Singing Spoon Dry Ice Project

Singing Spoon Dry Ice Project The singing spoon or screaming spoon is the name of a dry ice project in which you cause a spoon to make a singing or screaming sound. Heres how to perform the singing spoon project and an explanation for how it works. You may also watch my video of the singing or screaming spoon. Singing Spoon Materials metal spoondry ice Make the Spoon Sing Dip a spoon in hot water.Remove the spoon from the water and press the warm spoon against the cold dry ice. The spoon will cause the dry ice to sublimate into carbon dioxide vapor. Youll hear the spoon emit a sharp vibrating sound sort of like it is singing or screaming. How the Singing Spoon Works When you press the warm spoon against the dry ice, the sublimation speeds up. The carbon dioxide gas that is released presses against the spoon at the same time you are applying pressure to push the spoon into the dry ice. The oscillations in pressure occur very rapidly, producing sound waves. Although youll usually see this demonstration done using a spoon, it works with any metal object. Metal works best because of its high thermal conductivity, but feel free to experiment with other materials.

Kudlers Data Table Analysis

Kudlers Data Table Analysis Free Online Research Papers Kudler Fine Foods is a fast growing company established in 1998 and their Initial store selected Microsoft Access as the database to track inventory, sales, orders, employees, and customers. Kudler’s products are perishable and inventory must be properly tracked. This paper will evaluate database tables from accounting perspective, and provide recommendations for improvement. Pivot Table and Entity Relationship diagram will help Kudler’s to build better decision-making process. Evaluation of the design elements of the data tables from an accounting perspective. Data Table analysis is essential to the success of Kudler, the information provided in these tables is available for the end user to determine how much inventory is available and when it require to order more inventory. The design of data tables organizes the financial data into department, financial codes, items and then sums of total amount of transaction. Data table maximize the visual and informational presentation for the financial data. The user can easily identify information that item belongs to certain department, and how many items were received at the given cost for a certain period. It allows finding total amount and quantity on hand for an item and calculating average price for an item. Entity relationship diagram illustrates the hierarchy of how information reviewed by end users. The data represented in entity relation diagrams (E-R) includes the business entities and the relationship among them. E-R diagrams use four symbols: rectangles to represent entities, diamonds to describe relationship, ovals describe the entity, characteristics, and connecting lines depicts relationships. Recommendation for improvements to the Data Tables The Pivot Table is two-dimensional statistical summaries of database information and can be improved by arranging the codes chronologically and sort the data by compiling the list of product inventory levels. This will facilitate monitoring items for a department that has different items to sell. Data sorting will allow visualizing faster and finding the data they need to make effective decisions (Birnbaum, 2003). Kudler can improve decision making through Pivot Table Kudler’s information is overloaded with vast amount of detailed data being generated as standard operations. Data tables visualize the information and make important decision making process effective and efficient. Pivot table keep records of the inventory movement though out the entire company and provide a single centralized set of data to view. Kudler’s must be able to identify balance in inventory in each store and which items needs to re-order and which item need to stock in or out of warehouse. With the help of Pivot table Kudler’s can quickly summarize the data from a worksheet and can discover the total, average count of the inventory items. Conclusion Currently Kudler’s advised some improvement required to their inventory data table and Kudler’s should update the database with data tables that allow them easily to access and calculate optimal inventory levels for each store. The upgrade will provide quality of data and eliminate redundant information. Entity Relationship Diagram Pivot Table References: Apollo Group Inc. (2004). Kudler Fine foods – Sales and Marketing. Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/business/Kudler/Finance/KudlerFAInvRpts001.htm https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/business/Kudler/IT/KudlerITDatabases001.htm Bagranoff, N. Simkin, M Strand, N.(2008). Core concepts of Accounting Information systems. John Wiley sons. Research Papers on Kudler's Data Table AnalysisRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanResearch Process Part OneIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalThe Project Managment Office SystemThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseOpen Architechture a white paperAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesDefinition of Export QuotasBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of Self

Managing Business Responsibly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing Business Responsibly - Essay Example Then, the response of people to complex/ unexpected events can be considered as more credible, based on the fact that there has been no time available for the individuals involved to be prepared in regard to their response to the particular events (Atkinson and Young, 2008). For example, Garfinkel asked the students participated in his experiment to change their normal behaviour at home and ‘to act as if they live in a rented house and not in the house of their parents’ (Garcia 2013, p.19). The responses of the parents varied: other considered this behaviour as ‘a consequence of an illness or others regarded as rudeness’ (Garcia 2013, p.19). In other words, in any case this behaviour was perceived as being out of social norms (Garcia 2013). It should be noted that parents were not informed on the development of this experiment (Baert and da Silva 2010). However, this is the core characteristic of breaching experiments: those participating in the experiment d evelop a behaviour which is not aligned with social norms (OpenStax College 2012). In this context, the breaching experiments can be considered as valuable for identifying the actual response of people to unexpected events/ behaviour. Personally, a few years ago, I had developed a breaching experiment trying to check the response of my parents to my professional choices. For about a month I avoided going out and I was keeping on reading/ watching business – related videos through the Internet, a behaviour that was fully contradictory with my habit to meet my friends almost every afternoon and to watch sports in TV. My parents reacted rather positively; they’ve told me that they are not going to be opposed to my decision to choose the specific professional field and that I could continue my normal social life, as before. In other words, for my parents, my behaviour was perceived as an effort to show my willingness for a specific career. In

Brent Crude Oil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Brent Crude Oil - Essay Example There exist specific factors that cause this sharp decline in the oil price (Menton, 2015). The strength of the American dollar is a key driver for the steady decline of the oil prices. The current global market has been under tremendous competition with the United States dollar being a key determinant of majority of the things. With the strong US dollar, the average price and value of majority of the commodities fall. This has greatly affected crude oil, whose price has been constantly declining. With global prices of commodities quoted in reference to the dollar, the prices trend lower in the economic times where the dollar is strong (Menton, 2015). The U.S currency surge experienced in the second quarter of 2014 saw a culminated decline in major leading product and commodity indices. negative impact Of OPEC Oil output in the US due to oil prices registering low price sales by the end of the year would be another contributing factor. The marginal oil barrel output derived from unconventional sources like shale would be highly affected by the existing low global prices of crude oil. Drilling of oil wells has been on a steady decline based on the high costs incurred and the constant low prices registered in the global market making the industry unprofitable (Menton, 2015). There is a global oversupply of crude oil. The supply has exceeded the demand of the product with its 2015 oil production speculated at 9.35 M barrels per day. It also goes into history that the existing oil reserves and repositories increased to the highest numbers ever registered since 80 years ago. The commercial inventories of crude oil in the United States rose by a margin of 4.5M barrels compared to the registered levels of the previous week (Menton, 2015). The figures make it the highest level of crude oil inventories registered in the year 2015. The existing nuclear deal with Iran is viewed as a major element that soils the oil prices further down in the United

How Wilfred Owen and John Scott present ideas about slaughter and sacrifice Essay Example for Free

How Wilfred Owen and John Scott present ideas about slaughter and sacrifice Essay Write a comparison of the ways Wilfred Owen and John Scott present ideas about slaughter and sacrifice, how far do you agree with the view that Scotts poem is more effective than Owens in communicating its message? The Send Off and The Drum both explore the truths about war outlining the horrors and effects of war through language and poetic techniques. Owen attacks the understanding between those at home who promote war as a romantic, glorious and heroic exercise and dying for ones country as an act of nobility and with this who fight and die in war and who know the true horror of the battlefield. Scott explores the desperations caused by battle. He also makes clear that he does not consider war as a fight of honour; more as a gruesome game to see who can be more stubborn to admit what they are doing is wrong. Both poets show similar thoughts about war and how it is betrayed to a glorious act of heroicness. In the opening stanzas of the drum the poets mention the sounds and tones which follow the soldiers. In The drums case it is the drums discordant sound. This instrument is used for the historical march of the soldiers. Which in this case is confusing to the men. As they are parading round, and round. This gives a sense of never ending war. Each day the men follow the same routine until it is there turn to face the enemy in battle. Owen immediately challenges the positive connotation of the send off in the first line. Our first image is of close darkening lanes. This has two meanings; the first meaning is the lanes fatefully enclose the soldiers in their closeness, they cannot turn back, the second meaning is that darkening is emphasized as a metaphor of the soldiers dark destiny to which their farewell is sending them and that is to be killed in war. John Scott talks about the pathetic reasons which people go to war. He explains how the young are almost excited by the surrender of the opposition. To sell their liberty for charms. This line suggests that people would rather sell there independence for money. Regarding how it would affect their country. The alliteration used in the phrase grimly gay in the send off alerts the readers the forced gaiety of the men and ambiguity of their supposed adventure isnt everything that is thought to be at first. Grimly Gay also contradicts the concepts of grimness and gaiety, which captures a focus for the mixture of excitement and fear in the men and the country for which they sacrifice their lives for. Scott mentions the line ambitions voice commands. This word ambition almost represents the lives of many of the soldiers fighting in the war. Either there ambition to return to there country or to fight for there country. It can also be in replacement for the general who commands his soldiers to war. A sense of death is built up in the next line. To March, and fight, and fall, in foreign lands. This shows the reality of war, you can fight and put your life on the line, but you may also lie dead in the hands of the enemy and fall in there territory. The send off portrays the sense of something sinister and shameful about the operation, in the uncertainty of the mens future and in the prospect of the injured and weary return of too few of them. Owen talks about how complete strangers to him went to war. They were not ours this explains how he talks about random people being in the war. The imagery for the gifts of flowers for good fortune is mixed with that of flowers for a funeral wreath. It is as though the gift of flowers is the soldiers first war wound, a prelude to a course of events that must end in death. Scott shows exactly what the true meaning to war is and how it affects the life of others. He speaks of the burning towns mangled limbs windows tears. These quotations explain the sense of horror and slaughter which took place in the Napoleonic wars. The way Scott expresses his views on the war are the tragic ways in which widows had to cope without there husband. Those who lost there homes and had to migrate to another area. Owen shows this kind of horror as well but not in the magnitude of Scott. As mens dead. The apostrophe in the word men shows the extensive number of soldiers who were killed. Wilfred Owen ends his poem almost like the ending of a war and how they leave the allies country. Shall they return to beating of great bells, in wild train loads? A few, a few, too few for drums and yells. The word shall suggest that you do not really know if soldiers will return in a good way. He almost contradicts himself when he talks about loads of men returning then he says a few. This shows that not even he is sure about the outcome of returning soldiers. Part of the soldiers betrayal is how they are dehumanized and treated so indifferently by the authorities that process them. Terms such as siding-shed and train-loads creates the concept of produce rather than people being transported. The structure of the poem is broken up into stanzas with lines long and short. The shorter lines are a lot more sinister in tone which talks about ominous events that are going to happen in war. The lengthier lines are more informative. This irregularity of long and short lines and stanzas gives the poem motion which shows the beat of marching men and a moving train. The structure of the drum is completely different it is set out in two stanzas which echo the beat of the drum which is parading around and around. That is why the use of repetition is applied for this line in both stanzas. I agree in a sense that Scotts poem is more effective on its approach to get its message through to the reader. The reason for this being is that it can relate with the reader more because he is writing a personal response. Noticeable by the use of I this means that he can communicate in a more individual way. He also gives more ideas on what soldiers and families would have had to see through the war stages. Not only does he give a personal statement but takes into consideration of how it may have affected the lives of others. He also shows the gruesomeness which occurs in battle. However Owen also has written a very informative poem. As he has the experience of being a solider he has more of an idea how the war worked. Unlike John Scott he did not oppose to violence. Maybe that is why Scott could have been biased towards the idea of war. Only pin pointing the parts to war which were bad, and not those which commemorate the honour and remembrance which you receive after fighting in the war. But Owen also feels the same way about the war and he has been there. I suppose these poems would not be similar because they are both from different stages of time. One which was written in the Napoleonic war and the other in world war one. That is why there is a difference in writing styles and issues which are discussed. The reason for John Scotts poem being more violent maybe because they did not use weapons like guns and explosives so battles with swords maybe have been more brutal. Taking this into consideration I think both poems have different ways in which to get there message across so they are equally as effective.

Teaching and Technology Essay -- Teaching Education Essays

Teaching and Technology Technology is ever changing the ways in which we learn. There are many different technologies, but the biggest, and most recent is the very influential computer. Both in and out of the classroom computers impact the education of people around the world. In the beginning of the computer age, there were simple computers (very simple compared to now). The first computers were so big that one of them was the size of an entire room. As technology advanced, the computer became smaller and more popular. The smaller computers became part of everyday life. That is how the personal computer (PC) evolved, and spread thoughout the world. Schools did not have any real need for computers, when the personal computer first came out. Any typing that needed to be done was done on a typewriter. Even if schools did get computers, they did not have any teachers with the knowledge to use them efficiently, let alone teach with on a computer. As computers became ever more popular, and their technology became more important in society, schools began using them in the classrooms. Having on a computer or two in the corner of on a classroom did not necessarily guarantee their successful use. Students may have used them to play games and type, but that was not an effective use of computers. Now, schools are becoming more technologically hip. Computer classes have been brought into schools. Students are usually required to take, at least, basic computer skills training classes. However, as of now, it is not required that high school students take any courses about the Internet and how it works with and for the student. The Internet was started by the United States Department of Defense in 1969 with four hosts: the Unive... ...ieval, in the 1999-2000 school year, 17 percent of the school technology funds went towards teacher training. Although the numbers are rising, teachers need more than just a quick course in technology. They need skills and knowledge, not just a little knowledge. "The Internet is not a panacea for every problem in education. We need to be realistic. But we also must realize that the Internet is a tool that can help us empower every student and elevate each individual to new levels of intellectual capacity and skill. That is the great opportunity of this new technology." 1. http://interact.hpcnet.org/webcommission/ProfessionalDevelopment.htm 2. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5461/paper_1.html (Guillermo E. Pedroni) 3. http://www.ceofrm.org/history.cfm 4. http://interact.hpcnet.org/webcommission/Section_1.htm 5. http://www.rtec.org/nr_tec.html

Filipino Accounting Education Essay

This Statement is issued by the Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC). The AECC was appointed in 1989 by the American Accounting Association and supported by the Sponsors’ Education Task Force, representing the largest public accounting firms in the United States. Its objective is to be a catalyst for improving the academic preparation of accountants so that entrants to the accounting profession possess the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required for success in accounting career paths. The Commission encourages reproduction and distribution of its statements. The Commission’s first Position Statement, on the objectives of education for accountants, emphasized the importance of teaching. The Statement cited the need for training in instructional methods, recognizing and rewarding contributions to teaching and curriculum design, and measurement and evaluation systems that encourage continuous improvement of instructional methods and materials.1 Without progress in these prerequisites to effective teaching, the objectives of that Statement cannot be realized. Moreover, progress is needed in mechanisms for sharing ideas and techniques and in the culture and organizational climate that establishes and maintains the scholarly status of teaching within the professoriate. All interested parties (e.g., university boards of trustees, regents, legislatures, governors, parents of students, and other sponsors of education) should help establish a priority on teaching and otherwise improve its effectiveness, but faculty and administrative leaders bear the greatest responsibility. CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING The characteristics of effective teaching must be identified if their presence is to be measured and improvements envisioned. Understanding the characteristic of effective teaching is essential for faculty (so they know what is expected) and administrators (so they can assess performance). Five characteristics of effective teaching are listed below. Curriculum Design and Course Development. To effectively design curricula and develop courses the teacher must: set appropriate objectives; develop a useful framework for the conduct of courses and programs; conceptualize, organize, and properly sequence the subject matter; integrate courses with other related courses, disciplines, and current research; and be innovative and adaptive to change. Use of Well Conceived Course Materials. Effective course materials enhance presentation skills, fulfill course objectives, are consistent with current developments and new technology in the field, create a base upon which continued learning can be built, challenge students to think, and give them the tools to solve problems. Presentation Skills. Effective presentation skills stimulate students’ interests and their active participation in the learning process, respond to classroom developments as they occur, convey mastery of the subject matter, achieve clarity of exposition, instill professionalism, and engage students with different learning styles. Well Chosen Pedagogical Methods and Assessment Devices. Effective pedagogical methods (e.g., experiments, cases, small group activities) vary with circumstances (e.g., size of class, nature of the subject, ability or skill being developed). Assessment devices (e.g., examinations, projects, papers, presentations) should be geared both to course objectives and to the progress of the course and should have a pedagogical component (e.g., fixing in the student’s mind what is most important, learning by thinking through a problem, identifying weaknesses to be corrected, reinforcing acquired skills). Guidance and Advising. An effective teacher guides and advises students as appropriate to the level of study and research (e.g., a freshman’s exploration of potential careers, a senior’s job placement, or a doctoral student’s work on a dissertation). THE ADMINISTRATIVE TASK Administrators should ensure that the reward structure stimulates effective teaching. They should also give attention to the other administrative issues that can affect the quality of teaching. These include: The school’s or department’s infrastructure for learning. This infrastructure includes, for example, classrooms, EDP and projection equipment, library facilities, and study space. Deployment of discretionary resources (e.g., availability of secretarial assistance, printing and duplicating, travel funds for teaching conferences). Appropriate class sizes and teaching loads, given the educational mission and resources of the school. Administrators should consider how each of the factors above is influencing the quality of teaching at their institutions and whether improvements can be made. Finally, administrators should be satisfied with the quality of the procedures in place in their institutions to evaluate teaching and continuously improve it. REWARDING EFFECTIVE TEACHING Faculty and administrators have a joint responsibility to develop incentive systems that produce the best educational outcomes for students. No one reward system or set of reward criteria can serve all institutions, but all should create adequate incentive for effective teaching. The incentive systems should reward effective teaching in deed as well as in word. Effective teaching should be a primary consideration in the tenure, promotion, and merit evaluation process. Effectiveness and innovation are not free, and it would be a mistake to assume that in the long term simply faculty pride and altruism are sufficient to accomplish continual change and improvement in the instructional function. STRATEGIES FOR EVALUATING AND IMPROVING TEACHING There is a close relationship between evaluating and improving teaching. Information about performance provides feedback on where improvements might be made. Assessments of performance need not have a purely administrative function of determining salaries and promotions; they can be devoted to improving teaching. The techniques below illustrate the range of what is available. Regardless of the technique chosen, assessments of teaching should be systematic and consistent. Self-assessment. Every teacher should regularly assess his or her work in order to improve. Self-assessment requires an evaluation of what was effective, what was not, why some things were relatively more effective, and what changes are desirable. Self-assessments can include documentation of purposes and techniques provided to colleagues as part of formal evaluations and are a natural basis for informal discussions of teaching techniques. Observations by Colleagues. Faculty should be primarily responsible for evaluating the teaching performance of colleagues. The evaluation process should be systematic and should strive for objectivity. A structured approach lends consistency to observations, which can make subsequent observations less stressful. All observations by colleagues should have as a major purpose to make recommendations for improvement, even if the occasion for the observation is administrative. Experience should be considered in assigning faculty observers. Student Evaluations. Student evaluations provide direct evidence of student attitudes toward the classroom experience. Students can report reactions to course workload; to the course materials; to the teacher’s classroom enthusiasm, demeanor and control; and to their personal interaction with the teacher. They can also estimate their own academic growth in the course. Alumni Input. Graduates can report on the thoroughness of their preparation, the usefulness of specific educational experiences in their lives and careers, and recollections of effective courses and teachers. Aggregate data on alumni outcomes (e.g., employment data) can be combined with information on curriculum design and teaching effectiveness to evaluate how both an accounting program and teaching approaches might be improved. Instructional Consultants. Consultants can analyze teaching techniques and styles and provide recommendations for improvement. Sometimes it is useful to work with a consultant and a faculty colleague, with the colleague focusing on course content and the consultant on teaching techniques. Teaching Portfolios. A teaching portfolio is a factual description or collection of a professor’s teaching achievements (i.e., an extended teaching resume). The teaching portfolio is to a professor’s teaching what lists of publications, grants, and academic honors are to research. A portfolio might include documentation of one’s teaching experience and philosophy, syllabi, evidence of student learning, student and faculty evaluations, videotapes, and documentation of work on curriculum design and course development. A teaching portfolio may be critical to providing the teaching vita with the portability and external review enjoyed for so long by the publishing vita. CONCLUSION Every party with a stake in improving accounting education has a stake in improving accounting professors’ teaching, but faculty and administrators can do the most to bring it about. They can work to ensure that teaching is appropriately rewarded and supported, that campus conditions are conducive to effective teaching, that effective teaching strategies are shared with others, that sound mechanisms for feedback on teaching effectiveness are in place and functioning, and that methods of evaluating teaching are refined and viewed as credible by those who play key roles in the evaluation and reward process. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Angelo, Thomas A. and K. Patricia Cross. Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (2nd Edition) San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1993 Boyer, Ernest L. Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. Princeton, N.J.: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1990. Blackburn, Robert T. and Judith A. Pitney. Performance Appraisal for Faculty: Implications for Higher Education. Ann Arbor, MI: national Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Education, The University of Michigan, 1988. Braskamp, Larry A. and John C. Ory. Assessing Faculty Work. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers (in preparation), 1993. Cashin, William E. â€Å"Defining and Evaluating College Teaching,† IDEA Paper No. 21. Kansas State University, Center for Faculty Evaluation and Development, September 1989. Centra, John, Robert C. Froh, Peter J. Gray, Leo M. Lambert and Robert M. Diamond, eds. A Guide to Evaluating Teaching for Promotion and Tenure. Syracuse University, Center for Instructional Development, 1987. Diamond, Robert M. Designing and Improving Courses and Curricula in Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1989. Edgerton, Russell, Patricia Hutchings and Kathleen Quinlan. The Teaching Portfolio: Capturing the Scholarship in Teaching. Washington, D.C.: American Association for Higher Education, 1991. Gabbin, Alexander L., Scott N. Cairns and Ralph L. Benke, Jr., eds. Faculty Performance Appraisal. Harrisonburg, VA: Center for Research in Accounting Education, 1990. Lambert, Leo M. and Stacey Lane Tice, eds. Preparing Graduate Students to Teach: A Guide to Programs that Improve Undergraduate Education and Develop Tomorrow’s Faculty. Washington, D.C.: American Association of Higher Education, 1993. McKeachie, Wilbert J. Teaching Tips: A Guide Book for the Beginning College Teacher. (8th Edition) Lexington, MA: Heath and Company, 1986. Mckeachie, Wilbert J., Paul R. Pintrich, Yi-Guang Lin and David Smith. Teaching and Learning in the College Classroom: A Review of the Research Literature. Ann Arbor, MI: National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Education, The University of Michigan, 1986. Menges, Robert J, and B. Claude Matkis, eds. Key Resources on Teaching, Learning, Curriculum, and faculty Development. San Francisco, CA. Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1988. Seldin, Peter. The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion Tenure Decisions. Boston, MA: Anker Publishing, 1991. Seldin, Peter and others. How Administrators Can Improve Teaching: Moving from Talk to Action in Higher Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1990. Stark, Joan S. and others. Planning Introductory College Courses: Influence on Faculty. Ann Arbor, MI: National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Education, The University of Michigan, 1990. St. Pierre, E. Kent, Michael P. Riordan and Diane A. Riordan, eds. Research in Instructional Effectiveness. Harrisonburg, VA: Center for Research in Accounting Education, 1990. The Teaching Professor. A newsletter published by Magna Publications, Inc., Madison, WI: Maryellen G. Weimer, Editor, Pennsylvania State University. The AECC acknowledge the contributions to the Statement of the following task force members who are not Commission members: Ronald J. Patten and Arthur R. Wyatt. Other Statement issued by the Accounting Education Change Commission: Issues Statement No. 1: AECC Urges Priority for Teaching in Higher Education (August 1990). Position Statement No. One: Objectives of Education for Accountants (September 1990). Issues Statement No. 2: AECC Urges Decoupling of Academic Studies and Professional Accounting Examination Preparation (July 1991).

Assessment in Schools Essay

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

Expository Essay Topics Facts and Issues to Build You Paper upon

Expository Essay Topics Facts and Issues to Build You Paper upon In this article you will get familiar with the basic rules and strategies which are important to keep in mind while writing an expository essay. Expository essays are the essays in which information, explanations about the subject or definitions about a particular are the primary requirements. The best way to present an expository essay is using the combination of facts and statistical information about the subject chosen. Describing the matter using examples is very important part of an expository essay. Writing your expository essay using different examples will give it a better look. One of the most important rules which must be kept in mind while writing an expository essay write to the point using specific ideas and information. A good expository essay should be written without using author’s emotions and in most cases passive voice must be used. So, the use of the active voice is strictly prohibited or in other words â€Å"I† must not be used in an expository essay. Expository essays have a distinctive format. Usually ideal expository essays start with a strong thesis statement. The thesis statement must be defined and strongly supported while writing the expository essay. The next parts are the supporting paragraphs, which should contain distinct controlling topics and all the other phrases must point towards their respective topics and must factually relate to topics. The use of transition phrases or words helps the reader to understand and reinforce the logic. The paragraph containing the conclusion must provide stress to the main thesis, and a couple of supportive ideas would give a perfect look. The finishing sentence of the expository essay must reflect the position of the writer in a meaningful way. Expository essay topics are easily available. The most difficult part is to choose the right topic for you. Different disciplines can be chosen as per the interest of the student or the requirement of the professor. There are many expository essay topics in mathematics, literature, arts, science, business, computer sciences etc. Few examples of popular expository essay topics are as follows: how doing math can be enjoyable, how the two-stroke engine works, what is meant by an ecosystem, World War II, advantages of speaking a second language, how art affects your daily life and many more. We believe that now you got acquainted to expository essays and are able to turn an ordinary essay into a perfect expository essay. But still if you have trouble and cannot decide which topic to choose, we are always ready to help you in writing your essays.

Franz Kafkas The Judgment Summary

Franz Kafka's The Judgment Summary Franz Kafka’s â€Å"The Judgment† is the tale of a quiet young man caught in an outrageous situation. The story starts off by following its main character, Georg Bendemann, as he deals with a series of day-to-day concerns: his upcoming marriage, his family’s business affairs, his long-distance correspondence with an old friend, and, perhaps most importantly, his relationship with his aged father. Although Kafka’s third-person narration maps out the circumstances of Georg’s life with considerable detail, â€Å"The Judgment† is not really a sprawling work of fiction. All the main events of the story occur on a â€Å"Sunday morning in the height of spring† (p.49). And, until the very end, all the main events of the story take place in the small, gloomy house that Georg shares with his father. But as the story progresses, Georg’s life takes a bizarre turn. For much of â€Å"The Judgment†, Georg’s father is depicted as a weak, helpless man- a shadow, it seems, of the imposing businessman he once was. Yet this father transforms into a figure of enormous knowledge and power. He springs up in fury when Georg is tucking him into bed, viciously mocks Georg’s friendships and upcoming marriage, and ends by condemning his son to â€Å"death by drowning†. Georg flees the scene. And instead of thinking over or rebelling against what he has seen, he rushes to a nearby bridge, swings over the railing, and carries out his father’s wish: â€Å"With weakening grip he was still holding on when he spied between the railings a motor-bus coming which would easily cover the noise of his fall, called in a low voice: ‘Dear parents, I have always loved you, all the same,’ and let himself drop† (p. 63). Kafka’s Writing Methods As Kafka states in his diary for 1912, â€Å"this story, ‘The Judgment’, I wrote in one sitting of the 22nd-23rd, from ten o’clock to six o’clock in the morning. I was hardly able to pull my legs out from under the desk, they had got so stiff from sitting. The fearful strain and joy, how the story developed before me as if I were advancing over water†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This method of rapid, continuous, one-shot composition wasn’t simply Kafka’s method for â€Å"The Judgment†. It was his ideal method of writing fiction. In the same diary entry, Kafka declares that â€Å"only in this way can writing be done, only with such coherence, with such a complete opening out of the body and soul.† Of all his stories, â€Å"The Judgment† was apparently the one that pleased Kafka the most. The writing method that he used for this bleak tale became one of the standards that he used to judge his other pieces of fiction. In a 1914 diary entry, Kafka recorded his â€Å"great antipathy to The Metamorphosis. Unreadable ending. Imperfect almost to its very marrow. It would have turned out very much better if I had not been interrupted at the time by the business trip.† The Metamorphosis was one of Kafka’s better-known stories during his lifetime, and it is almost without a doubt his best-known story today. Yet for Kafka, it represented an unfortunate departure from the method of highly-focused composition and unbroken emotional investment exemplified by â€Å"The Judgment.† Kafka’s Own Father Kafka’s relationship with his father was quite uneasy. Hermann Kafka was a well-off businessman, and a figure who inspired a mixture of intimidation, anxiety, and grudging respect in his sensitive son Franz. In his â€Å"Letter to My Father†, Kafka acknowledges his father’s â€Å"dislike of my writing and all that, unknown to you, was connected with it.† But as depicted in this famous (and unsent) letter, Hermann Kafka is also canny and manipulative. He is fearsome, but not outwardly brutal. In the younger Kafka’s words, â€Å"I might go on to describe further orbits of your influence and of struggle against it, but there I would be entering uncertain ground and would have to construct things, and apart from that, the further you are at a remove from your business and your family the pleasanter you have always become, easier to get on with, better mannered, more considerate, and more sympathetic (I mean outwardly too), in exactly the same way as for instance an autocrat, when he happen to be outside the frontiers of his own country, has no reason to go on being tyrannical and is able to associate good-humoredly with even the lowest of the low.† Revolutionary Russia Throughout â€Å"The Judgment†, Georg mulls over his correspondence with a friend â€Å"who had actually run away to  Russia some years before, being dissatisfied with his prospects at home† (49). Georg even reminds his father of this friend’s â€Å"incredible stories of the Russian Revolution. For instance, when he was on a business trip in Kiev and ran into a riot, and saw a priest on a balcony who cut a broad cross in blood on the palm of his hand and held the hand up and appealed to the mob† (58). Kafka may be referring to the Russian Revolution of 1905. In fact, one of the leaders of this Revolution was a priest named Gregory Gapon, who organized a peaceful march outside the Winter Palace in  St. Petersburg. Nonetheless, it would be wrong to assume that Kafka wants to provide a historically accurate picture of early 20th-century Russia. In â€Å"The Judgment†, Russia is a perilously exotic place. It is a stretch of the world that Georg and his father have never seen and perhaps doesnt understand, and somewhere that Kafka, consequently, would have little reason to describe in documentary detail. (As an author, Kafka was not averse to simultaneously talking about foreign locations and keeping them at a distance. After all, he began composing the novel Amerika without having visited the United States.) Yet Kafka was well versed in certain Russian authors, particularly Dostoevsky. From reading Russian literature, he may have gleaned the stark, unsettling, imaginary visions of Russia that crop up in â€Å"The Judgment.† Consider, for instance, Georg’s speculations about his friend: â€Å"Lost in the vastness of Russia he saw him. At the door of an empty, plundered warehouse he saw him. Among the wreckage of his showcases, the slashed remnants of his wares, the falling gas brackets, he was just standing up. Why, why did he have to go so far away!† (p. 59). Money, Business, and Power Matters of trade and finance initially draw Georg and his father together- only to become a subject of discord and contention later in â€Å"The Judgment†. Early on, Georg tells his father that â€Å"I can’t do without you in the business, you know that very well† (56). Though they are bound together by the family firm, Georg does seem to hold most of the power. He sees his father as an â€Å"old man† who- if he didn’t have a kind or pitying son- â€Å"would go on living alone in the old house† (58). But when Georg’s father finds his voice late in the story, he ridicules his son’s business activities. Now, instead of submitting to Georg’s favors, he gleefully reproaches Georg for â€Å"strutting through the world, finishing off deals I had prepared for him, bursting with triumphant glee and stealing away from his father with the closed face of a respectable business man!† (61). Unreliable Information, and Complex Reactions Late in â€Å"The Judgment,† some of Georg’s most basic assumptions are rapidly overturned. Georg’s father goes from seeming physically depleted to making outlandish, even violent physical gestures. Georg’s father reveals that his knowledge of the Russian friend is much, much deeper than Georg had ever imagined. As the father triumphantly states the case to Georg, â€Å"he knows everything a hundred times better than you do yourself, in his left hand he crumples your letters unopened while in his right hand he holds up my letters to read through!† (62). Georg reacts to this news- and many of the father’s other pronouncements- without any doubt or questioning. Yet the situation should not be so straightforward for Kafka’s reader. When Georg and his father are in the midst of their conflict, Georg seldom seems to think over what he is hearing in any detail. However, the events of â€Å"The Judgment† are so strange and so sudden that, at times, it seems Kafka is inviting us to do the difficult analytic and interpretive work that Georg himself seldom performs. Georg’s father may be exaggerating, or lying. Or maybe Kafka has created a story that is more like a dream than a depiction of reality- a story where the most twisted, overblown, unthinking reactions make a kind of hidden, perfect sense. Discussion Questions Does â€Å"The Judgment† strike you as a story that was written in one impassioned sitting? Are there any times when it doesn’t follow Kaka’s standards of â€Å"coherence† and â€Å"opening out†- times when Kafka’s writing is reserved or puzzling, for instance?Who or what, from the real world, is Kafka criticizing in â€Å"The Judgment†? His father? Family values? Capitalism? Himself? Or do you read â€Å"The Judgment† as a story that, instead of aiming at a specific satiric target, simply aims to shock and entertain its readers?How would you sum up the way Georg feels about his father? The way his father feels about him? Are there any facts you don’t know, but that could change your views on this question if you did know them?Did you find â€Å"The Judgment† mostly disturbing or mostly humorous? Are there any times when Kafka manages to be disturbing and humorous at the same moment? Source Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis, In The Penal Colony, and Other Stories. Paperback, Touchstone, 1714.

"Al Futtaim Group" current industry situation Essay

"Al Futtaim Group" current industry situation - Essay Example It grew by ten percent to reach three billion and six hundred billion. Majid Al Futtaim issued its first ten year fifty million dollar bond in May 2014. This extended the life average life of the portfolio of the company. The bond was the first issuance since 2010 and also the longest tenure achieved in Dubai by a corporate issuer. The company optimized its debt portfolio since it had strong liquidity and a solid financial performance in the banking market. They also received the most innovative treasury award from Global Capital (Browne, 1999. Pp52). In January 2015, Majid Al Futtaim which is the leading shopping mall, retail and leisure pioneer across North Africa and the Middle East reported a steady growth as it prepared for a further regional expansion. The company continues to develop a strong balance sheet with assets valued at more than forty five billion AED and net debt of around eight billion AED. The standard and poor’s and Fitch Rating reaffirms the company’s investment-grade ratings of BBB which is a stable outlook during the year. The company has a vision of future expansion across North Africa and the Middle East and to bring innovative new experiences to new populations strongly focusing on Egypt and Saudi Arabia (Shaw-Smith, 2015.

F-35 LIGHTNING II Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

F-35 LIGHTNING II - Research Paper Example This involved the use of military scientist to focus on defense strategies. The expertise was aimed at providing military capabilities of various nations involved. Moreover, as threat to international peace and stability continues to take shape, the field of military science continues to rise at the same rate. This necessitated development of fighter aircrafts meant to control and protect the airspace. This field is hoped to reach its epitome in the 21st century. This paper discusses  F-35 LIGHTNING II. F-35 LIGHTNING II is a recent generation fighter designed in United States. Several features make it outstanding among other fighter planes. These factors include adoption of recent technological advancements, and low cost. The original intention of developing F-35 was to serve all branches of the America military including air force, navy, and Marine Corps (Military Factory, 2012). Additionally it was also meant to serve the Britain military. F-35 is being developed, and has three airframes each with a particular purpose, but the three mainframes depend on one engine type. This is a recent advancement of its kind rivaling all other models. It is believed to offer a precise ground strike on its completion and entrance on market in 2016. F-35 will offer guided ammunition and bombs, high level of space command, and efficiency in elimination of any threat posed on air (Military Factory, 2012). F-35 has high capabilities of multitasking when directed to a particular target. Moreover, F-35 can be able to analyze situation in a complex battlefield and enable a pilot to have sufficient time to act. This information is also transferred to other allied forces in efficient manner. The cost of maintaining stealth is also low. F-35 is also able to encounter any threat from a very long distance such as a weapon and oncoming plane. F-35 was based on the idea of the US Joint Strike fighter program. The selection of Lockheed was based on lower financial cost that was envisage d in the long term. The lift fan of F-35 was improved significantly and this makes it more competitive than X-32. Cooling system was improved and this reduced chances of hot gases going back to the engine as it thrusts on the air. The lift fan offers enough space for fuel in both X-35A and X-35C models (Military Factory, 2012). Different groups funded the project of F-35. F-35 emanated from three models X-35A, X-35B, and X-35C (Buescher, 2001). The initial text of X-35A took place in 2000 and trials were made on Edward Air Force Base. After these trials, it was later converted into X-35B STOVL model. X-35C served to assist the two earlier models in case a problem arises (Duran, 2007). F-35A was first tested on December 15 2006 in Edward Air Force Base. First flight of X-35B took place in 2001 and hover cycle was achieved. STOVL F-35B test took place later in 2008. Additionally, F-35B achieved its initial flight in early 2009 and was able to refuel on air on August 13, 2009. X-35C we nt on air for the first time on December 16, 2000 (Buescher, 2001). Testing was done on its capability to land. It recorded improved performance in terms of low-level, low speed approaches that was the target of US navy. Testing was completed on X-35C on March 2001. The identity of F-35C was first disclosed on July 28, 2009. F-35 testing was complet