The Fukushima Nuclear Plant

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was built in Okuma, Fukushima, to provide Japan with electricity. The plant consists of six nuclear reactors that were built during different times in the 1970s. The reactors were built close together primarily because finding a new location would make a new reactor very expensive, compared to the addition of a new reactor. The plant was constructed near the sea because nuclear plants consumes massive amount of waters just for its cooling needs and also for steam generation which then drives turbines that generate electricity. The various reactors serviced different companies and suppliers including General Electric, Toshiba, and Hitachi. On March 11th, 2011, an earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns and releases of radioactive materials. According to the International Business Times (Australia) â€Å"Fukushima is not the worst nuclear accident ever but it is the most complicated and the most dramatic disaster. † (IBT, 01) On April 2011 The Nuclear Institute rated the disaster a Level 7 â€Å"Major Accident† on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The International Nuclear Event Scale How the reactors were damaged An earthquake of magnitude 9. 0 on a Richter Scale initially damaged the reactors. According to the World Nuclear Association, reactor 4 had been de-fueled while reactors 5 and 6 were in cold shutdown for planned maintenance. Immediately after the earthquake, the remaining reactors 1-3 shut down automatically and emergency generators came online to power electronics and coolant systems. However, a tsunami rapidly followed the earthquake, flooding the low-lying rooms in which the emergency generators were housed. The flooded generators failed, cutting power to critical pumps, which must continuously circulate coolant water through a nuclear reactor for several days after being shut down in order to keep the plant from melting down. As the pumps stopped, the high radioactive decay produced in the first few days after the shutdown caused the reactors to overheat. The overheating led to the meltdown of the reactors. General Risks of Nuclear Plants Even without a natural disaster such as an earthquake followed by a tsunami, a Fukushima-like nuclear accident can occur at any nuclear power plant that relies on water for cooling. Nuclear power reactors today are fueled mostly with uranium, which undergoes a fission chain reaction, releasing heat and creating radioactive fission products, plutonium, and other transuranic elements. After a time, the concentration of chain-reacting isotopes drops to the point where the fuel is considered â€Å"spent† and has to be replaced with fresh fuel. The â€Å"spent† fuel has to be stored in pool basins allowing the heat and radiation level to decrease. After the fuel has cooled, it may be transferred to massive air-cooled dry casks for storage on-site or in a centralized facility. Unlike fossil fuels, nuclear power plants do not emit smoke, sodium dioxide, nitrogen oxide, or CO2 to the atmosphere. However, because of the use of Uranium, all nuclear power plants release radioactive waste, which stays radioactive from thousands of years and is therefore very dangerous. The typical method of storing nuclear waste is to house it in steel-lined concrete basins filled with water. The nuclear power industry’s leading innovators are currently considering alternatives such as moving the nuclear waste to off-site storage facilities, but this raises the problem of transporting the hazardous material. The escape of radioactive material from the nuclear reactor is very dangerous. Leakage can occur in the following situations: through small releases during routine plant operation, accidents in nuclear power plants, accidents in transporting radioactive materials, and escape of radioactive material from confinement systems. After the radioactive material escapes it could end up in our ecosystem via the atmosphere, the ground, or even the water. According to America on Radiation Alert: Japan Faces World's Worst Nuclear Accident since Chernobyl as Experts Warn Fallout May Reach U. S. Japan’s nuclear disaster in 2011 caused several countries to reconsider their use of nuclear energy. Precautions that could have prevented the Disaster The original site for the Fukushima plant was a bluff 35 meters above sea level, but high costs prevented construction at this altitude. The plant had to be built on a rock to assure stability of land, so Kajima, the plant’s constructor, decid ed to lower the level of the bluff by 25 meters to reduce the cost of extra pipes to reach ground rock. However, Kajima did not take into consideration the possibility that a Tsunami could be higher than 10 meters. Lowering the height of the cliff was considered one of the main facts associated with the damage according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The tsunami caused water to flow into the nuclear plant, flooding the lower emergency generators with seawater, and causing the power supply to fail. The plant was built in a geographical location that is vulnerable to earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis. An earthquake, categorized as 9. 0 on a Richter scale, caused a tsunami of magnitude 8. 9 Richter Scale. At the time the plant was built, theories regarding plate tectonics were relatively new. Had geologists and other scientists been more familiar with the causes of earthquakes, especially in that region, the plant might have been built on another, safer site. However, relocating the nuclear plant is the cost effective, time consuming, most locations have similar features because Japan is found on fault lines. The plants current existing location is conductive in helping cool the nuclear plants (water is taken from seas/rivers and circulated†¦ that’s why it was on the shore). The damaged reactors cut power to the critical pumps, which failed to circulate coolant water through the nuclear reactors for several days, allowing it to melt down. The high radioactive heat decay produced in the last few days of the disaster had to be cooled. At that point, only the prompt flooding of the reactors with seawater could have cooled the reactors quickly enough to prevent meltdown, but the decision to allow flooding was delayed because it would ruin the costly reactors permanently. Only after a long delay, the Japanese government ordered the reactors to be flooded with seawater. A meltdown could have been prevented if they had acted sooner. Alternatively, the disaster could have been prevented if the emergency generators were located in the upper levels of the plant. This would have prevented the flooding and kept the emergency generators in operation. If the generators had not been flooded with seawater the nuclear reactor could have maintained cooling operations and a nuclear meltdown could have been avoided. Finally, certain safety precautions could have prevented this type of disaster at Fukushima. One, properly trained personnel are, in my opinion the main issue to be addressed. The American Nuclear Society approved that unlike the United States, â€Å"Japan rarely tests the limits of the system and training of personnel† All which lacked training† (ANS, 02). Two, many structural and managerial precautions could have been implemented to protect against natural disasters; â€Å"there were serious problems with accident management and with risk communication and crisis communication† (ANS, 04). Most nuclear power plants nowadays practice these basics and have regulation checking’s and visiting taking place. Conclusion on Fukushima. One could make the argument that the nuclear reactor accidents could have been attributed to at least some level of human error. However, the consensus seems to be that the disaster was caused for the most part by the natural occurrence of the earthquake and tsunami. On October 12th, 2012, a Japanese Nuclear Plant Operator admitted on CNN for the first time that â€Å"TEPCO has failed to take stronger measures to prevent disasters. † Tokyo Electric Power Co. said in a statement that paying closer attention to better-trained employees, international standards and recommendations could have prevented the disaster. TEPCO’s president said to TEPCO’s press release that â€Å"these implementations could have saved us from the accident if we turn the clock back. ’’ Newly designed reactors For the past few years, nuclear plants have been undergoing an extensive process of redesign. Newly built reactors are designed more safely, so that they do not need electrical power to shut down safely; they are relying less on pumps and valves, and more on natural heat. In addition, advanced digital operation will do away with the requirement of a human controller for 72 hours, and the main core will remain cool because of a containment cooling system. According to the World Nuclear Association, â€Å"Additional safety measures have been installed at nuclear power plants nationwide since the accident under the government’s instructions. † Such measures include enhanced seawalls, additional backup power and cooling water sources, the storage of radioactive waste on dry land, and the development of better crisis management training. Nuclear power plants/stations are statistically safe because disasters rarely happen. However, when nuclear disasters happen they cause massive destruction.

Home And Home Office Computers Essay

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) deals with computer technology, offering both products and consulting services. It offers a range of hardware and software products. It also offers infrastructure services. IBM is a high performance organization and this is very evident from its operation and performance. IBM is a multinational corporation with its headquarters at Armonk, New York but spreading to all parts of the world. It is the largest computer company and the most profitable. It have 370, 000 employees in different parts of the world representing the largest information technology employer. IBM controls a big share of its market and has expanded to many parts of the world. These factors show that IBM is one of the high performance organizations of the world. The results of IBM show clearly its leadership role in the computer technology sector. Its operations of the recent past have produced results that show its high performance and its ability to continue performing well. The financial report for the year ended December 31 2006, posted in the company’s website (http://www. ibm. com/investor/financials/index. phtml), showed that the company had a net income of $9,492 million as compared to $7,934 million the previous years. There was growth in total revenue from $91,134 million in 2005 to $91,424 million in 2006. The earnings per share for the year 2006 were $6. 11 compared with $4. 87 the previous year. Using revenue, net income and the earnings per share as the performance indicators we can clearly see that IBM posted very good results and indicated growth. IBM has been expanding its operation to all parts of the world. IBM provides technology solutions to businesses, organization to all parts of the world with an aim of helping the users to achieve increased productivity and success. The company’s values of â€Å"dedication to every client’s success, Innovation that matters-for our company and for the world and trust and personal responsibility in all relationships† (http://www. ibm. com/investor/corpgovernance/cgbcg. phtml) have enabled the company to establish relationship all over the world thus resulting to gaining of a big share of the market. IBM is the largest computer company and the most profitable. Thus using the market share as the performance indicator we see that IBM is a high performance company. Besides that IBM have in the recent past made many notable acquisition meaning it’s aimed at growing. IBM is very concerned with the satisfaction of its customers. IBM uses tools, processes, procedures and mechanisms of generating feedback aimed at making sure the customer is satisfied. The company monitors and responds to problems of customer so as to achieve customer satisfaction. It also provides expertise assistance all the time to its customers. According to CRM today website (http://www. crm2day. com/news. crm/EpZuVZFUZaMbMinnv. php) a research carried out by Technology Business Research Inc showed that IBM had topped its competitors in customer satisfaction. This was attributed to the IBM’s PC Hardware quality and reliability. On March 2007 IBM was awarded the Genesys Gold Certification. This was for IBM’s expertise, innovation and customer satisfaction (Http://www. genesyslab. com/news. archives/2007/march/ibm-gold-certication. asp IBM values its employees and puts efforts to see that their employees are treated well. IBM does not discriminate employees on any ground be it physical attributes or genetics. IBM has been helped by its employees to become a high performance organization. Through good human resource management the company allows its employees from all over the world to participate in core decision making. IBM involved its employees in the formulation of the company’s values in 2003. The company has also facilitated discussion among its employees on key business issues. This has helped the company to brainstorm on new ideas that have contributed to improvement of the performance of the company. IBM also involved its employees in brainstorming on innovation ideas. All these efforts were aiming at involvement of the employees on the key issues affecting IBM operations. This issues ranging from employee relationship as expressed in the company values to various practices in the company and innovation (http://www. research. ibm. com/journal/sj/404/gongla. html). IBM’s good treatment of its employees has led to great benefits to the companies. Employees are more dedicated to the values of the company and to offering quality services to the customers. These have led to more satisfied customers translating to good sales. Good human resource management has led to great benefit to the company through innovation of the employees hence leading to more productivity and innovation. The human resources best practices by IBM include involvement of the employees in key issues affecting the company. The employees were involved in the formulation and rewriting of the company values. In this all the employees from all parts of the world contributed their ideas and were summarized to produce the three care values of IBM Corporation. IBM also involved its employees in contributing ideas on practices that can bring success to the company. Another best practice is good treatment of the employees. IBM do not discriminate any employee on any ground and offers employment to all. These practices have contributed much to making IBM one of the High performance corporations. Reference: CRM Today. IBM Tops Competitors in Customer Satisfaction. Retrieved on February 06, 2008from http://www. crm2day. com/news/crm/EplZuVZFuVaMbBlnnv. php GENESYS. IBM Awarded Genesys Gold Certification for Expertise, innovation and customer satisfaction. Retrieved on February 06, 2008from http://www. genesyslab. com/news/archives/2007/march/ibm_gold_certification. asp Gongla P. and Rizzuto C. R. Evolving communities of practice: IBM Global Services experience. IBM Systems Journal. Retrieved on February 06, 2008from http://www. research. ibm. com/journal/sj/404/gongla. html IBM. Financial Information. Retrieved on February 06, 2008 from http://www. ibm. com/investor/financials/index. phtml IBM. Corporate governance. Retrieved on February 06, 2008 from http://www. ibm. com/investor/corpgovernance/cgbcg. phtml)

An Essential Requirement for Effective Leadership Essay

An Essential Requirement for Effective Leadership - Essay Example The art of war, in turn, was governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field. These were: the Moral Law; Heaven; Earth; the Commander (leader) and method and discipline. The Commander (leader) stood for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness. These virtues gelled perfectly with the five cardinal virtues of the Chinese philosophy i.e. humanity or benevolence; uprightness of mind; self-respect, self-control, or "proper feeling;" wisdom and sincerity or good faith. It may be observed that in contrast to the virtues enunciated for a commanding leader the virtues of "wisdom" and "sincerity" are put before "humanity or benevolence," and the two military virtues of "courage" and "strictness" are substituted for "uprightness of mind" and "self-respect, self-control, or 'proper feeling' in this civilian version. Rosenthal explains in his Tao Te Ching's translation that while a sage leader is just, thoughtful, profound, kind, sincere and aims at competence in management while ensuring even pacing of his moves; additionally a wise leader would recognize that the nature is not contrived and all that which is required to be done is to be achieved .In order to save his energies a wise leader replaces desires with dispassion and lets all actions flow through natural energy. Such a leader knows that more is still required to be done and more actions should follow but he does not let such actions rush in with deliberate intent and in fact maintains no intention. To act without contrived intent is to act without contriving, which is natural way and the way of the Tao.As against this a Machiavellian system of governance implies being like, or befitting Machiavelli. In such a system governance acts in accordance with the principles of government analyzed in Machiavelli's The Prince, in which political expediency is placed above morality and the use of craft and deceit to maintain the authority and carry out the policies of a ruler is described. This system is characterized by subtle or unscrupulous cunning, deception, expediency, or dishonesty (The Random, 1997). Thus while the Chinese Confucianism emphasizes the virtues of honesty, justice, integrity, peace, humanity, etc. ;according to Machiavelli, if a prince always act only according to these virtues he will not last long. Machiavelli suggests that a prince at times must know how to be dishonest, when to use war for advantage, when to use tumults - even start it. Machiavelli also suggests that a prince must know how to act like a fox. Thus while Tao s tyle of leadership and the military leadership of Sun Tzu were both essentially aligned to a positive value system based in the Chinese philosophy the Machiavellian system was contrived ,expedient and the leadership was defined to conniving, self centered and narrow and totally focused on ends rather than means. In today's competitive and globalized commercial business the modern leadership styles have evolved around the more towards the Sun Tzu and Tao systems rather than Machiavellian system; the prime reasons being that all serious businesses

To what Extent did the Rebellions of Upper and Lower Canada (1837) Essay

To what Extent did the Rebellions of Upper and Lower Canada (1837) Lead to Canada's Responsible Government in 1867 - Essay Example The aim of this paper is to look at Canada’s experience with responsible government during 1867 and look at the known, possible driving forces behind the implementation of the responsible government, namely the Durham report and the American influence, and provide arguments as to which one mainly affected or drove the implementation of responsible government. These topics will be discussed in detail as follows: Lord Durham’s report and how it was responsible for Canada’s responsible government The American influence that was responsible for Canada’s responsible government Conclusion and breakdown Lord Durham’s report and how it was responsible for Canada’s responsible government According to marianopolis.edu, John George Lambton was the first earl of Durham. He was also known as â€Å"Radical Jack† because of his support of certain causes by the Whig party in England. Some of these causes created quite a stir back in those times such a s free trade. He was sent to be a Governor General in British North America in 1838. This was done, according to the same article above in order to â€Å"investigate the circumstances of the rebellions of 1837 in Upper and Lower Canada and to make recommendations for the future government of the British North American colonies.† He was the person that created the Durham report which is now believed to have been one of the driving forces behind Canada’s responsible government of 1867. The main purpose of this report was to assess the situation in British North America and the local conditions. This report made several recommendations such as the unification of Upper and Lower Canada and the proposal of responsible government. One other recommendation includes the establishment of local municipalities in Canada. Some saw these recommendations as great advancements and key efforts in making a better Canada while others, specifically in Lower Canada regarded Lambton as a r acist for his suggestion to assimilate the French Canadians. We can consider this report to have been one of the best driving forces for responsible government because based on observation, the idea of implementing a responsible government was not something agreeable to the British, because, like the paper stated â€Å"Great Britain could not quite bring itself to implement responsible government in the colonies†. But despite this, the Union act of 1840 was created and Canada was united. The American influence that was responsible for Canada’s responsible government Around 2 years before the establishment of the responsible government of Canada in 1867, America was putting and end to its civil war. The actions taken by America at that time were also considered to be a major influence to the establishment of Canada’s responsible government; in fact some consider it more of an influence than the Durham report. Based on the information given, the Durham report sugg ested that Canada be unified and that they establish responsible government, however the British did not agree to the later suggestion but followed through on the unification of Canada. After seeing that America won against one of Canada’s major colonizers, their now unified country may have taken this as a queue point to establish responsible government for a few reasons; one being a show of defiance to England, another maybe in support of America and

Classification of Accounting Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Classification of Accounting Systems - Essay Example (Shalin and Alan, 1999). The main differences between the two systems is in terms of reasoning and degree of complexity. The deductive approach considers a priori theory based on knowledge or beliefs of the classifier while the inductive approach infers the general from the particular. It is data driven, considers large number of countries and rules and generates categories by making use of statistcs. Muller's classification system as cited by Gray(1998) states that the deductive approach is based on four distinct approaches to accounting development in western nations with market oriented economic systems including: This system was extended by Nobes who adopted a structural approach to the identification of accounting practices and assessed major features including the use of conservative accounting, the importance of tax rules, the strictness of application of historical costs, the making of replacement cost adjustments, the use of consolidation techniques the generous use of provisions, and uniformity between companies in application of rules. (Shalin and Alan, 1999). Although the deductive approach is very broad, it fails to take into consideration the effects of culture in the classification. There was also a failure in the methods used to obtain the groupings. (Shalin and Alan, 1999; Gray, 1998). According to Roberts et al, the classification systems under the inductive approach are as follows: Use of price water house data; Da Costa et al's study; Nair and Frank's Study; D'Arcy's Stucy; Having outlined the classification systems under the inductive approach, the paper will now give a more detail discussion of Nair and frank's study. In the inductive approach statistical analysis were carried out by Nair and Frank in which they analysed accounting practices in forty four countries using data from price water house coopers. in the course of their study, a distinction was made between measurement and disclosure practices. Five groups were identified in terms of measurement while seven groups were identified in terms of practice. An attempt was made to study the relationship of the groups with independent variables. there was no signicant relationship between disclosure practices and culture as well as between disclosure and economic variables. there was also no significant relationship

Valuing a start up business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Valuing a start up business - Essay Example History forms a very good foundation in evaluating and valuing a business. However, young companies have little or no history; many have only one or two years of data available on operations and financing (Audretsch & Link, 2012). This unavailability of data further compounds the valuation of a start up since data forms the major building block of any business valuation. The amount of data accumulated from the start-up business dictates the ease with which the business can be valued. This means that the duration that a start-up has taken is very important in assessing its value. If a business has existed for quite long it becomes easy to value it as opposed to shortly existed business. Nonetheless, there are a number of alternative approaches that can be used in valuing a start-up business depending on the business in question. Selection of the approach is based on the nature of the business and the market. One of such approach is valuing cash flow from existing businesses. In this approach the cash flow of already established business is evaluated. This will help know the expected return of the business and payback time of the business (Schell & Tyson, 2012). The cash flows of any business is examined using its present, future values and interests. Various ways of measuring cash flows are employed in order to analyze financial instruments like loans, bonds, and dividends. These ways of measuring cash flows are Internal Rate of Return, Net Present Value, Annuities and Perpetuities. They are called time value of money techniques. Perpetuities-These are annuities which last forever under assumption. This means that when valuing company the dividend is considered as a perpetuity. These cash flows grow uniformly throughout the time. Net Present Value- this involves evaluating unequal cash flows, both positive and negative. A time value of money technique can be used in this case to generate the present value of future cash flows. This

Zara Clothing - Available Strategic Options and Methods of Essay

Zara Clothing - Available Strategic Options and Methods of Implementation - Essay Example The paper describes the key organizational strategy of the company which revolves around responding swiftly to customer demands. Zara identifies trends and delivers products to customers through its proficient value chain model as well as its autonomously planned structure. This model of business has been quite effortlessly maintained; causing the company’s executives to disregard any thoughts of change for the near future. Moreover, one of Zara’s biggest problems is in updating its approaches towards online sales. Upgrading the current system will contribute towards increasing the networking as well as functionality abilities of the fashion house. This will bring about additional improvements to Zara’s operational functions such as improved inventory replenishment and customer demand forecasting. Investing in new technology will provide Zara with the capacity to be a trend-setter in the fashion industry. A new and technologically improved system would permit rea l-time inventory management. This would contribute to the enhancement of the service level and increase the cross-selling functions between stores, thus giving better service to the targeted consumers. Zara’s other major challenge lies in containing its huge maintenance expenses. The main challenge that the firm may have to face in adapting to a technologically improved system would be in purchasing a readymade system or creating it. As the need for the new system is not immediate, creating an in-house system may be the financially responsible option. However, due to the lack of present workers who are skilled in this subject, purchasing the necessary software is the ideal

Learning the Research Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Learning the Research Process - Essay Example These citations appeared in academic journals, for example: American Sociological Society Journal (for statistical modelling), then, Psychological Society Papers, and in Family Concerns and Related Calculations chapter of San-Francisco Academic Review named Family Problems: Ways of "Nuclear" Improvement. In the article named King and Kitchener paper they used so much variables that it is only possible for me to articulate/find out very few of them. For instance, there were presented variables of children reducing for the rich families across the world, especially post-informational one, and variables dealing with constantly increasing birth rate in developing countries. I think an author drawn an axample from Indonesia reality to find out that it is quite evident that in this country rich families began to have less children than families with unconvenient rate of incomes. There were raised data from family sphere: 70 percents of Indonesian low-rate income families have approximately 120 percents of all children that were born in 2012. So there were collected data from low- and high-rate of incomes middle class families in Indonesia: with an assistance of statistical models, statistical procedures, and hypotheses that were tested. Accordingly, there were used such procedures: direct and indirectcalculating, numerical encoding, variables separation, and also statistical quantification and qualification. Of course they were specified primarily as null and alternate, but this was authors hypothesis that low-rate Indonesian families will obviously will be increased concerning their chilrden unproportional quantity. I have just stated that he revealed some intercorrelations exists, based on direct statistical considerations, between rate of income and children quantity in the local community, and also there could be found out

American Eagle Marketing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American Eagle Marketing - Research Paper Example Airline operation is dependent upon many related entities; the primary ones are airport authorities which allow the airlines to carry out the operation at the particular station. The catering service providers along with aircraft equipment manufacturers and suppliers also play contributory role in the operation. In case of American Eagle, it is quite possible that the flight frequency is restricted at a particular station. The aircraft manufacturer may also enforce strict conditions for aircraft maintenance. Customer’s Bargaining PowerAviation industry is strongly characterized by time based fares which enable the customers to fly cheap if they plan their journey well ahead of time. The threat of customer’s bargaining power is limited as the pricing is purely online and regulated by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).Threat of SubstituteIt is a serious point of consideration for American Eagle as many low cost carriers can threat its profitability. It goes without saying that there is no substitute of air travel in the aspect of time and ease. The drawback can be in terms of connections to multiple stations and the facilities provided during transit if direct flight is not operated.Threat of New EntrantAs mentioned earlier, entry of new low cost carriers can threaten the business of American Eagle. The low cost carrier saves cost on catering, in flight entertainment and baggage limit. They focus on the basic requirement of air travel which is quick transportation of individuals and baggage.

Press release event Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Press release event - Essay Example Buses will leave for Bradford Woods from the School of Public Health – Bloomington building, on Oct 15th @ 8am. Culture of Care emphasizes the Bystander Intervention Mechanism to help students demonstrate care for one another. The program encourages them to adopt an active approach for the delivery of care to other members of the society, as this is essential to overcome the obstacles that arise due to the more prevalent Bystander Effect. Many of us are well-aware of the reluctance that is demonstrated by our people regarding performance of social duties. Considering every social responsibility to be the duty of others is the primary reason behind the Bystander Effect; a phenomenon that is detrimental to our society as a whole. This encouragement program targets Hoosiers to rise to the occasion and have the courage to care, by learning about overcoming the Bystander Effect. Goal of the retreat is to answer questions pertaining to what, why and how this initiative is important. The topics pertaining to social and psychological well-being are of the highest priority and will be addressed accordingly. The aim is to bring about a positive change in the behaviors of the members of the society by educating them in a way that is informal yet contributory towards the learning of the society as a whole. Being the first-ever retreat hosted by this initiative, the event will inspire fresh ideas brought forward by students to make the campus a safer place for all. Revolving around the notion of Bystander Effect, the activity will seek to find answer to questions

Formative Assessment Essay Example for Free

Formative Assessment Essay Chapter IV A Fundamental Duties ARTICLE 51A Fundamental Duties It shall be the duty of every citizen of India(a) to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem; (b) to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom; (c) to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India; (d) to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so; (e) To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women; (f) to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture; (g) To protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, wild life and to have compassion for living creatures; (h) to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform; (i) (j) to safeguard public property and to abjure violence; to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement. CONTENTS Page No. Acknowledgments Preface Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation School Based Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation Continuous Comprehensive Assessment and Evaluation in e-Typewriting- English/Hindi Assessment Rubrics e-Typewriting Syllabus and Scheme of Examination for Class IX TERM-I Unit 1: Introduction to e-Typewriting Unit 2: Keyboard Layout (QWERTY INSCRIPT) Unit 3: Touch Typewriting 10 16 21 XL XLI 1 (I) (II) (IX) TERM-II Unit 4: Introduction to Word Processing 29 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ADVISORY BODY †¢ Shri Vineet Joshi, Chairman CBSE. †¢ Dr. Sadhana Parashar, Head Innovations Research, CBSE. EDITING COMMITTEE †¢ Prof. Om Vikas, Retd. Prof. from DIT, Government of India. MATERIAL PRODUCTION GROUP †¢ Mr. Yogesh Kumar HOD, Computer Science. Meera Model School, Delhi. †¢ Dr. D. P. Bhatia, Mata Sundri College,University of Delhi. †¢ Ms. Gayatri Subramanian, Consultant, Ministry of Corporate Affairs , Govt of India. †¢ Mrs. Sunita Chug, Senior Lecturer, Mira Bai Polytechnic, Maharani Bagh, New Delhi. †¢ Mrs. Nancy Sehgal, Mata Jai Kaur School, Delhi. CO-ORDINATION †¢ Mrs. Sugandh Sharma, Education Officer (Commerce) CBSE. PREFACE Typewriters were developed to prepare documents with uniform letter prints, to overcome illegibility of hand written material and produce documents faster. Initially typewriters were mechanical, then electric and electronic typewriters came into being. Over a period, QWERTY keyboard layout was in use and it became the defacto standard for Roman Typewriting. Computers also use keyboard as an input device. Keyboard layout has specific letter on key allocation on the basis of frequency and count of letters over a fairly large sample of documents. High frequency letters are on middle/home row, distributed on both sides. For Indic scripts, Standard keyboard Layout is INSCRIPT. Mechanical typewriters are now becoming fast extinct. Computer empowers the user to input information with accuracy, speed and additional features of Word processing. The syllabus of Typewriting is hereby revised as e-Typewriting with an additional unit on Word processing in view of the growing use of computers for typewriting documents. Self assessment and keeping record of progress in Assignment files are encouraged so as to keep students motivated towards excellence. Profuse thanks are due to Prof. Om Vikas for steering the experts members Mr. Yogesh Kumar, Ms. Nancy Sehgal, Ms. Sunita Chugh, Dr. D. P. Bhatia and Ms. Gayatri Subramaniam for contributing towards development of the syllabus on -e-Typewriting and also the Formative Assessment Manual for Teachers. I also thank Ms. Sugandh Sharma, Education Officer for coordinating the meetings and bringing out the manual in this shape. It is expected that the students will enjoy this course even as an additional subject in view of the benefits of touch-typing skills in future career. We would welcome suggestions to improve upon content assessment methodology in tune with the objectives of CCE. (Vineet Joshi) Chairman, CBSE I Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation Education aims at making children capable of becoming responsible, productive and useful members of a society. Knowledge, skills and attitudes are built through learning experiences and opportunities created for learners in school. It is in the classroom that learners can analyse and evaluate their experiences, learn to doubt, to question, to investigate and to think independently. The aim of education simultaneously reflects the current needs and aspirations of a society as well as its lasting values and human ideals. At any given time and place they can be called the contemporary and contextual articulations of broad and lasting human aspirations and values. An understanding of learners, educational aims, the nature of knowledge, and the nature of the school as a social space can help us arrive at principles to guide classroom practices. Conceptual development is thus a continuous process of deepening and enriching connections and acquiring new layers of meaning. Alongside is the development of theories that children have about the natural and social worlds, including themselves in relation to others, which provide them with explanations for why things are the way they are and the relationship between cause and effect. Attitudes, emotions and values are thus an integral part of cognitive development, and are linked to the development of language, mental representations, concepts and reasoning. As childrens metacognitive capabilities develop, they become more aware of their own beliefs and capable of regulating their own learning. Characteristics of learning All lchildren are naturally motivated to learn and are capable of learning. Understanding l Children l and developing the capacity for abstract thinking, reflection and work are the most important aspects of learning. learn in a variety of ways-through experience, making and doing things, experimentation, reading, discussion, asking, listening, thinking and reflecting, and expressing themselves in speech or writing-both individually and with others. They require opportunities of all these kinds in the course of their development. something before the child is cognitively ready takes away real learning. Children may remember many facts but they may not understand them or be able to relate them to the world around them. takes place both within school and outside school. Learning is enriched if the two arenas interact with each other. Art and work provide opportunities for holistic learning that is rich in tacit and aesthetic components. Such experiences are essentially to be learnt through direct experience and integrated into life. Teaching l Learning l II Learning l must be paced so that it allows learners to engage with concepts and deepen understanding rather than remembering only to forget after examinations. At the same time learning must provide variety and challenge, and be interesting and engaging. Boredom is a sign that the task may have become mechanically repetitive for the child and of little cognitive value. can take place with or without mediation. In the case of the latter, the social context and interactions, especially with those who are capable, provide avenues for learners to work at cognitive levels above their own. Learning l Place of Evaluation in the Curriculum A curriculum is what constitutes a total teaching-learning program composed of overall aims, syllabus, materials, methods and assessment. In short it provides a framework of knowledge and capabilities, seen as appropriate to a particular level. Evaluation not only measures the progress and achievement of the learners but also the effectiveness of the teaching materials and methods used for transaction. Hence evaluation should be viewed as a component of curriculum with the twin purpose of effective delivery and further improvement in the teaching learning process. If properly understood, evaluation or assessment will not be perceived as something administered by the teachers and taken by the learners on the conclusion of a period of learning. When evaluation is seen as an end of the learning exercise, both the teachers and the learners will tend to keep it outside the teaching-learning process, rendering assessment broadly irrelevant and alien to the curriculum. Further such a perception associates anxiety and stress with evaluation for learners. On the contrary, if evaluation is seen as an integral part built into the teaching learning process; it will become continuous like both teaching and learning. When evaluation is subsumed into teaching-learning, learners will not perceive tests and examinations with fear. It will lead to diagnosis, remediation and enhancement of learning. The scope of evaluation in schools extends to almost all the areas of learners personality development. It should include both scholastic and co-scholastic areas, i. e. it should be comprehensive in nature. This is in line with the goals of education. Evaluation is continuous and reveals the strengths and weaknesses of learners more frequently, so that the learners have better opportunity to understand and improve themselves. It also provides feedback to the teachers for modifying their teaching strategies. In view of getting a complete picture of the childs learning, assessment should focus on the learners ability to – learn and l acquire a l acquire desired skills related to different subject areas. level of achievement in different subject areas in the requisite measure develop childs individual skills, interests, attitudes and motivation l understand and lead a healthy and a productive life. l monitor the changes taking place in a childs learning, behaviour and progress over time. l III l respond to different situations and opportunities both in and out of school.  apply what is learned in a variety of l work l independently, collaboratively analyze and evaluate. l environments, circumstances and situations and harmoniously. be laware of social and environmental issues participate in social and environmental projects and causes. l retain what is learned over a period of time. l Thus assessment is a useful, desirable and an enabling process. To realize this one needs to keep the following parameters in mind The need to: assess the learner. l use l a variety of ways to collect information about the learners learning and progress in subjects and cross curricular boundaries. collect information continuously and record the same. l give l importance to each learners way of responding and learning and the time it takes to do so. report on an ongoing continuous basis and be sensitive to every learners responses. l provide feedback that will lead to positive action and help the learner to do better l In the assessment process, one should be careful NOT to: l label learners as slow, poor, intelligent etc. make comparisons between them. l make negative statements. l Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) refers to a system of school-based evaluation of students that covers all aspects of a students development. It is a developmental process of a child which emphasizes on two fold objectives. These objectives are continuity in evaluation on one hand and assessment of broad based learning and behaviourial outcomes on the other. The term `continuous is meant to emphasise that evaluation of identified aspects of students `growth and development is a continuous process rather than an event, built into the total IV teaching-learning process and spread over the entire span of academic session. It means regularity of assessment, diagnosis of learning gaps, use of corrective measures and feedback of evidence to teachers and students for their self evaluation. The second term `comprehensive means that the scheme attempts to cover both the scholastic and the co-scholastic aspects of students growth and development. Since abilities, attitudes and aptitudes can manifest themselves in forms other than the written word, the term refers to application of a variety of tools and techniques (both testing and non-testing) and aims at assessing a learners development in areas of learning like : Knowledge l Understanding/Comprehension l Application l Analysis l l Evaluation l Creativity Objectives of CCE are: l To help develop cognitive, psychomotor and affective skills. l To lay emphasis on thought process and de-emphasise memorization l To make evaluation an integral part of teaching-learning process l use To evaluation for improvement of students achievement and teaching – learning strategies on the basis of regular diagnosis followed by remedial instruction l. To use evaluation as a quality control device to maintain desired standard of performance l determine To  social utility, desirability or effectiveness of a programme and take appropriate decisions about the learner, the process of learning and the learning environment l To make the process of teaching and learning a learner-centered activity. Features of CCE are: l The continuous aspect of CCE takes care of continual and periodicity aspect of evaluation. Means assessment of students in the beginning of instruction (placement evaluation) and assessment during the instructional process (formative evaluation) done informally using multiple techniques of evaluation. means assessment of performance done frequently at the end of unit/term (summative) l Continual l Periodicity V l The  comprehensive component of CCE takes care of assessment of all round development of the childs personality. It includes assessment in Scholastic as well as Co-Scholastic aspects of the pupils growth. aspects include curricular areas or subject specific areas, whereas co-scholastic aspects include Life Skills, Co-Curricular Activities, Attitudes, and Values. in scholastic areas is done informally and formally using multiple techniques of evaluation continually and periodically. The diagnostic evaluation takes place at the end of a unit/term test. The causes of poor performance in some units are diagnosed using diagnostic tests. These are followed up with appropriate interventions followed by retesting. in Co-Scholastic areas is done using multiple techniques on the basis of identified criteria, while assessment in Life Skills is done on the basis of Indicators of Assessment and checklists. Source Examination Reforms, NCERT Scholastic l Assessment l Assessment l The functions of CCE are: l It helps the teacher to organize effective teaching strategies. Continuous l evaluation helps in regular assessment to the extent and degree of learners progress (ability and achievement with reference to specific scholastic and co-scholastic areas). evaluation serves to diagnose weaknesses and permits the teacher to ascertain an individual learners strengths and weaknesses and her needs. It provides immediate feedback to the teacher, who can then  decide whether a particular unit or concept needs re-teaching in the whole class or whether a few individuals are in need of remedial instruction. evaluation, children can know their strengths and weaknesses. It provides the child a realistic self assessment of how he/she studies. It can motivate children to develop good study habits, to correct errors, and to direct their activities towards the achievement of desired goals. It helps a learner to determine the areas of instruction in which more emphasis is required. and comprehensive evaluation identifies areas of aptitude and interest. It helps in identifying changes in attitudes, and value systems. in making decisions for the future, regarding choice of subjects, courses and careers. Continuous l By lcontinuous  Continuous l It helps l It provides l information/reports on the progress of students in scholastic and co-scholastic areas and thus helps in predicting the future successes of the learner. VI Continuous evaluation helps in bringing awareness of the achievement to the child, teachers and parents from time to time. They can look into the probable cause of the fall in achievement if any, and may take remedial measures of instruction in which more emphasis is required. Many times, because of some personal reasons, family problems or adjustment problems, the children start neglecting their studies, resulting in a sudden drop in their achievement. If the teacher, child and parents do not come to know about this sudden drop in the achievement and the neglect in studies by the child continues for a longer period then it will result in poor achievement and a permanent deficiency in learning for the child. The major emphasis of CCE is on the continuous growth of students ensuring their intellectual, emotional, physical, cultural and social development and therefore will not be merely limited to assessment of learners scholastic attainments. It uses assessment as a means of motivating learners in further programmes to provide information for arranging feedback and follow up work to improve upon the learning in the classroom and to present a comprehensive picture of a learners profile. It is this that has led to the emergence of the concept of School Based Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation. Source : Ncert VII Scholastic and Co-scholastic Assessment In order to have Continuous and Comprehensive evaluation, both scholastic and co-scholastic aspects need to be given due recognition. Such a holistic assessment requires maintaining an ongoing, changing and comprehensive profile for each learner that is honest, encouraging and discreet. While teachers daily reflect, plan and implement remedial strategies, the childs ability to retain and articulate what has been learned over a period of time also requires periodic assessment. These assessments can take many forms but all of them should be as comprehensive and discreet as possible. Weekly, fortnightly, or quarterly reviews (depending on the learning area), that do not openly compare one learner with another and are positive and constructive experiences are generally recommended to promote and enhance not just learning and retention among children but their soft skills as well. VIII School Based Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation There has been a consistent move towards reducing the load on the student by making public or board examination stress free. Over the decade there has been a high pitched race towards more marks and thus more competitiveness among students and schools. The move of the CBSE to replace marks with grades is a step in the right direction. The paradigm shift is to empower schools by creating a workable school based continuous and comprehensive scheme. School Based Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation system should be established to: reduce stress on children l make evaluation comprehensive and regular l provide space for the teacher for creative teaching l provide a tool of diagnosis and remediation l produce learners with greater skills l Position Paper on Aims of Education NCF 2005. NCERT Aims of School Based CCE l Elimination of chance element and subjectivity (as far as possible), de-emphasis of memorization, encouraging Comprehensive evaluation incorporating both scholastic and co-scholastic aspects of learners development.  evaluation spread over the total span of the instructional time as an integral built-in aspect of the total teaching-learning process. And meaningful declaration of results for effective use by teachers, students, parents and the society. uses of test results for purposes not merely of the assessment of levels of pupils achievements and proficiencies, but mainly for its improvement, through diagnosis and remedial/enrichment programmes. in the mechanics of conducting examinations for realizing a number of other allied purposes Continuous l Functional l Wider l Improvement l Introduction of concomitant changes in instructional materials and methodology. l Introduction of the semester system from the secondary stage onwards. l The l use of grades in place of marks in determining and declaring the level of pupil performance and proficiency. The above goals are relevant for both external examination and evaluation in schools IX Characteristics of School Based Evaluation : l Broader, more comprehensive and continuous than traditional system. l primarily to help learners for systematic learning and development. Aims l Takes care of the needs of the learner as responsible citizens of the future. l Is more transparent, futuristic and provides more scope for association among learners , teachers and parents. School based evaluation provides opportunities to teachers to know the following about their learners: What they learn l How l they learn l What type of difficulties / limitations they face in realising learning objectives together l What the children think l What the children feel l What their interests and dispositions are. The focus has shifted to developing a deep learning environment. There is a paradigm shift in the pedagogy and competencies of ‘controlling’ to ‘enriching’ to ‘empowering’ schools. Traditional Schooling l Teacher centred l Subjects and classes l Sorting and ranking Enriching Schooling Student centred l l Directed Self l Continuous assessment Empowering Schooling Experience centred l l Virtual authenticity l Multi literacies individuals Competency: l Memory l Competitive Competency: l Critical thinking l Collaborative l Creative Competency: l taking Risk l Ethical l Interactive There are four Assessment Paradigms Assessment of Learning Most commonly, assessment is defined as a process whereby someone attempts to describe and quantify the knowledge, attitudes or skills possessed by another. Teacher directedness is paramount and the student has little involvement in the design or implement of the assessment process in these circumstances – X Summative l Teacher designs learning l l Teacher collects evidence l Teacher judges what has been learnt (and what has not) Assessment for Learning The assessment for learning involves increased levels of student autonomy, but not without teacher guidance and collaboration. The assessment for learning is sometimes seen as being akin to ‘formative assessment’ and can be seen as informing teaching. There is more emphasis towards giving of useful advice to the student and less emphasis on the giving of marks and the grading function – Teacher designs learning l Teacher designs assessment with feedback to student l Teacher assesses what has been learnt (student develops insight into what has not) l Assessment as Learning ‘Assessment as learning’ is perhaps more connected with diagnostic assessment and can be constructed with more of an emphasis on informing learning. Assessment as learning generates opportunities for self assessment and for peer assessment. Students take on increased responsibility to generate quality information about their learning and that of others – Teacher and student co-construct learning l Teacher and student co-construct assessment l Teacher and student co-construct learning progress map l Assessment for learning and assessment as learning activities should be deeply embedded in teaching and learning and be the source of iterative feedback, allowing students to adjust, rethink and re-learn. Assessment in Learning The assessment in learning places the question at the centre of teaching and learning. It deflects the teaching from its focus on a ‘correct answer’ to focus on ‘a fertile question’. Through the inquiry, students engage in processes that generate feedback about their learning, which come from multiple sources, and activities. It contributes to the construction of other learning activities, lines of enquiry and the generation of other questions Student at the centre of learning l Student monitors, assesses and reflects on learning l Student initiates demonstration of learning (to self and others) l Teacher as coach and mentor l XI Teachers and students need to understand the purpose of each assessment strategy so that the overall assessment ‘package’ being used by learners and teachers accurately captures, generates and uses meaningful learning information to generate deep learning and understanding. Purpose of Assessment To lascertain what learning, change and progress takes place in the child over a period of time in different subjects of study and other aspects of the childs personality. To find out the needs and learning style of every learner. l To ldevise styles. To improve the teaching-learning materials by adding value. l To help l every learner find out their interests, aptitudes, strengths and weaknesses so that the learner can evolve effective learning strategies. a teaching-learning plan that is responsive to the individual needs and learning To measure the extent to which curricular objectives have been realized. l To enhance the effectiveness of the teaching-learning process. l To l record the progress of every learner and communicate it to parents and other stakeholders. a dialogue between the teacher and the student and also the parents as a collaborative endeavor for overall improvement of the system. To lmaintain To involve the learners in the process through peer and self assessment. l Different stages in Assessment Examination is not assessment; it is only one of the tools of assessment. As we have seen above, assessment is an integral part of the teaching-learning process and hence cannot be seen as the final stage in isolation. The overall aim of assessment is to gather information to improve the teaching-learning process. So it has certain distinct stages. Stage 1: Gathering information about and evidence of the extent of effectiveness of teaching and learning We gather information in a variety of ways, using a number of tools. Observation, conversation and discussion, assignments, projects, different types of tests etc are some of the methods and tools we use for collecting information. Stage 2: Recording of Information The information gathered has to be systematically recorded because it constitutes not only rich inputs that have to be used for improving teaching and learning but also evidence to support the conclusion we come to about the progress made by the students. In order to make the recording effective, we must use different recording devices such as learner profile, XII ancecdotal records, case studies, report books etc. It is essential that the information is recorded in both quantitative and qualitative terms along with well thought out and objective observations by the teacher. It is also necessary to keep samples of students work as evidence to support the report of the teacher. The most important aspect of good recording and reporting is that it shows the progress of the learner in different domains over a period of time. Stage 3: Analysing and Reporting the Information Collected The recorded information constitutes valuable feedback that the teacher, the student and the parents should use to enhance the learning process. To do this, the gathered information has to be analysed periodically so that the teacher can draw conclusions about how a child is learning and progressing. Such analysis and the grading that is done is actually a mapping of the progress of students in a learning environment. Analysis and review also leads to unambiguous statements about the strengths of every child and the aspects requiring further improvement. The report has to be communicated to the learners and their parents so that they are able to collaborate with the teacher to take the necessary steps for improving learning. It is essential that the child is encouraged to compete with self rather than with others. One of the key components of engaging students in the assessment of their own learning is providing them with descriptive feedback as they learn. Research shows descriptive feedback to be the most effective instructional strategy to move students forward in their learning. Descriptive feedback provides students with an understanding of what they are doing well, links to classroom learning and specific input on how to reach the next step. Stage 4: Using the Information for Improvement Assessment should result in improvement. Though the student, the teacher and the parents are all stakeholders in this paradigm, it is the teacher who has to take the initiative to use the analysis of information on each learner to enhance learning. This calls for reflective practices. Some questions that the teacher could ask himself/ herself are: 1. Are all the learners involved in the activities of the class? 2. Are there learners who face problems in coping with the pace and flow of the teaching learning process? 3. What are their problems and how should I help them? 4. Is there something in my teaching strategy that has to be modified to make the class learn better? How should I go about it? 5. Are there some learners who are not challenged by the materials and methods and hence lose motivation quickly? How should I respond to their special needs? 6. Are there some lessons/ chapters/ units that pose difficulties to many learners? How should I add value to these portions of the syllabus? 7. Have I identified certain common errors, mistakes and instances of lack of conceptual clarity from the information collected and analysed? How should I go about an effective programme of remediation? XIII 8. Is my classroom time management effective? What are the changes that I could introduce to make it more learner and learning oriented? 9. Am I getting adequate support from the school management, my colleagues, the parents and the community? How can I involve all the stakeholders more actively in what I am doing for the benefit of my learners? 10. What are my own needs of professional development? How can I fulfil them in a continuous manner? Such reflective questions will help the teacher modify and refine the programme of teaching to achieve the learning objectives as well as to enhance his/ her professional competence continuously. By now it is well established that learning is a continuous process and it involves informal, formal and non-formal modes. It is also widely acknowledged that children learn by constructing their knowledge and it makes learning a process that takes place within the children rather than without. In this paradigm of constructivism, the teacher ought to recognize the importance of different stages of learning i. e. , the initial stage where the existing knowledge of the learner is seen as the entry level, the second stage where new knowledge is understood and accommodated with the existing knowledge and the third stage where the constructed knowledge as a whole is tested by the learner by applying it to real life situations for making sense of the world and the self and for drawing conclusions, problem solving, decision making etc. What constitutes knowledge at the third stage automatically becomes the learners existing knowledge for further learning and thus it is a cyclical process. The main purpose of assessment is to enhance the effectiveness of the learning process and hence it has to be integrated appropriately with every stage of learning. Since learning is continuous, assessment also must be continuous. Otherwise the learner will not be able to know whether she/ he is proceeding along the right lines, what is the stage at which he experiences difficulties, what are the new inputs and strategies that are required to successfully continue the process of construction of knowledge and what is the help that is expected from the teacher. Similarly the teacher also has to know at what stage of learning each learner is at a particular point of time, what are the changes that are to be made to the teaching strategies to make every child learn effectively and what further help can be provided. For instance, when a child in class I comes to school, it is probable that the child has not had any formal schooling earlier. It does not mean that the child has no prior knowledge because learning, as has been pointed out earlier, can be through informal and non formal modes too. So the teachers duty is to identify the prior knowledge of the child while dealing with a particular concept or skill.

Classroom Observation Instruments Essay Example for Free

Classroom Observation Instruments Essay The following checklist it based off the Charlotte Danielson Framework. Teacher evaluations are based on four components or domains. Domain 1 is preparation and planning, domain 2 is classroom environment, domain 3 is instruction, and domain 4 is professional responsibility. When completing a classroom observation, only aspects of domain 2 and domain 3 are observable with a walk through. The following is an evaluation checklist of things a principal will look for while completing a classroom walk through. Sections marked with a (T) are teacher behaviors being observed, those marked with an (S) are student behaviors. Domain 2- Classroom Environment 1. Creating a classroom environment of respect and rapport (T) 2. Establishing a culture for learning (T) 3. Managing classroom procedures (T) 4. Management of student behavior (T) 5. Organizing physical space (T) 6. Work stations for group work (S) 7. Student desks are organized and material accessible (S) Additional notes on classroom environment: Domain 3 – Instruction 1. Communicating with students (T) 2. Use of questioning and discussion techniques (T) 3. Engaging students in learning (T) 4. Using assessment in instruction (T) 5. Demonstrate flexibility and responsiveness (T) 6. Whole class participation (S) 7. Student Engagement/on task behavior (S) 8. Confidence displayed in assessment (S) Additional notes on instruction: The above checklist is meant to be a guideline for principals to use during a walk through evaluation. Can you see the five aspects of each domain present in the classroom for teachers and the five for students? A simple yes or no will suffice. The above checklist is meant to be a guideline or springboard to complete next steps in the learning process. Those areas marked yes should be a cause for celebration. Evaluators and teachers can then discuss to what extent those aspects were present during the observation. In addition to the yes or no answers for each aspect of the two domains, an evaluator can write comments that fall within the domain descriptions as well. Are classroom procedures posted? That can be noted for classroom environment. What type of graphic organizer did the teacher use? That is part of an instructional strategy. The bottom part of the checklist allows the evaluator to add to the things he saw or did not see. This evaluation checklist should be copied and given directly to the teacher for reflection. That way the teacher has immediate feedback of what the principal observed in her classroom. This allows the educator to see what is being observed in her classroom and in her teaching. She can reflect on what aspects were not observed, adjust her teaching and include those aspects going forward. As much as it is a checklist for the evaluator, it can be used as a check-in for the teacher. If time allows, the principal should sit down and discuss the findings with the teacher, but time is not always available for this conference opportunity. This communication method would fall into a non-directive supervisory approach. Nondirective supervision involves the teacher being an essential part of the decision making process. While the teacher is reflecting and thinking through his actions for instructional improvement, the supervisor assists in this thinking and reflection process (Glickman Gordon, Ross-Gordon, 2008). This is shown through the principal giving feedback, but the teacher working out the next steps on her own. The positive aspect of this type of supervision includes the teacher feeling comfortable enough to ask their administrator for help when needed and feeling comfortable  enough to take risks in their classrooms (Rettig, Lampe, and Garcia, 2000). References Glickman, C.D., Gordon, S.P., Ross-Gordon, J.M. (2014). Supervision and instructional leadership: a developmental approach (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Rettig, P.R., Lampe and Garcia, P. (2000). â€Å"Supervising Your Faculty with a Differentiated Model.† The Department Chair 11(2)

Management In Civil Engineering

Management In Civil Engineering In general and widely adopted sense civil engineers are considered to design and manage the construction of roads, railways, buildings, bridges, tunnels, dams, airports, water supply and sewage systems. They must have to look into several factors in the design procedure from the production costs and expected lifetime of a project to government policies and possible environmental hazards such as hurricanes and earthquakes. Civil engineering, considered one of the oldest engineering disciplines, assimilates many specialties. The most common and crucial fields of civil engineering are structural, water resources, construction, transportation, and geotechnical engineering(Bean, A.L., 2007). Most of the civil engineers hold administrative or supervisory positions, from supervisor of a construction site to city engineer. As civil engineering is continuously broadening its area of interest so significant numbers of civil engineers have also chosen their career in management, research, and t eaching fields besides its common fields. Which are new emerging fields and they have their own significance in engineering.These sort of moves demand, civil engineers must have requisite knowledge about all these fields. Importance of Management in Civil Engineering Management is leading science domain and routine in managing building companies. It is one of the oldest human activities, it activates human abilities on building investment objects in order to assure necessity for civil engineering purposes. It is enough good reason to take place in management development in civil engineering. As there are too many definitions of management depending on an author, only the most important are offered, namely the most acceptable in civil engineering domain. Remarkable attention is given to managing tasks in civil engineering as well to their correlations If we speak about management in civil engineering then the total quality management must be proposed. Total quality management is a business philosophy and accessible way of modern companies around the whole world. It is the most contemporary idea of developing and advancing in all life and work domains. The growing urge of efficient use of the earths resources such as land, air, water and raw materials as well as concentration on efficient design, analysis and maintenance of civil structures requires a better insight in the spatial and temporal patterns of resources and activities (Bean, A.L., 2007). In view of the fact that the parameters of civil engineering today are not only confined to design and construction of structures but due to globalization and privatization of civil engineering organizations now civil engineering emerges as a study, which not only pay attention on construction and design but also reflects the importance of management of the resources used in constructio n. Now we talk about the various newly emerging fields of civil engineering (Motwani, J., 2001). Responsibilities for Civil Engineers In most of the cases, such as e.g. the situation, when natural phenomena like the weather is considered the engineering models developed to predict such phenomena are indeed very uncertain. The same applies to the prediction of natural hazards such as e.g. earthquakes, rock-fall and tsunamis which all constitute important exposures for the built environment. Engineering models must, however, also take into account the uncertain performance of man. Due to the effect of the different types of uncertainties there is no absolute certainty associated with the result of an engineering decision. For this reason there is also no absolute certainty about the safety of a structure. So as a engineer at construction site, it is also necessary for him to look into issues like health safety risk management, environmental management etc. Now we briefly discuss about these issues (Carpenter, J. Williams, 2004). 3.1 Health Safety Risk Management As per the definition, hazards which cause risk of lives at site are due to transfer of energy in one form or other. If the energy transferred more than the withstanding capacity at the receiving end, hazard is created, which eventually leads to physical harm of employees. The human system or any other object or species has tolerance levels or thresholds for each form of energy. The quantity of such energy, particularly near the threshold limit must be determined in order to decide on the control method to eliminate or reduce the impact of hazard. Mc Farland, another researcher in this field, has said all accidental injuries and damages result from application of specific forms of energy in amounts(Human Engineering, 2005). The main objective of the health management is to minimize or if possible then completely avoid hazards at site. It will decrease the chances of physical harm of employees and subsequently increase the health safety conditions at site. Although the success of a safety program depends on people, how they are motivated and how they communicate with each other. One of the important keys to success lies in establishing communication with people at all levels (Carpenter, J. Williams, 2004). So here health safety management comes into picture, it basically help to implement methods, which may include written circulars, reports, news sheets, promotional activities, incentive or reward schemes, personal contact and, most successful of all, structured safety meetings at the work place level where everyone can become involved . Safety meetings will be more productive and motivating if a member of a group under the guidance of management is asked to lead the meeting, having first been given the framework of the subjects for discussion and what the discussion hopes to accomplish. Where contractors are part of the work group they should also be included. Conclusions and concerns should be written down and acted well upon. The enthusiastic participation of all staff in safety meetings should be regarded as a long term objective. Case Study Over the last decade the highest rate of accidents and causalities in British Industries has been identified by the construction industry. Accordingly the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) arranged blitz inspections in an attempt to implement health and safety legislation and thus get better construction site safety. But, after 2000 site speculations it was noticed that one third of the site supervisors and agents had inadequate knowledge of and a poor attitude towards basic health and safety requirements. The blitz speculations were not successful in dropping down the number of deaths and other serious causalities but simply pointed out the lack of knowledge of and the unsatisfactory attitudes towards health and safety risk management. The risk of casualty in the construction industry has been dropped down from approximately 4.5 times higher to approximately three times higher than the risk of causalities that is related with all British industries (Figure 1) (Carpenter, J. Williams, 2004). Fig 1. UK construction industry fatality rates per 100,000 workers compared with other industries 1992-2006 (Carpenter, J. Williams, 2004) 3.3 Environmental Management First we define what exactly environmental management is and later we focus on its significance in a view of civil engineering. The main responsibilities of civil Engineers are to plan, grow and manage the surrounding environment. Majority of us in our routine lives take the built environment more or less for granted. We have got used to a well functioning infra-structure (Carpenter, J.,Williams, 2004). In addition, whereas some bridges and high rising buildings may be extremely extravagant most of the built environment is barely noticed. Environment management also includes the proper functioning of sewage systems, tunnels and water supply systems. Systems without which our modern society could not function. When civil engineers make decisions in regard to the planning, design or maintenance of the built environment they take basis in the fundamental laws of nature, e.g. the results of fundamental research in physics, chemistry and biology. Well known examples of this is the rule of gravity or the laws of thermodynamics which all play crucial roles in how we design and maintain buildings and structures. We know that the hotels and resorts in the Caribbean use large amounts of water, energy, chemicals, supplies, and disposable items. They also generate lots of waste such as wastewater and solid waste. Because of this, small efficiency gains can lead to large cost savings and environmental performance improvements. Environmental management is a systematic approach to finding out practical ways for saving water, energy, and materials, and reducing negative environmental impacts. A proactive environmental management program is a win-win-win proposition because it can help a property save money, get recognized for environmental leadership, and preserve and protect unique destinations (Human Engineering, 2005).. Sustainable urban growth needs an integrated approach and the Thematic Strategy advocates that national and regional authorities support municipalities in achieving more integrated management at the local level. Integrated approaches comprise of long term strategic visions and connect different policies at different administrative levels to guarantee coherency. Integrated environmental management also comprises of tackling regarded issues together such as integrated spatial planning, urban management and governance, economic wellbeing and competitiveness, social inclusion and environmental stewardship. . 4.Quality Management System Quality means excellence. It is thus a philosophy rather than a mere attribute. The difference between two objects is judged by their qualities. We set some standards which determine the level of acceptability. In most industries especially in manufacturing and process industry, the concept of quality management is old and used extensively. Nowadays, application of quality management is not only becoming popular but also mandatory in construction industry. Quality assurance in construction activities guides the use of correct structural design, specifications and proper materials ensuring that the quality of workmanship by the contractor or sub-contractor is achieved and finally maintaining the structure after construction is complete through periodic assessments for maintenance and repairs. Quality control has to be imposed by the contractor whereas quality assurance is carried out by a separate third party agency engaged by the owner (Biggar, J. L., 1990). Quality Management Concerns (Motwani, J.,2001): Quality control means rational use of resources. Quality control procedures implement appropriate mixing, proper compaction, correct placement and adequate curing. Quality control prevents temptation of over design. Quality control ensures strict monitoring of every stage of concrete production and rectification of faults. Quality control reduces maintenance costs. Fig 2. Role of quality management in any project (Motwani, J.,2001) Quality management basically comprises of following management: 4.1 Technical Management It is apparent that quality and cost are the prior major concerns for any construction in a customer as well contractors perspective. Cost is related to the quality, that need to be identified for management decisions. The costs of project can be broken down as follows: There are many components other than raw material and labor cost, which individual has to deal with to estimate and finalize the final cost of structures such as (Biggar, J. L., 1990): The costs of preparing appropriate designs, more training to reduce failure costs and a lot of maintenance work. In some cases we need demolishing of one structure and making another structure, so in this case the total cost and production time would be different from the estimates. Natural hazards can also cause to increase the cost of project significantly by delaying the construction process or damaging it. So technical management includes the estimation of cost, time of completion and prediction of natural hazards those possible can happen at the site. At the beginning stage after surveying the site, material testing is carried out in order to make structure economically feasible by ensuring all possible safety concerns for the users. Many standard codes are set up for defining the qualities of material and other raw materials such as The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) favors the improvement and application of quality management system standards, including international standards such as the American Society for Quality Control and ISO 9000, to specialized engineering services and the application of standards to the developed project (Motwani, J.,2001). Thus technical management also deals with matching up the standards of materials and if they suit then plans it to use efficiently. It even associates in predicting various factors which may affect the cost, safety and produ ction time of the structure. This is considered the essential management unit for any construction project which incorporates with defining objectives and limitations, and to build mathematical analysis models in solving difficult problems of production control, materials and inventory, among others. Technical management includes the resources and construction personnel must utilized efficiently for the various operations to accomplish the job. At the construction site this involves management associated to crew management with related tasks, logistics related to operations as well as operations, service and maintenance. 4.2 Project Management Project Management in construction can vary from projects to projects. Like if a construction is required to be done for a theme park than a team of creative people is needed, if a project is associated to the building some mall than the team of project management will have more of civil engineers. However today every company manages projects with some specialization. Such as a construction company can specialize only in building bungalow, sky capers, Malls, theatres, parks etc. Project Management section in a project is a structure that is purposely designed for executing projects. It is specifically modified to reach the demands of difficult tasks by separating unique work and maintaining a strong focus on accomplishing the project (Biggar, J. L., 1990)). Once the project is finished, this structure disbands. Although this structure is supposed to be very good in managing dedicated resources throughout the life of the project. This section shows techniques and requirements during project planning, including cost estimation, forecasting, risk assessment and economic evaluation. It is the division where design and planning phase in which major capital savings may be procured during the eventual construction and operation phases. The key responsibilities of the Project Manager may differ depending on the the company maturity, the company size, industry, and the company culture. However, there are some mandatory responsibilities that are common to all Project Management organizations (Motwani, J.,2001). Fig 3. Diagram shows the various tasks associate with project management (Motwani, J.,2001) Operations Management Operations Management (OM) incorporates with the design and management of required task, services and supply chains, processes. It includes a wide range of judgment that companies have to make, such as product design, capacity planning, forecasting, process selection, technology selection, design of facilities and jobs, inventory management, management of the supply chain, project management, maintenance management and quality management(Biggar, J. L., 1990). The work and fuction of Operational management (OM) ranges from strategic to operational and tactical levels. Strategic problems may incorporate with determining the location and size of manufacturing plants, deciding the structure of service networks and designated technology supply chains. And tactical problems could include plant layout and equipment selection. As a conclusive remark, operational tasks may include production scheduling, inventory management, quality control and material handling. The appropriate management of these resources requires the sorts of knowledge and skills provided by Operation Management concepts, tools and techniques (Sommerville, J., 2000). Financial and Commercial Systems 5.1 Financial Systems Financial systems facilitates to inform your organizations planning and action plans. Financial systems also assist you track and manage the resources required to successfully complete your work. These guidelines grant basic practices, Which you will need to build  ¬Ã‚ nancial sustainability in your organization. Other reasons why developing  ¬Ã‚ nancial systems are important because they play key role in the task such as establishing  ¬Ã‚ nancial controls and clear accounting procedures help ensure that funds are used for intended purposes, transparency, clear planning and realistic projections contribute to the credibility of the organization, Financial systems and capacity help the organization to make sound decisions based on cash  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ow and available resources, it help to provide reports to the funders that demonstrate that grants were used for intended purposes etc. The financial system is the system that lets the transfer of money between savers and borrowers. Financial systems play a key role in distribution of resources in a modern economy. They link up household savings to the corporate sector and allocate investment funds among firms. They allow inter temporal smoothing of consumption by households and expenditures by firms and they enable households and firms to share risks. However these functions are very common to the financial systems of most developed and developing economies. Though the types of these financial systems varies widely as per the requirement. Generally we know the fact that the civil engineering projects are very large and demand a very huge amount of money. One individual is solely unable to fulfill that demand of money. To eliminate this problem financial systems have been developed, which ensure to provide any sudden and large requirement of money. They have authority to monitor the whole market and handle the economy of a large domain. 5.2 Commercial Systems The expression commercial system is general and applies to any group or organization with a specific set of skills, priorities, strategies, goals and resources that put in order to collectively achieve the predefined aim of making profit. Ultimately, a group and organization is said to be commercial if its main objective to earn profit for the proprietor, shareholders, or both, by supplying products and services. To comprehend properly what a commercial organization is requires being aware of the many for profit activities commercial organizations participate in. Thus both systems financial and commercial have their distinct role in any construction project. However financial systems are also highly commercial. Financial system guarantees the availability of necessary funds and proper distribution of it to the various departments of project. Where as commercial system aims to provide maximum profit to owner and even more satisfaction to customer. Human Resource Management Managing humans or personnel is at the heart of almost all the real life management problems. What it takes to manage humans? Why humans are a resource and what makes them special? The function of HRM is to bring out issues involved in the management of human resources (HRM), both from current theory as well as practice (Beardwell, Ian Holden, Len 1986). It also examines humans at work and discusses various aspects which are basic to human inspiration at work and in fulfilling career aspirations within organizations. HRM includes various issues right from selection placement to performance appraisal, salary career management, and training, etc. of employees in organizations. The expressions human resource management (HRM) and human resources (HR) have widely substituted by the expression personnel management as a explanation of the processes included in managing people in organizations. In brief, HRM has to deal with employing people, developing their resources, utilizing, maintaining and compensating their services in tune with the task and organizational requirement. The HRD profession and HRM function have undergone significant change over the past couple of years. Many years ago, large organizations looked to the Personnel Division mostly to manage the paperwork around hiring and paying people (Roethlisberger and Dickson, 1943). Human resource management (HRM) is the formulated concept to the management of an organizations most appreciated features. The people working there who individually as well as collectively contribute to the accomplishment of the objectives of the business. Recently, organizations consider the HR Department as playing a major role in recruitment, training and helping to manage people so that people and the organizations are performing at limit capability in a highly satisfying manner. However, many HR functions these days combat to get beyond the roles of employee champion and administration, and are seen rather as reactive than strategically proactive partners for the top management. At the end of the day, the objective of human resource management is to assist an organization to reach predefined goals by satisfying, and maintaining employees and also to manage them effectively. The key word most probably here is fit, a HRM approach seeks to ensure a fit between the management of a companys employees, and the overall strategic direction of the company (Staw and Barsade, 1993). The theoretical discipline of HRM is considering primarily the assumption that employees are individuals with varying needs and goals, and as such should not be thought of as basic business resources, such as trucks and filing cabinets. The area needs a positive view of workers, assuming that practically all wish to contribute to the enterprise productively, and that the main complication to their endeavors are lack of knowledge, failures of process and insufficient training. Nevertheless these conventional expressions are becoming less common for the theoretical discipline. Sometimes even industrial and employee relations are confusingly termed as synonyms, although these generally imply to the connection between management and workers and the behavior of people in companies. The Human Resources Management (HRM) profession includes numerous activities, and the most crucial among them is choosing what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or recruit employees to achieve these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, promising they are elevated performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring personnel and management practices conform to number of regulations. Activities also include managing your move toward to employee benefits and compensation, employee details and personnel policies. However, they should always ensure that employees have a vague idea of personnel policies which confirm to current regulations. These policies are generally in the form of employee manuals, that all employees own. Document Control Anyone who works in a professional services firm nowadays must know well that document management involves far more than simple data processing and file sharing. Document management nowadays must keep in mind the complete life cycle of a document as well as its content from creation, employees and clients, to the eventual storage and harvesting of content for reuse, to collaboration among partners. In response of fulfilling these needs, firm developed technologies that offer firms to make and control documents that were not applicable in years past. Professional services companies can now enhance productivity, increase security through tighter controls over document production and handling, and perk up document quality through the application of clear editing and review path ways. Additionally, progresses in collaboration and communication can facilitate firms to attain the smartest return. Summary Project Management section in a project is a structure that is purposely designed for executing projects. It is specifically modified to reach the demands of difficult tasks by separating unique work and maintaining a strong focus on accomplishing the project. Although this structure is supposed to be very good in managing dedicated resources throughout the life of the project. This section shows techniques and requirements during project planning, including cost estimation, forecasting, risk assessment and economic evaluation. It is the division where design and planning phase in which major capital savings may be procured during the eventual construction and operation phases. At the construction site safety is the major concern because these projects are huge so a small mistake can cause of a serious damage. The main objective of the health management is to minimize or if possible then completely avoid hazards at site. It will decrease the chances of physical harm of employees and subsequently increase the health safety conditions at site. One of the important keys to success lies in establishing communication with people at all levels. To improve the safety methods new ways have been used to reach the satisfactory safety levels. This whole work can not be done by the single unit at the site but all management units specified above coordinated well and help to implement methods, which may include written circulars, reports, news sheets, promotional activities, incentive or reward schemes, personal contact and, most successful of all, structured safety meetings at the work place level where everyone can become involved. Safety meetings will be more product ive and motivating if a member of a group under the guidance of management is asked to lead the meeting, having first been given the framework of the subjects for discussion and what the discussion hopes to accomplish. For the progress of any project it is necessary that all accident should be avoided at the site which eventually needs improved safety methods.

Paediatric palliative care Essay -- Health, Nurses, Health Care Provid

Paediatric palliative care is a taboo topic in today’s society. Paediatric palliative care is a topic that society avoided and does not want to deal with. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines paediatric palliative care as palliative care is the attempt to improve the quality of life in patients who are facing life-threatening illnesses and family members through the prevention and relief of suffering with early detection and treatment of pain, physical, psychosocial, or spiritual (Liben, Wolfe & Papadatou, 2008, p. 852). Some of the current issues surrounding paediatric palliative care is that health care providers, mainly nurses are feeling the burnout and frustrations of caring for a dying child. Many nurses have claimed to have moral and ethical distress which in turn, can lead to feelings of helplessness and anger (Morgan, 2009, p. 88). Health care providers may also feel personal pain during the care of a dying child (Morgan, 2009, p. 88). Many health care providers and families feel like there is a lack of communication about the disease and treatments the child is receiving, as well as the patients often feel like they do not have a voice about treatments (Hsiao, Evan & Zeltzer, 2007, p.361). The lack of education and knowledge about paediatric palliative care leads to society treating the subject of paediatric palliative as taboo and forbidden to talk about because no one wants to admit that children unfortunately die (Morgan, 2009, p. 87). Research has shown that many patients will benefit from paediatric palliative care programs and education, but studies have shown that out of 3,000 hospitals in the United States, less than ten percent have programs for end-of life care based toward children (Morgan, 2009, ... ...are of paediatric palliative child. Online resources would be beneficial for families who are in rural areas or who do not have access to many places because of the limitations on travel due to their child’s illness because everyone wants information about what is happening during this difficult time to ease some of the concerns. Inservices, IPPC, simulations, ACNs and communication are all needed in order for the health care providers to maintain and provide a therapeutic relationship with the patient and their families. With better education about paediatric palliative care, knowledge of the effects of caring for paediatric palliative care on the health care providers, communication between families, patients and health care providers about paediatric palliative care, can provide a therapeutic relationship with families and patients during a very difficult time.