Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Peer Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Peer Assessment - Essay Example My experience as a peer assessor was an eye opener. For the first time, I felt like I was not the one being reviewed, but I was reviewing other students' work. This gave me a sense of pride and courage and it also enabled me to see the big picture. In marking my classmate's papers, I no longer saw myself as a victim of marking but rather a victory. The peer assessment gave me an insight of one of the functions of our tutors, which is to assess the students' academic performance. Our peer assessment was based on our assessment tests for all the units that we sat in the semester. The move was aimed at getting us to interact with each other while improving our leadership skills (Cottrell 2010). For the first time, my classmates and I felt some sense of responsibility for our education. It dawned on us that our education depends on us and that we are all equally talented when given a chance to review our peer's work. The assessment came as an encouragement to the not-so-good students that they can be trusted to assess even the brightest students in our class. Every student was assigned a paper to mark, and the tutor would guide us through the marking of the papers. The instructors used this opportunity to go through the questions with us, in an attempt to revise the paper. The teacher would guide us through, reading the questions aloud, and one after the other. He would then ask a classmate to provide the correct answer, and we would have a brief discussion on each issue.
Monday, October 28, 2019
Psychology and Scientific Method Essay Example for Free
Psychology and Scientific Method Essay There are many arguments that debunk the idea that psychology could ever be a ‘pure science’. In any event, psychology has been touted by many a philosopher as a pseudo-science. This is primarily because science itself has a fixed method by which they conduct scientific experiments. We discuss precisely what it is that makes a theory scientific, how theories can be related to evidence and the principal issues involved in evaluating a theory. We also look at what it is that a science of psychology should study. What aspects of psychology can be defined as scientific and what aspects are thoroughly based on conjecture? Can we really call psychology a scientific medium? The observable is what science studies. Freud was initially concerned with studying the unseen, while observing behaviors (Hays, 1964: 27). He believed that the insanity that is presented to the outside world was due to a complex internal mental mechanism (Hays, 1964: 27). However, Freud also fell short of one thing, hard evidence that these mental processes existed. Scientific method determines that there are 4 or 5 steps the researcher has to take in order to make the experiment valid in the eyes of the scientific community. Physics lecturer Jose Wudka states that these steps include: 1. Observation; 2. Hypothesis; 3. Prediction; 4. Test the prediction with experiment (Wudka, 1998). The last step may be that the prediction needs to be retested and the hypothesis revisited. If we take Freud as an example, his experiments were based almost entirely on observation with no empirical data to either prove or disprove his hypotheses. Theory remains just a theory until is proved as fact. Theories are therefore related to evidence in a crucial way. Firstly, there has to be evidence of something that can be studied: for instance in criminal justice we have a bullet cap left behind at a crime. This bullet may be lying in a certain way and with the added presence of gunshot residue (cordite) can help investigators to formulate a hypothesis about what happened with the particular crime. With the case of Freud for instance, we can observe behaviors of children or even adults, but we cannot say where it comes from without getting inside the head. This makes the evidence inadmissible and the theory remains just that – a theory. Secondly, evidence that is presented, has to be tested. This means that the evidence must relate to the theory it is trying to legitimate. In this case, the evidence either proves the theory or it forces the experimenter to return to the theory and rework it. A theory can be evaluated by means of this same testing procedure, key issues being predominantly about validity, verifiability and reliability. Take for instance the normal experimental procedure for empirical research that includes the presentation of a valid sample group that is anonymous and whose records are either thus or confidential. An example of theory testing in psychology that does follow the scientific method is that of medical and electrical testing. One particular research example in psychology is that of Electro Shock Therapy. In this case the treatment studied is reversed in that the EST was used to treat asthmatics, successfully. This case studied asthmatics brought in for EST after intense supervision prior to hospitalization. The patients were monitored before, during and after the treatment to see whether there is a relationship between hysteria and asthma (Cohen and Holbrook, 1947: 213). In this case the patients themselves provide the data necessary for testing the hypothesis. The hypothesis was that there was a relationship between hysteria and asthma. The results showed not only a relationship, but I significant reaction to Electro Shock Treatment (Cohen and Holbrook, 1947: 214). In other research, EST is studied for its effect on schizophrenia rather than the usual bipolar disorder. This research revealed that EST may be useful in the treatment of this psychotic illness. This especially when combined with medication (ScienceDaily, 2005). These research projects were conducted under strict supervision and with documentation the entire process. On the other side of the coin, there are arguments that also dispel scientific method. William McComas of the Rossier School of Education cites 15 myths about scientific method that he considers to be principal issues. In the scope of this paper we cannot discuss all of McComas’ issues but a few will be discussed. The first of these is that hypotheses become theories and then become laws. This is not always the case since sometimes the evidence does not uphold the hypothesis. He also says that theory is not always absolute. Theory can only be absolute if there are no exceptions and in psychology particularly, there are almost always exceptions. Science and scientific method are also not always absolute proof, nor does it always answer all the questions (McComas, 1998: 2-9). In tune with the fact that the evidence does not always support the hypothesis, science does also not always represent reality but functions as a model around which scientific developments can be made (McComas, 1998: 9-18). Furthermore and specifically in psychology terms, these theories are flouted by the presence of some elements in a patient that do not fit the ‘textbook’ description of a certain ailment. For instance, it could be said that most cases of borderline personality disorder come from upper to middle class sectors and develop this type of disorder as a textbook concern, not all BPD patients are upper to middle class. This is merely an example of the type of issue that faces the social sciences where individuals cannot be controlled in the way that plant slides or blood tests can be. The science of psychology is about people and the nuances thereof. It is aware that humans are temperamental and also subject to the actions of other people. This means that psychology can be studied as an observation, by viewing the behaviors of people and documenting them. Psychology cannot be studied in the same way as other sciences can be, despite the fact that in empirical sciences there are also issues of compliance. If we consider that communicable diseases such as HIV/Aids can be physically examined, that blood cells and antibodies can be made visible and studied in their physical form, psychology is not the same. Inroads have been made to attempt to clarify tests done decades earlier, such as Pavlov’s conditioning studies, but unless a method becomes available to view thought processes, these theories remain unproved. The visible is the first step to studying science, but psychology hits a wall after that. We know certain aspects of psychology, such as schizophrenia is as much a neurological disorder as a psychiatric one, but there are other psychological issues we do not know. This means that psychology has to be studied in a multidisciplinary way, rather than as purely scientific. In qualitative research as in quantitative, issues of evaluation are the same. In some psychiatric cases, a patient may also have medical problems, such as diabetes, epilepsy or malnutrition and these can be physically seen. There are indeed ways in which psychology fails the test of scientific method, and therefore falls into the category of ‘pseudo science’. However, there are issues in pure sciences that also fall short of the elitist idea of science. Films such Stanley Kubrick’s â€Å"A Clockwork Orange†explore the idea of experimentation with the human brain, but to undergo such testing even with the consent of volunteers, would be considered inhumane. It seems to be ethical to test chemicals on animals or to test explosives in remote areas, but not ethical to perform potentially dangerous tests on human brains. This leaves psychological testing with the likes of psychometric testing and theories, yet again. As discussed, scientific method is reliant on having the evidence to back it up, whereas psychological is based on assumption to a large extent. Psychological profiling is an example of this in that given the evidence presented, a criminal can be profiled by the marks he leaves behind. Seldom is this knowledge enough to prove someone is guilty of not.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Arthur Dimmesdale and John Proctors Guilt and Sin Essay -- The Crucib
Arthur Dimmesdale and John Proctor's Guilt and Sin Guilt is something that weighs heavily on the human soul. It incorporates itself in our dreams, our thoughts, and our actions. Everywhere we turn, it stares us blankly in the face. While it is unbearable to suffer, guilt is an emotion that reaffirms our humanity. Repentance of a particular guilt, being spiritual, physical or both, is evidence that we are beyond the baseness of our animal tendencies. This fact has not gone unnoticed to the many great figures of literature. They have explored the sentiments of guilt and repentance by exploiting the conscience of flawed characters. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne presented to the world Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a man suffering in a past sin. Likewise, in his play The Crucible, the great modern playwright, Arthur Miller, penned the character of John Proctor to allegorize the dangers of moral passivity. Their guilt and repentance were the primary causes of their â€Å"undoing†. Dimmesdale and Proctor were both martyrs to their sin. More specifically, they were both martyrs to the sin of adultery. Being a man of the cloth, this was especially painful for Dimmesdale. How could â€Å"a ruined soul like [his] effect toward the redemption of other souls?†(Hawthorne 182). As he confessed so mournfully to Hester, his partner in sin, â€Å"Canst thou deem it, Hester, a consolation, that I must stand up in my pulpit and meet so many eyes turned up to my as if the light of heaven were beaming from it†¦and then look inward, and discern the black reality of what they idolize?†(Hawthorne 182). He was so consumed by his hypocrisy that he turned to self-masochism as a means of escape. In stark contrast to Hester’s outward ... ...e†(Miller 22). All he wanted to do was get on with his farming and continue to live happily with his wife. It was only when the witch hunt directly affected him did he realize the gravity of his mistake. This was completely different to Dimmesdale’s seven long years of suffering. However, unlike Dimmesdale, when faced with the decision to confess and live or stand by his convictions and die, Proctor’s love for life interfered. He had so much to live for including his children and his livelihood. Only his honor steered him back to the importance of his cause. Arthur Dimmesdale and John Proctor were both martyrs for personal and societal guilt. They paid earthly penances and the final penance of death. Their â€Å"undoing†was a necessity for a society at the brink. Without their sacrifice, the society they lived in would have collapsed under its own weight.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Joe Dimaggio Essay -- baseball players
Joe DiMaggio      Joe DiMaggio was one of the best baseball players of all time. He set many records, including the longest wining streak in Major League Baseball history, it lasted 56 games. He came to America as the son of poor Italian immigrants, but grew up to be an American Icon.      Joseph Paul DiMaggio was born on November 25, 1914. His parents were Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio and Rosalie DiMaggio. He had three brothers and three sisters. His brothers were Michael DiMaggio, Tom DiMaggio, and Vince DiMaggio. His sisters were Dominic, Nellie, and Marie DiMaggio. His father was a fisherman, and his family was poor. They lived in an old, small shack. Vince DiMaggio dropped out of high school and turned his back on fishing. He worked at a fruit stand but still had a lot of talent in baseball. He was looked at by semi-pro teams like the Seals. Both of his older brothers played semi-pro baseball for over one hundred dollars a month. He joined the San Francisco Seals and played for them. Joe DiMaggio grew up in San Francisco and went to school there. He was not bad at school through his elementary year but when he got to high school he didn’t fit in. He was a poor son of a fisherman and his schoolmates were higher classed. He dropped out of high school in 10th grade. He worked as a truck loader, and he crated oranges and worked at a factories, but he was not satisfied doing these odd jobs for minimum wage. He thought that being his brothers Tom and Vince played professional ball for the San Francisco Seals he might be able to too. They played for over $100.00 a month. In 1932 he joined the San Francisco Seals. That year he played 186 games with the Seals. That is a huge amount of games for one season. Joe played for the Seals from 1932-35, but made a large impact on major league baseball scouts.      In nineteen thirty-five, Joe DiMaggio was invited to go to spring training with the New York Yankees. He met the baseball player Lou Gehrig, and other great ball players. Jerry Coleman, the Yankee’s second baseman, said about Joe, â€Å"Nothing made Joe happier then to do well in a big series and help the club win. He was a winner in the finest sense of the word. He was simply the greatest ball player I ever saw and it’s not easy to carry that burden. Joe carried it with class and dignity.†When the Yankee’s left fielder, Charlie Keller met Joe, he said, â€Å"When... ...ll players of all time. Work Cited Page Internet sources: Vizzuso. Hall of Famer Biographies. [Online] Available http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CLASS/AM483_P7/projects/vizzuso/final.html, April 10, 2000. No author. National Baseball Hall of Fame-Joe DiMaggio. [Online] Available http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/dimaggio_joe.html, April 10, 2000. Book sources: Stout, Glen. DiMaggio, an Illustrated Life. New York: Walker and Company, 1995. Outline Joe DiMaggio Controlling Purpose-The purpose about this report is to tell about the life of one of the best baseball players ever, Joe DiMaggio. I- Early Life      A.) Birth      B.) Family      C.) School           1.) Elementary School           2.) High School      D.) Jobs II- San Francisco Seals      A.) Getting There      B.) Career Stats for the Seals III- Yankees      A.) Early Career      B.) Team Leader      C.) Career Stats for the Yankees IV- Family Life      A.) Marriage           1.) Marilyn Monroe           2.) Dorothy Arnold      B.) Children V- After the Yankees      A.) After the Yankees      B.) Death          Â
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Starbucks Target Market
?Starbucks Target Market Starbucks Target market is nine-to-five workers inurban centers and surrounding suburbs, but in general any age, and any person too. Their costumers identifying a clear Value proposal, because is best communicated simply when some person had made the decision to drop into a retail store, stay awhile, and then share with co-workers the next day the experience had there. Howard Schultz said in his vision of Starbucks that â€Å"you get more than the finest coffee when you visit†¦ you get great people, first-rate music, a comfortable and upbeat meeting place, and sound advice on brewing excellent coffee at home. In positioning itself as a unique entity in a land with nothing similar, a Starbucks store was promoted to be â€Å"a place where you can sit back and be yourself. †The company vision included that â€Å"at home you're part of a family†¦ at work you're part of a company†¦ and somewhere in between†¦ †there is a Star bucks! So the Starbucks product, while ingrained in its coffee, is really the overall experience. The price of an actual brewed cup of coffee was consistent with the image of being â€Å"a notch above†or a â€Å"worthwhile experience†–higher than most competitors. And the place where Starbucks offered its product was primarily its retail outlets. To experience Starbucks fully, one must go to an actual Starbucks location. In this respect, the location of a Starbucks relative to customer convenience was important, and Starbucks developed a â€Å"real estate opportunistic†attitude to address this–that is it did not necessarily wait for the ideal building or lot to become available, Starbucks was flexible in terms of retail space layout and design to fit the location convenience of its target market
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Peak flow measurement Essays
Peak flow measurement Essays Peak flow measurement Essay Peak flow measurement Essay There are many measurements available to monitor changes in breathing capacity. One of the simplest measurements used by doctors and patients would be the peak flow meter. A peak flow meter is a portable instrument that detects minute decreases in air flow, used by people with asthma to monitor small changes in breathing capacity1. The peak flow meter has two parts, a mouth piece and a meter measured in litres per minute (L/min). This type of measurement is used for diagnosis and self-management; it is very cheap and easy to manage by the patient. But unfortunately it is not very accurate as the meter only measures in every 10 L/min. There will be a greater inaccuracy to smokers since they have greater damage in there bronchioles. A peak flow meter will help the patient to tell what is going on in his airways rather than guessing the way a patient feels, also it will help whether the patient needs to change his treatment. Asthma is a medical condition which makes breathing difficult by causing by causing the air passages to become narrow or blocked2. The tightness of the air ways can cause one or more of the following symptoms: * Wheezing * Coughing * Shortness of breath * Chest tightness The narrowing of air passages is caused by airway inflammation (airways in lungs become red, swollen and narrow). Unfortunately the cause of asthma is not known, but there are factors which play a part in asthma. These include: * Genetic factors- Inheritance; * Environmental factors- Inhaling house dust mites, exposure to tobacco smoke, sensitive to animals, pollens, moulds and dusts; * Dietary changes- Higher salt intake, a lack of fresh oily fish etc. * Lack of exercise. There are few medicines used by asthmatic patients which help them when they are in extreme conditions and also when their vital capacity lower than before. The two main ones are bronchodilator is and inhaler which is blue in colour and is used for reversibility test. A bronchodilator widens the air passages of the lungs and eases breathing by relaxing bronchial smooth muscle3. The second medicine is prednisolone which is a synthetic steroid and is used in various compounds as an anti-inflammatory4. These two medicines are used respectively when the peak flow of a patient is lower than before. Therefore the reversibility testis used first. If this medicine does not breathing capacity to better, the patient will then need to use the steroid challenge medicine. Method When taking a peak flow reading I should: 1. Check the pointer is at zero and stand in a comfortable, upright position. 2. Hold the peak flow meter level and keep fingers away from the pointer. 3. Firstly take deep breath and then close lips firmly around the mouth piece. After that blow very hard onto the mouth piece. 4. Look at the point and record the reading. 5. Reset the pointer back to zero. Repeat this method three times and record the highest readings. Results My three peak flow results are 500 L/min, 520 L/min and 500 L/min. I have produced a histogram to show the distribution of the PEF of the whole class for males and females: PEF (L/min) frequency 300?Y350 1 350?Y400 4 400?Y450 5 450?Y500 2 PEF (L/min) frequency 450?X500 1 500?X550 3 550?X600 3 600?X650 3 650?X700 4 Average mean for males: 14/5 = 2.8 Average mean for females: 12/4 = 3 Percentage predicted for my results: 520/585 *100 = 88.9% Discussion My experimental procedure produced clear results although recording readings wasnt very accurate due to the inaccuracy of the meter. My own PEF results showed that it was lower than my predicted result, this is because I have asthma! But from my calculations measurements, I cannot prove that I have asthmas my percentage predicted result is greater than 85%. Therefore other measurements need to be used to help the detection of asthma. Comparing the histogram graphs for females and males it is clear that the males lowest peak flow value is greater than the females lowest peak flow value. Also the male distribution is negatively skewed and the female distribution is approximately symmetrical. This indicates in the male distribution that the PEF of most students lie to the right side of the histogram. This means that majority of males in the class are healthy, fit, have large lungs and do not have asthma. The female graph shows that the majority of students are in the range of 350?Y;450 L/min, this indicates that the female lungs are smaller than males lungs and therefore females vital capacity is lower. The average value for males is 2.8 which indicates that the average PEF value lies between 500?X;550, while the females average value is 3 therefore indicating that the average PEF value lies between 350?Y;400. This clearly shows that the average PEF value for males is greater than females. This is understandable, since on average males have larger diameter around the chest; also in the class the males are larger in size than females. Conclusion In general peak flow meter reading will vary according to age, height, gender and also it varies from person to person, as seen from the results, it is difficult to say exactly what a persons best peak flow should be. I conclude from results that males in my group have greater vital capacity than females. I was also aware that in my group, ages do vary from someone who is 30yrs and another who is 18yrs. This is one of the reasons why the histogram graph has large distribution between both genders. I believe, from what I was given, that the results I obtained are fairly accurate and it helps professionals to conclude whether a patient has air inflammation or not. Also helps the doctor to give the right treatments to the
Monday, October 21, 2019
Free Essays on U.S. Grant
The Rise of â€Å"Unconditional Surrender†Grant He sat opposite the impeccably dressed Lee, in plain clothes and muddy boots. His overall appearance did little to suggest that he was the highest ranking general in the union army. How such an unlikely hero attained this position then managed to outmaneuver the most talented general of both armies, is a question worthy of investigation. Ulysses Simpson Grant’s rise through the ranks of the union army was nothing short of remarkable. The following pages will reveal how Grant achieved that ascent, as well as providing a glimpse into Grant’s character, and war philosophy. The onset of the war found Grant working as a clerk in his father’s leather shop. Some viewed him as a failure, although it is apparent that Grant never saw himself in that light. A West Point graduate and Mexican War veteran, he entered the union volunteers a colonel. By a political fluke he was promoted to brigadier general, of which his father gave him some practical advice, â€Å"Be careful, Ulysses, you’re a general now: it’s a good job, don’t lose it†(Foote, Vol 1 196). Grant gained notoriety in the western theatre, where most of the fighting was waged for control of arteries of commerce, such as rivers and railroads. His first action would be at Belmont on the Mississippi River. Instead of a demonstration, as was suggested to him, he made an all out assault. They routed the enemy, then were surrounded by the enemy, then cut their way back out through the enemy. It was an indecisive battle but it decisively defined Grant as a soldier. He was calm under fire, poised, confident, and aggressive (Grant, Encarta). Ever eager to go on the offensive, Grant finally convinced his superior officer, Halleck, to permit him to attack Fort Henry, then Fort Donelson. The result was two impressive victories. The victory at Fort Donelson lifted Grant onto the national stage. An old friend of Grant’s... Free Essays on U.S. Grant Free Essays on U.S. Grant The Rise of â€Å"Unconditional Surrender†Grant He sat opposite the impeccably dressed Lee, in plain clothes and muddy boots. His overall appearance did little to suggest that he was the highest ranking general in the union army. How such an unlikely hero attained this position then managed to outmaneuver the most talented general of both armies, is a question worthy of investigation. Ulysses Simpson Grant’s rise through the ranks of the union army was nothing short of remarkable. The following pages will reveal how Grant achieved that ascent, as well as providing a glimpse into Grant’s character, and war philosophy. The onset of the war found Grant working as a clerk in his father’s leather shop. Some viewed him as a failure, although it is apparent that Grant never saw himself in that light. A West Point graduate and Mexican War veteran, he entered the union volunteers a colonel. By a political fluke he was promoted to brigadier general, of which his father gave him some practical advice, â€Å"Be careful, Ulysses, you’re a general now: it’s a good job, don’t lose it†(Foote, Vol 1 196). Grant gained notoriety in the western theatre, where most of the fighting was waged for control of arteries of commerce, such as rivers and railroads. His first action would be at Belmont on the Mississippi River. Instead of a demonstration, as was suggested to him, he made an all out assault. They routed the enemy, then were surrounded by the enemy, then cut their way back out through the enemy. It was an indecisive battle but it decisively defined Grant as a soldier. He was calm under fire, poised, confident, and aggressive (Grant, Encarta). Ever eager to go on the offensive, Grant finally convinced his superior officer, Halleck, to permit him to attack Fort Henry, then Fort Donelson. The result was two impressive victories. The victory at Fort Donelson lifted Grant onto the national stage. An old friend of Grant’s...
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