Final Summary/Reaction

I have completed my research and have the final results! I am very surprised to see that there is not really a correlation between a person's personality and favorite class. It was surprising to me that many people who expressed interest in sports did not consider PE to be their favorite class. In fact, of the 2 people who said their favorite class is PE, only one of them played sports! I also found it surprising that more than half of the people who took the survey expressed that their favorite class was either math or science despite many people saying that they were creative thinkers. People with all different characteristics seemed to like some of the same classes. There was no real consistency between a certain characteristic and a particular favorite class. Although my predictions may have been wrong, it was very interesting to see what many of my classmates favorite classes were and how they overall felt about school.

Revised Summary/Plan/Update

I have posted my survey  to my Facebook and Twitter. So far over 30 people have taken it. The results are not really what I expected but they are very interesting to look at. I am surprised at some of the answers. So far, unlike how I predicted, there doesn't seem to be a direct relation between a student's personality and favorite class. However, maybe when more people take it there will be more of a relationship present. I think I'm going to post my survey one more time to see if more people can take it.

Strategy/Plan For research

I've decided to change my research a little bit. Instead of focusing on peers' future college experience, I am going to focus on their present high school experience. I am curious to see if there is a relation between the type of person the student is and what class they find interesting. I will make a survey with some of the following questions- What grade are you in? What kind of extracurricular activities do you participate in? What qualities describe you? What is your favorite class? Is this class easy for you? and also Why is this your favorite class? The survey I will be making will be on Google Docs.  I will email the survey and post it on Facebook and Twitter so people will have easy access to it. The survey will also be anonymous so they will be more honest with their answers.

Week 1- Suggested Research Method/Why

I want to survey my peers about their future education in college. I want to see if they already know what they are going to study, why they want to study it, and where they hope to be after college in terms of careers. I will create a survey on a Google Doc or I will print one out and have different juniors in my school answer them honestly. I want to see if they are planning on going to college to pursue a major career, to simply learn, to meet a future spouse, or to follow a social norm prevalent in our school and community.

Technology and Education

It's no surprise that technology has made its way into schools for the use of education. Children across America are using iPhones and iPads to play educational games and to watch educational videos. This article talks about both the pros and cons of using these for academic reasons. Some of the pros are that children are fearless when it comes to technology  They aren't as concerned as many adults are when they are given a new piece of technology.  They are able figure it out on their own in no time. In fact, they even labeled the younger generation as a generation of "digital natives." The educational games and videos are also very entertaining for the children as many described the apps as fun. However, many adults would argue that an academic curriculum cannot be replaced with these games and videos. Not to mention the fact that children have short attention spans and can't really get a true understanding of the topic like they would in class.
I remember using laptops in school for the first time in the fourth grade. All of my classmates thought we were so technologically savvy and modern. However, as the article mentioned, technology continues to evolve and grow and I'm sure the fourth graders now have probably known how to work an iPad, iPhone, and MacBook Pro since they were in kindergarten. Recently, the five-year-old I babysit even told me that her kindergarten class has a class iPad that they use during school. It's interesting to see the difference between my kindergarten experience (which now seems extremely old fashioned) and today's kindergartner's experience. I think that it is great that they are using these pieces of technology to hybrid education and entertainment. I'm sure I would have loved to use an iPad in class as a little kid! However, I do not think that they should be used to replace a real school experience. Not only do I think children need a curriculum from school, I also think that if they use these things too often, they miss out on real life interaction. I believe that with more technology comes less social interaction. Overall I don't think that it does any harm to use iPhones or other pieces of technology educationally on airplanes or car rides but I do realize that they can't possibly compare to a true academic curriculum in school.

College Graduates without Jobs

This article talks about the high rate of unemployment not only for most of the nation, but also for college graduates.It says that many college graduates are left without jobs and forced to move back in with their parents. Many unemployed graduates are frustrated that they aren't working after receiving their diploma. Although there is still a high rate of unemployment, there has been improvement from years prior.Unemployment rates are expected to continue to improve in the future. College students are also encouraged to start looking for work and internships throughout their college career to help secure a job after graduation.

I discussed previously that many people don't in fact graduate college after being accepted and attending the school. I may be a little naive  but I used to think that if you were fortunate enough to graduate from  college and get a diploma, you were probably going to be able to find a job fairly quickly. Now that I know that is not the case, I am quite disappointed. After all the hard work that graduates put in during college, I think that it is only fair that they get a job. I know that many companies make an effort to hire recent college graduates to get them started early on in their careers. However, it is still very difficult to find work. This leads me to believe that college may not be the best option for some people. While attending college may be considered the social norm for people in my particular area, some people become very successful without a college degree. Now that unemployment rates are high (even for college graduates) it may pay for some high school students to get a head start in the workforce without attending college.

More Colleges Offering Personal Genetics Class

This article discusses a class that has recently been offered at more colleges. The class is called Personal Genetics. The class teaches the students about their own individual genetics. They are able to learn whether they would be more likely to develop a certain cancer or disease. It also informs them of whether they would be more sensitive to certain medicines or even if they would be good at something like sprinting. The students are given a chance to test their own DNA by supplying a sample of their saliva. Most of the students who have opted to take this course say that they are interested to learn about their personal health and what their health might be like in the future.

Personally, I think that this class sounds very interesting. I think that it is very important for everyone to know about their health. I think that this course in particular shows how much society has evolved in general. Years ago, I think it would be incredibly difficult for people to learn about genetics let alone their own. I like that these colleges are taking a step into a more advanced science that is also very relatable to the students taking  this course. The article also mentioned that the students who provided their own DNA sample were able to retain more information and get more out of the class. It is interesting to see that when students can actually use the knowledge they gained from the course in their own lives, they tend to better understand and retain the information. I believe that if more classes were taught at a more personal and relatable level, students would be able to put the information to better use.