Class Matters... Short Description of a Section of the Book Essay Example for Free

Class Matters Short Description of a Section of the Book Essay Class Matters by Bell Hooks, the section â€Å"The Me-Me Class: The Young and the Ruthless† examines how the mass media influences ideas that everyone living in the united States is rich, into the minds of foreigners. This section further notes that the media makes it seem as though social and economic backgrounds have little or no influence on the world of spending because most advertisements seem to make items seems affordable and cheap to acquire. The media reveals the fantasies of life to make people think that the things shown in the media are reality, especially in the eyes of teenagers. This section notes that the media brings about the â€Å"psychological torment; envy† amongst teenagers. The way the media presents issues regarding children/students, makes it seem as though it is easier to acquire money wealth on an outward appearance. This may be done to bring about competition into society, which develops envy amongst individuals if they are unable to acquire a particular item. In this section, it states that it is easier to acquire money and goods than it is to find meaningful values and ethics. This is a really profound statement because it portrays the influence the media has had on the youth to the extent that their values and ethics don’t really have as much meaning to them as that of the money and goods the acquire. This further demonstrates the culture of the youth and how materialistic things have an impact on the way youth view today’s world. The media is indirectly educating the youth with items that seem relevant in the world rather than showcasing the importance of education. This may be the reason why many schools have decided to enforce a rule that students need to wear uniforms. This lessens the amount of items students will be competing with each other. Although the world is set up in a way that competition exists, the fact that students have the same items means that they are less likely to be envious of each other.

Human Nature in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Essay -- The Lottery Ess

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson The idea of winning a lottery is associated with luck, happiness and anticipation of good things. In Shirley Jackson's story, " The Lottery", this is not the case. The irony of the story is that the winner of the lottery gets stoned to death by everyone else in the town. The story is very effective because it examines certain aspects of human nature. One aspect of human nature that is examined, and that adds to the effectiveness of the story, is man's tendency to resist change. This is shown in more than one way. The first way is the way some villagers tolerate the lottery even though they know it is wrong, and it serves no purpose. They talk about how other towns have already stopped having lotteries, but they allow it to continue year after year. Old man Warner even says "there's nothing but trouble" in quitting lotteries. Townsfolk listen to him because he has been in the lottery seventy-seven years. The townsfolk feel helpless to change things because they have been going on for so long. The fact that the box is old and needs to be replace...

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Designing Effective Projects: Thinking Skills Frameworks Bloom’s Taxonomy: A New Look at an Old Standby Traditional Hierarchy of Thinking Processes In 1956, Benjamin Bloom wrote Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Cognitive Domain, and his six-level description of thinking has been widely adapted and used in countless contexts ever since. His list of cognitive processes is organized from the most simple, the recall of knowledge, to the most complex, making judgments about the value and worth of an idea. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Traditional) Skill Knowledge DefinitionRecall information Comprehension Understand the meaning, paraphrase a concept Use the information or concept in a new situation Break information or concepts into parts to understand it more fully Put ideas together to form something new Make judgments about value Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation Key Words Identify, describe, name, label, recognize, reproduce, follow Summarize, co nvert, defend, paraphrase, interpret, give examples Build, make, construct, model, predict, prepare Compare/contrast, break down, distinguish, select, separate Categorize, generalize, reconstructAppraise, critique, judge, justify, argue, support Today’s world is a different place, however, than the one Bloom’s Taxonomy reflected in 1956. Educators have learned a great deal more about how students learn and teachers teach and now recognize that teaching and learning encompasses more than just thinking. It also involves the feelings and beliefs of students and teachers as well as the social and cultural environment of the classroom. Several cognitive psychologists have worked to make the basic concept of a taxonomy of thinking skills more relevant and accurate.In developing his own taxonomy of educational objectives, Marzano (2000) points out one criticism of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The very structure of the Taxonomy, moving from the simplest level of knowledge to the m ost difficult level of evaluation, is not supported by research. A hierarchical taxonomy implies that each higher skill is composed of the skills beneath it; comprehension requires knowledge; application requires comprehension and knowledge, and so on. This, according to Marzano, is simply not true of the cognitive processes in Bloom’s Taxonomy.The originators of the original six thinking processes assumed that complex projects could be labeled as requiring one of the processes more than the others. A task was primarily an â€Å"analysis† or an â€Å"evaluation† task. This has been proven not to be true which may account for the difficulty that educators have classifying challenging learning activities using the Taxonomy. Anderson (2000) argues that nearly all complex learning activities require the use of several different cognitive skills. Like any theoretical model, Bloom’s Taxonomy has its strengths and weaknesses.Its greatest strength is that it has taken the very important topic of thinking and placed a structure around it that is usable by practitioners. Those teachers who keep a list of question prompts relating to the various levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy undoubtedly do a better job of encouraging higher-order thinking in their students than those who have no such tool. On the other hand, as anyone who has worked with a group of educators to classify a group of questions and learning activities according to the Taxonomy can attest, there is little consensus about what seemingly self-evident erms like â€Å"analysis,† or â€Å"evaluation† mean. In addition, so many worthwhile activities, such as authentic problems and projects, cannot be mapped to the Taxonomy, and trying to do that would diminish their potential as learning opportunities. Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy In 1999, Dr. Lorin Anderson, a fromer student of Bloom's, and his colleagues published an updated version of Bloom’s Taxonomy that takes into account a broader range of factors that have an impact on teaching and learning. This revised taxonomy attempts to correct some of the problems with the original taxonomy.Unlike the 1956 version, the revised taxonomy differentiates between â€Å"knowing what,† the content of thinking, and â€Å"knowing how,† the procedures used in solving problems. The Knowledge Dimension is the â€Å"knowing what. † It has four categories: factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive. Factual knowledge includes isolated bits of information, such as vocabulary definitions and knowledge about specific details. Conceptual knowledge consists of systems of information, such as classifications and categories.Procedural knowledge includes algorithms, heuristics or rules of thumb, techniques, and methods as well as knowledge about when to use these procedures. Metacognitive knowledge refers to knowledge of thinking processes and information about how to manipulate thes e processes effectively. The Cognitive Process Dimension of the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy like the original version has six skills. They are, from simplest to most complex: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. Remembering Remembering consists of recognizing and recalling relevant information from long-term memory.Understanding Understanding is the ability to make your own meaning from educational material such as reading and teacher explanations. The subskills for this process include interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining. Applying The third process, applying, refers to using a learned procedure either in a familiar or new situation. Analysis The next process is analysis, which consists of breaking knowledge down into its parts and thinking about how the parts relate to its overall structure.Students analyze by differentiating, organizing, and attributing. Evaluation Evaluation, which is at the top of the original taxonomy, is the fifth of the six processes in the revised version. It includes checking and critiquing. Creating Creating, a process not included in the earlier taxonomy, is the highest component of the new version. This skill involves putting things together to make something new. To accomplish creating tasks, learners generate, plan, and produce.According to this taxonomy, each level of knowledge can correspond to each level of cognitive process, so a student can remember factual or procedural knowledge, understand conceptual or metacognitive knowledge, or analyze metacognitive or factual knowledge. According to Anderson and his colleagues, â€Å"Meaningful learning provides students with the knowledge and cognitive processes they need for successful problem solving†. The following charts list examples of each skill of the Cognitive and Knowledge Dimensions. Cognitive Processes Dimensions Cognitive ProcessesExamples Remembering—Produce the right informa tion from memory Recognizing †¢ Identify frogs in a diagram of different kinds of amphibians. †¢ Find an isosceles triangle in your neighborhood. †¢ Answer any true-false or multiple-choice questions. Recalling †¢ Name three 19th-century women English authors. †¢ Write the multiplication facts. †¢ Reproduce the chemical formula for carbon tetrachloride. Understanding—Make meaning from educational materials or experiences Interpreting †¢ Translate a story problem into an algebraic equation. †¢ Draw a diagram of the digestive system. Paraphrase Jawaharlal Nehru's tryst with destiny speech. Exemplifying †¢ Draw a parallelogram. †¢ Find an example of stream-of-consciousness style of writing. †¢ Name a mammal that lives in our area. Classifying †¢ Label numbers odd or even. †¢ List the events of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. †¢ Group native animals into their proper species. Summarizing †¢ Make up a title for a short passage. †¢ List the key points related to capital punishment that the Web site promotes. Inferring †¢ Read a passage of dialogue between two characters and make conclusions about their past relationship. Figure out the meaning of an unfamiliar term from the context. †¢ Look at a series of numbers and predict what the next number will be. Comparing †¢ Explain how the heart is like a pump. †¢ Compare Mahatma Gandhi to a present day leader. †¢ Use a Venn diagram to demonstrate how two books by Charles Dickens are similar and different. Explaining †¢ Draw a diagram explaining how air pressure affects the weather. †¢ Provide details that justify why the French Revolution happened when and how it did. †¢ Describe how interest rates affect the economy. Applying—Use a procedure Executing Add a column of two-digit numbers. †¢ Orally read a passage in a foreign language. †¢ Have a student open house discussion. Implementing †¢ Design an experiment to see how plants grow in different kinds of soil. †¢ Proofread a piece of writing. †¢ Create a budget. Analyzing—Break a concept down into its parts and describe how the parts relate to the whole Differentiating †¢ List the important information in a mathematical word problem and cross out the unimportant information. †¢ Draw a diagram showing the major and minor characters in a novel. Organizing †¢ Place the books in the classroom library into categories. Make a chart of often-used figurative devices and explain their effect. †¢ Make a diagram showing the ways plants and animals in your neighborhood interact with each other. Attributing †¢ Read letters to the editor to determine the authors’ points of view about a local issue. †¢ Determine a character’s motivation in a novel or short story. †¢ Look at brochures of political candidates and hypothesize about their perspectives on issues. Evaluating—Make judgments based on criteria and syllabus guidelines Checking †¢ Participate in a writing group, giving peers feedback on organization and logic of arguments. Listen to a political speech and make a list of any contradictions within the speech. †¢ Review a project plan to see if all the necessary steps are included. Critiquing †¢ Judge how well a project meets the criteria of a rubric. †¢ Choose the best method for solving a complex mathematical problem. †¢ Judge the validity of arguments for and against astrology. Creating—Put pieces together to form something new or recognize components of a new structure. Generating †¢ Given a list of criteria, list some options for improving race relations in the school. †¢ Generate several scientific hypotheses to explain why plants need sunshine. Propose a set of alternatives for reducing dependence on fossil fuels that address both economic and environmental concerns. †¢ Com e up with alternative hypotheses based on criteria. Planning †¢ Make a storyboard for a multimedia presentation on insects. †¢ Outline a research paper on Mark Twain’s views on religion. †¢ Design a scientific study to test the effect of different kinds of music on hens’ egg production. Producing †¢ Write a journal from the point of view of mountaineer. †¢ Build a habitat for pigeons. †¢ Put on a play based on a chapter from a novel you’re reading. The Knowledge DimensionFactual Knowledge—Basic information Knowledge of terminology Vocabulary terms, mathematical symbols, musical notation, alphabet Knowledge of specific details and Components of the Food Pyramid, names of elements congressional representatives, major battles of WWII Conceptual Knowledge—The relationships among pieces of a larger structure that make them function together Knowledge of classifications and Species of animals, different kinds of arguments, c ategories geological eras Knowledge of principles and Types of conflict in literature, Newton’s Laws of Motion, generalizations principles of democracyKnowledge of theories, models, and Theory of evolution, economic theories, DNA models structures Procedural Knowledge—How to do something Knowledge of subject-specific skills Procedure for solving quadratic equations, mixing colors and algorithms for oil painting, serving a volleyball Knowledge of subject-specific Literary criticism, analysis of historical documents, techniques and methods mathematical problem-solving methods Knowledge of criteria for Methods appropriate for different kinds of experiments, determining when to use statistical analysis procedures used for different ppropriate procedures situations, syllabus guidelines for different genres of writing Metacognitive Knowledge—Knowledge of thinking in general and your thinking in particular Strategic knowledge Ways of memorizing facts, reading comprehen sion strategies, methods of planning a Web site Knowledge about cognitive tasks, Different reading demands of textbooks and novels; including appropriate contextual thinking ahead when using an electronic database; and conditional knowledge differences between writing emails and writing business letters Self-knowledge Need for a diagram or chart to understand complex rocesses, better comprehension in quiet environments, need to discuss ideas with someone before writing an essay References Anderson, L. W. & Krathwohl, D. R. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing. New York: Longman. Bloom, B. S. , (Ed. ). 1956. Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals: Handbook I, cognitive domain. New York: Longman. Costa, A. L. (Ed. ). (2000). Developing minds: A resource book for teaching thinking. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Marzano, R. J. (2000). Designing a new taxonomy of educational objectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Overview of the Basics of Probability

Probability is a term we are relatively familiar with. However, when you look up the definition of probability, youll find a variety of similar definitions. Probability is all around us. Probability refers to the likelihood or relative frequency for something to happen. The continuum of probability falls anywhere from impossible to certain and anywhere in between. When we speak of chance or the odds; the chances or odds of winning the lottery, were also referring to probability. The chances or odds or probability of winning the lottery is something like 18 million to 1. In other words, the probability of winning the lottery is highly unlikely. Weather forecasters use probability to inform us of the likelihood (probability) of storms, sun, precipitation, temperature and along with all weather patterns and trends. Youll hear that theres a 10% chance of rain. To make this prediction, a lot of data is taken into account and then analyzed. The medical field informs us of the likelihood of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, the odds of beating cancer etc. The Importance of Probablity in Everyday Life Probability has become a topic in math that has grown out of societal needs. The language of probability starts as early as kindergarten and remains a topic through high school and beyond. The collection and analysis of data have become extremely prevalent throughout the math curriculum. Students typically do experiments to analyze possible outcomes and to calculate frequencies and relative frequencies.Why? Because making predictions is extremely important and useful. Its what drives our researchers and statisticians who will make predictions about disease, the environment, cures, optimal health, highway safety, and air safety to name a few. We fly because we are told that there is only a 1 in 10 million chance of dying in an airplane crash. It takes the analysis of a great deal of data to determine the probability/chances of events and to do so as accurately as possible. In school, students will make predictions based on simple experiments. For instance, they roll dice to determine how often theyll roll a 4. (1 in 6) But they will also soon discover that it is very difficult to predict with any kind of accuracy or certainty what t.he outcome of any given roll will be. They will also discover that the results will be better as the number of trials grows. The results for a low number of trials is not as good as the results are for a large number of trials. With probability being the likelihood of an outcome or event, we can say that the theoretical probability of an event is the number of outcomes of the event divided by the number of possible outcomes. Hence the dice, 1 out of 6. Typically, the math curriculum will require students to conduct experiments, determine fairness, collect the data using various methods, interpret and analyze the data, display the data and state the rule for the probability of the outcome. In summary, probability deals with patterns and trends that occur in random events. Probability helps us to determine what the likelihood of something happening will be. Statistics and simulations help us to determine probability with greater accuracy. Simply put, one could say probability is the study of chance. It affects so many aspects of life, everything from earthquakes occurring to sharing a birthday. If youre interested in probability, the field in math youll want to pursue will be data management and statistics.