Saturday, September 26, 2015

Data Commentary II - Campus Carry & issues

ESL 5301-002 Gun Control
Data Commentary II

1. Data Commentary #2

According to the statistical data provided by Ipsos, most of the survey participants believed the law should allow citizens to obtain guns and use deadly weapons to protect themselves (Reuters/Ipsos poll: gun rights & regulations, 2012). However, about half of the supporters are not strong supporters. About 74% of the survey participants also indicated that the law should place a limitation on gun sales. Almost all participants believed checking background at gun sales was necessary. The survey result showed that most people agreed with gun carry with proper limitations probably due to the public security consideration. Lawmakers may consider what specific limitations they should place on gun sales and gun carrying to protect the people.

Comment: This is an online survey. The sample is 1,922 random selected American. I believed students in Texas Tech will respond similarly because people do not want to lose the right to carry a weapon to protect themselves but they do not want to be hurt by hostile gun holders either. (Ruizhi)

Reference

Reuters/ Ipsos poll: gun rights & regulations. (2012, April 12). Ipsos. Retrieved on September 17, 2015 from http://static.reuters.com/resources/media/global/editorial/interactives/ipsos-poll-gun-control/ipsos-poll-gun-control.html

2. Data Commentary 2


In the article “More than 6 in ten Americans say guns make homes safer”, by Justin McCarthy, a survey result on Americans’ idea about increasing house safety by having guns is shown in the chart. The poll was originally done by Gallup in 1993 and it was repeated every two years until 2014 to measure the variation of public idea on this subject. The chart demonstrates the result of the survey from 2000 to 2014 and participants are categorized as Democrats, Republicans and independents. As the chart shows, the percentage of people who believe having a gun in the house will improve safety is increasing for all categories. However, the rate of percentage growth for Republicans is higher compared to two other groups. The investigation shows that the percentage of Republicans who support this idea in 2014 was 81% which is almost twice the percentage amount in 2000 (41%). Among Democrats, this percentage changed from 28% in 2000 to 41% in 2014, and also for independents the variation was about 35% in 2000 to 64% in 2014. Therefore, as a result it can be understood that Democrats generally are less in favor of having guns to increase their home security compared to other group members. However, the percentage of people who support this idea has tended to increase over these years. (Soraya)

McCarthy, J. (2014). More than 6 in ten Americans say guns make homes safer. Gallup. Retrieved on September 17 from http://www.gallup.com/poll/179213/six-americans-say-guns-homes-safer.aspx

3. Data Commentary 2

According to the article “Concealed Carry on College Campuses Support”, a survey has been done regarding campus carry at the University of Texas at Austin. As described in the article, different variables were considered as effective parameters which could be taken into account. Political party, conservatism, liberalism and race were among those categories, and results were reported in bar graphs. The respondents were given five choices including strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, strongly oppose and don’t know. In one case, they were asked about the political party which they were leaning toward. The result bars were shown in blue, gray and dark red depending if they were Democrat, Independent or Republican respectively. As the results are demonstrated in the graph, eight percent of Democrats strongly supported campus carry and fifteen percent of them chose “somewhat support” as their favorable answer. However, fifty-seven percent of Democrats were strongly opposed to that as well as fifteen percent of moderate opposition as they chose “somewhat oppose”. Of course the remaining seven percent did not have any specific preference as they chose “Don't know”. On the other hand, thirty-five percent of the Republicans strongly supported campus carry followed by thirty four percent of moderates who support it as they chose “somewhat support”. Twenty-five percent of them where opposed to campus carry in which almost half of them felt strongly about that. Similar to the results for Democrats, seven percent of Republicans also did not know about their opinions.

The results for Independents were reported as thirteen percent strongly support, twenty percent somewhat support, twenty-two percent somewhat oppose, twenty-nine percent strongly oppose and sixteen percent did not know.

As it can be observed from the results, almost seventy percent of the Republicans are pro-gun carry on campuses, in contrast to Democrats who showed only twenty-three percent support. This shows that the political view of the respondents might play a key role in achieving a closer outcome to reality; so it seems essential to put that on future surveys, and it can be included for preparing a poll in Texas Tech University. This is not a surprise to see Republicans in favor of campus carry and Democrats with more opposition; however, it should be noted that political views of students could change dramatically from a more liberal city like Austin in comparison to Lubbock. It could mean that the ratio of Democrat population to Republican population should be considered as a variable as well. (Sina)

Concealed Carry on College Campuses Support (2015, February). University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Retrieved on September 17, 2015 from http://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/set/concealed-carry-college-campuses-support-february-2015#party-id

4. Data Commentary 2

According to the article “Twelve facts about guns and mass shootings in the United States”, the author, Ezra Klein (2012), talks about the 12 facts about different aspects of gun control. The tenth fact is the survey conducted by Gallup (1990) that whether people think about “the laws covering the sale of firearms should be made more strict”. In the graph, it shows that the percentage of people supporting the laws more strict decreased from 78% in 1990 to 44% in 2010 while the percentage of opponents increased from 1990 to 2010 and even exceeded the percentage of supporters in 2009. It eventually reached 54% in 2010. For the reason that support for gun control decreases, Ross Douthat (2012) believed two factors result in this phenomenon. One is the reduction of crime rate. The other one is the attitude of personal right exceeds advocacy of social responsibility. Besides, it had a small fluctuation after 1999 when the most deadly high school shooting in American history happened. We can infer that people’s attitudes toward gun control laws were influenced if shooting accidents occurred. (Kai)

Reference:

Klein, E. (2012, December 14). Twelve facts about guns and mass shootings in the United States. The Washington Post. Retrieved on September 17, 2015. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/14/nine-facts-about-guns-and-mass-shootings-in-the-united-states/

Douthat, R. (2012, July 24). The Gun Rights Tilt. The New York Times. Retrieved on September 17, 2015. http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/the-gun-rights-tilt/?_r=0

5. Public supports many gun control policies

This is a bar graph that shows people who support many gun control policies. 98% are in favor of the policy of background checks. The other 2% are opposed to these background checks. The difference between those in favor and those opposed to the ban of semi-automatics is very small (58% and 42% respectively). The difference between those in favor and those opposed to the ban of high capacity clips is also not that large (60% and 40% respectively). 90% of people support the ban of guns for felons and the mentally ill, while 10% do not. The majority opposed the limit of guns for individuals (about 55%). 75% support gun registration while 25% oppose. However, 90% are opposed to complete abolition of guns while 10% are in favor of this.

Most people are in favor of guns. However, they are in favor of restrictions to be set in place to avoid any misuse of them. (Samah)

Reference:

Do Americans Want More or Less Gun Control? Both, Actually. (Dec 14, 2012). Retrieved: (Sept 17, 2015). From http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/12/do-americans-want-more-or-less-gun-control-both-actually/266312/

6. Data Commentary

According to the results from an Ipsos poll about gun rules and regulations conducted for Thomas Reuters, 75% of the participants in the survey are in favor of allowing law-abiding citizens to carry concealed firearms. Also 67% of participants believe in using deadly force in public spaces for the purpose of self-defense. However, 74% of the participants support a “law limiting the sale of automatic weapons” and as many as 91% of the participants believe that background check should be one of the requirements in allowing the sale guns. These results show that the majority of pro-gun people are also in favor of laws that prohibit wrong guns from falling into wrong hands. (Pouria)

Reference

Guns rights and regulations. (2012, Apr. 13). Ipsos/Reuters poll. Retrieved on September 17, 2015 from http://ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586

7. Data Commentary #2

According to the annual mass shooting casualties graph in motherjones.com, the numbers of injured and fatalities has increased gradually from 1982 to 2012. Between 1982 and 1998, the number of fatalities are under 40 and the number of injured were under 60 except in the year 1991. In 1999, the number of fatalities increased to above 40 and the number of injured also increased to more than 80 because of Columbine high school. Between 2000 and 2012, the number of fatalities 20 and under, and the injured were under 80. The exception was in the year 2007; the number of fatalities was around 70 and injured 90. Also, in 2012 there were almost 79 fatalities and more than 140 injured because of Sandy Hook and Aurora Theater. Therefore, allowing the carry of guns on campus will increase the number of fatalities and injured. (Ebtehal)

Reference

Mass shootings in the US are on the rise. (2012)Mother Jones. Retrieved on September 17, 2015 from http://www.motherjones.com/special-reports/2012/12/guns-in-america-mass-shootings

8. Data Commentary

Regarding gun rights and regulations, Ipsos poll made a survey of people’s ideas from 1,922 Americans conducted from April 9th – 12th, 2012. The findings were listed in four charts. In the second chart, we can see there are 67% of participants who totally agree with the idea that the law should allow citizens to use deadly force to protect themselves in a public space. In contrast, 27% of people in the survey were against this proposal. In addition, 6% of participants had no clear idea on this argument. From the data, it shows that more than half the people hold the opinion that guns are protective tools when they are in danger and guns can be used in public places. (Lu)

Reference

Ipsos poll. (April 13, 2012). Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Gun Rights & Regulations. Retrieved on September 17, 2015 from
http://ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586

Monday, September 21, 2015

Data commentary I - campus carry & gun control

ESL 5301-002 Gun control
Data Commentary I 

1. Graphic Summary

According to the graphic of Annual mass shooting casualties, from 1982 to 2012, the numbers of mass shooting casualties increased gradually. From 1982 to 1991, the total number of fatalities is around 120. In 1991, the number of victims is the highest; the total number of fatalities is around 35, and the number of injured is around 63. From 1992 to 2002, the total number of fatalities is around 130. In 1999, the number of victims is the highest; the total number of fatalities is around 43, and the number of injured is around 90. From 2003 to 2012, the total number of fatalities is around 265. In 2012, the number of victims is the highest; the total number of fatalities is around 79, and the number of injured is around 145. Since 2003, the total number of casualties has increased dramatically. (Xiaomiao)

Reference

Annual mass shooting casualties. (2012, December 28). Mother Jones. Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from
http://www.motherjones.com/special-reports/2012/12/guns-in-america-mass-shootings

2. Data Commentary #1

According to the statistical data provided by Mother Jones, the mass shooting casualties, including injuries and fatalities, in most of the years since 1982 are below 20 per year (Mass shootings in the US are on the rise, 2012). In the years with mass shooting casualties above 40, the number of casualties tended to increase over the years. In the 80s and early 90s, there were no years with casualties more than 70. However, in 1999, the year with the Columbine High School Massacre, the annual casualties reached around 90, and years with casualties more than 70 frequently occurred thereafter. In 2007, the year the Virginia Tech Shooting occurred, the casualties went above 80, and, the casualty number was more than 140 in 2012, the year the Sandy Hook Shooting and Aurora Theater Shooting occurred. The mass shooting in the United States is becoming more and more frequent and the casualties tend to increase over years. This may indicate that it is necessary to control weapons in order to reduce the likelihood of mass shooting events. (Ruizhi)

Reference

Mass shootings in the US are on the rise. (2012) Mother Jones. Retrieved on September 16, 2015 from http://www.motherjones.com/special-reports/2012/12/guns-in-america-mass-shootings

3. Data Commentary

According to the article "Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Gun Rights & Regulations”, a survey has been done by the Ipsos organization which originally was requested by Thomson Reuters Corporation to see what American people think of gun rights. As described in the article, different groups of respondents were asked including people form both political parties (Democrats and Republicans) and different races. In one case, respondents were asked whether they thought having legal firearms would keep them safer in public places. The results are reported in a circle graph which contains five sections; in which each section is corresponding to either strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, strongly oppose and unsure with use of different colors. In the graph, it can be seen that the section of people being unsure has the smallest distribution with six percent. Being strongly opposed and somewhat opposed has the second and third lowest distributions respectively. Consequently, sections regarding somewhat oppose and strongly oppose have largest distributions. As a whole, a total of sixty-seven percent of respondents supported using firearms in public for their protection followed by twenty-seven percent of opposition.

As it can be observed from the results, the majority of Americans believe that owing a gun can help them protect themselves rather than cause problems. However, in my opinion, they should also be educated about the consequences which the police and governments would face. For example, a simple street fight or even a misunderstanding could result in a mass shooting or chaos in which the police will not even be able to recognize whose fault it was. Only with bringing up various possible problems and informing people about them, we might get responses closer to reality. Moreover, it should be noted that on campus, the responses would probably be different, since people might find that it is already safer than any other public place and think guns would make it more dangerous than before. (Sina)

Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Gun Rights & Regulations. (2012, April 13). Ipsos. Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586

4. Data Commentary

In the article, “Reuters poll: most Americans support right to use deadly force in self defense”, by Blannelberry, Graph 4 shows survey results done by Reuters and Ipsos to investigate Americans’ idea on necessity of background check before selling guns to customers. The graph demonstrates that ninety-one percent of people who either support using guns or oppose it, found it essential to search the previous records of purchasers. The majority of participants, which is the darker green portion of the graph, strongly support this idea, or they choose the somewhat support option illustrated by the lighter green on the graph. Six percent of people voted against the background check and among them, only a small portion (darker orange in the graph) strongly opposed this idea, and finally three percent of participants in the survey were unsure about it (blue portion of the graph). I believe the logic which can describe this result is that checking the buyers’ history will reduce the chance of arming criminals and people with mental disorders who are not stable enough to be trusted with weapons. This might be the reason which caused people to vote in favor of background check before selling the weapons. Although background check can give us general information on buyers’ written history, it will not guarantee hundred percent safety. Many psychological criteria such as short temper may lead to loss of control in various situations. In the case of campus carry, critical psychological characteristics of young students should be considered in the investigation in addition to their criminal record check. (Soraya)

Blannelberry, S.H. (April 19, 2012). Reuters poll: most Americans support right to use deadly force in self defense. Guns.com. Retrieved on September 16, 2015 from http://www.guns.com/2012/04/19/reuters-poll-americans-support-deadly-force/

5. Data Commentary 1

A poll conducted by Thomson Reuters (2012) showed citizens’ attitudes about gun rights and regulations. Four graphs reveal proportions of whether citizens support or oppose the gun laws. In the graphs, they imply that most citizens want to limit weapons and support the idea that law-abiding citizens can get access to guns. However, when it comes to using guns to protect themselves, more than half of citizens consider it is necessary. Although they oppose mass sale of weapons outside of using them to protect themselves, what they mean is that such deadly weapons should be sold to good people and people should properly use them at the time they really need to do so. (Kai)

Reference:

Reuters, T. (2012, April 13). Reuters/Ipsos poll: gun right & regulations. Retrieved on September 15, 2015. http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586

6. Data Commentary

According to the third graph, 74% of people in the survey support the idea that the law should limit the sale of automatic weapons. In contrast, the percentage of people who are against this statement is 22%. Meanwhile, there are 4% of participants in this survey who are not sure about their attitudes on this argument. The data come from an online survey conducted by Ipsos poll among 1,922 Americans. From this data, we can have a clear idea that the majority of citizens would like to see fewer guns and think the law has significance on the issue of gun control. In addition, it reflects the idea that the more sales of automatic weapons there are, the greater the chances of gun shooting in public. (Lu )

Reference

Ipsos poll. (April 13, 2012). Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Gun Rights & Regulations. Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from
http://ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586

7. Data Commentary #1


According to Thomson Reuters in the Ipsos poll that he conducted about gun rights and regulations and published in Ipsos, one of the graphs is about lowering the limit on the sale of automatic weapons. The total who support it is 74% and the total of people who do not support it is 22%. The rest of them, which are 6%, are somewhat opposed. Therefore, most people would be against the carry campus law because it will lead to the campus being an unsafe place. Also, the carry campus law will increase the number of homicides. (Ebtehal)

Reference

Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Gun Rights & Regulations. (April 13, 2012). Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586

8. Gun Rights & Regulations

This is a pie chart that described the opinions of citizens regarding the use of deadly force to protect themselves in a public space.

There are 34% of people who strongly support using guns for self-defense. Moreover, there are 33% of citizens who support the use of guns sometimes. However, 17 % of citizens are somewhat against the use of guns. On the other hand, a small percentage (5%) are strongly opposed to the use of guns in a public space, even if it is for our own safety. 5% of citizens are unsure about the use of deadly force.

From this graph, we conclude that 67 % of citizens are in total support of having their own gun and using it for self-defense. On the other hand, 27% of citizens are totally opposed to that. Even if guns are dangerous to carry most of the time, the law allows them to be used in some situations to protect ourselves. (Samah)

References:

Reuters/Lpsos poll: gun rights & regulations. (April 13, 2012). Retrieved: Sept 15, 2015 from http://static.reuters.com/resources/media/global/editorial/interactives/ipsos-poll-gun-control/ipsos-poll-gun-control.html

9. Data Commentary

According to the chart located in the article “The NRA myth of arming the good guys” by Mark Follman, in a 30-year time period between 1982 and 2012, there has been a mass shooting incident almost every year. According to this chart, only in 1983, 1985 and 2002 has there been no mass shooting incidents. This graph also shows that the number of fatalities and casualties in each year varies from around 5 up to more than 140. The years with higher numbers of total fatalities and injuries happen to be those in which some of the most infamous mass shooting incidents happened (for example Columbine High School in ’99, Virginia Tech University in ’07, Sandy Hook Elementary school in ’12 and Aurora Theater in ’12).

This chart shows that mass shooting incidents cannot be viewed as isolated cases because they happen frequently enough. Therefore, when it comes to campus carry law, people might be afraid for their safety because of the frequency of occurrence of mass shooting incidents. (Pouria)

Reference

Follman, M. (2012, Dec. 28). The NRA myth of arming the good guys. Mother Jones. Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/nra-mass-shootings-myth

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Gun control Summaries III

ESL 5301-002 Gun control/campus carry
Summaries III

1. Summary III


According to Steffanie Atkins’s (2013) news report, Virginia 21’s survey indicated that 83% of Virginian college students did not agree with campus gun carry. “Some Second Amendment advocates” believed allowing people to carry weapons on campus can protect them from school shooting. The executive director for Virginia 21, Tom Kramer, was quoted as saying that students were against campus carry, especially in their dormitories, because sometimes they cannot even decide about their roommates. Virginia 21 would oppose any future campus carry proposal in the future. (Ruizhi)

Reference

Atkins, S. (2013, Jan. 19). Survey from students: no guns on campus. RVA News. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://rvanews.com/news/survey-from-students-no-guns-on-campus/81614

2. Summary 3


In the article, Mr. Ferner, the author of “Gun Violence In Colorado: From Columbine To Aurora, Mass Shootings Reignite Gun Law Debate”, talks about the public debate on gun control laws in Colorado. Since two shooting massacres happened in Colorado, some public media did surveys on people’s attitudes about gun control laws. The result of the survey by New York Times/Quinnipiac/CBS shows that thirty-eight percent of voters supported more rigorous gun laws and half of voters felt we should not revise them. In contrast, the survey by Denver Post showed the opposite attitude, that fifty-six percent of interviewees held anti views on gun control laws while thirty-nine percent of them agreed with it. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper said that it was a personal problem rather than Colorado problem since the murderer still can create crime without guns, such as explosive and poisonous gas. However, police chief Robert White held a reversed viewpoint. He said that such assault weapons owned by people had less value and actually they had no practical use. (Kai)

Reference:

Ferner, M. (2012, December 17). Gun violence In Colorado: From Columbine to Aurora, mass shootings reignite gun law debate. The Huffington Post. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/gun-violence-in-colorado-_n_2316633.html

3. Summary

In the article “Say no to guns on college campuses”, the authors Jade Reindl and Jean Cocco debate about the campus carry issue in Florida State University. They raise this concern that gun lobbyists are trying to convince society that campuses will be reasonably safer if students can carry their firearms. The authors say that people who are in charge in colleges do not accept this idea. As mentioned by the authors, David Perry, the police chief at Florida State University believes that determining whether the intention of the shooter was upright or not, would not be clear. Furthermore, writers say that the majority of the university population does not agree with a campus carry bill. They mention that gun lobbyists think armed students can protect themselves from getting sexually assaulted. However, authors do not agree and state that wherever the number of guns went up in one area, the number of murdered women increased consequently. The writers also debunk this statement by the gun lobbyists in which licensed guns will only be given to citizens with very clean records. The authors refer to a report released by South Florida Sentinel in 2006, which showed hundreds of law-breakers with licensed guns. Last, the authors encourage everybody to show their opposition to this law because they believe that the university campus and classes are not places for guns. They think we have already enough problems like alcohol and drug consumption, so there is no need to add another issue. (S. Saravi)

Reindl, J. and Cocco, J. (2015, February 26). Say no to guns on college campuses. CNN. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/26/opinion/reindl-cocco-campus-no-guns/

4. Summary


In “Cautious optimism as the struggle with campus carry begins” by Davis Clark, the author believes that legislation of campus carry can have two main consequences in universities. The first one is ansafety issue; the concern of accidental or intentional shooting, or even mass shooting can be raised by allowing concealed guns onto the campus. Previous undesirable shooting experiences in universities can intensify the safety concern on campus. However, even if the university administrators and other people in charge can upgrade the security of the universities and provide a safe campus, psychological trauma may still exist. The stress that can grow between students, employee, and professors about the possibility of carrying a concealed gun by any other person, can be hurtful for an academic environment. For instance, in a situation when a student is not satisfied with his or her grade, the anxiety of dealing with an armed person can intimidate the professor easily. Therefore, the author believes by enacting campus carry, even if we can assure people about safe environment, the anxiety produced by this law can still be damaging. (Soraya)

Clark, D. (2015, July 28). Cautious optimism as the struggle with campus carry begins. The Daily Texan. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2015/07/28/cautious-optimism-as-the-struggle-with-campus-carry-begins

5. News Summary 3

According to the article, “Exposed handguns, concealed weapons, and the new ‘Campus Carry’ gun law,” Texas passed bills that allow people to carry guns in public space, including college and universities. The CEO of Whataburger openly announced that he would not allow people to carry guns in his restaurants, and he asked other restaurants’ owners to do the same. Police were against this bill as well. Republicans and Democrats have different point of views. Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Democrat, argued that this bill would make a less safe environment. Sen. Craig Estes, a Republican, had a strong belief in people who had concealed licenses. He thought they were responsible people. (Xiaomiao)

Reference

Mooney, N. (2015, September 10). Exposed handguns, concealed weapons, and the new “campus carry” gun law. Inquisitr. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.inquisitr.com/2407303/exposed-handguns-concealed-weapons-and-the-new-campus-carry-gun-law

6. Summary

In this article, several opinions about campus carry were presented by the author, Paula Mooney. At first, the CEO of Whataburger insisted that they will not allow guns to be taken in their restaurant and he encouraged other restaurants to follow his advice (Mooney, 2015)). In addition, a person called Mary Johns agreed as well, saying there is no reason to carry guns in places full of children. In contrast, supporters of this bill thought they could be protected by themselves with guns. What's more, the author quoted Andrew Cuomo as saying “How many weeks do we have to have with the same story over and over and over about the insanity that this country is allowing to continue with violence and loss of life of innocent people, because we have people who have no business having guns having guns?” (Lu)

Reference

Mooney, P. (2015, September 10). Exposed handguns, concealed weapons, and the new ‘Campus Carry' gun law. INQUISITR NEWS. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from
http://www.inquisitr.com/2407303/exposed-handguns-concealed-weapons-and-the-new-campus-carry-gun-law/

7. Summary #3

According to Ms. Castro-Crist in Concealed Carry Referendum will be open to Students, students with concealed handgun license will be able to carry their weapons inside campus next August. Therefore, the Texas Tech administration is working to make a plan for how the campus gun law will be applied. Also, The Tech Student Government Association is working to engage students’ voice in this issue by using a referendum. Some students and faculty have already posted their opinions in social media. One student that Ms. Castro-Crist mentioned is Michael Comfort. He is a sophomore and his major is history. He supports the right of having weapons, but he worried about having guns on campus. Ms. Castro-Crist quoted Michael Comfort as saying, “Safety above all, I think that people should be adequately trained. When it comes to bringing it on campus, there are still a lot of people on campus that aren’t the most mature of individuals.” (Ebtehal)

Reference

Castro-Crist, A. (2015, Augusts 26). Concealed carry referendum will be open to students. Daily Toreador. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.dailytoreador.com/news/concealed-carry-referendum-will-be-open-to-students/article_8a829aac-4c69-11e5-92ab-03acd7a507a9.html

Article Summary

According to the article “No guns in my classroom No. 4: More killings with a legal gun now in Roanoke, more reason to stop campus carry” by David Smith-Soto, the shooting incident at Roanoke, Virginia, where two young reporters were murdered, was committed by a person who was using his legally purchased gun. The author uses this example to explain that because of the Texas campus carry law, every person in a classroom can become a target. The author provides more explanation by saying that a person with no criminal background and no mental illness history, who can have access to guns easily, can snap and commit homicide using a gun, just like the incident at Roanoke. According to the author, such a thing can happen on the campus or in a classroom because of the campus carry law. (Pouria)

Reference

Smith-Soto, D. (2015, August 30). No guns in my classroom No. 4: More killings with a legal gun now in Roanoke, more reason to stop campus carry. Borderzine. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://borderzine.com/2015/08/no-guns-in-my-classroom-no-4-more-killings-with-a-legal-gun-now-in-roanoke-more-reason-to-stop-campus-carry/

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Gun control - Summaries II

ESL 5301-002 Summaries II –First Drafts
Gun Control / Campus Carry

1. News Summary

In this article, legislation in fifteen states may force colleges to allow people carry guns on campus. Texas has passed the law to allow concealed weapon on college campuses. In 2013, a survey showed that 80 percent of students felt unsafe if guns were allowed on campus, and more than 90 percent of faculty were against this idea. Supporters suggest that women can protect themselves if they carry guns on campus, since sexual assault has been a problem in colleges. However, in almost 33 percent of sexual assault cases, the victims’ intimate partners were the perpetrators. The solution of campus sexual assault requires involvements from different aspects, especially the improvement of women’s rights in communities, transparent case trial, etc. (Xiaomiao)

Guns on Campus’ Laws for Public Colleges and Universities, A Guide for Students and Parents, (2014). Armedcampuses. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from
http://www.armedcampuses.org/

Kaufman, N. (2015, September 8). Concealed Carry on Colleges Campuses: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Huff Post. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kaufman/concealed-carry-on-colleg_b_8093306.html

2. Summary II

According to Robbins’s (2015) news report, Whataburger decided to prohibit the open gun carry in its restaurants because open carry may make customers and employees feel uncomfortable. Forbidding open carry in a property is the owner’s right protected by the law. Members of the public have different reactions to Whataburger’s new policy. While Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America appreciates Whataburger’s decision, Open Carry Texas founder C. J. Grisham believes the open carry prohibition is inappropriate and Whataburger may lose gun holder customers. However, Texas Restaurant Association CEO Richie Jackson expects that many restaurants may follow Whataburger’s policy. (Ruizhi)

Reference

Robbins, S. (2015, Jul. 13). Whataburger takes a stand on open carry law. Texas News. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Whataburger-Takes-A-Stand-On-Open-Carry-Law-314334991.html

3. Summary

In the article “Student debate guns on campus-cons”, the authors Jenna Simsen and Lindsay Humphrey, discussed possible negative effects of campus carry in general and particularly in University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL). In their opinion, despite Texas Legislators’ point of view, guns will not make campus safer and consequently will make the students feel uncomfortable. In the authors` view, some occurrences like the shooting at Virginia Tech University cannot necessarily be avoided by giving licensed guns to the students as the shooter himself passed several security checks and had licensed firearms. Furthermore, the authors believe that alcohol consumption by the young students will increase the chance of shooting on campus; also viewers of a shooting incident could easily get hurt without having to do anything with the fight. Last, the authors bring up the fact that not only will students not feel safe with this law, but also the older students` kids as well as faculty`s kids, are not going to feel as safe as they used to, while their parents brought them on campus on different occasions. (S. Saravi)

Simsen, J and Humphrey, L (2015, September 8). Student debate guns on campus-cons. The Signal. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/USN/TheSignal/Editorial?articleId=1286

4. Summary

According to the article “The truth about campus carry” by Madison Welch, safety of Texas Universities will not be endangered by campus carry. First of all, she refers to the fact that statistical investigation shows that people with licensed guns have committed fewer crimes. Furthermore, she states that improving university campus safety in order to allow the concealed licensed firearm is not completely necessary. She mentions that there are other places such as churches, malls, etc. which allow concealed licensed gun holders without these amount of safety upgrades; therefore, if it is not making any issues over there, why can it be a problem on campus? She believes that claimed costs associated with campus carry, are just political means to disapprove legislation and enacting this law. Furthermore, in the case of safety hazards caused by existence of guns in laboratories with chemical compounds, she believes that legal weapons will lead to less danger compared to illegal guns. (Soraya)

Welch, M. (2015, May 22). The truth about campus carry. TribTalk, Perspective on Texas. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.tribtalk.org/2015/05/22/the-truth-about-campus-carry/

5. Article Summary

According to the article “Why I’ll soon have reason to fear my students“ by Joanna Cattanach, the law to allow students to have concealed handguns on the campus and even in the class will make teaching at a community college in Texas more challenging very soon. According to the author, she has had many students during her career as a community college teacher, who have experienced violence first hand (for example, a student who got shot during Christmas holidays or another student who had seen co-worker being shot “during a robbery at a fast-food restaurant”. According to her, a large number of her students don’t want to see guns on the campus. The author also mentions that the average student age on the campus where she works (North Lake College) is 27, meaning that most of the students in her classroom can have concealed guns on them during the class. According to the author, this will result in her classroom being an unsafe place, and every person in the classroom will be worried that “gun accidentally might go off when someone drops a backpack. Or that an unstable student might get mad”.

According to another article, “I support full concealed gun carry rights on DCCCD campuses” by Bill Metzger, which was written in response to the previous article, the author says that “Gun violence happens only in gun-free zones”. He mentions a few incidents involving educational campuses such as Columbine High School, Virginia Tech University and Sandy Hook Elementary. According to the author, these disasters could have been prevented if trained firearms owners were able to carry their weapons with them. The author also mentions that between the years 1996 and 2011, there were 30 incidents where a person with a permit to carry a gun committed homicide. He also mentions that in this 15-year period, “Nearly 4.3 million Texans applied for concealed carry licenses”. (Pouria)

Cattanach, J. (2015, August 18). Why I’ll soon have reason to fear my students. The Dallas Morning News, Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20150818-joanna-cattanach-why-ill-soon-have-reason-to-fear-my-students.ece

Metzger, B. (2015, August 25). I support full concealed gun carry rights on DCCCD campuses. The Dallas Morning News, Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20150825-an-armed-student-body-is-a-safer-one.ece

6. Summary

In the first article, Nancy talked about different reasons about supporting the argument that carry concealed weapons on campus and reasons to disagree this proposal. The author introduced the survey of students and professors' feelings on this argument. In the survey, 80% of students and nine of ten faculty members thought it would not be safe if law allows guns can be carried on campus. For the supporters, they believed that victims can protect themselves if they are in danger in case of sexual assault and it would cost millions of dollars in building protective system on campus which would be a heavy budget for public colleges and universities. However, Nancy pointed out that the reason for sexual assault is students involved in alcohol and the carrying of guns would result in more suicides and even homicides.

In the second article, the author introduced the fact that there were several states have been allowed carrying guns on campus for many years, such as Colorado for 12 years. (Lu)

Reference

Kaufman, N.K. (2015, September 8th). Concealed Carry on Colleges Campuses: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kaufman/concealed-carry-on-colleg_b_8093306.html

7. Summary

Teresa Welsh, in her article “Should the Colorado theater shooting spur more gun control?”, introduces the shooting accident in the Colorado Theater where 12 people were murdered. Also, she mentions another shooting massacre in Colorado, called “Columbine High School Massacre”, in 1999. Two students killed a teacher and 12 students and finally committed suicide. Obama said that the government would take care of injured people and punish the killer while the Brady Campaign made a statement to oppose it. Citizens felt angry about government letting guns be owned by dangerous people and called for gun laws changing. Also, opponents of gun control laws considered that people should have guns to defend themselves, since murderers would still initiate a crime under the laws. (Kai)

Reference:

Welsh, T. (2012, July 20). Should the Colorado theater shooting spur more gun control? U.S. News. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/07/20/should-the-colorado-theater-shooting-spur-more-gun-control

8. Summary #2

According to Nancy Kaufman in Concealed carry on colleges campuses: what could possibly go wrong? By next year, individuals will be able to carry guns in colleges and universities after the campus carry law has been passed in 15 states with Texas one of them. According to survey that happened in 2013, 80 percent of students and 9 out of ten of faculty are against the campus carry law because it will lead to unsafe environment. The National Rifle Association supports this law as a solution for campus sexual violence. However, adding guns with sexual assault in campus will lead to more problems. In addition to that universities will need more money for security reasons, victims in sexual assault might use guns with attackers. Also, there is a high chance that attackers will grab guns from victims. Students could also kill any one trying to rape them. (Ebtehal)

Reference

Kaufman, N. (2015, September 8). Concealed carry on colleges campuses: what could possibly go wrong? Huffington Post. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kaufman/concealed-carry-on-colleg_b_8093306.html

Monday, September 7, 2015

Summaries - Gun control (I)


ESL 5301-002
Summaries

1. News Summary I

According to Karen Michael’s (2015) news report, Texas Tech University will allow concealed handgun license holders to carry weapons in campus beginning on Sep. 1, 2016 due to the new state gun legislation. The university will prepare a guideline to regulate concealed handgun license (CHL) holders on campus by Oct. 1, 2015. CHL holders may not carry weapons in specific campus areas or during specific events. The university may offer voluntary classes for CHL holders to inform them of additional law information for campus carry. “Open carry of weapons” will not be allowed on campus. The Texas Tech Chancellor Robert Duncan believes the new campus weapon regulation will not cause unnecessary panic. (Ruizhi)

Reference
Michael, K. (2015, August 30). Texas Tech to Have Guidelines for Campus Carry by Oct. 1. Lubbock Online. Retrieved on September 1, 2015 from http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2015-08-30/texas-tech-have-guidelines-campus-carry-oct-1#.VebGXfn0F4d

2. Texas Tech Campus Carry

            According to the article, “Texas Tech to have guidelines for campus carry by Oct. 1” by Karen Michael, Presidents of each one of the Texas Tech campuses have appointed a committee to prepare a list of guidelines regarding concealed handgun license (CHL) holders by October 1. These guidelines then will be used to determine permanent and temporary off limit areas for weapons. An example for a permanent off limit building can be a federal laboratory. Also, according to this article, an off limit building is a building holding an event where ‘weapons would not be appropriate’, such as a ‘court session for law school’. University presidents will also use these guidelines to make recommendations to the Board of Regents for the rules concerning campus carry on their campuses. Furthermore, those with CHL who are carrying guns on the campus will need to go through training to know do's and don'ts in certain situations (for example, ‘in the case of an active shooter’). (Pouria)

Reference
Michael, K. (2015, August 30). Texas Tech to have guidelines for campus carry by Oct. 1. Lubbock Online.  Updated on August 31, 2015. Retrieved on September 1, 2015 from http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2015-08-30/texas-tech-have-guidelines-campus-carry-oct-1#.VeZ7v_kYued
3. Summary
            In the article  “Allowing guns on campus will cost Texas Tech $7 million dollars” by Carol  Morgan,  the author states that campus carry can cause additional expenses for the universities. She mentions fiscal analysis results done by HC writer Lauren McGaughy, in which Texas Tech University’s cost estimation for allowing guns on campus will be about $7 million dollars.  She expresses that additional cost is going to be paid by students and  their  parents because it is not funded. Furthermore, the money is not the only issue with this law; she also believes that by enacting  and executing this law, the  college campus safety will be at risk.  She refers to a scientific fact that the human brain is still developing even in their older  ages;  therefore,  students  between  18  to  25  years old are not psychologically adult enough to be armed.  She believes that legislators and people who are in favor of campus carry,  do not have advanced and sufficient  knowledge on human  psychology to understand the safety risks caused by this law. However they have enough power to control the other people who are against it.  (Soraya)

Morgan, C.  (2015,  February  22). Allowing guns on campus will cost Texas Tech  $7  million  dollars.  Lubbock Avalanche Journal.  Retrieved on September 1,  2015  from http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/carol-morgan/2015-02-22/allowing-guns-campus-will-cost-texas-tech-7-million#.VeZ8-fldXYj

4. Summary

            According to the article  “Say ‘no’ to concealed carry on college campuses”,  the author, Faith Alford, emphasizes the  negative  effects  that campus carry could  have. From her point of view, the gun is not something that could be tolerated  in  classrooms  and  in  general,  academic  atmosphere.  As mentioned in the article, Senator Rodney Ellis has addressed this matter as an issue in which educating the younger generation should be preferred rather than arming them with deadly guns.  Furthermore, Alexis Woods, a biology student, has brought up this point that campus carry would convert the university  into a more dangerous  place  and  thinks  it  should  be  decided  by  people  who  are  going  to  face  it;  not  the  ones who have not experienced the college life for many years. The article also addresses another issue regarding huge extra costs which the university will be facing mostly for security increase, hiring more officers and  gun  storage areas. It is mentioned that these extra costs would have a negative impact on research funds and consequently will shut down  some  essential  projects.  An estimation of 47 million dollars cost  has  been  reported  in  this  article,  prepared  by  Houston  Chronicle, which  The  University  of  Texas  at  Austin  and  University  of  Houston  should  spend  combined  to  update  their  campus  for  this  matter. (Sina)

Alford, F. (2015, March 5). Say ‘no’ to concealed carry on college campuses. The Cougar. Retrieved on September 1, 2015 from http://thedailycougar.com/2015/03/05/say-no-concealed-carry-college-campuses/

5. Summary

The article, “Colorado Shooting Shows the Failure of Gun Control Laws”, written by Erich Pratt, talks about some shooting cases and arguments about government’s attitude after the shooting. The author lists two types of accidents where one is in “gun free” zones and the other is in “gun free” kill zones. It causes many victims in “gun free” zones such as Columbine High School, Virginia Tech and Fort Hood while shooter was killed by a citizen in “gun free” kill zone, where different laws cause different consequences. In addition, it is argued by gun control advocates that people need less guns, which is opposed by the author, who argues that some people who are involved in danger or an emergent situation can protect themselves with guns. Also, the author disagrees with their argument, explaining that human rights rather than needs can make people live longer. In conclusion, the author holds the point that people should protect themselves with guns and properly use them.  (Kai)

Reference:

Pratt, E. (2012, July 26). Colorado Shooting Shows the Failure of Gun Control Laws. U.S. News.
http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/does-the-colorado-shooting-prove-the-need-for-more-gun-control-laws/colorado-shooting-shows-the-failure-of-gun-control-laws

6. Summary

In this article, there are two people who argue against each other by stating their points of whether women should carry guns in campuses or not. Leah Gunn Barrett, the executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, thinks that women should not carry guns on campuses. He points out that campuses are "some of the safest places" and women are not strong enough to carry guns. What's more, the chances of shooting would be increased if women were allowed to carry guns because guns of women are more easily turned on women than those of men. However, Vasilinda, victim of “attempted rape” while in college, disagrees with Barrett, insisting that women can protect themselves with guns. She blamed that she would be rescued if she had the chance to carry guns during the rape.  (Lu)

Reference
Hawkins, A. (2015, August 25). Gun Control Proponent: Women Too Weak To Carry Guns For Self-Defense. Retrieved on September 1, 2015 from

7. Summary

According to Karen Michael in Texas Tech to have Guidelines for Campus Carry by Oct. 1 Texas has passed a law that allowed people who have concealed handgun license to carry their weapons inside college campus. Therefore, Texas Tech is going to prepare guideline about how the implication is going to be by next Oct 1. The guideline will mention the places where people are not allowed to use weapons, such as daycare center or court in law school. Also, Tech will provide lockers in restricted areas for gun holders to store their weapons. Texas Tech will provide classes to train students and staff, who are 21 years old and older and pass their background check, on campus carry instructions. One of the concerns that campus carry law is not a big problem is that most Tech students are under 21. Also, statistically, people who have concealed handgun license are less likely to commit crimes than those who don’t have licenses. (Ebtehal)
Reference
Michael, K. (2015, August 31). Texas Tech to have guidelines for campus carry by Oct.1. Lubbock Online. Retrieved on September 1, 2015 from http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2015-08-30/texas-tech-have-guidelines-campus-carry-oct-1#.VeYxfD1RE5s

8. News Summary

            On August 27, 2015, a student was shot at Savannah State University. This incident raised discussion about campus carry. Since 2013, there were four campus shootings in Georgia. Georgia state has not been able to pass the law to allow firearms on campus during recent years. Opponents strongly believed that a university should be a safe environment for students and faculty to study and work. Proponents argued that people should have the right to protect themselves wherever they were. (Xiaomiao)

Redmon, J. (2015, August 29). Savannah State shooting revives focus on campus carry. AJC.com. Retrieved on September 1, 2015 from

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Model Dissertations


(Ruizhi)
Managing retirement resources: evidence from the HRS
Christopher M. Browning
Dec. 2013
http://repositories.tdl.org/ttu-ir/handle/2346/58201

(Pouria)
Title: Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Cross-linked Epoxy Based Systems: a Molecular Simulation Study
Author: Ketan Sudhakar Khare
Link:  https://repositories.tdl.org/ttu-ir/handle/2346/58580


(Soraya)
Author: Dale D. Slabac
Title: A Surrogate Model Approach to Refinery-Wide Optimization
Year: 2004
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2346/18330

(Kai)
Title: Analysis and evaluation of bicyclist's limitations and accessibility to Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock, Texas
Author: Timothy Key
http://hdl.handle.net/2346/58559

(Lu)
Title: Bilingual education in the United States: An overview of its history, public policy, and controversy
Author: Tracee Tomlinson
http://hdl.handle.net/2346/ETD-TTU-2010-12-1110

(Ebtehal)
Title: Implementing Reading Workshop: Why Do Teachers Find it so Hard? A Case Study of Two Elementary Teachers
Author: Satterwhite, Macy D.
http://hdl.handle.net/2346/ETD-TTU-2011-05-1548

(Sina)
Author: Visveswaran Thiagarajan
Title: Domain Formation in Cholesterol/POPE/POPC Lipid Bilayer Membranes
Date: August, 2005
Department: Chemical Engineering
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2346/16627





Saturday, September 5, 2015

Teaching Philosophies


ESL 5301-002
Teaching Philosophies – 2nd draft

1. Teaching Philosophy

                  As a graphic design instructor, my teaching philosophy has been influenced by a fusion of Western and Chinese cultures. In Chinese culture, teaching has two inseparable folds: Passing on knowledge and nurturing of minds. As such, I define teaching as not only a process by which I instruct students in the acquisition of knowledge but also as a process that encourages students to become independent thinkers. I have observed that some students feel that learning is all about memorizing information and following instruction in the classroom. When one possesses this type of mentality for learning, they often want instant answers for questions with little attention to how to formulate the right answers, or how to resolve problems independently. A proverb from Western culture states, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime”; I try to emphasize to students that memorization of graphic design concept and theories, and practice of technique skills is only a fraction of what should be learned. The most important and challenging part of learning is the understanding of the rationale underlying the concepts and theories. It is knowing how, why, and when to apply learned material to solve novel problems in design process. (Xiaomiao)

2. Teaching Philosophy

           One of the major jobs for a Personal Financial Planning instructor is to train future financial planners. In order to become a competent financial planner, one has to remember voluminous laws and regulations about income tax, investment, retirement, and estate.
           Simply reading materials to students in the class is inefficient and even ineffective. The best way is to have the students read the book before the class. In-class quizzes can ensure that the students do their reading assignment. Students can obtain an overall understanding of the knowledge when they read the book. The instructor therefore has enough time to introduce important knowledge in class. Students tend to get confused about regulations. I encourage students to ask questions in class or after class if they have any confusion about the material. Solving problems in class helps all of the students who have similar confusion.
           It is important to ensure that the students understand how to utilize the knowledge they learn. Students can quickly find out how to deal with real clients in specific situations if they go through some case studies. A financial planner is supposed to have a comprehensive understanding of his or her case. Therefore, I will design cases for students to practice and give some adapted past real cases for them to read. The case study will be assigned to each individual student so that each student can consider all the details of the case. I will encourage my students to discuss cases with each other and find out the best solutions so that they can potentially find out different opinions. The discussion can occur on Blackboard or meetings after class. Software will be introduced to help students solve problems efficiently.
           Assessment methods can be different depending on the specific courses. For most courses, the exam simulates the certification exam (Certified Financial Planner) and helps students prepare for it. For a lab course introducing software, case studies are the best because a student cannot finish the case without having a comprehensive understanding of the software.  (Ruizhi)

3. Teaching Philosophy

            As a graduate student pursuing a PhD degree in the field of chemical engineering, one of my future career options would be to become a faculty member. One of my main duties will be to teach courses related to my research area and my field of study to undergraduate and sometimes graduate students as a faculty member. Therefore, I often think about myself becoming a teacher. I have attended many classes during my undergraduate studies and have had many teachers. I have also had the opportunity to teach a few classes as a teaching assistant and hold discussion sessions for undergraduate students since the beginning of my graduate studies. I believe that I can use my own experience as student and as a teaching assistant to develop methods and ideas that could help me become a good teacher.
                  It is important to know that nowadays, teaching is no longer the process of making students memorize the contents of so many books and evaluating them by testing how quickly they can recall the information memorized in the form of limited-time exams. Nowadays, anybody with access to the internet can find the information they need online very quickly and very easily. Therefore, I believe the students need to learn how to approach the problem they’re facing (for example, the design of a chemical plant), how to find and acquire information that will help them solve the problem, and how to apply those information in order to solve the problem. In other words, I want to teach my students fishing, rather than just giving them the fish. For example, instead of writing down a list of mathematical expressions and relations, I can show the students how to derive them.
I also believe that learning is done through doing. For example, one can only learn to drive once one sits behind the wheels of a car and starts driving. Students will learn how to apply useful information to solve a problem by actually applying different problem solving methods to various problems, which can be done through examples and exercises. These exercises can be in the form of in-class quizzes, which serve the purpose of helping students to understand the concept they learned in the classroom and how it can be applied to practical problems.
Furthermore, I believe that critical thinking is an important skill for any student to have, as good questions are usually the results of critical thinking. These good questions can in turn lead to gathering more information about the problem, which leads to an easier solution. Developing the critical thinking skill in students can be achieved through group assignments (for example, a take home exam or a project on which a group of students can work while having more than enough time), where students can discuss various problems with each other, listen to each other’s ideas and also question each other’s ideas. Through this process, I believe students can learn about different ways of thinking, expand their views on various problems and learn how to approach a problem from different perspectives.
I believe that the more traditional methods of teaching are not efficient anymore, and teachers who can bring innovation to their methods are more successful in training skilled engineers. I hope that my teaching philosophy can be categorized among the more successful ones. (Pouria)

4. Teaching philosophy

                  In this essay, I will introduce my teaching philosophy in teaching immigrant students. Teaching immigrant students whose English is limited requires more special teaching skills than teaching local students. For me, I think there are two teaching strategies I would like to implement in my classes.
                  Making knowledge clear to students is a very important teaching strategy for bilingual teachers. It means that teachers should use special teaching methods to make knowledge easily understood by students. For instance, when teachers are teaching kindergarten immigrant students’ objects, such as, different kinds of fruit, instead of telling students directly the English name of fruit, showing ELLs (English Language learners) the real fruit is a better choice. By hearing, touching, feeling, and smelling the real objects, students will learn English effectively.
                  Another teaching philosophy that appeals to me is making students involved in my class. There are several ways to involve students in class. For example; in teaching ELL’s vocabulary, teachers model the commands and continually repeat and review them until the students can carry out the commands with no difficulty. Specifically, teachers may give commands, such as “stand up” and “sit down,” then they do the commands; by repeating these, students know what is meant by “stand up” and “sit down.” After that, teachers give comments to students and make them involved in this activity. By this kind of physical activity, teachers involve students in the class.  (Lu)

5. Teaching Philosophy

                  When it comes to being a teacher, some people consider that a teacher must be equipped with abundant professional knowledge and responsibility of teaching students. However, these are merely fundamental qualities of being a teacher. In my point of view, it requires effective methods of teaching as well.
                  Unfortunately, I have no experience of being a teacher, but I have undergone undergraduate education of landscape architecture for 4 years. During these times, I took many courses by different teachers and felt various teaching methods and class atmospheres. Some are good while others are not. As a result, I gradually got some ideas about teaching philosophy.
                  If I were a landscape architecture teacher who was teaching undergraduate students, I would be responsible for every student. Since undergraduate students are mainly undeveloped or being developed while they are eager to achieve professional skills; it is crucial for me to help them look for methods of knowledge acquisition and foster their personality during undergraduate studies. For undergraduate students, they already have the capability of grasping knowledge from books, so teachers should focus on the key information of the topic rather than convey knowledge by mechanically reading a textbook to students. In my teaching philosophy, cultivation of students’ confidence and ability for independent thinking should be taken into account. First, every student should be prepared for each class, with questions and critical thinking in mind. I will let some students summarize the articles and encourage them to express their viewpoints respectively instead of entirely accepting what I teach. Second, starting a discussion consists of producing questions and getting other students to solve them. I will focus on making a full explanation of those questions that no one could answer. Third, I will emphasize the main concept of this topic and make sure everyone has understood it.
                  For landscape architecture students, they may have no idea of design while concept learning is not enough. Showing them pictures or videos of the design process helps construct an idea of it and is also conducive to grasping their attention and makes a better understanding. In this way, students will achieve more success. Also, it is essential to share various aspects of experiences in my career, because students can be directly aware of how to apply the knowledge in their career and what personality should be built, which contributes to their final growth. Meanwhile, I strongly consider students should work in groups, as they gradually form a sense of being cooperative and develop ability of leadership; especially in landscape architecture, not all projects can be finished by oneself, either in university or in one’s career. Students must learn how to communicate and work with others, accepting and sharing different ideas, finishing their own work on time and integrating everyone’s work, to present a perfect design.
                  Last, different teachers have different teaching philosophies and the best is always the one that can be accepted by students and effectively beneficial to them. I believe the teaching philosophy that I mentioned can let students achieve more success in the future. (Kai)

6. My Teaching Experience

                  I have  always  wanted to be a teacher from an early age. I used  to teach math to  my  younger  brother as well as neighbor kids since I was 12 years old. I believe that has  something to do with the fact that my father, a civil engineer, used to be a private math  teacher  and  would  do  it  as  a  second  job. I  remember  observing  him  teaching  for  hours  without  having  a  single  clue  about  what  he  was  talking  about.  When  I  entered  the  university,  I  was  not  able  to  think  of  any  job  which  would  suit  me  other  than  being  a  professor.  I was completely sure  this  was  going  to  be  the career  I  was  going  to  do  for  a  living.  There was only one  problem.  All  the  students  seemed  to  be  bored  in  most  classes  or  at  least  they  were  not  fully  comfortable.  That  was  when  I realized teaching  could  be  just  a  job  like  any  other  career,  or  it  could  turn  into  an  art  if  the  person  who  was  doing  that,  cared  about  it  greatly.  So I  tried  to  use  my  experience  as  a  student  and  turn  it   into  my  materials  as  a teacher.
                  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  be  a  teacher  when  I  was  studying  my  Master of  Science.  I  have  had  over  300  students  in  4  years,  all  in  the chemical  engineering  field  such  as  mass  transfer,  chemical  reactions  and  thermodynamics.  These  experiences  made  me  realize  I  should  always  consider  two  goals. First,  always  try  to  get  better  and  try  to  be  the  most  updated,  fun,  knowledgeable  teacher  for  your  students.  Second, you  will   not  achieve  goal  number  one!  So  it  is  almost  impossible  to  make  all  of  the  students  satisfied  at  all  times  and  there  will  always  be  some  students  who  do  not  agree  with  your  points  or  your  method  of  teaching.  However,  nothing  horrible  would  be  coming  out  of  hard  working  and  pursuing  goal  number  one! 
                  I  think  in  general  a  teacher  should  be  very  focused  on  the  core  concepts  of  the  course  he  or  she  is  teaching.  I  personally  used  to  spend  enormous amount of  time  before  each  class  to  own  the  topic  because  to  be  honest,  even  a  student  who  knows  nothing  about  a  topic  will  get  the  sense  if  you  are  not  prepared.  In  this  way  the  teacher  would  lose  the  student`s  trust  and  consequently  his  own  confidence.  But  surprisingly  having  a  vast  knowledge  of  a  certain  topic  is  not  enough  as  we  see  many  great  researchers  and  scientists  are  not  necessarily  decent  teachers.  One  should  try  to  get  better  in  the  art  of  passing  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  to  students  with  use  of  various  examples  and  expose  them  to  different  aspects  of  that  particular  problem.  He  or  she  should  help  students  to  visualize  the  case  or  at  least  give  them  an  imagination  about  what  is  really  going  on  instead  of  just  formulating  the  problem  using  pure  math  or  physical  definition.  This  is  really  common  in  the engineering  area  because  often  you  see  students  who   are  brilliant  in  math  and  are  able  to  do  many  engineering  problems  despite  of  having  no  idea  or  deep  understanding  about  the  features  of  them.  Another  trick  that  I  eventually  learned  to  use  was  to  keep  the  environment  of  the  class  very  friendly.  I  believe  along  with  being  strict  and  running  the  class  based  on  certain  rules,  the  teacher  should  have  some  sense  of  humor!  Being  funny  is  essential  for  a  teacher  because  let’s  face  it,  even  if  you  are  the  smoothest  talker  or  the  deepest  professor  in  your  field  you  are  going  to  lose  the  audience`s  attention  eventually.  I personally would even take my time to prepare my jokes before  the  class.  However, my jokes always work better when I improvise them! 
                  Another key component in teaching in my view is making students interact! I remember  being  bothered  or  I  could  say  feeling  left  out  when  my  teachers  would  not  ask  me  any  questions  or  not  ask  about  my  opinion.  Maybe some teachers ignore the  fact  that  sometimes  simple eye contact with students would help them build their  confidence.  Sure,  there  are  always  more  active  students in class  who  are  willing  to  participate  in  class  discussion  all  the  time,  but  let`s  not  forget about  those  more  shy,  introverted  students  in  class  who  need  to  be  given  attention.  So building a class atmosphere  with  interaction  between all attendees could  help us to avoid  having a thick air, boring  and  not  likeable  class.
                  Teaching  has  always  been  an  inspiring  job  for  me  and  I  think  the  ability  to  share  your  knowledge  with  students  and  help  them  to  think  more deeply,  and  gain  self-confidence  to  build  a  better  future  for  themselves  and  society  is  precious  and  priceless.  But like  any  other  goals, it will not be achieved except by putting endless effort  into   it,  because  that  is  how  the  world  works.  To  do  that,  he  or  she  should  always  be  prepared,  open  to  questions, very active and caring to all the students with a  little  bit  of  humor.  In this way, the student would  enjoy  the  class  as  much  as  they  enjoy any other fun activities. Learning plus having fun?  That is utopia! (Sina S)



7. Teaching Philosophy

                  From an early time in my  education,  I  have  experienced  teaching  to  my  friends,  classmates  and  siblings,  and  most  of  the  time  I  found  it  very  fulfilling.  It  not  only  improved  my  ability  to  transfer  my  knowledge  on  that  subject  to  others,  but  also  it  helped  me  learn  more  about  that  topic  during  the  teaching  process.  Those  small  experiences  and  also  a  lot  of  points  which  I  learned  as  a  chemical  Engineering  student or Teaching  Assistant  have  developed  my  teaching philosophy.
                  I believe the most important skill that a teacher should have or at least try to  gain  is  the  skill  of  communication.  It seems essential to be able  to  connect  to  students,  and  also it will help to avoid a stressful or uncomfortable atmosphere. Students should be ble to ask  questions  and  get  answered  properly.  Therefore, I always  try  to  communicate  with  students and encourage them to ask questions to make sure that  they are understanding what I am trying to teach. Even if it means I have to repeat a part, the students should be comfortable enough to ask for it. Friendly discussion with students and sometimes a little sense of humor can help to build a good and comfortable  atmosphere.   
                  Furthermore, since Chemical  Engineering  courses involve a lot of mathematics  and  formulas,  therefore  the  best  method  I  have  found  to  grab  students’  attention  is  to  prepare  power  point  slides  on  most  part  of  the  material  and  copy  them  and  give  them to students. In this way, they will be able to follow the  teacher  without  getting  lost.  In  my  experience,  the  key  to  the  highest  effectiveness  of  this  method  is  that  there  could  be  some  blank  spots  in  power  point  notes,  which  students  need  to  fill  in  themselves.  This can  make  them  more  focused  on  the  subject,  and  also  they  should  follow  the  teacher  to  find  out  the  answer  of  those  spots.
                  However, in  order  to  prevent  students  from  memorizing  the  formulas  without  a  deep  understanding  of  them,  I  have  found  that  solving  example  problem  can  be  really  effective.  This makes  it  possible  for  them  to  apply  their  knowledge  in  real  example  which  leads  to  adequate  perception  of  the  concept.  However, it  will  not  end  here,  because  what  students  learnt  in  one  session  can  be  easily  forgotten  in  the  next  class  if  they  do  not  repeat  or  solve  more  examples.  Therefore, suitable  number  of  homework  assignments  can  do  the  trick  in  here.    Furthermore, I  believe  one  important  step  in  learning  process  is  frequent  open-discussion  quizzes,  because  in  this  way  students  will  learn  more  than  what  they  expected  from  each  other. 
                  Last, sufficient  distribution  of  the  points  which  make  the  final  grade  of  the  students  on  the  course  is  critical.  Multiple homework  assignments,  projects,  midterms  and  of course  final  exam  should  be  considered  for  each  course.  In this  way,  even  if  the  students  miss  a  part  for  a  reason  they  can  make  it  up  through  the  other  sections  during  the  semester. (Soraya Honarparvar) 


8. Teaching philosophy

                  The purpose of education is to prepare students for a better future and to have the ability to improve the economics of their societies. Therefore, teachers have a significant job that requires several skills and training to be successful. We are mistaken to think that teachers need only to be good in their field and to forget that teachers interact with students of different ages with different needs. There is no doubt that teachers should prepare well for a class, be organized and provide materials that help students to understand the lessons.
                  In kindergarten class, I would put in my consideration the relationship between me and students, how to inspire students and how to create a positive environment in the class. I would respect students and give them freedom to express their opinions. Students would be inspired by teachers who love their subjects and express that love. This love will encourage them to create new methods of teaching and update their information. As a result, students love and get attached to the subject. Therefore, I would use face expressions to show how I love all activities that I would provide from different subjects. Using positive words also is one of my teaching strategies. Positive words will help students to work harder and give them confidence in their ability. Also, positive words will make students happy and attached to school. As a result, the learning performance will improve.
                  Another way that helps to improve the learning performance is to connect information with experience, like learning math through cooking. For example, I would use ingredients to teach children simple addition and fractions. Also, by using a measurement cup, I would teach them some concepts such as, half and quarter. In kindergarten class I would use different kinds of material and activities to connect playing with learning and to make sure that all children understand the information. I would avoid using a lot of technology, because at this age children need to learn how to interact with others. Therefore, I would provide group activities to teach them how to take turns and share with each other. I believe making learning fun will help students to love school and learning. As a result, the idea of continuous education will be part of their lives when they grow up. (Ebtehal)