Hand book customer service Essay Example for Free

Hand book customer service Essay Policies: policies (structure, use, focus, customer requirements/expectations, product and service knowledge, consultation, confidentiality, customer perceptions and satisfaction, monitor customer service and satisfaction, influences affecting implementation, effective communication) Quality of service: methods of assessment; customer expectations; standardised procedures; codes of practice; staff levels (staffing levels, staff competency, flexibility, reliability and responsiveness) Evaluation: purpose; sources of feedback; accuracy; relevance; reliability; validity; methods of data collection; improvements; staff training and development Hospitality industry: industries within the hospitality industry eg hotels, restaurants, pubs, bars and nightclubs, contract food service providers, hospitality services, membership clubs, events 2. Understand the purpose of promoting a customer-focused culture Communication: types eg verbal, non-verbal body language, written; types of response; use; effect Customer: central role; customer service culture; identifying and analysing customer requirements and expectations; influences of service provision on customer perceptions Benefits of improved service: customer satisfaction, repeat business, improved reputation, increased profit  3. Be able to investigate customer requirements and expectations Requirements: sources of information eg customers, staff, management, customer records, past information Module Handbook C. Ugoji Sept, 2013 Page 2 Unit Handbook Unit 4: The Customer Service Primary research: primary research eg sampling, qualitative, quantitative; interview eg individual, group, survey, observation; contact methods eg mail, telephone, personal Secondary research: internal eg sales records, yield data, financial information, client databases; external eg government publications, trade journals, periodicals, professional associations, national organisations, commercial data Satisfaction levels: planning; strategy; assessment of options using researched information; role of the business and services manager; staffing levels; motivating staff; improvements 4. Be able to provide customer service within business and services contexts to meet required standards  Types of customers: different age groups eg the elderly, children; different cultural backgrounds; special needs eg physically disabled; satisfied; dissatisfied; under influence eg drugs, alcohol, medication Customer needs: customer needs eg products and services, urgent, non-urgent, special requirements, quality of service, value for money, cultural, social; trends eg fashion, ergonomic, equipment, training, products and services, consumer protection legislation Customer service: consultation; advice; personal selling; complaints procedure; reception skills; confidentiality Learning Outcomes: To achieve this unit leaner must: 1. Understand customer service policies within business and services contexts 2. Understand the purpose of promoting a customer-focused culture 3. Be able to investigate customer requirements and expectations 4. Be able to provide customer service within business and services contexts to meet required standards. Teaching strategies used: Following are the different teaching and learning strategies, a description of how they work, where they have been applied, results, and where to find more information from individuals, books, web sites, and other resources. Lecture Notes The most basic way of supporting teaching in this module – a place for students to access lecture notes. The main advantages are reduction in the amount of college Module Handbook C. Ugoji Sept, 2013 Page 3 Unit Handbook Unit 4: The Customer Service photocopying and students can access notes prior to lecture and prepare themselves. Presenting Lectures Displaying these lecture notes with the addition of projectors using power point presentation slides to visualize the information to the students. An increasing variety of ways are utilizing to reach students of all different learning styles, to help the students to understand complicated concepts and remember them better by using master graphic tools both on whiteboard and on computers. Interactive Tutorials A set of questions have been designed for each session in assessing student learning of subject matter using both paper based and computer based assessment techniques. The web and web authoring  Students are directed to use the advanced search engine to navigate the correct and legitimate information for their assignment. Different search engines compile information using different criteria and have access to different databases. Applying technology to develop students higher order skills and creativity to manage student learning activities in a technology-enhanced environment. Group Discussions The students will be give topics and some cases with the use of case study that relates to the topic covered in each session. There will also be a follow up on the discussion using group presentation and class assessment as the case may be. Summary of lecture For every session, there will be overall summary at the end teaching session. Attempting the passing criterion in class The student must attempt one or more learning outcome question covered in each session and the evidence will be documented

British Post War Mass Housing Cultural Studies Essay

British Post War Mass Housing Cultural Studies Essay In this essay, I will focus primarily on housing constructed during the decade or so after the end of the Second World War as part of the progressive, experimental establishment of the Welfare State in Britain. Although housing was constructed speculatively by private developers on a fairly wide scale with varying degrees of success (Span schemes like New Ash Green in Kent, by Eric Lyons being an obvious and commonly cited success story), it is social housing which is linked most fascinatingly to the evolving socio-economic landscape in Britain, as I shall demonstrate. Housing provision by the end of the war, particularly in urban centres, was considered inadequate, not only in quantity, but in quality as well. War damage had impacted the quantity of housing stock, but additionally, much obsolete housing had been earmarked for demolition since before the war. Nicholas Taylor, writing in the AR in 1967, in a discussion of what he called the failure of housing in the postwar period, cites the negative [postwar] reaction to the boom towns of the industrial revolution as the reason for this. In particular, he says, [we] have aimed to prevent epidemic diseases cholera, dysentery, rickets, scurvy, typhoid, all diseases which were propagated by overcrowding, by bad sanitation, by inadequate facilities for the preparation of food and by the pollution of homes from adjoining factories. Clearly, a commitment to addressing these public health issues must be commended what I will be discussing is whether the attempt to do so through the medium of housing, and specifically social housing, can be considered successful. It is important to understand at the outset the politically progressive nature of housing policy in the period, embedded as it is in the establishment of the Welfare State, which is based on the principles of, equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life.[1] Architecturally, the modernist desire expressed by Le Corbusier to provide an environment that was spiritually fulfilling, creating harmony between people and their surroundings and freeing communities from the misery of poor housing[2] was perfectly in sync with the prevailing political commitment to decisively break away from unsanitary, overcrowded slums. I propose to discuss a handful of iconic/ notorious case studies of 50s and 60s mass housing, as they excite passionately polarized opinion and act as symbols for the wider debate. The first is Park Hill in Sheffield, built in 1960, which according to the Architectural Review (in 2011) marked the peak performance of Sheffields city architects office as run by J.K. Lewis Womersley, regarded by [Nikolaus] Pevsner as an outfit of national importance.[3] This building proved popular with its residents, who loved their flats and soon formed an effective association. It was also much lauded in architectural circlesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Its size and hillside location made it the prime example of streets in the air nationally, and for a decade or so it thronged with international visitors.[4] However, decline set in as the ideal of equality was eroded [and] social housing became the ghetto of a suppressed underclass, and the more active, capable and employed were encouraged to buy themselves out, leaving the disadvantaged in possession. This is the key trend not only in this case, but across the country, and my desire is to understand whether this was a reflection on poor architecture, changes in society, or both. In the case of Park Hill, a recent initiative, privately funded by the developer Urban Splash, to redevelop the building, has provoked fresh debate over its merits. A blog on the Guardian website[5] on the subject exemplifies this. One poster expressed typical views (my italics): As a foreigner from Leeds who has lived in Sheffield for 30 years I can support those who report that the people of Sheffield did not want Park Hill kept, and were mystified by the listing and bemused by the amounts of money, some of it public money, being spent on this eyesore. The bright coloured panels are not an improvement. Anyone in Sheffield with the money to buy one of the penthouses would be much better advised to spend it in one of Sheffields leafy and affluent suburbs, of which we have many, which also often enjoy superb views, as Sheffield is very hilly. This poster neatly expresses a popular verdict on dense, large scale urban social housing projects of the period, in which as long ago as 1967, It [was] easier to count the few unbroken panes of armoured glass on the staircases than the multitude which are cracked and splintered, and where economy on materials and inadequacy of detailing can be assessed as objective weaknesses, but what is perhaps more importantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is the subjective hatred of the tenants for the rough shuttered concrete that is thrust upon them.[6] Descriptions of inhumane proportions, undefined wastes, and, above all, women return[ing] from the shops to be blown about amid the appalling dinginess of rough shuttered concrete[7] (my italics) crop up again and again in discussing schemes like Park Hill, Robin Hood Gardens, Red Road etc. The posters views on the preferability of leafy and affluent suburbs to dense urban apartment typology for those who can afford it also reflect a lingering psychological scar in the popular psyche left by the memory of the descent of estates like Park Hill from source[s] of intense municipal socialist pride to dilapidated sink estate[s][8], as though by their very nature they preclude the presence of a functional, prosperous community. Is this the case? If it is, how could surveys at Park Hill show that through the 1970s residents remained consistently loyal and generally happy.[9] What caused the slide of schemes like Park Hill into dysfunctionality? The homebuilding drive, founded on the vision of spiritually uplifting accommodation for all, continued but à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the vision was damaged by lack of reform in the 1960s. Rather than opening up [the] low cost-balanced rented sector to supply the needs of a more wealthy and mobile population, it narrowed to serve the restricted needs of welfare housing.[10] This was a key error, and precipitated a vicious circle of decline. The 60s was a period of economic optimism, in which comparative affluence was accessible to many more families than previously. An aspirational desire among those in social housing developed to graduate to home ownership. Very large council estates, tower blocks in the cities and restrictive letting policies contrasted with the variety of choices available for home ownership. From the 1960s, the welfare characteristic (residualisation) of council housing began to develop as a stigma from which home ownership was the natural escape.[11] The original dream of social housing as a living tapestry of a mixed community[12] was replaced instead by welfare housing, which established a low cost rented stock but created deep social problems and lost the affections of the electorate. A different political vision could have avoided this. Pre-war restrictions, limiting public housing to the working classes had been repealed in the 1949 Housing Act, opening up a universally accessible rented council house sector. If public housing had remained just that, rather than seguing into welfare housing, the vicious circle of decline would have lacked the conditions to come into being. The living tapestry of a mixed community could have remained. With Park Hill and its cousins populated as a matter of new policy increasingly by those on welfare, however, financial structures of dependency [were] deliberately imposed on social housing[13]. An alienated quality grew as residents of the schemes became increasingly cast adrift from mainstream society. A further strand to this narrative was playing out in the form of a shift in the structure of the economy in Britain. Sheffield grew up producing steel, in the 18th century knives and tools, in the 19th century heavy industry, with a high population of low paid but skilled manual workers. As the 1970s drew to an end and Thatcher came to power, the shift in policy away from provision of affordable social housing accelerated against a backdrop of an increasingly deindustrialized economy. The original inhabitants of the Park Hill and schemes like it, who had once been a proud working class, increasingly found themselves unemployed and without prospects of employment. It is certainly arguable that problems in residualized estates in decline, like Park Hill would have been exacerbated by the scale of social problems developing independently of housing policy. In the public imagination, then, the built fabric of the postwar years has not only become synonymous with social failure and breakdown, it is perceived as a cause of it. Failed buildings are pulled down, and it is easy to speculate that they are being made scapegoats for wider problems. Can an architectural defense be mounted for schemes like Park Hill, or Robin Hood Gardens? The latter is similar to the former a serpentine, high density block, this time inserted into an area of bomb damaged terraces (the standard grain of working class England) in London. What the Smithsons [architects] wanted to achieve was intended to maintain community dynamics [of the bombed out terraces] rather than to replace them with something entirely different. However, what they had not expected, as Kenneth Frampton pointed out in his book Modern Architecture, a Critical History, was that three principal features of the by-law street would be absent in their proposed blocks: first, the dynamics associated with dwellings on both sides of a street, secondly, the community life associated with the street at ground level, and thirdly, the backyard, which played a crucial role in by-law housing and the life of its communities. [14] Robin Hood Gardens, then, contained inherently flawed logic. But the flaws were shared by Park Hill, which prospered during a period when it wasnt handicapped by other factors. [Park Hill] is commonly described as the largest listed building in Europe and the largest listed brutalist or 60s building. In fact, says Owen Hatherley, its none of those things, with all those titles being taken by Londons Barbican estate: a place that, like Park Hill, is full of bare concrete, open space, urban density, walkways, social and the separation of pedestrian and car. One is a problem that apparently had to be solved; the other one of Londons most prestigious addresses. Why? The obvious reason is that one is council housing and the other, from the very start, was built as private housing. Accordingly, the Barbican has always been cleaned and cared for; Park Hill has been left to rot.[15] Physically, the Barbican is a close relative of a Park Hill, or a Robin Hood Gardens. Socially, though it bears more resemblance to Park Lane. This constitutes evidence against the argument that the decline into dysfunction of large, dense postwar urban social housing developments was an inevitable consequence of poor design. Further support from this position comes from a comparison between Park Hill and many of todays luxury apartment developments. Park Hill was accused of being disconnected from the surrounding fabric, isolating its inhabitants from the life of the city at large but what of the urban regeneration of the last few years in the light of the financial crisis? What do the speculative redevelopments of inner cities look like now? They have become the new ruins of Great Britain. These places have ruination in abundance: partly because of the way they were invariably surrounded by the derelict and un-regenerated, whether rotting industrial remnants or the giant retail and entertainment sheds of the 80s and 90s; partly because they were often so badly built, with pieces of render and wood frequently flaking off within less than a year of completion; but partly because they were so often empty, in every sense. Empty of architectural inspiration, empty of social hope or idealism, and often empty of people, Clarence Dock and Glasgow Harbour had a hard time filling their minimalist microflats with either buyers or buy-to-let investors.[16] We can begin to see that although marketed and branded differently, contemporary developer led, aspirational urban regeneration, may in fact suffer from similar or worse problems relating to its context as the maligned social schemes of the postwar period. Think of Glasgow Harbour, stranded by the Clyde and cut off from the city by the Clydeside Expressway. Worse, analysis of the flats themselves reveals a shocking inferiority in terms of space standards in contemporary developments compared to the 60s schemes. The logic was straightforward says the Architectural Review in its analysis of Park Hills original planning principles: a slab block up to 13 stories high and about 10m wide would permit a habitable room each side and centrally serviced bathrooms, while gallery access was preferred to a double loaded corridor. By making maisonettes with internal staircases it was possible for one gallery to serve 3 floors. Greatest design ingenuity went into planning interlocking flats of different sizes, making best use of the limited spaceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. [space standards] now seem generous, in relation to the products of mass house builders[17]. This, they note, is still valid logic if you accept the inevitability of flats for high densities in urban situations, as exist in cities worldwide. Even much admired contemporary schemes, like the Panter Hudspith development at Bear Lane in London, feature double loaded internal deck access, permitting only single aspect flats, with cramped accommodation yet their skin is considered attractive, and they are praised, despite inferior circulation and planning principles. Before concluding, I wish to note that whilst I have tried to demonstrate that it is impossible to blame the general failure of British postwar social housing on its architecture, there is still a world of difference in quality between the Red Road scheme, for example, and a Lasdun or Lubetkin scheme. Lasdun, even within tight budgetary constraints and a density target set by the local council of 200 people per square acre, managed to apply intelligence and subtlety to his designs for Keeling House, Bethnal Green in 1958 for example: the scale of the 14 floors was purposely designed to reflect the two storey brick terraces around it, essentially like a row of houses tipped up on its end.[18] This is architecture as we are taught it thoughtful, embedded in context. We should remember as well that Park Hill is no simple monolith inserted carelessly into Sheffield ­. Its very form is a response to specific topography, with its well known horizontal roof datum capping a 13 storey str ucture at the bottom of the hill and nuzzling into a street of Victorian villas at four storeys at the top. In conclusion, there is never an excuse for bad design although the fact that mass social housing in Britain ultimately failed is, in the end, not due to design at all, but to policy.

Concepts of Gender and Mathematics

Concepts of Gender and Mathematics Introduction In 1896 Charles Darwin wrote â€Å"The chief distinction in the intellectual powers of the two sexes is shewn by the mans attaining to a higher eminence, in whatever he takes up, than can women†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.if men are capable of a decided pre-eminence over women in many subjects the average mental power of a man must be above that of women.† (Darwin see Walkerdine, 1989, p. 1) After many years of social change we would expect these views on women to have changed. Indeed, it is not common to hear that, mentally, men are better than women, as women have proved themselves to be just as capable. Take Carol Vorderman for example, in my opinion the most famous female mathematician that I know. She is so good at mental arithmetic that she co-hosted Countdown for 26 years (Vorderman, WWW). However, maths is still perceived as a male dominated subject and it is no wonder that women believe they are inferior to men at mathematics. Even though this myth is meant to be a statistical statement, many women interpret it to mean they cannot do mathematics, having a distressing effect on individuals (Gray, 1996, p. 27). Walkerdine states that â€Å"Women, after all, are clearly irrational, illogical and too close to their emotions to be good at mathematics. Or so the story goes.† (Walkerdine, 1989, p. 1) If certain people actually take on this opinion; that girls are ‘lacking in mathematical ability (Walkerdine, 1989), how are girls supposed to have the confidence to believe they can do mathematics, when â€Å"girls report less confidence in their mathematical ability even when the girls achieve at the same level of boys†? (Fennema see Orlich et al, 2007, p. 52). It is suggested in Burton (1990) that boys are getting more encouragement and praise in the classroom than girls, which builds a lack of confidence causing a negative effect on the girls ability to learn (Burton, 1990). In this essay I will try and address the biological reasoning behind why girls cant do maths and relate this to the ways in which girls learn. The Biology There are two hemispheres to the brain, the left and right. These are specialised, to some extent, to perform different tasks. People usually have a preference to one or the other, although certain people are â€Å"whole brained† in their thinking, and therefore work just as well in either (Funderstanding, WWW). Abigail Norfleet James (2009) has researched into brain differences in boys and girls. She found that language functions and the memory of certain nouns are lateralized to the left hemisphere, whereas mathematical performance and memory of pictures and topography are lateralized to the right hemisphere. Not only did she find differences in the left and right brain, she also researched into certain parts of the brain which help us to learn mathematics using memory and emotions (Norfleet James, 2009). The hippocampus, located inside the medial temporal lobe, plays an important part in long term memory and spatial navigation (Hippocampus, WWW). The Amygdala, which is also found deep in the medial temporal lobe, performs a primary role in the processing of memory and emotional reactions (Amygdala, WWW). The research showed that as the hippocampus and the left side of the brain develops faster in girls, they excel in language, verbalising and working through situations logically. The righ t side of the brain and the Amygdala develops faster in boys, so their mathematical calculations and performance are prominent in their learning (Norfleet James, 2009). â€Å"To oversimplify a complex issue, the left hemisphere in most humans is primarily concerned with language based behaviour and with the cognitive skills we might crudely characterize as analytical or logical. It has become apparent recently that the right hemisphere is far superior to the left in most visual and spatial abilities† (Davies and Hersh, 1995, p. 346) If we look at certain traits from the opposite sides of the brain, we can see that the left brain is notorious for being analytical and sequential, rational and thinking objectively where as the right side is identified with spatial intelligence, thinking randomly and using an intuitive approach to situations (Funderstanding, WWW). Research suggests that the male brain holds an advantage with making quick decisions from lists where as the female brain works inductively and needs much more information to make that same decision (Gurian et al, 2001). It can be said therefore, that women are more inclined to think in a left brained way and men, a right brained way. As a result of this boys tend to have significantly better spatial skills and find visualizing abstract objects easier. When it comes to learning maths we need to use the whole brain; the left and right hemispheres and the frontal lobe (Gurian et al, 2001, p. 51). Primary and Secondary Schools tend to have more female than male teachers (Statistics, WWW). In my opinion, female teachers are more likely to teach using the traits found in the left side of the brain as this is what they naturally excel at. This could possibly be seen as the preferred way of teaching as the traits linked to the right side of the brain are usually connected with impulsive actions and general disruption in class (Gurian et al, 2001). In schools, students are taught to think in a successive way, where they build on previous knowledge. They are taught logical steps, which gives a method they then apply to a question to gain an answer. If, however, the student comes across a problem they have not faced before, they may lack the intuitive skills that would allow them to solve this particular, difficult problem. This method of teaching is sometimes seen as being biased towards the female way of learning, as it develops the skills which girls are already, naturally gifted with. However, to study maths to a higher level, rules and methods can only get you so far. The right hand side of the brain allows you to look at problems as a â€Å"whole† rather than in individual, single steps. As boys naturally develop this part of their brains, they are already able to think subjectively (to relate their problems to personal experiences or previous challenges they have faced), a skill girls have to learn. Thus, with the schooling system developing the boys left hemispheres, they are capable of answering much more difficult, unseen questions, which may require more than just the taught rules. Girls are generally left brained and are therefore disadvantaged, as they are educated to think in one way, their right hemisphere being overlooked. The right brained boys, however, are taught these left brained skills, and coupled with their natural way of thinking allows them to be â€Å" whole brained† and much more efficient at the more difficult maths problems. (Fennema Leder, 1990; Gurian et al, 2001; Norfleet James, 2009) If schools are focusing on a certain method which disadvantages either girls or boys in ways of their brain functions, are they also biased in the way they are teaching, with regards to how boys and girls learn? Learning Styles Along with having a stronger side of the brain, girls are also inclined to use their minds in a specific way. This is usually related to the way they think. Research has shown that there are two types of reasoning; abstract and concrete. Abstract is â€Å"not seeing or touching the thing and yet still being able to calculate it. For example, when mathematics is taught on a blackboard, boys often do better at it than girls.† (Gurian et al, 2001, p. 45). If information was to be taken from the blackboard and put onto, for instance, number lines, which are inevitably more concrete, girls tend to thrive. For girls to understand the more abstract parts of maths, for example geometry, they must bring these aspects to life. In Primary School learning, the idea of Logo (a computerised turtle which moves round the screen following directions) makes the abstract ideas of direction and angles become more concrete. In fact many IT programs used in the classroom have been designed to give a concrete illustration of an abstract idea (Skrimshaw, 1993). Furthermore, people have a predisposition to relate to a particular learning strategy. It has been suggested that girls tend to conform to the serialist, or analytic, model of thinking (Clark and Millard, 1998). These are â€Å"one step at a time learners† (Scott-Hodgetts, 1986, p. 68) who work through problems methodically, leading to instrumental understanding. In an article on the different types of understanding, Skemp (1976) described instrumental as ‘rules without reasons. What he did not realise was, â€Å"that for many the possession of such a rule and the ability to use it, is what they mean by ‘understanding† (Skemp, 1976, p. 2). Aside from serialistic understanding we have the holistic, or intuitive, model of thinking. Scott-Hodgetts claimed that holists like to take â€Å"an exploratory way, working first towards an understanding of an overall framework† (Scott-Hodgetts, 1986, p. 68). The approach that holists take of looking at the whole framework and then filling in the gaps is a way of relational understanding, not only knowing which method works, but why. So although it may take longer for a pupil to become a relational learner, as there is more content, it is never the less, easier, for the holist thinker to then adapt this method and apply it to unknown problems (Skemp, 1976). This is seen as the preferable method to learning as it allows students to link together different concepts of mathematics. Research shows that boys coincide with this manner of thinking (Clark and Millard, 1998). A lucky few tend to be able to switch between both the holist and the serialist approach. These students are called versatile learners. In higher level mathematics it becomes very important to be able to switch your view point, from looking at a problem analytically to globally, in order to see the problem as a whole. â€Å" pupils are expected to do more than simply reproduce items of knowledge, as they have been taught. They must, for example, also be able to restructure bodies of knowledge in ways appropriate to different problems a difficult task for the serialists because of their inclination to learn sequentially, without necessarily forming an overall picture of the relationships involved. whilst holists are busy speculating about relationships, and discovering the connections between initially disjoint areas of mathematics, it may not even occur to serialists to begin to look for such links.† (Scott-Hodgetts, 1986, p. 73) If you are capable therefore of using both of these techniques then surely you gain great advantage over your fellow workers? There are a few issues regarding these learning strategies. In Primary schools, students should have â€Å"the freedom to develop their ideas using their preferred learning strategies, however, teachers do sometimes impose their own strategies upon pupils† (Scott-Hodgetts, 1986, p. 70). I believe at such a young age, it is easier for the teacher to teach rules and for the pupil to learn these, even if they have no understanding of them. Take long multiplication for example. I was taught a step by step procedure which gave me an answer. At this age I had very little idea about why we added a zero at the end of the second line of computation, or why we ‘carried a one; I was just told that is how it is done. This method of learning, remembering and applying, confirms to serialists that this approach is best and leads to success. Even in Secondary school it is known that â€Å"teacher exposition tends to be serialistic in style† (Scott-Hodgetts, 1986, p. 70), Scott-Hodgetts (1986) claims that children who are predisposed to a serialist approach are less likely to become versatile learners than those who think more holistically, purely because of the way that they have been taught (Scott-Hodgetts, 1986). However, it has been discovered that if serialists are exposed to a holistic style of teaching they are just as capable of gaining the same understanding, at the time, as the holists. Although, Pask and Scott, claim that in the long term, such teaching has a â€Å"genuine effect on reducing efficiency†(Pask and Scott see Scott-Hodgetts, 1986, p.72). This inconsistency of teaching styles could explain why certain pupils are capable of working well in class, but then not performing well in mathematics examinations. (Scott-Hodgetts, 1986) At the same time that serialists are convincing themselves that learning and remembering their method is the way to gain the top grades, holistic learners will be shown the effectiveness of a different strategy. They have then begun to be a versatile learner before they reach secondary education. Conclusion After looking at the brain and the mind in relation to learning mathematics, I feel that it is not that girls cannot do maths, on the contrary girls have many skills that would make them adept at the subject, it is more that girls are not taught the right techniques, which would broaden their minds when it comes to tackling harder mathematical problems. I believe that if girls were taught in a holistic way they would, like the boys, learn how to look at problems as a whole and become more proficient at their mathematics. However, as Pask and Scott (see Scott-Hodgetts, 1986) pointed out, mixing learning techniques can become a disadvantage in the long run to the serialistic learners. But if Holists are able to learn from a serialistic point of view, why cant serialist learn from a holistic point of view? Surely this would increase the number of versatile learners? Drawing on my own experiences as a woman, if I look at the skills I have developed to reach my current level in mathematics, I know that I have needed to be analytical in most of the problems I have encountered, as well as being able to observe the problem in full. Surprisingly, being able to think randomly as well as logically can sometimes help to solve the most difficult problems. Evidence shows that even though boys are more naturally intuitive and seem to have many of the skills needed in progressing in mathematics, girls are analytical and sequential which are evidently needed for mathematics. The natural abilities that most girls seem to inherit are the key components when first learning maths. It is only the boys ability to understand this new way of learning, which automatically makes them versatile learners, that gives them the edge over girls. Being able to look at problems analytically and form an algorithm to obtain an answer is vital to any problem solving subject, and therefore it is easy to see why girls can enjoy, and can be good at mathematics. We can see from the following statistics that boys excel when the maths becomes more complicated. In Teresa Smarts article on Gender and Maths in England and Wales she explains that even though there are fewer boys than girls taking GCSE mathematics, more boys continue maths on to A-Level. Only 35% of pupils taking A-Level in 1992 were girls, which shows that the percentage of girls studying mathematics decreases as the level of mathematics increases (Smart, T. 1996). This reiterates that girls can do maths; they are just not taught the necessary skills which are needed to continue the subject to A-Level or even university. However, in researching this topic I found that it is not only our brain or the way we learn which causes us to think we, as girls, are not capable at maths, but also society and the perception they have on girls and mathematics. Until recently girls have very much been considered for different jobs than boys. Careers advice to girls in the fifth form in the 1980s was based on â€Å"retail and clerical types of employment† (Burton, 1986). If girls were adamant that they wanted to study what was considered to be a more male subject, they were expected to achieve higher grades or in some cases, not considered for the jobs at all. In fact, one fifth form girl, in which the section of Burtons book is written, was told by her interviewer that he discouraged women from taking opportunities which would better their career (taking day-release) as they â€Å"tend to leave and have babies† (Burton, 1986). In todays job market women are considered equal to men, however, I feel, it will take a few years before we see equal numbers of women and men in male dominated occupations. It is also important to point out that the content of this essay relates to the general assumption of boys and girls. I know myself, that after extensive research I would consider myself to be a holistic thinker, contrary to what the research suggests I should be as a girl. Does this mean that those female students who study university mathematics and indeed go further, think in a more male way, or are they just fortunate enough to have become versatile learners despite what they have been taught at school? The statement; Girls cant do Maths: Myth or Fact, could be argued to be both myth and fact. We have seen that girls are less likely to be better at maths biologically but if our teaching system was different would we gain different results?

Autism Essay examples -- essays research papers

   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several reasons why I chose the topic of Autism. First, autism is intriguing because it is very hard to understand. Medical science is at a loss to explain why and how it occurs. Second, I have had occasion to develop a personal relationship with children who are afflicted with autism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At The Children’s Institute, where I volunteer, I sit and play with many kids, two of whom are very hard to play with. Even though they are five and six years old, they avoid making eye contact with others, and often refuse to play with the other kids. Also, once they start watching something, like television, it is very hard to get them to look somewhere else. They are focused, almost mesmerized by the television, especially if there are flashing lights or colors. One child rocks back and forth, sometimes slowly and sometimes faster. An older child makes noises a lot, hums and randomly laughs for no reason. My observations prompted me to do some research into autism and I found that these were traits which others had also observed in patients afflicted with autism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Autism has mystified scientists and doctors for more than a century. So, what do we know about it now? It is a complex developmental disability that usually appears during the first three years of life, and it arises from a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain. The brainstem of a person with autism is shorter than a normal brainstem, lacks a structure known as the superior olive and has a smaller than normal structure known as the facial nucleus. Scientists who have observed the brainstems of autistic patients have reported that it is though a band of tissue is missing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The symptoms of autism vary from one person to another. Some people can be affected greatly by one symptom, while other may be affected more strongly by a different symptom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This developmental disability impacts normal development of the brain in areas such as social interaction and communication skills. Children with autism cannot interpret the emotional states of others, they don’t recognize anger, sorrow or manipulative intent. Their language skills are limited and they will often fail to initiate and sustain conversations.   Ã‚   ... ...ng.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A child with autism is normal in appearance to the untrained eye. But scientists have identified a few physical anomalies. The corners of the mouth are low compared with the center of the upper lip, and the tops of the ears flop over. Also, the ears are a bit lower than normal and have almost a square shape.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the information I have gathered, we see both how similarly affected the victims of autism are and how much the effects of autism vary from one person to another. New scientific discoveries have served to dispel some of the mystery of this complex developmental disability. Of course, it is frustrating for anyone who has a family member or is a family friend of an autistic person because there is still no explanation for why autism strikes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As a volunteer who works with autistic children, I believe it is important to increase awareness and understanding of this affliction. We can and should reach out to autistic children and help them live lives that are as meaningful and productive as possible. In doing so, I have found that we can enrich not just their lives but our own as well.

The Farm House Essay -- Personal Narrative Essays

Throw a dart at any year in the over-sized target that is the 1960s and you will hit on something big in American history. Nineteen sixty-three has the March on Washington, the publication of The Feminine Mystique, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Humanity was marching ever onward with ceaseless progress in science, medicine and engineering. The first ever telecast of a live murder by NBC as Jack Ruby assassinated Lee Harvey Oswald. With the U.S. on the eve of yet another war against communism as over one hundred fifty thousand military advisors are stationed in South Vietnam; the Cold War still creeping amidst the nightmares of millions fearing nuclear holocaust. However, for the Geis’ of Lexington, Kentucky, they will see a regression to a life much more arduous. My grandparents, along with my mother Betty and her sisters, were about to leave the easy living and conveniences of nineteen sixties metropolitan life behind. Howard and Regina Geis had a dream that lay well away from the city life. Well away indeed. This dream lied within the backwoods of Barren County down an old country road obscured by the forest itself. An old country road that ran for a good mile down into the hollow†¦ Forty-four acres of farmland that--building from memory and photographs--would eventually become the epitome of rustic charm. The old homestead was surrounded by the kind of eerie, primeval wilderness that can only be truly felt by the unfiltered imagination of youth. Never more truer than when the fog would roll out of the thicket, over the rise and fall of the hills and creep up to the doorsteps. Even though one could call upon memory to reconstruct the family farm and the subsistence farming lifestyle, to really tell this story... ...est daughter’s dairy farm. Before writing this I took the opportunity to venture back into those fabled woods, down that stretch of country gravel to see for myself what remained of the place where my mother grew up and so many fond memories were shared between my cousins and I. Suffice to say, no wild guess was needed to assume what to expect once the farmhouse was within view. I was not surprised when my eyes fell upon the solemn sight. That place which held a lifetime of memories shared by three generations was nothing more than a shadow left in shambles. The farm house had been swallowed up in the years passed as any sign of life and cultivation has been slowly returning to natural order. Gone away were the verdant fields, the shrill laughter of children, and the nostalgic smell of the seasons that always mingled with the aromas of Grannie Geis’ country cooking.

Feminine Mystique and Black boy Comparison Essay -- essays papers

Feminine Mystique and Black boy Comparison Fighting for survival and status within the world has been in affect since the Stone Age. It starts with man against beast battling for survival. As time goes on, so does the type of battle, from beast to man against man. When conquerors from Europe come over to North America they push the Indians west because they, the Indians, do not fit into the society the white man creates and there are differences that are noticeable. Later on there becomes discrimination against blacks with the Jim Crow Laws and the silencing of women. Throughout history there are more examples where people do not fit into the â€Å"norm† of society. Betty Friedan and Richard Wright in their novels The Feminine Mystique and Black Boy both experience different forms of oppression. As Betty Friedan discusses a problem that has no name, but mainly how a woman is enslaved in a man’s society, while Richard Wright tries to overcome the Jim Crow south by attacking racial identity. â€Å"But forbidden to join man in the world, can women be people† (Friedan 50)? Friedan illustrates this point throughout her book. The fore-sisters of Friedan fought for the passage of the nineteenth amendment which was passed in August of 1920. The passage of this amendment was largely due to the women’s contribution to the war effort, the goal was declared about seventy-two years before, during the Seneca Falls convention in 1848. Throughout this time, women became immersed in their education and their own self-worth. Searching for jobs and not husbands is the focus. During this period the national birth rate declines since the women are not home at the man’s beck and call. As the ti... ...pirit to gain that knowledge will fall deep within the cracks and will not be able to survive. But Richard Wright fights to fulfill his hunger of education that is denied to him. The roles of the African Americans are mapped out for them, making them follow to the set aspirations society has for them. Just as society does for the women in Friedan’s novel were to aspire to be a housewife. Overall, Friedan and Wright though coming from two different times and places both focus on oppression of the mind. The oppression that brings this world against one another is destroying each person. With education being told as being for the â€Å"white man† only and our roles outlined by society, we try not to go against them. But we should not let our culture hold us back if we feel a void by not achieving what we as a person and equal in this world want.

Examine the theme of Love Essay

Love. A word familiar to everyone. Love has the power to control ones mind and body. It sometimes provokes a good, healthy and passionate relationship or could be the vital ingredient that leads to obsession, possessiveness or even betrayal. Poetry is a powerful tool that many use to convey love’s true meaning. It is a unique and special way to help us understand love and what it really is. With clever and emotive wording, love can be experienced by anyone. Like love, poetry has many different forms and in this piece of coursework I shall explain each one and show how they can create different atmospheres. You will also realise that poets have certain styles and often one’s work can be spotted just through context. I will examine sonnets first. They are all fourteen lines and usually about an abstract subject. The lines are fairly long and don’t tell a story. Sonnets also have many different themes. There are two forms of sonnet, Petrarchan and Shakespearean. Petrarchan was a form named after a Roman poet called Petrarch. He divided his poems into eight lines and six lines. The eight lines are the same, like eight notes in music, these are called an octave. The following six are called a sestet. The octave will consist of one particular thought or idea. After these eight lines the writer changes the direction in the last six, the sestet. The turn in meaning is called a Volta. Shakespearean is the second form of sonnet. It is divided up differently into three sections of four lines called a quatrain. This leaves two lines at the end that rhyme, a rhyming couplet. ‘Shall I compare thee . . .’ (William Shakespeare) â€Å"Shall I compare thee . . .† is a sonnet written by William Shakespeare and has a very similar theme to many of his other sonnets. He portrays how cruel time can be. This poem allows Shakespeare’s love live forever, maybe not physically but mentally. His poem defeats the meaning of time by letting people have eternal life. The first two lines show Shakespeare comparing his loved one with a summers day. â€Å"Shall I compare thee to a Summers day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate:† Here he uses a summer’s day as something beautiful and questions the comparison between this and his loved one. He goes on to say she is more temperate. Shakespeare means that his loved one is not too much and avoids excess. â€Å"Rough windes do shake the darling buds of Maie, And Sommers lease hath all too short a date† These two lines display Shakespeare pointing out the disadvantages of summer. A strong wind can spoil the buds of May and summer doesn’t last long. â€Å"Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dim’d,† The sun can sometimes be too hot. The eye of heaven is not only used as a metaphor but also displays personification. The sun can be hidden away by the clouds whereas their love for one another will not let anything get in the way. Lines seven and eight how beauty is affected at certain times under certain circumstances. The beauty on the outside never lasts and will eventually fade either by age, chance or illness etc. â€Å"And every faire from faire some-times declines By chance, or natures changing course untrim’d† After these two lines Shakespeare conveys a picture of his love that has eternal beauty. â€Å"But thy eternall Sommer shall not fade, Nor loose possesion of that faire thou ow’st† Here it also describes the beauty she owns shall never fade like everyone else’s. â€Å"Nor’ Shall death brag wondr’st in his shade When in eternall lines to time thou grow’st† This is where the poem focuses on the everlasting nature of his poetry. Personification of death is used. Death cannot claim his love if these lines exist. â€Å"So long as men can breath or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee† The poem ends with this rhyming couplet which is seen in many of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Let Me Not (William Shakespeare) This sonnet by Shakespeare describes the nature of a lasting love between two people. He argues that true love denies any ‘impediments’ especially as it is a marriage of true minds. He also mentions that it cannot be altered. It does not ‘alter’ or ‘bend’. This sonnet reflects a theme similar to that of ‘Shall I compare thee†¦.’. Using love as a tool for immortality and eternal life. The theme of everlasting love develops further. Love is stronger than tempests and alters not even with the passage of time, which it describes as brief. The poem finishes with an emphatic couplet, which claims that if he is mistake then his poem was never written, and ‘no man ever loved’. A clever statement that displays his confidence in loves eternity. Porphyria’s Lover (Robert Browning) â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover† is one of the earliest and most shocking of Browning’s dramatic monologues. The poem is about an obsessed and possessive lover who lives in a cottage in the countryside. Realizing his love, Porphyria, will eventually give in to society’s constraints, he kills her. â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover† has an unusual structure. Not only does it lack the colloquiualisms of Browning’s other poems but takes the form of highly patterned verse which rhymes ABABB. This strange structure helps convey how tragic and dramatic the poem is. The poem is a dramatic monologue, a fictional speech presented as the thought of a speaker who is separate from the poet. It opens with a scene that brings fear, loneliness and emptiness to the heart of the reader. â€Å"The rain set early in tonight, The sullen wind was soon awake, It tore the elm-tops down for spite, And did its worse to vex the lake: I listened with heart fit to break.† These opening lines seem to set the scene almost instantly yet it is changed just as quickly. â€Å"When glided in Porphyria; straight She shut the cold out and the storm, And kneeled and made the cheerless grate Blaze up, and all the cottage warm: Which alone, she rose, and from her form.† From being so dark and desperate there is an immediate switch of feelings from the speaker and the atmosphere also reflects his emotions. Porphyria herself has the ability to bring happiness to her lover immediately, without breathing a word, the very presence of Porphyria fulfills her lover’s heart. Browning’s first few lines are like a roller coaster to the reader and this proves how dramatic monologue can convey love so clearly and dramatically. However, once Porphyria begins to take off her wet clothing, the poem leaps into the modern world. â€Å"Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl., And laid her soiled gloves by, untied Her hat and let the damp hair fall, And, last, she sat down by my side And called me. When no voice replied, She put my arm about her waist, And made her smooth white shoulder bare, And all her yellow hair displaced.† These lines show Browning’s interest in the body and what pleasures it brings. Since Robert Browning lived in Victorian times he couldn’t question the morality of sex and violence. I think this is mainly he explores the subject of love and sex in his poems. In these lines it mentions Porphyria baring her shoulder and holding him. Porphyria is seen to be flirting with her lover yet it doesn’t give the impression that anything immoral is happening. As the poem continues, the lover grows more possessive over Porphyria. â€Å"Be sure I looked up at her eyes Happy and proud; at last I knew Porphyria worshipped me; surprise Made my heart swell, and still it grew While I debated what to do.† The speaker is realising Porphyria has just as much love for him and wants the moment to last forever. The next line portrays the lover’s possesiveness by using repetition of the word ‘mine’. â€Å"That moment she was mine, mine, fair;† The speaker then comes to terms with the fact his love, Porphria, will give in to pressures of society and decides to kill her. â€Å"In one long yellow I wound Three times her little finger throat around, And strangled her. No pain felt she;† The lover speaks as though he was giving something to Porphyria she wanted. He then goes on to prove himself innocent. He tried to bear no guilt for his actions and reassures himself. â€Å". . . . . . No pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain.† Being afraid to open her eyes, he tries to recapture the moments they shared together. â€Å"As a shut bud that holds a bee, I warily opened her lids: again Laughed the blue eyes without a strain.† He then tried to convince himself that what he had done was what Porphyria wanted. â€Å"And all night long we have not stirred And yet God had not said a word!† The poem shows how possesive love can lead to the death of the person you love most. Can murder be justified to someone you love? Porphyria’s Lover shows how obsession with someone can sometimes result in death. My Last Duchess (Robert Browning) Another poem which is written in the form of dramatic monologue is â€Å"My Last Duchess†. The duke is the speaker of the poem and is negotiating his marriage with an ambassador. As he shows his visitor around his palace, he stops before a picture of his last duchess. He explains how lovely she was. However he also describes her bad behaviour and how she didn’t appreciate his name. As the dramatic monologue continues it becomes apparent that the Duke was the cause of her early death when he couldn’t tolerate her behaviour any longer. The Duke then returns to the subject of the marriage. As the duke and the ambassador depart from the painting, the Duke points out more pieces of art in his collection. â€Å"My Last Duchess† is structured around rhyming pentameter lines. The lines do not use full stops. They are sentences which don’t conclude at the end of a line and this gives the impression that the rhymes is not complete. The personality of the Duke makes horrifying information seem quite fine. The poem is a good example of dramatic monologue as the speaker is clearly distinct from the poet and the real character of the Duke is the aim of the poem. This poem also makes the readers become part of poem as we only hear it through the Duke’s own thought and so we must put the story together ourselves. Ballad (Anon) This poem reveals the tale of a dishonest lover. The poem is by an unknown author. It was passed down through oral tradition. This ballad is told by a girl, who at the start of the poem is an innocent maiden with no experience too the opposite sex. However, her innocence is lost to a shepherd and she becomes pregnant. She doesn’t profit from being resentful to the shepherd who no longer takes interest in the girl. It’s clear to see the shepherd is experienced in love and the poem describes him as faithless. When he finds out the girl is pregnant, he deserts her at a time when she needs him most. Throughout the poem we can see contrasts of a love affair and its aftermath. It uses summer as the love affair and winter when the affair is over. The maiden is deeply distressed and contemplates taking her and her child’s life. She can’t reason the situation she has been placed in. The poem is flooded with mixed emotions that show anger, resentment and dishonesty.