Author Archives: alyssaismaggie

Spotlight 3 – Option 4

--Original published at AlyssaM

Single-Gender Education

For:

Source 1: Link here

Source 2: Link here

Against:

Source 1:  Nathan, Rebekah. My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student. Penguin, 2006. pp. 90-106.

Source 2: Link here

Single-Gender Education has become a topic of the present for people to debate about. There are many pros and cons for both, which people use to strengthen their side of the debate.

People that are for it, find four key advantages at least in source one. First, they believe single-gendered environments creates a more relaxed area. Their reasons is that girls for instance will not feel pressure to impress the boys, which will make them more open to stating their opinions. Second, fewer cliques seem to be formed because of the third reason, the elimination of gender stereotypes. The fourth is the curriculum can be more focused on the strengths of boys and girls and their learning styles, as compared to accommodating both.

The second source list similar benefits for having single-gendered classrooms. One, girls get along better because they are not competing to get the best boy in the class. All dating is forced to happen cross-schools, which leaves the troubles behind and places the focus on academics. In an all girls school, it encourages independence and leadership for the girls. Also it is said girls talk less and participate less with males in the room and that boys lead most discussions.

On the flip side, the novel My Freshman Year disagrees. The author believes girls do speak less, but not because of the presence of boys. She feels it is the discussion that is wrong and it needs to be more open and not seem so closed, so the girls want to partake in it. She says classrooms need diversity so the students can learn to their fullest from the other gender’s perspective. If they cannot learn to work with the opposite gender in school, they will not be prepared for working or even life when it comes to dealing with the opposite.

Similarly, the last source declares it promotes bad social skills and that is true as noted above with no learning how to interact with the opposing gender. It also promotes sexism just like when in history they made the terrible mistake of separating whites and colored. That did not end well and surely this separation would be just as drastically bad for the individuals. The source also argues there are some laws his segregation would violate and so it is a matter far more than opinion. Having diversity also boosts experiences during school, notable because of the different learning styles between boys and girls. Boys and girls learn from each other and it is a part of growing.

I agree, diversity in the classroom is very important. Whether or not the students like having the opposite gender in the class, it does on the long run result in better. Being forced (basically) to interact with the other, the students learn how to manage social skills across genders, which will dramatically help them in life, especially in the work force and in marriage. With each having unique learning techniques, they learn how to blend their talents and strengths to work with others weak aspects. It gives them a better understanding of the world around them and how everything falls into place.

Media Production Project

--Original published at AlyssaM

Newspaper Article Link: here

Scholarly Article Link: here

Researchers conducted a study at a University for first year students to see the connections between friends on a neuro level. The researchers began the study by sending out a survey to the entire class of students that were entering a certain field in the graduate program. The survey asked the students about who they hangout with outside of class, or share meal times with, and various situations along those lines. For this, they received complete participation.

The researchers then asked the students if they would like to take part in the neuroimaging part of the study to further their research. The students were told if they agreed to take part, they would get paid for it. A total of 42 students volunteered. The researchers set up controls for the second part of the study to prevent other keys that could alter the results, including handiness.

The students each were hooked up to an fMRI device to measure their brainwaves in response to various videos. The videos clips the researchers showed the students were the same for each and most likely ones the students never seen before.

The researchers noticed similar brain wave activity in closer friends rather than distant friends. They were able to see there was a connection between the two, but they are not yet sure why or what causes the phenomenon. They will not make conclusions making casual claims because they do not have enough data to display that knowledge. However, they are able to predict who are close friends based off of the brain wave activity that takes place during observing the various video clips.

Researchers are fascinated by such a relation and plan to explore it further in the future.

 

 

 

Writing my own research summery was not that bad, as both articles provided plenty of details as to the experiment that had occurred. I did not find writing it challenging because I did write for my high school newspaper for four years. I also worked for Reading Eagle: Voices (a local newspapers student section) for a year and a half. Now I write for the Etownian. As a result of all my newspaper experiences, I know how to shorten and keep it straight to the point without getting to lengthy. Every newspaper I partook in had different requirements for different style articles, so I learned how to stay concise over the years. I didn’t have to sacrifice anything, but I did because some information would have been too complicated for anyone with limited knowledge on psychology. I also left out names and extreme details like so because I find too many names or numbers to keep track of gets confusing. In journalism, it is more important to get the facts and highlight the most key details, rather than every single thing that occurred. It also was a lot of the information I found when reading the articles that dragged out made the point of the article get lost. Even with my background in journalism, I still learned more about it through reading the articles, in particular the scholarly. Before this, I never seen an article as sophisticated as that one is with so many unfamiliar terms. Also I was surprised how often they went and repeated a detail in various sections. This taught me, not all journalism has to be simple and it can be directed towards a more educated population in regards to a specific topic.

Ch 13 – Personality

--Original published at AlyssaM

The first test, I feel did not accurately describe me. It said I was Introvert 41%, Sensing 6%, Feeling 38%, and Judging 3%. I feel it didn’t really reflect my personality to the fullest it is. It hardly had any details as to who I am. On top of that, I wouldn’t say it is that credible. For one the choices were, “YES, yes, uncertain, no, NO” how are we supposed to know what yes means compared to YES. Also a lot of the questions were odd and not personality related.

The second test, was pretty accurate in getting my personality as it is. It said I was INFP or “Questor”. The different traits listed underneath fit me well. However, the test itself is not that credible because there are only two choices for each question, there is no in between you are either one or the other.

The third test, was mostly close with describing my personality, although some parts were the opposite of others. It was more credible that the previous sources and had more options and the website was completed more by researchers than the others probably were.

Surprisingly, the fourth color test actually was good at getting my personality. Although, I would not say it is that credible. For one it only had two questions. Secondly, the questions were only selecting colors. It never states what colors have to do with it and how they can get the results based off of preference. On top of that, it does not take in the possibility that the test taker may be colorblind and if they are, how can it be accurate?

Spotlight 2 – Option 2

--Original published at AlyssaM

Source 1: College Students

The first source lists 10 ways for college students to manage their stress. Several of them we discussed in class as beneficial such as, exercise, getting enough sleep, having a social support system, and taking a moment to breathe. However, there were a few the article listed that were not discussed in class. One is to eat well, or so it suggests. There is not a lot of support backing it up and simply claims it is “leading to lower threshold for stress,” yet it provides no evidence. I feel eating well would only benefit health and has nothing to do with stress. If people tried only eating better, they would not be successful in dealing with their stress because it is not dealing with the stressor in an Emotion-Focused Coping or Problem-Focused Coping method.

Secondly, the article mentions “avoiding unnatural energy boosters” such as energy drinks students are addicted to. For this they claim it deals with stress because then it doesn’t result in sleep lost. Really the issue here is the sleep not the energy drinks and they hardly provide incite as to that. This method could work, if the energy from the boosters are keeping the individual awake at night, but otherwise it may not always be the best method.

The article suggests making time for passions, even if there is a ton of work to be done. Doing something one enjoys, is a good way to de-stress and it helps most people put it from their mind. I agree that this method is a strong one in dealing with stress, although it does not eliminate the stressor because it is using the Emotion-Focused Coping to do something fun that the individual enjoys – while the stressor is right there still waiting. Generally though, this is a good method and works well taking the college student’s minds away from the work and deadlines to have a little own-self-time.

Source 2: Parents

Parents like teens stress a lot, even if they never let it show, so this article has a few suggestions as to what they can do to deal with it. One they mention seeking guidance from professionals, such as a therapist or a psychologist. This can be a good method because the psychologists are well informed on the topic and that is there job to help others with their situation. It can be a successful method, but it may not work for every parent due to not having time to fit it in, or they don’t want to get outside help.

Luckily, this article has backup suggestions in case one of the methods do not work for everyone. The second it suggests is an effective method, spending time with family and putting all other tasks aside. Having a good time with family is a good way to take the mind off, while (potentially) engaging in exercise like running around the yard, or playing a game of soccer with the dog. Plus this method helps strength the bond between those all involved in the time, regardless if it is exercise or sitting together for a meal. Being around people that care about you and you care for helps ease one’s mind.

However, as the article suggests it is important to take time for oneself as well, otherwise one could get emotionally exhausted. Every now and then even parents need to take alone time and do something they want to do like reading a book because it will refresh their mind.

The article also suggests using support systems. As discussed in class having good close friends and social groups to raise one up, is a great method. The friends can be there to be a shoulder to lean upon in to help emotionally if needed, or they may offer advice as to what to do to get rid of the stress that is hanging above the parent like a storm cloud. As we know from class and reading the studies in the textbook, it is important to have a support group because every now and then we all need a friend to tell us it is going to be okay.

Source 3: Writers

Finally, the source I chose deals with stress management for writers. I myself am a writer, so I know what methods do and don’t work for me at least. However, one of my methods to dealing with stress is writing, so that is a different story.

The article starts off by suggesting the writer sets a realistic goal. I understand how hard it can be to reach getting to a certain point by a certain day. However, I the article talks about setting goals as in pages or words written, but that can create more stress than it eliminates. Putting the bar too high can definitely add to stress, so I agree making realistic standards is a good idea, but still if it is how much content there is it can create a problem. A better suggestion would be to set a goal of how long to focus on writing each day.

Like the first article, it suggests eating nutrients to add more energy and keep the creative mind thinking. It also suggests exercise again because writers sit a lot, so they need to get up and do more sometimes. I agree these can be helpful methods in this case and are definitely beneficial.

It advises writers if they are stressed to try a different genre of writing. I disagree that this is a good method. Trying a different genre that a writer is not familiar with can create a heck of a lot more stress than initially. It is better to stick with what they know because writers can find comfort in their bubble. Save the experimenting with different genres for when one is not extremely stressed out and using writing as a way to cope.

Another it suggests is imagining the finished result, whether it is the published version, or just finished manuscript. This could be a successful method because it helps the writer remember the end goal and it could create the feeling that the “happy” place we talked about in class can.

A helpful method it suggests is to “free your mind,” which can include Mindfulness Meditation as a way to clear the mind. When it comes to writer’s block it is best not to think about it and let other thoughts wander the brain. Going for a walk or simply changing tasks can help clear the mind and then the imagination will have gotten a chance to replenish and maybe will have formed an idea in the process.

Regardless of all three sources, each method they suggest has its good points and its bad. Still though stress is like a person, it is different for each individual and there is no right way to deal with it; one must find their own methods that are the most beneficial for them.

Ch 9 Intelligence – Option 1

--Original published at AlyssaM

Intelligence can be defined as the information retained and then applied to the individuals life to make it better. For example, learning calculus and then going on to become an engineer. For me, classes were best taught when the teachers were fun, upbeat, joking, and making the learning enjoyable. Much of what some of those teachers taught me, I can’t recall now. So does that mean I am not intelligent? No because we all are in our special ways. I may not recall the material from the course, but I remember the life lessons they wove between the lines and those I can apply to my every day life. My favorite teacher of all, Miss. McCarthy, taught me the most of any one and she was the teacher of Publications (yearbook, and newspaper). She is always full of positivity and would always have the best advice ready for anyone that would need it. She taught me: how to be brave when traveling, she showed me she’s always there and I’ll never be alone, how to utilize my creativity regardless of the situation, not to hate discourage my sometimes crazy imaginative thoughts, how to be strong, to enjoy the sunshine, and so so so much more.

All schools need educators like her that go out of their way to teach not what the book says, but also valuable survival lessons. Educators can get creative in the way they present the required material and shape it that the students learn a valuable life lesson from it. For example, I never flew in an airplane before that instant and I have to admit I was a bit nervous. I was 16 and yes I did have a few friends on the trip with me, but not my close circle and no family was going. At that time, I never left the East Coast so I was nervous about many things, but also excited. We were seated on the plane alphabetically, which thankfully put Miss. McCarthy beside me. She could sense I was afraid, so she turned it into a joke and was telling me how it was like a roller coaster and she added sound effects. We were laughing and I relaxed. She talked to me like a mother with a child walking them through something. I really liked take off and she knew my mind was eased. From that I gathered how to be bold with traveling, especially now that I know what to expect. She understood I needed to hear everything would be fine, and provided that. Educators would benefit if they knew how to read their students without a word spoken and creatively teach them, it’s okay. From there intelligence will gradually grown within the individual and they will continue to grow from the life lessons first taught to them through their educators at school.

Ch 10 – Emotion – Option 3

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The song I chose is “At The Ceili” by Celtic Woman and can be found with lyrics here. To begin with the upbeat song is considered more of a festival tune rather than a love song, but the words say otherwise. If you listen to the last verse first it seems like a sweet love song where the three ladies find the man of their dreams, but the rest of the song tells a slightly more disturbing story, if thought about.

The first of the three, comes front and declares, “My true love has sailed away to be an endless rover . . . he writes me letters every week to say how much he’s slavin’ and he promises me he’ll be back before the hay needs savin'” You would think it is sweet her true love cares so much and makes sure to send her a letter every week, but then she goes on to say, “But it’s hard to love someone you’re not in touch with daily, so I’m looking for somebody new tonight down at the Ceili.” If she cannot get word to her true love fast enough, she technically would be cheating on him. Plus how much does she really care about her “true” love if she is willing to throw him away that easily? That does not sound that true to me, especially because once a week is a lot to receive a letter, so clearly the man cares for her, but she does not return the feelings.

The second lady goes on to say she, “only needs somebody tonight to make [her] heart beat fast.” She goes into daydreaming about his kind eyes and smile. Then she claims, “he’ll promise me that I will be his girl forevermore.” She doesn’t know what she wants a minute or an eternity. It can be problematic because she may put a “spell” on him that forces him to want to be with her forever and that she is controlling and will pull him in as if he is attached to a string that she alone controls.

The third, has two boys that are after her. She weighs the good and bad of each, one is poor, the other rich. She debates which life she would rather be stuck in, but also considering their personalities. She feels trapped and cannot make up her mind, but concludes at the Ceili she will be able to decide.

By the end of the evening at the festival, the three have decided upon who they want to stay with. If you think about it, not a lot of time passed and they were so indecisive the entire rest of the song. They claim they are happy and content with whom they chosen, but how can they be so sure? The first ditched her “true love” when he did not show her enough devotion, so whose to say this new one wouldn’t fail her too? The second wanted one to last a day, that would turn into an eternity, so how can she be sure she chose the right one? The third chose the man for love and not wealth, so she probably will be fine in the long wrong, but the other two . . .

Chapter 11 – Stress Option 1

--Original published at AlyssaM

Stress management for me is actually not that hard and I really like my own methods. It does help my schedule is very laid back with only two classes every single day (four in total). If I start worrying about all the work and assignments I have to get done, I may start with one small quick one and get it finished. Then I take a break and write because writing calms me and takes me to other worlds or I get a snack or do something similar. After I have rejuvenated, I am more motivated to get work done and I begin on my next task. I may do two pieces of work switching between them at the same time, so I do not zone out while reading one assignment or the other.

My trick is I do not look at the calendar and panic over all the lurking deadlines and things to do. Instead, I take it one minute at a time and before I know it everything is completed on time. I know which assignments need more attention, so I plan accordingly and just go for it when I have a super will power to get it all done.

My methods work really well for me and make stress basically dissipate to the point, I hardly think about it from day to day. Maybe one thing I could do is fine more time to write because sometimes instead of writing I do other crafts or think if I want to write or do something else. Adding more writing would relax me even more and help me ultimately get more work done.

Spotlight 1: Learning

--Original published at AlyssaM

The first source I found argues the importance of learning styles within the school system and the difference between each style. As the article puts it, “Knowing and understanding the use of specific learning styles such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modes of learning can help the teacher give the best to their students” (Ellington & Benders). Students cannot learn fully if they are not learning in the way that best suits them. No body is the same and that includes the way they learn material. As a result, the teachers must do all they can to try to get through to each individual in the most effective way. “Although assessing students learning preferences can be time consuming and at times difficult, determining a child’s learning style can help them grow and succeed now and in the future” (Ellington & Benders). Given the fact, the article admits there are disadvantages to acknowledging the various styles within each student, helps show their credibility in that they are not trying to impress straight out – without considering the other argument. It is also credible because at the end it has many scholarly references that were used in constructing the article. Also it was a collaboration and not one author’s opinion. Many of those they cite within are from high-end Universities who are well educated on the topic.

The second source I found promoting the importance of recognizing the learning styles is credible. One way to tell is, it uses terms such as “naturalistic observation” and other related psychology terms.THerticle argues that environment also has an impact on learning styles and goes on to present data collected in different situations. It covers the benefits that come from tending to each individual and states it also does good for the teacher or instructor. It goes on to say how teachers can apply techniques to the classrooms based off of the data they collected in their research that can reach more than one specific type of learner.

On the other hand, source 3 argues:

While all learners can develop subjective preferences for studying or digesting material, studies deny that students learn better through a self-reported learning style. Instead, scholars increasingly call for educators to replace ‘neuromyths’ with resources and strategies rooted in evidence from cognitive and adult learning theory (“Learning Styles as a Myth)

It provides a lot of data stating there are so many branches of learning that are not even considered. Their data from research is presented in a list with shorter paragraphs than the other two sources. One reason it it credible, is because it is published on the website of Yale. It is clear the researchers really looked deep into the topic to make their decision.

Source 4 claims, “While there is a wealth of information, very few experiments provide the capability of studying the validity of learning styles” (“Learning Myths vs Learning Facts”). In simple terms it goes on to explain how they studied the experiment and measured the different perspectives of learning and why they say it is a myth. It is credible in that is came from a psychology web page, but it does not provide a lot of incite on the topic as the other sources have.

I believe that learning styles are real and are vital to getting the best out of learning. Reading the sources only strengthened that belief.

CITATIONS in order of mention in post:

Ellington, Shannon & Benders, David. 2012. Learning Style and it’s importance in Education.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256022625_Learning_Style_and_it’s_importance_in_Education

Romanelli, Frank, et al. Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 19 Feb. 2009, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690881/.

“Learning Styles as a Myth | Center for Teaching and Learning.” Why Are There Different Citation Styles? | Center for Teaching and Learning, ctl.yale.edu/LearningStylesMyth.

“Learning Myths vs. Learning Facts.” Psych Learning Curve, 17 July 2017, psychlearningcurve.org/learning-myths-vs-learning-facts/.

Memory – Option One

--Original published at AlyssaM

In high school, I had really bad study habits and never studied – except for Precalculus  and History. I carried my methods for those classes over into College. I make flash cards and review them over and over coming up with little tricks to remember each one. I used to wait to the very last day, or even morning of to study, but changed that coming into college not knowing what to expect. It could still use plenty of improvement as for the first exam I did end up waiting until three days before the first exam. I created note cards, but I decided to color code them for once to correspond with the highlighting in my notebook, as I am usually a visual learner. People and dates in History were always the hardest for me to memorize and learning the psychologists were no different. I went through the stack several times and still couldn’t get it down of who was who. Then I formed a way I thought could help me, by using what I enjoy the most. I wrote a short story with all the psychologists as “characters” at a dinner party. I had them bicker over whose methods in psychology were better and anything else that was key to who they were. I set it down and the next day when I went over the note cards, I knew nearly all of the people, so the story worked. For my second exam, I decided I am going to start as soon as I can and as I have been reading, I have been making the note cards. I also will try to prepare more days in advance and come up with other fun methods, so the material sticks.

Learning: Option 2

--Original published at AlyssaM

I will openly say this will be biased. I believe violent video games do make people more violent in everyday life. The more people or children play the violent games, the worse they will become without even knowing it. Gradually over time there actions will become worse and more harsh with no thought put into what they are doing. My younger brother when he was little used to be really great and kind, which left us getting along well. Then video games took over his life, not violent ones though. He started spending more and more time on the TV playing the games and started slacking in his schoolwork and other activities. As he got older, he shifted in the games he played to more violent ones (though I can’t recall exactly which ones). Continuously he played the games for hours on end instead of doing homework. I noticed as time went on that if he lost or something went wrong in the game, he would scream and shout at the screen. Sometimes he went as far as throwing the remote across the room.His behavior became more violent too and he is only 15 now. One time, he and my mom were arguing over who knows what and he kicked a hole in the wall. As result of observing his actions, I blame the video games and yes I believe all violent games should be destroyed. A time restriction on how long a day people can play any video games should be set, so they can go outside and enjoy life. The video games that make the player get off the couch and be active to win such as Wii Sports, are good and encourage the right things unlike the violent ones. That is why I believe they are bad and should be banished from the universe.