The Power Team...

Personally, I found this text to be odd. I am a religious person. I grew up in a decently strict Roman Catholic family and know a lot about religion. I feel there were some good points in this text, such as when they say their main goal was to try to help prevent teen suicides and help people who have lost God. I think people who do this kind of thing for a living are people to be admired, but sometimes when people perform the word they take things a bit too far. For example, I know you have seen on television some pastors and their congregation start to yell and scream when they are praising the lord... sometimes people even go as far as crying. Honestly like what does that have to do be being religious? It makes people look like they need to go see a doctor. On the other hand, this text made me feel sad in a way because I feel bad for the people in this story who did not believe or were not religious. Living a good Christian life is something that everyone should do, it not only makes you yourself feel better, it makes those around you feel as if they have been touched.
Sorry if I offended anyone.. I did not mean to!!

Naked

The story we had to read for class was called Naked a plague of ticks. In general this was a story of a boy who had a terrible case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. None of the people in his life could understand why he acted the way he did. They all thought it was something he could controll. It was really sad to read about his life. He said it would take him hours to get home from school because he would have to take the exact amount of steps he had before. If he did not take the same amount of steps he would have to start all over again. Also, he constantly had thoughts running through his head. He was always worried that he didn't do something in the proper order. When he worried he would have to go and do whatever it was he worried about. There was one thing he said that really impacted me the most, "What I really hated, of course, was my mind. There must have been an off switch somewhere, but I was damned if I could find it." This quote really made me think about my life and how lucky I am. There are times when I constantly have things running through my head, but they can easily be fixed. I could not imagine not being able to make the thoughts go away. Life would be extremely hard. You would not be able to concentrate on anything and your world would be extremely jumbled. People who suffer with OCD should not be looked at as odd, they should be respected... Imagine if you had to live with extreme OCD every single day of your life...how different would things be for you?

Research Paper: Questions

There are many different things I need to complete before I even begin to write my research paper. Throughout the process I have asked myself numerous questions. One specific question I propose to answer is “how does the classroom environment affect students learning abilities.  These learning abilities consist of test scores, ability to perform and quality of work.

When it comes to my thesis statement I can honestly say I have not even begun to think about it. After today’s class meeting I have some ideas in mind. The current thesis statement I have come up with is: Though education has changed in many ways, classroom environments have not. Many students have to suffer not only emotionally but physically.  By making some changes in our school’s environments, students will be able to learn at a better rate and test scores will be improved, most importantly students will finally be comfortable with their schools.

In all honesty I really do not know much about my topic at all, that is why I chose to research it. What I do currently know is basically how students actually feel in their classrooms. It is really sad to hear and see what students have to learn in. To me it shows that schools do not give a crap, especially college campuses such as IUP. I also know how it feels to learn in a poor environment because I have had to learn in some pretty bad environments since junior high.

There is a lot that I need to find out about this issue. Many different things factor into my research. For example, the color on the walls, the color of the carpets, the type of lighting and the type of seats a student has to sit in all affect the way a student learns. Hopefully by continuing my research I will be able to come up with answers to some of these things that deal with my topic of study.  So far some of the information I have come across has greatly helped me. The information is also extremely interesting. Not many people realize how much their surroundings affect them. Most people think designers just some in and make something pretty, but low and behold they do much more than that. If a place/room if designed well it seriously can change someone’s life or at least help them out.

So far the sources I have looked up are….

Book: The Brain in Mind

Book: A whole New Mind

Scholarly Article: Student’s Choice: Recommendations for Environmental and Instructional Changes in School

Scholarly Article: Classroom Physical Design Influencing Student Learning and Evaluations of College Instructors: A Review of Literature

Book: Educational Psychology

Scholarly Article: The community College Classroom Environment: Student Perceptions

Plagiarism

First of all, I found all of the different things we had to read interesting but there was one article that stood out. The article I liked was “Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age” by Trip Gabriel. Gabriel discusses a few different types of plagiarism and how it affects students and the people around them. I found it sad how a majority of the students who committed the act of plagiarism knew that they were doing something wrong. The whole reason they did not write in their own words was because they were too lazy. I will admit that it is tempting to take someone else’s words but at the same time you show a lot of character when you write in your own words. It is better to have your own voice and own opinions. Throughout middle school and high school we were nailed with workshops on plagiarism. Due to having the knowledge of what it is and the bad affects it can have on you I simply choose to not plagiarize. Most of the time if I am questionable as to whether or not something should be cited I cite it anyway, just to be safe. If I do happen to plagiarize it is not intentional unlike the students discussed in the article. Lastly, there is only one area of plagiarism that I find to be a bit confusing. To me, it is hard to figure out what is common knowledge and what is not. For this reason, I can easily see how some students could end up plagiarizing and not know it. As stated in the article, it is difficult for students to know what is or is not common knowledge due to how much information is online. The Internet is a great source but can be extremely overwhelming to anyone.  Some of the information online is not cited which makes it easy for anyone to take someone else’s words. All in all, unfortunately the only way I think we can semi put a stop to plagiarism is to raise awareness and talk to students. All students need to realize that their own words are extremely important. If college is supposed to be all about finding yourself then why not try to find yourself through your writing and your own voice?

Research Topic

For my research paper I am having some trouble figuring out which topic I would like to write about. I was able to quickly narrow all of my ideas down to three main ideas but I have no idea which one I would like to do. When I began to research each one there was something I found quite interesting pertaining to each topic. As I did more research I was able to narrow my topics down to two;  How different types of design impact peoples well being (this ranges from people with disabilities to those who do not) and How color impacts people's lives ranging from again those with disabilities to those without. Both of these topics interest me a lot. I am in a way leaning towards how color impacts people's lives ranging from again those with disabilities to those without. I have always found color to be extremely interesting because it is around us constantly. No matter where we go or what we do color is always present. What truly amazes’ me is how numerous amounts of people to not actually realize the impact color has on their lives. Just imagine if our world was all black and white. How would you feel? Everything you do would be completely different, especially your mood. Color has such a tremendous impact on people that it can actually help them heal faster and in some cases help those with disabilities live their lives a bit easier. If color alone can help someone make their everyday struggles a bit easier, then I think interior designers do truly play a tremendous role in how people’s lives operate.  Without them there would be many struggles.

Annotation

Rosmarie, Rossetti. “The Seven Principles of Universal Design.” Universal Design Living

 Laboratory. United Spinal Association, 2006. Web. 8 February 2011.

The author of this article looks at a previous study which dealt with the seven principles of universal design. Ten years later, she is looking at how the seven principles have changed. The seven principles are; Equitable Use, Flexibility in Use, Simple and Intuitive Use, Perceptible Information, Tolerance for Error, Low Physical Effort, and Size and Space for Approach and Use. In general the principles are used to help people with disabilities live their lives in an easier way. With this said, the design of a certain room or an entire house does not have to look terrible due to all of the extra added features that come with a disability, it can still be a unique and amazing living space that accommodates to everyone. To conclude the article, the author says that she will go into further depth of each principle in later articles. She also wraps up by saying that universal design is good design! The information in this article can be used to help assist me in looking at how different types of design effect people. 

What Has Our Society Come To?!?

As I was reading Attached to Technology and Paying a Price I kept thinking to myself.. What has our society come to? It is sad to see the affects technology is having on people. For example, in the article Mr. Campbell forgets things like dinner plans and has trouble focusing on his family. This is because he is too attached to electronics. His poor wife said "It seems like he can no longer be in the moment." Just this statement alone should be enough to make Mr. Campbell change his ways, but he won't.
Another part of the article I found interesting was, while many people say multitasking makes them more productive, research shows otherwise. I am a multi-tasker and at times I do feel like I get more done but, I do notice that I do not pay attention to detail. When I am multitasking and someone asks me a question, I usually do not even hear them until they scream at me or do something to get my attention. It is sad but true.
In my life, I have first handedly witnessed the terrible affects technology has on people. My little cousin is 9 and is obsessed with technology. In his bedroom he has a brand new xbox with a million games, a 42" plasma screen tv, and a computer which is hooked up to his plasma screen. All day he stays indside and plays games or is on the computer. Even when we are visiting with his family he is always up in his room. Recently we went to Disney World. While we were walking around the parks and passing the vendors he would buy every type of fake weapon possible. After he bought the weapon he would run around the parks pretending to shoot people or stab them with his sword. People were giving him odd looks, but his parents would not say anything. All the time he talks about killing people.. It is sad, but I blame this on his video games... more or less the most stupid game in the world (World of War Craft) and Call of Duty. He is 9 years old and has no idea that what he is doing is bad for him. He is being brain washed by technology. Instead of going outside and playing like most kids did/used to do he stays inside and is attached to technology.
If adults and children keep on becoming more attached to technology I feel our society will crumble... All of the old ways we were used to that kept us human will be gone.