Case Study Of Hypertension Health And Social Care Essay

A 55 twelvemonth old male named Nicholas Manners, is admitted to the ward for direction of his high blood pressure. Upon reaching, he appears rather ruddy in the face. He was referred to the exigency section by his GP as he was kicking of a concern and giddiness. He was stabilised and has been transferred to the ward for farther direction. He tells the nurse, he has had a concern for the last three yearss and has had really small slumber. Mr Manners is a Chief executive officer of an advertisement bureau and works long hours. Nicholas has two boies aged 15 & A ; 17 and his married woman Lucy, who is really supportive. Lucy tells the nurse that Nick chows on the tally due to his busy agenda and frequently chows at eating houses when entertaining clients. Nick smokes 10-15 cigarettes/day and has had multiple efforts at discontinuing. He has a household history of coronary arteria disease, his male parent died of a bosom onslaught 5 old ages ago at the age of 75. Observations on admitta nce ; BP 160/90, SaO2 97 % on room air, Temp. 37.1, Pulse 95, RR 19 beats per minute, wt 90 kilogram, ht 170 centimeter, Nil Known Allergies ( Jennings, 2010 ) . Blood force per unit area refers to the measuring of force that is applied to the walls of the arterias as the bosom pumps blood through the organic structure. The force per unit area is determined by the force and the sum of blood pumped, and the size and flexibleness of the arterias. High blood force per unit area, besides known as Hypertension, is considered as above 120/80 mmHg ( PubMed Health, 2011 )PathophysiologyArterial blood force per unit area is a merchandise of cardiac end product and systemic vascular opposition. A alteration in the vascular wall thickness affects the elaboration of peripheral vascular opposition in hypertensive patients. This consequences in the contemplation of moving ridges back to the aorta and hence increasing the systolic blood force per unit area ( Medscape, 2011 ) . Although 90 % of high blood pressure instances, the cause is non truly known ( Moser, p.11 ) , harmonizing to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare ( AIHW ) , the causes of h igh blood force per unit area are both biomedical and lifestyle oriented. Major causes include ; being overweight, dietetic salt consumption, and nutrition forms which involve low consumption of fruit and veggies and an high consumption of saturated fat ( Australian Institue of Health and Welfare,2010 ) . Although most of the clip there are no marks and symptoms, such may happen ; confusion, ear noise or buzzing, weariness, concern, irregular pulse, epistaxis, vision alterations. These marks are known as marks of complication or perilously high blood force per unit area called malignant high blood pressureNursing AppraisalAs a patient is admitted to the infirmary, it is critical to execute a nursing appraisal on admittance to garner baseline readings of the patient. The Systems Approach Framework was used to buttockss Mr Nicholas Manners from caput to toe in a mode of subjective and nonsubjective informations. The classs used are as follows ; Central Nervous System, Cardiovascular S ystem, Respiratory System, Gastrointestinal Tract, Renal System, Integumentary System and Metabolic System. CNS – patient is able to communicate-states he has a concern, assess motion of limbs, esthesis to fringes and trouble if any. CVS – HR 95, BP 160/90, assess capillary refill, patient is red in the face – assess circulation of the remainder of the organic structure including warmth and coloring material. RESP. – RR 19 beats per minute, SaO2 97 % on room air, auscultate his chest- listen for abnormalcies in the lungs as he is a tobacco user, measure his work of external respiration. GIT – farther buttocks appetency and eating wonts, auscultate for intestine sounds, buttocks and record intestine direction. RENAL – buttocks input and end product and record observations if needed, utilizing a unstable balance chart. INTEGUMENTARY – buttocks tegument for cicatrixs, waterlessness, integral and skin turgor. METABOLIC – buttocks Hb, BGL and liver map through a blood trial.Education and Psychosocial supportEducation and support that can be offered to Nicholas to help him in deriving more information and support for his Hypertension include: Dieticians which Nicholas can be referred to during his stay in infirmary, to educate him about a healthy diet and besides supply support. Social worker to supply support for Nicholas and his household if needed. Information brochures can be retreived from the infirmary, to educate Nicholas on Hypertension. Web sites such as Better Health Channel, Hypertension Education Foundation and the Heart Foundation, all provide instruction and information about support for patients about high blood pressure.Nursing DiagnosisGoalsInterventionsRationaleEvaluationIneffective wellness care related to incapableness to change life style Short term: Introduce low-sodium and low fat nutrients into Nicholas ‘ diet Refer Nicholas to a dietitian for instruction of low-sodium and low-fat nutrients. To cut down the sum of high-fat nutrients Nicholas is devouring. Nicholas ‘ diet presently consists of less high-fat nutrients. Short term: Aim to cut down blood force per unit area readings to less than 150/80 by the following GP visit in a hebdomad. Teach Nicholas to take Nicholas ain blood force per unit area daily at place and record it. To brace Nicholas ‘ blood force per unit area at a lower degree. Nicholas ‘ blood force per unit area readings have now stabilised to a lower degree. Long term: Develop a regular exercising program for Nicholas to follow. Promote Nicholas to walk for an hr each twenty-four hours. To promote Nicholas to prosecute in a healthy life style. Nicholas participates in an hr of physical activity each twenty-four hours. Long term: Aim to discontinue smoke in the following 8-12 months. Refer Nicholas to back up plans such as ‘QUIT ‘ to back up and help Nicholas in discontinuing smoke. To cut down Nicholas ‘ hazard of holding blocked arterias and therefore increasing Nicholas blood force per unit area Nicholas has now quit smokeNursing DiagnosisGoalsInterventionsRationaleEvaluationFatigue related to the effects of high blood pressure and the day-to-day life stressors. Short term: Aim to command side effects such as weariness. Educate Nicholas on the side effects, to help him in commanding them. To help Nicholas in deriving cognition of the side effects and how to command them in instance they are experienced after discharge. Nicholas is able to command his small if any side effects experienced. Short term: Aim to keep a stable degree of fluids in the organic structure. Ensure Nicholas drinks plentifulness of H2O throughout the twenty-four hours. To maintain Nicholas hydrous and cut down weariness. Record amounts utilizing a unstable balance chart if needed Nicholas ‘ weariness degrees have decreased as he is imbibing plentifulness of H2O throughout the twenty-four hours. Long term: Reduce the emphasis degrees experienced throughout the twenty-four hours. Discuss emphasis cut downing methods applicable to Nicholas. To cut down the hazard of increasing Nicholas ‘ blood force per unit area. Nicholas has reduced his emphasis degrees utilizing the methods discussed Long term: Develop a healthy feeding program to utilize one time Nicholas is discharged Refer Nicholas to a dietician to help in educating him in the importance of a healthy diet and developing a program. To cut down weariness related to an unhealthy diet. Nicholas has continued his healthy feeding program and does non endure from weariness.Nursing DiagnosisGoalsInterventionsRationaleEvaluationImbalanced nutrition related to deficient cognition of the relationship between diet and the disease Short term: Brace the instabilities of nutrition Provide Nicholas with a scope of fruits and veggies To supply Nicholas with a assortment of foods from a scope of nutrients. Nicholas ‘ diet now chiefly consists of fruit and veggies Short term: To do Nicholas ‘ cognition on the disease Provide Nicholas with information such as booklets about high blood pressure To guarantee Nicholas has a good cognition of high blood pressure Nicholas is now good educated on his disease Long term: To brace Nicholas ‘ weight within 6-8 months of discharge Refer to dietician to measure and supervise his diet and aid with his weight loss To guarantee Nicholas has the support required to run into his end Nicholas is now within a healthy weight scope for his gender, tallness and age Long term: Derive more cognition on the effects of smoke Educate Nicholas on the effects of smoking to his organic structure To guarantee he is cognizant of the harm smoke is making to his organic structure Nicholas is good informed on the effects of smokeNursing DiagnosisGoalsInterventionsRationaleEvaluationNon-compliance related to the side effects of the intervention ( Ackley & A ; Ladwig, p.315 ) Short term: Maintain stableness of side effects Monitor Nicholas and supply advice when non following instructions of intervention To guarantee Nicholas ‘ intervention continues on the right way. Nicholas ‘ side effects have decreased. Short term: Long term: Long term: Maintain conformity of intervention Educate Nicholas on hazards if intervention non followed as required To guarantee Nicholas ‘ wellness does non deteriorate Nicholas is compliant with his interventionDiagnostic TrialsDiagnostic trials that will help with the appraisal and direction of Nicholas include: Electrocardiogram ( ECG ) – This trial determines if the bosom has sustained nay harm due to untreated high blood pressure ( Cardio Connection, n.d ) . This trial assists with the direction of Nicholas ‘ high blood pressure by supplying moving ridges of the electrical current of the bosom. Urinalysis – This trial is used to test the causes of high blood pressure and expression for any harm to the kidneys as a consequence of untreated high blood pressure ( Cardio Connection, n.d ) . The trial assists with the direction to derive information about the wellness of Nicholas ‘ kidneys. Blood Glucose – This trial determines the sugar degrees in the blood and screens for secondary causes of high blood pressure and the hazard factors involved with more accelerated diseases such as diabetes. Both diabetes and high blood pressure are associated with the rapid patterned advance of arterial sclerosis and harm to the kidneys ( Cardio Connection, n.d ) . This assists in keeping a stabile sugar degree of the blood to cut down the hazard of harm to the kidneys. Serum K – This trial looks for a treatable cause of high blood force per unit area and finding the baseline degree prior to utilizing medical specialty for intervention ( Cardio Connection, n.d ) . This assists in finding a baseline to compare to if it were to promote.Hazard AppraisalUpon admittance, a hazard appraisal must be completed to find the patient ‘s hazard of holding a autumn. This appraisal besides assists the nurses in guaranting the patient has their properties or AIDSs within range to guarantee the patient ‘s safety and to diminish their hazard of hurt. The appropriate appraisal tool for Nicholas would be a Falls Risk Assessment Tool ( FRAT ) . This relates to Nicholas as he complained of giddiness and deficiency of slumber. This is needed to measure his hazard of hurt. Mention to Appendix 1 for a Falls Risk Assessment Tool.MedicinesNifedipine – Antihypertensive agent – as stated by Tiziani, 2006 Action: Besides known as Ca adversaries, these agents impede the inflow of Ca ions during depolarization of cardiac and vascular smooth musculus, doing betterment in the myocardial O supply and cardiac end product, and a decrease in myocardial work by cut downing afterload ( Tiziani, 2006 ) Use: Angina pectoris Mild to chair high blood pressure Nicholas has been prescribed this medicine to help with bracing his blood force per unit area. Interactions: Contraindicated with rifampicin May do bosom failure if used with beta-adrenoceptor-blocking agents Serum concentrations may be increased if given with Tagamet, Quinidex or Cardizem. Excessive cardiovascular depression may happen if given with inspiration anesthetics. Adverse effects: Headache, giddiness, dizziness, flushing, weariness, dizziness. Anorexia, sickness, irregularity, abdominal hurting, dry oral cavity. Muscle spasms. Nursing points/precautions: Note and study thorax hurting because thie requires stoping the drug. Patient should be advised to avoid drive or operating machinery if giddiness or dizziness is a job. Caution if used in those with aortal stricture, bosom failure, liver damage, discrepancy or Prinzmental angina, unstable angina, or recent myocardial infarction. Atorvastatin – lipid-regulating agent – as stated by Tiziani, 2006 Action: Reduce cholesterin significantly in patients with type II lipemia and hence besides significantly cut down the hazard of coronary arteria disease Use: Hypercholesterolaemia Nicholas has been prescribed this medicine to take down the entire cholesterin and low-density lipoproteins ( LDL ) Interactions: May addition plasma concentration of Lanoxin, increasing the hazard of toxicity. Caution if used with Tagamet, Aldactone or ketoconazole. Adverse effects: Headache, insomnia. Constipation, flatulency, abdominal hurting, sickness, diarrhea. Back hurting Nursing points/precautions: Liver map trial should be performed before get downing therapy and at 6 and 2 hebdomads, so twice annually. Advise patient to describe any musculus hurting, spasms, tenderness or failing, unease or febrility. Should be withheld if any status occurs that predisposes the patient to rhabdomyolysis, such as injury, sepsis, uncontrolled epilepsy or metabolic, or endocrinal instabilities.

Challenges Facing the Nursing Profession

Looking ahead at some of the challenges facing the nursing profession seem pretty daunting. Nursing shortages, a rapidly aging population (to also include an aging nursing population), short staffed hospitals are the norm these days. These are just a few examples of some of the problems facing nurses today and into the next century. With a population growing and hospital care struggling to keep up as it is, we have a catastrophe mounting on our hands. The baby boom generation is nearing retirement age. This means they will start to require more and more health related stays in hospitals as their health starts to fail them. The baby boomers make up a whopping 28% of this country. According to the article, The Baby Boomers’ Massive Impact on Health Care, â€Å"AHA acknowledged that the over-65 population will triple between 1980 and 2030, with the first baby boomers turning 65 in 2011. Although the health and lifestyle of people at age 65 is very different than it was in generations past—it’s even been said that â€Å"60 is the new 50†Ã¢â‚¬â€the reality remains that chronic conditions continue to plague the population. In fact, AHA reported that more than 37 million boomers will be managing more than one chronic condition by 2030(Orlovsky, www. nursezone. com). Add in the advancing age of nurses as well. As there is a demand for qualified nurses right now, the demand is growing everyday. According to the ANA the average age of a registered nurse is currently at 46. 8 years. This is a scary thing. Since there is already a shortage of nurses, what will happen when these older nurses start to retire? Where and how does the growing demand stop growing? This is a huge question that needs to be answered quick. The ANA has also stated,† According to the BLS report, more than 2. 9 million RNs will be employed in the year 2012, up 623,000 from the nearly 2. 3 million RNs employed in 2002. However, the total job openings, which include both job growth and the net replacement of nurses, will be more than 1. 1 million. This growth, coupled with current trends of nurses retiring or leaving the profession and fewer new nurses, could lead to a nursing shortage of more than one million nurses y the end of this decade(Nursingworld. com). With deficits like that what happens to healthcare? As the demand for qualified nurses increases, so will the need for qualified teachers. More students need to be taught to become nursing professionals. While this may be one of the last things people think about when it comes to the demand for registered nurses it is one of the more important areas. If there are not qualified people to teach, how do you expect individuals to learn the material needed to succeed? According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, nursing schools rejected 26,340 qualified applicants in 2004 primarily because of faculty shortages. And 7 percent of the 10,200 full-time faculty positions at 609 U. S. undergraduate and graduate nursing programs are vacant(Arias www. medscape. com). The nursing profession will be fine. It has overcome and adapted throughout its history and will continue to. The professionals of the field will fight on, just as it does with each and every twelve hour shift that passes by. Read also: â€Å"Ati RN Community Health Online Practice 2016 B†

The Nice Trap

The nice trap ? Wen leizheng 178154 Do you think there is a contradiction between what employers want in employees (agreeable employees) and what employees actually do best (disagreeable employees)? Why or why not? I don’t think there is a contradiction between what employers want in employees (agreeable employees) and what employees actually do best (disagreeable employees) , since we can not judge a person only by one dimension . Highly agreeable employees may also achieve high performance as others if their leadership skill is more enhanced in the form of persistence, attentiveness with high standards. uccessful employees usually make compromises specially when area of conflict is reached and show more cooperation when they feel that disagreeable will not serve their personal objectives which give the impression as they are high on agreeableness. The article assumes that employers always want agreeable employees by fault, it could not be true when in some jobs with interper sonally oriented jobs such as customer service, but the situation will definitely not be the same when the employer would like to hire candidates for strategic position with high potential and needs strong leadership behavior.Often, the effects of personality depend on the situation. Can you think of some job situation in which agreeableness is an important virtue? And in which it is harmful? In some cases agreeable is an important virtue . For example , if the work need all the employees work together , agreeableness from all subordinates would be an important virtue because there would not be time to stop, argue, and disagree . In such situation , agreeable employees are more likely to work harmony with each other .However , not all agreeableness from employees is good , especially when the situation requires all of them to stick to their own point of view . Agreeable employees always choose to compromise instead of arguing with others when their opinions are opposite to others , which sometimes may miss the best way to solve the problem . In some research , the negative affects of agreeableness on erning are stronger for men than for women ( that is , being agreeable hurt men’s earning more than women’s ) .Why do you think this might be the case ? The reason why the negative affects of agreeableness on erning are stronger for men than for women can be various . One of the possible reason may be the factor that women are more communicative type acting as a mediator in numerous aspects . Some research has conducted that women are more willing to communicate with their employers if they are not satisfied with their earning . The Nice Trap The nice trap ? Wen leizheng 178154 Do you think there is a contradiction between what employers want in employees (agreeable employees) and what employees actually do best (disagreeable employees)? Why or why not? I don’t think there is a contradiction between what employers want in employees (agreeable employees) and what employees actually do best (disagreeable employees) , since we can not judge a person only by one dimension . Highly agreeable employees may also achieve high performance as others if their leadership skill is more enhanced in the form of persistence, attentiveness with high standards. uccessful employees usually make compromises specially when area of conflict is reached and show more cooperation when they feel that disagreeable will not serve their personal objectives which give the impression as they are high on agreeableness. The article assumes that employers always want agreeable employees by fault, it could not be true when in some jobs with interper sonally oriented jobs such as customer service, but the situation will definitely not be the same when the employer would like to hire candidates for strategic position with high potential and needs strong leadership behavior.Often, the effects of personality depend on the situation. Can you think of some job situation in which agreeableness is an important virtue? And in which it is harmful? In some cases agreeable is an important virtue . For example , if the work need all the employees work together , agreeableness from all subordinates would be an important virtue because there would not be time to stop, argue, and disagree . In such situation , agreeable employees are more likely to work harmony with each other .However , not all agreeableness from employees is good , especially when the situation requires all of them to stick to their own point of view . Agreeable employees always choose to compromise instead of arguing with others when their opinions are opposite to others , which sometimes may miss the best way to solve the problem . In some research , the negative affects of agreeableness on erning are stronger for men than for women ( that is , being agreeable hurt men’s earning more than women’s ) .Why do you think this might be the case ? The reason why the negative affects of agreeableness on erning are stronger for men than for women can be various . One of the possible reason may be the factor that women are more communicative type acting as a mediator in numerous aspects . Some research has conducted that women are more willing to communicate with their employers if they are not satisfied with their earning .

Consumer Behaviour Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Consumer Behaviour - Assignment Example A synopsis of their responses is identified in the following table. Influencing Factors Respondent 1 Respondent 2 Respondent 3 Respondent 4 Name Stuart Jane Mark Danial Age 23 35 31 28 Perception about Body cosmetics Thinks that body cosmetics are important part of personal hygiene Thinks that body cosmetics have become a necessity Thinks that cosmetics ultimately worsen the body conditions Thinks that body cosmetics are highly important Perception about Body Lotion Thinks that they have become an important part of cosmetics Thinks that creams and shower gel can do the job Thinks that normal soaps and massage oils are the best Would certainly like to own one Description of their self Considers himself as an early adopter of new products Is not very brand loyal; Will buy any product offered at competitive price Believes in Tried and tested products Is always anxious to update his fashion statement Social Influence in Product purchase decisions He would opt for personal investigation r ather than social groups Prefers to take the help from his peers before purchasing a decision. Believes that social pressures are not that important. Individuality matters more Wants to stand out from his peers in terms of the products he uses Influence of Cultural Background Thinks that culture stops him from being an early adopter Considers that culture defines the limits to his purchase decisions Considers that Culture is most important in purchase decisions Has no consideration for culture. Can opt for any product if it suits his needs Psychological Factors Thinks that the promotions is most important in motivating consumers to buy the product Thinks that the texture of the product and its physical layout is most important Thinks that the most important factor is the utility that the product provides Thinks that the linkage between consumer need and the utility of the product can motivate the customer to buy Recommendations for Aqua Mist Considers the product to be reliable beca use of the brand name; wants to buy the product immediately Considers that although the product is good, more work should be done on the layout of the lotion bottle and the logo Won’t buy the product as it does not offer any think new in his opinion. Wants to buy the product if it is readily available in the market and hype for the lotion Is created. Considering the responses provided by the respondents and evaluating the characteristics of Aqua Mist and the related product line of Lush Cosmetics, we can easily identify that the prospects of this product are great. If the company launches the product with a clear reference to the brand and clearly communicates the core characteristics of the body lotion, the customers will be eager to buy the product (Kardes, 2011). CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: In the introduction of the report we clearly identified that the Lush cosmetics is a well established company which has its operations running in several countries and therefore, i t has the privilege of enjoying a strong brand name and some loyal consumer base. We then identified the product line expansion strategy of the company in terms of launching a new product called Aqua Mist and related product categories. When considering the decisions like product launch, it is important that a thorough research on the market conditions and the consumers of the products is made and to accomplish the task we identified some of the factors that

With reference to current research and your own experience, consider Essay

With reference to current research and your own experience, consider importance of children's essesntial needs to a school's behaviour management policy - Essay Example Good practice within schooling comprises of a great deal with doing elementary basics for the students so that their basis is made stronger and that they do not have issues which are of the most basic nature. Their nurture must be done in a way that their personalities mold in a positive manner and that optimism should reign supreme. It is usually the responsibility of the parents and teachers to make sure that the good practice is embedded within the personalities of the students, and that there are absolutely no glitches in the make-up of their work domains when they grow up within the future (Noell 2002). Hence good practice is deemed as very pivotal towards schooling of students, the grooming and other realms. More than anything else, good practice comes about with an effort to turn desires into realities, on the part of the school authorities through school behavior management policies. As far as the identification of threats towards normal development of students is concerned, there are aplenty. These suggest that normal development can be marred if there is disconnect between the school’s behavior management domains and the students for a long amount of time. Perhaps the curriculum taught to them is not in line with the requirements that the students have at that particular stage within their lives. There are a number of other threats as well, all of which can bring about trouble for the students and their future aspirations (Shuttleworth 2003). These include the basis of interruption that the students might have within their lives as well as the modern sources of entertainment which take away the attention of the students every now and then. The threats come in large numbers as fun and frolic seems to be a much happening thing as compared to the curriculum and books that these students read. Now it is the responsibility of the schools to make sure that

Strategic management paper III (Recommendations for OTD) Essay

Strategic management paper III (Recommendations for OTD) - Essay Example Employing such people would provide manifold advantages to the company. Firstly, it would enhance the image of the organization as a sociable organization which also takes care of the society. In addition to this aspect some other benefits of employing aged and disabled individuals would include the following factors, firstly it is generally believed that aged and disabled individuals are generally more loyal towards an organization and do not resort to changing jobs frequently. This assumes considerable advantage for organizations like One Touch Direct which operates in an industry segment which has considerably high attrition rates. Employing disabled and aged individuals would help in taking care of the problems of attrition. Secondly, employing this section of population would enhance the productivity of the organization. This is because aged and retired people have considerable experience in handling job responsibilities. Moreover it has been observed that due to age and experience these individuals have a better understanding of the business process and can deliver efficient results if they are provided with suitable guidance and training support from the organization. Thirdly, these individuals have a realistic growth aspirations, this is due to the reason that they have high levels of maturity which has been incorporated in their attitudes due to the years of experience of the retired individuals. Based on their real life experiences disabled and aged individuals have higher ability to manage crisis scenarios as compared to their counterparts and peers who are normal and lower aged. Fourthly it has been observed that consumers generally handle these kinds of employees with greater affection and respect as compared to the normal employees. This would enhance the customer experience as they would admire One Touch Direct’s strategy of employing such individuals. Finally legal and legislative advantages could

Differences Between Concrete and Virtual Manipulatives in Preparing Thesis - 1

Differences Between Concrete and Virtual Manipulatives in Preparing 10th Grade Math Students for Standardized Tests - Thesis Example Presentation and Interpretation of Data Qualitative Analysis 1. Advantages of using Concrete Manipulative in Teaching Data was collected to ascertain the advantages that the use of concrete manipulative have on the learning of mathematics at the 10th grade. To do this, respondents were made to undertake various tests that involved the use of concrete or physical manipulative. It must be emphasized that, for a comparative study like this, it was necessary to get a yardstick to measure the performance of the students with. This is to say that it was necessary to create a platform that would make it possible to measure the impact of the concrete manipulative on learning separately. To this end, students were first made to undertake a class lesson on various mathematical topics including number sense, geometry, algebra, and probability and statistics. The first lesson did not involve the use of any concrete manipulative or any other form of learning manipulative. The lesson was therefore done in abstraction. After this, a second lesson was undertaken. This lesson on the other hand involved the use of concrete manipulative. As the leader of the class in the lesson, some major advantages of the concrete manipulative that were recorded include the fact that: i. ... 2. Limitations to the use of concrete manipulative The same group of lessons that were taught in the class as a means of ascertaining the impact of the use of concrete manipulative in teaching also brought out a number of weaknesses or limitations that are associated with the use of concrete manipulative in teaching. After the first lesson (pre-test), which did not involve the use of concrete manipulative was completed and the second lesson (post-test), which involved the use of concrete manipulative was underway, the researcher observed that it took more time to finish teaching the same topic when no concrete manipulative was used. That is, the use of concrete manipulative is time consuming. Again, it was noticed that class control became a little difficult when the teacher introduce the concrete manipulative to the class. Even more, there was clear indication and evidence that the continuous use of concrete manipulative for teaching was going to come with some extra expenditure to the class. Finally, it was observed that the use of concrete manipulative demands so much skill and experience. 3. Advantages of using virtual manipulative Great amount of data were also collected to ascertain the importance or advantages of using virtual manipulative in teaching mathematics at the 10th grade. Most of these data were secondary data from the literature review that was conducted. According to some of the major researchers whose works were reviewed, it was established that using the virtual manipulative in teaching and learning mathematics offers almost the same relevance and importance as the use of concrete manipulative (quote). This is because the academic idea of using virtual manipulative is to give a digital

The Possibility of Extra-Terrestrial Life Research Paper

The Possibility of Extra-Terrestrial Life - Research Paper Example Cox and Rees begin to contemplate the possibility, the arguments in favor of life beyond the blue planet tend to gain more credibility. However, the question is not about which side of the argument has greater credibility or even about getting the majority to agree with or refute the theory. When the issue in question has to be proved or disproved, only conclusive evidence should be included. Speculations, whether educated or misinformed, are still speculations only. In the absence of verifiable, conclusive proof, the status quo remains unchanged. Extra-terrestrial life cannot be assumed to exist till such irrefutable evidence is presented. This paper seeks to substantiate this claim by first discussing expert opinions on the issue, and how despite their scholarly backing the opinions remain speculative; then, by exploring how alleged encounters with aliens are possibly nothing more than psychological condition; and finally by looking at the implications of this kind of unrestrained speculation. Apart from the opinions of the scientists mentioned in the introduction, experiences of other experts who have dedicated their careers to researching this possibility are well-documented. Jacques F. Vallee in his paper â€Å"Five Arguments Against the Extraterrestrial Origin of Unidentified Flying Objects†, advances alternatives to the two conclusions that either Ufo does not exist or if they do, they must necessarily be from outer space. In the summarization of his arguments, Vallee declares: (1) unexplained close encounters are far more numerous than required for any physical survey of the earth; (2) the humanoid body structure of the alleged "aliens" is not likely to have originated on another planet and is not biologically adapted to space travel; (3) the reported behaviour in thousands of abduction reports contradicts the hypothesis of genetic or scientific experimentation on humans by an advanced race; (4) the extension of the phenomenon.

The US-China Taiwan Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The US-China Taiwan Crisis - Essay Example History of the US – China Taiwan Crisis The crisis that emerged in China and Taiwan began as early as 1949 with the Kuomintang Party. This Party is the nationalist party of China and was defeated to Communist rule during this time. The tensions which arose caused the party to move across the Taiwan Straight from Beijing, causing the Communist Rule to stay in China and Taiwan to try to separate under the rule of the Kuomintang (Christensen, 1: 1999). The main approach that Kuomintang took was to try to separate from mainland China and to continue with the nationalist rule and regulations which were believed to be a part of the party, often referred to as the Taipei Regime. By 1979, there was a call from Beijing for the Kuomintang Party to stop trying to divide Taiwan and instead to reunify into one China. The approach was to both liberate Taiwan and to work toward national development within each region, despite the differences in party agreements. The proposal was based on ope ning santong, which included commercial, postal and travel exchanges. The exchanges included siliu, which was four areas of concern, including academic, cultural, economic and athletic interests. It was believed that this approach would stop the differences on both sides and would lead to equal and fair agreements among both (Zhao, 22: 1999). Relationships with China After the Korean War in 1950, the US became involved with the political imbalances and began to pressure China to accept this party as the true government. To further establish this, the Chinese government was able to retain the seats they held at the UN with five members still sitting at the Security Council. The approach was furthered in 1972 with Nixon visiting China and trying to create a peaceful agreement between China and Taiwan. This was the first involvement with the United States to the Taiwan and Chinese debate, even though there was acknowledgement of the divisions from 1950 with Taiwan as a rogue state (Ros s 48: 2002). The relationship approached developed the Taiwan Relations Act, which persuaded both sides to create mutual security treaties, as opposed to separating as a nation. The main approach was to persuade both sides to work in cooperation and to open foreign relations ties for more opportunities. The persuasion was followed with a sense of security that could be used for those in East Asia (Goldstein, Schriver, 147: 2001). The Relations Act became effective in 1979, the year in which China worked toward economic agreements with Taiwan to stop the tensions between both countries. This stated that the United States would be involved with supplying the needed defense items to Taiwan in the case of an outbreak, specifically because the division of 1949 left the different area with a threat to the security of the area. This was combined with the act stating that there was only one China, as opposed to being a Taiwan and China. Even though there was acknowledgement that both could remain separate, the legitimate source of government pointed to only one China existing. By 1982, this was followed by six assurances, which consisted of guidelines which could be used for bilateral relations (Dumbaugh, 11: 1998). While there was acknowledgement at this point that both wanted to remain separate countries, the foreign relations

International business activities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International business activities - Essay Example ic transaction processes and when they unfold on the international, cross-cultural level, they become even more challenging (Neslin and Greenhalgh, 1983; Gulbro and Herbig, 1994; Gilsdorf, 1997; Foroughi, 1998; Kumar, Markeset and Kumar, 2005). This is largely because, within the context of IB, negotiations move from the level of reaching an agreement between individuals who have comparable world views to reaching a compromise between cultures whose representatives may have divergent world views, including conflicting values (Bjerke, 2006). The implication here is that IB paradigms must be culturally sensitive and adaptable, on the one hand, and culturally-informed, on the other (Bjerke, 2006). Turning to TQM, one finds that it embrace cultural sensitivity as a direct outcome of its consumer focus (Collins, 2005). The paradigm itself is premised on the supposition that if corporations are to succeed in diverse cultural environments and to successfully engage in cross-cultural negotia tions, they have to embrace the culture of the environment in question, be it of their consumers or their business partners, and redefine themselves as insiders, rather than outsiders (Collins, 2005; Bjerke, 2006). Its embrace of sociology, therefore, marks TQM as highly well-suited to international businesses and, as a root discipline, is fundamental to the success of IB. As international business unfolds within the context of a global, as opposed to a national economy, international economics emerges as another fundamental root discipline. IB scholars acknowledge the presence of a synergetic and dynamic relationship between international economics and international business. On the one hand, IB is inextricably dependant on the health of the global economy for its own development,... International business activities International business, which has both been facilitated by and imposed upon firms by the advent of globalization, may be briefly defined as the global exchange of goods and services, or cross border economic transactions. As a number of scholars have quite rightly pointed out, international business is the internationalization and the concomitant expansion of the scope of traditional business activities. Within this context, it may also be defined as a natural evolution in the development of the scope of business activities, from the intra-tribal to the inter-tribal, from the intra-township to the inter-township and from the national to the international (Wiles and Wiles, 2005; Carbaugh, 2005; Marx, 2006; Sundaram and Black, 2007). The implication here is that while international business is founded upon the same precepts and principles of traditional/national business and, accordingly, withstands adherence to the same management paradigms, the significant expansion of its parameters and sphere of activities necessitates the embrace of sociology, international economics, politics and linguistics, to name but a few disciplines. On the basis of the foregoing discussion, TQM emerged as an ideal international business paradigm, largely because it embraces and addresses IB’s concerns. This was demonstrated through reference to three of its root disciplines, international economics, sociology and organizational theory.

Memory Management Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Memory Management Paper - Essay Example Protection helps prevent any malicious or malfunctioning program to make any unauthorized access to memory portions and cause interference in other program’s operation causing system level errors. While protection limits access to memory, it is required that the protection scheme provides some flexibility to allow for sharing of memory space as well e.g. of read only programs. A number of cooperating processes that may be executing the same program should be able to access the same part of main memory containing the same main program instead of having individual duplicates of the same program which would waste a lot of the precious memory space. Concurrency control must be maintained in case of sharing of program data. Relocation is responsible for allocating a user process a place in memory by converting the program’s logical address to physical address. During swap in, it is necessary to relocate a process from the physical disc to main memory. Usually a program occupies the same place in memory when swapped in. However, it may happen that during a swap in, the usual memory place of a program may not be available. So, in that case, the program will have to be relocated to a new memory place and memory references would have to be translated to the actual physical address. Memory is required to be organized in a way that the programs with read only elements are stored in a separate portion within it. Secondly, memory is divided into two types depending on the speed of access; main memory and secondary memory. Main memory is volatile and allows for the programs to be accessed quickly while the secondary memory is long term storage and allows slow access for the long term stored

Health and Social Care Essay Example for Free

Health and Social Care Essay Introduction Social policy refers to the issue of addressing the needs of the society by the state. It takes care of the welfare aspects of the people that are based on some strategies, ideologies, regulation and undertakings. This phenomenon has reached a global scale nowadays. Social policy has now a wider span and has expanded its horizon to enhance the welfare of the general people. Marshall (1950) devised the idea of social citizenship that paved the way to the welfare provisions. These rights were focused on the economic independence and a minimum standard of life for the citizen. Health is now considered something beyond the physical aspect. It has mental, psychological, social implications. Health and welfare are the result of some sophisticated relations of socio-economic issues and the sufficiency of amenities provided (Atkinson et al., 2001). The existing social and health care system was actually established in 1948 the formation of which started before the Second World War. It got a new dimension in the later part of the century where the community took the roles of the institutes and the control shifted to the private sectors. Though it has some loopholes during the course, it has gone through several significant changes. This study will discuss the important landmarks in the history of UK social policy and provisions along with a critical evaluation and the recent achievements in this regard. It will also focus on the factors behind the formation of the policies and their impact on the service users. Task 1 historical and CONTEMPORARY LANDMARKS in social welfare provision 1.1 historical and CONTEMPORARY LANDMARKS in social policy Prior to and during the Second World War The Poor law was the sole social care facility that was provided prior to the Second World War which basically focused on the senior citizen and the incapacitated. It made it mandatory for each community to give benefit in the form of less charge for the deprived class. This law was later renamed into Public Assistance which was the result of Local Government Act, 1929. Subsequently, the facilities were open for everyone irrespective of disability and were applicable for people who did not have the money to pay for health care. (Pat Thane, 2009) The Disabled Person’s Employment Act, 1944 made it mandatory for the companies to give jobs to people included in Disabled Persons Register which should be minimum three percent of their employment. (Barnes, 1991) The National Association for Mental Health was later established in 1946 which had a movement for improved facility for the mentally disabled patients. National Health Service and the National Assistance Board The Poor law was terminated with the introduction of the National Assistance (NA) Act in 1946 which came into practice two years later. National Assistance Board (NAB) came into existence with the advent of this particular act. National Health Service took the hospitals under them which also came into being in the same year as NAB. NAB was later substituted by the Supplementary Benefits which merged with the Department of Health and Social Security in the year 1968. (Burt et al., 2003) After the Second World War The Mental Health Act came into being in 1959 that targeted to give the mentally disabled people a space in the society. It was the contribution of The National Assistance Act 1948, amended in 1962 that gave incentive to the native authorities to facilitate the senior citizen and people with disability with food, pastime facilities and to chalk out a decade long plan to enable them to stay in their respective residents for a period according to their will. (Pat Thane, 2009) In1968, Health Services and Public Health Act took the services to the senior citizens the and the people with disability to another level by offering extensive services like washing,  stewards, recreation and help in their home. (Bauld et al., 2005) In order to facilitate a social service division in every community, the Local Authority Social Services Act came into being in 1970. This was aimed at establishing a system where there is a collaborative and wide ranging arrangement for the entire social care system that will address the issues of people and give assistance to them who are in need of them. This division was given the duty of domestic aid, housing, food and entertainment facilities. The native authorities were made bound to make a catalogue of the incapacitated people and the services were to be exposed to the common mass. Invalidity Benefit came into existence in 1971which was later modified three years later which had the provision for Invalid Care Allowance In order to provide assistance to the people who wants to take the service of the local provider or a provider of their own choice of healthcare instead of the hospitals, District Health Authorities were given the authority in 1983 to give more finance to those people. In order to take care of the issue of make advancements in the service of the senior citizens and the people with disability, a series of papers addressed these issues to facilitate an improved service to the public. (Pat Thane, 2009) In an attempt to give more effort to the service to the people with disability, Disabled Persons Representation Act, 1986 was introduced so that they are taken into consideration more than before during the policy formulation. It gave the local bodies the duty to evaluate the requirement of the people with disability in terms of the social service and take care of these needs and let them know about the offers and facilities the local bodies are going to provide. (Daunt, 1992) In 1996, the Community Care Act was implemented to facilitate the people in need of social service with the und so that they can pay for the services. There are several another acts that were introduced to enhance the social care to the UK people; they are the following: Carers (Recognition and Services) Act, 1995 Mental Health (Patients in the Community) Act, 1995 Disability Discrimination Act, 1995 Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 Special Educational Needs and Disability Act, 200 Private Hire Vehicle Act, 2002 Disability Discrimination Act (amended) 2005 Disability Equality Duty (DED), 2006 Welfare Reform Act 2007 1.2 factors influencing the development of policy legislations The provisions regarding healthcare and welfare are mainly designed to provide the people with the economic assurance in case of any illness, disease, aging or lack of financial crisis due to the lack of a job. There are several types of allowance which is provided when a person is ill or out of job which are backed up by the insurance arrangements of the state. In the period after Second World War the state was more e focused on giving jobs to everyone. It was supported by the free education system and academic allowances. The prime attention of that period was basically the fund to the domestic arena, healthcare all around the country and obviously jobs to everyone. The employers and the government word collaboratively in this regard. task 2 origins of social policies 2.1 PROCESS in key Health and Social Policy legalization The act is often preceded by a bill. The health related bills are presented in front of the parliament. Health and social policies are basically the activities and steps taken by the state to achieve a certain result in the national health scenario. The entire arrangement and structure of the health sector is deeply influenced by the act and legislation. These procure of formulating the policies may vary in nature. The place for the policy formulation and structure along with the attributes of the strategy has implication in the development of these acts. The whole procedure of policy formulation and implementation needs to be apprehended properly so that it  become convenient to make use of the resources and bring significant modifications in the healthcare provisions. These processes have number of stages. It starts with the design of the policy. In tis frost stage, lots of insights and information regarding the need of the service receivers are received. It takes into consideration the intention and the expected results are determined and according to them the appropriate steps are taken to make sure the required inputs are arranged. Secondly, the designed policy is practically applied by speeding the policy. It takes active measures to execute the policy. The final stage includes assessment and adjustment where the policies are scrutinized and modified according to the need of the situation. 2.2 INFLUENTIAL factors behind a parliamentary act Health and social welfare related issues are fundamentally influence by the people themselves. But the policy and parliamentary act are also affected by the assessment and the understanding and decision of the people concerned with the policy formation. There is also the consideration of the limitation of resources. In addition, the thinking process and the principals have a role to play. These policy makers have their own set of view and philosophies that are influenced by their allegiance to their respective parties (Ungerson, 1997). There are various modes of accomplishing the policies which can be customary or contemporary. There is also pressure from the activists and communities. Unexpected situations and likelihoods of events also play a role in the policy making process in the health care and social policy which may result in a very unscrupulous decisions and polices. (Spanswick, 2003) 2.3 the impact of the Act on service users The health and social care acts have positive effect throughout the UK history. These acts have helped to give people access to their fundamental right of health care, specially the older generation and the disabled people. (Foster et al., 2001) It has given the UK healthcare and welfare a solid structure. Health acre and social care had been two isolated entities, courtesy of the acts. But tis disintegration created a problem of lack of coordination. This disintegration was done in terms of the strategies and control of the bodies but they have been integrated to better serve the people. 2.4 POLITICAL leaders’ contriburion on policies Political leaders have vital contribution in helping the country recover from the adversities and downturn in the economy that resulted from the havoc of the Second World War. They help made the legislations to bring major changes in the social policies that had a foundation that predates the war. These politicians help pass the Health Act 2009 that aimed to take the National health Service to an advanced level to provide better facilities and service to the common mass.. In 2008 they passed Health and Social Care Act that had a vital contribution in revolutionizing and incorporating health and social care. The 2006 Health Act came up with the regulation that prevented public smoking and set the age restriction for smokers that was applicable to the seller of tobacco products. It also took care of the management of the medication and observation of transactions with pharmaceutical goods. (Hochschild, 1995) 2.5 improving the CARE WITH the on-going policy changes The policies that are concerned with the people’s welfare are always vulnerable to adjustments and amendments. Any vital change requires a lot deliberation and it has the risk of producing debate. The Medicare Program, introduced in 1965, has seen much modification since its inception which has helped the public to have access to better services. Further elective packages have been introduced by the authority to add to the convenience of people. (Alber, 1995) Task 3 impact of social policies on users of health and social care services 3.1: contemporary policy developments and implementation The healthcare authorities and the social care bodies make sure everyone is treated with equality regarding the services. The strategy and regulation is designed in such a way that ensures service receivers get the service  maintaining their freedom and self-esteem. The state does its best to offer the widest range of services. They disseminate information to the public about the heath related issues and they also inform about the nourishing ingredients of a meal. Through the various programs, people are encouraged to maintain a healthy lifestyle and children are imparted education. About the health related issues. There are many joint venture sin the health and social care sector they provide employment along with the measures to improve the social care sector and take care of issues like health discriminations, infant health and adolescence health, health of senior citizens and so on. (Mason and Smith, 2005) 3.2 Measuring the impact of policy initiatives on service users There are lots of evaluation methods that are being followed by the USA government to ensure the effectiveness and the efficiency of providing services to the service users. Evidence based policy making is one of the major force for the best quality policy appraisal in the U.K. This policy making systems require policy maker and implement authority of all of these policy to utilize and use the information from different source including evaluation of the past rules and policy, statistics data, academic report and researches, economics rules and theories, national statistics, consultation with expert or agents etc. even the public expenditure, expending and the taxation also take part in this process. The UK Government has already undertaken, and also they are presently undertaking some random proscribed trials of policy steps. 3.3 the impact of a specific policy At 1999, The NSF or The National Service Framework for the mental health published. It is it is the central element for the working age adults regarding the policy of government. Beside this, this is plan or program for ten years improvement of the metal health care in UK. This NSF also described how this policy, system and the improvement will happen and the evidence relating this also given in NSF (CSIP/NIMHE, 2007). Though NSF is focusing on the decreasing of the smoke rate among people but it is not a  comprehensive or massive activity of improving health care like general health acre. Eight different pilot studies on the subject of improvement of the physical health care have been studied by the public health committee of the English strategy. (Beecham, 2005) 3.4 policies in improving the quality of life Policies can play a virtual role in the improvement of the service user’s quality of the life. Participating interest group like patient organization is very effective in this regard. The focus was later concentrated in the cut down of taxes, the reduction of interference by the government and the reduction in the government expenditure in 1975. But it had to take some portion out of the welfare budget. Currently, the state is more focused on providing people with employment rather than providing them with abundant allowances and benefits. There have been many regulation and law which are introduced to address the issues of labor, healthcare and social care nowadays. (Gulliford and Morgan, 2003) Task 4 Recent developments in health and social care policy 4.1 recent development in health and social care policy It deals with many different things like voluntary sectors in welfare, the role or the part of religion etc. Also it deals with free worldwide secondary education and many more. Indigence is one of the primary causes of sickness. The poor and broken law authority started to evaluate hospitals for the sick people. Health and social care policy deals with the rules and the policies, system regarding people welfare state. Most of the average report founded on three assumptions which is health services, family allowance and full employment. Beside all of these things current period achievement is the pensions, insurance, tax credits, supplement to the family income etc. All of these this is the implement of current era of time. It also deals with the health and social care initiatives, social and labor inclusions, important legislation initiative, and rights etc. The announcement done by the Peter Lilley will help get the harmony to the benefit system. These mainly decrease the dependenc y of the benefit by helping the person or people in their work. (Judge, and Bauld, 2006) 4.2 the  differences in formation and adaption At this 29th century the social and the health care system policies initiative reached the rural and far areas of the United Kingdom. The main goal of this initiative of the health and social care is to provide the health and social care services to the society for the wellbeing of the society without considering the financial condition of the people. The main goal of this initiative is to provide state edification, pension and the universal health care to the citizen of the country. Similar to Japan the heath care of USA is being dominated and maintained and controlled by the different kind of insurance scheme=where state do not play any part. Social and health care is a contract between the individual citizen and the government in Scotland. But it’s straight forward in English policy where government ensures the commitment to give better health and social service rather than improving the policy itself. So it is more effective for the citizen of the country. This is a genera l contract between the service user or the citizen and the government service providers. Conclsuion The main focus of the healthcare and social care has been the equality of access recently. All the acts and polices are aimed at proving people with the most fundamental services and making sure that no one gets deprived (Exworthy et al.,2003). The undertaking of the major policy matters has been done in collaboration and various bodies across the state and government have put a lot of effort to take the healthcare and social care to a new dimension. Reference Alber, J. (1995). ‘A Framework for the Comparative Study of Social Service’s’, Journal of European Social Policy 5 (2): 131–49. Atkinson, M. et al. (2001) Systematic review of ethnicity and health service access for London. University of Warwick: Warwick. Bauld, L. et al. (2005) Promoting social change: the experience of health action zones in England. Journal of Social Policy 34 (3):427-445. Barnes, C. (1991) Disabled People in Britain and Discrimination: A Case for Anti-Discrimination Legislation, Hurst and Co in association with the British Council of Organizations of Disabled People, London. Beecham, J. (2005) Access to mental health supports in England: crisis resolution teams and day services. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 28: 574-587. Burt, J. et al. (2003) The relationship between use of NHS Direct and deprivation in southeast London: an ecological analysis. Journal of Public Health Medicine 25 (2):174-176. CSIP/NIMHE (2007) Mental Health: New Ways of Working for Everyone. Progress Report 280692, Department of Health: London. Daunt, P. (1992) Meeting Disability: A European Perspective, Cassell Education, London. Exworthy, M. et al. (2003) Tackling health inequalities in the United Kingdom: the progress and pitfalls of policy. Health Services Research 38(6, pt 2): 1905-1921. Foster, J. et al. (2001) A qualitative study of older peoples views of out-of-hours services. British Journal of General Practice 51 (470): 719-723. Gulliford, M. and Morgan, M. (2003) Access to Health Care. Routledge: London. Hochschild, A. R. (1995). ‘The Culture of Politics: Traditional, Post-modern, Coldmodern, and Warm-modern Ideals of Care’, Social Politics 2 (3): 331–45. Judge, K. and Bauld, L. (2006) Learning from policy failure? Health action zones in England. European Journal of Public Health 16 (4):341-3. Marshall, T. H. (1950) Citizenship and Social Class. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. Mason, A. and Smith, P.C. (2005) Description of the Benefit Basket, England. Report prepared for the HealthBASKET project, funded by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Research Programme Spanswick, M. (2003) Access to health care: vulnerable groups in society. In: Public Health and Society, Ungerson, C. (ed.) (1997), ‘Social Politics and the Commodification of Care’, Social Politics 4 (3): 362–82 Thane P.(2009). History and Policy. MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS HEALTH COMMITTEE INQUIRY: SOCIAL CARE. 67 (1): 140-145

Stereotypes Of Mental Illness Sociology Essay

Stereotypes Of Mental Illness Sociology Essay Stereotypes of mental illness form through personal experiences combined with the influence of external sources, the most influential probably being the mass media. Theoretical conclusions suggest that the media has a powerful influence over society, but they do not consider the types of media and the varying audience associated. This study will attempt to examine whether Disneys portrayal of mental illness affects how society perceives mental illness. This research will be analysed using secondary data. The research is completed through a reviewed selection of Disney films and examination of how characters are assigned mental illness traits. The characters are then compared to how people in similar situations would be accepted in society, and compare whether the Disney films have influenced this acceptance. Results of the study indicate that more research is needed. OMIS2 Low Risk Research Ethics Approval Where NO human participants are involved and/or when using secondary data Undergraduate or Postgraduate or Member of staff evaluating service level quality Project Title Does Disneys portrayal of mental illness affect how society perceives mental illness. Principal Investigator Certification I believe that this project does not require research ethics approval. X I confirm that I have answered all relevant questions in the checklist honestly. X I confirm that I will carry out the project in the ways described in the checklist. I will immediately suspend research and request a new ethical approval if the project subsequently changes the information I have given in the checklist. X Principal Investigator Name: Stephanie Sandall Date: 13/06/2012 Students Supervisor (if applicable) I have read the checklist and confirm that it covers all the ethical issues raised by this project fully and frankly. I confirm that I have discussed this project with the student and agree that it does not require research ethics approval. I will continue to review ethical issues in the course of supervision. Name: Thomas Thurnell-Read Date: 22/08/2012 Introduction The Walt Disney Corporation is an American mass media company which is most famously known for childrens films (Booker, 2012). This dissertation will explore the influence of the media on the audience, more specifically to examine whether Disneys portrayal of mental illness affects how society perceives mental illness. I have identified common features in literature regarding the influence of media and public opinion, and relevant sources will be applied to this study. The Oxford English Dictionary defines mental illness as a condition which causes serious disorder in a persons behaviour or thinking (2012), this does not necessarily mean that society shares the same understanding. Mental illnesses are variations of behaviours that are not considered acceptable in society, a process of socially diagnosing people that deviate from societys norms and can easily be affected by social change (Scheff, 1975). Stereotypes of mental illness form through personal experiences combined with the influence of external sources, shared patterns of behaviour and interactions and affective understanding learned through the process of socialization (Damen, 1987), implying that societys norms and values are what carve our individual personas. Negative stereotypes can also lead to the process of stigmatising, isolating members of society, sometimes even institutionalising members in order to force conformity. Terms associated with mental illness are reduced to casual i nsults rather than official medical terms as society constructs those with abnormal behaviours to be mentally ill (Scheff, 1975). Previous research implies that the most influential external source to shape public opinion to be the mass media (Breslow, 2002). The Walt Disney Corporation is the worlds largest media conglomerate, primarily based in film and television sectors of the media industry (Best Communications Degrees, 2013). Approximately 200 million people will view a Disney film in a year (Giroux, 2002). Due to its large scale availability and popularity, this study aims to examine whether Disneys portrayal of mental illness affects how society perceives mental illness. The Walt Disney Company influences how children are introduced to norms and values of society through its attractive magical image associated with its films. Disney films are considered as a normal form of entertainment for children by society, allowing Disneys perception of society to be taught without challenge, as a result socialising the audience into what Disney finds to be an acceptable ideology (Giroux, 2002). The purpose of this study is to examine whether Disneys portrayal of mental illness affects how society perceives mental illness. This research has practical relevance which hopefully through its findings and conclusion will add to the scientific knowledge, and make society more aware of any effects the media has on the perception of mental illness, most specifically Disney films. In order to understand how Disney movies present mental illness to society through its characters, I will conduct a literature review to gain a stronger background of knowledge on the subject before writing a methodology that will be used to investigate my research question. To assess the research question, I will primarily analyse secondary data and combine this with a personally reviewed selection of Disney films to investigate how characters are assigned mental illness traits. The secondary data will be formed of quantitative and qualitative approaches. I find this technique will allow me to gain a bette r and deeper understanding of the subject. I will then compare the Disney characters to how people in similar situations would be accepted in society, and whether the Disney films have influenced this acceptance. Literature Review Society is dependent on the media for information and entertainment due to its easy access, as well as its ability to be culturally encoded for all to understand. According to Breslow (2002), the mass media perform three major functions in society, these are: educating, shaping public relations, and advocating a particular point of view across society. The Walt Disney Corporation is an American mass media company which is most famously known for childrens films and is the worlds largest media conglomerate (Best Communications Degrees, 2013). Due to Disneys large scale popularity, this study aims to examine whether Disneys portrayal of mental illness affects how society perceives mental illness, since the coverage of mental health in the media is a controversial subject and it is deemed as a sensitive topic by some individuals in society. Audience Research It is not only the media source itself, but the audience that needs to be considered. Disney films are generally intended for a younger audience. Evidence demonstrates that children are the main viewers of Disney films (Booker, 2012). Children can be easily influenced by media consumption as they easily accept and internalise media messages, this is shown by Banduras Bobo Doll Study (1963). Bandura divided 48 girls and 48 boys into 3 experimental groups and a control group. The groups were subject to different conditions associated with a Bobo doll. The first group witnessed an adult become aggressive towards a Bobo doll in a live scenario. The second group viewed a film of the adult acting aggressively to a Bobo doll. The third group watched a cartoon animal act aggressively towards a Bobo doll. The children watched the aggressive acts individually, preventing an influence of opinion or distraction off other children in the group and allowing individual differences of opinion to eme rge. After observing the models, each of the children from the four groups were individually put in a room with an experimenter where they were exposed to a mildly frustrating situation to elicit aggression. After this, the children were sent to play in a room of toys which included a Bobo doll. Researchers covertly observed the children, noting any interaction with the Bobo doll. Results showed that the children who had been exposed to the aggressive behaviour, exhibited nearly twice as much aggressive behaviour than the control group. The results demonstrate that media can be influential on the behaviour of children, therefore implying that Disney movies may affect a childs behaviour. This study can be criticised due to having a small ethnocentric sample size, so the results cannot be generalised to the wider society. However, it must also be considered that children may associate adults as disciplinary figures, so the children mimic the behaviour shown as if they are trying to co nform to adult behaviour. Despite this, this study is appropriate to the research as it demonstrates the influence that media and adult role models have on children. Audiences may also interpret results differently, as Thompson (1995) argues that audiences do not automatically passively accept information but actively select and interpret, resist or even challenge the media, affected through individual differences and experiences. In contrast, McQuail (2005) suggests that the media can have planned and unplanned effects on the audience, with short and long term effects. McQuail does not generalise the audience to be a mass being, as he finds these factors to be heightened by individual differences. Therefore, there is a fragmentation of the audience, in this example Disney films are primarily associated with a younger audience (Booker, 2012). As a result, there is no single mass audience, people may choose to watch a programme at a later date and media messages may not spread throughout society. Furthermore not everyone in society will view the media, so people will not share the exact same values. Despite this, the audience is widely dispersed and the media is easily able to control the audience and spread messages (McQuail, 2005). Contrasting to this perspective, Disney may be more focused on capitalism than social control, as found by Fiske (1987), Disneys content could be influenced through the structured media market-led environment through the consumer choice of media and globalisation. The media is a business and the audience is the consumer. Public interests are subordinated to private capitalistic interests. It could be further considered that the media has become a form of ideological apparatus (Milner and Browitt, 2002). The media narrative is constructed to encourage the acceptance of social positions, leaving the individual to emotionally invest in the source through identifying similar personal traits. The perspective associates the audience as a passive being, as the media is dominant and positions the audience through an emotional connection. Ctausses (1968) Schema of Differential Audience Reach finds that not all members of the audience accept the media values transmitted. Ctausse displays how media messages go through a process of being offered, receivable, received, registered, before being potentially internalised by the audience. This is further examined by British Cultural Studies, who investigate the way audiences decode media messages. They find the decoding of media messages varies on primary definers and individual differences, such as social and linguistic differences (Hall, 1973). Three types of decoding were proposed by Hall (1973). Dominant decoding views that the audience acknowledges media values and easily accepts the media discourse. Negotiated decoding, detects that the audience recognises the media has interpreted the events in a certain way, the audience is not completely passive to media messages. Oppositional decoding, finds that the audience challenges media authority. An example of oppositional de coding would be the feminist approach to a male presented dominated programme. This is significant to the research as it implies that the Disney audience have individual differences and not all will decode the content in the same manner. However, this research is opposed by cultivation theory. Cultivation theory suggests that the more time spent by the individual watching television, the more the viewer will come to view reality through ideologies imposed by the media (Gerbner et al, 2002). This is reinforced by social learning theory, which implies that learning is influenced by people and events presented in the media (Bandura, 1994), finding media to be a large scale influence on how people perceive society. False representation of mental illness reinforced through the media can encourage the audience to conform and accept stereotypes. This may result in the possibility of negative attitudes towards individuals with mental illnesses obtained during childhood persevering into adul thood. Stuart Halls Reception Theory finds the media to have a polysemic structure, the producers of the media encode a message for the audience to decode (Kitzinger, 2004), implying that the audience are in control. This is further developed by Halls (1973) Encoding and Decoding model which considers the media as a process whereby messages are sent and received with certain effects that alter how the audience perceives things. As a result, media messages can be interpreted differently by audiences and may not be understood in the way desired by producers (Hall, 1973). It can be argued that this process encourages maximum potential of audience involvement, as the media acts as a socialising force, in the case of Disney it allows the development of marketing off the characters personas to society. In support of this, Fiske examined the notion of semiotic negotiation and resistance; the audience has the ability to shape media meaning to the self. This means that the audience can subvert confo rmity, they are not a slave to the media, and therefore Disney films do not necessarily affect how an individual views mental illness (Fiske, 1987). In contrast, Lazarsfeld and Merton (1948) perceive the media to be a form of entertainment, which allows the audience to escape the hardship of reality and simultaneously integrates society. However, it must be considered that this is only a theoretical perspective, it is formed of hypothesise and not first-hand research. Challenges to this theory include the Marxist perspective, which was further developed by the Neo-Marxist perspective as the media was not far developed in Karl Marxs lifetime. As we have seen earlier, it can be considered that Disney has a capitalistic nature and linguistic intentions may not be to harm the audience, but rather captivate them. The media, according to Baudrillard (1989), has created a new form of reality hyper reality where an image is produced by the media that is more real to the individual than the item is initially supposed to represent. This theory is further supported by Giroux (2002) who classifies Disney films as teaching machines (p. 100), enabled through marketing and globalisation. Overall, the media should be used to teach awareness of mental illness and not reinforce negative stereotypes (Stuart, 2006). Media Coverage of Mental Illness It must be considered that the media is used as a form of entertainment. The Uses and Gratification Model finds that the audience is an active force, who use the media for their own pleasure (Fiske, 1987). The media and its producers do not have power over the audience, it merely provides the audience with entertainment and diversion from reality. This is challenged by the Frankfurt School, who find the audience to be passive to media effects. They produced the hypodermic syringe model, which metaphorically analyses the audience as accepting an injection of information from a media source; the audience accepts the norms and values prescribed by the media. The model believes that there is a direct correlation between violent behaviour in the media and violent behaviour in reality, which could be applied to violent Disney villains (Haney, 2005). The Shift Media Survey of 2005 assessed the media coverage of mental health issues. The Shift Media Survey of 2005 conducted primary research, included the use of focus groups, interviews and using a range of media samples. It found only one example which concentrated on the negative stigma experienced by people with mental health problems, with the rest of the articles more focused on the issue of violence. This research can be applied to Disney movies, as villains are generally classed as being violent and acting deviant of social norms. The results of the focus group found that most individuals took the media at face value, highlighting the mass effect of the media and its ability to reinforce prejudices in society. This suggests that the negative stigma attached to mental illness by society is not based on any real knowledge, but on what society have been informed of via the mass media. However, the data of this research cannot be generalised to everyone due to its small specific sample, and correlational data does not imply causation. However, the problem with focus groups is that some participants may either hold back due to the lack of anonymity and confidentiality due to being in a group with other participants, or participants may attempt to answer the moderators questions with answers they presume the moderator wants to hear. Furthermore, the interpretation of focus group data may also vary between researchers. Though this research does no directly apply to Disney media production, its results can be assessed to understand whether the media has an impact on public opinion. Overall, the research finds that media generally portrays mental illness through a negative stereotype, used mainly to reinforce and sell stories associated with criminal or deviant behaviour. These negative stereotypes can also be used in childrens films to differentiate between good and evil characters, as shown by Robinson et al (2007) who discovers that a large percentage of old er Disney characters are associated with these negative stereotypes surrounding mental illness. This is further researched by Sadler (2005) through the notion of cultural sanctioning, the media reinforces cultural ideals, which at the same time maintains viewership through familiarity. Beveridge (1996) focused on the portrayal of mental illness in four classic Disney films: Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins, and Beauty and the Beast. Beveridge examined that sane characters that reacted strongly to a situation were negatively labelled as being mad. This is demonstrated in Dumbo through Dumbos mother defending her son against bullying, she is judged to be mad after her outrage and is subsequently locked away from society, implying that mental illness should be kept from society. McKie (2003) further argues that the negative perception of madness in childrens films is providing children with false impressions of mental illness. This article may not be an academic source, but it is an example of mass media implying that childrens films have an effect on the perception of mental illness, nevertheless it is supported by Mind (2011). Research completed by Mind (2011) suggests that the media is failing to give mental health enough consideration, as demonstrated by 4 5% of the people questioned couldnt recall seeing any reports about mental health in any media over the past twelve months. Only 33% of the participants could remember observing a newspaper report associated with mental illness, 25% could recall seeing a documentary broadcast directly based on the subject, and 22% viewed mental illness being addressed in television dramas. This data may not directly apply to Disney films, but it demonstrates how the media has a large scale impact on the publics recall and opinions. It can be criticised that these statistics are based on the memory and recall ability of participants, therefore the results may not be entirely accurate as some individuals may have forgotten about seeing some mental illness related reports, and this can affect the reliability of the data. Madness is the implication of an individual being in an idiosyncratic state, where people do not immediately understand or make sense of an individuals behaviour (Pilgrim, 2009). This can result in the implication of alienation, as demonstrated by Madhouses in Victorian society, which fuelled negative stereotypes of mental illness in society. Negative stereotypes may put people at risk of social exclusion and can lead to people feeling stigmatised by society. As a consequence, the individual may develop what Goffman (1963) calls a spoiled identity and demonstrate further abnormal behaviour in society. Goffman (1961) primarily writes about patients being institutionalised and the implications of psychiatric hospitals, but the writing can be applied to the treatment of Disney characters. For example, it can be related to a scene in Beauty and the Beast, where Maurice is locked away from society by the townsfolk as society doesnt accept his behaviour or opinions, this will be analysed f urther in the discussion section of the dissertation. Lawson and Fouts (2004) found 85% of 34 animated films produced by Disney between 1937 and 2001, contained references to characters with mental illness. There was an average of 4.6 references per film alienating characters, furthermore 21% of principal characters were being judged to have a mental illness. The research concludes that the use of terms such as crazy mad and nut allows a segregation of characters, separating them from what is classed as normal. This can provoke alienation and associate fear with characters deemed as being mentally ill. However, this study does not consider the appearance of characters, which could further affect the audiences perception of a character. This research may be dated due to more Disney films being released, it displays how frequently Disney refers to mental illness. It must also be considered that there is a time limit in the media when divulging a story, therefore the use of stereotypes to portray characters allows easier association with t he viewers daily life (Signorielli, 2001). In contrast to the research discussed, Booker (2010) finds that Disney encourages individualism that people do not need to change who they are to be accepted in society. Characters appear to suffer negative treatment by society until they learn to accept who they are. For example, this is shown through Dumbo learning to embrace his differences and proving himself to society. This could suggest that mental illness is related to moral failures. Medicine has adapted Disney characters to mental disorders, implying that science finds the Disney characters to be associated with mental illness. The psychological and personality disorders named after Disney characters, include: Peter Pan Syndrome, Sleeping Beauty Syndrome, Rapunzel Syndrome, and Cinderella Complex. These conditions imply that Disney characters have had a direct impact on mental illness. Peter Pan Syndrome, according to Kiley (1983), demonstrates the alienation of men failing to confront the emotional realities of society through their narcissistic nature, women are found accountable of accepting immature behaviour. The psychological condition finds that some members of society, like the fictional character, remain in a childish state, failing to accept appropriate adult roles in society. The work primarily focuses on men and shows how women mature faster. This is similar to the Disney film which shows Wendy to grow up and teach the other children how to behave. S leeping Beauty Syndrome is a disorder that involves people uncontrollably sleeping for days at a time. Rapunzel Syndrome often affects those with mental illness, as the Rapunzel character is implied to be suffering severe depression, it involves people eating their hair (Singla et al, 1999). Cinderella Complex finds women conform and lower expectations in order to fit into society, young girls have no aspirations, conforming to a stereotypical housewife lifestyle (Kerr, 1985). The research may be dated, but it supports the thesis of Disney affecting societys perception of mental illness. The medical model defines mental illness through classification schemes. There are several weaknesses of this model including the validity and reliability of diagnostic criteria (Sadler, 2005). The model ignores individual differences and classifies people into categories in which they might not belong. In opposition to this, Szasz (1961) puts forward the Myth of Mental Illness which contemplates whether mental illness actually exists, due to the overuse of the notion associated with problems of living. However, the existence of mental illness has been around for a long time and in a variety of cultures, implying that mental illness is not socially constructed, but that society can manipulate how mental illness is perceived. Szasz (1961) further examines that the label of mental illness allows the power of social control to discipline and manage those who wont conform. This includes state legislation, such as the Mental Health Act 2007 (CPS, 2013). Conclusions Whilst conducting the literature review, it has been understood that Walt Disney himself was associated with mental illness. His mother died when he was young, coincidently he was obsessed with the concept of family. This could have impacted the structure of Disney productions, as most Disney movies begin with the mother dying or already dead. However, this may not account for movies created after his death that contain references to mental illness, unless Disney are intending to stick to storylines that Walt Disney would find acceptable. Not all texts address mental illness in association to Disney films, as shown by Deconstructing Disney (Byrne and McQuillan, 2000) and Mouse Morality: The Rhetoric of Disney Animated Film (Ward, 2002). These books cover themes such as sexuality, race and gender, but fail to consider the implications Disney films have on mental health. The disregard implies that it is acceptable for Disney to stigmatise those who are mentally ill. The research discussed suggests that there has been little social change in regards to how the media portrays mental illness, there is a negative stereotype and this is presented in the selection of Disney films studied. However, I feel that there is only a limited number of studies and this is an area that needs to be examined in more detail. Each source analysed highlights a negative connotation attached to mental illness which has produced a stigma in society, reinforced by the media discourse. Wahl et al (2003) reach a concerning conclusion that future generations will be continually exposed to negative images and views of mental illness unless children are introduced to destigmatising programs. Instead of labelling someone as insane and producing a negative stigma, the media and society should focus on the specific problems and behaviours of the individual, fixing the negative stereotypes attached to mental illness (Jorm, 2000). While none of the above theories offer a solution to the negative association of mental illness, they do demonstrate awareness. There is no perspective that can be absolute when analysing social actions. Methodology This section will reflect how evidence will be collected to support the arguments of my research question. As discussed in the Literature Review, the majority of the previous work in this area has concentrated on stereotypes and the audience. In order to find out whether the publics perception of mental health is affected by Disney films, I need to establish initially how the public perceive mental health in order to reach a context specific definition of mental illness. The NHS is the largest publicly funded health service in existence, therefore I feel that they have a high enough influence to be regarded in this research in order to gain an understanding of mental health. I will use a publically available NHS document, in order to gain an understanding of what the British health system classifies mental illness as: Mental well-being crucially affects healthy functioning of individuals, families, communities and societies. It fundamentally affects behaviour, social cohesion, social inclusion and economic prosperity. Underlying social, economic and environmental dimensions that can affect a persons well-being relate to factors such as employment status, education, health and household/neighbourhood characteristics. (NHS Confederation, 2012). To find out whether the publics perception of mental health is affected by Disney films, I will conduct a content analysis to identify what terms related to mental illness are used in Disney films, I will then consider the contextual intentions of Disney. I will use theory to further analyse my results to gain a well-rounded view of the subject. I will also examine behavioural responses to Disney through the use of secondary research such as The Shift Media Survey of 2005 to examine my data. There is a mixed methods approach to the research, it is not specifically focused on quantitative or qualitative methods, allowing a continuum of the two. Selecting the Sample In order to examine whether Disneys portrayal of mental illness affects how society perceives mental illness, I have decided to base my research sample on the most popular Disney feature length films. I examined the success rate of films from each of them based on their profit, which combined with the availability of films, the following films were included: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio (1940), Dumbo (1941), Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), The Jungle Book (1967), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), Toy Story (1995), Hercules (1997), Tarzan (1999), The Emperors New Groove (2000), The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Alice in Wonderland (2010). In total my sample consisted of sixteen Walt Disney Pictures, with only two films not being of an animated nature. Procedure To begin with, I viewed my selected films and took general notes which allowed me to create a basic coding scheme. I then re-watched the films to ensure reliability, I also re-recorded the occurrence of the selected terms associated with mental illness across a range of Disney films. The coding scheme included references to behaviour and the physical description of characters, such as mad insane and strange. I will also note the contextual circumstances of which the references were made. The coding scheme will initially exclude character names, but these will be noted for later consideration, e.g. The Mad Hatter. The context of code will be considered before recording to make sure the term is being used an appropriate sense. Once the coding was complete I noted the main themes that had emerged in order to aid my future analysis. Visual representations are also important to consider when studying mental illness in the media to examine how characters conform to stereotypes, as I found through my literature review that there was a lack of regard to character appearances. Analysis A content analysis describes what is there, but does not provide underlying reasoning, so I will be combining my research with a theoretical analysis. This will consist of selecting and discussing theoretical material and a detailed comparison of applicable theories. This will aid us in understanding whether certain theories help us to comprehend particular patterns of social behaviour. This approach will allow me to assess contrasting sources, allowing a more critical attitude. However, a content analysis describes what is there, but does not provide underlying reasoning. Data collected from a variety of sources, such as

Fostering Motivation by the Help of Neuroplasticity

Fostering Motivation by the Help of Neuroplasticity There are two types of mindset: fixed versus growth mindset. In fixed mindset, students (people) believe that their abilities is innate and they cannot change it, therefore a failure makes them start doubting in themselves and believing they are not smart/good enough to achieve their goals. On the other hand, those who have a growth mindset believe that they can improve their abilities by learning and practicing. They see failure as an opportunity to working on their mistakes and weaknesses; their perseverance and resilience makes them more motivated and work harder to improve their abilities. Moreover, one of the biggest difficulties that students face when they enter to a new stage of their academic life is lack of motivation. The main idea of this project is improving growth mindset as well as fostering intrinsic motivation among students by teaching them about the brain and neuroplasticity. For this purpose, a weekly workshop will be designed for five sessions. Below is the detai l of each session. Method This project is based on learning science approach with focus on embodiment and feedback which are explained in details. Participants In order to meet the goals of this project and having a sound base of interpretation of the results and eliminating some of the confound variables like method of learning and environmental differences, students from one class will be selected to participate in the workshop. Junior students are extremely vulnerable to fail to achieve an acceptable grade during their high school, because in general children in this age suffer from antisocial behavior, lack of self-esteem, school engagement and more importantly being motivated enough to continue their study. Having a positive or negative outcome in this age depends on students motivation and motivation is dependent on children core belief. In other words, the way students deal with their environment, indicate their future success and exactly here motivation comes to play an important role because if students are motivated enough to continue their study and like to challenge themselves, they can survive and even flourish during this peri od (Blackwell et al., 2007). For this reason, target group in this project will be high school students. Both male and female students with any ethnic background can participate in this study. It is ideal to have a balanced number of male and female participants in order to control for any potential gender differences in the study. Materials Prior to participating in the workshop, participants will be asked to answer to two questionnaires: one of them is a motivation questionnaire to examine students goal in the coming year and their view about the value of efforts and the other one is a mindset questionnaire. The mindset questionnaire will measure students core belief about their intelligence, goal orientation, belief about effort and attribution and strategies in response to failure. Teachers report on students level of engagement and motivation in classroom will be also collected. To investigate the impact of growth mindset on long term achievements (outcomes), the same questionnaire will be distributed at the end of semester, which will be two months after the workshop. The latest grade of students mathematic achievements (CAT) and students new math grade at the end of semester will be collected. Procedure Session 1: The Neurons: Structure and Function In this session, students will learn about concept of neuron and its structure and neurotransmitters by lecture and pictures (figure 1 and 2). The lesson plan for this session is as the following: Lesson Plan There are two types of cells in the brain: The first type is called glia, which comes from a word that means glue and they hold the brain together. Glia plays an important role in the processing and communication. The main brain cells are called neurons. They have a lipid bilayer as a cell membrane to keep everything inside. They have the fluidly cytosol, the liquid inside. Neurons have three main parts, the cell body, or the soma, is where we find the nucleus, the part that has DNA. And the other parts are the specialization that allows the neurons to communicate with other cells. Dendrites are branches around the soma. It integrates it in two ways, both spatially and temporally. Spatially means weve got all these inputs coming from different parts of the brain and temporally means that theres a time window over which the cell is looking at. Once the information has been summed up and the neuron decided how to process it, the neuron sends output down to the axon. Neurons shapes and sizes depend on their function within the neural circuit. The stereotypical one is called a multi-polar neuron which has more than one dendrites and only one axon. Bipolar neurons have one input and one output. Unipolar neurons have basically one long transmission wire with the cell body off to the side, so information just kind of flows down with, no real interference from the soma itself. Physiological properties of the neuron: The neuron is actually using electricity to send through the dendrites and then down the axon. Every cell has an electric membrane potential, or an electric resting potential, which is the difference between the electrical potential energy inside and outside the cell. By recording the electrical potential of cell membrane versus the electrical potential at an electrode outside the cell membrane we can have voltage difference. Most cells have a resting membrane potential of about -70 or -65 mV. The other property thats really important about the neurons is t hat they have Ion channels, which are like doorways in their cell membrane. When their membrane potential gets high and reaches the thresholds, these doors can open. Signal starts at this area at the juncture of the soma and the axon thats called the Axon Hillock. So, what happens is the membrane potential of the cell reaches a certain threshold, and that causes the door to open. When the door opens, positive ions start coming into the cell, which causes the membrane voltage to go up and opens more of these voltage sensitive doors. And eventually there would be a big influx of positive current, but the Ion Channels will be close very fast. That quick increase and decrease of the membrane potential, is called an action potential, which lasts for about one to two milliseconds. Action potential is an all-or-none event. As the positive ions are coming in from action potential that started at the Axon Hillock, its going to increase the memory voltage of the axon right next to it. Therefo re, more channels will be opened and more positive current flow in which will cause action potential to travel down the length of axon. What the neurons saying in the pattern of its spiking activity. In general, neuron does not directly talk to the next neuron via an electrical signal, instead when the electrical signal gets to the tip of the axon, the axon will release chemicals called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemicals messengers that travel over a small gap between the neurons sending the information and the dendrites of the neuron receiving the information. That gap is called a synapse. The neuron receiving the information by their dendrites on that post synaptic side of this gap have special receptors for receiving the released chemicals by the presynaptic neuron. When the chemical binds to those special receptors, that causes changes in the membrane potential of the second neuron and then that neuron can collect that information and send its signal to its neigh bors. After this lecture, students will have time to ask any questions and discuss their thoughts and understanding of the concept of neurons within small groups. By the end of this session, students will learn about basic properties of neurons and how neurons communicate with each other.                Session 2: Brain structure and Function In this session, after a brief recalling of last session which was about neurons, few fact cards about brain will be given to students. Next, a brief introduction of brain anatomy and main areas of brains will be given by the help of pictures (figure 3 to 5). For avoiding boredom in students, instead of lecture given by the instructor, they will watch short videos explaining brains function. Videos are from an online course offered by University of Toronto Facts that are given after figure 3: Weight: 3 lbs 2% of total body weight Consumes 25% of the bodys oxygen supply Consumes 70% of the bodys glucose supply Consumers 25% of the bodys nutrients 100 Billion Neurons Facts that are given after figure 4: With matter is inside the brain and Gray matter is outside the brain Cerebral cortex is wrinkled. The grooves that make these wrinkles are called sulci and the ridges between them are called gyri Two hemispheres are connected by Corpus Callosum Facts that are given after figure 5: Brain has two main parts: cortex which has 4 parts: frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital lobe. and the other part is cerebellum After watching the videos, students will discuss their questions, any misconception that they might have about the brain and gained knowledge in small groups. The session will end by given pictures of brains structure and areas that students are required to name them. Session 3: Neuroplasticity In this session, the topic of neuroplasticity which is about the electrical and neural changes in the brain during learning will be thought. The lesson plan will be a brief explanation of neuroplasticity by summarizing some researches about this concept: Plasticity is one of the most essential functions of the human brain. According to Munte et al (2002) Neuroplasticity allows the brain to adapt to environmental factors that cannot be anticipated by genetic programming There are a vast majority of researchers that are interested in this topic and have been examining plasticity via different experiments both on animals and human. One of these researchers named Dr Norman Doidge who is author of The Brain that Changes Itself. In his book he talked about the brain as a modifiable, changeable, adaptable and plastic organism that is able to change its function and even structure without chemical reaction in the body, just based on our interaction with the brain. The interesting thing about the power of the brain is, its ability to change structurally even with imagination. Another discovery related to plasticity is the fact that learning changes the number of connection between neurons; even with hours of training the number of connection between two neurons can increase from 1300 to 2700 as an example. The reason how plasticity happen in our brain is: through activities and thoughts that people do with their brain, there are certain genes in nerve cells that become on and others off, this change causes producing protein and protein finally makes change in brain structure. This discovery made a strong proof for the role of learning and training in changing our brain and as a result changing our mind and behavior (Bush et al., 2004). People are able to change their behavior as a result of functional changing in their brain, for example depression is a severe disorder that causes 25% loose of gray matter in hippocampus. This is due to fact that chronic stress release cortisol which gradually weakens the role of left prefrontal cortex, a region that is known as a controller of negative emotion, and the weak activity of PFC causes 25% loose of gray matter in hippocampus. An experiment done in UK showed that the size and amount of gray matter would be the same again after 5 weeks of treatment in depressed people. Similarly, in article written by Draganski et al., (2004) the same finding was reported. Subjects of their experiments were d ivided into two groups: learner and non-learner. They scanned their subjects brain at the beginning of experiment and find that there is no difference between two groups. Then they taught the learner group how to juggle and when their subjects were professional enough to juggle in 1 minute, they had another FMRI scan for both group. For learners the amount of gray matter in the mid-temporal area and in the left posterior intraparietal was increased by 25% compared to non-learner and compared to the first scan. Finally they had third scan after 3 months without training for both group and they found that the amount of gray matter decreased again in learner group. Their finding was consistent with the finding about depression. Mà ¼nte et al., (2002) examined neuroplasticity in musicians that had begun their training in early age. They found musicians who began before the age of seven had a larger anterior midsagittal corpus callosum compared to others that started later. Therefore, they were able to have a bidirectional movement. In order to be able to control bidirectional movement, an enhanced interaction between two hemispheres is needed and since number of axons that can be transmitted to other hemisphere depends on size of midsagittal corpus callosum, therefore musicians with larger AMCC were able to have bidirectional movements. Elbert et al., (1995) showed that string players had a larger cortical representation of the digits finger in the left hand compared to non-musicians. They argued that even neuroplasticity was different among musicians depending on their interaction with music and their professional usage of music; for example a conductor is better in understanding non-adjacent and separatin g adjacent sound sources. Accordingly, there is an automatic movement in musicians body (fingers of hand or even leg) when they just listening to music and vice versa. This is because of co-activation of motor-audio regions in their brain. After this lecture, students will ask their questions (in case of any) and form small groups to share their ideas about neuroplasticity. During these sessions, students learned how their brain can be manipulated by practicing By the end of this session, knowledge creation about the brain will be ended. Therefore, in order to test the output of the sessions, they will be required to articulate their learning. They can either create an artifact (brain, neuron), or write a short essay related to neuroplasticity. As Chinn and Sherin (2005) mentioned one of the problem of team work would be more knowledgeable students will do the load of works and some students might be quiet and their learning process might be overestimated if they work in a group. To avoid this problem, each student is required to do articulation alone. They need to complete this task before last session. Understanding Goal: By the end of this session, students will understand that brains function and even structure can be changed. Session 4: Mindset Change This session consists of two parts. First part is the activity part in which students will discover more about brain and brain plasticity. This part is designed based on embodiment approach. Embodiment in a broad sense could be defined as the study of the subjective role of the body in making sense of life experiences (Kiverstein, 2012). In other words how our bodies influence and shape the way we speak, think, and behave with regard to environmental challenges we face in our daily lives (Gibbs, 2005). Following such a definition the idea of embodied cognition points out to the inter-connection of mind and body and how they both influence each other. Such an idea was raised as a counter-intuitive argument against the mind-body dualism proposed by Rene Descartes in the 17th century which supported a separation between human body and the external world in which body is completely divisible and mind is completely abstract and indivisible. However, this view was challenged by philosophers like Merleau-Ponty (1962) who viewed body as a primordial existence prior to the existence of a reflected world, and understanding of the external world as a reflection of the humans body. Pointing to the inter-relationship between body, environment, and peoples perception of the environment (i.e. the external world) Merleau-Ponty (1962; 235) writes that body is the fabric into which all objects are woven, and it is, at least in relation to the perceived world, the general instrument of comprehension (cited in Gibbs, 2005; p. ). Drawing from the definition of the embodiment, it can be concluded that acquiring and comprehending knowledge and solving problem are not solely manipulated in the brain. Conversely, it is influenced by the interaction we have with the external world and how our bodies manage to perceive them. According to Lakeoff and Johnson (1980) this relationship is highly represented in numerous metaphorical expressions in the language we use. For example we may say the something is beyond us when we cannot understand what a specific expression refers to. In this case we make a connection between our understanding of physical distance and mental concept of uncertainty in order to show how we feel about it. Using Lakeoff and Johnsons metaphorical representations, Barsalou (2008, p. 618) through exemplifying the act of sitting on a chair argues that embodied learning can take place through activating a perception-action-introspection complex. According to Barsalou (2008) this whole process is an i ntegrated and multimodal representation of current and past sensory experiences which results in comprehending an object. According to Abrahamson and Lindgren (2014)in order to place the embodiment theory in education there is need to have an embodied design in order for learners approach a problem in a subject matter through their natural body instinct and movements (p. 363). However, embodied designs could be challenged from three aspects of the types of activities, materials and artifacts, and facilitation of conceptual development. Accordingly they proposed that each of those challenges could be appropriately met through using initial simple activities which fall within the experiential domain of learners and then gradually move toward more symbolic one. Moreover, the types of materials and artifacts used to promote learning in such kinds of designs should be similar to ones found outside these designs and in unmediated environments. Finally, the movement and body engagement should be facilitated through providing real-time feedback by tutors and teachers to help learners develop their own conceptua l insights. Given this brief explanation of embodiment, students will participate in an activity that will result in understanding how their brain can be manipulated by practicing and how their intelligence could be increased through learning. During activity part, they will go through a Neural Network Maze spelling out the word SMARTER and saw how this network change when they learn something new. This activity is based on BNlackwell et al., (2007). In the second part students will see some examples of disabled people who were able to manage their disability and succeed in their life. The aim of this activity is showing students that even people who are suffering from major problems and lost their critical abilities (like walking) did not give up and challenge themselves to achieve their goals. An example of disabled people is Nicholas James Vujicic who is an Australian motivational speaker. He was born with tetra-amelia syndrome and has neither arms nor legs, but could graduate college with a bachelor degree in financing and is a successful writer. Understanding Goal: Everyone can be smart, because intelligence is not statistic and unchangeable Efforts is the most important factor in improving ability The way they think about their ability, can affect their behavior Session 5: Improving motivation by the help of feedback In the last session of workshop, students will summarize their learning and will explain how their misconceptions have changed (if changed) and the instructor will give each student the appropriate feedback. Depending on the number of students participated in this workshop, each student will have time to show their artifact or read their essay that was asked to complete it by the end of session 3. Instructor (experimenter) will give feedback for each students work because as we already know feedback is one type of reward and it can motivate students and even change extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation. Below is a summary of researches that support the effect of reward in increasing students motivation and their performance Harackiewicz (1979) was concerned about relation between feedback, motivation and the outcome and examined this relation among high school students. He found positive feedback increase motivation and motivation increase performance. However he claimed that positive feedback on the performance has different effect compared to reward effect. Positive feedback which is assessed as verbal rewards is known as an unexpected, competence improvement reward and has a significant positive influence on intrinsic motivation. In two studies that used positive feedback as a motivational resource, they tested how a slightly change in wording can bring a fundamental change in the motivation. In the first study, Ryan (1982) used a controlling feedback by saying: Excellent, you should keep up the good work, whereas in the other study, Pittman et al. (1980) used an informational feedback: Compared to most of my subjects, you are doing really well. The result of these two studies was in line with the claim; in the first statement subjects had less intrinsic motivation after few trials compared to second informational feedback. In conclusion, positive feedback can bring interest for receivers and will increase intrinsic motivation. ODohetry (2004) wrote an excellent review about the underlying mechanism of reward seeking and punishment avoidance in human behaviors. He discussed recent neuroimaging findings which gives insight into the reward representations and reward-related learning process that take place in the human brain. The author highlighted the involvement of ventromedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, striatum, and dopaminergic midbrain in the reward-related learning process. Providing evidence from human neuroimaging, the author argues that specific reward-induced behaviors are subject to the function of different parts of the aforementioned network. However, no matter which component guides which specific reward-related behavior, the persistence of behavior is dependent on the value assigned to the reward and perhaps the punishment within this network. The importance of the findings reported in this paper is connecting them with goal-directed behavior which requires complex cognitive resources and fu nctionalities. In other words, the complexities involved in choosing between various behaviors and actions are based on evaluation of their representation of the predicted future rewards with the selected action having the highest predicted reward which varies depending on the its quality, frequency and variance in specific situations. As stated in the article, there are three main parts of the brain that is responsible for guiding our action. Therefore, our behavior is formed controlled as a response to a value of reward or punishment. The author also made a distinction between these parts and the role of each part in seeking the reward, evaluating the value of reward or punishment, predicting the future reward/punishment and deciding about a proper action based on the prediction of value. As a result becoming motivated in doing an action depends on the value of reward or punishment as well as its amount that is aligned with that action even in future. Our brain and even animals br ain is able to learn how to guide our action to receive rewards. It means, our brain tracks and analyses the process of gaining a reward for future use just like the classical conditioning situation. Better reward causes more motivation (ODohetry, 2004). Understanding Goal: By putting enough efforts, students can increase their performance on school Reference: Abrahamson, D., Lindgren, R. (2014). Embodiment and embodied design. In R. K. 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