Organization of Study Time

Study and correction aptitudes INFO This segment covers the accompanying thoughts and material: A prologue to amendment strategies, including †¢ idea mapping, ? ow diagrams and psyche maps †¢ arranged correction timing †¢ rehearsing assessment procedure. General investigation techniques Organization of study time The assessments are posing a potential threat. Out of nowhere you understand that you do require your notes and trial work from the most recent year or two. Is it true that they are fit as a fiddle? Well†¦! It merits recollecting that amendment is only that. It shouldn’t be the first occasion when that you have attempted to get to grasps with a subject.Organisation of study propensities over an entire course is an imperative piece of being effective. This positively implies functional things, for example, ensuring that your notes are flawless and comprehensible. However, it likewise incorporates ensuring that you have comprehended the thoughts and associations as you have secured a point. Nothing can be more awful than attempting to learn masses of material that you don’t comprehend. The best groundwork for an assessment starts quite a while before it! This spreads the heap and reduces the strain as the assessment draws near. Figure 1 sums up different parts of getting ready for examinations.The coursework ‘arm’ underlines not just the assortment of good notes legitimately from class, yet in addition the need to take a gander at and utilize material from outside. Perusing reference material and taking valuable notes from it is an aptitude in itself. Table 1 blueprints various techniques for perusing and their motivation. The initial three strategies are increasingly suitable to utilizing books for reference. Be that as it may, there is an expanding number of famous science books and magazines for which the last two techniques are suitable. Furthermore, there is an expanding measure of reference material no w accessible on CD-ROM and, most fundamentally, the internet.You should discover methods of utilizing this material, as it gives an increasingly intelligent introduction of the material. The capacity to make notes and subject rundowns as you work through a course is significant, as they would then be able to be utilized as a beginning stage for amendment. You ought not consider pragmatic work in science as discrete from other classwork. The thoughts and point by point data from the practicals are significant in fortifying your comprehension of a theme. To be sure, a specific analysis may assist you with remembering and comprehend an essential thought †providing you a visual insight on which to ‘hang’ the thought in your memory. Cambridge University Press IGCSE Chemistry Study and amendment aptitudes 1 perusing CD-ROM down to earth work classnotes COURSEWORK audit cards synopsis sheets Information what amount? when? arachnid outlines Or gan isin theme records mind m aps gn ote s O n rga g isin tim e take breaks REVISION SKILLS utilize a plan u St sk sick watchwords and thoughts s dy bi ha stick to schedule or y ts M em reasonable spot customary surveys use synopses, insect charts and brain maps Figure 1 Revision includes association and the improvement of specific aptitudes. alone or with a companion ime of day Type of perusing skimming filtering intelligent perusing identifying inclination perusing for delight Method searching for the principle points searching for explicit data perusing cautiously and attentively, with tender loving care isolating truth from supposition perusing at own pace Purpose to increase a general impression to discover specific realities or decisions to get an exhaustive comprehension of a theme to shape a chose impression of a questionable territory to increase a vibe for a subject, and for happiness Table 1 Different techniques for perusing and their purpose.This book, and the going with materials, are pointed explic itly at understudies taking the Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry course. This is a course and capability with a high worldwide notoriety. 2  © Cambridge University Press IGCSE Chemistry Study and modification abilities INFO There is a superb site for Cambridge IGCSE understudies, at: www. cambridgestudents. organization. uk/subjectpages/science/igcsechemistry Do investigate this site. You will ? nd duplicates of past papers, model responses to past inquiries, a few recreations, and modification agendas dependent on the syllabus.The tips from inspectors are there to assist you with doing admirably in the test and are absolutely worth observing. The site merits visiting normally, as new material and modern papers are added to it. Beginning We have said it before, and it very well may be exhausting to rehash it, yet it stays genuine no different: to ensure a high evaluation in your last assessments you should buckle down all through your course. Here are a few hints to assist you with utili zing the time you put in on your work in science. Ensure you have a duplicate of the IGCSE Chemistry syllabus.There is one given on this CD which additionally gives you direction with regards to where in the book the various subjects are secured. It is significant you know the course you are taking and the manner by which you will be evaluated. IGCSE tests aren’t pretty much learning realities. You should have the option to comprehend your work and become adequately positive about your comprehension to address inquiries concerning things you have never met. You should have the option to move your insight in a specific region to a model that will be new to you.The IGCSE analysts will set inquiries to test three arrangements of aptitudes (they are known as Assessment Objectives). These are: †¢ Skill An: information with comprehension †¢ Skill B: dealing with data and tackling issues †¢ Skill C: trial aptitudes and examinations. About half of the considerable numb er of imprints in the test are for expertise A, 30% for ability B and 20% for aptitude C. Aptitude An is tied in with learning and seeing the real factors and ideas in the prospectus. These are shrouded in your reading material, and your instructor will ensure you have met them all in class as your course progresses.There are no tricky alternate routes, it is basically an instance of getting your head down and working at these. Ability B is tied in with utilizing these realities and ideas and applying them to a new setting. It’s significant that you become certain about handling addresses that, from the start sight, look totally new. The exercise manual will give you bunches of training at this. Attempting past inquiry papers will likewise assist with testing this expertise, however there will at present be bizarre material that you will meet without precedent for the test. The accompanying ‘model test question’ is like the kind of inquiry found on an all-inclusi ve paper and will give you some thought of what to expect.Cathodic insurance of steel objects isn't referenced in the prospectus while conciliatory assurance is. However here you are approached to think about the two utilizing your insight and comprehension of electrolysis. Expertise C is about down to earth aptitudes. You ought to have a lot of chance to do tests in a research facility all through your course. The exercise manual likewise has practices that will assist you with improving your aptitudes at dealing with and deciphering information got from examinations, and structuring tests. Be that as it may, ensure you gain the most you can from your reasonable sessions.Chapter 12 gives you clear direction about what is associated with the appraisal of your useful work.  © Cambridge University Press IGCSE Chemistry Study and update abilities 3 Model Q Questions For important material, see Chapter 9. Titanium is extremely impervious to erosion. One of its uses is as a terminal in the cathodic assurance of enormous steel structures from rusting. + power †steel oil rig which is cathode titanium anode seawater contains H+(aq), OHâ€(aq), Na+(aq), Cl â€(aq) a Define oxidation and decrease as far as electron transfer.Oxidation is the loss of electrons Reduction is the addition of electrons HINT: Remember OIL RIG †to help recollect ‘oxidation is misfortune; decrease is gain’ [2] b The steel oil rig is the negative terminal (cathode) in this defensive electrolytic course of action. Name the gas shaped at this cathode. Hydrogen HINT: Discharge of H+ particles from the seawater. [1] c Name one of the two potential gases shaped at the titanium anode. Oxygen (or chlorine) HINT: Discharge of OH? particles or Cl? from the seawater. [1] d Explain why the oil rig doesn't rust.T oil rig legs are the cathode in the cell that is set up (see diagram)he and oxidation doesn't occur at the cathode (electrons are moving towards the cathode, not away fr om it). Clue: See Chapter 4 †oxidation happens at the anode in electrolysis; decrease happens at the cathode. Try not to mistake this for sacri? cial assurance. [2] e Another method of shielding steel from erosion that includes utilizing another metal is conciliatory security. Give two contrasts between conciliatory assurance and cathodic protection.Cathodic security includes electrolysis and requirements power; it utilizes a latent anode (here made of titanium). Conciliatory assurance needs an increasingly responsive metal; this metal erodes rather than the steel. Conciliatory insurance needn't bother with power. f What is the name of the strategy for rust security that utilizations zinc? Galvanisation [2] [1] 4  © Cambridge University Press IGCSE Chemistry Study and update aptitudes Keeping up progress During the course you will be offered work to do. Attempt to work consistently through all the fundamental material all through your course. It is extremely significant that you stay aware of this.Don’t set out to make life hard for yourself. Do ensure that you see each bit of work you do. Examination shows that we think that its a lot simpler to learn and recollect things on the off chance that we get them. In the event that there is something you don’t comprehend, ensure you do all that you can to set this privilege on the right track away. Regularly working through a theme with a companion will help. Utilize your school library or the web. Be cautious about the web, however, the same number of science locales are composed for different courses in various nations. The

Enhanced ACT Writing Test

Improved ACT Writing Test The individuals behind the ACT association are certainly continually endeavoring to improve the test they regulate. They make ceaseless upgrades without making radical, widely inclusive changes. Once of the progressions going to the ACT test is an Enhanced ACT Writing Test. It supplanted the old ACT Essay in the fall of 2015. Improved ACT Writing Test Basics 1 brief that gives an announcement and three alternate points of view on the statement.40 minutes6 various scores The Prompt At the point when you get your test, youll get a test booklet with a brief inside which will appear to be very unique from the ACT prompts from an earlier time. Youll read a passage that presents a questionable issue and gives some foundation to the issue. At that point, beneath that, youll read three alternate points of view on the thought introduced. At that point, youll get your composing task. Your Essay Task After you read, its opportunity to design and compose. Youll get two pages of arranging space in the test booklet and provocative inquiries to help control you to more profound significance in your exposition like these: What bits of knowledge do the alternate points of view offer, and what do they neglect to consider?Why may they be convincing to other people, or for what reason may they neglect to persuade?What is your viewpoint on this issue, and what are its qualities and weaknesses?How will you bolster your point of view in your exposition? The graders are anticipating that you should do the accompanying three things in your article: Assess and examine the given perspectivesState and build up your own point of view on the topicExplain the connection between your viewpoint and those introduced Composing Prompt Samples Need to rehearse those composing abilities? Here are a few prompts to get you going:â Upgraded ACT Writing Prompts Upgraded ACT Writing Scoring Considering youll get six unique scores for this paper, it makes sense that you should recognize what they are. The primary score will be a number somewhere in the range of 1 and 36, which is only your standard ACT subject level grade. This won't be arrived at the midpoint of into your general composite ACT score, be that as it may, as the Essay test is viewed as discretionary. The subsequent score will be another one. This score, again somewhere in the range of 1 and 36 will be a consolidated score with the English and Reading tests. Its called the ELA score. Once more, this won't influence your composite score. The last four scores †space scores - will cover the substance of your composition, giving you a greatly improved thought of your qualities and shortcomings in the composing make. The space zones are these: Thoughts and Analysis: These scores will give you how well you comprehended the issue introduced, made beneficial reactions, considered your composing task, assessed and broke down the three alternate points of view on the issue, and utilized explanatory procedures like rationale, passionate interests and moral interests. Improvement and Support: These scores will show how well you clarified and validated your cases, thoughts and contentions. High scores will go to understudies who examine and expand on thoughts, verifying that they are important with point by point enticing models and cautious, astute thinking. Youll see where youve utilized solid proof from both your own understanding and information base.Scores in this class mirror a student’s capacity to show, clarify, and validate cases and Organization: The scores for this area will exhibit your capacity to manufacture a contention intelligently, string your thoughts together deliberately and compose obviously in a sorte d out way. Language Use and Conventions: The scores for this segment will show your capacity in composed English, explicitly as its utilized for influential composition. High scores will show power over punctuation and shows, sentence structure, word decision, spelling, voice, tone and mechanics. Improve Your Writing Regardless of whether youre taking the ACT this year or next,â you can improve your composition with only a couple of straightforward stunts. Need to know more? Instructions to Write a Top-Scoring Essay on the Enhanced ACT Writing Test.

Gilgamesh and Odysseus Essay

Odysseus fundamental test is to help rout the Trojans in the clash of the Trojan pony. All the men who endure the war and the ocean were securely back at home, other than Odysseus, he despite everything had a long excursion in front of him. In the start of his excursion, his test was brought upon him by the incredible God of the ocean Poseidon. Poseidon became Odysseus foe after a Cyclops held him and his crewmates hostage. In the wake of getting away from the Cyclops, Odysseus blinded it with fire and his blade. The Cyclops was the child of Poseidon, subsequent to mentioning to his father what happened Poseidon turned out to be brimming with fury and pledged to Odysseus that he would pay for what he had done, and he would meander the oceans for a long time as his discipline. In the wake of leaving the island of the Cyclops, Odysseus experienced Aeolus, who gave him a pack of winds that would have guided him back to Ithaca. Be that as it may, one of the crewmembers was restless to pe rceive what was taken care of, that he opened the sack while Odysseus was dozing. Seeing that Odysseus was the one in particular that was coordinated to open the pack this made horrendous breezes come out which brushed the men further off base. After numerous different difficulties, adrift Odysseus wound up the main survivor. A couple of days after the fact, he went to the island of the goddess Calypso; she fell frantically enamored with him, and held hostage on her island for a long time. Upon that seventh year things began to change for Odysseus. Athena, little girl of Zeus and Odysseus’ defender, talked about his destiny with different divine beings that who collected in Zeus’ home. The entirety of the divine beings other than Poseidon felt for Odysseus, on account of what he did to his child. Zeus anyway advised the God Hermes to advise Calypso to release him and give him a pontoon, nourishment, and apparel for his excursion to Ithaca; this didn't settle will with Poseidon. Poseidon again destroyed Odysseus’ pontoon and which drove him to need to swim to an island bare and depleted. He woke with snickering ladies around him, who took Odysseus to meet there guardians. They later discovered what his identity was and his job in the Trojan war and helped him on his excursion back home. A couple of more things that occurred in his excursion back home. At the point when Odysseus at long last returned home back to Ithaca to be with his family he acknowledged what he abandoned considerably more. Odysseus when through numerous tests, all truly, mental, and passionate yet he despite everything endure and defeated his afflictions. A lady a goddess framed Enkidu from mud, by the name of Aruru. A lady (Shamhat) enticed Enkidu. Gilgamesh sent Shamhat, the mistress to Enkidu as a blessing however Enkidu was excessively loaded with himself to comprehend the profundity and ramifications of it. The intercourse was for six days and seven evenings. Shamhat was as far as anyone knows helped Enkidu become a man and a socialized individual. They discovered that the adoration for a lady was esteemed over all others. Taking everything into account, the principle examinations between the excursions of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey were men confronting a few hardships that ladies had been the primary driver of the issues and difficulties. In Gilgamesh, Enkidu had difficulties from the goddess and in Odyssey; Odysseus had difficulties from the divine beings and goddess.

The Ultimate Solution for List of Social Justice Issues That You Can Learn About Today

The Ultimate Solution for List of Social Justice Issues That You Can Learn About Today Getting the Best List of Social Justice Issues The period justice usually means that folks are treated in accord with their deserts. Joshua Cohen disputes his claims based on how some poor nations have done well with the present institutional design. It's the gravest of all crimes in the opinion of the law. After all, you're using the laws framed by the founders of the usa, and those resonate with the concept that all men are made equal. It is essential to make sure that you implement social justice values in your household instead of just on the world wide web. On-line service providers that allow all types of user generated content are faced with assorted copyright infringement problems. Some databases also incorporate unredacted criminal investigative material which is not subject to public information laws. Even if a particular exception isn't met, the government may still restrain speech in many ways, based on the means utilized. Poverty results in inadequate healthcare which creates a larger burden of securing funds to pay for health treatments for the poor. Policy issues can relate to the medical insurance industry in the us too. Social justice doesn't always need to be about something which has a monumental scale, like obtaining a law passed by Congress. Social justice is all about the little individuals, not grand gestures. As a consequence, there's been disagreement in the interpretation of what conduct could lead to liability. In many instances, the harshness of the crime can land a defendant in the adult court system irrespective of age. It doesn't conduct investigations. There is not any evidence of targeting or some other impropriety related to his selection for testing. Classrooms can also offer time for collaboration toward a frequent objective. Students and teachers might even be inspired to begin their very own philanthropic cause! STEM education is critical for a wholesome economy. Comprehensive civics education is essential for a wholesome democracy. List of Social Justice Issues - the Story Small, courageous steps are able to make a difference! As opposed to just considering the person who has needs, social justice requires a step back to have a look at the social, political, or financial aspects which are affecting whole groups of men and women in crisis. The policies affecting social workers today can result in food deserts forming and people who are unable to afford to become sick. This fundamental freedom involves the right to distribute literature and go over a great number of viewseven views distasteful to the majority of people. Part of this relates to the individuals who grew to depend on those services while unemployed before, but in addition, it can relate to the absence of funding those services get and to the individuals using those services but don't require assist. Social workers in rural locations, therefore, must be ready for the distinctive environment they will face on a daily basis. Becoming mindful of the problems happening in the nation and the world and wanting to understand marginalized people is quite important. A woman in practically every nation in the world is disadvantaged by an international system of male privilege. The fact is that a man's experience isn't exactly like a woman's experience. Ethnocentrism is a system which elevates one particular culture above another, judging different groups as inferior dependent on the standards and values of an individual's own culture. For instance, if you find you've white privilege, you can find out the way you can bring issues of racial justice to the front part of the table in spaces that you've got access to that people of color may not. There's no limit to the notion of sharing. Being a real person of color doesn't indicate you've got the authority to talk on behalf of black people if you're a non-black person of color. The issue with using a comparison to determine value is the fact that it unquestionably assumes there is a value to be measured.

Shakespeares Othello - Character Development of Iago,...

Character Development of Iago, Desdemona and Othello The three characters of Iago, Desdemona and Othello are gradually revealed to the audience as Act One unfolds. All three are linked to one another and talk to and about each other. Their characters unfold through their interaction with others and how they behave in isolation. The first impression formed of Iago comes from what Roderigo says. Being gullible, Roderigo has given Iago his purse. A character who accepts an offer like this is likely to be of doubtful reputation. The first words spoken by Iago are a strong oath. Already it is obvious that he has little respect for religion. Iago also sees little point in fighting purely in theory. He despises Cassio, partly because he†¦show more content†¦He has a disrespect for most things and cannot even be truthful to himself. He declares that Heaven will be his judge. This is unfortunate, taking into account the sort of curses he uses. Desdemona is described by others before the audience sees her speak for herself. Despite Iago s coarse references, her father and husband describe her as being a gentle, loving woman. Even Iago dares not refer to Desdemona in anything other than glowing terms in the presence of her father. Brabantios assumption that she must have been drugged to fall in love with Othello stems not only from his racial bigotry, but also from his belief that his daughter is tender, fair and happy (1,2,66) Desdemonas reported sympathy and interest for Othellos tales of bravery paint a picture of an ordinary, kind young woman. When she is summoned to support Othellos story, she realises that her loyalties are divided. Her consideration for her fathers anger is shown by the way she asks not to live with him. Her reasoning is that he would then not be angered by her presence. Both Desdemona and Othello are respectful towards the lords while explaining their story of love. Perhaps this is simply their polite manner. However, their way of dealing with a tricky situation is clever. Flattering the lords and showing all due respect is destinedShow MoreRelatedOthello: Good vs Evil1525 Words   |  7 PagesMain Characters William Shakespeare’s Othello is a classic depiction of a struggle between good and evil. In the play,, the characters are faced with the choice to either conquer or succumb to the overpowering force of evil. Shakespeare places his characters on a sort of spectrum in which a character’s amount of god or evil can be represented by a shade of color: black representing pure evil, white representing absolute goodness, and a shade of grey exemplifying the nature of all characters thatRead MoreOthello, By William Shakespeare1599 Words   |  7 Pages William Shakespeare’s 16th century play Othello is a duplicitous and fraudulent tale set alternatingly between Venice in act 1, and the island of Cyprus thereafter. The play follows the scandalous marriage between protagonist Othello, a Christian moore and the general of the army of Venice, and Desdemona, a respected and intelligent woman who also happens to be the daughter of the Venetian Senator Brabantio. Shakespeare undoubtedly positions the marriage to be viewed as heroic and noble, despiteRead MoreFoils in Othello1326 Words   |  6 PagesThe Foils of Othello One of William Shakespeare’s many attributes as a playwright of the late 16th century was his character development. Shakespeare’s seamless use of indirect characterization sets his works apart from the other playwrights and authors of his time. In Othello, the Shakespearian tragedy about the newlywed Othello and Desdemona, Shakespeare uses character foils to emphasize the strengths and weaknesses of the characters. By making inwardly similar characters seem like polar oppositesRead MoreIn Shakespeare’s Othello, race is a concept that is only minimally explored. 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Emilia is the lone character who garners the knowledge to all circumstances of the events surrounding the characters in Othello the Moor.   Although other characters in the play are privy to certain details of the unfoldingRead MoreRacism In Othello Analysis829 Words   |  4 PagesRacism in Othello.† Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 3, Oct. 1993, p. 304. In this article, the author relates the idea of primal scene to racism in â€Å"Othello†. Primal scene is a psychoanalysis theory by Sigmund Freud. This theory claims once a child imagines or sees their parents having sexual relations they will be unable to repress this image from reappearing in their mind. The author relates this t heory to the play â€Å"Othello† by mentioningRead MoreIf Othello Had Been Written in Modern Times How Would It Differ1246 Words   |  5 PagesSpecific question: If Othello had been set in a modern era, how would it differ? Title of text: Othello Task is related to course section Pt 4: Literature- Critical Study, The individual, Community and Identity Task focus: The aim of this essay is to analyse how Shakespeare’s play Othello would differ if it had been set in a politically correct and modern society such as ours. If Othello had been set in a modern era, how would it differ? The play Othello is a tragedy written byRead MoreCompare and Contrast of Desdemona and Emilia1295 Words   |  6 PagesAs one of Shakespeares famous tragedies, â€Å"Othello†, is a play that not only shows the love and the humanistic ideal destroyed, but also shows the tragic fortune of women in the era of the patriarchal society. (Snow 384) This play includes several main themes of love tragedies delivered through some contrasting values and characters such as love and jealousy, trust and breach of trust etc. Desdemona, a representative of the perfect embodiment of a faithful loving wife, eventually killed by herRead MoreHis Moorships Ancient: Iago as the Protagonist of Othello1658 Words   |  7 Pagesunfavorable and evil attributes serve Shakespeares main characters by presenting them as realistically written men, and there always seems a degree, however small, of sympathy associated with their respective downfalls and tragedies. Othello, however, is an anomaly. While he is flawed by his paranoia and pride, Othello is only unstable and destructive after intricate deception. Indeed, he seems maddeningly perfect to his adversaries. Even Othellos greatest enemy, Iago, confesses in act I, scene i, WereRead MoreExamples Of Othello As A Revenge Tragedy1022 Words   |  5 Pages The development of revenge tragedy has brought the harsh truths of humanity to light and caused the literary world to be more accustom to grotesque natures revolving around vindictive motives. Lucius Seneca wrote a variety of closet dramas which were the models for the revival of tragedy in the Renaissance period. In the book Poetics the Greek philosopher Aristotle formulated his own theory of tragedy based on his observations of other successful tragedies of the time, possibly drawing from Seneca

Producing the First Atomic Bomb - 551 Words

Introduction Uranium is a dense radioactive metal that is used in nuclear reactors. It is found in nature and has two large isotopes, U-235 and U-238. The energy that is produced in nuclear reactors is from the splitting or fission of the U-235 atoms. It releases energy in most cases in the form of heat; U-235 is the main splitting isotope of uranium. Uranium enriched is required to be in light water reactors, which allows controlled nuclear reaction. Processes for Uranium Enrichment When producing the first atomic bomb, scientists from the Manhattan Project thought about multiple processes for uranium enrichment, now we have a few that we use which is Gaseous Diffusion also known as Effusion, Gas Centrifuge, and Laser separation. Gaseous diffusion is a technology that produces enriched uranium by forcing uranium hexafluoride through pipelines and then pumped through filters called barriers. This makes it where there is a slight separation between molecules, which contain uranium 235, and uranium 238. There are hundreds of barriers because one barrier isn’t enough to make uranium hexafluoride gas contain enough U238 that can be used in reactors. We only have on plant left and it is located in Paducah, Kentucky. The Gas Centrifuge was made to replace Gaseous Diffusion, it is a device that performs isotope separation of gases and it’s the preferred way because it takes less time, and takes less energy. We have these pl ants in New Mexico, Idaho and Ohio. Laser separation isShow MoreRelatedEssay about Nuclear Disarmament1349 Words   |  6 Pagesworld’s awareness on attempting to control nuclear stockpiles. Also, there are concerns of nuclear power plants producing uranium and plutonium as a by-product; the two fuels are used in producing nuclear devices. Although these nuclear power plants were never meant to produce uranium and plutonium, countries have left it available to civilians for research and testing.1 Nuclear bombs can be a result of this experimenting, which is why some form of disarmament and a system of verification on nuclearRead MoreUSSR Will Get a Bomb, It Just Matters if US Can Hold Them Off1498 Words   |  6 Pageswill get a bomb, it just matters if US can hold tehm off Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) should have shared limited information on the Manhattan Project with the Soviet Union (USSR) in order to bolster the integrity of their momentary coalition, promote international scientific collaboration, as well as prevent the eventual possibility of a nuclear armaments race. By the end of WWII Soviets spies had so deeply infiltrated the Manhattan Project that the possibility of keeping atomic weapons underRead MoreAmerica Chose To Drop Atomic Bombs On Japan, And This Affected1314 Words   |  6 PagesAmerica chose to drop atomic bombs on Japan, and this affected the war and the country in many ways. America was trying to stop the war and make Japan surrender. Atomic bombs, which are nuclear weapons, were dropped by the United States on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Atomic bombs terrify everyone today, but at that time, they were considered an indispensable step for an early end to the war with minimal human losses. Some people belie ved the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki wereRead MoreThe Atomic Bomb : Manhattan Project1331 Words   |  6 PagesTopic: The Atomic Bomb: Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development project that produced the first nuclear weapons during World War II. The Manhattan project was the invention of the first two nuclear bombs, Fat man and little boy. These two bombs were dropped on Japanese islands to end World War II. Math The formula E=MC2 is responsible for the immense power of the Atomic Bomb. E = mc2, equation in German-born physicist Albert Einstein’s theoryRead MoreThe Atomic Bomb : Manhattan Project1112 Words   |  5 PagesTopic: The Atomic Bomb: Manhattan Project What is it: The Manhattan Project was a research and development project that produced the first nuclear weapons during World War II. the manhattan project was the invention of the first two nuclear bombs, Fat man and little boy.These two bombs were dropped on japanese islands to end World War II. Math: The formula E=MC2 is responsible for the immense power of the Atomic Bomb. 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This was a major asset that led the U.S into beating Japan and caused the war to cumulate. The Manhattan Project brought nations together, took the necessary meas ure to end World War II, and gave America multiple industrial advancements used in modern day warfare. The Manhattan Project was the code name for the effort to produce the first atomic bomb during WWII. The project began in 1939, when two scientists accomplished atomic fission in uranium. TheseRead More Individual and Society: Nuclear Weapons Essay657 Words   |  3 PagesIndividual and Society: Nuclear Weapons The background of atomic weapons begins in 1896 with the discovery of radioactivity by Beoquerel. The nuclear age however, really erupted in the 1940’s. since that decade, many individuals have contributed to developing the nuclear arms race. The evolution of nuclear weapons has made a large impact on society by causing a great deal of trauma, dispute and competition. Nuclear weapons developed in the 1940’s. 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Effect of Supply Chain Management on Customer Satisfaction - Samples

Question: Discuss about the Effect of Supply Chain Management on Customer Satisfaction. Answer: Summary of different cases By reading all the 5 research papers on supply chain management, it was clear to understand thatSupply chain management explain the process of planning, procuring as well as sourcing and controlling the movement of raw materials to finished goods (Zhu, Sarkis Lai, 2013). The administration of the company in supply chain need proper set of objectives that gets involved as well as leads to maximizing products and services from prospective customers. The main objective of supply chainmanagement is divided into two goals that constantly identify the needs as well as desire of customers and the factor that affect the needs, desires and preferences. In addition, flexible communication systems properly help with the information flow from one business to other. It help in developing systems and implementing request from customers where the company has the ability to produce, deal out and transfer products at the right place and right time to the clientele. To summarize each of the cases in detail, it is important to gather facts and data from reliable sources that are about Supply ChainManagement and how far it is linked with customer satisfaction (Yu et al., 2013). Research objectives and research questions The segment properly highlights about research questions and research objectives and points out how the research have been designed as well as whether it can match with the objectives in the most appropriate way (Xu Gursoy, 2015). The segment even discuss about the way on how the research objectives are used to link with the given research topic on Effect of Supply Chain Management on Customer Satisfaction. Research objectives To provide information as well as data about supply chain management and impact on improving sales and customer service To highlight the effect of supply chain management on customer satisfaction To improve sales management as well as customer service for achieving comprehensive development To improve the quality of their supply chain management for gaining preferences with customers after enhancing the value provided (Zhu, Sarkis Lai, 2013) Research questions How far information can be gathered from supply chain management and the impact on improving sales and customer service? What is the effect of supply chain management on customer satisfaction? How to improve sales management and customer service for achieving comprehensive development? How to improve the quality of supply chain management for gaining preferences with customers after value enhancement? Who are the key supply chain members with whom to link the process? What level of incorporation and administration need to be applied for each of the process link? What process needs to be linked with each of the supply chain members? Literature review This segment explain about literature review after properly reading 5 research paper that links with the research topic on Effect of Supply Chain Management on Customer Satisfaction (Wu et al., 2015). The segment critically analyzes the literature individually where each of the new aspects has the potential to inform the reader some of the aspects that are not known before. The sources of data that are cited in the review of literature are peer-reviewed journal articles that are published after 2012 and are recent at the same time. The literature review had been properly evaluated and published by experts who deal or work practically in these areas that being more authentic information before the reader who is going to refer the study in the near future (Zhu, Sarkis Lai, 2013). As rightly put forward by Golicic Smith (2013), Supply Chain concept is a new concept that starts from 1980 and used by companies that operates in commercial sector and industrial activities. In addition, supply chain is a stage and very complex task due to its actual actuality. Furthermore, supply chain management seeks to improve control as well as competence especially in manufacturing and allocation as it shows strong relationship between suppliers and distributors (Zhu, Sarkis Lai, 2013). The mechanism used in this system will help in enhancing the level of competitiveness as well as achieving customer satisfaction at the same time. The Supply Chain Management system of any company is largely influences the customer satisfaction and that give rise to profitability of the business enterprise. Nowadays, the manufacturers understood that the Supply Chain Management can be easily leveraged in offering customer satisfaction and value after removing the barricades between suppliers and customers. In addition, the decision is taken by the management as it links with the Supply Chain Management as it is detrimental to the effectiveness as well as profitability of the entire chain. Good Supply Chain Management ads up to customer satisfaction as it deliver the products in fastest time as well as without errors and reduce the lead time to the orders (Wisner, Tan Leong, 2014). Main business theories The present segment explains about theories used in Supply Chain Management with proper justification and pictorial representation of the frameworks. With the help of these theories, it is easy to gather facts about supply chain management framework and link with customer satisfaction aspects as far as possible (Bustinza, Parry Vendrell-Herrero, 2013). Christopher (2016) identifies three dimensions of involvement that affect outcomes in supplier relationships where the activities are carried out and can be tightly coordinated at the same time. Traditional Supply Chain Management applications in actual falls short as it help manufacturers for managing one of the critical elements by understanding the relationships with the suppliers. The above model explain supply chain management framework for improving the cooperation that are required in the partner selection (Dubey, Gunasekaran Ali, 2015). Interpretive structural modeling is one of the interactive learning processes into a comprehensive systematic model (Zhu, Sarkis Lai, 2013). Even the model highlights the structure of a complex issue or problem as it designs the pattern that implies graphics and words. Interpretive structural model methodology actually helps in imposing order as well as direction on the complexity of relationships among elements of a system. There are several steps that is included in interpretive structural modeling for identifying variables as it is relevant to significant problem or issue. It mainly establishes contextual relationship with the other variables. It is important to understand the fact that the structural model generates from the final reach ability matrix as it removes the transitivities (Rushton, Croucher Baker, 2014). Most of the companies have a tendency to maintain long-term relationships with the suppliers that is purely based upon precision and balance that follows the form of negotiation, partnership and cooperation (Alfalla-Luque, Marin-Garcia Medina-Lopez, 2015). On analysis, it is noted that with cooperation, it help companies to visit supplier factories and try out some of the innovative methods for bringing improvement in the procurement process and giving freedom to work upon the product at the same time. Negotiation, on the other hand is one of the essential stage or process used for selecting any of the supplier who will deal with negotiations and relies upon certain practices (Zhu, Sarkis Lai, 2013). These activities or practices further take into three other forms such as price based on market or price based on cost or competitive bidding. In case of partnership, it means proper convergence relationship between the company as well as supplier that include various trends and share common trust and success. Companies aim at maintaining long-term relationships to get the partnership as well as determining the extent of relationship with the suppliers in an effective way (Ahi Searcy, 2013). Research methodology Qualitative or quantitative The present segment explains about choice of type research that should be evaluated by the researcher at the time of conducting the research (Zhu, Sarkis Lai, 2013). It is for this reason both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods are explained in the study and provided with justification for the same as to which or both the methods should be used as it links with the research topic in the most appropriate way. In the next segment, research design is also mentioned that include descriptive, exploratory or causal research design as it need to be understood and decided by the researcher before planning for the given research study (Peng et al., 2016). Both qualitative and quantitative literature had been used by the researcher for this research study as it will help in providing more insights of information about the research topic on Supply Chain Management (Wisner, Tan Leong, 2014). Qualitative research is used in the study as it helps in uncovering the trends in thoughts and opinions that is used for solving the problem or issue. The data collection methods mainly vary upon using unstructured as well as semi-structured techniques. Qualitative research takes into account non-numerical data (Monczka et al., 2015). On the other hand, quantitative research generates mainly numerical data or information as it is converted into numbers. From the information gathered, it is clear to understand that modern business are looking ways for generating customers as well as establishing a positive relationship. In addition, even the modern companies are looking at customers as a true partner as well as aims at working with them in order to develop positive long-term relationships. This relationship will help the company to achieve further competitive advantage as it cannot be imitated by any of the closest competitors. The companies even have to plan out a strategy where they can attract as well as retain existing customers and plan to acquire new customers as well. The main focus of these companies is to maintain close and long-term relationships with the customers as well as providing high class and deluxe products and services for satisfying needs of customers and desire to reach high level of satisfaction at the end. The business enterprise relies mainly upon formulating as well as building relationship with the customer s by using simple strategies and conducting market research where information can be gathered about needs and preferences of the customers (Zhu, Sarkis Lai, 2013). Therefore, in order to achieve competitive advantage, it is important or necessary for the business enterprise to plan out ways to add continuous value to its customers as well as creates needed behaviors for generating and delivering superior value to the customers in the most appropriate way. It is the process of supplying and selecting suppliers that shows interdependent relationships as it begins with identifying and describing the supplier needs of companies and also for determining the sources in an effective way (Wisner, Tan Leong, 2014). Exploratory descriptive or causal It is important for the researcher to evaluate whether to use exploratory research or descriptive research or causal research design for this particular research study. Exploratory research design helps in providing better understanding of a situation and used for producing hypothesis. This means statement as it describes how two or more variables are related with each other (Jacobs, Yu Chavez, 2016). Exploratory research design emphasis mainly on gaining proper ideas as well as insights of information for present research study Descriptive research design is used for describing the characteristics of population or situation that is being studied. Descriptive research design emphasis upon determining the frequency where covariance takes place between two variables Causal research design properly used for testing the hypothesis for particular research study and emphasis upon determining the cause as well as effect relationships (Wisner, Tan Leong, 2014) Evaluating the sampling design Probability or non-probability sampling Probability sampling is one of the sampling techniques where the subjects of population get an equal opportunity for getting selected as a representative sample. On the other hand, non-probability sampling is one of the sampling techniques where the individual will be selected as a sample (Heckmann, Comes Nickel, 2015). Probability sampling is also known as random sampling and non-probability sampling is also known non-random sampling. For probability sampling, hypothesis is tested and for non-probability sampling, hypothesis is generated at the same time. Method used for probability sampling is objective and for non-probability sampling is subjective by nature. The result from probability sampling is unbiased but biased in case of non-probability sampling (Zhu, Sarkis Lai, 2013). Combination of sampling methods For this particular research study, the researcher had conducted random sampling method for selecting population and analyzing in case of quantitative data. On the other hand, convenience sampling is used in case of qualitative data (Wisner, Tan Leong, 2014). Sampling size For quantitative study, the researcher had distributed questionnaire on the target population by targeting the majority of companies that operates in China. The questionnaires were distributed to 56 professors and experts as it reflect assumptions and developed by researcher as well as serve the research in an accurate way. For qualitative study, the researcher had conducted interview with 4 managers who are working under manufacturing companies in China (Wisner, Tan Leong, 2014). Choice of research instruments used The research instruments used in the study is questionnaire, interview and secondary sources of data that should be reliable and valid at the same time. There are different choice of research that needs to be understood by the researcher that includes surveys, interviews, experiments and secondary data. For this particular study, researcher had selected interview and questionnaire research instrument for carrying out the research in the most appropriate way. References Ahi, P., Searcy, C. (2013). A comparative literature analysis of definitions for green and sustainable supply chain management.Journal of Cleaner Production,52, 329-341. Alfalla-Luque, R., Marin-Garcia, J. A., Medina-Lopez, C. (2015). An analysis of the direct and mediated effects of employee commitment and supply chain integration on organisational performance.International Journal of Production Economics,162, 242-257. Christopher, M. (2016).Logistics supply chain management. Pearson UK. Dubey, R., Gunasekaran, A., Ali, S. S. (2015). Exploring the relationship between leadership, operational practices, institutional pressures and environmental performance: A framework for green supply chain.International Journal of Production Economics,160, 120-132.Bustinza, O., C. Parry, G., Vendrell-Herrero, F. (2013). Supply and demand chain management: The effect of adding services to product offerings.Supply Chain Management: An International Journal,18(6), 618-629. Golicic, S. L., Smith, C. D. (2013). A meta?analysis of environmentally sustainable supply chain management practices and firm performance.Journal of supply chain management,49(2), 78-95. Heckmann, I., Comes, T., Nickel, S. (2015). A critical review on supply chain riskDefinition, measure and modeling.Omega,52, 119-132. Jacobs, M. A., Yu, W., Chavez, R. (2016). The effect of internal communication and employee satisfaction on supply chain integration.International Journal of Production Economics,171, 60-70. Monczka, R. M., Handfield, R. B., Giunipero, L. C., Patterson, J. L. (2015).Purchasing and supply chain management. Cengage Learning. Peng, J., Quan, J., Zhang, G., Dubinsky, A. J. (2016). Mediation effect of business process and supply chain management capabilities on the impact of IT on firm performance: Evidence from Chinese firms.International journal of information management,36(1), 89-96. Rushton, A., Croucher, P., Baker, P. (2014).The handbook of logistics and distribution management: Understanding the supply chain. Kogan Page Publishers. Stevens, G. C., Johnson, M. (2016). Integrating the supply chain 25 years on.International Journal of Physical Distribution Logistics Management,46(1), 19-42. Waters, D., Rinsler, S. (2014).Global logistics: New directions in supply chain management. Kogan Page Publishers. Wisner, J. D., Tan, K. C., Leong, G. K. (2014).Principles of supply chain management: A balanced approach. Cengage Learning. Wu, K. J., Liao, C. J., Tseng, M. L., Chiu, A. S. (2015). Exploring decisive factors in green supply chain practices under uncertainty.International Journal of Production Economics,159, 147-157. Xu, X., Gursoy, D. (2015). Influence of sustainable hospitality supply chain management on customers attitudes and behaviors.International journal of hospitality management,49, 105-116. Yu, W., Jacobs, M. A., Salisbury, W. D., Enns, H. (2013). The effects of supply chain integration on customer satisfaction and financial performance: An organizational learning perspective.International Journal of Production Economics,146(1), 346-358. Zhu, Q., Sarkis, J., Lai, K. H. (2013). Institutional-based antecedents and performance outcomes of internal and external green supply chain management practices.Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management,19(2), 106-117.

4 Successful Review Writers That Students Have to Look up to

4 Successful Review Writers That Students Have to Look up to 4 Successful Review Writers That Students Have to Look up to Throughout our lives, we find people who inspire us. Some of them help us work harder, some inspire us to make wise choices, and there are even some people who can inspire us to become better writers. Some of the best review writers are among those exalted few, and their works make us want to improve ourselves by bettering our writing abilities. Here are some of the best essay writers of all times and why they can make you want to become more amazing writers too. 1. Joan Didion Didion began her writing career when she was only five years old reminding us that we are never too young to begin. If you are new to Didion, a Year of Magical Thinking is a particularly good choice. If you have ever dismayed by the decay of morality and the decadence of culture, Didion knows what you’re thinking, and she’s written it down in sharp prose that pierces to the very heart. She once famously said â€Å"The willingness to accept responsibility for ones own life is the source from which self-respect springs.† Don’t make excuses for not moving forward with becoming a stronger writer; Didion wouldn’t approve. 2. Annie Dillard They have said, â€Å"write what you know† and Annie Dillard is a flawless example who follows that advice. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author is famous for her collected essays in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek in which she explores the beauty and horror of the natural world near her home in Roanoke, Virginia. She conveys a sense of unhurried wonder and discovery, which is difficult for experienced writers to maintain. If you have found yourself feeling jaded and struggling for the words to come, try to take a look at her essays and gain your own set of fresh eyes to view the world. 3. David Foster Wallace If you’re a bibliophile, it is possible that you already know and love David Foster Wallace. He’s fighting back against mental illness every day to keep writing down what’s the most important for him. He called writing both â€Å"nourishing and redemptive,† and although Wallace ultimately committed a suicide. His work lives on in his most famous 1000+ page stream-of-consciousness novel Infinite Jest. The chief book critic once said of him, â€Å"He can do sad, funny, silly, heartbreaking and absurd with equal ease; he can even do them all at once.† It is hard to come up with excuses about how a certain style of writing just does not suit you when you consider the odds, which Wallace was dealing with every day, and how he bravely overcame them. 4. Brian Doyle If you’ve never read the essayist Brian Doyle before, you’re in for a real treat. No other essayist so deftly can bring tears to your eyes or smiles to your faces. He is one moment dryly hysterical; next, he is delving into the beauty and tragedy of deepest sorrow. Perhaps, it is unrealistic to imagine that any of us could reach into someone’s heart and yank it right out of their chest with his piercing and perfect command of language, but it is certainly worth a lifetime of trying to get there. As we can see, there are a lot of review writers who had a lot of troubles to tackle, but still they coped with them. Thus, remember that there is nothing impossible, just believe and make some efforts.

Free sample - First half of Forecasting and Second Half of Forecasting. translation missing

First half of Forecasting and Second Half of Forecasting. First half of Forecasting and Second Half of ForecastingIntroduction Hard Rock Cafe- from one pub in London in 1971 to more than 110 restaurants in more than 40 countries today, became a corporate-wide demand for better forecasting. Hard Rock uses long-range forecasting in setting a capacity plan and intermediate-term forecasting for locking in contracts for leather goods (used in jackets) and for such food items as beef, chicken, and pork. Its short-term sales forecasts are conducted each month, by cafe, and then aggregated for a headquarters view. Designing forecast system Before using forecasting techniques to analyze operations management problems, a manager must make three decisions: (1) what to forecast, (2) what type of forecasting technique to use, and (3) what type of tool to use. We discuss each of these decisions before examining specific forecasting techniques. Deciding the area of forecasting Although some sort of demand estimate is needed for the individual goods or services produced by a company, forecasting total demand for groups or clusters and then deriving individual product or service forecasts may be easiest. Also, selecting the correct unit of measurement (e.g., product or service units or machine-hours) for forecasting may be as important as choosing the best method. Different forecasting applications used at Hard Rock The forecaster's objective is to develop a useful forecast from the information at hand with the technique appropriate for the different characteristics of demand. This choice sometimes involves a trade-off between forecast accuracy and costs, such as software purchases, the time required to develop a forecast, and personnel, training. Two general types of forecasting techniques are used for demand forecasting: qualitative methods and quantitative methods. Lucent's CDP process uses a combination of both methods. Qualitative methods include judgment methods, which translate the opinions of man ­agers, expert opinions, consumer surveys, and sales-force estimates into quantitative estimates. Quantitative methods include causal methods and time-series analysis. Causal methods use historical data on independent variables, such as promotional campaigns, economic conditions, and competitors' actions, to predict demand. Time-series analysis is a statistical approach that relies heavily on historical demand data to project the future size of demand and recognizes trends and seasonal patterns. Hsiao.J.C. and D.SCleaver, 1982 Management Science, Houghton Mufflin Company, Boston.    A key factor in choosing the proper forecasting approach is the time horizon for the decision requiring forecasts. Forecasts can be made for the short term, medium term, and long term. SHORT TERM: In the short term managers typ ­ically are interested in forecasts of demand for individual products or services. There is little time to react to errors in demand forecasts, so forecasts need to be as accurate as possible for planning purposes. Time-series analysis is the method most often used for short-term forecasting. It is a relatively inexpensive and accurate way to generate the large number of forecasts required. Although causal models can be used for short-term forecasts, they are not used extensively for this purpose because they are much more costly than time-series analysis and require more time to develop. In the short term, operations managers rarely can wait for development of causal models, even though they may be more accurate than time-series models. Finally, managers use judgment methods for short-term forecasts when historical data are not available for a specific item, such as a new product. However, these forecast techniques also are more expensive than forecasts generated from time-series analysis. MEDIUM TERM: The time horizon for the medium term is three months to two years into the future. The need for medium-term forecasts relates to capacity planning. The level of forecast detail required is not as great as for the short term. Managers typically forecast total sales demand in dollars or in the number of units of a group (or family) of similar products or services. Causal models are commonly used for medium-term fore ­casts. These models typically do a good job of estimating the timing of turning points, as when slow sales growth will turn into rapid decline, which is useful to operations managers in both the medium and the long term. Some judgment methods of forecasting also are helpful in identifying turning points. As we mentioned earlier, however, they are most often used when no historical data exist. Time-series analysis typically does not yield accurate results in the medium or long term primarily because it assumes that existing patterns will continue in the future. Although this assumption may be valid for the short term, it is less accurate over longer time horizons. LONG TERM: For time horizons exceeding two years, forecasts usually are developed for total sales demand in dollars or some other common unit of measurement (e.g., barrels, pounds, or kilowatts). Accurate long-term forecasts of demand for individual products or services not only are very difficult to make but also are too detailed for long-range planning purposes. Three types of decisions- facility location, capacity planning, and process choice- require market demand estimates for an extended period into the future. Causal models and judgment methods are the primary techniques used for long-term forecasting. However, even mathematically derived causal-model forecasts have to be tempered by managerial experience and judgment because of the time horizon involved and the potential consequences of decisions based on them. POS system in forecasting at Hard Rock JUDGMENT METHODS When adequate historical data are lacking, as when a new product is introduced or technology is expected to change, firms rely on managerial judgment and experience to generate forecasts. Judgment methods can also be used to modify forecasts generated by quantitative methods, as is done with Lucent's forecasting process. In this section, we discuss four of the more successful methods currently in use: sales-force estimates, executive opinion, market research, and the Delphi method. SALES-FORCE ESTIMATES Sometimes the best information about future demand comes from the people closest to the customer. Sales-force estimates are forecasts compiled from estimates of future demands made periodically by members of a company's sales force. This approach has several advantages. The sales force is the group most likely to know which products or services customers will be buying in the near future, and in what quantities. Sales territories often are divided by district or region. The forecasts of individual sales-force members can be combined easily to get regional or national sales.  Ã‚   Salespeople may not always be able to detect the difference between what a customer "wants" (a wish list) and what a customer "needs" (a necessary purchase).   If the firm uses individual sales as a performance measure, salespeople may underestimate their forecasts so that their performance will look good when they exceed their projections or may work hard only until they reach then-required minimum sales. Name several variables that would be good predictors of daily sales and how could this information be gathered and used at each cafà © CAUSAL METHODS; LINEAR REGRESSION  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Causal methods are used when historical data are available and the relationship between the factor to be forecasted and other external or internal factors can be identified. These relationships are expressed in math ­ematical terms and can be very complex. Causal methods provide the most sophisticated forecasting tools and are very good for predicting turning points in demand and preparing long-range forecasts. Although many causal methods are available, we focus here on lin ­ear regression, one of the best-known and most commonly used causal methods. In linear regression, one variable, called a dependent variable, is related to one or more independent variables by a linear equation. The dependent variable, such as demand for doorknobs, is the one the manager wants to forecast. The independent variables, such as advertising expenditures and new housing starts, are assumed to affect the dependent variable and thereby "cause" the results observed in the past. A linear regression line relates to the data. In technical terms, the regression line minimizes the squared deviations from the actual data. In the simplest linear regression models, the dependent variable is a function of only one independent variable, and therefore the theoretical relationship is a straight line: Y = a + bX  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ';-':  Ã‚  Ã‚   ' Y = dependent variable X = independent variable a = Y-intercept of the line b = slope of the line The objective of linear regression analysis is to find values of a and b that minimize the sum of the squared deviations of the actual data points from the graphed line. Computer programs are used for this purpose. For any set of matched observations for Y and X, the program computes the values of a and b and provides measures of fore ­cast accuracy. Three measures commonly reported are the sample correlation coeffi ­cient, the sample coefficient of determination, and the standard error of the estimate. The sample correlation coefficient, r, measures the direction and strength of the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. The value of r varies from -1.00 to +1.00. A correlation coefficient of +1.00 implies that period-by-period changes in direction (increases or decreases) of the independent variable are always accompanied by changes in the same direction by the dependent variable. How is forecasting carried out as an effective weapon in a company? Executive opinion- It is a fore ­casting method in which the opinions, experience, and technical knowledge of one or more managers are summarized to arrive at a single forecast. EXECUTIVE OPINION When a new product or service is contemplated, the sales force may not be able make accurate demand estimates. Executive opinion is a forecasting method in w the opinions, experience, and technical knowledge of one or more managers are summarized to arrive at a single forecast. As we discuss later, executive opinion can be use to modify an existing sales forecast to account for unusual circumstances, such as a new sales promotion or unexpected international events. Executive opinion can ate be used for technological forecasting. The quick pace of technological change make keeping abreast of the latest advances difficult Executive opinion can I costly because it takes valuable executive time. When actual sales are much lower than the forecasts, everyone blames someone else for the extra inventory that was created. Hence, the key to effective use of executive opinion is to ensure that the forecast reflects not a series of independent modifications but consensus among executives on a si ngle forecast. MARKET RESEARCH Market research is a systematic approach to determine consumer interest in a product or service by creating and testing hypotheses through data-gathering surveys. Market research may be used to forecast demand for the short, medium, and long term. Accuracy is excellent for the short term, good for the medium term, and only fair for the long term. Although market research yields important information, one short ­coming is the numerous qualifications and hedges typically included in the findings. For example, a finding might be "The new diet burger product received good customer acceptance in our survey; however, we were unable to assess its longer-term acceptance once other competitor products make their appearance." Another is that the typical response rate for mailed questionnaires is poor. Yet another shortcoming is the possibility that the survey results do not reflect the opinions of the market. Finally, the survey might produce imitative, rather than innova ­tive, ideas because the customer's reference point is often limited. T.F. Dodd, 1974, Sales Forecasting, Gower Press, England DELPHI METHOD This form of forecasting is useful when there are no his ­torical data from which to develop statistical models and when managers inside the firm have no experience on which to base informed projections. A coordinator sends a question to each member of the group of outside experts, who may not even know who else, is participating. Anonymity is important when some members of the group tend to dominate discussion or command a high degree of respect in their fields. In an anonymous group, the members tend to respond to the questions and support their responses freely. The coordinator prepares a statistical summary of the responses along with a summary of arguments for particular responses. The report is sent to the same group for another round, and the participants may choose to modify their previous responses. The Delphi method can be used to develop long-range forecasts of product demand and new-product sales projections. It can also be used for technological forecasting. The Delphi method can be used to obtain a consensus from a panel of experts who can devote their attention to following scientific advances, changes in society, governmental regulations, and the competitive environment. The results can provide direction for a firm's research and development staff. The Delphi method has some shortcomings, including the following major ones: The process can take a long time (sometimes a year or more). During that time, the panel of people considered to be experts may change, confounding the results or at least further lengthening the process.   Responses may be less meaningful than if experts were accountable for their responses.   There is little evidence that Delphi forecasts achieve high degrees of accuracy. However, they are known to be fair to good in identifying turning points in new-product demand. How is forecasting carried out in your organization (be sure to specify the level you are discussing)? 2) How does that relate to product development and services it offers? 3) What are the difficulties your organization faces most in coming up with accurate forecasts? Could they improve their forecasts by using different methods? GUIDELINES FOR USING JUDGMENT FORECASTS Judgment forecasting is clearly needed when no quantitative data are available to use quantitative forecasting approaches. However, judgment approaches can be used in concert with quantitative approaches to improve forecast quality. Among the guide ­lines for the use of judgment to adjust the results of quantitative forecasts are the fol ­lowing - Adjust Quantitative Forecasts When Their Track Record Is Poor and the Decision Maker Has Important Contextual Knowledge.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Contextual knowledge is knowledge that practitioners gain through experience, such as cause-and-effect relationships, environmental cues, and organizational information, that may have an effect on the variable being forecast. Often, these factors cannot be incorporated into quantitative forecasting approaches. The quality of forecasts generated by quantitative approaches also deteriorates as the variability of the data increases, particularly for time series. The more variable the data, the more likely it is that judgment forecasting will improve the forecasts. Consequently, the decision maker can bring valuable contextual information to the forecasting process when the quantitative approaches alone are inadequate. Make Adjustments to Quantitative Forecasts to Compensate for Specific Events.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Specific events such as advertising campaigns, the actions of competitors, or international developments often are not recognized in quantitative forecasting and should be acknowledged when a final forecast is being made. In the remainder of this chapter, we focus on the commonly used quantitative fore ­casting approaches. Conclusion Since Hard Rock Cafà © is a company founded at the end of 1971 based at a single site in London,   its growth is awesome. Within a very short time, the company has come to a great summit of success. From this modest start in 1971, the number and geographical spread of the customers have increased rapidly in part as a result of the company’s effective marketing strategies. These are very evident sources that the company has come through these desired objectives mentioned.       References 1. John C Chambers, Satinder K. Mullick and Donald. D. Smith, 1971, How to choose the right forecasting technique, Harvard business Review, July-August2. T.F. Dodd, 1974, Sales Forecasting, Gower Press, England.3. David .M. Georgoff and Robert Gmrdick, 1986, Manager’s Guide to forecasting, Harvard Business Review, January - February.4. Dunn, R. And K.D.Ramasingh, 1981, Management Science, Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc. Bombay.5. J.L.Riggs, Engineering Economics, McGraw-Hill.N.Y.2nd ed., 1982.Ch.3.6. Burns.T. and Stalker.G,The Management of Innovations, London : Tavistock Publications,1961.7. Foster, Douglas, 1982, Mastering Marketing, The Macmillan Press Ltd.8. Goldhar.J.D.MJelinek,1983 Plan for Economics for Scope, in Harvard Business Review, December.

The Analysis on the Road Pricing in the UK Essay

The Analysis on the Road Pricing in the UK - Essay Example transportation modes interact in our analytical scheme, cite factors that influence our efforts to arrive at a workable solution, and then discuss other alternatives. Walking is the simplest means of personal mobility, and when the purpose of such action is to move from one place to another, it is known by another term: transport. Mobility and transport depends on several factors ranging from the anatomical, like having two legs, to the external, like having a path on which to move or transport one’s body. Mobility and transport have been amongst the important factors that determined human development, and whether we like it or not, these are subject to the economic law of supply and demand. The development of transport supply and demand has given rise to the complex system of transport infrastructures, modes of transportation, and the propensity for personal mobility we enjoy today. We take mobility as part of a natural ability to be where we want to be, and take it against our privilege any obstacle that restricts this freedom in any way. This is why transport has become subject to the laws of supply and demand, for whereas the demand for mobility continues to increase with human development the supply of transport infrastructure that makes it possible is limited. Fig. 1 shows the effects of developments in transportation in increasing the speed of mobility. Economists (Rodrigue et al., 2006) define transport supply as the capacity of transportation infrastructures and modes, generally over a geographically defined transport system and for a specific period of time. Transport demand is the expression of transport needs, regardless of whether those needs are satisfied fully, partially, or not at all. Both are commonly quantified in terms of capacity (infrastructure), frequency (services), and networks, as in the number of passengers, volume (liquids), or mass (freight) that can be (supply) or needed to be (demand) transported per unit of time and

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria - Essay Example The problems that exist in the available data for ABR is the fact that the reported cases are just approximations as given by various national summary tables which are able to give only a rough estimate of the real burden of illness. Thus there is no great precision in these figures and the real number of infections and deaths are therefore definitely higher than the figures provided. This problem can be overcome by doing studies in limited settings such a single hospital or a cluster of hospitals where the actual figures are taken (WHO, 2014). Resistance can be tackled by using antibiotics only on prescription by a certified health practitioner, completing full treatment dose, even after healing and avoiding sharing of antibiotics with other people or taking leftover prescriptions. The methods that have little impact are the ones that are single and isolated interventions such as prescription and dispensation of the right drugs without much education to the patient. These studies lack accuracy since the data used is only estimates. An appropriate study should be done in a limited setting and should be conclusive taking into account the cost and specific type of resistance witnessed and by what particular bacteria (WHO,

The Apology - Plato of Socrates Essay Example for Free

The Apology Plato of Socrates Essay The Apology is written by Plato of Socrates trial, at 70 years of age Socrates was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens. Plato’s account consists of three speeches that were given by Socrates during this trial. Socrates speaks before the men of Athens, his jury, in 399 BCE and confesses he has forgotten who he was, he then recollects who he is, and finally he proclaims who Socrates is. The trial began with the prosecutors presenting their case against the accused before the Athenian jury. In this trial Meletus argued that Socrates was guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens and committing acts of impiety. It is possible that Anytus spoke as well. The charges arose because Socrates created doubts on the beliefs and values of the Athenians this may have caused anger and confusion among the Athenians and created a strong resentment against Socrates. After Meletus finished presenting his case against Socrates, the defense had the opportunity to answer to the charges. The Apology starts with the defense speech by Socrates. He observed that he really had two sets of accusers (old and new) and that he was more afraid of the old accusers so he approached that problem first. He answered to the charges of the old accusers by relating a story about the oracle of Delphi. Socrates explains his true activity is misunderstood he only asked the oracle who was the most wise and she said â€Å"no man was wiser† than Socrates. He set out to dispute the oracle’s claim and realized after researching this claim that indeed he was the wisest because he was aware of his own ignorance and spheres of value are aware they are ignorant of their ignorance. He then focused on Meletus charge of corrupting the youth and impiety, he explained his important mission to Athens by comparing himself to a gadfly. He ended his defense by discussing his integrity, his followers, and his family. Subsequently, Socrates is convicted by a slim margin and gives a second speech. The accusers asked for a certain penalty, typically death by hemlock, if the accused is convicted. Socrates argues for a more lenient penalty. Socrates second speech is an argument for a different penalty rather than death, but Socrates argues that he is doing a great service to the state of Athens, so that the suitable penalty would be to pay him an allowance for the rest of his life to support him in his censure of individual citizens of Athens. This facetious retort does not go well with the senate and they sentence him to death. In his final speech Socrates tells the Athenians that they will be shamed in the future for their action and explains why he doesnt fear death. He goes on to explain that he does not hold a grudge against his accusers and he does not fear death because if he goes to a better place he will be at eternal peace and without worries and if he migrates to the other place he will be able to continue his practice of Socratic dialogue. Either way he will get what he wants. In summary, it appears that Socrates held the Athenian jury in contempt with implying facetious antidotes but may have considered his own fate before the trial began understanding at his age he may have already accepted death as a final outcome. He admits to no grudges held but proclaims that others will replace him and gives encouragement to those who voted to acquit him. His own acceptance of his fate is calm and logical and asks for help for his sons when he is gone. By his own admission he is the wisest because he knows he is Socrates.

Kripkenstein: Rule and Indeterminacy :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Kripkenstein: Rule and Indeterminacy ABSTRACT: Indeterminacy theories, such as Wittgenstein's and Kripke's indeterminacy principle on rules and language and Quine's indeterminacy of radical translation, raise some fundamental questions on our knowledge and understanding. In this paper we try to outline and interpret Wittgenstein's and Kripke's indeterminacy, and then compare it to some other related theories on indeterminacy of human thinking, such as raised by Hume, Quine, and Goodman. Quine's indeterminacy differs from Wittgenstein's in several aspects. First, Wittgenstein and Kripke's indeterminacy applies to a single individual in isolation and this indeterminacy disappears when the single person is brought into a wider community. Thus, this indeterminacy is only logically possible or hypothetical. Second, in Quine's problem, two translation manuals are distinguishable; while Wittgenstein's hypotheses, such as 'plus' and 'quus' and many others, are indistinguishable for the subject's past and the subject would never aware of the distinctions. Third, in Wittgenstein's view, whether a member follows the rules or not can be determined by 'outward criterion'. Quine's indeterminacy denies the existence of such 'outward criterion' for his two translation manuals. Goodman's hypothesis of 'grue' is quite different from the above two indeterminacy in terms of both objective of introducing the concept and the usage of it. Goodman's issue is to search for the rules in screening out 'bad' assumptions in induction. This induction issue is not indeterminacy of Wittgenstein's skeptic arguments or Quine's radical translation. Wittgenstein and Kripke's conclusion that that rules are brute facts seems to be questionable. Form of life is one of Wittgenstein's key concepts in his theory on rules and is linked to rules in some crucial ways. A community cannot agree on arbitrary rules and rules other than some highly selected ones cannot bind a community together. What a community agree or disagree is not an arbitrary game. Kripke presents Wittgenstein's theory on rules in his book Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language. The topic is difficult and the presentation seems to inherit some characteristics of the original work, which "is not presented in the form of a deductive argument with definitive theses as conclusions,..." (Kripke, 1982, p.3). Kripke tells the reader: "The point to be made here is that, at the same time the second part is important for an ultimate understanding of the first.'' (1982, p.84) "In this way the relation ship between the first and the second portions... is reciprocal." (1982, p.85). We find that a reciprocal reading helps me to understand and absorb the main points and arguments.

Assessment in Schools Essay

1. Reasons for Assessment Diagnosis: helping young people to establish a baseline and understand their progress, strength and develop needs. Recognition and motivation: recording and rewarding learners’ progress and achievement. Standard setting: confirming levels and thresholds of achievement Differentiation and selection: enabling employers and higher education providers to understand what young people have achieved, and how individuals compare with their peers. 2. Purpose of Assessment. Selection Standards Teachers feedback Motivation Assess readiness for future learning. Preparation for life- â€Å"life is like this† Evaluate curriculum effectiveness Information to others Statement of curriculum Attainment Record of progress- over time 3. Baseline and benchmarking Purpose of baseline scheme Characteristics of a baseline scheme Chapter 4. Target Setting 6. Assessment for learning. Assessment for learning is about supporting classroom learning and teaching. It connects assessment and learning/teaching. What is assessment for learning? Assessment for learning. is part of effective planning focuses on how students learn is recognized as central to classroom practice  is a key professional skill is sensitive and constructive fosters motivation promotes understanding of goals and helps learners know how to improve develop the capacity for assessment recognizes all educational achievements Key Issue: 1. Involvement, discussion and feedback Sharing criteria Discussion Feedback Involvement 2. Planning and evidence Gathering evidence Recording personal learning plans Planning for individuals 3. Partnership Partnership with parents and pupils 7. Assessment as learning Assessment as learning is about learning how to learn. It connects learning/teaching and curriculum. What is Assessment as learning? Key issues: 1. Pupils as learners Reflection Reporting Self/peer assessment Motivation 2. Teachers as learners Developing assessment policy Interpreting evidence Collaboration 3. Management of learning Management supports Manageability 8. Assessment of Learning Assessment of learning is about gathering and interpreting the evidence. It connects curriculum and assessment. Gathering and interpreting evidence Teacher assessment is first and foremost about helping pupils to learn. Fundamental principles Developing Assessment Instruments  Application of assessment instrument Assessment as an end-of-key-stage process Management and monitoring of assessment, recording and reporting Recording and evidence Planning Reporting to parents and guardians Assessment as an ongoing process. Transferring Marking and providing feedback to pupils Using assessment information to monitor progress towards meeting targets Internal/External Assessment Grading Systems Chapter One(1) 1. Reasons for Assessment Diagnosis: helping young people to establish a baseline and understand their progress, strength and develop needs. It is a more detailed type of evaluating the learner to find out their ability, skills, level of performance, knowledge, understanding, intelligence quotient etc. Diagnosis helps the teacher to be able to find out the areas of weakness of the students and their areas of strength. It is from these that the teacher will together with the student plan on a possible course of action to taken in order to assist the students to meet the educational they may have. The teacher may select the students who need further examination by the specialist to confirm if they are faced with a learning difficulty that the teacher may not be able to diagnose. All this is done in the interest of the student i. e. to assist him/her overcome the areas of weakness and try to catch up with the rest of the students. The assessment tasks should be varied in strength to be able to find out the different abilities of the students. Recognition and motivation: recording and rewarding learners’ progress and achievement. Assessment is also carried with an aim of rewarding student according to their performance. In some schools badges are designed and made to be worn by the top achievers in particular subject area and in the overall performance at each grade or stage. The prestige that goes with walking around the school wearing such a badge motivates students to compete for the badges and feel recognized by their peers as good performers in a particular area of study say science, mathematics, languages or even in humanities and applied subjects. If one manages to win two three or more badges they are held in honour by their fellow students and given a lot of recognition both within the school and out. This recognition serves as a motivating factor for the learners to work hard to achieve in their studies and other field like in sports. Similarly, such recognition encourages students to maintain their high standards always for fear of ruining the image they may have created for themselves hence it helps in shaping their character. Unfortunately, some of those low achievers may want to be recognized in a different way hence may resort to unwanted behaviour. Standard setting: confirming levels and thresholds of achievement. Assessment helps the teacher to set standards of performance in his/her class at particular stages or levels of learning. Thus the students will be made aware of the expectation by their teachers with regard to performance hence they will strive to meet the set standard. Unless the standard of performance is set many people tend to relax and very little effort will be made to achieve the goals and objectives. The setting of standards will help to drive away laziness from among the students and the teachers. If the learners and teachers know they have a standard of performance they need to measure to, it will definitely create a sense responsibility in them. It is important to have standard of performance set and made clear both to the learners and the teacher. Differentiation and selection: enabling employers and higher education providers to understand what young people have achieved, and how individuals compare with their peers. Assessment differentiates learners at all levels whether it is the prime purpose for the assessment or not. Somehow, there those who will emerge at the top of the whole group. It is this differentiation that will determine the intake of students into the next level of their education. Most selection is done based of the assessment that has already been carried out at the previous level of study. At the end their course most of the students are usually awarded with certificates of merit. It is based on these certificates that their prospective employers base their consideration of selecting possible employees and inviting them for interviews. Generally, the higher the qualification one has, the more skill or tasks he has gone through to achieve what he has achieved. Consequently, the more the knowledge one is deemed to have acquired and therefore more competent on the job market. Thus the rating of the individuals against the performance of their peers which implies how they are likely to fair at the job market. Chapter two(2) 2. Purpose of Assessment. Assessment is carried for various reasons some of which are discussed below. Selection Institutions base their selections and admission of students on national examinations done by the students at end of level examination. Usually assessment outcomes are used to rank students in terms of performance and ability regardless of the different conditions under which they took their examinations. The institutions proceed to choose those they feel qualify to meet their requirements for enrolment into specific courses. Thus a list of prerequisites is drawn to aid the selectors choose those who fall within the already set limits. Standards The standards of an assessment are determined by the educational system of a country and the stakeholder of the education system. The standards set in the country will determine allocations from the budgetary kit at national level. For instance, to improve and maintain a high level of performance in the education sector the teacher-student ratio should be small, resource made should be available to the students especially science oriented subjects. The standards are set at the national level, then at the school level and finally at the classroom level. The standards of performance will reflect the student ability to progress on with their academics to a higher level. Teachers’ feedback Teachers use assessment to get feedback from students to enable them in the planning for further instruction to the students. The feedback help the teachers to know whether the set objectives of learning are being met or not. This means that every teacher has to carry out assessment at one time or another in the course of instructing the students for learning. They will be able to know if they are making progress, and if not what could be the possible reasons for their failure to meet the set objectives. These may mean that their means of instruction be adjusted to suit the learner educational need within the class. Motivation Feedback from assessment can be used as a motivator to the students and the teacher especially when the results indicate that positive learning is being achieved. The teacher feels that his effort have not been wasted after all while the students will feel that their efforts have been rewarded by being able to measure to the standards of the teachers or examiners. As a result both groups will set out for their work and duty with a lot of enthusiasm hence positive assessment outcome are a motivation. The parents will on the same hand feels that their funds are being utilized by their sons and/or daughters and will be motivated to make more investment. Assess readiness for future learning. Assessment helps educational planners to determine the ability of students to progress in higher education or take more specialized courses such as accounting, engineering, medicine, teaching among others. The level of performance at a particular stage will display the learner ability, skills, level of performance and interests. The outcomes of an assessment will therefore form a basis for planning courses, selection and entry point into some designated courses. Most institutions admit students basing on their performance in the terminal examinations sat at end of the previous stage or level. Similarly, selection into the courses that students wish to pursue is usually based on the performance of the examination at the on national level. Preparation for life- life is like this Assessment can be used to find out the skills, knowledge and understanding the students are graduating with. This will prepare them to face life as people with ability to transform their environment so as to be able fit in the wider society. The learners are made aware of the skills they are carrying with them into the society to face life as it really is. Evaluate curriculum effectiveness When a new curriculum is designed, the aim of curriculum planners is to be able to meet the needs of the society and those of the individual learners. Thus the purpose of assessment in this context is to evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum being implemented to the learners and to the larger society at large. The outcomes of learning are reflected in how students handle assessment tasks presented to them by the curriculum planners and the examiners. Where the curriculum has failed to meet the set objectives, adjustments be made to it so that the predetermined objectives are met or attained. Information to others Assessment is used to obtain information to be related to others interested in education. The ministry of education, for instance, needs to make educational decisions regarding curriculum, performance of teachers, attainment of educational goals both at national and international level, allocation of funds from the treasury, performance of graduates from the education system in relation to the needs at job market among others. The educationists need to take statistics of those who graduate from the systems e. g. basing on the gender, region etc. Statement of curriculum Attainment Assessment helps assessors to get a statement of current attainment as compared to performance in the previous years. The posted outcomes can be used to find out areas that continually been showing poor performance from students e. g. science and mathematics. This statement can be used to draft proposals for future plan of improvement in the course of uplifting performance of areas showing weakness or needs. Record of progress- over time Assessment is carried out for various reasons which ever time have been state differently by different authors of various textbooks. It is important to note that the choice of the method of assessment should be made on the basis of judgment about â€Å"fitness for purpose†. Before making a decision on what to assess, how to assess and who is best fit to carry out the assessment, it is necessary to be clear why assess and achievement expected. The purposes of assessment can be grouped by: Balancing internal and external purposes There are purposes of assessment that are useful within school setting. For example, feedback to students and teachers, students grouping, curriculum improvement and individual target setting. Similarly, there are other purposes that are useful to stakeholders outside the school setting e. g. certification and accountability. This helps to evaluate the balance of assessment activities carried out within the school. In the recent past a lot of external pressure has been mounted on schools in increasing measures with regard to accountability through the publication of performance tables etc. The result has been emphasis on assessment data collection for monitoring, evaluation, marketing and accountability purposes. This may cause internal purpose to be underrated or treated as secondary to external purposes. The schools should thus be watchful of this because their aims for education of their students are unlikely to be well served if they only pay regard to external demands. Another way of viewing assessment purposes is to cluster them according to whether they have a development/learning functions or a public/accountability function. (To some extend, this clustering aligns to internal/external distinction because internal tend to have developmental whereas external tend to focus on accountability. ) TGAT’s formulation of assessment purposes After the Government announced, in 1987, its intention to introduce a National Curriculum, it first set up a Task Group on Assessment and Testing (TGAT) to advice on an associated assessment framework. TGAT’s remit was to propose a system for serving formative, diagnostic, summative purpose. The TGAT report distinguished these purpose in the following way: †¢ Formative So that the positive achievements of a student may be recognized and discussed and the appropriate next steps planned; †¢ Diagnostic through which learning difficulties maybe scrutinized and classified so that appropriate remedial help and guidance can be provided; †¢ Summative for the recording of the overall achievement of a student in a systematic way; †¢ Evaluative by the  means of the aspect of the work of a school, an LEA or other discrete part of the education service can be assessed and/or reported upon. This established two new terms- formative and summative- in the lexicon of assessment purpose. The formative/summative distinction was first used by Micheal Scrivenin 1967 in an American Educational Research Association monograph on The Methodology of Evaluation, which was primarily concerned with the evaluation of educational programmes. It proved to be a helpful distinction and it was increasingly used in a variety of contexts. TGAT used the distinction in the context of assessment of students’ learning. In the context, the formative purpose is served if evidence and judgments about students’ present learning are used to decide what teachers and learners need to do so that further progress in learning may be made. 3. Baseline and Benchmarking Purpose of baseline scheme The problem with taking output alone as indicators of schools effectiveness, even when more than one measure is considered, is that comparisons made on this basis rarely compare like-with-like. However, this has been the practice for a long time in most the education system. This is the familiar argument against the publication of league tables of ‘raw results’ that take no account of the different contexts and intakes of schools. Whilst the actual grade a student achieves will be of vital importance to him or her, aggregated results which take no account of background factors may be crude and fair measure of the relative effectiveness of the school as a whole. This is the argument for value-added measures. It is important, therefore, to collect information about input as well as output so that the two sets of information can be considered together in any judgement of school effectiveness. The intake characteristics usually considered are: Prior attainment as measured in earlier tests and examinations; Ability as measured on standardized tests; ? Prior attitudes to school; ? Gender; ? Ethnicity; ? English as an additional language; ? Special educational needs; ? Socio-economic status and aspects of home background such as single parent families. It is known that some schools achieve great things in disadvantaged circumstances but, since they start from a lower base, the socio-economic status of their intake should be taken into account when measuring their effectiveness or setting targets. It is interesting therefore that in its proposal for target setting and benchmarking, the government has indicated that benchmarks for individual secondary schools will be constructed on the basis of data on free school meals. If output measures are analyzed in relation to input, we would still expect to find some variability in results. In other words, some schools will perform relatively better or relatively worse than others with similar intakes. In order to find out what makes the difference one has to open the black ‘black box’ between input and output to investigate school processes. These process variables are likely to provide some of the answers. Since carrying out this research on a national scale will not be practicable, schools have to take the initiative to find out for themselves data in order to explain their own results and to identify areas of improvement. This is intended to form a basis for further guidance to schools. Thus the responsibility of identifying the process variables that are likely to be most relevant, lies on the shoulders of the schools. Two kinds of processes need to be considered: ? Classroom processes; ? School management processes. Characteristics of a baseline scheme In order to set appropriate targets, government, through QCA, now publishes benchmarking information. This is intended to enable schools to evaluate their own standard of performance by measuring it against standards achieved by other schools with broadly similar characteristics. Benchmark data do not set targets but, by showing what the best schools with similar intake characteristic achieve, benchmarks are expected to set challenges for less successful schools. Although there are strong arguments for grouping schools according to a variety of background factors such as those used in multi-level modeling, which takes account of student-level, school-level and ward-level factors, the government has opted for benchmarking system based on existing national data sets such as the school census (Form 7). Although schools will be placed in a group for the purpose of drawing up the benchmarks, they will not be told which group they belong to. Thus, when they receive the benchmark information from QCA they have to decide themselves which group best represents their characteristics. 4. Target Setting Section 19 of the 1997 Education Act makes a Provision for legislation to require targets to be set and published by the governing bodies of maintained schools. Setting targets to raise standards: What works A five stage cycle for school improvement in target setting has been put to use. These involve: 1. How well are we doing? This requires the school to analyze student performance and audit its teaching and management. It also calls for the analysis of data about students outcomes. To achieve this objective, the school will need to relate outcomes to intake variables of a given student to give value-added measures. However, in order to explain the patterns in performance and identify areas for action, it is necessary to collect data about processes, such as teaching and management. The statistical analysis will then be supplemented by observational data to provide evidence in relation to input, output and process indicators (perhaps in the lines of the OFSTED Framework of Inspection). 2. How well should we be doing? This requires the school to compare its own results of similar schools n order to identify strengths and diagnose weaknesses as a basis for establishing priorities for improvement. The benchmarking information to be supplied by the DFEE and LEAs is intended to help with this task. 3. What more should we aim to achieve this year? This requires the school to set clear, specific and measurable targets which focus in particular on raising standards of attainment in national tests and examinations. 4. What must we do to make it happen? This requires the school to integrate improvement targets into the school development plan through focused action planning. 5. How successful have we been? This requires the school to take action to implement the action plan and to monitor and evaluate the impact of the action against the success criteria. TARGET SETTING REQUIREMENTS The initial proposals from government indicate that regulations are likely to require schools to set targets in the following terms; a) a single target to be set for each of the three are subjects at the end of each key stage; b) these targets should be measured by National curriculum tests in English, Mathematics and Science at age fourteen and GCSE examination results or equivalent at age sixteen; c) at the end of key stage 3, targets to be expressed, subject by subject, in terms of the proportions of students reaching Level 5 and above; d) At key Stage 4, targets to be expressed in terms of the proportion of students achieving a grade C or better in GCSE English, Mathematics and Science (either single or double award, or in an individual science subject). e) An additional indicator, at key Stage 4, is likely to be the proportion of students attaining a number of A*- C and A* – G grades in GCSE. The proposal also suggested that schools and LEAs should agree or targets covering three year period in which review of results of the previous autumn term and setting targets for the following academic year by January are carried out. PROCEDURES FOR SETTING TARGETS The governments 1997 White Paper Excellence in Schools made it clear that setting school targets was the responsibility of each school’s governing body, working with senior management team. The White Paper tests sets out how the government, LEAs and schools are expected to work together. Chapter 3 paragraph 13 of the paper provides that; 1. The government sets national targets and publishes national performance and benchmark data. 2. Each LEA provides benchmarking data and guidance to all its schools to help them set targets. 3. Each school sets draft targets, taking account of the comparative data and their own previous best performance, for discussion with its LEA. 4. Schools and LEAs agree targets, covering a three-year period and subject to annual review. 5. Where, exceptionally, an LEA cannot reach agreement with a school on its targets, the LEA may invoke the early warning system. 6. The individual school targets are included within each LEA’s Education Development Plan. 7. The DFEE and OFSTED monitor and contribute to the process to ensure targets are high and ambitious enough. Strategies Directly Involving Students and Classroom Process 1. Introducing new commendation and certificate systems to reward achievement and increase motivation and self-esteem; 2. Introducing academic mentoring for borderline C/D GCSE candidates; 3. Reducing the number of GCSE subjects taken per student to encourage quality instead of quantity in performance; 4. Introducing paired reading or literacy tutoring schemes (older with younger students) to improve reading and writing skills; 5. Adopting a ‘Pacific Rim’ approach by assuming that all can succeed if they are prepared to make great efforts; 6. Instituting a ‘cardinal rule’ that students should not interfere with the learning of others 7. Giving special attention to the least motivated groups (of boys especially) by introducing a ten-hour weekly homework contract in Year II; 8. Introducing one-to-one review on a regular basis; 9. Providing a two-day residential, run by teachers and employers, for potential Year II under-achievers with the aim of improving motivation through a series of challenges; 10. Providing students with templates to help them structure their written work; 11. Providing an enrichment programme of generic skills, especially study skills, group work and exam technique. 12. Target setting for effort and attainment with individual students followed up with one-to-one review with allocated tutors. School need to realize, however, that this does not preclude them from setting other goals and targets as well. This will be important if they regard education as having wider functions, such as promoting human flourishing and participatory citizenship. Internal review through data analysis: Progress indicators. Using indicators to monitor performance and set target in primary schools Using indicators to monitor performance Involving parents. The role of the national targets CHAPTER 5 5. a. Types of Assessment Assessment is one of the most potent forces influencing what teacher should concentrate on in their teaching and what students should concentrate in their learning. Assessment sends a message to students about what is important to learn. It is with this in mind that this section seeks to discuss the various types of assessments. In an effort to classify assessment therefore, the following are some of the types of assessment. i) Formative Formative assessment is taken to refer to the process of identifying what students have, or have not, achieved in order to plan the next steps in teaching. It will usually involve the diagnosis of learning difficulties, although this is not synonymous with the kind of standardized, psychometric, diagnostic assessments, within formative assessment, the term ‘diagnosis’ usually possess a more colloquial and less technical meaning. Formative assessment is also distinguished from other forms of assessments in that it is, by definition, carried out by teachers. This is important if it is to inform the decisions teachers make in the classroom. The aspiration is that assessment should become fully integrated with teaching and learning and therefore part of the educational process rather than a ‘bolt-on’ activity. It is important to note that in formative assessment feedback is a key element with two main audiences the student and the teacher. Feedback to the student, mediated by the teacher, is particularly important because no learning can take place without the active involvement of the student. ii) Summative Summative assessment refers to the examinations that are taken by the learners at the end-of-unit or end-of-term and their purpose is to fulfill the public expectation of the schools and form of accountability to parents who have a right to know what progress their children are making. However, this poses a danger in that they assume such importance that it undermines the formative assessments that have been made on a regular basis throughout the period. Just like the giving of grades on ordinary class work can affect self-esteem in such a way as to ‘blind’ students to the substantive advice given in comments, so also can the giving of grades and marks in end-of-unit tests have similar effects. The public usually places allot of emphasis on the assessment as they seem to project what the learners have gained in the course of their studies and skills they possess and are able top demonstrate. Thus entry into higher learning institutions and specifically into particular courses is pegged on the results of summative assessments. iii) Informal Informal assessment is an assessment in which the teacher neither follows a specified timetable drawn by the administration for purpose of assessment nor predetermined questions directed to the learner. It is some kind of impromptu. The teacher in the course of performing his duty may reach a concept that requires prior knowledge of particular concepts on the part of the learner; therefore he may decide to carry out an informal assessment to determine what the learners know. Similarly, a new teacher who wants to understand the ability and level of performance of learners may decide to carryout an informal assessment. There is no general standard set for performance or attainment i. e. the administrator determines the standard as deem fit for his purpose of assessment. Thus an informal assessment is at the discretion of the person administering it. iv) Formal Formal assessment refers to the mode of assessment that follows a specified timeframe and format. Usually most of the learning activities are suspended to allow teachers time to administer the assessment to the learners. Formal assessment therefore has a set standard, to which all assessment items must adhere to. Generally, there is time set aside for which both students and the teachers know well in advance that assessment is going to be carried out. The teachers will this case prepare assessment items inline with the set standards of the particular institution in question or adapt on that has already been set by an assessment agency. The students on their part will concentrate on preparing for the assessment tasks that they are going to encounter. In most institutions this time if known as examination time. The environment is controlled so as to allow students an ample time when tackling the assessment items. For example, in most schools during this time silence is observed at all costs, students are spaced so as to allow for individual work unlike during the normal learning days when corporate work can be tolerated, teachers police the students to check on cheating by cheeky students. v) Continuous Continuous assessments are assessments that are carried out by the teacher in progressive way. The test items are drawn from what has been done in the recent past by the learner which means their strength and complexity increases with the increasing complexity in the content being taught. The teacher designs a test to suit particular content that the learners have learned at a particular level. Generally it focuses on a given concept and they are more narrow and intense in their approach. Once a learner has passed the assessment at a given level they are given chance to progress to the next level of learning. vi) Terminal As the name suggests these are tests that administered at the end of a given course, they act as a point of end into the next level or the job market. They are designed in such a way as to include a cross-section of what the learners have attained by the time they are stepping out of the education programme they have been undertaking. They are in most cases designed by an independent body external to the institution of learning in which they are going to be administered. Similarly, their marking is centralized and carried by few selected people. Grading and ranking is the done from an external point, statistics are drawn to show attainment of schools and individual student in comparison to other schools and students from other places. They are usually standardized tests and the awarding of grades is done an already established scale by the administering body. vii) Coursework While going through the curriculum every teacher would want to ascertain that the course objectives are being met every now and then. Thus where possible assignments are given to students at the end of the lesson, marked and feed back given to the students to assist in the process of learning. Cour