Level One Computer Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Level One Computer Systems - Essay Example the â€Å"de-perimeterization of security† where it has become difficult to demarcate the line between a firm and its clients, suppliers and partners (PGP Corporation, 2007). Enforcing effective security standards is a challenge in this complex milieu. There are many reasons as to why information is on longer safe and there is a need for data protection and security. The notion that sensitive information is within the walls of the organization and so is safe is no longer justified. With the advancement in technology and the new computing form factors, information can be accessed by malicious insiders. The people who are responsible for administrating the systems can also present a risk to the bypass of sensitive information. It is not easy to define who has access to what information. This also necessitates that an effective security protocol must be present to ensure that sensitive data is not leaked out. Data protection is also necessary to build a bond of trust with the cus tomers. When a customer approaches an organization, the organization is bound to protect his or her privacy. Not doing so can bring bad repute to the organization and cause it to lose its customers. A comprehensive data security system encompasses an assessment of the associated risks and threats to data security. A strategy that includes a thorough assessment of these risks enables the organization to understand the value of the data that is at risk and the consequences of any loss. Data could be lost by many ways. One can be due to malicious infections. System crashes and natural happenings such as floods can also cause the loss of significant amount of sensitive data. When considering data protection, the organization needs to review who has access to what type of data, who used the Internet, who should be given limited access, what type of firewalls and anti-malware solutions need to be in place, the usage and maintenance of passwords and the training being given to staff (Spam laws,

Based on your research and experience critically assess how values and Essay

Based on your research and experience critically assess how values and beliefs have changed in Britain over the last century. An - Essay Example These words by one of Britain’s most influential and famous statesmen certainly echo the central themes of this essay. On no level more so than the values and beliefs of the British people has the nature of the United Kingdom changed during the course of the last century. The effect these changes have had will certainly manifest currently, and continue to affect contemporary the youth in the 21st Century, in varied and significant ways. At the turn of the last century, as the world moved into the 1900s, Britain and her Empire stood at the forefront of the world, dominating culture, belief systems, education and politics across the globe. It seemed that the historic continuity of the kingdom would last forever. And throughout this history, Britain was part of Europe, sometimes at war with countries on the continent, sometimes in alliance with them, but always connected to them, perhaps due to proximity. But is has also been due to the close bonds that Britain and the British pe ople have had with European values and beliefs, particularly those of Western Europe, that these ties have remained. And certainly throughout the last century, Britain has been the defender of the values and beliefs of Western Europe (Thatcher, 1988). ... Importantly this system also derived from European influence and philosophical thought. Throughout, Britain has recognised the personal liberty of the individual, and a human rights culture, based on responsibility and duty to the collective, rather than personal gain exclusively (ibid). The religion of Britain and the European continent at large, Christianity, has consistently informed the value systems of Britons, leading to particular set of morals to inform behaviour that is considered acceptable or unacceptable (ibid). Defending this ideal of behaviour, government and civilization has at least twice forced Britain into taking the lead in successive world wars: In both World War I and II, the kingdom did not hesitate to stand up to the forces of autocracy and fascism, respectively, and risk all in defending the democratic rights of its own citizens, as well as the rights of all free peoples to remain free (The Staff of the New York Times, 1965). Continually, though, Britain has a sserted its sovereignty, interacting with Europe and the rest of the world, yet remaining defensive of its own culture, values and civilization. The perception that Britain was leading the world certainly rang true at the beginning of the 1900s, and continued to be valid for at least the first half of that century. It was never in doubt that the British way of life was enviable, defensible and something to be proud of for most Britons. As the Empire declined, and the 20th Century drew to a close, though, both Britons’ own opinions, and world opinion was that the United Kingdom was no longer a world super-power. Perhaps this is in part the explanation

Aristotle on the Soul Essay Example for Free

Aristotle on the Soul Essay Aristotle’s notion differs from the usual conception of a soul as some sort of substance occupying the body, existing separately and eternally. To him, the soul is the essence of a living thing. The soul is what makes an organism an organism at all by actualizing its potential for life, and it’s constituted by its capacity for activities essential to that specific type of being. His investigation into the nature of the soul demonstrates basic principles of his philosophical theories at work, including Hylomorphism, potentiality and actuality, and his four causes. His use of these theories in analyzing and teasing out the complexities of the soul make for a cohesive and comprehensive study, easily amenable with his other works. In this paper I will analyze his notion of the soul as described in De Anima, recounting how he came to define the soul, the explanation of the soul, how the souls of different kinds of ensouled beings differ, and his unique concept of how the soul is related to the body. Aristotle begins Book 1 of De Anima by stating that since the soul is a principle of animals, and here I will interpret animals to mean more broadly beings, describing its essence has implications beyond its obvious scope. In unfolding the nature of the soul, it is possible to determine which attributes belong to the soul alone and which belong to the organism in virtue of having a soul (Aristotle, De Anima 402a). So besides exploring the nature of life, his analysis will also seek to answer the question of whether all mental states (of the soul) are also material states of the body, or whether some attributes of the soul are unique to it. In doing so, we are confronted with the interesting implication of Aristotle’s position on the mind/body problem, to which I will get to later on. Returning to the question at hand (what is the soul? ), Aristotle starts his investigation by use of his explanatory theory of Hylomorphism, which states that substances are compounds of matter and form, and change occurs when form actualizes matter (Shields). There are three sorts of substances; form, matter, and the compound of form and matter. Matter is potentiality and form is actuality. Form actualizes matter, which possesses the potential to be what it is. So using Aristotle’s example of a bronze statue, the matter, in this case the bronze, only actualizes it’s potential of being a statue when it acquires the form, or the shape and features. Of interest is the third kind of substance, compounds, which make up living beings. The body is the substance as matter, so the soul is the substance as form or shape. Here we get to Aristotle’s preliminary definition of the soul as the actuality of a natural body having life potentially (Aristotle, De Anima 412). It is in virtue of this form, the soul, that makes an organism alive. Without the soul, the body would only have the capacity for life potentially, and so the soul is the essence (the form) of living things. This preliminary definition is taken a step further when Aristotle identifies the soul as the â€Å"first actuality of a natural body that is potentially alive† (Aristotle, De Anima 412a). He claims that the actuality that is the soul is like the actuality that is knowledge, in that we speak of it in two ways. We can distinguish between a state of knowing x and a state of attending to the knowledge of x, where the latter is more of an active process. The passive of state of knowing x is the first actuality, first because it must necessarily come prior to attending or remembering that knowledge i. e. potential precedes actual. Similarly, the soul of a sleeping person is like the passive state, the first actuality, while the soul of an awake person is like the active state. The soul must be the first actuality, for if not we would be forced to say a sleeping animal lacks a soul, a conclusion we do not want to make (Aristotle, De Anima 412a-412b). First actuality seems to correspond to a capacity to engage in the activity of the second actuality, and in this way is a kind of potential to exercise some function, like the ability to engage in thought. Aristotle makes this clear when he states that, â€Å"If the eye, for instance, were an animal, sight would be its soul† (Aristotle, De Anima 412b). Sight is the capacity of the eye for seeing, where sight is the form and the eye is the matter. The first actuality is the capacity for seeing, and the second actuality is seeing, actively exercising the potential ability. So it seems that beyond defining the soul as the ‘first actuality of a natural body that is potentially alive’, we can say the soul is a set of capacities that characterize living things. These characteristic capacities are different in different beings, and we will see that it is by these that Aristotle creates his hierarchy of ensouled beings or the degrees of souls. I will return to this distinction later in this paper, when describing how the souls of different ensouled beings differ. At this point we have a definition of the soul, but as Aristotle stresses throughout his various works, we must determine the cause or explanation in order to truly grasp the essence, and therefore get at complete picture of his view of the soul. The definition just given explains the what, but a full account must explain the why. He states in the Physics, â€Å"for our inquiry aims at knowledge; and we think we know something only when we find the reason why it is so, i. . , when we find its primary cause† (Aristotle, Physics 194b). His criteria for an adequate definition, one that is sufficient for knowledge, rest on his theory of causation and explanation. The four causes include the material cause, formal cause, efficient cause, and final cause. Material cause is what something is made of, the formal cause is the form or pattern of which a thing is what it is, the efficient cause refers to the agent of change or rest, and the final cause is the intended purpose of the change or the reason why a thing is done (Shields). We must, therefore, determine why the soul is what it is in virtue of these four general causes. The soul is the principle and the cause of the living body, for it is in virtue of the soul that the body is alive, and thus it plays an explanatory role. It is the cause of the living body in three of the four ways, as â€Å"the source of motion, as what something is for, and as the substance of ensouled bodies†(Aristotle, De Anima 415), corresponding to the efficient cause, the final cause, and the formal cause respectively. It is the source of motion in that it causes growth and decay in the organism. The soul is also the cause of the living body by being the final cause, as the body is merely an organ for the sake of the soul, aimed at the soul. And finally, the soul is the formal cause of the living body for it causes life by being the form and actuality of what is potentially. The body makes up the fourth cause, the material cause, by being the matter that makes up a living organism (Aristotle, De Anima 415). I will use Aristotle’s example of the nature of a house as described in Book One, when he is discussing the importance of form, in order to better illustrate the necessity for analysis of a concept under his theory of causation and explanation. To merely define a house as stones, bricks, and timbers, is not to capture its full essence. A house is stones, bricks, and timbers (material cause), built into an enclosed structure (formal cause), fashioned together by a carpenter (efficient cause), in order to provide shelter from the elements (final cause). We can describe the what, but without further details about the explanation, we don’t really know the nature of a house. Similarly the soul is why, it gives the explanation for, the life activities of a living body. At this point Aristotle’s notion of the soul is quite clear; it is the first actuality of a natural body that is potentially alive, it is a set of capacities for life-giving and defining activities of organisms, and it is the form, the source of motion, and the means (it directs) to the end of the living body. Souls of different living beings are differentiated by their capacities to engage in the activities characteristic of that type of organism, which comprise their livelihood and survival. It is these differentiating faculties that make up the soul. Among these faculties are the nutritive and reproductive, perceptive, locomotive, and the capacity for thought and understanding. Aristotle claims, â€Å"the soul is the principle of the potentialities we have mentioned—for nutrition, perception, understanding, and motion—and is defined by them† (Aristotle, De Anima 413). There are three types of souls, arranged in a nested hierarchy, so the possession of a higher soul entails possession of all that are below it. The lowest, or most basic, in this hierarchy is the nutritive soul. All living things possess the capacity for self-nourishment, for without this they would not live. Next is the sensitive soul, which is possessed only by animals. The highest type of soul is the rational soul, belonging only to humans. These three souls are differentiated by their function, corresponding to the ensouled being in possession of the soul with the power to exercise that function. While the animal soul possesses the nutritive and the sensitive, and the human soul the rational as well, each has but one unified soul with a various sets of capacities (Shields). The nutritive soul is the potentiality held by all living things to preserve it and equip it for life. The function of this soul is the use of nourishment and generation, or reproduction. Generation is the most natural function, as it is a means for a living being to participate in the future (the â€Å"everlasting and divine†) by producing something else of its own sort. The use of nourishment allows the being to preserve itself, only existing while it is nourished. Nourishment allows an organism to grow as well as decay, according to its form. Since all living things possess the nutritive soul, all living things have the capacity for self-nourishment, growth, decay, and for reproduction. Further, since all nourishment involves digestion, and digestion involves heat, all beings contain heat (Aristotle, De Anima 415-416). The sensitive, or perceptive soul, distinguishes plants from animals. Perception is a type of alteration, in that a suitable sense-organ in perception is affected or changed by an external object. The external object acts as the agent, possessing the qualities in actuality that the sense-organ possesses potentially. Aristotle describes that it is through an intermediate condition, such as air, that sense organs receive the forms or qualities of the objects of perception, not the matter, when involuntarily acted upon by the external object. Thus, the sensitive soul has the capacity to receive sensible forms, resulting in perception. The sense-organs become like the agent after being affected, or receiving the qualities (Shields). Again, we can see Aristotle returning to his theory of Hylomorphism in describing perception as the change in the sense-organ as a result of the acquisition of form. The potential of the sense-organ is made actual in virtue of the external object which possesses the form in actuality. Aristotle states that every animal has the sense of touch, but not all possess the sense of sight, hearing, taste and smell. Animals are further distinguished along these lines; while each possesses a nutritive and a sensitive soul, there are various degrees of complexity of the latter soul corresponding to the activities of the animal. Aristotle continues further that the possession of the perceptive soul implies that the animal has the capacity to desire, and desiring includes appetite, emotion, and wish. He also determines possession of this soul entails the ability to feel pleasure and pain and it is in virtue of this soul that some animals possess the power of locomotion (Aristotle, De Anima 413-415). The rational soul, perhaps the most difficult section to interpret of De Anima, is essential and indicative of humans alone. It is in virtue of the rational soul, the intellect, that we come to know and understand things. The intellect is the seat of thought and thus reason. Thinking is similar to perception, as it involves the reception of form by a suitable capacity. However, while the object of perception is external and is the composite of form and matter, the object of thought is within the soul and is form alone (Shields). While hard to follow, I believe the objects of thought are the forms of forms; they get their intelligible forms in virtue of the sensible forms sensed in perception. Aristotle discusses the concept of â€Å"appearances†, which are different from perceptions and beliefs, for appearances exist while we sleep, with no external stimuli actualizing the ‘sensation’, and beliefs involve conviction, while appearances do not. Appearances are images resembling objects of perception (Aristotle, De Anima 428). It is helpful to think of appearances as the representation of reality we see in imagination. I believe Aristotle is claiming that it is these appearances that are the objects of thought. In intellection, the mind is made to be like the object of thought through reception of its intelligible form. The intellect is pure potentiality, it potentially has all of these objects of thought, and only in thought do these intelligible forms become actualized in the mind (Shields). As Aristotle’s philosophical worldview rests on a Hylomorphic principle, it is difficult to see how the alteration, bringing the intellect from potentiality to actuality in thought, comes about. In perception, this is in virtue of an external object that acts as an agent for change in the sense-organ. But what is the agent of change in intellection? Aristotle divides the intellect into the active and passive intellects. The active intellect acts as the agent of change; when the mind thinks the active intellect actualizes the intelligible forms in the passive intellect. The passive intellect stores the concepts of knowledge and intelligible forms in potentiality, to be recalled by the active intellect during thought. This means however, that the actual must precede the potential, contrary to what was discussed above. The nature of the active intellect is its activity, so it must be unremittingly active in order to cause the passive intellect to act and us to have thoughts and reason. If it is continuously active, this part of the rational soul must be eternal and thus stands in stark contrast with the rest of the souls Aristotle posits, but this controversial point is something I will not take up in this paper (Shields).

Impact Of Facebook On Students Academic Performance Commerce Essay

Impact Of Facebook On Students Academic Performance Commerce Essay The use of social Networking sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, Likendin, Orkut etc are growing day by day in India. Facebook is one of the popular social networking site among young adults and college students. Further, very few researches have focused on influence of Facebook on students Academic performance in India. Through this research, we have tried to throw a light on the relationship between use of Facebook, a popular online social Networking site students academic performance. The study will be undertaken to know the frequency of usage of face book. Also, the study will try to find out the relation between time spent for use of facebook and time for study .The study will focus to know the most preferred social networking site among students and also to know the impact by the ownership of GPRS phones and use of facebook. For this research, descriptive research design will be used. The sample size will be 300 Students of Ahmadabad. Structure questionnaire developed to measure influence of Facebook on college students Academic Performance with respect to Ahmedabad. 1.0 Introduction Socializing via the Internet has become an increasingly important part of young adult life. Relative to the general population, adolescents and young adults are the heaviest Internet users.SNS are the latest communication tool for interaction with people in their networks Social networking sites can be defined as an online platform which builds and reflects the networking among people and builds relationship among them. People share their interests, activities each other through such sites. The most famous social networking sites in India are Orkut, facebook, LinkedIn, Ibibo, Twitter.One such website is Facebook, whose founder was Mark Zuckerberg along with his roommates and fellow students Eduardo Saverin Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The website was launched in February and privately owned by Facebook Inc. It was ranked as the most used social networking service worldwide by a January 2009 compete.com study. Facebook also consists of individual profile, his/her social links, list of personal interests, contact information, personal information, photos and various other things. Through such sites, users can communicate and share with friends various activities and also join groups of their interests, like pages, advertise product/service. It also offers privacy settings wherein an individual can see only the specific parts of profile. Users can also control the information viewed by others through their privacy settings. Such websites generate huge revenue by advertising and posting banner ads. Asia stands at second position among the facebook users in the world having 183.9 millions of users having 4.7% penetration level. Facebook is very popular social networking site among the college students. Several researches have examined the effect of social media on the academic performance of the students Through this research, we have focused on one of the social networking site i.e facebook and tried to find out the influence of facebook on academicperformance of the students. 2.0 Literature Review In the paper entitled The influence of social networking sites on students academic performance in Malaysia by Adam Mahamat Helou and Nor Za irah Ab. Rahim, they tried to study the students perceptions on the use of social networking sites and its influence on their academic performance.They found most of the respondents do feel that the SNSs have more positive impact on their academic perfor mance due to its use for various academic activities such as communicating with the faculty and university authority, communicating with lecturers and supervisors, making academic discussions with classmates and chatting with friends in respect to topics o f educational interest Nicola Cavalli Et al. in his paper Facebook influence on university students media habits: qualitative results from a field research found that nearly half of them were unfamiliar with facebook site and contrary during 2009 all of the respondents were aware and about 59% of them use it regularly. In the paper Effects of social network on students performance: A web-based forum study in Taiwan the researcher investigated the effects of social networks on the performance of students online education. They found that students who are more active on facebook have positive effect on their academic performance. In a study of Lessons from Facebook: The Effect of Social Network Sites on College Students Social Capital by Sebasti  n Valenzuela2, and Kerk F. Kee4 University of Texas at Austin they examined that there exists moderate relation between intensity of facebook usage and life satisfaction, social trust, civic participation and political engagement of students. In the paper The relationship between facebook usage and academic performance A study at Ohio state University by Aryn Karpinski and Adam Duberstein (Ohio Dominican University) found that facebook usage was associated with lower GPAs, and less time studying. Those who use facebook tended to have lower GPAs than those who did not, and it appears from the slew of articles written about it, that within the group that used facebook that more usage was associated with lower GPAs and less time studying. A study on The Benefits of Facebook Friends: Social Capital and College Students Use of Online Social Network Sites by Nicole B. Ellison,Charles Steinfield and Cliff Lampe examines the relationship between use of Facebook, a popular online socialnetwork site, and the formation and maintenance of social capital.The study suggested a strong association between use of Facebook and the three types of social capital, with the strongest relationship being to bridging social capital. In a research paper entitled Lessons from Facebook: The Effect of Social Network Sites on College Students Social Capital by Sebastià ¡n Valenzuela, Namsu Park, and Kerk F. Kee at University of Texas at Austin examines if Facebook, is one of the most popular social network sites among young adults in the U.S. 3.0 Objectives To study How much time students actively spent on face book. To know the most preferred social networking site among students To know the impact by the ownership of GPRS phones and use of facebook. To study association between the use of facebook and academic performance. 4.0 Research Methodology A descriptive research was used for study Impact of Facebook on studentsacademic performance. A survey approach was chosen to gather information from students of Ahmedabad. Non-probability sampling technique or convenience sampling was used. The structured questionnaire was developed and administered to 100 respondents. Before finalizing questionnaire opinion of expert panel was taken and it was followed by pilot survey of 15 students . Data and information gathered through questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS Software. Various statistical tests like chi -square and fisher exact test were performed to study Impact of Facebook on studentsacademic performance. 5.0 Hypothesis H1: There is significant association in academic performance among facebook users with different frequency H2: There is significant association for ownership of GPRS Phone and use of facebook. 6.0 Analysis and Interpretation 6.1 Most preferred social networking sites SNS Responses Facebook 107(40.1%) LinkedIn 5(1.9%) Twitter 13(4.9%) Orkut 42(15.7%) YouTube 41(15.4%) Google+ 59(22.1%) Total 267(100%) Table 1 To study most preferred sites among students we have asked multiple choice questions to respondents what is your most preferred social networking site. Table 1 shows that 40.1% respondent preferred face book ,Google+ is followed by facebook . LinkedIn and twitter are not preferred by students of ahmedabad. 6.2 Time spent on Facebook Table 2 Time spent on Facebook 30 min. to 1Hr 1 hr to 2 hr >2 hr Total Day 22 21 7 9 59 Week 16 11 5 3 35 Fortnight 1 0 1 0 2 Month 4 3 2 1 10 Total 43 35 15 13 106 Table 2 Table 2 show the time spent by students on facebook , it reported that students who used facebook generally the logged In several time or once in a day and spent time 1 hour or less than that mostly. Very few students log in on facebook fortnightly or monthly. So we can say that students use facebook frequently. 6.3 Purpose of Facebook Purpose of Facebook Responses Keeping in Touch with Friends 93(29.4%) Looking Photos/Videos 37(11.7%) Playing Games 14(4.4%) Chatting 69(21.8%) Applications 20(6.3%) Messaging 43(13.6%) Communicating with Faculties 21(6.6%) Making Academic discussion Group 19(6%) Table 3 Results of Table 3 shows that 29.4% Students used facebook for keeping touch with friends, 21.8% respondent used facebook for Chatting only 6.6% respondents used facebook for Communicating with faculties and making academic discussion so, majority of students preferred to use face book for keeping touch with friends, chatting and messaging. for Playing games, communicating with faculties and for academic discussion very less students preferred Facebook. 6.4 Hypothesis 1 H1: There is significant association in academic performance among facebook users with different frequency. To check association of academic performance among facebook users with different frequencies chi-square test of association were performed . Time Percentage 30 minutes to 1 hour >1 hour Total 13 11 8 32 >=60 Percentage 9 10 8 27 Total 22 21 16 59 Table 6 Chi-square test Degree of Freedom 3 Level of Significant 5% Calculated Value 0.2915 Table Value 7.8150 From above table we have found that calculated value for chi-square was 0.2915 and table value at 5% level of significant and 3 d.f was 7.8150 which is greater than calculated value so, we found that there is no significant association in academic performance among facebook users with different frequency. 6.5 Hypothesis 2 H2: There is significant association for ownership of GPRS Phone and use of facebook. Some literature studies found that introduction of the Smartphone increased the usage of the facebook. So to find out the relationship between ownership of GPRS supported phone and use of facebook, Fishers exact test was used. Result of the test shown in table below. Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Exact Sig. (2-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 4.718a 1 .030 Continuity Correctionb 2.558 1 .110 Likelihood Ratio 4.095 1 .043 Fishers Exact Test .062 Linear-by-Linear Association 4.664 1 .031 N of Valid Casesb 87 To study association for ownership of GPRS phone and use of Facebook Fishers exact test was performed. P-value of fishers exact test is 0.062 which is greater than level of significance value (0.05) So, There is no significant association for ownership of GPRS phone and use of Facebook. 6.6 Perception of Facebook To study perception towards facebook whether facebook have any impact on academic performance of students we have asked several questions and asked respondents to rate according to their perception where 1 for strongly agree and 5 for strongly disagree. Statements Mean score Facebook influences my academic performance negatively, because they distract me from my studies. 2.86 Using Facebook requires spending money and are wastage of time and by this way it will affect my academic life. 2.96 Addiction to Facebook is problematic issue that affects my academic life. 2.95 I find it hard concentrating on study knowing that I can play online games and visit the site just by logging into it 3.08 I compare my grades before I become engaged into the Facebook and after I became involved. I see a drop in my academic performance. 3.11 Facebook is personal/ social-canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸t be used for education. 3.01 The usage of Facebook is useful in higher educational institutions, because it is an effective communication application. 2.49 Group discussions can be arranged with my classmates using Facebook. 2.42 An appointment can be fixed with my lecturer through Facebook. 2.84 Facebook is helpful in my studies because I can receive announcements from lecturers and faculty. 2.77 Facebook help in my studies because I can discuss my assignments with friends. 2.52 Using Facebook improves my interaction with classmates and lecturers 2.57 I use Facebook to facilitate academic activities and coordinate with friends 2.50 Table 7 Table 7 we found that students have neutral opinion for facebook is personal cant be used for education and because of facebook there academic performance is dropped. Rest of statement students are agree. 7.0 Findings and Conclusion: Among the students, facebook is the most preferred social networking site and google plus is the second preferred site. Maximum students use facebook on daily basis for various purposes like chatting and being in touch with friends. The use of facebook is very less for academic purpose like discussion with faculties. There is no impact on students academic performance due to the use of facebook. Use of GPRS phone has no impact on facebook usage.

A Personal Philosophy of Music Education Essay -- Teaching Education E

A Personal Philosophy of Music Education Few would argue against the idea that we educate ourselves and our society so that we have adequate means with which to understand and interact with elements of the world around us. Subjects such as mathematics, language, history, and the hard sciences are granted immediate and unquestioned legitimacy in our schools, and with good reason. We encounter each of these elements of our lives on a daily basis. We need to have an understanding of these disciplines in order to interact with them, otherwise they are meaningless to us. I submit that the same can be said for the fundamental concepts of music. Music is something that we encounter in our society every day. It surrounds us. Indeed it would be practically impossible to escape. Like so many other naturally occurring phenomena, a discipline has been developed over centuries to help us interact with music, and that discipline is what I and those of my profession are charged with teaching. Before addressing the need for music instruction in our schools I would like to briefly examine the need for education of any kind. Education is a means of making sure our society has a given set of knowledge. The set of knowledge we perceive ourselves as needing changes based on our surroundings and the issues we are dealing with. In American education's early history we perceived ourselves as needing a set of knowledge that included a common language and common view of history, as well as knowledge of those things with which we would interact every day. In many ways early public education was more a means of social control than an altruistic endeavor. In today's climate we see ourselves as having more diverse needs in our education... ...ure we have a musically literate society. There are many more examples of this commitment throughout our history. Essentially I believe that in today's society music literacy is a necessary skill for us all to have to successfully encounter and interact with the world around us. Reasons for teaching music as a school subject are consistent with the reasons that we educate ourselves about anything else. Furthermore, we have shown a commitment in the past to creating a musically literate society, and events in today's world only strengthen the need to continue that commitment. Works Cited Lebuta, Joseph A. & Smith, Deborah A. Music Education: Historical Contexts and Perspectives. (1997) Upper Saddle River, NJ. Prentice Hall. Lehman, Paul R. et all. The School Music Program: A New Vision. (1994). Reston, VA. Music Educators National Conference. A Personal Philosophy of Music Education Essay -- Teaching Education E A Personal Philosophy of Music Education Few would argue against the idea that we educate ourselves and our society so that we have adequate means with which to understand and interact with elements of the world around us. Subjects such as mathematics, language, history, and the hard sciences are granted immediate and unquestioned legitimacy in our schools, and with good reason. We encounter each of these elements of our lives on a daily basis. We need to have an understanding of these disciplines in order to interact with them, otherwise they are meaningless to us. I submit that the same can be said for the fundamental concepts of music. Music is something that we encounter in our society every day. It surrounds us. Indeed it would be practically impossible to escape. Like so many other naturally occurring phenomena, a discipline has been developed over centuries to help us interact with music, and that discipline is what I and those of my profession are charged with teaching. Before addressing the need for music instruction in our schools I would like to briefly examine the need for education of any kind. Education is a means of making sure our society has a given set of knowledge. The set of knowledge we perceive ourselves as needing changes based on our surroundings and the issues we are dealing with. In American education's early history we perceived ourselves as needing a set of knowledge that included a common language and common view of history, as well as knowledge of those things with which we would interact every day. In many ways early public education was more a means of social control than an altruistic endeavor. In today's climate we see ourselves as having more diverse needs in our education... ...ure we have a musically literate society. There are many more examples of this commitment throughout our history. Essentially I believe that in today's society music literacy is a necessary skill for us all to have to successfully encounter and interact with the world around us. Reasons for teaching music as a school subject are consistent with the reasons that we educate ourselves about anything else. Furthermore, we have shown a commitment in the past to creating a musically literate society, and events in today's world only strengthen the need to continue that commitment. Works Cited Lebuta, Joseph A. & Smith, Deborah A. Music Education: Historical Contexts and Perspectives. (1997) Upper Saddle River, NJ. Prentice Hall. Lehman, Paul R. et all. The School Music Program: A New Vision. (1994). Reston, VA. Music Educators National Conference.

Body Image Essays -- Psychology, Physiology

When navigating to the official website of Self, one of today’s leading women’s magazines, I was not surprised to immediately stumble upon a photograph of two slender women, in skimpy shorts and sports bras, exercising on the beach. â€Å"Flat belly Secrets† was the headline under the image, along with the subtopics â€Å"Magic Moves that Work Your Whole Core,† â€Å"Superfoods for a Sexy Stomach,† and â€Å"4 Ab Mistakes Everyone Makes.† It is no secret that modern American culture gives great importance to body image, namely to having a â€Å"perfect† physique, although a vast majority of the population is far from attaining said physique. I struggled for years to â€Å"make peace† with my own body and obtain a positive body image, hence why I have chosen to research body image and the media, focusing more on the female aspect of it. With so much attention being given to people’s perceptions of their own physical beauty, numerous studies have been conducted on men and women of all ages. Every single study I read about in gathering information for this report showed that body image dissatisfaction, â€Å"the feeling that people may have that their actual physical appearance is not how they would ideally like it to be† (Kovar), is experienced by an astonishing number of men and women. That being said, it was also evident from the research that women are significantly more affected by body image dissatisfaction. One particular study of male and female undergraduates concluded that compared to men’s perceptions, â€Å"women's [body image] perceptions place [greater] pressure on them to lose weight† (Fallon and Rozin). Body dissatisfaction is a risk factor for eating disorders and is said to be most common in Western cultures, predominantly with teenage girls (Boone and... ...ave A Negative Impact On Body Image And Behaviors? Factors And Processes Related To Self And Identity." Journal Of Social & Clinical Psychology 28.1 (2009): 1-8. Academic Search Premier. Fallon, A. E., & Rozin, P. (1985). Sex differences in perceptions of desirable body shape. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94(1), 102-105. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.94.1.102 Kovar, Allie. "Effects of Media on Body Image." Health Psychology. Vanderbilt University, 30 Apr. 2009. Web. 02 Feb. 2012. . SELF Magazine, Nutrition, Health and Advice: Self.com. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. . Thompson, J. Kevin, and Eric Stice. "Thin-Ideal Internalization: Mounting Evidence for a New Risk Factor for Body-Image Disturbance and Eating Pathology." Current Directions in Psychological Science 10.5 (2001): 181-83. Print.

Critical Analysis of Taylor Swift’s Red Essay

Grammy award winning artist Taylor Swift debuted her first album at in 2006. Within six years Swift has grown to be one of the most renowned country pop artists ever known. With her fans craving for more from Swift, she released her fourth album titled â€Å"Red† on October 15, 2012. The album was an instant hit that sold over 1.2 million copies within the first week of being released. â€Å"Red† is one of the top selling albums in the past five years, coming only behind Mumford & Son’s recently released â€Å"Babel†. The album contains 16 tracks that are a strange mix of Swift’s country roots, modern pop, and hints of lite-rock. The highly anticipated, supposed â€Å"album of the year† turned out to be a major disappointment. At least Taylor has an easy excuse: her horrible decision to try out some new producers and song writers such as Max Martin and Shellback, who are known for creating hit radio pop songs for Maroon 5, Pink and Kelly Clarkson. These two were mainly responsible for the most disappointing tracks: â€Å"I Knew You Were Trouble† (a song that bashes ex-boyfriend John Mayer even further than she did in her album â€Å"Speak Now†), â€Å"22† (a song about enjoyment of young adulthood), and the hit single â€Å"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together†. On the other hand, Swift did have Nathan Chapman, her longtime producer, help her with almost half the album, which includes the most notable tracks on â€Å"Red† such as â€Å"All Too Well†, â€Å"The Lucky One†, and â€Å"Treacherous†. Another plausible reason for Swift’s subpar performance in the production of â€Å"Red† is her obvious self-confusion with her own identity. When Taylor released her first album she was barely 16 years old. Now, she is 22 but is still trying to write songs about the same old heartaches and heartbreaks that she had when she was a teenager. Since she was made famous and praised for the songs about first kisses, first break ups, and dumb boys, it makes sense that she would continue to write songs about the same topics and, naturally, a true transition from a hopeless romantic of a teenager to a real adult must be out of Swift’s comfort zone and a bit intimidating. But the fact is that now Swift is no longer a teenager and therefore should not be writing about teenager-like relationships. She never discloses any intimate details about her relationships in her songs unlike most 22 year-old artists. Instead, she successfully portrays the perfect role of an untouchable, chaste virgin disguised as a serial dater looking for the next guy to write a song about. The best track on the album, that was co-produced by Nathan Chapman, is â€Å"All Too Well† which is a slower, acoustic-based ballad written all by Swift herself. The song fits Taylor’s original style perfectly, encapsulating the platonic ideal of unfair heartbreak as she also does in many songs in her previous albums such as â€Å"Cold As You† in her self titled album, â€Å"Breathe† in her second album â€Å"Fearless†, and â€Å"Dear John† in her third album â€Å"Speak Now†. â€Å"All Too Well† is about her former boyfriend, actor Jake Gyllenhaal (which of who most of the album is about), and the story of their short, but apparently serious relationship spent specifically on a weekend at his sister Maggie’s house. The song is emotional and has a powerful climax that describes how he broke up with her over a phone call, which is typical for Taylor Swift and what her fans love and expect. Overall, the album lacks originality both lyrically and melodically. As Taylor takes steps further away from her love stricken lyrics and country roots and more towards passive aggressive pop rock tunes the worse off she gets and consequently leaves her fans disappointed. Although the album does contain a couple genuinely well written and produced tracks, the general confusion of which genre Swift tries to reflect in â€Å"Red† throws off the album as a whole. Hopefully Swift will soon learn how to use all of her potential to become a true adult artist that has evolved from her past glory as a teenage country legend.