Jukajärvellä

This is a fairly rough representation of my grandparents' summer cottage by Jukajärvi (Juka-lake) in Finland. This is the place where, almost without fail, my family congregates every summer to spend a week or two away from the world and in each other's company. When we arrive, the car is parked uphill of the cottage and we come down to it by a small path through the trees on the hillside which obscure the view almost completely. At the end of the path is the front door of the cottage as well as an outdoor terrace with a table and benches where we eat most of our meals. Turning to the left of the cottage and following the grey paving slabs will bring you to the outhouse and after that to more trees; it's essentially a forest. If instead you follow the paving slabs leading towards the lake, you will end up on the dock. It's wooden planks have greyed with age and are stained every summer when seagulls who have eaten too many blueberries release their loads right above it. There is another dock farther down the shore where we store our row boat. Jukajärvi is such a small lake that you can row across it and my cousins, sister, and I make a habit of rowing to the opposite shore and playing in the small rapids that feed into the lake. If, instead of going straight past the cottage, you turn right, you will be faced with a very similar (albeit smaller) building. This is our sauna cabin, it houses an extra sleeping room and, of course, the all important sauna. No place in Finland is complete until it can boast a working sauna, my grandparents summer cottage is no exception. Our sauna is fairly old and so still has a wood burning stove to heat up the 'kiuas' (rocks which disperse heat to the sauna). We use the sauna for a variety of things; we burn our paper trash in its stove, we heat up water for washing, we take "showers", and we 'sauna'. To do this we heat the sauna to about 80-100°C (176-212°F) and relax in the heat until we can't take it any more and have to rush out for a quick swim in the lake. It is one of the most refreshing and most relaxing pass times I have ever come across.

Every time I arrive at the summer cottage, reach the end of the path down the hill (bottom right in the picture) and am practically on the doorstep, I get a strong sense of homecoming. This is a place where I truly feel at home, mainly because I can move around both outside and inside - I can walk along the paths farther inland or I can row across the lake to the rapids - and never feel as though I am in a public place. There is a freedom that comes with having your own private outdoors that is unlike any other, it is almost as if the walls of my bedroom have expanded to include all of the land attached to the cottage as well as the lake, the rapids, and some of the dirt roads and paths leading to the cottage.

Proposal Justification Draft

            The proposed research on the effect of classes with excessive curricula on students, instructors, and professors is the most sensible as well as the most economically viable option for the University of Florida. This is because conducting extensive research into the matter brings the issue to the attention of university administrators (which is likely to prevent it from further escalating) and the true extent of the problem can be uncovered, leading to a clear starting point from which to discuss the implementation of practical solutions. The ideas for these practical solutions will have come from concrete information and therefore will be highly likely to solve the problem permanently.

            The immediate consequence of completing this research is that extensive information about how overfilled curricula affect students, instructors, and professors will be brought to the attention of UF administrators. This research, having been conducted by a professional company, will be in a format that they will acknowledge as rigorous and accurate. As such, administration will no longer be able to overlook the issue of overstuffed curricula, leading to, at the very least, discussion within the department and their awareness of how the gradual addition of material to curricula has been the chief cause of the problem. This is likely to curb the rate at which curricula are extended and perhaps will stop the practice altogether, administrators may also agree that practical solutions must be considered in order to completely resolve the issue.

            In the long run, this research may lead to a practical solution being implemented at UF to solve the problem of overstuffed curricula. This happening is highly likely to lead to student, instructor and professor satisfaction which will raise the public image of the university in several ways. Firstly, if students can enjoy their classes, they are more likely to actively participate and learn the set material. This will lead to UF graduates being more knowledgeable and proficient in their field and therefore more sought after by employers. Secondly, while teaching classes are only one part of the job of professors and instructors, improving this area will result in increased satisfaction with their position holistically. As UF’s image improves, it will attract more prospective students and professors alike, thereby potentially increasing its annual revenue.

            As of right now, the main discussion of this problem is between students who have very little to no power to change the system by which the material they are taught is assigned. While this continues, little to nothing will be done to solve the problem and so, one of the main supportive features of conducting research into this issue is that information will be gathered by professional researchers and also that professionals (the professors) will be consulted and will contribute to the information. As such, the gravity of the problem will be confirmed to be more than simply the idle complaints of students but rather an issue that merits the attention of those who have caused it. Additionally, the extent of the discussed problem has yet to be ascertained so that any practical solution introduced at this juncture could not be based on facts but rather on speculation. As a result, practical solutions might work for a limited time, only to break down as the university evolves; or they might cause unforeseen damage to other areas of the structure of classes and teaching methods at UF. So long as adequate information is collected before practical solutions are discussed, the said practical solutions have a far greater chance of succeeding without causing collateral damage.

This proposal will be made publicly available by being posted online for anyone who wishes to view it. If it is enacted, due to the interviews that must be conducted, students and professors connected to the problem are fairly certain to hear of it. If this problem persists unchecked, administrators are likely to continue adding material to classes without truly realising the detrimental impact these overloaded classes have on students. Student and professor dissatisfaction will grow and word about this situation will spread, potentially affecting prospective students’ plans to apply to or attend UF.

Potential Solutions to the Proposed Problem

1. Classes can be reordered to accommodate the excessive amounts of material. For example; General Chemistry 1 and 2 can be reordered to make three classes.
2. The credits awarded to each overstuffed class can be increased to allow for more weekly class times and a smaller total of classes taken each semester per student.
3. The minimum credit hours needed to be a full-time student (currently 12) can be decreased to allow students to take fewer classes without compromising their financial aid status.
4. The length of the fall and spring semesters can be increased to allow more time to teach the material. The summer semester can be shortened to the length of approximately Summer A.
5. Research can be done into finding what the optimal amount of material that students are expected to learn per semester is.
6. The instructors and professors can be surveyed to determine which classes, in their opinion, contain too much material.
7. Research can be done to find how excessive academic expectations have an adverse effect on students' health through increased stress, lack of social interaction, etc.
8. Research can be done to find how the negative effect that overstuffed classes have on the students at UF indirectly and adversely affects the university as a whole, i.e. how the image of the university is affected by lower grades and lack of enthusiasm for classes, and how employers of UF graduates view employees who learned how to get through classes rather than actually learning material.
9. Fliers can be drawn up and handed out to students to raise awareness of how good study habits will help them cope with their course loads. The fliers should also contain specific advice on how to manage classes with overstuffed curricula.
10. A petition calling for a revising of the curricula of overstuffed classes at UF can be drawn up and signed by students, instructors and professors alike and presented to the administration governing class curricula at UF.

Challenge Check-in #2

MEMO

To:                   Mikayla Beaudrie, Instructor: ENC 1101, University of Florida

From:               Amanda Johnson, student, <amanda.johnson@ufl.edu>

Date:               16^th November, 2014

Re:                   Challenge Progress

As was stated in my last blog post concerning the Challenge (posted on Saturday, 1^st November, 2014), I am ‘translating’ the words of the Shaker dance song “Simple Gifts” into a format that befits someone living and actively participating in hip hop culture. To do this, I am using such resources as <http://onlineslangdictionary.com/> and <http://www.ebonics-translator.com/> that help with the conversion of certain words and structures into hip hop slang. As of today, I have ‘translated’ the chorus of the song and will have the verses translated by the end of the month.

I appreciate your attention in this matter, and thank you for your patience in waiting for the completed challenge.

Problem Statement Rough Draft

Many of the classes at the University of Florida (UF) have too much material forced into the curriculum. This is a problem because it tends to cause difficulties for students registered for those classes. The amount of material usually leads to them treating the class in one of two distinct ways; either they memorise material for exams and papers, forgetting it immediately afterwards, or they take time to attempt to understand the material taught to them at their own pace which leads to lower exam results than they deserve. One of the root causes of this problem is that many of the overstuffed classes are so-called “weed-out” classes designed to discourage weaker students from continuing in a specific field of study (e.g. engineering or medicine). Another cause could be that, because course requirements increase gradually, administration fails to notice the point where the course load becomes too much for students. Those who are primarily affected by this are students and instructors at UF. Instructors may have difficulty maintaining a suitable pace to cover all of the material within class time, and students struggle to keep up with the accelerated teaching pace. This is an issue that has been noted mostly in the lower level and general education undergraduate courses at UF, whether or not it occurs in higher level courses or at other universities in Florida or the rest of the US is undetermined.

A direct effect of having classes with overstuffed curricula is that instructors often end up rushing through lectures or skipping important information so as to cover all of the required material in the course. As a result, students struggle to keep up with the work assigned to them and may fall behind on assignments or fail to understand key concepts being taught to them because the topic is changed before they have a firm grasp of it. This in turn causes students to feel more stress than they should and may even cause them to dislike or hate a class that they might have truly enjoyed had they been allowed to learn the material at a pace suited to them. By the end of each semester, both instructors and students become exhausted (with many students complaining that they have had enough weeks before the semester ends) and often students receive lower grades than they are capable of attaining.

One of the primary reasons why this issue needs to be resolved is so that UF does not produce graduates who merely learned how to earn certain grades and pass classes, but rather students who have learned how to absorb and effectively retain that which they have been taught in their courses. Solving this problem might also help to increase the number of students passing their classes and continuing their studies, which in turn would increase the graduation rate of students at UF. Ideally, this problem should be solved within several semesters, however, as it spans many colleges within the university, the time taken to resolve the issue may be increased as each college would likely work on their own schedule. One solution to this situation would be a reworking of course curricula by the administration that oversees them and perhaps the splitting of courses. For example, the material from a series of two connected courses (such as General Chemistry One and Two) could be reorganised and split over three courses.

Research Report Response

The problem addressed:
A large proportion of the teenage population, specifically in New York City, engages in unprotected sex. As a result, many of them contract HIV/AIDS. Black and Latino youth living in certain areas of NYC are far more likely to contract these diseases than teenagers elsewhere in the city.

The solution being implemented:
A five session program spanning five weeks that was implemented during the final class period of the school day for students aged 12 and 13. The participants listened to various hip hop songs and were then asked questions designed to lead to a discussion about the messages contained in the songs and how those messages related to HIV/AIDS.

Three previously unknown words and their definitions:
morbidity - the prevalence of an illness in a certain location or area.
normative - something that is related to a norm
self-efficacy - belief in your ability to succeed given certain circumstances.

Problems in the world today include (but are not limited to...)

1. Many women are objectified by men (through 'catcalling') when in public spaces. These encounters can become threatening and undermining to the safety of these women.
2. Once they are mass-produced, 'smart' or 'self-driving' cars will eliminate the need for human drivers, thus raising unemployment rates and harming the economy.
3. Members of the FSU football team are not disciplined appropriately for their actions because of their contribution to the financial well-being of Tallahassee. This will lead to them graduating with a very poor understanding of social and ethical responsibilities.
4. The general public has not been properly educated about all of the effects - both beneficial and detrimental - of marijuana, causing their opinions and subsequent votes on its legalisation to be uninformed and therefore not fully valid.
5. Many of the classes at UF have too much material forced into the curriculum causing students to either learn only for exams and subsequently to forget; or to attempt to learn and understand the material fully and at their own pace causing their grade to suffer.
6. Many areas on the UF campus are not lit well enough at night, creating a space in which it is far too easy to commit an assault without getting caught.
7. Too many people around the world do not have access to clean water or adequate sanitation.
8. When houses are demolished by tornadoes (especially in areas that experience frequent tornadoes, such as Oklahoma), they are rebuilt in practically the exact same way, only to be ruined again when the next tornado comes through. This causes expenses for home owners that they can't necessarily afford.
9. Hollywood seems to be practically incapable of producing original films any more. The majority of their output is either adapted books, sequels/prequels, or remakes of old films.
10. The fifteen minute break in between classes at UF is not always sufficient for students to get from one class to the next without being late - especially if they need to stay behind after their previous class ends to speak with their instructor.

Evaluation Resources

Two documents I could use for my evaluative essay are:

"Remarks by Nisha Varia" from "Proceeding of the Annual Meeting (American Society of International Law)"
This document contains the findings of human rights activist Nisha Varia based of several years of experience living in the Middle East, conducting "fact-finding investigations" and interacting with government officials. This document provides evidence of how migrant domestic workers are mistreated not only by their employers but also by the governments of the countries in which they work.

"Policing Housemaids - The Criminalization of Domestic Workers in Bahrain"
This article explores how the justice system in Bahrain mistreats migrant domestic workers and remarks on how their working conditions tie in with "discourse on modern-day slavery." This article provides a specific example of how migrant domestic workers are treated by their employers and the government of the nation in which they work.

Prompt 3A: The Blue Dream

One of the first songs I remember learning as a child is a Finnish lullaby that my grandmother loved to sing to my sister and I. She still hums and sings it to herself and, given the chance, would still probably send us to sleep with it even now. It is called "The Blue Dream" ("Sininen Uni") and tells of the Sandman (Nukkumatti). All of his clothes are blue and made of dreams, he eats ice-cream made out of dreams, carries the blue book of dreams, and drives a blue car that purrs "surrur surrur." Every night, he tiptoes into children's bedrooms and drives them to the blue land of dreams in his car. In that land, there is a golden forest with a golden tree in which the bluebird of dreams sits and sings the children to sleep.

Listening to this song again brings back associated memories that I had forgotten. In particular, there was a children's TV show in Finland that my sister and I would watch right before going to bed. I can picture my mother and grandparents sitting in the kitchen behind us and talking while we sit in our pjs or dance along to the music that's playing. It's strange to be able to place myself in a situation to which I haven't given any thought in years and the resulting emotion is one of almost reluctant nostalgia; I feel as though I am still too young to look back on anything as "the good old days," and yet in spite of this there is a very clear sense of simplicity and innocence associated with the memory that has been lost over the years.

One detail that stands out to me is the melancholy tune of the song, I had not thought about it before because I had not tried to hear it through American ears before. A recurring element of traditional or classic Finnish music is sorrowful-sounding melodies and it quite often has nothing to do with the lyrics. To someone who has not heard it before, I could see how this lullaby might sound more depressing than soothing, but for me it has always been linked to happy memories.

The song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCMI91DCTRg

The lyrics in Finnish:
http://www.jalam.org/lastenlauluja.htm#Sininen%20uni

An English translation:

Every night when the lights go out and real night falls,

The Sandman gets up and knocks softly on the door.

He tiptoes in his sleepy slippers,

He tiptoes through the door and jumps behind the wardrobe.

And he has a sleepy cap and a blue, sleepy belt,

And a piece of ice-cream made of dreams which he eats with his little teeth.

And he has a blue car, and his car, it purrs like this:

Surrur surrur and it leaves towards the blue land of dreams.

And his little umbrella is completely tilted,

And he carries the blue book of dreams under his arm,

And he takes the children to the blue land of dreams in his car,

Surrur surrur, a blue, dreamy road leads the way there.

And there is a golden forest, and in the forest a golden tree,

And in the tree sits the bluebird of dreams with a golden beak,

And that bluebird, it lulls the children,

It sings its sleepy song, lalala lalala lalalaa

Challenge Check-In #1

I will be responding to Part A of Challenge 5. For the challenge, I will remix the lyrics of the Shaker hymn/dance song "Simple Gifts" to reflect the lifestyle of a member of hip hop culture. I chose this song because of one of the lyrics it contains ("to turn, turn, will be our delight") contains the word "turn" which has very recently been appropriated by hip hop culture ("turn up" and "turnt") and I am intrigued by this link between two musical genres that seem to be polar opposites.