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Matt Ridley Optimistic View on Evolution of the Human Race
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Matt Ridley Optimistic View on Evolution of the Human Race
Humans have evolved in many ways and currently, there are a lot of activities happening to make one optimistic for a better tomorrow. Human race experiences rapid changes compared to other animal species. There are also activities to make one pessimistic. Matt Ridley, a famous writer and credited journalist, believes that the human race will be better in the future and ignores the unprecedented economic downfall that he sees. Besides the humans being better in the 22nd century, he also believes that ecology is going to change (Marta, 71). The statement is true, but there is some controversy in it. Matt Ridley writes a book titled ‘The Rational Optimist’ which he talks about his optimism about the human race and the reasons why he believes. In the first chapter, he talks about the many things that have changed in the 21st century. Even though Matt Ridley is very much optimistic about the future, the public, on the other hand, is pessimistic and calls for radical change.
To begin with, Matt Ridley uses different cases to show how the human race has evolved. First, he gives an example of a family that is assumed to have been peaceful in the 1800s where the father reads the magazine the mother prepares food, the sister feeds the horse and so forth. One will view this as peaceful until trouble knocks in that is a mother has a toothache, the sister is to be married to a drunkard and so on. This implies that the 21st century has witnessed civilization and at least diseases can be treated at ease, and daughters have a say on the type of marriage they want. Ridley is optimistic that in future things will be better from the sense that China is ten times richer than it was fifty years ago, and the developing countries are improving daily (Marta, 71). It is true since the cars used in the 1980s emitted more harmful gases compared to the models of 2010s.
Indeed, the human race has prospered, and it is expected to improve in the coming years. According to Ridley, the human race depends more on other living things such as animals and plants for their living compared to any other animal group. For example, a chimpanzee aged fifteen has spent 40 percent of her calories and produced 40 percent. On the other hand, a human being the same age has consumed 20 percent calories and produced only 4percent (Ridley 30). In the case above, human beings have learned to survive more than other animal species. Learning to process from the other creatures and extract less takes time and perhaps in the next years, humans would have learnt on how to produce fewer calories compared now.
Civilization is what assures the human races that the coming days will be much better. According to Matt Ridley, “there was a point in human pre-history when big-brained, cultural learning people for the first time began to exchange things with each other and that once they started doing so, culture suddenly became cumulative and the great headlong experiment of human economic progress began” (Ridley 34). This implies that humans are making efforts in deriving what can improve the economy. The interdependence of the world on trade more so international exchange gives hope that the future is going to be better. Initially the Western spent less on trade and currently, many have majored in trade. China as well is growing rapidly in the world economy as a result of civilization and realizing what international exchange can do to the country.
Further, in the chapter, Matt Ridley asserts that as long as the capital is allocated for the correct innovations, then there is going to be significant progress. There have been great innovations, and currently, technology is widely celebrated. Technology has made life easy, and thus, the human race and other creatures are in a better world compared to the 18th and the 19th century. He gives an example of there being no slaves today, and one wakes up when he or she knows there is somebody to supply fuel fiber and food without much struggle (Marta, 71). The ease in supply is the human progress that Ridley is talking about. He goes ahead to speak about self-sufficiency, which to him it is poverty. The food obtained directly from the farmer is better than the one refrigerated. Also, flowers grown in a greenhouse are ten times harmful compared to those grown in a Kenyan farm. Besides being less dangerous, Kenyan women get employed from working on the farms.
Even though Ridley hopes for a better future, some pessimists find the human race to deteriorate, and they won’t be better in the future. Global warming is a critical factor that contributes to pessimism. Besides the many innovations, a lot of gasses are emitted as a result which ends up causing global warming. Deforestation is also a trend in the 21st century where trees are cut to settle human population, for road construction, and so on. Deforestation also leads to climate change, which if it worsens, then it is now, people are going to suffer (Zenghelis,22). Further, the current society depends much on processed foods which put people at the risk of getting nutritional diseases.
Conclusively, there is hope for the human race to get better with innovations and when funds are channelled to the right place. However, some activities will harm humans, and thus, they should be looked on and corrected. People should be optimistic about a better tomorrow to plan for it.
Works Cited
Marta, Janet. “The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves.” Regional Business (2010): 71.
Ridley, Matt. “The rational optimist: How prosperity evolves.” Brock Education: A Journal of Educational Research and Practice 21.2 (2012).
Zenghelis, Dimitri. “Stern Review: The economics of climate change.” London, England: HM Treasury (2006).
Literature Review on Reading skills
Lit Review
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Introduction
Reading skills are essential in any individual’s life because they enhance success. They help an individual to attain basic knowledge that will help them during their secondary phase of life. This creates the need to enhance reading skills among individuals with reading disabilities. These people need to heighten and also maintain their motivation. There are various techniques that assist students with reading disabilities to acquire reading skills. Flashcards, reading racetracks and SMART Board technology are among the various techniques that help individuals to attain reading skills. A flashcard is a collection of cards that has information such as numbers or words on each or both sides. Flash cards are efficient in classroom drills and also enhance private study. An individual may write a question on one side and the answer on the other. Flashcards can bear information such as vocabulary, formulae and historical dates. They enhance memorization since they involve spaced repetition. Reading racetracks helps to increase fluency (Erbey, Mclaughlic, Everson and Derby, 2011). A comparison of various articles reveals various techniques that improve reading skills.
The effects of using flashcards with reading racetrack to teach letter sounds, sight words and math facts to elementary students with learning disabilities by Rachel Erbey, T. F. Mclaughlin, K, Mark Derby and Evanson Mary is an article that discusses how flashcards and reading racetrack affect teaching phonics, addition facts and sight words. It also states that despite the presence of ever changing technology, individuals still need basic knowledge such as reading to succeed in life. Students who struggle to attain reading skills during their earlier phases of their education usually face difficulties in the secondary stages and adulthood. Phonetic awareness is among the vital elements needed to enhance reading skills among low progress readers. Teaching reading skills is essential to students with inadequate ability in sight word reading. Basic skills in math calculations are also essential for success in life. After attaining basic operations concepts, the students should learn how to memorize facts and give fast and accurate responses to various facts. This helps students to enhance high level mastery of math concepts. Phonics, fluency, phonetics awareness, text comprehension and vocabulary are areas within reading instruction, which help to nurture successful readers. Reading racetracks, which are drills and practice processes, help to attain skills in four of the above areas. Reading racetracks include instructions on a track that has twenty eight cells, which separate information. It has a start and finish, and two images of automobiles, so the students read the information around the track in a set time. This increases fluency and accuracy in a systematic and entertaining way. Racetracks are also significant among students with various disabilities. A combination of flashcards and racetracks enhances sight word recognition among students with learning disabilities.
Vocabulary Learning: An Electronic Word Card study by Marina Dodigovic is an article that also discusses the significance of learning vocabulary to enhance language skills. However, it gives a description of a technology-supported learning study of vocabulary that involves students in preparation programs within various universities. The study design involves comparison of two flashcards activities, which are technology supported. The first one is where students acquire vocabulary from electronic cards designed by teachers. The second is where students design their cards. There is a third activity that involves comparison but excludes the cards. It uses a within sample design that pretests the vocabulary of students when the academic year begins. After identifying the essential vocabulary, the students and instructors create interactive flashcards using WordChamp, which is an online device. At the end of the semester, they also made comparisons to analyze the progress of the student. The authors of the article claim that self-designed cards are not effective.
Comparison of the Effect of Smart Board Technology and Flash Card Instruction on Sight Word Recognition and Observational Learning is an article that also discusses reading skills. This article compares the effectiveness of flashcards and SMART Board interactive whiteboard technology in teaching reading skills among young adults. Both techniques are effective in enhancing reading skills, but the SMART Board technology has a higher effect among students (Mechling, Thompson, and Gast, 2008).
A Comparison of Two Flashcard Drill Methods Targeting word Recognition by Robert J. Volpe, Christina M. Mule, and Amy M. Briesch discusses two instructional methods within the flashcard drill. The instructional methods are the incremental rehearsal and the traditional drill and practice. The article compares the efficiency of both techniques and social validity. The two methods have minimal differences in efficiency, and also an equal number of students prefer either of the two methods.
Effectiveness and Efficiency of Flashcard Drill Instructional Methods on Urban First Grades’ Word Recognition, Acquisition, Maintenance, and Generalization by Lindsay Nist, Laurice M. Joseph analyzes various instructional methods. It compares the efficiency and effectiveness of instructional methods through methods such as traditional drill and practice flashcard technique, an incremental rehearsal and a ratio of known to unknown interpersal word technique. The incremental rehearsal is an effective method among groups of students while the traditional drill enhanced reading performances.
Motivate Student with Disabilities Using Sight- Vocabulary Activities by Michelle Morgan and Karen B. Moni analyzes twenty ways of using sight-vocabulary activities among students with disabilities. The article also presents various ways of giving these students motivation to learn. Sight vocabulary is essential among these students because it helps them learn how to read and write. It also increases and maintains their zeal to take part and also persist in learning. The article describes various games such as vocabulary charts, word banks, waterfalls of words, setting the scene and vocabulary mobiles. The authors also suggest a sequence that introduces functional sight vocabulary.
All the articles seek to determine the most effective technique that assists students with disabilities to acquire reading skills. The authors of the articles carried out various researches to determine the necessary areas in reading instruction. This creates a basis for their discussion and also helps readers to relate to the information provided in each article. The articles analyze different techniques but all the authors compare the efficiency of each method to that of the flashcard technique. All the articles have different research methodology, but all the results point out the efficiency of the flashcard method. Erbey, Mclaughlic, Everson and Derby (2010) discuss about the efficiency of the flashcard and the racetracks. They give descriptions of the processes involved in each method. The racetracks are designed by the instructors although there are instances when the students design their racetracks. Learning vocabulary is essential in acquiring reading skills. They also claim that the racetrack is suitable for beginners because it does not have complicated procedures. Students usually enjoy the two methods, so they acquire the skills faster and also improve their fluency. These authors also claim that the two techniques also enhance math skills. Racetracks are also significant to students with reading disabilities. Dodigovic (2013) also agrees that vocabulary learning is essential for those who want to acquire reading skills. Unlike Erbey, Mclaughlic, Everson and Derby’s article Dodigovic’s article focuses on use of technology to enhance learning various vocabularies. She discusses flashcards that are technology supported while Erbey, Mclaughlic, Everson and Derby discuss those which are manual. She also points out that both teachers and students design the cards. She also mentions a third technique where students pretest their skills at the beginning of the year and later compare to the results at the end of each semester. She also points out that the self-designed cards are not efficient. This proves that Erbey, Mclaughlic, Everson and Derby had accurate results concerning the accuracy of the teacher designed flashcards and racetracks. Teachers have adequate knowledge on the aspects in reading that may trouble students, so this factor makes their cards more efficient. Mechling, Thompson, and Gast (2008) also discuss efficient ways of acquiring reading skills. They acknowledge that technology based training is more efficient than the use of flashcards. They compare the SMART Board interactive whiteboard technology to the flashcard. They give a detailed description of how the technique works, and also why it is the most efficient in acquiring reading skills. Volpe, HYPERLINK “http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/simpleSearch.jsp;jsessionid=gqEdMnADO8OQlXhvEqE0aA__.ericsrv005?_pageLabel=ERICSearchResult&_urlType=action&newSearch=true&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=au&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=%22Mule+Christina+M.%22” o “New Search for Author Mule, Christina M.” Mule, Briesch, Joseph and Burns (2011) also discuss aspects of acquiring reading skills. They differ from the rest because they analyze both group reading and individual reading. They also compare two flashcard drills unlike the other articles where the authors compare two different techniques. The authors compare the incremental rehearsal to the traditional drill and practice to determine the efficiency of the two methods. They also determine the social validity of the two methods to determine the one that students like to use. An equal number of students prefer either of the two methods since the differences between the two methods is minimal. Lindsay and Laurice also provide information on various ways of acquiring reading skills. They discuss traditional drill and practice flashcard technique, an incremental rehearsal and a ratio of known to unknown interpersal word technique. The incremental rehearsal is most efficient among groups of students. It does not enhance individual improvement. enhance individual improvement. Unlike the above authors, Lindsay and Laurice analyze twenty techniques of improving reading skills. They believe that students need motivation to improve their reading skills. The process should involve some fun moments to ensure that the students get the motivation to develop and maintain their skills.
Conclusion
Individuals who want to succeed in life must acquire basic reading skills. These skills are vital when an individual reaches the secondary stages in their lives. There are different techniques that enhance reading skills. Flashcards and racetracks are the most common techniques among students with reading disabilities. Flashcards have information on either side while racetracks have data on each cell on the track. These methods are efficient and also entertaining. Sight vocabulary can also be introduced through games such as setting the scene and waterfalls of words.
References
Dodigovic, M. (2013). Vocabulary Learning: An Electronic Word Card study. Ebsco Host
Connection, 20(1), 13. Retrieved from HYPERLINK “http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/85448501/vocabulary-learning-electronic-word-card-study” http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/85448501/vocabulary-learning-electronic-word-card-study
Erbey, R., Mclaughlic, T.F. Everson, M. and Derby, M.K. (2011). The effects of using flashcards
with reading racetrack to teach letter sounds, sight words and math facts to elementary students with learning disabilities. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 3 (3). Retrieved from HYPERLINK “http://www.iejee.com/3_3_2011/3_3_213_226.pdf” http://www.iejee.com/3_3_2011/3_3_213_226.pdf
Mechling, L.C. Thompson, K. L. and Gast D. L. (2008). Comparison of the Effect of Smart
Board Technology and Flash Card Instruction on Sight Word Recognition and Observational Learning. HYPERLINK “http://www.abledata.com/abledata.cfm?pageid=183977&top=0&perid=163218” Journal of Special Education Technology, 23(1), 34-46. Retrieved from HYPERLINK “http://www.abledata.com/abledata.cfm?pageid=160377&ksectionid=160164&atlitid=193746” http://www.abledata.com/abledata.cfm?pageid=160377&ksectionid=160164&atlitid=193746
A Perspective on Self-Efficacy Beliefs for Academic Achievement
A Perspective on Self-Efficacy Beliefs for Academic Achievement
Introduction
The day-to-day endeavors of living are mostly directed by underlying self-systems that
strengthen and guide our aspirations and motivation for working towards accomplishing goals
and seeking achievements. The self-systems guide our pursuits and determine our performance.
In this regard, raising academic performance of students has been a vital challenge. All efforts
need to be directed towards this challenge by helping students not only through skill acquisition
but also by fostering the self-systems which help them to be more persuasive in their efforts for
academic achievement. An understanding of self-systems with particular reference to self-
efficacy proves to be a potent factor because "these self-systems house one’s cognitive and
affective structures and include the abilities to symbolize, learn from others, plan alternative
strategies, regulate one’s own behavior, and engage in self-reflection" (Bandura,1977). Self-
efficacy has a relatively brief history that began with Bandura’s (1977) publication of "Self-
Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change". Self-efficacy refers "to subjective
judgments of one’s capabilities to organize and execute courses of action to attain designated
goals" (Bandura, 1977 and 1997). Self-efficacy beliefs can therefore be extensively applied and
potentially used in the field of educational research, particularly in the area of academic
motivation and achievement (Pintrich and Schunk, 1995).
The Role of Self-efficacy Beliefs
Self-efficacy beliefs center around what a person can do rather than personal judgments about
one’s physical or personality attributes. The level of self-efficacy refers to its dependence on
difficulty level of a particular task; generality of self-efficacy beliefs refers to the transferability
of one’s efficacy judgments across different tasks or activities such as different academic
subjects; and strength of efficacy judgments pertains to the certainty with which one can perform
a specific task (Zimmerman, 1995). When students begin to doubt their capabilities, it becomes
detrimental as they slacken their efforts and give up quickly in the face of difficulties, have low
aspirations and are most likely to encounter stress. They view insufficient performance as
personal deficiencies and do not concentrate on how to perform successfully.
Self-efficacy beliefs influence not only motivation levels but also offer resilience to adversity
and avert vulnerability to stress and depression. The stress and anxiety levels required to
accomplish a task are also influenced by efficacy beliefs. Research findings over the past 20
years have generally supported the argument that "efficacy beliefs mediate the effect of skills or
other self-beliefs on subsequent performance attainments" (Schunk, 1991; and Bandura, 1997).
The findings of Bouffard-Bouchard et al. (1991) show that students with high self-efficacy are
engaged more in effective self-regulatory strategies at each level and this ability enables them to
cope with anxiety and stress, which can facilitate enhancing memory performance.
This indicates that these beliefs influence motivational and self-regulatory processes in several
ways. For accomplishing a particular task, they influence the choices people make and the
courses of action they pursue. This typically manifests in student behavior where they engage in
tasks in which they feel competent and confident and avoid those in which they do not.
Therefore, self-beliefs facilitate control over the events. According to Pajares Frank (1996),
beliefs of personal competence "determine how much effort people will expend on an activity,
how long they will persevere when confronting obstacles and how resilient they will prove in the
face of adverse situations". This indicates that higher the sense of efficacy, the greater is the
effort for persistence, persuasion and resilience. These findings are further substantiated by
researchers who have also demonstrated "that self-efficacy beliefs influence effort, persistence,
and perseverance" (Bandura and Schunk, 1981).
List of References
Bandura A (1977), ‘Self-efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change’,
Psychological Review
. 84, 191-215
——–, (1986),
Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory
,
Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall, NJ
———, (1997),
Self-efficacy: The Exercise of Control, Freeman
, New York
Bandura A and Schunk D H (1981), ‘Cultivating Competence, Self-efficacy, and Intrinsic
Interest Through Proximal Self-motivation’,
Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology
, 41, 586-598
Bouffard-Bouchard T, Parent S and Parivee S (1991), ‘Influence of Self-efficacy on Self-
regualtion and Performance Among Junior and Senior High-School Age Students’,
International Journal of Behavioral Development
, 14, 153-164
Pajares F and Johnson M J (1996), ‘Self-efficacy Beliefs in the Writing of High School Students: