Jucks, Regina. And Elisabeth Paus. “What Makes a Word Difficult? Insights into the Mental Representation of Technical Terms.” Metacognition and Learning 7, Jan. 2012: 91–111.

This article is by Regina Jucks and Elisabeth Paus who both contribute to higher academic institutions. While Jucks has a Ph.D. in Social Psychology in Teaching and Education, Paus is senior researcher in clinical medicine at the University of Oslo. Their combined knowledge and specializations make this study not only reliable but also comprehensive and helpful towards uncovering why some words are more difficult than others to understand. Their main thesis states that to understand and grasp a wider vocabulary a broader context of knowledge is required.

Jucks and Paus’ study is intended for academic researchers who could use their findings for their own research or for academic enthusiasts who are interesting in literacy. This study conducted to analyze what makes certain words more difficult to understand gives an in-depth analysis of words origins. The study presents theories about reading comprehension and the monitoring of personal knowledge and how it impacts ones learning process. This article is valuable for its detailed exposition on the origins of people’s difficulty with language and for demonstrating the theories in a detailed recapture of the study conducted to prove the feeling to knowing approach mentioned. Rather than focusing on the positive outcomes of the study, this text is indispensable because of its fair perspective on the results and holistic approach. This study will be especially useful for understanding how people understand words. This text could be easily incorporated into the decision of what types of words to include in the index.

Pardieck, Sherrie. C. “Using Visual Literacy to Teach Science Academic Language: Experiences from Three Preservice Teachers.” Action in Teacher Education 36, no. 3 (Fall 2014): 192–210.

This article is by Sherrie Pardieck, a professor at Bradley University specializing in the teaching of reading. Pardieck’s education provides a legitimate source of knowledge that will provide insightful points about how visuals enhance learning. The thesis of this article is that visuals undoubtedly enhance learning and word comprehension significantly.

This article argues that visual literacy is a corner stone of the learning process and significantly improves word comprehension. Pardieck details how visual tools are used to solve problems and help connect cognitive functions for an overall understanding of objects and words in relation to each other. This article projects the helpfulness of using visuals for learning and presents no downsides. There seems to be no bias or slant as the author is a knowledgeable professor with no reason to cover the detriments to visual literacy. There is also considerable supporting evidence for her claims. This article will be especially useful in demonstrating a need for the visual dictionary. The nature of this article suggests it is for academic purposes but the language used makes it accessible for college students. Pardieck’s article legitimizes the purpose of our product while supplying us with background information on the benefits our product will create.

“Millennial Marketing Must Haves.” Forbes. Accessed December 5, 2014. http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnrampton/2014/11/20/millennial-marketing-must-haves/.

Josh Rampton, the author of this article, is an entrepreneur who helps start-ups as the president of Adogy marketing agency. Rampton is extremely well recognized as an influential marketing strategist and has spoken at many business conferences; he is also a contributor on Forbes’ website. These credentials make Rampton a very reliable source when writing and gaining information about marketing. Rampton’s thesis is that marketing strategies have drastically changed after the millennial generation in attempt to target Generation Y, which is proving to be challenging.

The intended audiences for this article are those interested in marketing trends, and those who want a fuller understanding of todays marketing climate. This article is valuable for its current analysis of the marketing climate, accessible language and examples, which make the information applicable. While I cannot see a large bias in the article, there could be a more in depth explanation of the specific steps the companies profiled in the article took to redefine their marketing strategies for Generation Y. This article will be especially helpful for writing the marketing strategy for our product. With the examples of marketing strategies from companies dominating their respective markets, we are able to adopt similar practices to ensure an effective strategy.