Friday, January 24, 2020
The Resort Town :: Descriptive Essay About A Place
The Resort Town When the eye has tired of the human scenery of the resort town, and the body is weary of the town's repetitive entertainments, the visitor may finally notice the fury of alien plants. The misting systems at every resort, designed for cooling rows of prostrate bodies, also provide the right conditions for equatorial jungles. The resort had made the most of this opportunity. I started to feel the more patient offerings of botanical companionship. To greet these plants, though, I needed to know their names. For that, I would need a nursery, and only one was close enough to walk to. From the front, it looked normal enough. I wandered in past the unattended outdoor register and into the usual towers of annual trays -- petunia, impatiens, salvia, and so on -- the same seventeen brief and predictable thrills that scream from annual-towers everywhere. Behind them, a small display of cactus, unlabeled but neat. Behind that, the beginnings of a jungle of larger containers. Along the side of the property, a large unkempt man drove in a golf cart with a tree in the seat beside him. The proprietor. At once, I saw some of the plants that I had come to identify. I looked for their labels. There were none. Glancing around, I realized that I hadn't seen a label anywhere. No prices. No identities. No instructions for planting and care. No customers either. I moved alone through a containerized wilderness, all sights obscured by overgrown but anonymous vines, trees, shrubs. Finally, there, a label! A low, greyish shrub cowered in a hexagonal pot whose nursery tag still clung to its side. Making my own path through the sea of containers, I bent down to read. "Strelitzia," it said. My mind flashed a picture of Strelitzia, the "bird of paradise," a soaring tropical plant with foot-long leaves and an audacious backward-leaning orange and blue flower that has always made me think of Marilyn Monroe reclining ever so slowly onto a great divan. Flashy and tender, Strelitzia was the perfect opposite of the tough and humble desert shrub that actually grew in this container. Well, I thought, at least they transplant things here. Perhaps one pot in a hundred bore any label at all, and each label was not just wrong but perfectly so. A screaming red honeysuckle vine was labeled Opuntia -- prickly pear, the familiar cactus that grows in rounded flat pads.
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Marketing Debate
Is Consumer Behavior More a Function of a Personââ¬â¢s Age or Generation? MKT 6661 Strategic Marketing Management Troy University Introduction A heavily debated issue between marketers is what drives consumer behavior? There are two noted positions in this debate, one that believes that age differences are the deciding factors of a consumerââ¬â¢s wants and needs and others make the case that cohort and generation effects are better suited to uncover the consumerââ¬â¢s desires. Marketers have a major responsibility to identify and reach out to the marketplace and find out what influences an individualââ¬â¢s purchasing decisions.Rather these decisions can be sorted based on a group of individuals shared experiences or by simply bunching these individuals into their respective generations but a system has to be in place to provide insight to what is the best way to channel into the consumerââ¬â¢s buying methods. So whatââ¬â¢s all the Fuss About? The question that we ar e trying to answer is, is consumer behavior more a function of a personââ¬â¢s age or generation? There has been inclusive research on the driving forces of what drives consumer choice.A pattern has been discovered that people who make similar purchases may also share other specific social-economical similarities. This gives way that there is some background to be learned about these purchasing groups. Cohorts, or Aged-Based Marketing, tend to share a significant number of experiences, goals, and values. (Bidwell 2009) The main principle behind a cohort is that individuals make purchasing decisions based on events that they experienced through their lives, such as their childhood, adolescents, early adulthood and so forth.These events, called defining moments, influence attitudes, preferences, values, and buying behaviors, and these attitudes, values, and buying-behavior motivations for each cohort remain virtually the same throughout their lives. (Bidwell 2009) In contrast to coh orts, on the other side of the debate, the method of evaluating consumer behavior by placing consumers in a group of individuals born and living about the same time. This is the practice of multi-generation marketing. Each generation has unique expectations, experiences, lifestyles, values, and demographics that influence their buying behaviors.Multi-Generational marketing has a broader platform in which individual consumers are placed. Some specifics of these two marketing segments can draw some contrast between the two. To use the cohort model most effective there must be a combination of peopleââ¬â¢s ages and information about their particular life stages. Some examples of different life stages are empty nesters, retirees, young families, and your careerist. (Bidwell 2009) Most consumersââ¬â¢ life stages are fairly predictable so it provides for their purchasing habits to be predictable.There can be contrast amongst different cohorts as well, depending on the unique events that an individual shared with others in the same cohort. According to Charles D. Schewe, a professor of marketing at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and consultant to numerous companies, there are seven American cohorts. The first cohort being the Great Depression cohort, born between the years of 1912 and 1921 and represent approximately seven percent of the U. S. population, secondly is the World War II cohort born between the years of 1922-1927 and represent about five percent of the U.S. population, the third cohort is known as the post WWII cohort, this group was born between the years of 1928-1945 and represent about twenty three percent of the U. S. population, next are the Baby Boomers I and Baby Boomers II cohorts, they represent together about forty three percent of the U. S. population and were born between the years of 1946 to 1964, the sixth cohort are the Generation Xââ¬â¢ers who were born between the years of 1966 and 1976 and make up approximately twen ty two percent of the U. S. opulation, and lastly there are the N-Gens, born from 1977-1987, and make up twelve percent of the U. S. adult population. ( Bidwell 2009) Though these cohorts span over a number of years they are all linked by a series of events that follow a chronological order. Even though a cohort places consumers in segments based on lifestyles but the time in which these events occurred can have drastic effect on their purchasing choices. Looking at the metrics of generational marketing on surface can resemble age-based marketing very closely.This is not an intentional consequence to be vague in practice or by definition but help narrow the message down that the marketer is trying to relay. Take a look this table that depicts the six U. S. Generations. Generation| Date of Birth| Number| Age (in 2010)| Pre-Depression| Before 1930| 12 MM| 81 and above| Depression| 1930-1945| 28 MM| 65-80| Baby Boom| 1946-1964| 80 MM| 46-64| Generation X| 1965-1976| 45 MM| 34-45| Gener ation Y| 1977-1994| 71 MM| 16-33| Generation Z| After 1994| 29 MM| Less than 16| (Marketing to the Generations 2010)Looking at the table, generation analysis and Cohort effects follow a very similar chronological order and demographics but generation analysis is a much broader form of marketing intelligence. At best we have put a group of consumers at the same place at the same time using this method. By knowing the generation the consumer was born it does help the marketer pin point the most effective way to communicate with the consumer taking a macro overlook of the consumer. Based on what generation a consumer was born in gives insight of how techno savvy or financially conservative, education level the consumer received.Conclusion As I really think about the original question and look for the answer it seems to me that these two methods work in tandem with each other. The bigger picture is understanding the holistic approach to getting your message across the consumer. Cohort i s a much more defined process, in that it outlays the needs of the consumer at different times in their lives but knowing the generation that the consumer helps to point the marketer in the right direction when extrapolating data from individual.Undoubtedly to me both are instrumental in a effective and efficient marketing information system References Bidwell. 25 March 2009 Cohorts: Age-Based Marketing. http://www. bidwellid. com/resources/white_papers/Bidwell_ID_Cohorts. pdf Williams, K; Page,R 2010 Marketing to the Generations http://www. aabri. com/manuscripts/10575. pdf Kotler, P. , & Keller, K. (2012). In K. Keller, & P. Kotler 14th ed, Marketing Management
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
The Ymca Of Greater Pittsburgh Essay - 927 Words
The YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh received a 1.5 million dollar grant from the Heinz Endowments (December of 2015) to re-purpose the Homewood Brushton YMCA into a Creative Youth Center. Presently, we have a youth program the Lighthouse Project, which is about nine years old and currently housed at Westinghouse High School. The YMCA Lighthouse Project is an afterschool program for teens that teaches leadership and career readiness through the media arts of film, photography, graphic design and music production. The students participate in workshops with a focus on photography, journalist, fashion design, visual arts, music production, dance, graphic design and the Bridge to College workshop. ââ¬Å"With the repurpose of the YMCA the Lighthouse Project will move from its present location at Westinghouse High School. Starting with the 2016-2017 school year, the program will be relocated to the YMCA,â⬠said Williams. The transformation will involve conference rooms, the Family Support Center and the multipurpose room. These rooms will be repurposed into a commercial kitchen and performance stage. When asked if the repurpose of these rooms would be enough to hold the anticipated student enrollment in the 2016-2017 program, Williams replied, ââ¬Å"The program generally serves between 50 and 60 students per school year (October thru June); with the upcoming school year we plan to double that number.â⬠The students will not be lumped into one common area, but move from module to moduleShow MoreRelatedMonsanto: Better Living Through Genetic Engineering96204 Words à |à 385 Pagesdifferently. For instance, with deregulation of the airline industry in the United States, older, established airlines had a signiï ¬ cant decrease in proï ¬ tability, while many smaller airlines, such as Southwest Airlines, with lower cost structures and greater ï ¬âexibility, were able to aggressively enter new markets. Porterââ¬â¢s ï ¬ ve forces model is a useful tool for analysing the speciï ¬ c industry (see Chapter 2). Careful study of how the ï ¬ ve competitive forces (that i s, supplier power, buyer power, potential
Monday, December 30, 2019
How Odds Are Related to Probability
Many times the odds of an event occurring are posted. For example, one might say that a particular sports team is a 2:1 favorite to win the big game. What many people do not realize is that odds such as these are really just a restatement of the probability of an event. Probability compares the number of successes to the total number of attempts made. The odds in favor of an event compares the number of successes to the number of failures.Ã In what follows, we will see what this means in greater detail. First, we consider a little notation. Notation for Odds We express our odds as a ratio of one number to another. Typically we read ratio A:B as A to B. Each number of these ratios can be multiplied by the same number. So the odds 1:2 is equivalent to saying 5:10. Probability to Odds Probability can be carefully defined using set theory and a few axioms, but the basic idea is that probability uses a real number between zero and one to measure the likelihood of an event occurring. There are a variety of ways to think about how to compute this number. One way is to think about performing an experiment several times. We count the number of times that the experiment is successful and then divide this number by the total number of trials of the experiment. If we have A successes out of a total of N trials, then the probability of success is A/N. But if we instead consider the number of successes versus the number of failures, we are now calculating the odds in favor of an event. If there were N trials and A successes, then there were N - A B failures. So the odds in favor are A to B. We can also express this as A:B. An Example of Probability to Odds In the past five seasons, crosstown football rivals the Quakers and the Comets have played each other with the Comets winning twice and the Quakers winning three times. On the basis of these outcomes, we can calculate the probability the Quakers win and the odds in favor of their winning. There was a total of three wins out of five, so the probability of winning this year is 3/5 0.6 60%. Expressed in terms of odds, we have that there were three wins for the Quakers and two losses, so the odds in favor of them winning are 3:2. Odds to Probability The calculation can go the other way. We can start with odds for an event and then derive its probability. If we know that the odds in favor of an event are A to B, then this means that there were A successes for A B trials. This means that the probability of the event is A/(A B ). An Example of Odds to Probability A clinical trial reports that a new drug has odds of 5 to 1 in favor of curing a disease. What is the probability that this drug will cure the disease? Here we say that for every five times that the drug cures a patient, there is one time where it does not. This gives a probability of 5/6 that the drug will cure a given patient. Why Use Odds? Probability is nice, and gets the job done, so why do we have an alternate way to express it? Odds can be helpful when we want to compare how much larger one probability is relative to another. An event with a probability 75% has odds of 75 to 25. We can simplify this to 3 to 1. This means that the event is three times more likely to occur than not occur.
Sunday, December 22, 2019
Stereotypical Representations Of African Culture - 1765 Words
For years now, the cinematic (Hollywood narrative films) worlds has based all sorts of their different films on Africa and its people, but are these stereotypical representations on Africa showcased in all films? Various genres such as comedy, drama, horror and even science-fiction have showcased African people showing us world cinemaââ¬â¢s typical and ideal representation of an African character, portraying their culture poorly, negatively and violently, but not all films portray African characters negatively with no dominance. Though globally seen as poor people who live in poverty, thatââ¬â¢s right, I said poverty, most children grow up to see Africans as just that. Poor and unfortunate. The typical African culture is generally assumed to be of poor and unfortunate civilization, undermining any positive influences that could possibly be made to Africa and its people. They are stereotyped as worthless outcasts, although films such as Tsotsi and Remember the Titans take these depictions of Africa and throughout the films, ââ¬Å"Transformâ⬠them instantaneously in the films Tsotsi and ATL where aesthetic features such as costume, setting and mise en scene differentiate the representation of Africans to the reality in the film. Costume is one of the aesthetic features which influence the representations of Africans in the film Tsotsi. By directing certain characters in different costumes, it immediately gives the audience a solid first impression on the character and what sort of attitudesShow MoreRelatedColonialism And Racism In Crash By Paul Haggis839 Words à |à 4 Pages Paul Haggisââ¬â¢s 2004 melodrama ââ¬Å"Crashâ⬠is a film depicting the way diverse societies, cultures and environments affect each otherââ¬â¢s lives. Characters are forced to interact and assist in uncomfortable and traumatic chains of events that impact the filmââ¬â¢s ability to create intense moments that questioned are initial perspective of a characterââ¬â¢s sense of morality. Haggis does an excellent job structuring the story around the concept of everyday life with unexpected moments of conflict, and developingRead MoreThe Representation of African Americans in the Media and Popular Culture901 Words à |à 4 PagesIntroduction In popular culture, specifically American television, representations of African Americans often rely upon an array of stereotypes. Representation is the production of meaning through language or signifying systems. In media, the dominant stereotypes of African Americans include the sapphire, the coon, the jezebel, and the buck. These stereotypes originated during the minstrelsy period of the 1830s from white actors in blackface. While classic Black stereotypes originated during thisRead MoreImportant Points Of Racial Representation From Review Of Literature926 Words à |à 4 PagesResponse #3 Important points about racial representation from Review of Literature â⬠¢ People of different races (other than whites) have restricted positions on television â⬠¢ Whiteââ¬â¢s dominate over minorities when they appear on screen- Minorities shadow behind White culture â⬠¢ When shown on TV, people of color are in the background and are shown in stereotypical characters â⬠¢ Whites viewed as ideal audiences, hence television shows with Whites as main leads â⬠¢ African American celebrities are athletes thatRead MoreAmerica s The Global Movie Scene806 Words à |à 4 PagesFor generations, Hollywood has dominated the global movie scene. In many countries American films capture up to 90 percent of the market (Campbell 201). Cultural studies is in fact the study of the ways in which culture is constructed and organized and the ways in which it evolves and changes over time. More recently, as globalization has started to intensify, and the United States government has been actively promoting free trade agendas and trade on cultural products, which led Hollywood into becomingRead MoreAfrican American Stereotypes Reality Television1531 Words à |à 7 Pagesideas of social order and cultural norms to its audiences, while perpetuating racial stereotypes in society (Mendible, 2004). My purpose of the review of literature is to examine and analyze reality televisionââ¬â¢s influence on peopleââ¬â¢s perceptions of African American stereo types. Reality Television Reality based television has a broad landscape ranging from competitive game-like shows to programs following the daily lives of a group of people. Every major network now has some form of reality programmingRead MoreRace Is a Significant Factor in Identification of Individuals and Groups1493 Words à |à 6 Pagesis over. This fantasy mentality is due the naturalized process of racism and racial discrimination (Hall, 272). Naturalized racism is especially dominant in aspects of pop culture including television, and movies. Racism has been commodified and depicted as an act of celebration, which adds to the invisibility. Pop culture has an influential role in constructing and producing the celebratory and commodified ideology of racism. Stuart Hall claims that to understand the ideology of race it is importantRead MoreAmerica s Social Climate : The Melting Pot1680 Words à |à 7 Pagesdelivers a powerful and intriguing theme, the reality is that Hollywood has yet again provided the Eurocentric view and classical style or naturalized ideology through stereotypical roles and dominant power needed to deliver the lower class (black women) to feeling empowered to fight the system. The Help resonates among a guilty white culture about the atrocities of slavery and the urban conditions that remain in our society. The era in which the film depicts is of the civil rights movement, the submissionRead MoreHow does the mass media reinforce sterotypes?1508 Words à |à 7 Pagesexperiences (Lester, 1996, p.1), the stereotyping of individuals results in harmful generalisations that ultimately deny an individuals unique contribution to humanity (Lester, 1996, p.1). When the mass media engage in stereotyping, misleading representations concerning members from diverse cultural groups are confirmed. In this essay, a broad range of texts will be used to examine the ways in which the mass media construct and reinforce social stereotypes around gender, ethnicity and age, as wellRead MoreThe Portrayal Of Gay And Gay891 Words à |à 4 Pages Over the last few decades, our society went through a huge transformation in culture, politics and media that no one else could have foreseen. There is an obvious increase in the acceptance of homosexuality. Even though lesbian and gay people have gradually moved onto the stage in growing numbers, there are still some problems exist in the ways that media perpetuate homosexual stereotypes. According to an article by Chong-suk Han, ââ¬Å"The subjective storytelling found in ââ¬Ëjournalisticââ¬â¢ piecesRead MoreThe Intersection Of Race And Media1489 Words à |à 6 PagesAmerican television or is it still being normalized into cinema and television by reproducing the understanding of racial difference leading to generalized stereotypes? Media has been shown to have the potential to pr omote or to call into question stereotypical views of social groups, including those defined by race, ethnicity, gender and sexual identity. (Scharrer 2015) Media has the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and communicate messages in a variety of forms. Could media constrict views of race
Saturday, December 14, 2019
Chemistry Review Chapters 1 â⬠2 Free Essays
Chemistry Review sheet: Unit 1- Lesson 1, 2 *Key notes to keep in mind* u Metals have a high low ionization energy u Non-metals have a high electron affinity à · Atom: The basic unity of an element which still retains the elements properties à · Atomic number: the unique number of protons in the nucleus of a particular element à · Isotope: Atoms of the same element which contain a different number of neutrons à · Periodic law: The chemical and physical properties of the elements repeat in a regular, periodic pattern when they are arranged according to their atomic number. Periodic trend: a pattern that is evident when elements are organized by their atomic numbers o Trends for atomic size: As you go down a group the atoms get bigger. o As you go down a group, valence electrons occupy and energy level that is farther and farther from the nucleus. We will write a custom essay sample on Chemistry Review Chapters 1 ââ¬â 2 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Therefore the rings of electrons underneath the valence atoms shield the valence electrons from the nucleus so that the atom isnââ¬â¢t pulled in as tight as the one before it. o Trends for atomic size: As you go down a periodic table, atoms get smaller Because the protons increase as you go down a period, the positive charge on tighter to the nucleus rather looser. o Trends for ionization energy: Ionization energy tends to go down a group o As you go down a period the attraction between the nucleus and the electrons in the outer energy level decreases. o Ionization energy tends to increase across a period. o As you go across a period the attraction between the nucleus and the electrons in the outer energy level increases. Therefore, more energy is needed to pull an electron away from its atom. Lewis structure: a symbolic representation of the arrangement of the valence electrons of an element à · Octet: an arrangement of eight electrons in the valence shell of an atom à · Ioniz ation energy: the energy that is needed to remove an electron from a neutral atom à · Atomic mass unit (u): a unit of mass that is 1/12 of the mass of a carbon-12 à · Radioisotope: an unstable isotope of an element, which undergoes radioactive decay à · Mass number: The total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of one of its atoms. Each proton or neutron is counted as one unit of the mass number. Energy level: fixed, three-dimensional volume in which electrons travel around the nucleus. à · Valence electron: an electron that occupies the outermost energy level of an atom. à · Stable octet: an arrangement of eight electrons in the valence shell of an atom. à · Electron affinity: the change in energy that accompanies the addition of an electron to an atom in the gaseous state. à · Cation: a positively charged atom. à · Anion: a negatively charged atom. Theories: Law of Conservation of mass: During a chemical reaction, the total mass of the substances involved does no t change. Law of Definite Proportions: Elements always combine to form compounds in fixed proportions by mass. (Eg. Water always contains the elements hydrogen and oxygen combined in the following proportions: 11% hydrogen, 89% oxygen) Lesson 3 Ionic and Covalent compounds à · Chemical Bonds: the forces that attract to each other in compounds. o BONDING INVOLVES THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE VALENCE ELECTRONS OF ATOMS WHICH USUALLY CREATES A MORE STABLE BOND THAT AN ELEMENT ON ITS OWN. à · Ionic compound: between a non-metal and a metal where the metal loses an electron and the non-metal gains it Characteristics of an ionic bond consist of: à § Normally happens between a metal and a non-metal à · Metals tend to lose electrons, non-metals tend to gain them. à § Very high melting point à § Easily dissolved in water à § Good conductor of electricity, in water or on its own. à · Covalent compound: a bond between two non-metals (or a metal and a non-metal when the metal has a high electron af finity), where atoms share electrons o Characteristics of a covalent bond consist of: à § Low melting point à § When contained under high pressures or temperatures, becomes liquid à § Weak conductor of electricity Somewhat soluble o Polar covalent compound: a bond where the electronegativity is not great enough to completely bond to the other atom. Although, it does move closer to an atom, it never completely bonds. (between 0. 5 and 1. 7) This therefore means that when the electrons are partially exchanged, rather than having a + or ââ¬â sign, they receive a ? + or ? ââ¬â symbol à · Electronegativity: the measure of an atoms ability to attract electrons in a chemical bond. (EN) the opposite of atomic size which therefore means that as the atomic size increase, the electronegativity decreases If the electronegativity difference is 0. 00-1. 6 the bond is covalent. o If the electronegativity difference is over 1. 7 and up the bond is ionic. à · Octet rule: atoms bond in o rder to achieve an electron configuration that is the same as the electron configuration a noble gas. (8 valence electrons) à · Isoelectric: when two atoms or ions have the same electron configuration. (e. g. Cl and Ar) à · Molecular compounds: See covalent bonds à · Intramolecular forces: the forces that bond covalent bonds together à · Intermolecular forces: the forces that bond ionic bonds together Metallic bonding: in order to combine two metals both metals lose their valence electrons and combine them in a free flowing ââ¬Å"seaâ⬠of electrons so that the electrons are shared equally by all atoms that join the bond. à · Alloy: a homogeneous mixture of two or more metals. à · Lone pairs: electron pairs that are not involved in bonding à · Bonding pairs: electron pair that are involved with bonding. à · Polar molecule: a molecule with a partial negative charge on one end and a partial positive charge on the other end. à · Non-polar molecule: a molecule that has nei ther a positive nor negative end. How to cite Chemistry Review Chapters 1 ââ¬â 2, Essay examples
Friday, December 6, 2019
A Study on the Problems Faced by Teachers in a Mixed free essay sample
A Study on the Problems faced by Teachers in a Mixed-ability Class. P. Karthi, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Gobi Arts Science College, Gobichettipalayam. Mixed ability as used in ELT usually refers to the differences that exist in a group in terms of different levels of language proficiency. This might be a result of simply the amount of time they have spent for learning, their different language learning abilities or learning style preferences. Almost all groups are mixed-ability.The world of English language teaching (ELT) presents a great number of ideas and concepts, expounding a vast assortment of styles, models and techniques, but often makes a general assumption on the make-up of actual classes in which such teaching methods are to be employed. In an ideal teaching environment, we might all wish for energetic, highly-motivated and able students coupled with a limitless supply of time and resources, but the reality that many of us have to face is far from the ideal situation. For a variety of restrictive reasons there is a need for teachers to make the best use of what is available and to do so in the most productive way that ones personal teaching methodology might allow. Teaching students with mixed ability can pose a unique set of challenges. Diversity in language, culture, confidence and ability can all come into play for teachers in the classroom Working with students, sending them down different paths in order to arrive at a similar goal can be one of the most challenging things for teachers of all backgrounds.However with patience, respect and hard work all the seemingly grand problems can be overcome to the benefit of all. As such, it is our intention to present a brief, basic summary of what we believe to be a sound starting methodology for approaching classes with students of mixed abilities. As a first step in managing the diversity of student ability in the classroom, there needs to be an analysis of the needs of the students. With this analy sis the teacher will gain much ground in the effort to determine and support the needs of every student. This analysis will provide an opportunity for the students to reflect on their ability and style and prepare them for the fact that the class will not be managed in the traditional manner. While this action seems to add work for the instructor on the front end of things we think we can easily liken it to the old adage ââ¬Ëan ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cureââ¬â¢. Upon determination of the individual student needs the teacher can strive to coordinate the students into functional learning groups based on their skills and learning pace.The construction of focus groups allows the instructor to proactively increase the effectiveness of the lesson plan and provide realistic and achievable assignments to the students. The groups can work together based on their skill level or at that time the instructor can intermingle the weaker with the advanced, which will also contribute to creating variety in the class. This method allows for all students to advance toward a mutual go al at an appropriate pace for their capacity and avoids putting them off with material that is outside of their aptitude.Provided the instructor has established focus groups based on ability or learning pace the next step is to consider the curriculum to be utilized. The instructor should prepare a collection of authentic information and materials that can be used with varying requirements for the class. These materials can be utilized in the classroom to provide different tasks for the unique skill levels so as to achieve conformity in the exercise, while utilizing realistic expectations of what can be accomplished based on individual groups.To this end the instructor can include several different versions of the same homework task in order to align with achievement levels and maximize the benefit to all the students. Ultimately in this very limited summary we feel that we need to consider the psychology of the students, the effects of this methodology on them and how to work to benefit each and every student. If caution is not taken to include all students fully the weaker students will potentially not achieve and consequently experience the natural reaction of avoiding the activities they are not successful in.Because of this reaction the ach ievement gap will only be widened rather than narrowed. To this end, instructors must make an effort to make the classes inclusive while differentiating in order to ensure student achievement across the board and not just with the better performing students. While there are so many different facets in managing a class of students with mixed abilities, by taking some basic measures teachers can manage the challenge effectively for the benefit of all. We can be certain hat we have only begun to scratch the surface of the issues faced by teachers of classes with mixed ability students, but we hope we have provided some basic building blocks for individual instructors to start with. As instructors we have the responsibility to show respect and provide reasonable attention to all students and we feel strongly that utilizing the previously stated methodology is a start down a path to achieve such ends. Differentiating Instruction for Advanced Learners in the Mixed-Ability Classroom.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)