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What are your  needs in your academic studies? (evidence?)

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What are your  needs in your academic studies? (evidence?)

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The weakness is that I'm scared at reading long paragraphs, because I never get to fully understand what the author is trying to say. I'm also struggling with spotting the thesis statement and the main argument of the article.The main reason for me to improve academic reading skills is that it is an essential skill in master's study. Every time when I need to use academic articles as the basis, I need to spend a lot of time to read these articles, which leads to my low efficiency and makes me more afraid of writing academic works

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My plan to improve my reading skill for academic reading

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My plan to improve my reading skill for academic reading

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First of all, I will look for academic papers related to my topic from the Internet. Starting from the easier to the harder one. I will be writing a brief summary and reflection on the article I read. Not only that, but I will also be looking into the suggestion on reading on the Queen Mary Websites to improve my reading efficiency. Nonetheless, reading articles is a very personal things, which means other people's suggestions may not one hundred percent suitable for myself. So what I can do in the current stage is just to read more.

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This handout from Aston University provided me some different ideas on how to improve my academic reading.

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The most essential reading skill which I think is helpful to me

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The most essential reading skill which I think is helpful to me

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Scanning: this particular reading technic is most valuable to me since I am a Finance student and the most effective skill to acquire the relevant information and data sets in academic paper will save me enormous amount of time.

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This document provides me a detailed info. about how to be successful in reading academic work. Some the strategies are extremely useful for person like me who had nearly zero experience on reading academic work.

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Article which introduced to us in the first class of Research Method. 

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Article which introduced to us in the first class of Research Method. 

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This handout is really helpful and it is really useful to read it through.

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One of the greatest ways to improve my reading skills is to write a summary of the article that I read.

Many studies have focused on how globalization has benefitted China in many ways. While there are scarce researchers mention how China has influenced the world and eventually become an ‘economic globalizer’ in the 21st century. The current character which China has played during the past two decades has reform the international economic order, mainly the competition with the United States has drawn many countries attention. This Asian giant is a vital partner for many economics in different continents, and the decision maker, the Chinese Communist Party has played an important role in this case.

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The reading is a great material to improve my reading skill because of its relevance to the globalization task. Moreover, the essay was talking about China and with the background knowledge which I build up when I was in China. It really made this reading much easier to understand. This level of difficulty is chosen by myself intensionally since this is my very first independent language study article. I will be reading more in-depth article when I feel more confidence in reading complicate (or advanced) article.

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The argument of this paper is that the pay gap has two components, within and across occupations. If there is a gap within occupations in favour of white British workers, this might be the result of straightforward wage discrimination. If there is a gap across occupations then insofar as minorities cluster into lower paid occupations, segregation is the cause of their relatively low pay. Pay discrimination probably occurs mostly in temporary, casual, generally insecure work in which some minorities are known to be over-represented. Otherwise, keeping labour low paid is difficult, at least where alternative work is available.

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The reason to choose this article not only because it is an interesting one but also because it is very helpful and relevant to my independent research project. After reading this article. I feel much more confident on the skill of scanning. I was able to identify the most needed information for my IRP and the data indeed was helpful.

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The article expressed different views on race. This article presents a different view of race and delves into the definition of the word 'race' from the perspective of historians and anthropologists. As can be seen from the examples in the article, historians and anthropologists have a similar definition of the word 'race', however, is different from that of psychologists (first given definition to 'race'). Humanities and historians generally agree that race is a cultural identity. The general idea is that a person's 'race' can be changed by the environment and society around them. In other word, physical appearance does not determine the ‘race identity’ of one, it is the same social practice makes the same racial groups.

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This article mainly talks about a game called sea hero quest, whose inventor is a scientist from university of college London and university of east Anglia. Meanwhile, this game also cooperates with Alzheimer's research UK. Scientists can record player's sense of direction and navigational ability by simply allowing the players to play its game, compared to have Alzheimer's disease, and no disease and splendour in different direction. This game has been played by 2.4 million people. According to empirical data, this game has become the most accurate and largest source of Alzheimer's disease data at present, and also enables doctors to diagnose the symptoms of early Alzheimer's disease.

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Sea Hero Quest game is helping diagnose dementia early by testing navigation skills | WIRED UK

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Word Count 317

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Independent Language Study 300 Word Relfection

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what are your needs in your academic studies?

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what are your needs in your academic studies?

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Note taking skill is going to be my main focus of this semester given the fact that I felt it is difficult for me to take down effective notes when listening or watching some interesting discussions or presentations

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My plan is to improve my note taking skills 

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My plan is to improve my note taking skills 

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TED Talks is one of the most suggested website for people that want to practice their English skills as the topics or discussion in the TED talks can be some time hard to follow but, the discussions themselves can be really interesting and worth watching it.
My plan is watch one TED talks on every weekend from week 1 to week 9, this will give me in a total of 9 chances to improve my note taking skills in this second semester.

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TED Talks 1 - Do school kill creativity?

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TED Talks 1 - Do school kill creativity?

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Do schools kill creativity?

Area of interest: Education

Key statement:

1.     every education system on earth has the same hierarchy of subjects.

·      At the top are mathematics and languages, then the humanities. At the bottom are the arts.

·      They all came into being to meet the needs of industrialism

·      most useful subjects for work are at the top.

2.     you need an MA where the previous job required a BA, and now you need a PhD for the other.

3.      the whole system of public education around the world is a protracted process of university entrance.

4.     We know three things about intelligence.

·      Diverse

·      Dynamic

·      Distinct

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Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

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Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

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TED Talks 2 - Your body language may shape who you are

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TED Talks 2 - Your body language may shape who you are

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Speaker: Amy Cuddy

Area of interest: Body Language of other people

Nonverbal behaviour = body language for social scientists

Communication, interaction.

Effect of body language on judgement

By watching the body language of the physician, it can successfully predict whether this physician would be sued in the future. It’s not about how he do his job, it’s about how he interact with his patients.

We are affected by our own body language.

Do our nonverbal govern how we think and feel about ourselves

People in MBA class comes in with the same qualification but eventually walks out with gender grade gap. This is mainly due to the lower participation rate woman has. Given the fact that 50% of the grade based on participation.

High-power people have more testosterone and less cortisol.

Interview

1.    Presence

2.    Passionate

3.    Enthusiastic

4.    Confident

5.    Authentic

6.    Captivating

Fake yourself to be a high-power people until you become one.

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Amy Cuddy: Your body language may shape who you are

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(NOTE: Some of the findings presented in this talk have been referenced in an ongoing debate among social scientists about robustness and reproducibility. Read "Criticisms & updates" below for more details as well as Amy Cuddy's response.) Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves.

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1.     Don't write down every word

2.     Decide what is important

3.     Be an active listener/reader

4.     Use symbols and abbreviations

5.     Use colours

6.     Revise your notes as soon as possible

7.     Be consistent

8.     Improve your handwriting

9.     Forget spelling and grammar (as long as your meaning is clear)!

10.  How to avoid plagiarism and use paraphrasing instead

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TED Talks - 3 How to speak so that people want to listen

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TED Talks - 3 How to speak so that people want to listen

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Speaker: Julian Treasure

Area of Interest: Human voice

Human voice – most powerful sound in the world. Can declare a war or say I love you

Habits to move away from

1.    Gossip

2.    Judging

3.    Negativity

4.    Complaining

5.    Excuses

6.    penultimate

7.    Dogmatism

“HAIL” stands for:

Honesty be clear and straight

Authenticity be yourself

Integrity by your word

Love wish them well

Toolbox

-       Register

-       Timbre

-       Prosody

-       Pace

-       Silence

-       Pitch

- Volume

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How to speak so that people want to listen

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Have you ever felt like you’re talking, but nobody is listening? Here’s Julian Treasure to help. In this useful talk, the sound expert demonstrates the how-to’s of powerful speaking -- from some handy vocal exercises to tips on how to speak with empathy. A talk that might help the world sound more beautiful.

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TED Talks - 4 Inside the mind of a master procrastinator

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TED Talks - 4 Inside the mind of a master procrastinator

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Example of Tim Urban

-       Use 72 hours to write a 90 pages essay, very bad.

Head of procrastinator

-       Brain of non- procrastinator:

o  rational decision maker

o  long term plan, each step make sense

-       Brian of a procrastinator

o  Easy and fun

o  Dark playground

§  Guilt, nervous, not the time to take the rest

o  Panic master, wake up when deadline is come

Procrastinator

-       Frustration

-       Better of the tings had deadline, since panic monster will come at the end.

-       What happen if no deadline, example: self-starter, Working relationship

-       Most people are procrastinating of something

-       Solution

o  Life calendar

o  One box for a week

o  90 years of life

o  We already use some the box

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Inside the mind of a master procrastinator

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Tim Urban knows that procrastination doesn’t make sense, but he’s never been able to shake his habit of waiting until the last minute to get things done. In this hilarious and insightful talk, Urban takes us on a journey through YouTube binges, Wikipedia rabbit holes and bouts of staring out the window -- and encourages us to think harder about what we’re really procrastinating on, before we run out of time.

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TED Talks - 5 How to make stress your friend?

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TED Talks - 5 How to make stress your friend?

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Presented by: Kelly McGonigal

Question: Ask audience who had experienced relatively little stress, and moderate stress

●      Kelly, health psychology, mission is to help people happier and healthier

●      Before she believed stress make people sick, and treat stress as enemy

●      But now she treats stress as friend

●      People who had a lot of stress in the previous years, 43% increased risk of dying

●      Amercian people who died early not because stress, but because the thought that stress is harmful for health

●      But stress can make people healthier, if we changed the minds that stress is bad, once we changed our mind, will change the body's response to stress

●      Example: social stress test

●      Hormone, oxytocin

○      release when you hug someone,

○      strength close relationship

○      Enhance empathy

○      When you feel stress, oxytocin can motivate you to seek support

○      Also, when someone in your life feel stressful, we can also help

●      Example

○      1000 adults in US, age 34-93

○      Asked how much stress have you experienced last year?

○      Asked again how much time you spend on friends, neighbors, people in the community,

○      Used public record for the next 5 years to know who died

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Stress. It makes your heart pound, your breathing quicken and your forehead sweat. But while stress has been made into a public health enemy, new research suggests that stress may only be bad for you if you believe that to be the case. Psychologist Kelly McGonigal urges us to see stress as a positive, and introduces us to an unsung mechanism for stress reduction: reaching out to others.

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By Barry Schwartz
Barry Schwartz

Freedom of choice

-       Maximize freedom is to maximize choice

-       Maximize choice will maximize satisfaction

This idea is embedded into our life that almost no one have ever questioned it

Supermarket

175 salad dressing

We are able to construct 6.5 million Stereo systems just from one single store.

Do you have a phone does do that much?

Healthcare in US.

-       We can do A with these benefits and risks or B with these benefits and risks

-       Patient Autonomy shift the responsibility from doctors to patients

-

Life is a matter of choice

All the choice has 2 negative effect

-       Paralysis

-       Opportunity cost (more choice you have, the more opportunity cost u will have)

Adding choices into people’s life will increase the expectation about how good those options will be.

Less satisfactions

Everything was better back when everything was worse

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TED Talk Subtitles and Transcript: Psychologist Barry Schwartz takes aim at a central tenet of western societies: freedom of choice. In Schwartz's estimation, choice has made us not freer but more paralyzed, not happier but more dissatisfied.

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TED Talks - 7 Why we have too few women leaders ?

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TED Talks - 7 Why we have too few women leaders ?

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Presented by Sheryl Sandberg
·      We don’t live in the world our mothers lived in, our grandmothers lived in, where career choices for women were so limited.

·      But we still have problem

o   Women are not making it to the top of any profession anywhere in the world

o   190 heads of state only 9 are women

o   of all the people in parliament in the world, 13% is women

o    corporate sector à women at the top only 15, 16%

o   these number have not moved since 2002

·      we still have another problem

o   women face harder choices between professional success and personal fulfillment

o   study in the US, married senior mangers, 2/3 of the married men had children and only 1/3 married women had children

·      Question: how are we going to fix this?

o   Solution: keep women in the workplace

o   Because women are dropping out from fortune 500 CEO jobs

·      Three messages if you do want to stay in the workforce

o   Sit at the table

§  Sit at the table, not sit on the side of the room

o   Make your partner a real partner

§  If a women and a man fork full time and have a child, the women does 2 the amount of housework the men does, and the women does 3 times the amount of childcare the men

§  As a society, we put more pressure on our boys to success than we do on on girls

o   Don’t leave before you leave

§  Keep your foot on the gas pedal, until the very day you need to leave to take a break for a child, and then make your decision

§  Don’t make decision too far in advance, particularly ones you are not even conscious you are making

·      Women underestimate their own abilities

o   Women do not negotiate for themselves in the workforce

§  57% boys entering are negotiating their first salary, but only 7% percent of women

o   men attribute their success to themselves, and women attribute it to other external factors

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Sheryl Sandberg: Why we have too few women leaders

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Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg looks at why a smaller percentage of women than men reach the top of their professions -- and offers 3 powerful pieces of advice to women aiming for the C-suite.

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TED Talks - 8 Are you a giver or a taker 

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TED Talks - 8 Are you a giver or a taker 

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Presented by Adam Grant
·      Look around the room for a minute and try to find the post paranoid person here, and point at that person for me

·      Presenter: organizational psychologist

·      Found Paranoia everywhere

o   Paranoia is caused by people that I call taker

o   Takers are self-serving in their interactions

o   It is all about what can you do for me

o   The opposite is a giver: what can I do for you

·      Surveyed over 30000 people across industries around the world’s cultures

o   Found most people are right in the middle between giving and taking

o   Known as third style called “matching”

o   Matcher: try do keep an even balance of give and take, I do something for you if you do something for me

·      Givers

o   Often sacrificing themselves, but they make their organizations better

o   More often people are helping and sharing their knowledge and providing mentoring, the better organization, higher profits, customers satisfaction, employee retention, lower operating expenses

o   Givers spend lots of time trying to help other people and improve the team

·      Instead of saying successful is all about winning a competition

·      People will realize success is really more about contribution

·      Most meaningful way to success is to help other people succeed

·      If we can spread that belief, paranoia can turn upside down

o   Pronoia -> delusional belief that other people are plotting your well-being

·      They are going around behind your back and saying exceptionally glowing things about you

·      Great thing about a culture of giver is not a delusion, it is a reality

·      Want to live in a world where givers succeed, hope you will help me create that world

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In every workplace, there are three basic kinds of people: givers, takers and matchers. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant breaks down these personalities and offers simple strategies to promote a culture of generosity and keep self-serving employees from taking more than their share.

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TED Talks - 9 Three things I learned while my place crashed 

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TED Talks - 9 Three things I learned while my place crashed 

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Presented by Ric Elias
·      plane engine going clack clack, sounds scary

·      sitting in 1D in a plane

o   only one who could talk to the flight attendants

o   he looked at them, and they said “we probably hit some birds, no problem”

·      pilot already turned the plane around

·      2 minutes later, 3 things happened at the same time

·      pilot lines up the plane that usually not the route, turned off the engine, and he said” brace for impact”

·      see flight attendant’s eye with terror, life was over

Three things I learned about myself that day

1.     all changes in an instant

o   no longer want to postpone anything in life

o   do all the experiences I wanted to have and I never did

2.     choose happiness

o   regretted the time I wasted on things that did not matter with people that matter

o   decided to eliminate negative energy from my life

o   even it is not perfect, but it is a lot better

3.     love our life’s

o   with for one thing, wish he would see his kid grow up

·      He is bawling, and crying,

·      Realized at that point, by connecting those two dots, that the only thing that matters is my life is being a great dad

·      Was given the gift of a miracle

o   not dying that day

·      Another gift

o   To be able to see into the future and come back and live differently

·      Challenge us that are flying today, imagine the same things happens on plane, how would us change?

·      How would you get done that you are waiting to get done because you thing you will be here forever

·      How would you change your relationship and the negative energy

·      Are you being the best parent you can

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Ric Elias: 3 things I learned while my plane crashed

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Ric Elias had a front-row seat on Flight 1549, the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009. What went through his mind as the doomed plane went down? At TED, he tells his story publicly for the first time.

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The independent language study for the second semester is much straight forward when compared to the first semester, this is mainly because I have successfully spotted my area of improvement throughout the first semester, that is, note taking skill. The reason I wanted to practice my note taking skills mainly because sometimes I found it hard for me to take down effective notes. It is often difficult for me to recap what I wrote down in the notes and that worries me since have a good note taking skills is an essential skill for both future studies and career. So, I searched online about how to improve my note-taking skills and I have found several common ways to improve it. First, only take down what you think is important and helpful for you to understand the notes. Second, use abbreviations to improve the speed of your writing. Third, the bullet point is always better than a chunk of sentences. Last but not least, use different colours when taking down notes. Moreover, some people also suggested that watching short videos online and take notes from it is also a good way for self-practice since it is not appropriate to use a real lecture to practice my note taking skills. Thus, I have chosen TED Talks to be my best language study helping tool in this semester.
The first 2 TED talks were really interesting, however, since I haven’t put any of these guidelines of taking note into practice, the results were not satisfying. I asked one of my colleague Stella to read my notes and according to her feedbacks, my notes were not as good as I thought it would be. She said maybe because the Talks are too long for me and she asks me to start small. So, I started to watch much shorter videos and I have seen my improvement throughout week 3-9 and when I looked back on my notes, I surprisingly realized that I can understand my note now. the progress I made throughout this semester might not seem big, nevertheless, I found myself heading in the right direction and I found myself more confident when taking notes in the ELSS listening section, many common abbreviations have been successfully adopted into my notes and I’m glad I have spotted my problem as early as now so that I don’t have to bring this problem into my future career. To sum up, the independent language study is a really helpful section and I indeed gain many useful skills and knowledge from it. The next area of improvement would be time management in the future.