What’s Up with Pasta

What's Up With Pasta Q1: We need to understand and research why the Spaniards are spending relatively less on Pasta than its European neighbors. Current market research done by AEFPA offers insufficient data, so we need to improve data quality. The main goal is the get a clear demographic segmented market overview. One of the problems is that we cannot clearly identify the potential and current pasta consumers clearly – we simply do not know enough about of core target group. In addition we need insights on consumer behavior and habits as we do not know what drives the consumer decision when choosing pasta and when declining pasta.Another advantage of a broad market study would be that it would become clear if there are segments in the market currently not being explored. As a result we will be able to clearly identify the market entry barriers for pasta. According to our calculations (Appendix 1), there is an underutilized yearly market gap of EUR 87Mln. Given this significan t amount we find it justified to spend 0. 2% (Eur 175. 000) of the market gap initializing the market research plan, collect the data and conduct the analysis.Costs to marketing strategy, marketing planning and implementation are not included in this figure. We estimate the overall cost of the market research will be Eur 132. 800 Judging from informal discussions with contacts in Unilever and Kraft Foods, our estimate seems to be on the low side. Q2 – Methodology: We are interested in conducting both quantitative and qualitative research. In our opinion we need both elements to fully understand the market. This will allow us to better segment the market. Starting point of the quantitative research is the detailed quantitative research already done by AEFPA.The Geographical sales overview, distribution channels and sales pr. pasta type, must be investigated further. We suggest conducting a demographic segmentation overlay to this data, as the segmentation will serve us by divi ding a large population/sample into specific customer groups. We are opting for the demographical segmentation as we expect to receive a large amount of data that otherwise would not be feasible to analyze. Therefore, we cluster the information to make patterns of sub-groups visible and will enable to identify consumer profile and behaviors.We refer to this as top-down market research. The consumer behavior can only be partly captured in the demographic segmentation, so to ensure we have a bulky sample of data, we introduce a bottom-up process by initiating â€Å"Shopper Insights† research. â€Å"Shopper Insights† will in addition to bring to additional data on behavior also provide invaluable insights to the customer’s perception of pasta. The aim with â€Å"Shoppers Insight† is to passively monitor the customer’s behavior in the situation of purchase at point-of-buying to learn about the â€Å"conversion rate†.Unilever defines â€Å"Shopp ers Insight† as † focus on the process that takes place between that first thought the consumer has about purchasing an item, all the way through the selection of that item†. This is further underlined by practical examples from Kraft Foods Switzerland, who has provided access to their methodology to this group. We will be adopting the methods of â€Å"5 S’s† to conduct our â€Å"Shopper insights† research and conduct this across the difference distribution channels mentioned in the case.Detailed explanation in Appendix 2 By making use of both top-down and bottom-up quantitative research, we feel we have adequate data quality. However it is critical to maintain a satisfactory sample size. We assume our sample pool will be the entire Spanish population. There are many considerations when choosing a sampling size. We consider it a tradeoff between costs and sampling quality as there is a linear relationship between the sampling size and the cost. We estimate that the sampling size must be at least 384 people. See further details in appendix 3.To finish the research we introduce â€Å"Consumer Insight† which is a qualitative overlay. Personal interviews with customers will be done immediately after the consumer has been observed in the â€Å"Shoppers Insight†. The sample size when conducting qualitative research is less important as there is no need for statistical significance, so we will be highly selective when choosing participants. Actually we will aim to only interview the â€Å"High-Consumer† and â€Å"Non-consumer† segments found in the top-down demographic segmentation research.This will provide strong qualitative data for creating the marketing strategy and planning. These topics will not be discussed in this paper. Q3 – Implementation: As we want to build in the existing data from AEPFA, significantly more data collecting must be done. We would conduct a survey on a large sample, using these four variables: Age, life-cycle stage (the life cycle stage of a consumer group defines what will be the need of that particular customer), Gender and Income. In addition questions in pasta purchasing history and frequency would be asked.The questions will be designed so the answers can be directly comparable across the entire sample. This can be achieved by having a 1-5 scale designed on which the answers must fit one of the numbers. Example: Question: â€Å"How often do you eat pasta†, Possible answers: â€Å"1: Never, 2: ones a day, 3: ones a week, 4: ones a month, 5: ones a year†. By constructing all questions to fit such answer-schedule, we will be able to achieve statistical significance. The result will be a clear segmented group, where we can establish who are the current consumers (core buying segment) and non-consumers (core anti-buyers).We believe these segments should be targeted for further penetration. Next step we passively and discretely mo nitor the consumer at point-of-buying using the â€Å"5 S’s† approach (See appendix 2). We will be present in all the distribution channels mentioned. This can be done via video or via physical presents. It is paramount the customer is unaware she/he is being monitored as this potentially would influence the buying habits. The consumer segments found above – the consumer and non-consumer – will be specifically targeted in the monitoring. I. e. hen a consumer fits one of the segments, the monitoring will be initiated. We wish to focus on these segments due to costs, but could increase the sampling to all customers across all segments if budget would allow. As the quantitative research should not stand alone, we would initiate in-depth interviews with more open-ended questions to better grasp the motivation behind the choice made by the customer. Such questions could be â€Å"Why did you buy pasta†, â€Å"What type of pasta do you normally buy†, â€Å"why did you buy pasta instead of rice or potatoes. . For the non-consumers questions could be â€Å"Why do you choose rice/potatoes instead of pasta†, †Which pasta products are you missing in the shop† etc. We believe the quantitative and qualitative output of this extensive research plan, by identifying the two interesting segments and dwell into their motivations behind their choice, would form an excellent base for developing an effective market strategy and for creating an overall marketing strategy for Pasta in Spain. ? APPENDIX 1For the calculations of the market gap – difference in current and potential market – we have assumed the following: †¢Current year is 1990. †¢Potential year is 1992. Population has increased by 0. 6% from 1990 to 1992. †¢Euro/Pesetas exchange rate is 166. 386. (Official final fixing when Spain adopted the Euro) †¢Consumer behavior in terms of demand of the different pasta types is unchange d from 1990 – 1992 †¢Pasta price was inflated with 4% from 1990 – 1992. †¢Consumption of pasta rose 1 kg pr. Capita from 1990 – 1992 Pasta Market in 1990: Pasta Market in 1992: ? APPENDIX 2:The 5 S’s method is designed so marketers can observe a customer from entering point-of-buying (POB) to final transaction. The method works on two levels: 1. Consumer level; The consumer are monitored so we follow the target discreetly around the POB. We observe how the consumer Sees, Scans, Spot, Show interest and (potentially) Select the product we represent. This gives us valuable information as we can identifies were in the process we lose the customer (also call Fall-out). The conversation rate is computed as number of consumers selecting our product out of shoppers entering the POB.The net sales for a given company is highly sensitive to changes in conversation rate – Only a small increase in conversion will generate a (relative) large increase i n sales. 2. Store layout and the category placement in POB. We can observe the customers’ ability to find the product in POB; is the product visible to the consumer, where on the shelve is it placed, is it placed with complementary goods? or supplementary goods? After the research is concluded feedback will be delivered to POB to improve visibility if required. ? APPENDIX 3: We recognize the sample size of 1067 is a (very) rough estimate.We opted for an internet resource from Creative Research Systems as we decided to focus our resources on the research planning and method. The sample size is computed using: Confidence level: 95% Confidence Interval (margin of error) 5% Population 40’000’000 We believe these input factors are comparable with real-life statistical simulations. ? APPENDIX 4: As we require a specialized set of data and therefore need a specialized report, we assume such report must be order and bought directly at a Market Research company or instit ute under normal circumstances.As it is specialized we assume the price will be high, so budget with a one-time payment of EUR 75. 000. We have only very little foundation for making this estimate. It was the conclusion of a conversation between marketing executives on Linkedin. The bottom-up research will need to conduct 384 observations in order to fulfill to the minimum sample size requirement found in appendix 3. Based on information from marketing sources at Kraft Foods, we consider it realistic one market researcher can conduct 25 observations in one day. This results in 15. 3 days of work at an assumed daily rate of EUR 1000

Cost Information for decision making Essay

Two common costing systems used in business are traditionally cost accounting system (job costing, process costing and operating costing) and activity-based costing system (ABC). There are some similarities and differences between these systems. Regarding the similarities, both accumulate product costs throughout the production process and assign those costs to individual units of production. Additionally, product cost under two costing systems consists of direct materials, direct labor and manufacturing overhead. In terms of differences, they are different in the way how the overhead costs are allocated. For conventional costing, it assigns manufacturing overhead based on a single volume based cost driver such as direct labour hours. In contrast, ABC approaches cost from the perspective that products do not cause costs. It requires activities which are the causes of all costs incurred so it allocates manufacturing overhead according to the activities needed to produce the products. Therefore, it highlights the existence of non value added activity which is not existed under traditional method. ABC also differs from conventional costing in the use of several cost pools when allocating the overhead costs. For instance, traditional costing uses only one cost pool to distribute the overhead whereas there are many cost pools involved under ABC. Furthermore, ABC employs both volume-based and non-volume-based cost drivers while conventional costing utilizes only volume-based cost drivers. Another difference is that conventional approach complies with the GAAP so it can be used to satisfy conventional financial reporting requirements. On the other hand, accounting standard board does not accept ABC to prepare financial statements so it can be useful for internal management decision. Under conventional system, there are similarities between job costing, process costing and operating costing. Firstly, they accumulate product costs throughout the production process and assign those costs to products. Secondly, these costing systems calculate the product costs which comprise direct material, direct labour and manufacturing overhead. Lastly, the cost flows for three systems is from raw material to work in process to finished goods and then to costs of goods sold. These first two systems can be distinguished by the following differences. First, job costing system is used by the company which produces unique products or products based on customer orders. Conversely, process costing is for the firms which produce one or a few homogenous products and often have continuous mass production. Second, each individual product costs are traced easily under job costing while process costing makes no attempt to track individual product costs. Thirdly, under job costing, the transfer from one job to another does not take place whereas the production from one process is transferred to next one till the product is full completed under process costing. Next, process costing accumulates product costs in each production department throughout the period while job order costing accumulates product costs to specific units. Operating costing for company which has a mix production system that produces in large quantities but then is customized the finished product. Therefore, operating costing is a combination of process costing and job costing. However, it differs from job and process costing which includes more than two types of cost pools in overhead allocation process. The cost pools are designed to match the separate processes that may be allocated to batches of products. Comment about the quality of your work: According to the assessment criteria, my answer for the question should be marked 7. This is for the following reasons. Firstly, the answer is well-organized into five paragraphs which consist of differences between conventional costing and ABC costing. For instance, the first and second paragraphs demonstrate the similarities and differences between conventional costing and ABC. Apart from this, the answer also points out the similarities and differences between job costing, process costing and operating costing.

House (Tv Series) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

House (Tv Series) - Essay Example According to the research "House (Tv series)" findings, â€Å"House† is a medical TV series that does not just give a glimpse of the daily activities of doctors in the hospital but also gives a lot of information about diseases. It is an interesting material that can be used by medical students because the series can really serve as strong motivations to know the facts and not just rely on what is seen on TV. Of course, for the laypeople who view the episodes, they will definitely be in awe of the stories but when one really digs deeper into the diseases presented, mistakes will be discovered and this will serve as a material that encourages research or the like. In addition, the stories also delve into the personal lives of the characters involved. The series perhaps tries to show how normally doctors live and not idolize them thinking only of the prestige and salary they enjoy. Behind the wonderful image, people see doctors being, there are so many difficulties that they als o struggle with. They have their relationship problems to deal with but they try as much as they can to serve in the hospital in the most professional way. Moreover, there were times that the doctors were emotionally affected by the death of their patients. One example of which is the story of a patient in season 6 episode 21, who was trapped in an accident area and has to have her leg amputated so she can be moved out of the debris. Unfortunately, the patient dies from a fat embolism. This affected Dr. House so much that he turned to his drug addiction.

Kurt Vonnegut Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kurt Vonnegut - Essay Example And unusually for this form, Vonnegut's science fiction is frequently comic, not just in the "black humor" mode with which he has been tagged so often, but in being simply funny" (Reed). Therefore, he gave a new prospective on comic and science fiction, which was refreshing to most readers. From there, some of the imagery in his books and artwork clarify what some people go through in order to survive life which encourages the reader to take an interest in it because it is something that some Americans are going through at the moment. "Vonnegut's vision of the fantastic in daily life surely must have been influenced by some of the extraordinary events that occurred while he was still a young man, such as the suicide of his mother on Mother's Day 1944 while he was home on leave; his surviving as a prisoner of war the Allied firebombing that destroyed Dresden; the death of his sister Alice from cancer within hours of her husband's death in a train crash. His fiction struggles to cope with a world of tragi-comic disparities, a universe that defies causality, whose absurdity lends the fantastic equal plausibility with the mundane. Much the same outlook pervades the graphic artworks that have increasingly occupied Vonnegut in recent years" (Reed). As it can be seen from his work, it shows a lot of imagery where people's experience when they are wounded and about to face painful consequences of life.However, some critics of his work do not think it gives true imagery of life because it seems more dramatic than that. Just as Vonnegut's prose style has often been characterized as honed-down, so too there is a spareness to his graphics. That is the chief distinction between the vigorously colored felt-tip calligraphy of the early 1980s and the later silk screened art. And in both, the relative simplicity of expression counterpoints the generosity of imagination and vision, making the work more compelling. Vonnegut's concise verbal pronouncements often deflate those myths habitually proffered as giving meaning to daily existence. Yet at the same time his ranging imagination captures the fantastic that permeates the mundane, the fact stranger than fiction that makes daily life forever beyond rationalization. That sense of the fantastic, of the chaotic that fills life with surprises both painful and comic, finds expression in his graphic art as it does in his fiction (Reed)". From there, he could accomplish his goals and successes because he had family support. Socially supportive arrangements as the attributes of socially legitimate roles which provide for the meeting dependency needs without loss of esteem, they are less likely to show aggression while suppressing destructive behavior. From there, socially supportive environments were presented as pattern interpersonal relationships mediated through shared values and sentiments as well as facilitate the performance of social roles through which needs are met. In summation, social support has been defined as an intervening factor tied directly to the coping process 1492. As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North Americ

Behaviorally based expectations for responsible student behavior Essay

Behaviorally based expectations for responsible student behavior outside the classroom, directly supervised by a teacher - Essay Example 1.) Use of learning centers/or computer stations a.) Students will follow instructions. – Students will be able to use the learning center/computer station effectively, in orderly manner. b.) Students will leave my place clean. – This will help students maintain the computer stations/learning center. c.) Students will ask assistance when needed. – This will allow students use the learning center/computer station with ease. Implementation of A: A note of instruction and proper use of the leaning center/computer stations is visibly posted in the room. 2.) Student attention/participation during teacher led activities a.) Students will be resilient. – Student will develop the sense of flexibility in every situation in the activities. b.) Students will be respectful. – Being courteous, students will gain respect in return from their peers. c.) Students will know how and when to assert oneself. – This will allow an organized activity, without disorder. Implementation of C: Students are required to raise their hands and wait for teacher’s selection. 3.) Playground time and /or recess a.) Students will be an active participant. – This gives an opportunity for students to show their abilities.

William Penn and the charter of privlidges Research Paper

William Penn and the charter of privlidges - Research Paper Example The move toward democracy which is found in this document and in its own antecedent frameworks -- including the important initial document known as the First Frame, which had been drawn up by Penn while he was still in England and preparing to move his group of colonists under the royal charter -- came to be a critical influence in the building of a political foundation eventually leading to the establishment of the new nation. In this brief paper, the development of the Charter of Privileges and its outlines for self-government will be reviewed in order to discuss in detail the influence that the document held for later events in the founding of the nation. A chronological approach will be taken to studying the Charter, with comments on the political and social contexts of the document and the times. First, it will be shown how the document known as First Frame led to the Charter of Privileges and following this, a discussion of the content of the Charter itself will be offered to s how how it led to the concept of democratic self-government. Penn was a member of the religious group known as the Quakers. This group held to a series of strong religious and ideological beliefs that often brought them into conflict with the political and religious authorities in England. They were convinced that their forms of religious worship, which revolved around a pacifist, silent meditation on the nature of God and man, were correct, and they were unwilling to bend to the dictates of either the English government or the their more aggressively zealous religious rivals, the Puritans. Because of the societal and religious strife that occurred in England during the civil wars of the mid-1600s, they eventually came to be persecuted for their beliefs, often being harassed to the point of being locked up (Powell, n.d.). Penn’s father had made a sizeable loan to the king before his death, and in an attempt to find a way to move his people out of England, to somewhere that th ey could practice their religion freely and openly, Penn called in the loan. He was granted a charter to establish the Pennsylvania colony and given the proprietary rule of the colony to govern as he saw fit, provided that the laws he established fell under the general legal purview of the English constitutional monarchy (Powell, n.d.). In line with both his religious convictions and his own beliefs regarding the need for self-government Penn decided that he would establish a government that moved much further toward democracy than anything that was evident in England at the time. He drew up the First Frame as a governing document to accomplish his objectives. The First Frame begins with a description of why law is needed among men. It argues that God established men as his deputies to rule the word and gave them the skills and intelligence that they needed in order to rule justly. However, it points out that a lust for power and other â€Å"transgressions† had led men to be disobedient to God’s law and therefore a need was evident for judicial administration. Such administration required the need for rules that would govern men, as well as a governor to administer the rules (Penn, 1682). But the question then arose: How should one design the government? Should rule by monarchy, aristocracy, or democracy be preferred? Penn answered with the following: I choose to solve the controversy with this small distinction, and it belongs to all three: Any government is free to the people under it (whatever be the frame) where the laws rule, and the people are a party to those laws, and more than this is tyranny, oligarchy, or

John Galliano for Dior Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

John Galliano for Dior Crisis - Essay Example In ten years Maison Dior had become one of the most powerful design houses in the industry with Seventh Ave depending on Dior to lead them in a mutually beneficial relationship. In 1957 the company was grossing 17 Million dollars per year, which increased to 22 million by 1958. Yves Saint Laurant, Dior’s handpicked Head Assistant became the head of Dior, but soon left after only six collections when he was called to join the French Army. He had taken up the reigns of the Dior house when he was only twenty-one years old (Blaszczyk 93). Although the design vision of the company has had to change through the transitions of designers over the years, the company pioneered a concept that secured its position in the fashion industry. According to Blaszczyk â€Å"Maison Dior’s achievement in the history of the fashion industry lies in the creation of a format for producing profits while continuing to operate the maison as a viable business for licensing† (105). What the House of Dior did was to create the first example of the power of branding and the idea of licensing was the foundation of how the profits for branding were established. Therefore, one of the most important aspects of the nature of the business is in the perceptions that the public holds for the name of Dior. This is why the crisis that occurred with John Galliano had to be handled with care and surgical precision. The House of Dior Christian Dior is currently owned by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which is owned by Bernard Arnaul. Sidney Toledano, Dior Couture’s chief executive, and the board of directors were responsible for the decision to fire Galliano during the crisis (Saltmarsh). The demographics for Dior are wide and varied, depending on what branch of the company is being discussed. However, the core of the demographics are affluent with an upper class income, varying from those who buy from the runway and are represented by the elite to those with upper middle c lass incomes that can afford higher designer level prices. The House of Dior includes Miss Dior, which is geared towards the younger woman, J’dore, which is currently the perfume that is represented by Charlize Theron, and Diorskin Forever, their skincare line represented by Natalie Portman. Dior lines include accessories, jewelry, watches, baby wear, men’s wear, and of course, women’s wear (Dior). Dior represents glamour, wealth, and couture. The house has always strived to serve the elite of the world. Christian Dior, in defiance of a restriction on fabric during World War II, created pieces in his collection that uses as much as 20 yards of fabric (Blaszczyk 93). While this suggests a sense of social defiance during a time when people were needed to band together, it also represents a belief in the luxury of life and that to live in a restricted form is to limit the possibilities. Dior’s first releases also revolutionized the look of woman. He embraced the large breasts, small waist, and long silhouette with skirts that ended at mid-calf that now still have power in women’s wear creations. His company was run with smart business moves in mind, licensing the products in order to create lines that could extend the brand. Dior is a company to be admired for the products that they produce, the luxurious lifestyle that is the cornerstone

Arguments against and for Reframing Labor Rights as Human Rights Assignment

Arguments against and for Reframing Labor Rights as Human Rights - Assignment Example The labor law on the other hand argues that although the Act may be helpful in filtering and filling some gaps in the framework of legal protection at the workplace, the general effect is quite limited. This is due to the narrow range of employment-related issues to which convention rights apply. In addition, the Act provides limited opportunities for direct and indirect enforcement of employees who claim to be victims of a breach by their employers (Bakan, 1997). The effect of the duty on courts to interpret legislation in a manner which gives effect to convention rights is likely to disappear through the narrow interpretation of the respective rights by the Strasbourg authorities and the equivocal nature f the rights themselves. Incorporation is not a substitute for carefully tailored legislation as it raises questions about the obligations under the international treaties in the social field like the Council of Europe’s Social Charter. The first argument for reframing labor rights as human rights is that human rights approach facilitates partnerships with human rights friends. In addition, the system works well with the inexorable internationalization of labor struggles, it allows the naming, blaming and shaming of labor abusers and it is more responsive to the current political and cultural zeitgeist as compared to the traditional labor arguments (Savage, 2009). A human rights reframing is likely to bring about authoritativeness to labor discourse that will never be achieved by trade unionists (Adams, 2008). The historical curve of labor organizations keeps on changing toward wage compression, equal pay for work of equal value as well as equal benefits bringing up the bottom at a faster pace than advancing the top. Some unions that had gone to two-tier contracts succeeded in reversing them when possible.  Ã‚  

Fashion as Base in Involvement in Understanding Consumers Essay

Fashion as Base in Involvement in Understanding Consumers - Essay Example The paper "Fashion as Base in Involvement in Understanding Consumers" is the report understanding consumer behavior using purchase-decision involvement scale proposed by Mittal. What is involvement as far as purchase decision is considered? A consumer has some inherent needs values and interests and the object of consideration has to have relevance within that framework. Often the involvement is of two types, one is situational which happens when some one has to purchase the item right then and has to make a purchase decision. There is another more enduring form in which the buyer maintains the level of interest in a product or a service , well after the situation has passed and endures even if the purchase situation does not exist. The purchase decision involvement involves four parties, the individual definitely, the product or the service class , the situation and the communication. The scale which Mittal has proposed at a high level of enduring involvement the product or service would have many attributes evaluated with compensatory decision models a narrow latitude of acceptance and a true brand loyalty. At the low end of the scale attributes are less important, the decision model is non compensatory and a wide latitude of acceptance and spurious brand loyalty. Again on the high end of the scale you have substantive messages on why the brand is what it is on the low end , the ads have little substance. Ads are fewer on the high end and frequent ads on the low end. Price is less important.

Personal Testimony Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Personal Testimony - Essay Example In China, for example, there some marked differences in the way people act based on where they come from, their level of education and even social class. For example, the lifestyle of people in cities is very different from the provinces; in the former, people are materialistic and always focused on getting blue-collar jobs and other trappings of western life. While this applies to some extent in the villages, people tend to concentrate more and agricultural production and less on modernization making a journey from the heart of Shanghai to my parent’s rural home quiet an exciting stimulation for my cultural palate. A key difference I noticed in one of the visits is that people in the countryside tend to have a more communal mentality than those in towns. The community comes first then the individual; however, the urban mindset is quite different with people giving preference to their needs before they consider those of the community. From these experiences, I learnt that people are different from place to place and it is always good to understand how they think since it makes it easier to interact with them. Consequently, I would say my lesson in culture despite by unawareness of its important has proven very useful in helping me adapt to life when I found myself in a radically different cultural environment. In the United States, everything seemed so distinctly different, and I felt as if I had traveled into a different dimension altogether. My understanding of culture was exponentially broadened by this experience as I realized that even the small things I used to take for granted were an essential aspect of culture. Food, language mannerism and much other distinction that differentiate different peoples from each other are can all contribute to the concept of culture. My objective for travelling to the US was to further my education, my parents wanted me to expand both my intellectual and social-cultural hori zons. To them, there was no better way of doing

Curriculum Development for Small Group Esl Essay Example for Free

Curriculum Development for Small Group Esl Essay I. Description of Learners This private tutoring course has been developed for three elementary school girls, ages 8 11. They are sisters, recent immigrants from Saudi Arabia, who will be living and attending school in the U.S. for approximately two years. These students have been assigned a private English language tutor by Cartus Intercultural Language Solutions on behalf of Chevron Corporation, as part of their family’s transfer package. The students have a language background in Arabic, which is the primary language spoken in their home. They each attend a small, private, international school, where their teachers allow them certain â€Å"ESL modifications†. Information gathered from these students’ needs assessment evaluations (to be discussed in section three) showed them to be in the early production stage of English language development. They have limited listening and speaking proficiency, a firm grasp of the Latin alphabet, and the ability to read and write at about a kindergarten level. The students were very hesitant to speak English initially, which made assessment difficult. II. Course Rationale Cartus’ language trainers develop individualized programs to meet the needs of each participant, based on the results of the initial needs assessment process. Language trainers design programs for such practical applications as function-specific skills and vocabulary and conversational proficiency in order to increase your participant’s competency and confidence. Every aspect of the training program is customized. Considering this scenario, there is no standardized curriculum. Once students’ needs have been assessed, and reachable goals have been determined, then materials must be purchased in order to meet course objectives. The primary stakeholder is the children’s father, the students themselves are the secondary stakeholders, and their elementary teachers could be considered as tertiary stakeholders. III. Needs Analysis Cartus leaves analysis and evaluation up to the individual language instructor. An interview was conducted with the father over the phone to determine his goals for each child. During this conversation he also provided insight into each child’s personality and individual English proficiency. It was then discovered that a previous trainer had conducted an English language assessment while the children were still in Saudi Arabia. This assessment can be seen in Appendix 1. Considering the results of the previous assessment, the instructor conducted one on one interviews with each child trying to gauge their levels of proficiency in the following areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The instructor sought to identify any gaps between what students are able to do and what they are required to do at school. Low beginning level questions, such as the ones listed below, were asked in order to define both preliteracy and literacy skills the students possessed. These initial questions were asked orally. How many brothers do you have? How many sisters do you have? What is the name of your teacher? What is the name of your baby sister? How many fingers do you have? What is your favorite toy? In addition, during the course of the program, one of the children’s teachers was consulted in order to identify more specific goals. IV. Goals and Objectives The students’ father is the primary determiner of their educational goals. He stated, â€Å"They each need to be able to read passages at a faster rate and be able to speak and conversate.† (sic) In order to achieve these goals, the instructor took into account the students’ needs and abilities and set the following objectives to meet the father’s fairly broad goal: * Know the names and sounds of all the consonants and vowels * Understand phonics concepts such as consonant combinations * Follow along, reading, and summarizing simple stories with pictures * Demonstrate understanding of everyday vocabulary * Follow simple oral instructions * Demonstrate understanding of the most fundamental, specialized vocabulary in content areas (e.g., shapes, colors, alphabet, numerals, animals) * Understand nouns, verbs, and punctuation * Understand singular and plural * Understand common and proper nouns * Understand simple past, present, and future tenses. V. Course content Lessons are conducted in the students’ home for three hours four days a week. The instructor has purchased all study materials and supplies to be used for the program. The materials are kept at the students’ home for them to use on their own over the weekend. Occasionally a student will have a homework assignment that needs to be addressed by the language instructor. In those instances the subject matter is incorporated into the curriculum and each student will learn key aspects of the material in a situational capacity. Although the students are of varying ages, due to their intimacy and language background, lessons are often conducted as a small group. It has been established that they challenge one another to speak English and are competitive when it comes to reading and responding to questions in English. They have a positive effect on one another, so the occasional situational content can be either elaborated upon or simplified as needed. Over the first months of the program, lessons were focused on advancing the students from the silent period to initial stages of speech. The students were introduced to concepts of consonants, vowels, and phonics before additional topics were explored. Once students began to speak and read with increasing frequency, they began reading sentences and discussing stories. Recently they have been able to volunteer information about themselves, their day at school, and other activities. Below are examples of lessons on vowel sounds, consonant blends, rhyming, and reading VI. MaterialsThe instructor has purchased compatible study materials to be used and shared by all of the girls. There is no one overaching core book, rather many workbooks, puzzles, games, and story books are used throughout the lessons. In addition to some of the worksheets shown above, those materials include the following: This book introduces consonant combinations such as â€Å"sl†, â€Å"st†, and â€Å"sk†. Students read the instructions and follow the instructions to fill in the blank, match sentences to corresponding pictures, and fill in crossword puzzles. This book introduces consonant combinations such as â€Å"sl†, â€Å"st†, and â€Å"sk†. Students read the instructions and follow the instructions to fill in the blank, match sentences to corresponding pictures, and fill in crossword puzzles. This phonetic puzzle reinforces students’ understanding of long and short vowel sounds, and is also used to increase vocabulary. This phonetic puzzle reinforces students’ understanding of long and short vowel sounds, and is also used to increase vocabulary. This pack of cards is used to refresh student’s memory of past lessons, and also to make short sentences or phrases. This pack of cards is used to refresh student’s memory of past lessons, and also to make short sentences or phrases. These beginning reading books provide pictoral cues to accompany the sentences. Students are able to recognize animals and food in the books and learn their English names. They are also able to practice phonetic reading skills. These beginning reading books provide pictoral cues to accompany the sentences. Students are able to recognize animals and food in the books and learn their English names. They are also able to practice phonetic reading skills. Magnetic letters are used to create words and fascilitate reading phonetically. Students make rhyming words and create new words by adding â€Å"sneaky silent e† to the ends of short vowel sound words. Magnetic letters are used to create words and fascilitate reading phonetically. Students make rhyming words and create new words by adding â€Å"sneaky silent e† to the ends of short vowel sound words. VII. AssessmentBecause these students are not graded or scored, their knowledge and ability must be assessed in less structured, more organic ways. The students attend English language school every day and have certain anxieties in regard to tests and quizzes. Assessment is performed during every lesson to determine what tools and materials are meeting the students’ needs, as well as how the students respond to the materials. The students’ father, as well as comments from classroom teachers provide vital information that the language instructor uses to assess the students, to inform future lesson content, and to raise the bar for students’ objectives.Students are on a break for the holidays, but during their last lesson they were asked some of the following questions:What is a noun?Can you each name three common nouns?What is a proper n oun? How do you write a proper noun?If one is a â€Å"fox†, what are two called?If one is a â€Å"foot†, what are two called?Can you name three words that rhyme with â€Å"cat†?Can you name three words that start with â€Å"sk† like â€Å"skip†?The word â€Å"dime†, does it have a short or long vowel sound?What gives it that sound?How much is a dime worth?What is the opposite of â€Å"up†?What is the opposite of â€Å"hot†?If your body needs food you are _______If your body needs water you are _______Their answers were used to set homework assignments and to establish new goals once lessons resume in January.Observation and interview results have indicated that the students are progressing well into â€Å"high beginner proficiency† and are beginning to understand language and use it in a limited capacity. Typically, they memorize words and phrases and can comprehend and utilize language that they havebeen taught. The curriculum focuses on applying literacy skills to the development of new knowledge. In second language acquisition, social language usually precedes academic language development.Appendix 1. References Dept. of Education, State of Tennessee. 2005. ESL Curriculum Standards: Proficiency Levels. Retrieved December 22, 2012, from http://www.fentress.k12tn.net/ESL Cartus, 2012 Intercultural and Language Training Worldwide. Retrieved December 22, 2012, from www.cartus.comFerlazzo, L., and K. Hull Sypnieski. 2012. The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.FlashKids Editors, 2010. Phonics Blends. U.S. FlashKids Books.Magnetic Letters, 2012, Lakeshore Learning Materials.Richards, J.C. 2001. Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Sight Words, 2012, Lakeshore Learning MaterialsWho Lives at the Pond? Parents. Minibook. Activities: Science Nature: Ages 3-6. Retrieved December 22, 2012 from www.scholastic.com Worksheets for Young ESL Learners. Retrieved December 22 from 2012,www.bogglesworldesl.com Vowel Sounds Match Ups,

Child Abuse and Major Long Term Essay Example for Free

Child Abuse and Major Long Term Essay Description of the possible signs, symptoms, indicators and behaviours that may concern in the context of safeguarding Children are usually abused by someone in their immediate family cycle. This can include parents, brothers, sisters, babysitters and other familiar adult. Children can be abused by age of up to 18 years and they likely to be at risk of physical injuries, sexual abuse, neglect, emotional abuse or verbal abuse. Child abuse can have major long term effects on all aspects of a child’s health, development and well being. The main forms of maltreatment are: Neglect sign; A child come to school usually with dirty skin, hair and clothes or without jacket in winter. Children in the school may feel hungry and tiredness or being left alone unsupervised. Even then they are sick not taken to GP for medical treatment. A child frequently absent from school and beg steal food or money. Possible symptom: A child appear to be indifferent and a child seems apathetic depressed. Also the a child behave irrationally or in a bizarre manner. - Impact of neglect: Impact of neglecting a child can cause brain damage and also have psychological implications such as cognitive delays or emotional difficulties. Psychological problem often manifest as high risk behaviour problem, depression and anxiety in children Emotion abuse: When a child feel furious, sad and crying and behaving inappropriately in the class that mean he is being emotional abused. Sign: When a child is being emotional abused he may chose dark colour to paint on the paper. Feeling low self esteem, seeking attention from others, behaviour difficulties, continual rocking, hair twisting, delayed development Possible symptom: CYP will delayed in languages development and play skills and have impaired ability to enjoyment in play. Not trusting other and feeling nervous all the time. CYP will feel guilty, ashamed and withdrawal of social interaction. Their mode will change and they frequently blaming others people. - Effects: emotional abuse is the most difficult form of a child maltreatment identify and to prevent. Babies who are emotionally abused may slow or fail to develop. Physical abuse Signs: Physical abuse is when children are being physical abused by someone. This can be involved hitting, biting, punching,  kicking, burning, scalding, shaking, throwing or beating with object such as stick and belt. It also includes poisoning, giving a child alcohol, drug Symptoms: Practitioner need to have acknowledgement of physical abuse and there signs to protect children from harm. Any injuries which parent doesn’t inform practitioner or children may not received medical treatment, can raise concern of abuse. Sometime children may refused to change clothe on PE day because they want to hide their injuries signs - Effects: Physical abuse can lead child physical injuries, disability and in extreme cases can cause death. Physical abuse has been link to emotional aggressive behaviour in children as well as can cause learning difficulties. Sexual abuse sign: Recurrent urinary infection, genital and rectal itching, blood in under paint and soreness, inappropriate behaviour and regarding age and ability, children may feel lack of trust, regression and become isolated and withdrawn Symptom: CYP will behave aggressive and disruptive behaviour and feeling afraid when they left alone. Difficulties in walking and setting and wearing so many layer of clothe. Change in behaviour around specific person and try to avoid familiar adult. Sexual acting and inappropriate sexual play. Also lack of interest playing with friend, sport and any other activities in the school. - Effect; The severe effect of sexual abuse can be on children they may suffer mental health problem, depression, identity confusion, behaviour difficulties and also emotional problem. References Describe That Possible Signs, Symptoms, Indicators and Behaviours That May Cause Concern in the Context of Safeguarding. http://www.studymode.com/essays/Describe-That-Possible-Signs-Symptoms-Indicators-878910.html(5/11/2012) Describe That Possible Signs, Symptoms, Indicators and Behaviours That May Cause Concern in the Context of Safeguarding http://www.silkysteps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13536 (5/11/2012) Recognizing Child Abuse and Neglect: Signs and Symptomhttp://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/signs.cfm(6/11/2012) Meggitt C (2011) Cache Level 3 Diploma Children and Young People

Gender Differences In Mathematics Performance

Gender Differences In Mathematics Performance This study investigates gender differences in performance on the mathematics component on the Standard 3 National Assessment in Trinidad and Tobago. Of interest is whether there is a relationship between attitudinal differences regarding mathematics and student beliefs in their mathematical abilities and student gender classification. Results indicate that whereas girls performed better than boys on all categories and all skill areas on the test, the effect sizes were small. The results of a MANOVA with follow-up descriptive discriminant analysis also indicate that while boys and girls did not differ with regard to the perception of the school environment, educational values and goals, and general academic self-concept, they differ significantly on the persistence and mathematics self-concept factors. Girls tend to persist more, but hold lower mathematics self-concept than boys. Keywords: persistence, mathematics self-concept, Caribbean Despite some inconsistencies in results, most of the early studies on mathematics achievement found that boys, consistently scored higher than girls on a number of indicators of mathematical proficiency (Fennema Sherman, 1977; Kloosterman, 1988; Manning, 1998; Peterson Fennema, 1985; Randhawa, 1991, 1994). This study examines the phenomenon in the English speaking Caribbean, specifically Trinidad and Tobago, where girls consistently have outperformed boys, and has become a matter of concern for Caribbean governments and educators (Caribbean Education Task Force, 2000). A review of the literature from the USA and other Western societies on gender and mathematics achievement has revealed an inconsistent relationship between gender and mathematics attainment during the early years of schooling. For example, in a 3-year longitudinal study conducted in the USA that examined the strategies that students in the lower primary grades (grade 1-3) utilized in solving mathematics problems, Fennema, Carpenter, Jacobs, Franke, and Levi (1998) did not find gender differences in the ability to solve mathematics problems in grade 3 (8-10 year olds). They found however significant differences in problem-solving strategies in which girls tended to employ concrete solution strategies like modelling and counting, while boys tended to use more abstract solution strategies that reflected conceptual understanding (Fennema Carpenter, 1998, p.4). However, Tapia and Marsh (2004) contend that up to 1994, measurable gender differences in mathematics scores are apparent only f rom age 13 and since that time, whatever gap existed seems to have disappeared. Hanna (2003) contends similarly with regard to the disappearance of the gender gap, while Hyde et al. (1990) and Leahey and Guo (2001) extend this argument and caution against the assertion that there is an evident gender difference in mathematics achievement favouring males. Leahey and Guo (2001) further state that at the elementary level existing differences were not consistent across mathematics skill areas, and where differences existed, were small but in favour of girls. Nevertheless, they did confirm that at the secondary level, males exhibited a consistent but slightly superior performance in the areas of problem-solving (Hyde et al., 1990) and reasoning skill and geometry (Leahey Guo, 2001). Brunner, Krauss and Kunters (2007) examined the performance on mathematics items of students in Germany. In their study they compared gender differences in overall mathematics ability (which as they explain is the standard model commonly found in the literature), and specific mathematics ability, i.e., an ability that influences performance on mathematics items over and above general cognitive ability (p. 405). They found that girls slightly outperformed boys on reasoning ability, but on specific mathematics ability, boys had a significant advantage over girls. Cooper and Dunne (2000) in their study of the influence of the socio-cultural background on students interpretation of realistic mathematical problems on the National Curriculum in England also found that the means for boys were higher than those for girls. Overall, they noted that service class students those from the higher socio-economic levels exhibited superior performance on realistic items than students in the lower socio-economic categories. However, they also observed that boys achieved slightly better scores than girls on realistic items (i.e. items to which they could relate, or were part of their experiences) in comparison to esoteric items (i.e. items that were more abstract.) More recent studies provide additional support for the above findings. For example, Williams, Wo and Lewis (2007) in their investigation of 5-14 year old students progress in mathematics attainment in England indicated that in the early years of schooling, individual differences in mathematics attainment are difficult to establish. In extending the discussion, Neuville and Croizet (2007) in a study of 7-8 year olds conducted in France, found that when gender identity is salient, girls perform better than boys on easy problems. On the other hand, boys performance on mathematics was not affected by gender identity. They were not subjected to stereotype threat that made negative assumptions about their mathematical ability, and so, they performed better on the more difficult problems. The study concluded that young girls are more susceptible to the salience of their stereotyped gender identity than boys. An examination of the Fourth Grade data from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)s Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), to some extent, contrasts slightly with Leahey and Guos (2001) findings. The TIMSS data show that in the majority of the participating countries boys attained higher mean scores in mathematics, however in only three countries Japan, Korea and the Netherlands- were these means statistically significant at alpha = .05. The averages of all country means were: males = 535 and females = 533 (Mullis, Martin, Fierros, Goldberg Stemler, 2000) indicating that differences attributed to gender were minimal and random. In an analysis of the OECDs 2000 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Marks (2008), found that in most countries, girls on average, have à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ lower scores in mathematics than boys and the average across-country gender gap was 11 score points in favour of boys (p.96). He further explains that while in 15 of the 31 countries the gender difference in mathematics was not significant, in three countries, the difference was a sizable 27 score points, and in another two, the gap was moderate. In only three countries did girls do better than boys but the difference was not statistically significant (p.96). Despite the consistency in the research, there remains a growing concern over the academic performance of boys, a concern which is echoed loudly in England (Gorard, Rees Salisbury, 1999; Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), 1996; Younger, Warrington Williams, 1999) as evidenced from the running debate and commentaries in the BBC News (09/18/2003), and the mentoring programme for underachieving Afro-Caribbean boys implemented by the British Government (Odih, 2002). From the above review, while there are slight inconsistencies in the findings, we can conclude that overall at the primary or elementary level, there is no significant difference in the mathematics performance of boys and girls. The differences only become noticeable at the secondary level where boys perform better than girls in geometry and on the more difficult mathematics items. Mathematics Achievement Patterns: The Trinidad and Tobago Contexts The concern over the gender differential in mathematics performance remains the subject of intense debate in the English-speaking Caribbean (Caribbean Education Task Force, 2000). Specific to Trinidad and Tobago, and in contrast to the literature coming out of the U.S. and Western Europe, Jules and Kutnick (1990), Kutnick and Jules (1988) found that girls perform better than boys on teacher-made tests at all ages between 8 and 16, across all curriculum areas and in all curriculum subjects. They achieve better results on the Secondary Education Assessment (SEA) taken in Standard.5 (Std. 5) (age 11-12) and also achieve better results on the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), the Caribbean equivalent to the British GCSE, administered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), taken at age 16-17 in Form 5 (Kutnick, Jules Layne, 1997; Parry, 2000). Brown (2005) corroborates the above findings, at least for students in the lower primary school classes. In examining the performance of 7-9 year olds on the mathematics component of the 2000 Trinidad and Tobago National Test, he found that overall the mean achievement score of girls was higher than that of boys. Additionally, he found that the non-response to items was significantly greater for boys than girls, and a significantly greater number of boys than girls were in the lower tail of the distribution. In an attempt to determine whether the tests were biased in favour of girls, Brown and Kanyongo (2007) conducted differential item functioning (DIF) analysis on test items on the mathematics component of the 2004 National Test: Std. 1 (age 7-9). They found that though five of thirty items on the test significantly differentiated in favour of girls, in practical terms, the differences in item function were negligible and therefore could not explain the gender differential in perfo rmance on the test. With regard to Kutnick et al. (1997) and Parrys (2000) observation of student performance on the CSCE, a review of the 2000-2002 CSEC ordinary level results for Trinidad and Tobago allows for alternative interpretations. The results showed that of the students taking mathematics at the general proficiency level, a greater percentage of boys than girls earned Grades I-III (Brown, 2005). This finding seems to give support to the claim that boys on average perform better in higher-level mathematics (Leahey Guo, 2001; Manning, 1998; Randhawa, 1991, 1994); however, it needs to be qualified by the fact that a greater percentage of girls take general proficiency level mathematics the more rigorous course whereas more boys take basic level mathematics (Brown, 2005). Caribbean scholars have tried to understand this phenomenon and have offered a number of possible explanations. Miller (1994) frames his argument in the context of the historical marginalization of the black male in the Caribbean of which disinterest in education has been an inevitable outcome. Chevannes (2001) and Parry (2000) contend; while Conrad (1999) implies that the problem may be due to socialization practices and cultural expectations of gendered behaviour which for males conflict with the ethos of the school, but alternatively, encourage females to be academically successful. Figueroa (1997), on the other hand, posits that what the Caribbean has been witnessing is the result of the traditional independence of Caribbean women, and historic male privileging of which one consequence has been male educational underachievement. The explanations presented all seem plausible. However, with the possible exception of studies by Kutnick et al. (1997) and Parry (2000) which looked at classroom variables, they are yet to be tested. In 2004-2005, the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Education (MOE) began collecting data that went beyond analysis of student performance on the National Tests. While the instrument did not address socio-cultural factors, it addressed affective factors that predict academic achievement. From the instrument, we extract items that examine student motivation, academic self-perception, emphases on the value and purpose of education, and perception of the school. Each of these factors has been found to be predictors of academic achievement in previous research. (Dweck Leggett, 1988; Marsh, 1992). Student Motivation, Academic Self-perception and Beliefs Dwecks Motivation Process Model (Dweck Leggett, 1988) posits that performance is impacted by an individuals belief about his or her ability (or lack thereof). This argument she frames within the concept of learning goals and performance goals. Students with high learning goal orientation are focused on the acquisition of new knowledge or competencies. They place an intrinsic value on knowledge, which is reflected in a desire to learn. Implicit to the desire to learn, is the willingness to make the effort to achieve their goal. As a result, they are more likely to persist with challenging material, responding with increased effort to master the material. Performance oriented students, although also motivated to achieve, place greater emphasis on proving their competence (Grant Dweck, 2003). In the present competitive atmosphere of the school, this often means achieving a desired grade: not as a validation of their learning, but as validation of their ability. The conceptualization of ability as a reflection of ones performance (Burley, Turner Vitulli, 1999) creates the tendency to avoid material that could result in poor performance. They display what Dweck and Leggett (1988) refer to as helpless response low persistence when challenged by difficult material. The emphasis is on demonstrating ones competence and avoiding the appearance of incompetence (Ryan Deci, 2000, Lapointe, Legault Batiste, 2005). Researchers have studied the motivational orientations and student academic self-perception from a variety of theoretical perspectives (Dweck Leggett, 1988; Heyman Dweck, 1992; Ryan and Deci, 2000; Ryan Patrick, 2001; Schommer-Aikens, Brookhart, Hutter Mau, 2000). A summary of the findings suggests a positive relationship between student motivation, self-esteem, academic engagement and academic achievement (Nichols, 1996; Singh, Granville, Dika, 2002). Further, the literature shows that underlying motivation is the individuals beliefs self theories (Lepper Henderlong, 2000). It is this belief in ones ability and its relation to achievement that drives persistence. Therefore, with regard to this study, students who believe in their mathematics ability, and further believe that their ability is linked to their effort in learning mathematics are motivated to work harder and as a result achieve at a higher academic level. But there are other factors both intrinsic and extrinsic to students that are related to their performance in mathematics. While we recognize that the classroom environment created by the teacher and other institutional variables are critical elements in student learning, we also recognize it is students perception of the school and classroom environments that make these environmental factors powerful motivators or demotivators to their academic performance (Ireson Hallam, 2005; Ryan Patrick, 2001). Additionally, student attitude toward mathematics is highly correlated with achievement in mathematics (Ma, 1997; Ma Kishor, 1997). Their belief that mathematics is important to achieving their future goals results in greater effort to succeed in mathematics and as a result, higher achievement scores (Bouchey Harter, 2005). Therefore, students scores on items that address these factors are expected to be related to their scores on the mathematics component on the national test. As part of the growing interest in gender differential in academic performance that is evident at all levels and across disciplines in Trinidad and Tobago, this study seeks to determine whether students attitude towards mathematics and students beliefs in their mathematical abilities are related to the differential in mathematics attainment between boys and girls. Specifically the study asks: Do mean achievement scores differ by gender on a Std. 3 (age 9-10) large-scale mathematics assessment in Trinidad and Tobago? Is there a difference between boys and girls on their perception of school, their persistence when faced with academic challenges, their general academic self-concept and mathematics self-concept, and their educational values? Method Trinidad and Tobago Education System: A Brief Review Trinidad and Tobago is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society in which no area is exclusive to one ethnic or religious grouping. The education system is run by a central authority the Ministry of Education (MOE). The country is divided into eight educational districts which, with the exception of Tobago which is predominantly of African descent, are representative of all socio-economic levels, ethnic and religious grouping in the country. Each educational district is headed by a School Supervisor III (SS III) assisted by SSIIs responsible for secondary schools and SSIs responsible for primary schools. Early Childhood Care and Education is a separate department in the MOE. All educational policies and mandates emanate from the central office to the respective supervisory levels (Oplatka 2004). The public education system of Trinidad and Tobago comprises four levels: early childhood care and education (3-4 year olds), primary education (5-11/12 years) the secondary education (12-16/17 years) and the tertiary level. The public primary education system consists of 484 schools. Of this number, 30 percent are government-funded and managed non-religious schools. The remaining 70 percent are government-funded schools but managed by denominational boards representing Christian, Hindu and Muslim religious persuasions (MOE, 2001). Parents have the right to send their children to any school within their school district. Each primary school is divided into an infant department where students stay for two years (1st and 2nd year infants), and the primary level where students stay for five years Standards (Std.) 1-5. Participants The participants were 561 public elementary school students from an educational district in northern Trinidad. The choice of the educational district was appropriate because its student population is representative of the student populations in the other six educational districts in Trinidad ensuring that the sample represented the demographic make-up of the country (See the-world-factbook). Sixteen students were removed before analysis due to failure to include the student identification code, leaving 545 students (girls = 253, boys = 292, age range 8-10 with a mean of 9.53 years). Of these students, 226 identified themselves as Trinidadian of African descent, 201 of East Indian descent, 4 Chinese, 3 White and 100 Mixed. Eleven students did not indicate their racial/ethnic origin. However, it is important to point out that ethnicity is not a variable of interest in this study. Instruments The national test. Two sources provide the data for this study; student scores on the mathematics component of the Std. 3 National Test and their responses to items on the questionnaire to provide supplementary data. The examination consisted of 25 items which fell into either of the following categories: Number: 11 items, Measurement and Money: 8 items, Geometry: 3 items, and Statistics: 3 items. The national exam tested the following competency (skill) areas: knowledge computation (KC), algorithmic thinking (AT), and problem solving (PS). Some items had multiple parts, with each part testing a different skill, whereas some items tested all three skills simultaneously (Table 1). Items on the examination were dichotomously scored as either 1 for a correct response or 0 for an incorrect response, or polytomously scored as either 2 correct, 1 partially correct or 0 incorrect. The cut scores on the test separated students into the following four mastery levels: Level 1: Below Proficient. Score range 0-17. Level 2: Partially Proficient. Score range 18-29. Level 3: Proficient. Score range 30-39. Level 4: Advanced Proficiency. Score range 40-55. Table 1 Examination questions (items) by category and skill area Category Standard 3 (n=45 parts) KC AT PS No. Parts Total Score Number (11 items) 9 8 4 21 24 Measurement and money (8 items) 7 5 4 16 19 Geometry (3 items) 1 1 1 3 5 Statistics (3 items) 1 3 1 5 7 Entire exam 18 17 10 45 55 We consulted with a mathematics education expert to determine the cognitive demand of the items on the test. The majority of the items were at the procedural without connections, or memorization difficulty level as described by Stein, Grover and Henningsen (1996), and therefore, elicited low-level thinking and reasoning. Only four items were at the level of procedures with connections and had the potential to elicit high-level thinking (Stein et al., 1996). The following are examples of the types of items on the test. Ruth had 7/8 of a kilogram of cheese. She used 3/8 of a kilogram to make pies. How much cheese was left? Answer _______________________ Mrs. Jack is teaching a lesson Measuring Distances to her Standard 3 class. She teaches that 100 centimetres = 1 metre Petrina used a tape marked in centimetres to measure the length of her classroom. She got a measurement of 600 centimetres. 1. Write what Petrina must do to change the length of the classroom into metres. 2. The length of the classroom is ________ metres Figure 1. Examples of types of test items. The questionnaire. Factor analysis was performed on the questionnaire to develop the five factors (Persistence, Academic self-concept, Values and Goals, School Environment, and Mathematics self-concept) that were used in this study as dependent variables. Because these five dependent variables were considered simultaneously, (with gender as the independent variable), we utilized the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) procedure. Although one of the assumptions for the use of factor analysis is that the data are measured on an interval scale, Kim and Mueller (1978) note that ordinal data may be used if the assignments of ordinal categories to the data do not seriously distort the underlying metric scaling. In a review of the literature on the use of data collected on Likert scales, Jaccard and Wan (1996) concluded that, for many statistical tests, rather severe departures from intervalness do not seem to affect Type I and Type II errors dramatically. Other researchers like Binder (1984) and Zumbo and Zimmerman (1993) also found the robustness of parametric coefficients with respect to ordinal distortions. Additionally, we used the Principal Axis Factoring procedure as our method of extraction because it seeks the least amount of factors that account for the most amount of common variance for a given set of variables. We also employed oblique rotation because it often reflects the real world more accurately than orthogonal rotation since most real-world constructs are correlated. (See Fabrigar, Wegener, MacCallum and Strahan, 1999; and Preacher and MacCallum, 2003 for a detailed but non-technical discussion of the topic). The five constructs that we extracted in this study are correlated, another justification for using MANOVA with the five constructs as dependent variables. The questionnaire comprised 50 items. Items 1 to 10 sought demographic information. Of the remaining forty items, twenty eight were variables of interest. These measured academic self-esteem, perception of school/classroom environment, relationship with teacher, goals and value of education, mathematics self concept and persistence on a 5-point scale anchored by 1 disagree very much and 5 agree very much. To test whether the items really measured the underlying dimensions of interest, we subjected the items to a Principal Axis Factoring with Oblique rotation, suppressing loadings on variables lower than .40. This yielded a six-factor solution. The sixth factor accounted for only an additional four percent of variance; therefore, five factors were specified. This resulted in the four items pertaining to student-teacher relationship loading on student perception of school/classroom creating the school environment factor. All other factors remained the same. Additionally, two of the i tems measuring academic self-concept yielded loading values less than .40, and therefore, were deleted from the scale leaving 26 items to provide the data for the study. Two items addressed mathematics self-concept. These items consistently loaded together yielding loadings of .846 and .772 respectively (see Appendix). Table 2 Eigenvalues and variance percentages and scale reliability values Factors Eigenvalues % of Variance Cumulative % Cronbachs alpha Persistence 7.397 28.449 28.449 .85 General self-concept 2.953 11.359 39.808 .80 Math self-concept 2.112 8.123 47.931 .79 Values and goals 2.001 7.696 55.628 .74 School environment 1.297 4.988 60.616 .85 Overall scale reliability: Cronbachs alpha = .90 On this sample, the five factors accounted for 60.62 % of the variance in the set of variables with the first and second factors accounting for 28.45% and 11.36% of the variance. All factors yielded inter-item correlations > .35 with several correlations > .70. Inversely, matrices of partial correlations were very low supporting the presence of factors. The factors were: perception of school/classroom (8 items) e.g., I am glad I go to this school, persistence (6 items) e.g. When work is difficult I try harder, general academic self-concept, (6 items), e.g., I can learn new ideas quickly in school, goals and values (4 items) e.g., Doing well in school is one of my goals, and mathematics self concept (2 items) e.g., I am good at mathematics. Internal consistency reliability for the entire instrument was .90. Table 2 shows the five sub-scales (factors) in the final instrument and their reliability values as well as the percentage of the variance they account for. Procedure Using the student ID numbers, student scores on the mathematics assessment were paired with their responses on the supplementary data questionnaire. Before conducting the statistical analyses, all appropriate statistical assumptions were tested. The assumptions homogeneity of variance and covariance, and linearity were tenable. As expected, all factors displayed negative skewness. To reduce skewness and kurtosis, and by doing so, achieve a better approximation to a normal distribution, variables displaying moderate to substantial skewness and kurtosis were subjected to either a square root or logarithmic transformation. Despite these transformations, some variables still yielded skewness and kurtosis slightly greater than 1, (Sk = 1.5 and K = 1.27). However, with N > 500, and pairwise within group scatterplots revealing no discernible patterns, these small deviations from normality should not present any concerns. Tests for multivariate outliers identified five cases with values abov e the criterion, à Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ã‚ ² (df, 4) = 18.47, p =.001. To remove their undue influence, these cases were deleted from the sample. Further screening identified an additional case. This case was removed resulting in a final sample n = 539. Data Analysis First, to investigate gender differences on the mathematics assessment, independent t-tests were performed. Second, to determine the extent to which the male and female examinees differed on the five constructs, a univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted on the school environment factor because this was not correlated with the other factors. Third, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed on the four correlated factors (persistence, mathematics self-concept, general self-concept, and goal values) as dependent variables. Descriptive discriminant analysis was conducted as follow-up to a significant multivariate F to determine which variable or variables contributed most to differences between the groups. We used effect size to measure the magnitude of the difference between the mean score for boys and girls on each mathematics category tested. Effect size was obtained by dividing the difference between boys and girls mean by the pooled within-gender stand ard deviation. According to (Cohen, 1992), effect sizes of less than .20 are considered small and represent small practical significance; effect sizes between .20 and .50 are medium and represent moderate practical significance. Effect sizes greater than .50 are considered large. Results The first step in this study sought to determine whether boys and girls differed in performance on a Standard 3 large-scale mathematics assessment in Trinidad and Tobago. To make this determination, we performed an independent t-test between the means of the two samples for each category and skill area. Table 3 shows the means and the effect sizes of the differences between the two samples for each category, cognitive demand level and skill area. In the table, we also report standard error of the means (SEM) to provide an index of the sampling variability of the means. The results indicate that while girls achieved higher mean scores in all categories, difficulty levels and all skill areas on the test, the differences between boys and girls were statistically significant at p Table 3 Mean normal curve equivalent(nce) scores of the test categories, difficulty levels and skills for male and female examinees Category Boys(n=289) Girls (n=250) Sig. Effect Size Mean SEM Mean SEM p D Number 52.20 1.17 57.83 1.22 .001 .29 Measurement and money 52.73 1.18 56.48 1.26 .031 .19 Geometry 52.89 1.20 56.04 1.22 .068 .16 Statistics 50.53 1.16 56.87 1.23 .002 .27 Skill Area Knowledge and computation 51.01 1.16 57.44 1.24 .000 .33 Algorithmic thinking 53.81 1.11 57.92 1.24 .013 .21 Problem-solving 53.60 1.22 58.41 1.25 .006 .24 Cognitive Demand Low memorization 49.08 1.26 51.04 1.31 .754 .09 Low procedural 46.55 1.25 53.92 1.28

The Important Role of Mathematicians in Society Essay -- essays resear

The Important Role of Mathematicians in Society Thesis Statement This report will focus on the professional field of mathematicians. It will highlight some of the history, responsibilities, opportunities, and requirements of this occupation. Outline I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Introduction A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A condensed history of mathematics B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Famous mathematicians and their accomplishments II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Body A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Opportunities for mathematicians B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Education and training C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Requirements D.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Earnings III.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Conclusion A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Good mathematicians are problem solvers Mathematicians: Making numerous contributions A mathematician is described as someone who uses logic or theory to solve problems. Mathematicians and their craft have been making milestones in history ever since the Neanderthal man became homo - sapiens and began communicating, with the use of speech. The first period of time in the history of mathematics is known as the Chinese / Egyptian / Babylonian Period. This era starts in 50,000 B.C., and reaches to 601 B.C. During this primitive age, man used notches in bones, and clay tokens for counting. Sundials were used as a method of telling time and keeping track of the days. The most infamous mathematician from this time was Ahmes of papyrus. Ahmes was the author of the Egyptian scribe â€Å"The Rhind papyrus†; it is one of the oldest mathematical documents in existence. The Greek Period (600B.C. – 499 A.D.) took mathematics far beyond the realm of counting and measuring time. The Greeks brought a variety of great minds to life, including Thales of Miletus, Archimedes, Apollonius, Euclid, and Democritus. They began using logic to explore new mathematical concepts. Pythagoras of Samos was one of the foremost logical minds of this age. He is the inventor of abstract mathematics, and the founder of the â€Å"Pythagoras Theorem†. This theorem is still used today, in modern geometric equations The Hindu / Arabian Period (500A.D. – 1199A.D.), gave us Aryabhata the Elder and Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi. Al-Khowarizmi wrote a very important Egyptian book titled â€Å"Al-jabr† His book helped to advance the study of algebra, and is re... ... salary for a government mathematician is $62,000; for mathematical statisticians, $65,660   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, â€Å"Good mathematicians do not rush in to apply a formula or an equation. Instead, they try to understand the problem situation; they consider alternative representations and relations among variables. Only when satisfied that they understand the situation and all the variables in a qualitative way do they start to apply the quantification.† Bibliography   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mathematics its power and utility Sixth Edition Karl J Smith   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Math & Mathematics The history of Math Discoveries around the World   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Vol. 1&2 Leonard C. Bruno   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Career Discovery Encyclopedia Volume 5 Ferguson Publishing company   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Encyclopedia of Careers & Vocational Guidance- Eleventh Edition VOL. 1 & 3 Ferguson Publishing Company   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A History of Mathematics –Midair MacCormaic

Shakespeares Macbeth - Renaissance Humanism Essay -- GCSE English Lit

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While the witches present in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth assume the role of supernatural beings, it was not Shakespeare’s intent to portray a classic case of fatalism. On the contrary, Shakespeare used Macbeth as a way to display the idea of Renaissance humanism. Although the witches did in fact possess uncanny powers, they were in reality not controlling Macbeth, but rather they were tempting Macbeth to act in particular ways. The witches, as well as other significant characters, may have encouraged Macbeth to act in a certain way, yet they did not by any means determine Macbeth’s actions. By comparing the humanist movement and its values to the tragedy Macbeth, it becomes blatantly obvious that Macbeth was intended to demonstrate the basic humanistic qualities. Under the premise of humanism it is required that there be a centralization and focus upon humans, a balance in which elements within reflect without, and all reason must be used to become more angelic than bestial. Although the witches’ predictions display supernatural properties, their philosophies center around the dealings of mere mortal humans. This gives humans a sense of importance in the workings of the world. Even nature is disturbed as part of fulfilling one of the philosophies (the displacing of Birnam Wood to Dunsinane). Moreover, one of the main themes of the play, the effects of evil in the life of one man- Macbeth, stresses a centralization on the individual being. Through the usage of masks in Macbeth, the balance is achieved by blocking off elements within from being focused without. This is shown in Act I, scene V, as Lady Macbeth talks to Macbeth, she gives him specific instructions: "Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, Your han... ...he appearance of the Weird Sisters in Macbeth, as well as the encouragement of a few influential characters, Macbeth is clearly defined as a portrayal of the true spirit of Renaissance humanism. Macbeth may have attempted to place the blame away from himself, but the fact that he no longer accepted the responsibility for his actions does not mean that the responsibility is removed, and therefore Macbeth’s downfall can be traced back to the actions of one man, Macbeth.    Works Cited Page Cooper, The Mystery of Witchcraft, London, 1617. Epstein, Norrie, The Friendly Shakepeare, New York, Viking Publishing, 1993. Harbage, Alfred, Macbeth, Middlesex England, Penguin Publishing, 1956. Magill, Masterplots- Volume 6, New Jersey, Salem Press, 1949. Staunten, Howard, The Complet Illustrated Shakespeare, New York, Park Lane Publishing, 1979.   

Internal Medicine :: Medicine College Admissions Essays

Internal Medicine Brought up in semi-urban environment, my parents taught the lesson "survival of the fittest". As a part of such lessons I soon realized the true picture behind, those efforts which made me what I am today. My individuality fortunately rests on an enriched cultural heritage and family values. Entry into medical school was out of fascination for the intricate human architecture and its functioning. A free mind should not be restrained; hence working vigorously I was exposed to the various difficulties encountered by medical students and it was the search for solutions which made me dig out details from medical texts. My encounter with the world of medicine could not deter me from enjoying various facets of student life as I marched ahead to win laurels for my alma mater. Being a part of the team, which performs efficiently with positive results, was a satisfying experience while acting as medical officer at Pramukhswami college. It was a nice experience working as a team with assistants and technicians, helping a fellow resident in other department, assisting during invasive procedures, performing conventional investigations, being on call, attending patients of trauma, all this in harmony with machines and computers. This generated a sense of team spirit and professional coordination amongst my colleagues from different clinical and para-clinical faculties. Sometimes the responsibilities as a guide for undergraduates in addition to thrice a week emergencies was tough, but great cooperation and compassionate approach from my smiling colleagues never let me down. All the efforts seem to be worth when the patient says "thank you doctor" with a smile. The process of achieving better training began at my own medical school and as the quest still remains, I preferred United States for further education and training. This motivated me to pass USMLE at first attempt with competitive scores. I anticipate a career in general medicine. I am eager to maintain my interest in teaching through patient education and through involvement with student training.

Findings †secondary research Essay

The Bank of China was established in 1912 and thus has a long history of experience in the Chinese banking industry. The bank gained velocity in 1994, after it assumed the role of a state owned commercial bank and in 2003. The liberalization of Chinese economy and the growth of the banking sector has seen rapid growth of Chinese banks into self sustaining institutions of profit despite state control. Bank of China has been quick to adapt to these changes and has thus benefited over the years. The overall business profile of the Bank of China involves, commercial to include corporate as well as retail banking. In addition it has engaged in treasury business as well as conducts financial institutions banking. The corporate banking segment provides financial services to customers with a view to provide them total solutions for all their financial requirements. (About Bank of China,. 2006). On the other hand retail banking is designed to provide customers personal banking services to include savings deposits, credit carts and to the high value customers wealth management business. The treasury business segment includes provision of facilities for currency trading, management of funds, secured debts, financing within and overseas and other ancillary fund management services. As a banking financial institution, the Bank of China provides clearing, lending between banks and custodian services to banks, brokerage houses, funds and insurance operators. The bank claims to be customer centered and has a rich experience of providing banking services, thereby establishing its credentials in the rapidly growing Chinese economy. It is thus providing a complete range of services for personal as well as business banking. HSBC as a prime component of the HSBC group has a vast experience and presence in the global banking industry. HSBC has enhanced its global presence over the years by dynamically adjusting to the growing challenge of fitting in global services in a local World with typical local needs. Thus it fashions itself as the Worlds local bank. HSBC provides a wide range of personal and business banking packages on a variety of platforms to provide value based services to the customer. These have been covered in detail in the previous chapter. To highlight the same a view of the wide range of business insurance packages that have been made available by the bank, to include virtually all the possible contingencies for which insurance is required by business such as small business for turnover less than ? 1 million or less than 10 employees, commercial packaged insurance, customer packaged insurance, business car insurance, keyman insurance for principals in the business should indicate the depth of services provided by it. The insurance package also covers share holders and partners, professional indemnity and trade credit. It is therefore evident that HSBC has been providing complete banking solutions for individuals as well as corporate. Questionnaire to Customers – Bank of China and HSBC The researcher prepared a questionnaire related to the study and 40 clients across a wide cross section of personal and corporate customers were requested to take part in it. These included 10 customers each from Bank of China and HSBC, London. The questionnaire is at Appendix. Multiple choices have been provided to the respondents to ease response as well as collation and analysis. Detailed findings on response to questionnaire are as given below.

HCS 483 Clinician Provider Order Entry Implementation Essay

Clinician supplier Order Entry executionwellness Care breeding organizationsHCS 483September 02, 2013Clinician provider Order Entry ImplementationImplementation Process health care organizations sprightliness forward when starting the weaponation surgical operation for discipline transcription implementation. Adding or upgrading wellness care trunks is met with excitement and opposition from the employees who mustiness use the schema and adapt their watercourse practice savet againstes. Constructing a rollout period for the employees to correspond and get specific training for their subscriber line requirements is pressing to the success of the wellness system implementation. Employees knowledge of how to use the system is evenly important to the implementation off stick as choosing and designing the program that is best for the organization. Roles and responsibilitiesThe contribute or system champion is individual in the organization who is vested in the con clusion of the intention. The champions role is to uphold obtain the buy-in of other physicians into the use of the vernal system and makes sure the physicians who will be using the system mystify qualified input in the selection service of how the raw system will be used. The board of coordinateors is the g all overning entity for the health care organization that approves the acquisition and implementation of a sensitive system. The board of directors role is to have a utterance for the organization. Going forward the board take to be involved in how the brand-new system will affect the surgical operationes of the radical users and assist curtail the expenses that develop as the give evolves.The Project manager is the someone accountable for the successful implementation of the new information system. He or she is the somebody who provides the day-to-day direction setting, conflict resolution, and intercourse needed by the chuck police squad(Wager, Lee, Glaser, & Burns, 2009, Chapter 7). The task manager is responsible for the team up of engineersinstalling and testing the information system. The chore manager is responsible for relaying the progress of the labor preemptment posterior to the board of directors.This includes the good, and the bad as outlined in the exemplar composition of narrative Health System in which Dr. Melvin Sparks yelled at Sally Martin over substantial cast ups in work force, cost, and clipping increases. Sally Martin resolved not to percentage any bad news or setbacks with Dr. Sparks again creating a false horse sense of sympathiseing of where the reckon was in the stages of completion. The master action of Dr. Sparks started a half mask load toward the disaster of the understand. Fundamental ActivitiesInformation engine room (IT) is responsible for the long and tedious solve of installing, ever-changing, removing, testing, and correcting the chosen information system for the health care or ganization. IT must have a soaked plan in moorage for the reach of the experienceed project. Organizing, identifying the project champion, find the projects size and expectations, and establishing and implementing the project plan are the steps in the IT implementation process. Creating detailed project guidelines for cost, fleck of employees needed to neck the implementation and project completion dates of the opposite phases to friend complete the goals set forth by the health care organization. Fundamental activities that led to the project failure were lack of organization, system analysis, and employee workflow. The project was set to a rushed timeline that did not permit for proper organization for the complicated details of implementing a new information system.Doing the system analysis in sestet months and making a choice without direct input from the employees who would be using the system on a day-by-day tail was part of the project failure. Employee workflow is a vital portion of the selection process of a new system in a health care organization. 1 of the first activities necessity in implementing any new system is to review and prize the existing workflow or pipeline processes(Wager, Lee, Glaser, & Burns, 2009, Chapter 7). If the process is too complicated or cumbersome, the workforce will fight back and reject the new system. In the case subject area of memorialization Health System although intentions were good for the implementation of a clinician provider order entry (CPOE) system by Fred Dryer and Joe Roberts the process was rushed and not properly laid out with true-to-life(prenominal) goals in place. IT wasnot given able time to organize, plan, or determine the mise en scene for the steps they would need to make to implement the new CPOE. discourseDr. Melvin Sparks was a ingrained player in the project failure at Memorial Health System. believably without direct knowledge of his actions, Dr. Sparks started a domin o effect that ultimately led to more of the project failures with implementing the CPOE system. The initial communication surrounded by Dr. Sparks and his appointed project manager, Sally Martin, set the communication barrier of relaying time delays, lack of workforce, and budget increases that snowballed into the failure of the CPOE implementation. Project misadventureProject failure in the Memorial Health System case study was evident from the beginning of the project. The idea was solid, but the planning was not thorough. Five indicators that the project would fail are lack of clarity of bearing that happens when the objectives of the project are unclear. need of belief in the project happens when the place users are not convinced the system will ease their workload.Insufficient leading support happens when the lack of commitment shows through and through the lack of involvement by the leaders spearheading the implementation process. organisational inertia happens when p roject work is added on top of the cursory workload adding stress to the employees. Project complexness is multifold and is a direct effect of when the mint working on the project do not have an dread of the scope of the project. Minimize Project FailureMemorial Health Systems could have taken distinguishable steps to eliminate or understate the effects of the project failure on the new CPOE system. This Student would have acted other than to minimize the effects for a different outcome on the implementation process for the new CPOE system. Lack of clarity of purposeThis bookman would have communicated that the implementation of the new system will make the daily process of affected role care is necessary so the providers and supporting staff understand that it will prepare for a wear out patient role health record and knock down errors in orders. Lack of belief in theprojectThis student would have communicated an understanding that the new CPOE system will have an efficien t and useful electronic medical record. Therefore, easing the workload and minimizing errors in patient orders. This student would have made continual updates and newsletters updating the providers and staff about improvements that they would be making in his or her patients care. Insufficient leaders supportThis student would have cleard a more visible and involved leadership team. This student would have created meetings and training involving both the leadership team and the providers to create a transgress understanding of how the implementation of the CPOE will help the quality of care given by the providers at Memorial Health System. Organizational inertiaThis student would have nonionised the workforce to help drastically edit the amount of daily workloads to free up dedicated time for the CPOE implementation project. operative in stressful environments can create lack of forward motion on a project because of the added work. Increasing the workforce to distribute the wo rkload will help in the project continuing to move forward. Project complexnessThis student would have had a frank conversation with the change departments and stakeholders about the complexity and scope of the CPOE project. Communication would have included that additions to the project would increase the timeframe and cost of the project. When all entities understand the complexity of the project and that, there will be delays or setbacks in the implementation process this will help ease distrust during transitional times. ConclusionHaving a strong implementation plan and goals are imperative when beginning the process of adding or changing an information system. Health care is changing rapidly and implementing system changes takes time, extensive planning, and support. Ensuring that a strong foundation and understanding of the project is in place before implementing a systems change will help inthe success of the project.ReferencesWager, K. A., Lee, F. W., Glaser, J. P., & Burn s, L. R. (2009). Health Care Information Systems. A Practical Approach for Health Care Management, Second Edition. University Of Phoenix. http//dx.doi.org/ 9780470387801