Three Gorges Dam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Three Gorges Dam - Essay Example The whole project is generally a hydroelectric engineering power generator constructed along Yangtze River; the longest river in China which runs across half of the land, horizontally into the Pacific. The project is the world’s biggest power station as far as installed capacity (22,500MW) is concerned. In addition, Three Gorges Dam is the 2nd biggest functional hydroelectric project in regard to annual energy production, generating in 2012 over 98.1Twh plus 83.7 Twh last year (Trouw, 2014). The idea of building a huge dam on River Yangtze was initially the brainchild of Sun Yat-Sen in 1919.He envisioned a dam with a capacity of producing 22 GW of power being feasible downstream Three Gorges. The government, in 1932, under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek started preliminary plans on the Three Gorges. Japanese military occupied Yichang in 1939 and began surveying the area. The Otani plan design for the dam was finished in expectation of a possible defeat of China by Japanese. Engineer John Savage of US bureau of reclamation in 1944 designed a proposal of the dam project paving way for 54 Chinese engineers to leave for US to receive specialized training. The initial concept was for the dam to be utilized for unique movement of ships; however the project was stopped in 1947 due to Chinese Civil war. The project was in 1949 supported by Mao Zedong, though he started Gezhouba Dam. The idea would re-emerge in 1980s and finally the approval came from the National People†™s Congress in 1992.Construction of the dam started in earnest in 14th of December 1994 and was expected to be complete and fully operational by 2009.However, additional projects like the underground power facility with 6 extra generators delayed complete operations till the May of 2012(Trouw, 2014). The project has come with its own share of controversy. In 1958, for instance, engineers who spoke negatively

Barriers to participation in adult learning Essay

Barriers to participation in adult learning - Essay Example In acting on this need, the adult learner will find that there are obstacles to going back to school, some of which will be anticipated, but others which will create a surprising result. While real life obstacles of a financial variety, including childcare issues and spousal resistance may come into conflict with ambitions, the unexpected feeling of being aged out and inappropriate to the social setting may have more impact than expected. The following study is intended to critically evaluate the literature in order to assess the problems that adult learners will face when going back to school. Through secondary research review, the project will provide contest for the nature of the phenomenon of the adult learner, thus creating a discourse on the identity issues that will result from the choice to go back to school after an absence in between which life has taken place. 1.1 Background The barriers that exist to adult learning can be defined by a great number of categories, through a spects of social classifications, medical classifications, and through aspects of cognitive development as it affects age. Issues of class, race, gender and disability can contribute to problems that might arise as those issues in combination with generational gaps can create issues that many students will not have to address. The number of ways in which an adult learner will be affected in a classroom setting can equal the number of ways in which the adult learner diverts from the socialization of the common, age specific learner in a university setting. According to Podsen (2002: 18) there are four specific areas that will affect an adult learner: Adults are self-directing and desire to be in charge of their learning, including the content time and effort. Adults’ prior life experiences play a key role in their learning activities, and they rely on these experiences as a resource from which they can learn new things. Adults have distinctive learning styles, with their routi nes and strategies for processing information already established. Adults pass through various developmental stages, and this impacts the types and methods of learning in which they will engage. However, these advantages have their disadvantaged counterparts, creating barriers that are designed through the social status of an adult over a young adult who is still within the framework of the support of a family. As an adult learner, the support system that is in place for most young adults will more than likely not be relevant to the adutl learner with more years of life experience. While learning will be easier under many course objectives, financial pressures, home life stressors, lack of parental support, and child care necessities will complicate the process. With a developed life experience ‘portfolio’ lying underneath the experiences of an adult, the pressures that can distract for the efforts towards achievement provide a different framed experience in a learning institution than that of a young adult learner. Additionally, the social structure of a learning institution is constructed to support the socialization of young adults, thus leaving older students out of an important aspect of university life. Therefore, the pressures on an adult learner are far different than those of a young adult learner, creating a diverted atmosphere than the one that has been created by the university. 1.2 Research Questions The following research questions have been used to frame the discussion of adult learners in a