The Entertainemnt Industry :: Art

The Entertainemnt Industry In the past five years, the entertainment industry has been more and more focused on the idea of reality-based entertainment. This vast desire for seemingly live television has made a great impact upon major network television stations. Shows such as MTV’s Real World and CBS’s Survivor are great indicators of society’s obsession with drama in a â€Å"live† situation. It seems our infatuation with these shows stems from our desire to focus our attention away from our own tribulations and focus on problems elsewhere. Our mysterious want for conflict among others has forced many networks to provoke such drama, for example in Survivor, where castaways are forced to take sides and vote another member off the island. This idea of social Darwinism in shows like Survivor and the ever so popular Big Brother force major networks to create entertainment that both provoke and stimulate disagreement among participants. Personally, I feel that because of television†™s fixation with reality-based programs, people are now turning to the movie industry to get away from such realistic forms of entertainment. Popular movies such as Bedazzled, The Ladies Man, and The Exorcist all deal with fantasy type situations. Bedazzled, starring Brendan Frasier and Elizabeth Hurley is about a man who sells his soul to the devil, played by Hurley. Moviegoers can simply escape reality for a few hours by entertaining themselves with themes such as this. Genres focusing on such fantasy are rarely seen on prime-time television these days, especially on the major networks such as FOX and ABC. Why is this? Well my impression is that people feel as if they deserve to come home and take their mind of the troubles they had for the day. By being able to watch shows such as ER, which ranked first among viewers this past week, people can direct their attention onto another person’s drama while ignoring their own. Voyeurism today is clearly an indicator of change in taste for viewers around the world. According to Time Almanac:1999, the top three shows of 1998 were Seinfeld, Veronica’s Closet, and Friends. If you look at the top three shows during months while a reality based show is being aired, you will most typically find that show to be number one among viewers in the rankings. This growing trend of live-based entertainment is setting a new stage for twenty first century viewers today. Real-life issues however can be distorted at times when being seen second hand.

The origins of World War One :: essays research papers

The origins of World War One The Fritz Fisher thesis Fritz Fisher focuses on the Kaiser, Gottlieb von Jagow, Bethmann Hollweg and Helmut von Moltke. These four were the German leading figures at that time; Fischer is convinced that these people were responsible for the outbreak of World War One. Fischer’s three main claims were: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Germany was prepared to launch the First World War in order to become a great power. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Germany encouraged Austria-Hungary to start a war with Serbia, and continued to do so, even when it seemed clear that such a war could not be localized. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once the war began, Germany developed a clear set of aims, already discussed before the war, to gain large territorial gains in central and eastern Europe, very similar to Hitler’s later craving for Lebensraum (‘living space’) in eastern Europe Fischer believes that the First World War was not a preventative war, but that it was planed and launched by Germany aggressively in order to dominate whole Europe. Furthermore Fischer sees Bethmann Hollweg in the role of the main constructor of the German policy during the July Crisis in 1914, and also as a central figure in the development of Germany’s expansionist goals once the war started. The Egmont Zechlin thesis Egmont Zechlin thinks that Bethmann Hollweg took a â€Å"calculated risk in July 1914 to gain diplomatic victory, or if it failed, to fight a â€Å"defensive preventive war† with nearly no objectives. This explains that Germany did not prepare a huge plan for expansion. Zechlin’s three main claims were: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Germany support for a preventative war grew after the Balkan wars had produced vast gains for Serbia. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bethmann Hollweg lacked the patience to settle matters by negotiation, believed that the Entente powers were paralyzing Germany, and realized that Russia was growing stronger in the Balkans, and Austria-Hungary weaker. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When he gave Austria-Hungary the ‘blank cheque’, Bethmann Hollweg realized that the crisis might escalate into a European war. It appeared like Germany hoped that the Austro-Serb crisis might divide the big Entente powers and with that give Germany a blood free victory. In addition to that Zechlin accepts the fact that Germany took advantage of the crisis to advance its own plan. The Gerhard Ritter thesis Gerhard Ritter supposes that Germany can’t be blamed for the outbreak of World War One. Ritter’s six main claims were: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is no evidence of a unified German plan for war or world domination. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Germany acted defensively throughout the July Crisis to preserve its position in the existing status quo.

History of the Development of Brakes :: Design and Technology

History of the Development of Brakes The first brakes were drum brakes. They were metal upon metal, and made a terrible noise, although they did work. Since then, brakes have been made with asbestos, which is heat resistant, hard wearing, and relatively silent. Drum Brake (1890s~1980s) The working parts of a drum brake are contained in a hard metal drum that is attached to the hub of a wheel and revolves with it. Inside, but unattached to the drum, are a pair of stationary curved brake shoes that are normally held away from the drum by springs. When the brake pedal is depressed, fluid is forced through the brake lines and into the wheel cylinder. Pushrods in the cylinder then apply pressure to both shoes, overcoming the spring tension and pressing the shoes against the drum. Hydraulic drum brakes can also be mechanically activated as parking brakes by a cable attached to the lever. When pressure is removed from the brake pedal, springs on the brake shoes force the shoes back to their normal released position. This movement of the shoes forces the pistons inward, returning the fluid to the master cylinder reservoir. Power Brakes (1940s~present) Power brake units used on passenger cars are of four general types: vacuum suspended; air suspended; hydraulic booster, and electro-hydraulic booster. Most power brakes use vacuum suspended units, which contains a large vacuum-powered booster device to provide the added thrust to the typical power-brake. Pressure on the brake pedal pushes forward a rod connected to the pistons of the two master cylinders. The pistons begin forcing fluid into the front and rear brake lines. At the same time, the brake-pedal pushrod positions the vacuum-control valve so that it closes the vacuum port and seals off the forward half of the booster unit. The engine vacuum line then draws off the air, creating a low-pressure vacuum chamber. Atmospheric pressure in the control chamber then pushes against the diaphragm, dividing the two chambers. The pressure on the diaphragm, which is locked to the pushrod, forces it forward, supplying even more pressure on the pistons. The safe driver is always ready to apply the total force needed to stop their vehicle, even if the engine quits (removing the power assist). Disc Brake Disc (1970s~present) Brakes use a clamping action to produce friction between the wheel and the suspension members which hold the wheel. Firmly mounted to the spindle, the caliper works like a c-clamp to pinch the rotor which is attached to the spinning wheel. "Floating" calipers allow themselves to move slightly when the brakes are applied, because only one pad moves (in relation to the caliper). History of the Development of Brakes :: Design and Technology History of the Development of Brakes The first brakes were drum brakes. They were metal upon metal, and made a terrible noise, although they did work. Since then, brakes have been made with asbestos, which is heat resistant, hard wearing, and relatively silent. Drum Brake (1890s~1980s) The working parts of a drum brake are contained in a hard metal drum that is attached to the hub of a wheel and revolves with it. Inside, but unattached to the drum, are a pair of stationary curved brake shoes that are normally held away from the drum by springs. When the brake pedal is depressed, fluid is forced through the brake lines and into the wheel cylinder. Pushrods in the cylinder then apply pressure to both shoes, overcoming the spring tension and pressing the shoes against the drum. Hydraulic drum brakes can also be mechanically activated as parking brakes by a cable attached to the lever. When pressure is removed from the brake pedal, springs on the brake shoes force the shoes back to their normal released position. This movement of the shoes forces the pistons inward, returning the fluid to the master cylinder reservoir. Power Brakes (1940s~present) Power brake units used on passenger cars are of four general types: vacuum suspended; air suspended; hydraulic booster, and electro-hydraulic booster. Most power brakes use vacuum suspended units, which contains a large vacuum-powered booster device to provide the added thrust to the typical power-brake. Pressure on the brake pedal pushes forward a rod connected to the pistons of the two master cylinders. The pistons begin forcing fluid into the front and rear brake lines. At the same time, the brake-pedal pushrod positions the vacuum-control valve so that it closes the vacuum port and seals off the forward half of the booster unit. The engine vacuum line then draws off the air, creating a low-pressure vacuum chamber. Atmospheric pressure in the control chamber then pushes against the diaphragm, dividing the two chambers. The pressure on the diaphragm, which is locked to the pushrod, forces it forward, supplying even more pressure on the pistons. The safe driver is always ready to apply the total force needed to stop their vehicle, even if the engine quits (removing the power assist). Disc Brake Disc (1970s~present) Brakes use a clamping action to produce friction between the wheel and the suspension members which hold the wheel. Firmly mounted to the spindle, the caliper works like a c-clamp to pinch the rotor which is attached to the spinning wheel. "Floating" calipers allow themselves to move slightly when the brakes are applied, because only one pad moves (in relation to the caliper).

Cultural Genocide: The Movie

The film â€Å"Cultural Genocide† presented Asa Hilliard III, an African American professor of educational psychology, who focused on the particularities of genocide, homicide and suicide. According to Hilliard, he recalls genocide as any one of the following acts with the attempt to destroy a national, ethnic, religious or racial group; few examples include killing members of a group, causing bodily harm and forcibly transferring children to another group.Cultural genocide is best explained with examples, whereas indirect instances may include any prevention from practicing one’s culture or where one loses their sense of culture and a direct example is black on black killings. Homicide is an important issue Hilliard expresses, as there are many murders and bodily harm induced by African Americans towards other African Americans. Homicide not only includes lethal killings, but terminal illnesses as well, such as AIDS.AIDS is detrimental to any group, as it is can be car elessly transmitted to others, due to lack of awareness of their illness; however, it causes much damage to groups since it is being passed along, terminally harming individuals. There are many illnesses and murders that can definitely be avoided among African Americans, but they continue to be inflicted by harm, whether it is consciously or unconscious. In order to avoid such conflict, Hilliard suggests that African Americans need to be in touch with their cultural identity, he offers that it is a tie that binds a culture together, which calls for possible collaboration.Collaboration brings a sense of identity and teamwork to a culture, specifically as it allows a group to function, even when passing national boundaries, as well as individually. With African Americans having better cultural identity, there is a possibility that black on black crime will decrease, as many will view each other as their â€Å"brothers and sisters†. If young African Americans viewed each other a s family, they will most definitely treat each other with more respect and dignity, as the young will avoid physical harm among one another, which will deter crime.Nevertheless, the importance of cultural ties can link to relations among African Americans and more importantly, deter black on black crime. Black on black crime is not limited to only murders, but also within an extraordinary example, in which Hilliard presents regarding teachers in the classrooms and black communities. In predominantly African American classrooms, educators have struggled to find teachers, specifically African American teachers. Educators believe it is vital to have African American teachers, in order for the predominantly black students to perceive their own race as a role model.Having only European teachers be the majority may cause more racial gaps, but is it important to realize that educators did in fact try to employ African American teachers; however, they simply denied the employment opportunit y, as they believed there was no potential for growth or promotion. This example is no doubt causing harm among African Americans, children are not seeing their own race in the education field, causing much destruction, as potential dreams of being an educator can be damaged, as hope for their own race is non-existent.If there were more African American teachers in predominantly black schools, there is more potential for black children to see themselves as being a teacher. There are many ways to encourage children to strive for education, role models are definitely one of them and now that there is a black president in office, he serves as an icon for the African American community, as well as representing a change among racial gaps. Although a drastic change happened in the White house, it is important to remember the educational inconsistency among African American students.Many African American students still suffer many disparities among their school, including the lack of funds , which ultimately the youth endures the burden of having insufficient supplies for learning. Education is becoming severely limited for African American students, as there is a shortage of educational supplies necessary for learning, including books and even teachers. If African American teachers do not want to teach their own race, because of individual concerns of upward mobility, there is much damage imposed on African American children.In order to succeed and move forward, African Americans need to remember their cultural ties and stand together. It is reality that there is an educational gap, where certain races are inclined to being economically despaired; therefore, African Americans need to remember the importance of their cultural ties, which will not only bring them together but also, help each individual succeed. Suicide is mentioned in Hilliard’s speech because of its increasing rate of deaths in the African American community.Hilliard announces it is the leading cause of death for African American men and in fact, more die from suicide than homicide. Women, too, are impacted by suicide, as they carry more attempts to kill themselves than men do. Suicide may have been caused by the lack of belonging to something, many came from broken families and did not have a sense of community, which caused the creation of gangs, where the youth seeks familial ties and sense of belonging, in order to make up for the lack of a family.There is definitely a pattern of why many African Americans suffer and it is due to the lack of cultural identity, many have no clue where they come from and it is indeed causing much destruction. Many African Americans feel they do not belong to anything, as they lack a family, which in turn, leads them to feeling worthless, causing identity loss and thoughts of suicide. In order to make sure no other African American children feel the sense of unworthiness, there must be more collectiveness and collaboration to help overco me upcoming generations and prevent them from feeling unworthy.Many can begin by joining community groups, religious groups, or sporting activities, just to give the initial feeling of belonging to a population, this can therefore, boost self-esteem and bring identity to one’s life. The African American community must work collectively and they are definitely at a good start, as President Obama can help many of his black â€Å"brothers and sisters† conquer racial and economic disparities.

Different School Systems Essay

In 1867 Catholic’s represented 17% of the population of Ontario, while Protestants represented 82% and other religions combined to 2% of the population. At the time of the confederation there was an issue that the province would be controlled by a protestant majority and might use its power over education to take away the rights of the minority Roman Catholic population. The solution to this problem was solved by the guarantee of the rights to a denominational education by entrenching it in the Constitution. Since 1867 the population of Canada has changed along with the different religious beliefs. This exemption of Catholic school being considered public seems discriminatory towards those of different religious beliefs. With Canada’s diverse multicultural population, is it reasonable in Ontario to consider Catholic Schools public and receive government funding , while other religion based schools are considered private, and receive no funding? The obvious conclusion would be that funding should be limited to public schools that are independent from religious indoctrination because funding of Catholic schools goes against our protected Charter of Rights, current non-religious based public schools are better in meeting the demands of the population, and finally other provinces have began to stop funding of all religion based schools. The first reason against the the funding of Catholic schools is that it goes against our protected Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In charter section 15 it states that â€Å"Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and in particular without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion†¦. †. This means if Catholic schools are funded by the government, why shouldn’t other religious based school be funded as well? The justification of section 15 (2) cannot be applied since Roman Catholics were never disadvantaged in the first place. Also the idea of this funding towards Catholic schools was created in to allow denominational education towards this particular group in response to the fear of the Catholic community losing its education rights. This does not solve the problem because this action does seem fair to the educational rights of other religious minorities. Also the funding of Catholic schools goes against charter section 2 which gives the â€Å"freedom of conscience and religion; freedom of thought, belief and opinion†¦. Since a normal public school is independent from religious indoctrination why would we then have another public school going completely against that idea of independence of education? We then have cases in which coercion occurs. This funding also interferes with the idea of everyone being equal before the law since the charter section 29 basically prevents any other section of the charter to abrogates or derogates from any rights or privileges guaranteed by the Constitution of Canada. This allows for Catholic school funding continuing receiving its funding and prevents any individual to take action against this inequality. The second point which goes against the funding of Catholic Schools is the fact that current non-religious based public schools are better at meeting the demands of Ontario’s multicultural society. Since non-religious schools are free of any religious indoctrination it allows for a sense of equality being recognized by the community. The fact that there is no advantage or disadvantage being put onto a certain religious groups allows for there to be fewer arguments among different religious groups on education equality. Also since there is no religious beliefs placed in a non-religious based public school it is more free and open to all living in Ontario. Everyone is able to attend a public school without a worry of going against their own religious morals and beliefs. Also the curriculum being taught at a Catholic school is not more advanced than non-religious public schools, but instead the same standard. This means that Catholic schools being recognized as a public school system does not hold any significance except to cause disputes among individuals. The third and final point which goes against the funding of Catholic schools is the fact that other provinces have stopped funding of all religious based schools. This idea that other provinces have stopped funding these schools shows that a majority of Canada recognizes the problems with this type of funding. In Ontario it is required by law for an individual to get an education until he/she is 18 and may decide otherwise. Since every child gets a chance at a free education through the schools which the government funds, why should there be a preference in school systems which the government also funds? Why should individuals who pay taxes and send their kids to non-religious public school also have to cover for the cost for individuals who feel more special than the general population? Since no individual is really forced to go to a Catholic public school by law, why should it be considered public? In conclusion the idea of Catholic Schools being considered public was created to protect the education rights of the minority (Roman Catholics) during time of confederation. Now that time has passed the population of Ontario has changed and along with the religious beliefs of that population. This privilege given to the Roman Catholics now should change to accommodate the population of Canada. This should be done so by limiting funding to public schools that are independent from religious indoctrination because funding of Catholic schools goes against our protected Charter of Rights, current non-religious based public schools are better in meeting the demands of the population, and finally other provinces have began to stop funding of all religion based schools.

Android Application Development Fundamentals

Application Fundamentals Quickview †¢ Android applications are composed of one or more application components (activities, services, content providers, and broadcast receivers) †¢ Each component performs a different role in the overall application behavior, and each one can be activated individually (even by other applications) †¢ The manifest file must declare all components in the application and should also declare all application requirements, such as the minimum version of Android required and any hardware configurations required †¢ Non-code application resources (images, strings, layout files, etc. should include alternatives for different device configurations (such as different strings for different languages and different layouts for different screen sizes) In this document 1. Application Components 1. Activating components 2. The Manifest File 1. Declaring components 2. Declaring application requirements 3. Application Resources Android applications are written in the Java programming language. The Android SDK tools compile the code—along with any data and resource files—into an Android package, an archive file with an . apk suffix. All the code in a single . pk file is considered to be one application and is the file that Android-powered devices use to install the application. Once installed on a device, each Android application lives in its own security sandbox: †¢ The Android operating system is a multi-user Linux system in which each application is a different user. †¢ By default, the system assigns each application a unique Linux user ID (the ID is used only by the system and is unknown to the application). The system sets permissions for all the files in an application so that only the user ID assigned to that application can access them. Each process has its own virtual machine (VM), so an application's code runs in isolation from other applications. †¢ By default, every application runs in its o wn Linux process. Android starts the process when any of the application's components need to be executed, then shuts down the process when it's no longer needed or when the system must recover memory for other applications. In this way, the Android system implements the principle of least privilege. That is, each application, by default, has access only to the components that it requires to do its work and no more. This creates a very secure environment in which an application cannot access parts of the system for which it is not given permission. However, there are ways for an application to share data with other applications and for an application to access system services: †¢ It's possible to arrange for two applications to share the same Linux user ID, in which case they are able to access each other's files. To conserve system resources, applications with the same user ID can also arrange to run in the same Linux process and share the same VM (the applications must also be signed with the same certificate). An application can request permission to access device data such as the user's contacts, SMS messages, the mountable storage (SD card), camera, Bluetooth, and more. All application permissions must be granted by the user at install time. That covers the basics regarding how an Android application exists within the system. The rest of this document introduces you to: †¢ The cor e framework components that define your application. †¢ The manifest file in which you declare components and required device features for your application. Resources that are separate from the application code and allow your application to gracefully optimize its behavior for a variety of device configurations. Application Components Application components are the essential building blocks of an Android application. Each component is a different point through which the system can enter your application. Not all components are actual entry points for the user and some depend on each other, but each one exists as its own entity and plays a specific role—each one is a unique building block that helps define your application's overall behavior. There are four different types of application components. Each type serves a distinct purpose and has a distinct lifecycle that defines how the component is created and destroyed. Here are the four types of application components: Activities An activity represents a single screen with a user interface. For example, an email application might have one activity that shows a list of new emails, another activity to compose an email, and another activity for reading emails. Although the activities work together to form a cohesive user experience in the email application, each one is independent of the others. As such, a different application can start any one of these activities (if the email application allows it). For example, a camera application can start the activity in the email application that composes new mail, in order for the user to share a picture. An activity is implemented as a subclass of Activity and you can learn more about it in the Activities developer guide. Services A service is a component that runs in the background to perform long-running operations or to perform work for remote processes. A service does not provide a user interface. For example, a service might play music in the background while the user is in a different application, or it might fetch data over the network without blocking user interaction with an activity. Another component, such as an activity, can start the service and let it run or bind to it in order to interact with it. A service is implemented as a subclass of Service and you can learn more about it in the Services developer guide. Content providers A content provider manages a shared set of application data. You can store the data in the file system, an SQLite database, on the web, or any other persistent storage location your application can access. Through the content provider, other applications can query or even modify the data (if the content provider allows it). For example, the Android system provides a content provider that manages the user's contact information. As such, any application with the proper permissions can query part of the content provider (such as ContactsContract. Data) to read and write information about a particular person. Content providers are also useful for reading and writing data that is private to your application and not shared. For example, the Note Pad sample application uses a content provider to save notes. A content provider is implemented as a subclass of ContentProvider and must implement a standard set of APIs that enable other applications to perform transactions. For more information, see the Content Providers developer guide. Broadcast receivers A broadcast receiver is a component that responds to system-wide broadcast announcements. Many broadcasts originate from the system—for example, a broadcast announcing that the screen has turned off, the battery is low, or a picture was captured. Applications can also initiate broadcasts—for example, to let other applications know that some data has been downloaded to the device and is available for them to use. Although broadcast receivers don't display a user interface, they may create a status bar notification to alert the user when a broadcast event occurs. More commonly, though, a broadcast receiver is just a â€Å"gateway† to other components and is intended to do a very minimal amount of work. For instance, it might initiate a service to perform some work based on the event. A broadcast receiver is implemented as a subclass of BroadcastReceiver and each broadcast is delivered as an Intent object. For more information, see the BroadcastReceiver class. A unique aspect of the Android system design is that any application can start another application’s component. For example, if you want the user to capture a photo with the device camera, there's probably another application that does that and your application can use it, instead of developing an activity to capture a photo yourself. You don't need to incorporate or even link to the code from the camera application. Instead, you can simply start the activity in the camera application that captures a photo. When complete, the photo is even returned to your application so you can use it. To the user, it seems as if the camera is actually a part of your application. When the system starts a component, it starts the process for that application (if it's not already running) and instantiates the classes needed for the component. For xample, if your application starts the activity in the camera application that captures a photo, that activity runs in the process that belongs to the camera application, not in your application's process. Therefore, unlike applications on most other systems, Android applications don't have a single entry point (there's no main() function, for example). Because the system runs each application in a separate process with file permissions that restrict access to other applications, your appl ication cannot directly activate a component from another application. The Android system, however, can. So, to activate a component in another application, you must deliver a message to the system that specifies your intent to start a particular component. The system then activates the component for you. Activating Components Three of the four component types—activities, services, and broadcast receivers—are activated by an asynchronous message called an intent. Intents bind individual components to each other at runtime (you can think of them as the messengers that request an action from other components), whether the component belongs to your application or another. An intent is created with an Intent object, which defines a message to activate either a specific component or a specific type of component—an intent can be either explicit or implicit, respectively. A unique aspect of the Android system design is that any application can start another application’s component. For example, if you want the user to capture a photo with the device camera, there's probably another application that does that and your application can use it, instead of developing an activity to capture a photo yourself. You don't need to incorporate or even link to the code from the camera application. Instead, you can simply start the activity in the camera application that captures a photo. When complete, the photo is even returned to your application so you can use it. To the user, it seems as if the camera is actually a part of your application. When the system starts a component, it starts the process for that application (if it's not already running) and instantiates the classes needed for the component. For example, if your application starts the activity in the camera application that captures a photo, that activity runs in the process that belongs to the camera pplication, not in your application's process. Therefore, unlike applications on most other systems, Android applications don't have a single entry point (there's no main() function, for example). Because the system runs each application in a separate process with file permissions that restrict access to other applications, your application cannot directly activate a component from another application. The Android s ystem, however, can. So, to activate a component in another application, you must deliver a message to the system that specifies your intent to start a particular component. The system then activates the component for you. Activating Components Three of the four component types—activities, services, and broadcast receivers—are activated by an asynchronous message called an intent. Intents bind individual components to each other at runtime (you can think of them as the messengers that request an action from other components), whether the component belongs to your application or another. An intent is created with an Intent object, which defines a message to activate either a specific component or a specific type of component—an intent can be either explicit or implicit, respectively.

Metacognitive Skills

Metacognition refers to learners' automatic awareness of their own knowledge and their ability to understand, control, and manipulate their own cognitive processes. 2 Metacognitive skills are important not only in school, but throughout life. For example, Mumford (1986) says that it is essential that an effective manager be a person who has learned to learn. He describes this person as one who knows the stages in the process of learning and understands his or her own preferred approaches to it – a person who can identify and overcome blocks to learning and can bring learning from off-the-job learning to on-the-job situations. As you read this section, do not worry about distinguishing between metacognitive skills and some of the other terms in this chapter. Metacognition overlaps heavily with some of these other terms. The terminology simply supplies an additional useful way to look at thought processes. Metacognition is a relatively new field, and theorists have not yet settled on conventional terminology. However, most metacognitive research falls within the following categories: 1. Metamemory. This refers to the learners' awareness of and knowledge about their own memory systems and strategies for using their memories effectively. Metamemory includes (a) awareness of different memory strategies, (b) knowledge of which strategy to use for a particular memory task, and (c) knowledge of how to use a given memory strategy most effectively. 2. Metacomprehension. This term refers to the learners' ability to monitor the degree to which they understand information being communicated to them, to recognize failures to comprehend, and to employ repair strategies when failures are identified. Learners with poor metacomprehension skills often finish reading passages without even knowing that they have not understood them. On the other hand, learners who are more adept at metacomprehension will check for confusion or inconsistency, and undertake a corrective strategy, such as rereading, relating different parts of the passage to one another, looking for topic sentences or summary paragraphs, or relating the current information to prior knowledge. (See Harris et al. , 1988; – add more) 3. Self-Regulation. This term refers to the learners' ability to make adjustments in their own learning processes in response to their perception of feedback regarding their current status of learning. The concept of self-regulation overlaps heavily with the preceding two terms; its focus is on the ability of the learners themselves to monitor their own learning (without external stimuli or persuasion) and to maintain the attitudes necessary to invoke and employ these strategies on their own. To learn most effectively, students should not only understand what strategies are available and the purposes these strategies will serve, but also become capable of adequately selecting, employing, monitoring, and evaluating their use of these strategies. (See Hallahan et al. , 1979; Graham & Harris, 1992; Reid & Harris, 1989, 1993. In addition to its obvious cognitive components, metacognition often has important affective or personality components. For example, an important part of comprehension is approaching a reading task with the attitude that the topic is important and worth comprehending. Being aware of the importance of a positive attitude and deliberately fostering such an attitude is an example of a metacognitive skill. In the preceding paragraph, metacognition has been described as a conscious awareness of one's own knowledge and the conscious ability to understand, control, and manipulate one's own cognitive processes. This is not quite accurate; but it's difficult to define metacognition more accurately. (It's easier to point out examples of metacognitive activity than to define what it is. ) It would be more accurate to say that metacognitive strategies are almost always potentially conscious and potentially controllable (Pressley, Borkowski, & Schneider, 1987). For example, good readers automatically (unconsciously) employ metacognitive strategies to focus their attention, to derive meaning, and to make adjustments when something goes wrong. They do not think about or label these skills while performing them; but if we ask them what they were doing that was successful, they can usually describe their metacognitive processes accurately. In addition, when serious problems arise – as when there is a distraction, when they encounter extremely difficult or contradictory text, or when they have to advise someone else regarding the same skill – they slow down and become consciously aware of their metacognitive activity. While it is occasionally useful to consciously reflect on one's metacognitive processes and while it useful to make learners aware of these processes while they are trying to acquire them, these skills become most effective when they become overlearned and automatic. If these skills were not automatic and unconscious, they would occupy some of the effort of the working memory; and this would have the result of making reading, listening, and other cognitive activities less efficient. Therefore, like any other skill that becomes automatic and requires minimal activity in the working memory, metacognitive skills work best when they are overlearned and can operate unconsciously. Learners with good metacognitive skills are able to monitor and direct their own learning processes. Like many other processes, metacognitive skills are learned by applying principles from almost every other chapter in this book. When learning a metacognitive skill, learners typically go through the following steps (Pressley, Borkowski, & Schneider, 1987): 1. They establish a motivation to learn a metacognitive process. This occurs when either they themselves or someone else points gives them reason to believe that there would be some benefit to knowing how to apply the process. (Motivation is discussed in chapter 5). 2. They focus their attention on what it is that they or someone else does that is metacognitively useful. This proper focusing of attention puts the necessary information into working memory (Chapter 6). Sometimes this focusing of attention can occur through modeling (Chapter 12), and sometimes it occurs during personal experience. 3. They talk to themselves about the metacognitive process. This talk can arise during their interactions with others, but it is their talk to themselves that is essential. This self talk serves several purposes: oIt enables them to understand and encode the process (Chapter 6). oIt enables them to practice the process (Chapter 3). oIt enables them to obtain feedback and to make adjustments regarding their effective use of the process (Chapters 3 and 12). oIt enables them to transfer the process to new situations beyond those in which it has already been used (Chapters 3 and 6). 4. Eventually, they begin to use the process without even being aware that they are doing so. This process usually represents a high-level implementation of the phases of learning and instruction described by Gagne and discussed in Chapter 3 of this book. When teachers intervene to help students develop a metacognitive process, they often use the scaffolded instruction strategies described in chapter 12. In addition, the techniques of cooperative learning and peer tutoring (discussed in Chapter 15) often provide opportunities for students to talk to others about their thought processes; and it is often the process of formulating thoughts in order to express them to others that leads to metacognitive development (Piaget, 1964). Finally, it is interesting to note an important relationship between the higher order skills of metacognition and the basic or factual skills that may be a part of a specific unit of instruction. Students typically learn metacognitive skills while they are involved in learning something else. If they are to do this successfully, it is extremely important that the learners have overlearned the prerequisite content knowledge for the subject matter topic being studied. If that prerequisite knowledge has not been mastered to a sufficient level of automaticity, then the working memory of the learner will be overwhelmed by the subject matter; and the result will be no time for metacognitive reflection. For example, when children who have largely mastered the prerequisite skills try to solve a word problem in arithmetic, they can afford to talk to themselves about what they are doing, because their working memory is not totally occupied with other demands. That is, well prepared children will have time for metacognitive practice. On the other hand, when children who are missing some of these prerequisite skills try to solve the same problem, their working memory is likely to be totally occupied with a frantic need to find the basic skills and facts needed to solve the problem. If this is the case, they not only have solved the problem less effectively; but they also have little or no time for practicing or developing metacognitive skills. When teachers and parents try to help students, it is important not to do too much thinking for them. By doing their thinking for the children they wish to help, adults or knowledgeable peers may make them experts at seeking help, rather than expert thinkers. On the other hand, by setting tasks at an appropriate level and prompting children to think about what they are doing as they successfully complete these tasks, adults can help children become independent and successful thinkers (Biemiller & Meichenbaum, 1992). In other words, it is often better to say, What should you do next? † and then to prompt the children as necessary, instead of simply telling them what to do. The preceding paragraph describes how the intellectual rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Knowledge of factual information and basic skills provides a foundation for developing metacognitive skills; and metacognitive skills enable students to master information and solve problems more easily. If teachers hope to help low-performing students break out of their intellectual imprisonment, they must find a way to help them develop both an automatic grasp of basic skills and effective metacognitive skills to enable self-directed learning. Misconceptions with regard to specific subject matter were discussed in Chapters 4 and 6. Wittrock (1991) notes that learners' misconceptions about learning-to-learn skills and about metacognitive strategies are also a critical source of learning problems. For example, a student who adheres to a belief that the best way to learn scientific concepts is to repeat the definitions ten times each night before going to bed is not as likely to come to an understanding of these concepts as a person who has a more effective conception of how to master these concepts. Finally, note that a major purpose of this book is to help you develop your metacognitive skills. In chapter 1 I suggested that you apply various strategies while reading this book. If you have done so, there is a good chance that by now you understand the rationale of many of these principles and can see how they contribute to your own learning. By becoming consciously aware of these strategies and how they work, you will not only be able to use these principles to teach others more effectively, you'll also be able to use them to monitor and improve your own thought processes. That's metacognition!