In Class Blog Due 3/27

While looking at our discipline in psychology we have the interesting task of looking at the psychology of a Psychologist. There are many questions to be answered within the study of psychology relating to behavior and the mind. Psychologists want to dissect the thoughts and actions of the population to gain a greater understanding of the world around us. In doing so, they have three main questions they strive to answer. Does the observable behavior match the projected behavior? Does the behavior of the individual stand in for the behavior of a group? Why are there abnormalities within the population, and where do they come from?
 

In search for a greater understanding of our discipline we interviewed two active psychologists on ASU campus. They provided helpful insights of what an actual psychologist thinks about specific areas of behavior. All around they believe that individual behavior is extremely reflective on group and social behavior. Their knowledge as a psychologist is made off of such connections. Along with the crucial thought process an active psychologists needs to acquire, they also need to prove their theories via multiple types of experiments. To make these experimental inferences in their study they need to assess the level of detail they need for their experiments. Making sense of experimental data is essential for a psychologist to add credibility to their body of work. Diving into the mind of a psychologist can be an interesting task, however it is crucial to completely understand the discipline of psychology and its goals. Asking these questions will better help us explore a psychologists thoughts and thought processes.

 

1. How would you define Psychology in your own words?
2. What made you get into the field of Psychology?
3. What type/types of Psychology are you most interested in?
4. How do you go about answering questions in the field?
5. What exactly are you looking to discover right now in your research?
6. What is the most interesting finding you’ve discovered in your research?
7. Ultimately, what would you like to do for the field of Psychology?
8. If the field of Psychology needs to devote time, energy and recourses to one topic specifically, what would it be?
9. What would you say is different between the minds of a Psychologist and minds of every other profession?
10. What would you say is the hardest part of the field of Psychology?

 

Blog Due 3/26

After reading Thoreau's "Where I lived, and What I Lived For", Hawking's "Our Picture of the Universe" and Benedict's "The Individual and the Pattern of Culture" I was able to notice some of the essential questions addressed in their discipline.

It was easier for me to notice the essential questions addressed in Hawking's, "Our Picture of the Universe" where he reviews old successful theories and theories found to be "wrong" in his greater interest in finding out why we are here and where we come from. Here Steven Hawking tells what a theory should be and the two components it must have to be good. He puts his point of view by mentioning that he does not agree to some of the theories made already in the past in which have already been proven "wrong" in his discipline.  For example, he describes Newton's law of gravity and the newer theory Einstein came up with and explains how new theories come to be after greater research and newer findings. He noticed an implication on the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics theory and suggested that they could not both be correct. He states that even if sufficient research and theories have been made to accurately predict certain things within his discipline, the question of our existence and purpose in the world still remains unanswered. Hawking's did a very good job in addressing essential questions about his point of view, purpose, question he wants to know, information already used in his discipline (theories), inferences of the theories he finds to be correct or incorrect, assumptions and implications in his discipline.

I had a little bit of a hard time noticing the essential questions included in Thoreau's "Where I lived, and What I lived For". Thoreau Walden was basically interested in discovering the necessary facts of life in order to find out on what he had been missing out about life which was his purpose in his discipline. To further his knowledge about his discipline, he decided to move out and live with the minimum amount of necessities need to live. Then he started asking himself questions and carefully analyzing life and how people chose to live it. He wondered if people should start living like baboons or like men and pointed out specific questions about why people have numerous affairs, and many other factors that make their lives more complex when it should be simple. He wonders why people always decide to live life in a hurry when life should be taken slowly and actually enjoy it. As he says this he also mentions things he feels might not be necessary to people like newspaper, and how society (specifically adults) should focus more on the meaningful things in life like children do. With his opinions about life he addresses questions that include points of view seen in his discipline, purpose of his study away from society, questions he asks himself and inferences out his humanities discipline.

In Benedict's "The Individual and the Pattern of Culture" the author also addresses some of the essential questions in her social sciences/anthropology discipline. She studies the social norms seen in different societies around the world, by this she examines individuals and their culture. She provides some information about some assumptions in her discipline like the inheritances of conflict between individuals and the needs of society in which she denies to be true. She also provides very informative information about her discipline by stating that there is "no proper antagonism between the role of society and of an individual". She believes that other cultures should be studied without being judged. She addressed questions that address her understanding of her discipline as well as her reasoning for her conclusions.

In Class Group Work Plan 3/20

101 Group Work Plan

 

Mayra Sanchez (602) 486 9285
Gentry Nissen (480) 225 0035
Tayler Gallagher (909) 472 5803

 

●      Define specific tasks necessary to complete the project. List them below.

 Research parts of the paper

Complete deadlines

Work as a group

Divide tasks fairly

Share information with group members

Make sure all team members know what to do

●      As much as possible, play to individual group members' strengths, not their weaknesses. That means identifying the skills and resources each group member can bring to bear on the assignment, and planning the project in a way that takes advantage of those skills and resources to produce a stronger final paper. Make a list of skills and resources for each group member below.

 Mayra: Editing/revising, researching, working in a group, contributing fairly

Tayler: Good writer, researching, meeting deadlines

Gentry: Communication, writing in detail, researching

●      Divide tasks among group members. Each group member should be involved in both the research and the writing stages of the project, but that involvement may take a variety of forms. Remember to play to each others’ strengths. More than one group member may be assigned to each task, but one group member should take the lead for each task. Write group members’ names next to tasks they will take responsibility for.

 Mayra: Interviewing professor (second interview), research warrants

Tayler: Interviewing professor (first interview), research intellectual priciples

Gentry: Analyze articles, research assumptions

 

●      Create a schedule, including deadlines for specific tasks and regular meeting times with the entire group. Use the calendar provided, or use something like Google Calendar, which can be shared with group members.

 

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
3/17	3/18	3/19	3/20 Group Planning	3/21 Schedule interview	3/22	3/23
3/24	3/25 Gentry will attend workshop	3/26	3/27	3/28 Interview 2 scheduling	3/29	3/30
3/31	4/1	4/2	4/3	4/4 Find article 1, write rough draft	4/5 FINISH 1ST INTERVIEW	4/6
4/7	4/8	4/9	4/10	4/11 Find article 2, write rough draft	4/12 FINISH 2ND INTERVIEW	4/13
4/14	4/15 Meet sometime this week	4/16	4/17	4/18	4/19	4/20
4/21	4/22	4/23	4/24	4/25	4/26	4/27
4/28	4/29	4/30	4/31	5/1	5/2	5/3 FINAL PROJECT DUE

 

 

●      It is also recommended that you keep a log of your work (what you do and when) individually and as a group, to help you stay on track and provide accountability.

 

 

 

 

Blog due 3/19

The two discipline related articles I explored from Duke University and the University of Northern Carolina helped me understand what our next writing project will be about. This next writing piece will be very beneficial in learning more about our current majors and the problems that relate to our field of study. I think it’s a good assignment that will familiarize us with the current and past issues in our field before entering the workplace to prepare us with quality information to present to future employers. Not only that, but we will also gain very important and useful skills in our writing which will be used more often in higher education.

I learned some interesting information about the format of this paper. This paper will be a research paper in a form of a scholarly journal that should be taken a bit more seriously than previous papers since it will perhaps be read by a lot more educated people. Good and reliable information should be included in this paper that may incorporate past findings in the area of study, while building on old knowledge and perhaps finding new explanations to an issue. The paper must be written with strong first and last sentences in paragraphs that tell what the finding was in just one sentence rather than having the reader read the entire report to find an answer. This is especially necessary in important sections to minimize the amount of reading for other scholars or professors researching the same topic.

I also found the abstract section of the report to be very useful and different to what I have done in the past. Although it may be hard for the writer to briefly summarize everything found and talked about in the report, it is very convenient for readers to have before committing to the entire paper and coming to find that it does not have the information they were looking for. This form of writing also highly encourages students to write short and basic sentences that get to the point without worrying about having very high vocabulary. I agree with what the website says about people not wanting to read a lot due that they are lazy or busy. It may be that more educated people read these scholarly reports and thus do not have time in their busy school and work schedules to read journals that will not be relevant to their study.

I liked the methods and results sections interesting. It seems like this paper will be based on the scientific method, meaning that we will not only research the issue and cite references, but will also conduct a study to test our hypothesis. This form of writing will differ highly compared to other writing pieces since it will include tables, figures and footnotes to express my findings.

I was interested in writing a report on the field of Education, but could not find it on Duke’s list of guides. Therefore, I plan on possibly writing one in the field of Psychology.

Blog Assignment Due March 5th

Mayra Sanchez

Professor Christina Santana

Writing Project #2

English 102

5 March 2013

Part 1

Proposal: Teenage Pregnancy and Prevention

In this paper I will explore the issue concerning teenage pregnancy and its effects often seen in my community.  I will provide possible solutions for teenage pregnancy prevention which continues to be an on-going issue among adolescents in the United States. Although teen pregnancy has generally decreased since 1991, the United States still has a teenage birth rate that is nine times larger than other developed countries. Some of the factors found to lead to teen pregnancy are one or a mix of these: young age/unaware, prior school performance, economic disadvantage, having older partners in a relationship, and/or a result of a single parent household. Although these factors cannot determine why teenage girls are getting pregnant, they are significant explanations for this behavior.

Youth and the lack of education about sex consequences are the main reason why teenage pregnancy occurs so frequently. Young girls and boys are not informed of the possible consequences of pregnancy and child-birth and the affects it can have on their health both physically and emotionally. Teenage pregnancy is often not supported by the family. This unfortunately causes adolescents to not obtain the proper prenatal support and medical supervision. During the first months of pregnancy, the most monitoring must be done with the development of the fetus in order to prevent birth defects. Young mothers are also more at risk of having high blood pressure during pregnancy than older women and are more likely to develop preeclampsia. To avoid these complications, parents and schools should provide enough support and closeness to adolescents to ensure they obtain the right help.

The Federal Policy and Legislation has increased advocating abstinence-only-till-marriage in schools rather than provide forms of contraception for adolescents and teenagers. Abstinence has proven to be ineffective for students to prevent pregnancy since studies have shown a positive correlation between teen pregnancy and birthrates. Teaching students about abstinence is not an effective technique to stop pregnancy. It does not provide help for the students who chose to not be abstinent. Teenagers are not only at risk of becoming pregnant, but can also be prone to sexually transmitted diseases or infections (STI’s/STD’s). The United States not only ranks first in teenage pregnancy but, unfortunately we also rank highest in the spreading of STD’s.

Teen pregnancy in the United States is most common within minority populations, such as Hispanics and African Americans. According to statistics, the 15-17 age group birthrates among African Americans are three times higher than Hispanics, as Hispanic’s birthrates are four times higher than White adolescents. Parents also play a very important role in teenage pregnancy since parents in some cultures avoid talking about sex to their kids and ways to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections. Lack of communication is often seen in Hispanic families, where sex until marriage is the expected standard for the culture. Having traditional and religious parental pressure and abstinence-only education in school leads to a lot of uninformed minority population since they are afraid to speak to those they are closest to about sex.

Teen pregnancy has shown to have an effect on academic performance and high school completion. The amount of homework students receive in high school and the responsibility of being loving mothers can really jeopardize the amount of time adolescent girls have to focus on their studies. Take my friend for example who by the end of our high school graduation became a mother of two children. She was a very smart and straight A student, who took honors and advanced placement courses. Her pregnancy caused her to take easier classes to balance out her schedule. I cannot blame her, since I could not imagine how I would be able to balance out performing well in school and supporting a family. However, her academic opportunities were kept at the very minimum since she had to leave her honors classes for unchallenging ones in order to graduate. Based on statistics, teenage mothers have a 10-12% less likelihood to graduate from high school compared to girls who do not have babies. This is because girls without children are able to focus their attention only on school. Teenage moms also have a 14-29% less probability of attending a higher education institution. A lot of teenage mothers make graduating high school their only accomplishment because continuing an education is far from reach.

Schools are currently supporting students with School Based Health Centers (SBHC) which are supportive friendly community resources helping the prevention of teenage pregnancy. However as good as this resource is in terms of helping teenagers, only 40% of these sites are allowed to prescribe and dispense contraception methods for teenagers.

One of the things schools can do to decrease teenage pregnancy is to provide more interaction with programs like “Baby Think it Over”. This program allows students to experience what it is like to take care of a new-born baby by caring for a toy baby that is monitored for good care. Many schools provide this type of exposure to students to show students how their lives would be if that baby were theirs. However, in some low income schools, students have to share a baby and are not allowed to take them home to practice during the weekend. This defeats the purpose this program tries to make since schools only provide these babies in the classroom and for use with a partner. This approach however can have a biased effect since some don’t take the baby as serious as it should since it’s a toy.

To decrease teen pregnancy and transmission of STD’s in the United States, all schools should provide programs that help explain the issues and concerns associated with teenage pregnancy/prevention. They should provide information on how to practice safe intercourse for those teenagers who do not want to practice abstinence. Schools should also provide places that students could go to obtain various types of contraception and make them accessible to students and perhaps free. By schools providing this type of help for its students, teenage pregnancy will eventually decrease and the spread of infections and diseases will be more controlled. It is impossible to control the entire United States, but if each school provides this type of support a difference will definitely be seen.

 Part 2

            This problem concerning teenage pregnancy pertains to the high school district I attended. Phoenix High School District is one of the largest high school districts in the country consisting of more than 26,000 students. Of these students, about 85-90% are Hispanic. In Metro Tech High School, the graduating class this past spring, six or seven out of my ten closest friends in high school were pregnant or had been pregnant in our high school careers.

            One of my closest friends from high school is currently 19 and is a mother of two boys one of which is 3 and another which will soon be 1 year old. Although she was an example of achieving success by graduating high school and maintaining her name on the principals list, not all my friends had the same experience. Unfortunately some of my friends didn’t perform well in classes, had to take classes that were not challenging, and were not able to graduate high school.

            Phoenix Union High School District has the power to enact my solution by providing pregnancy prevention classes and free/easy access to methods of contraception early into every student’s high school educational experience to avoid pregnancy or the spread of infections and diseases. Although they are currently providing a health class that advocates sex-till-marriage and STD information, they do not offer education about the different types of contraception.

            By providing students with contraception methods and giving them access to these at school will be effective for reducing high school dropout rates, increasing academic achievement, and helping students continue higher level education.

  

Part 3

Center for Educational Services

Phoenix Union High School District

4502 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85012

Dear Phoenix Union High School District Governing Board,

            As a Metro Tech High School recent graduate, I was able to notice some areas of improvement at Metro Tech High School as well as in the Phoenix Union High School District. By observations, I was able to easily notice the amount of high school friends who were pregnant or had been pregnant by graduation. I was really surprised when I realized that half of my close friends have 1-2 babies or are currently pregnant.

            During my four years at Metro Tech, I never had been exposed to any type of sexual education class. The closest I ever got to that topic was in health class which we only covered information about STD’s but did not learn about contraception methods. During my freshman year in high school I remember having one class session that explained abstinence to students encouraging them to remain abstinent until marriage.

            However since it was only offered on a scheduled one time a year event, the students who did not attend school that day missed everything. Fortunately, students who were present were provided perhaps helpful information. Metro Tech also has a career exploration class where students learn about child development. In this class students take care of a doll baby that acts like a real baby. However, since funding is low students had to share the baby and take care of it only in class. By students sharing this responsibility during class, they do not take teenage pregnancy seriously nor the responsibility of caring for a baby.

            My suggestion is for the district to take into consideration the high amount of pregnancies in the district and propose sex education with contraceptive methods in schools rather than abstinence. The district has high amount of dropout rates, low achievement in rigorous classes, and a very low likelihood of students pursuing higher education. With classes that teach contraception methods, students will have a higher chance of performing better in classes by preventing teenage pregnancy.

            Students should be required to take a sexuality/contraception methods course to graduate. Since we cannot control student level of sexual activity or age of intercourse, we can provide beneficial education on pregnancy and STD prevention. By following this addition to high school requirements, we can hopefully make a change that can be seen throughout the district. With the help from the Phoenix Union High School District Governing Board, we can create a district that is aware of pregnancy contraception methods and by this prevent pregnancies. Thus by preventing teenage pregnancy, students are more likely to be successful and pursue higher education.

Thank you for your time,

Mayra Sanchez (student)

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