PIAGET'S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT (HIGHER EDUCATION)

Piaget's theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence first developed by Jean Piaget. It is primarily known as a developmental stage theory, but in fact, it deals with the nature of knowledge itself and how humans come gradually to acquire it, construct it, and use it. Moreover, Piaget claims the idea that cognitive development is at the centre of human organism and language is contingent on cognitive development. Below, there is first a short description of Piaget's views about the nature of intelligence and then a description of the stages through which it develops until maturity.

The Nature of Intelligence: Operative and Figurative Intelligence

Piaget believed that reality is a dynamic system of continuous change, and as such is defined in reference to the two conditions that define dynamic systems that change. Specifically, he argued that reality involves transformations and states. Transformations refer to all manners of changes that a thing or person can undergo. States refer to the conditions or the appearances in which things or persons can be found between transformations. For example, there might be changes in shape or form (for instance, liquids are reshaped as they are transferred from one vessel to another, humans change in their characteristics as they grow older), in size (e.g., a series of coins on a table might be placed close to each other or far apart) in placement or location in space and time (e.g., various objects or persons might be found at one place at one time and at a different place at another time). Thus, Piaget argued, that if human intelligence is to be adaptive, it must have functions to represent both the transformational and the static aspects of reality. He proposed that operative intelligence is responsible for the representation and manipulation of the dynamic or transformational aspects of reality and that figurative intelligence is responsible for the representation of the static aspects of reality).^[1]
Operative intelligence is the active aspect of intelligence. It involves all actions, overt or covert, undertaken in order to follow, recover, or anticipate the transformations of the objects or persons of interest. Figurative intelligence is the more or less static aspect of intelligence, involving all means of representation used to retain in mind the states (i.e., successive forms, shapes, or locations) that intervene between transformations. That is, it involves perception, imitation, mental imagery, drawing, and language. Therefore, the figurative aspects of intelligence derive their meaning from the operative aspects of intelligence, because states cannot exist independently of the transformations that interconnect them. Piaget believed that the figurative or the representational aspects of intelligence are subservient to its operative and dynamic aspects, and therefore, that understanding essentially derives from the operative aspect of intelligence.
At any time, operative intelligence frames how the world is understood and it changes if understanding is not successful. Piaget believed that this process of understanding and change involves two basic functions: Assimilation and accommodation.

 Assimilation and Accommodation

Through studying the field of education Piaget focused on accommodation and assimilation. Assimilation, one of two processes coined by Jean Piaget, describes how humans perceive and adapt to new information. It is the process of taking one’s environment and new information and fitting it into pre-existing cognitive schemas. Assimilation occurs when humans are faced with new or unfamiliar information and refer to previously learned information in order to make sense of it. Accommodation, unlike assimilation is the process of taking one's environment and new information, and altering one's pre-existing schemas in order to fit in the new information.
Through a series of stages, Piaget explains the ways in which characteristics are constructed that lead to specific types of thinking; this chart is called Cognitive Development. To Piaget, assimilation is integrating external elements into structures of lives or environments or those we could have through experience. It is through assimilation that accommodation is derived. Accommodation is imperative because it is how people will continue to interpret new concepts, schemas, frameworks, etc.^[2] Assimilation is different than accommodation because of how it relates to the inner organism due to the environment. Piaget believes that the human brain has been programmed through evolution to bring equilibrium, and to move upwards in a process to equilibriate what is not. The equilibrium is what Piaget believes ultimately influences structures because of the internal and external processes through assimilation and accommodation.
Piaget's understanding is that these two functions cannot exist without the other. To assimilate an object into an existing mental schema, one first needs to take into account or accommodate to the particularities of this object to a certain extent; for instance, to recognize (assimilate) an apple as an apple one needs first to focus (accommodate) on the contour of this object. To do this one needs to roughly recognize the size of the object. Development increases the balance or equilibration between these two functions. When in balance with each other, assimilation and accommodation generate mental schemas of the operative intelligence. When one function dominates over the other, they generate representations which belong to figurative intelligence.
Following from this conception Piaget theorized that intelligence is active and constructive. It is active in the literal sense of the term as it depends on the actions (overt or covert, assimilatory or accommodatory), which the thinker executes in order to build and rebuild his models of the world. It is also constructive because actions, particularly mental actions, are coordinated into more inclusive and cohesive systems, thus they are raised to more stable and effective levels of functioning.

Sensorimotor stage

The sensorimotor stage is the first of the four stages in cognitive development which "extends from birth to the acquisition of language".^[3] "In this stage, infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating experiences (such as seeing and hearing) with physical, motoric actions. Infants gain knowledge of the world from the physical actions they perform on it. An infant progresses from reflexive, instinctual action at birth to the beginning of symbolic thought toward the end of the stage. Piaget divided the sensorimotor stage into six sub-stages"^[4]:0–2 years, Infants just have senses-vision, hearing, and motor skills, such as grasping, sucking, and stepping.---from Psychology Study Guide by Bernstein, Penner, Clarke-Stewart, Roy

Sub-Stage	Age	Description
1 Simple Reflexes	Birth-6 weeks	"Coordination of sensation and action through reflexive behaviors".[4] Three primary reflexes are described by Piaget: sucking of objects in the mouth, following moving or interesting objects with the eyes, and closing of the hand when an object makes contact with the palm (palmar grasp). Over the first six weeks of life, these reflexes begin to become voluntary actions; for example, the palmar reflex becomes intentional grasping.[5]).
2 First habits and primary circular reactions phase	6 weeks-4 months	"Coordination of sensation and two types of schemes: habits (reflex) and primary circular reactions (reproduction of an event that initially occurred by chance). Main focus is still on the infant's body." [4] As an example of this type of reaction, an infant might repeat the motion of passing their hand before their face. Also at this phase, passive reactions, caused by classical or operant conditioning, can begin.[5]
3 Secondary circular reactions phase	4–8 months	Development of habits. "Infants become more object-oriented, moving beyond self-preoccupation; repeat actions that bring interesting or pleasurable results."[4] This stage is associated primarily with the development of coordination between vision and prehension. Three new abilities occur at this stage: intentional grasping for a desired object, secondary circular reactions, and differentiations between ends and means. At this stage, infants will intentionally grasp the air in the direction of a desired object, often to the amusement of friends and family. Secondary circular reactions, or the repetition of an action involving an external object begin; for example, moving a switch to turn on a light repeatedly. The differentiation between means and ends also occurs. This is perhaps one of the most important stages of a child's growth as it signifies the dawn of logic.[5]
4 Coordination of secondary circular reactions stages	8–12 months	"Coordination of vision and touch--hand-eye coordination; coordination of schemes and intentionality." [4] This stage is associated primarily with the development of logic and the coordination between means and ends. This is an extremely important stage of development, holding what Piaget calls the "first proper intelligence." Also, this stage marks the beginning of goal orientation, the deliberate planning of steps to meet an objective.[5]
5 Tertiary circular reactions, novelty, and curiosity	12–18 months	"Infants become intrigued by the many properties of objects and by the many things they can make happen to objects; they experiment with new behavior." [4] This stage is associated primarily with the discovery of new means to meet goals. Piaget describes the child at this juncture as the "young scientist," conducting pseudo-experiments to discover new methods of meeting challenges.[5]
6 Internalization of Schemes	18–24 months	"Infants develop the ability to use primitive symbols and form enduring mental representations." [4] This stage is associated primarily with the beginnings of insight, or true creativity. This marks the passage into the preoperational stage.

By the end of the sensorimotor period, objects are both separate from the self and permanent.Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched. Acquiring the sense of object permanence is one of the infant's most important accomplishments, according to Piaget.^[4]

 Preoperational stage

The preoperative stage is the second of four stages of cognitive development.. Cognitive Development Approaches. By observing sequences of play, Jean Piaget was able to demonstrate that towards the end of the second year, a qualitatively new kind of psychological functioning occurs.
(Pre)Operatory Thought is any procedure for mentally acting on objects. The hallmark of the preoperational stage is sparse and logically inadequate mental operations. During this stage, the child learns to use and to represent objects by images, words, and drawings.The child is able to form stable concepts as well as mental reasoning and magical beliefs. The child however is still not able to perform operations; tasks that the child can do mentally rather than physically. Thinking is still egocentric. The child has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others. Two substages can be formed from preoperative thought.

• The Symbolic Function Substage

Occurs between about the ages of 2 and 7.During 2-4 years old , kids cannot yet manipulate and transform information in logical ways, but they now can think in images and symbols. The child is able to formulate designs of objects that are not present. Other examples of mental abilities are language and pretend play. Although there is an advancement in progress, there are still limitations such as egocentrism and animism. Egocentrism occurs when a child is unable to distinguish between their own perspective and that of another person's. Children tend to pick their own view of what they see rather than the actual view shown to others.An example is an experiment performed by Piaget and Barbel Inhelder. Three views of a mountain are shown and the child is asked what a traveling doll would see at the various angles; the child picks their own view compared to the actual view of the doll. Animism is the belief that inanimate objects are capable of actions and have lifelike qualities. An example is a child believing that the sidewalk was mad and made them fall down.

• The Intuitive Thought Substage

Occurs between about the ages of 4 and 7. Children tend to become very curious and ask many questions; begin the use of primitive reasoning. There is an emergence in the interest of reasoning and wanting to know why things are the way they are. Piaget called it the intuitive substage because children realize they have a vast amount of knowledge but they are unaware of how they know it.'Centration' and 'conservation' are both involved in preoperative thought. Centration is the act of focusing all attention on one characteristic compared to the others. Centration is noticed in conservation; the awareness that altering a substance's appearance does not change its basic properties. Children at this stage are unaware of conservation.Example, In Piaget's most famous task, a child is presented with two identical beakers containing the same amount of liquid. The child usually notes that the beakers have the same amount of liquid.When one of the beakers is poured into a taller and thinner container, children who are typically younger than 7 or 8 years old say that the two beakers now contain a different amount of liquid. The child simply focuses on the height and width of the container compared to the general concept.

 Concrete operational stage

The concrete operational stage is the third of four stages of cognitive development in Piaget's theory. This stage, which follows the preoperational stage, occurs between the ages of 7 and 11 years^[6] and is characterized by the appropriate use of logic. Important processes during this stage are:
Seriation—the ability to sort objects in an order according to size, shape, or any other characteristic. For example, if given different-shaded objects they may make a color gradient.
Transitivity- The ability to recognize logical relationships among elements in a serial order, and perform 'transitive inferences' (for example, If A is taller than B, and B is taller than C, then A must be taller than C).
Classification—the ability to name and identify sets of objects according to appearance, size or other characteristic, including the idea that one set of objects can include another.
Decentering—where the child takes into account multiple aspects of a problem to solve it. For example, the child will no longer perceive an exceptionally wide but short cup to contain less than a normally-wide, taller cup.
Reversibility—the child understands that numbers or objects can be changed, then returned to their original state. For this reason, a child will be able to rapidly determine that if 4+4 equals t, t−4 will equal 4, the original quantity.
Conservation—understanding that quantity, length or number of items is unrelated to the arrangement or appearance of the object or items.
Elimination of Egocentrism—the ability to view things from another's perspective (even if they think incorrectly). For instance, show a child a comic in which Jane puts a doll under a box, leaves the room, and then Melissa moves the doll to a drawer, and Jane comes back. A child in the concrete operations stage will say that Jane will still think it's under the box even though the child knows it is in the drawer. (See also False-belief task).
Children in this stage can, however, only solve problems that apply to actual (concrete) objects or events, and not abstract concepts or hypothetical tasks.
Formal operational stage
The formal operational period is the fourth and final of the periods of cognitive development in Piaget's theory.^[7] This stage, which follows the Concrete Operational stage, commences at around 11 years of age (puberty) and continues into adulthood.^[7] In this stage, individuals move beyond concrete experiences and begin to think abstractly, reason logically and draw conclusions from the information available, as well as apply all these processes to hypothetical situations.^[7] The abstract quality of the adolescent's thought at the formal operational level is evident in the adolescent's verbal problem solving ability.^[7] The logical quality of the adolescent's thought is when children are more likely to solve problems in a trial-and-error fashion.^[7] Adolescents begin to think more as a scientist thinks, devising plans to solve problems and systematically testing solutions.They use hypothetical-deductive reasoning, which means that they develop hypotheses or best guesses, and systematically deduce, or conclude, which is the best path to follow in solving the problem.^[] During this stage the adolescent is able to understand such things as love, "shades of gray", logical proofs and values. During this stage the young person begins to entertain possibilities for the future and is fascinated with what they can be. Adolescents are changing cognitively also by the way that they think about social matters.Adolescent Egocentrism governs the way that adolescents think about social matters and is the heightened self-consciousness in them as they are which is reflected in their sense of personal uniqueness and invincibility. Adolescent egocentrism can be dissected into two types of social thinking, imaginary audience that involves attention getting behavior, and personal fable which involves an adolescent's sense of personal uniqueness and invincibility.

The stages and causation

Piaget sees children’s conception of causation as a march from "primitive" conceptions of cause to those of a more scientific, rigorous, and mechanical nature. These primitive concepts are characterized as magical, with a decidedly nonnatural or nonmechanical tone. Piaget attributes this to his most basic assumption: that babies are phenomenists. That is, their knowledge "consists of assimilating things to schemas" from their own action such that they appear, from the child’s point of view, "to have qualities which in fact stem from the organism." Consequently, these "subjective conceptions," so prevalent during Piaget’s first stage of development, are dashed upon discovering deeper empirical truths. Piaget gives the example of a child believing the moon and stars follow him on a night walk; upon learning that such is the case for his friends, he must separate his self from the object, resulting in a theory that the moon is immobile, or moves independently of other agents. The second stage, from around three to eight years of age, is characterized by a mix of this type of magical, animistic, or “nonnatural” conceptions of causation and mechanical or "naturalisitic" causation. This conjunction of natural and nonnatural causal explanations supposedly stems from experience itself, though Piaget does not make much of an attempt to describe the nature of the differences in conception; in his interviews with children, he asked specifically about natural phenomena: what makes clouds move? What makes the stars move? Why do rivers flow? The nature of all the answers given, Piaget says, are such that these objects must perform their actions to "fulfill their obligations towards men." He calls this "moral explanation."^[
Challenges to Piagetian stage theory
Piagetians' accounts of development have been challenged on several grounds. First, as Piaget himself noted, development does not always progress in the smooth manner his theory seems to predict. 'Decalage', or unpredicted gaps in the developmental progression, suggest that the stage model is at best a useful approximation. More broadly, Piaget's theory is 'domain general', predicting that cognitive maturation occurs concurrently across different domains of knowledge (such as mathematics, logic, understanding of physics, of language, etc.). During the 1980s and 1990s, cognitive developmentalists were influenced by "neo-nativist" and evolutionary psychology ideas. These ideas de-emphasized domain general theories and emphasized domain specificity or modularity of mind. Modularity implies that different cognitive faculties may be largely independent of one another and thus develop according to quite different time-tables. In this vein, some cognitive developmentalists argued that rather than being domain general learners, children come equipped with domain specific theories, sometimes referred to as 'core knowledge', which allows them to break into learning within that domain. For example, even young infants appear to be sensitive to some predictable regularities in the movement and interactions of objects (e.g. that one object cannot pass through another), or in human behavior (e.g. that a hand repeatedly reaching for an object has that object, not just a particular path of motion), as its be the building block out of which more elaborate knowledge is constructed. More recent work has strongly challenged some of the basic presumptions of the 'core knowledge' school, and revised ideas of domain generality—but from a newer dynamic systems approach, not from a revised Piagetian perspective. Dynamic systems approaches harken to modern neuroscientific research that was not available to Piaget when he was constructing his theory. One important finding is that domain-specific knowledge is constructed as children develop and integrate knowledge. This suggests more of a "smooth integration" of learning and development than either Piaget, or his neo-nativist critics, had envisioned. Additionally, some psychologists, such as Vygotsky and Jerome Bruner, thought differently from Piaget, suggesting that language was more

MASLOW'S HIERCHY OF NEEDS ( HIGHER- EDUCATION)

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation. Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of human developmental psychology, all of which focus on describing the stages of growth in humans.
Maslow studied what he called exemplary people such as Albert Einstein, Jane Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frederick Douglass rather than mentally ill or neurotic people, writing that "the study of crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy. Maslow studied the healthiest 1% of the college student population.

Hierarchy

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the largest and most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom, and the need for self-actualization at the top.
The most fundamental and basic four layers of the pyramid contain what Maslow called "deficiency needs" or "d-needs": esteem, friendship and love, security, and physical needs. With the exception of the most fundamental (physiological) needs, if these "deficiency needs" are not met, the body gives no physical indication but the individual feels anxious and tense. Maslow's theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire (or focus motivation upon) the secondary or higher level needs. Maslow also coined the term Metamotivation to describe the motivation of people who go beyond the scope of the basic needs and strive for constant betterment. Metamotivated people are driven by B-needs (Being Needs), instead of deficiency needs (D-Needs).

Physiological needs

For the most part, physiological needs are obvious — they are the literal requirements for human survival. If these requirements are not met, the human body simply cannot continue to function.
Air, water, and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all animals, including humans. Clothing and shelter provide necessary protection from the elements. The intensity of the human sexual instinct is shaped more by sexual competition than maintaining a birth rate adequate to survival of the species.

Safety needs

With their physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual's safety needs take precedence and dominate behavior. In the absence of physical safety -- due to terrorist attack, war, natural disaster, or, in cases of family violence, childhood abuse, etc. -- people (re-)experience post-traumatic stress disorder and trans-generational trauma transfer. In the absence of economic safety -- due to economic crisis and lack of work opportunities - these safety needs manifest themselves in such things as a preference for job security, grievance procedures for protecting the individual from unilateral authority, savings accounts, insurance policies, reasonable disability accommodations, and the like.
Safety and Security needs include:

• Personal security
• Financial security
• Health and well-being
• Safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts

Love and belonging

After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs are social and involve feelings of belongingness. The need is especially strong in childhood and can over-ride the need for safety as witnessed in children who cling to abusive parents which is sometimes called Stockholm syndrome. The absence of this aspect of Maslow's hierarchy - due to hospitalism, neglect, shunning, ostracism etc. - can impact individual's ability to form and maintain emotionally significant relationships in general, such as:

• Friendship
• Intimacy
• Family

Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group, such as clubs, office culture, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, gangs, or small social connections (family members, intimate partners, mentors, close colleagues, confidants). They need to love and be loved (sexually and non-sexually) by others. In the absence of these elements, many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression. This need for belonging can often overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure; an anorexic, for example, may ignore the need to eat and the security of health for a feeling of control and belonging.

Esteem

All humans have a need to be respected and to have self-esteem and self-respect. Esteem presents the normal human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People need to engage themselves to gain recognition and have an activity or activities that give the person a sense of contribution, to feel self-valued, be it in a profession or hobby. Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem or an inferiority complex. People with low self-esteem need respect from others. They may seek fame or glory, which again depends on others. Note, however, that many people with low self-esteem will not be able to improve their view of themselves simply by receiving fame, respect, and glory externally, but must first accept themselves internally. Psychological imbalances such as depression can also prevent one from obtaining self-esteem on both levels.
Most people have a need for a stable self-respect and self-esteem. Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs, a lower one and a higher one. The lower one is the need for the respect of others, the need for status, recognition, fame, prestige, and attention. The higher one is the need for self-respect, the need for strength, competence, mastery, self-confidence, independence and freedom. The latter one ranks higher because it rests more on inner competence won through experience. Deprivation of these needs can lead to an inferiority complex, weakness and helplessness.
Maslow also states that even though these are examples of how the quest for knowledge is separate from basic needs he warns that these “two hierarchies are interrelated rather than sharply separated” (Maslow 97). This means that this level of need, as well as the next and highest level, are not strict, separate levels but closely related to others, and this is possibly the reason that these two levels of need are left out of most textbooks.

Self-actualization

This level of need pertains to what a person's full potential is and realizing that potential. Maslow describes this desire as the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming.This is a broad definition of the need for self-actualization, but when applied to individuals the need is specific. For example one individual may have the strong desire to become an ideal parent, in another it may be expressed athletically, and in another it may be expressed in painting, pictures, or inventions. As mentioned before, in order to reach a clear understanding of this level of need one must first not only achieve the previous needs, physiological, safety, love, and esteem, but master these needs.
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Criticisms

In their extensive review of research based on Maslow's theory, Wahba and Brudwell found little evidence for the ranking of needs Maslow described, or even for the existence of a definite hierarchy at all. Chilean economist and philosopher Manfred Max-Neef has also argued fundamental human needs are non-hierarchical, and are ontologically universal and invariant in nature—part of the condition of being human; poverty, he argues, may result from any one of these needs being frustrated, denied or unfulfilled.^{[citation needed]}
The order in which the hierarchy is arranged (with self-actualization as the highest order need) has been criticised as being ethnocentric by Geert Hofstede. Hofstede's criticism of Maslow's pyramid as ethnocentric may stem from the fact that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs neglects to illustrate and expand upon the difference between the social and intellectual needs of those raised in individualistic societies and those raised in collectivist societies. Maslow created his hierarchy of needs from an individualistic perspective, being that he was from the United States, a highly individualistic nation. The needs and drives of those in individualistic societies tend to be more self-centered than those in collectivist societies, focusing on improvement of the self, with self actualization being the apex of self improvement. Since the hierarchy was written from the perspective of an individualist, the order of needs in the hierarchy with self actualization at the top is not representative of the needs of those in collectivist cultures. In collectivist societies, the needs of acceptance and community will outweigh the needs for freedom and individuality.
Maslow’s hierarchy has also been criticized as being individualistic because of the position and value of sex on the pyramid. Maslow’s pyramid puts sex on the bottom rung of physiological needs, along with breathing and food. It views sex from an individualistic and not collectivist perspective: i.e., as an individualistic physiological need that must be satisfied before one moves on to higher pursuits. This view of sex neglects the emotional, familial and evolutionary implications of sex within the community.

INTERNAL RECRUITMENT BENEFITS (HRM- HIGHER EDUCATION)

The internal recruitment process has a lot of benefits and it is always difficult to decide whether to use internal or external recruitment process. The internal recruitment is a right recruitment process for the large organization, which promote friendliness in their corporate culture.
The corporate culture, which supports the employees to look for the opportunities in the organization, is well designed for the internal recruitment process and the process can be a big benefit for the organization. The corporate culture, which is focused on a strong competition among employees and with the external environment, this corporate culture does not support the internal recruitment process.
The corporate culture should drive the decision process. In case of two candidates for the position, the corporate culture should navigate the HRM Function and the hiring manager to decide correctly about the winning job candidate. The corporate culture has to provide a guidance for the last decision about the winning candidate.
The career development is a huge benefit of the internal recruitment process. The career development has to be communicated openly and the employees cannot be worried about their application for a new position within the organization. The career development can define special rules for the application for the new position. The rule is usually about the necessity to stay at one position for a defined period of time before applying for a new one.  In case of necessity, the HRM Function can act quicker, but the current manager of the employee has to agree to allow the transfer. When the career development functions well, the employees are motivated to train themselves to get more skilled and develop their competencies as they see the career opportunity in the organization.
The cost side is a clear internal recruitment benefit. The internal recruitment can be quicker and cheaper than the external recruitment. The employee who works with the organization usually does not ask a huge salary and is available for a transfer much quicker.
Another internal recruitment benefit is a smaller pressure for the compensation and benefits. The moving employees get promoted and they do not press for a higher salary for just being with the organization.

FORMATION OF OX- BOW LAKE ( O'LEVEL AND A'LEVEL SECONDARY EDUCATION)

An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water formed when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut off to create a lake. This landform is called an oxbow lake for the distinctive curved shape, named after part of a yoke for oxen. In Australia, an oxbow lake is called a billabong, derived from an indigenous language. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether or not it is cut off from the main stream.
An oxbow lake is formed when a river creates a meander, due to the river's eroding the bank through hydraulic action and abrasion/corrosion. After a long period of time, the meander becomes very curved, and eventually the neck of the meander will touch the opposite side and the river will cut through the neck, cutting off the meander to form the oxbow lake.
When a river reaches a low-lying plain, often in its final course to the sea or a lake, it meanders widely. In the vicinity of a river bend, deposition occurs on the convex bank (the bank with the smaller radius). In contrast, both lateral erosion and undercutting occur on the cut bank or concave bank (the bank with the greater radius.) Continuous deposition on the convex bank and erosion of the concave bank of a meandering river cause the formation of a very pronounced meander with two concave banks getting closer. The narrow neck of land between the two neighboring concave banks is finally cut through, either by lateral erosion of the two concave banks or by the strong currents of a flood. When this happens, a new straighter river channel is created and an abandoned meander loop, called a cutoff, is formed. When deposition finally seals off the cutoff from the river channel, an oxbow lake is formed. This process can occur over a time scale from a few years to several decades and may sometimes become essentially static.
Gathering of erosion products near the concave bank and transporting them to the convex bank is the work of the secondary flow across the floor of the river in the vicinity of a river bend. The process of deposition of silt, sand and gravel on the convex bank is clearly illustrated in point bars.
River flood plains containing rivers with a highly sinuous platform will be populated by longer oxbow lakes than those with low sinuosity. This is because rivers with high sinuosity will have larger meanders and greater opportunity for longer lakes to form. Rivers with lower sinuosity are characterized by fewer cutoffs and shorter oxbow lakes due to the shorter distance of their meanders.
The effect of the secondary flow can be demonstrated using a circular bowl. Partly fill the bowl with water and sprinkle dense particles such as sand or rice into the bowl. Set the water into circular motion with one hand or a spoon. The dense particles will quickly be swept into a neat pile in the center of the bowl. This is the mechanism that leads to the formation of point bars and contributes to the formation of oxbow lakes. The primary flow of water in the bowl is circular and the streamlines are concentric with the side of the bowl. However, the secondary flow of the boundary layer across the floor of the bowl is inward toward the center. The primary flow might be expected to fling the dense particles to the perimeter of the bowl, but instead the secondary flow sweeps the particles toward the center.
The curved path of a river around a bend causes the surface of the water to be slightly higher on the outside of the river bend than on the inside. As a result, at any elevation within the river the water pressure is slightly greater near the outside of the river bend than on the inside. There is a pressure gradient toward the convex bank which provides the centripetal force necessary for each parcel of water to follow its curved path. The boundary layer flowing along the floor of the river is not moving fast enough to balance the pressure gradient laterally across the river. It responds to this pressure gradient and its velocity is partly downstream and partly across the river toward the convex bank. As it flows along the floor of the river, it sweeps loose material toward the convex bank. This flow of the boundary layer is significantly different from the speed and direction of the primary flow of the river, and is part of the river's secondary flow.
When a fluid follows a curved path, such as around a circular bowl, around a bend in a river or in a tropical cyclone, the flow is described as vortex flow: the fastest speed occurs where the radius is smallest, and the slowest speed occurs where the radius is greatest. The higher fluid pressure and slower speed where the radius is greater, and the lower pressure and faster speed where the radius is smaller, are all consistent with Bernoulli's principle.

TUSHIKAMANE SECONDARY SHOOL

Tushikamane Secondary School is one of community secondary schools in Morogoro municipal, the school was established in the year 2007, school management and community of Saba saba ward work together for school development.

STUDENTS APPLAUD GOVERNMENT ON RISE OF MEALS AND ACCOMODATION ALLOWANCE

First degree students in various institutions of higher learning have applauded the government’s move to raise their meal and accommodation allowances, while cautioning their faculties against hiking the prices of basic needs.

The students, whose meal allowance has been raised to 7,500/- from 5,000/- per day expressed profound thanks to the government. They only prayed that similarly generous gestures would follow in good time without having to come in the wake of students’ demonstrations.

Tanzania Higher Learning Institutions Students Organisation (TAHLISO) chairman Mathias Kipara said the government had taken a bold decision in raising the allowance by 50 per cent. “Since the government started providing meal and accommodation allowances, this is the first time we have been blessed with a 50 per cent increase in allowances. Until now, the highest rise was 25 per cent, so why not rejoice,” he noted. “We commend the government for this tremendously positive response….. It has without doubt made a bold decision,” he added. Kipara however called on the government to do the most it can to tame inflation, thus saving the Tanzanian currency from losing value “otherwise the rise in our allowances will be meaningless”.

 He warned the authorities at public and private universities against using the rise in allowances to justify the doubling of the prices of the basic goods and the cost of the basic services meant for students.

Mzumbe University Students Organisation president Uswege Isaac said he was “impressed with the way the government has responded to years of appeals by students”, but also called on university authorities to keep the prices of basic needs at current levels. He similarly called for “equally favourable consideration in the future since life is getting more and more costly every passing day”, noting that the allowance package was exclusive of public transport “for which we are paying through the nose”. Institute of Finance Management student Anthony George meanwhile said though they had demanded 10,000/-, “the 7,500/- we have been promised will make some difference as we go shopping for essentials such as stationery and meals”.

A first year student at the Tanzania Institute of Accountancy who preferred strict anonymity argued that the rise in allowance fell well below expectations “because meals are much more expensive now than previously, having recently risen from 1,000/- to 1,500/-, while power shedding has also raised internet and printing costs”.

Institute of Social Work student Chrisant Matatina meanwhile noted that the previous allowance of 5,000/- was “long overtaken by events as it was is use since 2005 when food prices were very low”. “The rise announced by the government will bring some relief to us and will make students, especially girls, resist temptations to engage in risky behaviours that might adversely affect their health and academic performances,” he pointed out. “Challenges remain but we shall feel much better now,” he added. University of Dar es Salaam student Rabia Karichi also applauded the government’s gesture, adding though that 10.000/- would have been more realistic “since some students are accommodated in hostels far away from college and spend up to 1,200/- on bus fare alone”.

Tabling his 2011/2012 Budget estimates in the House on Tuesday, Education and Vocational Training minister Dr Shukuru Kawambwa said the government had responded appropriately to students’ appeals for favourable consideration. Complaints over meal and other allowances have for years been one of the factors behind sporadic strikes at institutions of higher learning, at times leading to college closures or the suspension of students. In total, according to the minister, the rise in allowances come to some 78bn/-.

WANAFUNZI WA MOJA YA SHULE ZA MSINGI NCHINI RWANDA

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MOJA YA SHULE ZA MSINGI TANZANIA

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FIVE REASONS WHY STUDENTS FAIL EXAMS

Your son or daughter  has just got a mock exam/test result and has failed miserably.  He/she did lots of revision, but said he/she had a complete blank when faced with the paper. So what went wrong?  Here are the top reasons why students fail.
1. Not Enough Revision
First things first, revision does not = reading.  Revising is an active process. Students really don’t understand what they are reading. They should know what every word means, be able to analyse every diagram, bullet point, graph and date.  Mind maps, mnemonics, highlighting key point and notes summaries on cards are all useful ways of doing active revision.
2. Starting Revision Too Late
The path to success lies in good planning.  Start revision early. Little and often is better than a mad panic at the end. Revision should be started so that there is enough time to understand, learn, memorise and to practice past papers.  Students should create a revision timetable and stick to it.  This will ensure that all the topics are covered and not just the ones the student likes.  They should go over work a day later and then a week  later.
3. Stressing Too Much
Students can put themselves under unnecessary pressure during exam season.  Parents can relieve the burden by making sure that they are eating regularly and getting enough sleep.  Tiredness makes revision ineffective and affects performance in exams.  Revise for maximum 30 minute intervals and then have a 5 minute break.
The exam should be treated as a normal school or college day, other than that they are doing an exam. Follow your normal routine will help you relax.
4.    Running out of time in the exam
Students should answer all the easy questions first and then go back to the ones they have missed out.  They should spend more time on high mark questions and only answer questions they are asked to.
5. Misreading the question
It’s one of the first lessons our teachers teach us, but it is one of the most common reasons why students fail.  They did not understand what was required from the examiners and therefore didn’t answer the question. Students should get hold of a stash of past papers and make sure they also have the answers to check their understanding.  Then familiarise themselves with exam questions and the language used and always ask themselves “What do they want me to write?”.  They will be less likely to misunderstand if they have come across similar questions before and being confronted with an exam paper won’t freak them out.