tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263 2009-05-04T17:01:07Z Movable Type 3.36 tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.6231 2009-05-04T16:21:48Z 2009-05-04T17:01:07Z

For my final exploring the field entry I decided to go back to my research question dealing specifically with motivators (intrinsic vs. extrinsic). There are a number of studies have concluded that participants with higher levels of intrinsic motivation...

Brian Filler For my final exploring the field entry I decided to go back to my research question dealing specifically with motivators (intrinsic vs. extrinsic). There are a number of studies have concluded that participants with higher levels of intrinsic motivation have higher levels of happiness and overall well-being. On the flip side, there are still some researchers who are not convinced of that these results can be generalized to all people. While these researchers may fewer in numbers, they do have a notable face, Daniel Gilbert. ]]> Now I am not saying that Gilbert is totally against intrinsic motivation as a fundamental of happiness. However, Gilbert has been a part of several studies that have shown the benefit that extrinisic motivation provides. While Gilbert is one of the most notable names in the field of happiness, I am not entirely sold on extrinsic motivation. The study by Schmuck, Kasser, and Ryan (2000) compared happiness and well-being between college students in the United States and Germany. 125 students from the University of Rochester and 83 from the University of Goettingnen in Germany. Using an aspiration index combined with a well-being assessment, researchers investigated whether participants had higher intrinsic or extrinsic values. The results were consistent with most previous research that participants with higher intrinisc motivation and values. The researchers concluded that participants are significantly more motivated to complete and fulfill intrinsic goals. I am beginning to lean more and more towards the hypothesis that intrinsic motivation is going to lead to students with higher levels as happiness. I also believe that students who exhibit higher levels of intrinsic motivation will be more likely to stick with their initial major or career indication as well. I am still not entirely sure if the manipulation I have come up will be enough to come up with signifiacnt results. Having a confederate present some information about your intended major or career with only a few minutes to think about it, may not be enough time to change your mind. I do not have another idea on how to alter the procedure so at this point I will stick with it but I am hoping to come up with a more solid manipulation somewhere along the line. tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.6224 2009-05-01T15:25:05Z 2009-05-01T20:59:03Z

In the article, "Assessing children's oral storytelling in their first year of school" Riley and Burrell look at the important role that storytelling plays in the classroom. Some of the benefits of oral narration in the classroom were improved...

Camille Robbins In the article, "Assessing children's oral storytelling in their first year of school" Riley and Burrell look at the important role that storytelling plays in the classroom. Some of the benefits of oral narration in the classroom were improved reading ability, better developed writing skills, wider vocabulary, and a greater ability to use descriptive words. Also, frequently exposing children to hearing and telling stories in class can lead to higher reading comprehension when they start to read actual books. In their study, Riley and Burrell enroll a group of 5-6 year old children in a program called "StoryTalk" which is developed to enhance the children's language skills as well as narration ability. The participants were told a story and asked to retell the same story that they just heard multiple times. Their re-telling of the story was rated in terms of overall sentence structure, vocabulary, word structure, basic concepts, and formulating labels. Researchers used two different measures to score these categories: Tell Me - New Zealand SEA Story Retelling task, and CELF. Researchers found that children's scores in all categories went up with the second retelling of the story, although they had a few drawbacks as well. Teachers who were giving this assessment test found that it was difficult to assess the categories accurately. There would definitely have to be a training session or multiple raters to make this test more accurate. Regardless of the drawbacks, teachers found that many students who had not been excelling with normal schoolwork thrived with this assignment. Riley and Burrell (2007) wrote, "The assessment gave the children an opportunity to say more than they would normally be able to say in a group or whole-class situation" (p. 192-193). This all goes back to the original idea that allowing children to participate in storytelling tasks in the classroom is an alternative to normal teaching techniques. Not all children learn in the same way and allowing them options will give more children a chance to excel especially in terms of language skills, written and narrative. Gaining more insight into the benefits of storytelling on things such as sentence structure and label formation could provide an alternative teaching style that ensures that no child is left behind on the road to learning. Riley, J., & Burrell, A. (2007). Assessing children’s oral storytelling in their first year of school. International Journal of Early Years Education, 15, 181-196. ]]> tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.6208 2009-04-28T04:02:28Z 2009-04-28T04:44:25Z

It is odd to look back at the beginning of this semester when we were presented with the daunting task of selecting a topic for our senior thesis. We all hated the idea of finally having to realize that...

Brian Filler It is odd to look back at the beginning of this semester when we were presented with the daunting task of selecting a topic for our senior thesis. We all hated the idea of finally having to realize that eventually we would have to complete a senior "comp". Now, the problem is no where close to worrying about a topic, but on how to perfect it. I arrived at the concept of happiness in college students awhile ago , but I am only just starting to realize how my senior thesis may turn out. ]]> Studies have shown that individuals exaggerate their expected effects of events. A great deal of how these exaggerated expectations affect us has to do with our individual personalities and the comparisons we make. When an individual measures himself against another, he can do so in two ways, upward and downward social comparisons. Upward social comparisons involve matching up one’s achievements to another in higher position of authority and success. Students exhibit this behavior, because there is always another student with higher grades, or attending a more prestigious university. Downward social comparisons involve the exact opposite, comparing one’s achievements to someone who is not achieving as much. Again, this can be seen in college students where comparisons between one’s grades to those receiving lower grades or attending a less reputable institution. Bauer, Wrosch, and Jobin (2008) concluded that upward social comparisons can lead to more negative states of mind, where as downward social comparisons can increase happiness levels and create a more positive outlook. This matter is still under debate however as Teigen (2008) believes the matter is more complicated. I believe that a great deal of why we exaggerate expected effects has to do with our social comparisons. I am not entirely sure yet if I will be able to incorporate social comparisons into my study at this time. Currently, my study is focused around intended majors and careers paths of underclassman here at Allegheny. I plan to conduct a pretest/post-test experiment monitoring happiness levels before and after a manipulation of intended majors. If i were able to incorporate the research regarding exaggerated expectations, I may be able to account for why participants believe life will be so easy or so difficult regarding a particular field. At this point, expectations have not really been incorporated into my study, but it is a potential factor I may wish to include. tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.6192 2009-04-22T00:54:07Z 2009-04-22T23:53:49Z

A major part of my methods section of my comp is the creation and presentation of the sales pitches for the products. I will need to create a general script describing the products and the beginning then make sure the...

Brittany Bell ]]> The article, Persuasive Talk: Is it what you say or how you say? explains how elements withing a verbal advertisement function to trigger persuasion within a consumer. First, the article talks about delivery. A study done by Thomas and Soldow (1989) found that tone and inflection impact the perceived forcefulness of the spokesperson. If the spokesperson uses a loud tone and a lot of inflection as opposed to if he/she uses a soft voice., he/she is perceived as being dominant, strong-minded and confident. These findings are important and must be taken into consideration in my research. Also another thing that I will have to be conscious of in my study is the idea of hesitation. Talking without hesitation is perceived as being knowledgeable and forceful. The article also discusses the dialogue and interaction. The interaction between speaker and consumer could enhance or inhibit persuasion. In the following study, researchers used a Rice Krispies Treat commercial. The commercial contained a lot fo dialogue and little narration. Also, the dialogue was used to explain product benefits (healthy, etc). A total of 75 males and females were used in the study. The results suggest that viewers' perceptions of the appropriateness of how the actors in the advertisement deliver their lines contributed to the emotional response of the viewers. The lines in the study were delivered with an enthusiastic tone and thus viewers reported feelings of happiness, warm feelings and enthusiasm. The results show that dialogue influences attitudinal and behavioral responses. Conducting my study as a field experiment will allow consumers (participants) to ask questions about he product; however, if the actor does not know how to answer those questions and he/she does not deliver the answer in the correct manner, interaction could act as a distraction. These are two ideas that I will need to take into consideration when I am deciding who my salesperson will be, whether it will be a field experiment or a controlled study with a video tape and what will actually be said in the pitches. Boyd, H. C., III. (2006). Persuasive talk: Is it what you say or how you say it? Journal of Advertising Research, 46(1), 84-92. tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.6146 2009-04-07T22:01:34Z 2009-04-07T22:51:15Z

For my exploring the field entry, I would like to discuss the TED talk by Stuart Brown: Why Play is vital - no matter your age. To briefly give an overview of the video, Stuart Brown talks about the...

Camille Robbins For my exploring the field entry, I would like to discuss the TED talk by Stuart Brown: Why Play is vital - no matter your age. To briefly give an overview of the video, Stuart Brown talks about the history of play, and its different types such as narrative, bodily, imaginative, etc. These different types of play all help the brain in numerous ways, especially in the learning process. Brown also discusses something called your personal play history. People with a history of play during their childhood have an increased ability to problem solve in creative ways later in their life. ]]> Brown is exploring the ways that play can be used in corporate America. He is an instructor in a class that is teaching students how they can facilitate play in the workplace, and even shows a movie created by students using play in a corporate meeting. If we can include play in the workplace, certainly it would not be a stretch to use some of these same principles in the classroom. Fostering these play techniques early in life will, like Brown said, enable them to be able to look at situations from a different more creative lens later in life. Play has been around for centuries, as Brown points out, and its importance and benefits are just becoming more prominent. Brown gives evidence that play has been a big part of our culture for centuries. Paintings from years past show people of all ages engaging in play: narrative, imaginative, and bodily. Brown also stated that the wave of play is just cresting, meaning that it is the prime time to do research on whether play has language benefits, which is what I am interested in studying. This talk gave me some interesting insight to play and its benefits in the corporate world which could be transferred into benefits in the classroom, by helping to make learning fun and motivate students to succeed, today and in their future lives. tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.6143 2009-04-07T13:28:33Z 2009-04-07T14:49:32Z

Mark Bauerlein's book The Dumbest Generation has some interesting findings on student's reading for pleasure. He presents data on how many books college freshman and seniors read for their own enjoyment or as a supplement for course readings. While...

Camille Robbins Mark Bauerlein's book The Dumbest Generation has some interesting findings on student's reading for pleasure. He presents data on how many books college freshman and seniors read for their own enjoyment or as a supplement for course readings. While these numbers are dismally low one has to argue that with the heavy course load students encounter how can you expect them to find the extra time to read for fun? This not only affects college students, but also students in high, middle, and elementary school. We are in the age of No Child Left Behind, legislation that has set the standard high for students. Kids have to score at a certain level of improvement for their schools to receive funding from the national government. Students are taught how to choose the correct bubble on standardized tests, and are only expected to read enough to get the point of the story - not to actually enjoy what they are reading. Having this constant pressure to perform at an increasingly difficult level could be leading students to become burned out and no longer excited about learning. This could explain why fourth and eighth-graders show improvement, but at the high school level this tapers off. By the time students reach high school they are no longer excited about learning, because it has become just learning to the test. Bauerlin also has data that states children are no longer reading for fun because they feel it has no benefits at all. But couldn't you argue that children are just engaging in reading different mediums, such as reading magazines, blogs, stories on the internet, etc.? Reading these un-educational books could provide a break from the rigorous work that students are encountering in school. By raising the standards in school and pressuring students to achieve such high test scores are we turning children off from reading or learning? ]]> tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.6141 2009-04-07T04:33:11Z 2009-04-07T05:26:12Z

Chapter two of "The Dumbest Generation" by Mark Bauerlein follows begins with same punch that is found in chapter one and I assume the rest of the text, our generation has been dumbed down by technology. Not only does...

Brian Filler Chapter two of "The Dumbest Generation" by Mark Bauerlein follows begins with same punch that is found in chapter one and I assume the rest of the text, our generation has been dumbed down by technology. Not only does the author continue with his accusations that our generation is the worst the world has ever seen, but he supports his argument with flawed statistics. The first mistake Bauerlein makes is by overwhelming the readers with numbers. There are statistics from every major firm and agency in the country about the consistently falling educational scores of our generation. Now before diving into the problems with most of these statistics, I do want to say that some of these facts are alarming. The idea that there is a majority of students our age who are more likely to identify Germany or Japan as an ally to the U.S. in World War II is scary, regardless of the sample. With that said, the majority of the statistics presented are flawed or lacking the necessary information to be credible]]> I chose the picture seen above, because I believe it embodies perfectly the concept the author ran away with, how to lie using statistics. It does not take a professional statistician to realize that Bauerlein either forgot to perform some basic analysis of the data, or simply chose to ignore such an analysis. Either way, shame on you sir. If we look at page 46, the author presents us with a simple figure of literacy rates over a 20 year span across most age groups. Bauerlein correctly points out that between 1982 and 2002, literacy rates among 18-24 year olds dropped from 59.8 percent to 42.8 percent. While this may be a sad reality, young people are not the only ones who watched their literacy decline. If you highlight the numbers diagonally you will see that each age group grows older, their literacy rates drop a few points. This fact holds true for every single age group presented. The author is correct, literacy rates are dropping, but not just for our generation, for everyone. Another problem I wanted to address comes from Bauerlein's final paragraph on page 55. This section deals with a national survey taken on student engagement, specifically on books read for personal enjoyment. The majority of students surveyed said they read between 1-4 books for personal enjoyment in a year. The author then has the nerve to state that college students spend too much of their reading time dedicated towards academics. Now as a English professor, I am assuming Bauerlein is aware of the amount of reading college students undergo. Students are constantly finding themselves without enough hours in the day to complete all their work and through all of this we need to pick up a leisure books to appease the author. I am sorry, but god forbid students take a well deserved break from studying and do not pick another book. Does a runner cool down from a 5 mile run by hitting the weight room immediately after? In the words of Kevin McCallister (main character from Home Alone) "I don't think so". Having more reading presented to us than ever before as students, it can be hard to find the same amount of enjoyment from reading that we did as adolescents. I do not completely disagree with the argument that technology has lead to decreased educational scores. In fact, I do believe it is one of the tools contributing to this trend. Our generation however, is not the only group experiencing this same phenomenon. Literacy rates are dropping regardless of age, which begs the question, why is Bauerlein so intent on targeting young people? tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.6137 2009-04-06T23:20:56Z 2009-04-06T23:25:07Z

In Chapter two of his book The Dumbest Generation, Mark Bauerlen states that according to survey responses, higher-income households don’t produce proportionately higher reading rates. To most people this would be surprising. Many people would assume that the more...

Brittany Bell In Chapter two of his book The Dumbest Generation, Mark Bauerlen states that according to survey responses, higher-income households don’t produce proportionately higher reading rates. To most people this would be surprising. Many people would assume that the more money your family has the more emphasis that your family would put on education. To me, this is not the case.]]> Is the advancement of technology affecting test scores and reading rates, or is it the amount of time we spend using the technology causing the problem? Are parents responsible for controlling the volume on the technology used by their children? More importantly, do parents understand how much time their child is spending with technology and multitasking? ]]> tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.6082 2009-03-30T22:48:48Z 2009-03-30T23:28:48Z

In thinking further about my comp, I decided to explore the use of figurative language in advertisements. Rhetorical figures can be arranged and divided based on properties and characteristics. At the highest level, a rhetorical figure is an artful deviation....

Brittany Bell ]]> article written by Mark Toncar and James Munch. These two researchers looked at the use of tropes in print advertising. The results show that using tropes can significantly enhance the effectiveness of a print ad, making it more persuasive and memorable. The article describes the level of cognitive processing that the consumer must take part in when looking at an ad. It is divided into four levels. Levels 1 and 2 are basic processing because the message represents the literal meaning of the text used; however, levels 3 and 4 require deeper levels of thinking and processing. The viewer must comprehend the message then create their own interpretation about the information presented. Tropes fall into the third and fourth processing levels. Also, the level of involvement may play a role in the use of tropes in advertising. High involvement audiences invest a lot of energy in understanding the ad, while low involvement audiences may not care as much. Finally, high involvement products, such as purchasing a new car or something that could change your lifestyle, require more time and effort into searching for the right one. Low involvement products, such as items you buy on a daily basis do no require as much cognitive effort. Researchers predicted that the use of tropes will result in more favorable product attitude in low involvement subjects. Also, the use of tropes will increase the attitude toward the ad among low involvement subjects. Finally, tropes will be processed more deeply than explicit claims. Twenty-five product claims were developed, some with explicit messages and some using tropes. After viewing one of the ads, participants wrote down what they were thinking while viewing the ad, their reactions to the ad, and finally, attitude toward the product. All three hypotheses were supported in the results. One limitation mentioned in the study was that it does not attempt to isolate the effects of individual trope types, which is something that I am tryong to focus on in my study. Toncar, M., & Munch, J. (2001). Consumer responses to tropes in print advertising. Journal of Advertising, 30(1), 55-65. Retrieved from www.csa.com ]]> tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.6050 2009-03-24T06:02:31Z 2009-03-24T06:56:24Z

Dr. Beer's article begins by addressing the title of SNS (social networking sites) used in boyd and Ellison's article. Beer states that this title is not clear enough in defining the sites it encompasses. I agree with the concept...

Brian Filler Dr. Beer's article begins by addressing the title of SNS (social networking sites) used in boyd and Ellison's article. Beer states that this title is not clear enough in defining the sites it encompasses. I agree with the concept with the idea that these sites are not used so much for networking. Facebook in my mind is presents the illusion that we have a vast social network of friends and acquaintances. In reality, how many new friends have we made because of Facebook? These social networking sites have enabled us to increase our amount of socializing, not necessarily networking. However, the problem I had with the beginning of this article was the author's argument that the title SNS did not "fit the parameters of its definition" (519). ]]> The author argues that we should to a more umbrella like term such as Web 2.0. I believe social networking sites is a perfect, self defining, title for these sites. Rather than focusing on a better title, to help make analysis more defined, I believe researchers would be better suited to spend their time talking to users of these sites. Ten minutes talking to a class like ours, would answer so many of the questions about what type of site Facebook is. The second point I found interesting in this article echoes part of Camille's posting, how SNS is changing the face of friendship. I personally do not believe that the use of Facebook is changing friendship, but I could be wrong. I am curious as to how SNS could or is changing friendship. Having people under the title of "friends" on Facebook who might only be mere acquaintances in reality, might be viewed as a change. However, does being friends with someone on SNS change the way we interact with these individuals face to face? tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.6049 2009-03-23T23:58:06Z 2009-04-22T00:53:57Z

Boyd and Ellison discuss what makes social network sites unique is not the ability to "network" with strangers, but to instead make visible your social network to people who are already part of your social network. In her book,...

Brittany Bell Boyd and Ellison discuss what makes social network sites unique is not the ability to "network" with strangers, but to instead make visible your social network to people who are already part of your social network. In her book, Always On, Naomi Baron mentions how when using Facebook and other social networking sites, users have the ability to portray themselves on their "best day." But why do we need to portray the best of ourselves if we are only using social network sites to communicate with people who are already a part of our social network and know us at our best and our worst? Are we actually looking for networking opportunities or are we just that narcissistic and feel the need to impress everyone around us? The term narcissism means love of oneself, and refers to the set of character traits concerned with self-admiration, self-centeredness and self-regard. Using Facebook profiles as an example, very few people have a blank information section. Instead, profile pages are filled with interests, favorite movies, quotes, books, etc. And how can I forget the "about me" section which is usually the most narcissistic of them all. Boyd and Ellison discuss how "social network sites are structures as personal (egocentric) networks, with individuals at the center of their own community." This goes right along with the idea of editing that was also mentioned in Baron's book. We have the ability to edit who we are and present ourselves however we may chose on these sites. An important idea that needs to be addressed in future research is the variety of ways people portray themselves on these sites (humorous, serious, etc). Does it have something to do with personality type, how a person was raised or something completely unknown at the present time? Maybe social networking sites are making our population more hypercritical and judgmental. This is something that will not be able to be determined right now; however, if the attractiveness of one's Friends and the postings on his/her Wall impact our impression of that person, I would say things are not going very well. Is it right to create an impression of someone based on their Facebook profile? If it is true that our social network site profiles are only portraying us at our "best" then that impression may not be accurate or reliable. I mean if you show up to class looking grungy and not having showered for a few days, I don't think your Facebook profile, no matter how good you look, is going to help change opinions about you. ]]> tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.6047 2009-03-23T17:04:03Z 2009-03-23T18:05:31Z

As we grow more and more "connected" to the media, Beer makes a good point, is it profitable to separate our online and offline lives when looking at social network sites. The main example that interests me is Facebook...

Camille Robbins As we grow more and more "connected" to the media, Beer makes a good point, is it profitable to separate our online and offline lives when looking at social network sites. The main example that interests me is Facebook Friends. Is a Facebook friend the same as a face to face friend? Or does technology, in particular these social network sites change the rules of the games? It would only make sense that since these social network sites are such a big part of our lives that they would leave some influence on us as consumers. Beer also makes a good point about how to conduct research on social network sites. He says that researchers should join into the SNS craze. If you can't beat them, join them right?? Even when joining these sites, will researchers gain the same understanding of social network sites as the people who have currently incorporated them into their lives? Is it important to realize that these researchers are only joining these sites to gain knowledge about how they function and the people who use them rather than using them as a connection to friends? On this note, perhaps just being on the social network site will help researchers clarify how users of these sites see things. Beer quotes Lash in his article stating, "we make sense of the world through technological systems" (520). Simply stating that since these technologies have such a large part in our lives and that we are so connected, it is hard to form an understanding of something without looking at it through an SNS's eye. We have already seen the changes to the way that we define a friend, what else will change because we are no longer seeing the large separation between our online and offline lives? Perhaps we should document the ways that these social network sites are changing the way we view things such as the definition of a friend so we can keep track of how technology is impacting our lives. ]]> tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.5996 2009-03-09T19:49:44Z 2009-03-09T20:54:52Z

I am surprised to be able to say that my first idea for senior thesis has panned out, at least to this point. I began with the idea of exploring happiness, because I believe it is one of the...

Brian Filler I am surprised to be able to say that my first idea for senior thesis has panned out, at least to this point. I began with the idea of exploring happiness, because I believe it is one of the strongest motivators in the world. After conducting further research I'm "happy" to say that I believe my topic can be well explored here at Allegheny ]]> The second article I chose to examine was published earlier this year and investigated internal versus external motivation and the effects they had on happiness in college athletes. 140 student athletes from Stanford University participated in the study that used a series of questionnaires to assess the students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Intrinsic motivation is defined as an environment and goals that are true to one's self. Essentially people following what they are truly interested in and completes them as a person. Extrinsic motivation is physical, material items that can be used to motivate individuals. Extrinsic motivators can be money, titles, etc.. Participants completed questionnaires that assessed locus of control, self-restraint, self-esteem, and mindfulness. In the end, the results indicated that the hypothesis was correct and intrinsic motivation was the strongest predictor of happiness What set this article apart from others was its use of college athletes as participants. College athletes, specifically division one athletes are placed under an enormous amount of pressure to perform on the field as well as in the classroom. With the prospect of playing professional sports and being paid millions of dollars, right out of college, student athletes are under an extreme amount of stress. Participants that fulfilled intrinsic goals had overall higher ratings of happiness and were more likely to handle adversity well in their athletic careers. These results show that intrinsic motivators are more powerful and more likely to increase happiness. This has brought me to the idea that I should investigate intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in students here at Allegheny. I am hoping to investigate what roles intended majors/careers play in students happiness. I am not sure yet what questionnaire I will use to assess intrinsic and extrinsic motivation but I am hoping my research will provide me with a good base questionnaire that I can expand upon tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.5986 2009-03-04T22:38:28Z 2009-03-04T23:35:27Z

The article by Jerome Singer I read has a lot of important and interesting information about the benefits of imaginative play in early childhood. Singer looks at various aspects such as language acquisition, imagery, and the emotional benefits of...

Camille Robbins The article by Jerome Singer I read has a lot of important and interesting information about the benefits of imaginative play in early childhood. Singer looks at various aspects such as language acquisition, imagery, and the emotional benefits of imaginative play in developing children as well as those in middle childhood. In terms of language development the article states, "children who were more inclined to make-believe play also excelled in comprehension, clarity, and organization of words used in describing a picture" (Singer, 1998). The article also states that, "Children's play is one major way in which the young child can deal with complexity and novelty of its environment" (Singer, 1998). The really interesting party of this article is that it not only looks at developing children, but follows the positive aspects of imaginative play into middle childhood, a field with virtually no research on at the time. Singer writes, "while imaginative play in its overt form continues in middle childhood, it is increasingly less obvious and takes on somewhat different forms. Yet children yearn for it and teachers in the schools who use make-believe formats for teaching often find tremendous responsiveness from children" (1998). So how does this relate to my comp? I am very interested in the way that children learn in the classroom. This article cites several past articles and also gave me several ideas on how I could potentially build upon these findings. If people are so worried about the way children's language is developing, perhaps we need to look at the underlying causes instead of just using media as a scapegoat - something we have been continuously bombarded with in readings. Perhaps allowing children to have more time to engage in imaginative play will help them develop more elaborate verbal fluency, and the language problem will get smaller. Also, in using play in the classroom, children will be more connected/interested in what they are learning leading to more enjoyment in the classroom. More enjoyment could lead to more drive to succeed instead of just doing what is necessary to pass from one grade to the next. As you can see this research has limitless boundaries. Introducing new techniques into the classroom can only add to the quality of the education that children are receiving. The more data the better- because the only way education will change is if there is substantial proof that children will be receiving the same quality education with the new method as the old method, and that they will still be scoring as well if not better on tests measuring their academic aptitude. Hopefully my comp will help pave the way for positive changes in the field of education. ]]> tag:webpub.allegheny.edu,2009:/student/f/fillerb/weblog//263.5967 2009-03-03T15:09:33Z 2009-03-03T15:43:19Z

What is the deal with media's impact on youth's development? In the article by Thurlow and McKay it discusses the problem with lower academic performance and the fact that media consumption is routinely blamed as the scapegoat. But is...

Camille Robbins What is the deal with media's impact on youth's development? In the article by Thurlow and McKay it discusses the problem with lower academic performance and the fact that media consumption is routinely blamed as the scapegoat. But is technology really to blame? Or is there some other force at work undermining the education of children? Even though it is easy to blame technology for all problems, you can't ignore that even though this generation is the "net generation" just about 9% of the world's population is actually online. If only 9% of the world is online how can technology be affecting everyone's school performance? Understandably, the United States is a very connected country, and if you do not have access to a computer at home, you can always access one at several locations such as libraries, schools, etc. throughout the community. Knowing that Americans have constant access to technology, perhaps we have to look at this as a positive rather than a negative impact on education. In fact, later in their article Thurlow and McKay state that, "parents generally believe computers are an educational resource and computer use may be related positively to academic performance" (2003). Knowing that the internet is a limitless source of information where children are free to explore whatever drives them could be a big plus for education. There is also a big plus in internet communication. Being online offers you the ability to connect with social environments that you might not have contact with otherwise - for example when you are looking at schools long distances away you could chat with current students online and get their opinions on the school without having to travel there right away. While we know from the article that boys and girls use technology in different ways, boys are more interested in the technology itself and entertainment such as video/computer games or surfing the web while girls use it more for communication purposes - perhaps bringing more of these aspects into the classroom would help engage children and have positive impacts. So how do we combine old methods with new technology to have the biggest positive impact in and out of the classroom? Since media is obviously here to stay, how do we make sure that technology stays positive and doesn't have a negative impact on the development and safety of children?]]>