Refer to assignment criteria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Refer to assignment criteria - Essay Example The paper says that the person sharing the shelter may sometimes pay the mortgage instalments or bear the expenses for the extended portion of the home. Sometimes the person may bear the household expenditure in lieu of the shared shelter on some understanding. Over a period of time, it is creating problems over the ownership of the house when the sharer dies or leaves the shared home for another place (Sharing Homes, The problem). The discussion paper sources these problems to the ambiguity of the current law guiding these shared homes. The present law is not very clear on payments made by the sharer on behalf of the owner. For instance, mortgage payments made by the sharer are enough for staking a claim on the home. But, sometimes, the sharer regularly pays the household bills enabling the owner to pay the mortgage instalments. Sometimes, the sharer may look after the household work like As per the law detailed in the discussion paper, a person who is not a legal owner but sharing the shelter in a home can claim an interest on it only when there is an equity arising by proprietary estoppel, when a resulting or constructive trust has arisen in his / her favour or when the sharer becomes a beneficiary under an express declaration of trust. In any of these circumstances, the sharer has to prove his / her right with sufficient proof. Because of these limited options available to the sharer, the law is termed as complex, arbitrary and uncertain in application. It is also ill suited to determining the proprietary rights of the home sharers. The discussion paper is of the opinion that the rules of implied trusts and proprietary estoppel are not as clear as they should be (Sharing Homes, Part I, introduction). An express trust arises when a person expressly declares that he or she holds property on trust for another or transfers property to another expressly subject to a trust. A

Change Through Transformational Leadership Practices Essay

Change Through Transformational Leadership Practices - Essay Example There is indeed a positive correlation between transformational leadership, organizational culture and the organizational climate. The organizational climate can be described as the environment and attitude within the workplace. A transformational leader knows that to implement any change, then it is important to understand the employee’s views on the company (Stringer, 2002). The organization culture includes the line of communication, problem solving skills, level of innovation and even leadership. The aforementioned factors can affect workers performance in the workplace and hence should be addressed severally. According to, Stringer (2002), looking into the organizational culture also enables a leader to assess the reaction that would be met by the employees of they were to embark on making any changes in the workplace. Therefore, by studying the organization climate, a leader is able to influence the employee mindset and encourage them to work towards meeting the organiza tional objectives. Organizational culture is the sum of activities that are inherent in a company and it can refer to the repetitive behaviors that describe the company. For transformation to occur, it is paramount that leaders understand the culture that seems to slow its progress (Denning, 2013). For instance, a leader may realize that time is wasted during the morning hours and this leaves some tasks unattended by evening.

The Purpose and Benefits of Classroom Observation

The Purpose and Benefits of Classroom Observation Classroom observation is a process by which the institute of nursing-Academic Support Person(ASP) sits in on one or more classroom sessions, records the instructors teaching practices and student actions, and then meets with the instructor to discuss the observations. The main purpose behind the classroom observation is to allow a teacher to get feedback from an objective, experienced observer and to involve in context-specific discussions about teaching with adviser. The observation should not be an endorsement for promotion and tenure, a judgment of the teachers teaching methods, styles and skills, or an assessment of the teachers knowledge of disciplinary content. It is purely developmental rather than intimidation and making decisions. Classroom observation has been used many years ago to evaluate the quality of teaching provided and the consistency between the curriculum plan and the actual delivery of the material by teachers. Wagg (1999) stated that the purpose of looking at implementation is to see whether there is mismatch between intention and strategies. Classroom observation has constantly been seen as an effortful task from the side of the teachers. Negative attitudes have been expressed from several teachers venting their disappointment about the process by which observation has been implemented. This feeling of unhappiness and dissatisfaction is not a product of today; it is possibly an aggregation of many years of authoritarian, impressionistic, and impartial models of supervisions with teachers feeling of little ownership. Because the observer has a great role in renewing the teachers contracts, they had to conform to the supervisors viewpoints .This is considered an exceptional limitation of the obser vation process. Diverse research revealed that the way teachers behave in the classroom and the instructional methods they use impact the degree students learn. Consequently, using classroom observations, educators and investigators are capable of providing feedback that may improve the teaching practices in the class. Hopkins (2002) considers that the motivation behind any school observation is not limited to classroom research only but it extends to the professional development of teachers. This is because of the many years of observations that contemporary educationalists agreed to desert through time the conventional recitation lesson (Wragg 1999). Clearly, different forms observations encompass different criteria. These criteria may be comprehensive or specific. Some observation forms may focus on the students behavior while others may seek out the response of teachers to such behaviors. According to Hopkins (2002), there are four methods of observation: open, focused, structured, and systematic. Each method needs special instrument. . Observation tools are forms that are to be filled out by the observer. Depending on the observation technique, some forms or instruments may simply be a blank sheet, a worksheet, a scale, checklists, computer software, or a tally sheet. Some observers may be affected by the setting in which the lesson takes place and may focus on some particular feature of the teaching of one specific subject, like science or English. This in turn may influence whether they adopt a quantitative style, which is a type of systematic approach; counting and recording of individual events, or a qualitative method, wh ich is a type of the open observation approach, trying to look behind and beneath the mere frequencies (wragg 1999). Furthermore, there are many observations tools used by teachers on their classes or in peer observation settings (Malamah-Thomas 1987, Wajnryb 1992). Such instruments are powerful developmental tools for teachers and for trainees advisors, allowing both to look at the lesson systematically in conjunction with the feedback from advisors. Therefore, teachers and observers must perceive the instruments similarly to avoid misinterpretations and predispositions of the items within the tools. At the level of the ION, instructors have expressed the issue of the perception of the observation tool many times. In addition to the way the classroom observation is conducted. However, the questions that continue to irritate my colleagues and leave them preoccupied with an answer to them are that, do all classroom observers perceive and interpret the same observation items within the checklist in the same wayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦?Is there any problem in the observation methods? This actually urges me to investigate these issues in the Institute of Nursing (ION) to find out any discrepancies in the understanding of the observation checklists and or any defect in the observation process. To pursue the task appropriately, the advisors will not be participated in any other job but collecting data. Randall and Thornton (2005) refer to an advisor who has no other than to observe and take notes as a non-participant observer (Gebhard and Oprandy 1999). As the name designates, this kind of observation requires the observer not to engage in any interaction with the individuals being observed. Instead, the observer should concentrate on a particular behavior a specific criterion (Wragg, 1999, Hopkins 1999, 2002). For an observer, it is very important to avoid preconceptions and afterward approach whatever is to be observed with an open mind (Wragg 1999). Due to its direct involvement with the individuals observed, observation does have a benefit; however, it is time-consuming (Robson, 2002). Pre-judgments and predispositions may also produce troubles with observation. Such troubles may lead to misinterpretation of the data being collected (Brophy Good 2003). Therefore, the observer should avoid any personal biases that may contaminate his/her results. In this small scale study, the entire process of observation, from the instrument used by the observer to different stages of teacher observation, was totally decided by the observer and the investigator. The terms observer and advisor will be used interchangeably. Background The United Arab Emirates (UAE) encompass three institutes of Nursing (ION) located in Sharjah, Ras ELkhaimeh and Fujairah Emirates and they are governed by the Ministry Of Health (MOH).According to the policy, the ION has an observation system performed by three persons: the Central Academics Coordinator (CAC), Academic Support Person (ASP)and the Branch Manager(BM). The class room observation is held two times per semester and as needed. One observation is announced and the other is unannounced. At the level of each ION; the observation responsibility is delegated to the ASP. In case the teacher observation result was unsatisfactory, the CAC will be called to reobserve the same teacher within two weeks of the unsatisfactory observation but can also observe those with satisfactory outcomes. The BM does a spot check from time to time on the ongoing of the teaching process. The three observers use the same observation instrument and it is qualititative (open methods) in nature where ob servation bias can sometimes significantly affect the result. The session Appraisal form is composed of 29 items focusing on two areas of classroom practices: Effective Questioning (8 items), Effective Teaching Practices (21 items). These items are marked as, Accomplished, Partially accomplished, and Not accomplished. The final result is either satisfactory or unsatisfactory (Appendix 2). The adopted teaching methodologies are cased-based and lecture-based, depending on the course. Most of the teachers at the ION are well experienced and hold master degree. I have been working as a senior nursing tutor for the last seven years in the ION. It happened more than once a teacher got two or more different feedbacks from the observers. The teachers always blame the observers for their inconsistency in the understanding of the observation items and in the way the observation is conducted. The majority of the tutors wonder whether a difference should be there while using the same observation checklist and the same observation methods. The investigator will try to answer this question and orient the teachers to the findings. Research Questions Is there a significant difference in the perception of the same observation items within the instrument used by the different advisors in the ION? Is there any defect in the observation process? Purpose The investigator will try to: Find out any discrepancies in the observation tool among the observers. Identify the drawbacks of the observation method. Report to the curriculum committee and teachers these inconsistencies (if any). Observation Methods Classroom observation is a collaborative process. Both the teacher being observed and the observer have vital roles before, during, and after the observation. Collaborating at each phase of the process can help put both participants at ease so that each benefits from the experience (University of Washington 1998). Classroom observation is conducted through three phases that were adapted from Day (1993) and Richards and Lockhart (1994) were: pre-observation meeting, observation phase, and post-observation follow-up phase. The researcher will be use the ION designated tool during the observation process. (Fig 1). Pre-conference phase is executed before the classroom observation. The purpose of this meeting to share information that helps both the instructor and observer prepare for the observation and to illuminate the explicit outcomes of the lesson observed. It also aims at clarifying the activities through which these outcomes will be attained. Information exchanged during this meeting includes overall process of the evaluation, the purpose of the observation, course information, lesson plan, instructional objective(s) , class activities, instructional methods, What you want the observer to pay attention to, Where youd like the observer to sit , what will happen during the observation, and observation follow up opportunities. This phase does not take place in the ION. The second stage of the process is the observation phase (Data Collection) or the execution of lesson. The ION observers gather information to be discussed latter with the tutor. These data include instructor doing/saying, students doing/saying, instructional methods, teacher-students interaction, and flow of the sessionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc. Generally, the ASP will use a checklist tool designed for this purpose of classroom observation (Appendix 2). The observers, unlike the traditional supervisors who usually sit at the back and document the classroom events, sit where they can have a good view of the class. Analysis of the collected data and preparing for the post-conference take place immediately, next to the observation, it is suggested that observers code the data checked in their notes. Identify information that links to the following: Organization and presentation of the lesson, level of student concentration, interactions, and participation, the quality of interpersonal relationships between the teacher and students, effectiveness of instruction and how instruction could be improved. The third stage is the post-conference phase or follow-up. Shortly after the observation, the advisors emphasize the positive areas of the observation process such as the strengths of the lesson. The teacher will be asked to evaluate and reflect on his lesson at first. Then, the observers will discuss the collected data with the teacher. It is a descriptive stage where the observers describe the various phases of the lesson. The observers during this phase ask probing questions that guide the teacher through the process. They also provide direct feedback on the areas the teacher has asked for in the pre-observation conference. In doing so, many of the areas for improvement are originally stated by the teachers because they had a chance to reflect on their teaching. Figure Observation Cycle: Adapted from: http://www.commnet.edu/emprel/trng/tm_3_2_clasobs.html (2004). Validity and reliability in observation It is essential that observation is as objective as expected and advisors must be mindful of their own interests and predispositions so that the data gained is as valid and reliable as conceivable and not designated to verify a point (CCC 2004). Observers customarily continue-the-spot notes to complete an observation schedule so that any extra or uncommon actions can be noted. For example A come into the class and talked to teacher, this interrupted classroom for 3 minutes; Fire alarm rang at 2.24pm so the class was shorter today than usual. Field notes are often written post assessment and the advice is to do this as early as possible. Robson (2002) proposes that you should never begin a second class observation before sorting out your records for the first one Practice in utilizing a schedule before the actual observation will assist the observer to settle uncertainties in how to employ it or how to record unforeseen or vague data. Reliability of observation will originate from appraiser consistency. Appraisers have to make sure that they make parallel decisions about similar situations on diverse events. They must also take similar decisions about similar events if they see or hear them again; say on video or audio tape. Preferably, having more than one appraiser observing the same events, at least in initial practice sessions, so that there can be agreement on what is going on and how it is to be coded. The two observers at the ION were aware of these points to ensure the validity and reliability of the class supervision. Limitation of the study It is worthy to mention that the scope of this study is limited to a group of teachers of Nursing in Fujairah campus in an educational zone. Therefore generalization of the study might not be possible. Literature review Even though the classroom observation is seen as a crucial element of each educational system, researchers have found that teachers were not satisfied with the observation process. The main reasons researchers found were judgmental, evaluative nature of observation, authoritative role of observers and prescriptive nature of feedback (Akbari and Tajik 2007). Wang and Seth (1998) found out that classroom observation has gained a negative reputation in the ELT profession because of its subjective, judgmental, and ill-defined nature. Many instructors resent being observed at short notice by important people who judge their performance according to their own, not necessarily appropriate criteria, and make unwelcome suggestions for change. It seems as if these inspectors have the final word on whether their performance is good or bad, right or wrong. In many situations the observers enter the classes to look at the teachers performances to decide at the end of the academic year who will continue in his/her job or not. Certainly, this perception places teachers under too much stress which negatively impacts their performance in classroom. Randall and Thornton (2001) believed that anxiety levels in the lesson execution phase can become very high and can precipitate failure on the side of the teacher to generate an effective lesson (Fig 2). Figure 2: The effect of anxiety on performance (adapted from Randall and Thornton, 2001) Regarding the process of the classroom observation in the UAE, Alwan (2001) find out that the instructors in the UAE are acquainted with the observation; yet, it does not take the systematic approach that would increase the achievements for the teachers. Consequently, such ad-hoc appraisal practices can simply yield extensive teacher anxiety, a lack of belief in the validity of the observation, and a delicate discouragement of other institutional initiatives to sustenance teachers efforts to deliver courses effectively (Murdoch, 2000). Nevertheless, classroom observation should be intended at enhancing professional growth of the teacher rather than threatening them. It should also focus on the strengths of the lesson. The tutors and through their dealings with the students will recall which areas delivered in a good manner and the ones that require revisiting. It is valuable to point out that the advisors role is to explore with the teachers so that they have the chance to reflect on their own teaching with the expectation that this approach will turn into a fundamental part of the teaching and learning process. Therefore, it changes into a reflection in action process that is conducted during the teaching learning process. Schon (1983) explained this reflective process by saying: Both ordinary people and professional practitioners often think about what they are doing, sometimes even while doing it. Stimulated by surprise, they turn thought back on action and on the knowing which is implicit in actionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦usually reflection on knowing-in-action goes together with reflection on the stuff at hand. (Schon, 1 989) Therefore, classroom observation is getting more importance than before. The purpose of many of them is intended towards professional development. It is through experiential learning that the tutors will be self-evaluative and hence will be capable of reflecting on their teaching strategy. Heron (cited in Randall and Thornton 2001) said that working from experience the client (the teacher) is prompted to uncover incidents which are important, reflect on these incidents and to discover new meanings for these incidents, and then prepare to put the learning from experience and reflection back into new experience. Finally, it is of merit to mention that teachers teach many lessons of which only few of them are observed. Accordingly, If the observed lessons are considered valuable and worthy to be observed then they must be regarded as worthy to be analyzed appropriately, for little purpose was served if, after a lesson, observers simply exude good will, mumble vaguely or appear to be uncertain why they are there, or what they should talk about (Wragg, 1999). Methodology To inquire about teachers dissatisfaction with the overall observation process, a two phase qualititative study was conducted. In the first phase, the observation instrument revisited to see whether the observers perceive its item similarly or not. In the second phase, a questionnaire was distributed to all ION teachers in an attempt to evaluate the method of observation conducted there. Ethical Considerations The ethical considerations were carefully considered before conducting the study. A permission letter was sent to the concerned people to consent them. Anonymity and confidentiality of teachers responses guaranteed (Appendix 3). Part I: Procedures and Participants Two observers visited Diploma I class to assess a teacher teaching Nursing Care of Adults 201.One of the observers is the ASP whose tenure is 11 years and the other is a critical friend who holds a master degree in education and has 10 years of teaching experience. Both are familiar with the observation tool. This approach was used to explore inconsistencies in the perception of the observation items within the specified from. They were informed about the process; they should sit at different corners in the back of the class (Fig 5), do not speak to each other, and fill in the appraisal form the way they perceive it with an evidence for each partially or not accomplished item. Data Analysis At the end of the classroom observation the researcher collected the two filled forms and sit with the two observers to discuss the findings. The data analyzed by utilizing simple statistics, and tables. Results The two forms were collected, and it was found that two items were uneven where each tutor has his own perception. Class Subject Observer 1 Observer 2 Session Time Teaching Method Diploma 1 Nursing Care of Adults/Hyperthyroidism Academic support person, 11 years teaching Experience Critical Friend, more than 10 years teaching 50 minutes Case-based The mismatched items were two out of 29 items; the two items were located under the Effective Teaching practices. See table below: Finding of first observer marked as (1) and (2) for the second Effective Teaching practices Accomplished Partially Accomplished Not Accomplished 26. Asks students to evaluate their own or others responses. 2 1 29. Demonstrate the ability of dealing with problem students 1 2 Observers Justification First observer 26. Asking student to evaluate and reflect on the answers given, getting feedback from classmates should be done frequently in the case based session as this would involve the students in the class and enhance their understanding. This should be observed as a dominant feature in the session and not only once or two. 29. The students were enthusiastic, motivated and participating actively, it was loud voice but not noise, but you have to ask students to lower their voices to hear their classmates .Raising their hands without calling Sirà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Is fair enough. Second observer 26. Students were fairly able evaluate their answers and that was done with two students only. As for the responses of their colleagues; the students were called more than once to reflect on their answers when the teacher asked them: 1) Do you agree with S? Why? 2) Why did M relate the presence of excessive eating to weight loss? Comment on her answer. Although, the teacher tried with them, the students were not able to evaluate their responses. 29. Loud voice from the side of the students will disturb the learning environment preventing the others from hearing the answers, the teacher tried to control students noise particularly when they gave answer together, but he could not. Abiding by the classroom norms is the responsibility of the teacher. Setting clear guidelines should be made to limit this behavior. At the back of the session appraisal form there is a room left for the appraisers comment to reflect and set the areas that need improvement on points that are not covered clearly in the observation form but should be part of the lesson or he may emphasize certain points seen in the class. The first observer A) Group work: The teacher should give more time (more than 10 minutes) for the group work to allow the students to prepare and discuss the task properly among them as the task given require deep analysis. Moreover, the teacher should ensure that all the students are participating in the discussion within the group. Checking group work output is not necessary to be done with each group, as far one or two groups were investigated, then the other groups could be done if required by the judgment of the tutor. The Second observer A) Group work: Ten minutes for each task is fair enough as the students should come prepared from their home. The time is given only for discussion and preparing the transparency. Giving more time will waste the teacher time and hinder his ability to cover the course objectives. Group work output was not explored: teacher has to reveal all group findings and seek evaluation or comments from other groups. The first observer B) Teaching strategy The teacher should implement various teaching strategies in the classroom such as role play, watching and commenting on videos to promote students understanding, involvement and make the session interesting. The Second observer B) Teaching strategy The session was quite interesting. According to the task discussed in the session, role play or video would not be effective as the demonstrations used by the teacher plus the clinical examples and the real life examples given by some students were satisfactory to cultivate the different concepts in the sessions. Discussion One method for analyzing the observation findings of the two observers is through triangulation. Triangulation in the classroom research involves checking the perceptions of more than one person to see if ones own interpretations have any support Wragg (1999:111).The total number of the items in the observation checklist is 29, and the debatable points were 2. Then, the agreement was around 93% and disagreement in 7%, which means that the instrument used is reliable. When the observers agree on > 80% of their observation, this means the information and the data are reliable Wragg (1999). It is believed that different style dimensions of learning of the observer may have a possible influence on providing feedback to the teacher. (Randall and Thornton 2001:134). The first observer, the academic support person, conducted more than four observations to the observed teacher, and knows him better than the second colleague. Hence, he built his feedback on his previous knowledge of the learning style of the observed teacher and provided the feedback in a consultative rather than confronting approach, The students were enthusiastic and participating actively, it was loud voice, but not noise, but you have to remind students to lower their voice to hear their colleagues . Part II Procedure: The participants filled a qualititative questionnaire of seven questions (Appendix I). The questionnaire was piloted before being administered. A total of eleven questionnaires were administered through face to face contact with the investigator. Ten of them were collected and analyzed. Participants The participants in this study were ten teachers of Nursing in one of IONs. They have been teaching in the ION for more than 7 years. Those teachers have been observed by three different observers using the same tool. The teachers are male and females and range in age from 36 to late 54. They majority of them are native Arabic speakers from different countries and two teachers are westerns. They are of multi-cultural background. Data Analysis The responses to the questionnaire were gathered and then analyzed. The responses were calculated using simple statistics and presented in charts. Results of the Questionnaire Items No. of Teachers Percentage I have been observed two times by the ASP 8 80% I have been observed three times, two by the ASP and once by the CAC 2 20% I felt anxious and blocked when the observer visited my class 10 100% I am dissatisfied with way I observed. I did not meet with the observer before the session 10 100% The observer was sitting in the back, ticking on the observation form. 7 70% The observer did not tell the students who he is, creating unstable setting in the class. 7 70% The late feedback does not reflect the immediate feedback. 8 80 % The observation is not intended at teacher development. 9 90% The feedback is threatening if it is unsatisfactory. 9 90% Classroom observation does not fulfill my educational need 7 70 Classroom observation has no impact whether negative or positive. 2 20% Classroom observation partially fulfill my educational need 1 10% Discussion Obviously, there are no defects in the observation instrument. So, where is the problem? The result of the questionnaire provided to ten teachers revealed that the problem is in the observation process itself. The majority of the tutors (80%) have been observed two times per semester by the ASP whereas the remaining 20 % were observed three times by the ASP and the CAC (table 1). All the teachers (100%) expressed various levels of frustration and anxiety when they are observed. They assured that the observers themselves were a source of apprehension. Teachers added that none of the observers take an action to alleviate their anxiety. All the tutors (100%) expressed their feelings of dissatisfaction with the observation methods as no pre observation conference is conducted neither before the announced or the unannounced visits. This puts more stress on the side of the observees. Furthermore, 70% of the teachers mentioned that the way the observer enters and sits at the back of the cla ss ticking items on a checklist. This disrupts the stability of the classroom environment as the students perceive that he is observing them making them reluctant to answer and participate in the class effectively which in turn impact the execution of lesson. This is because the observer did not identify himself to the students as well as the purpose of being there. Moreover, he sits in the corner of the class and started to document his notes all the time. Accordingly, the students think that he is writing about them. Another significant point raised by 80 % of the teacher is the feedbacks given by the observers. They confirm that the immediate feedback provided is inconsistent with the late feedback received by the teachers. The striking issue was the perception of the 90% of the teachers for the session appraisal as a threat rather than developmental (Fig 3).Teachers feels intimidated and frightened by the entire supervisional process. This is because the models of observation we inherited are authoritarian and directive. All these factors combined their effects to increase teachers anxiety and dissatisfaction. When teachers asked to rate their level of satisfaction with the process of observation, 70% considered it unsatisfactory as it does not fulfill the educational needs of the teacher and did not enhance their teaching methods, 20% were neutral and 10% was fairly satisfied( Fig 4). This necessitates reconsideration of the overall observation process. Number of teachers Frequency of observations Percentage 8 2 80% 2 3 20% Table Frequency of observation Figure 3 Perception of classroom observation Figure 4 Satisfaction level Recommendations: Based on the findings of this Investigation, the investigator recommends certain points to enhance the process of the classroom observation. Having a pre-observation conference will guide the observers during the observation phase and will ease the teachers level of anxiety that result from the process in the part of the teachers. This will also assist the discussion that takes place in the post-observation conference. The professional teacher is one who is able to reflect critically on their own practice (Schon 1983, Wallace 1991). Accordingly the overall process will promote refl

Essay --

Have you ever thought about what career you would land in? The career of a veterinarian has pulled me in. A definition of a veterinarian’s job is some one who â€Å"diagnoses and controls animal diseases, treats sick and injured animals medically and surgically, prevents transmission of animal disease, and advises owners on proper care of pets and livestock†. Veterinarians have to have an unconditional love for animals,wildlife, and science and have a drive to improve the health and well-fare of society as a whole. I posses the quality of a love for animals having experience with many pets at home. In addition vets have to be well rounded as a person. They have to be smart, and have people skills which I do. My stronger subjects are science and math where being a vet, going into medicine has a lot to do with science particularly biology which I did very well in and have a great interest for. This career is special to me because I would be able to improve society, by he lping other people’s animals, as well as possibly finding new cures too, which is why I can definitely see myself being a...

Expectancy Violation Theory

Sanchez, JR PC – Abcomm 013 Expectancy Violation Theory by Judee Burgoon How do you suppose arousal manifests itself in conversations between teachers and students? (TITLE) A present fragment of the Expectancy Violation Theory is the Existence of arousals or distractions to the recipients of a communication episode. And given this activity, I am explaining, to my extent gulp*, how an arousal manifests itself in a teacher-student conversation. Arousals are these manifestations when violations are present in an on-going exchange of thoughts between two or more people; it has also been stated that Expectancy Violation Theory focuses mainly on non-verbal communication. Arousals are described in two forms namely the Physical and Cognitive. Depict a classroom, where a student was asked to come for a consultation meeting concerning his grade. Unexpectedly, while the consultation is taking place, a student decided to touch the teacher in the shoulder while looking at his/her progress in the records, but in opposition to what the teacher has in mind, it’s one format of â€Å"invasion of personal space, or bubble† on the teacher’s perspective. An arousal would make known of itself in this conversation because of the unexpected turn of events, specifically the student’s moving-in-touching-the-teacher’s-shoulder-step, because the teacher is thinking inversely as the pupil, a physical arousal will immerge from the event and there will violation occur, following the next procedures, and then will EVT pronounce. Another situation, concerning again the teacher and a student, where in the arousal-generator is the pupil, assume there’s a classroom once more, but this time, an everyday mobilization is going. The teacher discussing, students always doing their best to listen to what the teacher is speaking, etc. The teacher then wanted and decided to call a pupil to answer a certain question about their lesson, while requesting for the answer, the teacher then decided to be hard on the student, to extract more words that made the pupil reflect that his/her space is being invaded. Once more, an arousal will announce itself; a cognitive type of arousal would be present because it’s only in the mind, in mental awareness. The arousal did manifest on that given situation because there was, of course, the invasion of bubble. That’s basically the theoretical cause of many arousals, begins from bubble invasion, followed by the arousal. I am not familiar of any Arousal Mechanisms, but with its name, AMs or Arousal Mechanisms maybe those hidden actions or attitudes present in one person that the other person didn’t expect happening. The first situation has a physical arousal, wherein there are bodily changes resulting from violations, the touching of the student did bolster the physical arousal to commence. The AM here is the touching of the student where invasion of personal space is in a physical format. The second situation has a cognitive form of arousal because, like I said from the text, it is cognitive because it’s only mental, only in the mind. The AM here is the teacher’s harsh words thrown at the pupil to answer the question the teacher is asking about their present lesson. As expected, arousal would occur at a given communication episode if there is an invasion of personal space, more expectantly from different mannerisms or used-to-do things of the participants.

Happy Nation

Happy Nation What is happiness? When asked this question, many people would have many different answers. Some may refer to happiness as family, and others may declare money as one of their main reasons for happiness. Indeed, all people are different. However, happy people usually have one thing in common and it is where they live. So, what should a country have, or look like in order to deem itself the happiest? According to New York Times’ reporter Nicholas D. Kristof, Costa Rica is the current â€Å"winner† of the â€Å"World Database of Happiness. This small Central American country has accomplished monumental undertakings to deserve this enormous title. For instance, Costa Rica abolished its army, preserved nature, and made investments in education more profitable than investments in artillery. In fact, Costa Ricans can be proud of their country and fairly deem themselves the happiest nation; however, Americans, for example, can also deem their country as the happi est ones. Moreover, the United States has everything to be at the top of the list of â€Å"happy nations. A rich environment, high level education, enriched family and international relationships would be some of the reasons why American citizens may consider themselves to be the happiest nation in the world. First of all, the United States have a very rich environment to be happy with. The environment of the US consists of sparkling lakes and streams full of fish, making fishing a popular hobby of Americans sportsman. In addition, an abundance of cascading mountains and forests full of deer, wild boars, pheasants, birds and other animals make hunters and naturalists alike happy to be here.In fact, every year more and more people retreat to the mountains and campsites to hunt or vacation and enjoy these natural amenities. To name a few others, skiing, snowboarding and biking are sports that becoming more popular these days. In 2009 for example, according to the National Ski and Sno wboarders Retailers Association, 5. 5 million people participated in the sport in 2009. The United States’ national parks encourage enthusiasts from its natives and tourists from all over the world.In addition, the US has many bodies of water, but the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, on the East and West Coasts of the United States, offer many opportunities. In fact, Americans love sea food and having access to the two largest oceans makes eating fish daily a common occurrence. Moreover, having two oceans spanning two major coast lines provides picturesque sandy beaches for comfortable living and popular vacation spots. From California to Oregon, and Maine to Florida, these beaches and scenic spots draw many to live and vacation here. Besides the lakes, mountains and beaches, the United States has many more wonders of nature.For instance, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, the Arches National Park in Utah as well as Yosemite National Park in Califo rnia all of which draw many visitors. Only Grand Canyon visited 4. 41 million tourists in 2008. In addition, Niagara Falls, sharing its border with Canada is also one of the most widely visited natural attractions among Americans. In other words, the United States has an incredible environment that can easily be deemed the best in the world. The second important reason why Americans can consider themselves a happy nation is education.American education is widely known as the best around of the world. In fact, most notable famous scientists, archaeologists and sportsman graduated from colleges and universities in the United States such as inventor Sicorsky, sportsmen Tiger Woods and a scientist Linus Pauling. Besides that, almost every person who had a chance to graduate from any of the United States’ universities countries became later successful in native country. Indeed, a diploma from an American educational institution is easily accepted in other countries; therefore, the re are not difficulties with finding job .In addition, there is also another extraordinary reason that supports American education opportunities. It is financial aid. Very few counties provide financial aid to low-income students, and American citizens who are offered this opportunity should be very proud of it. Despite the current economic downfall, the United States continues to provide this opportunity allowing students to obtain an education in higher learning. For instance, in 2008 the United States Government provided nearly 91 billion in financial aid to 104 million students.Moreover, according to President Obama the financial aid budget will increase this year and more students will be able to finish their study. Furthermore, the American government creates special programs that allow students from foreign countries to come to the United States on student visas. Those programs are very popular among foreign students because they not only provide a decent opportunity to gain a valued experienc e, but also provide job opportunities after graduation. Briefly, high level education is one of the reasons that support America as a happy nation.Finally, enriched family and international relationships are also good reasons that support the American â€Å"Happy Nation† theory. In fact, family, for almost every American citizen, is the biggest treasure in the world. There is no other place in the world where people send so many greeting cards to loved ones as they do here in the United States. For example, in the Ukraine cards are sent for happy events such as, birthdays, weddings or holidays, however it would be interpreted as a personal offense to receive a sympathy card when someone dies.It is even impossible to find such kind cards in the Ukraine because they simply are not for sale! Therefore, Americans have to be proud of having such a nicely-shared tradition. Another practiced tradition that may deem as â€Å"American only† is the Thanksgivin g holiday. In fact, this favorite United States’ holiday is unfamiliar to other countries. Indeed, there is no other place in the world where people, once a year – no matter what, spend many hours flying or driving to spend this holiday with their loved ones enjoying family traditions.Besides the family relationships, Americans have excellent international relationships. Around the world the United States is known as a strong, wealthy and successful county. Moreover, during international conflicts the United States’ opinion often plays an important role in the negotiating process. In fact, in 2002 the United States of America solved Arab-Israeli Conflict between Palestine and Israel. Indeed, America is looked upon for its strength. Besides good negotiation skills America is known as a very welcomed and peaceful country.Throughout time thousands of people from hundreds of countries, despite their race or religion, settled and made their homes in the United States . In other words, a country where discrimination does not exist and holiday traditions are practiced from generation to generation can easily be deemed a joyful place in the world. The United States has everything it needs to consider it a happy country. People from around of the world who visited the US at least once noticed how glorious the United States is.Moreover, the relationships that the American Government built over time with other countries may also be one of the reasons why American citizens are proud of their country. In addition, the high level of education that is world renowned may also make citizens feel happy. In other words, a happy nation is comprised of hard-working satisfied people who enjoy their environment, families and homes, who take pride and are patriotic, and who support educational opportunities provided by a government respected by other nations – that country is the United States of America.