Reflection of hypertext project

Researching a public intellectual such as, John R. Bolton former ambassador to the United Nations, was very interesting and creating a web portfolio was a great way of presenting this information.  Microsoft publisher is an easy to use program that made this project manageable in the time frame allotted.  This program provides many possibilities for a wide range of projects and presentations.  I am positive that I will be designing more web portfolios using Microsoft publisher during my time in college.        

Reflection of final research paper

I am very happy with the final version of my research paper.  This project was very time consuming but worthwhile.  I learned a lot about researching topic information, writing, and citing sources; which will help me in other classes and in my career in early childhood education.  My topic focused on early childhood education and the benefits to children and society.  I am glad that I chose this topic as I learned a lot about early childhood education and the research that has been conducted in this field.       

Ex. 17.1, Lawrence Lessig

I feel the Lessig website shows a professional, yet serious element and provides a variety of information about Mr. Lessig. The audience for this website would be someone interested or involved in copy right laws. The font size is approximately 10 to 12, bold and italic lettering were used drawing attention to the different aspects of the webpage.  The webpage colors, blue and yellow is comforting to view (not harsh on the eyes) and repeats on each page, and the contents on each page is balanced.  The picture on the home page is a comfortable fit with the information that is being presented and the background colors.  The Creative Commons logo is visible on each page.  The major publications page identifies several books and list of magazines that contain articles that Lessig has written.  My opinion of this website is that is a very well done and provides a variety of information related to Lessig accomplishments and promotes him as a public intellectual.

Public Intellectual sources in APA style

I chose, John R. Bolton as a public intellectual.

Bosco, David. (2005). The World According to Bolton. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 61(4), 24-31.

 John R. Bolton. (2011, April 25). Retrieved April 27, 2011, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Bolton

 Right Web. (2010). John Bolton. Institute for Policy Studies. Retrieved from http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Bolton_John

 World Net Daily. (2010). John Bolton Thinking of Running for President. Retrieved from http://www.wnd.com?pageld=233921

Comments on the book, Research Matters

Comments on the book I found the book, Research Matters, very informative and beneficial for this class.  The book was very easy to read and to understand.  I was able to easily locate the information that I was looking for.  I have no recommendations for additional or alternative books at this time.

Reconsidering the title of my research paper

As I write my research paper, I feel that the title that I have originally chosen, The Importance of Early Childhood Education, doesn’t fit well with my paper.  A student who reviewed my paper suggested Future Success Begins with Early Education as a possible title.  After much consideration I feel that the title that best fits my research paper is Early Childhood Education and the Benefits to Young Children and Society.       

Ex. 9.1, Plagiarism Test, "How to Recognize Plagiarism"

I took the plagiarism test from Indiana University which consisted of 10 questions.  The test was related to APA style and I am not as familiar as I should be.  I realize that plagiarism is difficult to identify and there is a lot involved when it comes to avoiding plagiarism.  As I continue writing, I will be very careful when using information from someone’s writing and citing sources.     

Revising plans, what tips helped the most?

The tip(s) that I considered related to the structure of my paragraphs and the use of commas in my citations.  I reworded a couple of my paragraphs to keep the idea I was presenting together and removed commas from my in text citations.   

Annotation and citation of "The Southpaw's Secret Semantics"

Brownlee, Shannon. “The Southpaw’s Secret Semantics.” U.S. News &World Report 24 Feb. 1992: 66. Print.

In the article, “The Southpaw’s Secret Semantics” Brownlee discusses the development of language in left-handed versus right-handed people. There are many clues that left-handed people have provided into how the brain works.  It is a belief that language is learned differently in left-handed people than in right-handed people.  Debates have been ongoing regarding whether language is learned through the environment or genes.  It has been known to researchers that left-handed people operate differently from those who are right-handed and that different areas of the brain are used.  One researcher suggested that if language is associated to genes than a right-handed family with at least one left-handed family member would learn language differently from a right-handed family with no lefties.  After conducting several experiments it was realized that right-handed people from left-handed families use associations and memories to learn language and that right-handed people from right-handed families use the rules of grammar to learn language.  These results heightened the belief that rules of grammar are located in the left hemisphere of the brain while words related to memory and association may be located in both areas of the brain.  To one researcher this evidence may link the possibility that the left-handed gene(s) may be linked to how the brain organizes language.  Eventually, with a better understanding of the different learning styles it may be determined the parts that environment and genes play in the learning of language.

I found this article interesting due to the fact that I never really considered the relationship between language development and how a person learned language based on whether you are left or right handed.  I do believe that children are born with some sense of language and that it is fine tuned after birth through experiences.  I feel that this article will be a valuable resource for my topic on how left handed people are different.  

List of worst grammar issues and online grammar sites

My worst grammar issues involve the use of:

                Then and than

                Accept and except

                Colons and semicolons

                Commas

Places I visited online to help address grammar issues

I don’t use the internet to address my grammar issues.  I use a dictionary for spelling issues.  For punctuation problems I use Quick Study sheets which I purchased and The Little, Brown written by Jane E. Aaron.  I have never used the internet to check my grammar, but I did locate two websites that may be beneficial.

Websites to check grammar:

                Grammarly  http://www.grammarly.com

                Guide to Grammar www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/document

What is the differences between:

a.       Fact and opinion- Fact is a something that can be verified.  Opinion is a belief or idea that cannot be proven.

b.      Summarizing and paraphrasing- Summarizing is using your own words to relate the main ideas of someone’s work, shorter that the original.  Paraphrasing is retelling someone’s work in your own words, usually the same length as the original.

c.       Thesis and support- Thesis is the main idea of a research paper written in one or two sentences.  Support is the evidence provided within the text that supports the main idea.

VARK questionnaire results

After answering the questions on the VARK website, I learned that my learning preference is multimodal. 

My scores: Visual- 6

                      Aural- 5

                      Reading/Writing- 11

                      Kinesthetic- 8

I was surprised to see that I scored higher in Reading and Writing, as I never considered myself a strong reader.  I knew that I was a hands-on learner and that I needed to hear and see what was being taught.  This website provided information related to the different types of learning and I will use this information to improve my study habits.

Should a student be considered a "customer"?

I feel that students should definitely be considered a customer.  The student is paying money for a product (education) and the provider (colleges and universities) are accepting money to provide a service (education).  It is the provider’s responsibility to provide the education and the student’s responsibility is to learn the materials provided.

Thesis and Outline: The Importance of Early Childhood Education

The education of our preschoolers is very important to the child’s success in school and in their future lives.  Through early education, children learn social and emotional skills, participate in activities that are developmental appropriate, and have long term benefits to society.

I.        Early Childhood Education

1.       What is early childhood education

2.       Supporting organizations

a.       Pennsylvania Keystone Stars

II.      The education of young children

1.       Learning prime time

2.       Social and emotional development

3.       Intervention

III.    Parent involvement

1.       Within the preschool

2.       Outside resources

IV.    Benefits of early childhood education

1.       Benefits to child

2.       Benefits to society

Patchwriting Identification

Patchwork Identification

While writing, an author may use patchwriting while paraphrasing information from another source.  Often times, words are omitted, synonyms are used to replace key terms, and grammar may be adjusted.  To avoid patchwriting the author must put the information into his/her own words.

Exercise 8.1 Recognizing Patchwriting

In the draft note there are several examples of patchwriting.  The paragraph was not put into the authors own words.  The author neglected to write the paragraph using his/her own words.  He/she deleted several words and used the same phrases with only minimal word replacement.    

Revised Draft:

A recent article that appeared in the Lowell Sun newspaper caused a blackout of Wikipedia on Capitol Hill.  The blackout was a result of several editors of Wikipedia reading the article that reported that members of Representative Meehan’s staff confessed that they altered information pertaining to Meehan on Wikipedia.  Wikipedia, unhappy with Capitol Hill, prevented access to Wikipedia on computers connected to the House of Representatives.      

What is evidence?

What is evidence?

While writing a research paper, the author will need to support the main idea or thesis.  This is done by providing evidence from other reliable sources and citing the source.  The evidence that an author can use include: facts, statistics, expert testimony, observations, examples, case studies, anecdotes, and textual passages.  The author may choose to include the visual support of tables, graphs, charts, time lines, and maps.  By using reliable supporting information, the author is providing evidence that supports the thesis and is credible.   

Summary and citation for one of my sources

Schweinhart, Lawrence J. “Lasting Benefits of Preschool Programs.” Elementary and Early Childhood Education Publications-Digests 94.2 (1994): Eric. Web. 29 Jan. 2011.

An article, “Lasting Benefits of Preschool Programs” written by Lawrence J. Schweinhart looks at several studies researching the long-term benefits and return on investment of high-quality preschool programs for young children living in poverty.  The results of the studies concluded that children involved in a high-quality preschool program were more likely not to be placed in special education classes or to be retained and had a higher high school graduation rate.  The High/Scope study reported that participants had positive benefits related to adult crime, earnings, wealth, welfare dependence, and commitment to marriage.  The return benefits to taxpayers included, higher taxes paid due to higher earnings, reduced welfare assistance, and reduced criminal justice costs.  High-quality preschool programs enable young children to initiate their own learning activities, help parents through involvement with teachers in supporting their child’s development, and strengthens teachers through in-service and support that help them support children and parents.  The research suggests that providing high-quality preschool programs greatly reduces problems related to children living in poverty and that these programs need to continue.   

I feel that this article will be beneficial to my research topic as it provides information on the benefits of preschool education.      

Summary "College: A Time of Wonder"

 

The Robert Bonfiglio article entitled “College: A Time of Wonder” which can be found in the May-June 2006 issue of About Campus discusses the retention and orientation of first year college students practiced by colleges and universities.  For first-year college students, the transition to college can be a time of anxiety and great excitement as they embark on this new stage in their life.  College administrators are designing programs to help students make successful transitions which focus on the social problems and dangers centered around college campuses instead of focusing on academic advising and the positive experiences first-year college students face. 

Bonfiglio, Robert A. “College: A Time of Wonder.” About Campus. May/June 2006: 27-29. Print.

 

converting bibliographic data

EARLY CHILDHOOD AT RISK: Actions and Advocacy for Young Children.

Authors:

Goins, Brad

Source:

Childhood EducationSpring91, Vol. 67 Issue 3, p202, 2p

Document Type:

Article

Subject Terms:

SOCIAL planning
EDUCATION
DIMIDJIAN, Jean
TEACHING

ISSN:

00094056

Accession Number:

10413505

Database:

Teacher Reference Center

Goins, Brad. "EARLY CHILDHOOD AT RISK: Actions and Advocacy for Young Children."

         Childhood Education 67.3 (1991): 202. Teacher Reference Center. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

Substantive Magazine

From the list of Substantive Magazines that were listed, I chose the February 2011 edition of Scientific American.  Within the magazine, I found an article entitled “How to Fix the Obesity Crisis” written by David H. Freedman.  The article discusses the problems associated with obesity; why it is difficult for people to lose weight, the financial and social costs, and what are we going to do as a nation to combat this problem.  Obesity has many contributing factors including environmental, biological, the cost of healthy verses unhealthy food, and the advertising ploys.  There are several weight loss programs such as Weight Watchers that are effective and are linked to the idea of behavioral modification.  Recently there has been a push by the U.S. Surgeon General’s office, the CDC, and Michelle Obama to be more involved in fighting the obesity problem.  There are several ideas being discussed and we will see some major plan for fixing the obesity crisis.

Key Work List

The list of key words for a research topic on Early Childhood Education include:

Early Childhood Education

Value

Importance

National Association for the Education of Young Children

High Scope

Academic Achievement

Economic Development

School Readiness

Education

Cognitive Development

Child Development

Early Intervention

Success By 6

Pennsylvania Department of Education

Early Connections

PA Keys

PA Promise

Research Paper Experience

I have written many papers over the years.  As to what the topics were, I can not remember anything specific.  I realize it is important to have an interesting topic and that finding a varity of resources.  I have been considering several topics, but have not really decided as of yet.

Interest Inventory

Snowmobiling
Travel
Early Childhood
Health and Fitness
Cooking

The three topics that interest me the most are Early Childhood, Snowmobiling, and Health and Fitness.  I work in Early Childhood Education and find it very rewarding working with young children and their families.  I feel that the education of young children is very important and will have long term benefits for the child and society. 

Snowmobiling is a great winter-time activity.  I have enjoyed many wonderful hours with my family and have seen many beautiful places only accessible by snowmobile during the winter months.  Many things have changed from when I first started snowmobiling and this activity is at the mercy of landowners and politicians. 

My interest in health and fitness has taken on a higher degree of importance as I have become older.  I have seen my freinds and family members suffer from health related issues.  I want to remain as healthy and fit as possible throughout my life and I am now taking the steps that I should have years ago.