Population Game - Reflection Questions

Answer these in your notebook - or here in the blog comments section. List the names of the member in your group and specify whether you are referring to your fixed population or floating rate population. 1.) At what round did your population terminate? Why? What would you do differently to ensure it’s survival if you could change that round? 2.) Did you notice any “interesting” patterns that emerged in either of your populations? What were they? 3.) How is the rolling of dice for mortality rates similar to real world conditions? 4.) As a policy maker, do you think it would be easier to control your population’s birth rate or death rate ? Why? 5.) Think about the example you could alter: You were deliberately manipulating your population’s birth rate – Why? Subconsciously, you were aiming for a “perfect” or “ideal” number in your head. Why did that even happen to you? What was that number? What made you choose it?

9/11

Well, here is the last thread for the week. On the anniversary of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks feel free to discuss the implications here. You don't need to re-hash the events, I/we have watched them and I/we all remember them vividly. I don't want to discuss "conspiracy" theories here. I want to hear factual evidence with supporting references and connect the idea that this was a GLOBAL event with significant impacts for future generations. You can take one aspect and do it in detail (i.e. airport security and what this means to you, etc.), or touch on several aspects (politics, military, alliances, NATO) in brief.

Russia / Ukraine

This is certainly a major world event which has led to sanctions by the U.S. and involvement by NATO. Who is NATO? Why would they get involved? What prompted Russia to invade the Ukraine (shortly after the olympics)? What are their motives? Are they justified in your opinion Is it any other nation's business to get involved, or are those matters which only involve Russia and the Ukr

aine only? Photo: http://www.businessinsider.com/map-russian-invasion-ukraine-2014-4

Week 1 - Ferguson, MO unrest

Tell me what happened in Missouri. Was it warranted? Did this stem from deeper roots? Do you notice anything about how the U.S. media reports on it vs. Canadian media? If you like, you can tie this into larger racial issues that exist in the U.S. In your opinion,how are they different/similar to Canada ?

Week 1 - Palestine and Israel

A very complex issue. What is happening? How did it start? Which groups started this? Who should intervene? How can this be solved? Will there ever be peace in this region of the world?

Photo source: http://www.uccpalestineisraelnetwork.org/

Week 1 Theme Post - Population&Demographics

Population - find issues related to it and comment on them in a post here. Examples: Immigration, Emmigration (i.e. you could look at war refugees in Iraq). Aging populations, fertility issues (i.e. one child policy)

Your marking scheme

I will start with the following marking scheme, which is based on the University of Western's Faculty of Ed. with some personal tweaking.  If you feel that certain elements are needed or not needed, then this weekend is your chance to voice your opinions in the comments section below my post here.  Although I mentioned I would only mark one of your posts, and it will remain that way, it is also a requirement that you respond to others in order to achieve level 4.  Think of it as a part of your post.  If you've done all that work to make your post great, then wouldn't you like to hear some feedback from other students? Bien sur.

General Suggestions:
-Participate actively.  To get the most, it is important for you to actively participate in discussions throughout the course

-Post on a regular basis - a minimum of every three days.  That means twice a week, but don't heap them up on the same day.  Basically, if you follow the above suggestion it means you make one post to be evaluated and a second post which is a discussion with one of your classmates.

-Make substantive postings. Please avoid making postings that simply agree or disagree or repeat ideas already posted.  Rather, add substantively to the discussion by extending the ideas of others, relating personal or other experiences that illustrate ideas being discussed, proposing alternate ideas, raising new questions for discussion and asking for clarification.
-Express ideas concisely. Please avoid lengthy postings. One way to do this is by keeping each posting focused on a single idea or theme. Make separate postings for different ideas and themes.
-Make a variety of postings.  Keep in mind the various regions of the world and also the various themes of study (i.e. Population, Environment, Economy, Sustainability, Geopolitics).
-Spell check work before posting. There's no excuse in 2012 when you are using a computer.


Level 4 - (80-100%)
1. Contributes to discussions with high degree of regularity
2. Responses indicate a high degree of knowledge of events and how they relate to world issues
3. Interacts with other members on the discussion board with a high degree of effectiveness
4. Demonstrates a high degree of self-motivation
5. Accepts criticism postively
6. Illustrates ideas with references to classroom (and other) experiences with a high degree of effectiveness
7. expresses ideas clearly and concisely with a high degree of effectiveness
8. Includes references to two external sources to support posting.

Level 3 - (70-79%)
1. Contributes to discussions with considerable  regularity
2. Responses indicate a considerable knowledge of events and how they relate to world issues
3. Interacts with other members on the discussion board with considerable effectiveness
4. Demonstrates considerable self-motivation
5. Usually accepts criticism postively
6. Illustrates ideas with references to classroom (and other) experiences with considerable effectiveness
7. expresses ideas clearly and concisely with considerable effectiveness
8. Includes references to one external sources to support posting.

Level 2 - (60 - 69%)
1. Contributes to discussions with some  regularity
2. Responses indicate a some knowledge of events and how they relate to world issues
3. Interacts with other members on the discussion board with some effectiveness
4. Demonstrates some self-motivation
5. Sometimes accepts criticism postively
6. Illustrates ideas with references to classroom (and other) experiences with some effectiveness
7. expresses ideas clearly and concisely with some effectiveness
8. Does not reference to external sources to support posting.

Level 1 - (50 - 59%)
1. Contributes to discussions with limited regularity
2. Includes a response to another classmate, but lacks a formal post
3. Responses indicate limited knowledge of events and how they relate to world issues
4. Interacts with other members on the discussion board with limited effectiveness
5. Demonstrates limite self-motivation
6. Does not  accept criticism postively
7. Expresses ideas with limited effectiveness
8. No references to external sources to support posting.

<50%
1. Does not include a post