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Paper Instructions:

Pose an alternative view of how student development theory can be used to describe your colleague’s posting
Summarize a personal experience that supports your colleague’s posting

          Attending an institution of higher education is a great step in furthering and individual’s education. In today’s world there is a diverse range of college students from all over the world attending college in the United States. Technology is one big factor that is different then when I first attended college twenty years ago. Most resources back then were found within a book in the library and now the world wide web has every source of information that we can possibly need. I honestly do not think that students know how to find a book by the catalog to find resources.

College is also a lot more costly. I remember going to community college and taking 12 credits and the tuition was relatively cheap. More now than ever, it is important to have a college degree. Twenty years ago, a high school diploma could get you a fairly good job but not anymore.

Student Development Theory

          The Student Development Theory is a section of academic study that educates or guides student affairs and higher education practice (Patton, Renn, Guido & Quaye, 2016). This theory can be used “as a tool to inform decisions” about teaching (Skipper, 2005). The student development theory “provides faculty with a way to understand their students and a framework for making informed decisions a d pedagogy” (Skipper, 2005). Student development theory is generally how students acquire knowledge in an institution of higher education.

          The student from the media segment that stood out the most to me was the first-year female student from China who’s major was not decided. She stated that her peers and upper classmates had given her a lot of advice about attending school in the US and advised that it would be beneficial if she furthered her education in the US. It cannot be easy coming from one country to a totally different culture. There are a lot of different social norms. The student development theory has a few parts. This theory “provides faculty with a way to understand their students and making informed decisions” (Skipper, 2005) about the method and practice of teaching that will be used for an academic subject. As an educator it is important that each student is treated fairly and has the resources needed in order for them to succeed. The student development theory will help the faculty find effective teaching techniques in order to help this student succeed and complete the course.

The College Experience



          In the media segment there was a black male that was a first-year college student majoring in Sociology and Studio Art. He stated that the hardest thing for him was coming to a college where most of the population is Caucasian students because he came from a high school of predominantly African American students. He found it hard to adjust because he had to deal with a lot of racial issues because he had to explain where he comes from and why he does the things that he does. He was very surprised about what he learned about himself intellectually and how he adjusted to rural life coming from New York City. He learned a lot about himself in other ways and received a better sense of who he is and a better idea of who he wanted to be.

          I believe that he did know what to expect when first coming to this college, but his way of thinking and how he interacts with others has grown through this college experience.



References:

Patton, L. D., Renn, K. A., Guido-DiBrito, F., & Quaye, S. J. (2016). Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Brand.



Skipper, T. L. (2005). Student development in the first college year: A primer for college educators. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina.

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Paper Instructions:

Academic relationships are critical to your success at GCU. These relationships include faculty members, student service counselors, and student engagement. After reviewing the week’s resources, how would these relationships be important to your success? Please provide specific examples of relationships you plan to develop and why.

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Paper Instructions:

Compare and contrast Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories about cognitive development.

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Paper Instructions:

Imagine that you are a researcher and are conducting a study to investigate a community problem. Using behavioral research principles, select a macro systems problem to investigate (there are many suggested in the textbook, e.g. domestic violence, homophobia, sexual abuse, delinquent gangs) and design a study to solve this community problem.

The purpose of your Final Paper is to solve this community problem.

The Final Paper should be eight- to- ten pages (excluding title and reference pages) that includes the following components:
(Please note that for the purposes of offering instruction, examples have been given below about a research study involving the use of financial reward programs to combat truancy. Please make sure that you create a study that does not investigate the same content.)

Introduction – This section should include a brief summary of the community problem that will be addressed, as well as the approach that will be used to investigate and solve the problem.
Statement of the problem – The purpose of this section is to specify the main research question (e.g., Does enrollment in a financial reward program reduce truancy?) and define the community problem in more depth (e.g., truancy), analyzing why it is a problem. In addition, you will explain the problem-solving method you plan to employ (e.g., enrollment in a financial reward program) and state your main hypothesis. (e.g., Enrollment in a financial reward program is expected to reduce student truancy in the short term, but its long-term effects are difficult to predict.)
Literature Review – In this section, research findings pertaining to both the community problem and problem solving method need to be illustrated. (e.g., Relevant articles may include those on the prevalence of truancy, the impact of truancy, previous methods used to combat truancy, and the benefits of financial reward programs.)
Methodology – Explain how your Final Paper will investigate the problem. How will the study be designed? How many participants will be involved in the study and how will they be recruited? (e.g., Four classes at a local high school will be given the opportunity to participate in the research study. Two of these classes will be enrolled in the financial reward program.) How will data be collected? (e.g., Truancy data will be collected on all of the participants for the six months preceding the reward program, for the duration of the program, and for the six months after completion of the reward program.) What statistics will be used to evaluate the data? (e.g., Inferential statistics will be conducted to compare the truancy levels of the group of students participating in the program with those of the group of students who are not participating in the program.)  Ethical considerations should be discussed to ensure that no unethical research is suggested.
Conclusions – This section should contain concluding remarks about any potential problems that might be encountered in conducting this research study. It should also include speculations on the potential results of the study.

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My Theory of Family Therapy  

The purpose of this critical assignment is for students to compose an essay that explains their personal theory of family therapy based on the knowledge they have gained about various family therapy theories throughout this semester. As such, students are tasked with contemplating their personal convictions and preferences about how to best theorize the family therapy process. In other words, students should think about what theories and research they encountered during this semester that were most convincing to them. For example, what is the best explanation for how families change and grow? Is it from disrupting homeostasis…or improving levels of differentiation…or clarifying boundaries…or changing attachment patterns? Or some combination of those? These are the kinds of questions that students should ask themselves as they are preparing to write this paper. Students may choose to discuss their personal theory based on one existing theory of family therapy or they may decide to integrate two or more existing theories together. An article about integrative models in couples and family therapy by Smith & Southern (2005) is available in the critical assignment link for your reference. 

This essay should include at least 6 peer-reviewed journal articles. Students may also cite the course textbook, but that citation should be in addition to the 6 journals. Below is a detailed outline of what should be included in the body of the essay. For this paper, you are required to use the following headings throughout the paper. A suggested page-length for each section of the body of the paper is offered below: 

(1/2 page) Introduction – introduce the paper and what you intend to discuss.
(1 page) Therapist-Family Relationship – discuss what you believe is the best type of relationship that the counselor and family should maintain. Should it be one of close collaboration? Or should it be one where the therapist is more distant? Or somewhere in between? Please explain and give a research-based rationale for your assertions.
(1 page) How Do Families Change? – discuss your theory of how families change and grow in the therapy process. What does your theory suggest are some of the key components necessary for families to change? What is your theory-based rationale for why that would help families change and improve?
(1 page) Counseling Techniques – discuss 2-3 foundational techniques that you think are vital for the family therapy process. What is/are the theory(ies) behind why these techniques work in therapy? Is there research to support the effectiveness of the techniques?
(1 page) Multicultural Competence – discuss your personal theory about the necessity of multicultural awareness and competence within the counseling process (i.e., why is it important to be aware of multicultural issues when counseling diverse populations?). Please provide research evidence for the benefits of being a multiculturally-aware therapist when it comes to therapeutic outcomes such as improvement satisfaction, and low drop-out rates.
(1 page) Faith and Personal Influence – discuss to what degree your personal theory of family therapy is influenced by your faith beliefs and personal/cultural background. How does your faith and/or life experience impact your beliefs about family therapy effectiveness?
(1/2 page) Conclusion – include any concluding remarks necessary.

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Discuss the characteristics of compact bone and its importance

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What do we mean when we say that something is true?

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Against prohibiting religious waivers for vaccines

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American Revolution (Economic or Ideological)?

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SCIENCE BRIEF 

This section should be 2 pages in length. In it, summarize in your own words, and with your instructor in ‘mind as the intended audience, the ‘big ideas’ or concepts of science that are relevant for you as teacher to grasp and understanding fully in order to teach in an ‘informed’ way. 
Your brief should emphasize two things: (1) concepts and (2) practices or process skills. In this section, you will demonstrate that you yourself understand the science content underlying what you plan to teach. Be certain that your Science Brief is free of misconceptions about your topic. 
Write your Science Brief in paragraph form, not as a series of bullets, with minimal use of quoted passages (those used must be cited). Do not describe the curriculum or its approaches here, nor your plans for how you will teach your learners, which writing in Section D, Lesson Plans. 
Use high school textbooks, the web, and network with others to build this science understanding. Typically, this goes well beyond what you will be teaching to your young learners. 
Your Science Brief should include: 
(A)    Science Content Knowledge (no less than 1 page of the minimum 1.5 pages, or two thirds of the brief), and describe all relevant “big ideas” of science and practices underlying the entire curriculum module, with emphasis on the lessons you taught. Also briefly describe how the curriculum’s learning goals are linked to learning objectives found in the NYC PK-8 Science Scope & Sequence 2018, or NRC’s Framework (2012), or Next Generation Science Standards (2013). 
(B)    The intended grade level of your materials must be within two (2) grade levels of the standards chose. 
(C)    (B) Science Pedagogical Content Knowledge -- Here you describe what you learned from published educational research that you found about (a) specific misconceptions regarding your science topics to which students are prone, (2) suggestions or remedies for how to help learners overcome those misconceptions, and (3) “learning progressions” that describe how students evolve in their understanding of an idea. 
Only include this write-up when such educational research is available. In other words, resist the temptation to make up misconceptions that you think kids may have. Cite sources at the end of this section. For example, if you were writing about the Ice Cube homework task that we did in class, your write up of relevant science would provide full space for you to articulate your understanding of heat transfer and the three main methods – convection, conduction and radiation. You would not just list these ideas but give space to articulate your understanding of these ideas, and how they apply to the task at hand. Since the main process skill in Ice Cube task is designing a fair-test experiment, you would also describe the “three questions” of inquiry and how you answered them in planning the Ice Cube experiment.

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Identity Formation:
Read Twain’s Pudd′nhead Wilson and write a brief reaction to FIVE of the questions The question identified before the response.
Questions: 
Twain pits tradition and public opinion against science (fingerprinting) in this novel.  How are these forces alike and how are they different?  Which triumphs in the end? 
In Pudd′nhead Wilson, the old Nature v Nurture question is interestingly posed.  What role does a person’s innate qualities play in this novel?  How would your answer relate to Twain′s analysis of slavery? 
Roxy is one of the most intelligent characters in the book, but is she likable?  Why or why not? How does her cleverness contrast with her social position? 
The characters in this novel assume a variety of disguises that range from Tom′s passing as a white man, to Roxy’s dressing as a man, to the dresses Tom uses when he′s robbing houses. How does the use of literal disguises relate to the use of racial ″disguises″? How does the use of disguises provide a commentary on identity? On race? 
How do the excerpts from Pudd′nhead Wilson’s ″Calendar″ fit into the text?  Which did you like best?  Is the comedy appropriate given the book’s serious nature? Explain. 
How are the twins, Angelo and Luigi like Tom and Chambers. 
Roxy tells Tom that it is his blackness that makes him a coward.  Is this evidence that Twain supported racist views? Choose an “uncomfortable moment” in the book and analyze it.  Why do these moments occur? How might our contemporary understanding of race be different from Twain′s? 
How is your “hometown” community like Dawson′s Landing?  How much or how little have opinions changed from Twain’s day? 
Identify a concept or theory of human development we have discussed in class and elaborate on how it was demonstrated in the book. Cite passages in the book that make your argument