Discover How Popular Culture Arts Are Being Transformed by Digital Photo Manipulation

Pop art in its beginning freeze-framed what consumers of popular culture arts experienced into iconic visual abstractions. With the advent of the techno age, visual information circulates in such quantities, so rapidly and exponentially, that to comprehend a fraction of it all becomes a kind of production process in itself. The recording of history and how it’s interpreted has forever changed. The exposure to mass media and consumer advertising has opened up a brave new world of imagery saturation, with a tech savvy generation only too aware yet receptive to the processes of imagery marketing; including the cautious acknowledgment of the digital photo manipulation that readily occurs to such images, ranging from the air brushing of features to outright attempts at fraud.The use of digital media has moved from the role of recording and documenting a popular culture of the time, to one now that creates its own culture(s), in ever quickening flashes that morph in and out of time often in unison with the latest fad television series or movie franchise.The ‘spinning pop’ project as popular culture arts, is supported through the maintenance of logs, diaries, and various volumes of collected documentary materials. These documents comprise five components through which the nature of my practice is explored. I have adopted a visual approach to the traditional ‘artist’s journal’, with an extensive series of visual, written, and collected documents that have recorded the works in process. The five documentary components of this project comprise Collections (volumes of text based source materials); Diaries of digital daily images and collages printed onto copy paper; Work in progress logs (volumes of notes and photographs of the daily work practices); Daily postings to the social networks of the completed works; and including the Digital video compilation diaries.While my work is influenced by Rene Magritte’s great sense of mystery in his juxtaposition of what appears to be unrelated images, I seek a less literal representation of the images created. His intent is to build an ambiguity into the visual language, an intention to engage the viewer on several levels. Generally my painted work is in a pixelated style, and while they are influenced by Georges Seurat’s intent for the viewer’s eye to blend the colours, they are not developed through the Pointillism technique. The digital work varies in its use of mediums and presentation, often produced with archival inks-on-cottonrag paper.Unsurprisingly, we as a collective of artists examine every facet of life from a popular culture arts perspective, utilizing all available resource, materials and mediums to depict our interpretation of the world about us. The use of digital photo manipulation, and the creation of random imagery is just not surprising, nor outside the ‘norm’ of our brave new world. Photography has for many decades had to combat the accusation of ‘But is it Art?’, and thus as technology develops at such an astonishing pace, photographic manipulation is the medium at the proverbial ‘coal face’ or cutting edge, at which you would expect to find artists operating.

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How To Get Your Internet Marketing Business Started

Do you have an idea for an internet marketing business but aren’t sure how to set it up or make it successful? Or, do you want to make money on the internet but aren’t sure how? Have you ever wished that you could be one of the people that make their living from internet marketing?Starting a new online business or taking an existing business online can seem intimidating or overwhelming, but learning how to start an internet business doesn’t have to be complicated.Like everything else, if you make a plan and take it step by step, you’ll be up and running in no time.There are just some basic things that you need to consider and actions that you need to take, in order to create a successful online business:Find out if there is a market for your idea or product.Find your potential customers.
Build relationships.
Create your product.
Create your website.
Market your product.
Take the payments.These are the fundamental steps to successful online marketing and you’ll find lots of free information and how to’s on the internet in articles and forums, to help you put each step in place.Alternatively, you may be someone who likes to have all the information in one place and, again, you’ll find lots of offers for courses and guides on how to start your internet marketing business, on the web.One of these products, that I’ve recently reviewed. is the Internet Business Start Up Kit, which I’ll use as a basis for what you need to be looking for in a guide to internet marketing.The Internet Business Start Up Kit, produced by Neil Stafford and Neil Travers of KTS Publishing, is designed to be a one-stop source of information, resources and back-up needed to create your own internet marketing business from scratch and get sales coming in as quickly as posssible.The manual, reports, DVDs, CDs and online training facilities provided as part of the Kit and its Bonus sections take you through all the steps of creating an online business in a logical and easy to understand manner.Subjects covered include, market research, listbuilding, product creation, forming a website, copywriting, and marketing techniques. All set out with full details of what to do and how and when to do it.The information in the manual will enable anyone to:Find a viable market using the keyword search techniques provided.Learn the benefits of blogging and set up a blog quickly and easily to create a list of hungry customers.Discover where to find all the information needed to create a well researched and saleable product.Save time and set up a product website simply and without specialist knowledge, using the website templates provided.Easily write sales letters and email copy, without any copywriting experience, using the sales letter templates provided.Implement a marketing campaign using suitable techniques for your product.Set up the payment facilities for your online marketing business, and see the cash come flowing in.All this basic information required to get an internet business up and running is set out in the main printed manual, reinforced by the additional reports and presentations included, with further backup tutorials and advice available online.Particularly useful is the step by step manual, which is clear and comprehensive and set out in an easy to understand and logical manner, guiding the user through the various stages of creating their business and securing sales.Neil and Neil have given a wealth of information here, including links to sites and resources that they use themselves, in order to make the process even easier for the user.This is an important aspect because, although much of the basic information could probably be found by some extensive online searching, just the benefit of having it presented clearly and logically in one place, is well worth the modest outlay, even without all the additional training and backup facilities included.A part of the manual which deserves a special mention, is the section on creating your website and email campaign sales copy. Maybe a daunting task for most people, this is reduced to a simple fill-in-the-blanks exercise, using the proven and effective sales letter templates provided. Well worth having.In addition, it’s not necessary to be an expert webmaster to construct your website, as the Resource CD, which accompanies the manual, contains a wide choice of easy to use web templates and many other useful resouces, enabling a website to be set up, without extensive previous experience.Included with the kit is a trial Gold Membership of the Internet Marketing Review. An invaluable resource to anyone setting up or running an internet business.On the Internet Marketing Review site, there is a huge amount of useful information in the form of training videos and articles, giving even more advice on all the aspects of getting a business started and profitable, plus the latest tips from the two Neils about new ideas and what’s currently working for them.The Internet Marketing Review also has a very active members forum, a good place to meet up with and ask advice from other successful marketers, who are very friendly and keen to share what they know.It’s well worth checking out the public area of the Internet Marketing Review to see what’s available there.I do have one criticism of this product and that is, there’s no guide to the contents. So you really need go through it all and make your own.On the plus side, having done that, you’ll have reviewed everything once and know where to go back to, when you really need it.And, there is a lot of solid information on getting started, provided in the Kit, that is worth reviewing several times to get the most benefit from it. Plus many useful ways to further improve your business once it is running.Overall, the Internet Business Start Up Kit provides sound, practical step by step guidance, well laid out and explained for anyone without previous internet business experience.It contains everything needed to get an Internet Business up and running, set out in a clear and comprehensive way and, at £79.95 is definitely worth considering.Now, if you’re thinking of buying an all-in-one guide to setting up an internet marketing business, use this information to help your comparison.And whichever one you’re considering, bear these four important points in mind.1. Check that it covers all the elements you need, including the how, why and when, of what to do at each stage of creating your online business.
2. Check out the people involved. Forums and blogs are a good way to find out what sort of reputation they have.
3. Don’t just believe the sales letter. It’s really good to get a personal recommendation.
4. Check out any guarantees offered. Products often have some form of money back guarantee period, like the Internet Business Start Up Kit.So, however you choose to find the information you need, I wish you every success with your online marketing business.And, remember, it all happens when you take that first step!

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RN Nurses Make Up the Largest Group of Health Care Professionals

The largest group of health care professionals…and growingRN Nurses belong to the largest group of health care professionals in the US today. In 2008 there existed 2.6 million nursing jobs in the US. 60 % of this number was employed in hospitals while various smaller health care and health education facilities accounted for the rest. The nursing profession is divided into many specializations, each classified according to the branch of medicine to which they belong and the type of service that is required of the nurse.Types of Nursing CareYou may for instance have RN nurses trained especially to care for the elderly. Within this capacity, a nurse may give primary health care, nursing care, drug administration care and specialty care.Primary health care refers to the advice and services given for initial check-ups and health problems. While this form of health care is usually associated with doctors, RN nurses may also dispose of these functions within their scope of competence.Nursing care refers to overseeing the implementation of the physician’s directives. In this capacity, RN nurses may provide psychiatric care for mentally disturbed people. This category also includes caring for women in their pre-natal stage and after they give birth.RN nurses may also take care of administering drugs to patients in accordance with the prescription of the attending physician.Specialty care denotes the services rendered by nurses within their field of specialization. As such we have nurses who provide geriatric care for old people, cardiac care for people affected with heart ailments, and so on.What are the prospects for RN nurses?Because of the many areas of medical concern that nurses serve and the above-mentioned types of nursing services, the number of possible jobs for a nurse will be the number of fields of Medical Science multiplied by the number of service types. Obviously, the opportunities are ideally inexhaustible, considering that world population is growing in numbers, if not in terms of birth rate.Facts about US populationToday, the batch of people in the US between age of 46 to 65 belong to that special group called “boom babies” who were born between 1947 and 1964, immediately after World War II. This period is characterized by a high birth rate percentage, peaking at 2 % in 1950 and fluctuating down to 1.4 in 1964. Since then the birth rate has dropped to below 1 %.The “boom babies” represent a dramatic rise in the population. It is anticipated that as the people belonging to this batch age, the need for geriatric nursing care will constantly rise. If we were to consider the youngest individuals in the group (aged 45), we would expect the need for geriatric nursing care to up for the next 35 or 40 years. And considering that elderly patients may have other problems besides their old age to contend with, we should anticipate the over-all need for nurses to rise within that period.What about the Recession?The nursing profession has not remained unaffected by the economic crisis in the sense that a great number of lay-offs have been witnessed since 2007. But as a result, the number of RN nurses who are employed in hospitals is far below the population of patients that have to be attended to. Because of this current shortage, hospitals are hiring once more.Besides openings in health care institutions, RN nurses should not have difficulty finding jobs with the private sector. There are millions of people needing health care of one kind or another who would prefer to stay at home. An RN with initiative should never find himself/herself without practice.

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Commercial Loans – Getting Notes “Called”

As the credit crisis continues, borrowers AND banks are suffering. One of the issues is existing commercial loans and their existing loan to values. As commercial real estate values begin to decline in some markets one of the unfortunate realities we are starting to see is commercial loans beginning to come close to being underwater; and in some cases actually underwater. Meaning that the loan balance exceeds the value of the property. This is due to its value dropping quicker than the loan balance.As a result, we are having to field one of the more unfortunate phone calls, it’s a frustrated borrower that is in complete shock that their commercial loan has been “called” – meaning that their bank is pre-maturing ballooning (forcing the borrower to pay off the balance) their commercial loan.The conversation normally starts off as “we’ve been with xyz bank for 22 years and have never been late on a single payment. Now that things are getting tough they turn around and call my note”. After more understandable venting and disbelief they normally ask if the bank really has the right to do this. Of course we are not attorneys, but almost all traditional commercial loan notes have provisions which give the bank the right to call the note for whatever reason they deem necessary.It’s normally called a “Call Provision”. This right is almost never exercised by banks that only use it during very difficult situations. For example, if the bank perceives that the borrower will go into bankruptcy shortly, if their industry in general is declining rapidly (think automotive) or as in this example the property values decline, among many other examples.However the current problem is twofold. Number one is the obvious fact that no bank will willingly go into the position where there’s little or no equity in the deal for the borrower. It has been proven over and over that borrowers with little or no equity in the deal, are much more likely to let their property slip into foreclosure. In the case of an investment property it only takes one month where the tenant defaults on the lease for the borrower to walk.The lesser known fact is that the Federal Government has sets standards for banks that must be strictly adhered to by banks. One of the rules is that banks have to have a conservative level of loan to values on all of their loans. The Fed has set this up to protect the entire banking system.So, it’s not just the bank, they are also adhering to the rules that have been set forth to them and trying to avoid penalties, fines and losing their banking licenses. Hopefully, this point will shed some light on the general question of “why would the bank turn away a loyal and good paying borrower”. Even if they wanted to ignore the problem, they are not allowed to and when audited that will have to face the music.

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Graphic Designing: A Magic Wand For The Designers!

In the good old days, before the advent of sophisticated computers, which are capable of doing everything imaginable today, creative persons like architects, engineers, garment producers etc., used paper and pencil to carve out the outer appearance of their ideas and imagination.After conceiving an idea, the first step use to be preparing the blueprint of that idea so that everybody unaware of the idea till then could see the blueprint and understand the idea.The blueprint or the design is a gateway into the mind of the creator of the idea. The design of a machine, or a garment, or a building is that document that illustrates the aspiration of creator. In modern technological world, it is hard to imagine any production done without a design.However, with increasing complexities and work, it is very difficult to get every design carved out on paper. The difficulties include, but are not limited to, absence of third dimension, accuracy of the scale and inclusion of the very minute details which are not visible even to human eye.Moreover, with the advent of computer and digital screens, it became more convenient and intuitive to see and analyze a design on the screen. Since a screen has coordinates like a graph paper; any design that is represented using a screen is called a graphic design. Hence, in today’s world if you have to communicate an idea or send a message and the communication needs to be visual, be it a poster, or a company logo or an album cover, then it will have to go through a creative process called graphic designing.In today’s world the term Graphic design is more used to convey a creative process that uses digital visual medium to send a message. The creative process is called Graphic designing. Any professional that deals with and is an expert in this creative process is called a Graphic designer. Any such designer will use his skills to create an artifact for a printed, published or electronic media.He will use typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design which means that a graphic design can be either animated or still. The idea is to simplify and enhance the visual communication using the computers and the technology. The idea is to make your imagination more lucid, more understandable and to reach those untouched areas of visual expression which couldn’t be reached using paper and pencil.

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Building a Career Through Online Education Courses

Education is a systematic process of acquiring knowledge and skill necessary for personal growth and development. The practical application of education in a specific field of study can jumpstart a professional career or establish a foundation for possible business ventures. Making an investment in education can be one of your most significant and wisest decisions in life because of its immediate impact to your future. Distance education plays a vital role in connecting educators and learners worldwide, breaking the barriers imposed by time constraints, distance, disabilities and socio-economic status. Distance education courses are being offered by Open Institutions to answer the call for internationally recognised quality education and training. Whether you are a student who just started on the path of learning, a professional in your field of study and want to further your education through advanced and specialized programs, or a person who is restricted by travel or health concerns, online courses definitely have the answers for you.Many individuals are asking on how effective distance education when delivering the methodologies of teaching. Online education classes are as effective as traditional face-to-face instruction done in colleges and universities. The keys to establishing a successful online study depend on the dedication and focus of the learner, and timely peer-support by the open institution. The people behind the curriculum and online support offered through distance education are professionals and experts in their field, so you can be sure of having the quality education and training that you are looking for. Online instruction is divided into four major classifications, namely: voice, video, data and print. Voice or use of audio as medium of communication includes the telephone, tapes, radio and audio-conferencing.On the other hand, videos may come in the form of instructional tapes or CDs, or combined with voice and data as file attachments. Print media can be in the form of instructional books, guides, course outlines or assessments which are delivered through courier or mailing system. Data is the widely used form of instruction due to the advances in technology in computers and the internet. Information is transmitted electronically and may be in the form of Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI), Computer Managed Instruction (CMI), Computer Mediated Education (CME), or a combination of any of these. The delivery of education and training became better, faster and economical since all the instructional materials and methods of teaching are coursed through e-mail (electronic email) or e-fax (electronic facsimile), online conferencing and other World-Wide Web applications. This would include advances in communication by utilizing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). By making use of all the available communication media, online learning study is delivered fast and efficient.Distance learning has many advantages that individuals on different levels of learning can take advantage. It provides the flexibility of choice when you want to finish a course or where you want the training to take place. Assessments and projects are given at the end of a specified topic, submitted to education professionals and experts of their field for evaluation, and then feedback is given to determine if a learner is to advance to the next level or if further reading is required prior to advancement. You can never be too old or too young in order to start a life changing career, or build the basic foundation to start a new business. All you would need is the proper self-motivation and focus so you can look forward and fulfill your dreams in life.

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High School Technical and Vocational Training Courses

There was a time that vocational training meant focusing only on skilled trades such as being a mechanic or a welder. But since industries have diversified especially with the advent of the computer age, this now offers people better opportunities such as business and information technology.The American education system offers students many things in primary and in the secondary grade level. Not only do the children learn how to add or subtract figures but also gives the opportunity to be well-rounded individuals.This is the reason that Allen was able to learn about computers and pushed this person into pursuing a degree in computer maintenance after graduating from high school.To Allen’s astonishment, there are a lot of vocational schools offering courses related to information technology. Some of these places are out of state while there were also those that are just a few bus rides away.Here are a few tips that will be helpful in high school or even after graduation when looking for technical and vocational training courses.1. It will be a good idea to check the vocational schools online so that a brochure can be delivered to the home.One of the advantages of a vocational school over a university is that tuition is much more affordable. There is also internship or apprenticeship that means those who do well will get a job after completing the course.2. If the person wants to pursue higher education, it will be a good idea to ask if other universities honor this so the student will not have to start over being a freshman again.3. The student should ask if the vocational school offers scholarships or grants for those who do not have enough money to pay for tuition.4. The individual should also ask if the vocational school offers this course part time especially for those who have to work and can only come in campus during the evening. If this is still difficult, perhaps asking the school administrator if there is distance learning.5. It will also be a good idea to check on the success rate for getting a job if one decides to attend the vocational school.There are a lot of factors to consider before choosing a technical or vocational course to purse. The person should weight the pros and cons of each before making that big decision.

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Increasing Student Success Through Instruction in Self-Determination

An enormous amount of research shows the importance of self-determination (i.e., autonomy) for students in elementary school through college for enhancing learning and improving important post-school outcomes.
Findings

Research by psychologists Richard Ryan, PhD, and Edward Deci, PhD, on Self-Determination Theory indicates that intrinsic motivation (doing something because it is inherently interesting or enjoyable), and thus higher quality learning, flourishes in contexts that satisfy human needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Students experience competence when challenged and given prompt feedback. Students experience autonomy when they feel supported to explore, take initiative and develop and implement solutions for their problems. Students experience relatedness when they perceive others listening and responding to them. When these three needs are met, students are more intrinsically motivated and actively engaged in their learning.

Numerous studies have found that students who are more involved in setting educational goals are more likely to reach their goals. When students perceive that the primary focus of learning is to obtain external rewards, such as a grade on an exam, they often perform more poorly, think of themselves as less competent, and report greater anxiety than when they believe that exams are simply a way for them to monitor their own learning. Some studies have found that the use of external rewards actually decreased motivation for a task for which the student initially was motivated. In a 1999 examination of 128 studies that investigated the effects of external rewards on intrinsic motivations, Drs. Deci and Ryan, along with psychologist Richard Koestner, PhD, concluded that such rewards tend to have a substantially negative effect on intrinsic motivation by undermining people’s taking responsibility for motivating or regulating themselves.

Self-determination research has also identified flaws in high stakes, test focused school reforms, which despite good intentions, has led teachers and administrators to engage in precisely the types of interventions that result in poor quality learning. Dr. Ryan and colleagues found that high stakes tests tend to constrain teachers’ choices about curriculum coverage and curtail teachers’ ability to respond to students’ interests (Ryan & La Guardia, 1999). Also, psychologists Tim Urdan, PhD, and Scott Paris, PhD, found that such tests can decrease teacher enthusiasm for teaching, which has an adverse effect on students’ motivation (Urdan & Paris, 1994).

The processes described in self-determination theory may be particularly important for children with special educational needs. Researcher Michael Wehmeyer found that students with disabilities who are more self-determined are more likely to be employed and living independently in the community after completing high school than students who are less self-determined.

Research also shows that the educational benefits of self-determination principles don’t stop with high school graduation. Studies show how the orientation taken by college and medical school instructors (whether it is toward controlling students’ behavior or supporting the students’ autonomy) affects the students’ motivation and learning.
Significance

Self-determination theory has identified ways to better motivate students to learn at all educational levels, including those with disabilities.
Practical Application

Schools throughout the country are using self-determination instruction as a way to better motivate students and meet the growing need to teach children and youth ways to more fully accept responsibility for their lives by helping them to identify their needs and develop strategies to meet those needs.

Researchers have developed and evaluated instructional interventions and supports to encourage self-determination for all students, with many of these programs designed for use by students with disabilities. Many parents, researchers and policy makers have voiced concern about high rates of unemployment, under-employment and poverty experienced by students with disabilities after they complete their educational programs. Providing support for student self-determination in school settings is one way to enhance student learning and improve important post-school outcomes for students with disabilities. Schools have particularly emphasized the use of self-determination curricula with students with disabilities to meet federal mandates to actively involve students with disabilities in the Individualized Education Planning process.

Programs to promote self-determination help students acquire knowledge, skills and beliefs that meet their needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness (for example, see Steps to Self-determination by educational researchers Sharon Field and Alan Hoffman). Such programs also provide instruction aimed specifically at helping students play a more active role in educational planning (for example, see The Self-directed Individualized Education Plan by Jim Martin, Laura Huber Marshall, Laurie Maxson, & Patty Jerman).

Drs. Field and Hoffman developed a model designed to guide the development of self-determination instructional interventions. According to the model, instructional activities in areas such as increasing self-awareness; improving decision-making, goal-setting and goal-attainment skills; enhancing communication and relationship skills; and developing the ability to celebrate success and learn from reflecting on experiences lead to increased student self-determination. Self-determination instructional programs help students learn how to participate more actively in educational decision-making by helping them become familiar with the educational planning process, assisting them to identify information they would like to share at educational planning meetings, and supporting students to develop skills to effectively communicate their needs and wants. Examples of activities used in self-determination instructional programs include reflecting on daydreams to help students decide what is important to them; teaching students how to set goals that are important to them and then, with the support of peers, family members and teachers, taking steps to achieve those goals. Providing contextual supports and opportunities for students, such as coaching for problem-solving and offering opportunities for choice, are also critical elements that lead to meeting needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness and thus, increasing student self-determination.

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How to Build a Better Educational System: Jigsaw Classrooms

The jigsaw classroom technique can transform competitive classrooms in which many students are struggling into cooperative classrooms in which once-struggling students show dramatic academic and social improvements.
Findings

In the early 1970s, in the wake of the civil rights movement, educators were faced with a social dilemma that had no obvious solution. All over the country, well-intentioned efforts to desegregate America’s public schools were leading to serious problems. Ethnic minority children, most of whom had previously attended severely under-funded schools, found themselves in classrooms composed predominantly of more privileged White children. This created a situation in which students from affluent backgrounds often shone brilliantly while students from impoverished backgrounds often struggled. Of course, this difficult situation seemed to confirm age-old stereotypes: that Blacks and Latinos are stupid or lazy and that Whites are pushy and overly competitive. The end result was strained relations between children from different ethnic groups and widening gaps in the academic achievement of Whites and minorities.

Drawing on classic psychological research on how to reduce tensions between competing groups (e.g., see Allport, 1954; Sherif, 1958; see also Pettigrew, 1998), Elliot Aronson and colleagues realized that one of the major reasons for this problem was the competitive nature of the typical classroom. In a typical classroom, students work on assignments individually, and teachers often call on students to see who can publicly demonstrate his or her knowledge. Anyone who has ever been called to the board to solve a long division problem – only to get confused about dividends and divisors – knows that public failure can be devastating. The snide remarks that children often make when their peers fail do little to remedy this situation. But what if students could be taught to work together in the classroom – as cooperating members of a cohesive team? Could a cooperative learning environment turn things around for struggling students? When this is done properly, the answer appears to be a resounding yes.

In response to real educational dilemmas, Aronson and colleagues developed and implemented the jigsaw classroom technique in Austin, Texas, in 1971. The jigsaw technique is so named because each child in a jigsaw classroom has to become an expert on a single topic that is a crucial part of a larger academic puzzle. For example, if the children in a jigsaw classroom were working on a project about World War II, a classroom of 30 children might be broken down into five diverse groups of six children each. Within each group, a different child would be given the responsibility of researching and learning about a different specific topic: Khanh might learn about Hitler’s rise to power, Tracy might learn about the U.S. entry into the war, Mauricio might learn about the development of the atomic bomb, etc. To be sure that each group member learned his or her material well, the students from different groups who had the same assignment would be instructed to compare notes and share information. Then students would be brought together in their primary groups, and each student would present his or her “piece of the puzzle” to the other group members. Of course, teachers play the important role of keeping the students involved and derailing any tensions that may emerge. For example, suppose Mauricio struggled as he tried to present his information about the atomic bomb. If Tracy were to make fun of him, the teacher would quickly remind Tracy that while it may make her feel good to make fun of her teammate, she is hurting herself and her group – because everyone will be expected to know all about the atomic bomb on the upcoming quiz.
Significance
When properly carried out, the jigsaw classroom technique can transform competitive classrooms in which many students are struggling into cooperative classrooms in which once-struggling students show dramatic academic and social improvements (and in which students who were already doing well continue to shine). Students in jigsaw classrooms also come to like each other more, as students begin to form cross-ethnic friendships and discard ethnic and cultural stereotypes. Finally, jigsaw classrooms decrease absenteeism, and they even seem to increase children’s level of empathy (i.e., children’s ability to put themselves in other people’s shoes). The jigsaw technique thus has the potential to improve education dramatically in a multi-cultural world by revolutionizing the way children learn.
Practical Application

Since its demonstration in the 1970s, the jigsaw classroom has been used in hundreds of classrooms settings across the nation, ranging from the elementary schools where it was first developed to high school and college classrooms (e.g., see Aronson, Blaney, Stephan, Rosenfield, & Sikes, 1977; Perkins & Saris, 2001; Slavin, 1980). Researchers know that the technique is effective, incidentally, because it has been carefully studied using solid research techniques. For example, in many cases, students in different classrooms who are covering the same material are randomly assigned to receive either traditional instruction (no intervention) or instruction by means of the jigsaw technique. Studies in real classrooms have consistently revealed enhanced academic performance, reductions in stereotypes and prejudice, and improved social relations.

Aronson is not the only researcher to explore the merits of cooperative learning techniques. Shortly after Aronson and colleagues began to document the power of the jigsaw classroom, Robert Slavin, Elizabeth Cohen and others began to document the power of other kinds of cooperative learning programs (see Cohen & Lotan, 1995; Slavin, 1980; Slavin, Hurley, & Chamberlain, 2003). As of this writing, some kind of systematic cooperative learning technique had been applied in about 1500 schools across the country, and the technique appears to be picking up steam. Perhaps the only big question that remains about cooperative learning techniques such as the jigsaw classroom is why these techniques have not been implemented even more broadly than they already have.

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Have Your Children Had Their Anti-Smoking Shots?

Findings

In the early 1960s, social psychologist William McGuire published some classic papers showing that it is surprisingly easy to change people’s attitudes about things that we all wholeheartedly accept as true. For example, for speakers armed with a little knowledge of persuasion, it is remarkably easy to convince almost anyone that brushing one’s teeth is not such a great idea. McGuire’s insight into this curious phenomenon was that it is easy to change people’s minds about things that they have always taken for granted precisely because most people have little if any practice resisting attacks on attitudes that no one ever questions.

Taking this logic a little further, McGuire asked if it might be possible to train people to resist attacks on their beliefs by giving them practice at resisting arguments that they could easily refute. Specifically, McGuire drew an analogy between biological resistance to disease and psychological resistance to persuasion. Biological inoculation works by exposing people to a weakened version of an attacking agent such as a virus. People’s bodies produce antibodies that make them immune to the attacking agent, and when a full-blown version of the agent hits later in life, people win the biological battle against the full-blown disease. Would giving people a little practice fending off a weak attack on their attitudes make it easier for people to resist stronger attacks on their attitudes that come along later? The answer turns out to be yes. McGuire coined the phrase attitude inoculation to refer to the process of resisting strong persuasive arguments by getting practice fighting off weaker versions of the same arguments.
Significance

Once attitude inoculation had been demonstrated consistently in the laboratory, researchers decided to see if attitude inoculation could be used to help parents, teachers, and social service agents deal with a pressing social problem that kills about 440,000 people in the U.S. every year: cigarette smoking. Smoking seemed like an ideal problem to study because children below the age of 10 or 12 almost always report negative attitudes about smoking. However, in the face of peer pressure to be cool, many of these same children become smokers during middle to late adolescence.
Practical Application

Adolescents change their attitudes about smoking (and become smokers) because of the power of peer pressure. Researchers quickly realized that if they could inoculate children against pro-smoking arguments (by teaching them to resist pressure from their peers who believed that smoking is “cool”), they might be able to reduce the chances that children would become smokers. A series of field studies of attitude inoculation, conducted in junior high schools and high schools throughout the country, demonstrated that brief interventions using attitude inoculation dramatically reduced rates of teenage smoking. For instance, in an early study by Cheryl Perry and colleagues (1980), high school students inoculated junior high schools students against smoking by having the younger kids role-play the kind of situations they might actually face with a peer who pressured them to try a cigarette. For example, when a role-playing peer called a student “chicken” for not being willing to try an imaginary cigarette, the student practiced answers such as “I’d be a real chicken if I smoked just to impress you.” The kids who were inoculated in this way were about half as likely to become smokers as were kids in a very similar school who did not receive this special intervention.

Public service advertising campaigns have also made use of attitude inoculation theory by encouraging parents to help their children devise strategies for saying no when peers encourage them to smoke. Programs that have made whole or partial use of attitude inoculation programs have repeatedly documented the effectiveness of attitude inoculation to prevent teenage smoking, to curb illicit drug use, and to reduce teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. In comparison with old-fashioned interventions such as simple education about the risks of smoking or teenage pregnancy, attitude inoculation frequently reduces risky behaviors by 30-70% (see Botvin et al., 1995; Ellickson & Bell, 1990; Perry et al., 1980). As psychologist David Myers put it in his popular social psychology textbook, “Today any school district or teacher wishing to use the social psychological approach to smoking prevention can do so easily, inexpensively, and with the hope of significant reductions in future smoking rates and health costs.” So the next time you think about inoculating kids to keep them healthy, make sure you remember that one of the most important kinds of inoculation any kid can get is a psychological inoculation against tobacco.

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