Life With Smartphones Essays - Mobile Phones, Information Appliances

An existence With Smartphones Essays - Mobile Phones, Information Appliances English 118 April 5, 2014 An existence With Smartphones At the point when the first run through cell phone presented by Apple or Samsung, I was not humiliated to flaunt my 8 years of age cell phone before my companions, yet today that is whats occurring. Cell phone is a gadget utilized as an advantageous instrument as well as has currently become a route for individuals to flaunt. As indicated by Wikipedia, cell phone originally conceptualized and began by Theodore Paraskevakos in 1971. He was the first to present the ideas of knowledge, information handling and visual presentation screens into phones which offered ascend to the cell phone. Cell phone right off the bat opens up to the world in 1993 however it turned out poorly around then since the innovation is as yet not keen. These days, wherever I go I see individuals utilizing cell phone. The greatest inquiry is the distinction of how individuals carry on with their life when cell phone was presented. There are numerous constructive and contrary effects for the clients of cell phone and the individuals around them. What makes cell phone exceptional is their ability to hold many intriguing applications with regards to it. Without these applications, cell phone would essentially be much the same as some other ordinary telephone. Certainly, cell phones are helpful yet the effect their bring to society is difficult to disregard. Web based life is the notorious application that changes how individuals see life and how they interface with one another through the Internet. It is a stage for online clients to transfer photographs, visit with companions and offer their life minutes and encounters on the web. When contrasted with the former times where individuals spent time with companions and have a day-meaningful discussion eye to eye, cell phones have unquestionably changes the manner in which individuals speak with one another. Right off the bat, what is the purpose of meeting up with your companions however winding up simply playing with your cell phones in a similar room? There is basically no cor respondence at all at that point. Unknowingly, a few people lose their capacity to cooperate with others and overlook how significant a genuine relationship is with companions. A relationship without association resembles a blossom without water, it can't develop or sprout. Also, cell phones have made interruption and the powerlessness center for individuals. We go through roughly an hour sitting tight and representing the BART(Bay Area Rapid Transit) to come. We could undoubtedly utilize that chance to accomplish something increasingly beneficial or even value the nature around us, yet rather we are designating an excess of time on our cell phone. It is a negative behavior pattern we as a whole have, and additional time, if a propensity isn't managed it would effortlessly prompt enslavement. Cell phones have been connected to rest and focus issues, just as absence of sympathy. Obviously responsibility for cell phone doesnt aggravate anybody a superior or individual, nor is it going to right away make you less careful or compassionate. The demonstration of continually looking at online networking is exclusively founded on the explanation that individuals are effectively unentertained and in this way, they chase for diversion to occupy their time. We as a whole know cell phone is a significant gadget for us to use in our day by day exercises, the difficult we must know isn't its use yet how it is utilized. The time, and the need of a cell phone ought not be absurdly higher than your obligation as an individual. Reference (about history about cell phone): Cell phone. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2015.

Solange De Santis - Job design :: essays research papers

Presentation: Solange De Santis joined a General Motors van get together plant in 1991. During her eighteen months at GM she experienced weariness, strain, mental pain, work disappointment, a sentiment of doubt and an absence of employer stability. These elements detrimentally affected her wellbeing, security and profitability. What work re-plan openings are accessible to cultivate a more beneficial and increasingly gainful working environment? So as to respond to this inquiry we embrace employment and work structure hypothesis that will examine her job and give unmistakable arrangements. The accompanying three  ¡Ã‚ ®Job Design Approaches⠡â ¯ will be investigated: 1) Job pivot 2) Job advancement 3) Teamworking. The article delineated beneath expounds on three little mental changes to make working conditions for De Santis much better, improving her activity security and efficiency. We trust that ¡Ã‚ ±Little changes have a major effect in the long term. ¡Ã‚ ±(Julian Barling, Topic 9, slide 3) Occupation Rotation: De Santis is an autoworker on the van mechanical production system at the General Motors plant. She plays out a similar basic errand, and rehashes similar methodology regular. There are no open doors for her to learn new aptitudes or face any new difficulties. It is anything but difficult to envision how exhausting and baffled anybody in her position would turn into. Notwithstanding the test of her standard she additionally chips away at high pressure and over-burden as a result of the constant, continually getting up to speed nature of the sequential construction system. As per inquire about, fatigue can cause fantasies and strain which together can compromise her security. These negative encounters sway her activity fulfillment and inspiration. What we ought to do is diminish fatigue, strain and disappointment. Through employment turn it is conceivable to re-plan her activity and make it considerably more intriguing and fun which ought to diminish her present degrees of weariness and stress. How is this conceivable? Employment revolution can decrease De Santis⠡â ¯s weariness, diminish her from dull developments, and increment inspiration by differentiating her experience; work pivot gives the sort of adaptability and experience that will permit her to feel substantially more control of her work and create significant abilities that can assist with offing set sentiments of vulnerability; work turn likewise assists with improving assurance, expands proprietorship and should empower her to contact her latent capacity; it is additionally appeared to bring down exhaustion and assists with delivering more prominent fulfillment that lessens non-appearance/turnover issues. Subsequently, work pivot can make her activity more adv antageous and increasingly profitable How to execute work revolution?

Writing Advice for Psychology Paper

Writing Advice for Psychology Paper Writing a Psychology Paper: 4 Best Tips Home›Education Posts›Writing a Psychology Paper: 4 Best Tips Education PostsWriting Advice for Psychology PaperWriting in psychology can be a challenge especially considering how specialized the field can seem at times. However, no type of text benefits from too much jargon and not enough clarity. Just remember that your main purpose is to educate others on the developments in your field and consult this article to learn clever tips for all types of psychology papers.How to Write a Research Summary/Literature ReviewWriting tips for a research summary are pretty simple â€" all you need to do is gather the existing research and try to draw your own conclusions based on it. At best, you will need to shed some light on the topic. And don’t feel like you’ll have to spend all your time in a library. Some research can and should be done online. Just don’t pull sources off disreputable websites. That may negatively impact your grade.How to c reate an Empirical Paper or Research ProposalThis type is probably what you think about when psychology papers are mentioned. Some things are obvious. Your paper should attempt to explore an as yet underresearched area of the field. You should explain why you think more study of your topic of choice is necessary, especially if you are writing a proposal asking for a grant. Finally, do not attempt to conduct research and draw the conclusion. You are just stating that the topic is interesting, not trying to find the answers to your study questions immediately.Use EvidenceIf there’s one thing professors everywhere hate, it is unsupported claims and data that come out of nowhere. Your psychology instructor will be majorly annoyed with you if instead of using facts and empirical evidence, you just make broad statements. Always cite your sources and whenever in doubt whether a fact should be cited remember that excessive citing never hurt anybody. Just don’t quote someone’s opinions . Those will not support your scientific arguments and lower the grade.Learn How to Differentiate Between Worthy and Inappropriate SourcesThe Internet is overflowing with information on psychology, both accurate and inaccurate. It is up to you as a scholar to learn which sites can be trusted and which should be avoided like the plague. First, do not confuse popular with academically appropriate. For instance, a self-help may be universally beloved and number one on the NYT bestseller list. However, if it is not a peer reviewed article or thesis in an academic journal, it probably is not what you should be looking for. Second, always try to access the original sources of any information. It is OK to use secondary resources for primary research, but strive to access the authors’ original thoughts.These tips, as well as following proper citation styles, will lead you to the best grades of your life.

What Is a US Politicians Salary

The salary of a politician ranges from zero to six figures in the United States, with those serving at the local levels earning the least and those elected to state and federal offices earning the most. If youre thinking about running for public office,  maybe Congress,  youll want to know what your paycheck will look like. The answer depends, of course, on the job. Elected positions on your town council may come with a small stipend but are mostly unpaid volunteer jobs. Most county-level elected positions come with pay with which you can make a living. But its really when you get to the state and federal levels where politicians salaries really start to rise. So how large are  politicians salaries in the United States? Heres a look. President of the United States The president of the United States is paid $400,000 a year for his service as the nations commander-in-chief. Congress has given the president a raise exactly five times since President George Washington took office in 1789. The vice president gets paid $231,900. Members of Congress Members of U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate earn a base salary of $174,000 a year. Some people think thats way too much given the relatively few days debating legislation there are every year, and some people think thats too little given amount of work outside the House and Senate floors they actually do. Governors Governors are paid between $70,000 and more than $190,000 for their work as their states top executive,  according to the  Book of the States, which is published by The  Council of State Governments and shared with the media. The lowest paid governor is  Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who earns the $70,000 salary. The second-lowest paid governor is Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who earns $90,000 per year. The highest paid governor in the United States is Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, who makes $190,823. The second-highest paid governor is Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, who makes $187,500 per year, although Haslam returns his salary to the state. In addition to Haslam, the governors of Alabama, Florida, and Illinois do not accept a paycheck or return all or nearly all of their salaries to the state. State Legislators The pay for state legislators varies widely and depends on whether they work for one of the 10  full-time legislatures or the remaining  part-time legislatures. Full-time elected lawmakers at the state level make an average of  $81,079, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The average compensation for part-time legislators, by comparison, is  $19,197. If you get elected to Californias legislature, youll be making more than your colleagues in any other state; Its $91,000 base salary for lawmakers is the highest in the nation. If you get elected to New Hampshires part-time legislature, youd better have another job lined up; elected lawmakers there get paid $200 per two-year term, according to research conducted by the Pew Charitable Trusts. County Level Politicians Like state legislators, county commissioners and executives are paid varied sums depending on the population they represent and other factors. The average pay for a county executive-level position is nearly $200,000, according to the website SalaryExpert.com.   The top elected officials in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Atlanta and Manhattan each earn more than $200,000 a year, according to SalaryExpert.com. In Rockford, Ill., the pay is about $150,000. In lesser populated regions of the country, county commissioners are paid less than $100,000 a year, and in many cases, their paychecks are about the same as what state legislators are paid in their states.   Local Elected  Officials   If youre the mayor of a big city such as New York,  Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco or Houston,  youre doing just fine, thank you very much. The mayors of those cities are paid more than $200,000. (San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee is paid $289,000 a year, topping that list.) If youre the mayor of a mid-size city, youre probably bringing home far less than that, under $100,000. If your  city or township is really, really small the mayor and his elected council members may only get stipends or be unpaid volunteers.  There is some irony in this, given that the decisions made by your local elected officials often have greater, or at least more immediate and visible impact, on your daily life. In some states, unpaid members of local government boards and commissions can receive health care at taxpayer expense — a perk that is worth tens of thousands of dollars in some cases.

Personal Choice And Freedom In The Giver By Lois Lowry

President Ronald Reagan once said that,†Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in our bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected and passed down for them to do the same.† President Reagan would have been miserable living in the world as it is portrayed in â€Å"The Giver† by Lois Lowry. In the book there has been a utopian community built for people so that they have no freedom and no individual thoughts. Everyone is exactly the same. Everyone takes a daily pill which eliminates any memories, pain or stress. The protagonist named Jonas is chosen to receive all the worlds memories and figures out that everyone he loves has no feelings or independence. He decides to risk everything†¦show more content†¦He cried all night apparently.†(pg.206) After examining the Utopia in â€Å"The Giver†, I do not support eliminating personal choice and freedom for a Utopia. One reason I believe in freedom and choice is I believe individuals should choose their own jobs, unlike in â€Å"The Giver† where they cannot. If people chose their own jobs, they are motivated to contribute to society. Some people chose jobs that others may not because they get some personal benefit from it. Steve Jobs said,† Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you havent found it yet, keep looking. Dont settle.† Another reason I believe in personal freedom and choice is I believe in the family unit and all that family means, unlike in â€Å"The Giver† where family is not truly a family. Jonas desires love, but his family does not understand love. In my family my parents show me love everyday in every action that they make. My mom and dad always listen about my day and give advice if I ask for it. They always say,†I love you.† In â€Å"The Giver†, they banned those words. One last reason I believe in personal freedom and choice is I do not believe in euthanasia and the government taking lives of older people and disabled asShow MoreRelatedThe Giver by Lois Lowry Essay845 Words   |  4 Pagesa community where there is no freedom and is full of safety? In the book The Giver, Lois Lowry shows that freedom is worthier than safety when Jonas (main character) learns that the people in the community have no emotions. He witnesses this when Jonas’s father release’s (kills) the baby twin. She argues that freedom is more important than safety when Jonas notes that all the people in the community are clueless. Lowry shows the danger in having no freedom when Jonas learns that the peopleRead MoreLois Lowry s The Giver1997 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"Everything a writer experiences as a young person goes into the later writing in some form† (Albert 9). Lois Lowry is a Newbery medal children s author. She has written numerous novels, but the one that stood out the most would be The Giver. As Lowry began to write The Giver she took her emotions, memories and personal stories to write about this book. She makes the setting of the story in the future where all the people have no memory and no free will. Also, every time something fearful happensRead MoreThe Altercation Between the Parallel Universe in The Giver by Lois Lowry684 Words   |  3 Pages Everyone agreed to the term living life to the fullest, but in The Giver written by Lois Lowry citizens in the community rather obeying their own government like a puppet for a peaceful and safe life. They give up their personal freedom, true emotion and even the ability to see color to be controled by someone. They couldnt make any choices for themselve, even the right to choose their own career, life, spouse and family got taken away from them. Everyone around Jonas, the main characterRead MoreFiction Report : The Giver 771 Words   |  4 PagesFiction Report #2: -Title: The Giver -Original date: 1993 -Authors name: Lois Lowry -Main Character: Jonas -â€Å"integrity†, â€Å"intelligence† and â€Å"courage†(62). -â€Å"But we feel certain that you are brave, she said to him (63). This was when the Chief Elder was telling him his assignment and Jonas was being descripted as all the things stated above. -Characters: Fiona, The Giver, Jonas’s Dad, Chief Elder and Asher. -Main Setting: -Jonas community -In memories -In the future/past -PointRead MoreThe Archetypal Hero In Lois Lowrys The Giver1012 Words   |  5 PagesImagine a world with no feelings, no color, no choice; a world where individuality and freedom are exchanged for security and sameness. This type of world is a reality for Jonas, the protagonist in Lois Lowry’s The Giver. After being assigned the next Receiver of Memories in the community, where he has the capacity to see beyond. As he begins his works, he gains wisdom and through that wisdom, learned that protecting the community from the memories, their lives lacked understanding and feelings.Read MoreThe Giver By Lois Lowry934 Words   |  4 PagesThe Giver Essay Nick 2017 In the 1993 novel The Giver, written by author Lois Lowry, and the 2014 movie The Giver, directed by Phillip Noyce, the themes of Memory and the Past, Rules and Order are evident throughout. Throughout this essay, I will discuss the importance of both themes and how through the book and movie. In The Giver, rules are negatively portrayed so that freedom, choice and individuality are stolen from the people. The people of the â€Å"community† aren’t even aware that they haveRead MoreDifferences Between The Giver And The Giver933 Words   |  4 PagesThe Giver Essay Nick In the 1993 novel The Giver, written by author Lois Lowry, and the 2014 movie The Giver, directed by Phillip Noyce, the themes of Memory and the Past, Rules and Order are evident throughout. Throughout this essay, I will discuss the importance of both themes and how through the book and movie. In The Giver, rules are negatively portrayed so that freedom, choice and individuality are stolen from the people. The people of the â€Å"community† aren’t even aware that they have lostRead More A Conformist Community on The Giver Essay example1752 Words   |  8 Pagesthe idea of Sameness in The Giver, Lois Lowry shows that even though there are problems with living in such a unique community, it ultimately benefits because there are fewer problems and awful feelings. Even though the community does benefit from Sameness, there are some things it is deprived of. While color is not absolutely necessary for the proper functioning of a society, it is still something important that this community lacks. â€Å"The red was so beautiful† (Lowry 95). This quote shows thatRead MoreThe Giver By Lois Lowry1949 Words   |  8 Pagesbanning of books, are misguided by religious beliefs or personal values that they insist on imposing over the surrounding community. Such is the case with Lois Lowry s The Giver, a fictional story of a society without emotions, arguments, or differences amongst people, where equality is the ultimate goal. The story revolves around 12-year-old Jonas, who is chosen to become the Receiver of Memories, which would be given to him by the Giver, a historian of humanity s past. His lessons force him toRead MoreThe Giver, By Lois Lowry1206 Words   |  5 Pageslike to live in a society where anger, greed, hate and pain are elim inated? A society where differences are nonexistent and the feelings of envy and jealousy are extinct? It sounds wonderful, but what does this society cost its citizens? Lois Lowry wrote The Giver, and when it adapted into the film, it is directed by Phillip Noyce. The film takes place in a society that has eliminated the differences within people. They have little emotion, cannot see colors, and have no memory of all the past events

The Importance Of Critical Thinking Skills Education Essay Free Essays

string(121) " most prima or developing states like the United States, England and Singapore \( Nagappan, 2001 ; Willingham, 2007 \) \." Moore viewed critical thought accomplishment is highlighted as an indispensable foundation to bring forth womb-to-tomb scholars for Twentieth Century acquisition. This chapter will discourse on the importance of critical thought accomplishments, critical thought and employability, execution and challenges of learning critical thought in Malaysia every bit good as theory and schemes to learn critical thought. This chapter will besides lucubrate further on the interconnectedness between engineering, linguistic communication and higher order believing accomplishments, argumentative cognition acquisition and eventually, depict the Toulmin ‘s Model. We will write a custom essay sample on The Importance Of Critical Thinking Skills Education Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now The importance of critical thought accomplishments Harmonizing to Edmonds et Al. ( 2005 ) , critical thought has many definitions over the past old ages ; nevertheless, it can be concluded as an active mental procedure that includes mental accomplishments such as conceptualizing, analysing, using, synthesising and measuring information in order to emerge with an reply or decision. Everyone needs to hold an ability to work out jobs throughout their lives. Therefore, many educational experts have stressed on the importance of transfusing higher order believing accomplishments in one ‘s instruction as it helps pupils to analyze the state of affairs, learn the undertakings better before emerge with solution both in academic and non-academic fortunes ( Chance, 1986 ; Tama, 1989 ; Ennis, 1992 ; Elder A ; Paul, 2001, ) . This is because believing and larning are interrelated as one has to independently believe and seek solutions to a job or state of affairs in order to derive cognition. Research findings indicate that critical thought accomplishment can be taught and improved in everyone and this accomplishment should be integrated in the course of study at all degrees ( Grant, 1988 ; Paul et al. , 1989 ; White, Burke, 1992 ; McKendree et al. , 2002 ) . Sternberg ( 2003 ) stated that one of the ends of instruction is to bring forth womb-to-tomb scholars who posses the qualities of intelligent, critical minds which is believed to be able to believe independently, analytically and critically to see a better calling accomplishment in order to derive personal satisfaction and hopefully, contribute to national accomplishment to develop his state. This is because larning is an on-going procedure that may happen in academic and non-academic fortunes. Without critical thought accomplishments, Sternberg ( 2003 ) further elaborated that schools and universities will merely bring forth extremely fleeceable pupils and alumnuss who may be knowing, but deficiency of the accomplishments to believe critically and analytically over a state of affairs. This is because they are merely passively having information exhibited by the political leaders as information can be easy transmitted by the media via assorted signifier in this epoch of rapid develop ment of Information Technology ( IT ) . Without ability to believe critically, they besides would subsequently confront some jobs when they become employees as they need to pass on well-reasoned thoughts and would non be able to actively lend to educational treatments due to hapless communicating accomplishments and deficiency of analytical logical thinking to a state of affairs at manus ( Education Reform in Malaysia Report, 2012 ) . Critical thought and employability Paul ( 1995 ) claimed that critical thought is a critical foundation to the accommodations needed for mundane societal, personal and professional demands of the twenty-first Century. It is further supported by Elder ( 2000 ) who claims that it is of import to learn higher order believing accomplishments to pupils in schools and universities as today ‘s society has become more complex due to rapid alteration in engineering. The society demand to be able to analyze the huge information that can be gathered effortlessly via online and merely choice necessities from it ( Chartrand, 2009 ) . Henwood ( 2007 ) claimed this state of affairs besides applied in twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours existent life state of affairss. Hence, he farther stated that pupils who are ill-equipped with critical thought accomplishments will non be able to get by with the challenges and demands of current occupation market. This is because higher order believing accomplishment is believed as one of the most indispensable soft accomplishments for future employability of the new coevalss. â€Å" aˆÂ ¦workplace literacy in the following millenary will be synonymous with job resolution. † ( Mariam Jean Dreher, 2000 ) Mariam Jean Dreher ( 2000 ) predicts that the hereafter will name for a life style ; both in instruction and calling field ; of independent job convergent thinkers that requires multiliteracies which involves higher order believing accomplishments. In Malaysia, the research findings claim that critical thought accomplishment is extremely valued in the workplace today ( DETYA, 2000 ; Chartrand, 2009 ) . Norshima ( 2011 ) studies that Malaysia produces 60, 000 alumnuss yearly in which at least 30 per centum of these alumnuss are unemployed every twelvemonth as they are lacked of these powerful accomplishments. This is farther supported by Gurvinder Kaur and Sharan Kaur ( 2009 ) who claimed that in Malaysia, six out of 10 university alumnuss take every bit much as six months to be employed due to miss of critical thought accomplishments and hapless communicating accomplishments. Fong ( 2004 ) and Vijan ( 2007 ) findings stated that the grounds that Malayan alumnuss are unemployed because they are non able to affect their possible hereafter employers during interview due to hapless presentation and communicating accomplishments particularly if it is done in English. Besides, Malayan instruction system is said to be excessively exam-oriented and therefore, the alumnuss could non lend every bit much once they start working as they are merely theoretically competent but non equipped with sufficient practical exposure ( Henwood, 2007 ) . This is farther supported by Rosnani ( 2009 ) and Education Reform in Malaysia Report ( 2012 ) findings which stated that employers in Malaysia, specifically in concern sector, complain about the low quality of most alumnuss from Malaysia are lacking in footings of critical thought accomplishments which in return affect the quality of their work. Execution of critical thought in Malaya Due to the uprising employees ‘ concern over the lacking of this powerful soft accomplishment amongst newly alumnuss employers globally, course of study of educational system has been bit by bit revamped over the old ages. This state of affairs is particularly true in most prima or developing states like the United States, England and Singapore ( Nagappan, 2001 ; Willingham, 2007 ) . You read "The Importance Of Critical Thinking Skills Education Essay" in category "Essay examples" The demand to instill critical thought accomplishments into Malayan instruction system is therefore undeniable in order to carry through Vision 2020. This demand is supported by Rosnani ( 2009 ) who proclaims that Malaysians, in general, have non been able to use the content of cognition gained throughout their school old ages into existent life state of affairss even after undergone at least 11 old ages of schooling and hence, Malaysia educational system demand to be analysed and some alterations nee d to be made. Ministry of Education ( MOE ) has realised the dismaying demands of the aforesaid state of affairs and therefore, Integrated Curriculum for Secondary School ( KBSM ) was introduced in the late eightiess ( Nagappan, 2011 ) . The content of this new course of study was revamped in which originative and critical thought accomplishments were integrated in most of the topics taught in schools with a emphasis on treatment, find and enquiry ; the higher round of Bloom taxonomy ( Curriculum Development Center, 1989 ) . As it is realised that the instructors need to be competent to learn critical thought accomplishments to the pupils, a few attempts were besides been conducted as to fix the instructors and teachers-to-be with the new undertaking in front of them. As educational findings have reported that most instructors in Malayan schools are missing in footings of cognition and accomplishments to learn critical thought accomplishments to their pupils ( Education Reform in Malaysia Report, 2012 ) , a few amendments have been made to meet this job from the instructor ‘s portion. Nagappan ( 2001 ) studies that Teacher Education Division ( TED ) had revamped the course of study for Teacher Training Programme such as in Post Degree Teaching Programme ( KPLI ) in early 1994 to integrate a programme that teaches the schemes to learn believing accomplishments utilizing the extract attack which is based on Boston Model. As for the instructors in schools, Ministry of Education ( MOE ) had introduced the Programme for Instruction in Learning and Thinking Skills ( PILTS ) in 1992 ( Rosnani, 2009 ) . This programme was introduced to place the nucleus thought accomplishments to be taught and the schemes to inculcate these accomplishments into the content of the lesson being learnt. Apart from that, Ministry of Higher Education ( MOHE ) has besides made an effort to cultivate undergraduates ‘ critical thought accomplishments through the content and undertakings assigned throughout each programme. Harmonizing to Hairuzila, Hazadiah A ; Normah ( 2010 ) , the course of study for undergraduates has been infused with relevant soft accomplishments such as communicative accomplishments, critical thought and job resolution accomplishments, womb-to-tomb acquisition, squad work force and leading accomplishments into its course of study. They further elaborate that in order to aline with Vision 2020 of bring forthing holistic persons for the state, the appraisals or undertakings given to the undergraduates are geared towards fixing them for their calling life as most are based on real-life jobs, with less emphasis on pen and paper trials like antecedently. Challenges in learning critical thought accomplishments in Malaya Due to the exam-oriented civilization that has been practised for old ages in Malayan instruction system, instructors are shouldered with the duty to complete the course of study and give every bit much boring exercisings as they can to their pupils as to maintain up with the society ‘s outlook and over-emphasis on academic consequences. This in return has caused the instructors paying the least attending to pupils ‘ character edifice and soft accomplishments such as critical thought accomplishment ( Education Reform in Malaysia Report, 2012 ) . It can be seen here that Malayan instructors are non merely missing in footings of accomplishments to learn critical thought accomplishments ( Rosnani, 2009 ) , but besides are less than competent to fix and carry on a lesson that infuses critical thought accomplishments in a traditional schoolroom. This is due to the fact that learning critical thought accomplishments needs a batch of clip allotment during the pre-preparation cat egory and undivided committedness both of portion of the instructor and pupils to guarantee an active advancement during the acquisition procedure ( Willingham, 2007 ) . Apart from that, large size schoolrooms in most Malayan schools are besides one of the grounds that contribute to the failure of incorporating critical thought accomplishments in learning a topic in traditional schoolroom. A study done by Kamaruddin ( 2011 ) stated that schoolroom in Malayan schools are by and large consists of 35 to 50 pupils per schoolroom. This indirectly shows that most pupils will look as inactive scholars and synergistic activities that are believed to cultivate pupils ‘ critical thought can non be good conducted in such large size category. In contrast, many surveies have shown that a little size category of 20 pupils and below are said to be efficient and frequently associated with increased pupils ‘ public presentation and therefore, most likely leting smooth nurturing procedure of their soft accomplishments ( Carson, Badarack, 1989 ; Berliner, 1990 ; Kamaruddin A ; Bhasah, 2004 ) . The force per unit area to accomplish excellence in academic consequence in a less contributing environment in most of Malayan schools left the instructors with no pick but to fall back rehearsing teacher centred attack in go toing their duties. Hence, pupils are non given ample chance to see synergistic, active acquisition that could really assist to cultivate their critical thought accomplishments ( Kamaruddin, 2011 ) . Teacher centred attack, in return, will undeniably do one-way cognition transmittal to happen and hence, less opportunities being given to the pupils to convey their sentiments to actively build their ain cognition ( Willingham, 2007 ) . Without chance to actively build ain cognition, one is said to pay less attending to cultivate and foster his ain critical thought ( Toulmin, 1958 ) . Due to this state of affairs, most of Malayan pupils who are subsequently become employees are said to hold hapless communicating accomplishments and this visibly shows in their defic iency of ability to critically reassigning an sentiment or cognition when pass oning with others ( Education Reform in Malaysia Report, 2012 ) . Educational Learning Theory and Schemes Due to that, instructors ‘ manner of learning should pitch towards incorporating higher order believing accomplishments and rehearsing positive communicating accomplishments in order to bring forth holistic persons align with Vision 2020. Woolfolk ( 1993 ) suggests that theoretical foundation of acquisition and schemes used in a acquisition procedure will assist to model the type of pupils that a instructor wants to foster. Lai ( 2011 ) suggests the instruction of higher order believing accomplishments should be based on the followerss: Constructivism Theory Bruner ( 1996 ) stated that the basic thought of constructivism is that scholars actively construct ain apprehension by accepting certain experiences and choosing necessities from assorted beginnings of cognition. Naismith et. Al ( 2006 ) besides claimed that constructivism attack is about constructing new cognition upon what have been gathered in old acquisition. Woolfolk ( 1993 ) stated that constructivist larning theory indirectly learning the pupils to â€Å" larn to larn † as it involves believing procedures in which pupils need to be able to travel beyond the information given, use their ain cognition, evaluate opinions before generate new thoughts out of it. Students are required to actively affect in the acquisition procedure to develop their thought accomplishments through their experiences in schools ( Prawat, 1991 ) . Lai ( 2001 ) stated that constructivism can be used as a foundation to foster one ‘s higher order believing accomplishments via self-questioning , analyzing written papers for comprehension and besides holding collaborative treatments with equals. Social Constructivist Theory Social Constructivist Theory, on the other manus, is a theory that states each single cognitive development is at its best when one constructs the significance of new cognition by actively take parting in building and sharing the cognition through communicating with others ( Burningham A ; Cooper, 1999 ) . These theories believes that equal to peer treatment will assist one to actively build new cognition and learn by sharing and discoursing the stuffs gathered in a positive societal environment ( Schwandt, 2003 ) . Problem Based Learning ( PBL ) Teaching critical thought accomplishments is normally being paired with Problem Based Learning attack as it triggers and provokes scholars ‘ thought as to make to a solution to a job with relation to daily state of affairss ( Woolfolk, 1993 ) . Problem Based Learning ( PBL ) attack teaches pupils to believe critically as it takes existent universe fortunes which normally involves experiential, inductive acquisition that requires oppugning and believing that is purposive and purposive ( Lai, 2011 ) . More frequently than non, it involves a undertaking that encourages the scholars to â€Å" larn to larn † which is an of import constituent in constructivist attack ( Kuhn, 1999 ) . This necessarily will promote active larning procedure including through speaking, brainstorming and in-depth probe of cognition via legion collaborative acquisition experiences. Collaborative acquisition A figure of critical thought research workers recommended that societal experiences in a learning procedure can significantly lend to one ‘s cognitive development procedure which obviously occurred in a collaborative acquisition attack ( Heyman, 2008 ; Thayer-Bacon, 2008 A ; Nelson, 1994 ) . This is farther supported by Woolfolk ( 1993 ) who claimed that collaborative acquisition is fundamentally based from Piagetian and Vygotsky theory which reciprocally agree that societal interactions extremely contribute to one ‘s cognitive development procedure. In a collaborative acquisition, it is believed that Piaget theory is applied in footings of its instructional facet in which scholar ‘s cognitive development can be triggered via interactions with another individual of a higher developmental phase which is usually the instructor or a more knowing equal ( Woolfolk, 1993 ) whilst Vygotsky belief is identified in footings of one ‘s zone of proximal development that distinguishes between what an person can achieved by himself and what can be accomplished via interactions with a more competent equal or grownup ( Nelson, 1994 ) . Thayer-Bacon ( 2008 ) further viewed that societal interactions with others in collaborative acquisition is an of import facet to instil critical thought accomplishments onto pupils as they need to constructively contribute and portion sentiments and at the same clip learn to esteem other parts during group treatments. Collaborative Problem Based Learning ( CPBL ) Gokhale ( 1995 ) findings stated that pupils who are actively engaged in a collaborative undertaking demonstrate better Higher Order Thinking Skills ( HOTS ) as compared to the 1s who work separately. This determination is farther supported by Vygotsky ( 1978 ) who claimed that collaborative acquisition helps to further the development of critical thought accomplishments via treatment, justification of thoughts and analyzing other ‘s positions. A few research findings have shown that uniting collaborative attack on job work outing learning scheme has really increase pupils ‘ meta-cognitive on work outing the jobs and therefore, better their higher order believing accomplishments ( Johnson A ; Chung, 1999 ; Mergendoller et al. , 2000 ) . They further elaborate that the interaction between equals about the job at manus, brainstorming for solutions and measuring each other ‘s positions during the procedure has encouraged more frequent coevals of thoughts and solution and therefore, allow pupils to believe critically and analytically. Collaborative acquisition, as defined by Correndo and Alani ( 2007 ) , is an instructional scheme that consists of pupils from assorted proficiency degrees work together in a group while assisting each other towards accomplishing one common aim or larning result. On the other manus, Problem Based Learning is an instructional teaching method that uses job as a larning context to dispute the pupils to â€Å" larn to larn † in order to happen solutions to the job ( Duch, Groh A ; Allen, 2001 ) . Hence, Collaborative Problem Based Learning ( CPBL ) is a combination of Collaborative Learning and Problem Based Learning which can be concluded as an instructional scheme that provides chances for the pupils to work within little groups and actively take part in assorted activities including treatments a state of affairs, analyzing others ‘ positions and eventually collaboratively measuring possible solution to the job at manus ( An, 2006 ) . The advantages of CPBL CPBL encourages pupils to work together in building new cognition to seek a solution of the job at manus. Hence, pupils are given huge chances to go critical minds by sharing thoughts and actively prosecuting oneself in treatments and be responsible of their ain acquisition every bit good as others ‘ ( Totten, Sills, Digby, A ; Russ, 1991 ) . This place is farther supported by Johnson and Johnson ( 1986 ) who stated that the coaction on job work outing promotes higher degree of thought as the participants need to analyze others ‘ sentiment before clear uping ain sentiment. They farther claimed that this helps to advance longer cognition keeping as compared to the 1s who worked separately to seek cognition. Besides, An ( 2006 ) besides stated that CPBL provides reliable larning experiences every bit good as fostering their communicating accomplishments while interchanging thoughts during the treatments. Hence, CPBL helps to further autonomous acquisition accomplishments that could be utile to assist pupils go womb-to-tomb scholars and critical minds ( Norman and Schmidt, 1992 ) . Albanese and Mitchell ( 1993 ) besides proposed that pupils who undergone CPBL attack performed better than the 1s who received traditional attack in larning as they have first manus experience that rewards them with in-depth understanding about the undertaking at manus. This is believed because the pupils actively building their ain cognition via interaction with their equals ( Smith A ; MacGregor, 2001 ) . Vygotsky ( 1978 ) besides views that instructor is non the lone cognition sender that the pupils can larn from ; equal instruction is besides one of the ways to promote active acquisition. The restrictions of CPBL Despite of these benefits, CPBL attack besides has its just portion of defects when it is being applied in a traditional schoolroom. In any group activities, particularly in a traditional schoolroom as it is rather hard for the instructor to accurately measure every pupil ‘s parts to the group, there is ever freeloading jobs. The freeloading members normally take credits of the work of others and this may do struggle amongst pupils ( Bower A ; Richards, 2006 ) . Bower and Richards ( 2006 ) further stated that this may diminish some assurance of some pupils as psychologically, every pupil demand to be acknowledged where recognition is due in order for them to foster build their ain cognition in an active mode. They besides claimed that it is about impossible for the instructor to reasonably administer the grade based on every pupil ‘s part to the group. Hence, this may either do some pupils to either frustrated for being credited below the belt and subsequently de-motivated to lend in the hereafter or worse, become freeloaders and merely basking the free tiffin ( Bonwell, 2006 ) . Other than that, since CPBL activities need the pupils to collaboratively work towards accomplishing a end or solution to a real-life job, the readying of these activities are usually take great attempt and commitment both from the instructor and pupils. This is difficult to accomplish if it were to be done in a traditional schoolroom due to clip and infinite restraint ( Bonwell, 2002 ) . Apart from learning, Malayan instructors particularly, are burdened with other excess course of study or out of-school activities that take a batch of their personal clip ( Rosnani, 2009 ) . Without proper readying, CPBL that is hoped to promote pupils to actively build their ain cognition and at the same clip fostering their higher order and communicating accomplishments may non be turn into an accomplishable terminal ( Hmelo-Silver, 2004 ) . This is farther supported by Smith and MacGregor ( 2001 ) who claimed that collaborative acquisition is a fantastic attack to promote critical thought, nevert heless, it is besides may make quandary between pupil ‘s procedure of acquisition and the coverage of the lesson ‘s content. Computer Supported Collaborative Learning ( CSCL ) Due to the rapid development of Information Technology ( IT ) in this modern age, these twenty-first Century pupils ‘ manner of acquisition has besides changed ( An, 2006 ) . Today, one of the ways to back up active acquisition can be materialised in a more fun manner through the usage of engineering tools. Computer Supported Collaborative Learning ( CSCL ) is an instructional scheme infused with constructivist attack to learning and larning utilizing engineering to back up coaction in order to make a more contributing and prosecuting larning atmosphere ( Johnson A ; Johnson, 1996 ) . They farther stated that a technology-rich acquisition environment is able to increase pupils ‘ societal interaction, cooperation and coaction and therefore, promote their cognition building. Harasim, Hiltz, Teles, and Turoff ( 1995 ) besides claimed that CSCL promotes on-line collaborative acquisition that may positively promote pupils ‘ towards active acquisition. This is because pu pils can acquire information about effortlessly via online and so discourse with their equals before emerge with a solution to a job. CPBL in an online environment In this epoch of rapid development of Information Technology ( IT ) , there have been attempts to unite CPBL into CSCL environment ( An, 2006 ) . Many research findings have indicated that CPBL in an online environment has been demoing positive effects towards pupils ‘ cognition building every bit good as societal interaction accomplishments. One of the fringe benefits by using CPBL into an on-line environment, apart from treatment with the teacher and their equals via online with no limitation to clip and topographic point, is that it encourages autonomous larning amongst pupils as it provides pupils with huge choices of information needed about effortlessly ( Bonk A ; King, 1998 ) . This is because it allows the pupils to larn via Web 2.0 tools as larning AIDSs such as electronic mails, on-line group treatment in the confab suites, collaborative authorship via Wiki, societal bookmarking and so forth to go on anytime and anyplace. This limitless and easy entree on information will open ways for the pupils to accommodate to autonomous acquisition and therefore, promote active cognition building to happen. Besides, this online larning environment allows the function of the instructor as the exclusive supplier of cognition to transform into the function of facilitator, which aligns absolutely with student-centred attack in PBL ( Vrasidas A ; McIsaac, 2000 ) . Here, pupils are encouraged to build their ain cognition with small counsel from the instructor and go an active subscriber towards their ain acquisition alternatively of passively having cognition from anyone else. This attack opens manner to cultivate one ‘s higher order believing accomplishments ( Harasim et al. , 1997 ) as it besides promotes positive interaction between the instructor and the pupils ( Relan A ; Gillani, 1997 ) . Most significantly, Althaus, ( 1996 ) viewed that CPBL in an online environment allows computing machine mediated communicating that gives an ample clip for the pupils to analyze, reflect the content of the treatment, happen excess information needed via online and evaluate others ‘ sentiments before supplying a thoughtful response. The treatment via online besides allows the pupils to make self contemplation at their ain convenient clip as they can publish out the treatment due to its permanency discourse, as opposed to confront to confront treatment ( Bonk A ; King, 1998 ) . Bower and Richards ( 2006 ) stated that one of the restrictions of utilizing PBL in a traditional schoolroom is that the collaborative treatment in a traditional schoolroom frequently consequences in off-task behavior amongst pupils. In contrast, many research findings have proven that pupils emit less off-task behavior in an on-line treatment and they tend to concentrate and intently work outing the job at manus ( Angeli et al. , 2003 ; Bonk et al. , 1998 ; Bonk A ; King, 1998 ; Bonk et al. , 2004 ) . In fact, many psychological surveies have indicated that collaborative treatment via online shows more engagement from the pupils than the face to confront treatments ( Bonk A ; King, 1998 ; Chong, 1998 ; Cooney, 1998 ) . This state of affairs is particularly true for the pupils who have shy personality or deficiency of ego assurance to speak publically. Leasure et Al. ( 2000 ) proposed that this could be due to the comfy and â€Å" safe † societal acquisition environment that the on-line atmosphere provides for these pupils. Here, it can be said that CPBL in an on-line environment is a possible acquisition attack to advance positive alterations in cultivating critical thought every bit good as to promote one ‘s societal interaction with others. 2.8 Language larning issues in Malaya In traveling towards carry throughing Vision 2020, instruction system in Malaysia is undergoing a few alterations as to bring forth holistic persons who are competent physically, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually ( Education Reform in Malaysia Report, 2012 ) . Along with the alterations introduced, Ministry of Education ( MOE ) has decided to incorporate the instruction of critical thought accomplishments within the course of studies of the topics taught in schools including English topic. The alterations is hoped to bring forth womb-to-tomb scholars who are able to believe critically and analytically over a given state of affairs. Sadly, nevertheless, the result of our instruction system has proven a contrasting consequence in which most of Malayan pupils and university undergraduates are said to be lacking in footings critical thought accomplishments and show hapless communicating abilities particularly when it is done in English ( Normazidah, Koo A ; Hazita, 2012 ) . A survey by Koo ( 2008 ) revealed that this is due to the fact that Malaysians schools in general, placed a high value of importance on national scrutiny. This has indirectly caused the English instructors to concentrate on the instruction of grammar, reading a transition and composing accomplishments instead than concentrating on the communicative facet of the linguistic communication itself, allow entirely to model pupils ‘ critical thought ability while larning the linguistic communication ( Normazidah, Koo A ; Hazita, 2012 ) . This is farther supported by Amigapathy ( 2002 ) findings on his analysis of KBSM course of study which indicated that the content of current course of study requires the pupils to larn excessively many grammatical constituents which subsequently are to be tested in scrutinies. Here, it can be seen that the instruction of English is chiefly focused on the mechanical facet of the linguistic communication without doing any connexion with how it should be used in existent life communicative events. He farther documented that in order to carry through the demands of the society to bring forth pupils with good classs in scrutinies, English instructors in Malaysia frequently resorted to teacher-centred attack in learning the linguistic communication by supplying chalk-and-talk boring method of past twelvemonth documents, manus outs and infinite paper exercises. This finally will necessarily bring forth scholars who know about the linguistic communication but do non cognize how to utilize it in existent life state of affairss ( Amigapathy, 2002 ) , show limited critical ability in analyzing and reacting to an academic transition ( Ahmad Mazli Muhammad, 2007 ) as pupils are merely exposed to come up attack to reading ( Noorizah Mohd Noor, 2006 ) . Here, it can be concluded that there is a mismatch between the policy made with the existent practise of instruction and acquisition of English in Malaysia which make it rather hard to bring forth scholars as critical minds with acceptable degree of English proficiency. This state of affairs is reported leads to a greater job when the pupils make the passage from secondary school to university as the pupils will confront jobs to travel off from school spoon-feeding learning civilization ( Normazidah, Koo A ; Hazita, 2012 ) . Research surveies have indicated that most Malayan pupils are non prepared to run into the academic demand that requires them to hold both linguistic communication literacy every bit good as critical literacy ability in order to carry through the academic reading and academic authorship undertakings imposed on them at university ( Rosniah Mustaffa, 2006 ; Krishnakumari, Paul-Evanson, A ; Selvanayagam, 2010 ) . Therefore, it is safe to state that the clip has come for Malayan instructors to handle the pupils as the focal point of linguistic communication acquisition by doing a little alterations in learning the linguistic communication and at the same clip, whenever possible, supplying a contributing environment of larning. As CPBL is geared towards cultivating one ‘s critical thought ability ( An, 2006 ; Totten, Sills, Digby, A ; Russ, 1991 ) and critical thought accomplishments is viewed as important portion in the acquisition of linguistic communication accomplishments ( Elder A ; Paul, 2006 ; Shaharom Abdullah, 2004 ; Moore, 1995 ) , it merely seems appropriate to accommodate CPBL attack in the instruction and acquisition of English in Malaysian schoolrooms. Besides, linguistic communication acquisition can besides be mediated via engineering tools because as mentioned earlier, CPBL in an on-line environment brings enormous advantages and benefits to the pupils in footings of cr itical thought and linguistic communication acquisition as it involves legion chances for societal interactions amongst the pupils and pedagogue. Technology, linguistic communication acquisition and critical thought Technology has besides been proven utile in the instruction of linguistic communication and development of one ‘s critical thought at clip and infinite convenient to both the instructor and pupils ( Cheong A ; Cheung, 2008 ) . For case, the treatments in the treatment boards or chew the fat suites between the pupils and the instructor and besides between pupils have been used as a medium to positively develop pupils ‘ communicating accomplishments every bit good as linguistic communication accomplishments ( Chitravelu, Sithamparam and Teh, 2005 ) . Kroop, Nussbaumer and Fruhmann ( 2010 ) reported that the development of Web 2.0 tools are able to better one ‘s linguistic communication skills every bit good as support one ‘s critical thought accomplishments development by leting its users to make collaborative treatment that includes discussing, reasoning, reexamining, measuring, composing and re-producing an thought. By utilizing Web 2.0 tools such as electronic mails, treatments in confab suites or treatment boards that could be done either synchronously or asynchronously, pupils become more participative and therefore, bettering their linguistic communication and communicative accomplishments ( Berry, 2006 ) . Another Web 2.0 tools that is often used in an on-line environment to learn linguistic communication is Wiki. Wiki is said has the potency to better pupils ‘ linguistic communication accomplishments every bit good as communicating and thought accomplishments ( Goodings, 2008 ) . Fuchs-Kittowski and Kohler ( 2005 ) mentioned that Wikis is able to ease the collaborative treatments that encourage coevals of cognition by supplying a medium to portion creative activity and edit paperss. Bruns and Humphreys ( 2005 ) besides added that Wiki is a learning tool that support societal constructivist larning as it allows argumentative-based larning experience ( Chong A ; Yamamoto, 2006 ) , facilitates knowledge determining ( Reinhold, 2006 ) , allows coaction ( Kim et al. , 2006 ) and allows enquiry acquisition and collaborative building of cognition ( Yukawa, 2006 ) . This procedure is known as Argumentative Knowledge Construction. Knowledge building within a traditional schoolroom is frequently relied to a great extent on the instructors which necessarily produce inactive scholars who may or may non be able to critically decode the cognition received to use it in existent life state of affairs ( Weible, 2011 ) . By utilizing Web 2.0 tools, on the other manus, it encourages and facilitates active engagement of each user as everyone has a just portion and chance to make, portion, edit, add on and go through the cognition and these actions reinforce single ‘s cognition building by actively larning from others ( Correndo A ; Alani, 2007 ) . Besides, Web 2.0 tools value are increased as the more people are utilizing it as the content cognition and the information are provided chiefly by the users and construct up over the clip with other users ‘ part ( Weible, 2011 ) . This procedure encourages argumentative cognition building amongst its users as they learn from each other and develop higher other bel ieving accomplishments as the users need to measure others ‘ sentiment apart from offering one in the treatment. This is in line with constructivism attack in which larning takes topographic point and retain longer when it is achieve via societal context ( Woolfolk, 1993 ) . Argumentative Knowledge Construction Harmonizing to Weinberger and Fischer ( 2006 ) , Argumentative Knowledge Construction is described as a manner for the pupils to build their ain cognition via educational debate and interaction with their learning spouses. They besides stated that each single cognition building is depends on is refined and evidenced throughout their active engagement in analyzing sentiments of others, measuring possible solutions or results available from emerge with ain point of views via treatment and debate with equals. Argumentative Knowledge Construction in CPBL Aalst ( 2009 ) stated that Argumentative Knowledge Construction is a procedure in which the pupils solve a job and concept meaningful comprehension of a peculiar state of affairs in relation to their anterior cognition by societal interaction within a peculiar group. He farther added it involves a huge sphere of cognitive procedures as it involves critical-explanation seeking oppugning techniques, construing and analyzing new information, sharing, knocking, reorganizing thoughts, sum uping and synthesising before emerge with a new construct of the affair. In CPBL, for illustration, pupils learn by take parting in experiential acquisition and garner the indispensable cognition by work outing a job and reflecting on their collaborative experiences ( Hmelo-Silver, 2004 ) . CPBL activities encourage pupils to work in little collaborative groups in order to look into, understand, explicate and happen a solution to meaningful, real-life contexts ( Barrow, 2000 ) . He farther viewed that CPBL attack is widely used to cultivate one ‘s critical thought accomplishments as its acquisition procedure starts by showing the pupils with a job scenario in which the pupils try to work out the job collaboratively by place the lacks within the job, sharing sentiments and facts before coming out with hypotheses as to critically supply solutions to the job. Therefore, it can be said that CPBL is a suited attack to learn pupils to develop schemes in work outing jobs which may heighten their critical thought ability and besides assist them to heighten their argumentative cognition building ( Hmelo-Silver, 2004 ) . Argumentative Knowledge Construction in CSCL Student ‘s argumentative cognition building procedure can be enhanced rather expeditiously through pupils ‘ treatments and composing with the assistance of fast growing and spread of Web 2.0 engineering, particularly in linguistic communication instruction and acquisition ( Stegmann et al. , 2007 ) . Bocconi ( 2010 ) proposed that CSCL may help to the Argumentative Knowledge Construction via the usage of Web 2.0 tools integrates with societal package to ease pupils interaction and coaction within a peculiar group. This is an accomplishable state of affairs as Web 2.0 tools such as weblogs, wikis, societal bookmarking, treatment boards, societal networking sites and others allow its users to pool information that triggers communications that leads to knowledge sharing and therefore, cognition is constructed ( Strijbos, Martens and Jochems, 2004 ) . Apart from that, the research conducted by Boulos et Al. ( 2006 ) stated that Wikis have the possible to ease autonomous acquisition of one to build ain cognition in order to derive deeper apprehension over a affair. Another research done by Bocconi ( 2010 ) shows that the usage of Web 2.0 tools, the Wikis to be specific, has shown positive consequence to catapult pupil ‘s argumentative cognition building procedure by analyzing the quality and frequence of the single argumentative Acts of the Apostless throughout the procedure. This is farther supported by Armin et Al. ( 2006 ) who claimed that by utilizing Wiki, pupils learn how to reason within a sphere and facilitates scholars in building their ain cognition and this taking them to a deeper apprehension. Bocconi ( 2010 ) stated that pupils ‘ higher order believing accomplishments are evidenced via their statements throughout the treatment procedure. He farther suggested that one of the methods to analyze and supervise pupils ‘ statement that emits their degree of higher order believing accomplishments can be done by utilizing Models of Argument such as Toulmin ‘s Model Models of Argumentation Model of Argumentation is defined as the basic layout as to sketch the best possible ways to organize an effectual procedure of common sense logical thinking or controversy in supplying a persuasive point of views ( Georgia State University, Department of English, 2008 ) . There are a few theoretical accounts of debate that are widely used in educational discourse in linguistic communication acquisition viz. the Classical Approach, the Rogerian Approach and the Toulmin Approach. The Classical Approach is fundamentally used to convert the audience to hold and take side or do determination that favours one ‘s personal point of view ( Beale, 1986 ) . He farther elaborates that this attack consists of five elements of composing the statements viz. the Introduction in which to province the general claim of an statement to the audience ; the Narration as to supply a relevant drumhead background of peculiar state of affairs ; the Confirmation as to supply back uping grounds to a claim. Then, it is followed by the Refutation in which the talker or author provides a counter-argument to any opposing claims before terminals it with the Conclusion as to which the talker or author summarizes the chief points and reiterates the claim made in Introduction portion. The Rogerian Approach, on the other manus, is based on the thought that the talker or the author needs to happen a â€Å" common land † with his audience as to make to a more conciliatory and less confrontational solution ( Moxley, 2012 ) . There are besides chiefly five elements in sketching debate thoughts harmonizing to Rogerian Model of Argumentation. It begins with an Introduction that province the issue ; followed by a non-judgemental opposition ‘s place ; a impersonal statement of ain point of view ; an analysis of common land of both places stated and eventually a proposal of concluding statement that satisfies the demands of both places made. Whilst Toulmin ‘s Model of Argumentation in which it was developed by a British philosopher, Stephen Toulmin. He suggested that a realistic statement normally starts with a individual makes a claim over a affair, so supply a land that support the claim which is followed by a warrant to endorse up the land made ( Toulmin, 1958 ) . This is the Model of Argumentation chosen to be used in this survey and will be elaborated at length below. Toulmin ‘s Model Harmonizing to Toulmin ( 1958 ) , his strategy of statement analysis is based on six parts, which could be depicted utilizing Figure 2.1 as follows: Datas Claim Warrants Backing Qualifier Rebuttal Figure 2.1: Toulmin ‘s Model of Argument Claim: the statement or decision being argued ; Datas: The grounds or fact to back up the claim made ; Warrants: the logical statements that serve as a connexion between the informations and the claim made ; Backing: the basic premise that is made to farther support a warrant ; Qualifiers: states the restriction under which state of affairs the claim can be regarded as true ; Rebuttals: the counter statements to picture circumstance when the claim made is non true. ( Toulmin, 1958 ) In add-on, Bocconi ( 2010 ) indicated that the basic construction of each of these phases can be identified and represented as follows: â€Å" because ( informations ) . . . since ( warrant ) . . . on history of ( endorsing ) . . . therefore ( decision ) † Bocconi ( 2010 ) Karbach ( 2010 ) stated that Toulmin suggested that one ‘s statement can be analysed by looking at his or her cognition building at four stairss viz. ; claim, informations, rebuttal and backup as to see whether the statement made solidly backed, sufficient and relevant to back up the old statements made. Hence, Karbach ( 2010 ) believed that Toulmin ‘s Model of Argumentation is a clear theoretical account to observe one ‘s inductive, deductive and logical logical thinking. Kneupper ( 1978 ) besides viewed that this layout strategy can be efficaciously used to analyze the constituents of an statements in linguistic communication acquisition. Decision The instruction of higher order believing accomplishments can non be taught in isolation ( Lai, 2011, Nagappan, 2001 ) . Hence, it has to be integrated into the course of study as to supply the pupils with the existent life medium and purposeful acquisition results apart from its importance to cultivate one ‘s critical thought and communicating accomplishments ( Education Reform in Malaysia Report, 2012 ) . In this fast growing of Information Technology ( IT ) epoch, the usage of engineering such as Web 2.0 tools can be used to efficaciously heighten the instruction of these accomplishments anytime anyplace ( Winston, 2006 ) . Besides, the usage of these engineering tools are proven to be effectual to promote pupils to larn collaboratively as human makes significances and can make at a deeper apprehension by pass oning with others ( Vygotsky, 1978 ; Johnson and Johnson, 1986 ; Gokhale,1995 ; An, 2006 ) . Through the communicating and interaction in a collaborative treatment via online, one can actively develop his or her ain cognition building in order to organize deeper apprehension in a safe and unafraid societal environment ( Chitravelu, Sithamparan A ; Teh, 2005 ; Weinberger A ; Fischer, 2006 ) . How to cite The Importance Of Critical Thinking Skills Education Essay, Essay examples

Witchcraft Essay Example For Students

Witchcraft Essay WITCHCRAFT: WHAT IS IT REALLY? For my final project, I choose the non-ordinary topic of witchcraft. I was not and am not, interested in researching this to learn how to become a witch and to practice the craft. My intent in doing this project stemmed from the fact that I am a Christian. This class has showed me how to have a more open mind, and how gaining knowledge provides understanding. I wanted to see what is fact and what is false about the myths and stereotypes about witches and witchcraft. To fully explore this subject I have found information on the history of witchcraft and its evolution into the religion of Wicca that is practiced today. I have also looked into how the media today and in the past has presented witches and the type of propaganda that they use that further in the falsehoods that still are present about the craft. Another aspect of my project is two interviews that I conducted with people associated with witchcraft, Meghan Lewis and Carol Karlsen. Witchcraft t he religion is quite old. Practices have said to be dated back to Neolithic â€Å"Stone Age† cave painting, but it is hard to be completely certain if the pictures have been interpreted properly. Witchcraft is known to have grown out of pre-Christian pagan beliefs. The beliefs have developed over the years, being taken from various sources. The idea of witchcraft took a major turn around the end of the mid-evil period. Around the 1500’s the religion of witchcraft no longer become accepted. The Catholic Church in Europe began inquisitions and the persecutions of people they believed to be witches. Before this time the definition of a witch had a person such as a healer or sorcerer/sorceress. Often the people who were known as witches were â€Å"wise folk† or â€Å"good witches.† They were often old, and believed that their knowledge of herbs used in medicine was due to their age. Starting in about the thirteenth century the concept of what a witch was chan ged that a person who was called a witch was believed to have it in with Satan and practicing evil. The idea of there being good witches was no longer accepted, and a series of witch trials began to continued on until around the end of the 1600’s, spreading from Europe to the New World of America. Execution of accused witches occurred in many counties throughout Europe. Some of common things that witches were blamed for causing were destructive storms; non-producing crops or animals, diseases, sterility, death, possession of humans and making them do outrageous acts. The Romans and Greeks were also known to put some people to death for being witches. People who were in witches in those societies were believed to move around at night causing the evils of humanity. In most of Europe, though, a witch was someone who was conspiring with the devil, which during the mid-evil times was a great offense. The people of this era were very devout in their religion, and the devil was high ly feared. To have a person who was supposed to be connected to the devil was something that just could not be accepted. Some of the first executions in Europe that occurred for the crime of witchcraft took place between the years of 1347-1400 in France. Sixty-seven were burned for being involved with the craft. In the 1400’s, the Catholic Church became a key player and influencer in the persecution of witches. It was declared by the church that witchcraft was a â€Å"hostile threat† to Christianity and that a crackdown on the ending the practice was necessary. It was at this time that the idea that witches were agents of the devil became a common belief. They were suspected by some to be on earth to do evil on God’s people. Much of how one would be declared a witch was based upon a book commissioned by the Pope. It was written by two monks, Heinrich Kraemer and Jacob Sprenger, and is entitled â€Å"malleies malificarum† or â€Å"The Witches’ Hamm er.† It outlined various aspects that were considered against that were a crime to be participating in, and defined someone as a witch. Witchcraft was be outlawed in England in the year 1541, and in 1604, capital punishment became the ramification for a person who was a witch or pagan. The inquisition of witches continued to occur in Europe throughout the 1500’s and 1600’s. In 1515, more than five hundred charged witches were executed in Geneva. In 1589, one hundred and thirty-three men, women and children were burned in one day for being witches. Between the years of 1591 and 1600, three hundred were put to death in Switzerland. Also, in Sweden, during the time between 1674-1677, seventy-one were burned for suspected involvement in the craft. The people who were put to death often went through much torture before their lives were finally ended. The mid-evil times in Europe are somewhat known for the variety of tortures and devices used on people when accused of various crimes. Some of these punishments that accused witches would be subjected to include: thumbscrews, the rack, and boots that were made to break the person’s legs. The accused were often deprived sleep and food as well, while awaiting their inevitable death. Many times the person accused of witchcraft were subjected to these tortures because they would not confess. They would be continually put through pain until they declared participating in witchcraft, and then they would die. The situation was no win, many would die from torture, and if they didn’t then they would confess and die because for that reason. Two famous trials that took place in Europe are that of Joan of Arc and Urbain Grandier. Joan of Arc was accused of heresy and witchcraft. She admitted to hearing voices that she claimed belonged to St. Michael, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Margaret. She also declared that these voices instructed her to help in the Hundred Years’ War. Though he r involvement actually turned the war in Frances favor, she was put in trial for the wearing of masculine attire and for acting on God and not for the Catholic Church. She was burned at the stake for her â€Å"crimes.† Twenty-five years after her burning, the church revoked the decision, declaring her innocent, and a heroine due to her assistance in the war. Urbain Grandier was a respected priest in the town of Loudun, France. He was prosecuted for the crime of sorcery, evil spells, and causing the possession of Ursuline nuns at a convent in his town. The accusations by these women were the focus of his charge. They suddenly began barking, screaming, contorting they bodies out of pain, and participating in acts of blaspheme. When asked, they stated that Garndier was the reason for their outrageous actions. At his trial, seventy-two people testified to have witnessed his â€Å"witchcraft† actions, and based upon these testimonies he was burned alive. Studying the cause after the fact, it has been stated by many that the real reason for Garndier being accused had nothing to do with him actually being involved with witchcraft. Many historians believe that he was highly associated with politics and was not liked, and murdered due to this. They believe that the nuns’ actions were part of a conspiracy with higher government officials in the town. With this snowballing effect of witchcraft inquisitions throughout Europe, it was bound to spread across the seas to the young New World colonies. The small village of Salem would be the one to get hit. The events that took place in Salem are a part of American history that have lived throughout the years, and are still studied to this day. Salem Village was the first European settlement in what is now called Danvers, Massachusetts. Salem Village developed into its own entity and parish from breaking off the already existing Salem Town when a group of farmers moved to this area petitioning for its indep endence. This occurred in 1689, and the village became established with its church led by the Reverend Samuel Parris. The beginning of the accusations occurred because of the daughter and niece of Rev. Samuel Parris. In the winter of 1692, nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams suddenly seemed to fall ill. They began displaying unexplainable and frightening behaviors. The girls would dive under furniture, contort their bodies in painful positions, claim that they were being bit and poked by some unseen force, bark, scream gibberish, and claim to see frightening apparitions. Other girls in the neighboring homes started experiencing these same symptoms. These girls included eleven-year-old Ann Putman, seventeen-year-old Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott, Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon, and Mary Warren, making the total number inflicted eight. The town called in Dr. William Griggs to examine the girls, and hopefully get an explanation for their outrageous behaviors. Even befo re the doctor’s assessment of the girls’ condition, there were rumors going around the village that witchcraft may be the cause. These are partly attributed to a book that had been recently published by Cotton Mather. It was entitled â€Å"Memorable Providences,† and told the tale of a woman in Ireland that had been possessed by a witch. The woman’s behavior in the book was similar to that displayed by the infected girls. After Dr. Griggs fully examined the girls, and tired various methods to cure them, he had no answer. In the meantime, the disease seemed to be spreading with some adults being infected. He finally suggested that the supernatural might be at play in the cases of these little girls. The individuals living the Salem Village were strict Puritans. Some of the behaviors that the girls were exhibiting were scaring the community, and causing many to believe somehow the devil was involved. Many of the people in the village were convinced that wit chcraft and Satan were coming to breakdown this God-fearing town. From the assertion by the doctor, and already existing opinions that witchcraft was the cause, the accusations began. Parris and Williams made the first allegations of specific persons being participating in witchcraft and causing the epidemic that was taking place in the town. The girls accused three women, Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborn. Tituba was a Caribbean woman that worked as a slave to the Parris family. She had been suspected by many as a witch due to the different beliefs of her native culture. Sarah Good was an old beggar woman that some would consider a social outcast. Sarah Osborn was also an old woman known for being quarrelsome and for not attending church on a regular basis. These three women were placed in jail and schedule for trials of witchcraft in March. After these first condemnations, many more followed, with the jails filling up more and more everyday. As the number of people in jail incr ease, the less likely it seemed that some should be there. Others accused included the very pious and frail Rebecca Nurse; Martha Corey, wife of a successful farm; Deliverance Hobbs; Bridget Bishop, owner of a house of brothel; Sarah Cloyce; Goodwife Proctor, wife of a rich farmer and Mary Easty. Also, the four-year-old daughter of Sarah Good, Dorcas, would be accused of being tied to witchcraft as well. Three of the girls had complained that they were bitten by Dorcas’s specter. It soon turned that it wasn’t just females being implicated, some males were said to witches. The wealthy Phillip English and George Burroughs, a former pastor in Salem joined the women in confinement. The first of the accused to confess to witchcraft was the Parris’s slave Tituba. She said in her testimony that she had met a man that sometimes would appear as a dog or hog, and he would ask her to sign his book to do work for him (the devil). She declared that she was a witch, and that she, Good and Osborn had flown in the air over the poles. More and more trials, confessions, and denials followed this initial act by Tituba. When the women would come into the courtroom the girls would scream and say that they were being hurt, or other various horrid things by the â€Å"witch† When it was all over, nearly 25 died. Sarah Osborn died in prison; Sarah Good, Bridget Bishop, Rebecca Nurse, George Burroughs, Martha Corey, Mary Easty were all hanged; and the husband of Martha Corey, Giles, was pressed to death under two heavy stones which took a period of two days. He and his wife were the last victims of the witch-hunt that had become an epidemic in this little village of Salem. Early Autumn of 1692 brought an ending to this awful period in American history. Many doubts were starting to develop in people of the town due to the social stance of some of the accused held. Increase Mather published a book entitled â€Å"Cases of Conscience† which argued the mor als behind what had been taking place over the past few months. There are many theories that have developed since the end of the witch trials of Salem. These ideas have also come up in the study of the witch-hunts in Europe. Where people making this up? Where their social reasons that they wanted certain murdered and used witchcraft as the mode? As one can see, over this period the concept of what a witch was become skewed from the original definition. During the times between the 1300’s to the late 1600’s, the practice of religion of witchcraft became somewhat of a secret society. What these secret witches were practicing was not in the same form that the church categorized witchcraft as. After the late 1600’s, witchcraft remained a quiet practice by its followers. Then, in 1897, and book was written entitled â€Å"Aradia† or The Gospel of the Witches,† by Godfrey Liland. Though it went unnoticed, it was a beginning of resurgence of the true religi on of witchcraft in society. About fifteen to twenty years after Liland’s novel was publish an Egyptologist, Dr. Margaret Alice Murray, discovered some documents on witchcraft. Information in these records stated that witchcraft was actually a mix of ancient, pre-Christianity, nature/fertility based religion. Murray furthered researched this information to find it to be true. She went on to study the laws that the church had implemented during the times of the witch-hunts. In researching the information on the this topic she found evidence supporting the validity that witchcraft has nothing to do with Satan, and that they churches knew this the entire time. She published her findings in a work called â€Å"The Witch-Cult in Western Europe.† These works initiated the reformation of the craft and its ability to be practiced by people without fearing for their lives. Modern witchcraft, or the general term, Wicca, has many forms and has evolved from different areas. This c hart shows the basic evolution of witchcraft. Many new-age practices of Wicca are based off the beliefs established by Aleistel Crowley. An outline of his doctrines was presented in his biography and provided a basis for many who were seeking a form of witchcraft to practice. From his basic concepts grew what is known as â€Å"Gardinerian† style of Wicca. Gerald Brosseau Gardner, a follower of Crowley, developed it. The â€Å"Alexandian† style was begun by Alex Sanders, and has many of the same concepts that are practiced by the Gardinearian witches. Miriam Simos, or Starhawk, is the founder of the feminist Wicca in the United States. She runs an organization known as The Covenant of the Goddess, which combines feminism and the Gardinerian style. Though there are many different styles of Wicca one could practice, there are many basic concepts that are consistent in most of the different types. Many of the basic beliefs of witchcraft counteract the myths and stereotypes the today’s society has about what witchcraft is. A witch can be male or female, and is defined as one who practices Wicca. Witchcraft is a nature religion, not unlike that of shamanism, and is considered pagan religion. With this concept of worshipping nature, witches believe in the idea of dualism. What this means is that they believe that everything in nature, including humans, has a male and female (this can be related to Christianity’s good/evil concept). The God and The Goddess of Wicca represent the male/female aspect of nature. These are what witches worship; so when one asks if a witch believes in God, the answer is yes, but as a creative force and not in the Christian sense. The Goddess of Wicca represents the continuation of existence in nature and she has three forms. The first is Herodias, or The Maiden who is the symbol of birth and beginning. One who worships this form of the goddess must be a virgin, but one who follows The Maiden is said to have the i nnocence of perception and stronger psychic abilities. The second form is Diana Gaia, or The Mother. She represents life in its’ prime. Her followers learn to use sex as a power source and don’t have the â€Å"blind spots† that sometimes occur from having a perception of innocence. The final form is Hecate, Anatha, or The Crone. She is believed to represent death and ending. Witches that follow the path of The Crone gain wisdom and objectivity that comes with age. The God of Wicca is the symbol of the male element of nature; he represents cycles, that of a year (birth, life, death and re-birth). He is believed to born to The Goddess, and dies on all hallows’ eve each year. Some types of Wicca believe that The God has three forms-the blue God of spring, the green God of summer, and the brown God of fall. As one can see, witches do not worship the devil. In the morals of the craft, there actually is no incentive for witches to do evil work, and they do not worship any evil entities at all. A basic concept of Wicca is that of the â€Å"Three-Fold Law,† which says that whatever you do comes back to you three times, so witches only want to do good. Another basic aspect in Wicca is that of the rede. It states â€Å" An’ye harm none, do what ye will.† What this is saying, is that witches do not believe in harming anyone or anything, and so as long as a witch practices that idea they can do what they want. Witches do practice magick and spells, but not in the sense that most think of them. Spells are related back to strong prayer for something. Magick in Wicca is the effect of a spell. There are often magick referred as black and white. Many witches do not like these terms; but the basic idea that white magick is done with a general intent of good and black magick is done with the intent to effect the free will of someone specifically. For example, black magick could be trying to make a person fall in love with you. Wit ches do use tools in their spells/prayers that they believe hold powers in aiding them with they work. This is much like that of the shamans as well. Some basic tools and symbols are used by most that practice Wicca. The Pentagram or Pentacle is a five-pointed star in an upright, one-point up position. It is known as the symbol of witchcraft. The top point symbolizes the creator ruling the four elements of nature, air-love, fire-knowledge, water-wisdom and the earth-truth. The circle enclosing the star stands for the Deity. Other tools include candles of various coloring representing different things. The anthame is a dagger (dull, not used to cut) used to center energy when performing a spell. The wand is used in spells to invoke the energy of The God or The Goddess. The cauldron is used in many rituals especially during various holidays. The censer is an incense burner that is used in offerings to the Deities. The Book of Shadows is created by all witches and holds a witch’ s rituals, spells, dreams, and anything important to their practice. Witches also have various statues, icons, jewels, and still other various things that old special meaning to them. Another aspect of Wicca is the holidays that most witches celebrate. The most well known, but not by this name is, Samhain. It occurs on October 31, and is the eve of the Celtic New Year and first day of Winter. It is believed that on this night the line between the material world and the spiritual world is the easiest to cross over. Yule occurs on December 21 or 22, and is the night of the winter solstice. The God is re-born to bring light and warmth back to the earth. Imbold (Candlemas) fall on February 2 and is in celebration of the first stirrings of the year. It is also in celebrating of the three phases of The Goddess. There is also Ostara on March 21 or 22 serving as a reminder that light and dark are in balance. Still other holidays include Beltane, Litha, Lammas, and Mabon all representing a c elebration in a change in nature or of The God or The Goddess. All of these facts of Wicca are just a basic understanding of what in religion entails. Most witches believe that your practice is what you make of it yourself, and what you want to believe is fine as long as it if for your own purpose and done out of good. When studying the history and the facts of witchcraft, I took a personal interest in the effects of the history of witchcraft on its view in popular culture. Witches are a common theme in many works of literature, TV programs and movies. Who hasn’t heard of the three witches of Macbeth that gave him his fate? There was also the popular program of Bewitched were Samantha was called a witch because she could cast the notion of what many thought was a spell, and also make things just appear when she wanted them too. Many times the stereotypes, in general, that are presented in the multi-media venue are taken from some truths in society. I feel that for witchcraft typecasts that are placed in witches in TV and the movies are just based upon popular culture and have no real backing. While doing this project I watched a couple shows that are on TV now that have witchcraft as a topic for the show. One show that is on is called Charmed; it is about three sisters who practice the craft. Some of information presented held true to that of what Wicca is, but some of was changed for entertainment purposes. Another program I viewed was Sabrina the Teenage Witch. The show is true example on how witches have gotten the label that they still have today. Sabrina, her two aunts and her cat are all witches. On this episode, they all can just cast spells at the drop of a hat to make things â€Å"magically† appear. Another aspect I noticed while doing this project was the reaction I received from people when I told them what my topic was. Many kind of looked at me weird, some asked if I believed it, and others inquired if I was learning how to cast spel ls. The impression that I got was there is a true ignorance in American culture to the knowledge of what true Wicca and witchcraft is today. When pondering why this is, I realized that much of that has to do with how witches are portrayed. No TV show or movie has ever accurately shown how Wicca is practiced because it wouldn’t be entertaining. It is easy to fuel the misconceptions what of witchcraft is. Some of this is understandable and unchangeable; we are never going to get rid of the woman dressed in black with a pointed hat and a wart on her nose as the traditional image of a witch. This project opened my eyes to how stereotypes and myths can be easily furthered by the media. Another personal aspect of this project is two interviews that I conducted with women associated to witchcraft. One was with a woman named Meghan Lewis, who practices worshipping nature, and believes in some of the Wicca concepts. The second interview was with Carol Karlsen, a professor in Womenâ₠¬â„¢s Studies at the University of Michigan. She is teaching a course in the history of witchcraft. These two interviews provided me with some opinions and personal aspects on witchcraft that I had not found in my previous research. Meghan Lewis is a woman that one can just tell is educated. She begins our first conversation wanting to know what I wanted kind of information I was interested in so she could prepare for the second time that we planned to talk and conduct the interview. In the process of the interview, I personally enjoyed just listening to her talk about her beliefs and views on witchcraft, or more so, nature based religion. She became interested in these kinds of beliefs when she took a six-week class in women’s spirituality. They focused on the theories of the native American religions and that of Celtic religion that interested her due to her Scottish and English ancestry. After this course, she began meditating at the Arb, and getting more in touch with nat ure. This began a reorientation of herself to nature and she began deriving power from nature. In speaking with Meghan, I could tell that she has done much work into the study of Wicca religion, and on the concept of worshipping nature. She says that she doesn’t necessarily practice Wicca, but she does practice many of the Wicca concepts. She informed me that Wicca is a Gaelic term that means to shirt awareness and to bend and change. In her spell work, or worship, she uses her paintings. She feels she can connect herself to nature through her paintings. She also believes in the power of will and works with the chakras of the body, on in particular being the abs, which symbolize the seed of will. She also defined her spell work as most of the information on Wicca I found did; it is work for a desired outcome, but not bad. That is actually one thing that hit me about Meghan, she was so calm and just seemed peaceful. This is just the feeling that I got over the phone; she had a very soothing voice and was very interested in helping me out with my project. Overall, the interview with Meghan gave me a personal look into someone who is practicing everything that I have read about while doing research for this project. It really showed me how one applies these beliefs to their everyday life. She also gave me the names of some books that I did not come across in my research that sound very interesting to read and I plan to try to pick them up. My interview with Carol Karlsen was extremely informative as well. She has spent a lot of time studying witchcraft, especially the woman’s aspect of it. She wrote a book that I actually came across in my research but wasn’t able to check it out, entitled â€Å"The Devil in the Shape of a Women.† What this book focuses on is the women and the girls of the Salem witch trials. I asked Karlsen what are her beliefs on the Salem trials, since the questions have come up to whether these girls were telling t he truth. She gave me an overview of what she has come to believe through her research. She thinks that there was something wrong with the girls. Some kind of psychological disturbance through fear of the devil, or something, may have been the actual cause, as she hypothesized. She also discussed the social standing of most of the women that were accused of the crime of witchcraft. She said that most were either the only daughter, widows with land, wives with sons, and wives with no children. Many were also old and not quite pillars of the society, yet some were, but then that goes back the theory of the social standing. She basically inferred is that there is a possibility that these women were put on trial as the cause of the girls’ illnesses as an excuse to kill them, or inhibit them from having the husbands’ land since it wasn’t accepted at them time for a women to own land and money. We also talked about the class that she teaches at the University that I h ope I can take in the future. This semester what is going to cover is what I have done here, but I am sure it will be further in depth with more concepts that I have been able to come up with for my project. She said that she is going to lecture on the history of European witchcraft, Salem, and then popular culture of witchcraft. That last aspect is what intrigued me the most while doing my project, so I truly hope I can someday take her class. When doing my research for this project I was stunned at the amount of information that is out there about witchcraft. I also found that there are so many different interpretations to what witchcraft really is, and it can almost be confusing at times. I did get everything I hoped out of doing this project. I wanted to learn about witchcraft because I didn’t really know what was true about it and what was false. I also realized that I wanted to know to be informed so that I feel comfortable having a view on a topic. One thing that I hav e learned through this class is just to be open to new ideas, even if you don’t plan on believing them I think it makes a person more well-rounded the more knowledge they have. I think it is ignorant for people to refuse to learn about psychic abilities, healing, or witchcraft based upon the reason they don’t believe in it. It often makes me wonder if they are so fickle in their beliefs, that reading about other things that are out there will change who they are. I know that I am a very firm Christian, but I am also very accepting of the other religions that are out there. One thing that I did discover in reading about the religion of Wicca is that many of the basic principles are the same just the specifics vary. I don’t use candles to pray, or worship gods of the earth, but I have my own beliefs and so do witches. The project gave me a unique experience and a very informative on into a topic that I had many misconceptions that have been absolved. Witchcraft an d Wicca has had its share of problems, but I have respect for people who stand up for their beliefs and support something even though its not considered part of the norm in today’s conforming society. Bibliography:Bibliography WORKS CITED Baker, Kevin. â€Å"The History of Wicca.† 1 December, 1999. http://www.spiritonline.com/wicca/history.html. Barstow, Anne Lyewellyn. Witchcraze. San Fransisco, CA: Pandora, 1994. â€Å"Best Witches.† 20 May, 1999. http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/jup/witches/qa/q137.htm Catala. â€Å"The Burning Times.† Catala Silvermoon. January 1997. 8 December, 1999. http://www.silvermoon.net/catala/burning/times.htm Godbeer, Richard. The Devil’s Dominion. New York, NY: Cambridge Press, 1992. Lea, Henry Charles, LL.D. History of Witchcraft. New York, NY: Thomas Yoseloff, 1957. Lee. â€Å"General.† The Truth about Witchcraft. February, 1998. 1 December, 1999. http://www.tgka.com/lee/wcraft.htm Lewis, Meghan. Telephone Intervie w. 13 December, 1999. Linder, Douglas. â€Å"An Account of the Events in Salem.† Famous American Trials. 1998. 2 December, 1999. http://www.law.umke.edu/faculty/Projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_ACCT.htm Mair, Lucy. Witchcraft. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1969. â€Å"What is a Witch?† Salem Tarot Page. 5 December, 1999. www.salemtarot.com/whatawitch.html â€Å"Wiccan Holidays.† The Salem Witch Village. 5 December, 1999. http://www.salemwitchvillage.com/sabbats.htm. â€Å"Witchcraft.† 1 December, 1999. http://topaz.kenyon.edu/projects/margin/witch.htm â€Å"Witchcraft_102FAQSheet.† 2 December, 1999. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2188/we102faq.htm â€Å"Witchcraft: A Brief History.† 1 December, 1999. Salem Wax Museum. http://www.salaemwaxuseum.com/twitch.htm â€Å"Witchcraft The Facts.† 6 December,1999. http://www.blast.net/norm3vog/prnt-it.html Word Count: 5188 .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202 , .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202 .postImageUrl , .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202 , .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202:hover , .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202:visited , .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202:active { border:0!important; } .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202:active , .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202 .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u8808c2d4c6d55989b4991e7c0b5e9202:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Prostitution Why Not Legalize It Essay We will write a custom essay on Witchcraft specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now