Free Essays on Muhammad Ali

, Muhammad Ali reported his refusal to be enlisted into the U.S. Armed force to battle in the Vietnam War since it was an infringement of his conviction as a Black Muslim. Muhammad Ali was conceived on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. Known as Cassius Clay up until the start of his boxing profession when he was selected by the Islamic pioneer, Malcolm X. He drew nearer by Malcolm to grasp and acknowledge Islam. As Ali saw the immaculateness of this sublime religion, Ali deg more profound into Islam’s convictions and completely changed over himself and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. In 1966 Ali was at the pinnacle of his boxing vocation and was shouted to by the U.S. government to go battle in the Vietnam War. Presently to Ali, battling in a war was against his convictions as a Muslim. As a Muslim, Islam instructed not to murder when not required and Ali remained consistent with these lessons. By Ali battling with the administration about not doing battle at the pinnacle of his boxing profession around then and age was exceptionally unsafe. The administration before long stripped Ali of his poise, regard, very much earned cash and substantial weight belt. The U.S. government likewise suspended Ali’s boxing permit, which enabled him to battle everywhere throughout the U.S. what's more, without it, he wasn’t permitted to step into the boxing ring. Ali began his â€Å"real† confining profession by battling the Olympics on September 5, 1960 and won the gold decoration in the Roman Olympics. This battle propelled his confining vocation and each administrator the boxing match-up was rushing to sign Muhammad Ali and yet weren’t too sure to even think about doing so because of his political convictions and religion. Ali was constantly victimized because of his race and religion, however the lessons of Islam instructed him to be persistent and simply disregard it. So Ali did so and kept of battling to follow his fantasies to turn into the best. On October 29,1960, Ali s... Free Essays on Muhammad Ali Free Essays on Muhammad Ali Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. later known as Muhammad Ali, was a dark fighter, and was glad for it. Numerous African Americans were embarrassed about their shading, yet Ali was extraordinary. He was the principal fighter to win the Heavyweight Championship 3 distinct occasions. He had an incredible character and was preferred by the individuals. During his life, he settled on important choices that changed a mind-blowing course totally. Muhammad Ali's excursion through life was an extraordinary motivation for African American individuals, however Ali himself rouses reverence to everyone. Muhammad Ali was a man made to box. He had an incredible vocation before him since he made his first expert battle under President Eisenhower administration. His Professional Career was extremely great. His had an extraordinary equalization and had the option to move his hands and feet in incredible speed and coordination. Ali was said to move in the ring while at the same time decimating his adversaries. Ali began battling at a short age, and his first instructor was Joe Martin (Hauser 18). Through difficult work and order, he turned into an expert contender and in the long run the Heavyweight boss of the world. Despite the fact that he lost the title twice, he recovered it multiple times, placing him in the history books. His boxing vocation was put to an end when he began experiencing Parkinson's sickness. This was the finish of his boxing, however his enormity will never kick the bucket. Muhammad Ali was not the sort of individual that escapes with acclaim and cash. He is a straightforward, unsophisticated individual with an extremely adoring heart, and exceptionally decided (Hauser 186). He couldn't have cared less much about himself, he appreciated creation individuals glad. While preparing, he let individuals come and see him, charging them to see the show. Doing as such, he earned about $1000 per day. After the preparation was finished, he returned home and parted with each penny to poor individuals, particularly kids (Hauser 149). This was the sort of individual Ali was. His huge dream was to see harmony in the nation, racial harmony. Additionally, he was not thoroughly con... Free Essays on Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali â€Å"I aint no fight with the Vietcong†¦. no Vietcong at any point considered me a nigger†. With these intense words, Muhammad Ali reported his refusal to be enlisted into the U.S. Armed force to battle in the Vietnam War since it was an infringement of his conviction as a Black Muslim. Muhammad Ali was conceived on January 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. Known as Cassius Clay up until the start of his boxing vocation when he was enrolled by the Islamic pioneer, Malcolm X. He drew closer by Malcolm to grasp and acknowledge Islam. As Ali saw the immaculateness of this brilliant religion, Ali deg more profound into Islam’s convictions and completely changed over himself and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. In 1966 Ali was at the pinnacle of his boxing profession and was shouted to by the U.S. government to go battle in the Vietnam War. Presently to Ali, battling in a war was against his convictions as a Muslim. As a Muslim, Islam instructed not to slaughter when not required and Ali remained consistent with these lessons. By Ali battling with the legislature about not doing battle at the pinnacle of his boxing profession around then and age was extremely dangerous. The administration before long stripped Ali of his poise, regard, very much earned cash and substantial weight belt. The U.S. government likewise suspended Ali’s boxing permit, which enabled him to battle everywhere throughout the U.S. what's more, without it, he wasn’t permitted to step into the boxing ring. Ali began his â€Å"real† enclosing vocation by battling the Olympics on September 5, 1960 and won the gold award in the Roman Olympics. This battle propelled his confining vocation and each chief the boxing match-up was hurrying to sign Muhammad Ali and yet weren’t too sure to even think about doing so because of his political convictions and religion. Ali was constantly oppressed because of his race and religion, however the lessons of Islam instructed him to be understanding and simply disregard it. So Ali did so and kept of battling to follow his fantasies to turn into the best. On October 29,1960, Ali s...

Green Revolution and Energy Use Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Green Revolution and Energy Use - Assignment Example A large portion of the vitality I use is by utilizing warming and cooling hardware, lighting and gadgets. So as to diminish vitality use I will guarantee to utilize programmable indoor regulator in day by day warming and cooling the executives at home. This will diminish the kilos of vitality utilized by about  ¼. Besides, I will likewise guarantee to kill hardware, for example, fan, TV and lights at whatever point am going out. This will continuously decrease the hours from 3-4 hours to around 2-3hours, when these apparatuses are being used. Also, I will guarantee to unplug electronic gadgets, for example, PDAs charges, power apparatuses, advanced cameras and PCs when they are not being used in order to lessen the energizing time frame. I will likewise lessen high temp water use by scrubbing down and washing garments with cold water (Doty et al, 2007). Ultimately, I would have a go at utilizing other vitality sources that are progressively proficient like common gases. I depend on power in three quarter of my vitality use; in this way, expanding to different hotspots for instance gas water warmers and dryers may lessen my vitality use. Since vitality is huge in my everyday exercises expanding its productivity will assist me with sparing a great deal. Present day innovation headway has achieved numerous helpful changes that help with expanding vitality proficiency. For example; current machines for example coolers, broilers, dishwashers and fridges, utilize fundamentally less vitality and are more productive than more established apparatuses. Fridges today utilize less vitality contrasted with ordinary models of 2001 by roughly 40%. In this way, I would purchase present day machines that utilization vitality effectively. Moreover, since utilization of vitality for lighting is averaging 5.5k every day, I will guarantee to join structural highlights that reflect light into the building(Diesendorf, 2007). This will result to a diminished fake vitality use. I will likewise utilize minimal glaring lights

Internet and Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Web and Education - Essay Example 12). While this innovation, in this example the Internet, is contended to in a general sense shape the idea of information, it doesn't mean it does as such in a positive or compelling manner. One of the basic elements of Internet innovation is the prompt access to enormous aggregates of data; such access shifts understandings of training with the end goal that individuals feel they have a kind of bogus insight, when actually they have not genuinely processed the data accessible. For Postman, such an idea implies, that Internet innovation has not expanded our insight in a critical respect, as new advancements don't include shrewdness, rather the idea of instruction has been basically changed (Postman, p. 18). At last, for training this means our homeroom contemplations, thoughts, and interests have been essentially modified. The degree that such a move is certain or negative stays one of emotional

Australian Securities And Investments Commission v Macdonald

Question: Examine About The Australian Securities Investments Commission? Answer: Presentation: The fundamental angle which is featured by this choice is the significance which has been set on the job of the senior officials and the chiefs, which incorporate both non-official and the official executives while actualizing and considering basic key issues identified with the organization. The issue separated from being as for corporate administration, this judgment likewise extended the extent of obligations for the senior official who were beneath the board level. The ASIC brought common procedures against the seven previous non-official chiefs and James Hardie Industries NV (JHINV) and James Hardie Industries Limited (JHIl) concerning break of their obligations under the with respect to the open portrayals that were made and the readiness of the endorsement for portrayal Corporations Act, 2001 (Cth.) (Act) (Hargovan, 2017). The auxiliary of the JHIL, James Hardie Group is the auxiliary of JHIL were in the matter of assembling and selling asbestos until 1937. Jsekarb Pty Ltd (Jsekarb) and James Hardie Coy Ltd (Coy), JHILs two auxiliaries which were completely possessed were additionally in a similar business from the period between 1937 to 1987. The JHIL Board of chiefs for remunerating the cases regarding the harms that were caused because of their asbestos business made against the gathering established the Medical Research and Compensation (Foundation) where they made installments and dealt with every single such case (Australian Securities Investments Commission v Macdonald (No. 11), 2009). A draft of the declaration making the open statement in the ASX as for the equivalent was made and the endorsement for which was looked for by the Board. Simultaneously, JHIL likewise went into with Coy and Jsekarb a deed of reimbursement and contract repaying it from the various liabilities that emerged from their asbestos business (Agreement). The gathering made a declaration in the ASX that there was an all out store adding up to $293 million in the establishment and that this sum was considered to be adequate for installment of all such genuine cases which they have foreseen to emerge because of the harms as referenced above brought about by their business in asbestos. A question and answer session called by CEO of JHIL Mr. Macdonald additionally supposedly affirmed the equivalent. In the weeks that followed, there were comparative ASX declarations that were made. There was no revelation of the Agreement in any of the declarations that were made. There was a rebuilding that occurred of gathering under JHINV after the foundation of the Foundation. After the Foundation was set up, the James Hardie bunch experienced a. This currently shaped the new holding organization and the fuse of this organization was in the Netherlands. Global portrayals were made by the CEO in 2002 in regards to the James Hardie Group with respect to the Foundations adequacy of assets. In 2007 Februray there were respectful procedures which were begun by ASIC again JHIL and JHNIV for conducts that were deceiving and tricky in nature and furthermore for making portrayals and proclamations that were false in regards to the protections and furthermore ceaseless divulgence penetrates. The procedures were initiated by ASIC against the CEO, CFO and the General Counsel of JHIL. Breaks Opined in the Case: It was discovered that with in regards to the ASX draft declaration all the previous CFO, CEO, General Counsel and the non-official seven executives were in penetrate of the Acts segment 180(1) since there were a disappointment on their part to guarantee that this declaration that was made was in no way deceptive and tricky in nature (Black, 2014). The General Counsel and the CEO were further in penetrate of segment 180(1) of the Act concerning the Agreement as there was a disappointment on their part to prompt the board with respect to the best possible revelation of the Agreement (Woodward Bird, 2005). There was a penetrate with respect to the CEO of area 180(1) regarding the affirming of the draft of ASX Announcements as there was a disappointment on his part for guaranteeing that the ASX Announcements made were in no way beguiling or deceiving in nature. There was likewise a penetrate of areas 995(2) and 999 of the Act by JHIL by discharging the deceptive and tricky ASX Announcem ent. There was additionally further penetrate under segment 180(1) by the CEO as there was a disappointment on his part in guaranteeing that the introductions made by him were not tricky or deceiving in nature (Redmond Brennan, 2013). There was likewise a break of areas 1041E and 1041H by JHINV as it occupied with lead that was tricky and deceiving in nature comparable to the introductions that had been made to the ASX. There were additionally a few charges which the ASIC had neglected to guarantee against the James Hardie Group, as expressed by his Honor, for this situation, Justice Gzell. There was a penetrate of area 181 of the Act by the CEO as there was a disappointment on his part concerning his commitments to act in a way that was with most extreme great confidence. Examining the Judgment: The unmistakable element and the core of the activity of this case were that all the executives, and especially the CEO were held to be in the break of the most essential obligation that should be conformed to under the Act. All the ten of the chiefs were opined without there being any exemption were opined to be in repudiation of the Acts area 180(1), under this specific segment it expresses that it is required by the partnerships executive or the official to release the obligations which they have in a way that has certain measure of care and due ingenuity which is not out of the ordinary from a sensible individual similarly situated. There was a disappointment with respect to the executive to meet these commitments that have been set out by the Parliament in the enactment and is known as legal carelessness. The essential consideration which was required to be taken and that which was normal by the chiefs of any open recorded organization in the given condition and at that point during the time spent creation on the fifteenth of February the first draft ASX declaration was not taken. This is trailed by various points of reference as for officials' obligations that incorporate the instance of ASIC v Rich(ASIC v Rich, 2003), ASIC v Adler (ASIC v Adler, 2002) and the GIO case (ASIC v Vines, 2005). His Honor had thought about a different elements against the chiefs, both official and non-administrators, and the administrators of the James Hardie Group, which included modernity, chiefs' knowledge, experience, the organization's tendency and the significance of the rebuilding of the organization and the way that there was extensive expert exhortation that had been given to the non-official executives regarding the rebuilding of the organization. It was in the late July of 2000 that the Court heard the entries from the various gatherings to the case with respect to whether the executives were to be cleared under the Acts 13175S or 1318 for the different penetrates as referenced above or whether there ought to be a punishment of authorization that ought to be given to them. The ASIC submitted to the Court that the CEO ought to be excluded for a time of twelve years to sixteen years from his position and furthermore that there ought to be a fine relevant on him adding up to anyplace somewhere in the range of $1.47 and $1.81 million ought to be forced. Further the General Counsel ought to likewise be precluded for a time of eight years and punished to a sum anyplace somewhere in the range of $350,000 and $450,000. There ought to be preclusion of the CFO from the overseeing of an organization for a time of least 6 years and a fine anyplace between $150,000 to $250,000 is required to be demanded on him. There ought to likewise be a bann and exclusion on the non-official executives from the companys the executives for a time of five years and a fine anyplace somewhere in the range of $120,000 and $130,000. At long last, 90% of the expenses of ASIC is to be required to be paid by the respondents together. It was additionally presented by the ASIC that at the hour of considering of the punishments which are to be forced on the respondents by the court, the issues of repayment ought to likewise be mulled over. With the CEO's exemption who acknowledged that the breaks made were of genuine nature, however that the restricting and fine requests that ASIC looked for was inordinate in nature, it was looked for by the executives that they ought to be absolved completely. Equity Gzell on twentieth August 2009 denied that any of the previous board individuals were to be excused and the punishments that were passed on were that the CEO would for a time of 15 years be excluded from dealing with an organization and a fine of $350,000 was required to be paid by him. The General Counsel is to be excluded for a time of 7 years from the overseeing of an organization a that he would be required to pay a fine adding up to $75,000. It would be necessitated that a preclusion for a time of five years for the CFO and installment of fine adding up to $35,000. The non-official executives further were precluded for a time of five years and a fine of $30,000 was demanded on each. A fine of $80,000 was required to be paid by JHINV (Comino, 2014). This case is considered by ASIC as a milestone choice in Australian corporate administration since the meeting rooms are furnished with significant headings and rules as for applying essentially the substance and extent of the executive's' obligations which incorporate the CFO, CEOs and friends secretaries at the hour of taking issues that are critical to the board and unveiling such issues to the market and the duty that the non-official chiefs have an open organization when the administration requests that they consider system related issues and to endorse to the market divulgence of the choices of the board (10-273MR Decisions in James Hardie common punishment case | ASIC - Australian Securities and Inve

Answer 3 questions about art museums Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Answer 3 inquiries regarding craftsmanship historical centers - Essay Example The historical center shop reminds supporters that the fine arts they are seeing are shown by an association that is dependent on subsidizing and benefit. This is a critical acknowledgment as it requires that the historical center be considered with a similar explanatory focal point as one would apply to customary organizations. This has suggestions for almost all dynamic in the establishment. Another inquiry is whether craftsmen ought to endeavor to make craftsmanship that opposes being business. In such matters, it appears that there is nothing innately amiss with being business, or utilizing a business stylish. Specialists that explicitly endeavor to develop business esteems, be that as it may, are seen as suspect contrasted with craftsmen that all the more normally and really produce their specialty. The thought that workmanship can be created normally, or rather can be delivered ‘natural’ and ‘authentically,’ in any case, isn't altogether comprehended as being

Marking the difference between right and wrong

Marking the difference between right and wrong Marking: the difference between right and wrong If you want to improve your essay grades, there are two crucial pieces things you need to know: what you are doing wrong and what you can do right. This requires feedback â€" after all, how can you know what you don’t know? Ideally, a marker â€" or even mentor or tutor â€" would provide this kind of feedback for their students. Unfortunately, though, you will not always get it. In fact, very often what you get is a lot of “don’t do that”, without so much “do this”. With that in mind, this blog post will look at the little things that students commonly do that can lower their marks and steps you can take avoid falling into the same traps. Do your best It sounds so trite, doesn’t it? Do your best. Really, isn’t that what you have been doing? But then, have you really? The sad reality is that there truly are one or two students who can sit down the night before a paper is due, write out a perfect essay in a few hours, and receive high marks and a thumbs up. But the chances are pretty good that you are just a poor ordinary mortal. So if you waited until the night before an essay was due and you received a low mark, you probably deserved it. If you plugged in whatever research materials (books, articles, etc.) that were easiest to find, skimmed over it, cited it uncritically, and received a disappointing grade, it was probably warranted. If you didn’t give the essay a single thought until you sat down to write it, never developed a plan of attack and just started typing away, don’t be surprised if the grade reflects this. If you didn’t take time to read or edit any of your paper before handing it in, then, well you get the idea. Many students suppose that because they are writing, they are doing work, and because it is work that they don’t particularly enjoy or because it feels challenging, they are doing (or have done) their best. But that “best” is not good enough. An essay is just a final physical product, but the work is 90% mental. As soon as you have the assignment topic, or prompt, you need to start thinking about it. You need to start seeing the essay in your head. What is the question? What is your answer? What do you need to show your answer? Where will you get what you need? One problem that often comes up for students is right there at the start: where do I begin? There are really only two options available: you can start by writing or you can start by reading. If you know what you want to talk about, you should write first and then read. Ideally, that reading will sharpen what you wrote and help you rewrite it. If you are not sure what to write, you should read (whatever it is in your topic) until ideas start forming. Do either of these processes sound like they can be accomplished in a single night? Not really. In order to do your best on a paper you have to be willing to put the time in. You need to think about the problem, develop a strategy of getting the paper written, and break that work down into manageable chunks. There is a famous saying in writing classes and it goes something like this: Question: How do I write a paper? Answer: The same way you eat an elephant; one bite at a time. Writing your paper is not one big bite, but lots and lots of nibbles. Markers very quickly develop an instinct for work that is genuinely a student’s best effort, and something hastily and sloppily done. And this point is critical: markers and teachers are far more willing to help students that have done their best work but not done the assignment well, than students who have turned in sloppy and careless work, regardless of the final quality. Always turn in your absolute best effort, even if you’re unsure if it’ll quite hit the mark. Know the assignment Key to ensuring you’re on the right track from the get-go is understanding the assignment. In a well-known case study of composition classes, a scholar revealed that the students' assumptions of what will be asked is a key determinant of their performance. Their assumptions are often based on the teachings in class, and for students that performed poorly there was often a mismatch between their expectations of what is being asked, and what the instructor expects. This is a case of prevention being more important than a cure. You need to read through the assignment carefully, and if there are any tips or suggestions, read those even more carefully (because often tips and suggestions are actually expectations). If you have any questions, ask them early. Be serious Now, there are various features of essay writing that are not formally listed in any course guidelines or handouts from your professor. Things like tone, style, and so forth. There is no reason to complicate these. No matter how easy-going your instructor might be, when you write a paper for a university course, be formal and be serious. Your tone should be formal, your style should be professional. You should hand in a paper that looks like you are applying for a job that you desperately want. The internet abounds with advice on how to write formally â€" read it. Don’t be chatty. Don’t use contractions. Don’t stray from your subject, etc. That said, you also want to find a balance between formal writing style and work that’s comprehensible. Don’t throw in complicated words or phrases simply because you think they sound good. Always assume that you’re writing for someone who knows little-to-nothing on the subject, and choose your language and style accordingly. Many students actually have some anxiety about their writing style. Students in the sciences often feel that they write too concisely, or that their work isn’t ‘exciting’, and that this may mean they get lower marks. Conversely, creative students can tend to bend the rules of writing and perhaps get carried away with the liveliness of their writing, to the detriment of the quality of argument. We don’t know who is marking your papers; maybe they are looking at style and creativity. But you cannot lose marks for being professional and serious in your writing. Personally, we think it helps to write your essays by imagining that you are writing to or for your employer. Think of this from a marker’s perspective. Writing is, notionally, your job. If your job was to assign a formal grade to someone’s work, would you be more receptive to someone who was clearly serious, professional, and had done their best work? Or something that was clearly dashed off, not so serious, or not their best effort? Take your work to the next level with our marking service Having your work marked by an experienced academic not only provides you with valuable and actionable insight â€" it can be the difference between good grades and great grades. Find out more Structure â€" at a glance We will talk a little more about the process of marking in the next post, but something that will help you now is knowing this one little bit of information. Most markers can tell at a glance â€" truly a glance, without having read more than a few words â€" if a paper is low calibre. Now, markers cannot really say if a paper is average, above average, or first-class without reading it. But they know from just the way the first page looks whether or not the essay is low or mediocre. So this should compel two questions on your part: 1) how do they know? And 2) why is this important? Let’s take question 1 first. When you are writing at academic/university level, you are writing at the paragraph level and above. What does this mean? It means that your marker is looking to grade you on the quality of your paragraphs and anything else more complex than this (for example, quality of argument, ability to think critically, etc.). Anything less complex than paragraphs â€" formatting, font, layout, etc. â€" the marker will not want to be having to take care of, at university level. The first page or two of an essay (at least) should look professional at a glance. Clean paper, no folds, etc. All the pertinent information (name, title, date, class) needs to be there on the the title page as directed in the syllabus or formatting guide. If there isn’t one for the class, ask. And pro tip: never ever ever turn in a paper that does not have at least your name and some kind of title. To a marker, a paper without a title just looks like you couldn't be bothered. You seem laz y, even if you aren’t. And, of course, margins and standard font (Times New Roman 12pt is standard). An incorrect or sloppy bibliography with inappropriately formatted citations is also a giveaway of sub-standard work. But the biggest indicator for most markers of the quality of the paper being graded is the paragraphs. A paragraph should be full, probably somewhere between 175-400 words. Very often students hand in papers where there are no paragraphs or lots of really short paragraphs. This immediately suggests to markers that the student has a problem organising the material. Take a good essay and just cast your eyes over it. You will not find any short paragraphs, or one sentence paragraphs (like in some novels). We should add, you might find very long paragraphs in a higher-level academic work, but at undergraduate level you probably wont. Now, why is this important? Because markers do not have lots of time to devote to evaluating papers and they are essentially sorting your paper into a grade box. They will start thinking about where your paper belongs as soon as they pick it up. Not uncommonly, markers will skim through to ensure those details are there that we mentioned above. If your paper does not look like you have command of structure and control over the way you present your discussion and information, then the marker will not be encouraged to actually read your essay. The chances are quite good, in fact, that they will skim over your paper to confirm what they already suspect from the way the paper is presented. You may have first-class ideas in your paper, but without appropriate structure, those ideas are not likely to be given due attention. So, find a sample essay somewhere (there are scads of these online), and before you turn your essay in, make sure that yours at least looks structurally similar in the formatting and the shape of things, with no consideration for content. Structure â€" in detail What you are after in your paper is a logical continuity of thought. What this means is the structure of your paper follows a line of development, in the way you might give someone directions. You start with a general overview (an introduction), develop the ideas and discuss your points in a few to several paragraphs (the body), and you then wrap up what you have discussed (the conclusion). And everything in these sections should be relevant only to the topic that you are discussing. Put even more simply: tell the reader what you are going to tell them. Then tell them what you need to tell them. Then tell them what you have told them. That is essentially the structure of an essay. Where many students go wrong is in one or all of these areas. Often, if a student is operating at a paragraph level, one of the major shortcomings is how the paragraphs themselves are organised. Sometimes the way information is organised in your head is not the way it is organised on paper when it comes out. Something that, perhaps, you should spend a few sentences on, or even a paragraph, you might suppose is covered by a single sentence. Or, conversely, something easily covered by a few sentences gets several. This is where feedback can be helpful. A paper that you write will never be fresh to you, and it will never be read for a first time the way it will be by a marker. That is one reason why it is so difficult to gauge how a marker will respond to your work. The closest you can come is to write the paper, set it aside for a few weeks, then come back to it. But you do not likely have that kind of time. Lastly, all good writers rewrite their papers. You are setting yourself up for disappointment if you believe you can write a first-class paper without having reread and revised the paper, or turning it in without having someone else read it through (preferably a competent expert). The Ultimate Guide to Marking See all articles in the series Marking: from a marker’s perspective Understanding feedback from your essay marker Understanding feedback from your essay marker Unpaid postgrad students are being used for teaching academic writingbetter gradesessay helpmarking processstudy skills

Gosh, could the College Board be trying to inflate PSAT scores

Apparently Im not the only one who thinks the College Board might be trying to pull some sort of sleight-of-hand with scores for the new test.   In this  Washington Post article about the (extremely delayed) release of 2015 PSAT scores, Ned Johnson of PrepMatters writes:   Here’s the most interesting point: College Board seems to be inflating the percentiles. Perhaps not technically changing the percentiles but effectively presenting a rosier picture by an interesting change to score reports. From the College Board website, there is this explanation about percentiles: Percentiles A percentile is a number between 0 and 100 that shows how you rank compared to other students. It represents the percentage of students in a particular grade whose scores fall at or below your score. For example, a 10th-grade student whose math percentile is 57 scored higher or equal to 57 percent of 10th-graders. You’ll see two percentiles: The Nationally Representative Sample percentile shows how your score compares to the scores of all U.S. students in a particular grade, including those who don’t typically take the test. The User Percentile — Nation shows how your score compares to the scores of only some U.S. students in a particular grade, a group limited to students who typically take the test. What does that mean? Nationally Representative Sample percentile is how you would stack up if every student took the test. So, your score is likely to be higher on the scale of Nationally Representative Sample percentile than actual User Percentile. On the PSAT score reports, College Board uses the (seemingly inflated) Nationally Representative score, which, again, bakes in scores of students  who DID NOT ACTUALLY TAKE THE TEST but, had they been included, would have presumably scored lower. The old PSAT gave percentiles of only the students who actually took the test. For example, I just got a score from a junior; 1250 is reported 94th percentile as Nationally Representative Sample percentile. Using the College Board concordance table, her 1250 would be a selection index of 181 or 182 on last year’s PSAT. In 2014, a selection index of 182 was 89th percentile. In 2013, it was 88th percentile. It sure looks to me that College Board is trying to flatter students. Why might that be? They like them? Worried about their feeling good about the test? Maybe. Might it be a clever statistical sleight of hand to make taking the SAT seem like a better idea than taking the ACT? Nah, that’d be going too far. Im assuming that last sentence is intended to be taken  ironically.   One quibble. Later in the article, Johnson also writes that If the PSAT percentiles are in fact â€Å"enhanced,† they may not be perfect predictors of SAT success, so take a practice SAT. But if PSAT percentiles are enhanced, who is to say that SAT percentiles wont be enhanced as well? Based on the revisions to the AP exams, the College Boards  formula seems to go  something like this: (1) take a well-constructed, reasonably valid test,  one for which  years of data collection exists, and declare that it is no longer relevant to  the needs of 21st century students. (2) Replace existing test  with a more holistic, seemingly more rigorous exam, for which the vast majority of students will be inadequately prepared. (3)  Create a curve for the new exam that artificially inflates scores.   (4)  Proclaim students college ready when they may be  still lacking fundamental skills.   (5) Find  another exam, and repeat the process.