5. Plagiarism and Referencing (Who, Where, Why, What, When, How) – How I would enlighten a new college student.

For first time students at third level education referencing and plagiarism can be a daunting new topic. Many will have heard of it from friends already in college or through the movies but few will have anticipated it to be as initially complex and confusing. As a student, it is important that you identify in your submission when you are using the words or ideas of another author and to acknowledge the source of the information in the main body of the assignment. Academics see plagiarism as a serious offence and in some Universities and further education centres it is deemed to be among the most serious of offences to plagiarize another authors work without properly referencing it in the bibliography. The policy towards Plagiarism at IT Blanchardstown where I am currently studying defines it as ''deliberately representing someone else's work without giving acknowledgement to the source of the information.'' 

Students are not expected to re-invent the wheel and churn out original material for assignments, it is expected that they will use source information from previously published material to corroborate and back up their own material when compiling course work assignments. However they must always reference source information used.

The most popular and common form of referencing used today is the Harvard style referencing system, or otherwise known as the Name and Date system. According to Staffordshire University, referencing must be consistent and follow the following guidelines. 

• Citations are written in text of the document, citing authors surname and date in brackets
• Complete list of all texts and sources used must be provided at the end of the assignment
• Capitals are only to be used for authour surnames at the end in bibliography and not in main body
• Title of sourced information is the only piece of material to be italicized in the text.

Once the student becomes more familiar with what is expected in regards to referencing and plagiarism you may wonder what you found so daunting first day and in time referencing will become second nature by the time your studies are completed. Practice makes perfect as they say. 

Reference List

ITB Handbook (2012) Referencing & Plagiarism, Dublin. 

Staffordshire University (n.d) Harvard Referencing System guide & examples [online] Available at: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/support_depts/infoservices/learning_support/refzone/harvard/index.jsp [Accessed 8 December 2012]

University of Exeter (n.d) Referencing - the Harvard System [online] Available at: http://education.exeter.ac.uk/dll/studyskills/harvard_referencing.htm [Accessed 8 December 2012]

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Kids Health (n.d) What is Plagiarism, Available at: http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/school/plagiarism.html [Accessed 8 December 2012]

St Johns University (2012) Plagiarism - Queens Campus, Available at: http://www.stjohns.edu/campus/ev_cam_121128mh.event@digest.stjohns.edu%2Fstudent_life%2Fev_cam_121128mh.xml?context_date=11/28/2012 [Accessed 8 December 2012]

1. Which, if any, is more important in your opinion and why: Cognitive Intelligence (IQ) or Emotional Intelligence (EI).

Cognitive Intelligence (IQ ) and Emotional Intelligence (EI) are the two main components of General Intelligence, which can be defined as ''one's overall capacity to think rationally, act purposefully and deal effectively with one's environment'' Wechsler (1958) or put in more simple terms it is how we learn.

Cognitive intelligence or intelligence quotient (IQ) as it is often referred as, is usually measured by one of a series of different tests which are designed to assess intelligence. Cooke (2012). The results of such tests however are disputed as to their validity as they do not measure Emotional or Social Intelligence and therefore do not take these qualities into account.

According to John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey, two of the leading researchers on the topic, emotional intelligence (EI) is "the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions."

The three models of emotional intelligence are 

• The Mayer-Salovey Model

as defined above

• The Goleman Model

''an array of emotional competencies that contribute to managerial performance.''

• The Bar-On Model

''a cross section of interrelated emotional and social competenies, skills and facilitators that impact intelligent behaviour.''

Which one is more important is a question Psychologists have been asking for quite a while, in my opinion Emotional Intelligence which measures our Intrapersonal, & Interpersonal skills, adaptability and stress management holds more value when it comes to our interactions with others. Employers will look out for candidates who can work as part of a team thus requiring a higher E.I. The stereotype of the mad professor may or may not ring true but it is not unknown for those with higher IQ's to often find themselves socially confused especially when it comes to interpersonal skills such as empathy, social responsibility and adaptability. It is important that we can relate with others, be responsible members of society, and understand the emotions those around us display.


Reference List
about.com (2011) Emotional Intelligence - Psychology [online] Available at: http://psychology.about.com/b/2011/07/22/emotional-intelligence-psychology-definition-of-the-week.htm [Accessed on 3 December 2012]

businessballs.com (n.d) Emotional Intelligence [online] Available at: http://www.businessballs.com/eq.htm [Accessed on 3 December 2012]

Consortium for research on Emotional Intelligence in organisations (n.d) MSCEIT [online] Available at: http://www.eiconsortium.org/measures/msceit.html [Accessed on 3 December 2012]

Cooke, D. (2012), Lecture Notes, IT Blanchardstown, Dublin.

reuvenbar-on.org (n.d) Bar-On model of emotional-social intelligence [online] Available at: http://www.reuvenbaron.org/bar-on-model/ [Accessed on 3 December 2012]

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Emotional Intelligence (n.d) IQEQ [online]. Accessed on [3 December 2012] Available at: http://www.emotionalintelligence.net/

6. My notes (using an effective note taking technique) and summary on the following video… http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together.html?quote=1458

When compiling notes whether for study, work, or research purposes, it is very much a case different strokes for different folks. Effective note taking consists of three parts, observing, recording and reviewing.

There are a few different ways of compiling effective notes and it all depends on the note taker as to which way works best for them. Some like myself will prefer Mind Mapping, however the Cornell Format, the Outline Format, or the Sentence Format are all popular techniques used day in day out by students across the globe. 

I prefer the Mind Mapping format as it is a good way to get an in-depth review of the subject by using key words, terms or specific images to replace long winded sentences. Relevant information can also be easily linked to other information in the notes and this, for me anyway, all helps to get a better grasp on the subject matter and I find it easier to highlight pertinent points. 

The above image is a mind map I created whilst viewing the attached video about modern technology and how it is affecting the everyday lives of us as human beings. Shirley Turkle is a Psychologist who has studied in depth the role technology such as smart phones, emails, and social networking plays in our lives. She has reached the conclusion that social networking is not as social as it makes out and that we as a society have grown to expect more from technology and less from each other. Social media gives us the chance to always be heard, and never be alone and gives us access to many automatic listeners. However as we grow to rely on social media, text and e-mails for our interactions we sacrifice our conversations for online connections, in essence we are alone together.

Reference List

Calpoly (n.d) Note Taking Systems (online)Available at: http://www.sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/notetakingsystems.html [Accessed 3 December 2012]

Montgomery College (n.d) The Cornell System for Note-Taking (online) Available at: http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/enreadtp/Cornell.html [Accessed 3 December 2012]

2. The best presentation I have seen, and here’s why

While this isn't a presentation in the conventional sense, it's among the most inspiring 1 minute talks you'll ever hear. It is a motivational speech that resonates with anyone who has experience of competing and coming up just short at anything be it sports like football or rugby or even cake baking. 

Ray Lewis is a living legend in the game of American Football. He's the kind of man for whom the term 'lead by example' was coined. He's one of those guys that's respected and admired by fans no matter what their allegiance.

The speech in question was delivered to his teammates after they had just missed out on a place at the Superbowl at the final hurdle. Nick Morgan, Communications contributor with Forbes magazine says that inspirational speeches must be:

• The stakes must be high
• What's at stake must be clear
• It must be short
• It must be emotional 

 Lewis ticked all of the above boxes and delivered the speech in an inspirational and commanding manner to his audience of disappointed team-mates and coaches. It's well known by anyone who's played sport at any level that the immediate aftermath of a defeat is a difficult time. Yet, here Lewis managed to grab the attention of his audience to reassure them that they had done all they could in the past year and at the same time managed to encourage them to continue.  He managed to put the defeat into perspective by comparing their defeat as privileged sports stars to the hardships experienced by those fans and regular joe soaps like us out in the real world. A calming and reassuring voice of reason to help his teammates through their disappointment. Ray Lewis has a way with words that even in the most difficult of circumstances he manages to inspire and reassure those he speaks to. I could have chosen any one of a dozen 'Inspirational Ray Lewis' clips to use here, but I felt this was concise, to the point and truly inspirational.




Reference List

Forbes (9/2/2011) How do you inspire people with a speech? (online) USA: Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorgan/2011/09/02/how-do-you-inspire-people-with-a-speech/ [Accessed on 27 November 2012]

Wikipedia (n.d) Ray Lewis (online): Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Lewis [Accessed on 27 November 2012]

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Cosby Sweaters (2012) Ray Lewis [online] [Accessed 27 November 2012]. Available at: http://cosbysweaters.com/2012/11/18/ray-lewis-scares-cleamons-football-team-straight-video/