participants including learners and teachers were used. Some of the things that the study use include:
What were the findings of the research project? Did they answer their research question?
After completing the study, Blasé came up with the findings of the project. The finding proves that leadership qualities greatly affect the performance of children in our schools. Some of the findings are:
Research Article Analysis – 7
Garcia’s (2012) is a research that tries to examine the discrepancies in the principals’ effectiveness, which can be well-described as the implications of principal leadership that all leaders including principals must possess. It explains how principals’ leadership affects teachers. Some of the questions that Garcia want to answer include:
What was the methodology used by the authors to answer their question?
This is also a qualitative study. It used a lot of methods to establish the problem. One of the methods is the case study. Normal means of data collection and analysis were used. Garcia deployed questionnaires in 4000 schools, which include a total number of 63,657 teachers and principals. The questionnaires were filled concerning the sections available. Teachers were told to rate their relationship with the principal.
Garcia’s research identified the came up with the following findings.
Cotton’s (2003) study about principals and student achievement. It is trying to establish the relationship between principals’ performance to the academic achievement of the students. It shows how the relationship between hardworking principals and their corresponding school performance. The hypothesis of this study is stated as below:
Null hypothesis- There is no linear relationship between students’ and principles’ performances.
The Alternative hypothesis- There is a linear relationship between students’ and principals’ performances.
Cotton’s (2003) is a statistical study that involves statistical testing of a hypothesis. 400 high schools were chosen randomly using the probability-based method of simple random sampling. A total of 25678 samples were drawn from the 400 high schools including students, teachers, principals, and other non-teaching staff members. The data were analyzed using R software to come up with the mean rate of the respondents who supported and those who did not support the claim. T-test was further used to check the possibility of rejecting the null hypothesis. It was seen that the t calculated was greater than the t tabulated to mean that we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that indeed there is a linear relationship between students and principals’ performances.
8.3What were the findings of the research project? Did they answer their research question?
Since this is hypothesis testing, there was only one finding. The finding was in support of the alternative hypothesis, which states that there is a linear relationship between students and principals’ performances. Apart from this, Cotton came up with the following:
Covey (2008) shows how the principals’ leadership skills of personal effects can be learned and taught to the children or learners to transform their academic goals. It further explains that how these principals can run the school in a way that will affect the students positively towards their goals. Some of the questions here include:
9.2 What was the methodology used by the authors to answer their question?
A qualitative and quantitative, multiple case study research designs and methodology were deployed. The researcher used other methods also to identify the leadership behaviors of system leaders such as the principals of a school and best practices of high school counselors in 100, high schools in the state of Missouri. These schools consisted of 25 boarding schools, 60 mixed schools, and 20 girls’ schools. Face-to-face interviews with the superintendent of schools, the high school principals, and high school counselors were conducted in each school district.
9.3 What were the findings of the research project? Did they answer their research question?
Covey (2008) came up with the following findings.
Goree’s (2013) the research was based on the issues created by low numbers of college-ready, low-SES students. His study was exploratory and the research questions focused on what the expert principals believed to influence the college readiness of low-SES students. The research questions investigated are:
10.2. What was the methodology used by the authors to answer their question?
The Delphi research methodology was utilized by Goree (2013) to explore principals’ perceptions. The Delphi is a method for creating a group communication process that effectively allows a group of experts to communicate about a complex topic. The qualitative portion of this study focused on identifying what practices, characteristics, programs, or other factors the selected principals feel influence college readiness for low-SES students
The Delphi study identified 13 items that expert principals felt would influence college readiness for low-SES students in small Texas high schools. The analysis of the data provided insight into the characteristics, practices, programs, and other factors that have an influence on producing low-SES students who are college-ready. The research questions in this study explored items that expert principals reached a consensus on. So, findings answered research questions.
References
Aduma, H. O. (2012). The impact of high school principals' leadership practices on students' academic achievement (Order No. 3570200). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1372006131). Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.astate.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fdissertations-theses%2Fimpact-high-school-principals-leadership%2Fdocview%2F1372006131%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D8363
Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York, NY: The Free Press. Goree, T. L., Jr. (2013). Exploring principals' perceptions of characteristics, practices, and programs that influence college readiness for low socioeconomic students in smaller texas high schools: A Delphi study (Order No. 3596774). Available from ProQuest Central; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1449841532). Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.astate.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fdissertations-theses%2Fexploring-principals-perceptions-characteristics%2Fdocview%2F1449841532%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D8363
Covey, S. R. (2017). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. Retrieved: https://lib.hpu.edu.vn/handle/123456789/24121
García-Faroldi, L. (2017). Attitudes towards childcare and social practices: Discrepancy between attitudesand employment trajectories of mothers in Spain (1994–2012). International Review of Sociology, 27(3), 457-474: Retrieved: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03906701.2017.13781
Gunawan, I. (2017). Instructional Leadership Profile of Junior High School’s Principal (A Case Study of Junior High School in Malang). International Research-Based Education Journal, 1(1). Retrieved: http://journal2.um.ac.id/index.php/irbej/article/view/897
Hallinger, P. (2005). Instructional leadership and the school principal: A passing fancy that refuses to fade away. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 4(3), 221-239 https://doi.org/10.1080/15700760500244793
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Manns, B. K. (2020). Principal leadership and student academic achievement (Order No. 28156367). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (2462177276). Retrieved from https://ezproxy.library.astate.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fdissertations-theses%2Fprincipal-leadership-student-academic-achievement%2Fdocview%2F2462177276%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D8363
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Results
In terms of the practices related to dialogue-based teaching methods, 93% of the respondents had good practices while 3.7% had poor practices. Most of the respondents claimed that they encouraged the students to speak out. Also, teachers facilitated and monitored suitable interaction, and contact amongst the students hence explaining the numbers presented. Therefore, the teachers perceive that they understand the dialogue-based learning process. Also some of the teacher’s dialogue-based learning depends on students’ participation. 95% of the respondents had a good advantage while 5% had poor benefits, meaning they related to dialogue-based learning mechanisms. This is because the teachers had a long teaching experience which assisted them. Another advantage is that the teachers are able to acquire knowledge from the student and vice versa. More the discussion gives the students a chance to open up and be creative and free to answer questions as they deem fit. Most of the respondents, 93.2% of them had encountered good challenges while implementing dialogue-based learning techniques. 6.8% had poor challenges. Therefore, the chances of improving the learning technique are higher. 6.8% of the teachers claimed that it is difficult to control students during interactions. The second challenge is that students find it hard to express themselves while speaking.
Discussion
Perceptions related to dialogue-based learning techniques
Most of the intermediate teachers supported the fact that dialogue-based learning practices require the student's participation to bring out an accepted understanding of the language being taught. Hence, the teachers' perceptions were based on past experiences because most of them were familiar with dialogue-based learning techniques. Familiarity enabled the teachers to rate the dialogue-based teaching method as they instilled information into the majority of their students (Sun et al., 2019). Whenever teachers used the method, they fully understood the concepts and reflected them in their speech and work. In simpler terms, 93.2% of the teachers who had good perceptions were experienced and familiar with the teaching method. As indicated from the outcome below, teachers were familiar with the dialogue-based learning method, which enabled them to create openings for student interaction through convenience, student engagement, class management, and discussion activities. In summary, perceptions were derived from a good grasp of dialogue-based learning methods and the outcome at the end of the teaching sessions.
Practices related to dialogue learning techniques
According to the result, 96.3% of the respondents had good practices, and only 3.7% had poor practices. Good patterns emerge from accepting that life experiences are part of the student. Life experiences dictate how a learner interacts with the learning material from time to time. Most of the things a person does are based on information, approaches, or skillsets gained while relating the course material to life experiences. On the other hand, poor practices crops from forcing the learners to think only in a particular manner. Poor practice occurs whenever a teacher does not have a straight talk with the students, causing a situation where there is no teacher flow. Therefore, good practice pertains to open thinking and supporting the student to use all material at their disposal to understand the content being taught.
Advantages related to dialogue-based learning techniques
95% of the participants had good benefits, and only 5% had an imperfect gift. Good services imply that students and teachers exchange valuable and helpful information amongst themselves- the teacher learned from the student, and the student learned from the teacher (Ruan et al., 2019). Secondly, the student familiarized themselves with actual and relevant language applications. Therefore, the student would have the freedom to exercise their expression how they deemed fit. On the other hand, poor advantage means that the teacher failed to gauge the content being taught.
Challenges related to learning to dialogue-based learning techniques
93.2% had a good challenge, while 6.8% recorded poor challenges. The majority of the teachers had a good challenge because they could meet the learning objectives and needs of the students without any obstacles. For instance, teachers got the correct feedback from the students. Also, it was an uphill task managing the students during interaction sessions (Arnott et al., 2008). Also, some students were left behind and could not take part in the interactions. On the other hand, the poor challenge was due to a static class whose students did not participate fully in the classroom tasks assigned to them.
Mean scores
For perceptions associated with dialogue-based learning practices, the result was 27.3+/_ 3.9. The mean score was negligible in either gender, implying that neither side had extreme perceptions on the subject matter. Therefore, 93.2% of the teacher were positive, and a paltry 6.8% had revealed a relatively poor perception of the issue under discussion. In terms of the practicality of the dialogue-based learning technique, the mean score was 38.1. In terms of percentage, 96.3% of the participants had a good experience while practicing dialogue-based methods, and 3.7% of teachers had encountered challenges that forced them to label the learning technique as unsuitable for learning. In terms of the advantages of dialogue-based learning mechanisms, teachers with an education degree had a higher score than the rest. Most of the answers came from experiences and interactions with the rest of the students. How students performed was an indication of how people responded to this question. Therefore, 95% of the teachers claimed that dialogue-based techniques were positive, and 5% claimed they had poor advantages. Positive outcomes were seen as progressive due to the time allocated and the resources set in studying languages.
According to the results obtained from the survey, the mean score was 27.9 +/- 3.7; hence none of the genders revealed any significant statistical variance. The challenges associated with the dialogue-based learning technique were linked to the interaction between the teacher and the student. The more the student knew about the teaching technique, the increased compliance with the dialogue-based learning mechanisms. If the teacher encouraged autonomy and innovation, a higher response could be gotten from the students. 93.2% of the teachers claimed that they encountered good challenges while using the dialogue-based learning technique. Only 6.8% had encountered a poor challenge while using the method.
The sociodemographic information shows that 113 women and 48men participated in the survey. One hundred three of the teachers were fell under the 31-40-year-old age gap. In terms of qualification, 75% of the teachers had a bachelor's degree in teaching, 18% had a master's, and 4.3% had a PhD. The qualifications of the teachers helped them to teach and pass on information through dialogue-based learning techniques. A teacher's qualification rarely affected the delivery of the subject matter. Generally, in each segment of the questionnaire, the good outweighed the poor, indicating the rising need to adopt dialogue-based learning techniques. The environmental condition that facilitates education in western Saudi Arabia shows that learning can occur as long as there is an understanding between the teacher and the students. The connection between student and teacher is enough to bring about the desired perspective that most people long for during class sessions. Hands-on experience or skills are not enough people need to have an understanding of the issues being discussed. The learning experience and teacher's perceptions play a role in the interpretation of the information being taught. The acceptance of dialogue-based learning methods as a teaching method is principally connected to basic language skills such as reading and writing material. The teacher has to obtain the required goal because dialogue-based learning depends on the relationship teachers have with the student during the learning sessions.
The teacher-student interaction. A teacher asks a divergent question to students to motive class interaction. According to the survey results, when asked about dialogue-based learning processes, 93% had a good perception, while 6.8% responded poorly. These results prove that most of the teachers had grasp dialogue learning processes.
Conclusion
The conclusive evidence derived from the research indicated that the effectiveness of dialogue-based education in classes develops intermediate school student's linguistic skills in west Saudi Arabia.
Several underlying factors influence an effective dialogue-based:
The research discussed the viewpoints, actions, disadvantages, and advantages of dialogue-based learning methods in classrooms to boost transitional schools' language in the western parts of Saudi Arabia. The participants were intermediate teachers teaching in the west of part of Saudi Arabia. One hundred sixty-one teachers participated in the survey, 70.2% of this number were women, and 29.8% were men. 75% of the participants had an undergraduate degree, 18% had a master's in teaching, and 10% had a Ph.D. Dialogue-based learning practices and perspectives had a 27.3+/-3.9 score which implies that the genders did not show any notable variance; hence 93.2% of the participants had a positive perception of dialogue-based teaching techniques.
One recommendation that can be used to improve the effectiveness of dialogue-based learning in classes is to encourage students to participate in hands-on education actively. A practical approach would assist the students in relating the concepts learned in the classroom with real-life situations. Furthermore, the practical exercises are meant to provide the student with more information than theoretical teaching. Teachers and students should be encouraged to interact with one another during class sessions to quickly pass data from the teacher to the student with ease. Dialogue-based techniques rely on a defined objective and learning outcomes. Therefore the learning materials have to be specific on the outcome expectations. The assignment given to students has to assist them in attaining the final objective.
In Saudi Arabia, various factors influence dialogue-based learning in classrooms. For instance, a teacher's grasp of dialogue-based learning method, the underlying reasons for picking this learning tactic, practical activities designed to go along with dialogue-based learning approach, and predicaments faced while attempting to apply this learning approach. Implementation of dialogue-based practices in EFL teaching spaces positively impacts students' education; hence, intensive research has to be conducted in the future.
Recommendations
Lately, as a student matures, he or she interacts with various schooling approachs. Dialogue-based strategies suppose that a student will nurture and advance the knowledge taught in the classroom in later years. However, in later years, decisions making remains a holistic and practical efforts exhibited through the community members. Therefore, dialogue-based approaches have to cater to not only understanding the language but speaking the language. Failure to express oneself limits decision making and future interaction with the language. Some of the suggestions put forward to improve the effectiveness of dialogue-based learning in classrooms among intermediates students in west Saudi Arabia are listed below:
Limitations of the study and future research
Time limit otherwise I will make student interviews a priority due to the holistic approach such a research requires. The sample size was not enough due to online teaching also time limit could not allow me to enlarge the sample size. I wish I could have comprised the teachers of the 3rd intermediate private school but because of locality and finances I could not do it.
The study focused on teachers' perspectives rather than factoring students' perceptions and thoughts on the learning approach. Therefore, the study was biased because it relied on teachers' viewpoints hence did not incorporate students' experiences. When researching an EFL country, a teacher's qualification is secondary because having a teaching degree or qualification does not translate into great teaching results. Teaching English can be done by anybody as long as that particular individual presents great results to parents (Skaftun et al., 2018). In the future teachers will be trained to use dialogue-based learning specifically for cognitive improvement and personal training. Therefore, I suggest to fill the gap in this research, researchers should evaluate learners’ comprehension before and after a class session. I recommend that the researcher in the field should dig deeper into the challenges side so that they can improve on the outcome and further sharpen the research papers for future generations and relevancy connected to the dialogue-based learning mechanisms. I also recommend that more time should be added to the research in order to allow the researchers to collect more evidence on the issues being discussed.
Pedagogical Implications
I propose that teachers should personalize dialogue-based learning approaches so that all the students can equally rip the benefits. There should be no standard way of applying dialogue-based learning approaches. The learning approach ought to be tailored according to the needs of the students. Globalization expanded the student’s scope from the school compound to a more interactive platforms. Therefore, it is important to comprehend dialogue-based learning methods through evaluation. Evaluation is not a simple element in the schooling and studying process (Skaftun et al., 2018). There should be an integration of expertise and awareness. Failing to understand dialogue-based approach might lead to failure of connecting with the students and initiating an active participation in the classroom. A teacher is supposed to assess dialogue-based learning approaches and keenly define the objective of the curriculum. Comprehending teaching using dialogue-based method is vital for systematic understanding.
Reference
Arnott, E., Hastings, P., & Allbritton, D. (2008). Research Methods Tutor: Evaluation of a dialogue-based tutoring system in the classroom. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 694-698.
Ruan, S., Jiang, L., Xu, J., Tham, B. J. K., Qiu, Z., Zhu, Y., ... & Landay, J. A. (2019, May). Quizbot: A dialogue-based adaptive learning system for factual knowledge. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-13).
Skaftun, A., Igland, M. A., Husebø, D., Nome, S., & Nygard, A. O. (2018). Glimpses of dialogue: transitional practices in digitalised classrooms. Learning, Media and Technology, 43(1), 42-55.
Sun, K., Yu, D., Chen, J., Yu, D., Choi, Y., & Cardie, C. (2019). Dream: A challenge data set and models for dialogue-based reading comprehension. Transactions of the Association for Computational Linguistics, 7, 217-231.
Reasons Why Tuition for US Higher Education Institutions Should Be Lowered For Online Learning during the Pandemic
The education sector remains one of the most stricken sectors by the Covid-19 pandemic. This condition has forced almost all the universities to go online, an activity that makes the students feel that the tuition fee should be reduced. The feel arises as they think that it is not fair for students to keep paying the full amount, despite the fact the learning experience is now from their computers. For students who expect to gain the latter experience from the real interaction after the schools get reopened after the pandemic might get it wrong as the pandemic continues to spread and conditions worsening. Now after getting the reality of online learning, students begin to complain, about the high tuition fee which they state should be lowered, as per the CNBC news. Despite the plea majority of the universities in the United States have not responded to the complaint. Additionally, the quality of education offered via online media does not make the majority of the students happy, which has forced some of them to choose to cease online learning. The reason for the withdrawal followed the claim that online learning does not need much money, thus a need to revise the fee structure downwards to reduce or lower the tuition fee for this form of study to continue. There are very many reasons that the university gives not to lower the tuition, which has made many students keep thinking about the pandemic which is still going on, and that the university must lower the tuition.
Views, opinions, and facts have been debated on reducing the tuition fee during the pandemic. A group of proponents argues that the possibility of lowering the tuition fee is not promised, generally giving the fact that the college or university expenses are still the same with or without the pandemic. Even with the realization of the condition that the parents and students are undergoing with this pandemic, the efforts to reduce the tuition fee seem not to bear any fruits. The majority of the students claim that with full realization of position on temporary online instruction, there is a need to reduce the tuition, among the parents and students. It is straightforward and almost everyone is aware that there are a lot of market pressures aimed at lowering tuition fees. However, despite being faced with many challenges based on the environment and financial challenges, there is no hope to reduce the tuition, especially, even for many families which have been hit harder by the pandemic.
Nonetheless, the pandemic will not eliminate the financial needs of the faculty and staff members at the college or the university. Although the majority of the students opt towards forcing the reduction of the tuition fee, the wealthy families who have not experienced a significant financial hit during the pandemic feel free with the original price charge. Although lowering the fees would make the education affordable some of the views have been discussed highlighting the disadvantage of lowering the dues as the families and students demand, first colleges have fixed costs, for instance, the faculty members who perform the teaching, counselors, tutors, and other supporters expenses, all these experts play significant roles in the running of the university. Additionally, shifting studies to online does not decrease the demand of these officials, this is because the only aspect of learning transferred to the online is the instruction. The tuition is thus needed as much as the real costs are covered by the tuition. Therefore, the price charged for either online or classwork cannot be reduced.
Additionally, online instructions cannot be referred to as zoom. As well these online teaching platforms offer additional expenses, such as investments in management software, which allows the instructors to assign works and at times provide automatic feedback. Further, the system should be developed in a way that it can track students’ progress and allowing sharing of students’ observations, which demand a clear plan and online strategy so that the online transition is done effectively and efficiently, this calls for further investments. It is also, essential to ensure that the quality of online instruction is not inferior compared to those in-person learning, which requires adequate pre-planning and constituent execution, which demands the quality of time and assurance on what the institution is paying for. The proponents have to it that to achieve online practices demand financing, which can only be sourced, from the students’ tuition fee, therefore, cannot be reduced, but instead increased if need be.
However, students and families are already complaining about the pandemic. The reason for complaining is the grounds on the quality of learning offered by the online tutors. This seems different from what they had already adapted to, for instance, the new use of PowerPoint slide presentation, which they feel is inadequate. To support this argument, an American article by Hess confirms that over 93 percent of the United States college students are for the option to lower tuition so long as classes remain online. This followed after research reveals that over 75 percent are unhappy with the quality of online classes, with a large population of 35% withdrawing from the school. The reason for concern in this discussion is to evaluate what should be done to meet both educational needs, students and parents with the pandemic. Besides, we would focus on the best practice that can be deployed by institutions to offer education, which is affordable having in mind that the pandemic has destroyed and displaced the wellbeing of individuals. This would help moderate the number of resources that are needed to offer free tuition and not compromising with the overall institution functions.
Conclusion
In general, during this pandemic Americans, many lives have been adversely impacted. The pandemic has taken away jobs, resulting in stress and hardships, whose magnitude has been felt all over the world. Similarly, colleges and universities were not left out in these stresses as well as the students. Thus, students need to understand that their colleges are experiencing an economic fallout with the existence of the pandemic. More so, there is a need to ensure that learning does not stop even amid the pandemic, therefore the colleges have to do all that it takes that they help students, during this hard time to ensure that they complete their education. The completion of the education will help the students earn degrees, which can be used in launching their lives. More importantly, the institutions have an ultimate role to ensure that the institutions consider revising the tuition fees, to make them much possible for the students and families, especially, those from social-disadvantaged or marginalized families.
Formal Educational Credentials or Qualifications and Employment.
The development brought about by the western civilization has brought on education where the particular occupation determined by the educational credentials one has. The education element brought about the specialization that has enabled the individual to partake in a different career. The education system allows an individual with the skill, attitude, and knowledge to manipulate data and information in their occupation (Massing, & Schneider, 2017). The determination of skills and expertise has made the educational credential an aspect of determining individual qualification in different fields. The grading aspect has brought about the concept of grade inflation, where the awarding of grades has been risen, causing the grading of questions that require low marks to fetch high marks. The acquisition of skills, knowledge associates with education credentials, where the possession of the certificates is considered a determinant of individual skills.
The educational system's structuring is based on the job market aspect, where the education offered in the schools is in the acquisition of skills to adopt in the job market. In this case, the organisation regards education credentials as one of the legit measures determining whether an individual is eligible for any organisation position. In the organisation, the increased inflation in education credential is causing high-level credential for jobs concerning the previous years, where they had a lower qualification (Gallagher, 2018. In this field, hiring skill-based employees is based on the educational credential where the position offered is considered and acquired with different qualification, thus demanding more certificates with time. The case on the skills, knowledge, and attitude acquisition is associated with educational credentials used in employment and individual field experience.
Different careers call for additional qualifications and credentials as the skills and knowledge needed differ from their occupation. Some fields require skills and knowledge from high school diplomas, while others require individuals to have bachelor's degrees, masters, or PhD. This makes the credentials the only measure that qualifies in determining the skills acquisition (Abrassart, & Wolter, 2020). The organisations responsible for the acquisition give this certificate as evidence that an individual got the skills. The certificate is issued to the individual level of education as western education requires one to have the credentials to guarantee skills acquisition. Occupations such as directors in the federal government and the tutoring of students in some states require one to have a bachelor's degree, making the credential a determinant of individual eligibility. In this case, credentialism provides the educational system's dependence on the acquisition of a certificate and determines whether someone can undertake a specific task.
The primary meaning of possessing education credentials is that one has acquired the skill and knowledge or advance in their field, thus making them eligible for promotions. The cases associated with the increasing labour demand are done in association and measure individual credential as one of the critical aspects of the job application and promotions (Moallemi, Ramakrishnan, & Shyu, 2017). The job opportunities available states the lowest or minimum certificate they intend to take as it’s a measure of the minimum skills they require. The credential aspect, in this case, appears to be a measure of individual talents as Western education offers the same by offering certificates to indicate individuals’ skill levels. The educational credential aspects are availed as a condition in cases like a promotion wherein the current state's promotion is given regarding individuals' education level alongside performance.
References
Abrassart, A., & Wolter, S. C. (2020). Investigating the image deficit of vocational education and training: Occupational prestige ranking depending on the educational requirements and the skill content of occupations. Journal of European Social Policy, 30(2), 225-240.
Gallagher, S. R. (2018). Educational credentials come of age: A survey on the use and value of educational credentials in hiring. URL: https://www. northeastern. edu/cfhets/wpcontent/uploads/2018/12/Educational_Credentials_Come_of_Age_2018. pdf.
Massing, N., & Schneider, S. L. (2017). Degrees of competency: the relationship between educational qualifications and adult skills across countries. Large-scale Assessments in Education, 5(1), 1-34.
Moallemi, B., Ramakrishnan, R., & Shyu, R. (2017). The labor market signaling value of promotions. Available at SSRN 2879106.
Trends in Online Learning
Introduction
For this capstone project, the selected topic is “Trends in Online Learning.” This is my main topic of discussion. In the face of Covid-19, specialists have sought out methods that can be used to continue with the learning while observing the rules that have been put in place by the world health organization program (WHO). One of the most promising strategies to help continue with the learning process is online learning. This strategy proves to be a catalyst by its capacity to create a new and more effective method of teaching students. This follows after the schools have been forced to close down, to curb the spread of the pandemic worldwide. However, with or without the pandemic, in the era of technology, it is highly a good thing to incorporate technology in the classrooms to boost or foster learning outcomes. Therefore, with conditions that even accelerate the need for online learning the process has increased by a significant proportion, with some nations reaching 200 percent (Mishra et al., 2020; Lister, 2014). Based on the main topic, then it is essential to examine the importance of integrating e-learning in the classroom, which becomes our first subtopic of discussion. However, for this to be effective enough there is a need to put in place the necessary infrastructure and change the mindset of students and teachers towards this platform, this becomes our second subtopic. Lastly, from this perspective, it is thus possible to examine all the possible obstacles or challenges associated with the integration of technology in the learning activities. Now with the trends, potentials, and challenges of the online learning platform integration, we came up with the main topic and the three subtopics.
Importance of E-Learning and Integrating Technology in the Classrooms
Based on our topic, “Trends in Online Learning,” this subtopic stands as one of the most essential. This subtopic focuses on evaluating the benefits that come with the integration of technology in the learning process with or without the pandemic. This makes this a worthwhile area of discussion as it presents all the positive attributes that come with the integration of technology in classrooms. The reason for this ruling on this subtopic s because for integration of any activity in practice it is essential to first examine the benefits that will be yield from the entire process. For instance, according to Liang and Chen (2012) integration of the online learning platform has been found to have many educational benefits such as increasing accessibility, learning has become flexible eliminating the challenge of traditional distance (Liang & Chen, 2012). Also, e-learning creates an interactive and collaborative learning environment, between colleagues their teachers as well as with the available resources.
The Growth of E-learning Depends On Infrastructure, Perception, And Students’ And Teachers’ Readiness Toward E-learning
Moreover, the integration of e-learning requires a plan. The plan is primarily based on getting the right infrastructure, without which the process will not attain success. This now confirms the relevance of this subtopic on the need for perquisites for e-learning. Concerning the subtopic, the growth of e-learning is said to rely on infrastructure, which entails all the required devices and gadgets without which the online learning process cannot take place. These platforms are the primary determinant of the excellence of the online learning process, for this case the expansion and access to World Wide Web and the internet have been a major boost to the online learning capacities (Cidral et al., 2018). More so, the invention of gadgets that can be used on the internet such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, and computers, has been a boost to the e-learning practice across the globe. However, to fully appreciate the capacity of online learning it is essential to eliminate the negative mentality among students and teachers towards this new strategy. This can only be achieved by making them appreciate the capacities and potentials that lie with the use of technology in classrooms (Lawrence & Tar, 2018). They need to appreciate the evolution of technology and the need for new learning strategies and their potential outcomes, especially on increasing learning flexibilities and improvising a personalized way of learning, which is deemed much cheaper.
Obstacles of Integrating Technology in Teaching and Learning Activities
Although integration of technology in the classroom has coherent advantages, there have been some challenges that cannot be assumed. These obstacles are making our third area of discussion or subtopic. In the implementation of a new strategy, there are always issues, majorly knowledge gap that exists, standing out as a problem, which needs to be addressed. Similarly, in this aspect of technology and learning, there are some of the challenges, which are worth discussion and inclusions as a subtopic in this capstone project. A significant number of teachers have been found to experience difficulties while integrating technology in the physical education program; this was revealed by Villalba and colleagues (2017). To validate this statement they embarked on research to analyze the perception of teachers regarding obstacles to integrate ICT and its relation with their age. Using a significant sample and methods they discovered that mostly perceived obstacles included loss of time to spend on learning activity, lack of appropriate resources, unsuitable use of the platforms, lack of knowledge and technical problems, and lack of investment and training (Villalba et al., 2017). Without a plausible solution to these problems and a change of perception concerning e-learning, these challenges will remain and the integration unsuccessful.
Conclusion
Online learning trends remain very significant in the contemporary world and thus a worthy topic of discussion in this capstone project. The prevalence of the coronavirus pandemic measures to curb the spread, and the need to continue with education makes this topic more relevant. Similarly, the need to evaluate the benefits, determinants, and challenges associated with online learning gives weight to the subtopics under study. It is, therefore, significant to carry out a study to examine all the potentials, challenges, or barriers that are associated with the integration of technology in the learning process. The project will reach success if all the challenges associated with the integration of the e-learning program are solved.
References
Cidral, W. A., Oliveira, T., Di Felice, M., & Aparicio, M. (2018). E-learning success determinants: Brazilian empirical study. Computers & Education, 122, 273-290.
Lawrence, J. E., & Tar, U. A. (2018). Factors that influence teachers’ adoption and integration of ICT in teaching/learning process. Educational Media International, 55(1), 79-105.
Liang, R. Y. H., & Chen, D. T. (2012). Online learning: Trends, potential and challenges.
Lister, M. (2014). Trends in the design of e-learning and online learning. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 10(4), 671.
Mishra, L., Gupta, T., & Shree, A. (2020). Online teaching-learning in higher education during lockdown period of COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 1, 100012.
Villalba, A., González-Rivera, M. D., & Díaz-Pulido, B. (2017). Obstacles Perceived by Physical Education Teachers to Integrating ICT. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology-TOJET, 16(1), 83-92.
Ways in Which Schools Contribute To Commonly Held Beliefs about Gender
The issue of gender variance is key in the current society. Specialists agreed that biology and the environment integrate to create gender difference. Most of the time girls and boys undergo different school experiences due to gender differences perpetrated through the school systems. For instance, schools offer differential practical skillset which pronounces gender difference (Hyde, 2016). Additionally, school systems generate primary situations where gender socialization occurs and commonly held believes on gender are upheld. Therefore schools amplify gender variances by enabling surroundings that promote and enhance gender uniformity and variance.
Schools impact gender variance through two underlying elements- teachers and peer grouping. Teachers and peers openly affect gender variance and its beliefs by enabling boys and girls to perceive themselves as different from each other through schooling materials and reactions. More so, teachers and peers also cement commonly held gender believes through the materials they teach. For instance, teachers teach on gender stereotype mannerism and peers illustrate these stereotypical behaviors through attitudes. These students can adopt these gender stereotypes and bias consequently using them to direct their inclinations and conducts (Kerkhoven et al., 2016). Furthermore, most educators are more likely to prefer certain gender-stereotypical believes, such as boys are inclined towards scientific subjects while women prefer social sciences. These prejudices are then reflected through a teacher's classroom mannerism. Furthermore, teachers' gender-stereotypical perspectives influence school atmosphere and behavior towards either gender. First teachers model gender variance mannerisms to their students. For example, female educators often associate mathematics with men. Secondly, educators usually, present different expectations from their female and male students. For instance, girls are expected to be feminine through their dress code while men are encouraged to be manly and strong. Thirdly, teachers define gender variance by defining gender and using it to label and manage other students.
Changes in the Classrooms That Could Lead To Gender Quality
How a teacher interacts with students will have an extensive impact on equality perception and participation of the students in the classroom. These interactions produce a long-lasting impact on the social lives of students and form a mental picture of gender expectations from the entire community. The first way of creating classrooms with gender equality is by paying attention to both boys and girls. This way, everyone gets the same opportunity to participate in classroom affairs. Simply put, both boys and girls are to be criticized and praised in equal measure (Islam, & Asadullah, 2018). This way, every student gets an equal chance of participating in classroom affairs. In terms of resources, teachers should ensure that there are equal accessibility and usage of learning material to both girls and boys. More so, teachers should not facilitate the spread of gender discrimination hence students will be discouraged from illustrating gender bias.
Gender socialization is the ongoing mechanism of imparting social norms and expectations into the mind of children. The school provides a platforms through which students distinguish gender behavior. For example, during adolescence period boys and girl tend to adhere to stereotypical norms perpetuate gender variance and inequality (Islam, & Asadullah, 2018). The underlying reason people endorse such gender variances is connected to medical related concerns and reproductive health. Therefore, during adolescent period, boys and girls intensify social norms and attitudes because puberty restructures their gender perception and societal prospects. With adolescent, girls are constrained than boys as they are expected to be home keepers in the future.
In summary, the educational system plays a role in cementing gender variance beliefs. First, through the school curriculum, the teachers convey societal stereotypes to students. Students are taught to internalize gender bias through school programs and material. Peers exhibit stereotypes from their social backgrounds unconsciously. Also, schools create situations where the students are aware of their gender difference and socialize against these types of backgrounds. In terms of generating gender equality in schools, teachers should pay attention to both genders. Also, gender stereotypes should be done away with.
References
Hyde, J. S. (2016). Sex and cognition: gender and cognitive functions. Current opinion in neurobiology, 38, 53-56.
Islam, K. M. M., & Asadullah, M. N. (2018). Gender stereotypes and education: A comparative content analysis of Malaysian, Indonesian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi school textbooks. PloS one, 13(1), e0190807.
Kerkhoven, A. H., Russo, P., Land-Zandstra, A. M., Saxena, A., & Rodenburg, F. J. (2016). Gender stereotypes in science education resources: A visual content analysis. PloS one, 11(11), e0165037.
Why Is It Easier For Children To Learn A Second Language Than Adults?
Introduction
It can be challenging raising a multi-lingual child; however, the rewards for learning a second language at an initial stage are indeed beneficial and outweigh the struggle. Bilingual children acquire information quicker and easier and have better challenge-resolving abilities and originality. Hence more career opening as they mature. Also, children find it easier to relate to foreign cultures, making them open to change and tolerant of diversity. Children mature and grow at astonishing paces; however, the rate at which they can learn and acquire information is higher due to mental clarity (Hartshorne et al. 2018). A child who interacts with more than two languages is more likely to easily absorb and memorize details on other subject matter much easier. According to several reports, children are likely to acquire more information due to their higher brain plasticity, brain chemistry immersive environment, and lack of pressure from external environmental forces.
Reasons
Children are more likely to learn a second language than their counterparts, adult, due to numerous reasons (Dummitt, 2019). For a child, learning, in general, is key in their brain biochemistry. A child's brain is designed to absorb numerous forms of material- this occurs within an unconscious mind state, implying that they are learning without even knowing it. On the other hand, adults have to consciously acquire information, making it harder to store most of the information flowing through the mind. In order to easily comprehend how a child can learn a second language, one has to compare the learning process of listening to music. When one listens to music more than once, the lyrics easily flow into the brain without much effort. The unconscious learning process enables the young child to acquire a second language and expand their brain capacity, hence easily conforming to different situations and status. Nevertheless, adults rely on learning through conscious mechanisms (Zhang, & Hudson, 2018). For example, when an adult or student is studying for an examination, some details are absorbed. In contrast, others are forgotten, which is because an adult deliberately puts in effort tin acquire knowledge. At the end of the day, the best way to easily acquire information is through unconscious means.
Learning languages is simple and straightforward to a child because the child is not exposed to complex details hence can interpret and digest language with ease (Suryantari, 2018). When one learns at the initial stages of life, the only way of creating logic is associating words with their inferred implication. On the other hand, adults have to ensure that they learn all the information entailing the subject matter before creating sense out of a certain subject matter, making it difficult to learn a second language. An alternative underlying reason that makes children easily learn an additional language is their pronounced nature of self-consciousness. Children are not aware of any shame and can turn their mistakes into lessons. A child can easily make a mistake and learn from it due to their character's numb nature. Thus, self-consciousness assists children to acquire more information and also refine what they already know. Even though the evidence shared above is mainly supportive, adults can easily adopt a child's character to acquire linguistics knowledge (Iriani, 2018). More so, humans are not able to rewire their brains into effortlessly absorbing numerous amounts of information.
It is vital to note that all schools apply similar teaching mechanisms. However, there is no standard manner of learning. Brains differ from each other hence unique to each other. This explains the reason children learn skills faster than their counterpart adults (Saito et al., 2020). According to the experts, as humans get old, they find it hard to acquire new skills. In case an adult wants to further his or her studies, the best way is to learn to acquire information at the same rate as children do. Naturally, children are designed to learn and acquire various skills until they attain a certain age bracket. Schools provide children with controlled spaces where they can learn without external interference from outside. More so, a school provides children with a social surrounding where they can learn to interact with fellow peers. Even though older people direct children, children are centered on shaping their environment into something they can interpret and manipulate into their own young world. Also, an adult can vary from a child due to how he or she executes the new skill, and the underlying intention for choosing the skill might be different from that of a child. Generally, adults actively participate in their choices hence determine the impact of choice on their lives. For instance, an adult who decides to learn a new language will also want to publish books or write in the same language. Hence, an adult is already equipped with the values and experiences to attain certain objectives. Additionally, an adult selectively learns based on certain goals and subject matter aligned to his or her life. For example, an adult can allow or resist depending on his or her professional goals. The chance to specifically choose subject matter and purposefully apply the knowledge based on one’s needs is the main reason adults find it hard to learn a second language or acquire a new skill. One of the most crucial factors that enable children to learn a second language at a fast rate is plenty of time to acquire and perfect the information received (de Wit et al., 2018). A child is not tied to any obligations and has the whole day to focus on one objective, learn a second language, or even play a musical instrument. Besides, adults fear embarrassing themselves hence cannot just go out of their way to learn a new language. Subsequently, children tend to select the information that might help them learn better and faster than adults. For example, as a child learns, when he or she finds a new term, they concentrate on that particular term until or she gets it right. Therefore, children end up learning more than an adult would ever learn. The chance to come up with new creative ideas relies on how well one can convert the information received into more useful material that can directly benefit the individual. Thus one can say that the perception and timing of learning influence how the children can make information useful and relevant in terms of long term use.
According to early childhood psychiatry reports, a language learned in childhood years, before a child reaches 3 years old, is the first language (Kuklewicz, & King, 2018). The first language can be referred to as mother tongue or key linguistics. The second language is normally acquired through schooling, work, and other things people engage in daily. The second language is usually societal or even might be official. Nevertheless, a second language is usually acquired after acquiring the native language, hence explaining why children easily find it to learn ad respond to a second language much easier than adults (van Daal, & Wass, 2017). Compared to other learning mechanisms, the rate at which adults acquire a second language is slower.
Aspects of Cognitive Levels between an Adult and a Child
Some scientists believe that adults can learn a second language faster because they have a fully developed cognitive capability than children. Hence adults can easily analyze rational details and self-monitor themselves (Colliander, 2018). On the other hand, some scientists claim that an adult finds it hard to learn a second language due to numerous underlying and undefined factors. Children are usually considered successful in linguistics acquisition as they can learn their native language from an informal surrounding. Thus it would be meaningful to compare an adult’s ability to learn a second language from a child’s native language attainment. The process through which an adult can acquire a second language is complex compared to that of a child. As stated earlier, a child does not have numerous distractions; hence is fully able to concentrate on the tasks at hand. Some of the theories used to explain and discuss why adults find acquiring a second language difficult are behaviorism, cognitive theory, and interlanguage. According to the cognitive theory, adults’ ability to learn a second language is dependent on conscious learning mechanisms. This way, an adult’s capability to acquire a new language via a conscious mechanism enables them to separate right from wrong hence an important phase in the learning process. Some scholars claim that for an adult to learn and acquire a second language successfully, the input should be equal to the output. More so, adult emotions are vital in the acquisition of a second language among adults. Comprehensive output means that an adult can learn based on experience and interest. Also, language input is crucial if an adult is to acquire a second language. In order to learn a second language and then speak it fluently, adults need to have more interaction with numerous texts with an understandable output. Also, generating comprehensive output might help adult learners faster and intentionally than children. Firstly, linguistic output helps one to note the gap between experienced knowledge and the newly acquired pieces of information (Gass, & Glew, 2018). More so, language input is highly critical in the acquisition of a second language. To achieve accuracy and fluency, adult learners tend to contact comprehensible materials so that they can familiarize themselves with terms and other functionalities about a certain language. Furthermore, experts believe that language output is the internalization of linguistic details, which is the functionality of language learning.
The only reason why some experts think that adults learn faster than children is adult objectivity and rationality levels hence heightening their evaluation capabilities, unlike children who are dependent on unconscious means of acquiring information (Elgort et al., 2018). Researches on this particular topic highlighted that learning takes time; children have all the time they need to fully grasp the terms and functionalities of a second language than adults. Timing and placement of personal assistance issues come into play whenever second language acquisition is compared between children and adults. A child gets all the help they need to accomplish tasks while adults are dependent on their own effort, making it harder for them to learn faster. The children's attention is greater and cannot be factored out in influencing the final result of second language acquisition. Moreover, an adult's structured nature and improved capability to think and apply concepts might be greater. Piaget, a well-known psychologist, claimed that children aged 2-7 years old have pre-operational brain power hence rely on intuition and perceptive static hence implying that children lack proper conversion mechanisms that can turn information into useful and functional capabilities. In the concrete, operational phase (7-11 years), children can easily learn a second language without much struggle due to reduced static perception. In the formal operational period, which is the final stage in cognitive development, the thinking capacity is multifaceted and fully developed to handle more than one task. Even though adults have the advantage of having a fully developed, children have the option of fully gaining control of their own brain due to the higher absorbing power. An adult's thinking capacity is upgraded due to their linguistic consciousness (Kushch et al., 2018). An adult's development increases their cognitive capability, leading to robust brainpower to evaluate and conclude, offering benefits in grammar regulations and sentence countenance, and hence permitting adults to handle multifaceted challenges. More so, an adult has experiences and also a wider comprehensive outlook on numerous other issues. On the other hand, while comparing adults to children, adults lose their innate ability to learn a second language as they grow older. This gives children an advantage over adults. They can easily absorb information without any hindrance because their cognitive brain is still developing, hence sensitive to any information on their brains. Another reason children acquire or learn a second language faster is that they do not use plenty of energy and time to learn the concepts of the language.
The Age Factor
Studies have unveiled a connection between age and the ability to learn a second language. Age is key in constructing a second language. As children acquire the first or native language, they can also be trained to acquire another language before they are 11 years old. According to expert opinion, children learn and acquire the first language before they are 11 years old. After puberty, it is hard learning a second language because the first ten years are critical for learning the first and second language (Bridget, 2019). Constant exposure to language enables a child to acquire fluency in language due to familiarity with the language. Additionally, age determines cognitive capabilities and emotions; hence age impacts how effective one learns a second language. The brain’s plasticity permits children to learn a second language just before the adolescent period easily. However, as the child develops and the generation of partial sides, adults decrease their physiological capabilities to learn a second language. Therefore, an adult second language has to be acquired through a procedural manner from one phase to another hence building up concepts in a natural learning mechanism. Besides, the researches demonstrate that second languages are directly inclined to the age. Most young people can speak more than two languages, proving that young children effectively learn a second language before reaching the puberty stage (Rothman, & Slabakova, 2018). For instance, in China, adults aged 45 years and above cannot speak English, and children aged 10 years and below. Also, during puberty, learning a second language does not come naturally; hence, it can only be learned through consciousness and relentless effort.
The Environmental Aspect
There are particular categories of environmental stimuli that facilitate learning a second language. Children interact with their native language from birth hence accustomed to the words and fluency of the language. Later, learning a native language comes naturally to children. In other words, the surrounding plays a major role in the acquisition of a second language (Rothman, & Slabakova, 2018). A child's learning capability is inherent; however, language comes from interaction and certain language practice. Based on comparison theory, even though a child’s cognitive capability is low, they can utilize the native language to build up into the second language. Nevertheless, learning a second language within the confines of classrooms requires simulated discourse and focusing on design rather than the context. The environment under which children learn their native language is normally unconscious and pleasant. Children usually acquire their first language from the caregiver or mother; hence the learning mechanism is seamless and complete. More so, in an authentic communication surrounding, children master the native language and create their own talkative capability (Iriani, 2018). However, children have to overcome a ton of hurdles before they can fully grasp a second language's intricacies, hence the need to learn a second language at the initial stages of their developmental years.
Past research theorized that a second language could only be learned in initial periods of one’s life, from infancy to adolescence. In its fundamental stages of learning, this critical period impacts learning both the first and second languages. However, comprehending the initial stage period's underlying nature is important in coming up with ways of extending this period so that adults can get the benefit of learning a second language in more than one way. Children are rarely burdened with obligations and stressful situations, and this makes their thinking clarity sharper. For instance, it has few responsibilities, which gives a higher chance of learning and practice more than an adult. More so, whenever children learn something new, they are happy to apply it in their lives; in the process, they end up easily cementing the knowledge in their lives. Children allow them to apply the knowledge they learned without much effort repeatedly. Thus, the common belief that children can learn a second language faster than adults proves to be true due to the verified pieces of information. In summary, children can learn a second language between infancy and adolescent period because at this time their brain power is sharper enough to interpret and convert information into useful details.
As seen above, science and investigation prove that children can learn a second language faster than adults. Mostly, there are still numerous underlying questions that need to be answered so that people can get the whole picture. For instance, the underlying reasons which trigger children to learn at a faster rate than adults. Some of the reasons pushed forward and approved so far are brain biochemistry, immediate surroundings, or an amalgamation of both factors (Hartshorne et al. 2018). More so, if adults can adapt to the same learning mechanisms, they might have to change some of their habits. An emerging trend that can be verified with time is the surrounding under which the children acquire the second language. Whenever learning, children stick to one environment, and they always do as they were told hence acquire more information than adults. The learning process in an absorbed surrounding facilitated the learning of a second language. Therefore, an absorbed environment enables children to unconsciously take in information for brain processing through the interaction with the subject matter. When officially coached through games and rhymes, children can easily pick up the subject matter and quickly integrate it into their brain for application. Factually, adults can also acquire information faster when they are through immersion learning mechanisms, but adults have to pay a higher price for immersion learning mechanisms (Hartshorne et al. 2018). Children have little to no obligation in life; thus, their energy and focus is dedicated to learning and bettering their skills. However, most adults do not have the luxury to sit all day and learn a second language. More so, children are better suited for immersive learning mechanisms because they cannot be easily inhibited. Nothing can stop a child from making mistakes and sounding stupid. In the process of repeatedly making mistakes, children grasp the content and then perfect it. Adults cannot learn through mistakes; they either be shy or anxious to make similar mistakes. The older one gets, the higher the pressure from various platforms. For the sake of acquiring knowledge and balancing other aspects of life, adults rarely get the chance to learn a second language perfectly. More so, an adult can only see the need to learn another language if it is aligned with their career. Children's learning mechanisms are playful and innate. There is no motivation to learn another language in an adult's context unless they move into another nation where they are forced to learn a new language (Elgort et al., 2018). Most of the time, an adult connects to people who speak the same language as them. However, very few adults are ready to put themselves in a situation that forces them to learn a new language without the need to do so. It is also vital to note that an adult controls a child's actions; hence, children have no choice over their actions. In the presence of a knowledgeable adult, a child can acquire information at a higher rate due to the controlled environment under which they learn.
In summary, a child learns faster than an adult. The obvious reason is the absorbent nature of their brain hence the ability to quickly take in more information at a higher rate than adults. Adults have more obligations than children, and this affects their time and energy. To give in to the moment and to entertain more information, children are good at naturally giving into the people's basic needs. Also, a child's brainpower can absorb more information from the basic subconscious level. On the other hand an adult cognitive ability is fully developed but it take more energy and hard work to absorb more information. The capacity to ensure that he or she applies information from past experiences to cater to the learnings mechanisms of another language. Most of the times, the challenges lies in the inability to control the external environment because an adult is always learning something and this makes it hard to balance more than one linguistic. A child gets more attention from adults and can unconsciously learn another language without much effort.
Reference
Bridget, S. (2019). The Impact of Motivation and Attitude on Foreign Language Learning: A Case Study of Adults when Learning Spanish as a Second Language.
Colliander, H. (2018). Being and becoming a teacher in initial literacy and second language education for adults (Vol. 205). Linköping University Electronic Press.
de Wit, J., Schodde, T., Willemsen, B., Bergmann, K., de Haas, M., Kopp, S., ... & Vogt, P. (2018, February). The effect of a robot's gestures and adaptive tutoring on children's acquisition of second language vocabularies. In Proceedings of the 2018 ACM/IEEE international conference on human-robot interaction (pp. 50-58).
Dummitt, G. (2019). Translating Age: Does the Critical Period Significantly Affect Second Language Learning Among Adults?. WHEATON WRITING: A Journal of Academic Essays, 4, 19-22.
Elgort, I., Brysbaert, M., Stevens, M., & Van Assche, E. (2018). Contextual word learning during reading in a second language: An eye-movement study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40(2), 341-366.
Gass, S., & Glew, M. (2018). 16 Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism. An introduction to bilingualism: Principles and processes.
Hartshorne, J. K., Tenenbaum, J. B., & Pinker, S. (2018). A critical period for second language acquisition: Evidence from 2/3 million English speakers. Cognition, 177, 263-277.
Iriani, D. H. (2018). The effect of early English learning on psychology. International journal of social sciences and humanities, 2(1), 65-74.
Kuklewicz, A., & King, J. (2018). " It's Never Too Late": A Narrative Inquiry of Older Polish Adults' English Language Learning Experiences. TESL-EJ, 22(3), n3.
Kushch, O., Igualada, A., & Prieto, P. (2018). Prominence in speech and gesture favour second language novel word learning. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 33(8), 992-1004.
Rothman, J., & Slabakova, R. (2018). The generative approach to SLA and its place in modern second language studies. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40(2), 417-442.
Saito, K., Kachlicka, M., Sun, H., & Tierney, A. (2020). Domain-general auditory processing as an anchor of post-pubertal second language pronunciation learning: Behavioural and neurophysiological investigations of perceptual acuity, age, experience, development, and attainment. Journal of Memory and Language, 115, 104168.
Suryantari, H. (2018). Children and Adults in Second-Language Learning. Tell: Teaching of English Language and Literature Journal, 6(1), 30-38.
van Daal, V. H., & Wass, M. (2017). First-and second-language learnability explained by orthographic depth and orthographic learning: A “natural” Scandinavian experiment. Scientific Studies of Reading, 21(1), 46-59.
Zhang, M., & Hudson, J. A. (2018). Children’s understanding of yesterday and tomorrow. Journal of experimental child psychology, 170, 107-133.
Q&A
Although some things like air are impossible to see with the naked eye, sometimes people are unable to see what is right in front of them despite the existence of visible signs. The inability to see something right in front of someone is mainly because people use other senses to determine what to notice and what to leave out. Someone with a phobia for blood for example may be unable to identify the nature of injury because they lack the composure to look at the injury long enough to see everything needed to make a valid conclusion on the nature of the injury. Since everything that is captured by the senses is processed by the brain, people’s opinions and perceptions about what they see could be clouded and thus prevent them from seeing what is right in front of them.
Pleasure is a non-sensory thought component that influences the way people interpret their experiences of beauty. Like art, people’s perceptions and opinions about things that are considered beautiful tends to differ. The varying opinions are mainly because the interpretation of beauty requires one to utilize the cognitive component in order to determine whether the object whose beauty is in question evokes positive pleasure or not. Things that bring more pleasure are described as being more beautiful while those that are not as pleasing are considered less attractive. Since what people consider pleasurable also varies, the definition of beauty tends to vary depending on the individual. The role that pleasure plays in determining beauty can be used to explain why people may place different levels of beauty on the same object or person.
Narrative relationships are perceived in the memories and events that have transpired in an individual’s life to determine the person they become. It is through memories and recollection of the past that people use to form personal opinions, beliefs and personalities that determine how they live their lives. Unlike reading someone’s bibliography, narratives offer better insight especially on the side of the individual. When reliving memories, an individual can recall the feelings he had, the intensity of the situation and other emotions that make the recollection as real as it was the day it occurred. The beauty of the narratives is therefore determined by the situation in question or the experience that the individual was going through. Some narratives may be seen as beautiful while others as less appealing depending on the nature of impact they had on the individual.
Some content, experiences and feelings can only be expressed in certain media and this is mainly because of the role that the media used plays in society. Phone calls for instance have taken a formal role compared to messages as is the case where people are more likely to make a phone call than send a message when in need of immediate help. Similarly, expressing emotions such as sadness or depression is more efficient through media that supports video or audio compared to written text. Reading a note requires the reader to either have prior knowledge of the writer’s state when writing the note in order to determine the state of mind the writer is in. without such information, it may be impossible to denote sadness or sarcasm thus making media that only supports text ill equipped to relay such emotions. Videos however make it easier to read the composers state of mind by observing their body language and other communication features.
When two people disagree about the beauty of something, both of them could be right because beauty is often influenced by the feelings evoked by the object in question. Beauty takes a subjective context in that different people place different levels of beauty on the same object. A sword for instance may be seen as beautiful if viewed as a tool for martial arts and the honor associated with Samurai warriors. The sword’s beauty however lessens especially in the eyes of those who are victims of crimes involving swords or people with negative attitudes towards weapons. Although there are some objects that are considered beautiful by majority of people in society, the existence of people who consider the same objects as being not as beautiful goes to prove that the concept of beauty is more subjective than objective thus making the claim that both individuals are right more accurate.
People’s perception of reality is influenced by the experiences and interactions that exist in society. As such, people today tend to see the world differently from how others perceived it in the past mainly because the two have had different experiences. In the past for instance, people were of the opinion that hard work would bring about desirable results. In today’s society, more emphasis is placed on working smart and utilizing the energy to achieve maximum results. Since people’s experiences help them to adapt to the society they live in, the view of the world is greatly influenced by the opinions and norms established in communities. Since the norms used in the past have evolved, perceptions of the world have also evolved and people view the world differently from the way others viewed it in the past.
When watching a film, we experience what the characters experience, but only to some extent. One aspect of film making is to make the content as appealing to the target audience as possible. Often times, films use the characters to portray a certain occurrence in everyday life. The message is therefore the experience that the character goes through rather than the character himself. Since the experiences describe events that occur in society, the audience can factor in their experiences when going through something portrayed in film, making it possible for the individual to experience the same thing the character experiences. There are however limitations in that some character has too many experiences in an attempt to portray most of the things that take place in society. Since it is rather difficult for one individual to experiences everything that goes on in society, some scenes may be impossible to relate to thus limiting the shared experience between the character and the audience.
People should be humble in their disagreements about beauty because not everything that gives pleasure is judged as beautiful. Like beauty, people take pleasure in different things and their definition of what is pleasurable tends to vary. When giving to charity for instance, there are those who try to publicize the fact that they give donations while others prefer to do so anonymously. Despite both giving to charity, one finds pleasure from the attention gained from giving while the other takes pleasure in helping, regardless of any benefits that may come from giving. While pleasure is a non-cognitive component of beauty, not everything that brings pleasure is beautiful especially because some pleasure may arise from things that are perceived as unattractive such as being boastful or arrogant. While people may disagree on what is beauty, they have similar attitudes regarding what is not beautiful regardless of whether it brings pleasure or not.
What we find beautiful is contingent in that the beauty of something is always influenced by other factors. Since there is no definition of beauty, people rely on things such as feelings evoked, attitudes and perceptions as well as the common view that people hold towards specific things. Since the idea of beauty is only present depending on specific conditions, it is correct to state that what we find beautiful is contingent.
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