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Student Testimonials

Gifted learners enlisted in mainstream schools, without the necessary provisions, will be negatively affected beyond their schooling days

Liane Regnard | Bachelors in Education | Abstract | Part 2 / 2

It is further noted that often gifted children may experience antagonism from their Teachers due to a misunderstanding of their behavior. It is important to recognise that the evidencing of giftedness is part of a developmental process and different characteristics will be exhibited at different times and in different contexts. Moltzen (2011) defines “The view of giftedness as developing potential, rather than fixed ability, has significant implications for parents and educators. From this position, who is and who is not gifted is not of major consequence and ascribing the label “gifted” to a dedicated group (and nongifted to the others) becomes less of an issue. The focus is more of providing maximum opportunities for gifted behaviours to emerge, as well as an appropriate environment for expertise to develop”. Lewis Terma and Leta Hollingsworth (1925) found out that modern intelligence tests have roots in America, were identified primarily on basis of performance in and out of the school. In 1980, American psychologist, James Catell, called for the development of a test that would measure the mental ability of gifted children which earned him the title of “Father of the Gifted Movement” Some children are highly gifted in areas such as math, writing or music. Then there are those with challenges that affect learning: They could have ADHD, dyslexia or dyscalculia, or perhaps they’re autistic or have sensory processing issues. But there are also kids who fit both categories. They are called twice-exceptional, or 2e, which means that they have exceptional ability and disability. They are gifted in some way but they also face learning or developmental challenges. (Arky, 2016) Children who are both gifted and challenged can be difficult to understand. Gifted kids can use their strengths to compensate for the special need, and in the process mask their learning problems. Or the special needs can mask the giftedness. In some cases, neither the disability nor the giftedness is recognized. Once 2e kids are identified, it can still be difficult to get the support these children need in school. If they’re in a gifted program, they may be floundering in a certain area. If they’re placed in a special-ed program, it may not challenge them, and they may be frustrated and restless.

In either case, anxiety, depression, a lack of self-esteem and emotional dysregulation can result, leading to behavior problems.

They may come off as lazy because they’re clearly bright but performing poorly in some areas. They may get a lot of criticism from parents and teachers: “You’re just not trying on this math!” Their selfesteem suffers and they may experience depression. Or they seem oppositional to teachers and parents. “Frustrated by their difficulties, they act out in infinite ways, and they get mischaracterized or misunderstood as being argumentative. Psychologist James T Webb states that the one of the things we know about gifted children almost universally is that they are intense. This intensity can make sitting in a regular classroom very frustrating. The research indicates that for most gifted children, from one fourth to one half the regular classroom time is spent waiting for others to catch up. If you’re sitting there and your mind is intensely churning, you’re likely to be seen as being off task, fidgety, interrupting others, classic behaviors that would be ADHDlike. (Webb et al., 2016) According to the National Association for Gifted Children (2019), students who have both gifted and learning difficulties require an intervention program that nurtures the gifts and talents.

which accommodates learning weaknesses. Talented learners require a supportive environment that values and appreciate individual abilities. A learner who is gifted and talented usually does much better than learners of the same age group and hence requires services or activities not ordinarily provided for the ordinary learner. The National Association for Gifted Children (2019), identifies that good instruction for gifted learners involve: • They need learning experiences that are organized by key concepts and principles of a discipline rather than by facts. They need content that is relevant to their lives, activities that cause them to process important ideas at a high level, and products that cause them to grapple with meaningful problems and pose defensible solutions.

• Learning needs to be paced in response to the student’s individual needs. As gifted learners learn at a more rapid pace than their peers, they need to be educated at an accelerated rate. • Good teaching for gifted learners requires an understanding of “supported risk.” Highly able learners often make very good grades with relative ease for a long time in school. They see themselves (and often rightly so) as expected to make “As,” get right answers, and lead the way. In other words, they succeed without “normal” encounters with failure. Then, when a teacher presents a high-challenge task, the student feels threatened. Not only has he or she likely not learned to study hard, take risks and strive, but the student’s image is threatened as well.

A good teacher of gifted students understands that dynamic, and thus invites, cajoles and insists on riskbut in a way that supports success. In a study (Watve, 2008) of 53 men between the ages of 30 and 40 years, Watve examined the effects of enriched educational programs during childhood on academic (educational qualifications, acquisition of languages, literature published, etc.), practical (occupational status, income, material-possessions, etc.), and social (leadership performed, special recognitions achieved, membership of groups, etc.) accomplishments during adulthood. Comparison was made between those men who had participated in 6 years of enriched educational programs during childhood and those equally able men who had not participated in enriched educational programs during childhood. Watve found that those men who participated in enriched educational programs during childhood were more likely than those who had not to have academic and social accomplishments, specifically (a) to achieve basic educational qualifications, (b) to acquire additional qualifications in addition to basic educational qualifications, (c) to become members of social groups, (d) to conduct training programs, and (e) to deliver talks outside of their academic area. It was noted that acceleration and enrichment, during childhood and adolescence, seem to contribute to productivity, achievement, and excellence during adulthood (Watve, 2008). This is consistent with recommendations from the National Association for Gifted Children, who maintain that to educate all of our children and allow them to compete in a global economy in all fields of human endeavor, the nation must provide an environment in which gifted and talented students, along with all our children, can reach their full potential. ... To do otherwise is to shortchange a significant segment of the K-12 population that deserves an appropriate education and can make important contributions to our society. (“NAGC Position Statements & White Papers | National Association for Gifted Children”, 2020) A discussion of the childhood experiences of gifted adults leads us to the characteristics, experiences, and needs of gifted individuals during adulthood. Several researchers discuss anecdotal and observational experiences with gifted adults and describe characteristics of these gifted adults that set them apart from their average ability peers.

Lovecky (1986) outlines the following traits of gifted adults: divergent thinking, excitability, sensitivity, perceptivity, and entelechy (i.e., having a goal). Roeper (1991) explains gifted adults have the following characteristics, among others: complex intellectual ability, childlike emotions, feelings of being fundamentally different from others, driven by their giftedness, feelings of being overwhelmed by their own creativity, introversion, need for solitude, need for meaning, individualized methods of learning, able to see patterns of development and growth (trends), need for truth, perfectionism, feelings of being misunderstood, difficulty in understanding the behaviors of others, strong sense of humor, difficulty with authority figures, and strong moral convictions. Tolan (1994) also discusses similar characteristics: emotional intensity, moral sensitivity and concern for justice, and social experiences that depend on finding likeminded others. The end

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Widespread outbreak of coronavirus and disruption of contemporary global sustainability

Dr. Mohammad Shahidul Islam | Academic Advisor at AIU

Coronavirus, namely severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV- 2) is responsible for coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Coronavirus is emerged in the city of Wuhan, China, in 2019 and has since caused a large scale COVID-19 epidemic and spread to more than 184 other countries is the product of natural evolution. There is a controversial debate on origin of this this dangerous virus. Some people convicted the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China for spreading this virus in outside. But there is no scientific evidence of this controversial blame. Genomic structure (genetic sequence) revealed that this virus is 96% similar to one that circulates in bat. So, it can be assumed that the SARSCoV- 2 virus originated in bats and then jumped to humans, perhaps through other animals.

If we end debate on how it got into the human body, we will see severe outbreak of this virus induced disease (COVID-19) since December 2019. As of March 19, 2020 globally 234,073 persons were infected. Out of these, 9,840 died (WHO). Worse scenarios were identified in Italy with 41,035 confirmed cases with 3,407 death tolls. After that Chinese casualties were high with 81,300 confirmed cases and 3,253 death tolls. Even though these casualties were originated in China but these spread beyond nation boundary. Due to modernized fast communication and necessity of human mobility, these viral disease was transmitted over 185 countries around the globe in just 60 days. Initially, these viral disease was local environmental issue in the city of Wuhan, China. The virus got transmitted through environmental contact —coughing, sneezing, touching by the infected people. Some people got infected through air born viral particles in the local environment.

The result of these infections caused severe social problems. The vulnerable risk groups together with the infected people were compelled to stay in institutional and home quarantine over long time. These people did not even live with adequate life needs. This caused further physiological and psychological problems to the vulnerable classes. The obvious results of these environmental and social problems by COVID-19 epidemic caused negative impact on economy. To cut outbreak of this infectious COVID-19 epidemic, worldwide communication became paralyzed.

Vulnerable countries lock down their geographical boundaries, suspended land, water and air communications and advised their people not to communicate in and out of the country concerned. These caused complete breakdown of local, regional and global supply chain. If this continues over long time, there will be scarcity of necessary commodities. Effect of this will be revealed in raise in commodity price. Sooner or later the vulnerable people will need to spend more money to buy their necessary commodities. Ultimately, this will affect the local, regional and global economy. It will not be unlikely to see another global recession similar to late 2000s. This will have wide spread impact in individual, collective, national, regional and global levels. More people will lose their jobs, value price will go up, individual, collective, national, regional and global trade will shrink. If these happen, there will be severe individual, collective, national, regional and global economic crisis. This will disrupt three pillars of environmental sustainability:

• Ecology (environment)
• Economy
• Society

We do not want to happen this due to COVID-19 epidemic crisis. We want to maintain the contemporary global environmental sustainability by acting pro-actively and by resisting negative impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Looking for progress

By Dr. Rosa Hilda Lora M. Advisor at AIU | rosa@aiu.edu

With the latest globalization, it seems that the concept we have been bringing in since the Renaissance is very present: human beings are the maximum of creation. With the Renaissance begins the development of the arts, of the sciences and in the times in which we are living the technology, and with it, everything that any human being can imagine.

We are living so many things that many times we don’t know how to identify what we are doing. According to Morin: “Let us remember once again that each one lives a plurality of lives, their own life, the life of their own, the life of their society, the life of humanity, the life of life”. (Morin, 2011, p. 87) We live so many lives that we need to know if we really have space for our own live. Society at all levels is looking for progress. People only have time to work because they say they are happy when they buy everything that can be sold. The vast majority of human beings, if not all of them, expect to have a life with everything that can be bought and say that they achieved the desired progress.

A life where progress was achieved is because it was in one place in terms of material goods and now it is in another place of more goods. This endless race has found answers for some, who in the anguish of unlimited goods, saw that progress understood in that way is a career that never ends.

Morin says: “We have lost the promise of progress, but it is a very great progress, finally, to discover that progress was a myth”. (Morin, 2011, p. 71) It is a myth because you never reach what you are looking for. It is one thing to not have the necessary goods for a decent life and want to overcome that stage and another is to find no limit in this world. Science advances and advances but the great paradox is that we do and do science and we have many goods, we work and work and the world we are living in seems to be going in the opposite direction to well-being. Our planet, the only place where life is possible, protests and protests for all the resources we use to make products and products that are often not necessary.

We are about whether they are renewable resources or not. We are in that it is necessary to eliminate here and there to build life and more artificial life. Those who benefit from this crazy race say that there is no such climate change, that resources taken in that way are necessary.

This is the beautiful pale blue dot of Carl Sagan. Now we are going to see the life of the beings that live on that planet: they run here and there and every day the tension in which they live increases because they have to work harder and harder to say they are successful.

Where is human life going? If you don’t buy everything that exists, people say they are poor. “The Globalization of our days, like previous globalizations, has witnessed increasing prosperity as well as increasing inequality”. (Deaton, 2015, p. 21) The crazy race in which today’s society lives must stop for the health of every human being. Globalizations bring poverty along with the wealth of others because all countries cannot change the process of production and distribution of goods as easily as countries that consider themselves rich. “Almost 1,000 million live in material poverty; millions of children die from the accident of being born in a poor country…”. (Deaton, 2015, p. 297) The infrastructure that needs to be built, to generate global change, another globalization, costs money and all governments do not have it; all employees must also be trained so that they can execute the expected innovations.

The true poor are those described by Deaton: “It is easy to think of the escape from poverty as something related to money: with the possibility of having more and not having to live with the stormy anxiety of not knowing if there will be enough tomorrow...”. (Deaton, 2015, p. 15) According to Deaton, poverty is also the lack of health services, the lack of food, an adequate living space, freedom and education. “...when I talk about freedom I mean freedom to live a new life and to do the things that make life worth living…”. (Deaton, 2015, p. 18) Poverty is more than money but one thing is to live as Deaton says and another thing is to live in superabundance. The change in the treatment we give to our planet is urgent, as is the change in the way we live. We have to learn to enjoy the life we have and stop living in it later. We have to think about what Morin says: “You have to know how to enjoy the present to love the future”. (Morin, 2011, p. 88) What to do to get out of the way we treat the only place where life is possible for us and enjoy what we do? According to Deaton: “The keys to progress are new knowledge, new inventions and new ways of doing things.” (Deaton, 2015, p. 26) Knowledge is at the crossroads: it is done for good and it is done to generate harm. The new knowledge has to be to generate solutions to the life of the planet and to the life of human beings.

An aim is always sought in every investigation for the benefit of a community, a nation or the world society. The new inventions must be for the same: quality of life of the planet and human beings. Stop creating weapons and more weapons to say that we live in peace. It seems that the race in arms production is to have two more world wars: we arm ourselves for war but we live in peace. The new ways of doing things implies time to solve the problems we have as humanity. Also produce to solve our problems instead of producing to earn money.

We can change the treatment we give to our home, to our beloved planet and to the crazy race we carry as humanity. Now we must add the anguish of the spread of a virus: we do a lot of science, we manufacture many products but we are object to what a very small being wants to do; a virus that brings everyone depending on its spread. Faced with so much science and so much money we are depending on that little being that can do us a lot of harm.There is the fragility of the human species. Let’s look for true progress; to create an inclusive society.

Let us seek progress in a life that means opportunities and spiritual wealth for all. Let us seek progress in a way of living life where we have time to be human beings and not beings for production. Let’s look for progress in having time to enjoy everything we do instead of seeing work as a way to earn money. As humanity we can have a quality life that is to be happy because we do what we like, and what we like allows us to have a dignified life, with the immense satisfaction of being human beings who build the world we need as a species. Hands-on work, we can.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. Deaton, A. (2015). El Gran Escape. Salud, riqueza y los orígenes de la desigualdad. México: FCE. | Morin, E. (2011). ¿Hacia dónde va el mundo? Barcelona: Paidós | Sagan, Carl. (2003). El Punto azul Pálido, una visión del futuro humano en el espacio. México: Planeta.

Breaking Paradigms in Economics at AIU

Dr. Edward Lambert | AIU Academic Coordinator

At AIU, we seek to break paradigms with creative innovation. During my doctoral studies at AIU, I researched Effective Demand in economics. I developed various unique and new equations. One such equation was to calculate the output gap for an economy. The output gap is defined as the difference between real output and potential output. The gap (difference) between potential output and real output is important, because it will tell you how much more room your economy has to grow. The equation is to subtract potential output from real output. If the difference is negative, this means that real output is still much lower than potential. The economy still has room to grow and this gives reason for a central bank to keep interest rates lower. If the difference is positive, this means that the real output is reaching potential and the interest rates can rise.

Now it is easy to calculate real output because that is just Gross National Product of a country. However, it is more challenging to determine potential output of an economy. Since the 2008 crisis, the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) of the United States has struggled to calculate potential output. They have had to revise their estimate many, many times. Economists criticized them for so many adjustments to such an important number. I developed an equation for the output gap during my doctorate at AIU.

My equation was based on a simple ratio between capacity utilization and labor share. Here is a graph since 1967 of how my equation compared to the official CBO calculation over time. My equation is the green line. The CBO calculation is the red line. You can see from this graph that after the 2008 recession, the CBO showed a huge negative output gap. It stayed negative until 2018 (10 years later). This large negative output gap gave the Federal Reserve (Central Bank) of the United States reason to keep interests rates low.

You can also see that my number went negative at a standard level. Then actually my number reached a positive output gap 2 years later and has stayed moderately positive ever since. I had the view that the CBO was wrong. I stated for years that they would eventually return to my calculation, which they did at the beginning of 2019. Then, throughout the 4 quarters of 2019 until now, the CBO number has exactly matched my number as the two lines are now moving in unison. I never changed my equation, while the CBO adjusted their calculation many times trying to figure out where potential output was. In the end, CBO’s number stabilized with my number. My work here shows that even the most complex concepts in economics can be better explained with simple correct equations. This is how we break paradigms at AIU.

At AIU you have the freedom to discover and innovate new ideas.

Fast DNA sequencing

Can offer diagnostic clues to help newborns.

Strange microbe

May mark one of life’s great leaps.

AIU makes a huge contribution to the world by giving new scient ifics the space for original investigations and research. Visit MyAIU Evolution

Napkinized serviettes

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Reinventing makeup

Terri Bryant is using her Parkinson’s diagnosis to do it.

Ripple suit

Offers sex aid to people with disabilities.

Stop touching your face

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Boost your immune system

What can you do to improve your health and avoid bugs?

Live a better life learning how to keep your body, mind and soul balanced. Visit regularly MyAIU Body / MyAIU Mind / MyAIU Spirit and MyAIU Energy.

Eco Tip: Simplify your life as much as possible. Only keep belongings that you use/enjoy. Change your life, get sustainable, visit MyAIU Knowledge

Get a better knowledge about our rights and the way we can use them on a daily basis to prevent any abuse or limitations of them. Visit MyAIU Human Rights.