Development of Tools for Learning in a Science Museum

Development of Tools for Learning in a Science Museum Introduction: Science museums and science centres are informal science institutions which are the effective channels that have been used as the tools to communicate science and technology to the public. These informal educational institutes provide various positive impact such as the memorable learning experiences influence to attitude and behaviour, the increasing of visitors knowledge and understanding of science, the personal and social inspirations which can enhance inter-generation learning, and the impact on encourage trust and understanding between the public and the scientific community (ECSITE 2009). Museums became the places for everyone including families, the American Association of Museum reported that in the US the majority group visited the museum in 2006 was the family group (Borun 2008). Parents usually bring their children to museums for many reasons, learning something new, relaxation, and entertainment (Laetsch et al. 1980; Wolins 1989; Falk Dierking 1992b; Falk Dierking 2000 ) There are long literatures of researches which study about family visitor learning in Museum and informal setting institutes in the Western culture. Many research attempt to understand the social behaviour and improve the learning experiences for the family visitors by investigated visitors attention and participation (KORAN et al. 1988; Judy Diamond 1986; McManus 1987; Falk 1991). For example, the research on the influence of children on the viewing behaviour of family groups by Judy Diamond in 1979 in Falk and Dierking, 1992 indicated that families tend to understand exhibition by trial and error and discussing among the group without reading instructions. Children likely to interact with exhibition more than their parents who tend to learn by looking for the information (Sherman Rosenfeld 1982). There are also broad perspectives of how people learning in the museums. For understanding of the museum experience Falk and Dierking, described that the physical, personal and sociocultural context are the important elements which affect the learning outcome in a design setting in exhibition and museums gallery (Falk Dierking 1992b; Falk Dierking 2000). Science Museum and Science Centre have a strategy in using many kinds of media to communicate the scientific concepts to their visitors such as text panels, multimedia panels, interactive exhibits, hands-on exhibits, and activities. In 1997 the study and development of family friendly exhibition by Minda Borun introduced seven concepts of the successful multi-ages users of interactive science exhibition in order to support the family learning in museum which are Multi-sided, Multi-user, Accessible, Multi-outcome, Multi-modal, Readable and Relevant (Borun Dritsas 1997; Borun et al. 1997; Borun 2008). In Thailand many people believe that science is very difficult and feel alienate from their life. The main customers of the informal science institutions in Thailand are students and families (NSM year report 2005-2009). In 2005 Aphiyas research on the public interest and awareness of science and technology in Thailand found that families prefer to spend their leisure time at shopping malls rather than museums. This might be result from the difficulty of accessibility to the exhibition by family groups. Moreover, the family groups might believe that their children could gain more knowledge from a science museum when they visit the museum along with their school class. However, there are very few researches and understanding about how people learning science through the exhibition and how to enhance the family learning behaviour in science museum in Thailand. Interestingly, museums offer free-choice learning experiences and motivate visitors to interact and gain the scientific concepts by themselves, most of the exhibitions in science museums or science centres are designed for a wide range of visitors from individual to multi-ages users. However, exhibitions might not usually provide enough support to promote a parent and child to learn scientific concept from an exhibition together (Borun 2008). It is a worthwhile study to research and develop tools that could encourage the family audiences learning science through science exhibitions. This research will conduct based on multidisciplinary areas of social science, science communication, and a science education framework. This study attempts to accumulate body of knowledge to understand the process in exhibitions tool development which relates to existent knowledge about media development, visitor interactions, and visitor behaviour. This could enhance the family users to participate, interact, and learn science from exhibits in museum gallery. The three exhibits tools in this research consist of a label written for specific group, an interactive instruction screen, and a video instruction. Text label is one of the most important elements in the exhibition. Visitors usually learn from label. In the Natural History Museum and Zoo the critical element of intent and engagement is narrative, particularly from panel (Stocklmayer et al. 2010). Many exhibitions use the mini text label not only provide their content, but also attracts visitors by their variety characteristics. Moreover, some research in exhibit labels indicated that the using of questions in label can facilitate the visitors behaviours of learning conversation and engage them to the exhibitions. (Hohenstein Tran 2007) The engagement with the science exhibition has been recognised as very important in learning science. Science exhibits themselves, usually, attract visitors to engage with, but they may not support visitors to learn (Haywood Cairns 2006). Touch screen instruction allows visitors engage with information of the exhibit. It might enhance families learning science from the exhibits. Miensner, 2007 applied the video tracking to observe the types of childrens behaviours in the interactive science exhibition from six science and discovery centres in the UK and US. She indicated that there were three main interactions between the young visitor and interactive exhibits which are imitation, performance, and explanation (Meisner et al. 2007). The study introduced a video instruction add-on interactive science exhibits. The video instruction provides the information about how to play or interacts with the exhibit and also delivers the explanation about the application of the scientific concept that exhibits in the form of video and text only. This kind of novel media has been applied at Launch Pad, the interactive science exhibition at Science Museum in London. In this study, the video instruction and explanation will be invented to enhance families learning with the expectation that family visitors might imitate directly from video and obtain the scientific messages. This research focuses on the study and development of three types of media tailored to science exhibitions in museum galleries, which aims to facilitate families learning scientific concepts from the existing science exhibits. This could enhance their learning process during their visit informal science institutions without the necessity to transform the whole structure of exhibits only for support family groups. Purposes of the study The purposes of the study are summarized as follows: To develop exhibitions tools base on informal learning theories that enhance families learning science in science museums. To study the effectiveness of the science exhibitions tools based on enhancing family learning science in science museums. To evaluate and find out that how much the tools enhance family learning science from science exhibits in science museums and are there any differences in relationships between tools and particular kinds of exhibits. Scope of the study This study will work toward the research questions by using two mains methodological approaches, quantitative and qualitative. The study will design, test and revise prototypes of the three tools, mini text label, VDO instruction, and touch screen label. This research will use questionnaires, interview, and observation of families action and interactions in order to gather the empirical data. The research study will examine and develop three types of the exhibition tools, which used to convey messages from the basic science exhibits to family groups (case study on National Science Museum Thailand), based on how the tools enable learning science through Thai family groups in order to enhance family learning science in science museum. The family in this research are defined as a multi-generational visiting unit with at least one adult over the age of 19 and one child between ages of 9 12 years The subjects of this study are families who visit National Science Museum Thailand. The population is limited to 100 families, fifty groups for experiment and the rest for the control groups (Borun Dritsas 1997) Research Questions: Which types of the tools, mini text label, VDO instruction, and touch screen label have ability to encourage and enhance family groups learning science in science museum? How these tools enable learning science for family groups? How to design the exhibits tools to encourage and enhance family learning science in science museum? Significance of the study This study will deepen the knowledge of science education and science communication that is applicable. The consequence of this finished research study will result in the development of the distinct tools that enable family learning science and accessibility to science exhibits in science museum. The research can be used as a model not only for other science museums and science centres, but also for other kind of museums to communicate their contents to multi-ages visitors effectively by using the beneficial result from this research to develop the tools which support their exhibition. The tools can enhance and encourage multi-ages groups access to the exhibits then gain more benefits from the exactly goals of the exhibition. This effective informal learning will over time hopefully develop positive attitudes toward science and will create a society more attuned to the acceptance of a scientific approach. Framework of the study The framework of this study has evolved as a consequence of the literature review in the field of informal education in science and technology, physical and social context as a family visitor in museum, narrative, meaning of media in museum and Thais family perception in science education. In Figure 1 the development of the three exhibition tools is based on informal learning in science education, narrative and media interpretation. The hypothesis is that families who utilize the exhibition tools for their instruction during interact with science museum exhibitions represent the increasing of the accessibility to science exhibitions, the understanding of science contents in exhibits and a positive attitude toward science. Input Family group (Parent-Child) Design: three exhibition tools base on narrative and media meaning in science communication, physical context and social context in museum Mini text label Interactive label Video instruction Knowledge fields Science Education ( informal) Science Communication Social Science Narrative and media development Quantitative Questionnaire Accessibility and difficulty to exhibits content Entertainment Science achievement Important of basic science Tools using Parent-Childs awareness toward basic science Qualitative Interview Tracking, video tracking Out put Science achievement (Familys learning science) Family better understanding of basic science FIGURE 1: FARMWORK OF THE STUDY

Correlational Research

Correlational Research There are many types of correlational research. The commonality among all types of correlational research is that they explore relationships between variables. Where descriptive research only described what was going on, correlational research talks about the link between different things. It is important to understand that correlational research does NOT tell us that Variable A caused Variable B, but rather that they are somehow related. For example, if I told you that there was a correlation between domestic violence (violence between family members) and bowling, you would look at me strangely. But there is a relationship between the variables (variable 1- domestic violence, and variable 2- bowling). As more people bowl in the US, more domestic violence occurs. [pic]  Ã‚   [pic] Does that mean that bowling causes domestic violence- like you had bad game and take it out on a loved one? Or domestic violence causes bowling- like you fight with a sibling and feel the need to take it out on some pins? As you have already guessed- one does not cause the other to occur, but they are related- for every time people bowl, I can predict that domestic violence will go up, and every time domestic violence goes down I should be able to find a lane at the local bowling alley. There is a hidden variable that links both of them together. In this case it is winter time. In the winter more people bowl and more people stay in their homes (which increases the chances of domestic violence). Direction of a Correlation [pic] [pic] Before we examine the different types of correlational research methods, understand that correlations can go in two directions: positive and negative. †¢ Positive Correlation: when two variables go in the SAME direction. For example, domestic violence and bowling. When bowling goes up, so does domestic violence. When domestic violence decreases, so does bowling. [pic] †¢ Negative Correlation: here the two variables go in DIFFERENT directions. For example, consumption of garlic and dating (now I am making this one up). The less garlic you eat, the more you date. The more garlic you eat, the less the date. One variable going in one direction can be used to predict the other variable going in the opposite direction. [pic] Correlational Coefficient Scientists measure the strength of a correlation by using a number called a correlational coefficient. Now you do not have to know how they get the number, but you should know what it means when you see it. The number range from -1 to +1. If two variables (like studying and grades) have a correlation above zero (like +. 76) then you have a positive correlation and the more you study, the better grades you have. If the number is below zero (like -. 2) then you have a negative correlation and when one variable goes up the other goes down (like garlic and dating). If two variables have a correlation of zero then they have NO relationship with each other. The closer the numbers go to either +1 or -1, the stronger the correlation. The strength has nothing to do with whether the number is positive of negative. A correlation of -. 88 is stronger than one that is +. 56. The closer the number gets to zero (whether positive or negative), the weaker the correlation. Are you a little confused? Try this! Types of Correlational Studies There are many different ways to show a correlation between two variables. Let's discuss some of the more popular ways; the survey method and naturalistic observation. The Survey Method [pic] Perhaps the most common type of research around is survey research. Every time you receive a letter in the mail asking you to take a minute and answer a few questions, or get a phone call begging for ten minutes of your time to speak about how you feel about , you are experiencing the survey method of research. All surveys have one thing in common, they ask questions. Now there are good and bad things about surveys in research. The good- no matter how you do it, internet, mail, phone, in person- they are fairly cheap. You can cover large populations of people easily if you use the phone or internet. The bad aspects of surveys are that first, the response rate is REALLY low (for every 100 mailing you send out, you will be lucky to get one back). Second, people can lie on the survey so you can always question the validity of your data. Let's break down the survey method as a tool of correlational study. Pretend our hypothesis was the more garlic people eat, the less they date. First, we have to come up with some survey questions (pretend they ask about the amount of garlic one has eaten in the past 6 months and how much they have dated in the past sixth months). Hopefully, when people answer the survey, we will see that people who have stated that they have eaten a lot of garlic have also answered that they have dated less (a negative correlation). But who are we going to give the survey to? As with ALL types of studies (except some case studies) we must choose a sample of people to take the survey (a sample is just a group of subjects). We have to first identify a population of people from which we are going to get the sample. The population includes anyone who can possibly be chosen to be part of the sample. If we are studying anorexic women and their dating habits we would choose a sample from a population of anorexic women. In the case of garlic and dating, I am going to limit my population to single men and women between the ages of 18-25 from the Suwanee area (if I do not limit my population, then I would have to start contacting people from all around the world). Now, how do I pick people to be a part of my sample? Do I call all my single friends in the Suwanee area and give them the survey? That would not be a very fair way of doing it. To make the survey valid I MUST randomly select a sample from the population. Random selection means that every person in my population has an equal chance of being selected for the survey. If I can do this, then my sample has a greatly likelihood of actually representing the larger population I am studying. How do I randomly sample my population- I can randomly pick names out of a phonebook (but in a way that is unfair to single people in Suwanee who do not have phones)- in other words, finding a truly random sample is not easy. Naturalistic Observation Another correlational research method is called naturalistic observation (although you can also use it as a descriptive research tool as well). Naturalistic observation is when a researcher attempts to observe their subjects in their natural habitats without interacting with them at all. Pretend I had a hypothesis: children who experience violence in the home or violent people. If I wanted to use naturalistic observation I would find groups of kids and watch them in their home life and compare that to their social life. I would follow them around everywhere they go. I would never interact with them- but just watch. If I see that every time a child experiences violence at home they are violent, I could claim that violence in the home and violent societal behavior are related, but I would NEVER know if the violence at home is causing the violence in society (it could be one of a million other things). Once again, at most, these types of studies show correlation. The pinnacle of all science is if it proves causation. Correlational Research Correlational Research There are many types of correlational research. The commonality among all types of correlational research is that they explore relationships between variables. Where descriptive research only described what was going on, correlational research talks about the link between different things. It is important to understand that correlational research does NOT tell us that Variable A caused Variable B, but rather that they are somehow related. For example, if I told you that there was a correlation between domestic violence (violence between family members) and bowling, you would look at me strangely. But there is a relationship between the variables (variable 1- domestic violence, and variable 2- bowling). As more people bowl in the US, more domestic violence occurs. [pic]  Ã‚   [pic] Does that mean that bowling causes domestic violence- like you had bad game and take it out on a loved one? Or domestic violence causes bowling- like you fight with a sibling and feel the need to take it out on some pins? As you have already guessed- one does not cause the other to occur, but they are related- for every time people bowl, I can predict that domestic violence will go up, and every time domestic violence goes down I should be able to find a lane at the local bowling alley. There is a hidden variable that links both of them together. In this case it is winter time. In the winter more people bowl and more people stay in their homes (which increases the chances of domestic violence). Direction of a Correlation [pic] [pic] Before we examine the different types of correlational research methods, understand that correlations can go in two directions: positive and negative. †¢ Positive Correlation: when two variables go in the SAME direction. For example, domestic violence and bowling. When bowling goes up, so does domestic violence. When domestic violence decreases, so does bowling. [pic] †¢ Negative Correlation: here the two variables go in DIFFERENT directions. For example, consumption of garlic and dating (now I am making this one up). The less garlic you eat, the more you date. The more garlic you eat, the less the date. One variable going in one direction can be used to predict the other variable going in the opposite direction. [pic] Correlational Coefficient Scientists measure the strength of a correlation by using a number called a correlational coefficient. Now you do not have to know how they get the number, but you should know what it means when you see it. The number range from -1 to +1. If two variables (like studying and grades) have a correlation above zero (like +. 76) then you have a positive correlation and the more you study, the better grades you have. If the number is below zero (like -. 2) then you have a negative correlation and when one variable goes up the other goes down (like garlic and dating). If two variables have a correlation of zero then they have NO relationship with each other. The closer the numbers go to either +1 or -1, the stronger the correlation. The strength has nothing to do with whether the number is positive of negative. A correlation of -. 88 is stronger than one that is +. 56. The closer the number gets to zero (whether positive or negative), the weaker the correlation. Are you a little confused? Try this! Types of Correlational Studies There are many different ways to show a correlation between two variables. Let's discuss some of the more popular ways; the survey method and naturalistic observation. The Survey Method [pic] Perhaps the most common type of research around is survey research. Every time you receive a letter in the mail asking you to take a minute and answer a few questions, or get a phone call begging for ten minutes of your time to speak about how you feel about , you are experiencing the survey method of research. All surveys have one thing in common, they ask questions. Now there are good and bad things about surveys in research. The good- no matter how you do it, internet, mail, phone, in person- they are fairly cheap. You can cover large populations of people easily if you use the phone or internet. The bad aspects of surveys are that first, the response rate is REALLY low (for every 100 mailing you send out, you will be lucky to get one back). Second, people can lie on the survey so you can always question the validity of your data. Let's break down the survey method as a tool of correlational study. Pretend our hypothesis was the more garlic people eat, the less they date. First, we have to come up with some survey questions (pretend they ask about the amount of garlic one has eaten in the past 6 months and how much they have dated in the past sixth months). Hopefully, when people answer the survey, we will see that people who have stated that they have eaten a lot of garlic have also answered that they have dated less (a negative correlation). But who are we going to give the survey to? As with ALL types of studies (except some case studies) we must choose a sample of people to take the survey (a sample is just a group of subjects). We have to first identify a population of people from which we are going to get the sample. The population includes anyone who can possibly be chosen to be part of the sample. If we are studying anorexic women and their dating habits we would choose a sample from a population of anorexic women. In the case of garlic and dating, I am going to limit my population to single men and women between the ages of 18-25 from the Suwanee area (if I do not limit my population, then I would have to start contacting people from all around the world). Now, how do I pick people to be a part of my sample? Do I call all my single friends in the Suwanee area and give them the survey? That would not be a very fair way of doing it. To make the survey valid I MUST randomly select a sample from the population. Random selection means that every person in my population has an equal chance of being selected for the survey. If I can do this, then my sample has a greatly likelihood of actually representing the larger population I am studying. How do I randomly sample my population- I can randomly pick names out of a phonebook (but in a way that is unfair to single people in Suwanee who do not have phones)- in other words, finding a truly random sample is not easy. Naturalistic Observation Another correlational research method is called naturalistic observation (although you can also use it as a descriptive research tool as well). Naturalistic observation is when a researcher attempts to observe their subjects in their natural habitats without interacting with them at all. Pretend I had a hypothesis: children who experience violence in the home or violent people. If I wanted to use naturalistic observation I would find groups of kids and watch them in their home life and compare that to their social life. I would follow them around everywhere they go. I would never interact with them- but just watch. If I see that every time a child experiences violence at home they are violent, I could claim that violence in the home and violent societal behavior are related, but I would NEVER know if the violence at home is causing the violence in society (it could be one of a million other things). Once again, at most, these types of studies show correlation. The pinnacle of all science is if it proves causation.

Finance and Banking Essay

â€Å"Identify an experience in which you failed to communicate a message.† As mentioned in the communication process, communication has only succeeded when the information given by the sender has been received and understood by the recipient. If the recipient has not understood the information, then this may not necessarily be the recipient’s fault. Typically, ineffective communications can be attributed to one of three things: 1. A poor message;  * The message was too short; * The message was too long; * The message was ambiguous 2. Poor transmission; * That the message is being delivered in a wrong format that the recipient both does not expect and understands; * That the message is being delivered when the recipient does not need it, and where the recipient will not expect to find it. 3. Poor reception;  * A lack of awareness; * Obstructionism; * A lack of understanding; A striking example where I failed to communicate a message was my first day as an ‘A’-Level biology teacher at a certain private college. I was lost and found myself tutoring a form 4 class instead of a form 6 class. Some of the teaching staff read, â€Å"Human monocytes were cultured for 24 h in serum-free AIM-V medium, followed by 24-h maturation by polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid (polyI:C). Short term cultured, polyI:C-maturated DC, far more than immature DC, showed typical mature DC markers and high allogeneic stimulatory capacity and had high autologous stimulatory capacity in an influenza model system using peptide-pulsed DC. Electroporation of mRNA as an Ag-loading strategy in these cells was optimized using mRNA encoding the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). Monocytes electroporated with EGFP mRNA, followed by short term, serum-free differentiation to mature DC, had a phenotype of DC, and all showed positive EGFP fluorescence. Influenza matrix protein mRNA-electroporated monocytes cultured serum-free and maturated with polyI:C showed high stimulatory capacity in autologous T cell activation experiments†. The text content was technically correct, but it was presented to the wrong audience, there was every chance that the students would not understand it. Such an example is a clear cut illustration of failure to communicate a message. â€Å"Investigate and discuss the possible forms of noise that can interfere with the communication process†. Communication noise refers to obstructions on effective communication that influence the interpretation of conveyed messages. While often looked over, communication noise can have a profound impact both on our perception of interactions with others and our analysis of our own communication proficiency. Forms of communication noise include psychological noise, physical noise, physiological and semantic noise. As postulated by (F. Teague, 2010), Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood hence all these forms of noise subtly, yet greatly influence our communication with others and are vitally important to anyone’s skills as a competent communicator. Psychological noise Psychological noise refers to qualities in us that affect how we communicate and interpret others. For instance, if you are preoccupied with a problem, you may be inattentive at a team meeting. Likewise, prejudice and defensive feelings can interfere with communication. Psychological noise results from preconceived notions we bring to conversations, such as racial stereotypes, reputations, biases, and assumptions. When we come into a conversation with ideas about what the other person is going to say and why, we can easily become blinded to their original message. Most of the time psychological noise is impossible to free ourselves from, and we must simply strive to recognize that it exists and take those distractions into account when we converse with others. Physical noise Physical noise is any external or environmental stimulus that distracts us from receiving the intended message sent by a communicator (Rothwell, 2011). Examples of physical noise include: others talking in the background, background music, overly dim or bright lights, spam and pop-up adverts, extreme temperatures, crowded conditions, a startling noise and acknowledging someone outside of the conversation. Semantic noise This is noise caused by the sender, that is, the encoder. This type of noise occurs when grammar or technical language is used that the receiver (the decoder) cannot understand, or cannot understand clearly. Semantic noise exists when words themselves are not mutually understood. Authors sometimes create semantic noise by using jargon or unnecessarily technical language. Physiological noise Physiological noise is distraction caused by hunger, fatigue, headaches, medication, and other factors that affect how we feel and think.

Individual Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Paper Essay Example

Individual Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Paper Essay Example Individual Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Paper Essay Individual Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Paper Essay Part 1 ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gross domestic product (GDP) – GDP is the total market value of all final services and goods produced in a given year in a given country. ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Real GDP – Real GDP is the result of the production activity within a given country at a specific years prices. If one compares two or more periods of time using the same year’s prices for goods and services then the result is a purchasing power comparison as seen over time. This happens because the inflation effects have been mitigated by using constant prices.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nominal GDP – Nominal GDP is simply GDP that has not been adjusted for inflation. Nominal GDP does not reflect purchasing power but does show how an economy has expanded and contracted in dollars. ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unemployment rate – The most basic definition of an unemployment rate is those people who are unemployed but are actively seeking work and willing to work. It is typically expressed in the form of a percentage. ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Inflation rate – inflation is usually expressed in an annual percentage and is the price increase for goods and services.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Interest rate – An interest rate is the percentage of the principal funds that is charged and paid for the use of money. It is expressed as an annual percentage rate (APR) for loans and annual percentage yield (APY) for interest earned. Whether one is experiencing a decrease in their taxes, is part of a massive layoff of employees, or is simply purchasing groceries, there is a resource flow from one entity to another and back again. Those entities cover government, businesses, and households. How those resources ebb and flow will differ with each situation and have an impact in a â€Å"trickle-down† effect from the government to businesses and finally to households. Decrease in Taxes When the Government decides to reduce taxes, the tax typically assumed to see the reduction is the income tax. â€Å"According to the  Internal Revenue Service (IRS), approximately 43% of tax revenues are generated through this tax. Personal income taxes are levied against income, interest, dividends and capital gains, with higher earners generally paying higher tax rates. (Investopedia, 2012) When a tax reduction occurs, the government will collect less taxes which reduces the amount of monies available for entitlement programs. Households can be affected in a couple of different ways. If a household is a higher wage earning household then less taxes can result in more discretionary income to spend at businesses who offer services the household members wish to utilize. If the house hold is lower income the decrease in taxes will increase their income but will adversely affect any entitlement programs in which they may be enrolled. For businesses, the reduction in income tax will affect their businesses per the consumer impact. If there is more discretionary income then more money is available to spend on their goods or services. If there is less discretionary income, then of course, the opposite would be true. Massive Layoff of Employees From a government standpoint and governmental employees, when there is a massive layoff of governmental employees, historically, there has not been more than a ripple in the unemployment rate overall. A 1995 survey and a subsequent 1999 follow up to municipalities in Illinois found that the average amount of people still unemployed after a governmental layoff was only 3. 8%. (Reason Foundation, 2012) From a governmental employee standpoint, there is not a large scale economic impact which means that the majority of affected governmental workers will still have income to spend at businesses and for their household needs. When private sector businesses have a massive layoff occur, they are required by Federal law to notify the affected employees 60 days in advance. The employees have an opportunity to look for other jobs in that timeframe, however, resources will begin to be held back by the households in the case of long term unemployment which will in turn cause business who offer the good and services to the affected families to experience a decrease in sales. Purchasing of Groceries Groceries are an inelastic product. People will purchase food regardless of the price because they need to eat. When a household purchases groceries, and pays a higher price for them in one grocery store versus another, the business which earned the opportunity for the sale will benefit. The government does not benefit from a tax standpoint on non-processed foods. Processed foods, however, are taxable; which is a benefit to the government. The Government may also pay a producer not to produce a food so as to stabilize the market. A couple of examples of this situation are in the commodities of rice and wheat. Producers are paid not to plant as much so the market price of the end product is stabilized. In fact, those producers are paid not to produce so there is no loss of income to those households. Conclusion Whether one is experiencing a decrease in their income taxes, is part of a massive layoff of employees or is simply purchasing groceries, there is a resource flow from government, businesses, and households. Resource flow also has an ebb phase. The entire cycle is driven by an almost an amazing number of determinants. These determinants all have an effect on the final outcome as to where and how the Government, businesses, and households use their finite resources. References Richard Coultier, Do Tax Cuts Stimulate the Economy? (June 23, 2010) Retrieved on January 23, 2012 from investopedia. com/articles/07/tax_cuts. asp#axzz1kIPnIgcg The Reason Foundation, Privatization and Layoffs (March 1, 2001) Retrieved on January 23, 2012 from http://reason. org/news/show/privatization-and-layoffs

The folly of Human Beings is a Constant Source of Amusement to Him Explore Betjeman(TM)s Presentation of the Foolishness of Human Behaviour by Examining at Least Two Poems by Him, One of Which Should be Executive Essays

The folly of Human Beings is a Constant Source of Amusement to Him Explore Betjeman(TM)s Presentation of the Foolishness of Human Behaviour by Examining at Least Two Poems by Him, One of Which Should be Executive Essays The folly of Human Beings is a Constant Source of Amusement to Him Explore Betjeman(TM)s Presentation of the Foolishness of Human Behaviour by Examining at Least Two Poems by Him, One of Which Should be Executive Essay The folly of Human Beings is a Constant Source of Amusement to Him Explore Betjeman(TM)s Presentation of the Foolishness of Human Behaviour by Examining at Least Two Poems by Him, One of Which Should be Executive Essay Essay Topic: Poems Many of John Betjemans poems focus on the different behaviour by humans. He looks at the different aspects of human nature and explores them in different ways and very often uses satire to do so. The idea that the folly of human beings is a constant source of amusement to him is a contentious statement that is also a very strong generalisation and so to a large extent not entirely true. Amusement is a term usually used in a light-hearted way and very often Betjemans presentation of human nature goes past this and is rather more serious. In the poem Executive Betjeman presents the foolishness of human behaviour to the reader in a comical way, however it is clear that Betjeman does not find the behaviour of the Executive amusing but more appalling. The speaker of the poem is a very materialistic character, who boasts about his lifestyle, I am a young executive. No cuffs then mine are cleaner; I have a slim-line briefcase and I use the firms Cortina. The poem is a soliloquy where in the beginning the character is advertising himself. He clearly believes himself to be of high status as he describes himself as an executive which also implies to the reader that he believes himself to have a good and sturdy job. However, this is very soon challenged by the fact he carries a slim-line briefcase implying to the reader that he may not actually have that much work and also the car he is driving belongs to the firm, rather than his own and so it seems that the speaker is making himself appear more important than he really is. Sun and Fun shows a different presentation of folly as rather than presenting this behaviour in a comical way, Betjeman uses a very sad and longing tone that seems very reminiscent that makes the reader sympathise with the nightclub propiertress. Betjeman shows here that the foolishness of human behaviour can actually be quite sad, When Boris used to call in his Sedanca, When Teddy took me Down to his Estate, When my nose excited passion, When my clothes were in the fashion, When my beaux were never cross when I was late, Betjeman uses the past to tense and repeats the word when to emphasise that the life of the propiertress is totally different now and that although that was how she used to behave, in the present tense it is the complete opposite. It seems that with age she has lost her allure and although she was once wanted and desired by many different suitors and used to be courted in luxury cars now she is left wondering What on earth was all the fun for? Here it is clear that Betjeman does not see her foolishness as amusing but as distressing as he presents her folly as what caused her to feel old and ill and terrified and tight when she got older. Executive expresses the epitome of the modern world as it depicts the falseness of what society was becoming as the speaker is very superficial, Ive a scarlet Aston Martin- and does she go? She flies! Owning as Aston Martin would be a luxury, however having it in the colour red shows vulgarity as it is a very tacky colour in which to own a sports car. It is very vibrant and so it also shows that the Executive does not want to hide his wealth but wants everyone to know about it as he is also describing the speed at which he can travel. He clearly has no sense of humility and does not wish to be modest about what he has. He comes across to the reader as very pretentious and just emphasises how foolish he is for being so shallow. Betjeman also portrays the Executives thoughtless qualities when he says, Pedestrians and cats and dogs we mark them down for slaughter. I also own a speed boat which has never touched the water. Betjeman shows that the Executive clearly does not care about anyone other than himself as he would rather go fast in his car than watch out for others. It shows that he is self-important and uncaring which is further emphasised when he talks about his speed-boat as it is clear that he wants to behave as though he has money and has wonderful, expensive items but does not need to use it. The Executive is clearly devoid of all morals and Betjeman mocks him and although it is in a comical way it is not amusing because the serious undertones are clear that he is appalled by this foolish behaviour. There is an element of wry amusement however, it is clear that the Executives need to boast about his material items is portraying what Betjeman was believing the world to become and shows the parts of the modern world and developing society that he detested. On the other hand, however, the beginning of Sun and Fun shows elements of amusements as it begins by rhyming emphasising a more light hearted idea of foolish behaviour in the nightclub. Also, the title Sun and Fun seems relatively jolly and this is very ironic as actually it is about a tired, old nightclub propiertress which shows that her foolishness is amusing to him because the title of the poem is clearly suggesting the opposite idea of what the poem is about. Betjeman does show comedy within the stanza, The ashtrays were unemptied The cleaning unattempted, And a squashed tomato sandwich on the floor. Betjeman shows that the propiertress has a lot of work to do and that her life is a struggle, this is made amusing and comic by Betjemans use of bathos at the end of the stanza. This makes the stanza more light-hearted which is a contrast to the disheartening penultimate and last stanza when she is questioning what the point of it all was. At the beginning of the poem, the reader is given the impression that the propiertress is a figure of amusement; however as the poem finishes it is clear that although there may be comic elements ultimately the propiertress foolish antic when she was younger has let to depressing circumstances and the reader feels more empathetic rather than amusement. Overall, it is clear that the folly of human behaviour does not proved a constant source of amusement to Betjeman because it is clear that the behaviour that he does talk about with satire is not for amusement but what he sees as generally appalling and foolishness leading to greater distress in the future.

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