Critical issue in global health ( a grant proposal to support efforts Thesis

Critical issue in global health ( a grant to support efforts to improve maternal and child health, in Kachere, a village in Kasungu. ) - Thesis Proposal Example As such, the CBO has come up with five strategies in the proposal namely; Improvement of maternal health in the community, Promote gender equality and empowerment to women, Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, Ensure that the environment is sustained, Eliminate poverty and hunger. Through these strategies, there will be direct and indirect solutions to this challenge and the community will remain healthy and full of life. Moreover, this project has incorporated stakeholders such as Traditional Authority (TA), Religious Groups, and Malawi International Organization (MIO) who will assist in planning and implementing the project. Apparently, it is evident that Kachere Village in Kasungu District has serious cases of poor health and poverty that has emerged from the poor living conditions of people in the village. Ideally, Eva’s two dead children serves as a perfect example how children have died from diseases such as pneumonia and malaria and those surviving are still suffering from related diseases. Moreover, the agricultural activities revolve around tobacco and maize farming, which are not easy to farm due to their inadequate returns. Furthermore, her husband who is alleged to be absent from home for extensive periods of time in search of employment has also became a challenging issue for Eva since is fear contracting HIV from the existing polygamy set up (Skolnik, 2008).   As a community based organization (CBO) on the ground, we have taken Eva’s living conditions as a sample to work with in the improvement of the living conditions of people in Kachere village (Hovenga & Mantas, 2005). Nevertheless, the CBO is aware that the community has three main stakeholders who are contributing towards development and health issues namely: Nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and International Organizations where the International Organizations have assisted in facilitating loans and savings to most groups that have been formed in the community. Of

Main Factors Affecting Product Pricing in the UK Essay

Main Factors Affecting Product Pricing in the UK - Essay Example These factors are sometimes specific to products whereas at times they run across all or many products. (DBIS, 2011) Factors determining product pricing in UK One interesting factor that determines product pricing in the UK is gender. It might not affect all products but it does affect some products. According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI) research on â€Å"use of gender in insurance pricing†, gender plays a significant role in determining the price of insurance products. The researchers also report that there was, however, no patterned discrimination against either gender in this pricing. However, use of gender to determine the price of insurance commodities is conspicuous. For instance, ABI reports that young female drivers parted with less for insurance coverage as compared to their male counterparts. This is attributed to the lower chance of the female drivers having accidents in relation to male drivers. In another example, women gain more in matters of lif e insurance due to lower premiums because they have a longer life expectancy. Men, on the other hand, benefit from lower medical premiums between age thirty-five and fifty-five. This is due to the medical risks involved between the ages .i.e. women have higher medical risks. (ABI, 2010, pp. 4-10). Product differentiation is another determinant of product pricing in the UK. Product differentiation is bettering a commodity by making it different and of unique qualities as well as adding newness to the market. Product differentiation could bring with it advantages that include product variety which would result in lowered prices for consumers. Many differentiated products, therefore, are advantageous to the consumer. (Randall, 2009, pp. 17-19). Similar products by different companies lead to substitution by customers in case of price changes. Highly differentiated products, on the other hand, have lower price competition regardless of the number of companies that are competing. Example s of such products include cigarettes, beauty products and service industries like hotels among others. In such products, there is a monopoly in terms of pricing for the marketers since customers do not seem to look at pricing. British American Tobacco has not had a significant change in their number of customers despite an increase in its products’ prices. Therefore the less differentiated a product is, the higher the chance of its customers shifting to other competing products as a result of changes in pricing. (Wiley, 2005, pp. 2-5) Holcombe’s concept of an advantageous product differentiation has been employed in the UK by several departments, among them, the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The department conducted a research to establish how an introduction to this strategy could make medicine more accessible to patients. (Yadav, 2010, pp. 5-10). Government interventions and strategies, for instance, increase in interest rates, also tend to aff ect product pricing especially on financial assets like shares. The Bank of England is charged with the responsibility to regulate these rates and therefore the bank’s decision on the rates affects the prices of these assets. Increase in interest rates on these assets leads to increase in prices of the related commodities. (Bank of England, 2011).

Strategies for Effective Learning in the TESL Classroom

Strategies for Effective Learning in the TESL Classroom CHAPTER ONE:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   INTRODUCTION In Malaysian classroom, a teacher had a solid control in the classroom, the interaction pattern where the teacher selects a student to answer her questions is observed by Samuel (1982) in his study in a Malaysian school. This pattern occurred particularly when the teacher employed the questioning strategy during the course of teaching. After answering the teachers question, the student gave the turn back to the teacher (Samuel, 1982, p. 129). Hence if the teacher chooses this pattern of interaction, participation of students will be highly controlled by him or her. When having teachers in monologic interaction, the class instructional practices will be on structured, discipline but it kills the desire to learn from the child instinct and at the same time does not arouse the critical and the creativity of a child. And this is totally different from the knowledge of the policy because in Malaysia Education Policy, it is stated that a teachers jobs is to nurture the childs critical and creative thinking. When a lesson that is supposed to practice on communicative language teaching ends with the teacher instructing and being authoritative in the class, it kills the desire to learn. In his findings, Ruzlan (2007) further found that all the questions posed by the teachers were the closed-ended in nature, where the children were anticipated to arrive at certain answers expected by the teachers only. At the same time, it was found that the majority of questions set by EFL and Science as content taught in English classes were low level and factual, and not designed to encourage critical thinking on the part of learners. Again, there was a mismatch between what is stipulated by the national curriculum and how teachers actually teach in terms of posing questions. While national policy stipulates helping learners become critical thinkers, teachers seems concern with others, short term goal. For instance teachers belief about their students academic needs and what they should do is tailoring their questions to align with examination purposes at a low level factual category (Habsah Hussin, 2006). It is proven that the practice of the policy is more on finishing the structured syllabus prepared by the school curriculum division rather than full filling the philosophy of education that is in building the students with the efforts towards further developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonic, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possess high moral standards and who are responsible and capable of achieving high level of personal well-being as well as being able to contribute to the harmony and betterment of the family, the society and the nation at large. With this issues, enlighten the researcher to explore the basic of the education teacher training. What has been practiced in schools reflects on the training of the teacher in teacher training institution. Is it the system or the implementation of it that caused the mismatched in the instructional practices? What is supposed to be done? What has been practiced in the teaching institution? The approaches practiced on the trainees. Does the trainees ability to pose questions and interact with the students from the pedagogical aspects and methodological approach being prompt and develop? Do the trainers play their role as the facilitator and the mediator of the knowledge in ensuring the blooming of the beginner teachers? The trainers have to play their important role well in shaping the student teacher in becoming an excellent teacher. They should model the trainees in the instructional practices in college. Being the expertise, the trainers should be well prepared with various approaches in exploring the student teacher ability in learning the English language in order to become a capable and competent English teacher. 1.1 Purpose Of the Study The purpose of this study is to investigate the trainers in implementing their instructional practice in order to help the trainees to become effective second language teacher. As an ESL teacher and a second language learner, the researcher believes that interaction is the key to second language learning. Second language learners need comprehensible input, need to be in situations that provide maximum personal involvement in the communication and need opportunities to use the target language in social interactions. The learning of a language centres on the use of the language for communicative purposes. Alexander (2004) suggests that the basic repertoire of classroom talk is unlikely to offer the types of cognitive challenge required to extend students thinking. In contrast, he characterizes an approach he describes as dialogic teaching which is collective, reciprocal, supportive, cumulative and purposeful. However, these types of talk are less frequently encountered in classrooms (M roz et al., 2000). Dialogic pedagogies aim for classroom interactions that involve more than superficial participation. They are exemplified by the teachers uptake of student ideas, authentic questions and the opportunity for students to change or modify the course of instruction (Nystrand et al., 2003). Teachers relinquish some measure of control of the trajectory of the lesson as pupils are offered a degree of collaborative influence over the co-construction of knowledge. 1.2 Importance of the study This study is important in four ways. First, as an eye opening to the concept of dialogic approach in the training institution and it is focusing on the classroom interaction between the trainees and the trainer in the class from the socio-cultural theory approach. Second, it gives a holistic view on what is happening in the class and what could be done to help the trainees to become competent user of the English Language learner. Third, it will trigger the needs for the trainers to have a series of cascade training organized by the Teacher Education Division, Malaysia in order to share, improve their approaches in class and vary their instructional teaching before they start teaching the trainees. Fourth, it will establish the culture of sharing and collaboration among the lecturers in the training institute. It requires the teachers to work collaboratively, to open their classroom for observation, critical reviews and discussion with peers. Lastly, it is focusing on the professional development of the trainers in providing the best approaches in exploring the best approach and varies their pedagogical approach in a second language learning class. 1.3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Research Questions. 1. To what extent do lecturers interact with students to develop their participation in classroom discourse? 2. How are the lecturers developing the English Language competency and critical thinking skills of students through the interaction in class? 3. How do lecturers evaluate their instructional teaching practices? 4. What impact has the Communicative Language Teaching had on the teaching practices to promote a dialogic pedagogy? 5. How useful is a dialogic approach to staff professional development? 1.4   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Objectives of the study were as follows; 1. To measure the ways lecturers interact with the students to develop their participation in class.   2. To identify how lecturers develop English Language competency and critical thinking skills through the interaction in class. 3. To explore the lecturers instructional practices in second language learning class. 4. To explore the impact of the communicative language teaching policy on language learning in teacher training institutions. 5. To explore the usefulness of a dialogic approach to staff development in teacher training institutions. 1.5. Methodology Research design The focus of the study is to look at the quality of classroom interaction between the lecturer and the trainees. The literature has offered a wide array of descriptions and definitions of the case study, for example: a case study is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context in which multiple sources of evidence are used (Yin, 1984:23), the qualitative case study can be defined as an intensive, holistic description and analysis of a single entity, phenomenon, or social unit (Merriam, 1988:16). Different from other research studies which aim for generalizable findings, case studies aim for an understanding of the particular case, in its idiosyncrasy, in its complexity (Stake, 1988:256). The case study aligns with my research objectives. It is focused on the two TESL lecturers, the researcher and their respective classes. The study is the interactive instructional practices of the two teachers, the researcher and their students. In order to provide a detailed and in-depth analytical description of the interactive features of the two cases, the researcher have to be into the research site and collected data from multiple sources in a naturalistic setting, namely, in a setting where teacher-student interaction occurs as it actually is. The main purpose of the study was not to attempt to generalize the conclusions to a larger population but to gain a thorough and in-depth understanding of the topic at issue. At the same time a combination of sociolinguistic and ethnographic perspectives has been taken to approach the above research questions.   Data was collected using a range of techniques: interviewing, classroom observation, audio- and video-taping, oral report and stimulated reflection. The sample for the researcher came from the teacher training institution that is situated in Ipoh, between the Bachelor of Education Twinning program UK-MOEM (Ministry Of Education, Malaysia) and the English Language lecturers. Many teachers, even experienced ones, are not always aware of the nature of their interactions with individual students. Consequently, one of the most important purposes of systematic classroom observation is to improve teachers classroom instruction. Feedback from individual classroom profiles derived from systematic observations has been found to help teachers understand their own strengths and weaknesses, and have consequently enabled them to significantly improve their instruction. Through feedback, teachers can become aware of how their classroom functions and thus bring about changes they desire. This process typically involves having trained observers systematically observe teachers and their students in their classrooms and later providing teachers with information about their instruction in clinical sessions. This approach is based on the assumption that teachers value accurate information that they can use to improve their instruction. CHAPTER TWO  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   LITERATURE REVIEW. This chapter will be reviewed the discussion on the theoretical ground on second language acquisition, the approach in the classroom, the student teacher interaction and the instructional pattern of communication being implemented in the classroom. 2.1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Socio-cultural theory Introduction Vygotsky (1896-1934) is one of the Russian psychologists whose ideas have influenced the field of educational psychology and the field of education as whole. He argues for the uniqueness of the social milieu and regards sociocultural settings as the primary and determining factor in the development of higher forms of human mental activity such as voluntary attention, intentional memory, logical thought, planning, and problem solving. According to Vygotsky (1978 cited Lantolf 2000), the socio-cultural environment presents the child with a variety of tasks and demands, and engages the child in his world through the tools. In the early stages, Vygotsky claims that the child is completely dependent on other people, usually the parents, who initiate the childs actions by instructing him/her as to what to do, how to do it, as well as what not to do. Parents, as representatives of the culture and the conduit through which the culture passes into the child, actualise these instructions primarily through language. On the question of how do children then appropriate these cultural and social heritages, Vygotsky (1978 cited Wertsch 1985) states that the child acquires knowledge through contacts and interactions with people as the first step (inter-psychological plane), then later assimilates and internalises this knowledge adding his personal value to it (intra-psychological plane). This transition from social to personal property according to Vygotsky is not a mere copy, but a transformation of what had been learnt through interaction, into personal values. Vygotsky claims that this is what also happens in schools. Students do not merely copy teachers capabilities; rather they transform what teachers offer them during the processes of appropriation. Lantolf et al. (1994) indicate that the latter understanding of consciousness in the field of teaching is embodied in the concept of meta-cognition, which, according to him, incorporates functions such as planning, voluntary attention, logical memory, problem solving and evaluation. Williams and Burden (1997) claim that socio-cultural theory advocates that education should be concerned not just with theories of instruction, but with learning to learn, developing skills and strategies to continue to learn, with making learning experiences meaningful and relevant to the individual, with developing and growing as a whole person. They claim that the theory asserts that education can never be value-free; it must be underpinned by a set of beliefs about the kind of society that is being constructed and the kinds of explicit and implicit messages that will best convey those beliefs. These beliefs should be manifest also in the ways in which teachers interact with students. Socio-cultural theory has a holistic view about the act of learning. Williams Burden (1997) claim that the theory opposes the idea of the discrete teaching of skills and argues that meaning should constitute the central aspects of any unit of study. Any unit of study should be presented in all its complexity rather than skills and knowledge presented in isolation. The theory emphasizes the importance of what the learner brings to any learning situation as an active meaning-maker and problem-solver. It acknowledges the dynamic nature of the interplay between teachers, learners and tasks and provides a view of learning as arising from interactions with others. According to Ellis (2000), socio-cultural theory assumes that learning arises not through interaction but in interaction. Learners first succeed in performing a new task with the help of another person and then internalise this task so that they can perform it on their own. In this way, social interaction is advocated to mediate learning. According to Ellis, the theory goes further to say interactions that successfully mediate learning are those in which the learners scaffold the new tasks. However, one of the most important contributions of the theory is the distinction Vygotsky made between the childs actual and potential levels of development or what he calls Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) Lantolf (2002), Wertsch (1985) and Shayer (2002) claim that Vygotskys introduction of the notion of the ZPD was due to his dissatisfaction with two practical issues in educational psychology: the first is the assessment of a childs intellectual abilities and the second is the evaluation of the instructional practices. With respect to the first issue, Vygotsky believes that the established techniques of testing only determine the actual level of development, but do not measure the potential ability of the child. In his view, psychology should address the issue of predicting a childs future growth, what he/she not yet is. Because of the value Vygotsky attached to the importance of predicting a childs future capabilities, he formulated the concept of ZPD which he defines as the distance between a childs actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving, and the higher level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in co llaboration with more capable peers Wertsch (1985, P. 60). According to him, ZPD helps in determining a childs mental functions that have not yet matured but are in the process of maturation, functions that are currently in an embryonic state, but will mature tomorrow. Moreover, he claims that the study of ZPD is also important, because it is the dynamic region of sensitivity in which the transition from inter-psychological to intra-psychological functioning takes place. Shayer (2002) claims that a crucial feature of learning according to Vygotsky is that it creates a ZPD, that is to say, learning awakens a variety of internal developmental processes that are able to operate only when the child is interacting with people in his environment and in cooperation with his peers. Once these processes are internalised, they become part of the childs independent developmental achievement. Vygotsky advocates that ZPD is not the role of instruction alone, but developmental (biological) factors do have a role to play. It is jointly determined by the childs level of development and the form of instruction involved. According to him, instruction and development do not directly coincide, but represent two processes that exist in a very complex interrelationship. He argues that the child can operate only within certain limits that are strictly fixed by the state of the childs development and intellectual possibilities. Mediation As in Feuerteins theory (Williams and Burden 1997), mediation is central to Vygotskys socio-cultural theory. Mediation according to Vygotsky refers to the part played by other significant people in the learners lives, people who enhance their learning by selecting and shaping the learning experiences presented to them. Vygotsky (1978 cited Wertsch 1985) claims that the secret of effective learning lies in the nature of the social interaction between two or more people with different levels of skills and knowledge. This involves helping the learner to move into and through the next layer of knowledge or understanding. Vygotsky also regard tools as mediators and one of the important tools is language. The use of language to help learners move into and through their ZPD is of great significance to socio-cultural theory. Kozulin et al. (1995) claim that Vygotsky considers the learning process as not a solitary exploration of the environment by the child on his own, but as a process of the childs appropriation of the methods of actions that exist in a given culture. In the process of appropriation, symbolic tools or artefacts play a crucial role. Kozulin (2002) categorises mediators into two categories: human and symbolic. According to him, human mediation usually tries to answer the question concerning what kind of involvement on the part of the adult is effective in enhancing the childs performance; while symbolic mediation deals with what changes in the childs performance can be brought about by the introduction of the child to symbolic tools-mediators. Scaffolding According to Donato (1994) scaffolding is a concept that derives from cognitive psychology and L1 research. It states that in a social interaction, a knowledgeable participant can create by means of speech and supportive conditions in which the student (novice) can participate in and extend current skills and knowledge to a high level of competence. In an educational context, however, scaffolding is an instructional structure whereby the teacher models the desired learning strategy or task then gradually shifts responsibility to the students. According to McKenzie, (1999) scaffolding provides the following advantages: a) It provides clear directions for students b) It clarifies purpose of the task c) It keeps students on task d) It offers assessment to clarify expectations e) It points students to worthy sources f) It reduces uncertainty, surprise and disappointment g) It delivers efficiency h) It creates momentum According to Rogoff (1990 in Donato, 1994), scaffolding implies the experts active stance towards continual revisions of the scaffolding in response to the emerging capabilities of the learner, and a learners error or limited capabilities can be a signal for the adult to upgrade the scaffolding. As the learner begins to take on more responsibility for the task, the adult dismantles the scaffold indicating that the child has benefited from the assisted performance and internalised the problem-solving processes provided by the previous scaffold episode. Wertsch (1979a cited Donato 1994) claims that scaffold performance is a dialogically constituted inter-psychological mechanism that promotes the learners internalisation of knowledge co-constructed in shared activity. Donato (1994) advocates that in an L2 classroom, collaborative work among language learners provides the same opportunity for scaffold help as in expert-novice relationships in the everyday setting. Van Lier (1988 cited Do nato 1994) states that L2 teaching methodology can benefit from a study of L1 scaffolding to understand how classroom activities already tacitly employ such tactics. The study of scaffolding in L2 research according to Donato has focused exclusively on how language teachers provide guided assistance to learners. 2.2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Classroom interaction in socio-cultural theory A socio-cultural theory was pioneered by Vgotsky (1978) and the core of the theory is the proposition that cognitive development originates in social interaction. Vgotsky (1981) formulated the trajectory of cognitive development as from the inter-psychological plane to the intra-psychological plane by saying: Any function in the childs cultural development appears twice, or in two planes: first, it appears on the social plane, and then on the psychological plane; first it appears between people as an inter-psychological category, and then within the child as an intra-psychological category. This is equally true with regard to voluntary attention, logical memory and the formation of concepts and the development of volition (p.163). In other words, learning first takes place between a child and an expert (e.g. the childs parent) when they engage in joint under-taking. The expert assists the young child to appropriate his greater knowledge or skills in relation to the task at hand and gradually hands over the task to the young child. The child internalizes what he gained and transformed it into his own resources that can be used for individual thinking and problem solving. It is mainly mediated by means of talk. 2.3.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Classroom interactions Constructivism Related to Questioning and Conversation Constructivism plays a key role in effective classroom conversations and differs from classrooms filled with traditional conversations. Schulte (1996) argued that Constructivist teachers must observe the students actions and listen to their views without making judgments or trying to correct answers (p. 27). This differs from the traditional classroom where students are passive learners and wait for the teacher to give correct answers (Schulte, 1996). In contrast, constructivist classroom teachers must listen to students and help make connections between what they are thinking and what others are thinking during the same experience (Duckworth, 2006). Teachers must also make connections for learners between the learners understandings and the teachers understandings (Duckworth, 2006). Instead of giving lectures and expecting students to regurgitate what has been lectured, teachers must show students how to listen to others and question ideas when they are unknown (Duckworth, 2006). Teachers must make their actions known to students by using explicit language, modelling the thinking process, and allowing students to think aloud about new ideas (Bodrova Leong, 1996). Lambert, etal. (2002) supported the idea of sharing thoughts and ideas by stating, In a constructivist conversation, each individual comes to understand the purpose of talk, since the relationship is one of reciprocity (p. 65). Constructivist teaching allows students to actively participate in their learning versus the traditional idea of passively receiving information. It allows teachers and students to synthesize their knowledge in order to create new meanings. Classroom discourse based on a constructivists view of learning involves student participation. This was explained by Hartman (1996) when stated, As seen through Vygotskys views, classroom discourse is socially meaningful activity because it creates a situation in which all students can and are encouraged to participate not only by the teacher, but by the other students as well (p. 99). Students are encouraged to share their ideas with others to help clarify their thoughts and make adjustments to their understandings (Schulte, 1996). Student participation means that teachers hand over control of classroom conversations and allow students to express their thinking aloud. This results in the student having the final word at times and helps the student create his or her own understanding instead of receiving the teachers understanding of ideas (Duckworth, 2006). When students are allowed to explain their thinking they must learn to be explicit and clear so others will understand them; t hat results in deeper understanding (Bodrova Leong, 1996). Student participation during classroom discourse allows students to practice problem-solving and decision-making skills that will help improve their leadership ability as adults. In Dantonio and Beisenherz (2001) book Learning to Question, Questioning to Learn, constructivist classroom discussions are referred to as instructional conversations. In an instructional conversation, a teacher is skilful in facilitating talk that promotes student thinking. Students require guided practice in order to respond in a manner that leads to a deeper understanding of subject matter. With guidance, students learn to enhance the quality of their thinking through the teachers effective use of questions. In line with Vygotskys zone of proximal development, instructional conversations provide students with opportunities to do today with help what can be done independently tomorrow. Teachers and students work together to create new meanings and understandings through effective questioning and higher level learner responses. Classroom discourse holds various meanings but definitions found in the literature hold a common ground: classroom discourse is talk between two or more persons that may or may not lead to a new understanding (Cazden, 2001; Mroz, Smith Hardman, 2000). Two definitions of classroom discourse were given by Cazden (1998). She described discourse as conversations where participants are having the same talk. Discourse was also described as an understanding that occurs when participants take different positions in different talks at the same time. In their research findings, Edwards and Mercer (1987) described classroom discourse as the talk that occurs between two or more people that usually consists of a teacher and one or more students. Additional researchers defined classroom discourse in their studies. Skidmore, Perez-Parent, and Arnfield (2003) proclaimed that classroom discourse contrasts to every day conversation because students must wait for their turn while patiently raising their hand. In everyday conversation people speak to one another at will to express their ideas and understandings. Similarly, Townsend and Pace (2005) noted that classroom discourse that is directed by one person, usually the teacher, results in students repeating predetermined ideas or mere facts. It contrasts to classrooms where students are given opportunities to explore higher level questions and engage in meaning making activities (Townsend Pace, 2005). Skidmore (1999) referred to traditional classroom discourse as, pedagogical dialogue, in which someone who knows the truth instructs someone who is in error, and which is characterised by a tendency towards the use of authoritative discourse on the part of the teacher (p. 17). All of these examples of classroom discourse vary from everyday conversations because students are subjected to waiting for a turn to give factual information. Researchers of classroom discourse refer to teacher dictated conversations as a traditional pattern of talk. 2.4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Research Studies on Classroom Interaction Many studies on classroom interactions focused on teacher questions, learner responses, or the effect of questions on student achievement. Studies by Redfield and Rousseau (1981), Chin (2006), Wells and Arauz (2006), Boyd and Rubin (2006), Myhill and Dunkin (2005), and Schleppenbach, Perry, and Miller (2007) were reviewed, compared, and contrasted. Redfield and Rousseau (1981) analyzed 20 studies on the effect of teacher questioning on student achievement. Redfield and Rousseau (1981) wanted to create a meta-analysis of data from the studies to determine the impact of program monitoring, experimental validity, and level of teacher questioning. All of the studies were experimental or quasi-experimental in nature. Quantitative tools were used to measure the effect size in each study. Redfield and Rousseau (1981) completed their research by stating, Hence, it may be concluded that small-scale studies of teacher questioning behaviour have allowed for greater experimental control than large-scale studies (p. 242).It was found that teachers that predominately used higher cognitive questions had a positive effect on student achievement, and teachers that were trained in effective questions and used higher cognitive questions greatly affected their students achievement. Chin (2006) conducted a study focused on teacher questions and feedback to learner responses during science lessons. She wanted to analyze the type of talk that occurs during science lessons, find out how teachers use questioning to engage students, and identify the various types of feedback teachers give to learners during an initiation response-feedback exchange of talk. Chin (2006) gathered data from two science classrooms in Singapore during 14 lessons. To explain the data analysis, Chin (2006) explained, A questioning-based discourse analytical framework was developed for the description and analysis of classroom discourse in science, with a focus on questioning based practices (p. 1334). It was found that when the teacher provided feedback in the form of subsequent questions that built upon a students response, acknowledgement of a students response, or a restatement of a students response, students responded at a level beyond recall. Chin (2006) concluded that Students can be stretched mentally throu

The Main Outcomes of the Industrial Revolution Essay -- Industrial Rev

The Main Outcomes of the Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution had a huge impact on society. The major effects were socially and economically. It is rather difficult to date the start of the industrial revolution but history books of today suggest the onset during the 18th century. The change from agriculture to industry was vast and it must be remembered that England was the first country to undergo this profound change. The initial effect on engineering industries arising at the start of the Industrial Revolution were due partly to the geographical location of the resources i.e. coal iron and water. The inventiveness of our ancestors in these as well as other industries such as textiles chemical electrical and transportation contributed greatly to the Industrial Revolution. The first two of these coal and iron provided the capital infrastructure and options for future development, whilst textiles supported and encouraged developments. Coal was originally mined by small group’s even families, using the long wall system. * SEE DIA 1. This technique was changed dramatically with the invention of the Commen engine. * SEE DIA 2. (named after its inventor THOMAS NEWCOMMEN) This was a pump that pumped the water out of coalmines allowing deeper more productive mines to be worked by more people. [This in turn had effects on the production of iron] In the early 1700s iron was produced by burning vast quantities of wood. The production techniques were crude. Technology had already provided machines like the newcommen engine; this pumping device allowed ABRAHAM DARBY II to fill a millpond to power a water wheel for a blast furnace. This enabled the production of better quality pig iron. This technique provided the iron for the manufacture of one of the major symbols of the industrial revolution the Ironbridge over the river seven. * SEE DIA 3. A water wheel also played a major part in one of the first inventions within the textile industry. RICHARD ARKWRIGHT invented the water frame for spinning (1769) this device was used by local man JEDEDIAH STRUTT in a mill at Cromford. The changes within the textile industry from wool to cotton called for more and more mechanisation. The mechanisation of the industry also led the setting up of the first factories; some of the first major mechanical devices were to be used in these factories. Such as JOH... ...820 employers organisations registered, they mainly dealt with wage bargaining and labour questioning in general. A forum was created for the exchange of technical ideas and development. Pressure groups encouraged favourable legislation. In today’s industry, employers’ organisations fall into two categories: 1. Those concerned with the common interest of a particular trade or technology. The engineering employers federation in London co-ordinates the engineering employers association, this operates at local level and is largely concerned with wage bargaining and representing engineering employers interests locally and nationally. 2. General groups of employers, for example, the confederation of British industry, this balances the role of the TUC this also acts as a pressure group encouraging favourable government response to the requirements of British industry at home and abroad. There are also technical development associations, providing a forum for technical exchange, carrying out fundamental research on behalf of their member companies, one of these being the copper development association (C.D.A.). and the motor industry research association (M.I.R.A.).

Learning Contracts Essay

Abstract Learning contracts are being used in post-secondary education. Adults approach learning as problem solving and in theory by implementing learning contracts, the student becomes more involved in their own learning process. This paper discusses the use of a learning contract, the advantages and disadvantages for using contracts and the general design of a learning contract. The use of learning contracts provides opportunity for the student to be more involved in their own learning and apply relevance to their own educational experience. Learning Contracts  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Contract learning is, in essence, an alternative way of structuring a learning experience: It replaces a content plan with a process plan. † Malcolm S. Knowles (1991, pg. 39). In the early 1970’s, the concept that adults learn differently than children was introduced by Malcolm Knowles. This theory of andragogy has inspired research and controversy. The complexity of adult learning and motivation provides opportunities to explore new methods of teaching. Implementing learning contracts is an alternative way to structure the learning experience. Definition. Learning contract by definition is an agreement between students and teachers that grant the student certain freedoms and choices about completing tasks yet requires the student to meet certain specifications (â€Å"Definition,† n. d. , p. 1). According to Knowles (1980), contract learning solves, or at least reduces, the problem of dealing with wide differences within any group of adult learners. Knowles (1986) defines a learning contract as containing specifically: 1. the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values to be acquired by the learner (learning objectives); 2.  how the objectives are to be accomplished; 3. the target date for their accomplishment; 4. what evidence will be presented to demonstrate that the objectives have been accomplished; and 5. how this evidence will be judged or validated. In academic settings the contract also specifies how much credit is to be awarded and what grade is to be given (p. 38). Understanding the purpose and advantages of learning contracts and being able to apply them in our future careers as adult instructors will help prepare us for the variety of learning styles our students will have. Purposes of Learning Contracts Learning contracts have multiple purposes. One purpose is that it can enrich and extend the curriculum. They can connect educational needs to individual needs. The responsibility of learning is shared by the student and the educator. Learning contracts can also challenge the abilities of highly able students and provide alternate options that can be altered specifically for the differences in abilities, learning styles and interests of individual students. The contract is a tool for structuring the learning process. Uses of Learning Contracts Findings from research about adult learning have shown that when adults go about learning something naturally, they are highly self-directed (Tough, 1971, 1979). Coincidentally, when adults learn on their own initiative, they have a deeper understanding and more permanent memory of when they learn by being taught. Core adult learning principles view the adult learner as the primary source of data for making sound decisions regarding the learning process (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1998, p. 183). Contract learning is compatible with the notion that adult learners are self-directed learners. Online instruction is an example where contract learning can be highly effective. In an online environment, instructors are not physically meeting with the students to discuss learning goals, objectives and expectations. Learning contracts can help negotiate and define the learning goals and outcomes. Sample learning contracts can be placed on a web page and the student can determine which contract best suits their learning goals. Students can also engage in online discussions about the different options with their peers and gain a broader perspective through shared knowledge. Learning contracts can also be highly effective in the corporate world. Training employees is costly and can require large investments from organizations. Learning contracts allow the employee to take responsibility and increases motivation in the learning process when they are able to relate the training directly to their job responsibilities. Contracts can also clearly define the company’s expectations of the outcomes. When the expectations are defined, both instructor and trainee can track progress and stay focused on the company’s business goals and strategies. Learning contracts are useful in research. Research learning contracts provide form and structure to an unstructured environment such as the research laboratory, while ensuring maximal flexibility (â€Å"Contracts,† n. d. , para. 2). It allows the student to control their own learning. Contracts allow students to define learning objectives, activities, rate of progress and methods of assessment that will evaluate the student’s success or failure. Advantages and Disadvantages of Learning Contracts Advantages. There are many advantages for learning contracts in adult education. Learning contracts enhance the adult learner’s self-directed learning experience. They promote creative and critical thinking for the student and develop their time management, planning and decision making skills. They can target specific individuals and their specific learning activities. Each students experience can be unique to them and incorporate their own prior knowledge and experience. The contracts also allow students to work at their appropriate pace and can increase the student’s motivation which in return can increase their class participation. Contracts can help keep students on course if the contracts are specific and concrete. This can also help minimize miscommunication or misunderstanding of expectations and outcomes. The contract also provides a means for the learner to receive continuous feedback regarding progress toward accomplishing learning objectives. Disadvantages. There are disadvantages to using learning contracts. Contracts can be time consuming to develop. They typically are more detailed and require you to put in more work in the developing stage. Also, students can have confusion especially if their prior learning experience has only been the traditional method of instruction in a classroom. If students are only familiar with â€Å"instructor taught† learning and have not learned to be self-directed learners, the student could have difficulty adapting to this method. The learning contract method in pedagogic learning may require more instructor involvement verses student driven in andragogic learning. The attitude of the educator can have an influence on the learning contract as well. Some educators feel the learning contract gives the student too much control. Designing Learning Contracts There are many different ways to design a learning contract. Learning contracts can address the diverse learning needs of different students and may be designed to suit a variety of purposes. Despite the flexibility, there is a general format starting with identification of the content that will be learned. Specific methods and strategies that will be used to learn the content should be identified. Specifying resources to be used in order to learn the content and determining the type of evidence that will be used to demonstrate the learning should be identified. Last, the evidence that will be validated and by whom needs to be defined. Having clarity will lead to improved performance and allow for revision of learning objectives if needed throughout the learning experience (â€Å"Learning Contracts,† n. d. ). Conclusion and Recommendations Conclusion. Malcolm Knowles’ introduction of andragogy has influenced adult education. A distinguishing characteristic of adult learning programs is the shared control of program planning and facilitation (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1998, p. 133). Engaging adults as partners in their learning experience satisfies their â€Å"need to know† and appeals to their self-concept as independent learners. Learning contracts are a tool that encourages students to participate more actively in their own learning experience. It is an alternative method of structuring a learning experience unique to individuals. It enables educators to work with differences among a group of learners. Learning contracts, more so than any other type of instructional method, create the conditions for individualized instruction. The contract method will not be effective if the adult learner is passive in their own learning experience. Disadvantages include extensive planning and commitment as well as excessive focus on individual success (Duggan, n. d. ). In general, adult learners are going to be self-directed learners as opposed to child learners. Based on the five assumptions learned in WED 486 regarding adult learners: adults need to know why they need to know; adults need to learn experientially; adults approach learning as problem solving; adults learn best when the topic is of immediate value; and adults need to integrate new ideas with what they already know, learning contracts are an effective tool to enhance a self-directed experience. Recommendations. Additional research related to contract learning involves the fairness of learning contracts. In the traditional method of instructor taught learning, all students are given the same syllabus and information on what it takes to earn a particular grade. In the case of learning contracts, they are individualized to the learner. The contract may be specific as to how each learner will obtain earned grades but will the content be equal? Additional research is recommended to determine if contracts are efficient if not all students are covering the same material. References Duggan, T. (n. d. ). The disadvantages of training agreements. Retrieved from http://www.ehow. com/list_6075915_disadvantages-training-agreements. html Guidelines for writing. (n. d. ). In Learning contract guidelines [PDF]. Retrieved from https://dsacms. tamu. edu/sites/sllo. tamu. edu/files/LearningContractGuidelines. pdf Knowles, M. S. (1980). The modern practice of adult education from pedagogy to andragogy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Cambridge Adult Education. Knowles, M. S. (1986). Using learning contracts (p. 38). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc. , Publishers. Knowles, M. S. , Holton, III, E. F. , & Swanson, R. A. (1998). Beyond andragogy. In (Ed. ), The adult learner (5th ed. , pp. 153-183). Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing. Learning contracts. (n. d. ). In How to create and use learning contracts [PDF]. Retrieved from http://fcpsteach. org/docs/directions-learning%20contracts. pdf Research learning contracts. (n. d. ). In webGuru. Retrieved October 1, 2011, from http://www. webguru. neu. edu/undergraduate-research/structuring-ur-experience/research-learning-contracts Tough, A. (1971, 1979). The adult’s learning projects. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Media and the Vietnam and Iraq Wars

Despite the differences in American culture from the time of the Vietnam war to the Iraq war, similarities exist in the way Americans perceived both wars. Vietnam and Iraq both raised questions about the appropriateness of U.S. involvement in foreign affairs and, in some cases, resulted in negative perceptions of the U.S. military. As the link between those fighting the war and those at home watching and reading about the events of the war, the media played an important role in both cases.Relationship between the media and the militaryDuring the beginning of Vietnam there was no official policy of censorship. Censorship would have been difficult to manage because as a guest of South Vietnam, the U.S. would have had to allow the South Vietnamese to control the censorship. Additionally, according to Daniel Hallin, the U.S. administration wanted to deny that there was a war happening there, and to impose censorship is one of the signs that a country is really going to war. 1By 1963, rep orters in Vietnam had begun receiving increasingly contradictory information about the war. Military officials in Saigon maintained that the war was going well, while personnel in the field told a different story. One glaring example was the defeat of the South Vietnamese at Ap Bac. Eight days after the incident, military officials declared the operation a success. Reporter Mal Browne recalls that when the astonished press challenged this statement, they were told by the Commander in Chief of U.S. forces to â€Å"get on the team.†1 This was the beginning of a more strained relationship between the media and the military.It was in 1963 also that news programs were extended to a half hour and began showing footage of the war. This was the first time American viewers were able to experience the war right in their living rooms. In 1965, Morley Safer brought the Cam Ne report to viewers. The Cam Ne incident marked the first time the average American was exposed to images of their soldiers engaged in activities that were less than noble – burning huts in a small village as women and children ran away screaming. Though not officially tied to the report, shortly after it aired the government issued new rules of engagement designed to protect South Vietnamese civilians.By the time the U.S. engaged in war with Iraq, the world had become a different place. The military had learned the value of public perception and the need to manage it. Restrictions were placed on the press limiting where they were allowed to go and what they were allowed to report. Unfortunately for the administration, what they couldn’t manage was the amount of amateur footage that made its way into the public eye.Digital cameras and the internet made it possible for anyone to post photos and other footage in front of a broad audience. Some of the most sensational stories reported during the war – including the Abu Ghraib incident – were the result of amateur photogr aphy that found its way into professional media outlets. While of questionable value as a news source, this footage showing graphic scenes intrigued viewers and affected their perception of the U.S. military and their mission in Iraq.Another effect of technology was that reporters were able to feed information to networks â€Å"real time.† This to-the-second coverage allowed viewers to experience the war as it happened, but the information they received was not always accurate. When the military unit in which a reporter was embedded came under attack, the reporter could only report what he was experiencing without the benefit of objectivity or the â€Å"big picture† view. While they did provide some provocative footage, these reports did not increase understanding of the situation. Morley Safer stated this eloquently when he said, â€Å"Live coverage†¦only adds heat, it does not add light.†1Accuracy of reportingNorman Solomon, syndicated columnist on media and politics, suggests that the media has been fundamental in making war possible for the U.S. through fraudulent reporting. He cites reporting of the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam and of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as examples.2Tim Ryan, Army Lieutenant Colonel, has also expressed concern about the accuracy of reporting and its effect on public perception during the Iraq war. He has suggested that the media intentionally focused on negatives or failures during the war and ignored positives for the sake of a more sensational report. He stated that â€Å"even the Arab media was more willing to show positives,† such as school renovations or the creation of a youth center, than were American journalists.3During both wars, questions have been raised about the absence of reporting on U.S. interests in the countries in which they were fighting. In Vietnam, manganese, rubber and minerals were of economic interest to the U.S. In Iraq, of course, it was oil. The possibility that t he U.S. had less than noble reasons for entering into these wars was rarely addressed in mainstream media.Media influenceThere are differing opinions on whether the media actually influenced the Vietnam or Iraq wars or whether they simply provided documentation of what was happening. As the above examples show, some commentators believe that the media did affect events by making it easier for the government to wage war through fraudulent reporting, or by negatively affecting the morale of American soldiers and citizens.Contrarily, the organization Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) claims that the media has been falsely accused of affecting the war.4 According to FAIR, reporters merely reflect the opinions and concerns of the public. As reporter Chris Hedges stated â€Å"when everyone's waving a flag, the media waves a flag. When middle class families start wondering why their boy is coming home in a rubber bag, then the media starts asking questions too.†1Regardless o f whether they merely presented or actually influenced the Vietnam and Iraq wars, it’s clear that the media encountered similar challenges during both wars. Despite all the changes that occurred in the 40-plus years between the two wars and the fact that confidence in mainstream media waned in that time, the public still looked to the media to help them understand the facts and to represent their interests when they were concerned about the actions being taken.Works Cited1) â€Å"Which side are you on?† Episode 2, Reporting America at War. PBS, November, 2003. Online transcript www.pbs.org/weta/reportingamericaatwar/about/ep02_transcript.html2) Solomon, Norman. Adapted from keynote speech at annual awards ceremony of Project Censored at Sonoma State University, CA, October 22, 2005. Online source3) Ryan, Tim. â€Å"Media and the Iraq War.† Editorial, San Diego Union-Tribune, January 30, 2005.4) Cohen, Jeff. â€Å"The Myth of the Media’s Role in Vietnam.à ¢â‚¬  May 6, 2001. http://www.fair.org/indexAphp?page=2526

Impact of Music on Soiety in the 1960 essays

Impact of Music on Soiety in the 1960 essays Impact of music on society in the 1960s The Rolling Stones and The Beatles had a very great impact on society as of many reasons. Firstly, music was becoming ever more important in the everyday life of the youth. Music programmes on television such as Top of the Pops, Six Five Special and Ready Steady Go gave the music more publicity. There were also more radio stations broadcasting music, which helped spread the music. Gramophones and records were also becoming cheaper so more and more people could afford them and therefore more people were listening to the music. This in turn lead to bands becoming bigger and therefore causing a greater impact on society. The Beatles were one of the few bands that wrote and performed their own music. They were all working class and were accented Liverpool lads. They had their own unique sound, which was a mixture of Rhythm and Blues, Rock and Roll and Tamla Motown. It was this that separated The Beatles from any performers that came before them. Brian Epstein, their manager, had also created an image for The Beatles by making them wear suits with no collar and having them cut their hair into pudding basin style hairstyles. In doing so he created the Beatle jacket and the Beatle hairstyle. This was a clear, easily identifiable image, which made the Beatles so well known and their music so popular. Lyrics in their music were of real life, which caught the imagination of teenagers around the world. They had become heroes and represented the victory of youth over old age. Their influence went far beyond their music they wrote and performed. Their clothes, hair, accents and offhand attitudes seemed to sum up the new age of the Sixties. The Rolling Stones came after The Beatles, but were just as influential as The Beatles. They were becoming very popular in this period as of their characteristics and their music. They were accented, flamboyant and rough round the edges. The thing tha...

Sports centre Essays

Sports centre Essays Sports centre Essay Sports centre Essay Paper round: as this is my job I kind of have to do this. The cycling helps to build up the leg muscles and improves the aerobic system. Could do time trials when on the way there and back and try to improve my time each day.  Afternoon  Go to the sports centre and first do a certain sport like badminton, racket ball or swimming etc as this will work on the aerobic system. After doing this go to the gym and do whichever circuit you have been given by the trainer. Should hopefully work on aerobic/cardiovascular system, muscular strength, muscular endurance and flexibility. Evening  Nothing: go and play with your friends or just rest!  Tuesday  Morning  Paper round: as this is my job I kind of have to do this. The cycling helps to build up the leg muscles and improves the aerobic system. Could do time trials when on the way there and back and try to improve my time each day.  Bike ride: aim to do 3 hours bike ride around Froyle, Bentley, Binsted etc (suggestions only) and pace yourself to reach the 3 hours. Dont worry about getting up to early because its a Saturday and your next activity is at 14:30; but dont forget lunch! Afternoon  Go to the park to play football or basketball at the park. This way you can enjoy yourself whilst doing an aerobic activity with some anaerobic working (sprints etc) could also go and find the boat and go rowing down the river and work on your upper body strength so undercuts will be easier to save. Row down to Binsted or further. Could also go cycling. Aim to be working for at least 4 hours. Evening  Weights: Firstly do 150 bicep curls, 15 sets of 10 reps as this will help with me stick and glove save. Next do 30 quad thrusts (I think thats what theyre called!) as this will help with my kick in hockey and let me clear the ball further and faster. Afterwards do 70 (7 sets of 10 reps) sit-ups with the 22 lb dumbbells as this will help keep the correct head, knee, tip-toe position throughout the whole match. Lastly do 40 (4 sets of 10 reps) press-ups as this will help with muscles around the arms and the arm muscles. Wednesday  Morning  Paper round: As this is my job, I kind of have to do this. The cycling helps to build up the leg muscles and improves the aerobic system. Could do time trials when on the way there and back and try to improve my time each day.  Afternoon  Go to the sports centre and first do a certain sport like badminton, racket ball or swimming etc as this will work on the aerobic system. After doing this go to the gym and do whichever circuit you have been given by the trainer. Should hopefully work on aerobic/cardiovascular system, muscular strength, muscular endurance and flexibility. Evening  Nothing: go and play with your friends or just rest!  Week 5: Fifth week  Thursday  Morning  Paper round: As this is my job, I kind of have to do this. The cycling helps to build up the leg muscles and improves the aerobic system. Could do time trials when on the way there and back and try to improve my time each day.  Bike ride: aim to do 3 hours bike ride around Froyle, Bentley, Binsted etc (suggestions only) and pace yourself to reach the 3 hours. Dont worry about getting up to early because its a Saturday and your next activity is at 14:30; but dont forget lunch! Afternoon  Go to the park to play football or basketball at the park. This way you can enjoy yourself whilst doing an aerobic activity with some anaerobic working (sprints etc) could also go and find the boat and go rowing down the river and work on your upper body strength so undercuts will be easier to save. Row down to Binsted or further. Could also go cycling. Aim to be working for at least 5 hours. Evening  Weights: Firstly do 150 bicep curls, 15 sets of 10 reps as this will help with me stick and glove save. Next do 40 quad thrusts (I think thats what theyre called!) as this will help with my kick in hockey and let me clear the ball further and faster. Afterwards do 90 (9 sets of 10 reps) sit-ups with the 22 lb dumbbells as this will help keep the correct head, knee, tip-toe position throughout the whole match. Lastly do 50 (5 sets of 10 reps) press-ups as this will help with muscles around the arms and the arm muscles. Friday  Morning  Paper round: as this is my job I kind of have to do this. The cycling helps to build up the leg muscles and improves the aerobic system. Could do time trials when on the way there and back and try to improve my time each day.  Afternoon  Go to the sports centre and first do a certain sport like badminton, racket ball or swimming etc as this will work on the aerobic system. After doing this go to the gym and do whichever circuit you have been given by the trainer. Should hopefully work on aerobic/cardiovascular system, muscular strength, muscular endurance and flexibility. EveningNothing: go and play with your friends or just rest!  Saturday  Bike ride: aim to do 3 hours bike ride around Froyle, Bentley, Binsted etc (suggestions only) and pace yourself to reach the 3 hours. Dont worry about getting up to early because its a Saturday and your next activity is at 14:30; but dont forget lunch! Afternoon  Go to the park to play football or basketball at the park. This way you can enjoy yourself whilst doing an aerobic activity with some anaerobic working (sprints etc) could also go and find the boat and go rowing down the river and work on your upper body strength so undercuts will be easier to save. Row down to Binsted or further. Could also go cycling. Aim to be working for at least 5 hours. Evening  Weights: Firstly do 150 bicep curls, 15 sets of 10 reps as this will help with me stick and glove save. Next do 40 quad thrusts (I think thats what theyre called!) as this will help with my kick in hockey and let me clear the ball further and faster. Afterwards do 90 (9 sets of 10 reps) sit-ups with the 22 lb dumbbells as this will help keep the correct head, knee, tip-toe position throughout the whole match. Lastly do 50 (5 sets of 10 reps) press-ups as this will help with muscles around the arms and the arm muscles. Sunday  Morning  Nothing to do! Stay in bed or get up and do whatever.  Afternoon  Go to the sports centre and first do a certain sport like badminton, racket ball or swimming etc as this will work on the aerobic system. After doing this go to the gym and do whichever circuit you have been given by the trainer. Should hopefully work on aerobic/cardiovascular system, muscular strength, muscular endurance and flexibility.

Atticus Finch, a Father and Teacher

Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is full of life lessons and influential figures as siblings Jem and Scout grow up without a mother. As a single parent raising Scout and Jem, it is their father Atticus Finch who influences the children most. Atticus challenges them to be better people and helps them to discover many important life lessons. Some of these include not judging a book by its cover, compromising and keeping your head high and fists down. These lessons play a crucial part of Jem and Scouts’ growth into young adults and allow them to stay strong during the controversial trial of Tom Robinson. One of the first lessons Atticus teaches Scout is compromise He promises that â€Å"If [she] concedes the necessity of going to school, [they’ll] go on reading just as [they] always have. † (Lee 31) Atticus knows Scout is fond of him reading to her, so takes advantage of the situation, not only to convince Scout to go to school, but also to teach her how to compromise. Someone who did not know Scout as well as her father does would not have seen this unique solution or been able to explain the concept to her as well as her father could. Scout’s disastrous first day at school proves to be a flop but is full of valuable teachable moments for Atticus. During the very same conversation† Atticus teaches Scout not to judge a book by its cover. (†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢First of all’ he said, ‘if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. ’ ‘Sir? ’ ‘Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it:’† (Lee 30) This lesson helps Scout to get along better with her teacher while teaching her to be more understanding of other peoples situations as she exams situations from their point of view. This is not the only time Atticus has to address Scout’s volatile personality, and how it comes out in public. Nor is it the only tie he uses it to teach her a lesson. Atticus again has to address Scouts aggressive behavior after she gives Cecil Jacobs a bloody nose while defending Atticus’s name. This is not the first time Atticus has had to talk to Scout about fighting, but unlike other times, He take the opportunity to teach her a lesson, which sticks with her more than just a simple scolding ever could. He tells her that â€Å"[She] might hear some ugly talk about his [defense of Tom Robinson] at school, but to do one thing for [him] if [she] will: [to] just hold [her] head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anyone says to [her], don’t †¦ let ‘em get [her] goat. † (Lee 76) By asking her to do it for him, Atticus makes a stronger impression on her than threats over could. Scout would take a punishment if it meant standing up for Atticus, but she wouldn’t do anything to disappoint or break a promise with her father. Atticus knows this, and uses it to his benefit to make sure Scout does not get into trouble. Given his situation as Tom Robinson’s lawyer, this is one of the most important lessons he could ever teach Scout. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird shows Atticus teaching not only Scout valuable lessons, but also the reader too. Lessons such as compromise, not to judge a book by its cover and to use our words not our fists. These valuable lessons are learnt in our youth but often forgotten, as we grow older. Atticus Finch influences his children in such a way that they will never forget these vital life lessons. Lesson we can all learn and live by!

Covenant of the Old Testament Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Covenant of the Old Testament - Research Paper Example Meaning of Covenant Covenant is considered as an agreement taking place between two people as a method to relate with the God. The term ‘covenant’ has been derived from Hebrew roots which refers the action ‘to cut’. With concern to the meaning of covenant as specified in the Holy Bible’s Old Testament, it has often been categorised as the most significant term defining the relationship between God and His people. In a Biblical sense, a covenant means much more than a contract or a mere concurrence taking place between two parties. The term ‘covenant’, in the Old Testament, offers an additional insight to the meaning of God’s expectation from humans. The act of covenant, in particular tends to demonstrate the tradition, where two people with agreement attempted to pass through the cut bodies of assassinated animals as a method to get closer to the divine soul. However, other acts of covenant were learnt to have possibly taken place in terms of circumcision and also by sprinkling animal blood on the people engaged in the agreement. Such a ceremony escorted the making of the agreement in the Old Testament. ... However, it has been noted that He approves of entering into an agreement with the man who tends to be weak, sinful as well as flawed in order to direct them in the path of wisdom and peace (Schulten, â€Å"Legal Models For The Old Testament Covenants: An Issue of Contract or Real Property Law†). While entering into relationship with man, God was found to possess unilateral freedom. Therefore, He began, defined as well as confirmed each of the agreement not depending upon the human merits but completely according to His own elegance as well as clemency. Consequentially, the role of human beings has been to act as a recipient rather than acting as a contributor. People did not bargain, barter or dared to contradict with God. However, it was found that man beheld his power to decide upon whether to keep with the promises made to the God or to reject them; to obey Him or to transgress. Hence, stating precisely, God was completely accountable to look after covenantal security. The role of man was thus restricted to believe and obey (Weinfeld, â€Å"The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East†). There are nearly six covenants in the Old Testament. The Covenant with Adam It is worth mentioning that the first covenant enacted in the Garden of Eden was in agreement with Adam and Eve where the Holy Spirit explicitly directed them stating, â€Å"You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat it, you will surely die†. According to the description given in the Old Testament, Eve was the first sinner as she had contradicted the order of the Holy Spirit. Consequentially, when Adam followed the same path making a sin,

ESSAY PAPER Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

PAPER - Essay Example Most of the litter is so small that it is present in the top layer of the water columns. Due to this fact, they are very hard to see, even with a satellite view. These plastics end up in stomachs of birds and marine animals. Not only the larger animals are affected, but whole eco-systems (starting with the smaller fish or jellyfish) can be suffering from hormonal disruptions and toxins. The water and wind currents have gathered masses of garbage in some kind of soup. Scientists say that the biggest one, the Pacific Garbage Patch, is about the size of the state of Texas (UNEP). The Creation of the Garbage Patches At first, the thought was that the islands were formed by the water currents in the oceans, gathering all the rubbish. But, the rubbish also seemed to come from the land, where the wind takes it and brings it out to the sea. According to researches, 80% of the plastic in the sea originates from land and roughly 20% comes from boats (Greenpeace Int.). A passenger cruise ship c an produce about eight tons of solid waste every week (Greenpeace Int.). Most of this waste is organic, but much of it will directly go the garbage patches. Due to the currents in the oceans, the garbage is contained and trapped in the swirling waters. Because of these currents, several garbage patches were created in our oceans; the North Atlantic Gyre, the South Atlantic Gyre, the Indian Ocean Gyre, the South Pacific Gyre and the North Pacific Gyre. The patches were already predicted in 1988, in a research paper from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This research was based on measurements of plastic and concentrations of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean (Day). The Problems of the Garbage Patches Plastic does not decay, but disintegrates into constantly smaller particles, till the molecular level. The molecules don’t decay any further and stay plastic polymers. Because they don’t fall apart, they stay afloat in the top layers of the water, where they are easily mistaken for food by fish and birds, that normally would get their food out of this part of the water (Greenpeace Int.). These animals will eat the plastic and give the toxins to their young, which sometimes die because of this. When the dead animals decay and end up back in the ocean, the plastic will return as well, where it can kill again. The levels of toxins in the water can become very high (Morton). Smaller fish, which swallow the toxins, are also food for other sea life like turtles or albatrosses, which will swallow the toxins and so on and so forth, until the chemicals end up on our own diner plate as well. The United Nations Environment Program (2005) says that the plastic is responsible for the deaths of more than 1.000.000 million seabirds and more than 100.000 sea animals, like whales, dolphins and seals. Further investigation has concluded that at least 267 animal species are being affected by this pollution (Greenpeace Int.). Around 6.4 m illion tons of litter comes into the seas every year. 8 million items are dumped in the sea every day, of which 5 million is thrown from ships (UNEP). The plastic does not only stay at the top of the water, it also sinks to the bottom. Here it covers and smothers the coral and sea life on the bottom of the ocean (UNEP). Greenpeace claims that about 70% of the plastic that ends up in the sea, will eventually

There should be laws against bullying in elementary school Annotated Bibliography

There should be laws against bullying in elementary school - Annotated Bibliography Example ing has extended even to internet bullying also known as cyber bullying where people are harassed via the internet on social sites (Kalman,(2011): 3). Elementary school is the first stage of schooling for children in the United States. In this stage, the children are still very young and, fragile, and they shape their behavior in this stage. The children here are aged between 5 and 14. Bullying may have adverse effects on individuals depending on how they each react to bullying and the setting in which the bullying occurs. Bullying may be a result of envy. Other people bully because they too are being bullied as a way of getting revenge. This shows that different people deal with bullying in different ways. Some individuals ignore the bullying advances and, as a result, focus more on their jobs or at school while others end up taking drastic measures such as suicide or mass murders (Vettese, (2012): 5). Bullying starts as early as in elementary school where kids harass and insults fellow students. When kids are not reprimanded as early as in elementary school when they start picking on each other, they are likely to make bullying a constant behavior (Trump, (2011): 55). Since the kids in elementary school are still very young, they make bullying a habit and continue picking on their victims as they grow up and continue on with their education at different levels. It is important to take necessary measures to reduce bullying at this stage of the children’s life; as it forms a basis on which they pursue the next events of their life. Bullying is, in fact, a serious issue in schools and it even assumed to be a key risk to the security and safety in schools for students. Planning and enforcing bullying preventive measures reduces the cases of violence in schools. Elementary schools without these measures only encourage bullies to continue with their actions and thus pushing the victims of bullying to extreme measures (Kalman,(2011): 3). Anti-bullying laws are a

Negotiation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Negotiation - Essay Example Frank Hu, the partner was located in CA at the time. He is a 40-year-old IT engineer with a great background of people resources in the area. His role was to act as a bridge between the CA clients and us, located in TX. In the deal, Frank’s primary job was to organize Seminars. This covered arrangement of location, advertising and general contacts. With this limited responsibility, Frank was happy with 20% share on each closed house deal based on 3% commission of sales price, plus 50% share cost on all business expenses for Advertising and Seminars. My team leader – Lady M, chose me to play her primary role, and gave me the charge of the investing department and the authority to deal with Frank. I was quick learner, and was able to lead the negotiations with confidence in a matter of two months. My primary duties were Seminar hosting, Real Estate tour trips, sales and buying, house leasing, and also rental management between investors and tenants. It was a 24/7 job and I was able to learn a lot and survived though unlimited multi-tasking. My own share percentage with Lady M was 1/3 of sales price in each closed transaction plus 50% of any bonuses from new home builders on top of deals. It sounded great in compare with my work. Monthly volume at the time was a minimum of 6 seminars in CA, with average of 10 or more closures. Besides we got 10 -15 rental houses on the market, and the cumulative number of housing management started from 50 from when I joined the business. It was exhausting work but the compensation was worth the effort. Indeed I thought my life could not be more perfect and tougher, until the unexpected happened. One day in winter, Frank and his wife secretly flied into Dallas for a private meeting with me. On the dinner table at my home, Frank started off with remarks that Lady M, who had not been neither involved nor devoted to any efforts all this time, skimmed off

The Healing Activity of Jesus and The Ministry of the Church Today Essay

The Healing Activity of Jesus and The Ministry of the Church Today - Essay Example His healing actions were central to His ministry as the Messiah who has come to preach the good news to the poor of the Yahweh. The cardinal principle of Jesus' mission is its stubborn option for the poor and the marginalized and the role of the healing action of Christ is an unequivocal proclamation that the people whom the society considers as the scum of the earth are the children of God in a special way. Since the Church is the continuation of Jesus in the world today, it is necessary for the Church to model its mission after the manner of Jesus and His disciples and missionaries, who provide us the benchmark of missionary conduct. Jesus has a proclaimed bias for the poor, marginalized, outcasts, handicapped, helpless and sinners. Jesus' basic identity was with those who were excluded from mainstream social class, who boasted about their pedigree and righteousness. (The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Mat.9.11, Mk.2.16, Lk.5.13). The derogatory remark about Jesus by the Jews highlights this identity chosen consciously by Jesus: a friend of the tax collectors and sinners (Mat.11.19). In the words of Martin Percy these friends of Jesus were those, who dwelt outside the periphery of the over- righteous Jewish society, the politically, socially and religiously disadvantaged (p.28). The main focus of Jesus' ministry was directed to the poor, the oppressed, the excluded and the helpless. The then Jewish society had a system of societal exclusions based on their self-righteous attitude as the chosen people of God. In the Jewish brag as the chosen people of God they forgot the fact that God has many chosen peoples. Social classes like the Samaritans were the outcasts, the presence of the sick like the lepers violated their ritualistic standards of cleanliness, tax collectors were branded bad because of their profession and the congenital handicaps like blindness were blindly accepted as the results of the sins of their ancestors. Though healing actions of Jesus is traditionally considered as faith revelations, the Jesus' Messianic mission of the societal inclusion of the marginalized is also inherent in them. This healing touch is a gratuitous gesture extended to all the deprived who came to Him, irrespective of race or religion. (Percy 30). Jesus achieves the empowerment of the marginalized by his own voluntary disempowerment, the culmination of which is the helpless nailed condition on the cross. In the active ministry Jesus demonstrates it by His spontaneous association with all classes of people whom the Jews considered outcastes. So there is dining with tax collectors, moving in the company of women of immoral history and blatant violation of Jewish rules of social segregation by asking the Samaritan woman water to drink. The choice of the ignorant fish folk as His disciples to carry on His mission, in itself is a symbol of the unique nature of Gods' work often achieved by using human beings, who in our judgment is least suited for the task. However, history has shown that the pack of ignorant fish folk under the leadership of the impetus Peter achieved what several divisions of grand armies of historical civilizations could not achieve. According to Martin Percy: This view would not have been strange to the Early Church fathers, whose

There should be laws against bullying in elementary school Annotated Bibliography

There should be laws against bullying in elementary school - Annotated Bibliography Example ing has extended even to internet bullying also known as cyber bullying where people are harassed via the internet on social sites (Kalman,(2011): 3). Elementary school is the first stage of schooling for children in the United States. In this stage, the children are still very young and, fragile, and they shape their behavior in this stage. The children here are aged between 5 and 14. Bullying may have adverse effects on individuals depending on how they each react to bullying and the setting in which the bullying occurs. Bullying may be a result of envy. Other people bully because they too are being bullied as a way of getting revenge. This shows that different people deal with bullying in different ways. Some individuals ignore the bullying advances and, as a result, focus more on their jobs or at school while others end up taking drastic measures such as suicide or mass murders (Vettese, (2012): 5). Bullying starts as early as in elementary school where kids harass and insults fellow students. When kids are not reprimanded as early as in elementary school when they start picking on each other, they are likely to make bullying a constant behavior (Trump, (2011): 55). Since the kids in elementary school are still very young, they make bullying a habit and continue picking on their victims as they grow up and continue on with their education at different levels. It is important to take necessary measures to reduce bullying at this stage of the children’s life; as it forms a basis on which they pursue the next events of their life. Bullying is, in fact, a serious issue in schools and it even assumed to be a key risk to the security and safety in schools for students. Planning and enforcing bullying preventive measures reduces the cases of violence in schools. Elementary schools without these measures only encourage bullies to continue with their actions and thus pushing the victims of bullying to extreme measures (Kalman,(2011): 3). Anti-bullying laws are a

The Healing Activity of Jesus and The Ministry of the Church Today Essay

The Healing Activity of Jesus and The Ministry of the Church Today - Essay Example His healing actions were central to His ministry as the Messiah who has come to preach the good news to the poor of the Yahweh. The cardinal principle of Jesus' mission is its stubborn option for the poor and the marginalized and the role of the healing action of Christ is an unequivocal proclamation that the people whom the society considers as the scum of the earth are the children of God in a special way. Since the Church is the continuation of Jesus in the world today, it is necessary for the Church to model its mission after the manner of Jesus and His disciples and missionaries, who provide us the benchmark of missionary conduct. Jesus has a proclaimed bias for the poor, marginalized, outcasts, handicapped, helpless and sinners. Jesus' basic identity was with those who were excluded from mainstream social class, who boasted about their pedigree and righteousness. (The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Mat.9.11, Mk.2.16, Lk.5.13). The derogatory remark about Jesus by the Jews highlights this identity chosen consciously by Jesus: a friend of the tax collectors and sinners (Mat.11.19). In the words of Martin Percy these friends of Jesus were those, who dwelt outside the periphery of the over- righteous Jewish society, the politically, socially and religiously disadvantaged (p.28). The main focus of Jesus' ministry was directed to the poor, the oppressed, the excluded and the helpless. The then Jewish society had a system of societal exclusions based on their self-righteous attitude as the chosen people of God. In the Jewish brag as the chosen people of God they forgot the fact that God has many chosen peoples. Social classes like the Samaritans were the outcasts, the presence of the sick like the lepers violated their ritualistic standards of cleanliness, tax collectors were branded bad because of their profession and the congenital handicaps like blindness were blindly accepted as the results of the sins of their ancestors. Though healing actions of Jesus is traditionally considered as faith revelations, the Jesus' Messianic mission of the societal inclusion of the marginalized is also inherent in them. This healing touch is a gratuitous gesture extended to all the deprived who came to Him, irrespective of race or religion. (Percy 30). Jesus achieves the empowerment of the marginalized by his own voluntary disempowerment, the culmination of which is the helpless nailed condition on the cross. In the active ministry Jesus demonstrates it by His spontaneous association with all classes of people whom the Jews considered outcastes. So there is dining with tax collectors, moving in the company of women of immoral history and blatant violation of Jewish rules of social segregation by asking the Samaritan woman water to drink. The choice of the ignorant fish folk as His disciples to carry on His mission, in itself is a symbol of the unique nature of Gods' work often achieved by using human beings, who in our judgment is least suited for the task. However, history has shown that the pack of ignorant fish folk under the leadership of the impetus Peter achieved what several divisions of grand armies of historical civilizations could not achieve. According to Martin Percy: This view would not have been strange to the Early Church fathers, whose

Greek and Norse Mythology. Essay Example for Free

Greek and Norse Mythology. Essay Greek mythology and Roman mythology are almost identical. This is an accepted fact, as it is widely known that the Romans stole the Greek myths. However, it is very interesting to note that the mythology of the Vikings (Norse) has many similarities with the Greek myths. These myths are, by no means, identical to the Greek ones (like the Roman ones are), but there are very distinct commonalities between the two. I see two possible reasons for this besides pure coincidence. The first has to do with the fact that Norse myths were codified during the Viking era: 780 1070. This gives the Norsemen many centuries to become exposed to the Greek (or Roman) myths. The Vikings did travel as far east as the Caspian sea, which is further east than both Italy and Greece. The Norse myths were fashioned after the fall of the Roman empire. During the expansion of the Roman empire, the Romans were able to get all the way to Britain, which is farther west than the Scandinavian countries where these myths originated. The Vikings made many expeditions into Britain. So it is a very realistic thought that the Vikings could have been exposed to the stories of the Greek and Roman gods. It is also possible that the Vikings could have extrapolated parts of the Roman stories into their own. The only two existing primary sources of Norse mythology are the Prose (Elder) Edda, and the Poetic (Younger) Edda. These were written about one thousand to eight hundred years ago respectively. The second factor has to do with mythology as an extension of the society that fashions it. I see mythology as an attempt by a people to explain the powerful forces which affect and shape it, that are beyond its control, such as weather, the elements, and nature. I also see gods as being characters that have many similarities with the people within the society. The gods and goddesses are powerful beings capable of super-human powers, but nevertheless are characters fraught with very human frailties and flaws. In this way they created gods that had similarities with the common man in the society. This made the gods more tangible and easier to identify with. I think that this was necessary because they were not yet at the societal maturity level to have a single god on a cosmic plane. Most of the comparisons will be examining the similarities between major Greek and Norse gods, as well as creatures, stories and specific symbols which are featured in the mythologies.

Tektronix Inc Global Erp Implementation Information Technology Essay

Tektronix Inc Global Erp Implementation Information Technology Essay The present business environment is changing dramatically and is mainly characterized by increasing competition, rising customer expectations, expanding markets and shorter product life cycles. This has put tremendous pressure on companies to reduce costs across the value chain and inventory, provide better customer service and reliable delivery dates, improved quality and efficiently manage the demand, production and supply across the globe. In order to remain competitive, in the light of these pressures, firms are exploring different ways of doing business and also realizing the importance to improve their internal processes and practices. It is crucial for organisations to share timely and accurate business information with their customers, suppliers and distributors and in order to meet this objective firms are aggressively using enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems. ERP system provides two main benefits. One, it provides a unified enterprise view of the organization. The entire information from human resources, accounting, finance, sales, inventory, logistics and supply chain management are integrated by ERP. This integration allows firms to respond rapidly to changing market and competitive forces, efficiently manage supply chain and inventory thereby realizing cost savings. Second, the ERP acts as a central information database that allows information to be stored, processed, analyzed and monitored. This prevents information and communications gaps thereby allowing better co-operation and co-ordination across the various departments and functional units in an organization (Umble et al, 2003; Bingi et al, 1999). The ERP system, by providing timely and accurate information, aids in the strategic decision making functions of the top management. Although the ERP system can be considered as one of the strategic tools used by organisations to realize their business goals and objectives, its implementation is a cause for concern. ERP systems are highly complex systems and its implementation is usually a difficult and costly exercise fraught with risks. This essay evaluates the global ERP implementation at Tektronix, a manufacturer of electronic test equipments. The essay begins by briefly outlining the state of affairs at Tektronix prior to ERP implementation and can be considered as driving factors behind the adoption. The implementation has been analyzed in different stages business plan and Vision, requirements analysis, software selection, implementation planning and implementation. Such an approach will provide more clarity about the adoption process, the critical success factors and risk mitigation. NEED FOR CHANGE AT TEKTRONIX Tektronix, in spite of being the world leader in most of the businesses that it was catering to, was limited in terms of flexibility of its operations and growth opportunities. In order to overcome these limitations the top management felt that the organization had to be restructured starting with information technology (IT) infrastructure. The IT infrastructure at Tektronix was a complete mess. They had over 450 legacy systems only in the United States, apart from the systems used in the 60 countries in which they were operating. There was no standardization of these systems or business processes globally. Inventory tracking was a problem and sales order processing had to be carried out multiple times in different systems which resulted in increasing processing time, reduced customer service and order errors. The financial systems were not very efficient with multiple charts of accounts across the company and therefore taking weeks to close the books at the end of the month. It was also challenging to retrieve business performance information such as the profitability with regards to each product or division. It can be inferred from these business challenges that the driving forces for ERP adoption at Tektronix were the need for business process integration, common template for IT, unified enterprise view of informatio n, operational cost savings and increased customer responsiveness. BUSINESS PLAN, VISION, TOP MANAGEMENT SUPPORT AND COMMITMENT One of the most critical success factors for any ERP implementation is the creation of a clear and compelling vision identifying goals and objectives along with their alignment with information systems strategy (Umble et al, 2003; Finney Corbett, 2007). Along with this vision, the business plan should provide the justification for the investment based on reliable data and reasonable assumptions (Nah et al, 2001; Kraemmerand et al, 2003). In case of Tektronix, the vision was provided by the CFO and it stressed on three key aspects -seperablity of business, leveraging shared services and a plain vanilla system, where possible. With regards to ERP investment justification, Tektronix did not spent time carrying out detailed return on investment (ROI) analysis. The decision to adopt ERP system was based on the judgment of few senior managers, in particular the CFO. One of the risks of such an action, and which did occur, is costly implementations. A detailed budgeting and ROI analysis wo uld have put a control on the cash outflow for the implementation. Top management support and commitment is another critical success factor and is required throughout the implementation by way of monitoring progress and providing direction (Murray Coffin, 2001). They play a key role in the allocation of resources apart from legitimizing the new goals, objectives and business process changes. Their support also helps to reduce user resistance which is likely to be present in large transformational projects such as an ERP implementation (Nah et al, 2001; Sumner, 2003). In case of Tektronix there was continuous support and approval from the CFO, divisional heads and senior managers during the project life cycle. REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS Most of the times, the reasons cited for the abandonment of ERP projects is because firms realize, midway, that the new system does not support some of their business processes (Koch et al, 1999). One of the reasons for this is the failure to conduct a detailed requirement analysis prior to ERP adoption. As part of this analysis, functional requirements should depict the various data requirements, process linkages and work flows. In Tektronix implementation, it is clear from the case study that the management had not carried out detailed requirement analysis prior to ERP adoption. Although they managed to have a successful ERP adoption, this was a very risk approach. SOFTWARE SELECTION The software selection process at Tektronix can be analyzed from three key aspects buy-versus-build decision, the software selection process and finally, the single vendor approach to enterprise systems integration. Firms adopting an ERP system face the decision to whether build the system in-house or to purchase packaged software and this depends on a number of factors, one of which is the level of technical expertise and ERP development knowledge existing in-house (Sawyer, 2000). Firms involved in the in-house development of the ERP systems face the risk of cost and schedule overruns and in some cases the end system not meeting the user requirements (Lucas Jr et al, 1988). The decision to go for packaged system, in Tektronix, can be considered to be a wise decision because of two main reasons. Firstly, Tektronix had no experience in developing IS systems. It would not have been possible for them to develop a robust system with the same efficiency as a package software developer, who could leverage from its RD and varied implementation experiences. Secondly, Tektronix did not have the necessary technical skills, which was also evident during the implementation stage. With regards to software selection process, Tektronix spent very little time. The decision to implement Oracle ERP solution was based mainly on the experiences of the CFO and CIO. Very little resources were spent in evaluating the alternatives in terms of features and costs. An ERP system, by default, will impose considerable influence on a firms strategy, organization and culture. Some of the ERP failures can be attributed to the incompatibility that exist between the new systems technical capabilities and needs vis-Ã  -vis the organizations existing business processes (Umble et al, 2003). It is therefore critical that the ERP selection process is conducted with great care. The selection between the single vendor and best of breed approaches to systems integration is debatable. Both the approaches have risks and are considered to be complex with regards to their scale, scope and business process reengineering requirements (Shehab et al, 2004). The best of breed strategy can offer the best functionality for each module, but its implementation is complex because of the need for establishing interfaces between the disparate systems (Bingi et al, 1999; Shehab et al, 2004). The cost and the need for extensive training to maintain these interfaces is also likely to be high (Light et al, 2001). In case of single vendor strategy, it might not have all functionalities but it will easier to implement (Mabert et al, 2001). The other benefits include simplified contracting and relationship management as well as a single point of control for all software related problems (Shehab et al, 2004). Taking into consideration Tektronix growth strategy as well as the scale a nd complexity of the ERP implementation, it can be argued that the single vendor strategy seemed suitable. It mitigated, to a great extent, the integration, maintenance and upgrade related risks likely to be present in multiple package implementations. IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION An important activity, during implementation planning, which plays a crucial role in the success of an ERP implementation, is the creation of a steering committee consisting of senior management and end users (Somers Nelson, 2004). The role of the steering committee is mainly to determine the project scope and objectives prior to implementation and to ensure adherence to it (Parr Shanks, 2000). In case of Tektronix, the steering committee refined the companys vision and developed the global business model along with business process change and guiding principles in order to provide clear direction for the implementation. The steering committees portrayal of top management support and commitment was also instrumental in overcoming resistances. Effective project organization and management is another critical success factor in the adoption of an ERP (Umble et al, 2003). It is also necessary to ensure that the project team is well balanced consisting of members from different divisions or functional units possessing both business and technical skills (Finney Corbett, 2007). In case of Tektronix ERP implementation, there was an efficient project management team consisting of representatives from different functional and geographical locations. Apart from this, the members had a combination of business and technical skills which made it easy for to identify and resolve issues quickly. In this context it would be appropriate to stress the importance of a project champion; who oversees the entire implementation process, helps to achieve consensus and plays a major role in handling organizational change. This project champion should be a high level executive with transformational leadership qualities and should have the authorit y to set goals and legitimize change (Nah et al, 2001; Ngai et al, 2008). The CFO as a project champion can be considered one of the success factors behind Tektronix implementation. In case of large scale ERP implementations, most companies fall into the trap of a big bang seduction. Introducing the ERP system at one strike can be extremely risky and can affect the success of the project (Vogt, 2002). The overall strategy used by Tektronix for the ERP implementation can be considered to be incremental approach. It was a single change program consisting of several waves or implementations with each implementation lead by a senior executive and addressing change in a particular division or geographic region. Although the different locations were managed independently, they were monitored by a central project team to ensure a timely and smooth change. The advantage of this was that it gave regular feedback regarding the implementation thereby allowing fast corrective measures in case of any deviations, provided vital learnings which could be used in subsequent installations and allowed flexibility in project scheduling. Apart from this, each successful implementati on acted as a proof of concept (Watson Haley, 1998) for the ERP, which helped to keep the team morale high as well as to ensure continued senior management support and commitment. In case of global rollout, again the incremental approach was followed, with the initial implementation being carried out across Europe. This allowed the project team to learn and address majority of the global implementation challenges, which proved beneficial in the subsequent implementations. Although the overall approach was incremental, it was interlaced with big bang approach where possible. The incremental approach helped to overcome the challenges arising from geographical distances and the lack of business synergies that existed between some countries. It was also instrumental in managing the language difficulties that existed in some countries. One of the risk factors associated with an ERP implementation is the failure of adopting company to redesign the business processes to align with the new ERP system. Rather than redesigning, these companies customize the software to fit the existing inefficient business processes, leading to cost overruns, delays and project failures (Sumner, 2003; Ngai et al, 2008; Somers Nelson, 2004; Nah et al, 2001). These risk factors were addressed to great extent in the Tektronix implementation. As part of business process redesign it carried out a number of activities. It standardized the charts-of-accounts, eliminated existing complex transfer pricing practices and changed the financial transaction processes. Apart from this, as part of organizational restructuring all European country managers were removed, English was declared as the single language for business within Tektronix and local business practices were standardized. With regards to customization, Tektronix undertook it mainly be cause of two reasons the differences in business operations between the divisions necessitated it and the Oracle ERP system did not have all the functionality required; a fallout of not carrying out the software/vendor process diligently. Change management programs are an important part of organizational transformation processes such as ERP adoption. Although it is mentioned here under planning and implementation, it is usually initiated at the start of the project and continues throughout the project lifecycle. An enterprise wide ERP implementation such as at Tektronix is likely to cause changes to the organizations culture and structure (Nah et al, 2001). If users are not prepared for such a change, the likely consequences will be user resistance, chaos and denial. To avoid such a situation the users need to be involved during the design and implementation of the ERP system. This should be augmented with education, training and re-skilling, which will help them in understanding the need for change and the associated implications on their job (Umble et al, 2003; Al-Mashari et al, 2003; Kraemmerand et al, 2003). In case of Tektronix, there are indications from the case study that the change management was not handled effectively. One instance was the resistance to change faced during the implementation of Order Management/Accounts Receivable (OMAR) at CPID division and the project team having to reiterate the need for change. Another instance was during the implementation of OMAR at VND division. It was post implementation that VND realized the level of resources and the skill set required. Although VND managed to have a successful implementation, this could have been risky leading to user resistance and chaos. The insufficient training of the end users is considered as one of the risk factors associated with an ERP implementation (Sumner, 2003). Based on the approach of using power or super users, it can be argued that Tektronix followed cascaded training to mitigate the risks arising from insufficient training of end users. The risk arising from the lack of internal expertise, technical and functional, was mitigated by the deployment of external consultants. In order to avoid the risks and surprises arising from the integration of complex business operations with the ERP system, Tektronix pursued a vigorous testing program simulating live work environment. LESSONS LEARNED FROM THIS IMPLEMENTATION There are some key learnings, based on the above evaluation. Firstly, it is necessary to carry out a detailed requirement of analysis prior to an ERP implementation. This will ensure that a proper understanding of existing business process and benefits that can be realized from the adoption of the new system. Secondly, the ROI analysis and budgeting apart from providing the economic justification for the project will also help to control the implementation costs. Third, in case of software/vendor selection sufficient resources must be spent in comparing features and costs between the various alternatives. This can avoid customizations at a later stage. In their article, Umble and Haft (2003) recommends a selection process which includes identification of potential vendors and evaluation criteria, creating the request for proposal, evaluation of the proposals, choosing the vendor/software, negotiation of contract, pre-implementation pilot test and finally, establishing service level a greements. Fourth, the presence of a steering committee consisting of representatives from the senior management and end users along with the appointment of a project champion can have considerable impact on the success of the implementation. Fifth, the lack of business process reengineering coupled with excessive levels of customizations can lead to cost overruns, delays and project failure. Lastly, incremental approach is suitable in the case of large scale ERP implementations as it provides feedbacks and quick gains which acts as a proof of concept along with the learning which can be utilized in subsequent installations. CONCLUSION It is clear that although the implementation at Tektronix was expensive it was a successful implementation. This was due to the presence of a number of critical success factors along with risk mitigation approaches that were followed. The presence of executive sponsorship during the project life cycle, along with a transformation leader such as the CFO as the project champion was critical to the success of this project. In terms of global rollout, avoiding the big bang seduction and following the incremental approach was a wise decision. However, there are few areas such as the requirement analysis, software/vendor selection process and change management where the project team did not carry out detailed analysis or execution. Focus on some of these areas could have made avoided some of the problems that were faced during the implementation. In a nutshell, the successful adoption of ERP at Tektronix helped it to overcome many of the inefficiencies which were present earlier and in the process enabled it to become much more agile and flexible.