Banned Books Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Banned Books - Essay Example Likewise, key examples will be illustrated that show some of the common trends and underlying causes for both past and current censorship that exists in the world. Furthermore, the reader will be able to understand key trends and underlying motives that encourage power structures to take such a drastic approach to seeking to stamp out a given idea/set of ideals. Perhaps one of the most famous examples of censorship is that which surrounded the Soviet Union and the communist party control that dominated nearly every aspect of public and private life. As a means of near total control over such a society, censorship was readily employed to direct and influence the way in which â€Å"foreign† ideas were injected into the society (Plamper 528). To accomplish this, the communist party employed a rigid structure whereby incoming literature and books would need to be approved by the relevant authorities prior to reaching widespread distribution. This structure of censorship is perhaps the most extreme example that our world has witnessed within the past 100 years; however, it is not the only example of a society that has employed censorship, to Ð ° great effect, in order to mould and direct, the social evolution of its populace. Similarly, censorship exists currently in a number of nations; however, the lion’s share of censorship in the current world is derived from a fear of the spread of a foreign religion within a host country and/or region. This is evidenced by strong censorship laws that exist in many Islamic countries. These laws ban everything from the distribution of religious material to â€Å"immoral† texts that can include anything from â€Å"unislamic† attitudes, styles of dress, forms of music and a host of other culturally derived points. A few of the countries that exhibit a high degree of censorship with regard to books and literature are Saudi Arabia, Eritrea and the Islamic Republic of Iran (Information Providers 100). A s imilar situation exists within what most readers might consider a highly democratic country – Germany. However, Germany’s case is somewhat different than the other nations that have thus far been listed in this brief analysis. Germany has placed a ban on many of the Nazi era publications and propaganda pieces to include Adolph Hitler’s Mein Kampf. According to pertinent government institutions and officials this has been done in order to allow the populace a reprieve from the painful and harmful vitriol that was common and circulated around GermanÃ'Æ' a few brief decades ago. Germany of course is the aberration to the rule in that this is a nation that enjoys a wide array of democratic freedoms, elections, freedom of expression/thought and a wide range of freedom of speech and freedoms of the press. However, as a function of the dangers that Nazism has presented the nation, they have chosen to implement a ban on all such material in the hope that doing so will s eek to hasten the healing of many war-era wounds that were caused as a direct effect of the policies and actions implemented by the Nazis government. Although the United States supposedly enjoys freedom of the press and freedom of thought, the United States itself has experienced a long and sordid past with relation to censorship. This censorship has primarily been concentric around education in that certain individuals, teachers, parents and/or government

PSYCHOLOGY APPROACHES Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

PSYCHOLOGY APPROACHES - Assignment Example In addition the recent development in the field of genetics and molecular biology has enabled psychologists to have a better understanding about human behavioral and mental processes (Barondes). Though the biological approach was initially shunned by scientists such as Freud who invented the psychoanalytical approach the numerous advances made in the field of biology has contributed immensely towards the understanding of human psychology. There has also been a greater understanding of the mechanism of drug action for psychiatry treatment due to these biological advances and as a result drugs are being used effectively to cure mental illnesses. The advances made in genetic study of psychiatric disorders have enabled researchers to identify the causes for these illnesses, especially those with no observable neuropathological conditions, and the study of the molecular biology of the receptors will help in development of more effective drugs for psychological disorders. In the two most p revalent psychiatric disorders, schizophrenia and manic-depressive disorder, genetics has been found to play a very prominent role and with the new DNA mapping techniques it has been possible to identify the hereditary genes (Barondes; Sammons). Inheritance of these faulty genes in turn influences the nervous system thereby giving rise of the symptoms of the disorder (Sammons).

Maslow’s theory Essay Example for Free

Maslow’s theory Essay There is an interrelationship between Maslow’s theory and Herzberg’s theory. These two theories have a similarity in that both of them suggest employee satisfaction as a motivation factor. Form the above discussion, it is possible to tell that Herzberg cites esteem needs and self-actualization needs from Maslow’s theory as the motivators. Others needs do not cause motivation and failure to address them in the organization setting only leads to dissatisfaction. Criticisms Maslow’s theory Several criticisms exist about Maslow’s motivation theory. To begin with, there is limited scientific evidence if any to support the above theory. Furthermore, personal need priorities may not be in the order given by Maslow. For example, there is a possibility of social needs coming before security needs since one must belong to a society in the first place. Another criticism is that people do not necessarily satisfy each level of need at a time. Needs tend to conflict such that a person may be motivated to achieve different needs at the same time or make priorities depending on the urgency of each need. Maslow’s theory is therefore general and does not consider individual differences. Herzberg’s theory Herzberg’s theory does not also consider individual differences when analyzing factors that cause satisfaction and those that cause dissatisfaction. One dissatisfaction factor may be a motivator for someone else and vise versa. For example, increased responsibility could be a dissatisfier for someone who is resistant to change. Again Hertzber’s model is too simplistic and only addresses factors that people would consider normal motivational factors in any workplace setting. Describe goal setting theory. Explain how this theory can be applied to performance appraisal and compensation This is a motivational theory developed by Edwin Locke. It is actually an improvement of the final causality theory advanced by Aristotle which put forth that purpose can lead to action. According to Locke, an individual’s behavior is to a large extent influenced by their ambitions and goals (Latham and Locke, 2002). For this reason, goals significantly improve performance. Most individuals set goals in anticipation for something; usually a reward to be obtained after achieving the set goal. Goals can be said to affect performance in three different ways (Latham and Locke, 2002). Firstly, they narrow an individual’s attention so that all efforts are directed towards activities that are relevant to achieving the set goals. Similarly, irrelevant or undesirable activities are avoided. Secondly, goals increase effort as individuals strive to achieve the set goal so as to gain the expected reward. Thirdly, goals help individuals to develop persistence. In other words, they become more willing to work even in the midst of challenges and setbacks. Goal setting is guided by factors known as moderators (Latham and Locke, 2002). These include goal –commitment, attainability and self-efficacy. In order to attain a certain goal, an individual must be ready to face every challenge that he or she finds on the way. Commitment depicts the need to achieve no matter what the circumstances. Set goals must also be attainable so that individuals must not set goals that cannot be reached. Finally, self-efficacy must be present for goals to be achieved. This refers to the ability to act in a certain way so as to be able to achieve set objectives.

Schizophrenia: Risk Factors, Cognition and Structure

Schizophrenia: Risk Factors, Cognition and Structure John Rogers Schizophrenia: a review of risk factors, cognitive deficits, structural and function abnormalities. Introduction Occurring in about 1% of the world’s population, schizophrenia is a disorder of abnormal cognition encompassing oddities in perception, thinking, attention, learning, inhibition, memory, manner relating to and others (Cunningham Peters, 2014). Traditionally, schizophrenia has been broken down into several subtypes depending on the symptomology expressed (e.g. paranoid, disorganized, schizoaffective, catatonic). The symptomology of the disease is subdivided into both positive and negative classifications, as well as cognitive deficits. Positive symptoms implicated in the disease include delusion, hallucination, disorganized speech or clang associations, whereas negative symptoms include emotional flattening, asociality, anhedonia or avolition (Butcher, 2010).      This essay has four main aims. Firstly, while a definitive cause of schizophrenia still eludes us, an abundance of research has identified a wide array of biological and psychosocial risk factors and these aetiological factors will be outlined. Secondly, cognitive deficits associated with the disorder will be outlined. This section will highlight the widespread variety of cognitive deficits presented in patients and discuss some of the batteries of cognitive tests developed in assessing the extent of these shortfalls. Subsequently the structural abnormalities associated with the disease will be briefly revised, along with some of the confines of structural studies. Additionally the essay aims explore whether schizophrenia is a progressive disorder or solely a disorder of neurodevelopment based on structural analysis. Prior to concluding, the essay will review some findings from fMRI studies investigating the functional connectivity within the schizophrenic brain and how they relate to both the positive and negative symptoms presented in the illness. Furthermore, the limitations of fMRI studies, born out of a lack of precision of hemodynamic response measurements will be highlighted by analysing the results of an experiment examining activation during a working memory task. Aetiology The aetiology of schizophrenia is complex and cannot be reduced down to a single causal factor. This is evident when we consider the subtypes and indeed individual cases of the illness deviate massively in their presentation, responsiveness to treatment and illness trajectory (Moore, Kelleher Corvin, 2011). An abundance of research into the cause of the disorder suggests that a combination of predispositional physiological factors and a multitude of environmental risk factors result in brain pathways developing abnormally. Schizophrenia is a polygenic disease and thus cannot be explained by one mutated gene. Eyles, Feldon Meyer (2012) have identified 40 genes implicated in the development of the disease, signifying that it is a cocktail within a certain genotype that confers susceptibility to the illness. A study by Tinari et al. (2004) found that the genotype for higher risk in the illness only resulted in schizophrenia when an individual grew up in a dysfunctional vs. heathy family, suggesting that while biology provides the tinder, environment produces the spark. The dopamine hypothesis has stood out as the more proficient biological theory to date in investigating the causes of schizophrenia. While originally thought to be a functional excess of dopamine, research has indicated that it is actually increased receptor density and sensitivity, (particularly super-sensitivity at the D2 receptors; Wong et al. 1986) that may contribute to susceptibility of the disease (Butcher, 2010). Other successful biologically based studies into the aetiology of schizophrenia include the glutamate hypothesis, hormone studies and twin hereditary studies (see Cunningham Peters for review, 2014). Although the aforementioned studies and approaches are useful in understanding the illness, they all share a common limitation; they each ignore the environmental and developmental factors that may contribute more to the onset of the illness than genetics (Bagby Juhasz, 2013). Cannabis use has been closely related to the onset of schizophrenia, with young males who use being at significantly greater risk of developing the illness (Zammit et al., 2002). Moreover, 75% of individuals presenting with first-episode psychosis use the drug regularly (Archie et al., 2007) although some believe the correlation with high usage rates is due to self-medication (D’souza et al., 2005). Other well documented psychosocial risk factors include urban living, immigration, childhood experiences of trauma or neglect and immunological factors (for review see Cunningham and Peters, 2014) Cognitive deficits About 60-80% of schizophrenic patients display cognitive deficits (Lewis, 2004) across a multitude of domains including; attention, memory, processing speed, social cognition, reasoning and verbal learning (Keefe Harvey, 2012; Green et al. 2004). A study by Keefe et al., (2005) found that 98% of patients perform more poorly on cognitive tests than would be predicted by their parent’s education level. Additionally, a collection of studies have shown that cognitive impairment can reach two standard deviations below a healthy control mean (for review see Keefe Harvey, 2012). The MATRICS (measurement and treatment research in cognition in schizophrenia; Green et al., 2004) project has developed a battery of ten tests (MATRICS Consensus Cognitive battery; MCCB) in order to access cognitive functioning across these domains (see fig. 1) Fig 1. Shows the severity and profile of cognitive impairment in patients using the MCCB (Keefe et al. 2011a) This spread of cognitive deficits manifest itself across numerous domains from social to financial and occupational. For example, poor attention or attentive vigilance may result in an individual being unable to follow instructions or concentrate on a task in an occupational setting, or follow individual or group conversations in a social setting. Furthermore, schizophrenic individuals experience deficits in social cognition that create further difficulty within these settings such as theory-of-mind task performance (Tan et al., 2005) and perception of negative emotions, fear and facial affect in others (Penn et al, 1997). Research suggests that some of the cognitive deficits implicated in schizophrenia may develop prior to the onset of the disorder. A study by Jones Rodgers (1994) identified 30 individuals with schizophrenia from a random sample of 5000 individuals born in 1946. All subjects had been tested for non-verbal, verbal and reading abilities, arithmetic, and vocabulary, at ages 8, 11 and 15. Their progressively low scores in relation to heathy peers indicated a risk factor for the disease. These results should be approached with caution as a dysfunctional home environment may also affect both the academic ability in children as well as contribute to the onset of the illness. Nevertheless, other research has found similar results suggesting the cognitive deficit in a young person is a significant risk factor (Caspi et al., 2003; Erlenmeyer-Kimling et al. 2000). Although the impact of antipsychotic medications on neurocogniton provides minimal benefits to patients (Keefe Harvey, 2012), recent research has shown that patients who receive psychosocial support preform significantly better on several cognitive tasks than those who do not, suggesting that such interventions may be beneficial to those suffering with the disorder (Dalagdi et al., 2014). Structural abnormalities An abundance of research has aimed at identifying the structural deficits within schizophrenia. The most well documented deficits associated with the disorder are compromised white matter integrity (Kubicki et al., 2007) in addition to, a reduced grey matter volume across a range of neuroanatomical areas including the anterior cingulate, frontal and temporal lobes, hippocampus/amygdala and the thalamus (Shepard et al. 2002). Moreover, dorsolateral prefrontal cells have a simple dendritic organisation, indicating fewer synapses than a heathy individual (Kolb Whishaw, 2009) What remains a source of debate within the literature of the brain structure of schizophrenia is whether the disorder is progressive throughout the life-span or is strictly a neurodevelopmental disorder. While the lion’s share of the sMRI research posits that the illness progressively affects both grey and white matter (for meta-analysis see Olabi et al., 2011), others have suggested that the ‘progressive’ structural abnormalities observed could more be a consequence of numerous confounding variables (e.g. low physical activity, smoking, stress, alcohol, cannabis, anti-psychotic medication ; Zipursky, Reilly Murray, 2012). Furthermore, Zipursky et al. (2012) argue there is an absence of evidence of any toxic effect of psychosis on brain tissue. Zhang et al., (2014) used diffusion tensor imaging and a cross-sectional design in order to investigate whether schizophrenia produces progressive brain abnormalities. They found that schizophrenic patients showed lower fractional anisotropy (diffusion in the cells) values in the corpus callosum and corona radiate, and that these values were negatively correlated with the age of the patient. These researchers used a cross-sectional design and a majority of drug-naà ¯ve participants in an attempt to control for any medication effects, however, in doing this they open their results to scrutiny by drawing inferences about differences in two different brains. There are several limitations in structural studies in schizophrenia. Firstly, it’s very difficult to measure the effect of anti-psychotics on the brain without a control group of drug naà ¯ve patients. Given the debilitating nature of the illness, it’s difficult to find older patients that have not been medicated for long periods of time. Furthermore, if these patients are severely psychotic, it may prove impossible to test them, meaning some samples aren’t a true representation of the population. Secondly, there are causal problems in the structural studies. Consider, for example, an experiment using sMRI undertaken by Fornito et al., (2012). Their results showed schizophrenic patients have altered interregional connectivity and hypoactivation in the prefrontal cortex. What remains unclear is whether schizophrenic patients have these altered patterns of activation are a cause or are a consequence of the disorder. Functional abnormalities Schizophrenia is believed to be a disorder arising from disturbances in brain connectivity (Fornito et al., 2012) and that these disruptions prevent functionality in cognitive domains which often require communication between several distinct regions (Konrad Winterer, 2008). An analysis of resting functional connectivity of the disorder by Venkataraman et al. (2012) posits that patients display two distinct patterns when compared with healthy controls and that these patterns are correlated with the symptomology expressed. Abnormally increased connectivity between the medial parietal and frontal lobes was correlated with the presentation of positive symptoms, whereas decreased connectivity between medial parietal and temporal regions, and the temporal cortex, bilaterally corresponded with the presentation of negative symptoms (Venkataraman et al. 2012). Functional studies in schizophrenia typically use fMRI, which measures hemodynamic response related to changes in neural activity. While their usefulness in neuropsychology cannot be overstated, they are not without their limitations due to their precision. Consider for example the following experiment by Royer et al. (2009). This study found that even though schizophrenic individuals did not perform as well as the healthy groups in the working memory task (n-back), patients that did do well showed hyper-activation in the prefrontal and parietal lobes when compared to the control. Furthermore, fMRI showed increased activity in the superior frontal sulcus (self-awareness) and the posterior parietal cortex (planning of movement, attentional maintenance, response preparation/monitoring; Royer et al. (2009)) during successful trails. Here we run into a problem due to the lack of precision in the fMRI. While we can now observe frontal-parietal over-activation, we cannot distinguish whether this suggests either or both; (i) a compensatory mechanism allowing patients to perform well despite impaired cognitive functioning or, (ii) over-activation in the parietal areas corresponds to the BA 40 area (short term memory), suggesting improved effort (Royer et al., 2009). Conclusion Ultimately, schizophrenia is one of the most horrific examples of what can happen when the brain goes wrong. The disorder has a huge social and financial burden on sufferers, family members and healthcare systems. While there is no single cause of the disease, at least that we know of, research has shown the disorder to have a wide variety of risk factors in both biological and psychosocial domains. Schizophrenia presents itself in a wide variety of moderately to severely debilitating cognitive deficits although very recent research has shown that psychosocial interventions may at least curve the extent of these shortfalls (Dalagdi et al., 2014), at least in individuals whose positive or negative symptoms are not too extreme. Structurally, schizophrenia can be observed as disorder of compromised white matter integrity (Kubicki et al., 2007), reduced grey matter within the frontal and temporal lobes, hippocampus/amygdala and the thalamus (Shepard et al., 2002) and simple dendritic organisation within the dorsolateral prefrontal cells. The jury is out on whether schizophrenia is a progressive or neurodevelopmental disorder and this is primarily due to the difficulty in controlling for variables such as the effects of anti-psychotic medications, stress, and long term institutionalisation may have on brain structure. The positive or negative symptoms expressed in schizophrenia are related to the functional abnormalities in connectivity between the various brain regions (Venkataraman et al., 2012). While fMRI studies can provide us with valuable clues as to which brain regions are implicated in specific processes, there are issues with precision when comparing blood flow to activation is precise areas.

Essay --

The Armenian people are known to have begun around sixth century B.C. The Armenians are ancient people who speak an Indo-European language and have traditionally inhabited the border regions to Armenia, Iran, and Turkey. Armenians lived in Anatolia and West Armenia for about 3,000 years until the 11th century when they were defeated by Central Asian tribal armies. Since then, the Armenians have lived as subjects to several Turkish dynasties (Centuries of Genocide). Armenia was the very first nation to accept Christianity as its state religion. Armenia was an independent kingdom before it was taken over by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. The Ottomans created a huge empire going from Eastern Europe to Western Asia and North Africa. Armenians were Christians and Ottoman rulers were Muslim. The Armenian’s were a minority group under the Ottoman Empire and they were often treated unfairly. The Ottoman Empire deprived Armenians of their rights. Armenians had to pay higher taxes than Muslims, they had fewer legal rights and they were not allowed to vote. Even though they faced these challenges, the Armenian’s did very well under Ottoman rule. They were wealthier than the citizens of Turkey and they received a better education. It wasn’t long before Turks began to resent the Armenians. They did not trust them or their loyalty to other Christian governments. The Ottoman Empire began to fall apart in the 1800’s. As the empire disintegrated, Greeks, Serbs and Romanians achieved independence. Only the Armenians and the Arabs of the Middle East remained in the Ottoman Empire which was ruled by Sultan Abdul Hamid (unitedhumanrights.org). They Armenians demanded fairness from Sultan Hamid and wanted security from Kurd... ...problem is that Turkey is an ally to America and recognizing the Armenian genocide would harm relations between US and Turkey (Common Dreams). The United States needs Turkey for the war on terrorism because they have an airbase that the US forces use to get supplies to troops in Iraq. Several Resolutions have been presented to the US Congress over the years to recognize the Armenian Genocide. On May 20, 2013 HR Resolution 227 was introduced by the House of Representatives calling on the President â€Å"to work toward equitable, constructive, stable, and durable Armenian-Turkish relations based upon the Republic of Turkey’s full acknowledgment of the facts and ongoing consequences of the Armenian Genocide, and a fair, just, and comprehensive international resolution of this crime against humanity.† (H. Res. 227). The Bill is currently pending approval by US government.

Yanomamo Essay -- Anthropology

Yanomamo The Yanomamo are a tribe of twenty thousand who live in about two hundred and fifty widely dispersed villages in Brazil and Venezuela. It was first thought that the Yanomamo were a group of hunter-gatherers, but contrary to that thought they actually cultivate their own crops for food. They also hunt and forage, but only as needed. While the Yanomamo travel for several weeks when the jungle fruits and vegetables are ripe, they are a tribal society settled in villages, which break into small groups to go off on collecting expeditions. During such expeditions, game such as wild pigs, large and small birds, monkeys, deer, rodents, and anteaters, are hunted. The bulk of the Yanomamo food, more than eighty percent, is grown in their village gardens. The size of the garden is dictated by the size of the family it must feed. Because village headmen will have the responsibility of entertaining visitors and sponsoring feasts, they plant and care for larger plots. Plantain is their most important domesticated crop. Manioc, taro, and sweet potatoes are also cultivated along with cane, used for arrow manufacture, and tobacco, a crop of central importance. All women, men, and children chew tobacco daily and guard it jealously. The Yanomamo word for being poor is literally translated as without tobacco. Cotton is al so grown in the village gardens to provide the materials for hammocks and clothes. The Yanomamo envision the universe as having four layers hovering at...

Online Learning

There are debates nowadays over online learning versus traditional learning. The article titled â€Å"Why Online Education Works†. It targets on the positive aspects of online college classes. The article states that online learning changes how universities teach which in turn there are significant advantages to it. The author, Alex Tabarrok describes the advantages of online education as leverage, which includes that the college student possesses the opportunity to be taught by the finest instructors, teachers can easily access more students, it can be time-saving, and it gives the student flexibility as well as more individualized teaching. I selected this subject because I understand the importance of online education and I as well think it is a great alternative to attending class. Many students nowadays are not the conventional learner and have to work and don't possess the time to commit in a classroom because of the type of employment I do. Needing to work a full-time job without having a regular schedule can make it tough to make it to school in time, this really is a primary reason it does work best for me. There is a lot to consider when deciding which course type, online or conventional will work best for you so you must be sure you are taking into account all sides, weighing out the advantages and drawbacks. The discussion Alex Tabarrok is establishing in the article is that online learning is significantly increasing the productivity and quality of educating. The argument relies on the author's analysis regarding how there has been little change to educational institutions that had been in a position to maintain their existence and how online education can possibly reach more students. He provides examples of the drawbacks to late night classes and how fatigue generally sets in after 9:30 pm. He also offers the argument of learners not being able to retain as much when they take a night course or their instructor being as sharp as they need to be due to the fatigue. The quality of knowledge being given or what the student is retaining will decrease due to being exhausted. The student will never be giving their best and they will not be getting the best from their instructor either (Tabarrok, 2012). Alex Tabarrok claims that the learners can be taught by the best instructors online and teachers may teach students from worldwide. To support this claim he uses the example of how his 15-minute TED talk video was among his best 15 minutes of teaching and was viewed over 700,000 times. That is similar to 175,000 student hours. Though TED talks are not regarded as a course that can count toward a degree, these are totally free and we can learn from them. He compares teaching today to a stage play, and online education is more similar to a movie. The reasons used to back up the claim of quality in the instructor is because, for a movie, the actors are better compared to the typical stage actor. Movie actors are better than the average stage actor for the reason that you have more time to prepare to be sure it is your best work. This is one-way online education leverages the power of the best instructors (Tabarrok, 2012). This is often regarded as biased since he is making the assumption that an online teacher is superior to a classroom teacher. Comparing a classroom teacher to a stage actor and an online instructor to a movie star is not a good explanation. An objection referred to with online education is the fact the classroom experience provides a greater opportunity for individualized learning, Alex Tabarrok see's it as the exact opposite.His argument is because online learning may be much more customized because you are not sitting in a classroom with 100 different students, it is more one on one along with you and the teacher. You will have the chance to ask questions and interact with the professor along with other individuals through electronic mail and discussion posts. His analysis demonstrated that at Virginia Tech, classes of 100-plus are not uncommon. It can be difficult for anyone in the classroom to have a chance to ask questions due to if every student has a question to ask, you will not have any time for the lesson. An example provided is in a class of 50, in the event that each learner got a question, there would be no time for a lecture. Questions could be asked at any time and do not interfere with a session. Also, professors who teach online courses are placed to a greater slandered due to the possibility of review. Which means that errors made by the teacher through online learning are easily caught through the classroom, the likelihood is no one is going to catch it. For instance, in the event that a student asks an instructor a question in the classroom, the teacher may answer incorrectly and it would most likely never be caught however this is not the case with online courses in which everything the instructor communicates is documented. He additionally points out that when in a classroom and 20% of the class requires something repeated, 80% of the students that got it are experiencing to hear it over again while the online students are actually in power over what they need to listen to the second time (Tabarrok, 2012).The most significant benefit of online learning is the flexibility. You can focus on your assignments when it is most convenient for you given that online programs offer 24/7 accessibility to the lesson's materials. A number of individuals may do their best work in the morning while some might at night, this allows you to do your work in the course of the hours you will be most productive (Hickey, 2017). It also helps if you are working full time and can't conveniently make it to school.Although Alex Tabarrok has a credential as an author, co-author, chairperson, director of research and co-founder of the online educational platform Marginal Revolution University and Professor of Economics at George Mason University, his arguments do not possess a lot of credibilities and are biased. For example, he uses the Ted Talk comparing it to teaching which is assuming that viewing the video is the equivalent of learning. He also fails to provide any specific counterarguments in his article to compare any other side. Although he gives numerous examples to back up his reasons he fails to present outside resources to back up each of his claims. Without having outside sources, it is hard to understand if the information he is providing in his argument is reliable or not.My point of view of my alternative argument is the fact that online learning can work and does provide many advantages. My premise is that technology has a positive roll in student learning since it is convenient and you obtain faster feedback on online education. I produce this claim as a result of the e-assessments which have been carried out and the results for online learning have been positive. This argument considers the effect of e-assessments. An e-assessment is referred to as the iterative procedures of developing what, how much and how well students are learning with regards to the education goals and projected results in an effort to inform designed formative feedback and support further learning (Baleni, A.G. pg2). A number of weak points in this argument are that online education might not work for everyone and additional research needs to be done to conclude if it is in fact better.An opposing side of the argument that I notice is the fact there is an intense requirement for self-discipline and although technology can play a positive role there can be limitations also. Alex Tabarrok doesn't discuss either of them in his argument of how online education is better nevertheless I consent that this could be an issue. When it comes to self-discipline, the article mentions how meeting the deadlines for assignments and tests can be hard unless you possess time management techniques and organization skill sets to stay on top of your work. With regards to the technological innovation, you must be sure that you always have accessibility to the internet considering that for any reason your system crashes or perhaps you don't have accessibility to the web you will have a backup plan.personally, I think that as a result of online education works for me, I am can be biased. The flexibility has afforded me the possibility to continue my learning while working full time. I don't always catch on as fast as other individuals so I need more time to work on assignments and usually require additional clarification on precisely what is expected however I am still capable to get it done due to the overall flexibility. In a classroom, I don't think I would feel at ease asking questions so it is less difficult online in which the communication between learners and the teacher is mainly one on one. I want to be open-minded and examine all sides of the arguments and feel that online education will work but may not be for everybody.Basically, I feel that online learning is beneficial but you need to be very self-disciplined and make sure you stay in front of your work and be prepared for any kind of challenges you may encounter. You have to create a connection with the professor and peers and stay engaged in the discussions. It will be helpful to be computer literate making sure you are utilizing all assets provided to you by the school.My initial opinions after reading Alex Tabarrok's article was that he made many legitimate points. That was not until I conducted further research and allowed myself to step back, reevaluate and ask questions that I understood his article was way more one-sided and biased. The questions I looked at to answer were, exactly what resources did he use, was his argument based upon facts and evidence or maybe opinions, furthermore, did he offer reasons why you should support his statements that were convincing. I had to ask myself how strong was his argument and can I find leads to refute it based on evidence. I had to put in writing a number of reasons exactly why I supported his side and then the reason why I would not examine whether an individual could argue that with me. How certain was I of my argument? This assisted me to believe logically and provide you with my conclusion. I think everybody is a little biased but we have to make sure we are doing the proper research and holding an open mind. It truly is about the facts along with the proof to support the claim. Keeping an open mind and trying to concentrate on the facts and proof will help everyone greatly in our daily lives. Often we jump to conclusions and allow our emotions get in the way. I have usually said doing the right thing is normally the toughest and trying to not be biased and act on emotions can be extremely difficult. We are only human and will fall short every day, it is about striving our best to look at all sides and doing unto others as we want to be done unto us. Giving every person the benefit of the doubt. Online Learning There are debates nowadays over online learning versus traditional learning. The article titled â€Å"Why Online Education Works†. It targets on the positive aspects of online college classes. The article states that online learning changes how universities teach which in turn there are significant advantages to it. The author, Alex Tabarrok describes the advantages of online education as leverage, which includes that the college student possesses the opportunity to be taught by the finest instructors, teachers can easily access more students, it can be time-saving, and it gives the student flexibility as well as more individualized teaching. I selected this subject because I understand the importance of online education and I as well think it is a great alternative to attending class. Many students nowadays are not the conventional learner and have to work and don't possess the time to commit in a classroom because of the type of employment I do. Needing to work a full-time job without having a regular schedule can make it tough to make it to school in time, this really is a primary reason it does work best for me. There is a lot to consider when deciding which course type, online or conventional will work best for you so you must be sure you are taking into account all sides, weighing out the advantages and drawbacks. The discussion Alex Tabarrok is establishing in the article is that online learning is significantly increasing the productivity and quality of educating. The argument relies on the author's analysis regarding how there has been little change to educational institutions that had been in a position to maintain their existence and how online education can possibly reach more students. He provides examples of the drawbacks to late night classes and how fatigue generally sets in after 9:30 pm. He also offers the argument of learners not being able to retain as much when they take a night course or their instructor being as sharp as they need to be due to the fatigue. The quality of knowledge being given or what the student is retaining will decrease due to being exhausted. The student will never be giving their best and they will not be getting the best from their instructor either (Tabarrok, 2012). Alex Tabarrok claims that the learners can be taught by the best instructors online and teachers may teach students from worldwide. To support this claim he uses the example of how his 15-minute TED talk video was among his best 15 minutes of teaching and was viewed over 700,000 times. That is similar to 175,000 student hours. Though TED talks are not regarded as a course that can count toward a degree, these are totally free and we can learn from them. He compares teaching today to a stage play, and online education is more similar to a movie. The reasons used to back up the claim of quality in the instructor is because, for a movie, the actors are better compared to the typical stage actor. Movie actors are better than the average stage actor for the reason that you have more time to prepare to be sure it is your best work. This is one-way online education leverages the power of the best instructors (Tabarrok, 2012). This is often regarded as biased since he is making the assumption that an online teacher is superior to a classroom teacher. Comparing a classroom teacher to a stage actor and an online instructor to a movie star is not a good explanation. An objection referred to with online education is the fact the classroom experience provides a greater opportunity for individualized learning, Alex Tabarrok see's it as the exact opposite.His argument is because online learning may be much more customized because you are not sitting in a classroom with 100 different students, it is more one on one along with you and the teacher. You will have the chance to ask questions and interact with the professor along with other individuals through electronic mail and discussion posts. His analysis demonstrated that at Virginia Tech, classes of 100-plus are not uncommon. It can be difficult for anyone in the classroom to have a chance to ask questions due to if every student has a question to ask, you will not have any time for the lesson. An example provided is in a class of 50, in the event that each learner got a question, there would be no time for a lecture. Questions could be asked at any time and do not interfere with a session. Also, professors who teach online courses are placed to a greater slandered due to the possibility of review. Which means that errors made by the teacher through online learning are easily caught through the classroom, the likelihood is no one is going to catch it. For instance, in the event that a student asks an instructor a question in the classroom, the teacher may answer incorrectly and it would most likely never be caught however this is not the case with online courses in which everything the instructor communicates is documented. He additionally points out that when in a classroom and 20% of the class requires something repeated, 80% of the students that got it are experiencing to hear it over again while the online students are actually in power over what they need to listen to the second time (Tabarrok, 2012).The most significant benefit of online learning is the flexibility. You can focus on your assignments when it is most convenient for you given that online programs offer 24/7 accessibility to the lesson's materials. A number of individuals may do their best work in the morning while some might at night, this allows you to do your work in the course of the hours you will be most productive (Hickey, 2017). It also helps if you are working full time and can't conveniently make it to school.Although Alex Tabarrok has a credential as an author, co-author, chairperson, director of research and co-founder of the online educational platform Marginal Revolution University and Professor of Economics at George Mason University, his arguments do not possess a lot of credibilities and are biased. For example, he uses the Ted Talk comparing it to teaching which is assuming that viewing the video is the equivalent of learning. He also fails to provide any specific counterarguments in his article to compare any other side. Although he gives numerous examples to back up his reasons he fails to present outside resources to back up each of his claims. Without having outside sources, it is hard to understand if the information he is providing in his argument is reliable or not.My point of view of my alternative argument is the fact that online learning can work and does provide many advantages. My premise is that technology has a positive roll in student learning since it is convenient and you obtain faster feedback on online education. I produce this claim as a result of the e-assessments which have been carried out and the results for online learning have been positive. This argument considers the effect of e-assessments. An e-assessment is referred to as the iterative procedures of developing what, how much and how well students are learning with regards to the education goals and projected results in an effort to inform designed formative feedback and support further learning (Baleni, A.G. pg2). A number of weak points in this argument are that online education might not work for everyone and additional research needs to be done to conclude if it is in fact better.An opposing side of the argument that I notice is the fact there is an intense requirement for self-discipline and although technology can play a positive role there can be limitations also. Alex Tabarrok doesn't discuss either of them in his argument of how online education is better nevertheless I consent that this could be an issue. When it comes to self-discipline, the article mentions how meeting the deadlines for assignments and tests can be hard unless you possess time management techniques and organization skill sets to stay on top of your work. With regards to the technological innovation, you must be sure that you always have accessibility to the internet considering that for any reason your system crashes or perhaps you don't have accessibility to the web you will have a backup plan.personally, I think that as a result of online education works for me, I am can be biased. The flexibility has afforded me the possibility to continue my learning while working full time. I don't always catch on as fast as other individuals so I need more time to work on assignments and usually require additional clarification on precisely what is expected however I am still capable to get it done due to the overall flexibility. In a classroom, I don't think I would feel at ease asking questions so it is less difficult online in which the communication between learners and the teacher is mainly one on one. I want to be open-minded and examine all sides of the arguments and feel that online education will work but may not be for everybody.Basically, I feel that online learning is beneficial but you need to be very self-disciplined and make sure you stay in front of your work and be prepared for any kind of challenges you may encounter. You have to create a connection with the professor and peers and stay engaged in the discussions. It will be helpful to be computer literate making sure you are utilizing all assets provided to you by the school.My initial opinions after reading Alex Tabarrok's article was that he made many legitimate points. That was not until I conducted further research and allowed myself to step back, reevaluate and ask questions that I understood his article was way more one-sided and biased. The questions I looked at to answer were, exactly what resources did he use, was his argument based upon facts and evidence or maybe opinions, furthermore, did he offer reasons why you should support his statements that were convincing. I had to ask myself how strong was his argument and can I find leads to refute it based on evidence. I had to put in writing a number of reasons exactly why I supported his side and then the reason why I would not examine whether an individual could argue that with me. How certain was I of my argument? This assisted me to believe logically and provide you with my conclusion. I think everybody is a little biased but we have to make sure we are doing the proper research and holding an open mind. It truly is about the facts along with the proof to support the claim. Keeping an open mind and trying to concentrate on the facts and proof will help everyone greatly in our daily lives. Often we jump to conclusions and allow our emotions get in the way. I have usually said doing the right thing is normally the toughest and trying to not be biased and act on emotions can be extremely difficult. We are only human and will fall short every day, it is about striving our best to look at all sides and doing unto others as we want to be done unto us. Giving every person the benefit of the doubt.