Seminar 16: Presentation Day 6

The presentations from this week's class were very intriguing because they covered very different topics that had not been touched upon by others in the class. I enjoyed the presentation on the pragmatics of speech. I found it very interesting to learn about the components of speech and to learn its importance in the early life and growing up of children. One does not usually analyze the importance of speech as it comes so natural to us; it however is critical in the proper development of humans and many other animals.

Although other animals do not specifically use speech, they have other methods by which they communicate. After learning about the any complexities of phonemes and speech sounds, I realized how much has to go right for speech to be learnt and understood. It truly is amazing that any baby can adapt and pick up the language skills and speech sounds that surround him/her. The interplay between neurons and the neuronal pruning that has to take place in order for speech to be properly learnt is remarkable; if it were not known, I am sure that science would deem it as an impossibility. It is amazing that we have evolved to become such social creatures and it is evident in how important social communication is in our daily lives and overall success.

At the same time, however, this week's presentation on Autism examined an issue that is becoming increasingly more prevalent, especially amongst middle aged mothers. Having worked with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders on a weekly basis for six years, I know the difficulties involved. We only stay with the children for 3 hours, but it amazing how much attention each child requires. I can only imagine the difficulties that the parents have to go through every day. It is a constant struggle and it unfortunately is becoming increasingly more prevalent. I really appreciated the teaching tools that were brought in to class to show us a window into how she works with these children. The new treatment options truly amaze me, because I have personally seen some of the successes. It is amazing how resilient both the parents and patients themselves can be in fighting the disorder. I foresee many advancements in autism research, I only hope that it can be distributed and funded by the government soon enough to help young children with autism in their early stages of development.

Seminar 15: Presentation Day 5

In listening to Sarena's presentation on active listening, I agree that it is a much better way of teaching than the conventional passive learning that is widespread throughout the school system. I can understand why passive learning may have caught on in the school system and especially in a university setting. It, however, seems to be common knowledge that this type of learning most definitely is not the most effective way of learning.

It has been known for many years that learning occurs best when things are learnt by using different modalities, i.e. write, say, hear, etc. When learning actively, one must use the different learning modalities which will allow for better comprehension of the material. Less rote memory skills need to be utilized as the knowledge becomes ingrained in the student. I once had a very long conversation with a teach who both taught and did extensive research on the Montessori school system. She began too explain to me the way the school worked and the way that the children learn. It appears that in this system, children become very good active learners, which most definitely gives them a great head-start in life. It also is much more tailored to the individual needs of the child, which makes it easier on the child to do better in school and feel no competition with the other children in his/her class. The only significant issue that I can foresee with this style of learning is that these children are wholly unprepared for the style of teaching at most universities. If they do not want to attain advanced degrees than it shouldn't be a problem, but the massive change from all active to all passive learning can be very difficult or even impossible for the individual to succeed. I think that in the future, all schools should strive to invest their time properly and take the time to allow our children to actively learn in the classroom.

I also found Marcia's presentation on neglect and child abuse to be very interesting. Having 6 nieces and nephews, it was hard for me to read and acknowledge how bad some parents are to their children. The prevalence rates were much higher than I expected and I see it as being despicable for a parent to hurt their child. I think that the violence is largely caused by the fact that the parent's parents probably treated them the same way. Education is desperately needed for these parents and the many people of our society to stop violence against children. Kids need to know that there are people that they can talk to in the case that they need help; our school systems may be failing us in this highly significant aspect of growing up.

Seminar 14: Presentation Day 4

This week's two presentations were interesting. The Baby Einstein presentation touched on a lot of aspects that had been covered by several colleagues, but added some new points that added and extended to the findings. Although the presenter argued that Ms. Aigner Clark had good intentions, I find it very difficult to alleviate her of all the responsibility. When someone is making a product for any group of people, it is important to ensure that the product does in fact do what it was intended to do. This must apply even more so when the population in question is young children and mothers who are desperate to find a solution to their constant stress. The Baby Einstein seems like a 'gift' for most of these moms. In the past several weeks, I have met several more mothers, some of whom are pediatricians and they have expressed how much they love the Baby Einstein DVD's and citing that they have at least 10-15 of the videos at home. It irks me to find out that if the American Academy of Pediatrics' message isn't even being heard by the pediatricians, then who is listening. Are recommendations being made and falling on deaf ears? What is the point of doing all this great research on television and very young children if not even the most qualified doctors in the field don't follow it. The fact is that Baby Einstein is simply too easy. It alleviates parents of their responsibilities and makes them feel good that their kids might be learning. In terms of child rearing, our society needs to make a serious paradigm shift. We need to all start realizing that the 'easy way' is more often than not, the wrong way! I think this change needs to start with authority figures, psychologists, doctors, politicians, people that have the power to change the way society works. I know that the change will take a long time, but we have to start slowly by convincing parents that they themselves may in fact know the best way to rear their children.

Here we see the fall-out from the Baby Einstein campaign for the refund: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/education/10baby.html

It's scary what some companys will do to try and clear their name.

Seminar 13: Presentation Day 3

I really enjoyed the presentations from today's class. These presenters integrated a very different approach to the assignment and managed to teach the class several important developmental concepts. I really enjoyed learning about the 'inquiry based learning' technique and theory by Kelly. This is a topic that everyone thinks they know about, although in truth, few know the real details and processes that are often at work in this learning style. I like how she got us involved in the topic by asking us to build the tower. It was interesting to try and solve the best problem on our feet in a short time span. Inquiry based learning truly seems like the optimal way to teach children (and even adults). As a child, I recall learning the most when I was challenged to think by myself. I know that even today, I learn the most when the content is being taught hands-on and I can manipulate things with my hands. I believe that the more connections that we can make while learning, the higher the amount of knowledge that is retained. This seems to be confirmed by multisensory studies that have shown that auditory and visual coupling of information causes greater retention and ultimate learning.

I also really enjoyed Salva's presentation and the way she analyzed how research is translated and put into practice in average peoples everyday lives. It seems that there is a serious issue in translating research in that there is a significant delay. I would estimate that the delay varies greatly, but even a couple of months can be highly valuable, especially in the developing fetus or infant. I know that some research takes many years to reach the public sphere. This is a major problem. I think that the government or universities need to figure out a better system by which the general public can access the information as it is released. So few individuals read the scientific journals and even if they do, it is so complicated that they probably don't even understand it. Amazing research is being conducted worldwide and even right here at YorkU, but I am saddened that the general public do not have easy access to the advances that are being discovered on a daily basis.