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EFL 252 Presentation on intelligence

It took me a couple of days to get ready for this presentation. First, I needed to examine and study some text about 'intelligence' (Approaches to Learning, Chapter 7, Mc Graw Hill). During my readings, I underlined the points that I thought were important. Then, I selected the key points that I could use as the subject matter of my slides. I downloaded from the internet some pictures that would support my points. I used Microsoft Powerpoint 2013 to prepare the slides. I had thought it would be useful to give a simple and clear definition of intelligence at the very beginning. However, to my surprise, I found that things were very different Psychology. It was hard to find an agreed definition. There were many of them. So, I decided to avoid details and make it as simple as possible in order not to complicate matters further. The source of  'intelligence', too, was a bit controversial. Of course, the thing called 'nature' was created and is constantly managed by God. When He set the laws of nature and the fates of all the creatures in it, He may have wished some of them better intelligence, I believe. And, the thing called 'nurture' is an important factor in intelligence, I learnt. 'Nurture' must be something to do with 'free will' that determines fate to some extent. I was very amazed by tiny carettas, twins, and trained dogs. I felt it necessary to include them in my presentation to be able to send a strong message. But unfortunately, people are not very concerned about such matters nowadays, it seems. the subject intelligence testing was also interesting. I wanted to explore more about it, but I did not have much time left and had no access to related resources. So, I could not cover one of the most important aspects of intelligence, which has very significant educational implications. Gardner's multiple intelligences seemed the core of intelligence testing concept to me. I believe, if we take this subject more seriously in future, it will have great implications on our education philosophies and systems. As i said before, I had to work alone on the preparation of this presentation. I think it would have been much better if had been joined by a few friends.

About my EFL 252 in-class presentation on 'intelligence'

First of all, I did not have much enthusiasm for the preparation of this presentation because I had to do it on my own. I cannot say I enjoyed it. Some of the problems that I faced in the process of getting this job ready on my own are that I had difficulty putting things together and creating a coherent piece of work, that I had to get by with my own ideas only, that I could not cover all the subject matter, that I did not have the chance to rehearse it. If there had been a few people with me, we could have done it much better together, I believe. We would have broken down the work into parts and dealt with separate parts more effectively if this had been a group work. For example, someone would have done research on intelligence tests while somebody else was working on the educational implications of intelligence approaches. So, we could have provided our audience with some concrete examples of what we were talking about. Nervousness is another matter. I think people can feel braver and more determined when they act together in a group. So, I think I would have been less nervous with a few friends while presenting my stuff. As a result, many hands make light work, they say. Anyway. I hope I will be doing such things in a more organized way in a group for better results next time.

Using technology in instruction

When effectively used, it can create such a theme in education, I hope :)

Watch and enjoy!
Rockelbel's Canon (Pachelbel's Canon in D) - 4 Cellos

I DISLIKE BEHAVIORISM

During the last EFL 252 session, we familiarized ourselves with some terms and elements of behaviorism as follows:

Classical conditioning

Operant conditioning

Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement

Negative reinforcement

Stimuli

Skinner Box...

We learned that B. F. Skinner had carried out some experiments on some animals to explore the way they learn, their behaviors and their responses to particular stimuli.

He tried to teach them to ask for food by means of torture such as giving them electric shock.

Moreover, he later invented some theories based on the results of his experiments on those poor animals and applied them to humans to influence their behaviors.

The main principle in that is you get a reward if you do as you are told or a punishment if you act otherwise.

As a result of his so called scientific studies, millions of people around the world -parents, teachers, bosses, managers, etc.- have adopted the implementations of his theories and treated humans like animals.

I find this outrageous and extremely disgusting. I have never let anyone reward or punish me depending on whether or not I acted as they wanted me to and I will never ever! Just let me act according to God's laws and Let Him reward or punish me. 

A Personal Statement

I am not at all happy with the goings-on in the World. I am suffering mentally and spiritually from the miserable and loathsome events, incidents, businesses, etc. all over the world that do not at all suit humanity. Morality can save the world, I believe. So I want an education system in which students are brought up with high moral values. I am training to be a teacher to be able to create the teaching environment that i have tried to describe in the post titled ‘I envision an education like that’ in my blog.

I suppose English will be a very useful tool for me to reach this target. My classes will be very entertaining, enjoyable, informative and productive, and my students will be very keen to attend my classes, I hope. I would think that I was doing a great job even if i could have brought up one single student according to this mentality.