The capstone project is an opportunity for students Essay Example for Free

The capstone project is an opportunity for students Essay The capstone project is an opportunity for students to demonstrate that they have achieved the goals for learning established by their educational institution and major department. The project is designed to assess cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning and to do so in a student-centered and student-directed manner which requires the command, analysis and synthesis of knowledge and skills. The capstone project integrates learning from the courses in the major with the courses from the rest of the academic experience. It requires the application of that learning to a project which serves as an instrument of evaluation. The course fosters interdisciplinary partnerships among university departments and helps cultivate industry alliances and cooperation. In examining a basis for the existence of a capstone project, the literature in the field of education, specifically curriculum and instruction, provides some direction. From a wide variety of definitions for curriculum, one definition, by Hilda Taba, seems particularly useful because it specifies the elements of curriculum. A curriculum usually contains a statement of aims and of specific objectives; it indicates some selection and organization of content; it either implies or manifests certain patterns of learning and teaching, whether because the objectives demand them or because the content organization requires them. Finally, it includes a program of evaluation of the outcomes (Oliva, 1982, p.7). These elements are not mutually exclusive. Their integration should result in a positive and successful learning experience. The critical last element, evaluation, not only validates the learning, but also enables faculty to revise and refine courses or curricula to attain desired outcomes. Just as curriculum development is a systematic process, curriculum evaluation is a systematic process by which the students’ total education is weighed. Student achievement, traditionally, has been assessed by examination. While applicable as a tool of evaluation, the test usually measures one’s cognitive ability to recall and understand knowledge. Another important method of evaluation may be the student project which allows for the application of learning. Such projects are usually limited in scope and closely related to competency in a single course. The testing method of evaluation is normally formative. That is, it is assessment used during actual instruction designed to track p rogress and understanding. It is a measure of the teaching and learning process. The project is summative evaluation. That is, its role is to assess learning and skills generally mastered in a course; the achievement of course goals. By its very nature, the capstone project is a method of summative evaluation. It not only assesses previous cognitive learning in the major, but also provides a forum that allows an instructor to assesse the student’s overall collegiate learning experience. Since, in addition to cognitive skills, learning can occur in two other domains (affective and psychomotor,) a capstone project allows for a mix of evaluative styles that assess the broad range of the students’ past experiences. This approach also allows a student, who perhaps excels in one area more than another, to demonstrate the strengths of his or her learning. Achievement in the cognitive domain is usually represented by an ability to recall, understand and apply knowledge. Evaluation of affective learning is characterized by expression of feelings, values and attitudes (especially regarding events, issues and topics related to, or impacting, the students’ field of study.) Finally, psychomotor learning i s evaluated by the application and performance of skills. Ideally, a student’s competence will be demonstrated in all three learning modalities. In a summative evaluation of the students’ experience in the university curriculum, a capstone project is an instrument used to measure the attainment of curricular outcomes. It is an in-depth opportunity for the student to demonstrate accomplishment of the full spectrum of that learning. It is, therefore, critical that the capstone project contain a wide and balanced variety of expectations. The student is given the opportunity to analyze and apply the accumulated learning and display creative products and solutions to requirements presented by the course. A useful model for such expectations is Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives as applied to the final course. These progressive levels of objectives are: recall of knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The last three levels are higher-order intellectual activity. They are concerned more with the how and why of learning rather than the what. By requiring students in the capstone project to reach objectives beyond application, they achieve more outcomes of learning. Affective learning is made up of attitudes, interests, values and feelings derived by the student through learning and by interaction with other learners and professors. The affective domain of learning consists of five levels: receiving, responding, valuing, organization, and characterization of a value complex. This final level, the highest order, indicates that one’s beliefs, ideas, and attitudes have been integrated into a total philosophy. Psychomotor learning is an on-going refinement process. Such learning is assessed as units and as courses is completed. Often, new courses bring with them different and unusual forms of learning. For example, an oral performance course may develop voice delivery to a more re fined stage while a course in interpretation may require a new application of that previously learned skill. A course in video production may require the development of an unfamiliar combination and synchronization of finely coordinated movements. Psychomotor learning encompasses: gross bodily movements, finely coordinated movements, non-verbal communication and speech behaviors. The capstone project expectations are a display of a mastery of learning and the ability to apply it to new, unusual and integrated project requirements. The capstone project is designed to be a culminating educational experience for the undergraduate student. The project provides for learning, but not in the traditional sense as no new skills are taught. The capstone project can be a self-directed, integrated, learning opportunity. The project is the singular opportunity to determine if the student has assimilated the various goals of his/her total education. As has been previously discussed, these goals h ave been established on several levels. The first and most global in nature are the general goals of higher education.

Illegal Immigration Essay -- American Government, Social Issues

Illegal Immigration and Health Care With the economy of the United States in shambles, illegal immigration and the effects it has on health care can no longer be ignored. America has a whole needs to be concerned and well informed of the issues rather than collecting information piecemeal by way of media or other biased groups. If illegal immigration stays its present course the American tax-payer will continue to fund the well being of individuals who have broken federal rules and regulations and are being supported by law abiding citizens. This argument is not about individual rights to live and prosper. It is not about race or discrimination of any sort. It is only about the effects on health care that I am addressing. California has been plagued by budget deficiencies in recent years. Layoffs have been rampant as well as public service spending. According the governor, â€Å"The state was unable to balance the budget because of money spent on illegal immigrants† (Jacobsen 71). If this is the case, why has their not been an immediate demand for reform concerning illegal immigration? Jacobsen continues, â€Å"Services such as providing dental care to poor women and the elderly, treatment for drug-addicted pregnant women, and prenatal care in general would need to be cut because of the costs associated with illegal immigration† (71). When immigrants come across the border illegally, they directly affect health care for American citizens. This should not be tolerated and reform should be implemented as quickly as possible. Reimers states that â€Å"curbing illegal immigration could save $280 over the course of a decade† (97). The amount of money being spent on illegal imm igrants is massive. Not only that but the conservative re... ...uires distinguishing the categories of persons we desire to admit and setting minimal criteria for their admission† (155). Minimal is the keyword. As it stands the process for citizenship is arduous to say the least. We must go back to an earlier era such as the where boatloads of immigrants would arrive in New York. They would stand in line for hours if not days to get documented and obtain legal status. Few were turned away. If we did the same for our southern neighbors everyone would be in the system and would contribute to our society by way of consumers, laborers and tax-payers. Americans would then recognize Mexican immigrants not as invaders, but as a fellow human beings, contributors, and citizens of the United States. Health Care would no longer be burdened and aid could be given without breaking the backs of both government and tax-payer alike.

The Humane Conditions of the United States’ Japanese Internment Camps

In response to the attack on Pearl Harbor, Canadian and American governments took extreme actions to prevent possible Japanese attacks, first and foremost are the internment camps. Japanese internment camps housed Japanese US and non-US citizens from 1942-1945. The economic and social factors surrounding the camps were unprecedented. The United States managed the affair with somewhat of a dignified perspective while Canada on the other hand fully implemented dispossession, discrimination, but ignored a redress of any sort. In contrast to the United States, Canada completely exploited the Japaneses’ economic resources. Shortly before their evacuation to the camps the â€Å"to-be-interned† Japanese would quickly sell some or all of their personal possessions whether to the government or other white civilian buyers. Under the War Measures Act of 1943, the Japanese were required to pay taxes for every sold item which would later be auctioned; their land and other properties, if not sold, were immediately confiscated. Later, the property was resold to white Canadians and never returned. â€Å"Dispossession of Canadian citizens, was contrary to British principles of justice and to the Atlantic Charter,† announced Dr. Henry F. Angus, in opposition to Japanese internment. He demonstrates that even then were there individuals that recognized the unjustness of the camps. The taxes aforementioned were used for the payment of government employees and also to fund the internment camps and pay businessmen who took over maritime industries normally monopolized by Japanese. The United States was responsible for confiscating some private properties, but not nearly the amount of which Canada was responsible. The Canadians took economic advantage of the camps to their fullest extent. In Canada the social conditions of the Japanese internment camps were different from the Unites States camps which had the necessities such as food, shelter, and water. The ten Japanese internment camps in the United States were incomparable to the intolerable conditions in which Japanese Canadians were forced to live. Japanese Americans had facilities such as mess halls, bath houses, laundry buildings and recreational areas on the primacies. The detainees could specialize and join the work force to support themselves and spend their wages in the camp store. Children attended school and most families attended church on Sundays. Restrictions to which they had to abide included leaving the premises, criminal activities, worship of the state Shinto, food and water rations, and others. Canadian camps provided extremely limited resources to the interned, sometimes providing only 10 toilets for 1,500 women, while shortages of food were common. As sickness spread so did a hatred of both American and Canadian Caucasian citizens whether they were responsible or not for the Japanese’s incarceration. Approximately 60 years later, the US felt a moral obligation to redress about 550 Japanese citizens that were associated with internment camps. About 12 million US dollars were distributed to the few remaining victimized families. This is embarrassing and tragic at the very least, admitting our injustice publically. However they took responsibility for their actions which explains how Japanese immersion and social acceptance in America’s society developed Americans’ humility and honor. Through such compensation of moneys and in some cases property Americans regained the faith of the Japanese to some degree. Canada on the other hand showed very little mercy to the delicate minority and interned every Japanese immigrant. Families were torn apart without hesitation, separating husbands from wives and children from mothers, leaving families with absolutely nothing but bitterness and sour remorse after being subjects to the government’s lethal power. Prior to installing the Japanese internment camps Canada and America were immersed in a state of fear after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The two regions had agreed to inform the other of changes in policies within the internment camps when they were built. One country fed off the other, trying to find some justification for their dreadful treatment of the interned Japanese. As the United States confiscated land Canada dispossessed boats for economic profit; while the standard of living in American internment camps was low, the Canadians took it one step further, providing them with little supplies and a socially cold shoulder. The United States maintained the Japanese internment camps better than the Canadians, providing them with scarce necessities but humane conditions. Works Cited Challenge to Democracy, A (1944). U. S. War Relocation Authority. March 3rd, 2010 http://www. archive. org/details/Challeng1944 The Politics of Racism . Ann Sunahara. March 3rd, 2010 http://www. japanesecanadianhistory. ca/

How to Make- Cupcakes - 749 Words

Cakes are often connected with fun, happiness, excitement and celebration. Cakes have been a part of many traditions all over the world synchronizing festivities. A variety of styles and themes are used in association to cakes, depending on the particular celebration, there are many different occasions such as birthdays, Mother’s day, Father’s day, 4Th of July festivities, baby showers and weddings. Cakes are decorated with flowers, flags and cartoon characters to place cakes. An assortment of flavors such as vanilla the most easiest to please, carrots cakes, fruit lemon cakes, marble cakes, chocolate cakes; there are whimsical cakes, small cakes, large cakes, individual cakes called cake pops, and my favorite, Gourmet cupcakes. Cupcakes have been more frequently used these days. They are easily consumed with less of a mess to clean later. Cupcakes are affordable, east to make and deemed efficient in terms of price to quantity of people attending the celebration. 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