Wednesday, January 29, 2020

The Inerconnection Between Reading and Writing Essay Example for Free

The Inerconnection Between Reading and Writing Essay Did reading or writing come first? This question is not as important as the well proven fact that without one the other cannot survive. Reading and writing are important to each other and mutually beneficial. There is an intimate relationship between reading and writing well (Pearson learning solutions). If there is a deficiency in reading there will also be a deficiency in writing. There is an obvious connection between what we read and what we write. I will be going over what makes the relationship between them so crucial to first time students and later in school and life. Reading and writing were and still are sometimes taught separately. Research and tests have shown that these two subjects are more interconnected than was thought at first. For example research has shown that reading instruction is much more effective when intertwined with writing instruction (www. k12reader. com 2012). While we are in school most of what we know comes from what we read. Since writing is the act of transmitting knowledge to print we must have knowledge to share before we can write it (www.k12reader. com 2012). Most of what children read is then put to use when writing their own stories. Younger children who are attempting to develop awareness that words are developed from sounds of letters need practice writing to improve their reading skills. Most writing students only see writing about what they read as pointless homework. The truth is reading and writing are symbiotic that is they mutually reinforce and enhance each other (Loney, M Nov, dec. 1996 Kotz and Roskelley 1991. 189). Teachers have been taught exercises such as autobiographical writing, reading response journals and class discussion. Autobiographical writing is done before the reading. It helps the student identify with the characters in the story. This is done by assigning them a task to write about a time or event that happened in their life that corresponds with the main idea of the story. Reading response journals are done while reading the assigned novel or story. The students are asked to write a response about certain chapters. They answer questions asked by the teacher about the story. The teacher then positively responds to the answers written by the students. Class discussion also helps the student empathize with the characters in the book and understand the plot better. In other countries students are required to take English classes to develop their English. They are also required to take an English writing course with it to round out their reading and writing skills. These classes in turn improve their English speaking. The classes are usually taught separately, but research has shown that they should go hand in hand to improve comprehension and reading skills. Decades of research into the relationship between reading and writing have proved that the best way to improve any students reading comprehension is to get them to write meaningfully and purposefully about a text. Since many studies show that the only way to improve reading is to study writing and vice versa proves the interconnection between the two. Teachers and students have realized this and have taken steps to alter teaching and study practices.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

A Notion of Zero in the Philosophy of Aristotle :: Philosophical Math Essays

A Notion of Zero in the Philosophy of Aristotle ABSTRACT: This article shows that Aristotle created the first notion of a zero in the history of human thought. Since this notion stood in evident contradiction to the basic principles of his metaphysics and logic, he rejected it. The origin and development of mathematical symbols was closely connected with the development of mathematics itself and development of philosophy. It resulted from the fact that philosophy provided the motivation for investigations and creation of adequate and good mathematical symbols. Moreover, being one of the cultural factors, (1) it played a significant role in the process of accepting or rejecting certain notions. This article aims at producing evidence that particular ideas of Hellenic philosophy made it impossible for Hellenic thinkers to accept notion of a zero. The following considerations will be preceded by brief information on the ancient notations. The ancient numeric systems aimed at ascribing to a singular whole number or written symbol (up to a point determined by practical needs). This symbol was a combination of a limited number of signs, produced on the basis of more or less regular laws. (2) Three ancient groups of people: the Babylonians, the Chinese and the Mayas discovered a position principle, that is one of the prerequisites leading to discovering a zero and considering it a number. (3) The first appeared in the Babylonian numeration in the 3rd century BC as a result of overcoming ambiguity in the notation of numbers. The sign for a zero that is the so-called diagonally drafted double nail ( ) indicated, first of all, a lack of units of some "sixty" order. It was also treated as kind of an arithmetic operator, since adding it at the end meant multiplication by "sixty". But neither the Babilonian mathematicians nor astronomers treated zero as a number. A diagonally drafted double nail was conceived of as an empty pla ce, that is a lack of unites of a respective order. Hellenes people used two systems of denoting numbers. The Athenian system was mathematically equal to the Roman system, whereas the Ionic system, just like the Hebrew system, was a system of an alphabetic type. In both systems, just like in the Egyptian hieroglyphic system or the Hebrew numeration, numbers had their established values regardless of the place they were put in. (4) None of the Hellenic system was based on a position principle, none of them used a symbol of zero, either.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Developmental Psychology Essay

Cognitive development involves developing concepts of thought, problem solving and memory (Green. 2002). Jean Piaget (1896-1980) and Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) were both psychologists, which focused on cognitive development and the way in which children’s thought and reasoning developed as they matured. This assignment shall begin by describing and evaluating the theories put forward by Piaget and Vygotsky referring to research evidence and providing a conclusion. Piaget (1896-1980) was one of the most influential researchers in the area of developmental psychology during the 20th century and a as biologist was interested in the way in which organisms adapt to their environment this was described by Piaget as intelligence. He viewed behaviour or the adaptation to the environment as being controlled through mental organisations known as schemes that the individual uses in order to represent the world. Piaget suggested that adaptation is driven by a biological drive to obtain balance between schemes and the environment, which is known as equilibrium (Huitt. 2003). Within Piaget’s research and writing’s on cognitive development he suggested that children’s thoughts are not only less sophisticated than adults but they are also qualitatively different and this is due to less knowledge (Jarvis. 2000).   It was considered by Piaget that the interaction between the child and their environment was the main factor of influence on their cognitive development. Piaget’s view of children is that they are scientists and that they should be left to explore their surroundings giving them the opportunity to interpret the world in their own way. The active involvement in their own learning is described as a series of schemas and that these schemas would change and develop through each stage through the process of assimilation or accommodation (Green. 2002). Piaget’s theory is based on stages of development in which he believed that all children develop at the same age. There are four stages to his development theory, which are sensorimotor (0-2 years) and the view that infants are developing their first schemas (Meggitt. 2000). Object permanence is the main focus within this stage and the assumption by Piaget that children aged five or six months old could not understand that an object, which was covered, still exists.  An experiment showed that a child of five or six months showed no interest once the toy was covered whereas a ten month old would reach out for the toy and seem to become agitated. Piaget’s interpretation of this was that the child of ten months had reached object permanence and now has a schema for the object. In contrast to this Tom Bower and Jennifer Wishart (1972) argued that objects do still exist in baby’s minds although they have been covered. To support their theory an experiment was undertaken using an infrared camera. An object was offered to the baby and as they reached out to grab it the lights were switched off. The results showed that the baby was still attempting to reach for the toy although they were unable to see it and so an explanation for Piaget’s theory was that by covering the object the baby was distracted and not necessarily that they had forgotten about it. The second stage is pre-operational stage (2-7 years). Egocentric thinking predominates the child (Huitt. 2003) within this stage and they do not have the ability to understand things from another person’s viewpoint according to Piaget. In order for this to be confirmed he set up an experiment. Three mountains were set in front of the child and a doll was placed in different seats around the table. Photographs, which had been taken, were then shown to the child and they were asked to point to the picture that the doll would see. As Piaget’s findings showed that most four or five year olds pointed to photographs which represented their view of the mountains he concluded that they were egocentric. Most children aged seven that was asked to do the same task correctly identified the photograph strengthening Piaget’s theory. Although it was then argued by Martin Hughes (1975) that the task was much too complicated for the child and therefore devised his own experiment, which would contradict Piaget’s findings. His experiment involved a model with two intersecting walls, two policeman figures and a figure of a boy. After having a trial using one police figure and the boy to ensure the child understood the task Hughes began his experiment. It was found that most children could successfully take account of two different viewpoints. Therefore it could be said that Piaget’s experiment may have been too difficult for the child to understand rather than the child being egocentric.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

The University Writing Center And The Academic Success Center

Summary The University Writing Center (UWC) and the Academic Success Center (ASC) are two of the university initiatives that help students enrich their academic experience. While UWC assists students in improving their written and oral communication skills through one to one consulting sessions, online resources, and workshops, ASC works to enhance students’ intellectual performance through academic coaching, supplemental instruction, drop-in tutoring sessions, and peer mentoring. Both of the organizations take a collaborative learning approach to encourage students to develop necessary study skills for academic success and increase student retention. ASC offers various student development programs; however, our focus for this proposal†¦show more content†¦After researching through the potential solutions, I will put forth a budget outlining the costs required to increase the reach of these programs to a larger student population. The objective of this proposal is to ensure t hat students are able to enhance their academic experience at Texas AM University by helping them boost their academic performance, and fulfill their educational needs. Introduction Muriel Hall (1995), Founder and Director of the Purdue is Writing Lab, argues that writing center are not only integral to student success, but are also important to maintain retention (27). Texas AM is one of the largest universities with high student population, and there are many students, especially freshmen’s and sophomores who struggle with their classes and seek for resources that help them with their academic struggles. UWC and ASC are two of the university initiatives that address the students’ need to help them with their classes and enhance their academic performance. Currently, UWC offers its services in two different locations: Evans and West Campus Library. UWC serves both graduate and undergraduate students with course assignments, writing their drafts and thesis dissertation through consultations and workshops. According to (one consultant), they serve an average of 63 students each day, and 1988 students have used their services only between September and October. The students desiring to have a writing consultation have to book an