Friday, July 24, 2020

Rocky Mountain Round-Up

Rocky Mountain Round-Up Currently, Im in the middle of a week-long Admissions trip to Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico to talk about MIT with students, parents, and other interesting folks. This trip follows another recent trip to Northern California and precedes a forthcoming trip to Kansas and Nebraska. The trip began in Salt Lake City. I decided Id take in the sights before my meetings, so I headed out to Park City to see the Olympic site, and up to Temple Square to see the Mormon Temple. While in Temple Square, I also ate lunch in Brigham Youngs historic house (where, for the first time, I tied sarsaparilla interesting!). My workweek started with a Math Jam I conducted online from my hotel in Salt Lake City, hosted by the folks at The Art of Problem Solving. For those of you who dont know about AoPS, it is the best online math community and learning site on the web, bringing together thousands of students from across the globe who are excited about math and problem solving. The Math Jam was an online chat, with myself and MIT math professor Kiran Kedlaya fielding questions over the course of two hours. You can read the transcript of the chat here. The Salt Lake City Central Meeting was quite interesting, with people driving from as far away as Idaho and Wyoming to be in attendance. I was lucky to have a great group of alumni volunteers (Educational Counselors, or ECs) there with me at the meeting. I was told an interesting fact: nearly one-quarter of the Mechanical Engineering faculty at the University of Utah are MIT ECs (!). I then crossed the Wasatch Range and Rocky Mountains to Denver. Again, students from a number of states, including Wyoming and Nebraska, attended the meeting. The only thing that made the trip to Denver less than perfect was the school shooting that happened the same day on the outskirts of Denver. While I was setting up the meeting, a father came up to talk with me. His daughter had been planning to attend the session, but it was her friend that was killed that day. I got a bit choked up, wished the father and, by proxy, his daughter, family and community, all my best, sending the father home to be with his family, while giving him my direct line so I could chat with his daughter, whenever she was ready to think about college again. I began my meeting that evening with a moment of silence. Following that, I think we had a great session. I next headed down to Colorado Springs, where I had lunch with Rob Kolstad, who heads up the USA Computing Olympiad, or USACO. As far as formal opportunities go, USACO is the best program for high school students interested in pursuing computer science at a high level. USACO provides a training program that picks up where a first programming course (like AP Computer Science) leaves off, offering students the opportunity to do some real, high-level programming and problem solving. Students from around the world are a part of the USACO community, which also offers a bulletin/discussion board and the opportunity for four top US students to represent the country at the International Olympiad in Informatics. This years first contest doesnt begin until October 13, so theres still plenty of time to register and train, if youre interested. After both the Salt Lake City meeting and the Denver meeting, I was asked by students, Im interested in computer science. What can I do to show my stuff? Well, there are a number of things. For formal, self-guided opportunities, the USACO is really terrific. To learn about what people in the field of computer science are researching, head to the library and check out journals like those published by the IEEE. And informally, creating something new and cool on your own is always great use the web to get inspiration for a project that you can get excited about. Currently, Im in a cafe in Old Town Las Vegas, New Mexico. All morning, Ive been perplexed as I watched people camping out on the street, and at 1 oclock I found out why they were staking out great seats for the annual West Las Vegas High School Homecoming Parade. Las Vegas is a small city of approximately 15,000 people, slightly larger than my hometown. But my hometowns homecoming festivities were not nearly as exciting. Id bet that 14,000 of Las Vegass 15,000 residents were out for the parade, many having dyed their hair green, the team color. Coincidentally, I put on a green shirt this morning, which made me feel like a part of the celebration. It is random exciting events like this that make being out on the road so much fun. Meanwhile, Ive been missing a lot of fun stuff back at MIT a talk by Steve Wozniak, an awesome juggling event, a Gospel concert, etc. It will be good to be back on campus Monday. In the mean time, I have one more meeting out this way: tomorrow in Albuquerque at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. If youre in New Mexico, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Friday, May 22, 2020

Interesting Facts About Arsenic

Arsenic is best known as a poison and a pigment, but it has many other interesting properties. Here are 10 arsenic element facts: Arsenics symbol is As and its atomic number is 33. It is an example of a metalloid or semimetal, with properties of both metals and nonmetals. It is found in nature as a single stable isotope, arsenic-75. At least 33 radioisotopes have been synthesized. Its most common oxidation states are -3 or 3 in compounds. Arsenic also readily forms bonds with its own atoms.Arsenic occurs naturally in pure crystalline form and also in several minerals, usually with sulfur or metals. In its pure form, the element has three common allotropes: gray, yellow, and black. Yellow arsenic is a waxy solid that converts into gray arsenic after exposure to light at room temperature. Brittle gray arsenic is the most stable form of the element.The element name comes from the ancient  Persian word  Zarnikh, which means yellow orpiment. Orpiment is arsenic trisulfide, a mineral that resembles gold. The Greek word  arsenikos means potent.Arsenic was known to ancient man and important in alchemy. The pure e lement was officially isolated in 1250 by the German Catholic Dominican friar Albertus Magnus (1200–1280). Early on, arsenic compounds were used in bronze to increase its hardness, as colorful pigments, and in medicines.When arsenic is heated, it oxidizes and releases an odor similar to that of garlic. Striking various arsenic-containing minerals with a hammer might also release the characteristic odor.At ordinary pressure, arsenic, like carbon dioxide, does not melt but sublimes directly into vapor. Liquid arsenic only forms under high pressure.Arsenic has long been used as a poison, but its readily detected. Past exposure to arsenic may be assessed by examining hair. Urine or blood tests can assay recent exposure. The pure element and all its compounds are toxic. Arsenic damages multiple organs, including the skin, gastrointestinal tract, immune system, reproductive system, nervous system, and the excretory system. Inorganic arsenic compounds are considered more toxic than organic arsenic. While high doses can cause a quick death, low-dose exposure is also dangerous because arsenic can cause genetic damage and cancer. Arsenic causes epigenetic changes, which are heritable changes that occur without alteration of DNA.Although the element is toxic, arsenic is widely used. It is a semiconductor doping agent. It adds a blue color to pyrotechnic displays. The element is added to improve sphericity of lead shot. Arsenic compounds are still found in certain poisons, such as insecticides. The compounds are often used to treat wood to prevent degradation by termites, fungi, and mold. Arsenic is used to produce linoleum, infrared-transmitting glass, and as a depilatory (chemical hair remover). Arsenic is added to several alloys to improve their properties.Despite the toxicity, arsenic has several therapeutic uses. The element is an essential trace mineral for proper nutrition in chickens, goats, rodents, and possibly humans. It may be added to livestock food to help the animals put on weight. It has been used as a syphilis treatment, cancer treatment, and skin bleaching agent. Some species of bacteria can perform a version of photosynthesis that uses arsenic rather than oxygen to obtain energy.The element abundance of arsenic in the Earths crust is 1.8 parts per million by weight.  Approximately a third of the arsenic found in the atmosphere comes from natural sources, such as volcanoes, but most of the element comes from human activities, such as smelting, mining (especially copper mining), and release from coal-burning power plants. Deepwater wells are commonly contaminated with arsenic.

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Applying The Standards. Melanie Hammonds. Grand Canyon

Applying the Standards Melanie Hammonds Grand Canyon University: SPE817 December 07, 2016 Applying the Standards Becoming a strong, influential leader is determined by an array of factors, as well as who we are as people. Our most inner being holds the key to whether or not we are destined to become successful leaders. Culture and society also play a powerful role in our leadership style. It is thought that various styles of leadership have varied effects on leadership practice and results. Regardless of our natural abilities, there will always be room for change, growth, and overall becoming a more effective leader. The leadership of the special education director is an essential role in the educational realm. Two of†¦show more content†¦Those are all qualifications and requirements that will never change throughout the years. Comparison of ISLLC and CEC Standards ISLLC standards are organized by knowledge, disposition and performances. The knowledge components are those areas of knowledge that are specific to the standards. The disposition is what the administrator believes in, values, and conveys their commitment to the respective standard. The performances are the processes that the administrator engages and ensures. Both standards address six essential areas to effective leadership, the CEC standards require a knowledge base that is much more specific to that required by special education administrators, while the ISLLC standards appear more generic. The Effectiveness of Leadership Style External factors, internal factors, and relationships all play a huge role in leadership. Society creates a stereotypical idea of what leadership should look like. Berger (2014) considered a conceptual framework that provides three major categories of major approaches to leadership, and how these approaches lead to a better clarification of leadership and its entities. These categories include: achievement, relationships, and values. The achievement category consists of 3 sub-categories (individual, behavioral, and contingent) that all focus on ways in which leaders are defined by their ability to achieve goals. They focus on a particular individual as aShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesGender Role Perceptions? 166 glOBalization! Chinese Time, North American Time 171 Myth or Science? Creative Decision Making Is a Right-Brain Activity 181 Self-Assessment Library Am I A Deliberate Decision Maker? 183 An Ethical Choice Whose Ethical Standards to Follow? 185 Self-Assessment Library How Creative Am I? 190 Point/Counterpoint Checklists Lead to Better Decisions 191 CONTENTS xi Questions for Review 192 Experiential Exercise Biases in Decision Making 193 Ethical Dilemma Do Unethical

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Hamlet’s Soliloquys Free Essays

Throughout the play Hamlet there are soliloquys, these soliloquys enable the audience/reader to be able to know what the characters truly think and how they truly feel. Although many characters have their own soliloquys, Hamlet’s are the most informative and advance the plot the greatest. In Hamlet’s soliloquys we learn of events that speed his revenge, how he feels about his father’s death and his mother’s swift marriage to Hamlet’s uncle Claudius. We will write a custom essay sample on Hamlet’s Soliloquys or any similar topic only for you Order Now Hamlet’s first soliloquy of the play reveals possibly the most about his character in one soliloquy. This soliloquy reveals that Hamlet longs for death by saying â€Å"O that this too too solid flesh would melt† (Shakespeare 14) but he cannot kill himself because it is a sin: â€Å"His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter. † (Shakespeare 14). Hamlet is considering suicide because he finds life and the world utterly tedious and foul, and overrun with â€Å"things rank and gross in nature† (Shakespeare 14). When Hamlet talks about his father he compares him to the sun god Hyperion and his uncle and new king Claudius to a satyr. Hyperion to a satyr† (Shakespeare 14). Hamlet recalls how lovingly his father cared for his mother â€Å"so loving to my mother† (Shakespeare 14), and how passionately she loved him â€Å"she would hang on him As if increase of appetite had grown† (Shakespeare 14). When Hamlet thinks of his mother marrying his despised uncle, Hamlet is disgusted at how soon they were married after his father’s death. Hamlets first soliloquy creates a dark atmosphere because he longs for death and condemns his mother’s marriage to his father’s brother. By truthfully revealing his innermost thoughts and emotions, Hamlet’s soliloquy advances the plot by showing the audience and reader how Hamlet feels about the current situation, his father’s death, his own life and mortality, and his mother’s marriage to Claudius. Hamlet’s second soliloquy follows the visit from the late King Hamlet’s ghost. Once the ghost leaves, Hamlet seems fully determined on revenge in contrast to the underlying theme of meditation and love while Hamlet was with the ghost. Once the ghost is gone, Hamlet has no thoughts of whether or not the Ghost is good or evil. Hamlet vows to remember the Ghost and its command to revenge. He makes it clear his feelings toward his mother â€Å"O most pernicious women! † (Shakespeare 32), and to his uncle â€Å"O villain, villain, smiling damned villain! † (Shakespeare 32). This soliloquy’s main focus is on Hamlet’s revenge of his father’s death. Looking at this soliloquy it looks like Hamlet will be swift in his revenge, but his road to revenge will be full of procrastination and over thinking. This soliloquy advances the plot by showing what will be the focus throughout the rest of the play. In Hamlet’s third soliloquy he contemplates how the first player can weep for Hecuba, a fictional character, when in reality Hecuba means nothing to the first player and Hecuba cares nothing for him. Hamlet thinks of what the Player would do if he had the motive that Hamlet has. This thought provokes Hamlet to scold himself for apparent cowardice and lack of action when he has real reasons to take them. From this he curses Claudius â€Å"Bloody, bawdy villain! Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain! † (Shakespeare 62). Hamlet listens to himself and mocks his emotional outburst â€Å"Why, what an ass am I! † (Shakespeare 62). Hamlet realizes that he must act in some way and sets his brain to work and thinks of something to do â€Å"About, my brains. Hum† (Shakespeare 62). He begins to shape a plan to test the Ghost’s story. Hamlet starts to question whether the Ghost is a good or evil spirit â€Å"The spirit that I have seen May be a devil, and the devil hath power† (Shakespeare 62). Hamlet’s plan becomes clear, the players will perform a play showing a murder similar to the way that Claudius murdered the King Hamlet, if when watching this murder Claudius reveals his guilt; it will prove that the Ghost has spoken truly â€Å"The play’s the thing Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king. † (Shakespeare 63). This soliloquy creates a conniving atmosphere as Hamlet plans to make Claudius reveal his guilt of murdering his brother, King Hamlet. This advances the plot by showing that Hamlet is capable of taking some action and shows the audience Hamlet’s plan to make Claudius show his emotions. This fourth soliloquy starts out with possibly the most popular Shakespeare quote in the world â€Å"To be, or not to be, that is the question:† (Shakespeare 66). By this Hamlet could be talking about his own personal dilemma, whether he should live, or commit suicide. Hamlet could also not be considering his own situation, but is asking a more general question: is life worth living? This questions the advantages and disadvantages of human existence, whether it is better to be unhappy, than to be at all. This soliloquy creates a dark atmosphere because of Hamlet’s questioning of suicide and if life in general is worth living. This soliloquy shows that Hamlet is still questioning life as he did earlier in the play in his first soliloquy. Just before Hamlet’s fifth soliloquy, Hamlet argues with Polonius and refuses to be treated like a musical instrument that can be made to say anything at someone else’s wish. In the soliloquy Hamlet uses the melodramatic stock imagery of a traditional Elizabethan revenger, â€Å"Now could I drink hot blood,† (Shakespeare 88). As Hamlet leaves to meet Gertrude, he vows to scold her, but not harm her, â€Å"I will speak daggers to her, but use none. † (Shakespeare 88). In Hamlet’s sixth soliloquy, he enters into the church where he finds Claudius praying. Hamlet draws his sword to kill Claudius but then holds back because he is praying. If Hamlet were to kill him while he was praying then Claudius’s soul would be sent to heaven. Hamlet then reflects on the fact that his father was killed at a moment when he was unprepared for heaven thus condemning him to suffering after death. Hamlet then decides to kill Claudius at a more sinful moment, and thus damn him to hell. Once again Hamlet has found an excuse to postpone killing Claudius. There is dramatic irony in Claudius’s final couplet. It reveals that Hamlet may have caught the conscience of the king, but that he was deceived by appearance. Claudius only looked as if he was praying, his efforts to contact god were unsuccessful: â€Å"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to heaven go. † (Shakespeare 91). This soliloquy creates a dark atmosphere even though it is in a church because Hamlet wants to make sure that he not only kills Claudius but that he suffers eternally. This soliloquy shows that Hamlet is not a hard-hearted traditional revenger and continually finds reasons to delay killing Claudius. Before Hamlet’s seventh and final soliloquy, Hamlet speaks with a captain in the Norwegian army. The captain tells Hamlet that the army is passing through Denmark on its way to fight for a tiny unprofitable part of Poland. Hamlet reflects on the sickness of an apparently healthy society â€Å"This is th’impostume of much wealth and peace. † (Shakespeare 110) in which thousands will die in battle over such a â€Å"straw† (Shakespeare 110). These thoughts prompt Hamlet’s last soliloquy in which he once again reproaches himself for delaying the revenge of his father’s murder. Hamlet then considers that everything he encounters prompts him to take revenge: â€Å"How all occasions do inform against me, And spur my dull revenge. † (Shakespeare 110). He reflects that god has given him human intelligence to use and that capacity for making moral decision making is what separates humans from animals: â€Å"Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means To do’t† (Shakespeare 110). The encounter with Fortinbras’ army spurs Hamlet to speed his revenge: â€Å"Oh from this time forth, My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth. (Shakespeare 111). Throughout Hamlet’s soilioquys we have been given an inside look at his deepest thoughts, his views on life and death, and his view on military expeditions. Most importantly we learn that Hamlet is not a traditional Shakespearean avenger. His main character flaws, procrastination and overthinking, prevent him from accomplishing a speedy revenge. How to cite Hamlet’s Soliloquys, Essay examples

Monday, April 27, 2020

The Effects and Causes of Inflation and Depression Essay Sample free essay sample

Inflation is the overall degree monetary values of goods and services quickly increase in an economic system over a period clip. When the overall monetary value degree additions. it will impact the decreasing buying power of the currency. An economic rising prices is non occurs all of a sudden. it is causes by three types of rising prices. The first cause is demand-pull rising prices consequences from additions in aggregative demand on goods. The extra demand will do the flat monetary value of goods rises. This is normally described as â€Å"too much money trailing excessively few goods† . The 2nd cause is cost-push rising prices is due to the lessenings in aggregative supply. The natural catastrophes or additions monetary values of inputs besides will take the bead in aggregative supply. Therefore. go on the extra demand in an economic system. The 3rd cause is constitutional rising prices which is cause by the higher rewards of workers. We will write a custom essay sample on The Effects and Causes of Inflation and Depression Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page And so houses will bear down the higher monetary values on client when go throughing the higher labour costs to them. The rising prices have several sorts of consequence. One of the effects is menu costs. the houses must maintain up to alter their monetary values with economic system broad alterations. The demand to pay extra costs due from the monetary value alterations is call bill of fare costs. Besides. the rising prices will impact the salvaging histories negatively. It is because the rising prices will cut down the buying power of the involvement paid and the presently involvement rates are really low. Therefore. it will cut down the inducement for salvaging money. In add-on. the consequence of international trade will do exports more expensive and be given toward a weakening balance of trade. Furthermore. the inducement of investing will cut down when the uncertainly monetary value of input and trade good monetary value will take the houses make the incorrect determination. The last one of the effects is the rising prices have increased the consumer disbursement. This prompt trade brotherhoods to demand the higher rewards. The lifting rewards can assist fuel rising prices. In a sense. rising prices begets farther inflationary outlooks. The depression is the overall monetary values degree of goods and services quickly decrease in an economic system over a period clip. It is a more terrible downswing than a recession. In economic sciences. recession is a concern rhythm contraction and a general lag in economic activity. The depression is as portion of the modern concern rhythm. Besides. depression is the utmost signifier of recession. The cause depression affect by some sort of fiscal or banking crisis will due to the big additions in unnatural unemployment rate. The falls in the handiness of recognition will due to the concerns are unable to entree funding and cut back on production. Therefore. the houses will diminish their work forces. The volatile currency fluctuations. shriveling investing. legion bankruptcies besides are the causes of depression. The depression has five types of effects. The first consequence is the decrease in authorities disbursement will take to diminish the consumer demand. The 2nd consequence is trade prostration have a crisp decrease in revenue enhancement grosss. net incomes and personal incomes. A state raising duties on imports for protect their ain industries and merchandises during the international trade. The 3rd consequence is employee hurt. the rewards will cut down in proportion of the depression. Therefore. it will diminish the standard life of people. The 4th consequence is breakdown of the fiscal machinery. it will happen when most of investors lost big of money and several were wiped out. Shops. mills and Bankss were closed and lead 1000000s of people idle. penniless and homeless. The last 1 is consequence on agribusiness when deficiency of loans and subsidies. It will do the husbandmans were unable to back up mass green goods taking to under-capacity end product. Economies have provide goods and services to fulfill consumer demands. But cause by the rising prices. consumer have less money to pass when the rewards no addition the rate as rising prices. The charge in higher monetary value and the lower rewards will due to the spread between income and disbursals. So people will less in ingestion. Finally. this state of affairs could finally take to deflation.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Effective Educational Leader Essay Sample

Effective Educational Leader Essay Sample Effective Educational Leader Essay Sample Effective Educational Leader Essay Sample The ability to lead is inborn only in 5% percent of the population. The rest should either follow the group or develop the key leader ship characteristics. Perhaps, the majority would prefer the second option, yet, not everyone is that talented. The rareness of the ability to lead makes it an important and desirable feature for many people. The leadership is even more important in the school settings where each student aims at achieving high levels. A systematic approach to learning processes as well as managing diverse teams becomes crucial for the future of the children today and adults tomorrow. These children will choose the President and determine the trends for the upcoming days. Therefore, they have to be guided in a quite wise manner by the professionals. Otherwise, the system will be ruined and the talents would be lost. The educational leadership plays a key role in motivating, encouraging, stimulating, and challenging the practices of pedagogy. It refers to many endeavors involving the reflections and inquiries that significantly impact the interactions among the communities, educators, parents, and children. Thus, educational leadership matters. This MA program is believed to prepare professionals who would be able to lead or occupy leadership positions in the communities, schools, districts, states, universities, etc. The curriculum provides critical assessment of the conceptual, organizational, managerial, social, political, and other dimensions that are inherent for the leading schools. The further analysis of these techniques and their implementation would allow increasing educational opportunities for children and youth residing in both urban and rural communities. The overall aim of the MA students is to learn how to enhance the opportunities for the children and youth through the programs that are linked to the practices important in everyday life. Leadership Strengths Self-Appraisal Considering inborn leadership and developed characteristics, I dare say that the following are inherent for my leadership style. The first advantage refers to my natural charisma. This is an issue that I exactly know when I need to apply my inborn charisma, and when I can simply let it shine through. In fact, I consider this feeling to be even more important than simply having charisma. To be honest, I use this natural ability very often as it can help to achieve considerable success. I always feel the moment when the situation is the most suitable and when there is a need for letting others, who are less charismatic or shy, shine. In addition to the mentioned, I consider myself to be able to communicate freely without any barriers and, if needed, to criticize people in a rather constructive way.   Moreover, I always provide a feedback, especially the positive one. In my opinion, it is a good model for cooperation, sharing, and goodwill. All of it would definitely be contributing f or my success as an educational leader. Moreover, I have good manners which make people like me at first glance. Sometimes, I guess I have a heightened feeling of charm or special style, which attracts others. Perhaps, the main reason for this is the fact that most of the time I am rather attentive to the non-verbal means of communication. Using it, I always try to encourage people, to motivate them, to provide them with certain amount of energy, and to allow them to feel my sympathy and loyalty when needed. Thus, I hope that they feel my caring about them. Furthermore, I have drive or dynamism that leaders need. This reflects my inner metal power that helps me to continue going. Additionally, I am well organized and can control my temper. There are practically no barriers in communication with others. I used to give feedbacks and criticize people in a constructive way providing them alternatives. In my opinion, such a constructive yet inspiring method of indicating one’s mistakes makes the world a better place and helps to remove everything secondary. I can cope with stressful management. I am not hasty in making decisions. Finally, I am sympathetic with regard to others, and this makes me rather tolerant person. The Attitudes, Behaviors and Skills that Ensure the Effective Educational Leadership In terms of the leadership appraisal provided above, there are a lot of things that should be mastered in order to become a qualified educational leader. They primarily refer to the building of four dimensions: the enhancement of the instructional leadership skills, the development of the unique management style (as provided below), the ability to build the community, and the ability to create the vision. The instructional leadership provides some features of character that are either inborn or needed to be developed. First of all, effective educational leaders have to improve their qualifications on ongoing basis. The frequent methods of learning and counseling and other educational assistance become outdated with time. Thus, in order to ensure that the children are guided by the best techniques possible, this theoretical background of the leadership should be reviewed repeatedly. Secondly, the leaders themselves have to understand, realize, and accept the commitment to academic success of all students, especially those who are struggling for learning new things. An effective educational leader must also have an efficient communication system within school facilities. The teachers, students, administration, etc should provide feedbacks. All of this is important to ensure two- or multiway communication and interaction that would help to address the emerging challenges immediately. Special attention is to be paid to the feelings and perceptions of the students as they are usually in their most vulnerable age, and everything should be explained to them in a wise manner. The traumas that could be acquired at this age might influence their entire lives. Thus, the educational leader should encourage the interactions among teachers and students as well as school administration. And, therefore, it requires certain skills to be learned and sharpened by a successful educational leader. The concept of the instructional leadership also provides such a behavioral pattern when educational leader is engaged in educational practices (Green, 2012). They are frequently recommended not only to observe learning process but also to be engaged in and to monitor the reactions of the group. All if would help to recognize moods and expectations of the students and take steps to meet their expectations towards learning process. Most importantly, the leaders should develop some new rules. That is all that educational leadership is about. The leaders have to show positive examples and encourage others to take responsibilities. They also should defend others so the latter realize their own initiatives that would positively impact community or even the whole country they live in. The educational leader has to strengthen the community where he or she operates and to contribute to developing cohesiveness among its residents. The role of educational leaders widens together with the need for building strong relations inside certain community. Naturally, the traditional approach of top-down decisions could not be applicable under the conditions of the modern society. The traditional community is filled with teachers, leaders, students, parents, etc, and the mission of an educational leader is to reach synergy in his/her efforts in order to achieve common goals. Thus, the communication is crucial for educational leaders, and these skills are to be developed at the highest level possible. Finally, a vision of an ultimate goal has to be established by the leader that everyone follows. The goal-setting is quite challenging process as it involves audit of the current resources and drawing of the action plan off these resources. The actions are frequently limited by various factors, thus the educational leader should learn how to retrieve maximum utility from the resources available at the moment. Management Style The effective educational leader has to ensure that the personnel are managed properly and that the conflicts are resolved in a timely manner. To ensure that the leader should adopt strategy of building strong and cohesive team, be able to produce new initiatives, set the procedures for the conflict settlement, and, finally, elaborate the plan for dealing with the resistance to changes that are introduced within the educational environment. The challenges that are faced by educational leaders may vary by a group of educators or by the rules of the schools, academic communities, etc. However, the most serious issue that concerns all leaders is their ability to engage in, effectively manage, and motivate their followers or team members. It is particularly important when the entire educational personnel are given the task or project which is to be performed with the help of all members’ efforts. Moreover, the success of it depends on how much energy and creativity such educators are going to produce. There are no issues that will reach the stage of its implementation if group members are uninterested in its development. At this point, the lack of motivation or focus on work might cause the decrease in productivity. Thus, the goal of the successful educational leader is to engage everyone into activities in the most productive way. Productive educators are easily recognizable. First of all, they know their goals and use wisely all the resources given to them. The effective use of time, skills, and abilities of everyone is their key priority. Any worker gets his/her orders and is responsible for a certain part of work. At the same time, those activities, which require team efforts, are performed in groups where the guidance is made through the orders of an educational leader. They are not prohibited from criticizing the results of others, and their ideas are born during hot discussions in which virtually every member of the group actively participates. Even if there is a glimpse of disagreement, it is considered as a good thing. The atmosphere the personnel operate in is rather comfortable, informal, and relaxing. In order to realize all the things described above, an effective educational leader should introduce the following steps. First of all, he/she must establish the goal or task that is to be reached through the joint efforts of the whole team. Secondly, he/she must introduce the rules of a game or, in other words, explain how the process of achieving common goal will be implemented. He/she determines the tasks being performed separately and the areas of work needing joint activities. In addition to this, an effective leader should determine strengths and weaknesses of his team members at first sight. Moreover, he/she has to divide duties accordingly to ensure the high productivity of the team. All of these will simultaneously make the team cohesive and the tasks oriented towards many common activities. This will also prevent the conflicts due to the existence of clear rules for everyone to follow. The conflict is defined as the â€Å"interaction of interdependent people who perceive opposition goals and values, and who see the other party as potentially interfering in their realization† (Green, 2012). In case the conflict occurs, the following steps should be taken. First, the dispute should be assessed in terms of its intensity, clarity, longevity, etc. The golden rule in this regard is that the conflict should be resolved in a timely manner. A hidden conflict equals to time bomb; and the longer it remains unresolved, the more disastrous the consequences of its explosion may be (Green, 2012). Definitely, there is no such a way that would allow decreasing and minimizing all the conflicts. They are an integral part of any daily routine, and they help in identifying the truth. In case of their occurrence, an educational leader should identify the positions of the parties involved and their key arguments. Afterwards, he/she has to make decisions either solely or together w ith the board. The latter is viewed as the means of a more objective way for conflict resolution as more people are involved, and it is harder to bribe them all. Therefore, this method of dealing with conflicts is recommended for the introduction within school settings. Finally, an effective educational leader should develop strategies in order to cope with the change resistance. The reasons for resistance to changes vary. Therefore, it is rather silly to infer that somebody is reluctant to simply change his/her private reasons or character inclinations. The truth lies in the middle. Some individuals are just afraid of anything unfamiliar due to their temperament, while others are not ready to face new challenges due to poor management of changes implementation. People resist changes because of mistrust and individual predisposition towards these changes. It should be noted that educational leaders can significantly decrease the resistance to changes while applying the techniques and following the models that help employees to go through transitional period. They should serve as the means of communicating messages of change. On the other hand, such leaders are those who can provide the board with the feedbacks received from employees being of great importance for change-implementation process and needing to be addressed to immediately. There are a lot of approaches an effective educational leader might use in order to overcome change resistance. For example, he/she might offer the educators to participate in change-introducing process. In accordance with one of the studies conducted recently, the degree to which employees are engaged in change-implementing process significantly impacts the rate of change resistance. The results showed that those employees, who actually were provided with the opportunity to suggest the changes introduced, offer no resistance later. Thereafter, those others are simply ordered to perform their work activities in a different way dropped by two thirds by the end of the first month after the changes were introduced. Therefore, in order to minimize the risks of change resistance, one can simply involve the personnel into the process of decision-making in terms of introducing the changes. Expected Outcomes In conclusion, all of the skills, behaviors, attitudes, and management styles that have been mentioned above create a comprehensive strategy. The latter is to be followed in order to develop strong educational leadership. It represents the puzzle where every element is important in finishing the masterpiece. Thus, the communication serves many purposes from explaining the reasons and the benefits of the changes to the discoveries of the underlying thoughts and considerations regarding the ideas collected from the students. The ability to organize team and make it cohesive and strong will be important for the productive and fruitful cooperation of everyone in reaching their common goal. The unique management style that provides the engagement of the employees, the strategies for change resistance and conflict resolutions would help to eliminate possible flaws or barriers to defective operations. The vision would serve as the uniting reason for everyone to make his or her best achievin g the set goals and improving the learning processes for all the students.

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Deductive and Inductive Reasoning in Sociology

Deductive and Inductive Reasoning in Sociology Deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning are two different approaches to conducting scientific research. Using deductive reasoning, a researcher tests a theory by collecting and examining empirical evidence to see if the theory is true. Using inductive reasoning, a researcher first gathers and analyzes data, then constructs a theory to explain her findings. Within the field of sociology, researchers use both approaches. Often the two are used in conjunction when conducting research and when drawing conclusions from results. Deductive Reasoning Many scientists consider deductive reasoning the gold standard for scientific research. Using this method, one begins with a theory or hypothesis, then conducts research in order to test whether that theory or hypothesis is supported by specific evidence. This form of research begins at a general, abstract level and then works its way down to a more specific and concrete level. If something is found to be true for a category of things, then it is considered to be true for all things in that category in general. An  example of how deductive reasoning is applied within sociology can be found in a 2014 study of whether biases of race or gender shape access to graduate-level education. A team of researchers used deductive reasoning to hypothesize that, due to the prevalence of racism in society, race would play a role in shaping how university professors respond to prospective graduate students who express interest in their research. By tracking professor responses (and lack of responses) to imposter students, coded for race and gender by name, the researchers were able to prove their hypothesis true. They concluded, based on their research, that racial and gender biases are barriers that prevent equal access to graduate-level education across the U.S. Inductive Reasoning Unlike deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning begins with specific observations or real examples of events, trends, or social processes. Using this data, researchers then progress analytically to broader generalizations and theories that help explain the observed cases. This is sometimes called a bottom-up approach because it starts with specific cases on the ground and works its way up to the abstract level of theory. Once a researcher has identified patterns and trends amongst a set of data, he or she can then formulate a hypothesis to test, and eventually develop some general conclusions or theories. A classic example of inductive reasoning in sociology is  Ãƒâ€°mile Durkheims study of suicide. Considered one of the first works of social science research, the  famous and widely taught book, Suicide, details how Durkheim created a sociological theory of suicide- as opposed to a psychological one- based on his scientific study of suicide rates among Catholics and Protestants. Durkheim found that suicide was more common among Protestants than Catholics, and he drew on his training in social theory to create some typologies of suicide and a general theory of how suicide rates fluctuate according to significant changes in social structures and norms. While inductive reasoning is commonly used in scientific research, it is not without its weaknesses. For example, it is not always logically valid to assume that a general principle is correct simply because it is supported by a limited number of cases. Critics have suggested that Durkheims theory is not universally true because the trends he observed could possibly be explained by other phenomena particular to the region from which his data came. By nature, inductive reasoning is more open-ended and exploratory, especially during the early stages. Deductive reasoning is more narrow and is generally used to test or confirm hypotheses. Most social research, however, involves both inductive and deductive reasoning throughout the research process. The scientific norm of logical reasoning provides a two-way bridge between theory and research. In practice, this typically involves alternating between deduction and induction.