Organising an assignment into 5 paragraph essay APA format.

 

I have already written an assignment. It´s being returned over and over again due to not being organised properly. I don´t understand what I am doing wrong, and looking for help in organising the already written paper into a 5 paragraph essay APA format with this outline:

I. Introduction

II. Body

    A. body paragraph 1 will be Part A

    B. Body paragraph 2 will be Part B

    C. Body paragraph 3 is Part C

III. Conclusion

IV. References

You are free to edit and cut out as much as you want. 

My math biography

Ingrid Grinde

AC1701234

Assignment 7_07

«My Math Autobiography»

EN110

02/03/2018

My overall attitude towards math when it comes to both school and what knowledge my job will require is honestly that math is a necessary evil. Math has never been a particular interest of mine, though I admit that having an understanding of math is an advantage in many aspects of life both professionally and personally. I think my lack of interest in math derives more from the fact that my intellectual strengths in Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner´s Multiple Intelligence Inventory don’t include the mathematical and logical, more than the fact that I have had any poor experiences with math. I haven’t had any particular influences in math or any teacher who really sparked any mathematical interest in me, but I don’t think that fault lies with anybody but myself, because I never found math particularly fascinating. My husband has a degree in physics, so obviously he doesn’t mind doing math, he has maybe had a little bit of an influence over me, by encouraging me to not view math as the enemy, but as a useful tool in everyday life. It turns out knowing math is a help with tasks you wouldn’t easily expect required mathematical skills, such as following a cooking recipe or creating knitting patterns. Not that these are extremely important tasks, but he has proved to me that math can be useful, even for just daily chores or recreational hobbies.

I am definitely not confident in my math skills and I know that is something I will have to work on. Bushway, S. & Flower, S., comments in Helping criminal justice students learn statistics (Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 2002) that a lot of students in Criminal Justice programs struggle with math anxiety and lack of confidence. They postulate that this is partly because of a high failure rate relative to other subjects, however I think my insecurities lies within the fact that I never did exceptionally well in math, and that I will probably have to do some serious improvement not only to pass the courses. I’m unsure as to whether my disinterest in math stems only from the fact that it’s not something I’m not very good at, like I mentioned, it’s not “my way of thinking”, or if it’s something else as well. I’m also unsure as to what I can do to increase my interest in math, however psychologist Robert Sternberg suggests that incorporating other abilities you excel at with tasks that you find difficult can be of help in order to find a challenging activity more enjoyable and easier to manage (Bremmer et. al, 2012 p. 420). By using my intellectual strength, which I find to be more of the linguistic kind in Gardener’s list of Multiple Intelligences, to tackle mathematical tasks, may be of help and can both increase my abilities and and interest in these particular tasks. I have never been tutored in math, and so far I don’t plan on getting a personal tutor either, however it depends on whether or not I will be entering the bachelors program and how challenging I will find the math. According to Bushway, S. & Flower, S.; online quizzes showed to improve student performance in math, “Supplemental Instruction and quizzes substantially improve the failure rate in class”. It showed that doing online quizzes reduced the the failure rate by 52 %, and that the increase of textbooks offering online quizzes as part of the textbook package have improved student performance. If I find the MA240 too difficult, I will at least start by doing online math quizzes in order to improve my mathematical skills. Hopefully that will be sufficient, if not I will have to consider hiring a tutor, since it’s such an importance that I do well in math.

At this point, I am working on my Associates Degree in Criminal Justice, so I am a little insecure as to the mathematical requirements is needed for the course vs. the mathematical requirements my career will demand, as knowledge in mathematics will be crucial for my career. I aspire to become a Correctional Officer, where a certain knowledge of math is essential. “Math skills are important in completing routine procedures, such as determining the value of an inmate’s personal property intake, calculating bond percentages, bookkeeping, and so forth” (Corrections Officer Exam Team, 2015). As these are important tasks, and it’s equally important to do them well and accurate, which means I will inevitably have to improve my mathematical skills if I am going to be a successful Correctional Officer and do my job well. Being able to do these tasks (calculating bond percentages, bookkeeping, etc.) is not only something I should know, but something I have to know. “The practical application of arithmetic operations in your advancement to CCO can translate to computing for large quantities and complex mathematical problems. It is also necessary in resolving issues and making decision within your assigned unit”. (Corrections Officer Exam Team, 2015). I have been reviewing some of the mathematical skills that will be required for the exam in the Norwegian Correctional Officer program. Unfortunately, I did find a lot of it challenging, which is why I have also acquired some additional literature on the subject. I’m working on my Associates Degree now, but I am strongly considering proceeding to a bachelor eventually, which means I will have to complete College Mathematics MA240. When or if that time comes, I am going to devise a more comprehensive plan on how to learn higher level mathematics. I am somewhat worried that I won’t acquire the necessary mathematical skills to be able to perform these tasks as a Correctional Officer, so regardless if I take MA240 or not, I will have to do something about my math skills and general math knowledge.

My goal in this study is to do well in math so I can gain the required mathematical skills to do my job well and accurate. My impression is that many view the job of a Correctional Officer as more of a guard or enforcer of rules than someone who needs to have highly developed cognitive skills, and in that regard, I am glad that Ashworth College requires a lot of knowledge in many different areas, including math, because I will need that knowledge. I also feel that Ashworth College has been providing a lot of useful information about the subject by allowing access to working tools that can help you increase your knowledge in all these different areas as well as the ProQuest Library, which has so much in depth information on so many subjects.

References

Bremmer, A., Holt, N., Passer, M. Smith, R., Sutherland, E. & Vliek, M. (2012). Psychology. The science of mind and behavior. 403, 420.

Bushway, S. & Flower, S., (2002) Journal of Criminal Justice Education

Corrections Officer Exam Team (2015) Corrections Officer Exam Study Guide 2015