English 101 Essays - Obesity, Nutrition, Health, Diets, Dietetics

English 101 Dieters In American society today, millions of people are searching for the elusive dream of being thin. On any given day, one finds neighbors, friends, and relatives on some kind of a diet. There are many different types of diets available being used by a variety of dieters. Three of the more common types of dieters are the "impatients," the "promisers," and the "longterms." Everyone wants to lose weight quickly and effortlessly; therefore, any fad diet promising overnight results seems to catch the attention of the "impatients." When there are advertisements for exercise equipment, promising instant results in just minutes a day, the "impatients" don't hesitate to order it right away. This could be a good thing, however, the equipment usually just ends up collecting dust instead of being used. The next day the television advertises a new wonder pill that claims the user can lose up to ten pounds in one week, and the "impatients" are sure that it will work. Although the magic pill does not produce the desired weight loss, they never give up hope for a new product to come along. The "impatients" are always looking for the quickest wieght loss products on the dieting market. It is common for one to decide it is time to lose a few unwanted pounds; however, decisions made in haste can be hard to keep and the "promisers" usually fail their attempts right away. They pledge to lose the extra weight for special occasions such as an upcoming reunion, wedding, or maybe a trip to the beach, but the weight-loss pact usually fails. The "promisers" tend to put their diets of until tomorrow, after what they tell themselves, will be their last day of indulgence . That so-called last day of indulgence is usually followed by yet another day of indulgence rather than the diet that they promised to start. The "promisers" are constantly setting out to lose weight but the attempts continue to be unsuccessful. Unlike the "impatients" and the "promisers" who's various attempts at losing weight tend to fail, the "longterms" usually get the best results. The "longterms" don't rely on gimmicks or quick fixes to lose weight, instead they make changes in the way that they live day after day. Instead of waiting until the last minute to cut back on fat, the " longterms" include low-fat and healthy meals as part of their everyday diet. In addition to eating right, another reason the "longterms" seem to get the best results is because they also include moderate exercise into their lifestyle. The "longterms" may not lose ten pounds in a week, but in the long run they definitely get the most effective and stable weight loss results. All dieters share a common goal; losing weight, but they approach the goal from many different sides. As Americans continue to search for ways to lose weight, there will always be dieters that are trying every product, pill, program, and lifestyle until they find the method that works the best for themselves.

Free Essays on Standardized Tests

A standardized test is a test that is consistent and controlled in its administration, scoring, and interpretation procedures. These tests are scored by comparing a student’s score on a specific test with scores made by a very large number of similar students who have taken the same test. The two major distinctions of standardized tests are aptitude tests and achievement tests. An aptitude test measures a student’s general potential to learn. An achievement test measures what a student knows in a subject area. There are five standardized test that are generally in use: California Achievement Test, Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, Iowa Test of Basic Skills, Metropolitan Achievement Tests, and Stanford Achievement Tests. Standardized testing first began in the United States in the 1800’s. Their first use was to ensure that all students were receiving the same standard of education. Even then, there was much criticism about the tests but they quickly took hold in the United States. The tests were then being used â€Å"to sort and classify students, reflecting education’s lingering elitism, as well as educators failure to address the problems of low achievers† (Haladyna, 1998, pg 263). Today, standardized tests are still used because people believe that test scores are valid indicators of children’s learning. Standardized tests were developed to be used as an assessment tool to evaluate the knowledge and/or skills a student has in a particular subject area. Standardized tests are norm-referenced, which means that a student’s knowledge and/or skills are compared with a national sample of students of the same age or grade level. An advantage of using standardized testing is that the information given, if interpreted properly, can â€Å"illuminates a child’s strengths and weaknesses, can be helpful not only in dealing with their child’s teacher, but also in determining at-home assistance† (Popham, 1999, pg 9). ... Free Essays on Standardized Tests Free Essays on Standardized Tests In 1957 Americans watched stunned as the Soviet Union successfully launched their space craft Sputnik. The â€Å"space race† had been won by the Soviets leaving the Americans with one question, how could we have lost? The answer to this question lied in the school systems and if they were really pushing the kids to their full potential. This got educators and politicians to start thinking about changing the curriculums. It was a gradual change at first, just in the science and math programs, with arts and social studies being pushed into the background. It wasn’t until the late 1960’s and 1970’s that arts and social sciences made a comeback, at the at the expense of science and math. Over the past 20 years, the focus has swung back and forth between the math and sciences and the liberal arts. Parents today are now demanding schools the give a quality product. Standardize testing helps parents and school districts determine how well a child is doing and guide them to their highest potential. Parents and politicians look to the schools to be responsible for student learning and the schools are holding the students accountable for their learning. The schools can do this by administering standardized tests. A type of test is a norm-referenced test. This is one that evaluated a student’s progress. Before standardized testing, teachers were the ones analyzing students. This caused several problems with the teacher knowing the child and knowing their strengths and weaknesses. Teachers could work with the students who did not do well on tests and give them alternate assignments so that they could succeed. This did not accurately show how children were doing in schools because of the special attention. Standardized tests are tests with the ability to test large groups of students on the same level as kids all over. Tests are first given to a â€Å"sample† group of children and from there do test makers develop their c... Free Essays on Standardized Tests A standardized test is a test that is consistent and controlled in its administration, scoring, and interpretation procedures. These tests are scored by comparing a student’s score on a specific test with scores made by a very large number of similar students who have taken the same test. The two major distinctions of standardized tests are aptitude tests and achievement tests. An aptitude test measures a student’s general potential to learn. An achievement test measures what a student knows in a subject area. There are five standardized test that are generally in use: California Achievement Test, Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, Iowa Test of Basic Skills, Metropolitan Achievement Tests, and Stanford Achievement Tests. Standardized testing first began in the United States in the 1800’s. Their first use was to ensure that all students were receiving the same standard of education. Even then, there was much criticism about the tests but they quickly took hold in the United States. The tests were then being used â€Å"to sort and classify students, reflecting education’s lingering elitism, as well as educators failure to address the problems of low achievers† (Haladyna, 1998, pg 263). Today, standardized tests are still used because people believe that test scores are valid indicators of children’s learning. Standardized tests were developed to be used as an assessment tool to evaluate the knowledge and/or skills a student has in a particular subject area. Standardized tests are norm-referenced, which means that a student’s knowledge and/or skills are compared with a national sample of students of the same age or grade level. An advantage of using standardized testing is that the information given, if interpreted properly, can â€Å"illuminates a child’s strengths and weaknesses, can be helpful not only in dealing with their child’s teacher, but also in determining at-home assistance† (Popham, 1999, pg 9). ...

Attitudes of Undergraduate Students toward E-learning in Arabic Thesis

Attitudes of Undergraduate Students toward E-learning in Arabic Language Courses - Thesis Example The success of the program is then determined by this enthusiasm. University students at the King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia have been enlisted on this e-learning program with the same promise of a better future with highly advanced technology. E-learning is a process in which technology such as computers and internet-based resources are utilized to learn in an informal environment away from a formal instruction-oriented classroom Undergraduate university students, who form a sizeable population at tertiary level educational institutions in any given country at a time, have, of late, been called upon to undertake e-learning as a more viable practical alternative to other methods of study. E-learning and e-teaching environments necessarily differ in contextual and atmospheric dimensions and their definitional parameters have been stretched beyond the simple computer mediated proposition. Asynchronous e-learning and e-teaching have become the order of the day in most informal environments where teachers are far removed, sometimes thousands of miles, from the learner. Yet again, there is a distinction between pedagogy-driven e-learning and technology-driven e-learning. A considerable amount of literature has been compiled on the attitudinal perspectives of the university student population in the English speaking world, but nevertheless the same cannot be said about the non-English speaking countries like Saudi Arabia, where university undergraduates have displayed a remarkable paradigm shift in attitude to embrace e-learning as a radical alternative to formal instructional method of learning. This paucity of literature on the subject has weighed more on my effort to produce a comprehensive study on the hitherto less explored phenomenon of e-learning by undergraduate Arabic language students in the King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia. The cognitive construct is a plausible parameter employed by psychological theory to study characteristically peculiar patterns of behavior that are not otherwise amenable to interpretation or analysis.