Parole and Its Impact on Prison Systems in America Essay Sample free essay sample

Eight old ages into the 21stcentury and offense rate every bit good as prison overcrowding in the United States penitentiary system are now major issues that need to be addressed shortly. There is no demand to work in the Justice Department or be an inmate in order for one to sympathize with captives every bit good as those who are traveling in and out of gaol. Prison overcrowding every bit good as the demand to control offense rate can be greatly affected by one prison plan and it is the system of giving word every bit good as in revoking it. There is a demand to happen out what are the necessary stairss that can be done to better the said plan. This survey takes a closer expression into the job of word and its relationship with prison overcrowding and controling offense rate. This can be done by looking at the how the public perceive the parole plan and how it works in the existent universe. We will write a custom essay sample on Parole and Its Impact on Prison Systems in America Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Part of the paper will cover with overcrowding and how this has become a conundrum for many functionaries. And so this survey will analyze the chain-reaction of events that resulted from the interaction of three factors parole plan. overcrowded prisons. and release of ex-convicts from gaol. Overcrowded In a state full of chances. where every citizen is free to prosecute his or her dreams. it is a mystifier why U. S. prisons are full of people to the point that it is bing the authorities so much more to keep them. While gaol cells are packed with work forces there is no grounds to demo that this pattern of directing felons to the can so to talk is altering American society for the better. In fact it can be said that America has a high offense rate. It is at this point when Americans are demanding for exceeding plans that will non merely lessen offense but besides to turn to the overcrowding issue. And there is no other plan that can hit two birds with one rock but the parole system. But before traveling any farther it is of import to to the full understand the job of overcrowding and why it is imperative to hold an effectual word plan. In the book about American gaol systems one can happen the undermentioned disturbing informatin â€Å"In 2003. 22 provinces and the federal prison system reported operating at or above capacity. The federal system was estimated to be runing above 39 per centum. and overall the province systems were runing at 14 per centum above capacity† ( Clear. Cole. A ; Reisig. 2005. p. 467 ) . One has to pay attending that overcrowding is non a job of one or a few provinces. it is a job across America. It is non difficult to conceive of that prison staff are overstressed and one admirations if rehabilitation or rectification of condemnable behaviour has occurred or happening in these prisons. Michael Jacobson is the former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction. It is considered as the largest metropolis gaol system in the U. S. and while Jacobson was still connected there he provided statistics that will clearly exemplify the job and he said. â€Å"The United States now locks up a higher per centum of its population than any state in the universe. The more than 2 million people who are incarcerated today make up approximately eight times the figure in 1975† ( Jacobson. 2005. p. 8 ) . Two million people can easy fill-up an mean size metropolis and one can merely conceive of the cost of keeping U. S. gaols. Overcrowding is the consequence of tougher Torahs and the logical reply to increasing offense rates and accustomed wrongdoers who may hold exploited less terrible punishments in the yesteryear. It was believed that the longer the clip spent behind bars the more thorough is the rehabilitation and that clip is adequate to interrupt the most hard-boiled felons. Measuring the current jobs that plague prisons. Joycelyn M. Pollock explained why there is a tendency for increasing Numberss of inmates and she remarked: Even every bit late as 1968. 23 provinces had legislative acts that authorised life imprisonment for accustomed wrongdoers who had antecedently been convicted of certain specified discourtesies [ †¦ ] these â€Å"new† condemning Torahs have the possible to worsen already badly overcrowded prison conditions while at the same time making more jobs for province and federal authoritiess. condemnable justness bureaus. and prison decision makers ( 1997. p. 62 ) . Need for Parole There is mounting grounds that will demo that it is counterproductive to add more figure into an already tightly-packed installation. Riots are merely one of the possible effects. Another would be the hardening of felons alternatively of the expected contrary procedure. This is because alternatively of supplying a topographic point where one finds a reprieve from a life of offense these people are forced to move like goons within the claustrophobic environments of gaols – some will even kill in order to protect themselves or set up order in the thick of pandemonium. Mark Colvin argued that gaol clip is supposed to rehabilitate wrongdoers. It is now high clip to re-examine a prison plan that can instantly turn to the job of overcrowding while besides sing the fact that it must move as a screen to allow unsafe felons stay while taking those who had shown effects of rehabilitation. Most significantly the word system must deliver first clip wrongdoers from those who will try to act upon them to fall in their condemnable organisation when those with lighter sentences gets out of at that place. Before traveling any farther the word system is defined as: †¦the conditional release from prison before the terminal of sentence. Peoples on word ( called probationers ) remain under supervising until the terminal of a fixed term. and they usually have important and rigorous conditions they must follow with to stay at autonomy. Probationers are supervised by parole section officers ; the word section is normally an arm of the province prison bureau ( Bergman. 2006. p. 559 ) . It is now clear that the word system is under the authorization of the prison system. This means that the work of the parole officer does non get down when the ex-convict was already out on the streets ; it begins within the walls of prison. And so an effectual word system will be able to place those who are meriting of word. This will of class consequence in cut downing the figure of people that are incarcerated. And so this will in bend resulted in cut downing the work load of prison staff every bit good as the current inmates who may hold to portion more than prison installations but besides clip needed to speak to counsellors and other prison workers. In other words prisons can be easy managed and there is less hazard of holding public violences in U. S. prisons. There will be less figure of immature and first clip wrongdoers that will be transformed into a hard-boiled felon as opposed to being rehabilitated. This will besides intend cut downing costs that in bend will make more financess that can be diverted for more of import plans such as in instruction or health care. But there is a demand to pass the current parole plan and one of the more of import stairss in this way there is a call for a serious appraisal of the function of parole officers in the said capable affair. Failing of the Program The failing of the word system is made apparent by the undermentioned observations: 1 ) there is a important figure of probationers sent back to prison and 2 ) there is much to be desired in the procedure of allowing word to those who deserve to be out on conditional release. Jacobson pointed out the ground for the inefficiency of the word system: Virtually no 1 in authorities can pass money like a parole officer [ †¦ ] who has no budget to command and may work in a cramped and overcrowded office in a rundown edifice in a rundown portion of town. He or she may hold small or no entree to plans or intervention for probationers and may gain much less than a rectification or police officer ( 2005. p. 132 ) . It is a admiration why for so many old ages the policy shapers are unmindful to the demands of a parole officer. It can be likened to an employer who may non wish the thought of paying good wages to his employees and so they rebel against the ill-treatment by fiddling in their occupations. When a parole officer gets overworked and when their morale are perilously low they would non hold the forbearance to happen a manner to assist those who are meriting word. And one time they get a few out of gaol they will hold a really difficult clip assisting probationers stay out of gaol. This is simple mathematics. intending it is merely a affair of common sense. It can be argued that it is easy to acquire inside the prison but it is much harder to populate outdoors as an ex-convict. This is when the active and passionate engagement of parole officers is much needed. But how can they make it if they do non hold the resources and they are really much lacking in the human resource section. A parole officer is more than a rigorous supervisor but in fact should go more of a counsellor who has to work from the bosom. giving more than adept advice. They will hold to walk the excess stat mi to assist those who may experience there is no hope and that their lone option is to go a professional felon. But harmonizing to Jacobson the federal authorities is non assisting them and he remarked. â€Å"†¦parole officers have no ability to oblige parole bureaus to pass extra fund on less expensive word services such as drug intervention. occupation preparation plans. or extra officers to take down caseloads† ( 2005. p. 132 ) . Now. here is another failing of the word system. It is difficult for policymakers to see it as more than a watchdog. There must now be a realisation that the word system can be expanded into a complete bundle that continues the rehabilitation procedure even beyond the penitentiary system. Herivel and Wright besides pointed out another job that requires immediate attending and they wrote that aside from highly rigorous Torahs such as that chronic unemployment is adequate land for being sent back to the can ; â€Å"At the same clip. services to assist probationers reenter society are scarce. and Torahs protecting ex-offenders from lodging and employment favoritism are virtually non-existent† ( 2003. p. 101 ) . There is clearly a demand to better the word system in America. Decision There is now a great blare to work out the job of overcrowded prison and one of the major ways to make this is the effectual usage of the word system. But the word system together with its word officers is holding a difficult clip making their occupation. As a consequence there are many who are being sent back to prison even without perpetrating serious offense but merely because they have violated some really rigorous conditions of word. There is a demand to increase resources available to parole officers. And a good start would be to increase their wages. There is besides a demand to spread out the word system to do it an extension of the rehabilitation procedure so that probationers can go on to remain on a consecutive way to wellness and a life free of offense. Reference List Bergman. P. ( 2006 ) .The Criminal Law Handbook: Know Your Rights. Survive the System.Calcium: Nollo Books. Clear. T. . G. Cole. A ; Reisig. M. ( 2005 ) .American Corrections.Belmont CA: Thomson Higher Education. Colvin. M. ( 1992 ) .The Penitentiary in Crisis: From Accomodation to Riot in New Mexico.New York: State University of New York Press. Herivel. T. A ; P. Wright. ( 2003 ) .Prison State: The Warehousing of America’s Poor.New York: Routledge. Jacobson. M. ( 2005 ) .Downsizing Prisons: How to Reduce Crime and End Mass Incarceration. New York: New York University Press. Pollock. J. ( 1997 ) .Prisons: Today and Tomorrow.Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

A Technique Used in Problem and Solution Essay Topics

A Technique Used in Problem and Solution Essay TopicsQuestioning your thoughts and ideas in a way that you would not normally do, or turning that into a question that you would not usually ask, is a technique used in the practice of problem and solution essay topics. Many students get stuck trying to think through their ideas and develop solutions. Some are better at this task than others, but when most students enter college and start a college course, they will be faced with a problem and solution essay topic. If you are looking for a way to challenge yourself and turn the process of writing a college course into an exercise, then this strategy is one to consider.In this article, I will describe the common theme of these problems and solutions. I will try to draw your attention to what the author is aiming to do, and help you determine whether you can solve it or not. Please remember that if you are going to try this approach, you should be prepared to give up some flexibility. It is very easy to give up on a major part of your answer because you have already thrown out a lot of information. If you keep the tone of the essay simple and go through the problem section step by step, you will find the whole process much easier.There are many techniques for writing a problem and solution essay, but the first thing you need to do is to identify a problem. In this case, let's use mathematics. You have a number of numbers written on a piece of paper, and then some more numbers in a different color. The writer needs to determine which number should be the one you are supposed to take, so she can figure out the solution. In this situation, the problem, and the solution that will be given will be the same.This is a good example of how the problem can be turned into a method. The writer will be able to put her thoughts and ideas into a method, and that method will give you an answer. Aswe go through a problem and solution essay, the writer has to identify different ideas , and form those ideas into a method. She will also have to identify several different problems, and figure out a method to solve each problem. She has to figure out ways to solve problems so she can build up to a solution.Once you identify a problem, there are several methods to solve that problem. In this case, you are dealing with a number and figuring out what number is the one you are supposed to take. Most people solve this problem by using the 'trick'. The trick is to leave out certain details, such as the fact that you do not know how to divide a number by zero. Instead, you use a step and a fraction. The trick will allow you to solve the problem.You will have to think about whether you can actually use the method, and what you will do once you have done so. Do you know that by solving the problem, you will be able to prove the fact that you can't divide a number by zero? Some people will use this to prove the fact that you cannot multiply two numbers without losing the rema inder, and this seems like a difficult feat.A problem and solution essay can provide insight into the challenges you will face in college. You will come up with strategies and possible methods to solve the problem, and you will be able to work out a problem that will build your knowledge and skills. This will be much easier for you when you identify a problem first, and figure out how to solve it.

Free Essays on Farewell To Arms

Edmund Wilson, in an internet article, â€Å"Ernest Hemingway: Bourdon Gauge of Morale,† suggests that A Farewell to Arms is a tragedy of love and war . His purpose is to link the two different sides of the novel together in order to give readers a better understanding. Wilson supports this suggestion by showing examples throughout the book. No book gives the exactness of a foreigner in a war like this book does. Hemingway wrote this book â€Å"...long enough after the events for them to present themselves...† The characters are not tormented by the â€Å"dissonance between personal satisfaction and the suffering one shares with others...†, but as soon as we see the intimate relationship between the lovers we see that it is an â€Å"...idealized realationship...† A Farewell to Arms is a Romeo and Juliet. Catherine and Henry fall in love after she gets pregnant with his child and the romance blossoms from there when they leave in the middle of the night for Switzerland because it is a neutral country and Henry will be safe from the Italian Army which was going to capture him and kill him because he fled from the war. He concludes the article by telling the readers the intimacy of the relationship in the story. I thought that the article gave several excellent points in dealing with the love and war theme. Wilson tells how no other book captures the strangeness of an American in Europe during a war. I really felt that he made a really good point when he said that the Caporetto retreat was the finest part of the book because I enjoyed that part too and loved reading about all the misfortunes that he ran into. Wilson points out that Hemingway did not show any solid sense of character during the book. I learned that Hemingway makes it so that Catherine and Henry want to be with eachother forever, but its ironic when the child dies along with Catherine because a cesarian was supposed to be the safest and easiest way to go but it en... Free Essays on Farewell To Arms Free Essays on Farewell To Arms American Lit title = Expository Essay on A Farewell to Arms In Ernest Hemmingway's A Farewell to Arms, the protagonist, Frederic Henry is both dysfunctional and tragic. Throughout the story Henry lives up to this description of shear tragedy and dysfunction. The main elements that aid in making him both tragic and dysfunctional are: the fact that the love he and Catherine shared at the end of the book was doomed, this love was only "role-playing" to him at first, and he went AWOL on the Italian army. The first detail that contributes to making Henry a dysfunctional character is that he uses role-playing as a way of escaping the realization of the human mortality which is unveiled by the war. This role-playing begins on Henry and Catherine's third encounter. After this meeting the two become increasingly comfortable with their roles. It is as if their whole relationship is a "game". Neither one of them mistakes role-playing for a truly intimate relationship, but both recognize that it can be a useful device for satisfying certain emotional needs. This role-playing is a very dysfunctional characteristic of Frederic Henry. The second point that makes Henry a dysfunctional character is that he deserted the Italian army. Not only was this illegal but it could have cost him his life. Henry, although an American, had made a commitment to the Italian army, to protect and serve Italy. This characteristic alone is enough to make one dysfunctional, as it does to Henry. In addition to being a dysfunctional character, Henry is also a tragic character. The love that Henry gains for Catherine is pure tragedy. Although the relationship that Frederic and Catherine had started out to be only role-playing it turned into something much more, it became true love. This love was more than could be explained in words. Their love during an ugly war was not to be recreated or modeled even as much as throug... Free Essays on Farewell to Arms Edmund Wilson, in an internet article, â€Å"Ernest Hemingway: Bourdon Gauge of Morale,† suggests that A Farewell to Arms is a tragedy of love and war . His purpose is to link the two different sides of the novel together in order to give readers a better understanding. Wilson supports this suggestion by showing examples throughout the book. No book gives the exactness of a foreigner in a war like this book does. Hemingway wrote this book â€Å"...long enough after the events for them to present themselves...† The characters are not tormented by the â€Å"dissonance between personal satisfaction and the suffering one shares with others...†, but as soon as we see the intimate relationship between the lovers we see that it is an â€Å"...idealized realationship...† A Farewell to Arms is a Romeo and Juliet. Catherine and Henry fall in love after she gets pregnant with his child and the romance blossoms from there when they leave in the middle of the night for Switzerland because it is a neutral country and Henry will be safe from the Italian Army which was going to capture him and kill him because he fled from the war. He concludes the article by telling the readers the intimacy of the relationship in the story. I thought that the article gave several excellent points in dealing with the love and war theme. Wilson tells how no other book captures the strangeness of an American in Europe during a war. I really felt that he made a really good point when he said that the Caporetto retreat was the finest part of the book because I enjoyed that part too and loved reading about all the misfortunes that he ran into. Wilson points out that Hemingway did not show any solid sense of character during the book. I learned that Hemingway makes it so that Catherine and Henry want to be with eachother forever, but its ironic when the child dies along with Catherine because a cesarian was supposed to be the safest and easiest way to go but it en...

Cloning Should Be Banned

Cloning Should Be Banned What is Cloning? Cloning has been a debatable topic over the years with numerous arguments for and against it particularly in humans. However, there appears to be a very strong case that supports banning of cloning in many fonts. Unanimous responses to cloning are based on very legitimate concerns for instance with respect to relationships between human beings as well as between humans and nature. Cloning refers to the process of creating genetically similar organisms or the production of organisms that are genetically identical through the transfer of somatic cells of an existing organism and transferring it to an oocyte where the nucleus has been extracted. Human cloning is particularly an ethical issue that has raised different views worldwide on whether to clone or not based on information gathered evidencing the advantages and disadvantages of cloning. Cloning duplicates the genes of the individual creating a genetic duplicate but not an exact copy. Medically, there are benefits and demerits that accrue from cloning and its related technology. Additionally, there are several risks to cloning as evidenced by the numerous cloning attempts that have been unsuccessful. Dolly, the first cloned sheep was seemingly healthy but died later, the reason of her death remains unknown. In other cases, many animal clones mysteriously die very young or before birth, making it very complex to understand the aging process in cloned organisms. This is an indicator of underlying internal issues in the functioning of cloned animals despite their normal physical appearances. Cloning becomes a violation of the fundamental basis of the human existence Cloning negatively impacts on some of the human values especially individuality raising fundamental questions about the very nature of humans. The possibility of a different approach to reproduction could lead to more harm to humans in many aspects. This is manifested in the numerous questions that emerge from reproductive technology related to moral concerns on family, society, and sexuality. Cloning, therefore, becomes a violation of the fundamental basis of the human existence and can lead to the loss of genetic variation as well as compromise individuality. Additionally, clones are likely to be viewed as second-class humans among other unidentified psychosocial damages with far reaching impacts on the society and family. Therefore, advocates of cloning fail to understand how cloning can revolutionize the nature of humans individuality and the dangers and risks that are associated with cloning despite the scientific benefits. Science should take into consideration the clones point of view It is also worth noting that there is no chance to weigh the potential risks in advance for human clones and therefore, the risks would be part of existence. The uncertainties, failures, and dangers in experiments reflect and determine the destiny of the clones. The decisions made for cloning particularly in humans ought to put into consideration what the clone’s point of view would be. Therefore, the burden of choice is inherently and unequally shifted to the clone by the involuntary recruitment to be used in experiments. Despite the advocates of cloning citing both therapeutic and reproductive potentials through cloning, this is confronted with numerous ethical, moral, political, and legal concerns on the adequate application of technology and the extents of scientific findings accuracy. The advancement of technology, research and science should not compromise important nature values that are deeply held by most people globally. Additionally, based on technology and scientific research available, human cloning cannot be effectively realized despite success in other animals because there are numerous inadequacies whose solution is yet to be established to fully support cloning endeavors. There numerous limitations in most of the cloning success stories in animals and further advances should be prevented to avoid endangering the human identity. In conclusion, the disadvantages of cloning clearly outweigh its advantages by far. The issues range from ethical to emotional that continually dominate arguments related to cloning. Despite the potential scientific benefits, it is evident that cloning should be banned because of the numerous concerns, controversies and issues evidenced by the numerous attempts to produce clones but have failed on many occasions. Therefore, a critical approach and analysis of cloning show how fascinating genetic is through science and technology, however, the issue of cloning should be banned particularly in humans to ensure humans individuality is sustained while at the same time appreciating nature holistically. The possible dangers and enormous ethical concerns cloning poses, further efforts to clone particularly in humans should be banned.

Direct Marketing is an invasion of people's privacy. Discuss this Essay

Direct Marketing is an invasion of people's privacy. Discuss this statement - Essay Example Two, direct marketing attempts to promote a specified call to action, for instance, an advertisement may require the customer to either click on a link to a website or calla free telephone number. Three, direct marketing lays emphasis on measurable, traceable reactions from clients without regard for the medium that is utilized (Tapp 2004, p. 9). In addition, direct marketing is utilized by businesses of all magnitudes, from the ones that are in their initial stages to the most developed ones. A correctly planned and implemented direct marketing advertisement may prove definite earnings on investment by indicating how a large number of probable clients reacted to a concise call to action. Standard advertisements avoid call for action in preference of communications that attempt to develop prospects’ emotional engagement or awareness with a product. Even properly developed standard advertisements infrequently can prove their effect on the end result of an organization (Blankens hip, Breen & Dutka 1998, p. 72). This paper will discuss the statement direct marketing is an invasion of people’s privacy. ... Direct mail explains messages conveyed to possible donors or clients through the postal service and different delivery services. Direct mail is distributed to clients on the basis of criteria, for example, buying pattern, age, profession, location, income, among others, for example, it may be in the form of a post card with the heading â€Å"Lose extra fat in two weeks†. Bulk mailings are a specifically prevalent technique of promotion for organizations functioning in the travel and tourism sectors, home computer, and financial services (Adcock & Al Halborg 2001, p. 15). Advertisers frequently enhance direct mail activities into targeted mailing, in which mail is distributed using database assessment to choose receivers perceived to be most probable to react in a positive way. For instance, an individual who shows preference for swimming may get direct mail for swimming-associated commodities (Adcock & Al Halborg 2001, p. 15). Using mobile marketing, marketers communicate with potential donors and clients in an interactive way through a mobile network or device, for example, a smartphone or cellphone. Forms of mobile marketing messages include mobile applications, multi-media message service, and a short message service. Market communications are sent through mobile applications, audio, videos, and images, and text messages. Email marketing is also becoming the most largely utilized direct marketing techniques. The popularity of email marketing is because it is relatively affordable to send, test, and design an email messages. Email marketing permits marketers to send messages at all times, and to correctly determine reactions (O'guinn 2008, p. 625). For example, Burger King lately developed a mobile Web site so as attract customers to its restaurants.

Commercial law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Commercial law - Essay Example This particular Act is stated to be applicable for all personal properties that comprise the tangible properties i.e. the items which have physical presence such as office equipments, motor vehicles, inventory, currency and livestock among others. Moreover, the Act also includes the intangible properties which embrace intellectual properties, licences as well as contract rights owned by organisational as well as individual entities. However, the properties which include lands and licences as well as the statutory rights such as water along with gambling licenses are excluded from the list of personal properties of the Act (Hempel, 2011). There were several personal properties which have been mentioned in the case of Rats River Pty Ltd (Rats River). The properties owned by the corporate entity includes a high tech bottling machine which was to be installed by Rats River in order to increase its production quantity and the oak barrels which were purchased by the company for the product ion purpose of a new brand of red wine named the Rat Box. Moreover, the personal properties which were referred in the case scenario comprise the new office block built by Rats River for expanding its business operations and original prints which the company borrowed on bailment for setting-up a new and more advanced working atmosphere. Among the aforementioned personal properties, it can be stated that the new office block of Rats River will not covered by the PPSA. This is due to the reason that the new office block built by the company for its business expansion would be treated as a land and is not granted by a Commonwealth (Cth), a Territory or a State law as an entitlement, right or authority. Thus, the asset has been excluded from the register of personal properties of the PPSA Act (Hempel, 2011). Apart from the new office block, the other personal properties belonging to Rats River are duly covered by the PPSA 2009 (Cth). Question 2 Rats River would have a better claim to th e grapes which were delivered for toll pressing. This is due to the reason that the company had developed a business plan following legal contracts with 30 local vineyards in order to process their grapes. For entering into the contracts with different local vineyards, Rats River felt the need of obtaining finances from two different banks such as EastPac and BAN. These two banks provided significant amount of financial support to Rats River as a loan for the expansion of the vineyard. In the meantime, the company had also recruited an Assistant Accountant named Ms. Onsen for managing the expanded business operations. Unaware of the personal trait possessed by Ms. Onsen to be seriously addicted to gambling habits, the company had to face severe financial losses. It was in this context that as days passed by, Ms. Onsen exhausted all the funds in the bank account of Rats River which consequently hampered the financial viability of the company to repay its debts within the stipulated p eriod. Therefore, if the company cannot repay the loan amount which they had acquired from the two banks i.e. EastPac and BAN, these two banks would possess the actual claim to the grapes which were delivered for toll pressing. Question 3 According to Section 14 of the PPSA 2009 (Cth), Purchase Money Security Interests (PMSI) is regarded as a specific kind of security

Artificial Intelligence and Approaches to Music Education

Artificial Intelligence and Approaches to Music Education Abstract The goal of this paper is to review the principal approaches to Music Education with a focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Music is a domain which requires creativity, problem-seeking and problem-solving respectively, from both learner and teacher, therefore is a challenging domain in Artificial Intelligence. It is argued that remedial intelligent tutoring-systems are inadequate for teaching a subject that requires open-ended thinking. Traditional classroom methods are sometimes favoured because tutors can focus on individual differences and enhance creativity and motivation. However, it can also be argued that AI is a mechanism which enables those without traditional musical skills to ‘create’ music. Almost the only goal that applies to music composition in general is ‘compose something interesting’ (Levitt, 1985). This paper will review different approaches to AI in Music Education. Approaches considered will be: Intelligent Tutoring Systems in Music; AI based Music Tools; highly interactive interfaces that employ AI theories. 1. Introduction This paper will review some of the approaches to using Artificial Intelligence in Music Education. This particular field is of high interdisciplinary and involves contributions from the fields of education, music, artificial intelligence (AI), the psychology of music, cognitive psychology, human computer interaction, philosophy, computer science and many others. AI in education itself is a very broad field, dating from around 1970 (Carbonell, 1970) and has its own theories, methodologies and technologies. For brevity, we will abbreviate Artificial Intelligence in Education to AI-ED, following a standard convention. Definitions The scope of AI in Education (AI-ED) is not decisive, so it will be useful to consider some definitions. A common definition is: any application of AI techniques or methodologies to educational systems. Other definitions which focus more narrowly are, for example: any computer-based learning system which has some degree of autonomous decision-making with respect to some aspect of its interaction with its users (Holland, 1995). This definition suggests the requirement that AI techniques reason with the user at the point of interaction. This might be in relation to best teaching approach, the subject being taught or any misconceptions or gaps in the student’s knowledge. However, AI-ED in a wider context is sometimes defined as: ‘the use AI methodologies and AI ways of thinking applied to discovering insights and methods for use in education, whether AI programs are involved at the point of delivery or not’ (Naughton, 1986). In practice, these contrasting approaches form a continuum. Music: An open-ended domain A useful distinction in AI-ED is between formalised domains and the more open-ended domains (‘domain’ means subject area to be taught). In relation to domains such as mathematics and Newtonian dynamics there are clear targets, correct answers and a reasonable clear and concise structure to follow for success. Whereas in open-ended domains such as music composition, there are in general, no clear goals, no set criteria to follow and no correct answers. The focus is based upon, as mentioned earlier, ‘Compose something interesting’ (Levitt, 1985). Rittel and Webber (1984) describe this particular problem in domains as ‘wicked problems’. In such domains there cannot be a definitive formulation for the problem or the answer. Wicked domains such as music composition require learners to not just solve problems but also seek problems (Cook, 1994). The term problem seeking is used in a number of disciplines such as animal behaviour (Menzel, 1991). Cook (1994) imported the term into AI in Education in particular reference to the sense of philosopher Lipman (1991). In this sense Cook (1994) refers to the term ‘problem seeking’ as follows: Problems are treated as ill-defined and open-ended There is a continual intertwining of problem specification and solution Criteria for completion is very limited Context greatly affects the interpretation of the problem Problems are always open re-interpretation and re-conceptualisation In relation to expressive performing arts and music composition there is no goal or problem to be solved. The learner must find or create goals and problems which then may need to be revised, modified and rejected where best suited to his/her taste. 2. Computer-Aided Instruction It is worth considering briefly the music education programs that negligibly use AI as a background to AI approaches in education. Historically, computers used in music, and most other subjects, were associated with the theory of learning behaviourism. These particular systems (branching teaching programs) stepped through the following algorithm (O’Shea and Holland, 1983), Present a ‘frame’ to the student i.e. Present the student with pre-stored material (textual or audio visual) Solicit a response from the student Compare the response with pre-stored alternative responses Give any pre-stored comment associated with the response Look up the next frame to present on the basis of the response An example of this kind of system was the GUIDO ear-training system (Hofstetter, 1981). Branching teaching programs tend to respond to the user in a manner that has more or less been explicitly pre-planned by the author. Therefore, this tends to limit the approach to a simple treatment. Multimedia and Hypermedia Multimedia and hypermedia has had a great impact on music education and transformed music education software programs, giving a different emphasis from the earlier behaviourist programs. Recent educational music programs such as Seventh Heaven, Ear Trainer, Interval and Listen aim to provide practice in recognising or reproducing intervals, chords or melodies. MacGAMUT is a classroom simulation program that dictates exercises and provides a detailed marking scheme. Other programs such as MiBAC Music Lessons, Perceive and Practica Musica offer a comprehensive ear training program including scales, durations, modes and tuning. See Yavlow (1982) for information on the aforementioned programs. Since the domain is relatively clear-cut and non-problematic, ear training and music theory are popular methods in non-AI music education programs. There are many useful musical computer tools applicable to education such as music editors, sequencers, computer-aided composition tools, multimedia reference tools on CD-ROM Masterworks and much more. 3. Intelligent Tutoring Systems for Music: A ‘Classical’ Approach The history of AI in education can be divided into two periods, the ‘classical’ period (1970 – 1987) and the ‘modern’ period (1987 to present day). In the classical period, the three component ‘traditional’ model of an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) was the most common and influential idea. This model was sometimes extended to a four component model. After 1987, ideas had shifted to finding alternative ways around the traditional model. However, this was limited due to research available at those times, and the traditional model remains influential and is still used to the present day. Each of the three components of the traditional model can be considered a separate ‘expert’ system’. The traditional ITS model (Sleeman and Brow, 1982) consists of three AI components, each an expert in its own area. The first component, the domain model, is an expert in the subject being taught. So in the case of a vocal tutor, the domain expert itself would be able to perform vocal tasks. This requirement is essential if the system is to be able to answer unforeseen questions in relation to the task in hand. The second component is the student model. Its purpose is to build a model of the student’s knowledge, capabilities and attitudes. This will allow the system to vary its approach in accordance to the individual student. In essence, the student model can be viewed as a checklist of skills. This is sometimes modelled as an overlay i.e. a tick list of the elements held in the domain. Sophisticated models may view it as a deliberately distorted element or a faulty ‘expert’ system. These errors are intended to mirror a student’s misconceptions. A fair diagnosis of a student’s knowledge, skills, capabilities and beliefs is often a hard problem in AI. One partial way around the diagnosis problem would be to ask the student about their capabilities, beliefs, previous experience and so on. A more stringent approach is to set the student tasks specifically designed to analyse their skills. The results can then be used to construct the student model. The third component of the traditional ITS model is the teaching model. Typically, this may consist of teaching strategies such as Socratic tutoring, coaching and teaching by analogy (Elsom-Cook, 1990), to simply allowing the student to explore available materials unhindered, with or without the guidance of a human teacher. The fourth component is an interactive user interface for the tasks mentioned, if it is used. Note that not all Intelligent Tutoring Systems consist of all three components. It is common to have a central focus on one maybe two components, and omit, or greatly simplify the others. In particular, most ITS’s in music focus on the expert or student model. Irrespective of the emphasis, ITS models require an explicit, formalisable knowledge of the task. However, many skills in music correspond to wicked problems and are resistant to explicit formalisation. This narrows the number of areas ITS models can be applied to in music education. An example area is Harmonisation. It is one of the few musical topics for which relatively detailed, rules of thumb can be found in a textbook. But even here, the traditional ITS model may not be effective. There are two systems from the classical ITS period, which are good examples of the potential and limitations of the ITS approach in music, Vivace and Macvoice. 3.1 Vivace: An expert system Vivace is a four-part chorale writing system, created by Thomas (1985). Vivace is not an ITS model in itself, yet has formed the basis of one. It takes an eighteenth century chorale melody and writes a bass line and two inner voices that fit the melody. It uses text from books, abstracted from the practice of past composers, to employ rules and guidelines for harmonisation. These rules can be categorized into four types: firm requirements, preferences, firm prohibitions, less firm prohibitions. There are three specific problems which can be identified for any human or machine when trying to harmonise on the basis of the rules. The first problem is indeed common in beginners’ classes, to satisfy all the formal rules and produce a composition which is correct but aesthetically unsatisfactory. The second problem is that most of the guidelines are prohibitions rather than positive suggestions. Milton Babbit observes that ‘the rules†¦are not intended to tell you what to do, but what not to do’ (Pierce, 1983). In other words, if we view harmonisation as a typical AI ‘generate and test’ problem, the rules constitute weak help in the testing phase, but little help in well focused generation. The third problem is that it is quite impossible to satisfy all of the preferences at any one given time. Some preference rules may have to be broken. A clear order of importance of preference rules is not assigned by traditional descriptions in fact, it is not at all clear that any fixed order would make sense. However, it is possible to write a rule-based system that implements text book rules. In principle, a traditional ITS system can use these rules to criticise student’s work and serve as a model of the expertise they are supposed to acquire. In relation to the limits aforementioned, how useful or effective would such a tutor be? Thomas used the tutor to illuminate the limitations of the theory. By using Vivace, Thomas was able to establish that text book rules are an inadequate characterisation when performing such a task at expert level. Thomas discovered using only conventional rules about range and movement the tenors voice would most certainly move to the top of its range and stay there. Thomas suggested that there must be a set of missing rules and metra-rules to fill theses gaps. He used a Vivace experimental tool to establish this gap. In each experiment Thomas had to use his intuition to decide upon whether the results were musically viable or not. Thomas discovered that many of the traditional rules were overstated or needed redefining. He also unveiled new guideline and was able to understand the task at a more strategic level. With the assistance f her human pupils, Thomas formulated a number of heuristics for ‘what to do’ rather than ‘not what to do’. Experiments with Vivace enabled Thomas to realise the need to make human pupils aware of high level phase structure prior to detailed chord writing. As a result of her experiments, Thomas was able to use her new knowledge about the task, as a result of ‘teaching’ her expert system, and write a new teaching text book based on her findings. Part of this knowledge was used in a simple commercial ITS, which criticises student’s voice-leading (MacVoice). 3.2 MacVoice MacVoice criticises voice-leading aspects of four part harmonisation. It is a Macintosh program based on the expert system Vivace. The MacVoice also includes a music editor as part of its interface. MacVoice makes it possible to input any note, any chord at a time or a voice at a time, or notes in any disconnected fashion. As soon as a note is placed on the stave, it will display its guess as to the function of the corresponding chord in the form of an annotated Roman numerical. Three are two important limitations of this system as follows: firstly, all chords must form Homophonic blocks (all notes must be of the same duration); and secondly, the piece must be in a single key. There is one other menu function, called ‘voice-leading’.This particular function inspects the harmonisation in line with a set of base rules for voice-leading, indicating any errors. MacVoice is quite flexible to use. MacVoice has been used practically at Carnegie Mellon University. MacVoice does not give positive strategic advice. It only points out errors. It does not address the efficiency or any other benefits of the chord sequences involved. Further research on this topic may include a visual display of what the voice-leading constraints are, or the possible preferred outcomes. 3.3 Lasso Lasso was formalised by Lux (1725). It is an intelligent tutoring system designed for the 16th century counterpart and is limited to two voices. Newcomb’s approach focuses on intending to provide simple and consistent guidelines to help students know what is required to pass exams. The process of codification of the necessary knowledge goes beyond that of text book rules and guidance. Like Thomas, Newcomb was aware of this, however, approached it using a probabilistic manner, analysing scores to find out such facts as ‘the allowable ratio of skip to non-skip melodic intervals’ and ‘how many eighth note passages can be expected to be found in a piece of a given length’ (Newcomb, 1985). Also, the knowledge used for criticising students work is being coded as branch procedural code. There are also unvarying canned error messages, help messages and congratulatory messages. This will assist students, offering some form of motivation. Lasso is a very impressive system. It has a quality musical editor, tackles complex musical paradigm and has been used in real teaching contexts. However, there are some intrinsic problems. The rules are at a very low level, and there are a high number of them. There is a system rule which prevents over one hundred comments being made about any one given attempt to complete an exercise. For example, typical remarks made by Lasso include; â€Å"A melodic interval of a third is followed by stepwise motion in the same direction.† â€Å"Accented quarter passing note? The dissonant quarter note is not preceded by a descending step.† (Newcomb, 1985). The quantity of relevant text required to put in help context of myriad low-level criticisms could easily overwhelm students. Students complained that it was so difficult to meet Lasso’s demands that they were forced to revise the same task repeatedly. A solution to this problem would be to incorporate general principles to govern the low-level rules. Using such codified principles will reduce the number of comments required to relevant text and generalise observations. 3.4 Concluding remarks on Intelligent Tutoring Systems: A ‘Classical Approach’ The traditional Intelligent Tutoring System approach assumes an objectivist approach to knowledge. Such systems depend on the assumption there is a well-defined body of knowledge to be taught and can be put into precise concepts and relationships. This works with four-part harmonisation and 16th century counterparts. However, in a more open-ended context, an objectivist approach can be very limited. In domains which are artificially limited, teaching of rules drawn from practical experience tends not be a very good approach. Using verbal definitions to teach a musical concept is limited and does not compare to the knowledge required to identify the true meaning of these definitions to be an experienced musician. It is all very well to define a chord, a dominant eighth in terms of its interval pattern and provide general rules but to an experienced musician the ‘meaning’ of a chord or a dominant eight is much more depending on the context. Being able to intelligently manipulate structures is far more important than to just being able to understand and obey a set of rules, which an experienced musician will be capable of doing so. Rather than just a set of explanations, a student needs a structured set of experiences making them more aware of musical structures, being able to manipulate them intelligently and most importantly, more capable of formulating sensible musical goals to pursue. 4. Open-ended Microworlds: The Logo Philosophy A contrasted idea from the classical approach of AI in education, which is just as influential as the notion of an ITS is the Logo approach (Papert, 1980). The Logo philosophy has particular attractions to open-ended domains such as music. It focuses its approach on the idea of an educational microworld. An educational microworld is an open-ended environment for learning. Therefore, there are no specific built-in lessons. The Logo approach in associated microworlds does not need to involve much, or indeed any AI at point of delivery. However, their designs tend to be strongly influenced by AI methodologies and tools. A simple version of AI programming language is used to build microworlds. Students are encouraged to write or modify programs as a means of exploring the domain. Logo doubles as the name of programming language based on Lisp, used for just this purpose. There are three distinct elements in the Logo approach: Logo (and similar languages) as a programming tool; Logo as a vehicle for expressing various AI theories for educational purposes; and Logo as an educational philosophy. Firstly, we will briefly explore Logo as an educational philosophy. In its early work, Logo was mainly used for mathematics learning, poetry and music. One of the versions encouraged children to produce new melodies by rearranging and modifying melodic phrases. The learning philosophy was aimed to enable children to have a better understanding of the concept by making them envision or pre-hear a result. Thus, enabling them to work out how to achieve it, and realise the reason behind obtaining an unexpected result. This learning philosophy was derived from a number of sources, including the psychologist Piaget’s notions of how children construct their own knowledge through play. The Logo approach in relation to microworlds can be somewhat complex. Students are sometimes provided with a simplified version of an AI model in some problem domains. For example, in the case of music composition, fragments of illustrative material can be generated using generative grammars as models of particular composition techniques. The supplied programs can be used by students to explore, criticise, and refine their own (or someone else’s) model of process. Notice that none of the three components in the ITS model are required in the Logo approach. In practice, students need some form of guidance from teachers in order to make use of their full potential using Logo systems. If there is no guidance from a teacher the students risks only learning a technique without appreciating the wider possibilities and understanding the true meaning of being an experienced musician. The educational philosophy associated with Logo has been applied to a number of systems in music at different levels and in different ways, as mentioned below. 4.1 Music Logo System: Bamberger’s System Jeanne Bamberger’s Music Logo System (1986, 1991) can be used to work with sound cards or synthesisers. It uses programming elements called functions to structure and control musical sounds. Music Logo’s central data structure is a list of integers representing sequences of durations and pitches, which can be stored separately. These can be manipulated separately before being played by a synthesiser. So for example, to play A above middle C for 30 beats, then middle C for 20 beats, then G for 20 beats , the following expression might be used. Play [a c g] [30 20 20] Programming constructs such as repeat can easily be understood by beginners to do musical work. Using arithmetic and list manipulation functions, note and duration list can be manipulated separately. Features such as recursion and random number generators can be used to build complex musical structures. Common musical operations are provided (list manipulation functions). For example, one function takes a duration a pitch list and generates a number of repetitions of the phrase shifted at each repetition by a constant pitch increment, creating a simple sequence (in a musical sense of the term). Bamberger’s Music Logo System also provides other musical functions, such as retrograde (reverses a pitchlist), invert (processes a pitch list to the complimentary values within an octave), and fill (makes a list of all intermediate pitches between two specified pitches). To try and guess a musical outcome, manipulate lists and procedures or conversely iteratively manipulating lists of representations to try to reproduce something previously imagined, Bamberger suggests many simple exercises. These techniques, in many ways, are a reflection of educational techniques suggested by Laurillard (1993) for general use in higher education. There are two particular classes of phenomena suggested by Bamberger, which emphasises the importance of ‘shock’ and learning experiences. Firstly, perceptions of phrase boundaries occur in melodic and rhythmic fragments dependent upon small manipulations of the duration list. Secondly, there is an unpredictable difference between degree of change in the data structure and the degree of the perceived change produced. In priniciple, the Logo system allows students to focus on manipulating any kind of musical structuring technique. However, in practice the focus tends to be on simple, small scale structures such as motives, and their transformation. 4.2 A series of microworlds: Loco Peter Desain and Henkjan Honing developed a series of microworlds and tools applying the Logo philosophy. The first series was the LOCO (Desain and Honing, 1986, 1992). The second was POCO (Honing, 1990), followed by Expresso (Honing, 1992) and LOCO-Sonnet (Deasin and Honing, 1996). All of these microworlds carefully reflect the thought behind AI methodologies and how they can be applied to music education. LOCO is similar to Bamberg’s Logo, in the sense it also focuses on music composition. The central component is a set of tools for representing sequences of musical events, which can be interfaced with any output device or instrument. It is also flexible enough to take input from practically any composition system. Microworlds provided each offer tools for useful style-independent composition techniques, particularly stochastic processes and context free music grammars. Two musical objects provided essentially are just ‘rests’ and ‘notes.’ LOCO’s time structuring mechanism is simple and elegant. There two relations, Parallel and Sequential – used to combine arbitrary musical objects. Sequential is a function which causes musical objects in an argument list to be played one after another, whereas, Parallel is a function that causes arguments to be played simultaneously. It is quite simple to nest a parallel structure within a sequential structure, and vice versa. Sequential and Parallel objects are treated as data which can be computed and manipulated before they are played. The result- arbitrary time structuring can be applied with much flexibility. As mentioned earlier, LOCO provides a base for composing using stochastic processes and free grammar context. Various effects can be produced, depending on how variables are defined, including; A random choice among its possible values A choice weighted by a probability distribution A random choice in which previous values cannot recur until all other values have been chosen Selection of a value in a fixed circular order The above are easily put together using composition (in a mathematical sense) of functions. For example, the value of an increment could be specified as a stochastic variable. This can produce a variable that performs a Brownian random walk. Brownian variables can be used, for example, as arguments in commands to instruments within a time-structured framework. These techniques can be used to construct concise, easy to read programs for transition nets and other stochastic processes. Using general programming language in each case, the operation of a program can be modified. See Ames (1989) for more information in the compositional uses of Markov chains. The primary design goals of LOCO include ease of use by non-programmers to experts. A more recent version of LOCO, LOCO-Sonnet mirrors LOCO but also includes a graphical front end. Sonnet is a domain independent data flow language originally designed for adding sound to user interfaces drawn from Jameson’s (1992) Sonnet. It is designed for use by both novices and experts alike. LOCO has been used in workshops for novices and professionals and even has courseware available. 4.3 Concluding comments on the Logo approach The Logo approach is known to be associated with constructivism. Constructivism, in the aspect of knowledge and learning, suggests that even in the cases where ‘objectively true knowledge, exists simply presenting it to a student limits the effects of their learning. It based on the assumption that learning arises from learners being interactive with the world, which will force them to construct their own knowledge. The result of this ‘knowledge’ will vary between individuals creating unique ideas and outcomes. This fits in very well with open-ended domains such as music where the basis of knowledge is learning how to create your ‘own’ masterpiece. Unlike classical Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Logo requires intensive support from a human teacher. This can be viewed as both weakness and strength of the program. Intelligent Tutoring Systems and the Logo approach were both influential ideas of AI in education in the early years. As both strengths and limitations were noted over the years, combining characteristics of the two became a prime focus of research which led to Interactive Learning Environments (ILE). We will talk about this after a brief discussion on AI-based tools. 5. Applications in Education: focus on AI-based tools There are a number of application tools employing AI but its purpose is not primarily educational. However, it is useful to consider some of these systems as they nevertheless have clear educational applications. There are quite a few programming languages based on AI languages such as LISP and CLOS that have a relatively similar technical aspect to that of the Music Logo systems described earlier. However, the philosophy of use may be quite different. The commercial system Symbolic Composer (for Macintosh and Atari) is one example of this difference. It has a vast library of functions, including neural nets facilities, used for processing, generating and transforming musical data and processes, commonly built on Lisp. The system is primarily aimed at composers and researchers. Another culture which offers an educational paradigm with many links to AI culture is the Smalltalk culture. An example of such a system is Pachet’s (1994) MusES environment, implemented in Smalltalk 80. It is aimed at experimenting with knowledge representation techniques in tonal music. MuSES includes systems for harmonisation, analysis and improvisation. Finally, an example of a commercial program is Band in a Box (Binary Designs, 1996). It takes a chord sequence as input and at output can play an accompaniment based on the chord in a wide variety of styles. At one moment in time this would have required AI techniques but in today’s era it is a conventional method. 6. Supporting learning with Computational Models of Creativity 6.1 A cognitive support framework: constraint-based model of creativity â€Å"I noticed that the [drawing] teacher didn’t tell people much†¦.Instead, he tried to inspire us to experiment with new approaches. I thought of how we teach physics: we have so many techniques-so many mathematical methods – that we never stop telling the students how to do things. On the other hand, the drawing teacher is afraid to teach you anything. If your lines are very heavy, the teacher can’t say â€Å"your lines are too heavy† because some artist has figured out a way of making great pictures using heavy lines. The teacher doesn’t want to push you in some particular direction. So the drawing teacher has this problem of communicating how to draw by osmosis and not by instruction, while the physics teacher has the problem of always teaching techniques, rather than spirit of how to go about solving physical problem† Feynman (1986) â€Å"John and I†¦.were quite happy to nick things off people, because†¦you start off with the nicked piece and it gets into a the song†¦and when you’ve put it all together†¦of course it does make something original† Paul McCartney quoted in (Moore, 1992) There are limitations present in both traditional AI approaches in education mentioned earlier (ITS and Logo). ITS’s don not work very well in problem-seeking domains and Logo type approaches require support from a human teacher in order to be effective. One way of investigating these problems has been addressed by MC (Holland, 1989, 1991; Holland and Elsom-Cook, 1990). ‘MC’ is an acronym for both ‘Meta Constraints’ and ‘Master of Ceremonies’, which is a general framework for interactive learning environments in open-ended domains. We will focus on the domain model rather than the teaching model. The current version is designed at teaching ab initio students to compose tonal chord sequences, with partic