Critically discuss the view that capital markets created the Essay

Critically discuss the view that capital markets created the conditions that led to the new economy bubble and the banking crisis - Essay Example While the bailouts were seen to greatly help in preventing the financial depression from spiraling out of hand, the economic recovery is seen to be quite feeble as compared to the other previous post-war upturns. By using different concepts and theories, this paper will show how the capital markets were responsible for creating both the conditions that led to the â€Å"new economy† bubble and the banking crisis. A record is seen to have been set by the Dow Jones when it closed at 14,047 on October 9, 2007, however, just one year later, the Dow Jones was seen to be just above 8,000, after it happened to drop by a staggering 21% in the first nine day of October 2008. Across the world, most major stock companies had also experienced huge plunges alongside the Dow Jones. Numerous companies began to start laying off their workers in droves as they were force to put off any capital investments that they might have had. Credit markets became nearly paralyzed as individual consumers in the United States were systematically denied loans for college tuition and mortgages. The effects of this crisis are still being felt in most rich countries and especially so in those located in Europe, where the financial crisis eventually evolved into the euro crisis. The 2007-09 global financial crisis is viewed to have been a very powerful reminder of the fact that crises can often have a multifaceted nature. The recent global financial crisis is perceived to have been triggered as a result of a combination of various complex factors that included relatively easy credit conditions seen in the period ranging between 2002 through to 2008. These conditions are seen to have encouraged a large number of high risk borrowing and lending practices without the capital markets first assessing factors such as international trade imbalances, default risk, government revenues and expenses fiscal policies and real-estate bubbles among other factors. New

Carseat Safety Essay Example for Free

Carseat Safety Essay Every achievement in your child’s life is thrilling! First steps, first words, and even the first day of school (minus the tears). Even car seat milestones can seem exciting. The reality is, they should be looked at with a certain sense of fear, not desire. Every step in a car seat â€Å"progression† is actually a step down in your child’s safety. Rear facing is much, much safer than forward facing. There are many articles that discuss the reasons why your children should remain rear facing for the first full year and 20 pounds. Many of these same articles discuss that consequences of injury drop dramatically after the first year of life. However, it does not state that there are no consequences. The consequences may no longer be death from a completely severed spinal cord, but simply life-long injury, including complete paralysis. Research studies suggest that until children are at least four years of age, they are helpless in withstanding crash forces as well as adults; henceforth they should remain rear facing. In a crash, severe or deadly injuries are generally limited to the head and neck, in the case of a child being in a harnessed seat. When a child is in a forward facing seat, there is an incredible amount of stress put on the child’s neck, which must hold the large head back. A small child’s neck upholds great amounts of force in a crash. The straps hold the body back while the head is thrown forward, which can break the spinal cord. Also, the child’s head is at a greater risk in a forward facing seat as well. In a crash, the head is thrown outside the confines of the seat and can make dangerous contact with other passengers or intruding objects. Rear facing seats do a extraordinary job of protecting children simply because there is little to no force applied to the head, neck, and spine. When a child is in a rear facing seat, the head, neck and spine are all kept fully aligned and the child is allowed to ride down the crash while the back of the child seat absorbs the bulk of the crash force. The child’s head is contained within the seat, and the child is must less likely to come into contact with anything that might cause head injury.

Anosmia Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Senses Essays

Anosmia Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you did not have one of your five senses? At some point in our lives we have all seen a blind or deaf person but how often do we wonder what it would be like if we were in their shoes? Many people take their senses for granted, not giving much thought to the fact that something as simple as bumping your head the wrong way or getting a cold could take away your sense of smell forever. Anosmia is the total loss of the sense of smell and affects approximately two million Americans (Wuensch, 2001). Of all the five senses, smell seems to be the least appreciated due to our society's beliefs that sight and hearing are more important for survival (Gillyatt, 1997). For most people, once they start to notice a decrease in their hearing or sight they go to the doctor almost immediately to fix the problem. However, because the sense of taste and smell are so closely related, many people attribute the problem to a lack of taste and do not se e their doctor until the damage is irreversible (Thomson, 2001). Anosmia is a condition in which although there are mild cases, more serious cases do exist which may jeopardize the victim's life. This disorder not only affects the person's life and safety, but also has psychological effects as well . In any case, anosmia should not only be taken seriously, but research should be continued in the hopes of finding better treatments. Lacking a sense of smell has similar psychological effects as those related to losing one's sight or hearing. For example, many blind people feel cut off from the world and isolated. This case is also seen in many people with anosmia. Some people with anosmia feel physically and socially vulnerable as well a... ...ed, Suckling, Suzuki, Swift, & Williams (2001). Functional magnetic resonance imaging of odor indentification: The effect of aging. Journals of Gerontology, 56A(12), M756-760. Gillyatt, P., (1997). Loss of smell: when the nose doesn't know. Harvard Health Letter, 22, 6-8. Morgan (2000). Olfactory event-related potentials in Alzheimer's disease. Dissertation Abstracts International, 61(5-B), 2773. Ogawa & Rutka (1999). Olfactory dysfunction in head ingured workers. Acta Oto-Laryngologica, 119(540), 50-57. Thomson, Corp. (2001). Senses- Loss of Smell: How it happens and what it means. Harvard College. Toller, Van (1999). Assessing the impact of anosmia: review of a questionnaire's findings. Chemical Senses, 24(6), 705-712. Wuensch, L. (2001, November 10). How frequent is anosmia? [Online]. Available: http://www.personal.ecu.edu/wuenschk/anos-freq.htm

Huntingtons Disease :: essays research papers

Huntington's Disease   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Huntington's disease, or Huntngton's chorea, is a genetic disease that causes selective neural cell death, which results in chorea, or irregular, jerking movements of the limbs caused by involuntary muscle contractions, and dementia. It can cause a lack of concentration and depression. It also may cause atrophy of the caudate nucleus, a part of the brain. However, symptoms vary between individuals, with some sufferers showing symptoms that others do not. Those suffering from Huntington's disease normally begin displaying symptoms between the ages of 30 and 50, but has been known to show itself in people as young as two and as old as 80.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Huntington's disease is inehrited from one of the victim's parents. Since the gene for HD is dominant, there is a 50% chance of a sufferer's offspring inheriting the disease. Because a victim usually does not begin to display symptoms until after the period in which he or she would have children and the disease may have been misdiagnosed in earlier generations as Parkinson's disease or other similar affliction, he or she might pass along the gene without even knowing it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The gene for Huntington's disease is located on the short arm of chromosome four in cytogenetic band 4p16.3. It was first identified in 1993. While everyone posseses this gene, in someone suffering from Huntington's disease, the number of repeats of a certain trinucleotide, cytozine-adenine- guanine (CAG), is much larger than what it is in a normal person. In an average person, the number of repeats is between 9 and 37. But is a sufferer of HD, the repeat count is from 37 to 86. While nobody has found a direct correlation between the number of repeats and the age when symptoms appear, there is evidence that people with very high numbers of repeats contract the rarer early- onset Huntington's disease, which usually affects people under the age of 20. It is estimated that between .1 and 10 % of people who suffer from Huntington's disease have obtained it through new mutations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are three different tests for Huntington's disease. The first, presymptomatic testing, is for people who are at risk for the disease. The second, prenatal testing, is a testing of a fetus at risk for the disease. The third type of testing, confirmatory testing, is used on someone suspected of having Huntington's disease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Treatment of Huntington's disease usually involves counciling and education about the disease of both the family and the patient. Since the symptoms are so varied in both type and severeness from patient to patient, medical treatment must be individualized.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Depression, a common symptom, is usually treated with tricyclic

Literature Justification for Blended/Reverse Instruction

The concept of a reversed classroom is a logical next step from discovering the benefits of more time on task, direct instruction, reduced lecture time, and modifying homework tasks. If teachers are to find time to increase time on task and direct instruction; and greater comprehension is shown from shorter lectures over longer ones; and if homework is more beneficial when it is reduced into manageable portions; then the best division of labor is to assign the short lecture as homework to give teachers that time in class actively engaged in the application of the lesson(s. Rigorous literature on the reversed classroom is still in its infancy, but literature on its various beneficial parts is offered here along with it. Key terms: Blended instruction – teaching pedagogy that uses both virtual and face-to- face instruction. Reverse instruction – a classroom method that appoints the time for lecture material to an at home assignment, while completing practice material duri ng classroom time. Time on task – the amount of time actively engaged in assigned learning. Homework – coursework that is assigned to be completed outside classroom attendance, usually at home. Direct instruction – a teacher centered model of instruction that includes high levels of teacher support/scaffolding, ongoing evaluative monitoring with feedback, and strong student-teacher engagement of the material. (Stein 1998) Podcast/vodcast – audio or video/audio files that can be downloaded from the internet for personal use. Literature Justification for Blended/Reverse Instruction Introduction Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams began a movement. They didn’t intend to; they simply responded to the needs of their own classrooms and collaborated on an idea that was initially intended for their absent students. Then it grew into a method that freed them up to be more actively involved with students during their class periods. It involved video recording their lectures for at home use, and practicing the material and assignments with direct instruction and guidance during class time, thus â€Å"flipping†, or reversing, their use of instruction time (Bergmann 2009. The results were so positive that many others are replicating the method across the nation and tech companies are filling the need with products, (see appendix), that go far beyond PowerPoint ® for formatting the lectures they deliver to their students. This concept has been called by a few names: reverse classroom, reverse instruction, flipped classroom, and/or blended instruction, however, the opportunity created by the â€Å"flip† to increase t eacher-student interaction during class time is what characterizes its success (Bergmann 2009). As the use of this concept increases parents, teachers, and administrators are asking for research testing its efficacy. Those who are trying flipped classrooms state that increased learning does not occur just by reversing homework and lecture time alone, but by seizing the opportunity to guide and interact with students more. The technology of vodcasting by itself is not a silver bullet for our educational woes; educators must teach with sound methodology and quality regardless of what medium, or time, they choose to lecture in (Roblyer 2009. ) With that in mind I propose the following research questions about a reverse classroom study: 1. Will more direct instruction increase measurable comprehension of subject matter as reflected in test scores? Studies so far have had promising results, (Stein, Carnine, & Dixon 1998), and include mastery of material through formative evaluation before moving on in coursework, (Overmyer 2010), extra use of worked examples, (Carroll 1992), and more use of discussion, (Matthews 2008. ) 2. Will students have greater compliance in homework because is consists of lectures instead of practice? Benefits from homework are directly proportional to how much compliance demonstrated in completing it, (Keith 1982. Homework compliance at Clintondale High in Macomb County, MI increased because a short lecture is easier; applied practice has been less frustrating with support later in class, (Buffenbarger 2011). This model of education changes the character of homework from usually studying alone trying to remember and apply lecture material, to doing the work alongside other students with guidance. At home the student can be prepared to learn through the lecture without the pressure of application until un derstanding of the material is confirmed and supported. This echoes Ecclesiastes 4:9 â€Å"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; if one falls down his friend can pick him up. But pity the man who has no one to help him up! † (New International Version) 3. Will more time on task, due to less lecture time, reduce behavior management issues in reversed classrooms? Clintondale High, again, has shown dramatic reduction in referrals to the office for discipline, (Higgins 2011), in the first year of reversed classrooms and school-wide emphasis on this use of time; â€Å"Students are less frustrated and disruptive in class because there is someone on hand to help one-on-one. (Buffenbarger 2011) Discussion of key terms Blended instruction is really a broad category under which the focus of my proposed study falls. It is not just any use of technology by the school for record keeping or parent communication, although those things support education. This â€Å"blend† is referring to how content is be ing delivered to the student for instruction. When a teacher has students read and respond to material online, they have blended their face to face instruction with computer instruction. When they have delivered an asynchronous lecture or lesson outside of class time, or assigned pre-recorded information by someone else for them to find and view or listen to it is also blended instruction. In extensive meta-analysis it has been found that a combination of both virtual and face to face instruction is likely to be more effective than either one alone, (US Dept. 2008. ) Reverse instruction is a category of blended instruction named according to when virtual content delivery occurs as opposed to when application and practice of the material happens. Rather than using classroom time for content delivery, the instructor uses that time for guiding application and practice, while assigning the lecture/lesson as homework, (Bergmann, 2009). Time on task, not to be confused with mere seatwork, (Siefert 1984), is a term used in this study to refer to active engagement with the content. This can be during collaborative work with fellow students, involvement in discussion, (Matthews 2008), with the instructor as a class, or individually. It can include time used for assessment, lab work, practice, or use of interactive software or textbooks, (Higgins 1992); but it is always referring to the students’ efficacious work with the class content. Homework is any assigned coursework meant to be completed outside of the classroom, usually at home. It is often a topic of study in education because of its impact on grades and tests. (Keith 1982) In recognition of the value of family life, time for friends and the pursuit of personal interests, studies are often focused on how much is needful vs. reating a balance of these things. To keep it minimal and balanced with personal life, other studies attempt to measure which types of homework are the most effective for the amount of time invested in them. (Murphy 1989) Direct instruction is a teacher centered model of instruction â€Å"that integrates effective teaching practices with sophisticated curriculum design, classroom organization and management. † (Stein 1998 ) This includes high levels of teacher support/scaffolding, ongoing evaluative monitoring with feedback, and strong student-teacher engagement of the material. It is the intention of this study to increase this type of instruction as replacement of the reversed lecture time, and in support of more time on task, (above. ) Podcast and vodcast are audio, and video with audio, files that can be downloaded from the internet. They are the most common form of lesson, or lecture time, assigned as homework in the reverse classroom model. (Schaffhauser 2009) These are available in many subjects through YouTube ®, supportive websites like Khan Academy, (see appendix), or can be custom made by each instructor for his or her class. Overmyer 2010) They are made readily available for students via CD, DVD, flash drives, or internet. (Bergmann 2008) Other forms of reverse classroom homework are interactive sites or software made available through the students’ school. Reduced lecture time and increased time on task The educational standard of a lecture-based classroom has received much criticism as our use of technology increases. Prior to the late 1800’s the lecture consisted of reading verbatim text with students taking notes to reproduce the same. As it evolved into personal interpretation of text and uthorship of original ideas, student requirements of recitation in classical education shifted to explaining a synthesis of ideas presented in lectures and textbooks (Freisen 2011). Modern students now grapple with an explosion of sources of information, and so the lecture from their teacher fades into the perspective of one person when there are so many ways to gain the required information of each class. In the information age, lecturing has been proven more effective in brevity (McFeeley & Milner 2009) Matthews & Farmer 2008). So, what then should the lecture become? Norm Friesen described it eloquently as a much needed bridge to merge information and â€Å"oral communication with writing and newer media technologies. † (2011. ) McFeeley & Milner call for it to become kernels of information, â€Å"5 minutes or less,† with time in between to allow students to understand and apply the necessary tools of their subjects (2009. ) The times of understanding and application are what I have already described as time on task, which has been attributed with higher levels of learning and test scores, (Matthews & Farmer 2008) (Stein et. al. 1998. ) Homework studies. The short lecture is an ideal assignment for homework. Easily accessed and portable, its length makes it an attainable goal to accomplish as homework. Practice and written assignments, however, vary in time commitment according to each student’s understanding of the material and their ability to complete it. Short lectures are certainly able to increase learning while still respecting the personal time of students and their families, both stated goals in assigning homework. Whether it is given in class or at home, decreasing time for lecture frees up more time for direct instruction from the teacher. Blended learning and the reverse classroom Whether or not to use technology no is longer the question. Technology is such a pervasive part of modern life that it has integrated itself into education. So, in that sense, all classrooms are more or less utilizing blended learning; it is only named â€Å"blended† when it has become intentional as a method for delivering or manipulating the constructs of the lessons. For instructors to fail to include and capitalize on this vast store of information and resources could result in failure to reach this generation of learners. The purpose of the type of reverse classroom that I am proposing is to gain more time for teachers to assist and coordinate learning from a variety of sources; to be more actively involved in each student’s comprehension and feedback. Just replacing ourselves as lecturers by podcast(s) gravely misses the point. Conclusion/Summary The reversed classroom is already happening in schools at increasing rates in both K – 12 and higher education classes. It is proving itself as a viable option for increasing direct instruction time and learning. Only when the at home lectures are too long, or when they are an attempted replacement for teaching without the beneficial increased engagement during class, is student dissatisfaction expressed, or test scores and learning level off or drop. Research would be well invested if it began to decipher which technologies are the most effective for students, and user friendly for instructors in material delivery. While surveys show that many teachers hesitate to utilize technology in their classes, starting out with it outside the classroom is a gentle step towards its use without fearing fumbling around with it in front of a student audience. In fact, teachers of distance education classes have stated that tech-based teaching has improved their overall ability and methods as instructors: â€Å"Findings from a study of teacher perceptions indicate that three quarters of teachers who teach in both virtual and traditional environments felt that virtual experiences improved their practice in face-to-face classrooms. † (Roblyer, et. al. 2009) New studies could help refine which kinds of teacher training will be the most valuable, determine best infrastructure and IT support for schools, and improve parent-teacher communication about tech-based homework. Education has always grown and shifted as culture and technology change. While lectures used to be about preserving the knowledge gains of mankind as â€Å"the task of educational institutions to preserve this vulnerable heritage from one generation to the next,† (Friesen 2011), it grew into a synthesis of information and instruction, and in twenty first century learning it is changing towards teaching skills for students to navigate and utilize the enormous body of information available in our age. The effective use of a reverse classroom model is a natural fit.

Evaluation Of The Play Blood Brothers By Willy Russel essays

Evaluation Of The Play Blood Brothers By Willy Russel essays Evaluation Of The production Blood Brothers The production I went to see was Blood Brothers. The version I saw was performed at the Regent Theatre and written by Willy Russell it was a scripted piece and was written for young adults as some concepts would be unsuitable for children. We watched this production because we recently performed this ourselves The production is set in Liverpool and was written in the 1980s.The production effectively shows the barrier between the different classes of people basically it is about two twins seperated when young one going to a rich family one going to a poor family, the poor mother mrs johnstone would like the twins to be friends whilst the rich mrs lyons is just as opposed the twins mickey (poor) I feel one of the main reasons why this production has been so successful is the audience enjoy watching how the characters relate to each other, as their very contrasting characters fuse. At the age of seven Eddie has been completely smothered by his parents and is exactly how his parents would want him to be. He enters in his grey school uniform, with shorts and long socks, this immediately gives the audience some information about this character, and makes it obvious who he is, as this is the first time the audience see Eddie since he was a baby. Eddie is extremely well spoken, and first introduces himself to Micky as 'Edward Lyons'. Eddie's body language is very much more controlled than Micky's, it seems as though Eddie is very much more conscious of his actions. He may act like this to show that he has not been brought up around people of his own age, and he doesn't really know how to relate to anybod...

Free Essays on A Small, Good Thing

Fiction Essay In the story A Small Good Thing the first event the reader is exposed to is Ann Weis making a trip to the baker to order a birthday cake for her son Scotty’s eighth birthday. During this trip, the reader is introduced to the baker. Ann’s reactions and personal thoughts about the baker are important to the reader later on in the story. Within the first two paragraphs the reader is exposed to the protagonist, antagonist, and the setting. The complicating incident is quick to come in the fourth paragraph when the birthday boy stepped off the curb at an intersection and was hit by a car (Kennedy and Gioia, 459). Scotty may have been able to stumble home after being knocked into the gutter by the car, but soon he collapses at home and is rushed to the hospital. The complicating incident is further developed when the reader learns that who ever hit Scotty with their car, drove off when the child was seen standing immediately after the accident. When Ann calls her husba nd and tells him about Scotty’s accident, the reader is being introduced to the rising action of the story. In the rising action of the story the reader knows that Ann cannot wake her son up, and his body has gone limp. The reader also knows that Howard, Scotty’s father and Ann’s husband, is on his way to the hospital. The technical climax holds the majority of the length in this story. Here the reader learns of all the medical tests that Scotty is going through, as well as his parent’s anguish of not knowing if their son will wake up. The technical climax also exposes the newest problem of strange phone calls being made to their home. An uneasy feeling of tension is felt by the reader when strange and rude phone calls begin to pour into their home by the baker. Howard is the first person in the story to deal with these phone calls. Now the reader questions what type of involvement the baker had, if any, pertaining to Scotty being h... Free Essays on A Small, Good Thing Free Essays on A Small, Good Thing Fiction Essay In the story A Small Good Thing the first event the reader is exposed to is Ann Weis making a trip to the baker to order a birthday cake for her son Scotty’s eighth birthday. During this trip, the reader is introduced to the baker. Ann’s reactions and personal thoughts about the baker are important to the reader later on in the story. Within the first two paragraphs the reader is exposed to the protagonist, antagonist, and the setting. The complicating incident is quick to come in the fourth paragraph when the birthday boy stepped off the curb at an intersection and was hit by a car (Kennedy and Gioia, 459). Scotty may have been able to stumble home after being knocked into the gutter by the car, but soon he collapses at home and is rushed to the hospital. The complicating incident is further developed when the reader learns that who ever hit Scotty with their car, drove off when the child was seen standing immediately after the accident. When Ann calls her husb and and tells him about Scotty’s accident, the reader is being introduced to the rising action of the story. In the rising action of the story the reader knows that Ann cannot wake her son up, and his body has gone limp. The reader also knows that Howard, Scotty’s father and Ann’s husband, is on his way to the hospital. The technical climax holds the majority of the length in this story. Here the reader learns of all the medical tests that Scotty is going through, as well as his parent’s anguish of not knowing if their son will wake up. The technical climax also exposes the newest problem of strange phone calls being made to their home. An uneasy feeling of tension is felt by the reader when strange and rude phone calls begin to pour into their home by the baker. Howard is the first person in the story to deal with these phone calls. Now the reader questions what type of involvement the baker had, if any, pertaining to Scotty being h...