Book report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Book report - Essay Example However, the Chinese artistic traditions were usually only partially valued in the Western world. For example, researchers more often studied Chinese sculpture and paid little attention to such a valuable form of art in China as calligraphy. In this regard, in his book Clunas attempts to compensate for such a one-sided traditional approach to the study of art in China, as for one he describes the mentioned virtual omission by Western scholars of calligraphy as an art form in favor of painting, and even points out that the cognomen "Chinese Art" is mostly a Western concept. In reality, as we learn, for the most period of its history in China artistic sphere was closely connected with its functions, be they decorative, religious, or political in nature. Now contrast this with the notion of a kind of an isolated museum exhibition that may arise from the Western approach to the study of art, and we may understand why Chinese art has not been fully appreciated in the West and what potenti al benefits the approach of Clunas may offer. With the mentioned innovative approaches to his investigation Craig Clunas apparently manages to penetrate deep within his subject of study due to his organic combination of study of Chinese arts in their proper contexts with attention to all their essential aspects, starting from tomb artifacts and up to the Mao Zedong era. Interestingly, with these observations in mind we can also think of Clunas`s book as simultaneously a critical investigation of the Western perception of Chinese art. Let us see how the author tackles the task that he has set before him. This can already be seen from an introduction where, instead of attempts to superficially describe the most important artists and works of art of different periods of history, Clunas rather chooses to elaborate on the plausible historic context that accompanied works of Chinese art. As we learn, it turns out

Role of Spirituality in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease Essay Example for Free

Role of Spirituality in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease Essay Spirituality, as defined in this article entitled Role of Spirituality in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease, is the capacity to rise above life experiences, to celebrate life, and to experience joy. Spirituality is comprised of acceptance, the need for love, mercifulness, and self-fulfillment and it applies to all mankind; on the other hand, being religious is relative to the person’s religious group and its practices (Cooper-Effa, et al. , 2001). They have divided a person’s spiritual well-being into involving a religious component or a relationship with God and an existential component, which involves the individual’s sense of life purpose. It was concluded in this study that those patients with a relatively high existential component were able to cope up more with the pain and the over-all outcome of the disease. It has been known that spirituality can increase the ability to tolerate pain (cited in Landis, 1996). This concept can be applied by getting the patient’s cooperation and trust, and then the nurse will facilitate a talk about spirituality. This will empower the patient to establish his spirituality and the nurse will also be able to develop closer ties with the patient, improving rapport. The nurse can further help the patient by getting him a spiritual counselor, as per patient’s request. By helping the patient strengthen his spirituality, an improvement in the patient’s over-all outlook on the disease, on life, and a probability of lesser pain may take place. Holistic practice in nursing is very important nowadays. As a nurse, there are several skills that should be present to help client’s achievement of spiritual needs. The nurse should be open to all kinds of religion and beliefs, he must try to maintain open minded. He or she should respect these beliefs and religious practices by not questioning the nature of these and by participating in these activities whenever the client wishes the nurse to. Also, nurses cannot let their own beliefs take over them. If there are circumstances wherein the nurse finds that he is unable to accept a client’s belief or practice, then it would be best for the nurse to ask for help from another nurse discreetly. Patience, understanding, and wisdom are needed for a successful patient and nurse interaction. References Journal of the American Board of Family Practice. (2001). Role of Spirituality in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease. Retrieved February 01, 2008, from http://www. medscape. com/viewarticle/405838_1.

Doomed From the Start Essay -- Harper Lee Kill Mockingbird Essays

Doomed From the Start Throughout the course of history, blacks have always been second to the whites. Even after the Civil War, segregation and racists groups were at large. During this time, white men were disrespectful towards black men. Groups like the K.K.K. wanted nothing less than white supremacy, and they would stop at nothing to obtain this goal. Many blacks were lynched, or even killed only because of the color of their skin. The following are examples of this; the Scottsboro case, lynching by the Klan, and many forms of segregation from the 1920’s till 1930’s. Also in Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson never has a chance to plead innocent because of his black skin. During the 1930’s, nine young black men were falsely accused of raping two white women on a freight train near Paint Rock, Alabama. Ruby Bates and Victoria Price accused Charlie Weems, Ozie Powell, Clarence Norris, Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, Haywood Patterson, Andy and Roy Wright, and Eugene Williams of this crime. The boys were arrested on March 25, 1931. All but Roy Wright were sentenced to the death penalty. They were all convicted on very little evidence. It came down to two white women’s words against the black men’s. After many lawyers failed to win the defendant’s release in 1936, a plea bargain was arranged where four of the defendants were released. However, the remaining five continued to carry out their sentence. Because there was no real evidence to keep them in jail, the last defendant was freed in 1950 (Kelly 1-2). After the Civil War, lynching was practiced by the K.K.K. Lynching is the legal execution of a person by a mob. On November 7, 1837, Elijah Parish Lovejoy, the editor of the Al... ...he balcony. This proved that the whites thought that they were better than any black man. Finally, the jury was all white. Since a white man would never believe a black man word over a white women’s word, Tom Robinson just like the Scottsboro Boys, were doomed from the start. Work Cited Kelly, Robin. "The Case of The "Scottsboro Boys"." Online posting. 23 Jun.1996. . 12 March, 2001. <http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/scottsboro.html>. Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1982. Reich, Steve. "Implementation of Segregation." Online posting. 22 Feb.1996. . 12 March, 2001. <http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~south/archives/threads/segregation.html>. Simkin, John. "Lynching." Online posting. . . 12 March, 2001. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAlynching.htm>.

Stephen Crane and His Unique Choice of Subjects :: essays research papers

Stephen Crane   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stephen Crane was born on November 1, 1871 in New Jersey. Crane became a writer at the age of twenty-one and died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-eight. Crane’s sister, Agnes, raised him and tutored him. She eventually became a schoolteacher. His parents were very religious and his father had an essay published in an 1869 issue of Popular Amusements. Crane â€Å"felt himself unworthy of his father because he fell short of his father’s moral principles and his nobility of spiritual outlook.†He studied poverty, war, and life and death struggle. â€Å"Crane united from the beginning an iron self-assurance with a deep shyness.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In â€Å"The Red Badge of Courage† Crane describes the characters in depth. He chose a significant event in Americas history and wrote about it. During the Civil War while a Union regiment is based along a river, a tall soldier named Jim Conklin spreads a rumor that the army will march within a day. A new recruit, Henry Fleming, feels that if he were to see battle he would run like a coward. When the regiment marches they meet up with the enemy but Henry is unable to flee because he is surrounded. The Union regiment stops the charge of the Confederate. The next day the Confederates charge again and this time Henry is able to flee from the scene. Later he meets up with a group of wounded soldiers walking down the road and he believes that a wound is like â€Å"a red badge of courage†. He meets a soldier with extremely deep wounds and then recognizes that it is Jim Conklin. While they are walking down the road Jim Conklin runs off behind the bushes and dies where the other soldiers can not see him. Henry wanders through the forest alone until he comes to a battlefield. He attempts to stop one of the soldiers to ask what is going on but he gets hit in the head with the soldier’s rifle. Another soldier takes Fleming back to his regiment’s camp. His friend Wilson cares for him because he thinks that Fleming has been shot in the head. The next day the regiment goes back to the battlefield and this time Henry stays and fights in Jim Conklin’s honor. Wilson and Henry overhear an officer making fun of their regiment’s style of fighting so they go out to prove him wrong.

Finc2011 Major Assignment Essay

Executive summary Woolworths Limited (WOW), which is one of the listed companies in Australian Security Exchange (ASX) (ASX 200), is the largest supermarket in Australia (Kruger 2013), it specializes in the groceries, food and retailing (WOOLWORTHS LIMITED (WOW) 2013). The aim of this report is to estimate and determine the dividend growth rate, stock return and current share price of Woolworths. Methods used for the estimation include dividend growth model, Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and Gordon’s Growth Model. The results of the estimation indicate that the dividend payments will continuous increasing in the future, the return on the company’s assets is reasonable and its share price is expected to rise. In addition, recommendations associated with the investment decision will be provided to the public investors regarding to the risks in the market by comparing with companies within the same industry. However, there are still a number of limitations of the report such as a few assumptions are made for calculations and limitations due to the difference of risk free rate. Calculation of Growth Rate: The approach used to estimate the growth rate (g) for dividend payments of Woolworths is: g = Ploughback Ratio x Return on Equity (ROE) Ploughback Ratio = 1 – Payout Ratio In which, payout ratio refers to the ratio of dividends to earnings per share (EPS) (Brealey, Myers and Allen 2011). Souce: http://www.woolworthslimited.com.au/annualreport/2012/pdf/WW_AR12_Full.pdf Based on the figures above, the growth rate (g) for the 2012 should be: g = (1 – 0.8528) x 0.2722 = 4.01% In order to figure out a more accurate growth rate, the average should be taken from 2008 to 2012. As it is shown in the table, the average g = 7.68%. According to Woolworth’s annual report (2012), the payout ratio is quite stable, despite there is a sudden increase in 2012; hence, we could assume that the dividend payout ratio is constant. Meanwhile, although Woolworths’ Return on Equity (ROE) shows a slight decrease from 2008 to 2012, it is still fairly steady – close to 28%. Since both of two assumptions – constant dividend payout and return on equity – are satisfied (Mellare 2013), g = Ploughback x ROE is suppose to be an appropriate method to estimate the dividend growth rate for Woolworths. Calculation of required return using CAPM Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is a method used to measure the risk and return of an asset, which describes that each expected risk premium of an asset should rise in proportion to its beta (Brealey, Myers and Allen 2011): In which, ri refers to the return on asset, rf refers to the risk free rate of return, beta is the covariance and (rm-rf) is the market risk premium (Brealey, Myers and Allen 2011). To begin with, risk free rate (rf) should be determined. Generally, 10 years government bonds rate is considered to be risk free rate as it is commonly believed that a government would be unlikely to default on its obligations (McNickle 2011). However, it does not mean that government bonds face no risks, it still encounter inflation and interest rate risk (Brealey, Myers and Allen 2011). Source: http://www.rba.gov.asu/statistics/tables/xls/f02d.xls?accessed=2013-05-22-21-18-20 According to the Capital Market Yields – 10 years Government Bonds provided by Reserve Bank of Australia (2013), the 10-year government bond rates in 21th May 2013 is 3.26%, which should be used as the risk free rate (rf) for the calculation of CAPM. Source: http://www.ato.gov.au/super/content.aspx?menuid=0&doc=/content/60489.htm&page=36&H36 However, those may argue that based on the historical data from Australian Taxation Office (2013) – the table above, the average of risk free rate from 2003 to 2012 is calculated to be 5.34%, which should be the risk free rate for the calculation instead of 3.26%. Nevertheless, since the risk free rate is always changing, in order to estimate the return for asset more accurately, the current risk free rate 3.26% is supposed to be taken for the estimation. In this stage, the risky required return (rm), the same as market return, should be calculated. Stock market index is an approach to evaluate the value of stock market and S&P/ASX 200 is the most significant stock market index which tracks the performance of two hundred big Australian corporations (Australia Stock Market (S&P/ASX 200) 2013). Currently, S&P/ASX 200 is a primary share market index in Australia which replaced the All Ordinaries in April 2000 and has become the benchmark for investment for the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) (ASX 200 2013). Therefore, S&P/ASX 200 is the best indicator of the market return and used to determine the market return. Source: https://blackboard.econ.usyd.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-636137-dt-content-rid-201558_2/courses/FINC2011_SEM1_2013/All%20Ords%20Accumulation%20Indices.xls Based on the data from S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation index (daily), which is provided by Mellare (2013), the yearly index could be calculated by averaging all of the daily indexes for that year. Yearly market return (rm) can be determined by: In which, old market index refers to the index for year t and new index is the index for year (t+1). A table for the calculation of market return will be created in a similar way with the S&P/ ASX200 table (see Appendix – 1) for the periods of 10 years in order to comply with ASX. Due to the prices in 2013 is not completed, the market return for financial year (FY) 2012 cannot be estimated reliably. Importantly, averaging rm for 10 years from FY 2002 to FY 2011 is significant for the purpose of determining a more accurate figure. As a result, rm = 8.31%. Because rm is the sum of the risk free interest rate (rf) and a premium for risk (Brealey, Myers and Allen 2011), the risk premium, as a part of CAPM equation, can be calculated through: rm = rf + risk premium risk premium = rm – rf Based on the previous analysis, rf = 3.26% and rm = 8.31%, risk premium = 8.31% – 3.26% = 5.09%. According to the report from last year, the market risk premium is estimated to be 6.0% in October (Michael, Blake and Zolotic 2012), the estimated value of 5.09% is reasonable. According to the financial information from Reuters (2013), Woolworths’ beta (ÃŽ ²) = 0.34. Therefore, by applying CAPM: Calculation of Next Dividend Payment The next dividend payment should be determined by using: In which, d0 is the current dividend payment, d1 is the dividend for the next financial year and g is the growth rate. Souce:http://datanalysis.morningstar.com.au.ezproxy1.library.usyd.edu.au/af/company/dividendhistory?ASXCode=WOW&xtm-licensee=dat The table above shows the dividend history of Woolworths (Morningstar 2013). Since, the total dividend payment in 2012 is $67+59 = $126 cents/$1.26 per share, which should be d0, and the growth rate is estimated to be 7.68% in the previous calculations, d1 = 1.26*(1+7.68%) = $1.36, which is the total dividend payment for 2013. As the interim dividend for 2013 has already paid on 26/04/2013, the final dividend for 2013 which is the next dividend payment should be: $1.36–0.62=$0.74 per share. Determination of Expected Current Share Price The constant divident growth model, which is Gordon’s Growth Model, is used for estimating the current share price: In which, P0 refers to the current share price, d1 is the divident payment for the next year, re is the required rate of return and g is the growth rate. In order to calculate the current price P0, firstly, d1 need be calculated which should be the dividend for the next year – 2014. Hence, d1 = 1.36*(1+7.68%) = $ 1.46 As required rate of return (re) consists of both capital gains and dividend yields (Mellare 2013) and capital gains is the same as g (Mathis 2001), re = capital gains (g) + dividend yields. Souce: http://www.woolworthslimited.com.au/annualreport/2012/pdf/WW_AR12_Full.pdf According to the historical data from annural report of Woolworth (2012), taking the average of all of the dividend yields for the last five years – from 2008 to 2012, the dividend yield = 3.8808%. Therefore, re = 7.68% + 3.88% = 11.56% Lastly, the expected current share price in 2013 is: P0 = 1.46/(11.56%-7.68%) = $ 37.63 Recommodation and Discussion Investment decisions are rely on the return and risk associated with a security. According to CAPM, actural returns are measured by beta, which is defined as a security’s sencitivity relative to the changes in the value of the market portfolio (Brealey, Myers and Allen 2011), over the long run. Beta of Woolworths Limited is 0.34 (Reuters 2013), which is a good sign as it indicates that the company is insensitive to the market risk. Comparing it with other companies, Wesfarmers Limited (WES), the Perth-based conglomerate which selling food to customers (Greenblat 2013), has same situation with Woolworths in terms of growing trend of dividend payment and  sharing market risk as they operates within the same industry – food industriy. Beta of Wesfarmers is 0.96 (Reuters 2013),which means that Wesfarmers is more risky than Woolworths as it is as risky as the market porfolio (Brealey, Myers and Allen 2011). As well, beta of Goodman Fielder (GFF), another food company, is 0.98 (Reuters 2013), which means it shares almost the same risk with the market porfolio (Mellare 2013) – realtively in the same situation with Wesfarmers. Therefore, when concerning with the risks, it is recommended to invest in Woolworths. However, under CAPM, high-beta securities will result in high return: ri = rf + ÃŽ ²*(rm – rf) As all of these three companies are in the same market, they share the same market risk but the proportion is different based on their beta. Although, securities of Wesfarmers and Goodman Fielder are more risky than Woolworths due to higher beta, they provide higher return to investors. Since investment decisions are depend on personal interests (Mellare 2013), it cannot be denied that there are a few investors prefer higher returns with higher risks. Moreover, the higher returns compensate investors for higher risk, hence, it is unlikely to determine whether invest in Woolworths is a better option. Nevertheless, investing in Woolworth is still recommended. Investing in low-risk securities provides constant and stable returns. Investing in Woolworths is worthwhile not only because Woolworths provides quite constant returns, but also its potential to growth due to its strong profitability and cash flows (WOW – Woolworths Limited 2012). Overall, it is recommended to invest in Woolworths. It is important to notice that there are a number of limitations for this report. Firstly, the method used for calculating dividend growth is based on the assumptions – constant dividend payout and return on equity, but in reality, both dividend payout and return on equity are unlikely to be constant. Consequently, the calculation of g may not be accurate. As well, since the 10-year government bond rate, which is considered as risk free

20 The Kite Runner Essay Topics to Explore

20 The Kite Runner Essay Topics to Explore Welcome to the second guide where you are provided with 20 The Kite Runner Essay Topics. These topics will help you have a better idea on what to write because all you need is a topic to give you a headstart. We already provided you with some interesting facts. But we’ve also included a bonus. After skimming through the topics, you’ll find a sample exploratory essay on one of the topics, so you can start writing immediately, taking help from the sample as you see fit. Sample essays make everything that more convenient, don’t they? After you’ve read this guide, we recommend you take a look at our final guide, informative guide for an exploratory essay on The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, which is, basically, a manual on how to write and outline for an exploratory essay. It is perfect for individuals who are looking for tips on elevating their essay to a whole new level of professionalism. So, without further delay, here are 20 essay topics on The Kite Runner: Is There Justification to Amir’s Jealousy for Hassan in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini? Reasons behind Amir’s Guilt-Stricken Cowardice in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Why did the Khaled Hosseini Portray Hassan as a Rape Victim in The Kite Runner? Amir’s Journey Towards Becoming a Successful Novelist in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Causes of Fertility Issues with Amir and Soraya in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Is Hassan the Most Evil Character in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini? Is Amir The Most Evil Character in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini? Signs That Help You Predict the True Relation between Amir and Hassan in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini What was the Role of Amir in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini? The Types of Love Discussed in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Social Lessons to Learn from The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini How The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Highlights The Immigrants’ Issues The Social Gap between Amir and Hassan: What We Can Learn from This in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini What Does the Kite Symbolize In The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini? How Does The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Define the Afghan Culture Redemption in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: Does our Social Status Define Who We Are? Friendship Lessons to Learn in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini The Picture of Afghanistan Painted in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini How The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Motivates Us To Confront Our Mistakes. As promised, it’s time to walk you through an exploratory essay on one of the above topics. This essay will act as a sample and assists you in carving out the perfect essay. Be sure to read our final guide after you’ve completed reading this one. With that said, here is the sample: Sample Exploratory Essay: The Culture of Afghanistan in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini The Kite Runner is an interesting book and is very entertaining to read. However, several identities such as Janette Edwards, have exposed Hosseini and critiqued the book as inauthentic and suspicious. Since Edwards has conducted several interviews with Afghan-Americans, he thinks that the parallels between the author and character position Hosseini as an outsider to Afghanistan. According to the book, the culture of the Afghans is not quite how it is in real life. Khaled Hosseini is actually the son of a diplomat, who has spent most of his life outside Afghanistan, which, in all likelihood, could mean that he doesn’t know much about his culture, religion or the Afghan society, for that matter. Since most criticisms on the Kite Runner claim that the characters and situations written in the book were reckless and devising; it clearly exposes the fact that Hosseini doesn’t really know the fabric of the Afghan society. Furthermore, the argument holds itself strong as Khaled Hosseini got separated from Afghanistan in his childhood. If you’ve read â€Å"The Reluctant Fundamentalist†, you know how beautifully the author views American society and merges his lead character with the society itself. The Kite Runner, however, does the opposite. There are scarce interactions with non-Afghan Americans and the author highlights only the Afghani subculture – which, by many author criticisms, shows no consciousness. Even though Amir’s identification as an American seems appropriable as he achieves his American dream to become a novelist, unfortunately, there is no context in the book that exposes any kind of interaction with American society. On the other hand, the story that spans over the book is a graphic with violent accounts including rape, brutal beatings and public executions. Although, the story is fictional, the author has described it in a life-like scene, which to most of people, is indigestible and may claim that it contradicts the true culture in Afghanistan. The Kite Runner portrays possible realities that do exist all around the world – it’s a story of brotherhood, sacrifice, guilt, betrayal and pretty much everything that is found in human societies. However, the author includes a few violent and horrible events in the book that not only disgust the reader, but to some extent, traumatize people, so much so that they tend to agree with the author’s point of view on Afghani culture. If Hosseini had laid out his fictional story without creating such disturbing events in the book and including events that were leading characters such as Amir to interact with American society, the book would have made for a marvelous and inspiring story. However, this isn’t the case. It’s still a good read, however it can traumatize people who’ve never had the pleasure to know or experience â€Å"real† Afghani culture – it’s certainly not as bad as the book depicts it. Now that you’ve read our second guide, it’s time to read our final manual that explains how an exploratory essay is written. It is highly recommended that you read our informative guide for an exploratory essay thoroughly, as it will clear away any confusion you may have and assist you in writing a brilliant exploratory essay on The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. References: The Kite Runner Summary Critical Survey of Literature for Students Ed. Laurence W. Mazzeno. eNotes.com, Inc. 2010 eNotes.com 27 Sep, 2016 enotes.com/topics/kite-runner#summary-the-story Anis Kurilah, 2009 â€Å"Social and Moral Responsibility in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner: Sociological Approach† Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta  http://eprints.ums.ac.id/5483/1/A320050251.pdf Niraja Saraswat, 2014 â€Å"Theme of Identity and Redemption in Khaleed Hossieni’s The Kite Runner† Vol 1, No.5, 166-175, International Journal of Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies (IJIMS) ijims.com/uploads/89d5501d7e7a1e187a62zppd_576.pdf â€Å"The Kite Runner Chapter 24 Summary eNotes Publishing Ed. Scott Locklear. eNotes.com, Inc. eNotes.com 27 Sep, 2016 enotes.com/topics/kite-runner#summary-chapter-summary-chapter-24-summary N. Shamand, 2010 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: Historical, Political and Cultural Contexts UGC, Academic Staff College, University of Kerala  http://arabicuniversitycollege.yolasite.com/resources/Faculty/NS/Dissertations/The%20Kite%20Runner%20-%20Historical,%20Political%20%20Cultural%20Contexts.pdf Azad, F. (2004). Dialogue with Khaled Hosseini. Lemar-Aftaab, 3(4), June.  http://afghanmagazine.com/2004_06/profile/khosseini.shtml Sadat, M.H. (2004). Afghan History: kite flying, kite running and kite banning. Lemar-Aftaab, 3(4), June.  http://afghanmagazine.com/2004_06/articles/hsadat.shtml

The Mexican Revolution and Revolutionary Reformers essays

The Mexican Revolution and Revolutionary Reformers essays Reformers such as Zapata, Carranza, and Madero contrived laws or revisions to the constitution that would reform Mexico socially and economically. Reformers often fought to have these revisions enforced, but more often rallied the support of revolutionaries to carry out the revolts. Revolutionaries such as Pancho Villa also sought social and economic reform for Mexico, but they did not devise any plans or ideas; they instigated revolts in order for the reforms of others to be enforced. The Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century was not one, but two revolutions, the first against Diaz and the second against Huerta. Zapata and Madero were revolutionary reformers who were against the dictatorship of Diaz. They each had plans for agrarian and economic reform such as the Plan de Luis Potosi, which declared the election of 1910 null and void and called for agrarian reform, and the Plan de Ayala, which called for the land to be redistributed among the peasant and Indians. "Madero criticized Diaz's social policies-his genocidal Indian wars and violent repression of strikes...he proposed a policy of modest concessions to peasants and workers[.]"(Keen, p.270) "Diaz's regime was marked my brutal tyranny. Under Diaz, foreign investors drained a great part of the country's wealth, much of the ancient communal lands (ejidos) of the Native Americans was concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of landowners, and poverty and illiteracy were widespread. DÃ ­az suppressed Manifestations of the resulting social discontent with an iron hand until the Mexican Revolution of 1910." Madero, Zapata, a nd the revolutionist Pancho Villa, among others, led a revolt against Diaz, which forced him to resign the presidency on May 25, 1911. This concludes the first part of the revolution. The second part of the Mexican Revolution begins shortly after the assassination of Madero by Huerta. "Huerta's seizure of power, which was greeted by rejoic...

Nabisco Brands History and Timeline

Nabisco Brands History and Timeline In 1898, the New York Biscuit Company and the American Biscuit and Manufacturing Company merged over 100 bakeries into the National Biscuit Company, later called Nabisco. Founders Adolphus Green and William Moore, orchestrated the merger and the company quickly rose to first place in the manufacturing and marketing of cookies and crackers in America. In 1906, the company moved its headquarters from Chicago to New York. Favorites like Oreo Cookies, Barnum’s Animal Crackers, Honey Maid Grahams, Ritz crackers, and Wheat Thins became staples in American snack foods. Later, Nabisco added Planters Peanuts, Fleishmann’s margarines and spreads, A1 Steak Sauce, and Grey Poupon mustards to its offerings. Timeline 1792 Pearson Sons Bakery opens in Massachusetts. They make a biscuit called pilot bread that is consumed on long sea voyages.1801 Josiah Bent Bakery first coined the term crackers for a crunchy biscuit they produce.1889 William Moore acquires Pearson Sons Bakery, Josiah Bent Bakery, and six other bakeries to start the New York Biscuit Company.1890 Adolphus Green starts the American Biscuit Manufacturing Company after acquiring forty different bakeries.1898 William Moore and Adolphus Green merge to form the National Biscuit Company. Adolphus Green is president.1901 The name Nabisco is first used as part of a name for a sugar wafer.1971 Nabisco becomes the corporate name.1981 Nabisco merges with Standard Brands.1985 Nabisco Brands merges with R.J. Reynolds.1993 Kraft General Foods acquires NABISCO ready-to-eat cold cereals from RJR Nabisco.2000 Philip Morris Companies, Inc. acquires Nabisco and merges it with Kraft Foods, Inc.

Personal Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal Change - Essay Example no longer loved my grandmother; instead, it was the result of the fact that she no longer spent so much time watching me due to the fact that I grew up and no longer needed such a high level of care. The ending to the situation came about right after my grandmother had a stroke. It was at this point that she was no longer capable of taking care of herself and required nearly constant care by either a loved one or a professional caretaker. As the situation progressed, I reclused into a type of neutral zone where the feelings, thoughts, and childhood closeness I shared with my grandmother were but a distant memory; although a happy one. Due to the fact that she was just a shell of her former self during this time, it was impossible for me to rebuild the relationship we had once enjoyed during my youth. It was at this point that I made the fateful decision to withdraw myself from her and not spend the time that I would have been happy to spend with her had this occurred during my early youth. Sadly, the new beginning only came after my grandmother had passed away from a second stroke. This new beginning was of course something that I should have realized far sooner but due to my own selfish motives and lack of patience, had not come to grips with yet. Due to my grandmother’s passing, I instantly regretted the fact that I had not made a more concerted effort to be with her during her final years. Although I still loved her deeply, I realized that it was my own selfish nature that had kept us apart and caused me to miss out on the very last chance I would ever have to speak with and spend time with my grandmother. As the old saying goes, â€Å"you never appreciate something until you lose it†. In this way, this new beginning caused me to come to a full and complete appreciation for this as well as purposing within my own mind to not let another such situation occur without me doing all my best to spend the quality time with the loved one prior to the risk of

Trade and Other Barriers of the US and EU Governments Essay

Trade and Other Barriers of the US and EU Governments - Essay Example NAFTA outlined that import tariffs on sugar imports from Mexico would, over a 15 year period, eventually be phased out, thereby allowing duty free imports to enter the country (USDA 2005). Since NAFTA’s inception in 1994, Mexico now enjoys a more liberal volume of sugar to enter the United States under this agreement whereby tariffs have been excised. As such, under this agreement, the United States is obligated to remove quotas on sugar imports into the country, giving Mexico a considerable export advantage. NAFTA is a trade agreement between Canada and Mexico that is unlike other trade agreements between other countries that import and export raw sugar and processed sugar-containing products. Obligations under NAFTA allow member nations to deliver fluctuating volumes of raw and processed sugar products when Canada and Mexico have achieved a surplus. This is regardless of the volume of sugar produced domestically in the United States. Brazil, being one of the largest sugar pr oducers in the world, is impacted by NAFTA in terms of the quotas established on sugar imports to the United States. The United States must abide by agreements that have been established with trading partners, whilst also attempting to protect its own domestic sugar-producing industry. The U.S. also signed an agreement in conjunction with the World Trade Organization referred to as the Uruguay Round Agreement that guarantees the country will accept a minimum of 152,691 metric tonnes of raw cane sugar from Brazil annually (Federal Register 2011). Hence, the United States has over-extended its obligations for delivery of in-quota raw sugar imports from Mexico and the United States. Brazil, unlike Mexico, is subject to very high tariff rates on sugar products in an effort to deter Brazilian exports from entering the country, which are imposed above the in-quota volume from Brazil at 152,691 metric tonnes. The out-of-quota tariff rate (on quantities over the specified in-quota volume) i s 78 percent (Hornbeck 2006), whilst in-quote amounts guaranteed under the Uruguay Round Agreement are subject to very low import duties. If Brazil and other trading countries are willing to pay the exuberant 78 percent tariff on sugar, there are no restrictions for exporters in terms of the volume allowed into the United States. However, Brazil is also a nation that consumes a great deal of its total production output of sugar, thus when Brazil achieves surplus, it is far more advantageous to export the surplus into neighbouring nations or other international buyers that do not have the internal sugar production capacity as in Brazil or the agricultural prowess in raising sugar beets and sugar cane. This 78 percent tariff is the United States’ methodology of ensuring that domestic production of sugar and sugar-related products is not negatively impacted by export volumes entering the nation. Outside of the in-quota volume guaranteed for allowance into the United States, Braz il is subject to varying tariffs depending on the type of sugar or sugar-containing product produced in the country.

Construction & Diagnostic of Recombinant DNA Plasmid Research Paper

Construction & Diagnostic of Recombinant DNA Plasmid - Research Paper Example The experiment established that the competency of cells increased greatly.   In the next experiment, running PCR provided me with an amplified His3 gene which is used in subsequent steps to transform haploid yeast. Transformation occurred through homologous recombination. The experiment proved that specific integration does occur although cases of non-specific integration are rampant. In the next experiment, I constructed a sub-clone of the HIS3 gene and inserted it into a plasmid pSP72 making a recombinant plasmid which I used to transform bacterial cells. In order to determine whether the integration was successful, I extracted the plasmid to analyze if the inserted gene was present. However, I established that integration had not been successful. Introduction One of the laboratory techniques that help in understanding the basics of knocking out genes is the standardized procedure of replacing the ADE2 gene responsible for adenine biosynthesis with HIS3 that is responsible for on e of the steps in histidine amino acids. The procedure involves production of a hybrid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as the first step. The hybrid product constitute of the vector DNA template and the primers of choice. Running of the PCR major steps produces the hybrid product. Agarose gel electrophoresis helps in determining whether PCR amplification occurred. The next step involves the transformation of yeast cells with the hybrid PCR product. The last step involves analysis of r4esults and morphology of transformed yeast cells. Other experiments involve transforming competent Escherichia coli cells with the use of a plasmid as a vector. This transformation follows the recombinant DNA technology protocol. The general procedure starts with digestion of plasmid DNA and template DNA of interest with restriction enzymes to generate DNA fragments with sticky ends. The second step involves ligation of the DNA fragments using DNA ligase, forming a recombinant plasmid. The next step in volves insertion of the recombinant plasmid into the competent bacterial cells. The final step involves plating on appropriate media and selection of transformed cells. In addition, performing a backward procedure of isolating the plasmid from the transformed cells verifies insertion at the right locus. Laboratory 1: Transformation of Competent Bacteria Objective: Introduction of Plasmid DNA into E. coli cells and determination of transformation efficiency Materials and Reagents: Plasmid DNA Gene of interest SOC media LB-amp media Procedure: The protocol preferred was the High-Efficiency Transformation Protocol. However, a variation occurred with 2 µl of plasmid DNA. The high efficiency transformation protocol requires thawing of competent cells in ice for about ten minutes. The next step involves transfer of 50 µl of the cells to a transformation tube using a micropipette. Adding of 2 µl of plasmid DNA into the tube followed. The next step involved placing the mixture on ice for 20 minutes. Next, exposure of cells to heat shock at 42?C occurs, a process lasting 35 seconds. Following this was adding the right amount of SOC media to the cells. After this, incubation at 37C? for 40 minutes and subsequent vigorous shaking followed. Plating of the cells in LB-amp media and overnight incubation at 37?C was the last step. In the first experiment, plating of the concentrated cell mixture without dilution occurred. In subsequent trials, there was dilution of cell solution at different dilution ratios.

Potential liability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Potential liability - Essay Example Since it was its interest being served at the time of the accident, Mr. Cheatum can claim that it is liable being an employer of its Agentm, Dawn. As to Dawn, she can claim that she was not negligent in her driving. That it was Mr. Cheatum who was at fault. She can claim that she was driving in the prescribed speed limit and was on the right lane and that the accident was due in fact to the negligent act of Mr. Cheatum. As to Fast As We Can Deliver, it can claim that it has exercised diligent in hiring and supervising its employee, Dawn. That the strict liability clause, or the respondeat superior or the vicarious liability clause will not apply to him since at the time of the accident, Dawn has already finished her shift. Hence, she was not at work when the accident happened. As to DNA lab, it should not be held liable since there was no employer-employee relationship between them because Dawn was not an employee of the lab but an employee of FAST. The vicarious liability will not apply to them. "Auto Accident Injury Due to Vicarious Liability". (n.d.) Retrieved from website: http://www.caraccidentattorneys.com/resources/auto-accident/fault-in-car-accidents/vicarious-liability-owner-driver.htm. Accessed on June 14,

Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Terrorism - Essay Example The deceased left behind a young family of three. The second victim was a legendary New York employee, Harold H. Sherburne, a man in his mid-60s, whose profession on Wall Street had lasted for four decades. The remaining casualties were James Gezork and Alejandro Berger who were caught up in the incident during their business trip to New York. The first three victims died on the spot, but the last one died later on while undergoing treatment in the hospital. According to Martin, the FALN left a note in a nearby telephone booth to the effect that they were taking full responsibility for the bombing incident at Fraunces Tavern, purposely to eliminate ‘reactionary’ business personalities inside (95). The message elaborated that the light ordnance made of dynamite that the terrorist elements had stuffed into a luggage and sneaked into the entrance to the building’s hallway was used to revenge the perceived American ordered bombing of a Puerto Rican eatery that resulted in 15 casualties barely a fortnight

Potential liability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Potential liability - Essay Example Since it was its interest being served at the time of the accident, Mr. Cheatum can claim that it is liable being an employer of its Agentm, Dawn. As to Dawn, she can claim that she was not negligent in her driving. That it was Mr. Cheatum who was at fault. She can claim that she was driving in the prescribed speed limit and was on the right lane and that the accident was due in fact to the negligent act of Mr. Cheatum. As to Fast As We Can Deliver, it can claim that it has exercised diligent in hiring and supervising its employee, Dawn. That the strict liability clause, or the respondeat superior or the vicarious liability clause will not apply to him since at the time of the accident, Dawn has already finished her shift. Hence, she was not at work when the accident happened. As to DNA lab, it should not be held liable since there was no employer-employee relationship between them because Dawn was not an employee of the lab but an employee of FAST. The vicarious liability will not apply to them. "Auto Accident Injury Due to Vicarious Liability". (n.d.) Retrieved from website: http://www.caraccidentattorneys.com/resources/auto-accident/fault-in-car-accidents/vicarious-liability-owner-driver.htm. Accessed on June 14,

Platos Lysis with Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics Essay

Platos Lysis with Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics - Essay Example Lysis is Plato’s dialogues discussing the nature of friendship whereas Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics also discusses the nature and concept of friendship and its importance in the lives of human beings. Plato and Aristotle are the Greek philosophers that have covered several important subjects in their writings. They contradict as well as support each others’ view point on certain matters however, the conception of friendship is perceived differently by these philosophers and they provide the understanding of the nature of friendship.The Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics has been regarded as Aristotle’s best work on friendship and ethics. It is the most important philosophical work that drew significant impacts upon the European middle age societies because the medieval philosophy was widely based upon the concepts presented in Nicomachean Ethics. The conception of friendship presented by Aristotle basically depicts his thinking about the nature of fri endship and why people need friends in their lives (Crisp, p76). He believes that there is no person that would like to live a friend less life because being a social animal man always like situations and circumstances where he has a friend. Plato Lysis also talks about the importance of friendship but he has not much focused upon the importance and role of friendship in the lives of people from social and emotional perspective (Cooper, p290). The dynamics of friendship are also explored by Plato in one of his most engaging puzzling dialogues Lysis. These dialogues are rich mixtures of stable arguments, theories and literature in which Plato presented his views regarding friendship. Plato discusses the nature of friendship in these dialogues using the main characters of Socrates and two boys and friends Lysis and Menexunun. Another character of the dialogue was Hipplothales who had unrequited love with Lysis. In Lysis, Plato explained the conception of friendship in detail and depth and says that true friendship is based upon four basic conditions. At first, friendship could develop between the people that are similar and good man. Secondly, friendship occurs between dissimilar people. Thirdly, people who are neither good nor bad could also become friend and fourthly the relatives develop gradual friendship with each others because it is in the nature of the human beings to become friend of others (Annas, p532). The Lysis are often being regarded as philosophical failure because several arguments depicted in the dialogues are not convincing and due to these bad dialogues it has been regarded as a philosophical failure. It is found that Lysis fails to provide satisfying answers to certain important questions associated with the nature of the friendship. It is often been argues that Lysis actually didn’t answer the question that what friendship is. It shows dialogues between Socrates, Lysis and menexenus arguing about the friendship where Socrates asked Lysis and Menexunun that when a person loves another who is friend the lover

Communication system Essay Example for Free

Communication system Essay Use and develop systems that promote communication 1. Be able to address the range of communication requirement in own role 1. 1 Review the range of groups and individuals whose communication needs must be addressed in own job role. Working within Surestart I work with many groups and individuals whose communication needs must be addressed which include 16 staff members, services users to date we have 1700 families registered with Surestart. We would have a lot of communication with Health visitors regarding referrals that they have sent in and also follow up telephone calls if there is any concerns with the family. I would also have contact with social services and be asked to attend case review meetings. I would also be expected to communicate with other agencies to refer our service users on the appropriate agencies for example other children centres, counsellors, women’s Aid and Hidden Harm Social worker, 1. 2 Explain how to support effective communication within own job role Effective communication and interaction play a very important role in the work of everybody that works within Surestart. I feel that how I support effective communication is by setting a good example to staff. With communication been so important for the day to day running of the centre, each staff member would be asked to write in the diary in the main office so people can know where they are (this is for the save guarding of staff if they are out of the office, lone worker policy) There is also a white board in the main office so when staff are in programmes other staff are aware of this and that the parents/baby room are booked. I would also support communication by attending staff meeting ever second week and staff are told that they must attend once a month. There is also an open door policy as sometimes there is information that staff do not want to share in a team meeting as there maybe difficulties within the team and they would like to share information on a one to one basic. 1. 3 Analyse the barriers and challenges to communication within own job role The barriers and challenges that I would face is staff working part time, staff out doing programme and also may be difficult feeling between staff members. The other barriers and challenges that I would face is staff do not take on board what you are saying to them as they feel they are right so they do not even listen to what you are trying to explain. Some people may pick you up wrong on the information you are trying to get across. 1. 4 Implement a strategy to overcome communication barriers Make sure I speak very clear, focus on what information I would like them to take on board. Supervision on a monthly basis, open door policy if anyone has a problem they can talk about it. Staff can ring and send emails at any time. The childcare supervisor meets with the childcare team every morning to make sure that all creches have enough staff and if they have any concerns regarding the children. There is also a referral meeting once a week where we discuss the referral that health visitor/social workers have send in and also to discuss and concerns we would have regarding the parents. I also send rely slips to social worker / health visitor to let them know if a home visit has been completed or if we have been unable to contact the family. Use different means of communication to meet different needs I am aware that each staff member has different learning styles, some staff like sharing information in a group and other staff like to share information in a one to one. It is also very important for me to take this on board as I do not want any member of the team feeling frustrated and ineffective. I want staff to be able to trust me and let them see that I value the work that they do. The different means of communication I use to meet different needs are. Emails are a very effective means of communication as each staff members gets the information at the same time and not second hand. Emails can be sent at any time and also printed out to file or record information that has been sent or received. Team meeting again are a very good as all staff are getting the same information and this is a nice way for other staff to meet and let everyone else know how things are going and if anyone is finding a family or child difficult then there is the support of the whole team for ideas of how to handle a situation. If anyone cannot make it then the team minutes are there to read. Telephone if I am not in the office I can still be reached on my mobile if anyone needs anything. Health visitor/Social worker would also contact me by telephone if they needed an update on a family. Staff diary in the main office this lets staff members know who is in which room and if anyone is on leave or sick or if someone has an appointment. Sign in and out sheet beside the exit door this is for safety reasons as if there was a fire in the building then I would know who is in and out Reply slips are back to the health visitors/social worker as an update for the referral they have send in. Letters to parents this is to invite them along to programmes/events. Thought-out the year I would facilitate information mornings for breastfeeding support, weaning work shop and feeding for under 5’s this would be to share information to welcome new service users to the Surestart. Face to face, my office is open to all staff at any time if they need to talk about anything. CU2941 Use and develop systems that promote communication 2. Be able to improve communication systems and practise support positive outcomes for individuals 2. Monitor the effectiveness of communication systems and practices. The diary in the front office if very effective for staff on home visit as we know where there are for their safety (lone worker policy). white board in the main office is very effective as this is where all staff write down their programmes so if there is any phone calls for staff the secretary knows if they are in the office or in programmes. Emails can be sent at any time and it means that the same information is been told to the staff at the same time and it is also the staffs responsible to pick up their emails. The childcare supervisor meets with the childcare staff each morning I feel that this is very effective as this is in place to make sure that all rooms are covered with their ratio, and most importantly that the needs of the children are met and if there is any problem in any of the setting it can be addressed as needed and that staff do not have to wait 2 weeks for a team meeting to discuss. One to one communication i. e. Supervision and APR, I feel that this is very important within a setting. N-Drive this is where documents can be saved and all staff can access it. In our office we have a policy of hot desking so documents can accessed at any computer. This is also for Surestart forms and newsletters so all staff can print them out as needed. Reply slips to health visitors/social worker/other agencies this is where I reply to any referral letter that the project receives, I would reply to the other agencies if this family had received a home visit and services offered, if I was unable to contact the family for different reasons or if the family did not want to avail of Surestart services. Phone if I cannot be reached at any time then a message can be left for me to return there call. 2. 2 Evaluate the effectiveness of existing communication systems and practice Evaluating the effectiveness of existing communication systems and practice I am going to start with the ones I feels are the most effective. One to One Communication I feel that this works very well within a team as some staff members do not like to speak in front of other and feel that their ideas might not be good enough. I also feel that face to face communication is very effective as some people can pick up a message wrong and take the wrong tone with an email. Supervision this is there for staff to talk confidently with their manger I feel that this is very effective means of communication for the manger to tell how well things are going for that member of staff and for the staff member to say how they really feel about how things are going. ( I also feel that you have to have a good relationship with your staff for this to work, you have to be relaxed and friendly and staff members also have to trust you). Supervision is also very effective as this give staff clear boundaries of what is expected of them for the month a head and also make sure they are on target to achieve the targets in their APR. Team meetings I also think this is effective as this can let everybody know how programmes are going if there is any follows to do with families in any of the programmes. If anyone is having any difficulties if any of the programmes is nice to get other ideas how to deal with it. It is also there for sharing information for the Surestart board and action for children. To let staff know what training is coming up. ARP- I have been working in a Surestart setting for the last 11 years, I feel that this is the first year I have felt that an APR has been effective like the rest of communication systems if it is not done right then it will not be effective. APR is there to set goal and targets for the year ahead, I feel this is very important for staff as they know what is expected of them for the year ahead and then this is monitored at each supervision to make sure that staff in on track with their targets. Childcare meeting every morning I feel that this is very effective as each member of the childcare team no where they are each day and who is covering in each setting and also if any member of the childcare team is concerned about a child this is discussed each morning. Emails- I feel has pro and con. It is very effective in a way that emails can be sent at any time and is very good for all staff to receive the information at the same time. I also feels that staff can pick the tone of emails up wrong and some information is best said face to face. Reply letter to health visitors/social workers/other agencies I feel that this is a very effective The diary in the front office This is effective if everyone plays there part in filling it in. If someone is on training or off on A/L and forgets to fill it in then it is very hard for other staff to know where they are. N-Drive This is effective as all the Surestart form and standard letters are on it as well as newsletters. It is also that as this is used while hot desking it means that the documents that are placed on this drive can be accessed by the whole team so if I was saving any confidential information I would also password protect it. Phone I do feel that this is effective as if I am not available by phone or mobile then a message can also be left. 2. 3 Propose improvements to communication systems and practices to address any short comings I feel that communication can always be improved as we are only human and staff do forget to pass on messages, response to emails, and even fill in the diary in the main office. I have proposed that each desk has message pad so that all messages have to written down. I have proposed that the main diary is to be brought to the team meeting so that if anyone has any leave booked, any visits arranged or training then this can go into the diary. I would also remind everybody at team meeting about remembering to fill in the diary I have also propose that the reply slips to the health visitors/social workers be changed as I feel it could be improved. 2. 4 Lead the implementation of revised communication system and practices CU 2941 Use and develop systems that promote communication 3. Be able to improve communication systems to promote partnership working 3. 1 Use communication systems to promote partnership working The systems that we use to promote partnership working is: One to one communications I meet with the health visitor for breastfeeding once a week. Also any of the health visitors are welcome to call in at any time. Some health visitors like to bring parents that are hard to engage into the centre to meet me to show them around the building and meet the staff. I would also have contact face to face with our families on a daily basis through programmes and also registrations. Phone call health visitors/social services and other agencies would phone for update and regarding case review meetings. Families would also phone on a daily basis if they needed help with anything or information. Post we post letters to the agencies if we are unable to reach the families or if they no longer wish to be involved with the service. I would also post letters and newsletter to families. Emails some agencies like to send email as it is a faster way for them and this is ok with me as long as it is recorded. Referral reply this is a letter drawing and signed by Surestart parents that we have permission to send it back to the health visitors to say we have been in contact and the Surestart services have been offered. Information events this is different events for Surestart to promote their services 3. 2 Compare the effectiveness of different communications systems for partnership working I feel within waterside Surestart the systems we use are very effective. One to one communication I feel is very effective as this can reassure service users and colleagues and also outside agencies, you can focus on the goal. I can be supportive and positive to all that need it. I can also assess the services users’ needs and provide them with the support needed and I also feel that this builds trust and relationships. Phone call I feel that this is a very effective way of communicating as some health visitor/social worker/other agencies need an update ASAP as they may be on their way to a review meeting. All if a member of staff is not on the office this is a good way of communicating. As my role as family support worker I be in contact with families every day on the phone, may it be they have a question or I am inviting the families to programmes or arranging home visits. Emails This is a very effective way that I communicate in Surestart, supervision notes to be sent 3 says before supervision, team meeting are to be sent and read before the meeting. Agencies are able to send emails / newsletters Referral Response I feel that this is a very effective way that Surestart communicate. This is send to health visitors/social workers who send in a referral this is to show the agencies that we have made contact with that family or that we have tried to contact the family and after 4 weeks we are unable to reach them. Information events I feel that this is not really effective as we work on catchment areas and this is very hard to have an event in a general area, it has to be within the area, as we do not like to turn people away that may be interested in the service, as when agencies send in referrals they have a list of streets that is inside the catchment area and only if there is a need then they can be outside the area. Propose to improvements to communications systems for partnership working I do believe that communication within waterside Surestart has got a lot better in the last year, I feel that this has a great deal to do with our new manager, she has gained the trust and respect of the staff and in return it is a pleasure to work with. I feel that I have a great leader to follow and learn a great deal from. The only improvement that could be made is that a leaflet could be drawn up for families that are outside the catchment area so that they leave with something rather than going away with no information (this is in the process on being done). I am also assisting the upgrade of the referral response form so that families sign this form so that we have permission to hold their information and that we are allow to send the form back to the referrer. CU2941 Use and develop systems that promote communications 4. Be able to use systems for effective information management 4. 1 Explain legal and ethical tensions between maintaining confidentiality and sharing information Working with in a Surestart setting for the last 11 years, I know that confidentiality is very important. It’s important for agencies and services users to build a trusting relationship with me. I am very honest with the people I work with, when I am completing a registration form with parents I do tell them that their details will stay in a locked filing cabinet for 7 years, that there information is stored on a database password protected until there child/ren turn 4. I also let the parents know that under the data protection act they are able to see their file at any time. Parents also sign a form that we are able to share information with the health visitor and other agencies involved if we have any concerns regarding the child or parents. When I have taking programmes with parents I also start with group rules. Confidentiality always comes up, I always tell parents that whatever is discussed at the group I do not take it outside of the group, I can only speak for myself but that I would hope that everyone would stand by this too. I also always make it very clear to parents that if anything is discussed or disclosed any information regarding harm or danger or abuse to a child/ren then I will past this information on to my manger and the appropriate authorises. I feel that if I am honest with all the people that I work with then I do believe that you build up a trust and that by law I have to report and record all that is disclosed to me, although I did have a parent in the past that did not understand this, they felt that I was just reporting them to social services and she believed that social services where there to take her child away. This lady did not return to Surestart as what she disclosed I had to discuss with my manger. Analyse the essential features of information sharing agreements within and between organisations Under the data protection act 1998, the purpose of the act is to protect the rights and privacy of individuals and to ensure that data about them are not processed without their knowledge and are processed with their consent whenever possible, this act covers personal data held in electronic formats, manual data and relevant filing systems. Surestart has devised a form that has recently been updated by my colleagues and myself, this form is where we get service users to sign that they agree Surestart is able to keep their details in a secure place for up to seven years, and that if we had any concerns regarding the child that we would contact the appropriate service also that if there is a social worker involved that we are able to update them on any programmes they attend for case review meetings. Health visitors would send in referral form with parent’s consent, what happens is we then phone that family and do a home visit and in that visit we fill out the Surestart forms with the families details on it, the consent for is then signed and sent back to the health visitor to say we have completed a visit this is what programmes they would like to attend, I would also send back a form to the heath visitor if that family did not wish to avail of Surestart services or that I could not reach them. These forms are kept with the registration and filed in a locked cabinet. When I am facilitating a programme within Surestart I always do group rules, parents can put what they like on it, confidentially always comes up, I just remind parents that what happens in the group will stay in the group with me, but I can only speak for myself and not the rest of the group and I do tell them that It would not be nice to hear anyone talking bad about another parent. I do inform the parents that if there anything disclosed within the group that has caused abuse of harm to a child them I am bound by action for children policies and procedures and under the children order act 1995 to past this information on to my manger and the appropriate services, I do tell the parents that I would discuss this with them before I reported what I have heard. Demonstrate use of information management systems that meet legal and ethical requirement Under the data protection act 1998 Surestart need permission to hold data on the families that I work with, how this is done  is that all parents have to sign the registration form and also the consent for their details to be stored according to action for children policies and procedures, which is that their details are stored for up to seven years, in a locked filing cabinet and up to four years on the Surestart database. Under the children’s order 1995 I am bound to report anything that I have heard or seen that my or has caused harm to a child. This would also be discussed with the parent/s what information I would be passing on to my manger. This also gives the parent an opportunity to explain. The information my lead to a referral been made to social services.

Political factors can have a direct impact

Political factors can have a direct impact To comply with the worlds concern of global warming and regulation, Nissan has launched their new product, Nissan Leaf which is the world first 100 percent and zero emission car designed for mass market. It is a fully electric-based car and is expected to be available globally by 2012. Economic The demand for products and services of the automobile industry is strongly affected by the economic conditions in each country or market where they are on sale. The industry has to predict change in economic climate and demands precisely and to take necessary measures to cope with the economic conditions. Price hike on various resources and energy could also affect the company. Any unexpected fluctuation of price regarding such resources can greatly affect the company financials and performance due to deterioration in operating performance. The recent global economic crisis has affected all industries including the automobile industry. Such crisis will have a significant effect on Nissans financial position and business performance. For example, Nissan has been affected by the crisis by falling sales globally. It has made 1200 of its staffs at Sunderland UK plant redundant since the crisis began. The total job cuts are said to be around 20,000 in total across all the plants worldwide*. Socialcultural The lifestyle of people and demographic factor varies according to different marketplace/region. Some countries such as India main transportation are bicycles and motorbikes, though cars are still widely used. This is because of the road and travel destination, where best transportation modes are used. Developed countries such as the UK have train services across the country with almost any destination, such convenience will reduce the usage of personal cars. In the other hand, countries that have no such facilities solely rely on personal cars as transportation, will have a high usage of automobiles. With higher literacy rate and better economy, the younger generation (Generation X) tends to personally own a car, as a requirement or as a social status. Contrary to the older generation where a family owns a single car, now a family might own several cars depending on the numbers of family numbers. As such, there is a higher demand for automobiles now than previously. Other than that, the younger generation have vast preferences of their cars to match their own need, where the automobile industry is working hard to meet their needs. Technological Technologies are crucial to the automobile industry, mass amount of capital is invested in RD to improve their products. With the depletion of fossil fuel in the future, new technology as a substitute to energy resource for automobile is needed. Such technologies needed are hybrid engines and electric cars. Besides, the internet technology has affected almost every industry in the world including the automobile industry. A report by C. Thomas stated that, a study showed that 60% of automobile buyers referred to the internet before making their purchases and out of that 60%, 88% went to the auto websites before taking a test drive. Besides that, the industry gain even more opportunities through internet due to more efficiency and lower cost in logistic. SWOT Strengths: Geographic Diversification Nissan has a wide geographical presence of market all over the world. This helps the company to moderate the various risks associated with over dependence of a particular market. Nissan has a strong market position in Japan, North America, Mexico, China and the Middle East. A wide geographic presence decreases the business risk of the company. This also acts as an easy way for the expansion plans of the company, as a wider reach in terms of geography would mean reaping more benefits and eventually improving the profit margins, attaining economies of scale and recognition on a worldwide basis. Diversified Business Operation Nissan has a wide range and strong product portfolio. It is engaged in planning, developing, manufacturing and selling of automobiles. Through its automobile segment, Nissan provides a range of automobiles and related parts for overseas production. The sales finance segment of the company is engaged in the provision of credit card and leasing services, non-life insurance and financing businesses. Such diversified business operations balances the risks of one market with the opportunities of other markets. Renault-Nissan Alliance Nissan, with the alliance of Renault, has benefited from operating performance and has accelerated its international development since it was established in 1999. Nissan holds 15% of Renault shares, while Renault holds a 44.3% stake in Nissan. It was formed to share both companies expertise and cooperate in purchasing, engineering, engineering, production and distribution. To date, Nissan has improved significantly since the forming of the Alliance. During the last fiscal year 2009, Nissans worldwide sales rose by 0.9%. Weaknesses: Weak Financial Performance Nissan experienced a weak financial performance in the fiscal year ending March 2010. The company reported revenues of JPY 7,517,277 million during the fiscal year ended March 2010, as compared to JPY 8,436,974 million in 2009, a decrease of 11% year on year. This decrease was principally due to the increase in raw material and energy costs and a huge negative impact from foreign exchange. Such financial statistic could decrease the confidence of investors. Low Return on Equity At the end of fiscal year 2010, Nissans return on equity (ROE) was 1.6%. This was below the SP 500 companies average of 4.5%. A lower than SP 500 companies average ROE may indicate that the company may not be using the shareholders money as efficiently as other companies in the SP 500 index and that it is generating low returns for its shareholders compared to other companies in the SP 500 index. Opportunities: Growing Demand for Small and Medium-sized Cars With the current global economic recession and volatile fuel prices, the demand for small and medium-size vehicles has witnessed a strong growth. As such Nissan could find increased opportunities in the small car division. According to a report by ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers Association), most of the car types have received decrease in registration for the first 5 months of 2010. However, small cars market share increased from 44.9% in 2009 to 46.8% for the five month period of 2010. Thus the shifting consumer preference towards small and mid sized cars offers a strong growth potential for the company. Growing Demand for Hybrid Vehicles Demands for hybrid vehicles are growing in the automobile market. Due to the rising energy cost and increased emissions regulations, demand for light hybrid electric vehicles is expected to increase hugely. With regard to environmental and energy issues, Nissan has placed hybrid technology as one of its core technologies. Nissan has also launched its zero emission electric cars to penetrate the demand of such market. Such growing demand will definitely enhance the revenue and profitability of the company. Threats: Intense Competition The global automotive industry is intense. Nissan faces intense competition with many automobiles giants in the world, mainly Honda and Toyota which same as Nissan are Japanese automobiles companies. Besides, small players and new market entrants draw competition to Nissan. To be able to sustain in such high competition automobile market, Nissan should come up with innovative products and services for its customers e.g. Nissans Leaf zero emission electric car. A highly competitive market such as the automobile industry will affect the company adversely if the company fails to retain and attract new clients/customers. Legal and Political Framework The automobile industry is regulated by governments and regulatory authorities in countries where the companies operate. The companys products, operations and profits can be affected by policies made by the authorities. The major regulation changes are mainly emissions, fuel consumption and safety of vehicles. In addition, such changes in policies and regulations will have a negative effect on Nissans growth and expansion plans/strategies. Global Economic Slowdown The recent economic slowdown has affected globally and prominently Europe and the United States. The GDP growth in the US and the Eurozone slowed down further in 2009. Reports suggest that the US real GDP growth fell to negative 2.6% in 2009 from positive 1.1% in 2008. Also, the economic growth in the Eurozone decreased to 1.4% in 2008 from 2.9% in 2007 and dropped further to as low as 0.2% in 2009. Although Nissan has its operations across the world, its revenue is generated majorly in the US and Europe. With such economic downturn at the companys 2 key markets, itll definitely affects Nissans overall businesses. Porters 5 Forces Barriers to Entry The barriers to entry into the automobile industry are high due to the market saturation. The industry has a wide choice of selection, and requires constant RD in order to compete with rivals. With a high overhead cost, high innovation requirement and a market saturated with well established competitors globally makes it unlikely for new entrants. In order to enter such a saturated market, the entrant must be able to develop a desirable and innovative new car concept with affordable prices. In the case of Nissan, it has been a key player in the automobile industry of Japan and globally as well, and has well established manufacturing plants and distributing channels. Therefore, Nissan will face a minimal rate of new entrants into the industry. As such, Nissan has a low threat of entry. Supplier Bargaining Power Supplier bargaining power of automobile industry is a fairly high. The primary concerns are raw materials, readymade automobile parts and power supply to run its production, etc. As raw materials such as steel (car body parts) and rubbers (tyres and accessories) are natural resources, and the supply of these natural resources are limited, with demands from various industries and consumers, therefore the supplier has a leverage in bargaining power. In the case of Nissan, it was previously Japanese traditional styled company with the keiretsu system between their suppliers. In order to maintain the relation between Nissan and their suppliers, the purchases of supply are overvalued which lead to higher cost of production. With the Alliance of Renault-Nissan in 1999, such system was abolished in Nissan. In the Alliance, Renault-Nissan Purchasing Organisation (RNPO) was established to conduct their purchasing activities. With this strategy, Nissan is able to negotiate its purchasing with their supplier through RNPO. As such, Nissans supplier bargaining power is moderate. Buyer Bargaining Power Buyer bargaining power in the automobile industry is fairly low. There are categories of cars made by different companies targeting different groups of customers. Within each category of cars made, the prices are relatively uniform among the competitors. However, this might vary from countries to countries. High taxation of imported cars in some countries might lead to company reducing car prices in order to penetrate market. In the automobile industry, the industry remains powerful due to the large customer to producer ratio. However, customers have low/no switching cost and other choices of cars from competitors to purchase, so there is still some buyer power. As such, in line with its competitors, Nissans buyer bargaining power is moderate. Threat of Substitutes The threat of substitutes in the automobile industry is fairly moderate. Other than automobile, there are plenty mode of transportation, but most of them doesnt offer the utility, convenience and value offered by automobiles. Besides transportation mode, different product type offered by competitors can be an easy substitute. Competitors within the automobile industry are consistently developing their product to distinguish their product from others. Products with different designs, technologies and innovation may cause customers to replace their preferences. In the case of Nissan, it has a fair range of products from sedans, sports, minivans, SUVs, etc, as well as new designs targeting at different demographic groups. As such, Nissan does not lose out to its competitors that offer different range of automobiles products, which make Nissans threat of substitute moderate because its mainly based on customer preferences. Competitive Rivalry The automobile industry is quite saturated with plenty of well established automobile companies. Nissans major competitors are Honda and Toyota as they represent the major players in the industry from Japan. Toyota as the leader of hybrid cars, had significant advantage over its rivals. Nissan has also launched a range of hybrid cars in order to compete with its rivals. Nissans Leaf is also the world first 100 percent and zero emission car designed for mass market. Such product will bring Nissan significant competitive advantage against its competitors. With the formation of Renault-Nissan Alliance, Nissan is able to overcome their debt and progress better for the last few years. Despite of declines of Nissan major markets, Nissan (Nissan and Infiniti brand) closed 2008 global sales rising 0.9% year on year*. The sales are boosted by the launch of new products. Although there are sharp decline in the US markets and low sales in Japan, Nissan in whole progressed globally, which indicates it is able to compete globally with its competitors. As such, the degree of rivalry of Nissan in the industry is high, depending on the different marketplace or region. Value chain Firm Infrastructure Nissan was previously a bureaucratic organisation until its alliance with Renault. With the reform, Nissan now have more integration of offices and administrative function around the world. Nissan has established a Diversity Steering Committee as an entity for making diversity-related decisions. The committee meets thrice a year with the COO and executives from each division to set a range of policies including specific goals, action plans and progress assessment. Human Resource Management With the Renault-Nissan alliance, reforms of the executive board are obvious with the change of CEO of Nissan. Other than that, Nissan aims to be an attractive organization where diverse human resources can achieve personal growth. This shows that Nissan has move from its Japanese traditional view towards its employee. Technology Development With the world emphasizing on green technologies, Nissan has launched its Nissan Leaf which is an fully electric car with zero emission. Beside this latest technology, Nissan has previously launched hybrid cars. Procurement With the alliance with Renault, Renault-Nissan Purchasing Organisation (RNPO) was established to conduct their purchasing activities. With RNPO, Nissan had improved its costly supply chain. From April 1, 2009, its joint purchasing activities will account for 100% of Alliance purchases. Inbound Logistic Nissan promotes ethical, environmentally sound actions in all stages of supply chain. It has asked suppliers to uphold the values, laws and regulation that are respected by the company. Environmental impact of products is reduced through green procurement activities. Manufacturing Within the Renault-Nissan Alliance, cross production is practised. Nissan has the opportunity to use the manufacturing capacities of its partner. Nissan is able to use Renault plants to produce Nissan vehicles in Korea and Brazil, which add value to the company because Nissan need not set up new manufacturing plants.* Outbound logistic Nissan distributes its product not only through its own distributing channels, but also through its alliance partner. This helps Nissan to be able to deliver its product to its customers. Service Nissan offers a good and responsible after sale service. Nissan has made a global voluntary recall campaign this year to replace an Engine Control Module relay or Ignition relay on specific models. The customer will be informed and will replace the parts at no cost.* Generic Strategy In order for Nissan to compete with its competitors, the company must have a competitive strategy to seek sustainable competitive advantage. Before Nissans alliance with Renault, it has a weak strategy. Nissan has invested vast amount of capital on companies that doesnt related to the automobile industry. Worse so, Nissan has no managerial power in those investments. These investments lead Nissan into a huge amount of debts and have no cash to focus on its own business operation. With the alliance, various major changes improved the condition of Nissan. Nissan is able to gain competitive advantages over competitors. In Porters generic strategy, competitive advantage comes from an understanding of the 5 forces determining the industry attractiveness. This allows the business to be positioned within the industry. As written above, the 5 forces were being analysed. With the understanding of the 5 forces, Nissan is able to position itself in the industry with competitive advantages. Nissan has used differentiation mean to gain its competitive advantage. In the automobile industry, products and their functions are merely the same unless the products are distinguished from its competitors. In such, Nissan has gained a competitive advantage by being the 1st automobile company to launch Nissan Leaf, a fully electric car with zero-emission. Besides, Nissan has different designs and categories of automobiles to target different customers. Nissan is not totally on differentiation. Since its alliance with Renault, Nissan has been able to achieve cost leadership. Nissan has managed to save cost and realising economy of scale by using its alliance Renault plants to produce Nissan vehicles in Korea and Brazil. It also uses Renault distribution channel where Nissan lack of. Culture The major change of culture in Nissan is the alliance with Renault. Both companies were distinct in culture from corporate strategies, management and operations. This is because Nissan is a Japanese company and Renault is a French company where there is a diverse culture. In 2002, the Nissan-Renault alliance set up a strategic management company incorporated under Dutch law which is equally owned by Nissan and Renault. It is aimed to establish a common strategy and manage all synergies of the Alliance. In 2009, the Alliance created a small dedicated team to foster deeper, broader cooperation and to maximize the contribution of synergies to the performance of both partners. The team reports directly to the Alliance CEO and meets monthly to review projects and make recommendations to the Alliance Board on new areas of synergies and business opportunity. Besides that, there are trainings provided to executives from both companies in order for Nissan to learn the French culture and Renau lt to learn the Japanese culture. This harmonises both companies cooperation in the Alliance. In addition to that, the alliance has more than 30 joint working groups called the Functional Task Teams that involved both companies workforce. These groups operate in all the main sectors and areas of activity and are tasked with exploring new synergies between the two companies. Team managers report regularly to the Alliance Board on the progress made in their specific areas of activity. The companies Financials FY 2009 (millions of Yen) FY 2010 (millions of Yen) Nissan Net Sales 8,436,974 7,517,277 Net Income (233,709) 42,390 Current Assets 5,580,410 Current Liabilities 3,856,858 Honda Net Sales 10,001,241 8,579,174 Net Income 137,005 268,400 Current Assets 4,613,724 Current Liabilities 3,419,130 Source: Nissan Annual Report 2010 and Honda Annual Report 2010 Nissans Current ratio: 5,580,410/ 3,856,858 = 1.447 Hondas Current ratio: 4,613,724/ 3,419,130 = 1.349 Some basic information are gathered and tabled as above to have an overview of Nissan and its competitor Hondas financial performance. Nissan recorded net sales of 8,436,974 million yen in the fiscal year 2009 and recorded a drop of net sales by 0.122% with 7,517,277 million yen in the fiscal year 2010. Honda recorded net sales of 10,001,241 million yen in the fiscal year 2009 and recorded a drop of net sales too in the following year. Honda recorded a drop of net sales by 0.166% with 8,579,174 million yen in the fiscal year 2010. Both Nissan and its competitor Honda have a drop of sales from FY2009 to FY2010; this may indicate that the demands of the industry have dropped. This may be related to the global economic downturn that theyre facing. Nissan has recorded a net loss of 233,709 million yen in FY2009 but has managed to make net income of 42,390 million yen in FY2010. With the profitable net income in FY2010, it shows that Nissan has been doing well in the FY2010. Such figure will bring Nissan forward by giving confidence to its stakeholders. However, its competitor Honda has recorded a near doubled increase of net income from 137,005 million yen in FY2009 to 268,400 million yen in FY2010. As such, Nissan has done well and had to maintain and improve its performance in order to compete with its competitors. Nissan and Honda has recorded current ratios of 1.447 and 1.349 respectively. Both Nissan and its competitor Honda has a ratio that shows there might be overtrading. This may due to the global economic downturn and the price hiking of raw materials and fuel.

Religious Fanaticism Essay -- essays research papers

In Moliere’s comedy Tartuffe, The play centers on the family of Orgon, a wealthy and impressionable man, his central target of ridicule is Orgon. Orgon is Moliere’s character of how man can be so blind in his devotion to a belief that he cannot make a good judgement as to the sincerity of others who would use that belief to deceive him. This play fits into the concept of comedy because all of the elements of comedy are present. It happens that the title character is the villain rather than the hero and some of the elements have been tampered with. In Tartuffe, we have the classic comic scenario of two lovers, Valere and Marianne, trying to get together but being thwarted. However, instead of the villain, Tartuffe is not the one who is antagonizing them, it is Orgon who gets in the way. Orgon tries to flatter Tartuffe by offering Marianne to be his wife. Before it is all over, Orgon ends up giving the deed to all his land to the deceitful Tartuffe. The other comic elements such as the unmasking of the villain and the happy ending are also present in Tartuffe. It is in the duality of Orgon, who is a believing and devoted subject, and Tartuffe, the manipulating hypocrite. Moliere takes his shot at the extremes of enthusiastic belief. Tartuffe plays the role of a man whose greedy actions are cloaked by a mask of overwhelming piety, modesty and religious passion. Orgon is the head of a household who has taken Tartuffe in, and given him shelter and food. Everyone in the family, ex...

Frank Lloyd Wright :: essays papers

Frank Lloyd Wright These ideas proposed by Wright represent a half century of ingenuity and unrivaled creativity. Wright was unquestionably a architectural genius and was years ahead of his time. The biggest obstacle which held Wright back throughout his career was the lack of technogaly that was present during his time. As a architect, Wright accomplished more that any other in history, with the possible exception of DaVincci or Michangelo. His philosophy of Organic Architecture showed the world that form and function could both by achieved to create a house that was both true to nature and affordable. Wrights homes, have today become monuments of greatness and distictionn. Most of them serve as museums, displaying the his ideas and the achievements of a lifetime of innovation. It wasn't until Wright published "The Natural House" however, that he fully was able to illustrate all of his ideas relating toward housing. In the "Natural House" wright defines the meaning of Organic Architecture and how it c an be applied to creating housing which provides a closeness to nature for the occupents. Wright was undoubtly a romantic and individualist. His feeling toward nature and self integrity can best be shown by comparing them to those shared by Emerson and Thoreau. Wrights deep love of nature and his individualism were formed from the events which influenced him as a child and up until his days working for Louis Sullivan. In order to fully understand the ideas which Wright proposed through his philosophy of Organic Architecture, one must first understand the events and influences which led to their creation. As a child, Wrights parents always encouraged him to be a free thinker and individualist. Both of his parents were intelligent and creative people by nature. They, of all people had the greatest influence on Wright. Throughout his life they were extreamly supportive of Wrights dream of becoming an architect, and always made sure that he had books and pictures of buildings that he could study and learn from. Wrights parents had little money, but they always found the extra money needed to support their childrens intrusts. When Wright became old enough to begin learning about working, his parents felt that sending him to his uncles dairy farm during his summer break from school would provide him with the proper work ethics and morals needed to become a responsible adult. The work on the farm was rigorous and seemingly endless to Wright.

Curriculum Development and Design Essay

These programs arose from the thinking of a group of pioneers who believed that the educational approach that had been developed by medical education innovators at McMaster University was also most relevant for the preparation of occupational therapists and physiotherapists. Consequently, a group of educators from both institutions, Mohawk College and McMaster University, combined their skills and created a vision that became the diploma programs in occupational therapy and physiotherapy. This approach was problem-based learning, and was used as the foundation for both programs from their inception to the present day, across three different iterations of curriculum. One of the key innovations to the way in which the college programs were taught was the combination of using faculty from both the university and college to teach all courses. In the 1980s, a degree completion program was launched that provided graduates of the diploma program a chance to upgrade their qualification to a bachelors degree from McMaster University. This was particularly important since the minimum credential for entry to practice had been raised to the baccalaureate level by the professional associations. In 1989, the program moved completely into the university setting and the graduates were granted a BHSc(PT) or BHSc(OT), a bachelor degree in health sciences. Ten years later, in 2000, candidates were admitted to the entrylevel masters programs in occupational therapy and physiotherapy. The Pedagogical Framework: Problem-based Learning As briefly referred to above, the occupational therapy and physiotherapy programs at McMaster University have a strong history with and legacy of problem-based learning. While the initial curriculum models were strongly influenced by the inaugural undergraduate medical curriculum, time and confidence presented opportunities to create our own models. These models reflect the special nuances of each discipline. Problem-based learning is recognized as having begun at McMaster University, in the medical curriculum, and was in response to critical concerns about the nature of more traditional learning models in medical curricula. The intention was to create an approach to teaching and learning that was learner-centered, yet based upon clear objectives and evaluation criteria. The key difference was the expectation that learners would be facilitated and guided rather than taught (Barrows and Tamblyn 1980; Neufeld 1983; Saarinen and Salvatori 1994). Both the occupational therapy and physiotherapy programs at McMaster University have embraced these ideas, although with differing degrees of connection and commitment to the original model. In fact, true problem-based learning models should naturally emerge from each individual context and culture. There is no â€Å"right† way although there is a growing recognition of a common set of principles and elements that can be applied to determine the â€Å"problembased-ness† of a learning environment (Maudesley 1994; Walton and Matthews 1989). Problem-based learning principles tend to become grouped in two distinct categories: first, the values upon which problem-based learning is based and second, some characteristics that are held in common understanding as being critical to the core of problem-based learning. Underlying values include: partnership, honesty and openness, mutual respect, and trust. Core characteristics incorporate: Chapter 2 Curriculum Development and Design 13 i Learning which is student/learner-centered i Faculty roles that are those of facilitator and guide i Learning scenarios which form the basis, focus, and stimulus for learning i New information and understanding that is acquired through self-directed learning (Baptiste 2003 p. 17) Consequently, there is a continuum of problem-based curricula from pure through hybrid models. The masters entry-level physiotherapy and occupational therapy programs at the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University continue to be based upon problem-based principles. Although both programs are very different one from the other, there are also many common elements and approaches that are celebrated. Examples of these similarities are cited throughout this book, particularly in the chapters focusing on evidence-based practice and ethics education. Approaching the Task of Curriculum Renewal Perhaps one of the most overwhelming, yet exciting, tasks with which to be confronted is the opportunity and challenge of developing a new curriculum. This task is made even more daunting when circumstances provide a chance to do something different based on external forces and not a need to change because â€Å"something is broken†. Over the past few years, and in several years to come, many educational programs in rehabilitation science are facing this situation. The changing nature of the entry-level credential for occupational therapists and physiotherapists demands that faculty undertake a detailed review of curricula, to determine the optimal approach to moving toward graduate-level preparation, or, at the very least, complete a review of existing curricula models to identify their responsiveness and congruence with emerging practice expectations and demands. Approaches to such a massive task can vary from ensuring the preservation of what is good from the existing curriculum to making a total shift and adopting a radically Table 2. 1. Principles for curricular change and innovation Rationale should be articulated explicitly Overall goals should be reiterated constantly throughout the process Continuing communication is essential, coupled with a clear rationale Ensure that the intended change is in response to a defined and recognized need or purpose Ensure that the innovation is seen as a high institutional priority Focus on pedagogy and not on resources for implementation Foster strong leadership support Identify incentives for faculty participation Gain faculty buy-in for the curricular blueprint Involve the active teaching faculty throughout the process Anticipate potential barriers to change and develop strategies to address them Recognize the potential need for and value of negotiation Adapted from Guze (1995) 14 Sue Baptiste, Patricia Solomon 2 new approach and design. To have an optimal effect, options to be considered should bear relevance to the pervading culture of the institution and environment within which the curriculum is to thrive. Also, decisions must be made concerning the pedagogical choices of how learner-centered the curriculum should be, and what particular educational modalities are the best for the circumstances. This chapter will address the entire picture of curriculum development and design, from the first conversations about how to engage in the renewal process through making decisions about methods of teaching, approaches to learner assessment, and preparation of entry-level practitioners for the emerging practice contexts. Guze (1995) provided a clear and succinct discussion of several core principles that can guide curricular change and innovation (Table 2. 1). The following is an overview of these principles. Where to Begin? Motivation for curriculum renewal can come from both internal and external forces. External expectations from regulatory and professional bodies are tending to impose standards for new practitioners that require: i Preparation at an advanced level of clinical reasoning and judgment i The ability to assume roles that require autonomy and a strong sense of professional ethics i Engaging in their professional role from the first day of practice, in a conscious nd moral manner that requires reflection and self-awareness Regardless of whether the motivation for curricular change stems from a desire to do something differently or better, or from outside influences, the task is one that requires careful planning. However, it is imperative that any planning process recognizes the need to dream and envision what could be, to create a model that will exemplify those visions, and to produce a graduate who is well prepared to face the complexities and challenges of emerging practice. When developing a curriculum, four general questions must be asked: i What is the purpose of the curriculum? i What educational experiences can be created to fulfill this purpose? What is the most effective manner in which to organize these educational experiences? i How can we determine that the purpose has been fulfilled and the goals attained (Wiers et al. 2002)? Another very critical element of any change is the recognition that the cultural context is a key in managing change successfully. Hafferty (1998), when reflecting upon the realities of a medical school curriculum, discusses the existence of informal and hidden curricula as well as the formal curriculum. He posits that, in order to induce a lasting change, the entire organizational culture needs to be engaged to facilitate stud ents and faculty alike in embracing and working with change. When facing the task of curricular reform, redesign has to occur not only in terms of content, but also in relation to the Chapter 2 Curriculum Development and Design 15 educational processes that enable the learning to take place. This is the difference between reforming the syllabus and reforming the curriculum; the overall learning environment of the educational program and institution is changed (Burton and McDonald 2001). Once the decision has been made to reform the curriculum, a first step is to complete an environmental scan and situational analysis that explore the educational and organizational environment within the institution, to determine what will facilitate the proposed changes. By defining a clear and newly articulated set of riorities and guidelines, changes that are being made within the curriculum will be given the vehicle through which impact can be made upon the surrounding environment (Genn 2001). This strategy is part of the first overall phase, the planning p hase. This is when the need for change is established and the vision for change is designed. It is during this phase of development that the non-negotiable elements of structure and process are determined. For example, within the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University, both the Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy Programs were already designed as two-year, twenty-four-month, curricula. Also, the province of Ontario mandates that all masters programs are two years in duration. Therefore, the decision was readily made, based on these graduate program regulations and history, that the new masters entry-level curricula would be twenty-four months long. One key commitment was clear and that was to the foundational philosophy of problem-based, selfdirected learning utilizing the application of these principles to small group, large group, and skills-based learning experiences. Wiers et al. (2002) provide a clear and helpful outline of ten general steps of curriculum design within a problem-based learning context (see Table 2. 2). While this rubric is structured around the specific processes inherent within problem-based learning development, most of the guidelines can apply broadly across any curricular development process within any pedagogical framework. From the onset, all faculty members at McMaster University were on board regarding the need to undertake the development of entry-level masters curricula in both occupational therapy and physiotherapy. Both disciplines had undergone dramatic changes in the preceding two decades, largely focused upon the growth of foundational science and evidence for practice. Professional practice models had emerged for both professions and provided a strong backdrop against which to create fresh ap- Table 2. 2. Ten general steps in curriculum design for a problem-based learning (PBL) environment 1. . 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Give rationale for the curriculum and form a planning group Generate general educational objectives for the curriculum Assess the educational needs o f future students Apply general principles of PBL to the curriculum Structure the curriculum and generate a curriculum blueprint Elaborate the unit blueprints Construct the study units Decide on student assessment methods Consider the educational organization and curriculum management model Evaluate the curriculum and revise as appropriate Adapted from Wiers et al. (2002) 16 Sue Baptiste, Patricia Solomon 2 proaches to the preparation of graduates for entering practice. While both the occupational therapy and physiotherapy programs undertook curriculum renewal at the same time, the physiotherapy program had engaged in an ongoing process of change across the preceding five years. Many of the issues, concerns, and changes addressed and implemented by the occupational therapy program had already been addressed by physiotherapy. Therefore, this chapter will focus predominantly upon the initiatives inherent within the curricular shift within occupational therapy, although reference will be made to processes within physiotherapy as appropriate. Designing Our New Programs Deciding upon the overarching constructs that would determine the final curriculum model was a complex and dramatic process in many ways, and one in which everyone was eager to participate and have a chance to have input. At the onset of the development of the occupational therapy program, three faculty retreats were held that progressed from a totally unstructured brainstorm of what would be perfect, to a detailed accounting of core curricular elements in the context of a delivery structure. In the initial retreat, all full-time faculty members together with some part-time members participated in a â€Å"blue-skying† day-long session during which everyone spoke of their dreams for the perfect curriculum. What if we could do what we wanted? What if we did not have to be concerned with logistics like room bookings? – and so on. This exercise provided us with a high-level ppreciation of the values and elements that were important to us as a collective. It was from this beginning â€Å"fantasy† that the next level of planning emerged. The second retreat was more structured and focused upon the creation of a continuum for learning that resulted in the overarching framework for the cur riculum, together with the delivery methods. A process was followed whereby we decided upon a central construct around which the whole curriculum would evolve, namely, â€Å"occupation†. To support this core notion, there were several longitudinal conceptual threads that represented continua of thought such as: wellness to illness, simplicity to complexity, local to global, and unifaceted to multifaceted. Through this process, we were able to identify the starting place for the first study term, and to create a high-level framework for the progression of the total curriculum (see Table 2. 3) In physiotherapy, the process began similarly with a faculty retreat; however, the focus varied slightly. Initial discussions identified elements of the curriculum that we Table 2. 3. Occupational therapy curricular framework Term 1 2 3 4 5 6 Content theme Wellness, health, and occupation Person, environment, and occupation Development, disability, and occupation Youth and the development of self Adulthood and disability Complexities of contemporary practice Chapter 2 Curriculum Development and Design 17 alued and wanted to maintain and those needing less emphasis. Through ongoing curricular evaluation and feedback, we identified new areas that needed to be included in the emerging curriculum and other areas that needed to be enhanced. These areas were discussed within the context of the changing practice of physiotherapy and the knowledge and skills required by the physiotherapist in the new millennium. The decision was made to use a curricular framework that incorporated a modified â€Å"body systems† design, as current physiotherapy practice and clinical specialties were aligned with this model. Inclusion of a Community Practice/Community Health unit allowed or a focus on emergent health care roles in the community and on integrating health promotion and disease prevention into practice. The faculty recognized that while many physiotherapists identified their practice in an area related to the body systems, increasingly clinicians were faced with more complex patients with multiple system involvement. Hence, the final unit of study focused on integrated practice dealing with clients with complex multisystem health care problems. Following the initial planning process, it is now time to initiate the plan. It is during this time period that the â€Å"unfreezing† of old organizational patterns and the introduction of innovations into the educational environment take place (Burton and McDonald 2001). Often, while there is a strong commitment to engaging in the conversations that lead to the design of a changed reality, it is a very different matter to start â€Å"doing† and actually making that changed reality come to life. A cooperative internal environment is essential for the realization of that initial dream and therefore it is well worthwhile for planners to engage in a transparent and collaborative experience that enables maximum participation and open debate. A process of this nature is characterized by collaborative problem solving, effective communication, abilities in conflict resolution, and a cultural expectation of working together in harmony that guides the overall enterprise (Burton and McDonald 2001). Therefore, it is of importance to determine at the onset the values and behaviors by which the development experience will be approached to set up structures and processes that will ensure that the best attempts at making it so will be expended. During the initiation period, we experienced intense interest and levels of emotion from all participants regarding the manner in which the planning and the visions for the two disciplines would be evolved and realized. As mentioned previously, we had determined that the existing problem-based learning principles would remain but that the key changes would be realized through the manner in which the content was introduced to the students and through which the continuum of learning would evolve. Similarly, we were committed to maintaining a student-centered approach. One core difference was to be the manner in which the experiential component of professional preparation would be integrated more centrally into both curricula. Previously, the curricula were designed in a more traditional fashion whereby the clinical fieldwork experiences were placed at the end of each study term and were linked directly to the area of academic focus for the preceding learning block. By definition, once the overarching concepts of the curricula were determined to be different from the previous models, then fieldwork placements would become less strictly aligned. This was reinforced more heavily in the occupational therapy program which was originally designed around developmental stages and central practice populations. Students would face a more eclectic approach in their clinical learning; therefore, both programs determined that learning around professional issues and practice expectations should be interwoven through the longitudinal axis of the curriculum. 18 Sue Baptiste, Patricia Solomon Redevelopment Within a Problem-based Learning Culture 2 As with any problem-based learning system, the small group learning unit is the nucleus of the whole curriculum. However, the success of problem-based, small group learning is supported by the strategic use of large group interactions for the imparting of theoretical and expert knowledge, while still maintaining a problem-based learning philosophy. Similarly, the application of problem-based learning principles is a critical piece of one-on-one learning and synthesis of knowledge and information throughout the academic and clinical components of the curriculum overall. Both the physiotherapy and occupational therapy programs elected to continue to utilize problem-based learning methods in a manner that celebrated the development already achieved over twenty-five years of curriculum development. This has evolved over time very differently in each program. For example, during the planning process for the occupational therapy curriculum, efforts were made to define new models for tutoring and many were identified and put into place. During the second year of the occupational therapy program, the problem-based tutorials occur only once weekly. This allows additional scheduling time for including the evidence-based practice courses and is also in response to the difficulties many practitioners are experiencing in gaining release time from employers to participate as tutors. In this new tutorial model, tutors are required to participate in only one weekly session with two or three tutors’ meetings across the term instead of weekly. Application of problem-based learning principles in large groups has been maintained and, in fact, enhanced particularly in the clinical skills sessions. Students often are placed in small groups (different groups from their core tutorial group) and provided with opportunities to explore assessment tools and intervention methods. Through these group experiences, the students apply a problem-based learning approach to the identification of learning issues, the uncovering of essential information and resources, and the synthesis of their understanding of the tool or technique. Integration of Experiential Practice Preparation Within a Problem-based Learning Framework As mentioned earlier, both the physiotherapy and occupational therapy faculty groups were committed to ensuring the integration of academic and experiential learning into the curricula from the beginning, and were focused on developing innovative models for the synthesis of practice preparation into the core academic units. It is important to note that the work related to integration commenced at the very onset of the curriculum planning process. In the case of the occupational therapy program, there had always been sessions held throughout the full curriculum that provided opportunities for the Clinical Placement Coordinator (now Professional Practice Coordinator) to inform, advise, educate, and monitor students in preparing for their practice experiences and in checking in with them following these experiences. However, a greater focus on such integration was placed within the masters entry-level curriculum model in order to ensure that students were being prepared to meet the enhanced expectations of a graduate program. Chapter 2 Curriculum Development and Design 19 Evaluation Within a Graduate Problem-based Learning Framework There should be clear and close linkages between how students learn and how that learning is assessed. Therefore, some information will be presented here relative to the evaluation methods developed at McMaster University in the occupational therapy and physiotherapy programs. Student Evaluation. In the preceding years, the two programs at McMaster University had been very involved in designing evaluation/student assessment tools that reflected the principles of problem-based learning and provided students with opportunities to integrate their academic learning with their growing professional awareness and identity. Most of these tools are built around the basic problem-based learning process of exploring a learning scenario that has been developed to address the objectives for the particular learning unit. Essentially, problem-based evaluation needs to be congruent with the underlying values and principles of problem-based learning. Traditional methods of assessing students’ knowledge tend to be contradictory to these principles and therefore should not be applied out of context. Problem-based learner assessment should: i Be congruent with the underlying problem-based learning process illustrated by the development of learning scenarios based on real life practice situations i Mirror the problem-based learning process of reflecting on a practice scenario, efining learning issues, researching, synthesizing, and synopsizing the learning with application to the defined case i Involve personal reflection and enhanced awareness of individual critical think- ing and clinical reasoning skills F aculty Evaluation. As with student assessment, the evaluation of faculty is central to the maintenance and enhancement of a problem-based learning culture. And, similarly, faculty evaluation is built into the roles played in any given learning context. In the case of the small group tutor role, faculty members are evaluated by each student and provide a self-evaluation to students during the course of the group process. Following the completion of the small group experience, students evaluate the faculty member as well as the overall course, and these ratings are provided to faculty and placed in their file for attention at times when promotion, tenure, and merit increase decisions are made. For those faculty members, practitioners, and others who facilitate large group sessions in both theory and practical skills, similar evaluations are completed. This process has been in place over many years and has not changed since the advent of the new curricula. However, the items being evaluated have altered to reflect the expected level and scope of graduate teaching. Student Self-assessment: Development of the OTPPI. Students admitted into the occupational therapy program are not expected to have any prerequisite courses completed during their undergraduate education. This has been the case from the very beginning. In the program itself, there are no formal courses that provide students with basic knowledge related to the foundational sciences that underlie occupational therapy practice such as anatomy, physics, biochemistry, sociology, psychology, and anthropology. It has been the long-held belief that in a pure problem-based learning 20 Sue Baptiste, Patricia Solomon 2 environment, the learning is accomplished through the horizontal meshing of various areas of knowledge and information; that through the integration of these sciences and bodies of knowledge, students can gain the understanding they require by using real life situations as springboards for integration and synthesis of all inputs. Consequently, recent efforts were expended to develop the Occupational Therapy Personal Progress Inventory (OTPPI), a tool that was developed from the experience of the undergraduate medical program over the past few years (Blake et al. 1996; Cunnington 2001). The OTPPI focuses on foundational knowledge that our students need in order to become practicing occupational therapists. It is not a test of the application of that knowledge in practice. The examination consists of 90 multiple-choice questions developed with the expectation that a â€Å"star† student would be able to answer by the time of graduation. There are three main domains included in each examination: biology (this includes anatomy, physiology, etc. ), social sciences (this includes psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc. ), and research (this includes statistics, research methods, ethics, etc. ). The breakdown of each examination is 40 percent biology, 40 percent social science, and 20 percent research. The examination is generated each term and students in both years have the same examination, with the expectation that the students in second year will achieve a higher result than those in the first year. Students receive a detailed report with their scores and a profile of how they have progressed over time. They are provided with information about their total score as well as a breakdown on each of the three domains. They also receive a zone score, which is an indication of how well they have performed on the test in comparison to the other members of the class. Students in the yellow or red zones may want to review their scores in more detail and make learning plans to address gaps that may have been identified through the examination. This tool is designed as a self-assessment measure, the individual results of which are known only to each student. We have made a conscious choice that results are not used in the summative evaluation of the students, and are intended to provide the learners with a sense of how they are progressing in accumulating knowledge relative to the basic sciences of their discipline. The students are expected to use that information to set plans in place to address weaknesses (e. g. , through problem-based tutorials, individual assignments, etc. ). The OTPPI has been a pencil and paper test so far, but steps are being taken to convert it to a web-based format. While the occupational therapy program has undertaken this initiative on a pilot basis, initial responses would indicate that students are finding the process helpful to them, although this is very new at the time of publication. Integration of Evidence-based Practice Skills into the Curricula. The integration of skills related to practicing in an evidence-based manner is seen to be critical to both programs. A detailed description of the models adopted by the occupational therapy and physiotherapy programs is found in Chapter 5. In both programs, there is a strong commitment to evidence-based practice as a central onstruct for the curriculum and a natural partner for client-centered and problem-based principles. Conclusion Since their inception, the masters entry-level programs in occupational therapy and physiotherapy have presented opportunities to revisit our history and legacy in health sciences education. In order to reflect on the overall process, the general steps for curriculum design offered by Wiers et al. (2002) will be revisited (see Table 2. 2). Chapter 2 Curriculum Development and Design 21 For us, the rationale for the curriculum was clear both from an internal and an external perspective, and the notion of forming a planning group was a natural approach to the task. Our profound commitment to involving our broad academic community was illustrated through the involvement of a wide range of individuals encompassing full-time, part-time, and sessional faculty members as well as members of the wider practice community. Such involvement was realized throughout the planning process and continues through such individuals’ representation on our Education, Curriculum and Admissions committees. The need to define clear general educational objectives for the curriculum was also recognized at a very early stage. We found that being able to determine the goals and directions from the outset served to facilitate the planning that followed. Assessing the educational needs of future students was assisted by our own knowledge concerning the entry-level competencies demanded by our professional regulatory colleges. Also, the connections we have with our practice communities and past graduates were invaluable in providing a background for determining the shifts necessary within the curriculum to fulfill practice expectations. Similarly, the same thoughtful reasoning was used to consider the differences of teaching and learning between undergraduate and graduate approaches to education. Applying general principles of problem-based learning to the curriculum was not a concern for us, given our long history of internalizing this philosophy. Specific difficulties arose when converting the undergraduate courses and assessment tools to the needs of a graduate program. Nevertheless, problem-based learning in many ways is a gift for this transition since it resembles closely the natural proclivities of graduate work – smaller groups, self-directedness, learner autonomy, and a degree of freedom to determine learning directions. Structuring the curriculum and creating a blueprint became different experiences for physiotherapy and occupational therapy. As mentioned previously, while the planning processes looked ostensibly similar, the manner in which the final curricular models were derived was very different (see Tables 2. 3 and 2. 4). However, after the master models were created, the processes for elaborating the blueprints and constructing study units were again very similar. Methods of student assessment tended to remain grounded in the familiar processes and tools that we had developed across our history with problem-based learning. However, as each curricular element emerged throughout the planning (e. g. , evidence-based practice, ethics, clinical skills, fieldwork) so did innovative ways to enhance the student assessment processes that were already strong. Details of these innovations will be discussed in the book chapters relating to these specific areas. Consideration of the educational organization and curriculum management model required particular attention since our lines of accountability had shifted, with the Table 2. 4. Physiotherapy curricular framework Unit 1 2 3 4 5 6 Content theme Fundamentals of physiotherapy practice Fundamentals of musculoskeletal practice Fundamentals of cardiorespiratory and neurological practice Advanced neurological practice Community practice Integrated practice and professional transition 22 Sue Baptiste, Patricia Solomon 2 move to the School of Graduate Studies. Two slightly different models of governance emerged, with the Admissions Committee being the only shared group between physiotherapy and occupational therapy. However, both governance models reflect a central group responsible and accountable for curriculum and another group that oversees general program functioning. Curricular evaluation remains an ongoing responsibility and expectation. Chapter 13 provides a particular model for curriculum evaluation that was used by the occupational therapy program, the Program Logic Model. However, there are many ways in which faculty members can retain a clear image of what makes up a curriculum and what indicators are critical to evaluate for the success of the program overall. The three years of planning and launching the new curricula at McMaster University were years of extremely hard work, high energy and output. As we see each student cohort graduate, and receive feedback concerning our students and graduates in practice settings, we feel heartened that we appear to be on the right track. We know, however, that curriculum development is an ongoing process.