Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 19

Human Resource Management - Essay Example In response, a discussion of how HR managers can improve organizational performance through recruitment and selection, training and development, equality/diversity policies and employee involvement would be presented. All resources – man, money, methods, market, materials, minutes (representing time) and machines are the domain of general management. Human resources management solely involves man. Through and by men, the other m’s are acquired and utilized. The quality and utilization of the rest of the resources are almost always affected by decisions about and by human resources. Indeed, the accomplishment of the goals of an organization depends upon the availability and utilization of all these ingredients, the interaction of which, are people-caused. The acquisition, utilization and development of financial, material, technological and market resources which may be exhaustible are dependent on human resources. If the latter is available and capable, the other factors can be of great use to the organization. It is through people that they can be either harnessed and developed or dissipated and lost. Man does or undoes what exists; man creates or bypasses opportunities and scenarios. Hence, people power is the most significant and potent factor of all the resources available to an organization. An organization may start with zero funding, but with creative, resourceful, hardworking and honest people, it becomes financially viable. On the other hand, a plethora of financial and material resources in an organization may go down the drain if handled by an incompetent and dishonest staff. The significance of human resources in an organization has been emphasized by various scholars, to wit: Andres (2003: 48) averred that â€Å"the place of organizational objective is largely attributable to successful human resources management†. Clements

Homeostatic Mechanism Essay Example for Free

Homeostatic Mechanism Essay Homeostatic mechanisms are essential for a body to maintain a stable condition. The word homeostasis describes the body’s ability to maintain its healthy state, while the world around it is changing constantly. There are many steps in the process of homeostasis. First, there is the stimulus that causes the change. Then the receptor detects the change. The information of the imbalance is then sent to the control center, which decides the response. The information entering into the control center is called the afferent pathway. During the efferent pathway, the information is sent out from the control center to the effector. The effector provides the means for the control center’s response, returning the body back to normal. An example of a homeostatic mechanism working is someone exercising, or running. This is known as the stimulus in the homeostatic mechanism. Consequently, the person is now breathing faster, their body temperature is rising, and their heart rate is increasing. By breathing faster, more carbon dioxide is entering into the body. This causes the pH level of the blood to decrease, making it more acidic. HHHhhhhdkjfkldsdjf The receptor detects this change and sends the information out to the control center. The control center then tells the cells to get rid of the carbonic acid in the blood. This causes the person to breathe even faster, prompting more oxygen into the body, getting rid of the carbonic acid. When the person stops running, the heart rate starts to return to the resting heart rate. The pH level of the blood also increases back to normal, which is about 7.35 pH. A homeostatic mechanism is basically a test of a person’s responsiveness. Without any homeostatic mechanism, the body would fill up with carbon dioxide and could pass out and die. A homeostatic mechanism in a body is necessary to maintain a stable condition.

Animal Farm: Strong Vs Weak :: Animal Farm Essays

The pigs had objectives other than the benefits and the good of the other animals. On the contrary, their objectives were to use, conquer, and capitalize on them. One of the conflicts in Animal Farm is the strong against the weak. The strong are the pigs and the weak are all the other animals. There are two main offenders of the weak: Napoleon and the pigs in general.Napoleon was a tyrant. It is very likely Napoleon and the other pigs were conspiring to take over Animal Farm so that they could take advantage of the situation of having many animals at their disposal. Although, Napoleon played a very important role in the assault on the weak. Napoleon most likely was the originator of all the decisions that go against the morals of the animal society. He is the one that initiated the violation of established resolutions, and concealed it by altering the resolutions. What satisfied his pleasure is what took precedence over everything-the animals, honesty, commandments, etc. He gave himself the credit for every good thing, without any recognition to the other animals, such as the building of the windmill, and the victory of the Battle of the Windmill. In addition, he is the one that completely transformed the farm into the same or worse way it was in the hands of Man. He made the pigs mimic Man: adopted all its bad habits which were against the animals, with the exception of the pigs. The other pigs were also involved in taking advantage of the weak.The other aspect that was against the weak is that the pigs in general clearly took advantage of their leadership to exploit the other animals. This could be proven multiple times, starting from nearly the beginning of the story. Even when Snowball, a good guy, was still in the picture, this (exploitation) was happening by the pigs deceiving the other animals to hog all the apple crop. The pigs gave the other animals little food, while they lived a lavish lifestyle. They lied to the animals by telling them lies about their memories, and giving them false information for their own benefits such as, for example, equality in rations would be contrary to the principles of Animalism. They overworked the animals while they did not work laboriously, and used them for money.

Causes of Stress Among Teachers

a) Generating ideas Excessive workload Causes of stress Inadequate Large class size salaries Societal factors Involuntary transfer b) Focusing c) Supporting Introduction Stress could simply be defined as an unpleasant emotion which arises when people worry that they could not cope with excessive pressures or other types of demand placed upon them such as anger or depression by a teacher usually accompanied by potentially pathogenic, physiological and biochemical changes resulting from aspects of the teacher’s job.Therefore, it is essential for both pre-service teachers and those already in the profession to identify the causes of stress. Large class size Generally, the most effective classrooms are those in which teachers can communicate and cope with each of the student to meet their needs, thus require full attention of the students. The task become difficult with the increase in size of the class because large class size provides fewer opportunities to interact individually with each student. Hence, the teacher feel less involved and less effective. Inadequate salariesInadequate salaries also one of the factor that face by many teachers and this has also causes stress among teachers. Most of the teachers complain of their low salaries. In addition, parents and society give a high expectations and invest them with an enormous degree of responsibility while politicians continually declare that our children are our nation’s future. In response to such statement, the teachers ask for their financial rewards that equate with such important task. Societal factors Generally, the teachers welcome parental environment in schools but majority of the parents are not supportive to teachers.Unsupportive parents come under two major varieties which are not involved and too involved. Parents whom not involved are those parents who are not available, incapable or uninterested in their children’s education and those who put the whole responsibility of ed ucating their children on teachers. Parents whom too involved are those parents who have decided that the real education is only possible if parents constantly monitor what occurs in the school. Conclusion It is generally accepted that stress is a multi-dimensional and multi-concept.Increasingly it has acquired a negative connotation, implying excessive demand or pressure. It is difficult to distinguish stress from its causes and effects. However, the teachers should fine an effective way to overcome their stress. d) Drafting Stress could simply be defined as an unpleasant emotion which arises when people worry that they could not cope with excessive pressures or other types of demand placed upon them such as anger or depression by a teacher usually accompanied by potentially pathogenic, physiological and biochemical changes resulting from aspects of the teacher’s job.Stress also has become an integral part of living. For some individuals it is the driving force behind succes sful undertakings and for others it is the cause of their failures. In this ever-changing and fast-paced society, career related stress has become a prevalent term in everyday language. Whether one is a novice or a seasoned veteran in profession, almost all individuals experienced stressful situations in their jobs. Recently, this condition has been more widely explored for a select group of professionals which are our nation’s teachers.Therefore, it is essential for both pre-service teachers and those already in the profession to identify the causes of stress. Generally, the most effective classrooms are those in which teachers can communicate and cope with each of the student to meet their needs, thus require full attention of the students. The task become difficult with the increase in size of the class because large class size provides fewer opportunities to interact individually with each student. Hence, the teacher feel less involved and less effective. Moreover, with t he increase in class size, the classroom management will become more difficult.The teacher might need to use higher voice tone while teaching and giving instructions to students. Furthermore, overcrowded classrooms will make the lesson uninteresting and the students will feel sleepy because the teacher cannot focus on every student while teaching, thus the student will not give full attention to the lesson and this factor will causes stress among teachers. Inadequate salaries also one of the factor that face by many teachers and this has also causes stress among teachers. Most of the teachers complain of their low salaries.Some of them compare their salaries with other professionals group and their work at school level with the teachers at college level. This situations become stressful for the teachers. However, to meet their expenditure they search for other ways. For example, they do a private tuition which is a good way but not the best one because it is not good for teachers to earn from their own school students. In addition, parents and society give a high expectations and invest them with an enormous degree of responsibility while politicians continually declare that our children are our nation’s future.In response to such statement, the teachers ask for their financial rewards that equate with such important task. This shows that inadequate salaries is one of the causes of stress among teachers. The school success is strongly influence by unconcerned parents, parents beliefs, an integral part of the educational process and parental support of children’s work. Generally, the teachers welcome parental environment in schools but majority of the parents are not supportive to teachers. Unsupportive parents come under two major varieties which are not involved and too involved.Parents whom not involved are those parents who are not available, incapable or uninterested in their children’s education and those who put the whole responsibil ity of educating their children on teachers. Parents whom too involved are those parents who have decided that the real education is only possible if parents constantly monitor what occurs in the school. Usually, this parents feel that their child is being overlooked by the teacher and that only constant pressure on their part will rectify the situations.Generally, parents are perceived by the teachers as either unhelpful, unavailable or intrusive although all parents are not of such kind. This societal factors is one of the causes of stress. It is generally accepted that stress is a multi-dimensional and multi-concept. Increasingly it has acquired a negative connotation, implying excessive demand or pressure. It is difficult to distinguish stress from its causes and effects. Large class size, inadequate salaries and societal factor are the causes of stress among teachers.However, the teachers should fine an effective way to overcome their stress such as take control of the situatio ns, figure out what is the most important and set priorities. By practicing these alternative they can reduce their stress and become more relevant in their work. (720 words) e) Revising Stress could simply be defined as an unpleasant emotion which arises when people worry that they could not cope with excessive pressures or other types of demand placed upon them such as anger or depression by a teacher usually accompanied by potentially pathogenic, physiological and biochemical changes resulting from aspects of the teacher’s job.Stress also has become an integral part of living. For some individuals it is the driving force behind successful undertakings and for others it is the cause of their failures. In this ever-changing and fast-paced society, career related stress has become a prevalent term in everyday language. Whether one is a novice or a seasoned veteran in profession, almost all individuals experienced stressful situations in their jobs. Recently, this condition ha s been more widely explored for a select group of professionals which are our nation’s teachers.Therefore, it is essential for both pre-service teachers and those already in the profession to identify the causes of stress. Generally, the most effective classrooms are those in which teachers can communicate and cope with each of the student to meet their needs, thus require full attention of the students. The task become difficult with the increase in size of the class because large class size provides fewer opportunities to interact individually with each student. Hence, the teacher feel less involved and less effective. Moreover, with the increase in class size, the classroom management will become more difficult.The teacher might need to use higher voice tone while teaching and giving instructions to students. Furthermore, overcrowded classrooms will make the lesson uninteresting and the students will feel sleepy because the teacher cannot focus on every student while teach ing, thus the student will not give full attention to the lesson and this factor will causes stress among teachers. Inadequate salaries also one of the factor that face by many teachers and this has also causes stress among teachers. Most of the teachers complain of their low salaries.Some of them compare their salaries with other professionals group and their work at school level with the teachers at college level. This situations become stressful for the teachers. However, to meet their expenditure they search for other ways. For example, they do a private tuition which is a good way. But not the best one because it is not good for teachers to earn from their own school students. In addition, parents and society give a high expectations and invest them with an enormous degree of responsibility while politicians continually declare that our children are our nation’s future.In response to such statement, the teachers ask for their financial rewards that equate with such impor tant task. This shows that inadequate salaries is one of the causes of stress among teachers. The school success is strongly influence by unconcerned parents, parents beliefs, an integral part of the educational process and parental support of children’s work. Generally, the teachers welcome parental environment in schools but majority of the parents are not supportive. to teachers. Unsupportive parents come under two major varieties which are not involved and too involved.Parents whom not involved are those parents who are not available, incapable or uninterested in their children’s education and those who put the whole responsibility of educating their children on teachers. Parents whom too involved are those parents who have decided that the real education is only possible if parents constantly monitor what occurs in the school. Usually, this parents feel that their child is being overlooked by the teacher and that only constant pressure on their part will rectify t he situations.Generally, parents are perceived by the teachers as either unhelpful, unavailable or intrusive although all parents are not of such kind. This societal factors is one of the causes of stress. It is generally accepted that stress is a multi-dimensional and multi-concept. Increasingly it has acquired a negative connotation, implying excessive demand or pressure. It is difficult to distinguish stress from its causes and effects. Large class size, inadequate salaries and societal factor are the causes of stress among teachers.However, the teachers should fine an effective way to overcome their stress such as take control of the situations, figure out what is the most important and set priorities. By practicing these alternative they can reduce their stress and become more relevant in their job. (718 words) f) Final Stress could simply be defined as an unpleasant emotion which arises when people worry that they could not cope with excessive pressures or other types of deman d placed upon them such as anger or depression by a teacher usually accompanied by potentially pathogenic, physiological and biochemical changes resulting from aspects of the teacher’s job.Stress also has become an integral part of living. For some individuals it is the driving force behind successful undertakings and for others it is the cause of their failures. In this ever-changing and fast-paced society, career related stress has become a prevalent term in everyday language. Whether one is a novice or a seasoned veteran in profession, almost all individuals experienced stressful situations in their jobs. Recently, this condition has been more widely explored for a select group of professionals which are our nation’s teachers.Therefore, it is essential for both pre-service teachers and those already in the profession to identify the causes of stress. Generally, the most effective classrooms are those in which teachers can communicate and cope with each of the studen t to meet their needs, thus require full attention of the students. The task become difficult with the increase in size of the class because large class size provides fewer opportunities to interact individually with each student. Hence, the teacher feel less involved and less effective.Moreover, with the increase in class size, the classroom management will become more difficult. The teacher might need to use higher voice tone while teaching and giving instructions to students. Furthermore, overcrowded classrooms will make the lesson uninteresting and the students will feel sleepy because the teacher cannot focus on every student while teaching, thus the student will not give full attention to the lesson and this factor will causes stress among teachers.Inadequate salaries also one of the factor that face by many teachers and this has also causes stress among teachers. Most of the teachers complain of their low salaries. Some of them compare their salaries with other professionals group and their work at school level with the teachers at college level. This situation become stressful for the teachers. However, to meet their expenditure they search for other ways. For example, they do a private tuition which is a good way. But not the best one because it is not good for teachers to earn from their own school students.In addition, parents and society give a high expectations and invest them with an enormous degree of responsibility while politicians continually declare that our children are our nation’s future. In response to such statement, the teachers ask for their financial rewards that equate with such important task. This shows that inadequate salaries is one of the causes of stress among teachers. The school success is strongly influence by unconcerned parents, parents beliefs, an integral part of the educational process and parental support of children’s work.Generally, the teachers welcome parental environment in schools but majority of t he parents are not supportive. Unsupportive parents come under two major varieties which are not involved and too involved. Parents whom not involved are those parents who are not available, incapable or uninterested in their children’s education and those who put the whole responsibility of educating their children on teachers. Parents whom too involved are those parents who have decided that the real education is only possible if parents constantly monitor what occurs in the school.Usually, this parents feel that their child is being overlooked by the teacher and that only constant pressure on their part will rectify the situations. Generally, parents are perceived by the teachers as either unhelpful, unavailable or intrusive although all parents are not of such kind. This societal factor is one of the causes of stress. It is generally accepted that stress is a multi-dimensional and multi-concept. Increasingly it has acquired a negative connotation, implying excessive deman d or pressure. It is difficult to distinguish stress from its causes and effects.Large class size, inadequate salaries and societal factor are the causes of stress among teachers. However, the teachers should fine an effective way to overcome their stress such as take control of the situations, figure out what is the most important and set priorities. By practicing these alternative they can reduce their stress and become more relevant in their job. (718 words) g) Reference 1. Retrieve 15th April 2013 from www. studygs. net 2. Retrieve 15th April 2013 from ukessays. com 3. Retrieve 15th April 2013 from www. jstor. org 4. Retrieve 15th April 2013 from www. netplaces. com

Jane Addams – Biography

The argument Addams makes that â€Å"educational matters are more democratic in their political than in their social aspect† (197), I believe she is referring to the long struggle between the teachers and the Chicago School Board. The Chicago School Board was politically corrupt. Many of the teachers and custodial engineers were friends of politicians who secured their positions in exchange for certain kickbacks. The school board maintained control over the school administration for many years. During which they restricted the types of children that were able to attend the public schools and they restricted the amount of freedom and authority the teachers were able to use in their classrooms. On several different occasions the â€Å"Dunne† members of the board attempted to lower the restriction on the teachers side but were warned-off with tales of the politicians and the difficulties previous attempts encountered. Addams' describes the situation between the superintendent and the Teachers' Federation as â€Å"an epitome of the struggle between efficiency and democracy† (171). She clearly understood both standpoints and why they both felt compelled to make their argument, although she does mention that they both â€Å"inevitably exaggerated the difficulties of the situation† (171). As a member of the school board, Addams tried to influence the Federation to make changes that would be in the best interest of the children, but after the legal struggle and following months of constant change, many of the important measure were withdrawn. Although she did have an opportunity to debate these measures in a democratic way, they were dismissed because of (more or less) political reasons. Jane Addams' role for education in an effort to reform the city was to take the disruptive delinquents the public schools rejected and accept them unconditionally into the settlement. Give them the opportunity to learn domestic training and trade teachings. She felt that even people of lesser means were interested in the same topics as the â€Å"well-to-do† people of society. She also thought that if you give a child encouragement and a sense of self-worth combined with an opportunity to become something in society that they would try to become productive. Hull-House offered educational opportunities for anyone who wanted to attend with no political or economic restrictions. Hull-House also offered the opportunity for recreation, such as supervised sports matches, which hundreds of youths seemed to prefer. Jane Addams' makes an important statement that â€Å"The educational activities of a Settlement, as well as its philanthropic, civic, and social undertakings, are but differing manifestations of the attempt to socialize democracy, as is the very existence of the Settlement itself,† (206). That illustrates her idea of education, which I believe is what she wanted for the public school system, but was unable to achieve while she was a member of the board.

Free Essays on Collage Life

If I were to make a choice between Time or Money, precisely favor money rather than the time. In my opinion no life possiblely substance in the absence of money. Money, a good friend of life for everyone plays an important role to support throughout living. Starting from purchasing basic commodities, almost all goods we use in the daily life are based on only money. In the lack of money, the life remains incomplete. Taking a point of view from a daily life, money is essential in every step. Everyday, for purchasing our basic foods, traveling to and from, buying cloths, going to the movies of getting an entertainment, all are dependent upon the amount that we can effort. Since the birth of a child money stands being one of the complementary factor till the end to sustain the life properly. If we just plan about establishing ‘something’ new, we cannot even think in the absence of money. The investment is compulsory otherwise the project cannot be started. For instance, if we want to open an educational institution, which is for the well being of the government and the public people as well who achieve a high standard of education requires some deposits before the opening of the institution. In the lack of money, it is almost impossible to proceed ahead. Whatever the people are doing, they all are investing money accordance with their capacities. The people get education and ultimately their aim is focus to collect money which holds on their life in better ways. The earning principle is here in the world since the millennium and it is still continued. People always get worry about the complexity of money because they cannot earn enough as they expect. People do not mind investing even a large amount of money to their children’s education thinking that after being educated they will earn ten or 20 folds of what they have invested. At last I do stress that money is only factor that can stand the life properly.... Free Essays on Collage Life Free Essays on Collage Life If I were to make a choice between Time or Money, precisely favor money rather than the time. In my opinion no life possiblely substance in the absence of money. Money, a good friend of life for everyone plays an important role to support throughout living. Starting from purchasing basic commodities, almost all goods we use in the daily life are based on only money. In the lack of money, the life remains incomplete. Taking a point of view from a daily life, money is essential in every step. Everyday, for purchasing our basic foods, traveling to and from, buying cloths, going to the movies of getting an entertainment, all are dependent upon the amount that we can effort. Since the birth of a child money stands being one of the complementary factor till the end to sustain the life properly. If we just plan about establishing ‘something’ new, we cannot even think in the absence of money. The investment is compulsory otherwise the project cannot be started. For instance, if we want to open an educational institution, which is for the well being of the government and the public people as well who achieve a high standard of education requires some deposits before the opening of the institution. In the lack of money, it is almost impossible to proceed ahead. Whatever the people are doing, they all are investing money accordance with their capacities. The people get education and ultimately their aim is focus to collect money which holds on their life in better ways. The earning principle is here in the world since the millennium and it is still continued. People always get worry about the complexity of money because they cannot earn enough as they expect. People do not mind investing even a large amount of money to their children’s education thinking that after being educated they will earn ten or 20 folds of what they have invested. At last I do stress that money is only factor that can stand the life properly....

The Subjunctive Mood

The Subjunctive Mood The Subjunctive Mood The Subjunctive Mood By Jacquelyn Landis No single part of speech gives writers more grief than the mighty verb. Think about all the elements you must take into consideration when forming verbs. They have tense, number, person, voice, and mood. Where things get especially dicey is with a verbs mood, in particular, the subjunctive mood. Take a look at this sentence: I wish I was/were vacationing on a tropical island instead of at my desk working. The correct verb choice is the second one: were. It expresses the subjunctive mood, something we use to convey a wish or a condition that isnt true. And since the speaker isnt actually vacationing on a tropical island, this is a perfect case for using the subjunctive mood. Most writers will intuitively plunk in some form of a past-tense version of the verb to be in a sentence like our example. The important thing to remember about the subjunctive mood is to choose the correct version. When using the subjunctive mood, the correct version is were. One good test is to mentally add but Im not to the sentence. If that makes it a true statement, then its a likely candidate for the subjunctive mood: I wish I were vacationing on a tropical island instead of at my desk working (but Im not). If he were ten feet tall (but hes not), he could wash the windows without using a ladder. You might hear that the subjunctive mood is fading from common use, and thats probably true (Maeve wrote about that on The irrealis â€Å"were†). However, its still a hallmark of correct usage, and savvy writers will try hard to get it right. Tevye, from Fiddler on the Roof, got it right in the song If I Were a Rich Man. So did Bobby Darin in If I Were a Carpenter. It might be one of the worst songs of all time, but the grammar is spot-on. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Is She a "Lady" or a "Woman"?Hyper and Hypo"Wracking" or "Racking" Your Brain?

Beside and Besides

Beside and Besides Beside and Besides Beside and Besides By Maeve Maddox Anwar wants to know the difference between beside and besides. Old English had the phrase be sidan, by the side of. OE side meant the flanks of a person, or the long part of anything. By 1200 the phrase was written as one word and used as both adverb and preposition. One meaning for beside in Middle English was outside. This is the sense in the expression to be beside oneself: He was beside himself with worry. He wasnt next to himself, he was outside himself. In modern usage beside is used chiefly as a preposition, while besides can be either a preposition or an adverb. The preposition beside means next to: Joans house stood beside the church. I like to sit beside my friend. As a preposition, besides means in addition to: Besides the administrators, the teachers were allowed to state their views. Besides the prize money, Charlie won a trip to the Bahamas. Besides often introduces a noun clause: Besides what you said, we must consider what she said. As an adverb, besides means in addition, as well as: There is enough for us and all our friends besides. Besides can introduce a further consideration: I dont think Ill attend the conference because it comes at an inconvenient time of year for me. Besides, I cant really afford it. Sometimes besides is a synonym for except or excluding: Besides him, everyone liked the idea. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Classes and Types of Phrases25 Russian Words Used in English (and 25 More That Should Be)Wood vs. Wooden

Postive Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Postive Psychology - Essay Example "Community Alliance for Responsibility, Empowerment and Safety" program was developed. This program involves one employee to oversee low-level adult offenders who perform court-ordered community service. This program has cut over 50-weeded lots; filled hundreds of 30-gallon size trash bags with garbage taken from gutters and ditches; and decreased graffiti off of numerous sites of private and public property. Hiring a new Executive Director is one that will have great effect on the society. Developing a program that would benefit the citizens of Houston is very essential. This program aims to establish a strong reputation for its ability to identify and seize opportunities to help solve tough problems. Applying Positive Psychology principles on the proposed programs will make people positive and productive individuals. ... PROGRAM COMPONENTS for FOUR SUBDIVISIONS INCLUDE: Spiritual motivation. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man (Ecclesiastes 12:13)." Individual and group counseling, family counseling, relapse prevention, aftercare counseling, parenting education, life skills training. Case management and other legal matters Nutritional education HIV/AIDS education, testing and support Mental health counseling (as appropriate) Job preparation training and assistance Recreational activities Housing referrals Academic enhancement, including tutoring. Skill development Curriculum based support groups Educational presentations and literacy development Enrichment including computer training, soccer team and other sports team, cheerleaders, dance, arts and music programs. Community involvement, including presentations by community leaders and sports figures as well as volunteer activities and Children's services CONCLUSION Applying Positive Psychology principles on the proposed programs will make people positive and productive individuals. The first component included in the program is "Spiritual Motivation," and one of the principles of Positive Psychology is that "Only intrinsic religiosity is associated with positive mental health." So as the Executive Director, I will make sure that each individual will know the real meaning of spirituality and its major impact in the lives of people in the society. Life begins when you know the meaning of life. People struggle to find the essence of life and spiritual motivation is one of the answers to that. Learned individuals flourish not only in knowledge and

GBS---JP MORGAN CHASE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

GBS---JP MORGAN CHASE - Essay Example Several factors such as business laws, political stability, economical stability, information and communication technology, social activities and cultural practices affect the business environment and some of these factors are difficulty to analyze since they occur at the global and large scale levels. The strategy is a worldwide analysis of various areas and regions as new market to be exploited to increase their profitability through international diversification. It involves coming up with authority structures along with function of the organization that may include managerial designs, organizational structures, supervision resources and employees and executive’s competence, interactions with the subsidiary of the organizations and managing strategy (The Strategic Management Society, n.y.) The analysis helps the managers understand the internal and external environmental factors that affect the operation of the organization as well as how the organization interact with thes e environmental factors in order to improve its efficiency by evaluation of the available data, and identification of environmental aspects to be analyzed through SWOT investigations, Porter’s five forces examinations, value chain studies, PEST investigations among others (Downey 2007, P 3). This paper will critically evaluate the internalization strategy of JP Morgan Chases. History of JP Morgan Chase The origin this organization can be traced back to the year 1971 when it was started as Drexel, Morgan & Co as an agent for European executives and investors in United States America, later the company grew to a well-established private and foreign bank with wide customer base. The company has undergone a lot of changes and expansion through acquisition and merger to form the current JP Morgan Chase. JP Morgan Chase is the biggest banking organization in United States of America with about 1.56 trillion in US dollars Asset base and 123.2 billion in US dollars in form of Equity (Datamonitor 2010, P. 33). JP Morgan Chase is a United States of America based financial institution with its headquarters in New Yolk that was created subsequent to the merger of Chase Manhattan and J.P. Morgan (Marcial 2001, P. 107) to form a strong company at time when there was prediction that the economy will improve. The merger has impacted positively on the performance and valuation of the company (Bernstein research 2001, P. 67).The company offer financial services such as asset management, commercial banking services, government bonds and treasury, investments banking, securities and shares services and cash deposited and withdrawal banking services through various divisions’ and subsidiaries to its customers across the globe in more than sixty countries for more than two hundred years. The company vision is to help its customers to become financially independent through management and planning of their wealth and operates in United States of America, Middle East, Eu rope and Africa and has 261,453 across the globe. (MarketLine 2012, P. 3). The company recorded growth of 7.6 percent in their working profit and 9.2 percent in their net profit for the physical year that ended in December 2012 (MarketLine 2012, P. 3). The company has a strategy to overturn their performance and also

History of Windows Server Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History of Windows Server - Essay Example A better appreciation of the current server operating system is more possible if the earlier versions before 2003 are included in the appreciation of the Windows servers. The Windows server prototypes were the NT platforms which began with the release of Windows NT Advanced Server 3.1 in 1993 upgraded to Windows NT Server 3.5 in 1994, Windows Server 3.51 in 1995, Windows Server 4.0 in 1996, Windows NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition in 1997, Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition in 1998, and winds up with the Windows 2000 Server Platform (multiple editions) in 2000 where the NT part of the title was completely given up. A discussion of the early Windows server O/S is vital because they form the basis of the more modern versions. In addition, a complete historical perspective will give emphasis to the leaps and bounds by which the 21st Windows servers have progressed. Microsoft introduced its first server operating system with Windows NT version 3.1. This version is a 32-bit system that incorporated Win32 concepts that are MS DOS, Windows, OS/2 and POSIX compatible. It also provided a US Government C-2 security level protection as well as â€Å"portability to different microprocessor architectures, symmetric multiprocessing support, built-in networking capabilities and support for multilingual applications† (Allan p. 15/2). The NY system is usable in Intel microprocessors, MIPS workstations and the DEC Alpha architecture, needs 12 to 16 megabytes of memory to work and requires a 486 processor or better and more powerful microprocessors (Allan p. 15/2). The following year, version 3.5 came out in September, which upgraded the earlier version by reducing the hardware requirements and advancing reliability (Allan p. 15/3). This version was characterized by enhanced speed and greater connectivity to Novell and UNIX, two of Microsoft’s stiff competitors (Long 2008). It was however, version 3.51 that was considered the

Integrated Communication Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 7

Integrated Communication Marketing - Assignment Example Samsung Electronics, a company that is currently dominant in the mobile industry releasing Samsung Galaxy Note 3 which comes with a special feature of a digitalized watch dubbed Samsung Galaxy watch. Even though the phone and the watch have incomparable syncing and multi-functioning features thereby beating its competitors, it is evident that the price tag of the product has been placed at the high end (Spears, 2014). This means that only individuals who have either a passion for the latest technology hence sacrificing on other needs or those that are financially capable of purchasing them are the ones that can access these products. This means that even though I am loyal to Samsung as a brand, the price of the product has been ranged beyond the normal quarters and would require me to save more than I could for other products that are close to this kind of technology. This may also pose as a disadvantage for the company considering the East market which has recently been producing si milar products as those from the West but with better affordability in terms of prices as compared to those from the West (Nicolau,

Write an essay about the movie stand and deliver

Write an about the movie stand and deliver - Essay Example Escalante knew of the Garfield High School as one of the most East Los Angele’s notorious barrios from the onset. He knew it was a place whereby poor, hardened street kid were never supposed to master mathematics, algebra, trigonometry and calculus based on their cultural legacies. However, the prior knowledge shaped Escalante mode of teaching. Accordingly, he believed that a teacher should at no point, let his students give up. He therefore, decided to love the subject and children he taught to make the kids see that they have an opportunity to become whatever they wish to be in the future. Therefore, Escalante inspired, cajoled and taunted young kids who were troubled to see themselves as they could be and never as they were. Subsequently, for Escalante to accomplish this, embraced a teaching strategy based on the ganas that meant drive or desire in Spanish terms. Therefore, ganas became his battle cry, as he always chided apathetic administrators’ as well jaded teach ers alongside being a powerful word for motivating his students. We see how other teachers thought Escalante (played by Edward James Olmos) was joking when he ultimately declared his interest in teaching calculus. The knowledge of the kids cultural legacies made him adopt such a teaching strategy in which his children ate, slept and lived mathematics. He made it a rule that the children were to arrive an hour before school and stayed two, three hours after school. He drilled his students on Saturdays as well as made summer school mandatory. This was hated by some parents who were harboring cultural legacies who even went further to let Escalante know the dissents. He became successful and by 1991, 600 Garfield students were taking Advanced Placement exams. This was not only in mathematics but also in other subjects, something unheard of at the time. Escalante had a

Integrated Communication Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 7

Integrated Communication Marketing - Assignment Example Samsung Electronics, a company that is currently dominant in the mobile industry releasing Samsung Galaxy Note 3 which comes with a special feature of a digitalized watch dubbed Samsung Galaxy watch. Even though the phone and the watch have incomparable syncing and multi-functioning features thereby beating its competitors, it is evident that the price tag of the product has been placed at the high end (Spears, 2014). This means that only individuals who have either a passion for the latest technology hence sacrificing on other needs or those that are financially capable of purchasing them are the ones that can access these products. This means that even though I am loyal to Samsung as a brand, the price of the product has been ranged beyond the normal quarters and would require me to save more than I could for other products that are close to this kind of technology. This may also pose as a disadvantage for the company considering the East market which has recently been producing si milar products as those from the West but with better affordability in terms of prices as compared to those from the West (Nicolau,

Poetry and Politics Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Poetry and Politics Paper - Essay Example Bryant opens his poem with the recognition that slavery represents not only a â€Å"great wrong† but also a slow and painful journey in race relations (The Death of Slavery, Line 1). Bryant opens Death of Slavery with: O THOU great Wrong, that, through the slow-paced years, Didst hold they millions fettered, and didst wield The scourge that drove the labourer to the field, And turn a stony gaze on human tears, They cruel reign is o’er.... (The Death of Slavery, 1900, First Stanza). Thus for Bryant’s The Death of Slavery, represents not only a reminder of the pain and suffering associated with the oppression of one race over another, but its place in history also serves as a reminder that mankind can and has overcome the worst of evils punctuating race relations in history. Bryant’s last stanza of The Death of Slavery pulls this realization together as follows: I see the better years that hasten by Carry thee back into that shadowy past, Where, in the dusty spaces, void and vast, The graves of those whom thou hast murdered lie. The slave-pen, through whose door Thy victims pass no more...(The Death of Slavery, 1900, Last Stanza). ... Bryant (1900) likewise recalls that this â€Å"grim† past: At which the slave was sold; while at thy feet Scourges and engines of restraint and pain Moulder and rust by thine eternal seat. There, mid the symbols that proclaim they crimes, Dwell thou, a warning to the coming times (The Death of Slavery, 1900, Last Stanza). In other words, recalling the evils of the past, serves as a caution to resist evil of any kind relative to race relations among mankind. Obama likewise, sees the utility in remembering the cruel past. Obama stated that he felt it was a significant visit for his daughters as they would be encouraged to fight cruel oppression of any kind to prevent this kind of history repeating itself. Thomas Merton’s And the Children of Birmingham was written in the 1960s amidst the race movement in the US during that time. The poem reflects on the bombing in Birmingham, Alabama that killed Black children staging a protest in the 1960s against the oppression of Black in the US is also instructive. And the Children of Birmingham likewise calls attention to the cruel pass in terms of race relations and also speaks to man’s ability to overcome this kind of cruel legacy. Herron (2005) informs that from Merton’s perspective however, the death of the children in Birmingham is less about marking the history of race relations among Americans. Instead, And the Children of Birmingham is more about hope and this hope is expressed by calling upon Americans everywhere to look upon all Americans as equals, as brothers and sisters (2005). And The Children of Birmingham draws attention to the innocent victims and inheritors of the evils of cruel race relations

Product costing and cost accumulation in a batch production environment Essay Example for Free

Product costing and cost accumulation in a batch production environment Essay As production takes place, manufacturing costs are tracked in the Work-in-Process Inventory account. Every product is made up of three cost components: direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead. After products are completed, the corresponding cost leaves the Work-in-Process account and is debited to the Finished-Goods account. (A merchandising firm buys its goods already completed and directly debits the items cost to Merchandise Inventory.) When units are sold, the Finished-Goods Inventory account is credited and Cost of Goods Sold is debited. A product-costing system must be adapted to match the environ ­ment in which it operates. A job-order costing system is used in an industry where products are made individually, or in relatively small batches, and one product or batch is readily distinguishable from the other. Candidates for job-costing systems would be custom homebuilding, custom printing, custom furniture construction, legal cases, medical cases, audits, and research projects. A process-costing system is employed in an environment at the other end of the continuum: the mass production of like units. Users might include manufacturers of chemicals, gasoline, and microchips. This topic is discussed fully in Chapter 4. 4.ACCUMULATING COSTS IN A JOB-ORDER COSTING SYSTEM A job-cost record is used to accumulate the actual direct materials, actual direct labor, and applied manufacturing overhead costs for each job. The recording of costs on this record and in the general ledger is triggered by various source docu ­ments. Material requisition forms authorize the transfer of direct materials from the warehouse to production. In many firms, the requisitions are based on a bill of materials that lists all of the materials (e.g., parts) needed. Supply chain—the flow of all goods, services, and information into and out of the organization. The supply chain often has ramifications for materials, as manufacturers work with vendors to achieve improved delivery schedules and reductions in material cost. Time records are used to gather the amount of direct labor worked on a specific job. Manufacturing overhead is entered on the job-cost record in the form of applied (i.e., estimated) overhead. Source documents, such as invoices for factory insurance and schedules for factory depreciation, trigger a general-ledger entry that debits the Manufacturing Overhead account. 5.OVERHEAD APPLICATION Overhead accounting involves a number of steps. Chapter 3 focuses on the final step: the application of overhead to jobs and products. Although overhead cannot be directly traced to the product, the use of an application rate should allocate an equitable amount of cost to each job (known as overhead application). Step 1: Set a predetermined overhead rate at the beginning of the accounting period. This is done by dividing the periods estimated (budgeted) overhead by the periods estimated number of cost-driver units. Step 2: Use the predetermined overhead rate to apply an equitable portion of overhead to each job. As the actual number of cost-driver units used on a job becomes known, it is multiplied by the predetermined overhead rate. Actual overhead costs incurred during the year are debited to the Manufacturing Overhead control account. In contrast, applied overhead is debited to Work-in-Process Inventory and credited to Manufacturing Overhead. The year-end difference between actual and applied amounts is known as over- or underapplied overhead. This figure is adjusted in the process of closing the Manufacturing Overhead account to zero by either: Charging or crediting the amount to cost of goods sold. This approach is acceptable if the over- or underapplication is small or if most of the products made during the period have been sold. Prorating the amount among work in process, finished goods, and cost of goods sold. Teaching Tip: Emphasize that under- and overapplied overhead is the difference between actual and applied overhead, not actual and budgeted overhead. The budgeted figure is used solely in the determination of the predetermined rate. 6. EXTENDED ILLUSTRATION OF JOB COSTING As noted earlier, the Work-in-Process Inventory account contains charges for direct materials used, direct labor, and applied manufacturing overhead. Period costs are expensed and not charged to Manufacturing Overhead. A sale requires two journal entries: one to record the sales revenue and another to transfer the goods cost from Finished-Goods Inventory to Cost of Goods Sold. Teaching Tip: Although the text illustration appears relatively complicated, it is simply presenting the details that accompany the flow of goods (and costs) from work in process, to finished goods, to cost of goods sold. 7.FINANCIAL SCHEDULES FOR MANAGERS The schedule of cost of goods manufactured details the activity in the Work-in-Process account (beginning balance, direct materials used, direct labor, applied overhead, and ending balance). The schedule of cost of goods sold details the activity in the Finished- Goods Inventory account. It is similar to the cost-of-goods-sold schedule as shown in financial accounting courses for merchandising companies, except the purchases amount is replaced with cost of goods manufactured. 8.FURTHER ASPECTS OF OVERHEAD APPLICATION Actual and normal costing Accountants prefer predetermined application rates, which are used in a normal-costing system. Such rates help to smooth product costs over time and allow users to cost products/jobs upon completion. In contrast, users of actual-costing systems derive an actual overhead rate at the end of the accounting period. Product-cost information to management is therefore delayed. Choosing an appropriate cost driver Direct labor has been a very common and appropriate cost driver. Past processes were labor intensive, and products incurring more labor often produced higher amounts of manufacturing overhead. Today, many processes are automated and less dependent on labor. Thus, firms now use machine hours, process time, throughput (cycle) time (the average amount of time to convert raw materials into finished goods), and other measures as cost drivers. Single vs. multiple overhead rates Companies commonly use multiple (rather than single) application rates. With computerized accounting systems, multiple rates are easily generated, thus lowering the cost of producing highly accurate information. A single overhead rate is commonly known as a plantwide rate; multiple rates are often known as departmental rates. Two-stage cost allocation Stage one: Overhead is first accumulated in production departments. This frequently requires the allocation of service department costs to production departments. Stage two: As a final step, production department costs are assigned to individual jobs and products via overhead application. 9.PROJECT COSTING Project costing refers to job costing in a nonmanufacturing environment. Jobs in this case refer to cases, contracts, and/or programs. Costing involves tracking the direct, easily traceable costs and subdividing them by project. Overhead is then applied by using a predetermined rate, with a possible application base being a projects direct professional labor cost. Technology such as bar coding may be used to track appropriate costs to projects, although this is just one of many possible applications. Service providers, along with manufacturers, are also making use of: Electronic data interchange (EDI), which involves the electronic transfer of information from one organization to another by using a computer-to-computer interface. Extensible markup language (XML), which is web-based and allows users to share structured data such as product order lists and price data. Teaching Overview I begin the topic of job costing by explaining that students should not expect to apply a so-called textbook system to any real-world company, because cost systems must be designed to meet a firms unique needs. However, the two traditional system models, job order and process costing, give users the ability to build-in various modifications for use in actual situations. The major difficulty that students encounter in job costing is the concept of manufacturing overhead. The first area needing clarifica ­tion is terminology, namely: Estimated = budgeted Applied = allocatedIncurred = actual The second area in need of clarification is the sequence of procedures for overhead application: calculating predeter ­mined overhead rates, using the rates, and adjusting the over ­- or underapplied amount. This problem stems from the fact that students are doing textbook assignments where all the information is given simultaneously. Therefore, the question arises, Why use an imperfect predetermined overhead rate when I have all the totally correct, actual data in the next paragraph? It is helpful to be on the lookout for this line of thinking when discussing homework assignments and to remind students how and when information becomes available in the real world. (I suspect this is a problem mainly for under ­graduates with limited work experience.) Based on many years of teaching, I also find that students struggle with the journal entries required to handle a sale. Two entries are needed: one to transfer the cost of units sold from finished goods to cost of goods sold; another is needed to record revenue. Students often forget one or the other or exhibit some creativity, creating a new account entitled Profit on Sale. Be sure to spend a few extra minutes with this issue. After the preceding issues have been handled, students generally are quite interested in job-costing concepts, particularly those who have worked in a family business or who plan to start their own business. Students are also interested in job costing in a service enterprise (discuss something as basic as the activities of a sports agent who represents clients across the country) and the impact of changing manufacturing techniques (such as the acquisition of new, state-of-the-art production technology) on product-costing procedures. I recommend Exercise 3-35 (manufacturing overhead) and Problem 3-46 (job costing and journal entries) as lecture demonstration problems.

Concepts of Business Communication

Concepts of Business Communication RITU MUDLIAR Active listening skills are ways to become a good listener. It basically means that listeners are hearing various messages, understands its meaning and verifies the feedback. Characteristics of active listeners are that more time is spent listening than talking. Five active listening skills in making your communication with your trainees are attending, encouraging, reflecting, interpreting or questioning. Attending- this makes the speaker aware whether the staffs are active listeners or not. This also implements that staffs will be taking precautions measures to resolve anything discussed in the meeting. Encouraging- shows what the speaker is saying and discussing. Reflecting- it shows that you are listening and understanding whatever the speaker is saying. Interpreting- analyzing whatever the speaker has said and summarizing it to be put into practice into their own words Questioning- shows that the staff were attentive and by asking questions they are really attentive and aware of all the happenings. Interpersonal skills are the skills we are using every day for communication and mixing around with other people. This is done either individually or in groups. Many people have worked really hard in their professional and personal lives. Four interpersonal communication skills are: Being optimistic- where people make opinions about the work done or to be done so that when launching a new product everyone’s opinion is taken into account. Patient- patience is very important in any organization as with this person can be in total control of the work pressure and staffs pressure. Confidence- doing anything or any project in any organization is very important and with total confidence anyone can do anything impossible into possibility. With that belief staffs and employers tend to move forward their business. Charming- this is very interesting character as whoever is charming can work their ways into anything. This interesting character has the charms to work things out. Assertiveness means where one person stands ground for another and standing up for that person. This normally is called bullies. Many people seek to be assertive through using methods and techniques that can be achieved. Those whom seek can dramatically can increase their effective influence and strength by using these methods. Some methods and techniques used in this process are: Have faith as this normally can lead to progressive reports. Prepare questions and ask to whom it is suitable to and this will in return than will prove worthy or not. Read inspirational things that reinforce your faith in proper values-this will always give good examples and ideas towards business minded people and strategy. Negotiation is where two parties come to a mutual agreement to any issue. This however will than become the mutual agreement between them. This resolution always tends to work in any organizations to resolve company issues related to workers or management. Feedback is very important in any organization as this is the only way any company can get feedbacks about their products being sold out in the market. This way the company can always have a fair idea as to where they stand and can than intent to launch other products. This is important as constructive measures can be taken in accordance to improve anything. Clarification is what we don’t understand and ask questions to clarify the doubts anyone has in their minds. This is helpful to managers as this gives both the interviewee and the manager a fair idea as to whether that particular person has understood or not. Question and discussion makes it easier as this way all clarifications are out from both parties and whatever questions are there are cleared before proceeding to another process. Feedback is a very important factor in any organization. This gives the whole progress report as to where the company stands and if it’s safe to launch new products into the market or to grow the existing one. Customer’s point of view gives the result of the market value and this decides the company’s outcomes towards the profit. Follow up gives proper record of the sales market and makes you keep product market value at high level. For example since Alliance Leicester is dealing with banking, insurance and this all are rel ated to money. If the company decides to launch more investments, it will apply all the theory of feedback, follow up, clarification, question and answers as this will give the correct figure as to where the company’s status stands and whether the company is liable to precede this product in the market. Also using rapport can be a solution too. Finding common grounds of communication to support your theory also portrays a huge role n the stock market. Displaying respect and empathy is also another one of the methods. Chairperson Build a team of your committee by bringing people along with you, working with them Interpret the purpose and programs of the organization to the committee Understand and interpret the community to the organization an committee members Be knowledgeable about services of other organizations Use skills in human relations and knowledge of your committee members to help each attain the peak of performance Accept and understand your committees goals and objectives as they come to you from the planning process Guide your committee in long and short range planning In the budget process, have your committee estimate costs of objectives and identify any income Monitor implementation of committee objectives When appropriate, decide with committee to take part in implementing objectives Delegate responsibilities to committee members Recognize conflicts and disagreements and use problem-solving skills to deal with them. Participants Rights and Responsibilities Have certain responsibilities which include: Making every effort to gather sufficient information that will allow them to make an informed decision about their participation, in good faith .While participating, they should also make every reasonable effort to comply with protocol requirements and inform the investigators of unanticipated problems. Participants always have the right to withdraw from their participation in research at any time and for any reason without penalty or loss of benefits to which they would otherwise be entitled. Minute recorder A minute recorder or secretary is the person who takes notes of all the meetings and makes it into a proper report for both the parties to keep. Their duties include keeping all records of conversations done between the two parties and then conveying the message to a full report made into written or verbal communication. This way a record is made as to what has happened during the meetings and what the outcomes are. Traditional views of the communication process in school organizations have been dominated by downward communication flows. Such flows transmit information from higher to lower levels of the school organization. School leaders, from central office administrators to building-level administrators, communicate downward to group members through speeches, messages in school bulletins, school board policy manuals, and school procedure handbooks. Information passed from the top managers or executives to the middle and low managers are called downward communication. For example executive manager passes a message that a new product has to be launched in Alliance Leicester and this message has to be passed on from one stage to another. The downward flow of communication provides a channel for directives, instructions, and information to organizational members. However, much information gets lost as it is passed from one person to another. Moreover, the message can be distorted if it travels a great distance from its sender to the ultimate receiver down through the formal school organization hierarchy Implementation of goals, strategies, and objectives. Communicating new strategies and goals provides information about specific targets and expected behaviors. It gives direction for lower levels of the school/school district, community college, or university. For example: The new reform mandate is for real. We must improve the quality of products in order to succeed further in the market and increase our sales value:† Implementation of goals, strategies, and objectives. Communicating new strategies and goals provides information about specific targets and expected behaviors. It gives direction for lower levels of the school/school district, community college, or university. For example: The new reform mandate is for real. We must improve the quality of student learning if we are to succeed. Supervisors are invested with decision making powers or increasingly complex decision making powers they farther you to go up the hierarchy chain of command. People in a hierarchy know who is to make the decision on a particular issue or at the very least, which is ultimately responsible for the decision (the top person in the hierarchy). Advantage of this is often more efficient than other methods such as group decision making. At the same time preventing those on the bottom of the hierarchy from making or participating in a decision. Structures are always centralized and decentralized in hierarchy chains. It defines the nature of the relationship with other employees with narrow control which gets under them more. Two communication technologies used by Alliance Leicester are electronic and oral communication. Electronic communication is done by telephone for internal external communication, email, internet, fax and computers. This is required for making reports in the finance department where all records are kept. It keeps people connected regardless of their locations instantly. Some advantages are: Messages passed on are fast and efficient. It is delivered and reply comes back as soon as the receiver receives it. Disadvantages of electronic communication are: Everyone is relying on electronic devices rather than their own minds as it used to happen in the old days. It seems businesses are running and depending more on these than the book records. Oral communication is another source of technology of communication. Some advantages of oral communication are: It is time saving as action is required to be taken immediately into account. It is always best to transmit a message orally. If the executives workload is high than they stop writing and by oral instructions they complete their message transmission. Some disadvantages of oral communication are: There are no records of instructions passed on. Messages are difficult to record. Sorting out becomes impossible to preserve the message for future purpose. This creates issues amongst the management where all records are to be kept safe for future purpose use.

Efficacy of Portable Head CT Scan in the Neuroscience Intensive Care Un

Introduction: Portable Computed Tomography (CT) studies are an important component used to manage, assess and diagnose CNS diseases, and acute brain injuries, in the Neuroscience ICU (NICU). The portable device is designed specifically for head and neck scans for critically ill patients that are at risk for complications and increased morbidity during intrahospital transportation. Research has found evidence which substantiates that intrahospital transport of patients with brain injuries can impact their outcomes. Many hospital protocols dictate the use of portable head CT (pHCT) scanners to monitor and assess critically ill patients in the NICU, to decrease negative patient outcomes from intrahospital transportation. This is an important factor in reduction and prevention secondary injuries in critically ill patients. The intention of this paper is to critically analyze a research article entitled Portable Head CT Scan and its Effect on Intracranial Pressure (ICP), Cerebral Perfusion Pressure (CPP), and Brain Oxygen. First, there will be an article synopsis identifying the premise of the study. Second, validity of the study will be described and discussed. Lastly, this paper will discuss applicability to Neuroscience ICU at University of New Mexico (UNM) Hospital. Article Synopsis: The authors of this research article were from various Departments at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess possible detrimental association of a pHCT on ICP, CPP, and brain oxygen in patients with severe brain injury. The retrospective study selected 34 patients (16 males and 18 females), with the mean age of 42 ( ±15 years), and Glasgow Coma Scores (GCS) ≠¤ 8 at the time of pHCT sca... ...eterious effects on patients. Conclusion: Peace et.al. raises a valid hypothesis that warrants further investigation in order to decrease the risks to patients on NICU and other units/ hospitals. In my opinion, studies with significant findings, reliability, high internal and external validity, are imperative in making changes in hospitals around the world to decrease secondary injury to patients. This study can possibly entice other researchers to develop a better study design and investigate the relationship between pHCT scans and ICP, CPP and brain oxygen, more vigorously. Works Cited Peace, K., Maloney-Wilensky, E., Frangos, S., Hujcs, M., Levine, J., Kofke, W.A., Yang, W., & Le Roux, P.D. (2011). Portable head CT scan and its effect on intracranial pressure,cerebral perfusion pressure, and brain oxygen. Journal of Neurosurgery, 114(5), 1479-1484.

Introduction to Philosophy Essay

1. What are the main branches of philosophy? Do philosophers have the same answers to the same philosophical questions? Why? Philosophy is a way of thinking about the big questions in life, from the existence of men to its morality. It is an activity which sharpens our reason. The word was coined by Greeks , meaning â€Å"the love of wisdom†. Philosophy can be divided into six big issues it is interested with. * First, the question about the nature of the world and the existence of Men which is under the domain of Metaphysics or also called Ontology. From the word â€Å"meta† which means beyond and â€Å"physics† which means physical it deals about beyond physical world- the spiritual. It also attempt to answer the ultimate reality of life, our reason of very existence, Who and what God is and, how everything relates to it. * Second, what are the right ways to think and build arguments which is under the field of Logic. It tries to distinguish the valid reasons from the fallacies. It also examines the different general forms that argument may take. It is primarily studied in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and science. * Third, How do we know and how do we think we know which is under the area of Epistemology. From the Greek words †episteme† which means knowledge and â€Å"logia† which means study, it basically deals on how do we acquire knowledge and what is the basis for true knowledge. * Fourth, Ethics which generally centers on the morality of our actions. It differentiates wrong from right and studies character’s actions based in his intentions. This field of Philosophy is vital and applied to other disciplines such as business, medicine, science, robotics, and education. * Fifth, Issues about laws, liberty, rights, property and , politics fall under the Political Philosophy. It is also one of the sub-fields of Political Science. Its purpose is to lay bare the fundamental problems and concepts which frames the study of Politics. It also studies the great thinkers of the past which shapes politics such as Socrates, Plato, Adam Smith and Hobbes. * Lastly, Aesthetics which deals on what is beautiful. Mainly it tries to answer questions which deals in art- music, painting, poetry, and such. It attempts to distinguish what is beautiful, what has taste, and what has artistic value. Philosophy can also be subdivided into three specific categories which are, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language, and Philosophy of Science. These are branches which deal to questions their respective field of subject matters such as what exactly is a mind? how does language work? and Does science has responsibility to humanity? An Educator can ask a question to his students and would receive different responses . We can even expect complex answers to a simple question. It is because people view things in different perspectives, have different degree of intelligence, exposed to different environment, influenced by different people and ideas, and have personal insights and experiences which differ from one person to another. People thoughts varies and no idea can be of an exact match of another. In my opinion, Humans’ mind are like his fingerprint, We all have our fingerprints but its design- the curves and lines is unique in each individual. There might be similarities in ideas between individuals but in some point they contradict. For example, the two famous philosophers, John Locke and Thomas Hobbes both support the â€Å"Social Contract Theory† in which men enter a mutual agreement to surrender some of their liberty to authority in return of protection, both also, believe that men can exist without government and speak of its dangers in this kind of state-State of Nature. For Hobbes, the entire time that man is in a state of nature, he is in a state of war. He states that â€Å"if any two men cannot enjoy the same thing, they become enemies and in the way to their end†¦. endeavor to destroy or subdue one another† (Wootton, 158). Locke too points out risks, saying that without the â€Å"law of nature† everyone may execute decisions, leading to a state of war (Wootton, 290). However, despite of the similarities, Locke believes that people enter to social contract to seek peace and avoid the fear of death and living in State of Nature is brutish and chaotic while Hobbes believes that State of Nature is important and do exist in some ways such as among governments and leaders. Locke’s view on State of Nature is pessimistic in contrast to Hobbes which he thinks has some potential benefits. Philosophers do not have the same answer to a certain question. Each philosopher present different examples and take different stand on a certain idea. 2. Why has philosophy lost importance in the priorities of contemporary man? Philosophy had the paramount role during the ancient education. It created great and wise thinkers such as Socrates, Plato, and, Seneca and influenced bright minds such as Descartes, Adam Smith, and Karl Marx. Although the subject Philosophy is only introduce in higher level of studies in modern years, it diffuses its idea and being applied to core subjects such as mathematics, science, and language. Philosophy is still vital in learning until today. The decreasing value given in philosophy arises in the way modern man receive and gather information. Core subjects like Science should teach us to Inquire, to Analyze, to Think, and to Search- which are roles of philosophy but, Educators and with the convenience at reach, Students are being spoon-fed with facts from books and other resource materials instead of encouraging them to explore. They are bound with rules and regulations without giving them a chance to ask why they should follow orders. Students fail to analyze things because most Educators present facts and inculcate it to them through rote memorization instead of validating it. Learners learn facts but never learn to reason. They become man of knowledge but never become man of substance. The decreasing importance of philosophy in modern days is ascribed partly, to us Educators for failing to emphasize and apply its essence to the students. We teach the students to be dependent on the facts provided in books and internet, for we believe that it offers a vast amount of information forgetting that one’s mind can offer limitless insights on a certain topic. 3. Why should philosophy be restored to its former prominence in the priorities of contemporary man? Philosophy is vital in man’s learning and improvement. Giving answers to man’s most perplexed questions or even to the simplest question that bother us gives us sense of satisfaction and purpose in life. In modern times, Philosophy is essential in choosing decisions that has impact on our future such as career path, religion, core beliefs, and even to work or business. Philosophy should never be undermine and be restricted to as a mere subject. It is a way of thinking and essential in making a wise decision hence, should be integrated in daily living. 4. How does western philosophy differ from the eastern? In General, Western Philosophy promotes individualism and more interested in finding and validating the truth while Eastern Philosophy is more interested in finding the balance within one’s self in order to live in harmony with others and thus promoting collectivism. Also, East philosophy which emerged in China is spiritual in nature as opposed to West which starts from Greece is naturalistic and subject to research. Individualism of the West gives meaning to the worth a person as an individual. It gives stress on liberty and self-reliance. â€Å"Man is directly a natural being. As a natural being and as a living natural being he is on the one hand endowed with natural powers, vital powers — he is an active natural being. These forces exist in him as tendencies and abilities — as instincts. On the other hand, as a natural, corporeal, sensuous objective being he is a suffering, conditioned and limited creature, like animals and plants. †¦ A being which does not have its nature outside itself is not a natural being, and plays no part in the system of nature. A being which has no object outside itself is not an objective being. â€Å" Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy in General (1844) â€Å"Self-expression is individuality, and our individuality is our self, which ought to be our chief concern† Ernest Dimnet (1928) The Art of Thinking p. 250 â€Å"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. † Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods (1854), chapter 18, p. 210. Collectivism of the East emphasizes the interdependence of individual among others. â€Å"If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself. † â€Å"Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts? † Confucius â€Å"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. † â€Å"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. † Lao Tzu â€Å"The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence. † Rabindranath Tagore.

Ccontemporary Epistemological Research in Education Essay

ABSTRACT. In this article the authors challenge contemporary epistemological research within educational settings. After a reconciliation of the current models which treat epistemological beliefs as static and mechanical, the authors present a teaching experience to illustrate their enactivist view that epistemological beliefs should be conceptualized as fluid and dynamic constructs, emerging in web-like configurations. Answers to epistemological questions unfold within the interstices and mutual interactions between people and their environment. Boundaries between student–teacher, individual–community, cognition–bodily experience are becoming blurred. From this enactivist perspective the researcher’s role changes considerably. Instead of determining teachers’ personal traits and epistemological make-up, the researcher should sensitize teachers to the subtle ways epistemological beliefs are enmeshed within their day-to-day professional lives, focusing on the complex fabric of the teaching practice. KEY WORDS: contemporary epistemological research, education, enactivism, lived experiences, personal epistemology. We rehearse information, but perform meaning. Information is like the web of links in a wire fence; Meaning is like the cascade of waves on a mountain stream. Cliff Crego (2002)  © 2002 picture-poems. com THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY Copyright  © 2008 Sage Publications. VOL. 18(1): 27–45 DOI: 10. 1177/0959354307086921 http://tap. sagepub. com Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 28. THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) What is the true nature of knowledge, and how does a person come to know? These questions first became subject of psychological investigation in the late 1960s through the seminal work of Perry (1968). Today, these questions are studied under the umbrella of research on personal epistemology (Hofer & Pintrich, 2002). Personal epistemology has come to be seen as the common denominator for research done within this field and as a term signifying individual conceptions of knowledge and knowing. These conceptions are referred to by many disparate labels, of which the most commonly used term is ‘epistemological belief’. Other labels are: epistemological posture, epistemological resource, and ways of knowing (Niessen, Vermunt, Abma, Widdershoven, & van der Vleuten, 2004). Because the term ‘(epistemological) belief’ is already more broadly used within (educational) psychology and thus easy to associate with, we will use this term throughout the article when referring to issues of knowledge and knowing. Within this article we provide a cognitive psychological and an enactivist account of epistemological beliefs and claim that the differences between both are ultimately reflected in Crego’s distinction between the rehearsing of information and performing of meaning. We will apply the enactivist perspective to an interview segment to enable deeper understanding of teaching practice. The application of the enactivist account to this case has the character of a hermeneutic circle. This means that the enactivist account provides us with a background view that enables us to understand teachers’ experiences more fully. At the same time, the process of application is also a practice of opening up and being caught by new insights while interpreting. These insights might alter our epistemological perspective. This study is part of a larger ongoing investigation to understand the phenomenon of resistance by teachers to a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) environment using the epistemological perspective as our interpretive framework. PBL, in short, is an instructional method that, contrary to frontal teaching, chooses not to instruct students directly, but to facilitate the process in which students themselves and in collaboration with each other learn the necessary knowledge and skills by working on real-life problems. The role of the teacher is paramount to the success of this method. This is why the example used throughout this article highlights a teacher (Josie) who is situated within a PBL course. In the following we will first present the fragment taken from the interview with Josie. In this fragment she talks about her struggle to introduce a group of new staff members to ProblemBased Learning. We will also provide a more in-depth linguistic, methodological, and ontological characterization to contemporary epistemological research. Finally the contours of the enactivist perspective will be drawn in more detail. Josie’s Case Interviewer (I): How would you describe yourself as a trainer? Josie (J): I always try to get the group excited about PBL. Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL.: EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 29 I: How do you do that? J: By trying to get everybody involved. At the same time, this is a potential pitfall. For instance, in a training session last week there was a group of student tutors and this group was really very critical, because they had attended other PBL courses. That was when I found myself trying to create more structure—that’s where I felt inadequate, because there were so many people with so much experience. In these instances it’s important to offer students guidelines and structure. You should be able to deviate from this structure—but only in those cases when it’s possible. Some teachers see this very clearly. Personally, I tend to create structure together with the group—on the spot. With some groups this works out just fine and with other groups it would have been better if I had provided a clear structure from the start. We would have come further. I: Students get restless? J: No, yes, well, there’s too much input and too few conclusions. I think that’s a major thing in PBL—it’s a major issue that too often, maybe, no actual conclusion is reached. That’s really what I think is probably my own shortcoming, something that as a student I thought was missing in the system. That structure—the framework in which you work. I: What does this framework look like—what is it made of? Do you know what I mean? J: A connecting thread. I: You say that on the one hand you’re trying to find this thread —and you want to connect it with the experiences of the participants—but that’s difficult because their experiences are so diverse and a common theme is hard to discern. J: Well, maybe that’s because there just isn’t one single thread and because PBL is based on the assumption that the available knowledge is relative. So you cannot say there’s one single solution to a particular problem. The important thing is that you are working towards a solution. Josie (a pseudonym) is a junior teacher trainer at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. She was one out of a group of 10 teacher trainers and 9 new staff members of Maastricht University in the Netherlands who were interviewed about their experiences with PBL, their concerns and unresolved issues. The participants we interviewed came from different departments of Maastricht University and differed considerably in experience with PBL, general attitude towards teaching, general teaching experience, and opinion about the value of PBL for student learning. Despite the marked differences in background and experience among the interviewees, Josie was not the only one who presented a complex and multilayered experience. Looking at other participants’ day-to-day teaching experiences, we similarly encountered varied and multilayered stories. This phenomenon is neither strange nor new. Studies by Perry (1968) and Lyons (1990), but also more recently from Phillion and Connelly (2004), show us that when researchers turn their attention to actual teaching experiences, the presented picture of teaching and epistemological beliefs is more textured and complex. The Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 30 THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) selection of this particular segment has been guided by the potential to learn from it about the role of epistemological beliefs in teaching. According to Stake (1994), ‘the potential for learning is a different and sometimes superior criterion to representativeness’ (p. 243). The fragment shows how Josie is struggling with the question: ‘How do these students come to know? ’ In the interview, Josie as a teacher trainer talks about her ideas and ideals of student involvement within her courses. She says that in some situations she finds it difficult to realize these ideals. She refers to her attempts to structure group sessions. She thinks that in order to do so, she has to develop ‘a connecting thread’ that will enable the group to achieve a sense of closure. This metaphor nicely illustrates Josie’s narrative approach to teaching. Her goal is to develop, together with the group, a storyline with a beginning, middle, and an ending. She expects that this jointly developed plot will enable the group to close the session in a satisfactory way. Josie’s ideas and strategy implicitly characterize her epistemological approach to one of the key questions in epistemology: ‘How does a person come to know? ’, or ‘How should this group of students come to know? ’ We can see an answer emerging from the confrontation between her ideals, her self-image, and the group with its characteristics. When she says ‘It’s in these instances that it’s important to offer students guidelines and structure’, she refers to her failed attempt to provide guidance, which, to her, was necessary to give the group a satisfactory sense of closure. This experience appears to have triggered a slight change in her epistemological outlook. Instead of her a priori assumption that students should be regarded as knowledgeable others, who will work together with the teacher to create a common thread, she now thinks that the group process also depends on her ability accurately to estimate the amount of prior experience that students bring to the course and her own experience and skills. Josie’s rapport with the group of students is coloured by her ideals about student involvement. It is also with this particular group of students, who have so ‘much experience’, that she discovers the failure of her usual strategy, i. e. developing a structure ‘on the spot’ together with the group. In her own words: ‘Their experiences are so diverse and a common theme is hard to find. ’ As a result she is confused and forced to reassess her epistemological ideal of student involvement in light of the concrete situation. Looking back on this experience, she reflects on the epistemological perspective underlying PBL and in doing so realizes that there isn’t just one single solution to a problem and that all knowledge can make a contribution. The lived experiences of Josie as a teacher are interpreted as an indication that the epistemological questions can only be meaningfully understood when they are placed within the context of the story that defines the situation as a whole. To put it in more general terms, in order to assess a situation epistemologically or Downloaded from http://tap.sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL. : EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 31 make sense of teachers’ experiences epistemologically, we need to take account of the circumstances that constitute each new teaching situation. In Josie’s case these circumstances included her conviction that a common thread had to be identified, her skills to get the group to do this, the group size and group members’ varied experience. We would assert that her epistemological belief is essentially ‘indexical’ (Roth, Lawless, & Tobin, 2000), meaning that it is significant only as seen from within the concrete circumstances in which it arises. In the following section we will focus on the contrast between this view of epistemological beliefs and the prevailing views in contemporary epistemological research. Contemporary Epistemological Research Although the term ‘contemporary epistemological research’ suggests that there is a unified research domain, there are in fact different movements to which researchers within the domain of personal epistemology may turn. These movements may be referred to as ‘trait-oriented’, ‘theory-minded’, and ‘resource-oriented’. This means that researchers typify epistemological beliefs respectively as traits, theories, or resources (Hammer & Elby, 2002). Although we agree with Hammer and Elby that there are some important differences among these movements, we also discern an important mutual characteristic: all are rooted in cognitive psychology. This seems to offer an interesting perspective for an analysis and characterization of the field as a whole, because it would go to the very heart of research on epistemological beliefs regardless of the particular movement. In our view, Crego’s phrase ‘rehearsal of information’ very aptly captures the essence of contemporary epistemological research in relation to three interrelated angles: language, methodology, and ontology. Linguistic Idiosyncrasies of Contemporary Epistemological Research A striking linguistic characteristic of the cognitive psychological discourse about the foundations of thinking and believing is a marked preference for the use of nouns (Saljo, 2002). Since contemporary epistemological research is grounded in cognitive psychology, this characteristic is also discernible in epistemological research. The phenomenon addressed within epistemological research can be denoted by different labels: epistemological belief (Duell & Schommer-Aikins, 2001; Hofer, 2000; Hofer & Pintrich, 1997, 2002; Schommer, 1994, 1998b), epistemological position (Perry, 1968, 1988); epistemological theory (Hofer, 2000; Hofer & Pintrich, 1997, 2002), epistemological standard Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 32 THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) (Ryan, 1984a, 1984b), epistemological resource (Hammer & Elby, 2002), epistemological style (Martin, Silva, Newman, & Thayer, 1994), epistemological reflection (Baxter Magolda, 1992, 1994, 1996), epistemological posture (Desaultes & Larochelle, 1997), epistemological orientation (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tarule, 1986), epistemological antecedent (Powell, 1996), and ways of knowing (Belenky et al. , 1986). The worrisome aspect of the predominance of nouns as the building blocks for thinking and believing is that it creates the impression that people’s capacities and ideas should be conceived of as unchanging objects (Saljo, 2002). Nouns distract our attention from the processes in which epistemological constructs can be seen to emerge. Nouns denote a final state as opposed to a process in which actions and thoughts are continuously taking shape and modifying each other. The idea of stability is reinforced by the tendency to represent epistemological beliefs as stable cognitive traits or theories (Hammer & Elby, 2002). Epistemological beliefs are seen as trait-like or theory-like features which are stored and acted upon inside the brain. From an epistemological trait perspective, individuals’ beliefs and ideas about epistemology tend to cohere into stable ‘positions’ or ‘levels’, ‘phases’ or ‘stages’, which can be distinguished from other ‘levels’ and ‘phases’ with regards to organization and quality. They are seen as declarative knowledge to which a person has conscious and articulate access. In epistemological theories, beliefs are perceived as being structured in this way (Hofer & Pintrich, 1997, 2002). Congruent with the tendency to see epistemological beliefs as stable and object-like traits or theories stored within the individual mind, most researchers tend to refer to epistemological beliefs in terms of ‘individuals having them’ (Pehkonen & Torner, 1999). Another feature within Western society that reinforces thinking about epistemological beliefs as objects and unchanging is the linguistic tendency to typify mental phenomena dichotomously, i. e. as belonging to either–or categories (Amstutz, 1999; Davis & Sumara, 1997). Examples of such dichotomies are: mental–physical, internal–external, individual–collective (Davis & Sumara, 2001; Heft, 2001). Membership of one category precludes membership of the other one of the pair. This divisive either/or mode of thinking reinforces the image of people as unchanging. Something or someone is or is not of some category. According to Langer (1989, 1997), divisive thinking has this effect when people take categories or opposites literally or without mindful attention. She calls for heedful and critical thinking in which mindless acceptance of categories is regarded as the opposite of powerful learning. We think that a contemporary interpretation with a language that treats epistemological beliefs as stable and trait-like or object-like has trouble interpreting the epistemological picture that arises from teachers’ concrete perspectives. When we analyse Josie’s account and realize that she tunes into the situation as a process that unfolds in interaction with the group, we realize Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL. : EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 33 that the boundaries between individual–collective, self–other, and internal–external are not clear-cut. They are fuzzy, blurred, and overlapping, and we see no clearly outlined either/or distinctions. We think epistemological beliefs should be better conceived of as emerging characterizations within a process of mutual adaptation, such as in Josie’s attempts to tune in to the ideas of the group and to her own and reconcile them. Because this process unfolds concurrently with the teaching process, it cannot be fully anticipated a priori or even as it is being enacted. To us, this view is compatible with a concept of epistemological beliefs as continuously unfolding processes, like waves cascading down a mountain stream. Just as the water and the mountain are being shaped and reshaped in their continuous interaction, so is the answer to the epistemological question ‘How do these students come to know? ’ being rephrased under the influence of interaction in a concrete teaching situation. Particularities Regarding the Methodology within a Contemporary Epistemological Perspective Characterizing the methodologies that are used in contemporary epistemological research, we see an equally differentiated array of instruments: production-type tasks, open-ended interviews, vignettes, observations, illstructured problems, and Likert-type questionnaires (Duell & SchommerAikins, 2001). What is striking to us is that despite this diversity, epistemological beliefs research is exceptionally unitary in its preference for using the individual and his or her beliefs, knowledge, desires, and attitudes as the unit of analysis (Lyons, 1990). We think this preference is congruent with the predilection for nouns emphasizing the object-oriented way of thinking; it seems to us that an orientation towards epistemological beliefs as object-like has been (tacitly) operative in the development of instruments that are used to study them as personal and stable traits or theories. We notice that an orientation to the individual is especially recognizable in questionnaire (Likert-type) studies and standardized interview studies. Despite growing criticism of questionnaire studies, they have been and continue to be an important method in studies of epistemological beliefs (Duell & Schommer-Aikins, 2001). Part of their popularity seems to be attributable to their easy and quick administration. Nevertheless, Hammer and Elby (2002) reveal a fundamental problem when they point out that item formulation is often far removed from day-today teaching practice while at the same time it is assumed to pertain to these contexts (see, e. g., Schommer, 1998a; questionnaire: ‘Nothing is certain but death and taxes’). According to Hammer and Elby, this is neither true nor Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 34 THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) viable when made explicit. Most epistemological studies ask participants direct questions about their beliefs, often by presenting epistemological statements and asking them to rate their agreement/disagreement on a Likert scale. For example, students may be asked whether they agree or disagree that ‘the best thing about science courses is that most problems have one right answer’ (Schommer, 1990, p. 499); ‘the science principles in the textbooks will always be true’ (Songer & Linn, 1991, p. 769); or ‘knowledge in physics consists of many pieces of information, each of which applies primarily to a specific situation’ (Redish, Saul, & Steinberg, 1998, p. 217). It is only by a presumption of unitarity that the results of these studies may be considered to apply to all contexts of learning (Hammer & Elby, 2002). However, the item formulation must be generic to preserve internal congruence throughout the whole study. It would be incongruent to perceive of epistemological beliefs as stable traits or theories but apply highly context-specific or dialogical research methods. A generic item formulation makes perfect sense given the a priori position that epistemological beliefs are stable phenomena. Epistemological beliefs are seen as tangible features and measured congruently. They can therefore be conceived of as entities that impact on teaching behaviour linearly, i. e.cause exists as an inherent constituent of epistemological beliefs. Contemporary cognitive epistemological research is concerned with the search for explanations of the epistemological perspective in order to predict and control students’ and teachers’ behaviour. Using standardized (correlational) measuring techniques, researchers are able to identify these linear and law-governed patterns. The role of the researcher in this process is merely to uncover these relationships objectively, with validity and reliability (Guba & Lincoln, 1989, 1994; Lincoln & Guba, 1985, 2000). In interpreting Josie’s segment, it is true that Josie shows an epistemological preference to create a common thread together. At the same time we also see that this preference becomes ‘active’ and is questioned while interacting with this specific group. Her experience of the situation she describes has led her to acknowledge that in this instance—given her own and the group’s experience—a different approach might have been more successful. Confronted with this new experience, a breach is made within otherwise customized behaviour. These breaches provide opportunities for change and revision of ideas to suit local circumstances. We interpret Josie’s ultimate handling of the situation as the result of reciprocal dynamics between different personal and situational elements, whose influence can be seen from a holistic point of view, but which cannot be reduced to any element or correlation in particular. Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL. : EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION. 35 The Particularities Regarding the Ontology within a Contemporary Epistemological Interpretation Ontology is the subdivision within metaphysics that deals with the nature of being. More concretely, ontology is revealed in the question: What is real? We might thus ask whether epistemological beliefs are real. According to Baptiste (2001), one of the most troublesome questions surrounding the issue of ontology is the distinction between the facticity and the quality of a thing. Facticity refers to the question of whether a thing exists. In our case we might ask if epistemological beliefs do exist. Departing from a realist perspective (Heron & Reason, 1997), the answer within contemporary epistemological research is that epistemological beliefs do indeed exist as theories, traits, or resources. For realists, epistemological beliefs are just as real and tangible as observable objects. The quality of a thing refers to the form of a phenomenon or the nature of an object. Within contemporary epistemological research, epistemological beliefs are thought of as psychological and physical phenomena. They are psychological because they reside in a person’s mind. They are also (presumably) physical on the basis of the default assumption that epistemological beliefs correspond to cognitive units in the brain (Hammer & Elby, 2002). Finally, there is the question of whether it would be possible for epistemological researchers to claim that epistemological beliefs exist without reference to cognitive psychology or cognitive science. Contemporary epistemological research, although not explicitly referred to, heavily draws on cognitive science and cognitive psychology as its foundational precursors, meaning that these strands are the background theories they implicitly build on. Varela, Thompson, and Rosch (1997) have pointed to the reifying effect of cognitive science on cognitive psychology when describing the centrality of the computer metaphor and similar language use. This computer-oriented language is also apparent within educational research in general and epistemological research in particular (Davis & Sumara, 1997). It depicts humans as disenchanted, cerebral beings who receive and process information from events and objects to establish representations (beliefs, desires). These representations in turn govern and give meaning to their own behaviour and that of others. In Josie’s interview, but also in the other interviews we conducted, we see from an enactive viewpoint first and foremost acting persons (Packer & Winne, 1995) who stumble and haphazardly manage to guide their classes through the course. Josie’s hesitation to infer definite conclusions about the preferred course of action in this particular situation is hard to interpret as an image of information rehearsal, the picture we see framed within contemporary epistemological research. As we see it, in this particular situation her answer to the question ‘How do these students come to know?’ is embedded within a network of concrete relations and a process of mutual attunement. Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. 36 THEORY & PSYCHOLOGY 18(1) In our view, Josie’s hesitation to draw definite conclusions should not be deplored but welcomed, because it may open up opportunities that may lead to epistemological attunement, which may guide students and teachers to the most appropriate end. The interview excerpt with Josie illustrates the existential dialogical nature or ontology in which it is hard to dissect the knower from the known, mind from body, student from teacher, teacher from context, et cetera (Hosking & Bouwen, 2000). Josie’s teaching might be viewed as a responsive choreography in which her behaviour and beliefs co-evolve within a relational web of individual inclinations or cognitions, her skills as a teacher trainer, the characteristics of the students she teaches, and the dialogue between these elements altogether. In the final section of this paper, we will explain and illustrate our enactive or dialogical world orientation. An enactivist world orientation is grounded in the assertion that people form complex fabrics of fundamentally and inextricably intertwined relationships with everything else—physically/biologically and experientially/phenomenologically (Davis & Sumara, 1997). From this viewpoint, epistemological beliefs are not primarily or solely cognitive features, but they are temporarily crystallized enactments in ever-changing webs of mutually defining elements. An Enactive and Dialogical Perspective on Epistemological Beliefs So far, we have focused on a passage from Josie and characterized contemporary cognitive epistemological research from a linguistic, methodological, and ontological point of view. The enactive epistemological perspective takes into account many elements, such as the group experience, the group size, and her own (in)abilities to provide a common thread (structure). In this final part of the discussion, we take up the challenge to sketch and explain more thoroughly the contours of an enactivist interpretation that enables us to take into account these elements to which Josie refers. Although we typify our interpretation as enactivist, we will also draw on theoretical notions derived from philosophical hermeneutics (Gadamer, 1990; Widdershoven, 1999) and narrative psychology (Abma, 2000; Josselson & Lieblich, 1999; Lyons & LaBoskey, 2002). Enactivism is an emerging worldview that lingers in between and draws from different domains, including philosophical phenomenology (Varela, 1999), complexity theory (Waldrop, 1992), and evolutionary biology (Bateson, 1979, 1987). Although this worldview is of reasonably recent date, it is receiving more and more attention within the domain of education (Davis & Sumara, 1997, 2001, 2002; Davis, Sumara, & Kieren, 1996; Sumara & Davis, 1997). Within the domain of contemporary epistemological research, enactivism has been largely absent, although the work by Belenky et al. (1986) and Lyons (1990) shows strong similarities. In the following we will Downloaded from http://tap. sagepub. com at Universiteit Maastricht on August 6, 2008  © 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. NIESSEN ET AL. : EPISTEMOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 37 first explain enactivism as it is defined by Davis and Sumara in the field of education (Davis & Sumara, 1997, 2000, 2002; Davis et al., 1996). Although not directly translated to the educational or the epistemological field, we will also be using some of the terms (eclectically) used by Varela et al. (1997) since they are eminent in the field of enactivism. To ‘enact’ means ‘to work in or upon’ or ‘to act or perform’. ‘Enactivism’ refers to the idea of knowing in action. People come to know and believe about the world by interacting with it bodily, experientially, and cognitively. This means that individuals are simultaneously biological and social beings who experientially embody both cognitive and physical dimensions within their actions. Because continuous interaction is such an important feature of enactivism, one could claim that it holds a relational ontology meaning that all social realities and all knowledge of self, others, and things are viewed as interdependent or co-dependent constructions existing and known only in relation to each other (Hosking & Bouwen, 2000). When we review Josie’s story again, we see a rather inexperienced teacher trainer who struggles with the epistemological question: ‘How should these students come to know? ’ Her commonly used approach to create a common thread together is rather problematic given her own (in)abilities within a large group of experienced students. As a consequence of this inexperience she adjusts her epistemological outlook to include the notion that when faced with a rather experienced group she needs to hold more control. Interpreting her account enactively, we would claim that her final outlook to this particular situation is the result of the interaction between her ideal to create a common thread together and her communication skills, her self-image, the group’s size, and the amount of experience of the group. It is the confrontation of these elements within the concrete enactment that sets the stage for this particular response to arise. The enactive paradigm as exemplified by Varela et al. (1997) emphasizes the relev.