January, 2010
29
Jan 10
Images and Rorschach Psychodiagnosis
The objective of Rorschach Psychodiagnosis is to study how people interpret images, and more commonly inkblots. When psychologists study this they can understand the personality of patients, their current conflicts and their unconcious actions.
Look at this inkblot. What do you see?
A horse? Internal organs? Your childhood?
Other images with double meanings can be a fun way to learn how people visually interpret things in different ways. What do you see in these images? Do your friends see something else?
28
Jan 10
Chinese Marathon Runners Cheat to Get Into University
Many students will do just about anything to get into a good university – pulling all-nighters to get perfect grades or joining multiple extra-curricular activities to fluff their academic resumes. Many students will even lie and cheat to get into their dream school, but would they run a marathon?
Last week, about one third of the top 100 finishers of a marathon in Xiamen, China were disqualified due to cheating. Some students hired imposters to run for them during parts of the race. Others were driven in cars. Some gave their timing pieces to faster runners. It later looked suspicious when runners 8,892, 8,897, and 8,900 all passed the finish line at exactly the same time. With only 200 monitors to oversee the 50,000, it is not surprising that so many people tried to cheat. But why cheat, you ask?
Those who finished in under two hours and 34 minutes could add extra points to their score on the Gao Kao, China´s highly competitive university entrance exam. The Gao Kao, or National Higher Education Entrance Examination, is a requirement to enter almost all higher education institutions at the undergraduate level.
The exams are so crucial that both students and their families will go to extraordinary lengths to succeed. Last year, eight parents and teachers were jailed after using scanners and wireless earpieces to help pupils cheat.
With the stakes being so high are they setting students up to fail? Those who just want a good education should not need to cheat in order to succeed.
27
Jan 10
Apple CEO Steve Jobs Unveils the New iPad
The much anticipated Apple product was announced on Wednesday, January 27th, at 1pm San Francisco time. For months, tech nerds and Apple fans have been buzzing about the “truly magical and revolutionary product” now named the iPad. The iPad is a tablet said to be a cross between a laptop and an iPhone, yet better than both. It is 10 inches and operates without a key pad. Some say it looks like an oversized iPhone. Mr. Jobs announced that the iPad will have a starting price of $499 USD. Some bloggers and critics are saying that the supposed gap between an iPhone and a laptop is an unnecessary one to fill. Others praise the tablet and predict that it will be a hit among college students because it is an entertainment and educational device all-in-one that is easier to tote around than a laptop. What do you think? Is an iPad for you?
Steve Jobs with iPad tablet
Here are the details:
- SPECS: 9.7 inch IPS display, 0.5 inches thin, 1.5 pounds in weight.
- MEMORY SIZE: 16, 32, or 64 GB solid state hard drives
- CHIP: 1 GHz Apple A4 chip.
- Wi-Fi: 802.11n
- BATTERY LIFE: 10 hours
- Includes Speaker, Microphone, 30-pin connector, Accelerometer, and compass
27
Jan 10
Waiting For Superman at the Sundance Film Festival
The No Child Left Behind Act was declared in 2001 to improve the education system in the United States, but it has yet to have any meaningful results. Despite increased spending and promises from politicians, the weak public-education system routinely fails in the education of millions of children.
Waiting For Superman is a new film being shown at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, from January 21 to January 31 in Park City, Utah. It is a documentary that highlights schools in different parts of the United States.
Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim follows five promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth. He analyses the public schools, surveying “drop-out factories” and “academic sinkholes,” looking closely at the different problems kids and their parents face.
The following is an interview with Davis about his new film:
26
Jan 10
The Chancellor of Germany Has a PhD
One wonders how world leaders get to where they are now. Is it all hard work? Just luck?
Angela Merkel, for instance. Did she always know she wanted to be the Chancellor of Germany? When she was 6 was she drawing pictures of passing legislature and giving speeches in front of thousands of stuffed animals? Looking at her past, she did not start out on the path of politics, but rather science.
Merkel started her post-secondary education at the University of Leipzig, where she studied physics, graduating in 1978. She then worked and studied at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin-Adlershof from 1978 to 1990. After being awarded a doctorate for her thesis on quantum chemistry she worked as a researcher. It was around this time, after becoming more and more involed in politics, she became the deputy spokesperson of the new pre-unification caretaker government under Lothar de Maizière.
Soon after, she was elected to the Bundestag (the German Parliment). There, she has been Minister for Women and Youth and the Minister for the Environment and Nuclear Safety. Merkel was also named Secretary-General of her political party.
On 22 November 2005, Merkel assumed the office of Chancellor of Germany, becoming its first female chancellor and one of the few female leaders in the world!
So to recap:
- Studied physics
- PhD in Quantum Chemistry
- Deputy Spokesperson
- Bundestag (German Parliment)
- Minister for Women and Youth
- Minister for the Environment and Nuclear Safety
- Secretary-General
- Chancellor of Germany
Easy as strudel.
25
Jan 10
Course of the Week – Australia Day Edition
The 26th of January celebrates and commemorates the British founding of Australia when the First Fleet arrived in Sydney, Australia, in 1788. The Government also utilises this day to encourage people to become Australian Citizens if they have been permanent residents for a predetermined time, and they present the award for The Australian of the Year.
These days Australia Day is seen as a day to celebrate cultural diversity, reflect on the country´s history and lots of people get together for a typical Australian meal such as a BBQ. The three essential ingredients to any BBQ are meat, beer and wine. It is a country famous for its beer drinking, meat eating and wine making, so we thought we would share a couple of courses that are keeping with the spirit of Australia Day.
Bendigo Regional Institute of Tafe (BRIT Tafe) has a Certificate II in Food Processing (Wine) which will qualify you to work as a cellar hand in a winery and you will learn all about winemaking and the industry. The wine industry in Australia is thriving and you will find many well established names as well as boutique wineries all around the country.
Charles Darwin University offers a Certificate III in Meat Processing (Meat Retailing) for all of those aspiring butchers out there. Australia is a big shot in the meat trade and there are plenty of opportunites to work in this industry if you are passionate about your meat.
Edith Cowen University has a Graduate Diploma of Brewing to give you the skills to enter the beer making industry, another very popular enterprise in Australia. If you want to win friends then this is the profession for you!
Happy Australia Day!
22
Jan 10
Year of the Teacher in Russia
Photo: RIA Novosti
In 2009 Russia celebrated the Year of the Youth but in 2010 it is Year of the Teacher. Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, along with the St. Petersburg’s Pedagogic Assembly, officially opened proceedings on January 21. To coincide with this there is a two day assembly being held in St. Petersburg, which will address such issues as teacher shortages and modern universities. The idea behind the Year of the Teacher is to improve standards across the board in education, to encourage more professionals into the field and to improve the wages and efficiency of the 1, 350, 000 teachers working in Russia.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
President Medvedev´s major initiative is called “Our New School” which basically looks to overhaul and modernise the education system. It targets five key issues: Improving the health of school children, developing teacher potential, supporting talented children, changing the infrastructure of the school network and the introduction of new educational standards. It addresses the need for teachers in rural locations, and incentive schemes such as a bonus and housing for teachers that take up rural placements.
The initiative proposes to improve the national economy and to modernise the education system in Russia. Happy Year of the Teacher!
21
Jan 10
Meet Ceylan Özgören
Ceylan Özgören was contracted by Educaedu before coming to Buenos Aires through an organization called AIESEC (Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales). She came here to work, to see what is happening on the other side of the world and, of course, to learn Spanish. After almost a year, Ceylan can communicate with her co-workers in perfect Spanish and has really adapted to the porteño lifestyle.
Ceylan is the Turkish Content Manager and she is also in charge of our linking project that we have going on right now. Educaedu Turkey is the newest addition to our education directory. It officially went online on Thursday, September 24, 2009 with 70 institutions and 1800 programs to choose from. Wait, you don’t speak fluent Turkish? Don’t worry. Many institutions conduct entire programs in English. So if you are interested in studying in Turkey, here are a couple of programs conducted in your native tongue that Ceylan recommends:
What she misses most is two words – Turkish Coffee! If you have never tried Turkish coffee you do not know the joys of life. It is thick and sweet and goes perfectly with any cake. If you are lucky, Ceylan will read you your fortune from your coffee grounds, which is a Turkish tradition.
Favorite movie: Pulp Fiction
Favorite TV show: Nip/Tuck
Best class ever taken: An E-commerce course. She took it when she was trying to sell dried apricots to the U.S. and everything that she learned in that course was amazing.
Ideal made-up course: A course to understand the meanings of dreams.
20
Jan 10
Running May Help Your Memory
Photo: Anna Mas
Cambridge University and The US National Institute on Ageing have discovered a link between memory improvement and running. The study shows that after a few days of running, hundreds of thousands of new brain cells are created in the part of the brain that involves the formation and recollection of memories. Previous studies have proven the positive effects that exercie, and more specifically aerobic exercise, have on the body, and it looks like it also benefits the brain.
The specific benefit that came from running was the ability to clearly recall memories without confusion, which could be the key to slowing down memory loss associated with ageing.
At this stage the study has only been carried out with mice, but who needs more incentive to get on the exercise bandwagon? Improve your energy levels, lose weight, feel great, improve memory retention! Let´s go running!*
*If you are not a regular runner it is not recommended to jump straight into a run… start slowly…
19
Jan 10
60 Years of Experience Helping Students Find Internships
AIESEC is the world’s largest student-run organization. It’s goal is to connect students looking to find an internship with companies looking for interns almost anywhere in the world. The organization started in 1948 and is currently active in over 1700 universities across more than 107 countries and territories. The programs enable young people to explore and develop their leadership potential to have a positive impact on society.
With over 5000 students sent on internships in 2008, AIESEC has become one of the best ways to go across the world, experience another culture, and get great job experience for the future.
Looking for an internship after graduation or during the summer? Here are the different types of internships AIESEC can help you find:
- Management – internships related to administration, finance, accounting, marketing, project management and HR.
- Development – usually with NGOs, internships relate to a wide variety of issues in community development.
- Technical – internships related to management and development in web, software, networks, databases, and engineering.
- Education – internships related to promotion, curriculum development, teaching, and counseling in the education sector.
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