English investigation Essay

Introduction: For this project I am going to analyse how women and men behave when using language in casual situations? There have been many previous research finding and conclusions about gender and conversational behaviour. For example Jennifer Coates identified two approaches, which she describes as dominance and difference. Jennifer Coates was a writer to wrote about the language differences between men and women. Dominance argues that because women occupy a less powerful position in society than men, their constitutional behaviour is less assertive and less confident. Men are dominant within society, so it is not surprising that they tend to dominate mixed sex conversations. Women are said to be used to male dominance, and as a result of social conditioning will often be polite and respectful when speaking to men. Whereas the idea of difference is where the focus is more on differences in male and female attitudes and values, that are said to be inculcated from childhood, when we form, and are influenced by, single sex peer groups. Studies of children’s play have found that in boy’s games there is more emphasis on competition and confrontation, while girl’s games are more cooperative. In adulthood, women’s talk often focuses on personal feelings and problems and this helps to explain why their approach to conversation is more sympathetic and supportive. Also this Description of Data: My data consists of three transcripts; one, which took place in a college canteen between four girls meaning it, was very informal and casual. My second transcript took place on a college field while three boys were watching a game of football played by fellow peers. They discussed the game and also had background conversations. My third transcript is of three girls talking about the world cup football match very briefly while talking more about football and surrounding topics. I felt that my first transcript I recorded was not sufficient enough to be analysed well and in detail, I therefore recorded a further transcript to increase my data and to make a more intricate analysis. Aims: The aim of my investigation is to find out to what extent are there significant differences in the ways that men and women behave on conversation. Methodology: For my investigation I collected three transcripts; I did this, as this is the most effective way of collecting sufficient data that I would be able to analyse for my specific subject. I am going to look at how women talk in casual situations looking at aspects that expert researchers have found such as Jennie Coates, she found two approaches based on the ideas of dominance and difference which I will look at and try to find out to what extent do my transcripts prove this. I will also look at cooperation and competition as the experts have found that boys seem to be more competitive when using language whereas girls seem to be more co operative, even though this research was proved by using children as examples I would still like to see if it is still the case when men and woman are older and to what extent they still either are competitive or cooperative when using language. As well as looking as what the experts have found I am also going to look at the role played by the speakers in my transcript and relate it too attitudes and values as well as educational background, which is pretty much the same for each speaker as they all go to the some college. I will also look into the social class of the speakers. I will look at the status, purpose, context and audience for each transcript and analyse each topic accordingly. I am also going to look at the 6 frameworks – lexis, semantics, phonology, graphology, grammar, discourse, pragmatics and the sociolinguistics which has been defines as the study of language in its social context. Analysis: First of all I am going to analyse the context of my data. The first transcript is between four friends occasionally five when they contribute to the conversation. The conversation is very informal and very casual with no real meaning or purpose except for socialising during break time, which means the conversation is quite forced to some extent even though they were talking about what they liked to talk about. All the women contributed equally I would say; to the conversation. Although women are characteristically and socially known for being quite capable and good at making conversation there is not a lot of prove from the experts or researchers that suggests that males do not make conversation or are any less capable. Therefore when looking at the men’s conversation I saw that they were just as able and good at making conversation. The men’s conversation was between three people occasionally four or five when they contributed to the conversation. This conversation was also very informal and casual and was also something that the men wanted to talk about. In the conversation you can see that between them there is one more dominant male who tends to initiate conversation and interrupt or overlap other speakers also could be know as holding the floor. However I researched about dominance in conversation and read, â€Å"you just don’t understand- men and women in conversation† by Deborah Tanning and she said â€Å"claiming that interruption is a sign of dominance assumes that conversation is an activity in which one speaker speaks at a time, but this reflects ideology more than practice. She also said that she recorded conversations in which many voices were heard at once and it was clear that everyone was having a good time. She then asked people of their impressions of the conversation and they said they had enjoyed themselves. However when she played the tape back they were embarrassed about their conversational style. Which suggests that when people being female or male do dominate the conversation they maybe don’t realise they are doing it. I also found that in my other female conversation between three girls there was one slightly more dominant participant mainly due to her personality, however it was also in most cases successful cooperative over lapping as the over lapping is positive and as Deborah tanning says in her book † the overlaps are cooperative because they do not change the topic but elaborate on it. However in my male conversation there is unsuccessful cooperative overlapping as for example when a participant says he had England trials† (referring to a friend out side the conversation) another participant says â€Å"yer but don’t he look like peter pan† which is quite negative and stops the conversation which is a negative response that does not enable the conversation to carry on without changing the topic. In one of my transcripts where the four or five female participants are talking on participant says, â€Å"Err she looks really bad† (referring to a celebrity in a magazine that looks rough) by saying the word â€Å"really† she is intensifying what she is saying. In my other transcripts there are two examples of women using intensifiers, one where a participant says, â€Å"she’s really pretty† and another when a participant says â€Å"well I think peter crouch is actually quite really cute† Robin Lakoff published an influential account of women’s language. In a related article she published a set of basic assumptions about what marks out the language of women. Among these assumptions were the use of intensifiers especially the words ‘so’ and ‘very’ for example † I’m so glad to see you† I found intensifiers within my female transcripts but none in my male transcripts. However as my transcripts were quite short and the time I had to collect my data was limited if I had more data I could have compared this more fairly to get better and faired results. Zimmerman and West (1915) taped informal conversations between students in coffee bars, shops and other public places. They found that women talk about ‘feelings’ whereas men talk more about ‘things’. Women conversation is often focused on personal experiences, relationships and problems. The topic of male conversation tends to be more concrete, relating to information, facts objects and activities. And from my own experiences these finding are accurate but also my data could also suggest this as well, for example in my females transcripts there is reference to a personal experience that doesn’t really play a part in the structure of the conversation, it is quite random. The participant says † Rory always corrects my spelling its well annoying on msn he always like types things in a little star and then says correct spelling† the participate gets interrupted while saying this as it is nothing to do with the conversation. Also in my transcript I can see that men use more taboo language than women do for example in my male conversation one participant says â€Å"fucking legend† whereas in my female conversation there was no swearing words used. However as my transcripts were quite short they do not relate to all females.

VIRTUAL SCHOOLS AND THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY STUDENT

Can Virtual Schools Meet the Needs of the Twenty-first Century Student?The turning complexness of an interdependent and interrelated universe has spurred monolithic instruction reforms in the United States. Unfortunately, many say that the instruction system is non overhauling plenty to bring forth more competitory 21st century pupils. Harmonizing to the North American Council for Learning and Partnership for twenty-first Century Skills ( 2006 ) , bulk of Americans feel that the United States is dawdling behind other industrialised states in fiting pupils with twenty-first century accomplishments such as critical thought and problem-solving accomplishments, computing machine and engineering accomplishments, and communicating and autonomy accomplishments. Calls to reform the instruction system to aline with the demands of the planetary work force have prompted support for practical schooling. Reports suggest a turning credence and popularity of on-line acquisition among pedagogues, parents, and pupils. K-12 online acquisition is a new field that caters to an estimated $ 50 million market and turning over 30 per centum yearly. There are over 173 practical charter schools functioning 92,235 pupils in 18 provinces in 2007 ; 57 per centum of public secondary schools in the U.S. offer auxiliary online classs and 72 per centum of school territories with distance instruction plans planned to spread out on-line offerings in the old ages to come ( Watson, Gemin, & A ; Ryan, 2008 ) . The phenomenon of the â€Å" practical school † has generated much exhilaration. Considered by many to hold revolutionized the manner instruction is delivered and accessed in the digital epoch of the Information age, practical acquisition in the United States has roots that go manner back in the late eighteenth century. The modern precursor to the modern-day practical schools is the mail-based correspondence school, said to hold been invented in 1891 at the University of Chicago. From mail-based systems, bringing mechanisms shortly evolved to radio plans to telecasting and satellite broadcasts to the Internet-based practical schools of today. Virtual schools utilizing the Internet as medium were launched in the 1990s but its foundation established before that period. In 1988, the federal Star Schools plan was started with peculiar accent on supplying distance-education engineerings through telecommunication partnerships to little rural schools. In August 1993, a charter school was built by Horizon Instructional Systems in Lincoln, California, offering plans that include an â€Å" electronically assisted pupil learning † plan that blended home-based computing machines with satellite engineering and distance instruction. The K-12 practical school appears to hold materialized in the summer of 1995 when the Eugene, Oregon-based CyberSchool Project was launched by nine territory instructors. By 1996, the ballyhoo of the practical school took land with the constitution of the experimental WebSchool in Orange County Florida ; Cyber-School Academy in Washington State ; the Concord Virtual High School which was built through a $ 7.5 million grant ; and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. What concretized the presence of K-12 practical schools is the outgrowth of big, multi-state plans such as the Florida Virtual School, founded in 1997 and the Virtual High School ( Greenway & A ; Vanourek, 2006 ) . Several surveies and researches have cited both the advantages and disadvantages of online acquisition. Researches show that apart from online larning non demoing important difference in act uponing pupil public presentation compared to traditional schoolroom direction, on-line scholars experience signifiers of isolation and hapless societal accomplishments. Some surveies have concluded that effectual execution of blend larning attacks in practical schools contribute to better academic public presentation and assessment trial tonss for pupils compared to their traditional schoolroom opposite numbers. In add-on to betterment in nucleus academic topics, surveies besides show that practical schooling provides the needful accomplishments in critical thought, originative job resolution, digital literacy, liberty and planetary consciousness to fix pupils for the twenty-first century work force. This survey aims to garner pertinent literature to find whether or non the practical school can run into the demands of the twenty-first century pupil. Purpose of the Study The viability of online acquisition to supplement traditional schoolroom direction has become undeniable in the face of increased Internet connectivity. In the United Schools, 100 per centum of the schools have Internet entree. Computer use begins at really immature ages and immature kids are now able Godheads of multimedia content ( International Council for K-12 Online Learning, 2009 ) . Integrating engineering with instruction seems merely suiting in the digital epoch of the Information age. Like all instruction reforms enterprises, the instance has been made to extol and discredit the success of on-line acquisition in bring forthing 21st century-standard instruction results. Surveies have pointed to the effectivity of on-line acquisition as â€Å" tantamount † or â€Å" better † than traditional schoolroom direction ( Cavanaugh, 2001 ; Barker & A ; Wendel, 2001 ) . In add-on, experts have come to believe that when used suitably, e-learning can take to improved pupil public presentation ( National Association of State Boards of Education, 2001 ) . There are besides disadvantages cited: isolation, hapless societal development, disadvantages for pupils experience linguistic communication, hapless accomplishment in physical demonstration-focused topics such as music, physical instruction, or foreign linguistic communication ( Barker & A ; Wendel, 2001 ; B ond, 2002 ) . Exhaustive research in on-line acquisition or practical schooling is limited, as research on the subject is comparatively new and undergoing development. This survey hopes to lend to the little organic structure of research that explores the capableness of practical schools to run into the demands of the twenty-first century scholar. This survey presents relevant theoretical constructs and bing research work to give a proper rating of whether or non practical schooling efficaciously equips and prepares the twenty-first century pupils with accomplishments needed to last in the competitory and internationalized work force. Statement of the Problem The alterations spurred by the Internet and multimedia engineering has challenged the traditional apprehension on how instruction is delivered in order to efficaciously fix pupils for the demands of the twenty-first century. Virtual schools break down geographical and clip barriers that limit chances for larning. The promise of flexibleness and pupil liberty in practical schooling are believed to fix pupils for the increasing demand in job resolution accomplishments and technological expertness in the globalized work force. Research workers have pointed both advantages and disadvantages of the practical school. While it offers exciting chances for pupil battle, strictly on-line larning lacks the needed face-to-face interaction and exposure to socialisation that traditional acquisition can supply. Hence, the blended acquisition or intercrossed attack, which combines both the online experience and face-to-face direction, has found application in most schools offering online classs toda y. This survey will reexamine relevant literature in order to reply the undermentioned research inquiries: What are the demands of the twenty-first century pupil? What is the effectivity of practical schooling in bettering pupil public presentation? What is the potency of practical schooling in supplying pupils with twenty-first century accomplishments, peculiarly ( a ) critical thought and job resolution accomplishments ; ( B ) planetary consciousness ; ( c ) information communications and engineering ( ICT ) skills ; and ( vitamin D ) autonomous acquisition and authorization? Discussion This subdivision presents selected relevant surveies and theoretical constructs that explore the capableness of practical schools to run into the demands of 21st century pupils, peculiarly in bettering nucleus academic competences every bit good as alleged twenty-first century accomplishments. The Needs of the Twenty-first Century Student Aside from the academic nucleus competences listed in the No Child Left Behind Act ( 2001 ) such as English, reading or linguistic communication humanistic disciplines, mathematics, scientific discipline, foreign linguistic communications, civics, authorities, economic sciences, humanistic disciplines, history, and geographics, theoreticians list several accomplishments needed by the 21st century pupil: information, media literacy, and engineering accomplishments, larning and invention accomplishments, life and calling accomplishments, and planetary consciousness ( NACOL and Partnership for twenty-first Century Skills, 2006 ) . Information, media, and engineering accomplishments are farther subdivided into information literacy, media literacy, and information, communications and engineering ( ICT ) literacy. Information literacy is the pupil ‘s capacity to entree and measure information expeditiously and efficaciously, every bit good as appreciating the cardinal ethical issues related to information entree. Media literacy entails the capacity to understand why and how media messages are constructed and the creative activity of media merchandises using appropriate media creative activity tools. Information and communications engineering ( ICT ) literacy is the aptitude of utilizing digital engineerings ( computing machines, media participants, etc. ) , societal webs, and communication/networking tools to measure and pass on information and successfully map in a knowledge-based economic system. Learning and invention accomplishments include creativeness and invention, critical thought and problem-solving, and communicating and coaction. Creativity is the ability to make a broad scope of new and worthwhile thoughts, refinement and measuring them to better originative attempts, every bit good as the openness and reactivity to new positions. Critical thought involves abilities such as job designation, information assemblage, premises, informations reading, measuring grounds, acknowledging relationships, pulling decisions, proving decisions, retracing forms and doing judgements ( Thornburg, 2000 ) . Communication and coaction accomplishments involves the ability to joint ideas and thoughts efficaciously utilizing verbal and gestural communicating methods, listening efficaciously, and working efficaciously with diverse squads or groups. Effectiveness of Virtual Schools in Improving Student Performance Key findings gathered by educational reform organisations comparing student public presentation among on-line scholars and traditional schoolroom scholars range from â€Å" no important difference † , â€Å" equal † , and â€Å" better † results for pupils engaged in on-line acquisition. Surveies besides point to intermix acquisition or the intercrossed attack as the method that consequences to outdo pupil results. In a meta-analysis done by The U.S. Department of Education ( 2009 ) synthesising 51 on-line surveies in 2009, consequences indicate that â€Å" on norm, pupils in on-line acquisition conditions performed better than those having face-to-face direction † ( p. nine ) . Furthermore, the survey compared results of both online and blended larning attacks to face-to-face direction. The survey concludes that blended direction was more effectual than face-to-face direction and recommends execution of blended attacks. A meta-analysis conducted by Cavanaugh ( 2001 ) explored the differences in accomplishment among distance acquisition and traditional schoolroom plans at the K-12 degree. Consequences indicated that accomplishment was more or less tantamount among the two groups. The Florida TaxWatch Center for Educational Performance and Accountability ( 2007 ) cited in its concluding study of the Florida Virtual School that pupils enrolled in online classs outperformed their equals in traditional schools. In the school twelvemonth 2004-05, FLVS pupils outperformed their traditional school opposite numbers in nine out of 10s capable countries. Both groups scored 85 % in art/visual humanistic disciplines. During the 2005-06 school twelvemonth, high school pupils taking on-line classs scored systematically higher in nine out of 10s capable countries than traditional public high school scholars. The study besides indicated that FLVS pupils systematically earned higher classs, received better FCAT ( Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test ) scores, and achieved higher Markss on Advanced Placement ( AP ) exams than scholars in traditional schools. A survey on K-adult distance instruction plans conducted by Shachar and Neumann ( 2003 ) revealed a important positive consequence, reasoning that in approximately two-thirds of the instances, distance instruction scholars outperformed their traditional schoolroom opposite numbers. Cavanaugh et Al. ( 2004 ) conducted a meta-analysis aimed at comparing accomplishment in online and traditional schoolroom plans. The synthesis revealed â€Å" no important difference † in academic results and concluded â€Å" about tantamount † steps between on-line pupils and schoolroom opposite numbers. Other surveies reveal that groups of pupils larning on-line by and large achieve at degrees equal to their equals in schoolrooms. There appears to be grounds to show that when used suitably, blended acquisition attacks in practical schooling can better what pupils learn and supply them with high-quality acquisition chances ( Kearsley, 2000 ; National Association of State Boards of Education, 2001 ) . Potential of Virtual Schools in Promoting twenty-first Century Skills Unlike literature on the effectivity of post-secondary and higher-education online acquisition, there is a dearth of research that focuses on the effectivity of K-12 distance instruction in heightening learning results among pupils. Using the Partnership for twenty-first Century Skills theoretical account ( 2007 ) , the literature presents bing certification on effectivity of online acquisition in furthering critical thought and job resolution accomplishments, ICT or digital literacy, planetary consciousness, and autonomous acquisition and authorization. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Since 21st century occupations require higher degrees of job work outing accomplishments and critical thought, practical schools prepare their pupils by guaranting that they are able to appreciate relationships between abstract thoughts and practical applications in the context of the existent universe. NACOL ( 2001 ) asserts that practical schools use competency-based acquisition theoretical accounts that are effectual in heightening critical thought accomplishments. Creative job resolution is besides facilitated through group or squad activities developed routinely in online classs. The contextual acquisition theory, the acquisition theoretical account used in on-line acquisition, suggests that larning occurs merely when the scholar is able to treat newly-acquired information in a mode that makes sense to them utilizing their ain frames of mention. Since the head of course finds significance in context, it establishes connexions that has significance and seem utile. Education theoreticians assert that when acquisition is situated in the context of real-world scenarios, pupils become more motivated to larn. In add-on, pupils find more exhilaration as they represent and simulate reliable and existent real-world jobs, alternatively of abstract, out-of-context activities ( Bransford, Brown, & A ; Cocking, 2000 ; Driscoll & A ; Carliner, 2005 ) . Many theoreticians argue that the effectivity of practical acquisition is based on rules of effectual acquisition in general. Harmonizing to the acquisition theory, acquisition is enhanced or promoted on three conditions: ( a ) when pupils have active engagement in the acquisition procedure ; ( B ) when coursework is contextualized in real-life state of affairss and experiences ; and ( degree Celsius ) when deep acquisition or critical thought is facilitated through brooding activities ( Bransford, Brown, & A ; Cocking, 2000 ; Quitadamo & A ; Brown, 2001 ) . The National Survey of Student Engagement ( 2008 ) survey found that online scholars reported deeper attacks to larning than classroom-based scholars and experienced â€Å" better usage of higher order believing accomplishments, integrative thought, and brooding acquisition † ( p. 15 ) . Duffy and Cunningham ( 1996 ) assert that practical schools facilitate acquisition by utilizing engineering in making real-life contexts that engage scholars in work outing complex jobs. Using real-world state of affairss promotes deep acquisition by developing critical thought in the pupil. Online direction such as simulation promotes critical thought as it involves active and adept analysis, synthesis, and the application of information to peculiar state of affairss. An illustration of a contextualized acquisition attack applied efficaciously is illustrated by Florida Virtual School ‘s scientific discipline course of study. The school ‘s course of study is designed by and large to go around around the usage of job work outing accomplishments and real-world applications. For case, in a Geometry category, pupils are non merely taught theoretical edifice and architectural constructs. The on-line instructor required pupils to complete a undertaking utilizing real-world architectural rules. After sharing digital transcripts of designs and floor programs, pupils were instructed to pull the front position of place. Another assignment required pupils to research the constructs of incline, rise, pitch, and run by analyzing local edifices ( Florida TaxWatch, 2007 ) . The usage of multimedia in practical schools is an effectual acquisition tool that facilitates student battle. Multimedia inclusion in on-line classs finds support in basic cognitive rules of larning. Constructivism argues that larning can merely be meaningful one time the scholar is able to choose relevant information, form this information, and efficaciously makes connexions between matching readings. Furthermore, active acquisition occurs when the scholar engages in three cognitive procedures: choosing relevant words for verbal processing and choosing relevant images for ocular processing, forming words into a coherent verbal theoretical account and forming images into a consistent ocular theoretical account, incorporating matching constituents of the verbal and ocular theoretical accounts. As a consequence, Doolittle ( as cited in Hede, 2002 ) concludes that pupils have a better potency for larning from a combination of words and images than from words entirely. The usage of game s and simulations when learning on-line topics allow goal-based challenges that stimulates involvement and heightens pupils ‘ motive. In add-on, supplying tools that enable pupils to collate and footnote notes promote battle ( Hede, 2002 ) . Autonomous Learning and Empowerment The nature of the 21st century cognition economic system requires citizens to be engaged in womb-to-tomb acquisition. As a consequence, being in control of the way of one ‘s ain acquisition becomes non merely valuable but necessary in the twenty-first century. Online direction offers the needful flexibleness and convenience to finish larning units when and where a scholar desires ( McDonald, 2000 ) . Furthermore, practical schools empower scholars with self-paced and autonomous acquisition, allowing them take independently what courses to take and when. The self-paced nature of online larning benefits both pupils who are speedy scholars and those who need more clip in finishing class aims. Quick scholars are given the chance to larn at an prosecuting gait while pupils who are comparatively slow in carry throughing larning units can take their clip without being capable to stigma ( Watson, Gemin & A ; Ryan, 2008 ) . Online acquisition besides encourages pupils to put to death clip direction and pattern a higher degree of personal duty ( Cavanaugh, 2001 ) . To exemplify, Florida Virtual School pupils are able to take the rate of class completion depending on their single demands. Students are empowered to either extend or cut down their completion period from the traditional 36-week school twelvemonth. In making so, pupils are able to pull off their clip and custom-make the faculty or unit organisers provided to accommodate their demands. Flexibility in online acquisition comes with the pupil ‘s answerability to subject terminal merchandises to their teachers. Students are free to subject class assignments at any clip of the twenty-four hours in a given hebdomad but will still be capable to answerability steps. This theoretical account is really much comparable to practical offices and teleworking of today that allows flexibleness but commands high answerability and quality outlooks for the terminal merchandise. Haughey and Anderson ( 1998 ) province that online, networked acquisition has the undermentioned advantages: communicating and interaction ; immediateness ; permanency ; diffusion ; and, exhilaration. Interactive and interpersonal applications of digital engineering facilitates the displacement on how acquisition is approached. Online larning makes the move from an authority-based acquisition to one founded on find or experiential acquisition. Online larning facilitates communicating and interaction based on a learner-centered theoretical account ( Cavanaugh, 2001 ) . The learner-centered attack is the nucleus of the practical school doctrine. Learner-centered instruction in online classs necessitates increased communicating on an single footing, and frequently consequences to positive teacher-student relationships. Positive student-teacher relationships nurtured online are lined to positive pupil results, such as critical thought, motive, and dropout bar. The National Association of State Boards of Education ( NASBE, 2001 ) lists the undermentioned activities that could further communicating and coaction among pupils in practical schools: instructional resources ( on-line tutorials, WebQuests, practice/testing environments, instructional faculties, practical labs, and simulations ) ; informational stuffs ( scouts, electronic databases, mention resources, streaming picture, and digitized primary resources ) ; practical escapades such as web-based Tourss and practical field trips ; unrecorded interactions utilizing picture conferencing ; collaborative online acquisition ( e-mail, web logs, treatments, undertaking sharing, collaborative scientific discipline experiments, collaborative authorship, online books treatments, on-line writer visits, and adept treatments ; on-line aid ( proficient support, mention inquiries, mentoring, and peer tutoring ) ; sharing infinite ( practical galleries of pupil work, on-line newspapers, and collaborat ive composing countries ) . Global Awareness The world of globalisation has put force per unit area on instruction systems to set to the increasing complexnesss and demands of an mutualist universe. Education ‘s intent in developing responsible and productive citizens to fuel national growing has been supplanted as increasing competition and mutuality of a globalized universe require pupils to be educated in order to go more productive international citizens. Harmonizing to Schukar ( 1993 ) , â€Å" Children in this state must be provided an instruction that more than adequately prepares them for citizenship in the society and universe they will shortly inherit † ( p. 57 ) . The coming of globalisation has necessitated monolithic reforms in instruction. Thomas Friedman ( 2005 ) contends in his book, â€Å" The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century † that antiquity in the methods of acquisition and learning have no topographic point in the â€Å" level † and â€Å" connected † universe. Hence, digital engineering, which he attributes to the universe ‘s â€Å" flattening † , must be utilized to interrupt down clip and geographical barriers in instruction. Through it, the ascribed function to instruction as the great equaliser can carry through to a greater extent than the traditional educational methods. Partnership for twenty-first Century Skills ( 2007 ) emphasizes the importance of developing planetary consciousness in the twenty-first century pupil. Global consciousness involves the usage of critical thought and job resolution to be able to understand planetary issues, learn from and prosecute collaboratively with persons from diverse civilizations and backgrounds to further an attitude of common regard and unfastened duologue, and understand different civilizations and larning non-English linguistic communications. The purpose of planetary instruction is to develop empathy and perspective-taking among pupils as they study human struggle and cooperation, mutuality of human systems, and cross-cultural differences ( Freeman, 1993 ; Tye & A ; Tye, 1992 ) . In other words, planetary instruction serves to bring forth pupils who have a planetary position and are equipped with accomplishments, cognition and temperaments to be able to appreciate and digest the built-in pluralities in civilization, ethnicity, and faith in the globalized universe ( Gilliom, 1981 ) . There are several types of activities that practical schools launch to advance planetary consciousness and an enhanced grasp of cultural diverseness among pupils. Virtual schools teach societal surveies concepts that require pupils to make web-based research, communicate with pupils from different states or provinces, engage in collaborative undertakings, and travel on telefieldtrips ( Harris, 2002 ) . As a consequence, pupils are provided the chance for real-time interaction and collaborative acquisition with kids from diverse civilizations that the physical school can non. Merryfield ( 2000 ) provinces that when engineerings are fused with societal surveies larning, the possible to advance cross-cultural apprehensions is maximized and consciousness in subjects such as equity, diverseness, and favoritism are heightened. NACOL ( 2001 ) paperss one of the most advanced undertakings launched by Broward Country Public Schools with the aid of the Florida Virtual School that successfully fused societal surveies larning with engineering to develop planetary consciousness. In an AP and Honors American History Course, four groups composed of Nipponese and American pupils collaborated through on-line picture conferencing and email interaction to discourse World War II and Japan-US dealingss. Using a Nipponese translator, American pupils were able to interact with pupils from Achiba, Japan. Other instructional content came from a Holocaust subsister, Nipponese cantonment captive and a professor of Asiatic Studies. Throughout the class, pupils created multimedia presentations and engaged in problem-solving activities. â€Å" Face-to-face † coaction utilizing Web picture conferencing enabled heightened cultural consciousness and promoted the bridging of two civilizations. Young, Birtolo, & A ; McElman ( 2009 ) reports how on-line acquisition in the Florida Virtual School ( FLVS ) provides chances for pupils ‘ increased consciousness and grasp of planetary issues and concerns. Students are given activities runing from online forums to discourse AIDS and universe hungriness, to engagement in online nines that portion perspectives on international personal businesss and other societal issues. In 2008, staff from FLVS ‘ online newspaper News in a Click interned as editors for PEARL World Youth News where they collaborated with pupils all over the universe through Web conferencing in making and redacting the newspaper. Creative schemes utilized by online instructors besides provide avenues of intercultural coaction and duologue ( Young, Birtolo, & A ; McElman, 2009 ) . One illustration is the Global Economic Summit organized by FLVS economic sciences instructor Patty Sibson that featured a cross-curriculum treatment of planetary issues participated by around 100 scholars from different states. The activity utilised Web conferencing and originative problem-solving undertakings. Another illustration is the on-line Chinese Language class offered by the Michigan Virtual High School ( MVHS ) . The class, which meant to present Chinese linguistic communication and civilization to get downing Chinese linguistic communication scholars, ran for a semester and was taught by a qualified Chinese-speaking teacher. Using a task-based language-learning course of study, the class emphasized on heightening basic communicating accomplishments and cross-cultural, planetary consciousness and apprehension. The on-line class required self-study and practical meetings and was designed to have four chief resources: an e-textbook, a group problem-solving undertaking, Web conferencing and treatment, and a group composing activity ( NACOL, 2001 ) . Digital engineerings used in practical schools offer pupils the agencies to get new types of cognition, accomplishments, and temperaments needed to work more efficaciously and go more productive planetary citizens ( Bell-Rose & A ; Desai, 2005 ) . Digital engineerings offer many possible ways to further planetary consciousness in schoolrooms. By inculcating planetary instruction and engineering in societal surveies larning, pupils are able to appreciate the interrelatednesss of states and peoples worldwide. Liz Pape ( 2007 ) discussed how practical schools are lending in run intoing the planetary consciousness accomplishments of the twenty-first century pupil. In an online confab interview moderated by Education Sector, she explains that online acquisition schools have developed learning theoretical accounts that enable the bringing of interaction of pupils across province or national lines, such as those take parting in online schoolrooms together. In this mode, planetary consciousness and citizenship accomplishments among pupils are developed. Certain restrictions prevent practical schools from maximising the chances of pupils to develop cross-cultural apprehensions such as larning non-English linguistic communications. There is a accepted deficit of foreign linguistic communication instructors ( Cavaluzzo & A ; Higgins, 2001 ) . Furthermore, technology-based societal scientific discipline learning to develop planetary consciousness is non ever successful. There is a needed attempt upon the online instructor to originate and put to death originative schemes that could bring forth coveted planetary instruction results. Surveies have come to reason that engineering entirely does non heighten pupil results ( McIsacc & A ; Gunawardena, 2001 ) Information and communications engineering ( ICT ) Literacy The demand for technological aptitude in order to go more competitory in the twenty-first century work force is now undeniable. In the age of information, it has become a necessity for pupils to get the hang the ability to utilize engineerings to treat, analyze, and articulate information in instruction, life, or employment scenes. Since the usage of engineering in practical schools is a constitutional demand, pupils master twenty-first century engineering accomplishments to fix them for the planetary and Web-driven workplace. Some pedagogues feel the effectivity of engineering is overestimated, mentioning that presenting information engineering in schools has non achieved either transmutation of learning or larning. Research workers deduce that maximising the benefits of IT investings require more than merely presenting engineering and alining it with the course of study. They believe it requires the triangulation of content, sound acquisition rules, and high-quality instruction ( Cox et al. , 2003 ) . Several suggest that the appropriate application of digital engineering in the schoolroom puting enhances pupil outcomes. In 2003, a quasi-experimental survey was conducted by Rosas et Al. ( as cited in Metiri Group, 2009 ) on 1,274 early simple pupils in Chile whose results were compared to a intervention group that were equipped with hand-held devices with games designed to progress reading comprehension, spelling, and mathematical accomplishments. After a period of 3 months, the survey revealed that pupils who used the hand-held devices for 30 hours posted important betterments than their control group opposite numbers. A survey studies positive correlativities between the use of educational games on PDAs and public presentation in reading comprehension and mathematics. The surveies conclude that bet oning engages pupils in deep concentration and motive that leads to high attending, concentration, and self-regulation of pupils ‘ larning procedure ( Savill-Smith & A ; Kent, 2003 ) . A meta-analysis across 42 surveies conducted by Pearson et Al. ( as cited in Metiri Group, 2009 ) showed important positive consequences with the usage of practical larning engineering in primary and secondary schools. Except for foreign linguistic communication were practical acquisition revealed uneffective, consequences were consistent across class degrees and capable countries. Effectss were somewhat higher to scholars under blended acquisition plans. Decision The complex challenges that pupils face today in visible radiation of the quickly increasing diverseness of the state ‘s population, globalisation of commercialism and civilization, and detonation of the Internet and other engineerings, higher academic results and increased versatility will assist fix pupils run into the demands of the twenty-first century. The related literature reviewed indicates the potency of practical schools to adequately run into the demands of the twenty-first century pupils and contribute to heighten academic public presentation and the development of of import accomplishments needed to fix them for the work force and the planetary economic system. There are advantages every bit good as disadvantages to online acquisition, but its benefits outweigh its restrictions. Research besides points to the blended acquisition policy or the combination of online and face-to-face direction as the most ideal in run intoing demands of the twenty-first century pupil. There remains yet inconclusive grounds on whether online acquisition surpasses the quality of traditional schoolroom acquisition, but it is clear that the practical school has become a popular and necessary option for 1000000s of pupils across America. Maximum benefits of practical schools may include easing betterment of pupils public presentation in academic nu cleus topics every bit good as developing accomplishments including originative job resolution, critical thought, autonomous acquisition and authorization, and ICT literacy.

Olladas Critique Paper War is a Tender Thing Final Draft

In the case of Disdain Rumples parents, It's both. How they choose to react to the situation is what determines their destiny. Disdain's mother shows indifference to a number of political issues in the beginning. Her character is stoic. The way she answers her daughters questions suggests she doesn't care about any of it at all. The film also introduces that Disdain's mother is Christian while her father is a Muslim. For Christians, the most important ideal is â€Å"to love your enemies and die in the pursuit of ringing them love†.On the other hand, for Muslims, it's fighting the enemies of Islam and dying as a martyr of Allah. Sacrifice is an important ideal in both religions but its meaning in each religion is completely opposed. â€Å"A Christian can never be in love with a Muslim†, she says as she talks about the conflict between Christians and Muslims and how it was at fault, in some way, for her separation with Disdain's father. Moreover, there's a certainty in he r voice, as if no one can have a say in her decision, when she makes up her mind to end heir marriage.But what one fails to recognize while watching her, what one may think is an act of selfishness, is actually an act of selflessness. â€Å"I'd rather we be separated and he be alive than we be together and he be dead. † These are the words of her mother that really struck me. Any woman who loves her husband very much has an extreme fear of losing him but in the film, Disdain's mother was able to cast out that fear because of her deep love. She prefers to be far from her husband so his life could be spared, so that he could be safe.Personally, saw the film as something astonishingly moving; how it was able to remarkably express that feeling of wanting and loving something or someone you know you cannot possibly have because of all the wars and religious conflicts; how the mother's strong yet affectionate personality captured the core and soul of the title itself; the way the s cenes were shot-?so very frank and forthright. Perhaps its simplicity-?having the camera record what everyone has to say without using special effects or requiring the people to wear make-up or to dress up-?is what makes it exceptional.The pureness of the idea about the coexistence betwixt love and war that Disdain Arum presents in the film is undeniably impressive. Everyone has a different definition of love. Love to one person is letting go even if it hurts. For others, love is to give something up for someone to be in a better situation. But for Disdain's mother, love is those two definitions put together. It is the very essence of the courage, especially in their situation, to do the right thing even when the cost is great. That, my friend, is fearless love.

Critically appraise union strategies to involve women and minority Assignment

Critically appraise union strategies to involve women and minority groups - Assignment Example (Reynolds, 2006, p.187) Thirty years ago, the Working Women Charter in Australia coined the slogan of â€Å"Women need unions need women.† The slogan pointed out the responsibility of representing women and women’s gendered needs. But most of the union leaders had problems with the women workforce participation in the union. The most significant agenda of equal pay for both the sexes was going on for over a century in the world economy and even then it has been noticed that the male union leader had stood by the employer while denying equal pay for women (Rea, 2005, p.50). Not only women are under-represented in the trade union, the union has also failed to represent the minority ethnic community. The trade union has always demonstrated a racist attitude towards the ethnic minorities. In the 20th century the trade unions developed a politics of unity, but it was always constrained by the ethnic understandings of the workforce. The unity in the union workforce has always been constrained by protecting the gains and growth among workers. Recently there has been an effort concerning industrial relations, philosophy of rights, racisms, and social inclusion (Lucio & Perrett, 2007, p.4; Healy, Bradley and Mukherjee, 2003). The trade union in the recent past has started addressing these issues in a more supportive and strategic manner. The paper discusses the union’s effort towards inclusion of women and minorities in the workforce. The survival of the union depends upon the expansion of the trade union. In order to expand the trade union’s recruitment the traditional areas have to include the service sector in its domain. The inclusion of women in the trade union would also ensure the expansion of the same. The trade unions have recognized the under representation of women in the union structures and hence adequate measure have been taken in UK and worldwide to redress the imbalance. In UK seats have been reserved for women in the union st ructure and proportionality has also been adopted. Despite such likely transformation the trade union are highly characterized as patriarchal. The major priority of all the trade union now is the recruitment. The trade union has experienced a steep decline in its membership since 1979. It was at its peak of around 13 million memberships which decreased down to seven million- that is only one third of the employees. UK witnessed a major restructuring in the economic and the labor market, where the manufacturing industries were heavily unionized with male domination, and the industries were undergoing a severe contraction, where as the service sector was mostly dominated by female and the sectors were less unionized as compared to the manufacturing sectors. In the phase of the social and economic changes the trade union had failed to recruit new members from the expanding sectors thus resulting in a decreasing union membership. (Kirton and Haley, 1999, p. 31) The gender gap in the uni on membership has narrowed down from eleven percentage points in 1990 to five percentage points in 1996. In UK the women membership is around 40 percent of the total union membership. The recruitment policies of the union have undergone a change in order to attract more women members and thereby retain them. (Kirton and Haley, 1999, p. 32) It is also noteworthy that over the last three decades most part of the global south has undergone an event known as the â€Å"

What is good for the company is good for the people Research Paper

What is good for the company is good for the people - Research Paper Example that had harmed the environment and communities (Utting & Ives, 2006); an immense pressure is unsurprisingly placed now on Colombia’s mining sector with regards to its corporate social responsibility (CSR) to improve its sustainable development (Reyes, 2012). Current pressure will not only be about the sufficient supply of energy, but it will also be about clean energy that is environmentally sustainable (Pemberthy, 2012). Confronted with diverse issues so common in a developing nation, just like Colombia, CSR in this country is more easily criticized than appreciated. One factor Haslam (2004) cited is the low involvement of the private sector in carving Colombia’s CSR policies. As Blowfield and Frynas (2005) have observed, most CSR cases show that stakeholder dialogue and engagement is key to the success of CSR. Added to this, Haslam (2004) furthers, is the weak involvement of the Colombian government in the promotion of CSR and its failure in integrating CSR policies into its whole government policy. This perhaps could explain the conflict between corporations and communities. For example, the adoption of several corporations for sustainable CSR, which impact could not be immediately felt, was not appreciated by communities which due to deep level of poverty would understandably prefer short-term, yet easily felt benefits such as direct economic benefits or positions. (Baena, 2009/10) Whether CSR is good for business or good for the people or good for both, remains debatable until today. Focusing on the CSR of the two main oil companies in Colombia – the ECOPETROL S.A. and the OXY (Occidental Petroleum Corporation) – this study argues that CSR is good for the company and likewise for the people. As many corporations have argued, â€Å"†¦ there is a solid business case for CSR, which is associ ­ated with ‘win-win’ strategies; doing good environmentally and socially can simultaneously improve a company’s competitive advantage, reduce costs, enhance

Balance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Balance - Essay Example For instance, it received wide recognition and application in Europe in the 1960s (Landa 84). This was nearly 60 years after the graphic design profession had been established. Despite receiving different reception in different eras globally, graphic design has become a universal communication and problem solving platform using visual space and images. The difference between art and design is that art strives to elucidate various ideas about the human condition whereas designed seeks to communicate information in the most effective manner (Mullet and Sano 9). Visual design and communication usually employ images and space that sometimes only have national understanding and appreciation while others often have international or global appreciation and effect. Therefore, this essay aims at analyzing how different graphic designs and graphic designers have managed to create balance in the visual communication aspects. The essay also seeks to reveal various areas and examples where numerical balance is represented all around the world as well as different forms of numerical representations. There are five principles of design namely rhythm, proportion, dominance, unity and most importantly, balance. Balance refers to the manner in which the design elements in a composition are arranged and how they relate to each other to depict the overall composition. Balance can be defined as a condition in which various elements are equivalent and similar or are in the correct proportions. Various elements in a composition have different weights because of differences in color, shape, size and positioning. If the composition is poorly balanced, the entire composition fails to appeal to the eyes of potential viewers. However, a graphic designer needs to ensure all aspects of the design elements are well positioned, and well aligned to create a successful design. Balance can either be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Generally, symmetrical balance refers to a scenarios in which

World Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

World Religion - Essay Example This report approves that the temple is a place where Buddhist monks and lay people gather to practice meditation. Since meditation requires quiet and concentration, there are special rooms set aside in the temple for groups or individuals to sit on their pillows and meditate. The temple provides lay people with retreats, usually overnight stays but people can stay longer. When a person stays with the monks, they sleep on a simple mat and eat the same foods as the monks using the same simple black bowls. The purpose of a retreat is to simplify the person’s life, to relax, and to concentrate on meditation, so lay people do not get special treatment. The traditional tea ceremony is one of the activities that lay people participate in with the monks. They are also encouraged to work around the temple grounds and to study the grounds and buildings during tours so they can have an understanding of what traditional Buddhist worship is like. All these activities for lay people are me ant to encourage simplicity and concentration. This essay makes a conclusion that it is amazing to think of this place as enduring for more than 1,215 years in the same spot. Even though many events have happened this might have destroyed or disbanded the monks, it continued on even through religious oppression and many wars and natural disasters. This shows that the temple and the ideas of Buddhism are enduring, and even though there is this long history the monks still lead very simple lives. Outsiders can have a little taste of this Buddhist life, too.

Regression Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Regression - Research Paper Example I retrieved my data from STATS Indiana. Three or four decades ago, cars in the United States were bought out of only necessity. People used to purchase cars not for laxity, but due to various factors such as for convenience purposes. In the last two decades, however, the world in general has moved on from this kind of situation. People no longer buy cars out of necessity, but rather, people buy cars for luxurious reasons. The United States, and Marion County in the state of Indiana to be specific, is no different. Motor vehicles of different models are purchased round the clock, for many reasons other than necessity (Riley 1). The automobile industry in Marion County is one of the most active among all industries within the county. In the recent years, the number of motor vehicles operating on the road has been going up steadily. There are various factors that contribute to this upward trend. The factors influencing the above trend may be well discussed if grouped into various categories. First and foremost, population is the most influencer of the rate at which cars are bought. In this paper, the population is considered both for the local and immigrants. The other factor is age. Age, in Marion County, is a major determinant of car ownership. Employment is another factor which highly determines the general purchasing power of the population. This paper, therefore, examines each and every of these contributing or influencing factors, determining how each one contributes, negatively or positively, to the selling and purchasing trends in the motor vehicle industry. In every business industry, there are market forces that determine the rate at which the goods and/or services in that particular industry are sold or purchased. These market forces are demand and supply. These are the only determinants of sales and purchases in any particular industry in any particular country. The market forces

Personal and Professional Health Care Communication Essay

Personal and Professional Health Care Communication - Essay Example Health care groups are deemed to be amongst the most effective preventive building block in any society. In health care institutions one of the most common things that we come across are community based projects that deal with many issues including substance abuse, reproduction health etc. In order to extract the maximum amount of benefit from these settings, effective health care communication need to be encouraged amongst the doctors, patients who are being treated, as well as various pharmaceutical companies which are producing drugs. Health communication is also very much relevant as it is through proper communication that people get to know of various health issues. It is a result of communication between health care professionals and the patients that both get to hands on to new information (Northouse & Northouse, 1998). The patient gets to know from the doctor about various medical conditions and how to deal with them. Whereas during such a process the doctors themselves often come across new medical cases and they can then use such cases to enhance their own knowledge and carry out further research. There is a deep link between proper and timely health care communication and health care outcomes / results. When there is no proper communication between the health care professionals and patients, no proper treatment can be carried out at all. To take a very simple case if the patient is himself unable to explain to the doctor correctly what problems he's facing, then the doctor would so not be able to prescribe him the correct medicine or be able to carry out the correct treatment and, therefore, the patient would have no visible health benefits. Patients need to be taught to open up the doctor completely and tell them the problems they're facing, without hesitating or thinking what the health care professionals might feel of them. It is only then that correct treatment could be carried out. Consequently, even doctors need to give proper time to patients and explain them how to deal with problem until and unless the patient's concept. Often times doctors need to put in an extra effort while explaining the problems to patients who are illiterate and lack medical knowledge, to those patients who have a problem understanding the doctor's language or they themselves are of another language. It is in such cases that miscommunication results the most. When multiple people are present in an interaction, the chances for misunderstanding and disagreements increase by a significant margin. Problems also occur when proper health care communication does not take place between the two parties. For instance, the doctor may advise a patient to stay in the hospital, whereas the patient might disregard the doctors advice and decide to go home. Such a scenario can lead to depression for the patient. All this could have been avoided if the patient had communicated properly with the doctor and asked him his rationale for asking him to stay back (Kavana gh and Kennedy, 1992). Therapeutic communication refers to the use of communication to bring out a beneficial result for the client / patient. The main aim of therapeutic communication is to bring about a betterment is the patient's ability to lead a proper and problem life. Further on, therapeutic communication develops connectivity between the client and a health care professional, and this is something that can never be replaced by technology as it lack emotions. Therapeutic

Case Study Toyota crisis Essay Example for Free

Case Study Toyota crisis Essay Organizational Crisis negatively effect organization’s name and image, as well as adversely impact employee by instilling doubt, insecurity and distrust (Tahmicioglu, 2010). Employees are directly effected by the crisis, as they are the primary stakeholders (Obston, 2014) and brand ambassadors of the company. Thus, to ensure wellbeing of employees, especially in time of catastrophe, they should be well informed and fostered under the guidance of company’s leaders. Leaders at Toyota should take an immediate action; start with early internal crisis communication, take accountability and show their commitment to resolving the crisis. Male (2004) suggests, being proactive and transparent lessen doubt and distress among employees. It will be beneficial if a live talk is set up with the employees. Live podcast will personalize the message, and will allow employees to directly hear compassion and empathy in the leader’s voice. Establishing an active feedback loop is also very effective (Miller, 2014), an online forum on company’s intranet will be a great way to facilitate two-way dialogues between employees and executives. The forum will be pivotal in giving direct feedback to employees’ questions and concerns, and for consistently providing updated information. Along with starting communication, hotlines dedicated for crisis should be provided as part of employee assistance program; employees should be encouraged to actively use the services to get professional help they need for dealing with crisis. Lack of immediate dialogue leads to speculation (Miller, 2014), and when the magnitude of the crisis is as big as Toyota’s recall, consistent media scrutiny and amplification of negative news can further fuel anxiety and uncertainty among employees (Cole, 2011). Therefore, its imperative leaders eradicate uncertainty by giving timely crisis communication that precedes external news and provide continuing support to employees. An early two-way dialogue is a good start to lessen the chaos among distressed employees. However, in addition to continuing practice of honest internal communication, for the long run, leaders will need to establish processes specific to employees’ welfare to restore lost trust.  Organizational strategy needs to improve to rectify behaviors that effected employees’ welfare in past. Toyota’s work philosophy which Liker (2004) described as â€Å"The Toyota way,† was known for continuous improvement and people development; however, aggressive focus on rapid growth (Cole, 2011) resulted in detrimental practices, such as, reward system based on cost control versus quality control, poor training, declining working conditions and work overload (Sullivan, 2010; McNeill, 2013; Cole, 2011). These practices were not only damaging to employees trust, but also clearly violated psychological contract (Rousseau, 1995) of Toyota employees. To rebuild eroded trust caused by the violation of contract, leaders need to validate employees wellbeing is not compromised again. Gillespie and Dietz (2012) recommend implementing a strategy that will safeguard against future untrustworthy actions. This can be done by articulating and enacting a system instilled with high ethical standard, clearly communicated processes and better working conditions. Providing flexible working hours, manageable workload and regular training programs will prove leaders mean well; consistently incorporating employees voice will assure their role is imperative in recovery of company image. Lastly, proactively engaging in regular evaluation of processes will result in improved performance and ultimately recapturing the reputation. References: 1. Cole, R. E. (2011). What Really Happened to Toyota. MIT Sloan Management Review The New Business of Innovation. 2. Gillespie, N., Dietz, G. (2012). The recovery of trust: Case studies of organisational failures and trust repair. Institute of Business Ethics: London. 3. John, S. (2010). A think Piece: How HR caused Toyota to Crash. Retrieved from http://www.ere.net 4. Liker, J. (2004). The Toyota way 14 Management Principles from the Worlds Greatest Manufacturer. McGraw-Hill 5. Male, B. (2010). How to handle a product recall. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com 6. McNeill, D. (2013). Cover-up: Toyota and Quality Control. The Asia Pacific Journal, Vol 11, Issue 36, No. 1, 7. Miller, J. (2014). 4 Tips to help leaders communicate during a crisis. Retrieve from http://smartblogs.com 8. Obston, A. (2014). 5 ways to communicate with employees during a crisis. Retrieved from http://www.ragan.com 9. Tahmicioglu, E. (2010). Surviving your company’s mistake. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com 10. Rousseau, D. (1995). The psychological contract: Violations and Modifications. The Organizational Behavior Reader. 8th ed.

The Various Positioning Errors Marketing Essay

The Various Positioning Errors Marketing Essay For instance: kotak-mahindra positions itself in the customers mind as one entity-kotak,which provide customized solutions to all the financial services needs.The positioning of the brand will be influenced by the competitive stance one wants to adopt. Various Positioning Errors; UNDER POSITIONING: Here the customers have a blurred and unclear idea of the brand. OVER POSITIONING: Here the customers have too limited awareness of the brand. CONFUSED POSITIONING: Here the customers have confused opinion of the brand. DOUBLE POSITIONING: Here the customers do not accept the claims of the brand. POSITIONING BY PRICE/COST LEADERSIP When it comes to marketing the business, there are three generic strategies you can use: focus, differentiation and cost leadership.   This means that you need to minimize your costs and pass the savings on to your customers. WAL-MART Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been successful using its strategy of everyday low prices to attract customers. The idea of everyday low prices is to offer products at a cheaper rate than competitors on a consistent basis, rather than relying on sales. Wal-Mart is able to achieve this due to its large scale and efficient supply chain. They source products from cheap domestic suppliers and from low-wage foreign markets. This allows the company to sell their items at low prices and to profit off thin margins at a high volume. MCDONALDS The restaurant industry is known for yielding low margins that can make it difficult to compete with a cost leadership marketing strategy. McDonalds has been extremely successful with this strategy by offering basic fast-food meals at low prices. They are able to keep prices low through a division of labor that allows it to hire and train inexperienced employees rather than trained cooks. It also relies on few managers who typically earn higher wages. These staff savings allow the company to offer its foods for bargain prices. POSITIONING BY LIFESTYLE Brand position in car-MAZDA MAZDAs Brand Positioning Strategy There are similar products throughout the automotive industry. Mazda considers it vitally important to strengthen its emotional bonds with consumers. In order to create an excellent brand image through strong emotional ties with consumers, Mazda did not initially concentrate on brand strategy schemes, but rather sought to define a brand DNA. Target customers Mazdas target customers are those individuals who stay young, have a good capability to express themselves, are always passionate and are self-confident in their choices. Mazdas Brand DNA Mazdas brand DNA is divided into two concepts of Personality and Product. In order to gain pathos from the target customers, Mazda tried to create an image where Personality is defined as Stylish, Insightful and Spirited, and to guide Mazdas craftsmanship, Product is defined as Distinctive Design, and Responsive Drive. POSITIONING BY ATTRIBUTES Brand positioning is designed to develop a sustainable competitive edge on product attributes in the minds of the consumers. The consumer choice depends upon the attributes of the brand and the utility thus derived.brand attributes also known as core values,represent the essence of the brand. FEW STRONG BRAND ATTRIBUTES: Sustainability: A strong brand makes business competitive.A sustainable brand drives an organization towards innovation and success.Example:Marks and spencers. Inspirational: A strong brand should transcend/inspire the cateogary it is famous for.Example: NIKE transcendent jersey. Appealing: A strong brand should be attractive. Customers should be attracted by the promise one makes and by the value one delivers. Example:life insurance companies. Sometimes a product can be positioned in terms of two or more attributes simultaneously. The  price and quality attribute dimension is commonly used for  positioning  the products. The product is associated with attributes it possess. Ariel offers a specific benefit of cleaning even the dirtiest of clothes because of the micro cleaning system in the product. Colgate offers benefits of preventing cavity and  fresh breath. Promise, Balsaras toothpaste, could break Colgates stronghold by being the first to claim that it contained clove, which differentiated it from the leader. Nirma offered the benefit of low  price  over Hindustan Levers Surf to become a success. Maruti Suzuki  offers benefits of maximum fuel efficiency and safety over its competitors. This strategy helped it to get 60% of the Indian automobile  market. POSITIONING BY QUALITY Another way is to communicate a specific image or position for a brand is to associate it with a specific use or application-Quality It Possess Surf Excel is positioned as  stain remover   Surf Excel hena! Clinic All Clear Dare to wear Black. POSITIONING ON THE BASIS OF PRODUCT CLASS Often the competition for a particular product comes from outside the product class. For example, airlines know that while they compete with other airlines, trains and buses are also viable alternatives. Manufacturers of  music CDs must compete with the cassettes industry. The product is positioned against others that, while not exactly the same, provide the same class of benefits. POSITIONING BY COMPETITOR Competitors may be as important to positioning strategy as a firms own product or services. In todays  market, an effective positioning strategy for a product or brand may focus on specific competitors. This approach is similar to positioning by product class, although in this case the competition is within the same product category. Onida was positioned against the giants in the television industry through this strategy, ONIDA colour TV was launched with the message that all others were clones and only Onida was the leader. Neighbours Envy, Owners Pride. POSITIONING ACCORDING TO THE PRODUCT USER Clinique, for example, has a strong image of being fresh, clean, and pure, with a white-coat clinical approach to skin care and cosmetics. The typical user is perceived to be a young woman with oily skin. The challenge for Clinique is to maintain its current image strengths but to soften the youthful image (to make the brand accessible to mature women) and to reach out beyond the specialized focus on oily, problem skin to a broader   audience. For instance, Clinique would like to inject elements of elegance into the line, not to compete with the elegant position of competitors but to expand beyond their  strong clinical position. POSITIONING BY OCCASION Recognizing the market potential, Cadbury decided to add the  Diwali  twist to  Celebrations. With the 1999 campaign that surprised families with `Diwali Ki Meethi Shubhkaamnaaye  and the `Har Pal Bane Ek Utsavcampaign in 2000, people were now reveling in the  Diwali  festivities with a box of  Cadbury  Celebrations. In 2002, with the tagline `Rishtey Pakne Do  the Rich Dry Fruit Collection was introduced in the market that got families together in festive times. Delving beyond families, the 2004  Celebrations  commercials starring Amitabh Bachchan cemented the spirit of friendship with the tagline `Aisi Mithaas Jo Dosti Banaye Khaas. In 2009,  Celebrations  took the brand thought deeper into the meaning of Diwali; it was now a symbol of new friendship, spreading happiness, and taking a moment to thank all those who remain unappreciated for most part of the year. Tapping into the festive mood of togetherness, Celebrations  started asking people  `Iss Diw ali Aap Kisse Khush Karenge?  

Development of Geographic Information System

Development of Geographic Information System CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM A geographic information system helps to create maps, integrate information, visualize scenarios, present powerful ideas and develop effective solutions. GIS can be used in wide areas for the purpose of decision making. This technique used in many areas such as traffic measurement, asset management and weather forecasting. A geographic information system helps to analyze large quantity of data within a single database according to their location. GIS is used for providing information about disaster and will manage huge level of data for vulnerability and hazard management. GIS is well developed and successful tool that is applicable in disaster refinement and forecasting. Weather forecasts cover large regions and weather status may change every minute during the natural disaster. Weather forecasting, disaster management and warning are also major service provided by GIS. GPS is integration of software and hardware components that used in mobile phones for tracking the location. GPS is an very robust and easy to handle. GPS is an real time positioning information that provides highly accurate geographic reference in dependent of time and weather. Spatial database stores a huge amount of space-related information such as maps, medical imaging data, pre-processed remote sensing data, and VLSI chip layout data. Geospatial data is the data that relates to the geographic location of features that mainly required for GIS. Spatial data that show where the feature is there and attribute data provide information about the feature .The amount of Geospatial data will be collected in disaster refinement and forecast system is also increasing exponentially. The complexity of spatial database isthat it is not possible to analyze and collect data completely. 1.2 GEOGRAPHIC MAPS Two dimensional graphic representation of earth surface. The sizes of geographic objects on a map smaller than size in reality. Google map isa free web mapping and location basedservice. Google service provider providesa free web APIfor using the Google map web interface. Interactive web mapping services and resource management services have been introduced as an extension to a conventional GIS system. Integration of web mapping service and geographic resource has recently attracted more attention. The service providers manage and maintain all the services by API. Google API services are free at present. But some API services have only limited usage. People want the services for usage have to register their own details and purpose of usage. The registered users are permitted to add labels on a web page to request the service providers and access their service to gather the resource of Geo-information. When the developer request exceeds for some resources, the application is blocked b y service providers and it is put in waiting to be confirmed. Finally, it will be approved. People (developers) are interested to use Google map in their application have to apply for a Google map key. After applying the Google map key then developers can use or insert Google map to their own application. Google map provides control and options to use mapping service as per user’s request. Google map service provider, have some policies that have to be satisfied by the developer as per the need of the application. The developers should provide the purpose of map usage in their application and their professional details for avoiding illegal usage of the map. GEOMETRIC PROBLEM Computational Geometry is one that describes the studies of data structure and algorithm for Geometric problems. Geometric Algorithm used to solve Geometric Problems such as Range Searching, Point Location. Nearest Neighbor and Ray Tracing. Spatial data mining denotes the spatial relationships, extraction of knowledge, or other interesting patterns that are not clearly stored in spatial data sets. Spatial data are mainly required for GIS whose information is related to geographic locations. The amount of spatial data that can be collected in such systems is also increasing exponentially. The complexity of the data found in these databases means that it is not possible for humans completely to analyze the data being collected. Spatial database is one of large database that manage multidimensional objects such as lines, points etc. Spatial partitioning is a step to define, generate and represent partitioned data. Spatial Data is partitioned based on spatial attribute. Spatial data is partitioned as tree and recursive subdivision of space. KD tree algorithm is used for spatial partitioning. The purpose is to hierarchically decompose space into small number of cells, such that no two cells contain too many objects. Fast way to access any input object is by its position. Algorithm construct kd tree by partitioning point set recursively along different dimensions. Space partitioning is the process of dividing a space into two or more disjoint subsets. Space- partitioning means that divide large regions into several small regions. Then the partitioning technique applied to small regions recursively. These regions are organized into a tree called as spatial-partitioning tree. Cluster analysis or clustering is the task of grouping a set of objects, that objects will be similar means they are in the same group or otherwise in different group. To build a hierarchy of clusters called hierarchical cluster analysis. Nearest Neighbor technique is simple and efficient that based on the structure of data. Various techniques available for solving the nearest neighbor problems. K-Nearest Neighbor is simple and fast technique deals with large data samples that use the nearest neighbor rule. Ball Tree K-Nearest Neighbor deal with high dimensional data to improve speed to find K-Nearest Neighbor to perform Geometric learning tasks. Quad tree is partition the space into two dimensions that means root node partitioned exactly into four children. Octree is data structure that partition space into three dimension space such as recursively subdivides space into eight octants. R Tree is one of spatial indexing technique that indexing multi dimensional information such as geo graphical coordinates that store geometric objects and also used for spatial access methods. R+ Tree differ from R Tree that avoids overlapping of coordinates. R* Tree is robust and efficient technique used to structure geometric objects. 1.4 WETHER FORECASTING Weather conditions have increased the demand for decision support systems to include true forecasts. Weather forecasts cover large regions and weather status may change every few minutes the effectiveness in human life to know what will happen for unpredictable situations and events. weather forecasting and warning are also major service provided by GIS. The emergence of smart phones has led to the proliferation of a variety of innovative data-driven mobile applications. One useful application is location based mobile weather forecasting which provides minute-to-minute forecasts. After around to staring at temperatures, reading reviews, and watching weather alerts roll in, that this Weather offers the most straightforward approach to presenting weather data on an Android Smartphone. Though it sounds complicated, it’s all about how much weather you want and how often, which is pretty easy to figure out. No two people experience and appreciate weather the same way, and most Andr oid device owners have different styles of customizing their phones. So picking just one Android weather app for everyone just isn’t going to fly. weather forecast and disaster refinement forecast is assessed which involves weather related data such as temperature, air pressure, rainfall, solar radiation,relative humidity, wind speed, sea level pressure, ground level pressure and their location related latitude and longitude. A major part of cyclone disaster refinement and weather forecasting are the severe weather alerts and advisories to people that severe or hazardous weather is expected. 1.5 CYCLONE DISASTER Natural disastersmakeextreme weather changes in earth surface that givelotsof losses and damages to valuable goods, buildings, andthat result in death or injury to humans. Cyclone is one of natural disaster that makes the area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the earth. Cyclonic circulations mostly appear in an large scale that are centered on low atmospheric pressured areas. Cyclone disaster may cause severe weather events and problems that create wind speed more than 200 km/hour and sea waves as high as a few metres. Cyclone disaster makes severe weather changes that damage property and disturb the daily lives. The main objective of cyclone disaster refinement and forecast system is to monitor the changes and refine the complicated disaster occurrence as accurately as possible. Cyclone disaster refinement and forecast system have two aspects: Monitoring the situation and recording the real weather changes and any chance for the disaster such as a cyclone.Other is occurrence prediction ofcycloneand causesof cyclone disaster. In this system, we are going to find out any possibilities of cyclone and due to any weather changes by real-time Geospatial data collection. In this system, API services for collecting live data from service providers such as Google, yahoo are used. The resource integration may use own API for integration of useful resources. Service providers observe every Geospatialchangethrough satellite and gather weather data. To prevent the damages to forecasting the upcoming disaster related updates frequently. 1.6 FUZZY LOGIC BASED MODEL Fuzzy Logic can mimics a person would make decisions about anything such as forecasting. Both expert knowledge and past data can be used to develop the forecasting system. Fuzzy Logic provides a simple way to arrive at a definite conclusion based upon imprecise, noisy or missing input information. It has an ability to explain the results and it can be coupled with other technologies such as neural networks to develop powerful systems. Fuzzy results depend on the initial data or the knowledge. The fuzzy concept means set their range or values that can vary according to the conditions, instead of being fixed once and for all. Actually the fuzzy has semantics, but they defined as per the specification, including a definition of the conditions in which they are operationalized. The reasoning of fuzzy logic have only two values that as true and false values which may incomplete or ambiguous, Fuzzy logic able to process this situation and to provide approximate solution. To design this fuzzy system, that define the rule that satisfied the rule that equals the range means that specified as input and output data. They collect data to make dataset based on their existing one to form the range that will make some rules. The fuzzy inference system can be described in the five steps: Fuzzifying Input Applying Fuzzy Operators Applying the Implication Process Aggregating All Outputs Defuzzifying The aim of the work, is collecting geospatialdata and integrating the geographic resource and then passed to the algorithm of nearest neighbor change in cities are found and the climate will visualize it on Android Smartphone via Google map. The Google map is input to the system. This work is organized as follows. Section 2 gives the review of previous work onthe weather data collection, Algorithm for findingnearest neighbors, Natural disaster rating and forecasting. Section 3 describes the problem statement of the existing work. Section 4 and 5 elaborates proposed methods and analysis and the discussion about testing our work is noted in Section 6. Section 7 presents implementations and conclusions of the work is noted in section 8.

Poetry Throughout the Ages :: essays research papers

This anthology is a published collection of poetry throughout the five major periods including- the Pre Elizabethan period, Elizabethan Period, Metaphysical Period, Romantic Period and the Victorian Period. The Pre Elizabethan Period was first in Old English and then in Middle English. Old English was used after the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th and 6th centuries. The invaders from Germany who settled in England were called the Angles, the Saxon, and the Jutes. The names of these tribes come from the term Anglo Saxon. The most famous poetry from this period is Beowulf. Beowulf was written around 1000AD and be called a saga. At the time poems were performed and sung to audiences than were written or read out. This poem is about strange people and creatures with special powers. It tells a story of a hero and his adventures, noblemen and kings. The Elizabethan Period began when Queen Elizabeth I became Queen of England. She had the throne for 45-years, which ended with her death in 1603. The Queen's tastes in fashion were high classed. Her love of music, drama, and poetry gave motivation and financial support to the England's greatest writers. When his father died when he was 18, and being the youngest son this left him penniless. He turned to the law and at 23 he was already in the House of Commons. Bacon saw himself as the inventor of a method which would encourage a light in nature. The Metaphysical period began after James I took the throne. This period found many new developments in science including- optics, astronomy, sailing and navigation. Notable scientists like Newton and Galileo finding most of these scientific discoveries. Poets from this time used their knowledge of science to explain things they experience. One of the major poets is John Donne. He was born in London to a wealthy family. He was against the Catholic Church but allied with James I and his son Charles I with the Anglicans. He entered the priesthood life later and from then his poetry became more religious in nature. The Metaphysical period refers to things that are abstract like God, hatred, love, death. Poets from this time tried to explain the unexplainable by using scientific metaphors known as conceits. Donne is interesting because his poetry was first to do with love and then became about God as he got older. Romantic poetry used simple language which described their everyday aspects of life and nature.

My Life :: Essays Papers

My Life Some people may be writing this essay not so much about themselves, but about the things that they do or the activities they enjoy. Ex. I listen to this band The Obnoxious Yellers, they are so great they yell and scream and its great music, I went to their concert the other day too it was so fun we got cotton candy and crown surfed and everything. This is not an essay about the writer, it is about someone else, and somewhere else. I intend on informing whoever is going to read this piece of who I am, why I am, what I am, and what I intend to become. I was born in Brooklyn, NY. I lived there for 2 years before moving to Greenwich, CT. Until now I never really thought much of the town, for I never really had a glimpse of any other aspect of living. Then through my adolescence, which technically I am still in, I traveled, for vacation and just for plain curiosity. I took the train to Philadelphia when I was 13 just to see what it was like, and returned later that day with a more enlightened state of mind. I have done the same for many towns through the years, and come to appreciate the surrounding that I live in now. It came to me when reading TIME magazine, I came upon an article that in on sentence compared one of the poorest living areas in the U.S., to one of the wealthiest ones. Compton Vs. Greenwich. After just seeing those two words together like that meant something, the writer was viewing Greenwich as top living conditions, and I’m here. Weird. I like to go out at night, I like to go to parties, I like to have parties, I do not like a night without a party. This summer I worked on the weekends at 6:30 in the morning which meant that the normal person would have to wake up pretty darn early, not me I would just find the party that was going to go on the longest and stay there all night until work. Typical amount of sleep from Friday to Sunday was 4 hours. That’s what I like to do, well at least after I figured out the meaning of life and decided not to hold anything back. Life was meant to be lived, we were not put here to work, or do anything for that matter.

The Impacts of a Youthful Population

Examine the Impacts of a Youthful Population Geologists estimate that the earth existed 4,600,000,000 years ago, yet in the last 200 years the population has grown from one billion to seven billion people. This rapid growth is unsustainable, as the earth only has so much food, water, and non-renewable resources. This theory can be illustrated much clearer at a smaller scale, such as within a country. Youthful populations are said to form when there is an increasingly high birth rate, with a slowly decreasing death rate and minimal increases in life expectancy.How high birthrates are depend on a variety of social, economic, political or demographic factors. In Gambia, a very small, Muslim country in Africa, on average each woman has 7 children in a lifetime. This statistic relies mainly on social, demographic and economic factors. Social because Islam opposes contraception, economic because children are seen as an economic asset to families as the more children they have the more pote ntial there is to make money, run the family business and take care of the parents in old age.Lastly the demographic factor is that many parents have more children to compensate for the percentage that they know will die at an early age as Gambia’s infant mortality rate is 73 per 1000. When a country has a large number of people under the age of sixteen it is said to have a youthful population, and when it has a large number of people over the age of sixty-four it is said to have an ageing population. Both of these can cause problems and benefits for a country.The impacts of a youthful population will be discussed in this essay. Although one may not think so at first, there are advantages to having a youthful population. In a few years, this mass of people will provide as a cheap workforce for the country. Not only will the country have many workers for less money, it will also attract international companies to invest in the area which would in turn help the country develop into one of the latter stages on the DTM through economic growth. There are of course substantial disadvantages too.The dependency ratio in countries with a large youthful population is high. Too many young people exhaust food and water supplies, especially if it is a LEDC. Public health and education services may become overpopulated and leave children without an education. This could cause young people to emigrate because of the lack in opportunities. The government does not want this, so they would increase taxes, robbing the economically active of their income, so that the government can invest to improve their nation.This takes many years and by then many may have already emigrated, and the country will have a lower standard of life because the population has no money left and all the young people who are now economically active has left the country searching for better jobs and opportunities. A solution to these problems is family planning. Like in China where they introduced the One Child Policy in 1978, the government can put a restriction on the amount of children a mother is allowed to bear. Birth rates will decrease and the population will even out. Another solution would be for the country to industrialize.That would satisfy the demand for jobs and develop the country. Sadly, the solutions to the initial problems have problems too. Some families may not agree with the new laws as they see children as economical assets, like in Gambia as they can be used to work for the family business. As well as this, this can disrupt cultural traditions as it did in China, where the tradition was that when the parents become old, they are taken care of by their children, and now since they may only have one child many sought refuge in homes or just stayed home and to take care of themselves.

Tolorating Teen Pregnancy

Priscilla Dunlap Mrs. Rodriguez Writing 122 / Per. 4 10 May 2010 To Tolerate or Not To Tolerate Teen pregnancy costs the United States over $7 billion annually according to the National Campaign of Prevention. Although this number is astronomically high, the money donated is in fact put to good use. Students (7-12 grades) cannot comprehend the amount of responsibility, anxiety, and stress a teenage parent undergoes. As high school students do not have to face these factors they are inconsiderate to the amount of work a teen parent actually takes on. Nearly half (46%) of all 15–19-year-olds in the United States have had sex at least once according to MSNBC News. Every one of these teens partaking in sexual activity has the possibility of impregnating or becoming impregnated. Although, this same 46% of sexually active teens are probably against teen parents having financial aid from our government. Why? If they were in the same position their view may change. We as young adults should be more tolerant of teen parent’s financial needs and be more considerate to the struggles they are undergoing. One in three teen girls in the United States is estimated to get pregnant at least once before age 20, according to About. com. While this is better than a decade ago, when the number was four in ten girls, it is still too high. Pregnancy has very important consequences for teen girls and teen boys, and their children. Having a baby as a teen makes it much harder for a boy or girl to reach their goals, such as finishing high school, going on to college, getting a good job, or getting married when they grow up, and poses additional challenges to the child as well. In a baby's first year alone, a parent can easily spend an average of $9,000-$11,000 annually according to surebaby. com. This money is for necessities, it is not optional. A teen parent has no realistic way of obtaining this money without support of some kind. What if the family of the teen decides to not or cannot help? The teen is left with no choice but to seek help from our government. It would be un-American to turn them away and make them live on the streets. So in what ways does our government help? Our government and local community have developed numerous support programs such as; Women, Infant, and Child (WIC); offered at most local health departments. They offer a monthly supply of peanut butter, bread, milk, cereal, cheese, and formula just to name a few. Medicaid: which provides socialized medicine care, and it is to help those who cannot afford insurance on their own. Depending on income and whether it increases or decreases, a child is qualified until he/she is eighteen years old. Pediatrician: Every baby needs a doctor. Another form of assistance that is provided to teen parents that is the most beneficial and is absolutely necessary is housing. Maternity group homes house unfortunate teen parents that have no were else to go. We as a nation cannot, and will not have a pregnant girl be living on the streets. Maternity Group homes provide housing and other support services for pregnant or parenting teenagers. They include house rules, supervision, limit of stay, and other standards witch help them stay structured. They are funded by local, state, and national networks. Almost all maternity group homes are operated and managed by community-based organizations. Some may have religious affiliations, while others are secular. The cost of operating maternity group homes varies depending on location, staffing, services provided, number of families served, and other factors. Among homes surveyed by SPAN in 2001, the annual cost per family ranged from $5,000 to $85,000, with a mean of about $36,000. Yet, when it comes to providing a home to a homeless teen and their child, the cost is priceless. The next controversial issue that arises is educational aid from the government for teen moms. We will provide education to convicts in hopes that they become a positive influence on society but we discourage education being provided to teen parents? Some students see it as unfair that teen parents do get benefits such as President Obama’s new grant that pays for a teen parent’s education. But those individuals are simply selfish. Why wouldn’t we want to make education available to struggling teen parents? It costs a teen parent the same amount of money as college tuition to simply raise a child. Thus being they are obviously paying the same amount as the average student, just in a different way. If we educate those young individuals we are providing them with the opportunity to provide their child with a better life and a lesser chance of their child following the same paths their parent did. This in turn will benefit our society as a whole. It simply does not make since to rob an individual who is willing to work hard the chance of a better life, especially when they are raising the upcoming generation of America. Each year in the U. S. almost one million teenagers become pregnant at huge costs to themselves, their children, and society. While the facts are clear, the issues of teenage pregnancy are complicated by our conflicting attitudes and behaviors. We as young Americans must put ourselves in someone else’s shoes for a day and consider their struggles. Teen pregnancy should never be promoted, yet the way to fix is not to shun. We should simply be more opened minded. Work Cited 1. â€Å"Baby Care†. Sure Baby. 16 April, 2010 . 2. Couric, Katie. â€Å"The 411: Teens and Sex†. MSNBC News. 15 April, 2010 . 3. Hoffman, Saul. â€Å"Cost of Teen Childbearing â€Å". The National Campaign against teen pregnancy. 16 April, 2010 . 4. Hulsey, Lara. â€Å"What Are Maternity Group Homes? â€Å". MatheMatica Policy Research. 16 april, 2010 . 5. Lowen, Linda. â€Å"Teen Pregnancy Statistics in the US†. About: Women’s Issues. 16 April, 2010 .