Compare and Contrast Integrated and Subjective Approach Essay

Compare and Contrast Integrated and Subjective Approach - Essay Example And the UK is no different. Thus, it is only fair that the builders of the future societies of any nation are well looked after, especially in the area of primary education not only by the parents, but also by the schoolteachers, principals, and other related authorities. In the context of National Curriculum, Primary National Strategy and Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage, the scope of this essay is to ponder upon, and make an attempt to answer the following questions: It now becomes fairly apparent that things concerning educational matters are not to be trivialized and deserve serious attention by the concerned people. It is for this reason that the education building mechanism in places of learning is selected and processed very methodically and scientifically. The National Curriculum was introduced into England, Wales and Northern Island and as a national curriculum for primary and secondary state schools after the Education Reform Act 1988, which makes sure that the state schools of all Local Education Authorities are following a common curriculum. The subjects that are compulsorily taught are divided into two key stages, key stage 1(age 5-7) and key stage 2 (age 7-11). All students at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 are required to study (Wikipedia, 2006): Mathematics Science History Geography Art and Design Music Design Technology Physical Education Sex education, in some schools. Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). ICT The Primary National Strategy The Secretary of State launched Excellence and Enjoyment - A Strategy for Primary Schools on May 20th, 2003. It declares the vision for the future of primary education and would be useful for a sector where high standards are obtained through an exciting curriculum, which develops children in a range of ways. Important points in the vision included the need to make curriculum innovative by the primary schools, encouraging schools to network together and learning to share and develop good pra ctice, the Government acting as a catalyst by empowering teaching leadership and providing opportunities for children to have a whole range of learning experiences ( The Standards Site- Primary, n.d.) . The Subjective and the Integrated - based Curriculum Subject-based Curriculum, as indicated by the name itself, assumes that there is supposed to be one expert teacher or 'specialist' for one subject. The particular expert in that area handles all the issues with regards to that subject. For example, a physics teacher would typically handle and be responsible for all questions regarding physics only, and would not deviate from the main subject at all. The teacher would not look into other subjects like math, chemistry, etc nor would approach or consult teachers of other subjects. This approach thus, assumes that teachers of a particular subject are to handle their specialized subjects alone, and are not supposed to know and teach about other subjects.

Optical Sensors for Biological and Chemical Measurement

Optical Sensors for Biological and Chemical Measurement This Literature review is divided into three main parts. They are, Surface Plasmon Resonance, BIACORE 3000 and Winspall. In these three mechanism, Surface Plasmon Resonance stood a basic platform for optical bio- sensing whereas BIACORE 3000 is an extended version. On the other hand, Winspall is a special software used to simulate the reflectivity curves. The first part of the literature review is Surface Plasmon Resonance which explains the basic concept, sensors used in SPR and application in major areas. And also the future trend of Surface Plasmon Resonance sensors has been explained. Similarly the next section has a detailed structure of BIACORE 3000 describing its sensitivity and throughput along with new instrument software. As mention above that Winspall is a special software, it has been clearly discussed in third part. In this discussion, how the reflectivity curve is simulated with the help of Winspall software is explained with taking as an example of Reflection at air- g lass interface. Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) Introduction: For the past two decades there is a massive increase in the field of research and development of optical sensors for the measurement of chemical and biological quantities. Measuring CO2 and O2 Concentration were developed by optical chemical sensors which is the first optical device based on the measurement changes in absorption spectrum (Lubbers, et al. 1975). The chemical sensors and biosensors use various optical methods such as Ellipsometry, Interferometry, Spectroscopy and Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR). In these sensors a required amount is determined by measuring the refractive index, absorbance and fluorescence properties of analyte molecules (Wolfbeis et al., 1991). In late seventies, the potential of Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) for characterization of thin films (Pockrand et al., 1978) and monitoring processes at metal interfaces (Gordon II et al., 1980) had been recognized. In 1982, Nylander and Liedberg demonstrated the typical use of SPR for gas detection and bio-se nsing (Nylander et al., 1982). For the measurement of physical, chemical and biological quantities new SPR sensing configuration as well as application of SPR- sensing devices were developed since from the scientific community SPR had received continuously growing attention. In optical bio- sensing more than 75% of the research are based on the SPR, and SPR sensors are used commercially by several leading organizations in the field of direct real- time observation of the bio- molecular interactions. What is meant by SPR: SPR has many practical applications in sensitive detectors and it is having the ability to detect sub-monomolecular coverage. This phenomenon was first observed by Wood in 1902 (Wood, 1902), according to him, SPR is a pattern of anomalous dark and light bands in the reflected light when the light is polarised on a mirror with a diffraction grating on its surface. And the phenomenon of physical interpretation was initiated by Lord Rayleigh (Rayleigh, 1907) and additionally it was enhanced (Fano et al., 1941) but since 1968 there is no detail and complete explanation of the phenomenon. In the same year Otto (Otto, et al. 1969) and Kretschmann and Raether (Kretschmann, et al., 1968) reported in detail about the excitation of surface Plasmons. Optical chemical sensors and biosensors in SPR: Usually, an Optical sensor is a transducing medium which correlates the optical and bio- chemical domains and the system which supports the optoelectronic components of an electronic system and allowing data processing. The transducing medium converts the quantity of interest change into refractive index change which may be estimated by optically interrogating the SPR. The SPR sensor of an optical system contain two parts, one is the source of optical radiation and another one is the optical structure in which surface Plasma Waves (SPW) is excited and interrogated. In this SPR interrogation process, the electronic system process and generates the electronic signal and the properties of sensors subsystem only determines the major properties of an SPR sensor. The properties of an optical system and the transducing medium is dependent to the sensor sensitivity, stability and resolution whereas the selectivity and response time of the sensor are mostly estimates by the properties of tran sducing medium. Technologies and materials used in SPR-sensing devices: There are various technologies employed in the fabrication of SPR sensors since SPR chemical sensing and bio- sensing has multidisciplinary nature. But in particular there are two technologies which are considered as most important on the fabrication of SPR sensors. They are the fabrication of the optical part of the sensing element and preparation of Opto- chemical transducing medium. Application of SPR sensors in major areas: Measurement of physical quantities in SPR Based upon the sensitivity of SPR to the momentum of the incident light wave the displacement (Margheri et al., 1996) and angular position of SPR sensors is measured. For the development of SPR -sensing devices various optical transducing materials have been exploited including the refractive index changes of porous thin layers and polymers (Weiss et al., 1996) by humidity sensor and a temperature sensor based on the thermo- optic effect (Chadwick, 1993). SPR chemical sensing: Direct measurement of refractive index using an SPR sensor can be achieved by complexity variation in the concentration of analyte and due to the adsorption or chemical reaction of an analyte with a transducing medium the measurement of SPR variation are dependent to chemical SPR sensors which results in changes in its optical properties. Surface Plasmon Resonance Bio- sensing In 1983, the first application of SPR to bio- sensing was demonstrated (Liedberg, 1983), previously the demonstration was carried out and developed by some other groups (Flanagan et al., 1984). The real time bio- specific interaction analysis method was the first survey on Surface Plasmon Resonance which is appeared on 1994 (Lundstrà ¶m, 1994) frequently used and continuously improved for examination of kinetic and thermodynamics constants of bio- molecular interactions. The direct detection of binding reaction is used for the purpose of analyte quantification, however, the adsorption of small molecules produces the increase in refractive index which is not sufficient to detect directly. Commercialization of Surface Plasmon Resonance sensor technology: The first commercial SPR bio- sensor was launched on 1990 by Swedish BIAcore AB which leads to systematic development of SPR bio- sensor technology. Then the BIAcore sensor technology has been further developed in terms of speed, throughput and accuracy. At present BIAcore offers a number of models of SPR bio- sensors (BIACORE 3000, BIACORE 2000, BIACORE X, BIACORE 1000, BiacoreQuant) (Sinclair et al., 1990). By further growth of commercialisation of optical bio- sensor system results in the development of another SPR bio- sensor system (TI- SPR- 1Experimenters Kit, Spreeta Evaluation Kit) by Texas Instrument in USA [127]. There is another SPR bio- sensor system called Kinetic instrument 1 which has been developed by Bio TuL Bio Instruments GmbH (Germany). The recent SPR sensor which is commercially available is waveguide- based device using wavelength interrogation in a multimode optical fibre developed by EBI sensors (Washington, USA). Future trends in development of Surface Plasmon Resonance sensors Even though SPR is used in many fields, there is a necessity for detection and analysis of chemical and bio- chemical substances in many significant areas such as medical, environmental monitoring, bio- technology, drug and food monitoring. SPR sensor technology holds potential for applications in the mentioned areas. At present SPR bio- sensors devices compete with other types of bio- sensors (Owen, 1997) and the currently available bio- sensors covers only some degree of area of (bio) chemical monitoring market aiming primarily at research and analytical laboratories. So, a new SPR bio- sensor is need to compete the existing system to cover the specialised laboratories and testing sites on the basis of factor such as cheap, ease of use, robustness, sensitivity and stability. Conclusion For the past 10 years there is a great improvement in Surface Plasmon Resonance sensors technology with many numbers of applications. Even more the SPR sensors technology will get growth and extend in the usage by developing new type of bio- sensors which competes the existing system and also designing low- cost, allow sensitive and fast in speed. BIAcore 3000 Introduction For label free studies of bio- molecular binding, BIAcore 3000 is considered as highest performance research system which is existing currently. The substances such as lipid vesicles, viruses, bacteria and eukaryotic cells which are ranging from small molecules to crude extracts can be studied. Speed, strength and specificity of binding and determination of active concentration of components questions have been answered by BIAcore 3000 and it is an ideal tool for functional proteomics. For the future trends, there are lot to invent technically which has to meet the highest demands for efficiency, sensitivity and flexibility. The awareness and experience of BIAcore 3000 is an effective guide for the users without effort through preparation, evaluation and experimentation has been incorporated into Wizards. This BIAcore 3000 follows the C- language Conditional IF/THEN statements to response perfectly to changes in run conditions, since it provide a trend analysis and preliminary result s at the end of runs. For an individual sample characterisation BIAcore 3000 is used to design, where the highest resolution in kinetic analysis and automation of multi- sample analyses is crucial and it provides a superior performance for kinetic analysis. Highest signal to noise ratio and a high data acquisition achieves increased resolution. BIACORE 3000 represents the logical next step in the development of BIACORE systems for sophisticated binding studies, with better sensitivity, higher throughput, improved liquid flow properties and an easier software interface than previous system in the series (Francis, 1998). High sensitivity BIAcore has an working range as little as 10 RU, but it can be able to detect up to 70000 RU (one RU is equivalent to one picogram protein per square millimetre on the sensor surface) and also it has highest sensitivity to monitor the bio- molecular binding which ensures in the interpretation of related kinetic data and in the detection of binding events. The molecular weights of the binding partners and experimental conditions are dependent to the measurement of kinetic and affinity parameters. The controlled experimental conditions ensure precisely in the design of micro- fluidic pathway and in the detection system of BIAcore 3000. By comparing to other BIAcore systems, BIAcore 3000 has the ability to generate twice the signal from the same sample injection time. The micro- fluidic pathway of BIAcore 3000 has four flow cells overlaid in single sensor surface in which the each cell consists with a volume of 0.02  µl. During a single sample injection one cell has used to be as a true reference. The resolution and information from a single run will be maximised by automatic in- line reference subtraction and the signals will be resolved by reducing the background noise. Improved Throughput There is a significant difference in the design of IFC, between BIAcore 3000 and to its predecessors, where the height of the flow cells has been reduced to less than half. This may create some trivial sound, but the binding measurement in the screening application and kinetic analysis has important consequences. The mass transfer of analyte to the surface height is improved by the consequence of the lower flow cell, where as the height is inversely proportional to the mass transfer co- efficient for diffusion controlled transfer. If the height is increased by the factor 2, then the mass transfer co- efficient for diffusion will decreases by factor 1.6. Similarly, we can link this to the practical terms, that is, the faster kinetics can be measured without interference from mass transfer process. It also means that same response is achieved in the shorter time in a mass transfer limited situation in which the sample throughput is increased in screening situations. The improved sensit ivity enhances the gain which allows the system to work at lower relative response levels confidently. Streamlined wash routines between the introduction of new reagent rack and analysis cycles improves the automated analysis situation by throughput which allows 192 wells in two micro- plates to be used for samples. But some users of BIAcore 3000 says that clogging problems in the flow system is due to the reduced flow cell height when particular samples such as crude extracts or whole cell suspension are used. At the same time the users do not report problems when the clogging in micro- flow systems is quoted as an argument in favour of open curvette systems even when the analyses involving whole cells and there is no cause to think that the lower flow cell height in the BIAcore will built important clogging problems (Francis M, 1998). Software The BIAcore 3000 instruments have large improvements technically by introduction of new softwares which is designed to improve the analysis quality and to simplify the operation. Latest versions of the control software BIAcore 2000 have all these features. The BIAcore 2000 and BIAcore 3000 consists two- channel system BIAcore X with line reference subtraction method. Due to this, the users can progress and evaluate their data with confidently and also the data quality improves to large extent. The new IFC (Integrated fluidic cartridge) in the BIAcore 3000 is used to bypass the flow cells and to improve the cost- efficiency of chip operation. The features of BIAcore control software is due to the introduction of application wizards since the application wizard provides step by step information in a clear way to a particular kind of experiment for designing and interpreting the results with on-line help and feedback give the correct chance of achievement. The informations through on-li ne functions and the wizards were created based on the experience of binding studies over the years and it provides a new experience to the users and benefits to the companys expertise. Conclusion In summary, BIAcore 3000 is considered as most advanced system in the series of BIAcore and also it represents the present state of the art in technology for affinity- based bio- sensors. The system will extend the range of applications by the technology with higher sensitivity, improve in sampling handling and enhanced kinetic analysis facilities to cover many of the small molecules like cofactors, signalling substances present in the basic science research and drug candidates in the pharmaceutical industry. For dealing the large amount of high quality data, the refinement of hardware and computer software involved in the BIAcore system can provide and this is considered as a developed approach. Processing the data in the system becomes more and more of a bottle neck since the automated analysis becomes faster and more complicated. Winspall Introduction: To simulate the surface Plasmon resonance curves special software is designed based on the Fresnel formalism which is called as Winspall, developed by A. Scheller at the Max Planck Institute for polymer Research (Chifen, 2007). This software is very easy to use and gives accurate results when simulating the reflection curves (RES- TEC, 2010). Similarly, Winspall software is also used to determine the layer thickness in deposited LB (Langmuir- Blodgett) layers (KSV Inst, 2010). In many practical and commercial application electronic components such as sensors, detectors, displays and circuit boards provides the ability to assemble ordered molecular films with tailored functionality over macroscopic lateral dimensions. This technique is called as Langmuir- Blodgett (LB) deposition. In this deposition, technique the air- water interface contains micro particles and nano particles which are to be compressed and transferred to solid substrate. Here, the Winspall software is used to find t he deposition thickness between the particle layers and also the Fresnel coefficients of each film/ layer with recursion formalism will be calculated (Chifen, 2007). Simulation of Reflectivity curve using Winspall: As mentioned above, Winspall is used to simulate the reflection curves; this section gives a detail view how the reflected curve is simulated using Winspall software with an example. Let us consider an easy prism experiment, base of the prism reflects the laser beam and reflected light is the function of the angle of incidence. Now this reflected curve from the prism is going to be simulating using Winspall. So for this, we need the optical prism constant and air constant. The Winspall software consists of a special simulation parameter table (Fig 2) where the optical comments are to be filled; depending upon the optical parameters the simulation results will be made. For the above example we have to fill the optical components parameter such as prism and air. The first optical parameter is prism; we have to enter the thickness (no 1) 0 for in the table. And then the real and imaginary part of dielectric constant should be filled. The real part of dielectric constant is 2.29 in our example and the imaginary part is zero due to the absence of adsorption in the glass. The second optical component is air (no 2), no thickness and real part of dielectric constant is 1 and imaginary part is zero. Now the simulation parameters are filled in the table. The next step is to click the OK button to get simulation output. Once the OK button is clicked on the simulation parameter window, we will get a simulation curve as an output (Fig 3) for the filled values in the table in separate window. This is the typical curve describes the total internal reflection occurred in the prism and the reflected light separates high index from low index material. In general whenever a light passes through the interface, there will be no reflection at low angles, when the angle gets large the total internal reflection will occur. Below the window shows the simulation output for the values which were filled in the table. This graph explains that below 39 degree there is no reflection, when the angle increases the light get reflects until the total internal reflection is reached. Now to modify or to adjust the reflectivity curve, extra optical components value should be added in the table. In the above case, we are going to add another component between the glass and the air. It is 50 nm thick gold layer with the optical constants Eps-X real=-12.45 and Eps-X imag=1.3. Due to the minor differences in the evaporation process the above mentioned optical constant values for gold varies to some extent. Once these values are entered and we clicked OK button in the simulation parameter window, we will get a curve which is entirely different when compared to previous output (Fig 3). Because of reflective property of gold, first the total internal reflection becomes very thin from 0 to almost 1 and then around 43 degrees a surface Plasmon shows up a strong dip in reflectivity. Due to this strong dip, now the total intensity will jump in this Plasmon and there wont be any part of light reflection occurs. This simulation output curve describes the optical properties of a typical blank substrate used for surface Plasmon measurements. The below shown window consists of simulation output for newer optical component values Now to get real Plasmon and thin layers, a 3nm thick gold layer is added on the top with the dielectric constant of 2.11 (n=1.45) maybe some polymer or a protein. Once the new dielectric constant value in added, there will be a change in the simulation output curve (Fig 4) i.e. the Plasmon resonance shifted a little. We are now about half a degree higher. This shift can be easily measured and for the investigation of such thin layers Surface Plasmon Spectroscopy is well apt. Similarly to get thicker layer 30 nm thick gold layer used on the top which gives result as stronger shift of the Plasmon resonance. But when try to increase the strong shift of Plasmon resonance curve by using 300 nm thick layers a very sharp dip is found in the reflectivity curve at smaller angle. At this smaller a new waveguide mode occurred instead of Plasmon. By increasing the thickness i.e. by adding the thick gold layer with different nm thick on the top we will get more and more waveguides on the reflect ivity spectrum. The below window diagram shows the five waveguide modes in the range for 70 degree for 3 micro meter thick layer. At the same time waveguides can also be found in s-polarised light. This s-polarised light waveguides are also can be simulate by Winspall software. On the other hand, using the Winspall software the Surface Plasmon Resonance curve can be evaluated very easily. This is carried out by the same process, just filling the simulation parameter table. Conclusion: Winspall is special user- friendly software to represent the Surface Plasmon Resonance curves and also it very easy to carry the simulation and evaluation of reflectivity curves.

Racial Stereotypes on Television Essay -- Racial and Ethnic Bias on TV

For many years, racial and ethnic stereotypes have been portrayed on multiple television programs. These stereotypes are still illustrated on a day-to-day basis even though times have changed. Racial or ethnic stereotypes should not be perpetuated on certain television programs. These stereotypes provide false information about groups, do not account for every person, allow older generations to influence younger generations, create tension between groups, and affect people in many ways. To begin, racial or ethnic stereotypes on certain television programs provide false information about groups of people. The characters illustrated in these programs are formed by what writers believe. When a show is created, the writers take the basic features of a character and expand based on what they think viewers will enjoy. Yet these creations can be biased due to how hard the writer is willing to work. For example, the show Everybody Hates Chris portrays an African-American family living in Bed-Sty, Brooklyn. The family is shown as living from paycheck to paycheck and trying to better their lives. Yet, the neighborhood around them influences many of their decisions. Many of the minor characters are portrayed as African-American people who will do anything in order to survive, such as murder or steal. It also shows the Caucasian persons as being superior and â€Å"better†. Another example would be the show George Lopez. This show is based on a Mexican-Cuban family living in Los Angeles. The family goes through struggles, such as their son having dyslexia, their daughter joining private school, and George trying to find his biological father. Many of the statements and visuals portrayed are those that negatively illustrate how Mexicans and ... ...reotypes on Racial Categorization." Social Cognition (2008): 314-332. Browne. "Coalition Formed to End Ethnic and Racial Bias on TV." 1999. New York Amsterdam News. Web. 15 Jan. 2015. Burroughs, Todd Steven. "In The Brief." Crisis (2009): 10-14. Web. 15 Jan. 2015. Goodale, Gloria. "TV in black and white." 20 November 1998. Christian Science Monitor. Web. 15 Jan. 2015. Izumi, Yutaka and Frank Hammonds. "Changing Ethnic/Racial Stereotypes: The Roles of Individuals and Groups." Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal (2007): 845-852. Pauker, Kristin, Nalini Ambady and Evan P. Apfelbaum. "Race Salience and Essentailist Thinking in Racial Stereotypes Development." Child Development (2010): 1799-1813. Woll, Allen L and Randall M Miller. Ethnic and Racial Images in American Film and Television: Historical Essays and Bibliography. n.d. Print.

On Theory Integration Essay

On Control Theory There are two founding tenets of control theory (Gottfredson and Hirschi,1990): all behavior, criminal or not, arises from the hedonistic tendency to seek pleasure and avoid pain; and the behavior may be criminal – or criminally analogous – when the actor is ‘insufficiently restrained’ from resorting to force or fraud in the pursuit of interest. Control in this context refers to restraining factors in the individual, in the form of internalized norms comparable to the superego and ego, and the controlling influence and authority of social institutions, such as the family, school, or neighborhood. Reckless (1961), for example, sees conformity in terms of inner containment through a favorable self-concept, goal orientation, frustration tolerance, and commitment to norms, and outer containment which comes from the availability of meaningful roles and social acceptance. Violation of these restraints involves personal costs in the form of punishment, social rejection, or loss of future opportunities. Whether a person yields to temptation therefore depends on the balance between anticipated rewards and costs (Piliavin, Hardyck and Vadum, 1968).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most significant with regards to this theory is the social control theory of Hirschi (1969, 1978, 1986), which suggests that conformity is dependent on the interrelation between the person and the environment (a â€Å"stake in conformity†), and that deviance results when the interrelation between the two is lost. The correlated elements of the bond are: (1) attachment to others in the form of conscience, internalized norms, and caring what others think; (2) commitment to conventional goals; (3) involvement in conventional pursuits incompatible with delinquent activities; and (4) belief in the moral validity of conventional values. No special motive to deviate is proposed, since everyone is exposed to temptation, and the theory is concerned with criminality in general rather than the commission of specific crimes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The theory is silent about how bonds develop or break down, or how weak bonds produce deviant behavior other than by leaving the individual â€Å"free to deviate† (Conger, 1976; Box, 1981). Several theorists maintain that weakness of the social bond can only partially account for deviant behavior, and that individual variation in the motivation to deviate must be taken into account. This is the position taken by Elliott et al. (1985), who propose an integration of strain, control, and social learning theories.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, Hirschi and Gottfredson have recently reaffirmed the view that no special motivation is required to explain crime, which is a natural consequence of unrestrained human tendencies to seek pleasure and avoid pain (Hirschi and Gottfredson, 1988; Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990). They emphasize the compatibility of classical choice theories of criminal acts and the positivist concept of criminality as the tendency to commit crimes, but see the latter as a function of self control. Criminal acts are held to be the immediate gratification of common human desires, and require little planning, effort, or skill. They depend on opportunities and temptations, and are closely related to other socially disapproved acts, such as drinking, smoking, drug-taking, illicit sex, and even accidents, all of which become more likely when people lack self control. Individuals who possess such generalized attributes have the tendency to be impulsive, insensible, physical (as opposed to mental), daredevil, thoughtless, and nonverbal. Low self control is preferred to â€Å"criminality† because of the positivist implications in the latter of positive causes, and hence differences between crimes in motives. Since the only common element in crimes and analogous acts is lack of self control, it is unnecessary to distinguish types of crime or criminal. On Containment Theory Since this is a study which involves both inner containment and outer containment, we are concerned with how these elements are formed within the individual and the relation of the two elements to each other. The central concepts of containment theory are: outer containment, inner containment, physiological and psychological pushes and the social stratosphere or pressures and pulls. Outer or external containment [Reckless, 1967:470] is the ability of the society, the state, the tribe, the village, the family, and other nuclear groups to hold the individual within the bounds of accepted norms and expectations. It assumes that society and particular nuclear groups contain, steer, shield, divert, support, reinforce, and limit its members. This may include norms and expectations, customs, rules and laws. The theory, therefore, assumes that individuals are presented with a set of norms for different age groups, for males and females and for various statuses. From these expectations [Reckless, 1967:470], one is presented with the â€Å"correct† model of behavior. When discussing outer containment, it is also necessary to assume that deviant, illegal and immoral behavior exists in most societies and that a society usually produces effective conformers. There are three major aspects [Reckless, 1967:470-471J of external containment for modern, mobile societies. Groups provide various rules of behavior and expect conformity to these rules. If a group can successfully get its members to internalize or conform to these rules, then external containment has occurred; violations are held at a tolerable level. Secondly, in addition to presenting the individual with rules and limitations, groups must also provide one with meaningful roles and activities. These roles may range from the family to a peer group or an educational situation. Roles limit behavior and when there are no roles or few roles present, then the individual is left on his own to establish limits on behavior. A third component of external containment [Reckless, 1967:471] is that of group reinforcement. This includes: a sense of belonging and identity, supportive relationships and acceptance by the group. This component comes primarily from nuclear groups; the family or a peer group. This is also called incorporation or integration of the individual. If one has a sense of belonging, acceptance and support, then one is more likely to stay within the given norms of society. Inner containment [Reckless, 1967:475J is the ability of the person to follow expected norms and, therefore, to direct himself. It involves the individual personality’s need to live up to expectation of others. It may inc1ude the aspect of shaming. For example, â€Å"you ought to be ashamed of yourself†. Inner containment may also include those phenomena which may threaten the self image or make one feel guilty. It is one’s stake in conformity, or one’s moral nature. It is manifested on a continuum from strong to weak self control. Reckless [1967:475] states that the self increases in significance as a controlling agent as a society becomes more diverse, alienated and impersonal, and as the individual spends an increasing amount of time away from home base. Increased impersonalization means that the self must exert greater directional control. There are certain components of the self which strengthen it to resist deflection from societal norms. These components make it possible for the individual to contain himself in a modern, mobile environment. They are: a favorable self concept, goal orientation or aspiration level, level of frustration tolerance and retention of norms. The first component of self, according to Reckless [1967:475], is the favorable self perception. The individual who perceives his own responsibility will act responsible. A favorable self concept aids in following approved standards of behavior. The person who perceives himself as honest, reliable and helpful will most likely act that way. Goal direction [Reckless, 1967:476] is the second component of self which gives high directional capability. Capability for inner direction is the result of focusing on such approved goals as education and job improvement. This is especially true when goals involve long range planning and effort. This insures against deviance because of the necessity to conform to socially approved methods to obtain the goals. Related to goal orientation is one’s aspiration level which should consist of realistically obtainable goals. The third self factor [Reckless, 1967:476J is that of frustration tolerance. This tolerance should be able to withstand pressures, failure and disappointments. Containment theory assumes that a high frustration tolerance will insulate the individual against being diverted from his course. It enables a person to be more in control of the situation. The last component [Reckless, 1967:476J of inner containment is retention of norms. This retention is the result of adherence, acceptance, and commitment, identification with, legitimation of laws, codes, values, customs and institutions. It is, therefore, assumed that self containment is a personal internalization of models of behavior. Ordinary strength and ordinary weakness in self containment represents a normal range of self development. An abnormal manifestation would be extreme rigidity of character. This may be the result of faulty development. Integrating Theories   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The divergence of control theory and containment theory is based on the maintenance of the status quo or the upholding of universal social standards. In the former theory, the curtailment of hedonistic tendencies of an individual is being elucidated to ensure that deviant behaviors will not manifest. While in the latter theory, the focal point is to provide ways on how deviant behaviors will be contained. Hence, theory A (Control Theory) provides the explanation of why a certain individual behave in a given manner, and theory B (Containment Theory) outlines different means in curbing out such given manner.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If we put this context, say for example in the case of gang delinquencies, control theory will point out that a gang member shows juvenile behavior due to peer pressure, poverty, lack of parental guidance, and etc. The concern of containment theory on this crime is to provide realizable measurements for the person such as rehabilitation, education, guidance or simply through guiding the person on understanding the concept of good self image. Summary:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In toto, both theories discuss the delinquent and deviant tendencies of an individual depending on how the environment influences him/her, and how great is the impact of such environment to the individual. Applying both theories in crime, control theory is best embodied by the natural tendencies of a person since the behavioral patterns of the criminals is subsume in the context of Freudian psychology such as the id, ego and superego. On the other hand, containment theory is best exemplified in the quantifiable means of curbing out the innate tendencies of the person to in going against the standard, or simply by being deviant of the status quo. Both control and containment theories have the same concept of inner containment but differ in external terms. Reference: (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990; Rebellon & Waldman, 2003) Gottfredson, M., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A General Theory of Crime: Stanford University Press Rebellon, C., & Waldman, I. (2003). Deconstructing â€Å"Force and Fraud†: An Empirical Assessment of the Generality of Crime Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 19(3), pp. 303-331.

What does china has an ageing population?

China, the second larges country in the world, is facing a serious problem — ageing population. Before 1979, when Mao was the chairman of China, he persuaded women to have lots of babies in order to finish his plan – the Great Leap Forward. This is the start of the ageing population in China. In January 1958, Mao launched the second five year plan known as the Great Leap Forward. 1Mao wanted China to become a world power. He wanted to catch up with the west by ending Chinese dependence upon agriculture. His aim was to catch up with UK in the industry products in ten years time and with America in 15 years time. In order to do this, he will need lots of peasants but many of them die during this progress. This is why Mao encouraged women to have lots of children. In the DTM, the birth rate at stage 2 and 3 are both very high and this is due to requirement of Mao. China's population base increased â€Å"only† by another 100,000,000 on top of its 432,000,000 base.2 The magnitude of China total population increase so much that even the People's Republic of China found it hard to support. This is when One Child Policy (ICP) came in to control the over growing population. ICP is the birth control policy of the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC)3. When Deng Xiao Ping took over the power at 1978, he realized the overpopulation is a roadblock to economic development and also the death rate will increase due to the lack of food and water, then he came out with the ICP idea. In general, this policy is very successful because the birth rate has been reduced gradually starting at the middle of stage 3 in the DTM. The 1982 fertility survey shows the total fertility rate falling from around 6.0in the mid-1950s to well below 4.0in 19614. However, ICP leads to some other problem such as the ageing population. Since the ICP is introduced, the population has successfully decreased. However, the infant mortality increases at the same time. This is because as a Chinese tradition, the boys carry the family name but now, the families are only allow to have one child therefore the chance of having a boy is less then before. Because of this, some families may choose to kill the baby if it's a girl in order to carry the family name. This is not the only effect of ICP, since most families choose to have a boy rather than a girl, there will be more males than female in the future. The difference will also increase as the time pass by. As years go by, the medical care develops a lot in China therefore the life expectancy increase at the same time. Since the birth rate was so high is 1960s but then decrease so much when ICP is introduced, there are depend people then independent people. This slows down the economic development of China. When there are more dependent then the government will need to pay more than it earns. Since the dependent people can not earn their own living, the government will have to give them money and because the numbers of dependent people are so many, the money that was given to the dependents is more than the money China earns. The birth rate keeps dropping in China is due to one other main reason – as most of the people are now educated, they understand that if you want to raise up your children as best as you can, one child is more than enough. Also, the cost of having two children is normally too expensive for lower or middle classes. The time that is taken to look after them is too much if both parents are working. These are the main reasons why most of the parents choose not to have more than one child. In conclusion, China has an ageing population a problem is because the birth rate was really high when Mao was the chairman but then it decreases so much that ICP was introduced. The differences between that get worse and develop as the ageing population. Because of this problem, the economic developments is held back since the input and output is not balance due to part of the income is given to those dependent people. The death rate will increase dramatically when the dependent people die. This will affects reputation of China too.

buy custom Gingival Enlargement and Pregnancy essay

buy custom Gingival Enlargement and Pregnancy essay 1.0 Introduction Gingival enlargement also known as gingival hypertrophy or hyperplasia is an abnormal overgrowth of gingival tissues6. Studies have revealed that pregnancy is among the risk factors causing periodontal disease, due to increased levels of progesterone and estrogens. Gingiva has been found to be one of the target organs for female sex hormones. In order to reduce incidences of gingival inflammation, it is recommended that pregnant women should maintain their oral hygiene. The increase in gingival inflammation begins during the second month of pregnancy and and reach its maximum level during the eighth month of pregnancy. The inflammatory changes may lead to gingival appearing edematous, hyperplastic or erythematous. Usually, the changes are either localized or generalized and may be noted on the interdental papilla and also on the marginal gingival. The condition is accompanied by local irritation. 2.0 Purpose of the Project In this paper, the relationship between gingival enlargement and pregnancy is presented. The paper will enable us discover the causes of gingival enlargement in pregnant women, the intense of the condition and how it can be prevented. Gingival enlargement has been found to cause various problems such as chewing, breathing, speaking and cosmetic problems, especially during pregnancy. Hormonal imbalances, which occur during pregnancy, have been associated with localized and generalized gingival enlargements. Pregnancy does not cause this condition directly, but rather metabolism during pregnancy accentuates the response to irritants, thus causing gingival inflammation. All these are discussed in depth in the paper. Having a deeper understanding of the relationship between gingival enlargement and pregnancy is crucial because the condition has become a common clinical entity. Because of its association with various local and systematic factors, complete management of the condition requires differential diagnosis. Most gingival enlargement causative factors lead to unusual hyperplastic tissue response, which are associated with local irritants such as calculus, plague, and bacteria. 3.0 Background Gingival enlargement is a common clinical entity, especially with pregnant women. Hormonal imbalances, which occur during pregnancy, have been known to be one of the causative factors of gingival enlargement. The paper addresses the relationship between gingival enlargement and pregnancy. The topic has a wide range of importance to health issues. Hormonal imbalances, which occur during puberty and pregnancy, have been known to be associated with various types of gingival enlargement. The hormonal changes significantly potentiate the effects of irritants on gingival connective tissues. In all body inflammation good oral hygiene is necessary in order to minimize the negative effects of the associated systematic factors. Gingivectomy or Gingivoplasty may be done in combination with oral hygiene and prophylaxis instructions. Lesions that do not cause a significant esthetic or functional problem should be avoided during pregnancy because they may reoccur. Furthermore, they may resolve to a spontaneous post-partum. The importance of oral prophylaxis and regular check up cannot be overlooked. Though, gingival hyperplasia is a rare condition, it is important for mechanic and cosmetic reasons. During pregnancy hyperplasia of gingival may be caused by various factors including poor oral hygiene, poor nutrition or by systematic hormonal stimulation. The objective of the paper is to explain deeply the causes of gingival enlargement during pregnancy, effects and prevention of the condition. The following research questions will be answered in the course of the paper: How is gingival enlargement related to pregnancy? What causes gingival enlargement during pregnancy? What are the influences of hormonal imbalances during pregnancy on the development of gingival lesions? How can gingival inflammation be prevented and treated? 4.0Literature Review Periodontal inflammation and pregnancy have now been linked for many years. For instance, in1978, Vermeeran discussed the intense of toothpains" in pregnancy5. Also in 1818, Pitcarin tried to give a description of gingival hyperplasia in pregnancy6. Pregnancy related abnormalities are most frequent in gingival tissue. Pregnancy does not cause gingivitis, but rather aggravate preexisting disease. The most common known changes exhibit themselves in gingival vasculature. Various studies have been done to understand how ovarian hormones may increase the enlargement the gingival tissues and exaggerate the response to local irritants. Gingival inflammation has been found to be aggravated by an imbalance or an increase in sex hormones. According to a study by Pitcarin sex hormones affects and modifies the actions of cells of immune system2. Furthermore, evidence suggests that the interaction of estrogen and immune system can lead to non immune regulatory effects. Estrogen and progesterone receptors have been demonstrated in the gingival. The sub-gingival micro-flora and the gingival tissues respond to the hormonal imbalance during pregnancy with a variety of changes. Epidemiological studies suggests that the prevalence of pregnancy gingivitis ranges from 35% to 100% During collection of information regarding the topic I made use of pub-med search. Using Google as the search engine I entered the URL. This is the National Library of medicine address. I clicked on PubMed, which took me to simple search interface pages for PubMed. The key words I searched for include the following; gingival enlargement, gingivectomy and periodontal inflammation including many others. 5.0 Theoretical Framework A study, which was done by Carranza and Newman1 on February 2008, involving 95 pregnant women aged between 15-45 years old, suggests that untreated periodontal diseases in pregnant mothers poses a significant risk factor, which may cause preterm, less than 37 weeks gestation and low birth weight (less than 2500 grams)1. Currently, there have been opinions that the co-relation of periodontal diseases to preterm low birth weights (PLBW) occurs due to infections. The evidence further suggests that the condition can be mediated indirectly through the translocation of bacterial products such as endotoxin or by the action of maternally produced inflammatory mediators. The biologically active molecules, which are normally in normal parturition, such as prostaglandin PGE and tumor necrosis factors are raised to high levels by the infection. This may foster premature labor. Recently, there has been a positive relation between gingival crevicular fluid levels of PGE with intra amniotic PGE levels, suggesting that negative periodontal infections may present a challenge sufficient to initiate the onset of premature labor through the stimulatiion of secondary mediators such as PGE and Interleukin 1 beta. Pregnancy gingivitis manifests itself in various ways. This includes; erythema, hyperplasia, edema and increased bleeding. These manifestations are similar to those of conventional gingivitis. The condition varies from mild to server inflammation and progresses to serious enlargement causing spontaneous bleeding and pain of gingiva. Occasionally, there might appear a localized gingival enlargement called pregnancy tumor. Serious gingival condition leads to tissue inflammation causing periodontal tooth mobility. It has been observed that during pregnancy hormonal levels increases to a greater extent. For instance, etcradial levels in the plasma increases up to 30 times that during reproductive cycle. Estrogen and progesterone are produced in the placenta during pregnancy. The estrogen produced may regulate cellular differentiation, proliferation and keratinization, while progesterone changes the rate of production of collagen and also affects the permeability of microvasculature. Receptors for progesterone and estrogen have been revealed in the gingival; providing direct biochemical evidence that gingiva can be a target organ for sex hormones. In addition, there exists an evidence of sex hormone concentration in the crevicular fluid, which provides a growth medium for periodontal pathogens. Also, there are various changes which occur in maternal immune system leading to a decrease in the ration of peripheral T helper cells to T suppressor cells. The changes in maternal immune response increase the degree of gingival inflammation. Because of increased sex hormones in gingival tissues, gingival crevicular fluid and in the saliva, the response of tissues (gingival) to local factors (plague) becomes exaggerated7. Gingival inflammation, presence of calculus and plague and consequently, gingival bleeding have been found to be more in pregnant women in comparison to non-pregnant women. It has been estimated that the prevalence of gingivitis in pregnant women ranges from 30% to 100%. According to another study did by Laine, pregnant women need to have a high standard of hygiene4. Because of the hormonal imbalances during pregnancy, pregnant women are more susceptible to gingival-periodontal diseases. This is consistent with the finding by Pinard, which showed that pregnant women need more oral hygiene instructions and care in order to deal with oral diseases3. Oral hygiene instructions such as instructions on how to care for oral heath during gestation, and after delivering, are among the parameters to be considered for pregnant women6. Although a considerable proportion of pregnant women experience gingivitis during pregnancy, gingival tissues return to their original healthy state after wards. This happens when the levels of estrogen and progesterone reach baseline values. In a clinical situation, apart from a slight increase in gingivitis, a sub-gingival microbial shift and bleeding, healthy pregnant women are unlikely to experience a significant gingival response that would have serious clinical implication. It is important for women, who are susceptible to gingival conditions, to seek treatment to prevent serious extension of inflammation that may cause bacteremia8. Preventive measures such as meticulous plague control and dental prophylaxis helps in preventing periodontal conditions from development. Hence, it is necessary to include periodontal examination as one of antenatal check up during pregnancy in order to ensure that both the mother and the child are healthy. Buy custom Gingival Enlargement and Pregnancy essay

Free Essays on Privacy

Privacy in the Classroom Privacy is the voluntary and temporary withdrawal of a person from the general society through physical or psychological means, either in a state of solitude or small-group intimacy or, when among larger groups, in a condition of anonymity or reserve. The question is privacy being invaded in the classroom or are critics on privacy being too critical? I believe that there is an issue of privacy in the classroom that teacher and parents along with students are unaware of. Philip, a little boy with a learning disability, was placed in a special education class two days out of the week and the other three days he was placed in a â€Å"mainstream† fifth grade class so he could be around children that he should be on the same level as. One day the teacher asked the class to switch quizzes and grade them. Philip, being in a special education class, hadn’t grasped the subject as the other children had and he received a failing grade. The teacher called out student’s names so the grader of the student’s paper would announce the score in front of the class. Philip was devastated. He was the only student in the class with a low grade. In this example peer grading is unacceptable and a violation of student privacy. The teacher knew what kind of students he/she had in the classroom and could have saved Phillips embarrassment of publicizing his failure. In a middle school English class a teacher ask the students to pull out their journals and write about topics such as; draw a picture of your house and family occupants and write what each one is saying; who has the last word in your family; reveal who in your family brings you the greatest sadness and why, who brings you the greatest joy and why. Journal questions like this invade a kid’s privacy. Children wouldn’t know the difference if they were asked a general question or a question to know what’s going on their household. Thus, selected... Free Essays on Privacy Free Essays on Privacy Privacy in the Classroom Privacy is the voluntary and temporary withdrawal of a person from the general society through physical or psychological means, either in a state of solitude or small-group intimacy or, when among larger groups, in a condition of anonymity or reserve. The question is privacy being invaded in the classroom or are critics on privacy being too critical? I believe that there is an issue of privacy in the classroom that teacher and parents along with students are unaware of. Philip, a little boy with a learning disability, was placed in a special education class two days out of the week and the other three days he was placed in a â€Å"mainstream† fifth grade class so he could be around children that he should be on the same level as. One day the teacher asked the class to switch quizzes and grade them. Philip, being in a special education class, hadn’t grasped the subject as the other children had and he received a failing grade. The teacher called out student’s names so the grader of the student’s paper would announce the score in front of the class. Philip was devastated. He was the only student in the class with a low grade. In this example peer grading is unacceptable and a violation of student privacy. The teacher knew what kind of students he/she had in the classroom and could have saved Phillips embarrassment of publicizing his failure. In a middle school English class a teacher ask the students to pull out their journals and write about topics such as; draw a picture of your house and family occupants and write what each one is saying; who has the last word in your family; reveal who in your family brings you the greatest sadness and why, who brings you the greatest joy and why. Journal questions like this invade a kid’s privacy. Children wouldn’t know the difference if they were asked a general question or a question to know what’s going on their household. Thus, selected...

7 Types of Euphemism

7 Types of Euphemism 7 Types of Euphemism 7 Types of Euphemism By Mark Nichol Euphemisms, words or phrases that substitute for provocative or emotionally charged terms, are employed for various reasons: 1. Abstraction: Some euphemisms serve to distance people from unpleasant or embarrassing truths, as when we say that a dead person passed away or a celebrity who has canceled an appearance is suffering from exhaustion. 2. Indirection: A euphemism may replace an explicit description of an action, as when people speak of going to the bathroom or of others sleeping together. 3. Litotes: Sometimes, euphemism occurs in the form of this rhetorical device in which the gravity or force of an idea is softened or minimized by a double negative, as in the reference to someone as being not unattractive. 4. Mispronunciation: Alteration of pronunciation is a form of euphemism, as when we say frigging or shoot, or jeez or cripes, so as not to offend people by using profanity (figurative or literal). These types of euphemisms, involving rhyme, alliteration, or shortening, are also called minced oaths. 5. Modification: A bluntly offensive noun can be transformed into a euphemism by converting it to an adjective, as in saying someone has socialist leanings rather than labeling them a socialist outright. 6. Personification: One form of euphemism is when things that some people prefer not to mention candidly, such as genitals, are assigned personal names. (I will go beyond euphemism and let readers think of examples on their own.) 7. Slang: Much of slang, derived to produce a vocabulary exclusive to a social group, is euphemism, as in the use of joint for marijuana (itself a slang term, derived from the Spanish names Mary and Juana closely related to â€Å"Mary Jane,† yet another euphemism). Corporations and government bureaucracies, including military services, are masters are creating euphemisms of abstraction and indirection such as pre-owned for used, effluent for pollution, and â€Å"collateral damage† in place of â€Å"accidental killing.† Euphemism is also often employed in an attempt to make polite reference to physical or psychological disability, though some people argue that while a trend toward ever more euphemistic language seems to accord people so labeled more respect, euphemism can also diminish the public perception of the seriousness of the condition. Not all euphemism is deplorable, but much of it is, and writers and editors must search their consciences and uphold their principles in deciding whether to couch terms or whether to use straightforward language. Although an increased likelihood of euphemism seems to correlate with the extent of distribution of a publication, it is also often true that the more widespread the readership of a publication, the safer it is for those who produce its content to be blunt and honest. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Types of Narrative Conflict15 Great Word Games25 Favorite Portmanteau Words

Television Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Television - Essay Example The CBC had been charged with setting up a public service television system following the study carried out by a wide-ranging royal commission on the arts, letters and sciences, which reported in 1951. As the twenties came to a close, Canadian political elite became increasingly concerned that the commercial messages and entertainment-driven values from American radio stations that freely drifted across the border were eroding Canadian culture. The most popular radio show in Canada was the American produced situation comedy Amos n' Andy. In 1929 the Liberal government of Mackenzie King commissioned three men to study and report on the state of broadcasting in the country, beginning a relationship between the state and the media that has not weakened since. The three were Sir John Aird, a banker, Charles Bowman, a journalist with the Ottawa Citizen, and Augustin Frigon, an engineer at L'Ecole Polytechnique in Montral. The commissioners studied virtually every form of radio broadcasting in existence during the year of the investigation. By the time Aird delivered his report, the Liberals were out of office and a new Conservative Prime Minister, R. B. Bennett was in control. It was up to Bennett to decide which form broadcasting would take in Canada. Like King, Bennett was deeply concerned that American influence, especially its views on liberalism and republicanism, would soon dominate Canadian thinking.

Story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Story - Essay Example r which diseases are to be considered rare as a disease may be seen as rare in a one part of the globe, or in a specific population of people but remain common in a different one. Prevalence, which defines the number of people affected by a disease at a certain time, rather than incidence, which denotes the number of diagnoses in a particular year, is issued in the description of rare diseases and this has resulted in estimates that rare diseases affect more than three hundred million people all over the world. Since the prevalence of rare diseases varies between different populations, a disease that is rarely diagnosed in one population may be very common in a different population. This is particularly true in the case of genetic diseases as well as infectious diseases such as cystic fibrosis, which is a genetic disease that is rare in Asia but comparatively common in Europe and people who originate from the continent (Posada de la Paz & Groft, 2010). Numerous infectious diseases are prevalent in specific geographic areas but rare in the rest of the areas while other diseases including numerous rare forms of cancer do not have a specific pattern of distribut ion, as they are just rare. Categorization of additional conditions is dependent partly on the population that is being considered, with all types of cancer in children typically being considered rare as a limited number of children develop cancer but similar forms of cancer may be more prevalent in the adults. Most of the rare diseases are genetic; an estimated eighty percent, and this makes them chronic while other diseases that are rare occur as a result of people being infected and being allergic to certain things or from causes that are degenerative and proliferative. The categorization of the degree of a disease’s rarity is dependent upon the population under study, additionally; signs and symptoms of a number of the rare diseases might be seen at birth or during childhood while others only become

You are asked to analyse current developments in Canadian cultural, Essay

You are asked to analyse current developments in Canadian cultural, political and economic business environment impacting investment plans of a German-based luxury car manufacturer - Essay Example This paper will explore current developments in Canada’s cultural, political and economic business environment and how they affect Audi’s investment objectives. With its stable democracy, economy, and culture, Canada ranks high on the list of ideal investment locations in the world. The economy has been thriving since the end of World War Two, and the country has been in the good books of major international organisations for as long as it has existed. The country’s middle class has been growing steadily over the years, and there are no signs that it will shrink anytime soon. The number of wealthy citizens has also increased significantly in the past two decades, creating more spending power and expanding the market for luxury goods (Anastakis, 2013:21). Like all manufacturers of luxury products, Audi seeks to move as many of its goods as possible in the cheapest and most effective way possible. Audi has had operations in Canada since 1971, and it was one of the first automakers to venture into a market that was relatively unexploited at the time. As at January 2015 Canada had made almost 15% of the automobiles assembled in North Ame rica. The Economist has also rated the country’s business scene as the most conducive among G7 countries that produce vehicles. Canada has recognised its automobile industry as a key sector in its current and future growth plans. As such, it has put in place measures to support manufacturers in the country. Although Audi does not have an assembly plant in Canada, it still exports a significant amount of vehicles to the country, and operates dealerships that cater to the needs of its Canadian customers (Peters, 2013:26). A core aspect of supporting automakers is guaranteeing a global market for their goods. Using the Global Markets Action Plan, the Canadian government has signed 7 different free trade agreements with thirty-eight nations. In addition, it has signed or adopted

Buddhism Modernist- Colonel Henry Steel Olcott Essay

Buddhism Modernist- Colonel Henry Steel Olcott - Essay Example ork City before later joining the University of Columbia before he could drop out of the university in 1851 when his father’s business failed to raise the required amount to pay for his education. In between 1858 to 1860, Olcott found a placement in the New York tribune where he used to write agricultural articles though he could engage in other topics in his writing for instance he wrote about the lineage of his extended family. Olcott married the daughter of trinity parish priest, Mary Epplee Morgan in 1860, and they were blessed with four children two of whom died while still toddlers. During the American Civil war, Henry Steel Olcott served in the military after which he was assigned with the duties of a special commissioner in the faculty of war in New York. In US army, Olcott attained much admiration and respected from his colleagues, and that led to his promotion as a colonel in the department of the navy in Washington. After the assassinations of the then president, Abraham Lincoln, Olcottwas hired to facilitate in the process of investigating the assassinations, as he was a skillful person in his field. In 1868, he ventured into law where he concentrated with insurance policies and all fraud activities therein. In 1874, Henry Steel Olcott made several publications that entailed the spiritualist movement and in the same year, he met Helena Blavatsky whom they held similar views towards the spiritualist movement. Their union elicited the urge to develop a spiritual, philosophical ideology that led to the establishment of the theosophical society that was a new religious movement. In order to support the new movement, Olcott continued to offer his services as a lawyer and in 1875, he was requested by popular spiritualist to carry out an investigation on Nelson Holmes, who alleged to control the spirit thus making Katie king affluent (Prebish & Keown, 2013). Since the inception of the society, Olcott continued to preside over the leadership of the society

Reflection paper on the documentary Worse than war by Mike DeWitt with Essay

Reflection paper on the documentary Worse than war by Mike DeWitt with Daniel Goldhagen as a main star in it - Essay Example Despite the beautiful landscapes that the documentary dots the chilling events with, Goldhagen offers a concise narration of the events behind these genocides and helps in bringing out the serious atrocities. Besides this narration, the documentary brings out deeper implications of these wars with much deeper effects on victims than just the actual act of war, a view that is in most cases not brought to the international focus. As the title illustrates, most of these genocides were not just usual wars but were strategically planned and orchestrated towards weakening a certain side politically, socially, or economically, to offer the perpetrators a leeway to dominate their victims for many years into the future. For instance, the documentary takes viewers to the harrowing stories of Burundi and Rwanda survivors, revealing the real motive of the genocide. The genocide targeted the Hutu to seriously weaken their power in ensuring the Tutsis have unmatched powers to dominate the countryà ¢â‚¬â„¢s politics. The slaughter was not motivated by anything else other than to lessen the powers of Hutus, in addition to eliminating the political elites who were a threat to the prevailing political dynamics. The Hutu survivors narrated how the Tutsis killed or forced their elite tribesmen into exile. One of the respondents noted that the Tutsis wanted to kill their clan because his clan was more educated and thus perceived as a threat to the power hungry Tutsi cliques. This explains the arrest of most victims in government offices or other powerful offices, killed or incapacitated to weaken the voice of the Hutu. In other words, the documentary brings out the point that when the elite in the society is eliminated, the poor have no powers, leaving the perpetrators with an easy way to pursue their agendas with little or no criticism. In Germany, as the documentary narrates, Hitler alongside with the Nazis killed or incarcerated most of the German elites inclined to the communist s or socialist movements, which offered an excellent opportunity for the Nazis to have a total grasp of the country in 1933. After conquering Poland, similar to the Rwandese case, most of the elites in Poland were massively slaughtered, which reduced the resistance of the people towards the German policies to occupy and execute their power in Poland. Genocide is a perfect tool to consolidate power and silence any possible critiques in a regime, offering them the right environment to propagate their ideologies unopposed. Another powerful tool used in these genocides is to socially destabilize the perceived enemies by annihilating the masses from their homes and ancestral lands, which later offers some political expediency as the victims would not have the time to vote or be involved in the political affairs of the country. This was achieved in Indonesia where the mass followers of a communist party were forced into camps. Despite such annihilation, such genocides as happened in Indon esia have religious implications, which permanently alter the life of the victims long after the war. In Indonesia, as the documentary illustrates, the Muslim majority who perpetrated the genocide forced most of the non-muslins to convert into Muslim religion, which changed the victims’

Individual news article analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Individual news article analysis - Essay Example As a direct result of these dynamic shifts, the manner in which marketing has taken place and the manner through which firms seek to reach their clients has also changed precipitously from what it was merely a few years ago (Jones et al. 691). Accordingly, the following analysis will seek to detail the ways in which technological change has not only shifted the means of marketing and integration, but has fundamentally changed the ways that businesses promote themselves and engage with the consumers in the market (Holmes et al. 124). The article points to the fact that many firms have been unduely tempted to step away from traditional approaches and have begun to chase the allure of cheap and omnipresent forms of internet advertising; to include those linked to social media marketing. Although this can most certainly be an effective approach in engaging certain key demographics, the author warns that it must not supplant the approach that it utilized within the many other forms of mar keting that have for so long helped to define the means by which businesses integrate with the consumers. ... mail, the communication platform that the mobile device now offers allows for a much greater degree of efficiency even if the individual in question is not within range of a Wi-Fi signal and/or within range of traditional desktop PC and keyboard (Hortinha et al. 28). Further, perhaps the greatest shift that can be noted outside of the sheer ease of communication that these devices have been able to provide is the fact that mobile marketing has been able to pervade the environment and can be exhibited to the individual upon nearly each and every website that is viewed in a mobile platform or even as advertisements that are provided within the applications that each of us have become so reliant upon (Ballve 1). With respect to the way in which the individual or the firm should integrate with the information that has thus far been presented, it must be understood that the zeitgeist of the era demands a closer attention is paid to mobile computing and the manner in which it can be utiliz ed to garner further levels of profitability for the industry/business in question. From the personal standpoint, little if anything has changed with regards to communication over the mobile platform in the past 5-10 years (Vasilchenko & Moorish 89). Once mobile devices became internet enabled and were functionally able to send emails/MMS messages as well as search the web, few innovations have come along to shift the dynamic of personal communication. However, with that being said, it must be understood that the greatest shift that has been felt with regards to mobile computing has been with respect to the way in which businesses seek to leverage these platforms as a means of reaching out to the consumer. One need look no further than a major car manufacturer’s television advertisement

Reflection paper on the documentary Worse than war by Mike DeWitt with Essay

Reflection paper on the documentary Worse than war by Mike DeWitt with Daniel Goldhagen as a main star in it - Essay Example Despite the beautiful landscapes that the documentary dots the chilling events with, Goldhagen offers a concise narration of the events behind these genocides and helps in bringing out the serious atrocities. Besides this narration, the documentary brings out deeper implications of these wars with much deeper effects on victims than just the actual act of war, a view that is in most cases not brought to the international focus. As the title illustrates, most of these genocides were not just usual wars but were strategically planned and orchestrated towards weakening a certain side politically, socially, or economically, to offer the perpetrators a leeway to dominate their victims for many years into the future. For instance, the documentary takes viewers to the harrowing stories of Burundi and Rwanda survivors, revealing the real motive of the genocide. The genocide targeted the Hutu to seriously weaken their power in ensuring the Tutsis have unmatched powers to dominate the countryà ¢â‚¬â„¢s politics. The slaughter was not motivated by anything else other than to lessen the powers of Hutus, in addition to eliminating the political elites who were a threat to the prevailing political dynamics. The Hutu survivors narrated how the Tutsis killed or forced their elite tribesmen into exile. One of the respondents noted that the Tutsis wanted to kill their clan because his clan was more educated and thus perceived as a threat to the power hungry Tutsi cliques. This explains the arrest of most victims in government offices or other powerful offices, killed or incapacitated to weaken the voice of the Hutu. In other words, the documentary brings out the point that when the elite in the society is eliminated, the poor have no powers, leaving the perpetrators with an easy way to pursue their agendas with little or no criticism. In Germany, as the documentary narrates, Hitler alongside with the Nazis killed or incarcerated most of the German elites inclined to the communist s or socialist movements, which offered an excellent opportunity for the Nazis to have a total grasp of the country in 1933. After conquering Poland, similar to the Rwandese case, most of the elites in Poland were massively slaughtered, which reduced the resistance of the people towards the German policies to occupy and execute their power in Poland. Genocide is a perfect tool to consolidate power and silence any possible critiques in a regime, offering them the right environment to propagate their ideologies unopposed. Another powerful tool used in these genocides is to socially destabilize the perceived enemies by annihilating the masses from their homes and ancestral lands, which later offers some political expediency as the victims would not have the time to vote or be involved in the political affairs of the country. This was achieved in Indonesia where the mass followers of a communist party were forced into camps. Despite such annihilation, such genocides as happened in Indon esia have religious implications, which permanently alter the life of the victims long after the war. In Indonesia, as the documentary illustrates, the Muslim majority who perpetrated the genocide forced most of the non-muslins to convert into Muslim religion, which changed the victims’

Research papper about Landscape Artist J.M.W. Turner Essay

Research papper about Landscape Artist J.M.W. Turner - Essay Example John Constable, a contemporary of Turner’s, was of the opinion that â€Å"painting was another word for feeling†. A highly versatile and prolific artist, Turner created more than five hundred oil paintings and thousands of water colors, drawings and sketches, and numerous engravings over his long career of over sixty years. Turner developed quickly as an artist producing his earliest drawing in the 1780s. From the young age of fourteen he received training in art from the Royal Academy due to his enormous talent, and was made a full member by 1802. Turner’s penchant for serious reading of learned treatises on painting, literary and historical classics contributed to his vast range of mind (Rodner: 1-2). He won early and consistent patronage and popularity, though in later years some of his freely executed individualistic canvases met with controversy (Rodner:2). The Subject Matter of J.M.W. Turner’s Works: The artist covered an enormous range of subject matter, and was proficient in the use of both oils and watercolors. His paintings were extremely varied. Several works were on similar topics as a series of paintings on historical events, Biblical narrations, rural landscapes, industrialized towns, castles, rivers, marinescapes, rain, catastrophic storms and avalanches, Venetian land and waterscapes, sunsets and sunrises, sketches and engravings and many more. Turner’s versatility is seen in the many genres as well as schools of painting such as impressionism, post-impressionism, romanticism, etc. Turner’s life spanned one of the most innovative and influential phases of technological development. With industrialization came production and manufacturing, the expansion of cities, dramatic rise in population were great influences on his art. Turner’s watercolors of multistorey mills, fiery furnaces and polluted skies reflect the startling novelty of industrialism. The perfection of the steam boat, the introduction of the railroad, revolutionized

Theory of Conceptual Change

Theory of Conceptual Change Introduction What is conceptual change? Conceptual change is a process that changes or replaces an existing conception with a new conception. It could be an idea, a belief or a way of thinking [1]. The shift or restructuring of knowledge and beliefs are what distinguishes conceptual change learning from other types of learning. In conceptual change learning, an existing conception might be fundamentally changed, replaced or assimilate by the new knowledge. The change forms a conceptual framework that is useful to solve future problems and explain the knowledge [2]. The theory of conceptual change was developed by a group of science education researchers and philosophers in Cornell University in the early 80s [2]. The theory was based on both Piagets notion of disequilibration and accommodation and Thomas Kuhns description of scientific revolution [1]. Conceptual Change from the epistemological perspective The term epistemological belief is defined as philosophical nature of knowledge and the process of knowing [3]. The influence of epistemological beliefs in classroom instruction in different domain and the way student perceive or manage their knowledge, is an interesting point of research [4], [5], [6]. Epistemological beliefs research proves that the naivety of students beliefs regarding the nature of learning and knowledge are strongly resulted from their less-sophisticated learning strategies, their lower level of cognitive functioning and flexibility of their cognition process [7]. The best known conceptual change model in science education is based on students epistemologies which is derived and refined by Posner, Strike, Hewson and Gertzog in 1982 [2] and applied to classroom instruction. Posner et.al. [2] suggests that classical conceptual change is similar to the Kuhns [1] notion of a paradigm shift and Piagets notion of assimilation, accommodation and disequilibrium. Classical conceptual change shows that dissatisfaction or cognitive conflict of the students occur when their belief and conception in the existing conception framework fail to meet the new conception. Therefore, the students must find intelligent, plausible and fruitful concepts to explain new concepts that may replace or assimilate with the old conceptions. The duration of productive conception in the students is too difficult to detect. The learning models use of constructs such as conceptual ecology, assimilation and accommodation suggests a constructivist notion based on Piagets research. Wandersee, Mintzes and Novak reported in 1994 [8] that these methods are more effective than traditional methods. However, it is rather difficult to compare the effectiveness of conceptual change approaches and other approaches. Different approaches to the teaching and learning process have different aims; hence evaluation should be set to meet specific goals. The aim in conceptual change depends on the way the approaches are used in classroom practice and whether the potential to achieve goals. According to Posner et al. and Hewson [2], it is the student who determines conceptual status and conceptual changes that associates with the constructivist learning theory and the highly personal nature of conceptions, viewed as mental models. The ability to select intelligible, plausible and fruitful representations or conceptions for a specific context is a measure of expertise [9]. However, researchers need to be aware that apparent conceptual changes may in fact be context-driven choices. The use of conceptual profiles proposed by Mortimer [10] in learning settings help to differentiate conceptual changes from contextual choices. Finally, the relation between epistemological beliefs and conceptual change learning needs to be highlighted for further research. Conceptual Change from the ontological perspective Students knowledge is represented by some researchers as an ontology, that is, as a representation of what is apparent for them based on what they know. A model called phenomenological primitives (p-prim) by DiSessa [11] interprets how students think about particular situations. Some believe that p-prim are additional aspects important to conceptual change. It is necessary to find effective representations of such information to be successful in inducing conceptual change. Some researches focus on conceptual change processes in terms of mental models. The pre-existing knowledge of children about how the world works involves the spontaneous changes and instruction-based changes at the mental model level [12]. Similarly, [13] argues that even very young children develop their own theories and speculate about phenomena. They believe based on the instruction, observations and experience from their daily life due to their ontological and epistemological commitments with the lack of scientific theories. A childs perception is constrained by their naive framework of presuppositions [14]. Chi [15] argues that conceptual change requires an ontological shift. The conceptual change process is hard because the lack of appropriate strategy to assign concept to a different ontological category. Mindful students can assign the concept into the correct category by revising their ontological commitments, categories, and presuppositions. Posner et al.,[2] primarily use epistemology to elaborate on conceptual changes and also research on the way that students view reality. Other researchers use specific ontological terms to explain changes to the way students conceptualize science entities [16], [17], [14]. Carey [18] reasons that sound knowledge restructuring during childhood shows that some of the childrens concepts cannot be compared with adults. Vosniadou [14] called for similarly radical changes in restructuring and also explains that revisions to central framework theories involve ontological and epistemological changes. There are many other concepts in which the scientists process views are incomparable with students material conceptions. The desired changes to ontology are not often achieved in school science. Despite this pessimistic view, change of school students material is possible. However, scientific concepts are highly complicated and the view of optimizing school science is different with scientific v iew. Consistent with ontological position is the research of Chiu, Chou and Liu [19] who adopted Chis [15] ontological categories of scientific concepts to investigate how students perceive the concept of chemical equilibrium. Because science concepts are not presented by teachers or in textbooks with any ontological differentiation, the desired changes to student ontology are not usually achieved in school science. Chiu et al. [19] argues that Posners [2] theory does not accurately represent the nature of scientific concepts which makes learning the concept difficult. Duit Sinatra [9], [20] utilization of Chis [15] theory has constraint based features which includes randomness, simultaneous action, and uniform activities. These features prevent students from deeply understanding the nature of this concept. Students in the cognitive apprentice group were more able to develop the microscopic concepts compared to the non-cognitive apprentice group. They were able to comprehend that the added compounds are eliminated by the reaction that they themselves caused as well as the macroscopic phenomenon of equilibrium evidenced in the reaction. The research also showed that matter concepts were relatively easily understood in a scientific context but students had more difficulty understanding dynamic and random activities of particles in an equilibrium state. Conceptual change from the affective perspective There are limited attention involving interest and motivation in conceptual change of the affective domain. This needs to be developed in science teaching because they play an important role in supporting conceptual change on the level of scientific knowledge. The classical conceptual change approach involves the affective by implicitly pointing to student dissatisfaction with prior knowledge. To support these issues, Pintrich et al. [21] articulated that a hot conceptual change is as evident as cold cognition. He emphasized that students self-efficacy and control beliefs, the classroom social context along with his goals, intentions, purposes, expectations and needs are as important cognitive strategies in concept learning. Students theories, beliefs and models are influenced by personal, motivational, social, historical factors and situational beliefs. Their background knowledge is often the constraint of knowledge restructuring. Individual goals, purposes and intentions promote co nceptual change in students. Educators who disregard the social and motivational factors in learning and teaching activities will cause limitation in the students change in knowledge [ 20]. Emotions and motivation are crucial to the possibility of change [23]. Although such models can reengineer human conceptual change in some instances, they fail to recognize emotional attachment to an idea. Conceptual change from the intentional perspective Intentional learning [22], [23] as a purposeful goal-directed type of learning process is internally initiated instead of environmentally initiated. Therefore it is totally controlled in the conscience of the student. The intentional student knows and believes in internal initiation and goal oriented actions in the process of absorbing knowledge. Intentional learning interrelates to educational psychology with the constructs of higher level of learning and reasoning, self-regulation, engagement, and critical thinking. The students must be purposeful to monitor and regulate their learning in a metacognitive manner. The lack of intentional learning in conceptual change may result in students assimilating new knowledge into existing ones without conceptual change. Gale Sinatra [24] argues that students conception have evolved from being a passive receiver of information to an active constructor of knowledge. From then on, students progress from being an active constructor to an intentional student as well. Intentional learning is an achievement and not an automatic consequence of human intelligence that develops spontaneously with age. It is not even promoted in schools. Bereiter and Scardamalia [25] argue that students meet the short-term goals of school tasks with their own strategies instead of taking the effort to intentionally learn. Although the learning process can be intentional, students do not take initiative to learn. Thus, intentional learning is considered as a non-automatic characteristic but something that develops with age. Students metaconceptual awareness can be improved by allowing them to visualize and express their ideas and beliefs verbally in group discussions. Collaborative learning, class discussions, observations, experiments and design of model, symbolic representation are significant for the growth of metaconceptual awareness and intentional learning. As a conclusion, intentional, motivated students are in control of their learning process [25]. Conceptual change from the social cultural perspective The overall culture and social conceptions also influences the conceptual change process. Solomon [26] states that socio cultural factors are significant in the learning process in achieving certain tasks. Solomon goes on to debate that if a students idea no longer exists, it will gradually be excluded from common interaction that might affect conceptual change process in students. The main outcome is to reform the social culture and to achieve understanding. As a whole, social culture is a huge influence in fostering conceptual change in students. Hatano and Inagaki [27], who studied socio cultural environments that induced instructional change in schools, found out that social interaction and classroom group activities results in considerable progress in knowledge restructuring. However, more research is needed to investigate different methods in which conceptual change can be effectively applied by combining cognitive and socio cultural factors [27]. Conceptual change from the multidimensional perspective The learning and teaching development is in need of pluralistic frameworks [28] to appropriately include the many perspectives from different views of learning. In science and scientific education, conceptual change in the multidimensional perspective appear to be promising to improve understanding of science teaching and learning [9]. In a nutshell, conceptual changes must consider epistemological, ontological and affective perspective ought to sufficiently manipulate the complex teaching and learning processes [29]. Future researches will merge ideas of conceptual change and theories on the significance of affective factors. In contrast, Venville and Treagust [30] used four different perspectives which employs Posner, et al.s [2] conceptual change model, Vosniadous [14] framework theory and mental model perspective, Chi et al.s [16] ontological categories and Pintrich et al.s [31] motivation perspective, to research on various learning situations in which analogies were used. Venville and Treagust [30] state that each of them contributed to different theoretical perspectives and has different roles played in the classroom situations. The importance of conceptual change in science education In the conceptual change model, students use their existing knowledge, which is their conceptual ecology, to determine whether the different conditions are met. The new conception must be intelligible (the meaning is understood), plausible (the concept is true), and fruitful (the concept is useful). If the new conception fulfils all three conditions, conceptual change occurs and learning proceeds without difficulty [32]. It is safe to assume that students do not come into science instruction class without any prior knowledge of the subject. [9]. As a matter of fact, students already have rich and robust misconceptions, or naive conceptions that contrasted with the scientific world. Their misconception and the accompanying commonsense form the basis of the conceptual framework which the students rely on to interpret and make sense of new instructions. The student conceptions, despite being a stubborn source to influence by instruction, are also the foundation of scientific conceptions. In traditional teaching method, procedural competence is emphasized [33] more than conceptual understanding. Teaching methods are geared towards delivering facts that are passively absorbed by students in class. Students do not challenge their existing beliefs without the stimuli of new conception, but instead accept the knowledge as it is. Therefore, conceptual change in education, which encourages problem solving and open discussion is conducive in constructing an accurate and lasting conceptual framework in students which will be useful for future knowledge acquisition. Challenges in Conceptual Change Research Despite decades of research and discussion in the field of science and education, answers to questions such as what exactly misconceptions are, what constitutes conceptual change and why is it so difficult remained unclear. These questions are the challenges that most conceptual change researchers face in their work. In order to promote deeper understanding, all naive knowledge needs to be repaired. However, naive knowledge is very resistant to change. According to Chi [34], because conceptual change is defined as the process of removing misconception, the definition is an infinite loop unless what constitute a misconception is established. While some naive conceptions or misconceptions are very difficult to change, other preconceptions are easier to change. Some of the reasons why misconceptions are hard to repair is due to the fact that they involve difficult to understand principles and concepts. Aside from that [34], because misconceptions are embedded in naive theories, and naive theories are difficult to separate with correct theories, the conceptual shift across both category is a difficult process. Lacks of awareness among students in their learning process often result in the inability to realize that their understanding is flawed. Students may not be aware of their own misconception and is unaware of their incorrect understanding. Similarly, in the context of miscategorization of concept, students may not aware if systematic interpretations can be generated using their miscategorized concept. Role of Computer in conceptual change research In the advent of computer architecture, computers evolved into a versatile tool capable of performing many tasks otherwise impossible for human being. Computers are not only useful as a tool in presentation and production, but recent studies aimed at using computers as learning enhancement tool successfully developed computer as a cognitive tool to facilitate the teaching and learning process. Consequently, this give rise to studies and development of using modern computer technologies to foster conceptual development and conceptual change assistance tools in classrooms [35]. We would like to focus on two major roles of computer as cognitive tools in enhancing conceptual change education and discuss in detail in the later: Computer simulations Agent technology Intelligent System as Assessment Method These cognitive tools were designed to provide effective and intelligible tools to provoke reasoning and comprehension skills. Together with the aid of educators, these cognitive tools act as a catalyst to promote and enhance learning experience and students conceptual change. Theories and models of conceptual change According to Piaget [36], the students knowledge changing process is identified by assimilations and accommodations and incorporates with equilibrium to foster conceptual change. Assimilation is the recognition process of fitting an event into an existing conception [37]. Accommodation, on the other hand, enables new conception to replace the previous conception by changing fundamental belief about how the world works. For accommodation to occur, we believe that a student must be involved in a state of cognitive equilibrium by becoming motivated. When the students expectations are not met, equilibrium occurs. If the words, ideas and experiences presented can be assimilated by the student, then there is no equilibrium and subsequently no conceptual change. Conceptual change does not depend on contradiction, but on equilibrium. In Kuhns [1] opinion, scientific revolution is consistent and follows a pattern. The basic way of perceiving, thinking, valuing and doing things is considered as a â€Å"state of crisis† due to its failure to solve or explain significant problems [1] within the scientific community. This situation, which is termed as a dominant scientific paradigm, gave conception to an alternative paradigm with the potential to solve the initial problem. The two conditions, between solving and not solving the scientific problem, increased a third probability situation in between, which is what known as â€Å"paradigm shift†, giving the world a whole new framework of thinking. Starting with a group of science education researchers and philosophers in Cornell University in the early 80s [2] , contemporary research and development of conceptual change theory was based on both Piagets notion of disequilibration and accommodation and Thomas Kuhns description of scientific revolution [1]. In an attempt to clarify the concept of conceptual change, many researchers have proposed different opinions of the theory. Bereiter and Scardamalia [25] postulated the ideas of the intentional learner and Pintrich, Marx Boyle [31] emphasized that conceptual change is more than conceptual. The emphasis for change is within the learners control and the notion of intentional conceptual change is in certain aspect similar to that of mindfulness [38]. It is assumed that learners are in full awareness and the state of change in mind is voluntarily, with the aid of motivation, cognition and learning. Hewsons [39] approach towards conceptual change is in favour of the constructivists idea [40]. The constructivism philosophy is founded on the basis that we construct our own understanding of the surroundings by using our existing knowledge. Since the construction process is influenced by social experiences, individually constructed knowledge is usually not idiosyncratic nor personal and Hewson [39] believed that individually constructed knowledge is rational [41]. However, the existing knowledge and socially accepted beliefs act as a hindrance to the interpretation of new experiences and influences the perception of new knowledge in any situation. Therefore, depending on individual knowledge foundation and beliefs, and the influences of social interaction, two individuals exposed to the same events may perceive and interpret them in very different ways. According to Vosniadou [42], the process of conceptual change in learning is a constructivist approach with the assumption that knowledge is gained in domain specific and theory-like structures. Knowledge acquisition is characterized by theory changes [42] and is continuous and progressive. According to Chi and Roscoe [43], conceptual change is the process of repairing misconceptions. According to Hatano and Inagaki [44], naive conception is formed in order to make sense and predict unfamiliar entities of the surrounding. Usually, very young children formulate their own explanations and predictions of the world around them. The formed naive conception is continually repaired and replaced by new, plausible ideas. Chi and Roscoe [43] also viewed these misconceptions as incorrect categorization of concepts, and therefore conceptual change is the reassignment of concept to correctly categorize the concepts. According to diSessa [44] conceptual change is the reorganization of the various kinds of knowledge into a complication system in the learners mind. According to this view, conceptual change is the process of cognitive reorganization of fragmented naive knowledge. In contrast, Ivarsson, Schoultz and Saljo, [45] regards that naive conception does not serve any purpose in conceptual change, since conceptual change is the appropriation of intellectual tools. In this context, conceptual change is the result of change in the usage of these intellectual tools, and occurs at the societal level. Conceptual Change Models The earliest model of conceptual change, termed as the classical conceptual change model is postulated by Posner et al. [2]. The classical conceptual change model was modeled from the epistemological perspective, and according to this model, there are four conditions before conceptual change could occur. The conditions are: dissatisfaction with existing conception, intelligibility, plausibility and fruitfulness of the new concept. The four conditions will be explored in detail in the next few paragraphs. In order for conceptual change to occur, there must be dissatisfaction with existing conceptions. Scientists and students will only make major changes in their concepts if they believe that less radical changes does not work. Thus, before an accommodation occur, that particular individual must have in mind unsolved puzzles or anomalies, and is dissatisfied with the ability of his current concept capacity to solve these problems. The new concept must be intelligible. This means, the new experience encountered by the student must be sufficient in order for a new concept to be structured from it. It is worth noting that researchers often emphasize on the importance of analogies and metaphors in aiding initial meaning and intelligibility to the new concepts [46], [47]. The new concept must also sound plausible in order to be acceptable. The new concept must at least seem to be able to solve problems generated by the prior concept; otherwise the new concept will not seem like a plausible choice. In fact, plausibility is resulted by the consistency of the concepts with other new knowledge. For example, a new idea in astronomy may less likely be accepted if it is inconsistent with the current knowledge of the subject matter. Prior to the 20th century, physical scientist were reluctant to accept the geologists claim for the age of the world, since theory regarding the sum to provide energy for the period of time was not founded yet. Lastly, the possibility of a new concept to provide further fruitful research program is also important. A new concept should have the potential to provide extensive and new areas for inquiry. Researchers and students alike, estimates the fruitfulness of an alternative conception by evaluating whether the concept opens to something interesting, worthwhile to explore. However, classical conceptual change was criticized for its overly rational approach. Vosniadous [48] framework theory approach attempts to meet the criticisms against the conceptual change theory. In framework theory approach, misconceptions are not considered as unitary nor faulty conception. The knowledge system consists of various different elements in a complex organization. [48] Taking into consideration the evolutionary factors as well as learners interaction with their physical and social environment and their availability of cultural tools, the formation of the learners initial theory is distinctive from the misconceptions produced after systematic instructions. The constructivist approach of framework theory approach assumes that new conception is built on existing knowledge structures [48]. The constructivist perspective provides a comprehensive framework for meaningful and detailed prediction of the process of knowledge acquisition. Lets look at conceptual change from the point of view of the educators. It is the responsibility of the educators to teach students in the way that students conception difference could be facilitated. In fact, latest education related studies tried to include the students conceptions in the process of learning, in which a concept called â€Å"conceptual change teaching† is formed [32]. In this concept, several stages of conceptual teaching are identified. These stages includes; firstly, the diagnostic or elicitation stage, where the educators uses diagnostic techniques to find out the students existing conceptual ideas and the reasoning behind the idea; secondly, the status change stage, in which educators uses designated methods to aid students lower the level of the existing incorrect knowledge and increase the level of the correct ideas; and lastly, the evidence of the outcome, whether the outcome of the learning process is partly based on the consideration of the prior exi sting knowledge. During the different stages aforementioned, there are different contributing factors, or variable that affects the teaching of conceptual change. These variables include metacognition, classroom climate, role of teacher and the role of learner. Metacognition refers awareness of thought processes, and is related to cognitive functions such as perception and attention [49]. Educators should encourage students to look at the ideas in a third persons perspective, stepping back to evaluate both the new and old ideas, and express their opinions. Classroom climate refers to the atmosphere where the learning process is conducted, and the relationship between the educators and the students. There must be a mutual respect of ideas in order to foster a positive climate for learning. As a teacher, or educator, the role of teacher is to ensure that the students are provided ample opportunities for self expression without being judged. An educators role is to deliver knowledge and the educator themselves must be aware that the knowledge that transpires in the lessons ought to be shared and discussed, rather than dispelling ideas that are different from their own. As a student, or learner, the role of learner is to be responsible of their own learning, to take interest in ideas different from their own and to synthesis new ideas from different sources, rather than expecting to memorize knowledge delivered by the educator. These variables to facilitate teaching have been successfully implemented in different levels of education and subjects [50], [51]. Lets look at the alternative conception. In the alternative conception survey, there are many misconceptions that affect conceptual change, but the variables are inferential and hard to distinguish, especially for perceptions that are reported by subjects themselves [52]. Three of the most general evidences stemmed from experience and perceptions, a wide variety of cultural values and ideas, and language factors. According to Hawkins and Pea [53], young childrens scientific knowledge structure is constructed on a â€Å"domain by domain† basis† before they receive formal education. Therefore, children are active constructors of their own knowledge framework. By interacting with the physical world and cultural environment, young children actively ask questions and give reasons about things in their point of view to gain â€Å"more predictive control† over their surroundings. The child learns about expectation of his own actions by the action of others, as well as the reaction of the physical world, and construct non-scientific framework of their encounters, which form the basis of their interpretation of natural and social events. Growing up children in all societies discover a many phenomena that facilitates learning, but not all discoveries are automatically interpreted, explicated and causally related in their mind. Prior to formal education or instruction, the childrens understanding is sufficient in interpreting and guiding them in their daily life [54] but this pre-conception of idea may drastically hinder formal scientific learning in classroom. The origin of conception is also heavily influence by the culture where the students grow up in. The social scene is highly critical in influencing the perception of a particular task in the learning environment [55]. Radical viewpoint differences from the accepted notions within the social scene will not survive for long as they will generally be excluded from social intercourse. Many young children do not have the ability to withstand the pressure, and the desire to be accepted will cause many ideas to be abandoned. Therefore, the strong influences of the overall culture on students perception and understanding cannot be ignored by the educators. Quoting the example of Lopez [56], the Itzaj (a people native to the Americas) and the North American college students are observed in the folkbiological taxonomies. It is observed that the Itzaj subjects have a unique way of categorizing bats. While the American group categorized bats with insectivores and rodents (scientifically correct to a certain degree), the Itzaj left them ungrouped and in a general category, or they classified the bats as birds. While formal interview revealed that the Itzaj agree that the bats is more like shrews and small rodents, they refuse to classify bat as mammals because they â€Å"knew† bats are birds. The influences of their culture caused the Itzaj subjects to ignore the relationship of bats to mammals. On the other hand, scientific understanding influences in the culture of the American college students, however, enable the North American college students to have misconceptions such as the Itzaj. The language, being the medium on interaction, is an influential variable in conception. Word meanings and usage may differ from individuals, and the correct term used by educators might be different from what the students perceive in their naive knowledge. Especially in scientific learning, concepts and definitions ma