Are Emotion and Reason Equally Necessary in Justifying Moral Decisions Essay

In analyzing human behavior and human thought processes it can be said that reason and emotions are always present in each major decision. There is no human being, even the most morally upright or the most unbiased observer can make crucial moral decisions without having to have felt the power of reason and the equally powerful emotions in his mind and body. If Emotion and Reason are taken together and if the proponent of this paper will not be given the freedom to choose one from the other then the answer to the query is no. There is no need to have the combined benefit of emotion and reason to justify a moral decision. But if allowed a free hand one should insist that Reason is necessary in justifying moral decisions. This paper will look into the implications of using Emotion and Reason in matters regarding moral decisions. This will be done by finding out what is the meaning of emotions and reason in the world of epistemology. But even before that there is a need to have a review of epistemology the theories on how human beings acquire knowledge. Background Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that deals with how man attains knowledge. For many the getting of knowledge from reading, observing the external environment and by doing experiments can be taken for granted. But for philosophers it is not simply about getting data and then having the ability to describe what was observed and inferred afterwards. Philosophers are persistent that man knows the exact process and if there is none then one should suspect if there is actual learning that occurred after all. With this in mind it is time to introduce two diverging schools of thought when it comes to epistemology and how man exactly acquires knowledge. The first group of philosophers believes that human beings can get knowledge using pure reason. It is the use of the rationale mind, to think using logic to deduce and infer from what can be observed. It is easy to say â€Å"reason† but it is difficult to explain the actual processes of how man looks at the different pieces of the puzzle and then be able to see the whole picture and finds a pattern or connection. Reason is the man’s secret weapon and allows him to reign supreme in this planet. There is no other creature that can use the harness the awesome power of reason in the same way as a human being. A good example is on how man can deduce that certain plants are edible while others are lethal. It is common knowledge that man learns to distinguish between a tasty snack and a vine of poison by observing animals around him. This is probably the same technique used to discover that the seeds hidden behind the coffee pod are not only edible but also a source of one heavenly drink. Without the ability to reason it would have been impossible for man to realize that there is something in that coffee pod after observing the goat or maybe birds taking a liking for the sweet fruit. Another example of reason is in finding a pattern and consistency in natural occurrences such as typhoons, fruiting seasons, gestation period etc. Using reason man was able to build a system where he can begin to tame nature and enjoy her benefits. He can plant and expect harvest. He can build shelter and expect to be protected by an upcoming storm. Man can also reproduce his kind and even multiply his flocks knowing pretty well that there are certain laws in nature that he can rely upon and all these are possible by unleashing the power of reason. Diverging Stream Another school of thought when it comes to the acquirement of knowledge is called empiricism. The empiricists believe that it gaining knowledge through reason alone is suspect. They argue that reason can be influenced by many factors and they conclude that biases and prejudices can interfere in the process. This is understandable because for thousands of years man has postulated about something and made predictions about the future only to be made a fool at the end. This is because reason has its limits. It is at this point that that man is advised not to jump to conclusions. Empiricists will assert that accurate knowledge is only possible if man avails of his senses. The eyes to use to see and measure; the hands used to grasp and determine shape; the ears to hear and determine sound; the nose for determining smells; and the tongue for taste. Emotions are feelings and better yet it is a reaction that a person can observe after the body and the mind – or the heart – is exposed to certain external factors. For example, a mother sees her baby crying because she had not eaten the whole day. The mother has no money to buy milk and she too begins to cry. Her emotion – can be labeled as sadness – tells her that her mind and body does not agree to the image that she saw which is her poor baby experiencing acute hunger. There is another view of emotions which can be very helpful in this study. There are those who assert that emotions are not only act as messengers that tell a person whether something good or bad has occurred but they can be feelings that propels a person to do what is right even when faced with great odds. Jaggar remarked that, â€Å"†¦it is appropriate to feel joy when we are developing or exercising our creative powers, and it is appropriate to feel anger and perhaps disgust in those situations where humans are denied their full creativity or freedom† (1996, p. 82). A good example of such an occurrence was again given by Jaggar who wrote, â€Å"Certain emotions may be both morally appropriate and epistemologically advantageous in approaching nonhuman and even the inanimate world Jane Goodall’s scientific contribution to our understanding of chimpanzee behavior seems to have been made possible only by her amazing empathy with or even love for these animals† (1996, p. 182). To those who are familiar with Goodall’s case will admire her courage and determination considering that she had to travel to Africa and be removed from the comforts and security of Western society and be immersed in a hostile environment, not with humans but with wild animals. It is a good instance of how emotions guided someone to do something heroic. It is easy to understand what emotions can do to lift ordinary humans to strive for things that exceed his grasp. Emotions can fire-up a person and allow him to go where no one has gone before. The history of the United States is replete with examples where tough moral decisions were justified with the cry for freedom and equality. But there is also a counter-argument that emotions are not needed to do justify moral decisions. Reason alone should be enough to move a person to do what is right. This is because emotions can be subjective. And there is no need to furnish volumes of scientific material to prove that point. Emotions can even be counter-productive when used to analyze tough moral decisions as evidenced from the results of a new study published in Newsweek. According to Wray Herbert – writing for Newsweek (2008): A large and growing number of psychologists now argue that a welter of prejudices are simmering just below the surface of society: prejudices against many ethnic groups, against women, gays, the elderly, and outsiders like the homeless and drug addicts. The big question is whether these unconscious animosities are potent enough to actually shape our actions, to make us do things we ourselves find shameful. A new study suggests that, unhappily, the answer is yes. Conclusion The question whether emotion and reason are equally necessary to justify moral decisions is a double-headed query that should have been simplified by separating emotion and reason; rephrasing it in two separate questions: 1) Is emotion necessary to justify moral decisions and 2) Is reason necessary to justify moral decisions. If this is possible then the proponent of this study will say no to the first and then say yes to the second question. But since the main topic used the phrase equally necessary then the answer is no meaning there is no need to bring both emotion and reason to the process of analysis of the problem and ultimately giving the justification for a moral decision. To clarify what is meant by using emotion in the decision process, one has to revisit the example of Jane Goodall and his work with endangered species, it was her strong feelings of emotions, specifically empathy that allowed her to do so much. Using this understanding of emotion the proponent still cannot endorse the use of emotion to judge a moral case because even with strong emotions one can still be mistaken. An excellent example would be the events that transpired in Germany in World War II. The residents of this nation enthusiastically embraced the idea given by Hitler that Jews deserve nothing but death and suffering. The majority agreed or at least the Nazis agreed that this is fact, even truth and they are responsible for the death of 6 million Jews. If one will go to Germany today and present the same ideas to present day Germans they will surely not react with the same fervor as they did in the time of Hitler but they will recoil in horror. This is a clear example of the subjectivity of emotions and therefore not needed to analyze tough moral issues.

Peer Assessment as a Teachers Motivating Strategy

Peer Assessment as a Teachers Motivating Strategy Re-orientation Addressing the reading issues that low ability students face in an English class is an essential step towards increasing the academic potential of these students.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Peer Assessment as a Teacher’s Motivating Strategy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In order to study the ways for improving the students’ progress, it is appropriate to propose the intervention based on implementation of the peer assessment into a teaching strategy. The class selected for the intervention includes a group of thirteen year seven low-ability students. It should be noted that the whole class consists of twenty students. Among the specified group of students, two students face problems communicating English as they are ESL students (English as a Second Language); 12 students are with special educational needs (SEN); additionally, one student out of five in the group has eith er dyslexia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Their knowledge of grammar and syntax rules is of concern and requires attention and improvement (previous results ranged from 3c to 4a; however, the KS2 results showed a tendency of 4a to 5a). Though, compared to the initial test results, the final ones can be discussed as a minor improvement, the current evidence points to the need for the students to work on new skills acquisition and memorising skills development. The literature review provides opportunities to define methods for addressing the needs of the students in question. In their research, Falchikov and Goldfinch (2000) note that students usually lack understanding of the role of peer assessment as well as the significance of providing accurate evaluations of their peers.Advertising Looking for research paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Zingaro (2013) also focuses on the rol e of peers in conducting assessments. These discussions support the necessity to provide students with a detailed explanation on the process of evaluation of their peers’ success as well as with a close supervision of the specified procedure. Moreover, it has also been noted by Cox and Maher (2007) that peers usually need to provide each other with positive reinforcement so that they could feel motivated to achieve better results. Focusing on low achieving students’ needs, it is also relevant to refer to Carter (2014) who states that these students need graphic data in order to understand the mechanics of the learning process better. It is also suggested by Murayama, Perkin, and Lichtenfeld (2012) that the incorporation of an element of a game into the learning process is helpful to address the specified issue in the learning process, and the introduction of differentiated assignments allowing the choice of interesting tasks proposed by Burguillo (2010) can also enhanc e the learning process among low-ability students. The review of these sources has resulted in designing the intervention oriented to low-ability students and their peers with high scores responsible for providing assessment. Moreover, an overview of the existing literature has shown that students need positive reinforcement from their instructor in order to succeed during the intervention. Thus, the study by Falchikov and Goldfinch (2000) shows that it is the teacher’s responsibility to guarantee a positive outcome of the peer assessment. The findings are important support the design and implementation of the effective intervention. Intervention The intervention lasted two weeks, including the observation of students during ten days. In the course of the intervention, lessons in English were conducted, and the students were asked to assess each other’s reading skills with the focus on peer assessment.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Peer Assessment as a Teacher’s Motivating Strategy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The first lesson started with the introduction of the students to the idea of peer assessment, and detailed instructions were provided. The students were given a set of statements for the evaluation of their peers, while the teacher explained what each part of the assessment addressed. The teacher suggested that the students should read the questions out loud and ask if anything was not clear. As soon as every student understood the purpose of the questions, they were divided into pairs; then, the reading of the first excerpt from the book for Reading in English started. After the reading, the students were asked to evaluate their peer’s reading skills according to the previously mentioned criteria and instructions and write down the results. Students answered the questions concerning the contents of the excerpt and the new vocabulary; evaluated their peers’ responses assessing the accuracy of the vocabulary use and correctness of the factual information. During two weeks of the intervention, lessons ended with a game or other appropriate activities. One game was based on locating words in a grid filled with letters and defining these words. The students then evaluated their peers’ skills based on the amount of words found and the time taken to locate the words (the students were given fifteen minutes, a minute per word). The basing on the findings of Knight et al. (2014), the teacher scaffolded the students throughout the assessment helping them measure their peers’ success to help the students to feel more confident. The specified model was repeated throughout the conducted lessons in reading with slight alterations because the game could be replaced with a similar crossword activity.Advertising Looking for research paper on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More At the end of Week 1, students were asked to answer open questions from the questionnaire. Thus, students were asked to answer Questions 5, 7, 8 (Appendix A). The procedure was repeated at the end of Week 2 in order to ensure comparing the answers with the help of the qualitative data analysis. Being asked to answer questions, low ability students displayed keen interest and genuine excitement about the activities only during the second week because they hesitated to grade each other during the first week of the intervention. However, as soon as the teacher assured them that the grading by peers would not affect their actual score calculated by the teacher, they became rather enthusiastic about the process and reflected these emotions in their answers. Still, high achieving peers seemed to be quite bored after they realised that the pace of the lesson was not going to be accelerated during Week 1 and Week 2, and they informed the teacher about that fact. According to Wadesango Baya ga (2013), the fact that motivation can drop among high ability students in the process of the intervention points at the necessity to introduce the set of activities that would keep the attention of high achieving students and at the same time be approachable for low ability students. As a result, the games to conclude lessons were changed to address the needs of high-ability students. The use of a game as a type of activities that both low and high ability students may participate in seemed to have worked quite well within the specified setting. Following Dominiquez et al. (2013) and Connolly et al. (2012), the success of the strategy can be explained by the fact that games presuppose the incorporation of a competition factor and, thus, make the learning process more engaging for high achievers. Question 6 from the delivered questionnaire was answered by the students at the end of Week 1 in order to state the motivating factors for low achievers to adapt to the peer assessment (Ap pendix A). These students seemed to lack confidence when carrying out their first evaluation of their peers, and were more lenient to each other than the standards required. As a result, the students who were obviously scoring lower than the rest of the class did not feel willing to make greater efforts. As a result, the focus on helpful tips for students was important for the further analysis of the data. At the end of the second week of intervention, the students were asked to answer Questions 1, 2, 3, and 4 from the questionnaire in order to demonstrate their attitude toward the peer assessment and conclude about improvements and motivation (Appendix A). During all ten days of the intervention, the observation was conducted, and the results were fixed with the help of the Observational Checklist (Appendix B). It was important to discover any changes in the activity of low achieving and high achieving students associated with the use of peer assessment at lessons. Changes in activ ities were noted for the further analysis. It was noticed that low ability students and high ability students demonstrated different levels of involvement during Week 1 and Week 2, and the further observation was important to explain these notes. According to Lavy, Paserman, and Schlosser (2011), in order to develop new skills and not only retrieve but also process and remember new information, low ability students have to engage into the meta-cognition process. In other words, the students must understand how they acquire new skills and information, as well as use this knowledge for their further studying process. Peer reviewing, in its turn, allows students to understand how they perceive the world around them. In this context, the observation was necessary to understand how cooperation and interaction with peers could influence the collected results (Cohen, Manion Morrison 2011a; Cohen, Manion Morrison 2011b). Data Analysis The qualitative data aim to represent changes in the s tudents’ perception of peer assessment, whereas the quantitative data aim to demonstrate the changes in the low-ability students’ progress in numerical terms. Qualitative Data Analysis Questions 5, 7, and 8 provided in the used questionnaire are open, and the students were asked to describe their thoughts on the experienced peer assessment in their own words. Students answered these questions after the first week of intervention and after the second week. Table 1 represents meaningful details taken from the students’ answers typical for Week 1 and Week 2 as well as identified themes and emotions. Table 1. Details Taken from Students’ Responses, Themes, and Emotional Colouring Week Question Details from Responses Themes Emotional colouring 1 Why do we peer mark each other’s work? â€Å"Because it’s a new task† Emotions, engagement rates, self-esteem and performance Positive emotions, self-actualisation â€Å"Because we need to know more† â€Å"Because we will make serious mistakes otherwise.† Anything else that might help â€Å"I have problems telling letters like b and d apart† Fear, confusion, unwillingness Negative emotions; uncertainty, fear of failing â€Å"My previous teacher told me I was slow thinking† â€Å"I won’t do the homework, because I have no time for it† Any other comments â€Å"Don’t rate me too low, I have ADHD† Fear, curiosity, enthusiasm insistence, responsiveness Mixed emotions: fear of making a mistake and willingness to succeed in class â€Å"I’m going to be a tough grader.† â€Å"Is there a way to get a better score if my peers rate me too low?† 2 Why do we peer mark each other’s work? â€Å"Because we need to learn on each other’s mistakes† Responsiveness, enthusiasm, pride, cheer Positive emotions: self-assurance, certainty in future success â€Å"Because this he lps us learn new stuff† â€Å"Because we must help each other understand the subject† â€Å"Because it is fun† â€Å"Because it brings us together† â€Å"Because we have to know how far we’ve gone† â€Å"Because it helps us learn about our own progress† Anything else that might help â€Å"I liked the class, especially the evaluation part† Enthusiasm, pride, defensiveness Mixed emotions: fear of performing poorly, enjoyment of the class â€Å"rated my paper unfair† â€Å"I want to have more classes like this† â€Å"I feel I’m much better at writing now† Any other comments â€Å"I’d like to have more of these tasks† Curiosity, enthusiasm, pride, insistence, responsiveness Mixed emotions: enjoyment and the acknowledgement of simplicity â€Å"The assignments became tedious at the end† â€Å"I would like to solve more complicated problems.† â€Å"Tha nks! Now I know how to memorise stuff† Table 1 indicates the coded responses of the students on the purpose of the peer assessment and their overall perception of the task. The responses are coded in relation to the emotions and attitudes experienced by students during the two weeks of intervention and presented in Table 1 as â€Å"Themes†. The generalised discussion of identified emotions is presented in the table in the column titled â€Å"Emotional Colouring† in order to ensure comparing of the students’ emotions, attitudes, and motivation typical for Week 1 and Week 2. According to Table 1, about 75% of students experienced such negatively coloured emotions as uncertainty, fear, and confusion associated with peer assessment during Week 1. Only 35% of students could restate the purpose for peer assessment told by the teacher in instructions. The table also shows that during Week 2, 80% of students formulated the purpose easily and demonstrated such p ositive emotions as enthusiasm and pride. 15% of students felt bored because of the task’s simplicity. According to Acosta and Ward (2010), emotional colouring is important to be checked by instructors in order to determine the emotions that students feel when participating in the class activities. Adopted in the qualitative data analysis, the focus on emotional colouring helps to analyse the students’ answers in terms of their attitudes and emotions. During Week 1, the students were rather reluctant to accept the new approach in learning. The situation differed during Week 2. Thus, following Bryman (2008), the emotional reaction of the students towards peer assessment, as well as the final testing process, can be divided into two major groups, positive and negative emotions. According to Jordan et al. (2013), negative emotions such as fear of making mistakes, lack of initiative and engagement in learning, confusion, and unwillingness are associated with high ability s tudents’ adaptation to the new task. Positive emotions like curiosity, enthusiasm, and pride typical for Week 2, represents students’ achievements in relation to skills acquisition and responsiveness to the teacher’s instructions (Jordan et al. 2013). Quantitative Data Analysis Questions 1 and 2 presented in the questionnaire are related to each other, and the main focus is on Question 2 asking about students’ confidence regarding peer assessment and marking the other students’ work. At the end of Week 2, all students reported that they know how to conduct the peer assessment, and Figure 1 provides the visual representation of the percentage of students feeling confident or non-confident while marking the work of their peers. Differences in the level of their confidence were assessed with the help of the 5-point Likert scale measuring confidence from 1 â€Å"No confidence† to 5 â€Å"Very confident†. Figure 1. Students’ confi dence on how to peer mark another student’s work (%) Figure 1 demonstrates that 70% of students described their attitude as â€Å"Very confident†, 20% of students assessed the level of confidence as good, and 10% of students noted that they were rather confident in terms of peer marking the other students’ work. The results demonstrate that there were no students indicating low levels of confidence in procedure. Denton at al. (2013) note that students are inclined to demonstrate high levels of confidence in peer assessment after a period of practice, when fears are changed with first successes. Therefore, at the end of Week 2, students can reasonably discuss themselves as confident in marking each other’s work. Question 3 asks students about the overall usefulness of using peer marking or peer assessment. Figure 2 demonstrates the percentage of students discussing peer marking as a useful or non-useful strategy after the second week of intervention while utilizing the 5-point Likert scale measuring usefulness from 1 â€Å"Not useful† to 5 â€Å"Very useful†. Figure 2. Students’ opinion on usefulness of peer marking other students’ work (%) Figure 2 shows that 35% of students discussed peer marking as useful, and the other students stated that the procedure was very useful (65%). No students discussed peer marking as useless or ineffective procedure, allowing conclusions about the overall usefulness of peer assessment conducted in the group of students. Lavy, Paserman, and Schlosser (2011) state that peer assessment is highly useful strategy used in the class to improve students’ learning and interactions. Students’ answers to the question about the peer assessment’s usefulness support this idea in terms of students’ perception and experience. Question 4 is directly related to evaluating the usefulness of peers’ comments and assessment to improve the other studentsâ⠂¬â„¢ work. Students were asked to evaluate the impact of peer assessment on achieving improvement with the help of the 5-point Likert scale, measuring usefulness from 1 â€Å"Not useful† to 5 â€Å"Very useful†. Figure 3 shows how students regard usefulness of their peers’ comments in percents. Figure 3. Students’ opinion on usefulness of peers’ comments on students’ works (%) The majority of students (55%) evaluated the usefulness of peers’ comments as â€Å"Very useful†, 40% of students agreed that the comments are useful, and 5% stated that the comments were slightly useful to improve the work. The results demonstrate the students’ positive attitude to the peers’ comments, and they are important to conclude about the role of peer assessment for improving the students’ work. According to Lurie et al. (2006), peers’ comments are usually discussed as the valuable tool to improve the other student s’ performance in different areas. Answers to Question 4 are helpful to conclude that most students are inclined to perceive the peer assessment practice as effective to promote improvement of the work. The key to discussing the improvement of students’ performance influenced by peer assessment is the focus on factors that can motivate students to improve peer marking and guarantee higher results. Question 6 asks students about factors that can improve peer marking and understanding of the requirements. The influential factors are â€Å"Clearer instructions†, â€Å"Sentence starters†, and â€Å"Marking anonymously†. Figure 4 represents choices of helpful factors to motivate understanding by low-ability and high-ability students. Figure 4. What helps students to improve peer marking and their understanding of the task (number of students) According to Figure 4, about 98% of helpful factors to improve peer marking was selected by low achieving stude nts, when only 2% of all factors were chosen by high achieving students. The results show the interest of low ability students in using clearer instructions and making peer assessment anonymously, when sentence starters are chosen as helpful by only 10% of students. In order to improve results in peer assessment, students need to understand the task completely, and certain factors are identified by Murayama, Perkin, and Lichtenfeld (2012) as influential for the effectiveness of peer assessment. Thus, to guarantee improvements in the work, students need to use certain markers of factors to make the whole process of peer marking easier. Figure 5 represents the data collected with the help of the Observation Checklist. It was important to assess the changes in students’ activity and its types during Week 1 and Week 2 in order to conclude about their motivation and involvement into peer assessment. Figure 5. Types of students’ activity during Week 1 and Week 2 (number of t imes active) As Figure 5 shows, most students expressed their willingness to participate in assessment by raising hand. The action was observed 22 times during Day 5 and about 18-23 times during Days 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. During all 10 days of the intervention, students asked the teacher to explain the material 3.9% of the whole number of instances, responded emotionally 13.7%, competed with other students 14.7%, asked for clarification 11.8%, volunteered for peer assessment 10.8%, and asked about the grade 12.8%. The number of students saying â€Å"I don’t know† in response to the activity reduced in 27%. Students often need support and clarification when the new activity is integrated in the lesson, as it is noted by Falchikov and Goldfinch (2000). Thus, students asked additional questions about peer assessment and needed clarification during the first five days of the intervention. The situation changed during Week 2, as students became more active, raising hands an d asking for participation as evaluators. Figure 6 also represents changes in the students’ involvement and interest in peer assessment with the focus on differences in behaviours of high-ability and low-ability students. Figure 6. Activity and involvement of low and high ability students in peer marking during Week 1 and Week 2 (number of times active) In Figure 6, the data is based on the information from the Observation Checklist. Thus, low ability students demonstrated the increases in engagement into the peer marking in about 34% during the second week, when high ability students seemed to be discouraged because their activeness decreased in 15%. The changes in activeness of the students can be explained by the fact that the challenge of completing a difficult task such as peer marking decreased during the second week for high ability students. According to Lai and Law (2013), the responsibility for carrying out peer assessment cannot trigger the high achievers’ initiative during a long period of time. In contrast, activeness of low achieving students increased with gaining confidence and becoming more engaged in the process. Discussion The results of the intervention support the prediction that peer assessment is a motivating and encouraging practice for low ability students, but it can be discussed as boring for high ability students when the challenging component of the practice is not referred to. The qualitative data show that the high achieving students lost interest in the peer assessment during the second week of intervention. Falchikov and Goldfinch (2000) state that the key problem of peer assessment as a means to improve the score of low ability students and motivate them can depend on the scaffolding process. The scaffolding strategies used by the teacher can be discussed by the high ability students as tiresome and irritating (Falchikov Goldfinch 2000). The low ability students usually do not pay attention to the scaffolding p rovided by the instructor; however, the manner in which the instructions are delivered may serve as the trigger for the students to develop absence of responsibility. Thus, the qualitative data analysis points at the need to deploy a different scaffolding approach that will presuppose a more active participation of the students (both high and low ability ones) in the assignment. According to Shin (2010), the effectiveness of peer assessment depends not only on the students’ successes in performing the activity but also on the nature of proposed tasks. In this study, tasks in reading proposed for students could be changed to make results more representative. Thus, most high ability students demonstrate lack of enthusiasm due to the simplicity of the tasks, and it will be appropriate to create a set of assignments that become increasingly difficult as a student proceeds with their completion. The specified approach towards developing tests will allow low achieving students to t est their abilities and knowledge to the extent of their capacities and high achieving ones to maintain their academic progress in an appropriate manner. The intervention results reveal the students’ performance was not altered significantly, but the students’ attitude towards acquiring new knowledge and skills changed positively. The purpose of the intervention was to examine peer assessment as a motivating tool for improvement in low ability students. Quantitative data demonstrate that the students became more proactive in their participation in class activities, and they were able to cope with the fear of making mistakes which appeared to be the major barrier for showing the good performance for them. As Wadesango and Bayaga (2013) explain, the ability grouping, as in the setting under research, leads to the development of stronger ties between students and, therefore, it leads to eliminating the fear of being considered negatively. Comfort (2011) notes that low-abi lity students can develop enthusiasm in learning when they understand the task and can demonstrate immediate positive results. The intervention conducted during two weeks allowed decreasing in the level of stress and increasing confidence in performing tasks that these students lacked before the intervention. The study shows that the adequate choice of helpful factors to motivate and support students is effective to promote their involvement and improvement. Limitations The study has certain limitations that restricted reliability. First, the outcomes of the study cannot be applicable to every single instance of low ability students’ training through peer assessment. Indeed, the setting in question was specific and might conflict with the goals and assets of another educational setting as well as the adopted strategy oriented to the selected class. In other words, the approach was tailored to meet the needs of the students that suffered from ADHD and other disorders, had a di fferent ethnic or national background, and experienced difficulties adjusting to the school environment. Comfort (2011) pays attention to determining general and case specific results while conducting the study. It was found that although the research was aimed at testing the idea of using peer assessment coupled with scaffolding in general, it was limited to provide results appropriate for generalising. The number of participants is another limitation that prevents the researcher from considering the implications of the study in a wider context. Since the research demanded the choice of a rather close setting with a relatively small number of participants, the intervention results were rather narrow and suitable for applying only to a specific group of students. Thus, the research has its limits, and needs improvement in terms of involving larger groups of students from different environments. Thus, it is possible to refer to the peer assessment as the intervention in several class es with low-ability students in order to compare results regarding the motivational power of peer marking to improve these students’ successes and involvement into class activities. In terms of methodology, the tools used for collecting the data, such as the questionnaire and Observation Checklist, are rather effective to provide the qualitative and quantitative data for the further analysis. Creswell (2005) notes that a questionnaire is the frequently used tool for qualitative studies to conduct interviews, when checklists are appropriate for observation sessions to collect the numerical data. The limitations of these tools are in the number of questions proposed for students that could be changed depending on variations in the purpose of the future study. In order to guarantee the anonymity and confidentiality following the British Education Research Association (BERA) Guidelines, before the experiment was conducted, teachers and departments were contacted by the author of the study and provided with the informed consent for their students to participate in the research. Thus, the provision of complete anonymity was one of the key conditions of the study. None of the students was named directly in reports throughout the study, and no personal data were disclosed in the process of analysing the case. Therefore, the research complied with the BERA Guidelines, and it did not affect the participants negatively. Implications for the Future Development and Research The outcomes of the study set the premises for carrying out a major analysis of the use of peer assessment along with scaffolding at a more general level, with the focus on involving the larger number of students and possible incorporation of innovative technology, as it is mentioned in the studies by Carter (2014), Connolly et al. (2012), and Knight et al. (2014). It is also possible to refer to the more active use of games in order to motivate students to participate in peer assessment. Accordi ng to Cho, Lee, and Jonassen (2011), students can show improvement in their abilities during these games. Therefore, it may be suggested that games along with the further evaluation may serve as an incentive for the students to achieve the better performance. Moreover, the low scoring students can demonstrate enthusiasm when they perceive the activity as a game and can adapt to less rigid demands which can become a threat to their further performance, as it is discussed by Munro, Abbot, and Rossiter (2013) in their study. As a result, it is important to propose a variety of peer assessment activities in a form of game and other tasks in order for high ability and low ability students to demonstrate change in their progress and motivation. In spite of the fact that the intervention was conducted in the specific and limited setting, it is possible to adapt to the wider audience. It is appropriate to focus on conducting the study that will incorporate students of different social, cult ural, and ethnic backgrounds, and it is imperative to test the effects of peer assessment supported by the teacher’s scaffolding in the larger school area while identifying possible means for improving the current strategy. As the outcomes of the intervention showed, the students became more aware of the stages that they passed as they acquired a specific piece of information or trained in an essential reading skill. This important new knowledge served as a tool for enhancing the learning process for the students, therefore, allowing them to develop the necessary skills within relatively shorter amount of time and apply these abilities in a manner speedier than their previous records showed. Thus, it is important to modify the intervention in order to test changes in the students’ motivation and improvement in a larger context. Conclusion The results of the conducted intervention can be discussed as successful in terms of supporting the idea that peer assessment can be used as an important motivating factor to stimulate the low-ability students’ involvement in class activities and progress. It is possible to propose the interventions based on this one in order to implement in the school environment for improving the participation of low-ability students in class activities. However, some of the hypotheses formulated during the research still need testing because the intervention was based only on the reading tasks, it involved the comparably small number of participants to discuss the received results as rather valid, generalised, and reliable. Nevertheless, the results support the assumption that high ability students may lose motivation for peer assessment and studying according to the specified pattern due to the repetitiveness of the pattern, lesson design, and the overall simplicity of the assignments oriented to low-ability students. Connolly et al. (2012) state that assignments and proposed task for peer assessment need to be highly varied in order to address the needs of students with different levels of academic achievements. The results of the intervention support this idea. Therefore, the tools for involving the high ability students into activities during a long period of time need to be discovered in the future. Still, the results of the intervention support the main hypothesis of the research and answer the question about the role of peer assessment to motivate low-ability students in order to become involved in the class activities and improve their progress. Peer assessment positively affects low-ability students’ motivation and can be used to improve their performance because it is associated with cooperation and the period of adaptation to the new interesting task, as it was previously stated by Knight et al. (2014). The results of the research also have the positive effect on teaching in terms of theoretical discussion of the nature of low-ability students’ motivation and practical us e of peer assessment in order to enhance involvement and learning at lessons. The intervention is helpful for teachers to refer again to the need of motivating not only low ability students because of the academic failures but also high ability learners who need challenging tasks. Thus, it is important to focus on the introduction of differentiated assignments and, therefore, introduction of certain challenges to the relaxed setting associated with peer assessment if students discuss this task as too simple. The study has also shed some light on the specifics of addressing the needs of students from different backgrounds and with different learning difficulties. More attention should be paid to developing skills in the sphere of teaching students with different potential, capacities, needs, and expectations. Reference List Acosta, J C Ward, A J 2010, ‘Achieving rapport with turn-by-turn, user-responsive emotional coloring,’ Speech Communication, vol. 53, no. 9-10, pp.1 137–1148. Bryman, A 2008, Social research methods (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Burguillo, J C 2010, ‘Using game-theory and competition-based learning to stimulate student motivation and performance,’ Computers and Education, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 566–575. Carter, C S 2014, ‘Using technology and traditional instruction to teach expository text in the sixth grade reading classroom: a quasi-experimental study,’ Instructional Technology Education Specialist Research Paper, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 1–58. Cho, Y H, Lee, J Jonassen, D H 2011, ‘The role of tasks and epistemological beliefs in online peer questioning,’ Computers Education, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 112–126. Cohen, L, Manion, L Morrison, K 2011a, ‘Action research. in L Cohen, L Manion K Morrison (Eds.), Research methods in education (7th ed.) (pp. 344–361), Routledge/Falmer. London, UK. Cohen, L, Manion, L Morrison, K 2011b, ‘Codi ng and content analysis,’ in L. Cohen, L. Manion K. Morrison (Eds.), Research methods in education (7th ed.) (pp. 559–573), Routledge/Falmer, London, UK. Comfort, P 2011, ‘The effect of peer tutoring on academic achievement during practical assessments in applied sports science students,’ Innovations in Education and Teaching International, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 207–211. Connolly, T M, Boyle, E A, MacArthur, E M, Thomas Hainey, T Boyle, J M 2012, ‘A systematic literature review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games,’ Computers Education, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 661–686. Cresswell, J W 2005, Educational research, Pearson, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Denton, C A, Tolar, T D, Fletcher, J M, Barth, A E, Baughn, S Francis, D J 2013, ‘Effects of tier 3 intervention for students with persistent reading difficulties and characteristics of inadequate responders,’ Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 105, no. 3, pp. 633–648. Dominiquez, A, Saenz-de-Navarrete, J, de-Marcos, L, Fernndez-Sanz, L, Pagà ©s, C Martà ­nez-Herris, J-J 2013, ‘Gamifying learning experiences: practical implications and outcomes,’ Computers Education, vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 380–392. Falchikov, N Goldfinch, J 2000, ‘Student peer assessment in higher education: a meta-analysis comparing peer and teacher marks,’ Review of Educational Research, vol. 70, no. 3, pp. 287–322. Jordan, C H, Logel, C, Spenser, S J, Zanna, M P, Wood, J V, Holmes, J G 2013, ‘Responsive low self-esteem: low explicit self-esteem, implicit self-esteem, and reactions to performance outcomes,’ Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, vol. 32, no 7, pp. 703–731. Knight, V F, Wood, C L, Spooner, F, Browder, D M O’Brien, C P 2014, ‘An exploratory study using science e-texts with students with autism spectrum disorder,’ Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Di sabilities, vol. 28, no. 3, p. 115–126. Lai, M Law, N 2013, ‘Questioning and the quality of knowledge constructed in a CSCL context: a study on two grade-levels of students,’ Instructional Science, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 597–620. Lavy, V, Paserman, M D Schlosser, A 2011, ‘Inside the black of box of ability peer effects: evidence from variation in the proportion of low achievers in the classroom,’ Economic Journal, vol. 122, no. 559, 208–237. Lurie, S J, Nofziger, A C, Meldrum, S, Mooney, C, Epstein, R M 2006, ‘Effects of rater selection on peer assessment among medical students,’ Medical Education, vol. 40, no. 11, pp. 1088–1097. Munro, J, Abbot, M Rossiter, M 2013, ‘Mentoring for success: accommodation strategies for ELLS,’ Canadian Journal of Action Research, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 22–38. Murayama, K, Perkin, R Lichtenfeld, S 2012, ‘Predicting long-term growth in students’ mathematic s achievement: the unique contributions of motivation and cognitive strategies,’ Child Development, vol. 84, no. 4, pp. 1475–1490. Saldana, 2008 Shin, S J 2010, ‘Teaching English language learners: recommendations for early childhood educators,’ Dimensions of Early Childhood, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 13–21. Wadesango, N Bayaga, A 2013, ‘Ability grouping as an approach to narrow achievement gap of pupils with different cultural capitals: teachers’ involvement,’ International Journal of Educational Sciences, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 205–216. Zingaro, D 2013, ‘Student moderators in asynchronous online discussion: a question of questions,’ MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 159–172.

Technology Essays - Database, Database Theory, Pointer, Free Essays

Technology Essays - Database, Database Theory, Pointer, Free Essays Technology Background The Technology Needs Survey (TNS) software program developed at HSC/XRE was originally intended to provide a convenient vehicle by which the office?s engineers and scientists could enter and edit environmental, safety and occupational health (ESOH) needs data into a database. The program provided an interface that allowed the user to answer, or revise answers, to questions regarding the nature of the ESOH technology needs of the customer. The database was originally installed on a local area network (LAN) shared by the technical members of the HSC/XRE office. The data in the database was used, in part, to rank the severity, impact and importance of technology needs throughout the Air Force. HSC/XRE performed substantial analysis on the data prior to its presentation to the ESOH TPIPT, Air Staff and others. Consequently, the database itself became a dumping ground for temporary tables, queries and reports that were generated "on the fly" over time. The structure of the underlying database is simple, as shown in Figure 1. The numerous queries, reports and tables that are antidotal artifacts in the database are distractions to the underlying structure, and should be removed. Creation of the Tri-Service TNS Database for FY97 The source data for the FY97 Tri-Service TNS database came from four sources: ? US Navy, by way of four MS WORD documents (segmented by pillar) ? US Army, by way of a TNS database that had been exported from a version of the software modified by the US Army and/or their contractors ? USAF FY96 TNS database ? last year?s USAF database, with needs updated as required ? USAF FY97 TNS database ? current year?s new USAF technology, policy and training needs The tasking from the HSC/XRE office was to consolidate the four data sources into a single database and provide it to representatives of the Joint Engineering Management Panel (JEMP) on or before 31 Dec, 1996. Such a database would be known as the Tri-Service TNS Database for FY97. Technical Issues The USAF FY97 database was considered the target into which the other three data sets were to be consolidated. At this point in time (Dec, 1996), the FY97 database still contained "T-numbers", rather than Tag integers. It appeared that there were printing difficulties with T-numbers in the Tag field, so they were removed, and added as a prefix to the need Title. In their place, sequential integers, beginning with 3000, were placed in the Tag field. Next, the Navy needs, which consisted of 807 needs in four word documents, were manually added to the FY97 database using the TNS software. This was a two man-day effort by a program support individual. All attempts to successfully print all US Army needs failed. Most needs contained a data value that exceeded TNS?s a single print page. A bug in TNS causes the first page to be printed OK; then, subsequent lines are printed, one per page. It was decided that the US Army database would be provided to the government as-is, with a suggestion that the government obtain the US Army?s TNS version to see if the bug had been fixed by the Army. The final step was to export the USAF FY96 TNS database, and import it into the FY97 database. This presented something called the "Match Table Problem." The Match table in TNS contains three columns ? the need number, a category, and a pointer. Depending upon the category, the category would represent a unique primary POC, technical POC, potential user, regulation or contaminant. These pointers are not uniquely generated; therefore, a primary POC with a pointer of 4254 might point to Smith in the FY96 database, while a primary POC with a pointer of 4254 might point to Jones in the FY97 database. The same corruption was possible for regulations and contaminants, as well. To resolve this problem, it was determined that the set of pointers in the FY97 database did not exceed 5000 for POC, regulations and contaminants. Consequently, the pointers in the Match table of the FY96 database were incremented by 5000, as were their corresponding targets in the POC, Regulation and Contamination tables. This assured that there would be no overlap between the two databases. The FY96 database was imported successfully into the FY97 database.

Ethical Dilemma Essay Sample

Ethical Dilemma Essay Sample Essay on Ethical Dilemma If You Saw Your Best Friends Cheat on a Test, What Would You Do? Always remember that when you cheat or planning to cheat, then you always lose. This is especially when you are going to cheat on your exams because you are attempting to outsmart your professor or teacher by means of violating the rules. If you happen to see your best friend cheating, it is important to remind them that what they are doing is inappropriate. Cheating is not acceptable and therefore anyone who is caught cheating will face punishments from the teacher. The teacher is not the only one who will provide punishments because the school is expected to apply the same. This is because cheating is the most unacceptable form of offense at school because it can generate a public scandal to the community. As the best solution, it is important to approach your best friend and inform that their recent action is unacceptable. Getting caught could risk their academic status, especially if there is a proof to show to the school administration such as the principal. Promoting awareness regarding the consequences of cheating is implied because the best friend will soon realize that the value of honesty. As a best friend, acting as a guide is important because it shows how concerned you are to your friend who is drawn into an action that is not acceptable. This is instead of reporting your best friend to the teacher or school administration that he cheated on a certain activity such as exams. In this way, your best friend will feel that you seriously care for them and are now willing to follow your advice not to repeat the same mistake for the next school assignment process. The only concern is to know what is going on inside the head of that particular best friend. This is because they think that they are offended by the situation. Some best friends argue when their action is seen by them as the rightful thing. There are numerous reasons to consider because there are factors that influence a person to commit such behaviors, which forces them to commit such actions. Criticisms are sometimes not the rightful way to approach your best friend to take such actions. In this case, the relationship between friends is at risk for being strained. Telling your best friend that his act was wrong during the exam should be treated with a proper approach to ensure that you are going to tell them using the right approach as well as using the right word. Cheating is the mortal sin of education because it is an act of taking advantage of the subject matter against the practices of any academic institution. When a person cheats, they violate the policies of the school where they are currently learning. Students who commit such acts are usually suspended from school because it negatively affects the performance of the school. Disciplining the student in a right manner ensures that the response becomes subjective, relevant, and appropriate to prevent similar offenses in the future. Always remember that there were students who were expelled from the school because they were caught cheating in their previous classes by their teachers and school administration. Every offender offends the moral and ethical values of learning because they are taking advantage against the law’s implementation that could lead them to a humiliating consequence after committing an unacceptable action (Blumenthal, 2013). Reference Blumenthal, William (2013). Models for merging the US antitrust agencies.  Journal of Antitrust Enforcement. Oxford Journals.  1  (1): 24–51.

Everson v. Board of Education - Religious Liberty

Everson v. Board of Education - Religious Liberty Under a New Jersey statute that allowed local school districts to fund the transportation of children to and from schools, the Board of Education of Ewing Township authorized reimbursement to parents forced to bus their children to school using regular public transportation. Part of this money was to pay for the transportation of some children to Catholic parochial schools and not just public schools. A local taxpayer filed suit, challenging the right of the Board to reimburse parents of parochial school students. He argued that the statute violated both the State and the Federal Constitutions. This court agreed and ruled hat the legislature did not have the authority to provide such reimbursements. Fast Facts: Everson v. Board of Education of the Township of Ewing Case Argued: November 20, 1946Decision Issued:  February 10, 1947Petitioner: Arch R. EversonRespondent: Board of Education of the Township of EwingKey Question: Did the New Jersey law authorizing reimbursement by local school boards for the costs of transportation to and from schools- including private schools, the majority of which were parochial Catholic schools- violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment?Majority Decision: Justices Vinson, Reed, Douglas, Murphy, and BlackDissenting: Justices Jackson, Frankfurter, Rutledge, and Burton  Ruling: Reasoning that the law did not pay money to parochial schools, nor did it support them directly in any way, New Jersey’s law reimbursing parents for transportation costs to parochial schools did not violate the Establishment Clause. Court Decision The Supreme Court ruled against the plaintiff, holding that the government was allowed to reimburse the parents of parochial school children for the costs incurred by sending them to school on public buses. As the Court noted, the legal challenged was based on two arguments: First, the law authorized the state to take money from some people and give it to others for their own private purposes, a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Second, the law forced taxpayers to support religious education at Catholic schools, thus resulting in using State power to support religion - a violation of the First Amendment. The Court rejected both arguments. The first argument was rejected on the grounds that the tax was for a public purpose - educating children - and so the fact that it coincided with someones personal desires does not render a law unconstitutional. When reviewing the second argument, the majority decision, referencing  Reynolds v. United States: The establishment of religion clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force nor influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion. No person can be punished for entertaining or professing religious beliefs or disbeliefs, for church attendance or non-attendance. No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion. Neither a state nor the Federal Government can, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa. In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect a wall of separation between Church and State. Amazingly, even after admitting this, the Court failed to find any such violation in collecting taxes for the purpose of sending children to a religious school. According to the Court, providing for transportation is analogous to providing police protection along the same transportation routes - it benefits everyone, and therefore should not be refused to some because of the religious nature of their end destination. Justice Jackson, in his dissent, noted the inconsistency between the strong affirmation of the separation of church and state and the final conclusions reached. According to Jackson, the Courts decision required making both unsupported assumptions of fact and ignoring actual facts which were supported. In the first place, the Court assumed that this was part of a general program to help parents of any religion get their children safely and quickly to and from accredited schools, but Jackson noted that this was not true: The Township of Ewing is not furnishing transportation to the children in any form; it is not operating school busses itself or contracting for their operation; and it is not performing any public service of any kind with this taxpayers money. All school children are left to ride as ordinary paying passengers on the regular buses operated by the public transportation system. What the Township does, and what the taxpayer complains of, is at stated intervals to reimburse parents for the fares paid, provided the children attend either public schools or Catholic Church schools. This expenditure of tax funds has no possible effect on the childs safety or expedition in transit. As passengers on the public buses they travel as fast and no faster, and are as safe and no safer, since their parents are reimbursed as before. In the second place, the Court ignored the actual facts of religious discrimination which was occurring: The resolution which authorizes disbursement of this taxpayers money limits reimbursement to those who attend public schools and Catholic schools. That is the way the Act is applied to this taxpayer. The New Jersey Act in question makes the character of the school, not the needs of the children determine the eligibility of parents to reimbursement. The Act permits payment for transportation to parochial schools or public schools but prohibits it to private schools operated in whole or in part for profit. ...If all children of the state were objects of impartial solicitude, no reason is obvious for denying transportation reimbursement to students of this class, for these often are as needy and as worthy as those who go to public or parochial schools. Refusal to reimburse those who attend such schools is understandable only in the light of a purpose to aid the schools because the state might well abstain from aiding a profit-making private enterprise. As Jackson noted, the only reason for refusing to help children going to for-profit private schools is a desire not to aid those schools in their ventures - but this automatically means that giving reimbursements to children going to parochial schools means that the government is helping them. Significance This case reinforced the precedent of government money financing portions of religious, sectarian education by having those funds applied to activities other than direct religious education.

Production Notes Project - For a Theatre Class Essay - 1

Production Notes Project - For a Theatre Class - Essay Example eyes; Shakespeare being one of the greatest playwrights in history, it would be tough to play with the theme of the play however, I would like to set the entire backdrop during the colonial period and portray the kind of capitalism and conquest that the rich bourgeoisie did during the time. The play is about a feud going on between two families, the Capulets and the Montagues. The reason for the brawl between the families is only because of a matter of differences that the two sides are subject to, however the reasons for that are not provided. Shakespeare wrote that whoever breaches the peace between the two families would be subject to death. Thus, through my eyes, I would like to depict the feud between the families as a result of wealth and conquests accumulated during the colonial period in British England. I would thus like to begin the play with a short prologue depicting how the Montagues and the Capulets had both established themselves as the wealthy families in Britain and England but had a shortcoming which can be depicted through the capitalist market economies and societies of the time. The families fought with each other in order to establish their supremacy over the other and boom with respect to their personal production. The ball that the Capulets hold is to celebrate their good harvests for the year and growth and development in the agricultural sector. It is a moment of celebration and victory over any other primary sector competitor that they have in the market, including the Montagues. The peace treaty decided between the two was on the basis of how they would not intrude upon each other’s lands or indulge in any form of unhealthy competition. Thus through this entire backdrop, one can easily see the plight of the wealthy farming sector in old England at the time, and how they were fighting to survive among each other even though these two main families held supremacy over the market. The Capulets want to marry their daughter off to

WASHINGTON MUTUAL BANKRUPTCY CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT Research Paper - 1

WASHINGTON MUTUAL BANKRUPTCY CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT - Research Paper Example The total collapse of WaMu would have been disastrous for the Government. Besides, the FDIC is not in the banking business and a last minute deal was brokered between the Government and JP Morgan Chase. The same day as the takeover, Chase purchased the bank from the FDIC for a little less than two billion and agreed to assume all secured debts, minus equity shareholders. With that Chase became the one of the largest banking firms in the country (Dash). WaMu’s parent company, Washington Mutual, Inc., was left with just twenty-five billion dollars in assets minus liabilities and filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection the very next day, September 26 in its home state of Delaware. The Bankruptcy itself has been an ongoing issue for three years now and is still in litigation. With the FDIC and Chase agreeing with WaMu in principal, the company’s proposal was that seven billion dollars was to be distributed to its creditors. However, the plan was rejected on September 14, 2011 by US Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath in Wilmington. Siding with the plaintiffs, she ordered the two sides into mediation. As such the company’s stock plummeted more than seventy per cent in the days following the judge’s ruling. Why then did a bank formerly known as the â€Å"Wal Mart of banking† fail so completely? It was for the same reasons a lot of financial firms fell during the summer and fall of 2008. During most of the first decade of the twenty-first century, credit was cheap and easy to come by. The so-called â€Å"sub-prime† consumers, those with far less than stellar credit, were able to obtain credit cards and home mortgages when they would have probably been turned down any other time. WaMu was almost leading the charge, with its Providian credit card division. It also controlled a likewise now