Learning of Mathematics in Secondary Schools Essay

Learning of Mathematics in Secondary Schools - Essay Example Today, in whatever domain of work we look into, we always find the impact of technology continuously revolutionizing those fields and industries. The education industry is no exception. When looking deep into various disciplines of studies to analyze the actualized as well as potential impact of technology, we come across the fact that the understanding of the subjects which are very conceptual in nature, increases many folds. Mathematics is one of them. Furthermore, especially in secondary classes in Singapore, when the course of mathematics starts to get more conceptual and complex, it becomes essential to let the students visualize various concepts using multimedia, which would otherwise be impossible to demonstrate. Thus this study aims to analyze the impact of use of Information and Communication Technology in the enhancement of learning of Mathematics in the secondary schools of Singapore, particularly in the assessment aspect of teaching. Information Communication Technology i s too broad area to be analyzed as a whole, thus we would restrict ourselves to the impact of multimedia technologies only. This specification leads us to our research question, that is, This literature review is aimed to look at the work relevant to the issue that has already been done. Thus, first of all we would start with defining the term multimedia, without as well as within the context of Information Communication Technology. Moving further, we will analyze the various researches done on the issue of teaching methodologies and its relation with technologies. The term 'relation' here includes the advent, the nature and level of integration of technology and teaching over time and impact. Moving further, we would review the literature on how the multimedia technologies can facilitate the teaching of mathematics. Lastly we would try to analyze that keeping in view the existing literature, what is the need of the proposed research. It is important to be clear in very beginning that what perspective of multimedia we are considering, in order to avoid any ambiguity. In a literal sense, the word multi means many and media means the plurality of mediums, the way of delivering some thing. The type of information that is considered as part of media are diversified, it includes, text, graphics, animations, sounds and video clips. The list is not exhaustive; with the evolution of technology new types of media keep on being added. For example, initially only text was the media to be used, then graphics and then sounds, animations and clips and so on. When we speak of the term multimedia in terms of information and communication technology, it has been defined as Multimedia is communication that uses any combination of different media; it may or may not involve computers. Multimedia may include text, spoken audio, music, images, animation, and video. . Multimedia programs are often interactive and include games, sales presentations, encyclopedias, and more. From this definition we can infer some

Tears of the Tiger Essay Example for Free

Tears of the Tiger Essay In Sharon Draper’s novel Tears of a Tiger various character deal with a particular challenge or obstacle. Andy Jackson face conflicts with other individuals, their societies, and themselves. Andy conflict with his father shows through out the story and is consistent. Mr.Jackson pressures Andy way too much which leads to arguments between them. â€Å"You seem to be doin’ a fine job of dreamin’ my dreams and planning my future. Maybe I don’t wanna be accepted to white folks† (Andy Page 153). Mr.Jackson pressures Andy a lot with school and keeping his grades up, so Andy can get into college and work in business administration. Andy does not want to do that with his life, it’s not his dream but his father’s dream for him. Mr.Jackson want Andy to have a bright future but does not consider his son feeling or what he wants to do with his future. Andy and Mr. Jackson arguments come from exception his father has for him. Racism in this story plays a pretty big role, Andy puts up with his teachers being racist and also with society. Mr.Jackson tells Andy how society works â€Å" But you must, That’s the only way to make it in this world to assimilate into the society in which we live in that’s why you must pull up your grades and improve your attitude.† Mr.Jackson tells Andy that he must work hard in life to be accepted by white people. He said that how society works. Andy does not like what his father is saying to him because it doesn’t bother him that black people are unimportant to white people. Andy feels white people look down on like his teachers do. Depression is a really consistent conflicts that Andy tries to deal with but struggles with it. Andy’s depression takes over him, he could not control it anymore because he couldn’t get over the death of Rob. In Andy’s Poem he tell how he really feels inside. â€Å" it’s dark where I am and cannot find the light. There are shadows all around me and my heart is full of fright†. The poem shows the state of mind in which he’s in. He feel that he has no one. The aloneness comes from him losing his best friend. Andy can’t think straight because he is so depression he doesn’t know what to do anymore he think he has no one to talk to be he does not realise that so many people are trying to him throught thing but Andy just doesn’t see it . The Depression is what makes Andy struggle with life.

Internship Reflection Essay -- Reflection Paper

It has been a while since I started at the internship and I am really glad I decided to work here. I think the experience in this area is a good preview of my career and future. I am learning some important skills and finding out some things about myself and the tough skin I will need in order to stay in the area of juvenile support. One of my responsibilities involved checking the messages from the days before on the office phone. I found that some of the potential mentors sounded older. This got me wondering about the age limits of the mentors. I knew they had to be at least 18, but was there an age cap? Could a 30-year-old join the team and be the mentor to a 12-year-old? I though about the different ways that these relationships could manifest. If the mentor was older, could they potential become a parental figure to the child? I always thought of the mentors as young adults, around college age. They would be an older sibling to the child, understanding the generation specific of the child, especially once they were teens. I though that in this way, the child would possibly open up more because they would not look at the person as an authority figure. When I though about a possible 13-year-old being matched with a 35-year-old, I thought of my teen years and figured that at that age, I would not have been so willing to share. Nevertheless, we allow any willing person, over the age of 18, that passes the checks, to become a mentor! More calls throughout the week led me to turning down grandparents whose children were in county prisons. This was heart breaking. In the past, I spoke to people who worked with juvenile delinquents and they always warned me that the job was difficult. They feelings that could be evoked, even wit... ... needed to get some fingerprinting done for their job. They had to go to an actually fingerprinting center. Seeing that I do the mobile fingerprinting, I was interested in seeing how the center handled it. They did their electronically. They computer analyzed whether the print was legible then loaded it to their file. This way was much easier than our way. It was neater because their was no ink needed. Also, if a mistake was made, the cop could just redo the print. On the other hand, I have to put down a white out strip to cover the old one and re-ink the finger. After the cop was complete finished with both hands, he clicked a button and sent the prints down to Florida to get checked. The website actively keeps the applicant informed on the progress of the print. We, however, must mail it in hoping it is legible and wait for a letter to let us know how it went.

Kipling, Kim, and Anthropology :: Essays Papers

Kipling, Kim, and Anthropology It is widely recognised that the relatively recent sciences of anthropology and ethnology have often seemed in thrall to, and supportive of, the colonial project. Supposedly objective in outlook, anthropological discourse has often been employed to validate and justify theories of race, hierarchy, and power. So-called factual knowledge becomes a means through which racial stereotyping can be bolstered or created. The ethos of Western rationalism allied with the discourse of pseudo-science in Orientalism and Indology creates a body of knowledge which can be used as leverage in the acquisition ,or, retention of power. Such theories, however flawed, become essential ingredients in the process of defining the Other, inevitably a process which measures itself against definitions of the Self. Nineteenth-century anthropological investigations in India proclaimed a body of supposedly verifiable truths about the land and its people. In the process of formulating what or how the Indian people are, ideas of individual agency are stripped from them. Ronald Inden writes that essentialist ways of seeing tend to ignore the "intricacies of agency" pertinent to the flux and development of any social system (Imagining India. Oxford: Blackwell, 1990.p20). Rudyard Kipling's Kim exemplifies this in a variety of ways. Kim reveals a genuine love and sympathy for India but remains a jingoistic product of its time and place. Benita Parry points out that the history of Kipling criticism mirrors the history of attitudes to the imperial encounter itself (Delusions And Discoveries: Studies on India in the British Imagination. London: Penguin, 1972. p205). Several of the characters in Kim illustrate the underlying links between imperialism and anthropology, even as Kipling himself seems to be engaging on a similar project. The encounter between the lama and the museum curator at Lahore is the first instance of this type of relationship in Kim. It is surely anomalous for the white curator to have the authority of knowledge in this meeting . The lama is meant to be a venerated Tibetan sage, and yet the curator presumes to educate him through "the labours of European scholars, who...have identified the Holy places of Buddhism"(p7). By cataloguing, labelling, and classifying Indian ritual and practice the curator has somehow acquired a body of knowledge which renders the lama helpless "as a child" (p7). Time and again in Kim it will be seen how Western knowledge is used to appropriate autonomy and agency from the Indian people.

The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 21

When she opened her eyes, Elena found herself in someone's attic. Its wide wooden floorboards and low rafters were thick with dust, and the long room was crowded with objects: a hammock, sleds, skis, boxes with words like Xmas or toddler toys or B's winter clothes scribbled on them in black marker. Oilcloths were draped over larger objects that might be furniture, chairs and tables, by their shapes. At the far end of the room an old mattress lay on the floor, with an oilcloth crumpled at one end, as if someone sleeping there had been using it as a makeshift blanket and had shoved it off when they rose. Faint traces of pale light showed around the edges of a smal shuttered window at the nearer end of the attic. There was a soft rustling, as if mice were going about their private business behind the shelter of the stored furniture. It was al weirdly familiar. She looked back toward the far end of the attic and saw, without the faintest sense of surprise, that Damon was now sitting on the old mattress, his long black-clad legs drawn up, his elbows resting on his knees. He was managing to give the appearance of lounging graceful y despite his awkward position. â€Å"The places where we meet are getting less and less elegant,† she told him dryly. Damon laughed and held up his hands in denial. â€Å"You pick the locations, princess,† he said. â€Å"This is your show. I'm just along for the ride.† He paused thoughtful y. â€Å"Okay, that's not entirely true,† he confessed. â€Å"But you do pick the locations. Where are we, anyway?† â€Å"You don't know?† Elena said with mock indignation. â€Å"This is a very special place for us, Damon! Ful of memories! You brought me here right after I became a vampire, remember?† He looked around. â€Å"Oh, yes. The attic of the house where the teacher was staying. Convenient at the time, but you're right – an elegant setting suits us both much better. May I suggest a nice palace next time?† He patted the mattress next to him. Elena, crossing the floor toward him, took a moment to marvel at how realistic and detailed her dream was. Each step she took sent tiny puffs of dust up from the floor. There was a slight scent of mildew: She couldn't remember ever having smel ed anything in a dream before these visions of Damon. When she sat down, the mildew smel got stronger. She nestled close to Damon anyway, resting her head on his shoulder, and his leather jacket creaked as he put his arm around her. Elena closed her eyes and sighed. She felt safe and secure within his embrace, feelings she had never associated with Damon, but they were good ones. â€Å"I miss you, Damon,† she said. â€Å"Please come back to me.† Damon leaned his cheek against her head, and she breathed in the smel of him. Leather and soap and the strange but pleasant woodsy scent that was Damon's own. â€Å"I'm right here,† he said. â€Å"Not real y,† Elena said, and her eyes fil ed with tears again. She wiped them roughly away with the backs of her hands. â€Å"It feels like I've been doing nothing but crying lately,† she said. â€Å"When I'm here with you I feel safer, though. But it's just a dream. It won't last, this feeling.† Damon stiffened. â€Å"Safer?† he said, and there was a strained note in his voice. â€Å"You aren't safe when you're not with me? Isn't my little brother looking after you properly?† â€Å"Oh, Damon, you can't imagine,† Elena said. â€Å"Stefan†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She took a deep breath, put her head in her hands, and began to sob. â€Å"What is it? What's happened?† asked Damon sharply. When Elena didn't answer, just continued to cry, he took her hands and tugged them gently but firmly away from her face. â€Å"Elena,† he said. â€Å"Look at me. Has something happened to Stefan?† â€Å"No,† said Elena through her tears. â€Å"Wel , yes, sort of†¦ I don't real y know what's happened to him, but he's changed.† Damon was looking at her intently, his nightblack eyes fixed on hers, and Elena made an effort to pul herself together. She hated acting like this, so weak and pathetic, sobbing on someone's shoulder instead of cool y formulating a solution to the problem at hand. She didn't want Damon, even a dream Damon who was just part of her subconscious, seeing her like this. She sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Damon delved into an inner pocket of his leather jacket and handed her a neatly folded white handkerchief. Elena stared at it, then at him, and he shrugged. â€Å"I'm an oldfashioned gentleman, sometimes,† he said, straight-faced. â€Å"Hundreds of years of linen handkerchiefs. Some habits are hard to break.† Elena blew her nose and wiped her cheeks. She didn't quite know what to do with the soggy handkerchief – it seemed gross to hand it back to Damon – so she just held on to it, twisting it between her hands as she thought. â€Å"Now tel me about what's going on. What's wrong with Stefan? What happened to him?† Damon commanded. â€Å"Wel†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena said slowly, â€Å"I don't know what's wrong with Stefan, and I don't know if anything happened to change him that you don't already know about. Maybe he's just reacting to your†¦ you know.† It suddenly seemed weird to refer to Damon's death when he was sitting next to her – impolite somehow – but Damon nodded at her to go on. â€Å"It's been hard on him. And he's been even more tense and weird for the last couple of days. Then, earlier this evening, I was visiting my parents in the cemetery†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She told Damon about Stefan's attack on Caleb. â€Å"The worst part is that I never suspected this side of Stefan existed,† she finished. â€Å"I can't think of any real reason he had to attack Caleb – he just claimed that Caleb wanted me, and that he was dangerous, but Caleb hadn't done anything – and Stefan seemed so irrational, and so violent. He was like another person.† Elena's eyes were fil ing with tears again, and Damon pul ed her closer, stroking her hair and gently peppering her face with soft kisses. Elena closed her eyes and gradual y relaxed into his arms. Damon held her more firmly, and his kisses got slower and deeper. Then he was cradling her head with his strong, gentle hands and kissing her mouth. â€Å"Oh, Damon,† she murmured. This was more vivid than any dream she'd ever had. His lips were soft and warm, with just a little roughness to them, and it felt like she was fal ing into him. â€Å"Wait.† He kissed her more insistently but, when she pul ed away, let her go. â€Å"Wait,† Elena repeated, sitting up straight. Somehow she had lain back until she was half reclining across the musty old mattress with Damon, her legs entangled with his. She moved away from him, toward the edge of the mattress. â€Å"Damon, whatever's going on with Stefan scares me. But that doesn't mean†¦ Damon, I'm stil in love with Stefan.† â€Å"You love me, too, you know,† Damon said lightly. His dark eyes narrowed. â€Å"You're not getting rid of me that easily, princess.† â€Å"I do love you,† Elena said. Her eyes were dry now. She thought she might be al cried out, at least for the moment. Her voice was quite steady as she added, â€Å"I'l always love you, I guess. But you're dead.† And Stefan is my true love, if I had to choose between you, she thought, but did not say. What was the point? â€Å"I'm sorry, Damon,† she went on, â€Å"but you're gone. And I'l always love Stefan, but suddenly I'm afraid of him, of what he might do. I don't know what's going to happen to us. I thought things would be easy now that we're home again, but awful things are stil happening.† Damon sighed and lay back on the mattress. He stared up at the ceiling in silence for a moment. â€Å"Listen,† he said final y, lacing his fingers across his chest. â€Å"You've always underestimated Stefan's potential for violence.† â€Å"He's not violent,† Elena said hotly. â€Å"He doesn't even drink human blood.† â€Å"He doesn't drink human blood because he doesn't want to be violent. He doesn't want to hurt anyone. But Elena† – Damon reached out and took her hand – â€Å"my little brother's got a temper. I know that if anyone does.† Elena shivered. She knew that, back when they were humans, Stefan and Damon had kil ed each other in a fit of rage over what they thought was Katherine's death. Katherine's blood had been in both their systems, and they had risen again as vampires that night. Their anger and jealousy over a lost love had destroyed them both. â€Å"However,† Damon continued, â€Å"much as it pains me to admit it, Stefan would never hurt you, and wouldn't hurt anyone else without a real reason. Not without the kind of reason you would approve of. Not these days. He might have a temper, but he's also got a conscience.† He smirked a little and added, â€Å"An annoying, self-righteous kind of conscience, of course, but it's there. And he loves you, Elena. You're the whole world to him.† â€Å"Maybe you're right,† Elena said. â€Å"I'm scared, though. And I wish you were there with me.† She looked at him, as sleepy and confiding as a tired child now. â€Å"Damon, I wish you weren't dead. I miss you. Please come back to me.† Damon smiled and kissed her softly. But then he pul ed away and Elena could feel the dream changing. She tried to cling to the moment, but it faded and Damon was lost to her again. â€Å"Please be careful, Damon,† said Sage, worry lines marring his bronzed forehead. It wasn't often that the muscular Keeper of the Gates looked worried – or spoke only one language at a time – but ever since Damon had staggered back from death and out of the ashes, Sage had spoken softly and clearly to him in English, treating the vampire as if he were likely to shatter at any minute. â€Å"I usual y am careful,† said Damon, leaning against the wal of what they cal ed, for want of a better term, the mystical elevator. â€Å"Unless I'm being heart-stoppingly brave, of course.† The words were right, but to Damon's own ears, his voice sounded off: hoarse and hesitant. Sage seemed to hear the wrongness there, too, and his handsome face furrowed in a frown. â€Å"You can stay longer if you want.† Damon leaned back against the plain white wal . â€Å"I have to go,† he said wearily, for what felt like the mil ionth time. â€Å"She's in danger. But thank you for everything, Sage.† He wouldn't be here now without Sage. The powerful vampire had cleaned Damon up, given him clothes – stylish black clothes in the right size – and fed him blood and rich Black Magic wine until Damon had been hauled back from the edge of death and realized who he was again. But†¦ Damon didn't feel like himself. There was a strange empty ache inside him, as if he'd left something behind, buried deep under the ash. Sage was stil frowning, staring at him with grave concern. Damon pul ed himself together and gave Sage a sudden bril iant smile. â€Å"Wish me luck,† he said. The smile helped: The other vampire's face relaxed. â€Å"Bonne chance, mon ami,† he said. â€Å"I wish you the very best of luck.† Bilingual again, Damon thought. I must be looking better. â€Å"Fel ‘s Church,† he said into the empty air. â€Å"The United States, the mortal realm. Somewhere I can hide.† He raised a hand in solemn salute to Sage and pushed the elevator's single button. Elena woke up in darkness. She ran a quick and automatic mental check: smooth, fabric-softener-scented cotton sheets, dim light from the window past the foot of her bed on the right, the faint sound of Robert snoring in his and Aunt Judith's bedroom at the other end of the hal . Her own old familiar room. Home again. She heaved a deep sigh. She didn't feel quite as mired in despair as she had when she climbed into bed; things were dark, but she could admit there was a possibility they might someday get better again. But her eyes and throat felt raw from crying. She missed Damon so much. A floorboard creaked. Elena stiffened. She knew that creak. It was the high, complaining whine the floorboard over near her window gave if you stepped right in the middle of it. Someone was in her room. Elena lay very stil , running through the possibilities. Stefan would have announced himself as soon as he heard her sigh. Was it Margaret, quietly wandering in to crawl into bed with Elena? â€Å"Margaret?† she asked softly. There was no answer. Her ears straining, Elena thought she could make out the sound of slow, heavy breathing. Suddenly the lamp on her desk was switched on, and Elena was temporarily dazzled by the bright light. She could see only the silhouette of a dark figure. Then her vision cleared. And at the foot of her bed, a half smile on his chiseled face, dark eyes wary, as if he was unsure of his welcome, stood a figure dressed al in black. Damon.

Cyberpunk essays

Cyberpunk essays 1. Cyberpunk is a literary movement of the late 20th century. The literary aspect of cyberpunk deals with science fiction that is usually relatively easy to read and deals with futuristic computer technology. The term cyberpunk is used to describe a type of writing that is based on technology that has not been invented yet, and has innovative techniques that only seem like future research and inventions could bring. 2. Cyberpunk the literary movement has to do with the aspect of authors writing about future computer capabilities. The books are science fiction that deals with bioengineering, computers, and futuristic beings. Cyberpunk the subculture is the society within cyberpunk. Eventually, cyberpunk began to die out. When tyrant Microsoft came along, they helped to damper the thought of hackers and cyberpunks alike. However, the subculture within cyberpunk did not allow it to die out, but to move on, learning new ways to evolve. Cyberspace is another whole world in itself. One can just simply connect to cyberspace, and start a whole new life. Any individual can be whoever they want to be, whenever they want to be. Cyberspace not only allows people to be whatever they want, but allows them to do whatever they want with limited freedom. One can find any information on any topic; one can go shopping to purchase items; one can even receive knowledge over top-secret technologies. Cyberspace is a movement that originated within cyberpunk, and grew larger with the invention of the Internet. 3. Even though there is unlimited freedom over the Internet, with unlimited knowledge available, the Internet is not perfect. Web sites are hosted on web servers. A server can be generalized as a super computer that holds the files for the web page, and sends them to each computer that tries to connect and download them. Just like a home personal computer does, the servers must sometimes have problems and go on a pe...

Fire and Its Impact on the Ecosystem essays

Fire and It's Impact on the Ecosystem essays Approximately, one month ago the news media was rife with details of problems caused by escalating fires that swept through forested areas in Southern California. (Kennedy, 2003) The newsreels teemed with instances of people whose houses had burned down or were in danger of being burned down. Naturally, one feels for these people deprived of their home and hearth by devastating effects of the fire. On the other hand, one must recognize the facts that not only are forest fires natural, they are a way for the earth to maintain ecological balance. Fires replenish the earth by doing away with the unwanted underbrush that threatens to suffocate the longer living plants by depriving the earth of aeration and nourishing water. It will be shown in this work that the plants have adapted to fires. Indeed, some plants have evolved to fuel the fires. Other plants have evolved to suppress fires. Still other plants have evolved to flourish in firestheir seeds only germinate after a fire. Plants are the primary providers in the food chain. Therefore, the flora of a region is the primary cause of the primary line of defense wherever natural fires are concerned. The fauna of a region is generally affected secondarily. The only animals that have an influence on fires are humans. Humans inadvertently, maliciously or carelessly cause fires. This essay will be devoted to providing a study of the relationships of fire in the maintenance of a balanced ecosystem and human efforts that are either (unwittingly) deleterious or beneficial. Fire, which is an integral part of nature, is important and necessary. It cleans the forest floors of dead organic matter and cycles nutrients back into the earth. The floor vegetation makes the land stagnant by retaining excess ...