Chapter 7- The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes Malcolm Gladwell claims that one’s culture differences, such as power distance and communication, can dramatically affect the performance of a task. He uses the environment of flying an airplane to illustrate his point. It opens with Gladwell describing the problem of South Korean airlines. These airlines had a much higher loss rate than most other countries. Gladwell gathered several sources of evidence to explain this phenomenon. The first part of the problem was communication. Transcripts were gathered from several planes in emergency situations and showed that the lack of proper communication between the captain and the first officer contributed to the accident. By giving a crew command and …show more content…
The first example he gives demonstrates the ability of math, contrasting Western students and Asian students. The number-naming systems in Western and Asian languages are completely different. The number system in Asia is logical and the words are brief, allowing more numbers to be memorized and recalled. The opposite is true for the system in Western society. This difference allows Asian children to learn numbers much faster than American children. Since this logical system allows Asian children to complete basic functions of math easily, they are more likely to enjoy math, take more math classes and this cycle continues bringing them a mathematical advantage. Gladwell explains that it also has to do with the cultural background that they are a part of. Their cultural background includes rice farming, which is an intricate agriculture to work with. The amount of work that is put into rice farming is correlative to what results come out of it. The work and dedication that rice farmers put into this work was far more than the work of any other type of farmer. This dedication to meaningful work has been translated through generations, especially in the area of mathematics. A math professor at Berkeley, Alan Schoenfeld, videotaped people solving math problems and the result of one of the videos was a demonstration of the persistence that gave Asians an advantage. He videoed a woman named Renee, as she solved an algebra problem on software designed to teach the concepts to eighth grade students. Schoenfeld observed that the average eighth grader would work on the problem for a few minutes, then give up. Renee worked with the software for twenty two minutes experimenting until she finally understood. Schoenfeld felt that being good at mathematics was not just
Children in this group were provided with base-10 and unit blocks. Each base 10 block is 1 cm × 1 cm × 10 cm in size. Each unit block is 1 cm × 1 cm × 1 cm in size. The research assistant gave explicit demonstrations of how to use both base-10 block and unit blocks to construct two-digit number. First, the research assistant placed out ten unit-blocks in a line and then put a base-10 block along to the ten unit-blocks.
Through the use of recorded patterns Gladwell makes the belief of, more or less, seven errors on a plane will result in a crash. Gladwell embraces repetition to present the problem of pilots not communicating consequently making errors of flying a plane “and then another and another and another and another” using this rhetorical structure he presents the number of small errors that have happened that lead to a crash (Gladwell,184). He emphasizes the extent of problems on the plane to create an image of chaos on the plane. The use of anaphora created a feeling of anxiousness as the problem could’ve been prevented “one pilot knows something …one pilot does something wrong” with all the problems that have occurred and the pilot and co-pilot not
Several research groups are looking into ways to reboot children’s “number sense” with games and puzzles. The article tells that scientists are optimistic because of the way
-Students will use what they know about about place value to interpret and compare two numbers. Students will then compare numbers by starting with the greatest place value. They will then examine the equality and inequality symbols used to write number sentences. -Students will evaluate the number of hundreds, tens, and ones and complete number sentences comparing two numbers with the same hundreds digits. -Students will evaluate the number of hundreds, tens, and ones and complete number sentences comparing two numbers.
The hillside popped out of nowhere and there was no time to change their path. The tragic accident that happened killed lots of people. The whole football team died on the plane crash when they hit the hillside. Marshall University plane crash was a tragedy that changed the way the university recruited player. The whole town mourn their loss and worked together to move on.
On September 25th 1978 a Boeing 727 just minutes before landing crashes in San Diageo, making it the first site of the biggest aviation disaster in the US history. Pacific Southwest Airline Flight 182 was having an early morning flight on the coast of California. It was travelling from Sacramento to San Diageo. Co-pilot Robert Fox, a 9 year old veteran was in charge of the plane alongside Captain James McFeron who was with PSA for 17 years, he was appreciated highly by his colleagues for his flying skills. It was the second flight of the day for both men.
Like stated in the article, it’s amazing how American Indians could display such accurate constructions when they had no exposure to mathematical concepts that could allow them to be so
American Airlines Flight 1420 June 1, 1999, a McDonnel Douglas DC-9-82, dispatched as American Airlines 1420, crashed after it had overran runway 4R, at Little Rock National Airport. The flight claimed the lives of 11 people, including the captain, and 105 passengers received serious or minor injuries, including the first officer and flight attendants (NTSB, 1999). According to the NTSB, this accident was due to pilot error (NTSB, 1999). This report will exam all human interaction as well as performance, utilizing Dr. Scott Shappell’s and Dr. Doug Wiegmann’s HFACS model, so one may find the route cause of the errors, and prevent similar accidents in the future.
This is what differs a successful pilot from those like Klotz and Caviedes. As a result of the power distance Klotz was accustomed to, he had a fear of giving the pilot direction despite being equally as knowledgeable, and as a
• Misconceptions are commonly seen when the students create number pattern from performing subtraction. Even if they write a wrong number in the third position, the same mistake is likely to continue in all the numbers that
Alix Spiegel’s article, “Struggle For Smarts? How Eastern And Western Cultures Tackle Learning” tells a story of the contrasts between western and eastern education. (Spiegel, 2012) As I read the article, I thought about my experiences in education growing up in the small country of Jamaica. Similar to the Japanese class Jim Stigler found himself in, I remember Jamaican classes being crowded and underdeveloped.
Often enough teachers come into the education field not knowing that what they teach will affect the students in the future. This article is about how these thirteen rules are taught as ‘tricks’ to make math easier for the students in elementary school. What teachers do not remember is these the ‘tricks’ will soon confuse the students as they expand their knowledge. These ‘tricks’ confuse the students because they expire without the students knowing. Not only does the article informs about the rules that expire, but also the mathematical language that soon expire.
He, who cannot read or understand Chinese, is then given a second set of sheets written in Chinese, called a “story”, and a set of rules written in English (the “program”). The rules explain how he can compare the second set of Chinese symbols to the first set, thereby allowing him to identify symbols by their shapes. A third set of Chinese writing (the “questions”), along with rules in English, is delivered to him. The rules lay out how Searle can provide the correct Chinese symbols needed to answer these questions through a comparison of the “script” and the “story”. He explains that he could become so proficient at computing using this method that his answers would seem like they were written by a fluent Chinese speaker, even though he cannot read, write, or speak a word of Chinese (352b-353a¶5).
The role of human factors in aviation accidents cannot be understated. It is crucial to note that instances such as the one discussed could be avoided by ensuring that the flights crew members are at peak performance, both physically and psychologically. Human factors, generally lead to lack of concentration and loss of focus on the core objective. Furthermore, it restricts the person from thinking about other variations or alternatives to the current situation. It is, therefore, advisable that airlines ensure they manage their personnel in a manner that does not predispose them to such
I was never a fan of flying. It’s not that I’m afraid of heights or anything, it’s just the idea of flying. Launching up into the sky, by an airplane specifically, is quite scary, if you think about it. Just imagine every possible way something could go wrong. The plane could get stuck in a storm and crash.