Indication of a schools capabilities Essay

The current era’s education is known to be defined by students themselves, including their academic success, the value of educators and instructional quality in America, learning standards adopted by each individual state, anxiety, the role played by parents outside of a school setting, and much more. Most Americans believe that student’s standardized test scores are the only legitimate indicator of a school’s efficiency. Since 1965, when the United States Elementary and Secondary Education Act became a law, standardized testing has been used to evaluate American public schools. The ultimate goal of standardized testing is to examine how well teachers are preparing students and to improve student achievement. Some people would argue that standardized testing accomplishes the goal of examining educators, allowing them to better their skills for the future, while others would argue that the idea of standardized testing damages the educational system altogether. The leading debate that concerns most, but is brushed off by many, is whether the success of standardized testing should be used to indicate a student’s, teacher, and/or school’s capabilities. The key objective of the American educational system is for every student to graduate from high school, college and career ready. In 1959, when Everet Lindquist launched the _American College Test_ (ACT), it was â€Å"designed as a test of student’s general educational development and could be used with other criteria to predict student success at the college level.† After the launching of this well-known assessment, testing was being put in use in many educational settings. In 1954, as a part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s, _†WAR ON POVERTY†_ , the _Elementary and Secondary Education Act_  _(ESEA)_ was introduced. This act was reauthorized in 2001, which is now known as _No Child Left Behind_ _(NCLB)_ . This reauthorized act â€Å"requires states to develop assessments in basic skills. States must give assessments to all students at select grade levels in order to receive federal school funding.† Race to the Top was introduced by President Barack Obama in 2012, which is a school district competition across the United States. This initiative was put forth to raise standards, with the goal of college and career readiness. In addition, Race to the Top has lead states to develop â€Å"rigorous standards and better assessments†, â€Å"support teachers and school leaders to become more effective†, and provide intervention for low performing schools. (Whitehouse.gov) Now that Race to the Top has become worldwide, it has become a controversial topic. Civil Rights organizations have argued that â€Å"federal funding should be based on need, not competition.† As a result of the Race, teachers will be evaluated in relation to their students test scores. In a Huffington Post, updated in 2011, research professor and author Diane Ravitch stated that â€Å"it will make the current standardized test of basic skills more important than ever, and even more time and resources will be devoted to raising scores on these tests.† The new era of Race to the Top will cause the importance of standardized testing to increase, and the demand for privately managed charter schools to increase. In June of 2010, â€Å"North Carolina adopted the Common Core State Standards in K-12 Mathematics and K-12 English Language Arts.† Beginning in 2012-13, the course of study was implemented in public schools across the state. In conjunction with these standards, â€Å"common exams† were put into effect. â€Å"†Common exams† or â€Å"Measures of student learning† refers to new assessments being developed to measure teacher effectiveness.† A teacher’s effectiveness can reflect on how well a student performs on his or her exams. Since teachers are not told what is on exams or standardized tests such as this, they must prepare their students based on the standards put forth by the state and assume it will be the same material when testing. A common exam is â€Å"given in classes where students are not given an end of grade or end of course tests† and is â€Å"created by local educators and the North Carolina  Department of Public Instruction to show the impact of teacher performance on student learning.† The success of these standardized tests â€Å"provides students with feedback on their knowledge and skills† (Astro.Temple.edu). On the other hand, it â€Å"motivates teachers to identify their areas of strength and weakness in teaching plans so that they can reconstruct them† (Astro.Temple.edu). This forms a relationship between teacher performance and student learning. On the other hand, many parents, students, as well as educators believe that standardized testing isn’t a great indication on a student’s knowledge. Standardized testing evaluates a student’s performance in one day, excluding any external factors. Many teachers are known to â€Å"†teach to the test† which can hinder a student’s overall learning potential† (Office of Work/Life Columbia University). There are many students who â€Å"are smart and understand the content, but it doesn’t show on the test. Many students develop test anxiety which hinders performance† (Office of Work/Life Columbia University). For federal funding, schools depend on their student’s to perform well. â€Å"Competition among schools† can sometimes take place (Office of Work/Life Columbia University). This could be a hard factor to overcome, when schools have exceptional and special education students. Special education include â€Å"individual or small group instruction, curriculum or teaching modifications, assistive technology, transition services and other specialized services such as physical, occupational, and speech therapy† (CHADD: National Resource Center on ADHD). Students that are considered â€Å"exceptional† are required to take the same standardized test as student without learning restrictions, so how exactly is someone at a lower level given such high standards? The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, enacted in 1990 and reauthorized in 1997 and 2004, was designed to â€Å"ensure services to children with disabilities throughout the nation† (idea.ed.gov US Department of Education). This was designed to ensure that all student, ages 3-21, receive appropriate education regardless of any disability. In addition to this, the  disability they are diagnosed with must â€Å"affect his or her educational performance and must need special education in order to receive an appropriate education† (CHADD: National Resource Center on ADHD). â€Å"Many children in exceptional children’s programs have physical, mental, or social disabilities. In North Carolina, these academically gifted children are classified as EC, because they have different educational needs than the average child† (Exceptional Children UNC School of Education). Since No Child Left Behind was passed, â€Å"students with disabilities must be included in state testing and assessed against the same standard of proficiency as other students to determine whether schools are making the required â€Å"adequate yearly progress† towards goals for academic proficiency. The regular assessment is given to students with special needs, and they are given appropriate accommodations. Appropriate accommodations include extra time to take the test, larger print, a quiet room, Braille, having the instructions repeated periodically, or more breaks than normally allowed† (Boehner 10). In addition to the special benefits granted, an Individualized Education Program, (IEP), is designed for each child with a disability. Students under this program have a customized â€Å"learning plan† on how they will be evaluated and not whether they will be evaluated. â€Å"Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as a Nation’s Report Card, standardized test, which is used and measured the same in all states, provide useful information on the achievement and progress of students with disabilities. The results from the Nation’s Report Card show progress, as well as gaps, between students with disabilities and nondisabled students† (Aron and Loprest 112-113).

Media Influence

Media influence or media effects are terms used in media studies, psychology, communication theory and sociology to refer to the theories about the ways the mass media affect how their audiences think and behave. Mass media plays a crucial role in forming and reflecting public opinion, connecting the world to individuals and reproducing the self-image of society. Critiques in the early-to-mid twentieth century suggested that media weaken or delimit the individual's capacity to act autonomously — sometimes being ascribed an influence reminiscent of the telescreens of the dystopian novel 1984. Mid 20th-century empirical studies, however, suggested more moderate effects of the media. Current scholarship presents a more complex interaction between the media and society, with the media on generating information from a network of relations and influences and with the individual interpretations and evaluations of the information provided, as well as generating information outside of media contexts. The consequences and ramifications of the mass media relate not merely to the way newsworthy events are perceived (and which are reported at all), but also to a multitude of cultural influences that operate through the media. The media has a strong social and cultural impact upon society. This is predicated upon their ability to reach a wide audience with a strong and influential message. Marshall McLuhan uses the phrase â€Å"the medium is the message† as a means of explaining how the distribution of a message can often be more important than content of the message itself. [1] It is through the persuasiveness of media such as television, radio and print media that messages reach their target audiences. These have been influential media as they have been largely responsible for structuring people's daily lives and routines. 2] Television broadcasting has a large amount of control over the content society watches and the times in which it is viewed. This is a distinguishing feature of traditional media which New media have challenged by altering the participation habits of the public. The internet creates a space for more diverse political opinions, social and cultural viewpoints and a heightened le vel of consumer participation. There have been suggestions that allowing consumers to produce information through the internet will lead to an overload of information. Media Influence Media influence or media effects are terms used in media studies, psychology, communication theory and sociology to refer to the theories about the ways the mass media affect how their audiences think and behave. Mass media plays a crucial role in forming and reflecting public opinion, connecting the world to individuals and reproducing the self-image of society. Critiques in the early-to-mid twentieth century suggested that media weaken or delimit the individual's capacity to act autonomously — sometimes being ascribed an influence reminiscent of the telescreens of the dystopian novel 1984. Mid 20th-century empirical studies, however, suggested more moderate effects of the media. Current scholarship presents a more complex interaction between the media and society, with the media on generating information from a network of relations and influences and with the individual interpretations and evaluations of the information provided, as well as generating information outside of media contexts. The consequences and ramifications of the mass media relate not merely to the way newsworthy events are perceived (and which are reported at all), but also to a multitude of cultural influences that operate through the media. The media has a strong social and cultural impact upon society. This is predicated upon their ability to reach a wide audience with a strong and influential message. Marshall McLuhan uses the phrase â€Å"the medium is the message† as a means of explaining how the distribution of a message can often be more important than content of the message itself. [1] It is through the persuasiveness of media such as television, radio and print media that messages reach their target audiences. These have been influential media as they have been largely responsible for structuring people's daily lives and routines. 2] Television broadcasting has a large amount of control over the content society watches and the times in which it is viewed. This is a distinguishing feature of traditional media which New media have challenged by altering the participation habits of the public. The internet creates a space for more diverse political opinions, social and cultural viewpoints and a heightened le vel of consumer participation. There have been suggestions that allowing consumers to produce information through the internet will lead to an overload of information.

REPORT ON HIGHER EDUCATION IN QATAR4 (Part in green) Research Paper

REPORT ON HIGHER EDUCATION IN QATAR4 (Part in green) - Research Paper Example tion which comprise of schools, second is known as secondary education level which includes all colleges in country and top level is higher education that is known as tertiary education in which universities are placed. The Council was founded by Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani along with his wife, SheikhaMozahbintNaseer Al-Missnad. All education related matters are handled by this Council and has even directing and controlling power to make decision from primary level to higher education level. It recently initiated Education for a New Era Reform with the aim of restructuring education system of the country (Supreme Education Council, 2012). However, education controlling power is shared in between Supreme Education Council and Ministry of Education; since funding to the Ministry is reduced to a greater extent, majority of schools, colleges and universities are under the control of the Council. The main aim of this Council is to offer its assistance to citizens so that they are encouraged and motivated to acquire higher education. Similarly, private institutions and foreign universities are being attracted to increase education level and offer varying degrees of programs to students that are compatible with job demands in the market (Coughlan, 2012). It has been given complete responsibility for designing of educational polices and also oversee its reforms; the Evaluation Institute has power of undertaking student assessment on periodical basis to provide details about performance of schools and the Education Institute assists in development of Independent Schools that are new and design curriculum standards that enhance education quality. In order to have access to information about the Council, the most effective way is to either call on their telephone lines, post a letter on P.  O Box 35111, Doha, Qatar, Communication Office, Phone:   Hot line 155 - 44044564 - 44044567- 44044371 - 4044370, fax on their number 44044571 - 44044572  or email to concerned

In-house Network design vs. third party network design Research Paper

In-house Network design vs. third party network design - Research Paper Example Additionally, the method promises continuous and effective to the company. Firstly, since the department is part of the organization the personnel in the department have adequate experience with the company and have absolute access to its every department. This implies that they offer faster services owing to the unlimited access of the organization unlike a third party that will often seek permission to access certain aspects of the organization thereby resulting in inefficiencies and communication flaws. Â  The inception of the department as part of the organization further instils a spirit of patriotism in the employees. The freedom of interaction among the personnel of the department and those of other departments creates a seamless environment without resentment, as is the case with third party designers. The in-house department will integrate seamlessly with the other departments thereby creating a holistic organization with similar management structures. The patriotism within the members of the department will compel them to safeguard the interest of the organization thus availing their knowledge and skills for use in other departments should any need arise. However, this may rise issues of misuse since the management of the company may use some of such employees especially when they are not engaged in their professional work to run other tasks irrelevant to their professional. Depending on the nature of the information systems requirement in an organization, in house departments are often more cost effective.... The patriotism within the members of the department will compel them to safeguard the interest of the organization thus availing their knowledge and skills for use in other departments should any need arise. However, this may rise issues of misuse since the management of the company may use some of such employees especially when they are not engaged in their professional work to run other tasks irrelevant to their professional. Depending on the nature of the information systems requirement in an organization, in house departments are often more cost effective. This requires large organizations that need constant management of the information system. The departments may however prove expensive for smaller companies that may not have adequate finances to afford the personnel and the equipment. Information management employs automated programs that can easily operate automatically without the personnel. This implies that should a department employ more personnel, they will prove more co stly to maintain yet not directly productive. Most organization have often redeployed such personnel to other departments a feature that kill careers thus inhibiting personal growth. Additionally, managing the in-house departments thus becomes unnecessarily expensive for the company. Consultancy firms on the other hand are private companies that specialize in the creation and management of the information systems. A company in need of the services thus consults them with specific needs for which they charge an adequate amount and deliver the particular service before again cutting links with the company. Third party companies are effective since most all of their employees are experts with professional skills in the

Food taboos in Nigeria and their nutritional effects Research Paper

Food taboos in Nigeria and their nutritional effects - Research Paper Example This study â€Å"Food taboos in Nigeria and their nutritional effects† focuses on the eating behavioural qualities of people in Nigeria and the problems of malnutrition of due to the lack of awareness and education. Talking about Nigeria, it is an under developed country with a huge amount of population, in terms of population it stands at tenth place in the world. It is divided into different ethnic groups each having their own culture and beliefs. Each of the group has different taboos mostly regarding children, pregnant women and mothers and people follow them like a sacred religion. Due to such reasons many parts of Nigeria are either suffering from malnutrition or have high infant mortality rate, people are uneducated and do not know the significance of adding a particular food in their diets. They do what they have seen their ancestors doing for ages. For example, people in most part of Nigeria do not include meat and eggs in their children’s diet, they believe th at adding such eatables would make them thieves. The logic behind such insane thought is that since meat, eggs are expensive food items, and they cannot afford it so if children get used to eating them just to fulfil their desire, they will start stealing because of such myths. Nigeria falls into the countries with one of the highest maternal mortality rate and every year millions are spent to improve the health sector but despite of this there has not been much change. It has been noticed that all such taboos are primarily related to foods of animal origin. Meat contains approximately 18% protein which is very high plus it is rich in phosphorus, moderate in iron content, and is an important source of niacin and riboflavin. Especially fresh meat contains ascorbic acid which prevents scurvy. Eggs which are forbidden to pregnant women contain proteins, vitamin A and thiamine. Cutting short all these important nutrition from the diet results in a handicapped society. It has been observ ed that some 170 thousand Nigerian women die as a result of following such food related taboos (UNCIEF, 2001). The most common causes of death include hemorrhage, sepsis, anemia and others. Hemorrhage is particularly caused when a mother is anemic; a condition marked by lowered production of red blood cells which have a

The Oresund Bridge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Oresund Bridge - Essay Example In this case, people or basically the target audience of this bridge has the option of the ferry available. A rise in the prices will lower the demand for the bridge by a larger ratio as people will prefer to travel by ferry. Similarly, a fall in price will increase the demand by a larger ratio because more people would be able to afford it now. The second factor is that people like to travel from Denmark to Sweden, or vice versa, but they do not need it. Therefore people will only travel if the price is right, which is to say low. Whenever the price decreases, more people can afford it and this results in price elasticity. Q2) The Swedish government has estimated the price elasticity to be at -1.4. This has several implications for the traffic on the bridge. The Swedish government knows that first of all, an inverse relationship exists. This means that a decrease in price will definitely increase the demand and this can help the government in properly pricing it. The second implication is that any change in price will have 1.4 times the change on the demand. This means that for the government, it is beneficial to decrease the price to increase the demand. For example, if the government reduces the price by 10%, then it will result in a 14% increase in demand. Therefore, this information can be helpful in pricing the tickets for the bridge. Q3) This calculation of price elasticity of -1.4 is not beneficial in the long run because first of all, price elasticity tends to change overtime. Secondly, the government is thinking of changing the price and there is always different price elasticity for every pri ce level. Therefore if the price changes in the near future, then the price elasticity will change instantly. Lastly, advertisement campaigns play a huge role in changing the price elasticity, thus calculation is not useful in the long run. Case study 3.3: The Texas state bird Q1) PED= % Change in demand % Change in price Burbank-Oakland route PED= 120.68% =- 2.51 48% Kansas City-St. Louis route PED= 50.0% = 0.714 70.0% Q2) The above calculated price elasticity applies for the entire industry operating these routes. It does not specifically represent the price elasticity of Southwest Airlines because the values considered for the calculation are for the entire industry. This includes Southwest as well as its competitors. Q3) The Burbank-Oakland route has a high price elasticity of demand which means that the demand is price sensitive. The implication for the price setters is that these airlines should reduce the price of this route a little bit because this increases the demand by a great deal and increases the profitability. On the other hand, it must be kept in mind that the demand will decrease rapidly if the price of this route increases even by a little bit. If the price increases, then it will lower the demand by a large ratio and this will reduce the profits earned. Therefore this high price elasticity of demand can have very crucial implications for Southwest. (AmosWEB) Q4) Although the Kansas City-St. Louis route shows positive price elasticity, it may still prove to be profitable for Southwest to reduce their price. When a company reduces their prices or fares their market share increases and this often results in a long term profit. When Southwest will have a greater market share, they can change the prices according to their strategy. Also, although the price elasticity is positive, it is not at a high level and thus lowering the prices and making small short term losses is not a bad deal if it means increasing market share. Case study 5.1: Microso ft – increasing or diminishing returns? Q1) It is unlikely that a firm is experiencing increasing and diminishing return

Managing multiculural teams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Managing multiculural teams - Essay Example The article provided an example of American team working with a Korean group. The Americans communicated a problem directly to the superiors of the Korean team. This created lots of problems because in Korea the cultural norm is for the Korean workers to explain the problems to their superiors, not for outsiders to identify the problems. Resistance to change often occurs in multicultural work teams. It is hard for people from different cultures to accept the social norms of others. The language barrier can create communication problems in multicultural teams. The knowledge I gained from reading this article can be put to good in the future by me. I leaned that it is imperative to have patience and understanding when working in multicultural teams. Due to the diversity of the U.S. workforce it is common for employees to face situations that require cultural understanding. The United States is a multicultural society. I realize after reading this article that the cultural factor is a variable that must be considered by managers. An issue that was mentioned in the article that can lead to miscommunication is direct and indirect communications. Sometimes indirect communication can lead to problems because an employee may misinterpret the message. In the future I planned on taking a proactive approach to multicultural team settings. I will study and learn about the culture of my co-workers in order to better understand their point of views. The four strategies that were suggested by the author of the article to deal with multicultural team issues were adaptation, structural intervention, managerial intervention, and exit. The adaptation strategy is more effective when team members are willing to acknowledge and name their cultural differences and assume responsibility for figuring out to live with them (Brett & Behfar & Kern). A positive aspect of this strategy

Enusring Coherence in Curriculum Research Paper

Enusring Coherence in Curriculum - Research Paper Example The design should also offer room for advancement both of the curriculum structure as well as the curriculum content. Its application should also be practical in terms of implementation and should not contain any contradictory statements and strategies. These components relate directly to a coherent curriculum in my learning environment. The systematicness component ensures that all the activities in a curriculum are well connected to each other. This kind of connectivity assists in making the curriculum to be more coherent and, thus, promoting its ability to achieve its objectives. The completeness component ensures that all the parts of the curriculum are complete and that they have adequate contents. This promotes the connectivity of one part of the curriculum to the other, and, thus, making the curriculum to be coherent. The advancement component of the system design for curriculum provides room for advancement of the curriculum content. Through the advancement of the content, th eir connectivity and relationships can be enhanced, thus making the curriculum to be coherent. Practicability component makes all the parts of the curriculum to be easy to administer. ... Another best quality is that both of them assist in the selection and organization of learning experiences for effective instruction and achievement of learning objectives. Another very important quality of these two models is that they both provide a way of designing a mean of evaluation of the curriculum and its content. According to Erickson (2002, p. 44), â€Å"a coherent curriculum is one that holds that makes sense as a whole and one that has parts which are unified and interconnected†. The three best qualities of these two curriculum models I researched about promotion of unification of the different parts of the curriculum. They also promote the interconnection of various parts of a curriculum and they help the curriculum to make sense as a whole. They also enable the various parts of the curriculum to make sense and, hence, they are very fundamental in the promotion of coherence of the curriculum. Among the two models that I researched, the one which could be most eff ective in my current educational environment is the Tyler’s Model. This is because this model being among the modernism model is clearer, more simplified, more useful, and more comprehensive compared to the Gerlach and Ely Model. According to Dennis (2002), this model is appropriate for large scale mass education and it is also good for basics. Since my current educational environment involves teaching basics to a large group of students, this model will be the most appropriate for such an environment. Curriculum design There are various â€Å"Knows† in a curriculum design. One of them is what the students should know by the end of the curriculum. The other one is what the student

Obesity Trends in the United States Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Obesity Trends in the United States - Case Study Example At the same time, there was no reduction of the obese American’s percentage in any State of the country. According to the statistics given in the mentioned above report, there are more than 30 % of children in the United States that are overweight. The same report warned that the countrywide obesity leads to an increase in various chronic diseases among the population. The latter, in turn, stimulates the growth of budget expenditures on health care. For the fifth year in succession the statistics shows that the highest percentage of obese adults is in Mississippi. It is almost 35% of the total population. In addition, in Mississippi is the highest number of obese children between 10 and 17 years (44.4%). Since 1980’s, the percentage of obese children in the United States has tripled. According to the recent analysis by the Trust for America’s Health, Obesity could contribute to millions of cases diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, and cancer in the next two decades (TFAH & RWJF, 2012).   What is the reason for the rise of the American gluttony in the last 30 years? Many theories have been put forward. Some researchers see economic reason for the obesity: fatty food is cheaper that the other. Some blame the manufacturers who modified products so that consumers turn into food addicts, eating more high-calorie sweet specialties. The researches at Princeton University found that fast food products can be as addictive as heroin (BBC, 2003). Sweet desserts and beverages account 25% of all calories consumed by Americans, 5% make salty snacks, and 10% percent make vegetables and fruits. Among favorite dishes traditionally are burgers, pizza, and potato chips. The increase in the number of obese people in the United States is, inherently, due to the expanding number of fast foods and increase of the portions produced. The size of the first McDonald’s burgers has significantly increased up till now, as well as the volume

The paradox of omnipotence, and Mackie`s solution Essay Example for Free

The paradox of omnipotence, and Mackie`s solution Essay Omnipotence is inexhaustible, unlimited power. The attribute of omnipotence (being all powerful) is generally a quality of the God of monotheistic religions. There exists an argument, however, that the concept of an omnipotent being is paradoxical, meaning that it is logically impossible that an omnipotent being can exist. One of the more well-known renderings of this paradox goes: Can God create a rock that would be too heavy for him to lift? What this question is asking is essentially â€Å"can God can create something that he cannot subsequently control? This question presents a dilemma. If the answer is yes (because God can do anything, after all), it would mean that he is not actually omnipotent, for how could there exist something that an omnipotent being cannot control? If the answer is no (because how could God not be able to lift a stone—he’s supposed to be all-powerful), then he is not actually omnipotent, because here is something he cannot do after all (he cannot create something that he cannot control). Thus, with either answer, the conclusion is that God is not omnipotent. In his answer to this problem, John L. Mackie says that if an omnipotent being creates an uncontrollable thing, then controlling this thing would mean controlling an â€Å"omnipotently-made-uncontrollable† thing, which is logically impossible. Thus even the omnipotent being will not be able to control it, and his failure to control it would actually be an affirmation rather than a refutation of the his omnipotence. Rigid designator and non-rigid designators The concept of rigid and non-rigid designators is somewhat akin to the concept of proper nouns and common nouns. A rigid designator is a term in philosophy that â€Å"designates [or defines] the same object in all possible worlds in which that object exists and never designates anything else† (LaPorte, 2006). Inversely, a non-rigid (or flaccid) designator is a term that does not refer to the same object in all possible worlds. For example, the sentence â€Å"Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon† contains both a rigid designator (Neil Armstorng) and a non-rigid designator (first man on the moon). If events had been different, Neil Armstrong might not have been the first man on the moon, but Neil Armstrong (not just as a name, but as it refers to the man himself) will always be who he is.

Peoples Democratic Republic Of Algeria English Language Essay

Peoples Democratic Republic Of Algeria English Language Essay Over three years period of learning English as a foreign language, English LMD students still find the written demands extremely challenging. Moreover, third year LMD students in the English Department at Saad Dahlab University of Blida encounter many difficulties in writing their mini-projects. Therefore, this study is needed to reveal these difficulties and their effect on further learning. Furthermore, it is an important study mainly because of the fact that academic writing is required for anybody who is studying English and has to write essays and other assignments for exams or coursework. 2. Statement of the Problem: This study will investigate the effect of having academic writing difficulties on ACHIEVING THE FINAL PROJECT of third year LMD students in the English Department at Saad Dahlab University of Blida. 3.The research question: What are the effects of academic writing difficulties on the final projects progress of third year LMD students in English Department at Saad Dahlab University of Blida? 4.The research Sub-questions: What are the academic writing difficulties that hinder the final projects progress of third year LMD students in English department at University of Blida? 5.Hypothesis: Third year LMD students in English department at University of Blida may have difficulties in cohesion. 6.Objectives of the Study: To identify the difficulties that faces the third year LMD students in English department at University of Blida when writing academically. To reveal the significance of academic writing difficulties to third year LMD students further studies in English department at University of Blida. To show how academic writing difficulties affect third year LMD students learning progress in English department at University of Blida 6. Structure of the research proposal: This research proposal covers the main points that will be examined in the final thesis entitled Effects of Academic Writing Difficulties on Achieving the Final Project of Third Year LMD Students in English Department at Saad Dahlab University of Blida. The first part is a general introduction that includes the background and significance of the study, statement of the problem, research questions and the objectives of the study. The second part is a review of the literature which consists of two chapters. The first chapter is a review of literature on the EFL academic writing difficulties. It consists of a definition of academic writing, the rhetorical, strategy and vocabulary challenges of EFL writing. The second chapter deals with the effect of writing weaknesses on EFL learning development. It includes the influence of rhetorical, strategy and vocabulary difficulties on the scores achievement. The third part describes the methodology design of this research. It includes data to be collected, data collection procedures, the population, procedures and data analysis procedures. The last part is a conclusion of the previous chapters and it includes a summary of the main points. CHAPTER 1: Review of the literature on EFL academic writing difficulties Introduction: Academic writing in English at advanced levels is a challenge even for most native English speakers. However it is particularly difficult for English as foreign language learners. Recent studies have researched the difficulties of academic writing. This part sheds light on previous studies and reviews relevant literature on the EFL academic writing difficulties. First, the researchers intend to provide a definition of the academic writing, and then they give some basics of academic writing. Finally, this chapter discusses the challenges that face EFL learners when writing academically. 1.1. Definition of academic writing: Academic writing is a mental and cognitive activity, since it is a product of the mind. The image of an individual working alone in a quiet environment has furthered the view of writing as a mental and cognitive activity. However as has been pointed out, writing can be understood only from the perspective of a society rather than a single individual(Burke, 2010,p.40-41). 1.2. Basics of academic writing: Academic writing is expected to address an intellectual community in which the students engage in active learning. Some basics or rules must be established. Using information to ones advantage is a key part of learning. Success at the postgraduate level depends on the students ability to access, evaluate, and synthesize the words, ideas, and opinions of others in order to develop their own academic voice. When presenting what they have learned, it is therefore vitally important that students are able to show clearly what they have drawn from others and what is their own (Bristol Business School, 2006, p. 3). A student must be honest about how much ownership he/she can claim over the ideas formed, the answers found, and the opinions expressed (Bristol Business School, 2006, p. 3). The student must follow certain rules to ensure good academic writing, including punctuation guidelines. 1.2.1 Punctuation The essential punctuation marks are the period, comma, semicolon, and colon. These include the following: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The period primarily marks the end of a sentence. A period is also used after an abbreviation where the final letter of the word is not the final word of the abbreviation, e.g., in enc. for enclosure, although Mr. for Mister is an exception (Murphy, 2010, p. 9). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The comma is primarily used to separate parts of a sentence so that the meaning remains clearer for the reader. (I) A comma separates words in a list, e.g., He brought coal, kindling, matches, and turf. (II) A comma separates subordinate clauses within a complex sentence where two separate sentences are not required (Murphy, 2010, p. 9). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The semicolon has two common uses. First, it may be used to separate items in a list after a colon. Second, it may be used to indicate a certain relationship between two parts of a sentence (Murphy, 2010, p. 9). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The colon may be used to indicate the start of a list, as is similar to the above example for the semicolon. It may also be used before a quotation begins (Murphy, 2010, p. 9). 1.3. Challenges of EFL academic writing: Writing is considered as a complex activity, a social act which reflects the writers communicative skills which is difficult to develop and learn, especially in an EFL context. Research in this field has examined the nature and types of writing task and by providing better understanding of EFL students writing needs, there has been an effort to help the development of this major skill theoretically and pedagogically (Zhu, 2004; Carson, 2001; Hale et al, 1996).   Examining the features of EFL writing tasks and the students problems in performing the task would certainly be pedagogically beneficial. As stated by Atkinson (2003, p.95), EFL students writing in a language classroom context shows their ability to solve a rhetoric problem and their awareness of their own communicative goals, of the reader, and of the writing context. In spite of numerous approaches to the teaching of writing, tackling EFL writing is still one of the challenging areas for teachers and students. Many EFL te achers think that grammar and vocabulary are the main problem area and that their writing would improve with remedial grammar/voc lessons. As Widdowson (1995, p.74) points out, we need to consider the larger discourse context or the meaning that lies beyond grammatical structure. To go beyond grammar, language should be looked at as a form of social practice (Fairclough, 1992, p.122). As Casanava (2002  ,p.19) points out, learning how to write for academic purposes poses a clueless challenge because the rules of the game are almost all implicit. This is especially true for Algerian university students when they write an academic research paper in English for the first time: they are faced with a number of unfamiliar, daunting tasks. Of all these, the most formidable and crucial challenge appears to be learning how to organize and develop their ideas in an academically persuasive manner; that is to organize their assertions into logical and cohesive arguments that will convince the reader. Their papers often end up lacking clear logical flow and unity, not to mention a persuasive linear argument. Conclusion Most EFL students find writing difficult and some students report that their difficulties continue, even years after their confidence in other academic skills such as speaking, listening, and reading has grown (Zhang, 2010,p.71). Explanations for students struggle go beyond grammar and vocabulary though these are clearly significant. Most writing specialists agree that writing difficulties are down to the specialised nature of academic discourse (Schmitt, 2005, p.65) and to the complexity of the craft of writing itself. CHAPTER 2: The research methodology design Introduction: In this chapter, the researchers describe the research methods, informants and data collecting tools. The results collected from the research tools will be analyzed scientifically in order to answer the research questions. Research method: Since the current study aims at showing the effects of academic writing difficulties on students final project achievement, the researchers opted to use a descriptive study on third year LMD students in English Department at University of Saad Dahleb- Blida. A descriptive method facilitates the gathering of information and data to assist in achieving study goals. As a first step, the researchers tend to administer a questionnaire to third year LMD students in English Department at University of Saad Dahleb- Blida mainly to confirm whether they face difficulties when writing academically (see appendix 01). Then, supervisors will be interviewed about the challenges they meet when orienting students with academic writing difficulties (see appendix 02). During the study, which will take three months, the researchers will observe the students progress in achieving their final project using an observation check list (see appendix 03). Population: The informants of this study are students and teachers from the English Department at the University of Saad Dahleb- Blida. The researchers select 10 groups of third year LMD students; each group consists of 3 members working on their final project in didactics field, and 5 didactic MA Degree teachers who supervise the 10 groups. The informants are 19 female students and 11 male students. The age of the informants ranges from 20 to 26 (see table 1). The original names of the students are replaced with fictitious names to keep the identity of the informants confidential. Table 01: Description of the groups Groups Gender Age Previous tuition of English 1st group 2 females/ 1 male 20 23 8 years 2nd group 3 females 20 8 years 3rd group 3 females 20 22 8 years 4th group 3 females 24 26 8 to 10 years 5th group 2 males / 1 female 20 23 10 years 6th group 3 females 20 10 years 7th group 3 females 20 10 years 8th group 2 females/ 1 male 21 10 years 9th group 3 males 20 22 10 years 10th group 3 males 21 25 10 to 13 years Data collection tools: The researchers intend to use three research tools to collect the data needed in order to answer the research questions of this study: 3.1- A questionnaire with closed-ended questions is distributed to the 10 groups of the 3rd year LMD students. It consists of 13 closed ended questions which aim at detecting the category of the difficulties whether in cohesion, coherence, vocabulary or strategy. 3.2- Semi-structured interviews are conducted to collect data from the perspective of the 5 supervisors. Interviewing the supervisors on the basis of their feedback to the groups will help to specify the types of difficulties, to confirm the data collected from the questionnaire and to know the challenges of supervising students with academic writing difficulties. 3.3- Observation check lists are distributed each month to the 10 groups in order to examine the effects of the academic writing difficulties on the progress of accomplishing their final projects. The list contains the supervisors negative feedback besides the data collected from the interviews and the questionnaire. Each group is provided with a check list to examine how much each difficulty is considerable to hinder the progress of the final project. 4. Data analysis Procedures: After the data are collected, the researchers intend to analyze them according to teachers and students answers: 4.1. A questionnaire with closed-ended questions: The data collected from the questionnaire will be analyzed quantitatively. The researchers will describe and comment on the answers objectively. Then, the data will be interpreted scientifically. Through this process the difficulties of academic writing will be revealed. 4.2. Semi-structured interviews: The data collected from the semi-structured interviews will be analyzed qualitatively. The reasons for choosing qualitative methods for collecting data are: the need to attain highly personalized data, there are opportunities for probing, a good return rate. (Gray, 2004, p.96). These semi-structured interviews will specify the kind of the difficulties. 4.3. Check list observation: The data collected from the observation check list will be presented in graphs. Graphs will give a clear vision on the effect academic writing difficulties on the third year LMD final project achievement. Conclusion and Suggestions for Further Research: In view of the data presented, the researchers conclude that third year LMD students in English department at Saad Dahlab university face many difficulties and stresses in their academic writing. These difficulties severly hinder the progress of the students final project. The following recommendations are made for future studies: The present study could be replicated on a wider scale that includes diverse populations and various levels of education to examine more thoroughly the difficulties of academic writing. Further field-based research should be conducted to address other important skills, such as reading, listening, and speaking. -Since the subjects of this study were male and female students, future studies could be conducted with only male or only female students to determine the effect of gender on academic writing difficulties. General conclusion The research proposal is a crucial step in any scientific research. It clearly describes the study process. This research paper describes the study which is intended to be applied on the topic Effects of Academic Writing Difficulties on Achieving the Final Project of Third Year LMD Students in English Department at University of Blida.This research proposal considers the most important points in the study. The first chapter is the literature review which contains different ideas about the data that will help answering the research questions. This chapter deals with the EFL academic writing difficulties. It gives a definition of the academic writing, tackles its basics and defines its challenges. The second chapter in the research proposal is the research methodology design. It describes the followed methods in the study process which are the research method, the population, the data collection tools and the data analysis procedures. Bibliography Burke, S. (2010). The construction of writer identity in the academic writing of Korean ESL students: a qualitative study of six Korean students in the U.S. Doctoral dissertation. Walter. L. (1977). College Composition and Communication. Major Problems in Doing Academic Writing. Vol 28/1. pp 26-29. Hyland, K. (2003). Second language Writing. Cambridge, Cambridge Press Al Khuweileh, A, Shoumali. I. (2007). Writing Errors: A study of the Writing Ability of Arab Learners of Academic English and Arabic at University [Abstract]. Language and Culture and Curriculum, 13 (2), 174-183. Silva, T. (1992). L1 vs. L2 writing: ESL graduate students perceptions. TESL Canada Journal, 10 (1), 27-48. BBC English Teachers Supplement. (1995). The challenges of teaching academic writing. [Online] Available: http://www.uefap.com/articles/furneaux.pdf Fulwiler, T. (2002). A personal approach to academic writing. College writing: Third Edition. Boynton/Cook Publishers, Inc. Heinemann. Murphy, Anne. (2010). Academic writing and publishing matters for the scholar- researcher. D.I.T Dublin Institute of technology 9- Woodrow, L. (2006). Academic Success of International Postgraduate Education Students and the Role of English Proficiency. University of Sydney Papers in TESOL, 1, 51-70 10- Brookes, A; Grundy, P. (1998). Beginning to Write. Cambridge, Cambridge Press. 11- Fitze, M; Glasgow, R. (2009). Input Enhancement and Tense Formation in Arab EFL Writing by Cross Cultural Exchanges. English for Specific Purposes, 17(4), 391-412. 12- Taranopolsky, O. (2005). Creative EFL writing as a means of intensifying English writing skill acquisition: A Ukrainian experience. TESL Canada Journal, 23(1), 76-78. 13- Weigle, C. (2002). Assessing Writing. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. 14- Bacha, N.N., Bahous, R. (2008). Contrasting views of business students writing needs in an EFL environment. English for Specific Purposes 27, 74-93. 15- Badger, R; White. G. (2000). A process-genre approach to teaching writing. ELT Journal, 54(2): 153-160. Appendices Appendix: 01 Questionnaire with closed-ended questions This questionnaire is part of MA dissertation. It is administered to third year LMD students in English department at university of Blida. Please, answer the following questions according to your writing experience. Thank you for your collaboration. Do you face any difficulties when writing your mini-project? Yes No Is the grammatical features one of the problems you face in your English writing? Yes No 3. Do you spend time reviewing what you write? Yes No 4. Does most of your reviewing focus on the sentence and paragraph level? Yes No 5. Do you always focus your reviewing on the grammar points of your writing? Yes No 6. Do you know which type of plague words and phrases you should avoid? Yes No 7. Do you often make sentence mistakes in your writing? Yes No 8. Do you often make subject-verb disagreement mistakes in your writing? Yes No 9. Do you experience difficulty combining sentences in your writing? Yes No 10. Is it difficult to create an understandable and coherent paragraph? Yes No 11. Do you include each of the three steps (planning, writing, and revision) in your writing process? Yes No 12. Do you write an outline before writing draft? Yes No 13. Do you think that writing skills are important factors for successful writing? Yes No Appendix: 02 Semi-structured interviews The semi-structured interviews below are part of MA dissertation entitled Academic Writing Difficulties and their Effect on the Learning Progress of Third Year LMD Students in English Department at Saad Dahlab University of Blida. 5 supervisors of 10 groups of third year LMD students will be asked face to face the following questions: Do you think that third year LMD students in English Department at Saad Dahleb University of Blida have difficulties in writing academically when working on their final projects? According to your experience, what are the difficulties that faced by third year LMD students in English Department at Saad Dahleb University of Blida when working on their final projects? Do these difficulties affect the students progress of their final projects? According to the groups you are supervising, do the academic writing difficulties differ from one group to another? To what extent do you think that academic writing is important for third year LMD student to accomplish their final projects? What are the challenges you face when supervising students with academic writing difficulties?

The Theme of Identity in Sonnys Blues Essay example -- Literary Analy

James Baldwin's short story "Sonny's Blues" highlights the struggle because community involvement and individual identity. Baldwin's "leading theme - the discovery of identity - is nowhere presented more successfully than in the short story 'Sonny's Blues" (Reilly 56). Individuals breeds isolation and even persecution by the collective, dominant community. This conflict is illustrated in three ways. First, the story presents the alienation of Sonny from his brother, the unnamed narrator. Second, Sonny's legal problems suggest that independence can cause the individual to break society's legal conventions. Finally, the text draws heavily from biblical influences. Sonny returns to his family just like the prodigal son, after facing substantial trials and being humiliated. The story's allusion to the parable of the prodigal son reflects Baldwin's profound personal interest in Christianity and the bible. First of all, the identity of Sonny is contrasted sharply with his brother, the narrator. The most obvious difference between the two is their names. Sonny's name is prominent and part of the story's theme. Sonny's brother, on the other hand, is never given a name. Despite being the voice and the perspective of the story, the narrator does not have a distinct identity. He is known solely by his relationship with others, his status as a brother, a son, a husband and a father. The omission of the brother's name by the author is clearly intended. By having no defined identity, the brother stands in as the representative of the black community. The narrator is a responsible family man. His job as a high school math teacher illustrates his interest in helping others through education. His decision to marry suggests that he is respons... ...ny does suffer isolation, persecution and imprisonment. However, he finds redemption in the eyes of his brother without sacrificing his individualism. Sonny manages to use music to bridge the gap, taking a greater responsibility for his reintegration into family and community than the prodigal son. Works Cited Albert, Richard. "The Jazz-Blues Motif in James Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues," College Literature Vol. 11, No. 2 (Spring, 1984): 178-185. Booth, Alison, Hunter, J. Paul and Mays, Kelly (eds.). The Norton Introduction to Literature, Ninth Edition. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005. Reilly, John M. "Sonny's Blues: James Baldwin's Image of black community," Negro American Literature Forum Vol. 4, No. 2 (July, 1970): 55-60. Tackach, James. "The biblical foundation of James Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues,'" Renascence Vol. 59, No. 2 (2007): 109-117.

Comparison of Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov in Crime and Punishment Essa

Comparison of Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov in Crime and Punishment In his book Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky explores the paths of two men, Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov. These two men encompass many similar problems and obstacles throughout their lives. Both commit murders and are faced with the long and mentally excruciating journey of seeking redemption. They also share many characteristics of their personalities. The reason that the outcomes of their lives are so drastically different is due to the fact that they have completely different perspectives on life. Raskolnikov is obsessed with his â€Å"superman theory†. He is constantly trying to prove that he is part of the 10% of extraordinary people in the world. He wants to become an eminent figure such as Napoleon. At first he believed that the murders he committed would make him part of this elite class. Once he realized that he had made mistakes during the crime he began to question his theory. After much frustration he decided to go to the scene of the crime. This gave him a rush that made him feel invincible. He believed that this would prove if, or if not he was â€Å"super†. Once he realized that he wasn’t part of this class, he suffered a mental breakdown. This pushed him to confess his crime to Sonya. She helped him rationalize his crime and admit his guilt. The outcome of this conversation was that it helped him admit his fate. Svidrigailov contains many similar traits of that of a â€Å"superman†. Due to his egoc...

Lack of Variance Among Modern Cars :: Economy

Lack of Variance Among Modern Cars We ask ourselves every time we see heavy traffic, is there no variance anymore amongst car models? In the old days, as a matter of fact only five or ten years ago every single car brand seemed to have it's own personality, today they look more like a cluster of copycats. What went wrong? One reason is that the automotive industry has certain trends it has to follow, just like fashion designers and musical composers. In times of recession and decreasing sales there is less room to take chances and manufacturers are prone to follow the common pattern as a safer bet rather than releasing a controversial product that might or might not sell very well. This makes for different models to conform considerably under the rules and regulations for the design of a car of this decade. Another reason is that many manufacturers actually cooperate and by contracts copy each others models. The Mitsubishi 3000 GT for example is practically the same car as the Dodge Stealth, only the Mitsubishi is made in Japan at the original factory and the Stealth is made in the US at the Dodge factory. Apart from the two emblems respectively, very few details differ the two cars. Honda who have been in need of a sport utility vehicle in order to grab their share of that part of the market, which has grown considerably the last decade have taken almost desperate measures. They have simply bought the rights to re-badge the Isuzu Rodeo as the Honda Passport and marketed it as an all new model. The last and maybe the most logical reason is that all manufacturers are striving towards 'the perfect car'. All cars are supposed to offer a maximum of performance, passenger room and cargo space, and a minimum of fuel consumption and cost to manufacture and maintain. There are only so many ways to technically achieve these goals. Cars tend to get more rounded edges in order to be more aerodynamic. The trunk lid is high in order to offer greater cargo space without imposing on the passengers. The design of the trunk lid is also approaching the 'optimal' shape for easy loading and access. Windows are large and pillars are thin for better view. The lights, both back and front, are homing in on the design for maximum

Have parents given too much freedom to their child Essay

Sir/Madam, first of all, I’d like to briefly define and introduce the topic. It means, in this post-modern capitalist human society, attitude of extreme liberalization has led parents lavish too much liberty, blank check and affection on their children which have proved dangerous in each and every aspect. I 100% agree with this statement. This freedom is multifaceted and begins at home as making negative use of the liberty of expression and action, children are allowed to say and do whatever they like. Then the very freedom penetrates schools and the concept of â€Å"Maar Nahin Piyar† is overemphasized. Moreover, rich and busy parents promote habits of extravagancies among their children by giving free rein over the use of money. Mr. /Ms. President, I am not against this freedom; I am only concerned with its evil aspects in the long run. The world we live in is not a paradise, so this many-sided freedom eventually gives birth to multifarious evils which later on become impossible to be eradicated. Children constitute an age group of human society characterized by immaturity lacking awareness and experience. They are like iron in the molten state which, if left free, will flow in any direction and will result in a useless rather troublesome shape. So, children need intense care and control for their result-oriented moulding. Mr. /Ms. President, everything in the universe is bound by limits which are set by Allah as â€Å"Tilka Hu-du-dullah-hey† meaning â€Å"These are the limits set by Allah†. Nature and natural law are based on the principle of moderation. In case of humans, this moderation has to be enforced by the use of force because man by nature is hasty and contentious. So, this moderation in the children can only be ensured by parental control. Mr. /Ms. President, the children given free hand usually keep bad companies and adopt smoking, drug addiction, alcoholism, gambling and get indulged in robbery, thievery, dacoity, murder, assassination and other nefarious social evils and crimes like suicide bombing. That is why our Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad PBUH said, â€Å"Parents must always keep a stick for check and control over their children†. As an obvious and direct consequence of extra-freedom and unrestrained liberty, our new generation is rebellious, rude, void of spirituality and blindly pursues materialistic approach. As a result, ever increasing desires and over necessitation of survival facilities by children, create everyday a new headache, anxiety and an insolvable problem which makes the parents’ lives  unbearable. Now, with the permission of Mr. President, I’d like to express my conclusive remarks. As a matter of routine experience and according to the findings of various global surveys, children’s misconduct and their evil habits are caused either by too much restraint or too much freedom. Such unruly, rebellious and trouble making children instead of being a divine blessing prove to be a curse not only for their parents but also their kith & kin, neighbors, society, nation and even international community. In short, love alone can do nothing; â€Å"love† and â€Å"law† should go side by side. Love proves to be beneficial only if accompanied by due restraint.

Meaning of Life and Dad Essay

The most influential person in my life is my dad. The reason why my dad is the most influential person to me is because he is my dad. My dad has been their for me since day 1. He always had my back through everything no matter how much fights we get into he will always be hear for me. My dad always wants to see me succeed in life he doesn’t want to see me fail. He inspires me in so many different way of what he does. A couple of examples of how my dad inspires me is he always helps me through everything he never let me down. He always told me to stand high and never give up on my dreams he was the one who pushed me to succeed to the person who I am now my dad has always been their for me and he will always have my back. He is my hero! My dad is such a hard working man he always told me to get a good job in this economy because you cant go no where in life without a good gob or a good degree in something. Growing up, my father taught me many valuable lessons, specifically to be kind to everyone and to never give up. These simple but important lessons have shaped my life in its entirety. My dad is the kindest man that I have ever met. He never talks bad about others always helps other people, and always tries to do the right thing no matter what the cost to himself. He is kind, thoughtful generous and honest. I attribute much of who I am as a person to my dad and I thank him for his dedication to our family . My dad gave me the confidence to go out and explore the world around me. From these opportunities, I have acquired skills, gained leadership experience and know that I can do anything if I persevere. I know what it means to be accountable for the decision I make and people entrusted to my care. I have stood up to those who were discriminating and demonstrated that respect for each other is important. I have learned in order to achieve a goal one must make a plan, get others on board, secure necessary resources and then go out and DO IT!!! I learned to not listen to the people who say it is impossible, and to get the complainers involved. I have had unique opportunities to train, lead and mentor. I have seen tragedies and poverty and have learned to appreciate what I have: my family friends university and country. None of these life lessons would have be possible without the support and guidance of my father. My dad always told me to follow my dreams and never let go ever since than I am following my dreams thanks to my dad! He is the most influential person to me in my life.

Professional Communication Essay

The reasoning behind ISO 9000 certification in manufacturing is to ensure uniformity in processes as an assurance of levels of quality. By creating sets of standards to which the manufacturing process must adhere, only acceptable product is released for shipment or sale. With the development of and subsequent compliance with ISO-9000 standards in mind, it is critical to construct a realistic and effective ISO standard. The cornerstone of this construction is the charter documentation. Just as the ISO standard itself is used as a quality control measure, the charter is a control method for the formulation of the standard itself. Basically, ISO in manufacturing is intended to cover two major areas- people and processes. Without giving personnel the proper training to carry out the standard, the processes will not be reflective of the quality standards brought forth by ISO. For these reasons, charters must be carefully developed in a multi-faceted approach. Charters are typically most effective when driven from the managerial/supervisory level from the beginning. In regard to this managerial input in the chartering process, management should detail their responsibility in the ISO program. This will achieve two very important things- it will be a reasonable assurance that the charter reflects the overall initiatives of the organization as envisioned by management and will show the subsequent lower levels of company hierarchy that this is something that management is taking a part in and not merely issuing a mandate without leadership by example. Just as management has to have a level of responsibility in the charter, the individuals who are involved in more of the hands-on aspects of production need to make a contribution to the charter. The insight that production personnel will be able to provide in the creation of a useful charter is vast. These individuals have seen the best and worst of the actual manufacturing that goes on daily; as such, best practices can be incorporated into the charter from the start. Design control must also have a place in the charter document; from the outset, of course the charter will correspond to existing product; in the case of new product development as an example, designs must fall under the same requirements as does a long-standing product. The same would apply to modifications of existing product. Document and data control are essential elements of the charter; being able to achieve uniformity and quality in the ways that work orders, shipping documentation, product specifications and purchase orders are created and processed will aid in the carry through of quality standards beyond the shop floor and into the administrative and clerical areas of the manufacturing facility. Up to this point, the charter has been considered in terms of how it will correspond to things being done correctly. Just as important is the consideration of what will be done when inevitable errors and problems arise. For these occurrences the proper planning and execution of corrective actions, as well as follow up to assure that the original error does not become a repeat event, can be incorporated into the charter. In this case, malfunctions are accounted for in addition to best practices. After the charter’s collaborators, scope and purpose is in place, the launch of the charter comes into play. The document itself begins with a clearly stated purpose which can literally be understood by those of technical and non-technical backgrounds alike. Not only can the words be understood in terms of what they explicitly say, but also easily lend themselves to adaptability on the part of the audience; in other words, the words can be processed in the mind of the audience and they can then begin the thought process of exactly what the Charter will ultimately mean to their job tasks, and most likely open up a dialogue among the audience members in regard to how they will all collaborate, with the Charter as a framework, for the achievement of quality objectives as required. If looking at nothing else but the intended use and audience of the Charter, the strengths are many. In fairness, however, some weaknesses likewise exist. Audience is perhaps the most important consideration in the production of any technical document, and especially in the case of the ISO Charter, not only because of the fact that this document, by its nature of being a quality control document should set an example for quality and would discredit the ISO process if it was not of the highest quality, but also because of the fact that the Charter is intended to be used by a huge variety of manufacturers, quite literally around the world. Because of these audience factors, the Charter often is interpreted not only according the particular industry that it will be dictating to, but also translated into different languages for different nations, and comprehension levels; for example, an automobile manufacturer in France will be using the same base document, in the form of the ISO Charter, as would a paper mill in Mexico- different industries, different cultures, and possibly even different educational levels and therefore levels of reading comprehension. Because of this, the demographic element of the audience for this particular document deserves additional discussion. The ISO Charter, by necessity and purpose, has to possess a sort of universal quality in terms of its intended audience; as was previously mentioned, the document will at any given time be used by any given industry in any given part of the world, creating operational and cultural variations that must be taken into account. Further, even within one organization itself, the Charter will have to be flexible in its target audience, which is better understood with a brief description of how an ISO Charter may be utilized at varying authority levels in the same operation. Initially, the Charter would be reviewed by the upper management, possibly delegated to middle management, and ultimately to the rank and file. This being understood, it is also important to understand that everyone must be able to interpret it and adapt what it teaches for their own uses if it is to achieve the ultimate goals that led to the adaptation of the Charter in the first place. The close relationship between the charter and the subsequent ISO standards that will branch out from it are much like blueprints from which a finished product emerges. Because the charter has multi-level participation, precise details of how all areas of the manufacturing facility will be involved in the end goal of quality in line with ISO, and controls in place in the event of errors or problems, the charter possesses the unique ability to literally instill quality in the ISO standard itself. While the viewpoint of some manufacturers is that ISO is best used as an effective means to gain competitive advantage merely by the existence of the ISO logo on finished products, the true intention of correctly used ISO standards- continuous improvement, an assured level of quality, and the means to fix whatever may jeopardize that standard of quality- seems to be more palatable to the majority of manufacturers. This is especially so given the dynamic nature of the competition in some industries. Guided by an efficient charter, the ISO standard can be properly formulated and enacted over the long term in pursuit of quality objectives.

New World of Business

The article â€Å"Knowledge Management for the New World of Business† by Yogesh Malhotra discusses the importance of changes, information technologies and innovations as the main drives of business success. The author shows that attitudes towards knowledge management have been changed and nowadays knowledge management offers new ideas and concepts how to make business successful, innovative and, what is more important, socially responsible.The paper is retrieved from online database through search engines. Despite the paper is online source, the author offers well-supported, well-structured and well-organized study of world business in terms of knowledge management. Further, the paper is directly related with knowledge management filed as the author discusses the importance of knowledge, innovations, information technologies and changes which are known to be key components of knowledge management field. (Malhotra 1998)Malhotra says that today is the era of information technolo gies being associated with knowledge. The author argues that knowledge is critical source in business activity as it drives company either to success or complete failure.   New technologies as, for example, intranets, data-mining, web-casting and video-conferencing, offer new ways of meeting business challenges in knowledge era. Moreover, information technologies are encouraged by press trade. As a result, information technologies positively contribute business performance. For example, intranets and networks are effective in increasing inherent capabilities to facilitate knowledge management. (Malhotra 1998)Business is experiencing transition from the era of competitive advantage to the era of knowledge creation. Earlier business was characterized by low levels of changes and innovations. However, â€Å"the new world of knowledge-based industries is distinguished by its emphasis on precognition and adaptation in contrast to the traditional emphasis on optimization based on predi ction†. (Malhotra 1998) The author argues that knowledge-based business world is characterized by re-definition and re-evaluation of organizational objectives, goals, and missions. Simply saying, the business re-shapes the way of arranging things.Business environment is motivated by radical changes and innovations which â€Å"overwhelm the traditional organizational response of predicting and reacting based on pre-programmed heuristics†. (Malhotra 1998) Modern business world requires anticipatory response, and demands flexibility and resurfacing of old assumptions. Modern world tends not play following predictable rules – instead, it tends to change these rules and to keep changing. As result, new types of organizations have emerged: business ecosystems and virtual corporations. (Malhotra 1998)The author offers his own definition of knowledge management for a new business world and stresses that new definition should go beyond quick and predictable views of many others. Instead, definition should move executives, managers and common employees to think strategically and critically about the purpose of knowledge management. Malhotra says that knowledge managements is critical to organizational adaptation and survival as it drives and monitors environmental changes.Knowledge management â€Å"embodies organizational processes that seek synergistic combination of data and information processing capacity of information technologies, and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings†. (Malhotra 1998) Nevertheless, one problem exists as there is confusion between the terms ‘knowledge’ and ‘information’. The author claims that these notions are distinct entities as information is generated by computer systems and human interpretation of actions, whereas knowledge is of subjective nature.Malhotra recommends business managers to realize that knowledge is imbedded in them and the process of knowledge acquiring is social interactions. It is emphasized that knowledge creation depends solely on human beings as computers are only tools with information-gathering capabilities. New world of business is defined as wicked environment which requires interpretations of information and knowledge. (Malhotra 1998)One more positive moment in the article is that the author offers recommendations how to incorporate knowledge management in business activities. Firstly, it is necessary to refuse to control employees and their behaviors through setting predictable and pre-defined objectives and procedures. Instead, it would be better to create organization being capable of constructing diverse meanings. Secondly, the author recommends re-evaluating companies ideas how to arrange things and practices. Executive managers should consider dynamically changing business environment, as well as external and internal threats.   Thirdly, it is effective to invest in â€Å"multiple and diverse interpretations to ena ble constructive conflict mode of inquiry and, thus, lessen oversimplification of issues or premature decision closure†. (Malhotra 1998)Summing up, new business world offers new opportunities of success and knowledge plays crucial role in this process. New strategies are to encourage human imagination and creativity to promote internal diversity and to meet the needs and demands of the wicked environment.   Knowledge management makes companies and organizations re-think and re-evaluate their goals and practices, as well as use the power of knowledge in finding new ways of improving business performance. (Malhotra 1998)Works CitedMalhotra, Yogesh. 1998. Knowledge Management for the New World of Business. Available at http://www.brint.com/km/whatis.htm.   Accessed March 15, 2008. New World of Business The article â€Å"Knowledge Management for the New World of Business† by Yogesh Malhotra discusses the importance of changes, information technologies and innovations as the main drives of business success. The author shows that attitudes towards knowledge management have been changed and nowadays knowledge management offers new ideas and concepts how to make business successful, innovative and, what is more important, socially responsible. The paper is retrieved from online database through search engines. Despite the paper is online source, the author offers well-supported, well-structured and well-organized study of world business in terms of knowledge management. Further, the paper is directly related with knowledge management filed as the author discusses the importance of knowledge, innovations, information technologies and changes which are known to be key components of knowledge management field. (Malhotra 1998)Malhotra says that today is the era of information technol ogies being associated with knowledge. The author argues that knowledge is critical source in business activity as it drives company either to success or complete failure.   New technologies as, for example, intranets, data-mining, web-casting and video-conferencing, offer new ways of meeting business challenges in knowledge era. Moreover, information technologies are encouraged by press trade. As a result, information technologies positively contribute business performance. For example, intranets and networks are effective in increasing inherent capabilities to facilitate knowledge management. (Malhotra 1998)Business is experiencing transition from the era of competitive advantage to the era of knowledge creation. Earlier business was characterized by low levels of changes and innovations. However, â€Å"the new world of knowledge-based industries is distinguished by its emphasis on precognition and adaptation in contrast to the traditional emphasis on optimization based on pred iction†. (Malhotra 1998) The author argues that knowledge-based business world is characterized by re-definition and re-evaluation of organizational objectives, goals, and missions. Simply saying, the business re-shapes the way of arranging things.Business environment is motivated by radical changes and innovations which â€Å"overwhelm the traditional organizational response of predicting and reacting based on pre-programmed heuristics†. (Malhotra 1998) Modern business world requires anticipatory response, and demands flexibility and resurfacing of old assumptions. Modern world tends not play following predictable rules – instead, it tends to change these rules and to keep changing. As result, new types of organizations have emerged: business ecosystems and virtual corporations. (Malhotra 1998)The author offers his own definition of knowledge management for a new business world and stresses that new definition should go beyond quick and predictable views of many others. Instead, definition should move executives, managers and common employees to think strategically and critically about the purpose of knowledge management. Malhotra says that knowledge managements is critical to organizational adaptation and survival as it drives and monitors environmental changes.Knowledge management â€Å"embodies organizational processes that seek synergistic combination of data and information processing capacity of information technologies, and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings†. (Malhotra 1998) Nevertheless, one problem exists as there is confusion between the terms ‘knowledge’ and ‘information’. The author claims that these notions are distinct entities as information is generated by computer systems and human interpretation of actions, whereas knowledge is of subjective nature.Malhotra recommends business managers to realize that knowledge is imbedded in them and the process of knowledge acquiring i s social interactions. It is emphasized that knowledge creation depends solely on human beings as computers are only tools with information-gathering capabilities. New world of business is defined as wicked environment which requires interpretations of information and knowledge. (Malhotra 1998)One more positive moment in the article is that the author offers recommendations how to incorporate knowledge management in business activities. Firstly, it is necessary to refuse to control employees and their behaviors through setting predictable and pre-defined objectives and procedures. Instead, it would be better to create organization being capable of constructing diverse meanings. Secondly, the author recommends re-evaluating companies ideas how to arrange things and practices. Executive managers should consider dynamically changing business environment, as well as external and internal threats.   Thirdly, it is effective to invest in â€Å"multiple and diverse interpretations to en able constructive conflict mode of inquiry and, thus, lessen oversimplification of issues or premature decision closure†. (Malhotra 1998)Summing up, new business world offers new opportunities of success and knowledge plays crucial role in this process. New strategies are to encourage human imagination and creativity to promote internal diversity and to meet the needs and demands of the wicked environment.   Knowledge management makes companies and organizations re-think and re-evaluate their goals and practices, as well as use the power of knowledge in finding new ways of improving business performance. (Malhotra 1998)Works CitedMalhotra, Yogesh. 1998. Knowledge Management for the New World of Business. Available at http://www.brint.com/km/whatis.htm.   Accessed March 15, 2008.

Sun catcher marketing plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sun catcher marketing plan - Term Paper Example We at Sun Catcher aim to address marketing, and its organization as other vital company functions, say human resources and finance. It was thus imperative that we studied our competitors and their organizations in order to find the challenges they faced in marketing. The challenges included; performance of transactional and tactical tasks by marketing managers rather than their main activities, lack of clear responsibilities and roles within the marketing departments when compared to other functions, selection of external marketing agencies due to relationships rather than tangible performance, repetitive and data intensive marketing activities performed due to lack of information and resource sharing mechanisms, and finally constrainment and stretching of internal marketing talent pool due to minimal specialized professional marketing strategies and training (Wittemen 2). To avoid these pitfalls, Sun Catcher aims to give marketing its executive role by aligning its cost structures to the business model and strategy (Wittemen 2). We aim to do this via allowing the marketing executives to strategize internally and come up with opportunities for economies of scale. This will align market potential with resources. We also aim to apply lean principles by aligning and integrating marketing processes with an aim of increasing efficiency. Investment in technology is also a must if we are to figure out where to make investments in marketing sensibly. This includes use of customer resource management (Wittemen 2). The establishment of effective and flexible structures that segment the marketing department into transactional, strategic, external and internal functions which clarify the activities of each member is vital for sun Catcher’s survival (Wittemen 2). Sun Catcher has several contingency plans in case an emergency, event, or new information becomes available to us. While Sun Catcher would wish not to be befallen by an

Individual Written Comprehensive Care Plan Assignment

Individual Written Comprehensive Care Plan - Assignment Example Dougherty, L & Lister, S. (2011). The Royal Marsden Hospital manual of clinical Nursing procedures, student edition. MA: John Wiley and Sons. Retrieved October 9, 2011, from http://books.google.com/books?id=4AysuLGbMeMC&pg=PT574&dq=Constipation+Care+Plan&hl=en&ei=YdOQTqeUNcS68gOP89UQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDQQ6AEwATgU#v=onepage&q=Constipation%20Care%20Plan&f=true. Stepanek, J. S & University of Maryland. (2008). The experiences and needs of parents whose children died due to degenerative disabilities: A qualitative analysis. MI: ProQuest. Retrieved October 9, 2011, from http://books.google.com/books?id=AafbHJfnszMC&pg=PA14&dq=degenerative+neuromuscular+disease&hl=en&ei=ymuRTpeYA4PF8QPQl403&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=degenerative%20neuromuscular%20disease&f=false. -Holistic health perceives and attach great importance to physical, intellectual, socio-cultural, psychological, and spiritual aspects of a client life that should be integrated in health care planning of the individual (Thresyamma, 2005). -Attaining comprehensive holistic health care involves six critical steps that in most cases occur simultaneously: assessment; diagnosis; outcomes, therapeutic care plan, implementation, and evaluation (Dossey, Keegan, and American Holistic Nurses, 2009). Dossey, B. M., Keegan, L & American Holistic Nurses. (2009). Holistic nursing: a handbook for practice. MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Retrieved October 9, 2011, from

Water pollution here in wisconsin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Water pollution here in wisconsin - Essay Example It is also to be noted that higher efforts and commitments to treating waste water by the authorities and industries responsible, the ever increasing volumes of wastes from the industries and settlements overwhelm the efforts of treatment (By Amy and,Christi, para 1-6). On the other hand, weaknesses in enforcing the legal framework to curb such pollutions coupled with the compromises that result from negligence in the individual industries complicates the process and thus resulting to the ever increasing problem of contamination of water sources. In general, water protection efforts within the city suffer a myriad of issues which includes deep rooted corruption, political pressures, lack of and compromise in health standards, poor inspection and monitoring processes, ineffective riles as well as problems of increased sedimentation. The outcome of such mass pollution of the water sources within the city can be attributed to so many problems basic to which is the health complication to the residents. The discharge of contaminated water into the water sources that serve the city and the suburbs around pose a great risk to the welfare of the people within Wisconsin. Besides the aquatic life in the rivers, streams, and the lakes within the city are exposed to great risk. Fish in particular would be exposed to such risks of death from the contaminated water and this would have adverse effects not only to the populations which rely on the fish for food but also towards the economy at large (Weigel and Dale 691-708). However, the main question that remains critical is on what role the government should play in fight against water pollution within the state and the associated effects? Besides, what are exact effects of water pollution in the city with special regard to aquatic life? Finally, how does fish from contaminated water pose a health risk to the populations living

Are leaders born successful or can they be trained Essay

Are leaders born successful or can they be trained - Essay Example However, to achieve such goals they must have broader skills and trait sets that allow them to think and act globally. Such traits are charisma, creativity, flexibility, achievement drive, motivation, honesty, integrity, self-confidence, cognitive ability and emotional stability (Elliot, 1994). Nevertheless, there is an issue that always arises when we are trying to understand the nature of the leaders. Are such skills and traits inherited or any of us can be trained to become a leader? Are leaders born? This controversial issue has been an object of study for centuries. There are many theories that suggest that to become an authentic leader, one has to be born with a distinct set of personal characteristics. Such as ‘The great man theory of leadership’ that became very popular since the 19th century. Many historians and scientists examined this theory. â€Å"Effective leaders are those gifted with divine inspiration and the right characteristics.† This theory is based on the study of people who were already world’s legendary leaders such us Abraham Lincoln, Julius Caesar, Mahatma Gandhi, and Alexander the Great (Bass, 1990). The conception of Traits Theory of Leadership also suggests that leaders are given special qualities that separate them from their followers. The leadership is defined in terms of traits of personality and character. To be even more precise, (Bird 1940) compiled a list of seventy-nine such attributes, from twenty psychological oriented studies (Bass, 1990). People declared as leaders, or sometimes even as heroes, presented features like superior intelligence, physical strength, moral force, charisma, self-confidence and an unbelievable desire to succeed. Those divine virtues given to them, enabled born leaders to stand out from the masses and achieve great things, regardless of setting or situation (Bass, 1990). Many scientists also consider the phenomena of leadership as the set of the right qualities or persona lity that are innate. The ability to lead is directly linked to one's personality. Moreower, there is a special brain chemistry between leaders and followers. The high levels of serotonin appear to promote leadership (Cawthon, 2006). Numerous contemporary studies have revealed that genes affect a variety of leadership abilities. The innate qualities influence your attitude toward leadership, your willingness to take leadership role and even what kind of leader a person might become. Some portion of your attitude toward leadership is hidden in your DNA. Through many studies, we know that genetics accounts for about 40 percent of the difference between people in what they think of leadership. The same genetic predispositions that accounted for our ancestors’ interest to heading up the hunting party or running the clan, it seems, the same happens today, affecting our lives in modern organizations (Shane, 2010). Professor Scott Shane (2010, pp.122-123) also suggests that the DNA influences whether you move up in your company or not. Because people tend to engage in behaviors that they are good at, those with the genes that predispose them to develop leadership potential are more likely to move toward leadership roles. Genes influence whether you become a leader through your personality traits, social

Samsung Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Samsung - Case Study Example The company underwent a huge transition to a high-end technological manufacturer whose focus was on the B2C market from the B2B market. Most technology consumers had come to associate Samsung with poor quality products. In order to alter the perception with regards to its products, Samsung came up with a restructuring process through a careful study that saw them alter their marketing strategy to meet these challenges. Samsung Electronics altered its strategy from technological segmentation to lifestyle segmenting. They started by carrying out extensive market research aimed at manufactured products, which were reflective of the customers’ lifestyle rather than those with technological features that were specific. By using segmentation by lifestyle, Samsung segmented their market followed by product positions. Samsung focused, on the quality of their products in their marketing, to change the image that consumers in the market had in their products. Samsung implemented quality initiatives like six sigma and various initiatives of manufacturing, like assembly manufacturing, to enhance their output via optimal resource utilization. Samsung also developed new products that were technologically superior and innovative. They developed products that were high end and fun for the phone sector to appeal to the preferences of customers in the market. Samsung integrated features like access dictionaries and the religious texts to appeal to local consumers. In addition, their 50-gram phone was introduced that while it did not significantly increase sales volumes, aided Samsung in projecting its image as a high-tech company. Samsung also associated their company with sport events, for example, by becoming the official sponsor of the Seoul Olympics that boosted its visibility worldwide. Q#2: Compared to established rivals like Sony, Matsushita, and Nokia, Samsung was a late entrant in the global consumer electronics market. Comment on Samsung’s brand building initiatives in the global consumer electronics market. Samsung, beginning in 1993, sought to create a global brand and acquire a new corporate identity. To start with, Samsung altered their logo, writing their full name in white against a blue background, which sought to represent warmth, reliability, and stability. Samsung was also looking to the global market, which informed their decision to change their brand name to English for the consumers worldwide to remember easily. It is also said that the design of their logo, which has the letters S and G partially breaking into the exterior of the oval was representative of Samsung’s will to appeal to the consumer’s wish to be connected to a company and their innovations. They also needed to improve their brand image in the market and they did this by offering technologically advanced and innovative products, as well as the initiation of worldwide marketing activities. These steps were taken with the view of increasing th eir brand visibility across the world. Samsung also sought to attach the name of their brand to quality and this saw them change their focus to high-end market products from those in the low end. Their new product designs won the IDE awards, which increased their brand awareness. This led to Samsung, by the early part of the century, to emerge as one of the world’s biggest brand in the cell phone sector. Their high prices were qualified by their high technology, coupled to additional features that they added to their products in comparison to their

Writing about the meanings of power and privilege Essay

Writing about the meanings of power and privilege - Essay Example Rather than focusing on race itself, however, I will distill the readings related to this module into principles that have been established by studying race while applying those concepts to a different class of individuals; one whose race is not the determining distinction. Although perhaps controversial, I want to apply these observations to academia itself, and contrast what it would feel like to be a member of the working class (out-group) when in the presence of intellectuals (group). In thinking through this comparison, I can see that the principles of racial power and privilege directly translate to issues beyond race. Personal. I wonder what it would feel like to be denied acceptance in a group because I was not considered intellectual; and held political or moral views that were considered un-enlightened or not politically correct. In the presence of a group of intellectuals, I might be tempted to express my personal views on a given subject even though I knew that it would be taken as criticism of their sincerely-held views. As Sassower points out, â€Å"[t]here is a price for even the pedestrian role-playing of a critic. The critic is an ‘outsider’ whose views are suspect and whose motives are scrutinized vigorously...so as to find their flaws and discredit them as quickly and thoroughly as possible† (Sassower 475). Much like race relations, there is an insider/outsider dynamic between those who consider themselves intellectuals and those who are members of the working class. The insiders, on both sides, project superiority and imply inferiority in the outsiders. Herein lies one of the benefits of being a member of a group or preferred class; the ability to be convinced that the group opinion is the right one and any disagreement with that dogma is ignorance. The more intense the group dynamic, the more this concept is justified,