U.S. Government Shutdown Negotations (Past and Present) Research Paper

U.S. Government Shutdown Negotations (Past and Present) - Research Paper Example It is the absence of a consensus on the budget and the consequent inability to pass the appropriations bill before the October 1 deadline that creates an impasse and leads to a government shutdown (Kosar, 2004, p.2). When the government is forced to shutdown as a result of this, only the essential government services are allowed to operate (Kosar, 2004, p.2). Even the employees of these essential services will be sometimes forced to work without pay. The overall result of a shutdown will be that almost all governmental functioning will come to a standstill and the government employees will be left in wild, frustrated without pay. As the opposition party most often causes a shutdown, as against the budget plans of the ruling President, the opposition party will be held in the public eye as responsible for a shutdown. But the public will also criticize the unwillingness of the President to accept the reasonable suggestions made by the opposition, on certain occasions. So a shutdown can dim the electoral prospects of both the ruling party and the opposition and above all make the lives of the people miserable. In order to avert such consequences, negotiations get underway before and after shutdowns. These negotiations are good examples to the application of major negotiation theories, understanding which; the efficiency of such negotiations can be qualitatively enhanced in the future. Negotiation theories Though there are different strategies based on different theories regarding negotiation, the negotiation practitioners usually are found to use a mix of more than one theory (Adams, 2003, p.55). Broadly negotiation theories can be categorized as â€Å"cooperative or competitive† (Adams, 2003, p.55). Usually the tactics adopted could be a negotiation process beginning with a problem-solving interest-based approach and concluding with the competitive positional approach (Adams, 2003, p.55). This is what is called an integrative approach (Adams, 2003, p.55). The advantage of this approach is that in the beginning of negotiations, an amicable atmosphere for the very process of negotiation is created through the cooperative interventions included in the problem-solving interest-based approach. Once the trust of both parties has been acquired in this manner, then the negotiator can easily move on to a more competitive attitude (Adams, 2003, p.55). This is particularly helpful in dealing with negotiations between continuous relationships (Adams, 2003, p.55). Competitive positional negotiation In competitive positional negotiation, the negotiator makes the party to believe that he/she is â€Å"working vigorously on their behalf† (Adams, 2003, p.37). By this strategy, the negotiator wins the trust of the party and this trust is what helps the negotiator in a later stage to convince the party that a cooperative approach has to be adopted (Adams, 2003, p.37). But as far as the competitive positional negotiation is going on there is no sc ope for accepting the other party’s viewpoints or demands. This is because, the party already takes a position and he/she also believes that one is competitive enough to win that position. Hence the party does not feel a need for cooperation. Problem-solving interest-based negotiation. The problem-solving interest-based negotiation is more flexible and with a commitment to resolve the problem and protect the interests of both parties as far as possible. The most important aspect

Human Growth and Development Essay Example for Free

Human Growth and Development Essay Human development is marked by different stages and milestones over the lifespan. It is expressed over three domains: physical, cognitive and socio/emotional. While human physical and cognitive development is universal, socio/emotional definitions and development vary from culture to culture. Gaining a basic knowledge of human lifespan development will lead to a better understanding of the appearance, perceptions and behaviors of the self and others. Adolescence is a demanding and critical period in life. Failure to meet certain developmental milestones can have serious short- and long-term implications for the individual and society at large. Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and psychological human development generally occurring during the period from puberty to legal adulthood (age of majority). The period of adolescence is most closely associated with the teenage years, although its physical, psychological and cultural expressions can begin earlier and end later. For example, although puberty has been historically associated with the onset of adolescent development, it now typically begins prior to the teenage years and there have been a normative shift of it occurring in preadolescence, particularly in females. Physical growth, as distinct from puberty (particularly in males), and cognitive development generally seen in adolescence, can also extend into the early twenties. Thus chronological age provides only a rough marker of adolescence, and scholars have found it difficult to agree upon a precise definition of adolescence. A thorough understanding of adolescence in society depends on information from various perspectives, most importantly from the areas of psychology, biology, history, sociology, education, and anthropology. Within all of these perspectives, adolescence is viewed as a transitional period between childhood and adulthood whose cultural purpose is the preparation of children for adult roles. Stages of Human Development The various stages of human development include the prenatal period, infancy, toddlerhood, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood and late adulthood. Each stage is marked by milestones in physical, cognitive, and socio/emotional development. 1. Physical Development Physical development has to do with the way that the human body develops over a lifespan. The most rapid and complex human development occurs during the prenatal period. From infancy to early childhood, the physical milestones include developing motor skills like learning to control body movements, walk, talk, speak, use tools like spoons and forks and use the rest room. From infancy to early childhood, humans grow in height, weight and mass and get their first set of teeth. Middle childhood has only a few physical milestones, such as continued growth at a much slower rate and the gain of permanent teeth. Adolescence is the second most rapid and complex time of human development and is when the sexual maturation process begins. Females begin to grow breasts, their hips expand and they grow pubic hair and begin menstruation, which marks their physical ability to procreate. They may grow a few inches more in height. Males have significant growth spurts and develop facial and pubic hair, their voices deepen and they begin to have sperm-producing ejaculations, signifying their ability to procreate. Young adulthood is when humans are at the prime of their physical development. All of the systems are functioning optimally, making this the best time for reproduction. Middle adulthood brings the beginning of physical deterioration, such as the end of fertility in women, or menopause. The decrease in physical abilities and health for both sexes continues through late adulthood . 2. Cognitive Development Cognitive development has to do with the way humans perceive and experience the world and deals with issues like memory, thinking and decision-making processes and concept comprehension. During the prenatal period, cognitive development is highly enveloped in physical development as the primary tool for cognition; the brain is still being developed. During infancy and early childhood, milestones like speaking, comprehension and object differentiation occur. Thoughts about the world are simplistic, and judgments are made in an either/or framework. Middle childhood brings the beginning of concrete and logical thinking, and adolescence brings about a phase where cognitive judgments are often overridden by feelings and impulses because of the bodys rapidly changing physical and biological climate. Young adulthood is the human cognitive prime, as the capacity for rapid and accurate memory, thought processing and information analysis function at peak levels. Perceptions of the world, judgment and morality become more sophisticated and complex. During middle adulthood, humans are experts at problem solving, although they begin to experience some signs of decline with speed in processing and recall. Late adulthood signifies the continued deterioration of cognitive abilities. Theoretical perspectives There are two perspectives on adolescent thinking. One is the constructivist view of cognitive development. Based on the work of Piaget, it takes a quantitative, state-theory approach, hypothesizing that adolescents cognitive improvement is relatively sudden and drastic. The second is the information-processing perspective, which derives from the study of artificial intelligence and attempts to explain cognitive development in terms of the growth of specific components of the thinking process. Improvements in cognitive ability By the time individuals have reached age 15 or so, their basic thinking abilities are comparable to those of adults. These improvements occur in five areas during adolescence: 1. Attention. Improvements are seen in selective attention, the process by which one focuses on one stimulus while tuning out another. Divided attention, the ability to pay attention to two or more stimuli at the same time, also improves. 2. Memory. Improvements are seen in both working memory and long-term memory. 3. Processing speed. Adolescents think more quickly than children. Processing speed improves sharply between age five and middle adolescence; it then begins to level off at age 15 and does not appear to change between late adolescence and adulthood. 4. Organization. Adolescents are more aware of their own thought processes and can use mnemonic devices and other strategies to think more efficiently. 5. Meta-cognition It often involves monitoring one’s own cognitive activity during the thinking process. Adolescents’ improvements in knowledge of their own thinking patterns lead to better self-control and more effective studying. 3. Socio/Emotional Development Socio/emotional development has to do with how an individual is able to handle emotions, relationships, social situations, and the various roles demanded of them by society. Some aspect of Socio/Emotional standards, such as social expectations, relationships, and roles vary from culture to culture. During infancy and early childhood, the primary relationships are with the parents and based on attachment. Environmental exploration, impulsivity, differentiation of self (from others) and the basics of social interaction are learnt. In early childhood, impulsivity begins to give way to control, and awareness of consequences significantly affects behavioral choices. Middle childhood begins the transition from family orientation to peer orientation, which carries on into adolescence. Issues of identify, sexuality and sexual expression, conflict and resolution and internal stability prevail. By young adulthood, the focus shifts from peers to career, social role, building external stability, finding a mate and starting a family. Middle adulthood is met with the psychological and emotional challenges of facing the mid-life crisis, and a life analysis and inventory is taken. Late adulthood marks the transition from the mid-life crisis. Life reflection, acceptance of death, and legacy building or making social contributions also occur at this phase. I. Identity development Among the most common beliefs about adolescence is that it is the time when teenagers form their personal identities. Egocentrism is being performed by adolescents who then form self-consciousness of wanting to feel important in their peer groups and having social acceptance of fitting into the group. Empirical studies suggest that this process might be more accurately described as identity development, rather than formation, but confirms a normative process of change in both content and structure of ones thoughts about the self. Researchers have used three general approaches to understanding identity development: self-concept, sense of identity, and self-esteem. The years of adolescence create a more conscientious group of young adults. Adolescents pay close attention and give more time and effort to their appearance as their body goes through changes. Unlike children, teens put forth an effort to look presentable (1991). The environment in which an adolescent grows up also plays an important role in their identity development. II. Self Concept Early in adolescence, cognitive developments result in greater self-awareness, greater awareness of others and their thoughts and judgments, the ability to think about abstract, future possibilities, and the ability to consider multiple possibilities at once. As a result, adolescents experience a significant shift from the simple, concrete, and global self-descriptions typical of young children; as children, they defined themselves with physical traits whereas as adolescents, they define themselves based on their values, thoughts and opinions. III. Sense of identity Unlike the conflicting aspects of self-concept, identity represents a coherent sense of self stable across circumstances and including past experiences and future goals. Everyone has a self-concept, whereas Erik Erikson argued that not everyone fully achieves identity. Erikson’s theory of stages of development includes the identity crisis in which adolescents must explore different possibilities and integrate different parts of themselves before committing to their beliefs. He described the resolution of this process as a stage of identity achievement but also stressed that the identity challenge is never fully resolved once and for all at one point in time. Adolescents begin by defining themselves based on their crowd membership. Clothes help teens explore new identities, separate from parents, and bond with peers. Fashion has played a major role when it comes to teenagers finding their selves; Fashion is always evolving, which corresponds with the evolution of change in the personality of teenagers. IV. Environment and identity An adolescents environment plays a huge role in their identity development. While most adolescent studies are conducted on white, middle class children, studies have shown that the more privileged upbringing one has the more successful they will be in the development of their identity. The forming of an adolescents identity is a crucial time in their life. It has been recently found that demographic patterns suggest that the transition to adulthood is now occurring over a longer span of years than was the case during the middle of the 20th century. Accordingly, youth, a period that spans late adolescence and early adulthood, has become a more prominent stage of the life course. This therefore has caused various factors to become important during this development. So many factors contribute to the developing social identity of an adolescent from commitment, to coping devices, to social media. All of these factors are affected by the environment an adolescent grows up in. A child from a more privileged upbringing will be exposed to more opportunities as well as better situations in general. An adolescent from an inner city or a crime driven neighborhood is more likely to be exposed to an environment that can be detrimental to their development. Adolescence is a very sensitive period in the development process of ones life and exposure to the wrong things at that time can have a major affect on decisions someone will make. While children that grow up in nice suburban communities are not exposed to bad environments they are more likely to participate in activities that can benefit their identity and contribute to a more successful identity development. V. Sexual orientation and identity Sexual orientation has been defined as an erotic inclination toward people of one or more genders, most often described as sexual or erotic attractions. In recent years, psychologists have sought to understand how sexual orientation develops during adolescence. Some theorists believe that there are many different possible developmental paths one could take, and that the specific path an individual follows may be determined by their sex, orientation, and when they reached the onset of puberty. VI. Self-esteem The final major aspect of identity formation is self-esteem, ones thoughts and feelings about one’s self-concept and identity. Contrary to popular belief, there is no empirical evidence for a significant drop in self-esteem over the course of adolescence. Barometric self-esteem fluctuates rapidly and can cause severe distress and anxiety, but baseline self-esteem remains highly stable across adolescence. Girls are most likely to enjoy high self-esteem when engaged in supportive relationships with friends; the most important function of friendship to them is having someone who can provide social and moral support. When they fail to win friends approval or couldnt find someone with whom to share common activities and common interests, in these cases, girls will suffer from low self-esteem. In contrast, boys are more concerned with establishing and asserting their independence and defining their relation to authority. As such, they are more likely to derive high self-esteem from their ability to successfully influence their friends; on the other hand, the lack of romantic competence, for example, failure to win or maintain the affection of the opposite or same-sex (depending on sexual orientation), is the major contributor to low self-esteem in adolescent boys. ECONOMIC CRISES CAN HAVE SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Financial crises, at both the global and the national level, are ubiquitous. This raises concern about the human impacts of crises, especially among more vulnerable populations in developing countries. This is particularly true during childhood and youth, when the brain is developing rapidly, and when socio-emotional and behavioral developments are at their peak. Given the cumulative nature of human development, shortfalls or setbacks at any stage of the life course—from the antenatal environment through adolescence—are often difficult to reverse later in life and may have severe consequences for individual development as well as for the growth and development of successful communities. Thus, it is essential to protect and promote human development in the face of adversity. Three interrelated concepts provide the foundation for understanding the potential impacts of shocks on children and youth. a) Timing: Human development is characterized by critical periods of life during which certain investments must be made to facilitate the achievement of specific milestones in development, or stage salient developmental tasks. These age-related expectations for the mastery of particular tasks provide benchmarks for the abilities that an individual should ideally master by different ages, and that are correlated with successful development and transition to subsequent stages in life. Economic crises can disrupt a young person’s â€Å"normal† development by preventing or delaying the mastery of these developmental tasks at specific stages, which—if uncorrected—can have potential long term consequences. b) Context: Development in childhood and youth is influenced by diverse contexts or settings (family, peers, schools, communities, socio-cultural belief systems, policy regimes, and the economy). The relative importance of these settings changes during the life course. Interactions among these settings determine both the transmission of shocks such as a financial crisis to the young person’s immediate environment and the impact of the shock on her development. As development is partly a function of a person’s repeated interactions with her immediate environment (the proximal processes of human development), shocks can disrupt the contexts in which these processes occur, and hinder a young person’s ability to develop successfully. c) Transmission mechanisms: There are numerous pathways through which a crisis can affect the well-being and development of a young person. Crises may be experienced directly at the individual level (through e.g. a change in aspirations and identity), or indirectly through the family, school, or other settings (through e.g. increased parental stress, parental job loss, a reduction in publicly-provided services). The developing person will experience crises through the loss in income, but also through other channels, such as psychological distress. The relevance of each particular transmission mechanism varies depending on the life stage of the person as well as on the context. Different settings may provide protective factors that prevent, mitigate or attenuate negative impacts; these factors can be a source of resilience, facilitating positive adaptive behavior on the part of the developing person. Effects of economic crises on adolescents Adolescence is a crucial stage in a person’s development. Adolescence is marked by profound physical, emotional, and social transitions; the brain undergoes significant neurological development, and cognitive and socio-emotional abilities take shape. While social expectations of the precise timing of certain transitions vary across countries and cultures, all adolescents are eventually expected to make the transition to adulthood, including entering work, becoming financially independent, and starting a family. Adapting to these new roles and successfully managing this transition requires the mastery of three interrelated stage-salient tasks: 3 a. Autonomy and relatedness: As young people mature, they renegotiate their relationships with parents, peers, teachers, and other adults. Settings outside the family, such as the workplace, become increasingly important. Young people must achieve greater personal and financial independence while maintaining positive relationships with parents and other adults. b. Identity: The process of growing more autonomous and defining one’s role in society requires that adolescents establish personal and vocational preferences and aspirations. c. Goal setting and achievement: The ability to define goals and plan and act strategically provides the foundation for subsequent growth and development. ECONOMIC CRISES CAN IMPAIR HEALTHY ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT Crises affect the opportunities and support structures available to adolescents to develop the cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral competencies needed to master the stage-salient tasks. In particular, crises can lead to: i) Limited and unpredictable employment opportunities: Youth employment tends to be more vulnerable to economic crises than adult employment. Young people are often engaged in temporary and unprotected work—such as seasonal, temporary, and part-time jobs—or in sectors particularly vulnerable to economic fluctuations, such as construction. By constraining employment opportunities, as well as the availability of other entry points into the labor market, such as internships and apprenticeships, economic shocks affect the process of acquiring necessary skills, work experience, and achieving financial autonomy. Worsening labor market conditions can also affect adolescents’ expectations, vocational identity, and personal goals, as the context and perceived likelihood of achieving them may change dramatically. ii) Loss of parental employment and income, and deterioration of family dynamics: The threat or realization of losing income or assets can lead to anxiety among parents, which is then transmitted to adolescents throug h parents’ emotions and behaviors. For example, the quality of parenting can be negatively affected, impairing the development of adolescents’ autonomy and ability to form relationships. Impaired family dynamics are linked to mental health problems and heightened incidence of risky behaviors. Research also shows that adolescents who perceive economic stress within their families have lower self-expectations for the future. iii) Changes in the availability of adult role models outside the family: Crises may not only affect intra family dynamics, but also the availability of and interactions with positive role models in the school or community. Lower public expenditure can adversely affect the quality as well as quantity of schooling, while supervised extracurricular activities and out-of-school programs are often discontinued. These reduce the availability of positive adult mentoring relationships, restricting the support and guidance available to adolescents in mastering their developmental tasks. In addition to these disruptions in their immediate environment, adolescents are more aware than younger children of the impact of shocks on socioeconomic status, and they may perceive economic pressures and stigma more directly. This can lead to additional difficulties with psychosocial adjustment, and influence their self-esteem, identity, future orientation, and efficacy beliefs. THE FAILURE TO MASTER CRITICAL TASKS CAN HAVE NEGATIVE IMPLICATIONS FOR ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT. Failure to achieve stage-salient developmental tasks can jeopardize other life outcomes. Although there is considerable heterogeneity across individuals, crises can have particularly negative consequences in the following areas: a) Schooling Employment: Contrary to the experience of idiosyncratic shocks, such as parental job loss, there is no compelling evidence that young people leave school during aggregate crises to work and support the household. Young people have fewer job opportunities in a crisis; this decreases the perceived returns to entering the labor market relative to remaining in school. On the other hand, diminished opportunities for employment can severely affect those young people who do try to enter the labor market. Early un- and underemployment is known to have serious long-term effects on future employment and lifetime income, and these young people often fail to catch up when the economy rebounds. b) Mental health: By altering their relationships, identity, and goals for the future, unexpected life events can affect adolescents’ physical and mental health. Difficulty in the labor market may lead to hopelessness and lower self-esteem, especially for young people who are in the process of forming occupational identities. In fact, unemployment experienced at early ages is associated with stress, depression, and illness later in life. Mental health problems during youth can also lead to lower educational achievement, increased substance abuse, violence, and risky sexual behavior. c) Risky behavior: Economic adversity and its effects on the adolescent and her immediate environment may lead to greater risk taking, although this response is by no means universal. Crises can diminish the quality of parenting, which in turn may increase the likelihood for delinquency among youth. Similarly, stress and mental health problems have been associated with risky sexual activity. But while young people who experience severe stress are more prone to substance abuse, an income shock that decreases disposable income can decrease the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. Significance Having some knowledge about human lifespan development is beneficial for many reasons. It increases self-awareness and understanding, which helps with life planning. If a female is aware of the stages of her physical development, for example, she will know that her natural childbearing years are limited. If she wants to have children, she can use family planning to make choices about her education, career and mate to support this goal. Additionally, this knowledge can be helpful for improving relationships and interpersonal communication and resolving conflicts. Conclusion Human development is marked by different stages and milestones over the lifespan. It is expressed over three domains: physical, cognitive and socio/emotional. While human physical and cognitive development is universal, socio/emotional definitions and development vary from culture to culture. Gaining a basic knowledge of human lifespan development will lead to a better understanding of the appearance, perceptions and behaviors of the self and others. Physical development has to do with the way that the human body develops over a lifespan. The most rapid and complex human development occurs during the prenatal period. From infancy to early childhood, the physical milestones include developing motor skills like learning to control body movements, walk, talk, speak, use tools like spoons and forks and use the rest room. From infancy to early childhood, humans grow in height, weight and mass and get their first set of teeth. Cognitive development has to do with the way humans perceive and experience the world and deals with issues like memory, thinking and decision-making processes and concept comprehension. During the prenatal period, cognitive development is highly enveloped in physical development as the primary tool for cognition; the brain is still being developed. Socio/emotional development has to do with how an individual is able to handle emotions, relationships, social situations, and the various roles demanded of them by society. Some aspect of Socio/Emotional standards, such as social expectations, relationships, and roles vary from culture to culture. REFERENCE 1. Human Development, Diane E. Papalia, 9th edition 2. Boyd, D., and Bee, H., (2006). Lifespan Development, Fourth Edition. Boston, MA. Pearson Education, Inc. 3. Chassin, L., A. Hussong, and A. Beltran. 2009. â€Å"Adolescent Substance Use.† In Handbook of Adolescent Psychology. 3rd ed., Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.; Lundberg, P. et al. 2011. â€Å"Poor Mental Health and Sexual Risk Behaviours in Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Population-Based Study.† BMC Public Health 11 (125): 1–10 4. Bell, D., and D. Blanchflower. 2010. â€Å"Young People and Recession: A Lost Generation?† Working Paper. Dartmouth College. 5. See for example Duryea, S., and M. Morales. 2011. â€Å"Effects of the Global Financial Crisis on Children’s School and Employment Outcomes in El Salvador.† Development 6. Policy Review 29 (5): 527–46.; Scarpetta, S., A. Sonnet, and T. Manfredi. 2010. â€Å"Rising Youth Unemployment during the Crisis: How to Prevent Negative 7. Long-Term Consequences on a Generation.† Social, Employme nt, and Migration Working Paper 106, OECD: Paris. 8. Carlson, N. R., Heth, C. (2010). Psychologythe science of behaviour, fourth Canadian edition [by] Neil R. Carlson, C. Donald Heth. Toronto: Pearson. 9. Steinberg, L. (2008). Adolescence, 8th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. 10. American Psychological Association (APA). United States Department of Health and Human Services. 11. Carlson, Neil R. (2010). Psychology: the science of behaviour. Toronto, Ontario: Pearson Education Canada.

The Meaning of Doctrine of the Trinity in Christianity and Islam Essays

THE MEANING OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY IN CHRISTAINITY AND ISLAM The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most difficult aspects of Christian life. Some people may look at it at a glance, believing that such study will encourage them in their faith and there believes. Others are concerned about the Islamic believe of the doctrine of the Trinity, which make it trinithesim. For a monotheistic religion like Islam, Christian and Hindi, it is both improper and not ideological to believe in any idea of three gods. In Christianity the doctrine of the Trinity accepts that God is one which implies that God, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one, He exists as three persons: Jesus Christ the son revealed himself as the Father in some passage in the Bible, and the Holy Spirit, the bond of love between Jesus and the father. The concept of the holy Trinity for many centuries has serious conflict in defining it from different religions and scholar. Christians believe in the Trinity, and also a Christian believes in God the father God the son and God the holy spirit. Some people may even believe in the wonders of the Holy Spirit. However, if one does not believe in the orthodox concept of the doctrine of Trinity, then that person cannot be regarded as a Christian. Nevertheless, the Trinitarian theology is not easily understood completely. It is one of those mysteries of faith. In Islam the belief that God is one, and oppose the Christians that such a concept is a denial of religion which states that monotheism is the practice of one God. The Quran has repeatedly and affirm that God is one. People of the Book, do not go to excess in your religion, and do not say anything about God except the truth: the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, w... ...vealed in Jesus Christ (Murad). Mohammed is seen as one who wrote down the revelation entrusted to him by angel Gabriel; Jesus is one, who was himself the definitive revelation of God (Murad). Classic Christian theology holds that, as God incarnate, Jesus reveals God and makes restoration to him possible through his saving death and resurrection. The Islamic criticism of the doctrine of Trinity is a more fundamental concern about the identity of Jesus Christ himself (McGrath 204). For many Muslim in the world today, Jesus was a prophet to them and not an incarnate of God as the Christianity believes. The doctrine of Trinity has never been seen as compromising or contradicting the unity of God. The Trinity, to put it as simply as possible, is ultimately the distillation and correlation of the Christian tradition’s immensely rich teaching about the nature of God.

Music and the Leit Motif in Hamlet :: Free GCSE Coursework

Music and the Leit Motif in Hamlet Throughout William Shakespeare's Hamlet, many leit motifs were seen. If the definition of a allegorical symbol was used for the concept of a leit motif, music was a leit motif in Hamlet. Music was repetitively brought up, in the play, and was also used by Shakespeare as a means of portraying the concept of being played upon. The flute was used to illustrate how Hamlet and Claudius played upon others and each other. Ophelia and other characters sang while they were mad, or dealing with mad characters. The use of music in Hamlet tied in with the concepts of Apolonian verse Dionysian, spying and lying, madness, poetry verse prose, and the burden of revenge on a thinking man. Possibly the most obvious case of music being used as a lead in for the idea of one playing upon another was seen in Act 4 Sc. 1, on lines 25-38. At this point in the play, Hamlet was confronted by Guildenstern, as Guildenstern made an attempt to spy on Hamlet. Hamlet countered Guildenstern's inquiry when he questioned him as to if he could not play a pipe, how could Guildenstern expect to play Hamlet, when he stated "You would play upon me†¦do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, you cannot play upon me." (Act 3. Sc. 2. Ln. 394-402). Hamlet then likened flute playing to lying, when he stated that "It is as easy as lying." (Act 3. Sc. 2 Ln. 387) Though Guildenstern attempted to play upon Hamlet, it was a futile attempt, as even Guildenstern admitted that he did "not have the skill" (Act 3. Sc. 2. Ln. 392) to play upon Hamlet. If being played upon was linked to music through the previously mentioned scene, three other major instances of characters were seen were one character played upon another. The first of these cases, were Hamlet put on the play to trick Claudius, was also in Act 3 Scene 2. Hamlet put on the play to prove to himself that the ghost's words were true and that Claudius did indeed kill his father. Claudius was successfully played upon when he stormed out of the play at the exact point where the player king was brought back to life. The play tied the leit

The Hippies: A Rebellion against the Vietnam War

The Origin and Label By the mid-sixties, the beats, follies, surfers, and psychedelics reached their peaks. This, together with the baby-boomers' coming-of-age, set the perfect basis for the hippie counterculture to start. The Beats contributed a detachment of mainstream society; the Follies gave them a vision of simple, pre-longitudinal, rural life; the Surfers donated zestful hedonism, and a respectful link with nature; the Psychedelics brought mind-expansion, and said that LSI could be used as a escapism from the dreariness of modern life. Grew up against a backdrop of compulsory military service-?at least in the LLC.S. , where the movement had its roots. Culture and Festivals They believed in open use of marijuana, which could also be linked to their ideal of â€Å"back to nature†. Other things that went with this are, letting their hair grow, not bathing, some of them even walked around naked. *use of patchouli oil they dressed In natural fabrics like cotton and linen. *1 967 â€Å"summer of love† Woodstock Festival – the 1 969 Woodstock Free Festival of Music and Arts Is the biggest, one-of-Its-kind festival of all times, with a crowd of about half a million people.There's a movie and two albums trying to recreate the mood of Jim Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, and others performing in the same event. By the end, this festival turned out to be bigger than the music – it became a symbol for everything connected with hippies, the flower children, and the â€Å"love generation. † Also, most hippies developed on the craft of tie-dying. Fashion and Influences Although it was a political and moral movement rejecting Western materialism and the money-grabbing â€Å"rat-race†, the hippies set the tone for most of the fashion In the late ass.They went with the attitude of â€Å"anything goes† , mixing up elements of ethnic and psychedelic Influences. Male dressing was becoming more and more feminine with loose, floun ce, printed pants, neck scarves, and beaded belts. They wore Tolling roe Ana long loose anal – changeling society's Ideas AT masculinity muff can't tell the boys from the girls† was the outraged response to this dressing style. Jim Hendrix was one of the main fashion icons of this culture in the ass, with his exotic, colorful shirts, waistcoats, and wide-brimmed hats.He also wore lots of jewelry, which inspired a lot of designers to start a men's Jewelry collection, which were to be worn over loose shirts and wide-bottomed velvet trousers. In complete contrast to the â€Å"space age† look with geometric patterns and clean lines, the Hippies decorated everything, including painting their body. The past views of psychedelic, ethnic, and romantic all came together, and the hippie-woman would not wear a teasing mint-skirt, but a full-length flow skirt, with love beads and bells.Everyone started to grow their hair long. By 1969, even the well-groomed model Twiggy want ed her hair to her waist. Even the Paris designers got into this new mood with great enthusiasm. The hippies' cheap flamboyant clothes were transformed into expensive designer wear, as the ready-to-wear collections of 1967 was filled with Oriental touches, striped decal bas, harem dresses, tent dresses, rajah coats and Nehru Jacket, in fine wools and silk.Most designers began to follow the hippie ideal of â€Å"doing your own thing†, and Vogue reported that â€Å"the length of your skirt is how you feel this moment. The last collection of the ass were filled with micro skirts, maxis, and the compromised midis. Anti-fashion had triumphed in a round-about and trickle-up way, became the biggest fashion, and nothing would be quite the same ever again! Conclusion The original hippies living in San Francisco would have never imagined that their crazy way of dressing would have become a high-fashion trend by the end of the decade.Theirs was an anti-style that rejected the Western w ork ethic, along with the conformist clothing it encouraged. The Hippies had shocked and intrigued with their communal lifestyle, belief in free love, and experiments with drugs. Some thought they were â€Å"strange beings† in sandals and kaftans, handing out flowers as symbols of love and peace. Others talked of â€Å"alternative society' and their establishment of self-supporting rural communities of like-minded people.

Impacts of Playing Video Games on Learning in Children Essays

Impacts of Playing Video Games on Learning in Children Essays Impacts of Playing Video Games on Learning in Children Essay Impacts of Playing Video Games on Learning in Children Essay Impacts of playing video games on learning in children EDIT 6900 Dr. Janette Hill Spring 2006 March 29, 2006 Myoungjin Yang Tollett Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia Introduction It has been fascinating for me to watch my 6-year old nephew playing video games since he was three. Many family members have expressed their concerns regarding the number of hours he spends playing video games, about consequences related to his social and behavioral development, and so forth. Thus far, we see no negative influence in his social and behavioral outcomes. According to his mother, he learns Bible stories by playing video games, and he has even learned how to read through a video game. His mother who is a high school teacher is a strong believer in using computer or video games for children in learning. She also stated that more educationally structured computer or video games are needed for young children. Ironically, the video games that taught my nephew how to read were not considered â€Å"educational† games. I have another nephew with severe learning disabilities, Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) being one of them. The only thing that keeps him focused and stable for more than 30 minutes is playing computer or video games. His caregiver has tried different games to engage him with learning. Regardless of the caregiver’s strong belief in using games for him to learn simple arithmetic, he has not made significant progress yet on learning basic mathematics. Nonetheless, the caregiver insists that it is because there are not many computer and video games that are designed for children like my nephew with severe learning disabilities regardless of whether or not the games are educational. It is commonly known that the average attention span in young children or children with learning disabilities is very limited. Considering that, it is amazing to watch my nephews intensively playing video games for hours at a time. According to EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 1 VanDeventer White (2002), an average child (not an advanced video game player) may spend from 50 to 300 hours annually playing video games and that by the age of 10, a child may have had thousands of hours of experience with video games. It is no surprise that the video game market grew in annual sales from $100 million in 1985 to $4 billion in 1990 (Emes, 1997) and $7 billion in 2005, more than doubling sales within the software industry since 1996 (Entertainment Software Association, 2006). Today, it is obvious that children spend a lot of time playing video games and their parents spend a lot of resources providing their children or even themselves with video games in America and worldwide. While it does not seem realistic to prohibit children from playing video games, researchers have attempted to answer questions for concerned parents, caregivers and educators: â€Å"Are video games harmful to our children? † (Emes, 1997, p. 409), â€Å"Do children who play video games learn better than peers who do not? † (Din Calao, 2001, p. 8), â€Å"Can video games be a useful tool in promoting learning within the classroom? † (Rosas et al. , 2003, p. 71), â€Å"What are the consequences of game play on the cognition of those who play them? † (Squire, 2004, p. 34), â€Å"Can meaningful learning occur while children play video games? † and so forth. To start exploring the potential impact or implications of playing games at a young age, I inform ally interviewed several adult game players. They indicated that they started playing video games when they were between 8 and 10 years of age. They stated that they typically prefer playing video games with friends and acknowledged that playing games with friends is a valuable social activity. They also admitted that violent contents or other negative contents might influence young audiences in negative ways. At EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 2 the same time, they also acknowledged potential positive impacts of playing video games on problem-solving skills, decision-making skills, and cognitive development. That leaves me with an overarching question: If children can learn something and/or benefit from playing video games, why should we not find a way to facilitate and guide the activities? Research Questions I intend to synthesize potential advantages and disadvantages for children who play video games in regard to learning, cognitive development, and social and behavioral issues. More detailed research questions are as follow: o Can meaningful learning occur while children play video games? o What are the positive and negative consequences of game play on children? Methods In this review, the term video games is used to refer to electronically controlled games played on any platform such as computer, over the Internet, handheld devices, console systems, and various game-like technology toys. I originally narrowed this research focus to young children between ages 3 and 8. However, it has been extremely difficult to locate such literatures with credible authors. Therefore, I have expanded the focus to include studies targeting children at any elementary school age or younger. Literature searches have been conducted through the GALILEO databases including Education Full Text, ERIC, Psyc INFO and Web of Science. I also have found Google Scholar useful for locating more general articles or documents. I have used the following search terms to identify relevant literature: children and video game, children EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 3 and computer game, children, violence and video game, children, and cognition and video game. In addition, an online journal Innovate was thoroughly reviewed for potential literature since the journal featured â€Å"gaming and education† in multiple occasions. I also solicited Dr. Lloyd Rieber, a professor in Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia, and Michael Barbour, a doctoral candidate in Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia, for advice in locating such literatures. The Journal of Computing in Childhood Education was reviewed as recommended by Dr. Reiber, and he also led me to a book chapter written by Dr. Yasmin Kafai (1994). Michael Barbour recommended an electronic journal, Games and Culture from Sage Publications and Innovate, and an online magazine Game Developer Magazine. He also offered his collections of gaming literatures that are related to education. As a result, I located over 40 peer-reviewed publications and many other related documents and articles to write this literature synthesis. reference Literature Synthesis The influence of video games has been one of the most controversial issues regarding children. Some researchers have proposed that children could become violent by playing video games and children could also become less sociable as a result of playing video games (Griffith, 1999). By contrast, Squire et al. (2005) found playing games (a computer game, Civilization III, in this case) to is fundamentally a social experience with every participant showing a desire to share his or her game play with other people. In order to understand consequences of playing video games on children, it EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 4 s important to understand today’s children, â€Å"the new generation†, and how they are different from their predecessors. The New Generation The average American child grows up in a home with two televisions, three tape players, three radios, two VCRs, two CD players, one video game player and one computer (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005). According to parents, children between the ages of 2 and 17 spend almost 6? hours a day in front of electronic video screens – television, video games or a computer (Woodward Gridina, 2000). A study of over 2,000 young persons ages 8 to 18 years (3rd through 12th graders) found that 83% of them have at least one video game player in their home, 31% have 3 or more video game players in their home, and 49% have video game players in their bedrooms (Roberts, Foeher, and Rideout, 2005 as cited by Institute on Media and the Family, 2001). According to Prensky (2001b): |Our children today are being socialized in a way that is vastly different from their parents. The numbers | |are overwhelming: over 10,000 hours playing video games, over 200,000 emails and instant messages sent and | |received; over 10,000 hours talking on digital cell phones; over 20,000 hours watching TV, over 500,000 | |commercials seen – all before the kids leave college (p. 1) | Prensky (2001a) uses the term Digital Natives to refer to today’s children: ‘They – K through college – are all â€Å"native speakers† of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet’ (p. ). Recently, more researchers have shared the similar notion that there is a new generation entirely different from their predecessors and those differences are driven by one central factor: growing up playing video games and EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 5 surrounded by other electronic media (Beck Wade, 2004; Carstens Beck, 2005; Kirkley Kirkley, 2005; Shaffer, Squire, Halverson, Gee, 2005; Gros, 2003; Simp son, 2005). According to Prensky (2001a), it becomes clear that as a result of this ubiquitous environment and the sheer volume of their interaction with it, today’s children think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors. Therefore, they are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach. This new generation – Digital Natives – is accustomed to the twitch-speed, multitasking, random-access, graphics-first, active, connected, fun, fantasy, quick-payoff world of their video games, MTV, and Internet (Prensky, 2001b). Of the ubiquitous environment that today’s children are exposed to, this paper is focused on video games and synthesized foundations of the relationship between video games and well-known learning theories in the next section. Foundations of Video Games and Learning Rieber, Smith Noah (1998) introduce two distinct applications of games in education: game playing and game designing. Whereas game playing is the traditional approach where one provides ready-made games to students, game designing assumes that the act of building a game is itself a path to learning. Learning by designing is a central idea in constructivism (Harel Papert, 1990, 1992; Perkins, 1986 as cited by Rieber, Smith, Noah, 1998) and game design is beginning to attract attention in the constructivist literature (Kafai, 1992, 1994a, 1994b as cited by Rieber, Smith, Noah, 1998). Nonetheless, the scope of this paper is limited to the â€Å"playing† aspects of video games in relation to learning. EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 6 Play is one of the most natural and spontaneous activities for young children (Curry Arnaud, 1995). Rieber, Smith Noah (1998) assert that play is derived from the longstanding goal in education of how to promote situations where a person is motivated to learn, is engaged in the learning act, is willing to go to great lengths to ensure that learning will occur, and at the same time finds the learning process to be satisfying and rewarding; therefore, play is an essential part of the learning process throughout life and should not be neglected. Rieber, Smith, Noah (1998) call it â€Å"serious play† to refers to a special kind of intense learning experience in which both adults and children voluntarily devote enormous amounts of time, energy and commitment and at the same time derive great enjoyment from the experience. This kind of play is an ideal construct for linking human cognition and educational applications of technology. It is important to note that for many of today’s children, the chosen form of play is video games (VanDeventer White, 2002) as more children play video games for longer periods of time and the average age that a child starts playing video games is getting much younger now a days. Kaiser Family Foundation conducted random-digital-dial telephone survey of more than 1,000 children and their parents (2003): 30% of children ages zero to six have played video games; by the time they are preschoolers, 16% of children are more likely to play video games on a daily basis (24% of boys; 8% of girls). Although the primary purpose of video games is entertainment, the underlying design employs a variety of strategies and techniques intended to engage players in â€Å"gameplay† (Dickey, 2005). Research into psychological and sociological benefits of play also revealed that games support intrinsic motivation as well as opportunities for EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 7 imitation and learning by providing feedback, fantasy, and challenges (Rieber, 1996). Gee (2005) argues that good commercial video games are already state-of-the-art learning games because they have been so successful in attracting and maintaining players. Although the games are often long, hard and complex, it is clear that commercially successful games appear to have solved this central paradox of learning. The theoretical foundations of engaged learning can be found in both cognitive and constructivist perspectives. Research from a constructivist perspective focuses on the relationship between the player-learner and the environment, and the social aspects of the design, whereas research from a cognitive perspective focuses on the internal aspects of motivation and schema as fostered by design (Dickey, 2005). It is productive to view these perspectives as mutually complementary points of view (Sfard, 1998). Conceptualized by Piaget (1970) but also applied within the work of other influential figures such as Vygotsky (1978), Biggs (1999), and Wenger (1998), constructivist theory suggests that learning is intrinsically linked to learners’ sense of identity. While playing video games, learners come to know themselves and what they are becoming through personal experience and critical reflection on their beliefs about the world in which they live and the domains in which they hold affective agency (Begg, Dewhurst, Macleod, 2005). By creating virtual worlds, games integrate knowing and doing. Games bring together ways of knowing, ways of doing, ways of being, and ways of caring: the situated understanding, effective social practices, powerful identities, and shared values that make someone an expert (Shaffer et al. , 2005). Too often, â€Å"fun games are designed and instructional designers come in and suck all the fun out of it† in the quest to meet instructional goals (Kirkley Kirkley, 2005, p. 43). With advances in EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 8 echnologies, there are exciting opportunities to design learning environments that are realistic, authentic, engaging and extremely fun (Kirkley Kirkley, 2005). Some researchers have proposed criteria for the elements that make video games effective on attracting and engaging players and retaining their attention. For example, according to Rosas et al. (2003), the most highlighted features that make video games effective ar e as follows (p. 75): A clear goal: almost all video games are goal-related; the games have a clear and specific goal that children must try to reach (e. . rescuing the princess, etc. ) Adequate level of complexity, not too low but not too high High speed: most video games have a much faster speed than traditional mechanical games Incorporated instructions: in most video games, children are given instructions while playing the game and do not need to read instructions Independence from physical laws: video games normally do not follow the physical laws of the nature Holding power: they capture players’ attention and continue to do so as the game builds a microworld with its own rules and regulations Therefore, enjoyable educational video games must include elements of 1) challenge: clear, meaningful and multiple goals, uncertain outcomes, variable difficulty levels, randomness, and constant feedback, 2) fantasy: a character with whom players can identify, use of an emotionally appealing fantasy directly linked to the activity, and use of metaphors, 3) two types of curiosity: sensory curiosity (audio and visual effects) and EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 9 ognitive curiosity (surprises and constructive feedback) (Beltra, 1990; Kafai, 1997; Lepper Malone, 1987; Malone, 1980 as cited by Rosas et al. , 2003). Findings from Research Studies Like books, movies, and television show, video games can be used in antisocial ways. Games are inherently simplifications of reality, and current games are often associated with violent and sometimes misogynistic themes (Shaffer et al. , 2005). As Griffiths (1999) points out, one of the main concerns that has const antly been raised against video and computer games is that most of the games are claimed to feature aggressive elements. This has led some critiques to state that children become more aggressive after playing such games (Koop, 1982; Zimbardo, 1982 as cited by Griffiths, 1999). However, these assertions have been made without adequate empirical support. As cited by VanDeventer White (2002), earlier studies of â€Å"non-educational† video games have focused largely on issues of sex stereotypes, aggression, and equity and culture. Some studies have examined motor and spatial skills, simulation and tracking tasks. For example, a study by Irwin and Gross (1995) sought to identify effects of playing an â€Å"aggressive† versus â€Å"non-aggressive† video game on second-grade boys identified as impulsive or reflective. Boys who played the aggressive game, compared to those who had played the non-aggressive game, displayed more verbal and physical aggression to inanimate objects and playmates during a subsequent free play session. Moreover, these differences were not related to the boys’ impulsive or reflective traits. Kirsh (1997 as cited by Cesarone, 1998) also investigated the effects of playing a violent versus a non-violent video game. After playing these games, third- and fourth-graders were asked questions about a hypothetical story. On three of six questions, the EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 10 children who had played the violent game responded more negatively about the harmful actions of a story character whose intent was ambiguous than did the other children. These results suggest that playing violent video games may make children more likely to attribute hostile intentions to others. Nonetheless, Funk, Germann, and Buchman (1997) state that there is insufficient laboratory research to support strong causal statements about the effects of playing violent video games on children’s aggression based on a review of video game research in the 1980s and 1990s. They note that in studies that use behavioral observation to measure aggression, trends suggest some increases in aggression after children play or watch violent games. However, these trends are not so clear in studies that use other measures of aggression (e. g. measuring children’s willingness to help or hurt another child). According to Griffiths (1999), a growing number of studies examining the effects of video games on aggression have only involved a measure of possible short-term aggressive consequences. The majority of the studies on very young children – as opposed to those in their teens upwards – tended to show that children do become more aggressive after either playing or watching a violent video game but these were all based on the observation of a child’s free play. There is much speculation as to whether the procedures to measure aggression levels are valid and reliable. An interesting study was conducted by Fortis-Diaz (1998) on children’s aggressive behaviors after watching or playing violent contents through video games, television or any other media. She observed her kindergarten students during several periods of free play. Particular attention was given to the occurrences of aggression in their play and the circumstances surrounding them. Different strategies were EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 11 implemented in an effort to redirect the aggressive acts after watching or playing video games which may or may not include â€Å"violent contents†. She reports a slight decline in the children’s aggressive play. She concludes that â€Å"we can do something to help redirect the aggression that they are so ready to imitate, if we just take the time to watch and guide† (p. 237). On the other hand, studies of â€Å"educational† games have primarily examined design, cognitive and curriculum aspects (VanDeventer White, 2002). Din and Calao (2001) conducted a study with 47 preschool age children from two classes of an urban school in the northeastern region. The experimental group who played educational video games showed significant increase in spelling and decoding areas than the control group but no difference was found in the math area. The authors concluded that playing the Lightspan educational video games for these young students might have played a facilitative role in their learning of the verbal skills, which are age appropriate tasks for them. However, the experimental group did not show significant improvements in math perhaps because these children were not ready in terms of maturity. A similar study was conducted by Rosas et al. 2003) in Santiago de Chile with 1,274 first- and second-grade students, their 30 school teachers, and directors of six schools. The authors used mixed quantitative and qualitative methods over a 3-month period. Although no significant differences were found in academic performance that would suggest a relationship with playing video games, teacher reports and classroom observations confirm an improv ement in participants’ motivation to learn, and a positive technological transfer of the experimental tool. The authors concluded that further studies regarding the effects of learning through videogame use are imperative. However, they EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 12 acknowledge positive effects on motivation and classroom dynamics indicating that the introduction of educational video games can be a useful tool in promoting learning within the classroom. In the similar notion, Squire et al. (2005) conducted design-based research attempting to find consequences of game play on the cognition of those who play them. Eleven elementary students who were African-American and socio-economically challenged attended twice a week in two-hour sessions and were observed and interviewed for five weeks. The authors argue that these children developed expertise in playing the historical simulation game Civilization III as a form of digital literacy. This study suggests that expert strategy simulation game knowledge is a flexible, systemic level understanding of a game system rather than a simple heuristic understanding. All participants reported increased knowledge of maps, timelines and historical terms and, as has been hypothesized by game theorists, factual knowledge â€Å"came for free† for these players. Children playing in pairs led to increased engagement as they had 1) someone with whom to discuss strategies, leading to greater reflection and less confusion and 2) someone to share in struggles, leading them to not â€Å"blame themselves† for their confusion. Game play was fundamentally a social experience and every participant showed a desire to share his/her game play with other people. The multiplayer game format amplified interest for most male players. This finding suggests the potential value of collaborative/competitive multiplayer games for literacy. The role of the facilitators as expert game players thoroughly mediated gamers’ experience. Another approach of determining educational effects of playing video games was introduced by VanDeventer and White (2002). They conducted a study investigating the EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 13 display of â€Å"expert† behavior by outstanding video game-playing children. Seven highly proficient, video game playing, 10- and 11-year-old children were observed in the act of teaching adult â€Å"foils† how to play one of two popular home video games. The evidence indicated that the children demonstrate expert behaviors. The authors assert that this finding has significant potential import for educators because it may be possible to leverage these expert skills to more commonly valued academic domains. For example, can pattern recognition skills demonstrated in video game play be applied to pattern recognition in mathematics and science? Conclusion As indicated in the New Generation section, it is clear that today’s children live in a whole different world than the one in which their parents and teachers grew up. Like it or not as a parent or a teacher, children play video games and will continue to play them. As Carstens and Beck (2005) state, â€Å"sooner or later, those who grew up without video games will have to understand the gamers† (p. 22) which means not only learning what encourages them to learn and how they learn, but also finding ways to redesign educational and training curricula around their needs. This paper provides a strong foundation of video games in relation to learning and suggests potential benefits that well-designed video games can bring to the community of practice (parents, teachers, educators, researchers and students/children). As cited in the Foundation of Video Games and Learning section, many studies suggest that good video games engage children and sustain their attention for a longer time than any other educational environment can. The question is whether or not we, as parents, teachers, EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 14 educators and researchers, are ready to support learning for the new generation in the ways that today’s children are accustomed to. As we know there is no one perfect standardized environment for our children to learn and live and there never will be, and worst of all, the world is continually shifting on us: Are we ready to guide our children of the new generation in the ever-changing world? In the past, I have not believed in exposing young children to multimedia especially video games. However, I am beginning to believe that there might be something that we, as adults who did not grow up with the same kinds of multimedia and technologies that are presently available, simply do not understand. Implications for Practice Are you ready for the game generation? Prensky (2001b) defines that â€Å"those of us who were not born into the digital world but have, at some later point in our lives, become fascinated by and adopted many or most aspects of the new technology are Digital Immigrants†(p. 1) as opposed to the new generation of Digital Natives. As video games become a bigger influence on our culture, we will need to pay attention to the ins and outs of what gamers are thinking not only today, but also tomorrow. It is going to take some effort, but in the end, it will keep you in the game (Carstens Beck, 2005). Shaffer et al. (2005) assert that our children will learn from video games. This interest in games is encouraging, but most educational games to date have been produced in the absence of any coherent theory of learning or underlying body of research. We, as researchers and educators, need to understand 1) how the conventions of good commercial games create compelling virtual worlds 2) how inhabiting a virtual world EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 15 develops situated knowledge 3) how game players develop effective social practices and skills in navigating complex systems and 3) how those skills can support learning in other complex domains. Video games have the potential to change the landscape of education as we know it. According to the survey conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation (2003), whereas 72% of parents of young children (ages six years or younger) believe that using a computer â€Å"mostly helps† children learn, and just 5% believe that it â€Å"mostly hurts†, parents are less enthusiastic about the educational value of video games than any other medium – computer, Internet and television – addressed in this survey. 0% of parents from the same group believe video games mostly hurt children’s learning, 22% think they mostly help children’s learning, meanwhile 27% believe they don’t have much effect one way or the other. Parents of older children (ages 8 through 18) think either they do not feel that their children spend too much time playing with electronic media including video games or they have given up trying to discourage them from playing (Kaiser Family Fo undation, 2005). Nonetheless, parents are the driving force behind the video game industry (Simpson, 2005). In 2004, over 50% of parents polled said they were going to buy their child a video game for Christmas (Entertainment Software Association, 2004 as cited by Simpson, 2005). Today’s parents are clueless as to what their children are doing with the video games that they are so eager to buy. The majority of today’s teachers are women (79%) with an average age of 46. In some states, 60% of the teachers are over 50 (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2003). Teachers typically do not see the video game as a learning tool. Many school leaders and teachers react negatively to video games and gaming culture, bashing video EDIT 6900 – Literature Synthesis Myoungjin Yang Tollett 16 games as diversionary threats to the integrity of schooling or as destructive activities that corrupt moral capacity and create a sedentary, motivation-destroying lifestyle (Halverson, 2005). While teachers are working within an environment where change tends to be slow, money scarce and bureaucracy plentiful, their students are living in an environment where change is rapid, constant and anticipated (Simpson, 2005). The success of video games at motivating students suggests that schools may bring gaming in from the periphery to reconsider the institutional barriers to change. Simply recognizing games as potent learning environments would be a start for counteracting the current anti-gaming rhetoric. Schools can then take steps to incorporate gaming principles in the design of school learning environments (Halverson, 2005). As a parent, teacher, or educator, Prensky (2006) suggests taking these seven steps to ensure your children’s education and future (pp. 141-149): Educate yourself by locating sources of positive information about digital kids, about video gaming, and what your kids are learning from their games and by getting a feel for what it’s like to learn from games Start asking your kids the right questions: ask open-ended questions that show you are truly curious to find out about what they are involved in. Educate your family by sharing articles and quotes Look over yo ur kid’s shoulder (with permission) Go game browsing with your kids Play a game or two yourself Help organize LAN parties and/or start a game club: this is a radical solution for those who really get into games

University of Iowa GPA, SAT and ACT Admissions Data

University of Iowa GPA, SAT and ACT Admissions Data University of Iowa GPA, SAT and ACT Graph University of Iowa GPA, SAT Scores and ACT Scores for Admission. Data courtesy of Cappex. How Do You Measure Up at the University of Iowa? Calculate Your Chances of Getting In  with this free tool from Cappex. Discussion of the University of Iowas Admissions Standards: In 2015, over 80% of applicants were accepted to the University of Iowa most students who took high school academics seriously should be able to get in. In the graph above, the blue and green dots represent accepted students. You can see that the majority of successful applicants had high school grades in the A or B range, ACT composite scores of 20 or higher, and combined SAT scores of 1000 or better. The higher those grades and test scores, the better your chances are of receiving an acceptance letter from U of I. Note that there are a few red dots (rejected students) and yellow dots (waitlisted students) mixed in with the green and blue in the middle of the graph. Some students with grades and test scores that were on target for the University of Iowa did not win admission. On the flip side, note that some students were accepted with test scores and grades a little bit below the norm. This is because the University of Iowas admissions process is not entirely numerical. For most students, admission will be based on a a numerical equation that uses your GPA, composite ACT score, high school rank, and number of core courses. However, Iowa does have a holistic admissions process for students who do not qualify numerically, and for students who do not have a class rank. The holistic process takes into consideration a personal statement and letters of recommendation. Finally, note that different colleges at the University of Iowa have different admissions standard. The admission bar for the College of Nursing and Tippie College of Business is higher than that for the College of Liberal Arts Sciences. To learn more about the University of Iowa, high school GPAs, SAT scores and ACT scores, these articles can help: University of Iowa Admissions ProfileWhats a Good SAT Score?Whats a Good ACT Score?Whats Considered a Good Academic Record?What is a Weighted GPA? Articles Featuring the University of Iowa: Top Iowa Colleges and UniversitiesPhi Beta KappaAssociation of American UniversitiesBig 10 Conference If You Like the University of Iowa, You May Also Like These Schools Purdue University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT Graph  Drake University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphIndiana University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphIowa State University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphMarquette University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphOhio State University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphBradley University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphUniversity of Chicago:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphArizona State University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphUniversity of Illinois - Chicago:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT Graph

The Battle of Passchendaele - World War I

The Battle of Passchendaele - World War I The Battle of Passchendaele was fought July 31 to November 6, 1917, during World War I (1914-1918). Meeting at Chantilly, France, in November 1916, Allied leaders discussed plans for the upcoming year. Having fought bloody battles earlier that year at Verdun and the Somme, they decided to attack on multiple fronts in 1917 with the goal of overwhelming the Central Powers. Though British Prime Minister David Lloyd George advocated for shifting the main effort to the Italian Front, he was overruled as the French commander-in-chief, General Robert Nivelle, desired to launch an offensive in Aisne. Amid the discussions, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, pushed for an attack in Flanders. Talks continued into the winter and it was ultimately decided that the main Allied thrust would come in Aisne with the British conducting a supporting operation at Arras. Still eager to attack in Flanders, Haig secured Nivelles agreement that, should Aisne Offensive fail, he would be permitted to move forward in Belgium. Beginning in mid-April, Nivelles offensive proved a costly failure and was abandoned in early May. Allied Commanders Field Marshal Douglas HaigGeneral Hubert GoughGeneral Sir Herbert Plumer German Commander General Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin Haigs Plan With the French defeat and subsequent mutiny of their army, the onus for carrying the fight to the Germans in 1917 passed to the British. Moving forward with planning an offensive in Flanders, Haig sought to wear down the German army, which he believed was reaching a breaking point, and retake the Belgian ports that were supporting Germanys campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare. Planning to launch the offensive from the Ypres Salient, which had seen heavy fighting in 1914 and 1915, Haig intended to push across the Gheluvelt Plateau, take the village of Passchendaele, and then break through to open country. To pave the way for the Flanders offensive, Haig ordered General Herbert Plumer to capture Messines Ridge. Attacking on June 7, Plumers men won a stunning victory and carried the heights and some of the territory beyond. Seeking to capitalize on this success, Plumer advocated for immediately launching the main offensive, but Haig refused and delayed until July 31. On July 18, British artillery began a massive preliminary bombardment. Expending over 4.25 million shells, the bombardment alerted the German Fourth Armys commander, General Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin, that an attack was imminent. The British Attack At 3:50 AM on July 31, Allied forces began advancing behind a creeping barrage. The focus of the offensive was General Sir Hubert Goughs Fifth Army, which was supported to the south by Plumers Second Army and to the north by General Francois Anthoines French First Army. Attacking on an eleven-mile front, Allied forces had the most success in the north where the French and Goughs XIV Corps moved forward around 2,500-3,000 yards. To the south, attempts to drive east on the Menin Road were met with heavy resistance and gains were limited. A Grinding Battle Though Haigs men were penetrating the German defenses, they were quickly hampered by heavy rains which descended on the region. Turning the scarred landscape to mud, the situation was worsened as the preliminary bombardment had destroyed much of the areas drainage systems. As a result, the British were unable to press forward in force until August 16. Opening the Battle of Langemarck, British forces captured the village and surrounding area, but additional gains were small and casualties were high. To the south, II Corps continued to push on the Menin Road with minor success. Unhappy with Goughs progress, Haig switched the focus of the offensive south to Plumers Second Army and the southern part of Passchendaele Ridge. Opening the Battle of Menin Road on September 20, Plumer employed a series of limited attacks with the intention making small advances, consolidating, and then pushing forward again. In this grinding fashion, Plumers men were able to take the southern part of the ridge after the Battles of Polygon Wood (September 26) and Broodseinde (October 4). In the latter engagement, British forces captured 5,000 Germans, which led Haig to conclude that enemy resistance was faltering. Shifting the emphasis north, Haig directed Gough to strike at Poelcappelle on October 9. Attacking, Allied troops gained little ground, but suffered badly. Despite this, Haig ordered an assault on Passchendaele three days later. Slowed by mud and rain, the advance was turned back. Moving the Canadian Corps to the front, Haig began new attacks on Passchendaele on October 26. Conducting three operations, the Canadians finally secured the village on November 6 and cleared the high ground to the north four days later. Aftermath of the Battle Having taken Passchendaele, Haig elected to halt the offensive. Any further thoughts of pushing on were eliminated by the need to shift troops to Italy to aid in stemming the Austrian advance after their victory at the Battle of Caporetto. Having gained key ground around Ypres, Haig was able to claim success. Casualty numbers for the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as Third Ypres) are disputed. In the fighting British casualties may have ranged from 200,000 to 448,614, while Germany losses are computed at 260,400 to 400,000. A controversial topic, the Battle of Passchendaele has come to represent the bloody, attrition warfare that developed on the Western Front. In the years after the war, Haig was severely criticized by David Lloyd George and others for the small territorial gains that were made in exchange for massive troop losses. Conversely, the offensive relieved pressure on the French, whose army was being struck by mutinies, and inflicted large, irreplaceable losses on the German Army. Though Allied casualties were high, new American troops were beginning to arrive which would augment British and French forces. Though resources were limited due to the crisis in Italy, the British renewed operations on November 20 when they opened the Battle of Cambrai.

Computer-Based Crimes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Computer-Based Crimes - Essay Example The misuse of the computer may involve the falsification of computer signatures through unauthorized codes; the creation of false bank accounts; theft of personal information and misuse of the stolen information; the virus infection created on computers that can hamper the proper software operations and damage records. In the theft of personal information, victims may not even be aware of the crime perpetration until a very considerable damage on their assets, credit card, and societal status have already been inflicted. Criminals may use programs that would remove any evidence of the committed crime. Today, the biggest crime created through computer use is the electronic financial account transfer. Intellectual challenge is the most significant reason for creating computer crimes. Computer hackers commit such crimes for financial reasons and for personal motives, such as anger or revenge (Computer-Based Crime, 2011). Identity Theft To date, identity theft has the fastest growing cri me rate in America. Identity theft is the pilfering and illegal use of private information from an unsuspecting individual to access personal financial accounts. The targeted personal data include a victim’s address, birth date, telephone number, social security number (SSN), bank account number, credit card number, or other valuable identification records to be used for the thief’s economic gain. Criminals use this information in opening new credit and depository accounts, applying for home or car loans, leasing homes, apartments or vehicles (Brody, Mulig & Kimball, 2007) applying for benefits, or filing fake tax returns (Palmer, 2006). In worst cases, perpetrators use the obtained private information to take over the victim’s identity, create enormous debts, or use in a criminal activity under the victim’s name. In businesses, criminals pilfer their financial accounts, confidential access codes of their computer systems, or restricted records of workers . In phishing scams, thieves of company identities carefully pick businesses that may seem appealing to their prospective victims. Banks and prestigious businesses, and the most visited sites, such as the eBay and PayPal are the favorite targets of identity thieves (Brody, Mulig & Kimball, 2007). The electronic exposure of private information in a majority of business deals attracts the interest of identity thieves. Thieves gain access to private information given out by credit card holders when purchasing goods online; using cards in restaurants and gasoline stations; or when withdrawing cash in ATM outlets. In 2005, there were reported incidences of around 10 million identity theft cases, equivalent to 4.6 percent of the U.S. annual population (How Many Identity Theft Victims Are There? What is the Impact on Victims?, 2006). Reports taken from the Chief Securities Officer (CSO) Perspectives Conference confirmed 53 million identity theft cases to date and a further 19,000 cases eac h day. On the average, a victim loses $40,000 to $92,000 per incident (Friedenberg, 2006). The American consumer group loses roughly $5billion per year, while U.S. businesses and banking institutions lose around $47.6 billion per year (How Many Identity Theft Victims Are There? What is the Impact on Victims?, 2006). Since hacking started in the middle of the 1990s, attacks have dramatically increased. Computer hacking attacks are now more supported and financed by big-time syndicates. Moreover,

Discussion Week 8 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion Week 8 - Assignment Example One day she calls me and tells me she wanted 34 perfumes that different friends had asked for. This was the biggest order I had ever landed. I did not have the all the perfumes she wanted on hand, but I called my supplier and purchased the perfumes I needed. This was a great experience for me. Word of mouth advertising can help increase consumer sales because this is a way for customers to recruit other customers. The outcome of the encounter was that I was able to achieve my biggest sale by providing great customer service to a client. The customer recruited other clients for me as a favor. As a consequence of this event I was motivated to continue my self-employment. A few months later I found a full-time job and stop selling perfumes. The salesman experience helped me improve my people skills. A mistake that I regret associated with the 34 perfume sale experience was that I did not follow on that sale after obtaining such as good sales lead. A way for a business to prosper is by increasing its customer retention rate. Increasing the customer retention rates can help increase the profitability of a firm

Discussions Week 1-3 CIS462 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discussions Week 1-3 CIS462 - Coursework Example Employees demonstrating the highest level of acceptance to policies get honorary or monetary compensations. Another method would involve provision of training programs that increase employees’ knowledge regarding the workplace policies. Lastly, acceptance can be improved through participative decision making. Managers should involve subordinate employees in formulation of policies (Lindsey, 2012). Potential challenges during implementation of these acceptance methods include but not limited to financial constrains and cultural barriers. Within an organization, security control measures are classified as technical measures, administrative measures or physical measures. Physical controls include things like door locks and fences for restricted access, while technical controls include authentication details like login information. These classifications contain control measures which are preventive, corrective or detective in nature. Within an organization, preventive controls like passwords deter unauthorized access of information. Detective measures like alarms notifies of security breaches while corrective controls like backup servers limit damages resulting from security breaches (Lindsey, 2012). Technical preventive measures feature as the most challenging control measures to implement. As mentioned earlier, preventive measures under the technical category include use of authentication details and antivirus software. Because of advancement in information technology, new programs and software that can bypass authentication barriers emerge regularly. In this case, redundancy of preventive controls undermines prolonged data security (Lindsey, 2012). One way of overcoming this redundancy challenge would involve regular updating of technical controls. The Children’s Internet protection Act, abbreviated as CIPA, protects minors from access to obscene online content. Technically, CIPA requires institutions like

Business Research Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Research Analysis - Essay Example y. From the above table, the mean age of the respondents is 21.73 years with a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 44 years. A notable characteristic of the three satisfaction ratings for stock, quiet areas and staff is above average mean ratings. Gender Frequency Bar Graph (Source: Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) spread sheet) Where: 0= female, 1 = male From the frequency bar graph above, there are more females than males in the study with a figure of 77 and 73 respectively. Females contribute 51.3% of all respondent while males contribute the remaining 48.7%. Mode of Study Frequency Table Frequency Per cent Valid Per cent Cumulative Per cent Valid 0 28 18.7 18.7 18.7 1 122 81.3 81.3 100.0 Total 150 100.0 100.0 (Source: Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) spread sheet) Where: 0= Part time, 1 = Full time The above table shows that 81.3% of all respondents are full time students while the remaining 18.7% percent are part time students. There is approximately four times more student enrolled in full time programmes than part time programmes. Year of Study Frequency Bar Graph (Source: Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) spread sheet) Where: 4 = Year 1 Undergraduate 5 = Year 2 Undergraduate 6 = Year 3 Undergraduate (Final Year) 7 = Postgraduate (e.g. MBA, MSc) 8 = Doctoral (e.g. PhD) The above graph shows that the number of respondents increase from the first year to the fifth year of undergraduate studies after which it decrease towards the doctoral level of study. (Source: Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) spread sheet) Age of respondents ranges from 18 to 44 years. Respondents of 18 years of age are the majority in the sample. Respondents of 27, 28, 33, 35 and 44 years form the minority each contributing 0.7% of the respondents. Potential Areas for Improvement From the gender frequency bar, it is clear that the number of female respondents exceed that of their male counterparts. From majority of statistics , majority of tertiary education students are male. The following sample should have used a controlled number of male and female respondents which reflect the actual gender proportions of the parent population. The number of sampled full time students is also too many compared to part time students. The number of sampled respondents who are more than 27 years of age is too little those with less than 25 years. These biases should be reduced in order to ensure that the sampled population reflects the characteristics of the parent population as closely as possible. (ii) To what extent is there a difference of opinion between males and females relating to the three satisfaction ratings for stock, quiet areas and staff? We will use the independent sample t-test since it shows whether there is a significant difference between the means of two groups of people or conditions. Group Statistics Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Stock 0 77 5.84 2.444 .279 1 73 6.18 2.584 .302 Quiet 0 77 6.53 2.174 .248 1 73 6.32 2.278 .267 Staff 0 77 6.97 1.224 .140

Strategic Writing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategic Writing - Research Paper Example It is a vital part of the overall corporate strategy because it conveys what the firm is all about. In other words, a good business letter written very well and formal in tone sets the groundwork for future success, because it gives a strong first impression, similar to a firm handshake. This is why most successful firms give a strong importance to their written business communications, be it in the form of a letter, a memorandum, a fax, or an e-mail message, because everything that is important hinges on the success of how that written message will be received by all the intended recipients, who can either ignore it altogether if written badly, or respond to it in a very positive manner and generate sales for the letter writer and the company he is writing for. The written message must be strong and impressive; and it further cements the purpose of that message by sending it across in a way that is clearly understood. Exceptional writing forms part of the communications skills of a competent person, and it is a vital or critical job skill because it is a good way to influence other people, to help them make up their minds about you, your company, your products or your services. Despite all the advances in communications media today, starting from the pre-historic smoke signals, to the clay tablets, to papyrus, to the handwritten message to the quill pen to the typewriter, a constant which had remained the same is a need to deliver a message concisely and precisely (Lindsell-Roberts 3), and this is where strategic writing comes in, wherein anything written in the form of a letter, a memo, a fax, or an e-mail forms part of the corporate strategy. Strategic writing should integrate well into a firm’s marketing, advertising, sales, public relations, and even crisis management functions of top-level management (Marsh, Guth, and Short 5). Sample of effective and strategic e-mail message to be sent to the present supplier: To: sharpe@young_oswald.com, greene@y oung_oswald.com, barnes@young_oswald.com Copy: craft@young_oswald.com Subject: Letter to inform current supplier of defective tool kits that they will be replaced FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 12, 2013 As you know, Cross Electric, Inc. is one of our major clients. It is the wholesale supplier of the popular â€Å"Virtu-Fix† line of tool kits to most of the retail hardware stores within the area. This tool kit is used for the maintenance and repair of PC and Mac computers. However, as recent events indicated, its main supplier of the said imported tool kits did not properly check these tool kits such that there are defective tools within the kits, resulting in many customer complaints. Cross Electric, Inc. now wants our help in informing its main supplier to terminate the supply contract, and for the said supplier to be replaced with an Indonesian supplier instead. It seems this Indonesian supplier did a better job at quality control. In this regard, please forward to me through e-mail your ideas on how to say it best to the present supplier its contract will soon be terminated by Cross Electric, Inc. due to its quality concerns without possibly raising any legal issues or complications. This means it has

Business Research Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Research Analysis - Essay Example y. From the above table, the mean age of the respondents is 21.73 years with a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 44 years. A notable characteristic of the three satisfaction ratings for stock, quiet areas and staff is above average mean ratings. Gender Frequency Bar Graph (Source: Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) spread sheet) Where: 0= female, 1 = male From the frequency bar graph above, there are more females than males in the study with a figure of 77 and 73 respectively. Females contribute 51.3% of all respondent while males contribute the remaining 48.7%. Mode of Study Frequency Table Frequency Per cent Valid Per cent Cumulative Per cent Valid 0 28 18.7 18.7 18.7 1 122 81.3 81.3 100.0 Total 150 100.0 100.0 (Source: Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) spread sheet) Where: 0= Part time, 1 = Full time The above table shows that 81.3% of all respondents are full time students while the remaining 18.7% percent are part time students. There is approximately four times more student enrolled in full time programmes than part time programmes. Year of Study Frequency Bar Graph (Source: Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) spread sheet) Where: 4 = Year 1 Undergraduate 5 = Year 2 Undergraduate 6 = Year 3 Undergraduate (Final Year) 7 = Postgraduate (e.g. MBA, MSc) 8 = Doctoral (e.g. PhD) The above graph shows that the number of respondents increase from the first year to the fifth year of undergraduate studies after which it decrease towards the doctoral level of study. (Source: Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) spread sheet) Age of respondents ranges from 18 to 44 years. Respondents of 18 years of age are the majority in the sample. Respondents of 27, 28, 33, 35 and 44 years form the minority each contributing 0.7% of the respondents. Potential Areas for Improvement From the gender frequency bar, it is clear that the number of female respondents exceed that of their male counterparts. From majority of statistics , majority of tertiary education students are male. The following sample should have used a controlled number of male and female respondents which reflect the actual gender proportions of the parent population. The number of sampled full time students is also too many compared to part time students. The number of sampled respondents who are more than 27 years of age is too little those with less than 25 years. These biases should be reduced in order to ensure that the sampled population reflects the characteristics of the parent population as closely as possible. (ii) To what extent is there a difference of opinion between males and females relating to the three satisfaction ratings for stock, quiet areas and staff? We will use the independent sample t-test since it shows whether there is a significant difference between the means of two groups of people or conditions. Group Statistics Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Stock 0 77 5.84 2.444 .279 1 73 6.18 2.584 .302 Quiet 0 77 6.53 2.174 .248 1 73 6.32 2.278 .267 Staff 0 77 6.97 1.224 .140

Toyota hybrid cars Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Toyota hybrid cars - Assignment Example Various advanced technologies that are utilized by hybrids include regenerative braking which is characterised by the electric motor applying resistance to the drivetrain consequently forcing the wheels to slow down (Fuhs, 2009, p. 73). In response, the energy form the wheels will turn the motor that acts as a generator which converts energy that usually goes to waste during braking into electricity and battery is used for storing the electricity until when it will be required by the motor (Lagunoff, 2008, p. 156). Another technology that is used by the hybrid vehicles is the electric motor assist where the electric motor avails more power to help the engine during acceleration, overtaking or going up a hill. Therefore, a smaller and more efficient engine can be used while in some of the cars, only the motor avails power needed for driving in low speed conditions where internal combustion engines are not very effective. They also employ automatic start and shut off that shuts of the engine spontaneously when the car pulls to a halt and starts it again it when the motorist presses on the accelerator. The automatic start and shut off is important in preventing wastage of energy from idling. Toyota is a leading corporation in manufacturing, assembling as well as supply of cars all over the globe. One of the key reasons for the company’s good performance is the efficient management system that it employs (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 2013, p. 535). There are several other striking attributes that have enabled the company to achieve its place as a market leader. The type of market structure that the company functions in cannot be defined clearly and in some cases, it is considered to be a monopoly. The dominance of the company in the market is what makes the company to be seen as operating a monopoly. The company’s differentiation approach has enabled it to have a monopolistic existence particularly in the emerging nations. Conversely, the