Political Influences of Constructivist Theory Essay

There are several political influences that underlie the constructivist curriculum theory. Before the 1900s, the principles of constructivism were not very well regarded because it was generally thought that classroom instruction should be rigid and that teachers should be the sole generator of knowledge and while student’s only task in the classroom is to absorb that knowledge (Kitchener, 1986). During the 1920’s, educators such as Jean Piaget and John Dewey, began calling for educational reforms to adapt more â€Å"democratic† curricula that make use of constructivist ideals (Kitchener, 1986). These people inspired political movements that called for a different approach to learning. These political influences prompted the establishment of organizations that sought to veer away from the traditional learning methods. One such organization which was formed is the National Council of Teachers in Mathematics (NCTM). The NCTM saw how traditional methods called â€Å"drill and kill† numbed student’s minds and made learning inapplicable to practical circumstances and began to launch political and educational movements intended to help teachers facilitate learning more effectively in the classroom (NCTM, 2008). However even at the present, constructivist educational reforms have yet to take root in American legislation. Still, there are instances when political will is raised by the public to find new ways to deliver quality education. One such instance was in the latest release of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS) worldwide testing which showed that American students were performing poorly based on the world standards (AGI, 2008). This prompted movements that yet again called for a different approach to education outside of the traditional lecture methods. In 2002, the U. S. House Subcommittee on Education Reform introduced legislation that sought to overhaul the current research methods for deriving effective teaching practices and better explore constructivist approaches (AGI, 2008). This legislation is known as the Education Sciences Reform Act (AGI, 2008). In conclusion, it can be said that the constructivist curriculum is politically tied with the public’s desire to have better working educational models for their children. This want is what has driven movements to exist and call for government to address the problem.

Free sample - Modern Art Beyond the West. translation missing

Modern Art Beyond the West. Modern Art Beyond the WestExecutive summary Western aspects are quite evident in the artistic designs of Li Hua. His techniques heavily borrowed from those used in the western world. These techniques included: lithography which belongs to the planographic printing, etching which belongs to the intaglio printing, woodcut which belongs to the relief printing and stencil printing. Introduction Many artists in china have heavily borrowed from the west as far as their design techniques are concerned. This paper will discuss one highly renowned Chinese artist by the name Li Hua and show how his work was influenced by western art. Objectives This paper seeks to show how the work of Li Hua was influenced by western art. Research methodology To achieve the desired research objectives, both primary and secondary sources of information were made use of. The primary sources included questionnaires given to professionals in the art arena quite conversant with the concept and historians who are well versed with the concept. The secondary source of information was basically library research targeting books and articles touching on the subject. Main body Li Hua was a renowned Chinese artist who studied western oil painting in Guangzhou as well as in Japan (Speiser, 1960). He is known for finding the first modern wood cut society in china in the year 1934 on returning from Japan. He also started the All - china Association of anti- Enemy Woodcutters (Honey, 1945). He lectured in the Central Academy of Fine Arts and wrote many articles and books on art theory. This artist pursued the artistic cannons of western nations (Speiser, 1960). This is for instance seen in his selection of subjects as well as their composition in his wood cut designs. The overall design as well as the postures of the characters in his designs reflect techniques of western countries. Other aspects of western techniques in the work of this artist included: lithography which belongs to the planographic printing, etching which belongs to the intaglio printing, woodcut which belongs to the relief printing and stencil printing (Sullivan, 1961). Conclusion This paper has discussed the techniques borrowed from the western culture that Li Hua applied in his designs. They have included: lithography which belongs to the planographic printing, etching which belongs to the intaglio printing, woodcut which belongs to the relief printing and stencil printing. References Honey, W. (1945). The Ceramic Art of China and other Countries of the Far East. London: Oxford University Press Speiser, W. (1960). The Art of China: Spirit and Society. London: Crown Publishers. Sullivan, M. (1961). An Introduction to Chinese Art. California: University of California

Free Essays on Constitution

The Constitutional Convention began on May 25, 1787, when 55 delegates arrived at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, then known as the Pennsylvania State House. There the delegates amended the Articles of Confederation. Four questions proved far more difficult to resolve: conflicts over how the people were to be represented in Congress; what to do about slavery; the powers of the president and the procedures for election to the office; and the powers and functions of the federal courts. The delegates settled most of the scores of issues quickly. They then created a new Constitution, a plan of government designed to solve the governmental problems caused under the Articles of Confederation. Since they made such a flexible document it still continues to guide this nation today. The Constitution spells out in six sections the powers of the federal government and the states. Later amendments expanded some of these powers and limited others. For example in document #2 many years later the voting laws were able to be changed so that no matter your race, sex, color, or age as long as your 18 years of age or older, you cant be denied the right to vote. The Constitution prevents cruel or unjust use of power through the separation of powers. In document #4 it talks about the system of checks and balances and how each branch of government has its own responsibilities and cannot take action in areas assigned to the other branches. Otherwise one person or group being in control with all that power would not be good for the nation as a whole. Congress enacts laws, leaving enforcement of the laws to the executive branch and interpretation of them to the judicial branch. As stated in document #5 in the Marbury v. Madison case the judicial branch with the power and authority to interpret the constitution, was provided with a veto over federal laws. The Constitution divides governmental powers in other ways, both w... Free Essays on Constitution Free Essays on Constitution The Constitutional Convention began on May 25, 1787, when 55 delegates arrived at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, then known as the Pennsylvania State House. There the delegates amended the Articles of Confederation. Four questions proved far more difficult to resolve: conflicts over how the people were to be represented in Congress; what to do about slavery; the powers of the president and the procedures for election to the office; and the powers and functions of the federal courts. The delegates settled most of the scores of issues quickly. They then created a new Constitution, a plan of government designed to solve the governmental problems caused under the Articles of Confederation. Since they made such a flexible document it still continues to guide this nation today. The Constitution spells out in six sections the powers of the federal government and the states. Later amendments expanded some of these powers and limited others. For example in document #2 many years later the voting laws were able to be changed so that no matter your race, sex, color, or age as long as your 18 years of age or older, you cant be denied the right to vote. The Constitution prevents cruel or unjust use of power through the separation of powers. In document #4 it talks about the system of checks and balances and how each branch of government has its own responsibilities and cannot take action in areas assigned to the other branches. Otherwise one person or group being in control with all that power would not be good for the nation as a whole. Congress enacts laws, leaving enforcement of the laws to the executive branch and interpretation of them to the judicial branch. As stated in document #5 in the Marbury v. Madison case the judicial branch with the power and authority to interpret the constitution, was provided with a veto over federal laws. The Constitution divides governmental powers in other ways, both w...

Historical Significance of AIDS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Historical Significance of AIDS - Essay Example The article views a range of aspects from a social perspective on practices of institutions that shape the response of Brazil to AIDS and victims lives and their stories. It is drawn from interviews with policy makers, corporate actors, longitudinal ethnographic and activists among the care services of AIDS. The innovation of pharmaceuticals allow for unlikely coalitions which exposes the insufficiencies of action to reforms and paradigms of public health, if to global values, limited extent and mechanisms. The treatment rollouts form matters of strong negotiations, the local realization shape up by uncertainty and contingencies. Such realizations program diverse political and economic interests, as well as desires and citizens needs. The therapeutic merges also expose local infrastructure and national deficiencies and bring together the relations of civil society. A public health model that is pharmaceutically centred has surfaced to be a by-product from the treatment of AIDS sustai nability and scale up of policy of AIDS in Brazil has to constantly be negotiated in the drugs world market. Many networks and differentiation in the AIDS care resurface and in the article, the reason for the difficultness in AIDS practice among the poor has been well spelt out. The AIDS victims who are poor stay in a flux state and simultaneously acknowledging their condition during their participation in salvation. In a micro and macro level, there is a triage state and survival politics crystallizing (Biehl, pp 1083) Many communities have different beliefs, ideas and healing systems about AIDS and therefore, a viewed few ideas will be considered (porter, pp8). AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a feared disease which results into entire failure of resistance to bacterial and viral infection that originally exist in the body of human being. AIDS is caused by Human T-cell Lymph tropic-associated HTLV-III according to scientists from America. In France the scientists name d it LAV and World Health Organization calls it HIV. The virus affects selectively helper T-cells responsible for very crucial role in the defence responses of human body to fight diseases (Christopher et al, pp 7) The named symptoms might show one or alongside others or altogether might be suppressed: unexplainable and significant weight loss, thick sputum cough, glands which are swollen in neck side, groin and armpits, watery diarrhoea that persists, white copursles reduction, anal and oral ulcers persistent mood of tiredness and blood platelets reduction. The virus presence in human body is discovered through an easy test of blood called ELISA. Other tests like test of immune florescence and Western blot can be used to confirm this test (ELISA). AIDS is not curable. But researchers worldwide are working on finding a safe but effective vaccine and a drug which would stop this virus from spreading. Considerations have been on many drugs. But Dideoxy nucleoside, Ribavarin and Azidot hymidine seems to be more satisfactory. Already AZT is being used in the United States of America on the victims. AIDS is a name derived from a deadly immune structure weakening. Furthermore, AIDS as investigated is caused by T4cells destruction or functional failure. T4 cells are also known as helper cells that perform a systematic role in production of immune system or body defence antibodies. During the period of ailment, there exists a big reduction of the helper cells count blocking the manufacturing of antibodies and

Media Management - Event Planning Event Planning Essay

Media Management - Event Planning Event Planning - Essay Example INTRODUCTION The marketing is the need of every small and large business in today’s world of globalization. The emergence of social media and online bloggers has allowed businesses to market online at low cost. The businesses are taking full advantage of this cheap way of marketing. The options for market a product through different mediums depends on the size and budget of the company (Smith, and Zook, 2011). Nowadays, the perfect competition is prevailing in all the local markets and this intensity of competition made necessity for every local business to create marketing or promotional strategies to stay in the market with handsome profits and differentiated brand image. The event marketing is one of the best suited marketing tools for local area advertising because it directly targets the market of local area community. Most of the events are developed to get the attention of media. Companies want media to talk about them from time to time to publicize the business. Once t he local business gets succeeded in gaining media attention then it would become easy for the local business to create its unique brand image among all the local competitors (Kotler, and Keller, 2009). Event Development (The event is named as a â€Å"Cultural Evening†): The Wild Affair is a big chain of restaurants and the company is now introducing another restaurant in the new local market by creating an event in the area for targeting the local area customers. People that are living in the local area belong to different cultures so the event is organized by considering all the small and large communities living in the area. The event is designed under the consideration of cross-culture function of the society. The event will be arranged in the hall in order to attract large audience. The restaurant has the specialty in 18 different countries foods. So especially for the event the restaurant is designed or decorated with 18 different cultural themes to represent the food av ailability of 18 countries. Every country is represented by its national culture theme or with a small setup with waiters in wearing cultural dresses of each country. The core concept is to position the restaurant and create awareness of its offerings. The culture creates an emotional attachment with the customers. The company wants to connect the emotional attachment with its customer by providing them their cultural environment. Cultural values and cultural food has created a feeling in the consumer’s mind that he/she is serving in its own country. This idea of serving the cultural food with cultural values has made an emotional bonding with customers. This bonding will create the customer loyal to the brand. The restaurant has some additional attractive services as well that are customizing food according to the mood of the customer, additional top-ups and add-ons with the meals. Another perception for the event created is that the company is combining all the communities of the area under the one roof to unite them. This perception can be called as Societal Marketing concept. Alignment of Company’s Mission and Target Audience with the Event: The company’s strategy is to target each community individually and show respect for each community’s culture present in the society. The company has covered all the communiti

The Strategy of Alaska in Saudi Arabia Term Paper

The Strategy of Alaska in Saudi Arabia - Term Paper Example Alaska has an established Alaska Permanent Fund (APF)  that requires the government to invest at least a quarter of the revenue it earns from oil on behalf of its citizens. From these investments the APF has diversified mutual fund that has accumulated into a huge resource base in form of asset to the tune of about $28 billion dollar according to a report released in 2004 (Alaska Oil and Gas Association, 2015). Each year the government injects some amount from the oil revenue while they pay a dividend to the citizens annually through the Permanent Fund Divided scheme. For instance, in 2014 the government paid its citizens a total of $1,884 for each qualified Alaskan. The funds are managed through Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Alaska, oil revenue contributes about 92 percent of the total government revenue as of the year 2011. Half of the corporate shares are in the ownership of private and public pension and retirement schemes while individuals own 20% while 27% is owned by asset management companies and financial institutions (Alaska Oil and Gas Association, 2015). The board members and corporate executives own the remaining 3%. This has an implication that when the oil sector is performing well the benefits trickles down to the citizens equitably either through returns from mutual fund investments, pensions, etc. (Dyer & Al-Ghwell, 2012). Therefore, oil earnings benefit the citizens in many way including dividends, better economic growth from states and federal revenues, capital projects, and employment opportunities.

Consider the View That Free

Consider the View That Free Will is an Illusion Essay You decide on the chocolate cake confident that you could have chosen the sandwich instead. You were free to do both, but as a matter of fact, you chose to eat the unhealthy option. But were you actually free to choose the unchosen alternative? Many philosophers think that free will is actually an illusion – that the choice you actually made was inevitable. Schopenhauer, for example, argued that for a man to say that he could have chosen an alternative is analogous to water in a still pond saying it could be flowing. Yes, he said, the water could be flowing if that same water were in a river, but given that it is actually in a pond its stillness is inevitable. I will argue that the arguments that purport to show that free will is an illusion are weak, and that we have such a thing as free will. First let us look at the arguments for determinism (here I will understand the determinism being discussed to be hard determinism – the view that our free will is illusory – rather than the compatibilist idea that free will can exist alongside causal determinism). What makes you take the chocolate cake instead of the sandwich? We think that the chocolate taking is the result of our deliberation and that the motive for eating the chocolate cake overcame our desire to be healthy. But what determined or caused us to be the kind of being that preferred the one to the other? It was our overall character. But what caused this? We say it is our upbringing and our genes. Now did we decide upon our upbringing that started the casual chain of events that culminated in the taking of the chocolate? No, so there was no other action that was in fact possible. Think of a snooker ball falling into the pocket. What caused this to happen? It was the combination of its shape, the direction of the cue, and the nature of the table. These factors combined with the laws of physics made the event inevitable. Of course, the snooker ball was not logically required to go into the pocket. There could have been a gust a wind at the crucial moment, but then this other event would have been causally necessary. Other things can only happen if other things which cause these other things to happen occur. So whatever happens is determined. If this is true of snooker balls, why should it be not true of us as well? If we are physical beings, and our brains composed of physical stuff, why should I be not constrained by the same physical forces as everything else? The hard determinist says that there is no reason to believe that we are not subject, like the billiard ball, to the laws of nature. We feel like we could have chosen the sandwich, but given the physical facts about the situation the taking of the chocolate was inevitable. Of course, we could have taken the sandwich if the physical facts were different, but they weren’t! So free will – the sense that we could have done otherwise in the same situation – is an illusion say the hard determinists. We are not free. This is a radical thesis, and if accepted would result in a radical readjustment of our concept of ourselves. And it from this that my first argument comes. According to phenomenalism we should proceed according to this methodology: accept the appearances – accept what you have the most warrant for believing. Descartes, for example, says we can be more philosophically assured of the existence of our own minds than the existence of the physical world. Hence his famous proposition: Cogito ergo sum. Why should the more doubtful propositions of science about the nature of the doubtable physical world take precedence over the immediate data of consciousness? Why should the philosophically disputable over-ride the philosophically indubitable? Physical determinists are committed to this doubtful methodology: let the world, which we cannot prove to exist, take precedence over the mental world whose existence we simply cannot doubt. The phenomenalist like Sartre says the mental appearances are indisputable. We certainly have the phenomenology of the appearance that we could have chosen otherwise. And it is from these certainties that we should proceed. So our freedom is here an inevitable part of our conception of ourselves and no argument from the outside world of physics can over-ride these certainties. Here’s another argument against the acceptance of the idea that free will is an illusion. Kant says that ought implies can. In other words, we cannot be obliged to do something if it is not within our ability to do it. Someone may say that I ought to eliminate third world poverty – that if I do not do so I am guilty of a neglect of duty. But this is unreasonable. It is not within my power to eliminate third world poverty, so it cannot be said that I ought to do so. Of course, if someone were to say that I ought to help to eliminate third world poverty, this is a reasonable ‘ought’ because I can do it. Ought then implies can. The argument proceeds from this presupposition and says that if Eric murders Sam we say that he ought not to have done so. He ought to have done differently – he ought to have refrained from murder. But if determinism is true, then, Eric had no alternative open to him. He was caused by his nature, the laws of physics, and his environment to kill Sam. We cannot therefore say that he ought not to have done it. We cannot expect people to do things that are not within their power to do. Our moral beliefs then presuppose that determinism is false. If we are not free then a morality of oughts and duty is incoherent. Again, we could proceed phenomenologically on this – we are more sure and have more warrant for our oughts than we have for our beliefs in determinism, so moral oughts should over-ride any belief we might be entertaining for determinism. Another argument against determinism says this: if I am caused to inevitably accept the conclusions of an argument then I cannot have been rational to accept the conclusions of the argument. If I am determinist I have to say that my belief in determinism was caused by physical processes. The determinist has to accept that it is true for his opponent. Both are caused by ignorant physical forces to accept their beliefs. But this is self-refuting. The determinist is in effect saying that there is no rationality, so we cannot be rational in accepting or rejecting beliefs. So the consistent determinist cannot say that he is offering reasons for accepting determinism; he must say he is putting in new causal inputs that cause a new belief state to emerge. This seems little better than irrational brain-washing! To conclude: belief in determinism is not warranted. It goes against our fundamental conceptions of ourselves and threatens to make morality meaningless. Moreover, determinism is self-refuting. It says of itself ‘There is no rational reason for accepting me. ’ I cannot rationally accept that which has no rational reason for its justification.