Recovering Addicts in the Field of Substance Abuse Counseling

RECOVERING ADDICTS IN THE FIELD OF SUBTANCE ABUSE COUSELING Is Substance Abuse Counseling a good career for a convicted felon and recovering drug addict? A person’s past mistakes in life can sometimes prevent that person from getting certain jobs later in life. With a prior criminal record some employers may not consider that individual as a good candidate for the job. Substance abuse counselors can be needed in hospitals, institutions, rehab centers, schools, and other government ran facilities.With a felony conviction against your criminal back ground check, government ran facilities normally will not hire convicted felons due to higher risk of a liability. Personal background checks are sometimes required as well and if that individual has a past known drug addiction, employers may seem skeptical of hiring. It has however been acknowledged that a recovering drug addict will make a better candidate than someone with no past drug addiction. A recovering drug addict has experi enced personally the addiction, struggles, and with drawls that are present when trying to become sober.Close to 100,000 people in the US work in recovery related jobs earning their living as drug counselors,†techs†,or social workers at the hospital treatment programs and thousands of rehabs across the country. Most people who enter the field of substance abuse counseling have some kind of personal connection with the problem. More than 50% are recovering drug addicts themselves or have family members or close friends that are addicts. A strange twist on the famous Hunter S. Thompson’s quote â€Å"When the going get weird, the weird turn pro. With a personal connection to a past life of drug/alcohol use it usually tends to mean substance abuse counselors are incredibly passionate and dedicated. There is however a downside. Many addicts even significant amount of sober time, are at risk of a relapse. When substance abuse counselors stumbles, the consequences are o ften more crucial than that of someone who is not in that type of career. Cynthia Moreno Tuchy, the EXECTUCTIVE DIRECTOR of THE NATIONAL ASSIOCATION OF ALOCHOLISM AND DRUG ABUSE COUNSELORS (NAADAC) puts a rather fine point on it. We (chemical dependency professionals) do very well treating clients in general; we don’t do so for the professionals in recovery. We tend to blame the victim –we say you have a disease, but we are not recognizing relapse is part of that disease cycle. Why would we not do for addiction counselors as we would for everyone else? † She says. Most graduate programs in chemical dependency require applicants to have significant time free-typical a year or two-from chemical use and in most states licensing boards require similar amounts of clean times.When a substance abuse counselor relapses, they violate that condition and normally lose their jobs. The climb back tends to be quite steep. While relapse of a counselor poses danger to patients, the biggest threat is actually to the person who relapses. â€Å"Anecdotally the recovery rate for persons who work in the field that relapse is abysmal. † Says Chuck Rice. Counselors who do relapse, may continue to escalate with their relapse for fear of losing their job and can go untreated and hit rock bottom once again, which could have been a simple slip up if treatment was assemble as sought.Many people, who make a living in the recovery field, complain over time, it can become easy for professionals to blur the line between demands of personal recovery and the demand of their job. Giving the low success rate at many rehabs, burn out is a major issue. â€Å"When you work in the field,† says John Leonard, â€Å"The last thing you want to do when you get off work is to go to a meeting. † Furthermore, recovering substance abuse counselors get used to being the one with the answers, the experiences, and creditability. It’s easy to confuse work with thei r own personal recovery programs.The irony is that support and safety nets that exist for other professionals who fall victim to addiction does not exist for people who work in this field. â€Å"Sobriety rates of monitored professionals exceed 90%† Says Chuck Rice, â€Å"A rate far above the average general population. † Touhy estimates that 85,000 people in the addiction work force an as many 30,000 are recovering addicts. Without a national monitoring system and strong areas of informal support, these professional who work every day helping others to a clean life will go without the support they need and deserve.As the recovery field grows, so will the need for the professional working to help make the system work. If a system such as this is established I believe it is possible and a good choice career for a recovering addict to pursue a career as a substance abuse counselor despite the risk and triggers that can lead to relapse many counselors and people working in the addiction field can relate to current addicts lifestyles and be grateful they are not on that path themselves. Having desired to help others recover from addiction because they themselves re in recovery there is hope in knowing that recovery is possible because they have achieved it. There was an incident that happened in 2009 that captured the national news. Adam â€Å"DJ AM† Goldstein, host of MTV GONE TO FAR intervention reality series, was found dead at his New York City apartment from a drug overdose. DJ AM had just finished filming the MTV intervention reality series when he himself relapsed and died from a drug overdose. He had been sober for eleven years and had hoped to help others beat drug addiction.Goldstein admitted before his death that watching the videos filmed by Gone to Far’s addicts and loved ones was a â€Å"terrifying† experience. Goldstein stated,† I am a recovering drug addict. When I see and I am in their room and the paraphern alia and the whole lifestyle and everything, I still, eleven years later, have little thing in my head that starts thinking, Oh, Where’s that? , I wonder what that is? And I look at it in this way, And I have to constantly remind myself why I’m here and remember what it was like. â€Å"There’s no better way to remember what it was like at my bottom than to see someone at their bottom, and to help them and lift them up. † Nick Zybko wrote that nearly 40% of substance abuse counselors relapse over the course of their career. The need for substance abuse counselors is growing in today society. With economic failures and job layoffs, more people today are at a greater risk in turning to drugs or alcohol to escape and run from their problems. Counselors and other professional workers in the addiction fields are continuing to search for roles to help society deal with substance abuse.Counselors are aware of the destruction it causes to individuals, families, bu sinesses, and other organizations caused by dependency on alcohol or other drugs. One factor in important quality needed in a successful intervention and recovery with counselor and patient is empathy, genuineness’s, warmth, immediacy. Paired along with effective helping skills, such as questioning, comforting, self-disclosing, clarifying, and other skills common to the counseling process.Most substance abuse counselors who are recovering addicts can relate to the patients on a more personal level and a patient-counselor trusting relationship can be better formed. Each organization and treatment facilities differs from state to state as to what credentials you need to pursue a career as a substance abuse counselor. All facilities I have researched are accepting to recovering addicts as long as there is a sobriety of one to two years. Most recovering addicts have a criminal background record as well due to the â€Å"addiction disease†.There are some rehabs a treatment f acilities that only hire certified substance abuse counselors who are in fact recovering addicts even with a criminal record. As long as the substance abuse counselor is not on probation or parole this type of career is perfect for a recovering addict with a criminal past who has the desire to help others recover from addictions. As with any career and everyday life, a recovering addict is always at risk of relapse because of the disease. Perusing a career as substance abuse counselor has it downfalls as well as its advantages.Living a drug free life and remaining in recovery is important no matter the choice of career. I have pondered throughout most of my life as to what type of career I want in life and now that I am at a point in my life to making positive changes, I feel substance abuse counseling is an excellent choice for myself and perhaps others who have lead a similar life to myself and have the want and desire and even personal experience and knowledge to help others reco ver from their addictions to live a healthy happy life without drugs or alcohol. Sally Hughes [email  protected] phoenix. edu

Mic 206 Guidelines for Unknown Investigation Lab Report

MIC 206 Guidelines for Unknown Investigation Lab Report General Considerations: A. Papers must be typed, written in past tense, and in third person. (-50 if not typed) B. Paper Structure: Each section is to be headed with the appropriate heading. C. Format and Style 1. Format: a. Face Page: The face page should contain the title of the experiment, the author of the report, class section time, & date submitted. (1. 5 points) b. Page Format: (1. 5 points) 1. One-inch margins 2. Last name & page number as the header 3. Double spaced 4. Section headings . Other considerations: 1. Tables, charts, and figures should be clearly labeled with captions. Ex. Figure 1/Table 1. (2 points) 2. ALL genus and species names must be italicized and the genus name must be capitalized. The first time that a genus name is used, write it out in full (Pseudomonas aeruginosa). After that, one letter abbreviations may be used (P. aeruginosa). (3 points) D. Plagiarism: Remember that you may quote another person ’s work, or even paraphrase it as long as you give credit and cite the work you are quoting, paraphrasing, or referring. -50 if plagiarism occurs) 3. Parts of a Scientific Paper: A. Abstract: This appears first in the paper, but it is the last section written. In the Abstract: (1) state the major objective(s) and scope of the experiment, (2) briefly describe the methodology used, (3) summarize the results, and (4) state the major conclusions. (3 points) B. Introduction: In this section, you should provide general background information on the subject to aid the reader. This can be followed by a very brief description (1-2 sentences) of the problem that was investigated.Every report must include a clearly stated hypothesis. A hypothesis is a statement of what may or may not occur under defined conditions. Your hypothesis must be clearly (readily identifiable) presented in this section of your report. Remember that a hypothesis does not have to be correct, just testable. (5 poi nts) C. Materials and Methods: For this section, you should merely cite your laboratory manual sections and/or pages used. Any changes made to the procedure should also be noted in this section.Finally, any changes made to the directions outlined in this manual must be stated in the materials and methods section. For instance, if the directions stated that you should incubate your sample at 37(C for 1 hour, and you incubated your sample at 25(C for 30 minutes, you must note the deviation. If you use any procedures NOT in the lab manual, describe them fully and cite them. Do not do anything more than listed above for this section. (2 points) D. Results: You must describe what you did to obtain the data that you are presenting in this section (If in doubt – refer to a journal article).You should describe the data in such a manner that if the reader chose not to look at the figures, tables or graphs, they could still understand your data. The data must be summarized in figures, tables or graphs, which must be clearly labeled and referred to specifically by name when they are being discussed. You must present both your raw data and calculated results. For the calculated results, a sample calculation must be provided so that we can determine how you obtained the calculated values. When graphs are used, be sure that both axes are labeled correctly.Remember that the dependent variable is ALWAYS presented on the vertical axis. As a rule, the intersection of the X- and Y-axes should be the zero point. The spacing between time points should be proportional to the elapsed time. DO NOT USE BAR GRAPHS, they are not appropriate in this course. In the case of differential tests, you must describe in general terms what constitutes a positive and negative result. That way we can determine whether you are interpreting your results correctly. All data MUST be reported.Deleting data to suite your hypothesis is the same as inventing data in order to suite your hypothesis. I f there are data that appear to be erroneous, you may choose not to use those data or datum, but you must still include it in the results and justify your decision not to use it. Finally, if an experiment fails and you have no data, you may obtain results from a classmate or your instructor. You cannot receive full credit for a report that has no data analysis. If you use outside data, you must state the source of the results. (7 points) E.Discussion: This is the only section in which the use of the first person is acceptable. Remember, in your Discussion, you do not reiterate your results, rather you interpret them and discuss their meaning. Present a discussion of your results as it relates to your hypothesis. Bring attention to data that support your hypothesis. You must also bring attention to data that contradict your hypothesis and provide possible explanations for why the data do not correlate with your hypothesis. It is typically easier to write a discussion when your data d o not support your hypothesis.However, that does not mean you should create a hypothesis that will purposely not be correct. You should also compare and contrast your results with other work in the field; do your results and interpretations agree or disagree with other members of your class? outline considerations for the Discussion Section: 1. State you conclusions clearly and boldly 2. Summarize the supporting data (results) for each conclusion you draw. 3. Include the following in the discussion: a. Normal Microbiota of your bacteria b. Bergey’s Group Classification/ Identification c.Does your bacteria have a Role in Disease d. Does your bacteria have a Role in Biotechnology e. One unique fact, not previously reported above, that you found interesting f. What communal relationship does your bacteria have with our environment or our bodies. 4. End your paper with a short summary or conclusion regarding the significance of the experiment. (15 Points Discussion section) F. Bi bliography: In writing your Introduction, Mat & Meth, and Discussion, you will need to support your assertions and contentions with citations from the literature.You may cite such sources as journal articles, textbooks, the lab manual, an encyclopedia, a dictionary, or any other useful sources. Be very wary of using websites – anyone can write anything and put it on a website. There is no minimum or maximum number of references required for any given report. Citations and References shall be in American Society of Microbiology (ASM) style. (-25 points if you do not properly use ASM style) Obtained isolated colonies on MAC plate, from original unknown sample (1 point) Obtained isolated colonies on CAN/PEA plate, from original unknown sample (1 point) Note: isolated colonies must have been obtained from quadrant streaking original unknown mixed culture tube. If a second culture or a control culture was given to you, after failing to get isolated colonies from your original mixe d culture and you observed isolated colonies at that point, the 1 point is not earned. ) Identified Gram Negative bacteria: (2. 5 points) Identified Gram Positive bacteria: (2. 5 points) Report is written free of grammatical or mechanical errors as determined by the TA. (3 points) Source: Stout, V. MIC 302 Report Writing Guidelines. Arizona State University

School Uniforms Persuasive Essay

In public and private schools, students are constantly being judged on what they wear and how they look. These judgments influence students to pick on others and induce bullying. If schools make uniforms mandatory, this cause of bullying would be eliminated, thus reducing the number of bullying incidents. Therefore, school uniforms should be required for all students because they will reduce bullying, relieve stress and make school a safer place. People are judged on what they say, where they go, and what they believe, but the main form of judgment is due to appearance.With one look, we make inferences on the economic status and background of other people. It is no secret that less fortunate people generally do not have as nice clothing as those who are wealthy. But is the difference in one’s clothing a worthy reason for them to be treated differently? The answer is no, yet it still occurs each and every day for students who are without uniforms. Children should not be treated differently just because their parents are unable to buy them trendier clothes.With the implementation of school uniforms, students can focus more on learning and building social connections based on interests and beliefs and not their societal status. School uniforms are the most effective way to eliminate social and economic differences among students. Because society is incredibly materialistic and money is a power issue, the judgments that are made on how someone appears become a main cause of bullying. Mandatory school uniforms would eliminate this problem and allow students to be judged on personality, not just what they wear.Bullying in general is malevolent; it is not only an unnecessary barrier to learning, but has the potential to make students’ lives unbearable. This sort of torment may not be terminated, but it would surely be reduced with mandatory uniforms. With the new HIB (harassment, intimidation and bullying) laws that Governor Chris Christie passed in New Jersey, and the studies that signify the increased number of bullying incidents within the past few years, bullying has become a larger problem than ever.Along with bullying, theft and gang activity can be reduced by wearing uniforms. In many areas, gangs are identified and encouraged through their clothing. Without the knowledge of who is in what gang, violence will be reduced and the school will be safer. If society insists on doing everything it can to prevent the mistreatment of other students, school uniforms should be made mandatory. There are other benefits of wearing uniforms as well.First, students’ lives would be much easier and less stressful. A great amount of time is usually spent on choosing and worrying about outfits. If students were refunded this time, they could have more time for other daily requirements such as homework. Some students, especially girls, stress about what they are going to wear every day and how they are going to look compared to everyone e lse. School uniforms will eliminate this unnecessary cause of stress.Having uniforms would not only eliminate stress put on students, but stress and pressure put on their parents as well. Some parents just cannot afford the in-style clothing items that other parents can provide. Every parent yearns for their children to fit in and be happy. As hard as they try to accommodate this for their young ones, some parents find this task impossible to accomplish. It must kill a parent to see their child mistreated or bullied because of something they could not provide for them.Adversaries to this argument may dispute being able to choose what to wear is the student’s prerogative and is what allows them to express their individuality, but is what students wear what makes them individuals? What happened to individuality being based on personality, positive attributes and passion? It is not clothes that make us unique. Wearing hand-me-downs because that is all that a family can afford fo r their child does not allow them to express themselves; it is not what makes them an individual and it certainly does not reflect who they are inside.What it does do is make that unfortunate child self conscious and ashamed. Many present conflicts within school systems can be easily solved or at least minimized with school uniforms. They can aid the prosperity of our schools and students, so why not take advantage of this simple answer to our problems? Action needs to be taken to make uniforms mandatory. They reduce the insecurities felt by children as well as their parents. Uniforms allow students to shine and excel for who they really are and not for whom they appear to be.

Critique Internet Info on Health Subject Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critique Internet Info on Health Subject - Essay Example Marianne Sarkis organizes trainings for the pre-med students and family physicians concerning the FGC. She cooperates with the researchers and activists who work on this issue all over the world. The maintainers of the page state that it was created in 1995 as a personal webpage, as the amount of resources on this topic were scarce. They say that the project is not yet incorporated, but its status is going to be changed within the next few months. This site provides valid information for those interested in the issue. The detailed explanation of what FGC is, and about its typology, can be found there. It also contains the articles briefly researching the main reasons for existence of this custom. The materials hosted at this website also provide the information about the programmes designed to stop FGC. What is also important, they suggest the agenda for performing necessary changes in the communities that practice FGC. This website has been updated regularly with the fresh information about FGC. The last update is dated March, 4, 2006. This website also contains the data about peculiarities in performing, reasoning and struggling with FGC practices in different countries, where this custom exists

Therapeutic Horseback Riding and Autism Term Paper

Therapeutic Horseback Riding and Autism - Term Paper Example This paper examines the effects of therapeutic horseback riding as a mode of treating autistic spectrum disorders with a focus on its effect on the physical and behavioral aspect of the child under the treatment program. This study examined the symptoms and behavior associated with autistic spectrum behavior that may change when children suffering from it are placed under the therapeutic horseback riding as an alternative intervention in treating children with autism disorder. In getting the desired results, the research hypothesized whether therapeutic horseback riding is an effective method of treating behavior and symptoms associated with autistic spectrum disorders and the reaction of the children with such disorders. The question as to whether children suffering from autistic spectrum disorder who undergo therapeutic horseback riding report a change in their behavior and physical well-being as compared to the time when they had not undergone the therapy. Therapeutic Horseback Ri ding in Managing Autistic Spectrum Disorder According to a study conducted by Kern et al (2011) amongst forty one children suffering from autism spectrum disorders (ASD), children who participated in the therapeutic horseback riding as a means of treating autism had a reduced Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) as compared to those who did not participate in the program. The study compared participants who either dropped before enrolling in the program while others completed the time under which they were on a waiting list period of three months. Others simply did not enroll in the therapeutic horse-riding program due to reasons or circumstances beyond their... This term paper describes the symptoms of autism, that are unique to individuals and therefore should not be taken as general amongst those suffering from it. However, there are common deficits in the disorder such as delays in the social interaction of individuals, deficits in communication, absence of imagination and repetitive behavior that may go unrecognized by those suffering from the disorder. This term paper states that there is no single mode of treating persons with Autistic Spectrum Disorders nowadays, but there are several ways that have been proposed to suppress the symptoms and capitalize on the experiences and the results, such as therapeutic horseback riding. While there is a disagreement of a known method of treatment for this disorder, animal-assisted programs like therapeutic horseback riding has been proved and adopted as an effective method of treating or curing the autism disorder especially in children as it has demonstrated remarkable improvement in the behavi oral problems and social activity. In conclusion of this term paper, the researcher recommends horseback riding as a therapy for managing autism as it has the overall effect of improving the concentration of the participant, his patience and tolerance and instills confidence in dealing with uncertainties and fears. This term paper also concludes some positive effects of improving communication skills by teaching the rider with ASD how to give instructions and express how he feels.

Homework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Homework - Essay Example The second video explains the bot attacks; the first potential attack is Distributed Denial of Services (DDOS) can be activated by sending a huge amount of traffic b from many bots herders on the victim’s computer so that the customers cannot access the online server. The video explains the second attack named Command Line Control through an Rlogin server in easy to understand method. Further, the video talks about the third bot attack known as Spying on Zombies. The video makes you understand regarding spying the victim’s computer through a key-logger, packet sniff, capturing screenshots etc. The third part of the video emphasis on defenses your system from the potential threat of botnet by keeping bots out, mute bots and detecting the bots activities. The video explains to install firebox, upgrading patch promptly, using antivirus with auto-update, using firebox proxies and GAV, and training of the professionals and users for keeping bots out of your computer system. Organizations can mute and detect activities of bots as well by configuring the firebox appropriately as explained in the video. The article titled â€Å"Microsoft disrupts Nitol botnet spreading on counterfeit Windows PCs† written by Lee Mathews and published on 13th September, 2012. The article explains that the digital crime unit of the Microsoft identified enormous botnet and they have taken control of the domains as per instructions of the court order. The report from the Microsoft’s digital crime unit notifies a malicious attack of Nitol, the botnet. It classifies that the domain Nitol, 3322.org along with over 70,000 subdomains have been found to be affected by 500 different malware. Following the court orders, Peng Yong, a Chinese businessman surrendered, giving not only the DNS control of Nitol but also the effecting domains to Microsoft, allowing them to filter the incoming and outgoing traffic for the security of users from the suspected attack by Nitol, and other malware from 3322.org and other sub-domains. At this time, the action taken by Microsoft was not as vigorous as against Waledac, Kalihos or Rustock. Because the investigation teams vigilant the Microsoft while investigating the problems of illegal Windows Installation in China, that more than 20% of the systems have pre-installed unnecessary software including, but not limited to HP or Toshiba-style software bloat. It was the thing as Microsoft suspected from Nitol botnet, developed catastrophic malware that could not only able producing spam and redirect DNS requests but also proliferate through flash drives. http://www.geek.com/articles/news/microsoft-disrupts-nitol-botnet-spreading-on-counterfeit-windows-pcs-20120913/ The student has summarized the article titled â€Å"Botnet Masters Hide Command and Control Server inside the Tor Network†, by Lucian Constantin. The student has spectacularly discussed the article regarding research of Germans as they found a botnet t hat is hidden in the Tor secrecy network. The botnet can operate on an Internet Relay chat server and it has advantages as well as disadvantages. According to them, it is hard to find its specific location so that is very difficult to locate and shut down. A signal is sent to another computer from the user’s computer, when one uses Tor for internet access.

Focus Movie Summary Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Focus Summary - Movie Review Example The movie starts with Nicky Spurgeon acting as Will Smith going to a nightclub. Smith is seasonal con man. In the nightclub, Jess acting as Margot Robbie who is inexperienced grifter seduces Smith and pretended that her husband has caught them together. After the deception failed, Smith told them they should not lose focus when faced with compromising or unexpected situation. Jess found Smith in another nightclub and told her to be her mentor. Nicks took her to New Orleans and introduced her to his crew. Jess is trained and under goes a pick pocket test. In the training Nicky and Jess starts a romantic relationship. Nicky was told by his father that he should not start a romantic relationship in the line of duty but he could not resist Jess. In American Football Championship game, played in Miami, Jess together with Nicky coned Tse all his money by tricking him to take a wrong players number. They tricked Tse to take number 55 which was a number won by his crew member in the side of Chicago. Latter, Jess was given her share by Nicky and sent away. Jess was left heartbroken at that time (Movieclips Trailer, 2015). Nicky went to work with a motor car company and helped the owner to win car race championship. In the competition, Nicky meets Jess again and they started moving out together. Nicky gave out the component for competition to McEwen at a price of 3 million Euros and sold it to other team. As Nicky was in hotel waiting for Jess, he received message information him to leave because he was exposed.

Conflict resolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Conflict resolution - Essay Example Informal conflict is a disagreement whereby, the parties involved in the disagreement decide to solve their differences peacefully among themselves or with a mediator rather than doing it the official way. This nature of a conflict is less costly in terms of money and less involving. The methods, which will be applied in this conflict resolution exercise, will include distancing; one of the parties in disagreement stays away from the other; negotiation; allow the parties in dispute to sit down and discuss amongst themselves on how to terminate their differences peacefully. The last technique will be the mediation process, which will involve the intervention of a third party to try to reconcile the disagreeing parties. The parties in disagreement will have to give a brief account of the incident, which led to the conflict, declare their stance as far as the incident is concerned, their feelings, concerns, and emotions as well as their views. A brief conversation has to take place betw een the parties where they will state their stance concerning the resolution, including their level of satisfaction emotionally, physically, and psychologically. This will give the mediator confidence and strong will to carry out other mediation processes in the future (Ramsbotham, Tom & Hugh, 2011, 15). Williams and Cheryl have been doing a job in the same manufacturing organization for several decades and have been great friends. When their present manager is about to leave the organization, he promotes Williams, something which Cheryl does not take positively. Williams goes on about his new job as usual until a time when he decides to launch a new rule to workers he supervises. Anxiety among the workers increases since they consider the rule to make little logic to them and is possible to raise their already intense workload. Cheryl having known Williams for long, and having been friends, she expects Williams to object the rule since it is pressurizing them so much especially the junior and new recruits in the organization. The conflict between the two emerged because Cheryl considered herself fit for the promotion instead of Williams her friend. She claims to have an advantage over Williams in that she has been in the organization long before Williams came in and thus she is more experienced thanhe is. Further, Cheryl argues that Williams is exercising strict control on the subordinates only to prove his position as their supervisor, which is not right. These two are great friends; thus, one wonders where the disagreement emanated from, what will be the most suitable techniques to apply to try to reconcile them, and how easily and conveniently can this be achieved. Their conflict seems to be understandable; therefore, the possibility of a resolution being arrived at the soonest possible and conveniently is high. This will restore their friendship and hence improve the productivity of the organization for better gains at the end of the financial year. Theme s/ Patterns This dispute resolution process will be carried out peacefully and in a quiet place where each party will feel comfortable and secure. The secrecy of the parties involved will be guaranteed. Each person will have time to express their concerns amicably, look for a common ground that both of them can agree on; create a future resolution other than concentrating on the history. Lastly, the parties involved will be united again and continue their job together as usual. The factors that led to the

Investment appraisal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Investment appraisal - Essay Example This analysis has been conducted based on several financial theories related to equity valuation. 1 Introduction 1.1 History of Google Google, a name synonymous with world leader in specializing in internet related services and product. The product and services offered by Google are vast and its operations are expanding at a rapid pace. The primary services offered by this giant corporation include cloud computing, software and online advertising. As per the latest and historical financial analysis, the company has been deriving its main revenue from the Adwords. Google was founded Larry Page and Sergey Brin who own about 16% of the shares of the company as per the latest annual report of the company. Soon after the initial public offer (IPO), the company’s revenue, and in turn its profitability has increased by leaps and bounds. The initial public offering of the company took place on August 19, 2004. On this historical date, around 19,605,052 shares of the company were offer ed at a price of $85 per shares. The mode of the sale of the shares was suggested to be through online auction. Through this IPO, the company was able to generate a great deal of capital amount to around $ 1.67 billion resulting in a market capitalization of over $ 23 billion. However, the majority of the Google shares remained under the control of the Google. The paper evaluates the price of the shares of Google at the time of its IPO. Through applying different equity valuation method, it can be evaluated whether the share was overpriced or under priced. 2Financial Valuation 2.1 Introduction to equity valuation Equity valuation can be defined as the process of identifying the current market value of the company which is also regarded as the current market capitalization of the company. There are several step of equity valuation process and it requires an adequate understanding of financial management techniques and acumen. 2.2 Equity valuation techniques The most important step in equity valuation process is the selection of an appropriate valuation model. Few models widely used in financial evaluation are as under: Net Asset Valuation Price Earning Valuation Dividend growth model Based on the above valuation models, an analyst predicts the equity value of the company by selecting any one of the above mentioned models which appears to be apt in the circumstances. Finally the investor must make an investment decision based on the calculated value of equity in the above step. This decision involves investment recommendation to the investor whether it is financially feasible to invest in the stock of the company being valued or not. If the analyst concludes that the equity value of the company is as such which is significantly greater than the current book value of the company, then it represents that the company will reap benefits in the future for the investors, thus the investment decision would be financially viable. 2.3 Net Asset Valuation Net asset valuat ion is also called the net worth of a company. It is simple valuation model which is based on the recoded balance on the balance sheet items of a company. The stock price of the share under this model can be calculated by divided the net

The effectiveness of pay for performance plan Essay

The effectiveness of pay for performance plan - Essay Example Not every employee is the same; therefore their preferences and motivating factors are as varied as their individual personalities. Utilizing, combining, and integrating the right compensation strategy in the corporate structure plays a critical role in maintaining employee motivation, retaining talent, and attracting high-performing candidates to the company. Although pay for performance compensation plans have always played an integral role in the compensation package of many companies there are a number of shortcomings related to the merit pay system. Traditional compensation models ignore the key emotional influencers that reveal an individual’s key motivating factors. According to a recent paper called â€Å"The Psychological Costs of Pay-for-Performance†, by Ian Larkin, Lamar Pierce of Harvard and Francesca Gino of Washington University, this working paper identify the psychological costs of how social comparison, employee overconfidence, and loss aversion are pri me determinants of the success and viability of individual performance-based compensation systems (Tighe, 2011). â€Å"Social comparison is the tendency of individuals to compare their pay vs. effort ratio with their peers and their expectations of their compensation to be â€Å"fair† based on these preconceived notions. As a result of this comparisons pay plan effectiveness or perceived fairness is often compromised. Individuals commonly judge the extent of other people’s work contribution based on what they can see and not on actual results. Consequently coworkers are often unfairly judged since the value or true extent of their work is performed off premises or behind closed doors such as with salespeople or executives. Although in the case of major CEO’s or star athletes for instance pay becomes a social measuring stick to which they compare against their peers, so pay becomes more closely tied to social factors and not necessarily economics. Employee overc onfidence is where individuals have the tendency to overestimate their own abilities and skill set therefore they are prone to accepting tasks above their capabilities. According to Larkin; â€Å"Psychologists and decision research scholars have long noted that people tend to be overconfident about their own abilities and too optimistic about their future."; "Recent research has shown that overconfidence is not as much an individual personality trait as it is a bias that affects most people"(Tighe, 2011). The authors elaborate that in general people tend to be overconfident in their ability to complete tasks that they tend to perform frequently. On the other hand individuals tend to underestimate their ability to complete tasks which they are not familiar with or seem too complex. Since pay-for-performance systems are based on the ability of individuals to pick and choose positions that they feel best matches their skill set, the misalignment between the individual’s percept ion of themselves and their true skill set can cause them to undertake projects or tasks that are beyond their capabilities (Tighe, 2011). Instead of pay-for-performance becoming a catalyst for increased organizational achievement and individual performance an employee’s overconfidence can cause them to underperform under pressure, increase general dissatisfaction, and can also bring about a

Wireless telephones Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Wireless telephones - Essay Example Both passengers and radios can equally affect the attention of a motor vehicle operator, thus singling out the use of a wireless telephone may be merely populist. This may be especially true with regards to talking and listening rather than texting. Nevertheless one of the advantages of this law is that it reduces the number of motor vehicle accidents resulting from the use of wireless telephones while driving. Also, the subsections (6a) and (6b) clearly state when an offence is to be cited and subsections (5a) and (5b) state the punishment due (Levy et al. 3). This makes it easy to enforce the law. On the converse though, separation of subsections 2 and 3 imply that there is a difference between minors and adults and from their wording it appears that adults may be allowed to use wireless telephones while driving. Also the definition of an emergency in subsection (1a) still leaves a lot of room for different interpretations for example different people may interpret fear for one's safety differently. These instances of ambiguity may be used as a loophole by offenders and their attorneys. Regardless of these ambiguities I am for this state law because its spirit is more of preventative rather than vindictive. This means that it seeks to better the quality of life for the residents of Colorado State by protecting them from avoidable motoring accidents.

Information Technology Management Emphasis Essay Example for Free

Information Technology Management Emphasis Essay The Master of Business Administration—Information Technology Management is specifically designed for experienced business professionals and managers seeking upward career mobility in the information technology arena. The program prepares you for a mid-level to upper-level information technology management position in business, industry, and non-profit organizations. MBAITM Understanding the Competency-Based Approach Practically speaking, what does it mean when we say that WGU programs are competencybased? Unlike traditional universities, WGU does not award degrees based on credit hours or on a certain set of required courses. Instead, students earn their degrees by demonstrating their skills, knowledge, and understanding of important concepts through a series of carefully designed assessments. Progress through your degree program is governed, not by classes, but by satisfactory completion of the required assessments that demonstrate your mastery of the competencies. Of course, you will need to engage in learning experiences as you brush up on competencies or develop knowledge and skills in areas in which you may be weak. For this learning and development, WGU has a rich array of learning resources in which you may engage under the direction of your mentor. You will work closely with your mentor to schedule your program for completing the assessments. (We discuss assessments in much more detail later in this guide.) You will work closely with additional faculty members as you proceed through courses of study that are designed to lead you through the content you must master in order to pass individual assessments. The benefit of this competency-based system is that it makes it possible for people who are knowledgeable about a particular subject to make accelerated progress toward completing a WGU degree even if they lack college experience. You may have gained your skills and knowledge of a subject on  the job, accumulated wisdom through years of life experience, or, indeed, took a course on a particular subject. WGU awards a degree to you based on the skills and knowledge that you possess and can demonstrate, not the number of credits you have on your transcript. Accreditation Western Governors University is the only university in the history of American higher education to have earned accreditation from four regional accrediting commissions. WGUs accreditation was awarded by (1) the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, (2) the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, (3) the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and (4) the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The university’s accreditation status is now managed by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). The university is also accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), and the WGU Teachers College is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The Health Informatics program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). The Degree Plan The focus of your program is your personalized Degree Plan. The Degree Plan is a detailed blueprint of the learning resources and assessments that comprise your program. The length of your program depends on both the amount of new information you need to learn and the amount of time you plan to devote each week to study. Students will vary widely in the specific skills and information they need to learn. For example, some may be highly knowledgeable in a subject matter and would not need to engage in new learning opportunities. Others may find that portions of the program require completely new learning and that they may need to take an online class or participate in a study module to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to pass the program competencies in that area. Some individuals may be able to devote as little as 15ï€ ­20 hours per week to the program, while others may have more time. For this reason, you will complete pre-assessments to help your mentor form a profile of your prior knowledge and experience for use in creating your Degree Plan. WGU’s Mentoring Approach ]Our mentoring approach is a powerful component of the WGU educational experience. When you enroll at WGU, you will begin interacting with your personal mentor, course mentors, and support staff. Your mentor takes an active role and a personal interest in your success. Whether by e-mail or phone, your mentor will be your ―point personâ€â€" of communication throughout your program. Your mentor will help motivate you to work hard to complete your program. When you have questions or concerns, your mentor team will help you resolve them. You and your mentor will work together to evaluate your educational background, strengths, and weaknesses. With this analysis, your mentors will help determine in which areas you are already competent (and can move quickly to assessment) and areas you need to work on; this will become your personalized Degree Plan. Your mentor will direct you to the Courses of Study that contain the best learning resources for you (courses, texts, independent study modules, etc.) and are supported by course mentors that serve as your content experts for each area of study. As you proceed through your academic program, you and your mentor will determine when you are ready for the required assessments. If you are ready, your assessment will be scheduled. You will follow this same process as you proceed through each domain. Connecting with Other Mentors and Fellow Students As you proceed through your Degree Plan, you may also have direct contact  with other faculty members. These communications can take a variety of forms, including participation in learning communities, office hours via the courses of study, and webinars. As a WGU student, you will have access to your own personal MyWGU Student Portal that will provide a gateway to courses of study, learning communities, and program communities where you will have interactions with faculty and other students. Courses of study and communities are specifically designed to support you as you develop competencies in preparation for your assessments through the utilization of threaded discussions, blogs, and chats that are guided by content experts. You will access your program community during the Education Without Boundaries introductory course to network with peers who are enrolled in your program and to receive continued support through professional enrichment and program-specific chats, blogs, and discussions. WGU also provides a Student Services Associate to help you and your mentor solve any special problems that may arise. Education Without Boundaries Orientation Education Without Boundaries (EWB) is a required orientation that focuses on acquainting the student with WGU’s competency-based model, distance education, technology, and other resources and tools available for students. You will also utilize tutorials, message boards, online MBAITM chats, and other activities to connect with other students in your program. This orientation is completed before you start your first term at WGU. Transferability of Prior College Coursework Because WGU is a competency-based institution, it does not award degrees based on credits but on demonstration of competency. However, if you have completed college coursework at another accredited institution, you may have your transcripts evaluated and may be able to have some lower-division or co-requisite assessments cleared. The guidelines for determining what will  Ã¢â‚¬â€¢clearâ€â€" through transfer vary based on the degree program. The following transfer guidelines generally apply to graduate programs: Graduate domains (i.e., subject areas) cannot be cleared through transfer. Requirements in the domains that can be considered the degree major cannot be cleared through transfer. Furthermore, WGU does not clear any requirements based on the students professional experience and does not perform a resume review or portfolio review that will automatically clear any degree requirements. Degree requirements and transferability rules are subject to change in order to keep the degree content relevant and current. Remember, WGUs competency-based approach lets you take advantage of your knowledge and skills, regardless of how you obtained them. Even when you do not directly receive credit, the knowledge you possess may help you accelerate the time it takes to complete your degree program. Continuous Enrollment, On Time Progress, and Satisfactory Academic Progress WGU is a ―continuous enrollmentâ€â€" institution, which means you will be automatically enrolled in each of your new terms while you are at WGU. Your terms are six months long. Longer terms and continuous enrollment allow you to focus on your studies without the hassle of unnatural breaks between the shorter terms that you would experience in a more traditional environment. At the end of every six-month term, you and your mentor will review the progress you have made and revise your Degree Plan for your next six-month term. WGU requires that students make measurable progress toward the completion of their degree programs every term. We call this On Time Progress – denoting that you are on track and making progress toward on time graduation. As full-time students, graduate students must enroll in at least eight (8) competency units each term, and undergraduate students must enroll in at least twelve (12) competency units each term. Completing at least these minimum enrollments is essential to On Time Progress and serves as a baseline from which you may accelerate your program. We measure your progress based on the assessments you are able to pass, not on your accumulation of credit hours or course grades. Every time you pass an assessment, you are demonstrating that you have mastered skills and knowledge in your degree program. For comparison to traditional grading  systems, passing an assessment means you have demonstrated competency equivalent to a ―Bâ€â€" grade or better. WGU has assigned competency units to each assessment so that we can track your progress through the program. A competency unit is equivalent to one semester credit of learning.

Evaluating use of PowerPoint for teaching in schools

Evaluating use of PowerPoint for teaching in schools Microsoft PowerPoint Program is a presentation software programme that can be used effectively in academic sector (Bartsch and Cobern, 2003). PowerPoint was developed as a business software tool, but its inherent capabilities led to its adoption in education, and this has been the subject of ongoing research. PowerPoint is an easy-to-use software application (Holzl, 1997) and can be used to give dynamic and engaging presentations in the visual mode. Some of the features of the PowerPoint are helpful for lecturers, for example, to highlight key points, and to show assignment information. Additional features such as clipart and cartoons can add interest to presentations (Sammons, 1997). Several researchers have analysed the effects of PowerPoint on student performance and student preferences towards Power Point. These studies have used different methodologies and there are a range of empirical results. These are described in the following sections, where each studys merits and demerits of using Power Point are presented, followed by analysis and conclusions. It is one of the most useful things to know about the secondary school perspective on styles of teaching, and how this impact on the students future. In olden days, it was very difficult for the school teachers to make use of technology in classroom teaching. One of the main reasons is lack of training and equipment. The use of electronic media in school laboratories, classrooms are being increased and are being used in science and technology lessons by teachers who are confident in the usage of modern technology in the classroom (Ofested, 2002). Nowadays, it is also common for the school teachers to give lectures through modern packages and PowerPoint, particular during practical classes. In spite of availability of technologies, still delivery the lecture through chalk and talk approach is dominant one (Dudley and Timothy 2006). Nowadays, in developed countries, the use of PowerPoint in education has become widespread. However in some schools in Saudi Arabia, its usage is not ubiquitous but restricted to some important lessons and topics. This may in part be due to teachers limited knowledge of how to use PowerPoint, so broadening their knowledge might give benefits and make it easier for students to learn. However, in most schools, the classrooms are simply not equipped for PowerPoint presentations a single classroom in the whole school may be the only one equipped for PowerPoint. In addition to that, there may be resistance by some teachers to alter, while others are still hesitant, given the debate over the extent of any positive influence of PowerPoint on the educational performance of students. Past studies are inconclusive about PowerPoint, with contradictory views. However in Saudi Arabia, some studies supported the usage of such technology in Saudi schools for the benefit of learners (Al-Sharhan, 20 06). In general, the discussion about the use of PowerPoint in teaching practice has two important problematic issues: How effective is the technology at improving the quality of teaching received by learners. How consistent is PowerPoints use have teachers the required skills and enthusiasm for its use The first issue can be manifested in the level of satisfaction that may be inspired by the technology. For some researchers, the simplicity of the technology removes more of the teaching professional load and leads to a non-stimulating delivery of content (Pauw, 2002). The second issue tells about the inconsistency within the educational setting due to absence of suitable training and opposition in implementing the technology by someone. This may have negative effects on learners, who were given the different modes of approach in delivering the PowerPoint presentations within the same discipline. Therefore, it is more important in selecting the technology to ensure that it is compatible with the aims of training in order to bring the successful implementation. Purpose of the Study This present study evaluates the use of PowerPoint for teaching in schools. The factors involved in implementing PowerPoint in schools are also explored. Based on this study, it has been found that computer technology and multimedia presentations have no guaranteed effect on quality of learning. On the other hand, It has also been found that the use of such technology motivate the students for positive learning. Moreover, it has been proposed that use of technology is in harmony with the adoption and familiarity of learners of such technology, and so connects prevailing learner and educational cultures. The present study also addressed the factors to implement the way of effective adoption of technology, proper deployment of PowerPoint, training and development, models of teaching practice in mixed formats. At the same time, it is also important for the teachers to keep update the technology and technological changes. Then only, the content delivery and driving force for learning will be maintained. Though, PowerPoint is in greater use among teachers and researchers, but the best format to deliver materials based on learner assimilation needs to be found (Heines, 2000). Research Questions How does the use of PowerPoint presentations in educational institutions compared to traditional presentation, including the use of overhead projectors and handwritten blackboard notes? Does the use of PowerPoint increase the student performance? What are the advantage and disadvantage of use of PowerPoint in teaching? What are the factors affecting the use of PowerPoint presentations effectively? What are the benefits of existing debate on the use of PowerPoint presentations in the classroom setting? What are the opinions of the students in PowerPoint presentations regarding lighting, use of colours, backgrounds, images, and sound, and the way of delivering the lecturers through of slides? Literature review INTRODUCTION Several researchers have made an attempt to analyse the student performance and preferences based on the effects of PowerPoint. In their attempts, different methodologies were used and based on that a range of empirical results have also been proposed. These were discussed based on the use of PowerPoint and its merits and demerits were also presented in the following sections. There has been a lot more discussion over different methods to deliver lecture to the students. In particular, many lecturers use written material delivered on a chalkboard, whiteboard, or by transparent sheet on an overhead projector, and, in last fifteen years or so, the method of presenting the visual information directly from a computer onto a screen. These types of computers and projection technology devices can be seen in the classrooms. This gives the facility to engage the learners through graphics and multimedia presentations. Many faculty members and administrators felt that PowerPoint was initially considered as a cutting edge technology for use in the classroom. Later students felt that the PowerPoint should not be used more often because it is too passive. For example, Creed (1997) argues that the use of computer-based presentations makes the teacher to be too focused. Kask (n.d.) and Parks (1999) suggested that the computer-based presentations make the students to take a nap in larger auditoriums, where the some of the lights in the auditorium have to be dimmed. Prior to lecture, if the lecture notes are provided to the students, students may show less interest in attending the class. Others feel that the PowerPoint offers the ability to provide more concentration to the students. For example, Stone (1999) argues that the discussion in the classroom is improved by the use of computer-based presentations. In the part of the presentation, the discussed questions can be displayed on the screen. Based on the students interaction and response, the students names and comments can also be projected in the presentation. Finally, these interactions and responses can then be printed or given to all students. He also discusses how the exercise and experiments given to the students can be facilitated by incorporating them in the presentations. It can also be argued that the students take less time for taking their notes, whereas the PowerPoint allows more time for interactive activities. Based on the controversy about PowerPoint and its usage, some studies have attempted to measure the impact of computer generated presentations on student performance. Overall, the results have been mixed. A Very few said that the PowerPoint presentations did not have an effect on the student performance, while others said that PowerPoint presentations enhances the student performance. Educational Technology The one of the oldest and most common forms of educational technology is chalkboard. Through chalkboard a current topic of discussion, points to be discussed, points to be noted, end result of the discussion, important issues to be remembered up to certain period of time, summaries of discussion and lines of reasoning. In olden days, the major medium of communication followed by professor to take lecture was chalk and blackboard (Frost Fukami, 1997). The use of pictures, tables, and charts on the chalkboard will add an advantage to the information publicly communicated. This way of delivering lecture is suppressed by the more expensive and sophiscated technologies such as the overhead projector, the video-tape player, the more interactive video-disc player, PowerPoint, computer for computer assisted learning and most interactive whiteboard (Ghrist et al, 2003). In colleges, nowadays several studies have emerged on the use of multimedia in classrooms. Professors are using these techn ologies in mixed and creative way to promote the most learning techniques for the students to satisfy their aims and needs (Thomas, 2009). Nowaczyk et al. (1988) observed that the student interest and awareness of relevancy of topics were enhanced by videos. The static media such as overhead projector contributed to better understanding of the material presented in that instance. Video (VHS or DVD) presentations were made the students to engage in business activities, news, stories, integrate theory, R D activities and new challenges in the workplace and all these activities provide higher value of entertainment than other technologies (Caudron, 1997; Salomon, 1984). In some cases, video presentations and watching videos on particular issue is interesting than other technologies (Fulk et al., 1995). Astleitner (2002) reported the studies concerned with critical thinking of teaching via web lectures. The informations in the audio recording lectures were greatly influenced than video recordings. Though, the difference between the two modalities in terms of retention was nil. During subjective evaluation, students showed better evaluations for audio recordings. Interactive whiteboard is the present educational technology makes the things easier for the teacher to include the presentation content in wider range such as images from the internet, graphs from the excel sheet, text from MS word. Apart from that, student and teacher annotations could be done on the objects. The one of the drawbacks of the Interactive whiteboards is cost. It is more expensive than conventional whiteboards, projector, and screen combination. Their surfaces can be damaged and quite often replacement is required. The negative perceptions of PowerPoint compared to other interactive presentation tool were reported by Wolfs (2007). In his comparison, the use of PowerPoint and electronic presentation tool were compared. Wolfs (2007) studied and compared the students interests in content and perception of pace over the course for 2nd years student. This was done by splitting the participants into two groups. The first group consists of 36 students and the duration was about 50 minutes lectures for each class. The instructor used PowerPoint to project the course content. The second group consists of same number of students and the classroom presenter was used. The classroom presenter is like PowerPoint slide presentation with more interactive features such as write on the digital screen with digital pen, connection can be performed between student and instructor, information can be shared between instructor and student system. Instructor has a laptop computer, whose monitor swivels, lays flat and a llows the user to write on the digital screen using digital pen (notepad). The PowerPoint in the laptop could able to utilize linking features. However, PowerPoint alone doesnt have these features. Hence the classroom presenter had greater impact on the survey results. To predict the difference between two methods, optional web-based post-class survey provided to the group. The advantage of classroom presenter is that it allows the instructor to interact with the device by digitally highlighting information and also have the features to write on the digital slide. Though, the difference in the result is not significant. However, out of 17%, 3% perceived attending lectures using classroom presenter to be more interesting. One of the speculations is that most of the students preferred the added interaction of classroom presenter. This may be cause for speculation of students interaction and instructor presence compared to effectiveness of any presentation tool (Cited in Kevin, 2008). Thomas, (2009), compared five teaching technologies approaches like Projector, PowerPoint, Video, the Internet, and Lecture. And the results are overlapping and merging together. Such as, video can be shown in PowerPoint and internet and PowerPoint slides through web. They also used projector screen as blackboard using black films. Hence, in natural teaching environment, it is difficult to segregate Lecture, Projector, PowerPoint, Video, or the Internet. However, it is believed that the cognitive abilities of the students can be used to focus these five teaching technologies individually. The separate general perceptions about use of each technology can also be provided (Thomas, 2009). In his study, integrated computer workstation used for lecture in all classrooms and the teaching materials were presented on the same large screen using projector, PowerPoint, Video (VHS or DVD), and the Internet. The PowerPoint slides were replaced with traditional overhead color transparencies for l ecture outlines and information. Students use internet effectively for business organization, to refer the links cited in the books, research journals, reports, papers, case studies etc. Apart from this, the current events, news and many other types of information are also accessed in the internet. Internet acts as a largest digital library tool for the instruction. The specific type of classroom presentation will not serve the students needs. Different technologies can be used for different learning objectives. Among all the education technologies, the Lecture and PowerPoint are less active and interesting and also boring than other different approaches. Still these the Lecture and PowerPoint technologies contribute to student performance. All technologies have their own characteristic strength and weakness. There is an urge to develop the practical impacts of these new available technologies on education and students (Thomas, 2009). USING TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM In some studies, it was mentioned that the PowerPoint presentation increases the students motivation and achievements in their lessons (Mantei 2000). In addition to that, most of the students mentioned that it helped them in taking notes and study for exam if instruction is provided in PowerPoint presentations (Noppe, 2007), and they prefer PowerPoint lectures to traditional lecture (Frey and Birnbaum, 2002). Researchers explored that the end-result of preparing PowerPoint presentations by the students are very limited. Gunel et al. (2006) compared the effectiveness of the students in writing summary report and preparing PowerPoint presentation about two units in physics lesson. In this particular case,It was observed that the students prepared the PowerPoint presentation scored significantly better than the students prepared summary report format. In another study, Marmienà © (2006) investigated the ability of the students in choosing the material and the content of PowerPoint pres entations on professional topics via the internet and also he investigated the students ability to prepare and deliver the presentation in front of the audience. As a result, it was mentioned and reported that preparing and delivering the material through PowerPoint presentation improved the students gaining skills in addition to listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. That is the use of such technologies is more time-efficient compared to traditional way of delivering the presentation i.e. using whiteboard or overhead transparency projector. Hence, more time can be given on interaction and instruction rather than using the traditional way (Mantei, 2000). Susskind (2005) taught two courses on Introduction to Psychology. In these courses, half of the courses, he taught with the help of PowerPoint and other half without PowerPoint presentations in a counterbalanced order across classes. Gradewise, there was no significant difference in student performance. However, the students performance has not increased in many courses that used multimedia presentations (Susskind Gurien, 1999; Szaba Hastings, 2000). In one of the studies, it was demonstrated that there was a decrease in student performance when the instructor switched from transparencies to PowerPoint (Bartlett, Cheng, Strough, 2000). Ahmed (1998) compared the two methods (overhead projector and PowerPoint) of information presentation. He observed very little difference in the performance on exams resulting from the use of these two methods. It was also indicated that that the difficulty of the lectures had a greater impact on the performance of the student than the use of PowerPoint itself. Szabo and Hastings (2000) presented three different lectures; first lecture with overhead transparencies; second lecture with PowerPoint; and third lecture with power point and handouts of the Power Point slides. All these lectures were tested for the same group of students in a physical education course. One week later, mock tests were conducted to the students. While there was no significant difference in grades between two tests on lectures delivered with PowerPoint, the grades from the two PowerPoint lectures were higher than the grades scored with the lecture provided with overhead transparencies. In 1995, Lowery (1999) taught Environment Science course through overhead transparencies. In 1996-1997, the same lecture was provided to the students with the help of Power Point. He found statistically significant differences on comparing the average test scores. The material taught in the year of 1996 and 1997 with the help of PowerPoint have higher average test scores than the course taught with overheads in the year of 1995. In the survey of Sazbo and Hasting (2000), 80% of the students felt that PowerPoint lectures were highly beneficial and that visual emphasis to recall the lecture material during the exam time. The presenters often highlight the main ideas and points with bullets. Based on this information, the audience members and students aware of the tips included in the presentation. In the latter stage, they may specially focus on the points presented in the slides and ignore the elaboration talk given by the speaker (Savoy, Proctor and Salvendy 2009). According to Savoy (2009), the use of PowerPoint, webcasts and podcasts have tremendously increased in university lectures to focus the students attendance and expose the student to the lecture material effectively. However, the easy way of preparation and distribution of information digitally does not always mapped to the enhanced student performance. In one of the interesting parallels with Susskind (2004), a traditional lecture format to a PowerPoint multimedia format has been compared. By doing this, they observed that students thought themselves to be equal and capable if they had learned from the format similar to the E-lectures in this study, as they were learned through traditional lectures. Paradoxically, these were not reflected their performance during exams. It also does not seem to be linked to the presence or absence of multimedia delivery. Using PowerPoint effectively Due to the presence of mixed results among the studies investigated relate to the beneficial effects of PowerPoint on performance, a new perspective fine-grained analysis is needed to assess the impact of delivery style on student performance (Susskind, 2005). All the above studies, did not investigate and concentrate the complexity of the presentations which is also one of the factor directly impacts the performance. For example, PowerPoint presentations can be written with simple text in single coloured screen. Presentations can also be made complex with tables, pictures, graphs, animation effects such as sound effects, visual effects, video clips. The effectiveness of PowerPoint and other multimedia presentations directly depends on the complexity of the presentation. However, several researchers have demonstrated that a few lectures include material which can reduce overall performance of PowerPoint presentations, such as irrelevant sounds (Moreno Mayer, 2000), clusters of text (Schraw, 1998), and irrelevant and unwanted pictures (Mayer, 2001, p. 113). According to Robert Kristi (2002), in the detailed PowerPoint presentations, the items which are relevant (e.g. most of the pictures), and not relevant (e.g. most of the sound effects) to the context were presented. The level of the performance is diminished because of the irrelevant items presented in the presentation. These irrelevant items detract the students concentration. It was also found that the graphics related to the context may be beneficial, and the graphics not related to the context not at all helpful in learning. Also, for a simple presentation, the graphics items are not necessary. But graphics items will be helpful for tedious, complex and difficult lectures. If the graphics items are desired, then the PowerPoint presentations should have the special features to accommodate them in an easy manner. It can be concluded, that the relevant items should only be given in the presentation. (Robert Kristi 2002) It is also worth to mention that some of the flexible features of PowerPoint such as colour, variation in font, image, dynamic model building, or multimedia capabilities bring the student attention close to the context. For digital lecturing, the student enthusiasm depends on the structured pattern of the PowerPoint presentation. Hence, the presenter or the instructor should follow a well-organised and structured pattern of the presentation. Susskind (2005) mentioned about the way of delivering the lecture styles that there is no difference on various styles of delivering the lecture. In his experiment; a mixed participant design and counterbalanced lecture format order were involved. This eliminated any confounding between delivery style and order. Apart from that, it reduced the potential cohort effects via within the subject comparisons. However, methodological issue regarding student assignment has not been carried out. Susskind observed that the students were not assigned random ly. The results of his experiments could be reflected the pre-existing conditions of academic ability, preparation and motivation. STUDENT PREFERANCE AND IMPACT IN COURES EVALUATION Besides evaluating the student performance based on the impact of computer-generated slides, several studies concentrated the perceptions of PowerPoint. For example, Daniels (1999) found that the three-quarters of the students in her analysis preferred PowerPoint presentation rather than chalkboard. Similarly Szabo and Hastings (2000) reported that 90% of the students thought that the PowerPoint lectures grabs more attention than the traditional lecture. Furthermore, 65% of the students in the study preferred PowerPoint and said that the PowerPoint lecture motivate the students to attend the class and 72 % of the students said that they prefer to see PowerPoint used in all courses. In the survey, there was an exception found in students of economics majors (612 students) at Radford University (Hashemzadeh and Wilson, 2007). In their study, students were asked to compare the course lecture provided with and without PowerPoint (not taught by the same professors). It was found that the majority of the students felt that they could able to understand lecture better because they felt more involvement and better interaction with the instructor in the sections taught with PowerPoint. The majority of students preferred courses taught with PowerPoint rather than courses taught without PowerPoint. Frey and Birnbaun (2002) found that the students preferred lectures using PowerPoint than those using chalkboard or whiteboard. They also perceived that the lecture is to be more structured and organized. In their study Students appreciated the advantages of PowerPoint, such as easy to read the slides, keeping the lecture on-track, enlivening the lecture by providing the combinations of pictures and more concise text. They also often criticised badly-prepared and poorly-presented lectures. In common, too much information provided on the single slide and slide was fully composed of similar words leading to boring rather than interesting. Students were less engaged for chalkboard or overhead transparencies techniques were used in delivering the lecture. (Frey and Birnbaun, 2002) Advantages The advantages of presenting lecture through PowerPoint presentations can be generalized as follows: Using the PowerPoint, the course content and the way of delivering the lecture could be framed properly (Nouri Shahid 2005). According to students, observing the lecture through PowerPoint presentations is quite interesting. Thus, giving lecture through PowerPoint presentations affect the students in positive way (Parks, 1999; Nouri Shahid, 2005; James, 2006; Atkins-Sayre et al 2006). In PowerPoint presentations, poor handwriting issues, decrease in visibility due to chalk, perennial issue of dirty blackboards (if blackboard were used for long time) were avoided. (Carlos, 2008) PowerPoint presentation enhances the students interest for attending the classes (James, 2006; Sugahara Boland, 2006 ). Through PowerPoint presentations, the learning capacity of the students is increased. (Harrison, 2006) According to Lowry (1999), after introducing the PowerPoint lecturer classes to first year environmental science course a remarkable improvement was observed in student performance and cognition. Because of PowerPoint presentations, time taken for the students in taking notes was reduced. Most of the students brought their PowerPoint slides printout to the classroom and annotate to them as required. (Carlos, 2008) Providing PowerPoint presentation classnotes to the students indicates a organised set of notes that allows students to transform into a detailed form without putting much effort on it. (Carlos, 2008) In some of the studies, it was found that supply of PowerPoint presentations along with student notes lead to achieve better performance and retention (Kiewra, 1985). It was also found that some studies show that segregating the notes from notes what students taken while observing can also lead to better retention (Aiken, 1975). Another big advantage of PowerPoint presentations is that the instructor can present a lot of material in single lecture such as giving concepts in problem solving, discussion, or review of articles in terms of class materials. Because of this students need not to dedicate more time in taking the elaborate class notes. (Carlos, 2008) Photos, videoclips and hyperlink for elaboarate discussion can be added in the PowerPoint presentation only.(Carlos, 2008) According to Young, 2004, it was proclaimed in one of the most public endorsements of PowerPoint that the students performance and learning experiences are enhanced by the use of multimedia. Students also mirrored this thought. Because the PowerPoint presentation enlighten a lecture with images, pictures that provide additional support to the key points and improved clarity to the texts compared to chalkboards (Young, 2004). And also, it is possible in PowerPoint presentation that the instructor can cover the previous class notes in a single slide to make the students to remember. (Carlos, 2008) Instructors indicated that PowerPoint can be used to update their lectures from time to time and believe that PowerPoint presentation is a valuable tool that help to organize the class notes. (Schwartz, 2005) Disadvantages The disadvantages of presenting lecture through PowerPoint presentations can be generalized as follows: One of the major disadvantages is that instructor has to spend more time in preparing the notes and relevant pictures from the World Wide Web and place the pictures, graphs or tables in the appropriate place. .(Kristi,2003) Most of the lecture presentation will be reused subsequently for next batch students with less time effort. This initial time taken for preparing the presentation by the faculty member is reasonably considered as major disadvantage.(Kristi,2003) From the study by Dudley (2006), it was observed that the electronic presentations were disliked. The main reasons were given; hard copies of the class notes were not given, through presentation lot of material could be covered, complicated pictures and diagram were provided, lectures were delivered very quickly. The additional material had to be added in the PowerPoint presentation notes to reinforce it. (Carlos, 2008) Using chalkboard or a whiteboard in the classroom allows more time in spending a single topic. This gives natural pauses and provides delays in the presentation and discussion before moving to next topic. (Carlos, 2008) Opposition of PowerPoint notes is that the structure of PowerPoint lecture commands a degree of linearity that may creates artificial misguiding hierarchies of informations provided in the lecture (Tuft, 2003), hierarchical organization of content is to be removed (Doumont, 2005), and discourages the chances to redirect or expand upon the delivered points (Schwartz, 2005). Besides adherence usage of pre-designed template, PowerPoint urge to use bullets, which convey the message in detrimental or effective way (Boehle, 2006, Tufte, 2003 Mayer, 2004).Edward Tufte (2003), claimed that the bullets lead to gross generalization, inaccurate logical and superficial reasoning and more often leads to indifferent conclusions. Hanft (2003) also supported that the PowerPoint presentation depress the discussion. Most of the students have positive opinions about the instructors in terms of PowerPoint presentation. Some of the students were complained that instructors used too much text and pictures and information in the slides and makes the slides to be clumsy manner, because of this the material in the slides were difficult to see (Doumont, 2005; Young, 2004). One student at Connecticut College said that her professor would write too long sentences or complete sentence in the PowerPoint slides, rather which she would then read. Because of that the information presented in the slides were become complicated and convoluted (Young, 2004). Further, some of the instructors

Ethical Issues in Randomized Control Trials

Ethical Issues in Randomized Control Trials PROBLEM 1 A research team is conducting a Randomized Control Trial of a new drug to treat the common symptom of the Ebola virus (fever) over the past six (6) months. The experimental group consisted of female Ebola patients aged between 30 and 50 years to whom the new drug was administered. The control group consisted of male Ebola patients aged between 70 and 80 years. To this control group placebo, a substance that resembles medicine superficially and is believed by the patient to be medicine but that has no medicinal value was administered. Discuss ethical issues associated with this research design? Ebola virus disease also as (EVD) is a highly infectious and contaminating disease which has recently killed thousands especially in West African. This disease is a severe and most often fatal illness in humans. The Research design used Randomized Control Trial, however it does not state how it was able calculate the RCT sample size. The years in age of women and men are listed but we do not know how many participants the experiment had. This research conducted random sampling, was the randomization truly â€Å"random,† or are there really are two populations being studied here. It is very difficult to come up with two randomized age groups of men and women. As stated above Ebola is a very dangerous disease and one of the ethical issues in research is that vulnerable groups should not be used unless benefits outweigh the damages, the age group of men between 70-80yrs fall in that category as elderly. This research design would have been giving this vulnerable group a placebo m edicines (dumpy) to this group over a period of 6 months. How many individuals would have been lost to this fatal killer disease? The declaration of Helsinki states that in any medical study, every patient including those of a control group, if any should be assured of the best proven diagnostic and therapeutic method. The controlled group where not assumed of this, placebo control trials are justified when it comes to testing a new product like hair removing creams which has no permanent damage, with severe illness this cannot be acceptable .illness that are fatal and highly contagious when with a placebo control is not justifiable with Ebola because without any medical intervention they will die. The study design also shows large evidence of both allocation and performance bias, in a sense the women that were selection to the intervention group were specifically chosen to be in the intervention group, due to the fact that they will perform better, by facilitating quick and desirab le recovery compared to the elderly men whom their bodies cannot respond with the same efficiency. Lastly some of these elderly men are Husbands, Dads, Granddads, brothers of other people countless family will suffer endlessly over 6 months, whilst their relative is not getting any help at all. What modifications would you suggest on the research design in future? There is never a single way to follow when it comes to research, however they are research design which are more suitable and permit the evidence obtained to answer the initial question as explicitly as possible. In future I would use I would use Time series design. This is due to the fact that Time series design allows each participant to receive an intervention over a period of time and results are measured before and after any intervention. Hence reducing the fatality that are associated with Ebola but also making it less contagious if the medication is being effective. Another change I would introduce is to remove the placebo medication, one cannot be comparing a drug efficiency to a dumpy Placebo, and if it is a new medication then it will have to be compared to other similar drugs to assess its effectiveness instead of nothing, whilst humans are dying and others getting contaminated within that 6 months. Another change would be for the research not to use vulnerable elderly as the control group, hence using adolescent and young adult sample population, since they would give a clearer indication to the efficiency of the new drug. Lastly I would calculate a large enough sample size to increase the findings internal and external validity. Due to Ebola being fatal a sample size would help, by clarifying the total fatalities experience but most important the number of patients cured. PROBLEM 2 One of the leading causes of fast spread of HIV and AIDS in Africa is poverty particularly income poverty that forces unmarried women and girls to indulge in prostitution. In January2005, the IMF/World Bank designed a 10-year micro-finance targeting 1000 prostitutes. The aim of the project was to see a significant drop in the number of women or girls who indulge in this malpractice. To be registered as a beneficiary, interested women and girls were required submitted an application and pay a processing fee of MK500. A total of 2500 applications were received at the close of the deadline. To identify project beneficiaries, it was decided that a lottery be conducted and that all applicants be invited to witness the draw. After selecting the beneficiaries (i.e., treated group), a random draw was also conducted to select non-beneficiaries (i.e., control group). Discuss ethical issues associated with this research design? Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). AIDS develops from infection with HIV (human immunodeficiency Virus), which attacks the immune system and disables a person’s defenses against other diseases, including infections and certain cancers. This research used Random selection to find the 1000 participants it wanted to induct into the micro-finance program .Firstly the time frame of the project, the project was meant to run for 10 years and considering that this will have been an observation study design a lot of things can happen within the 10 years, which will affect the internal Validity of the findings. Secondly this Research design asked participants to pay for the application ,a sum of K500 which would total up to K1,250,000 million for the 2500 applicants. Research ethics prohibits payments that can potentially cause pressure, bribes and economic social disadvantages. Therefore many individuals who really need the help would have been excluded, subsequently them havi ng inability to source out the K500.It is also unethical asking money from a poverty group who happens to practice prostitution, they will engage in this malpractice to raise that K500, leading to the project not trying to stop prostitution but encouraging it on the other hand. Research designs have to respect the privacy and confidentiality of participants at all times. Conducting a Lottery where everyone is invited and dividing the treatment and control groups of prostitutes in front of a congregation hampers privacy and confidentiality ethics, this sort of exposure can result into the applicants looked down upon by community members. What modifications would you suggest on the research design in future? When it comes to payments, Research ethics promotes that participants should be suitably compensated for any expenses, compensated for effort, time or lost income, and acknowledged for their contribution.in total this research raised K1,250,000 million. The suitability of this money is not justifiable since IMF bank will actually be spending huge amounts monthly to sustain this project. I would remove this application fee so that its open to every suitable candidate without having financial hinders. The applicants were unmarried women and girls, I think that the focus should have been different since these are different age groups. The women can be put on the micro-financing plan whist the girls can be given a different option to continue on with education and the money directed towards their fees. To expand on that it would be better to teach the participants to fish rather than give them fish every time for 10 years, since when the project stops they will go back and continue with their malpractices (prostitution) .However if you can teach some of the women income generating activities and education for the girls then they will be able to become dependent and stop the prostitution altogether. This is known as transformative participatory monitoring and evaluation. Another change that I would install is the time span of the projects 10 years is a lot of time, I would change the Research design to Randomized Control Trial with Crossover design. This would allow all 2500 participants to partake, thus not having any control groups, but time sequence when they would be receiving the money, hence follow ups can be conducted to what the individuals are capable of with and without benefits. Futuristic speaking, I would change the design of the selecting process of the 2 groups, a Lottery selection were everyone is invited would be cancelled and conduct an expert panel to assess economic, social and health status of the applicants. Decisions would be made and benefici aries awarded to the real needy ones. REFERENCES Kazdin, A.E. (2010).Single-Case Research Designs: Methods for Clinical and Applied Settings, 2nd edition. New York: Oxford University Press. Millum,J Grady C. (2013) The ethics of placebo-controlled trials: methodological justifications.. Contemp Clin Trials.36(2):510-4 Rothman KJ, Michels KB: The continuing unethical use of placebo controls.N Engl J Med331:394–398,1994

Listening Skills :: Communication

CLOSE LISTENING According to scholars in the field of listening, â€Å"Listening is the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages" (qtd in Thompson, et al. 1994). While we may feel that we are already good listeners, we are also aware that sometimes our attention wanders, we space out completely, or we lose track of a speaker because we begin thinking about our own ideas. By asking you to practice listening, we are not suggesting that you are not a good listener already, but that by thinking about listening -- what qualities make a good listener, the various kinds of listening roles we play, and the personal challenges we have in effective listening – and doing some listening exercises, you’ll maintain the listening skills you have and perhaps develop new ones. Getting Started (Class 1) 1. First, working in groups of 4 or 5, generate a list of 8 qualities that good listeners have. These might include both visible and non-visible items. 2. Next, create a list of 8 things that can get in the way of ones ability to listen fully and effectively. For example, what kind of environments are best for listening? What kinds of emotional states make it harder to listen accurately? 3. Next, think about the different kinds of listening people engage in; what roles do listeners play from day to day? 4. Finally, come together as a class and compile a master list of your group’s findings. The â€Å"What I heard† Exercise (Class 2) Because a big part of engaged listening involves giving feedback to a speaker, sometimes we have to be able to both listen and think simultaneously. While focusing too much on our own thoughts can get in the way of effective listening, making simple connections to explore later can be very useful. In this exercise, you will listen to your classmates describe the main points from their Close-Reading papers (from Assignment One), and follow-up with a segue to your own paper. 1. First, one person says what passage his or her Close Reading is about and either reads all of it or an excerpt aloud. 2. Next, that person tells the class about the main points of his or her Close Reading, using the Close Reading paper as notes. 3. At this point, anyone whose passage is similar (some may even have identical passages) or raises similar issues, enters the conversation with an affirmation that he or she has heard the previous speaker by saying something like, â€Å"What I heard you say is †¦Ã¢â‚¬  followed by the link that the student sees between his or her own paper and the paper of the previous speaker. Listening Skills :: Communication CLOSE LISTENING According to scholars in the field of listening, â€Å"Listening is the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages" (qtd in Thompson, et al. 1994). While we may feel that we are already good listeners, we are also aware that sometimes our attention wanders, we space out completely, or we lose track of a speaker because we begin thinking about our own ideas. By asking you to practice listening, we are not suggesting that you are not a good listener already, but that by thinking about listening -- what qualities make a good listener, the various kinds of listening roles we play, and the personal challenges we have in effective listening – and doing some listening exercises, you’ll maintain the listening skills you have and perhaps develop new ones. Getting Started (Class 1) 1. First, working in groups of 4 or 5, generate a list of 8 qualities that good listeners have. These might include both visible and non-visible items. 2. Next, create a list of 8 things that can get in the way of ones ability to listen fully and effectively. For example, what kind of environments are best for listening? What kinds of emotional states make it harder to listen accurately? 3. Next, think about the different kinds of listening people engage in; what roles do listeners play from day to day? 4. Finally, come together as a class and compile a master list of your group’s findings. The â€Å"What I heard† Exercise (Class 2) Because a big part of engaged listening involves giving feedback to a speaker, sometimes we have to be able to both listen and think simultaneously. While focusing too much on our own thoughts can get in the way of effective listening, making simple connections to explore later can be very useful. In this exercise, you will listen to your classmates describe the main points from their Close-Reading papers (from Assignment One), and follow-up with a segue to your own paper. 1. First, one person says what passage his or her Close Reading is about and either reads all of it or an excerpt aloud. 2. Next, that person tells the class about the main points of his or her Close Reading, using the Close Reading paper as notes. 3. At this point, anyone whose passage is similar (some may even have identical passages) or raises similar issues, enters the conversation with an affirmation that he or she has heard the previous speaker by saying something like, â€Å"What I heard you say is †¦Ã¢â‚¬  followed by the link that the student sees between his or her own paper and the paper of the previous speaker.