A Newborn Is Thrown in the Trash and Dies

A Newborn Thrown in the Trash and Dies is a thought provoking, gut wrenching tale about an infant who is born to a teenage mother that lives in a housing project in New York and is thrown down the trash, down ten floors to thecompactor chute to its death. The story is narrated by the unnamed infant who is the subject of the story. She is the sympathetic character as she describes her projected lifehas horrible as her certain death. She doesn’t seem bitter about dying, she feels sympathy for the mother who put her in the trash and accepts her life as being â€Å"how it is,† as she doesn’t know any better. As she passes each floor she shares the peek that she is given, from learning that people talk out of both sides of their mouths, political power, her molestation, and even the death of her brother. The infant almost gives the reader the idea that her life will be just as tragic as her death and wouldn’t change anything. She would just be one of many stories published in the paper. She believes that a Russian on the other side of the world is going through the same thing, that even though they are from different countries they have poverty in common. This is true today, we hear horrible stories about things that happen to children and the people of the city have become numb to its affects. For example, children are abducted from the city all of the time and it is reported, right after the story the news anchors switches gears and gives the weather as if they were not affected by what they have just reported. It seems that it is as easy to them as reporting rain or a traffic jam, they seem unaffected which is conveys to the listening audience. Those of us who are affected will be for a short time, but not enough to where we will feel that we need to do something about it. Life will continue to go on as it always has and stories like these will continue to occur. The story makes me question what I have become numb to and what do I consider normal. When I watch the news I almost expect to see where someone is murdered in the city. What is wrong with me, us, society? The story describes that there have been nine babies discarded in 1990 and as of August of the following year seven discarded babies were discovered. How ironic is it that the name of her housing project where she is born and dies is called the Gerald J. Carey Gardens. A garden is a place where seeds are planted, nurtured and tended, the total opposite of what was happening to her.

Alternative Medicine Essay

Alternative medicine describes practices used in place of conventional medical treatments. People increasingly prefer alternative to conventional medicine. The reasons for this are pretty simple – it is safe and it works! And USA is not an exception. It is estimated, by none other than the Harvard Medical School, that one out of every two persons in the United States between the ages of 35 and 49 years used at least one alternative therapy in 1997. Alternative medicine actually encompasses a very large array of different systems and therapies ranging from ayurvedic medicine to vitamin therapy. Ayurvedic medicine is a very comprehensive system that places equal emphasis on body, mind, and spirit and uses a highly personalized approach to return an individual to a state where he or she is again in harmony with their environment. Ayurvedic medicine uses diet, exercise, yoga, meditation, massage, herbs, and medication and, despite its long lineage, is as applicable today as it was 5000 years ago. Traditional Chinese medicine combines the use of medicinal herbs, acupuncture, and the use of therapeutic exercises such as Qi Gong. It has proven to be effective in the treatment of many chronic diseases including cancer, allergies, heart disease and AIDS. Homeopathy is a low-cost, non-toxic health care system now used by hundreds of millions of people around the world. Chiropracty primarily involves the adjustment of spine and joints to alleviate pain and improve general health.   Naturopathic medicine also strongly believes in the body’s inherent ability to heal itself. Vitamin therapy or orthomolecular medicine uses vitamins, minerals, and amino acids to return a diseased body to wellness. Biofeedback, body work, massage therapy, reflexology, hydrotherapy, aromatherapy, and various other forms of energy medicine round out the vast spectrum of alternative medicine modalities. More then 50 % of Americans use some kind of alternative medicine. Actually, it may happen so, that in future alternative medicine will totally displace allopathic medical remedies. But nowadays almost 40% of people still visit their doctors. References Benedetti, F., Maggi, G., ; Lopiano, L. (2003). Open Versus Hidden Medical Treatments: The Patient’s Knowledge About a Therapy Affects the Therapy Outcome. Prevention ; Treatment, 6, 1, 23-27.

Atmosphere of Mystery and Suspense Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Atmosphere of Mystery and Suspense - Essay Example Focusing on films that we have covered this semester, namely, The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock,   The Birth of Nation by David Wark Griffings,   The Night of the Hunter by Charles Laughton, Sunset Boulevard by Billy Wilder, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by Robert Wiene, Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock, Grand Illusion by Jean Renoir, Ossessione by Luchino Visconti, The Battleship Potemkin by Sergei Eisenstein, The White Ribbon by Michael Haneke, The Song of the South by Wilfred Jackson and Harve Foster and Sunrise by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau there is a usual similarity to be observed. All the films are not set in the current modern setting, so one has to consider the fact that directors by then had serious challenges to technical skills and machine support. Nevertheless, one respects their works and seek to know how they accomplished their goals. For any successful film quality of Choice of characters, choice and quality of sound, camera angles and movement should not be compromised. T his is based on the fact that camera angles and sound system show the actual objective of the film, its meaning and significance. The actual setting and the actual nature of the characters is also evident in the film. It is also through these three factors we understand the emotions of the authors and the intentions of the director. Though the study did not exhibit modern technology in their development, the directors did beat the midnight oil to use techniques such as soundtrack system to explain their intentions. The sound is often measured in decibels. These are units which can be detected by a human ear when changed. Therefore, the composition of all of these factors determines the quality of the film. This paper shows an analysis of the films that exist in the society. Any director worth their professional standards understands the importance of settings in film development. This is based on the fact that the setting outline the plot and other vital aspect developed into a movi e. For instance, in the film, â€Å"The Birth of a Nation (1915),† showcase the reconstruction era in America. An individual is able to understand how time setting influences the development. The strategic use of camera and sound explain the plot development. This is evident through the use of cameras looking down Sherman’s March. It is significant to explain the use of camera angles and placement since it opens the audience's mind. It also creates a level of suspense through political happenings. That is why we also view the director’s choice of sound that has the VHS and DVD formats to maintain the quality of sound. The film explains the occurrence of the American civil war primarily by the Ku Klux Klan gang. It also evaluates the effects of the death of Cameron’s brother in the war. During the painful experience, uses the direction of camera angles set strategically to capture the anguish and pain of Ben Cameroon when he receives news about his hanging . On the other hand, sound cements the director's objectives as strange mysterious sound can be heard when Ben is suffering the realization that his other family members had actually died in the war. The setting of the film actually explains that the outcome of events for instance crime punishable by murder through hanging was common in those times. The film La Grand Illusion (1937), focuses on the fate of a small group of French Soldiers after the outcome of the war. The characters were prisoners of war and were plotting an escape. The timing is during the middle of the world war II when a castle build in Western France appear in the film.        

Reflection on Demonstrating a Skill Personal Statement

Reflection on Demonstrating a Skill - Personal Statement Example This paper is a reflection of a demonstration of a skill to a peer. I employed Gibbs' reflective cycle which is fairly straightforward and encourages a clear description of the situation, analysis of feelings, evaluation of the experience, analysis to make sense of the experience, conclusion where other options are considered and reflection upon experience to examine what I would do if the situation arose again. So while I was there at the clinic where I work, I figured there is someone I can help on some skills. Turns out that there was a student nurse who was in placement for the day, to assist and to observe, and to learn in the process. To prep up, I established some rapport with her so she would feel comfortable with me when the time comes that I would have to teach her some new skills. I also arranged and prepared the things that would possibly be necessary for the work ahead for the day, asking her assistance when necessary so she would become acquainted with them. The first patient arrived, a ten year old girl with her mom, and I greeted them with a smile to make them feel at ease. As a standard procedure, the patient's name was withheld in accordance with The Code of Professional Conduct (NMC 2002). While doing so, I introduced myself and the student nurse to the patient and her mother and explained exactly what my work entailed and what I was going to do. Afterwards, we checked the patient's health concern and apparently, the child is suffering from asthma from time to time and as an aid, she needs to know how to take her inhaler through a large volume spacer to help her with her condition. As such, she needed to know how to use the device so she can readily utilize it when the need arises. So in essence, I had three students watching me demonstrate how to use the device --- the patient, her mother and the student nurse. In this case, I utilized two teaching styles: patient-centered and student-centered. I showed them the device and demonstrated how to put the device together, how to use the spacer and how to maintain it. I did this in a relaxed and open manner to give them an impression that it is rather easy to do it, and then asked the patient to demonstrate back to me what I had just taught them. This is important to see if the patient has understood what has been conveyed to them. Kemm, et al (1995) states that a client is more likely to want to assimilate information that has been conveyed to them, if the planned learning is relevant and made interesting to the individual client. Besides the patient, I also asked the student nurse to demonstrate the skill back to me. In promoting learning in practice, mutual respect and valuing the merit of passing on nursing skills through practice-based learning is crucial (Glen and Parker, 2003). I also provided verbal guidance and encouragement to the patient and guided her when necessary. Role models, according to Morton-Cooper and Palmer (2002), provide an observable image for imitation, demonstrating skills and qualities for mentees to emulate. The patient's visit ended well and before she and her mother left, both of them assured me that they are already confident that they can utilize the device properly and with much practice, it is going to be easier after a while. Hopefully, the new skill helps the patient with easing her poor health condition. Truthfully speaking, I am fully aware that the teaching session went well. I would credit it to the fact that my mentors taught me

Instant impact of the whole word Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Instant impact of the whole word - Essay Example When I see a building from far, I see it as a whole, and with every step forward, I start seeing more of its parts with successive loss of its identity as a unit. If I step backwards, the impact is reversed. It means that, not only the being of building but also its distance from the viewer has something to do with the perception of the viewer. It also means that both; stance of the ‘viewer’ and the nature of the ‘view’ correlate and coexist throughout the phenomenon of seeing. Just as a building is made of bricks, words are made of letters, their basic building blocks. Although I have this knowledge, yet do I ever see, at the first glance, the building in the form of bricks or its very basic building blocks? When I see a human figure, I see it as a whole and not in its x-rayed, skeletal form. The external factor; distance, however counts and impacts my vision of the image. Faculty of hearing is not different from seeing in this respect .When I hear a word a nd understand it in a flash, does "the whole use of the word come before my mind" (section 139)? If so, how? If not, how then do I really understand the word? 1†. I am of the opinion that when I hear a word and understand it in a flash, the whole use of the word comes before my mind. Regarding its mechanism; how I understand it, let me explain an example of the organoleptic or sensory perception of flavors. Whatever an expecting mother drinks or eats, the child, in the very early (fetal) stage perceives its flavor; the combinated effect of odor, taste, color and even the feel of its texture. How is it possible, while the child has never seen the color of the food? Now, can we perceive the strawberry flavor in a product, if the product is white? Not really, not at least in its full impact, reason being that red color is an essential to the ‘whole’ of strawberry. Suppose, the strawberry flavor used in the product was green , ripe, over ripe or fermented type, the ex perienced note is embedded in the retentive memory of both; mother and child. At a later stage of life, if any one of them happens to consume a product of similar flavour, the matching flavor in memory is retrieved and not only facilitates but also accelerates the process of identifying it. Similarly a data base of flavours is there in the mind of everyone and the identification of the flavour is subject to the size of the data base and the accuracy of retrieval of the relevant flavors.A flavourist recognizes more types of flavours in their true profiles on account of his or her larger data base, extensive use(repeated and faster retrieval) and accurate inference. The formal route of identification; olfactory sense, taste bud perception etc.are skipped and the brain response in case of the falavourist is as the ‘whole profile of flavour’ and not as its constituents; odor, taste, colour, texture etc. In addition to the accumulated experience there is another very importa nt factor in the instant perception of something as whole, and that is ‘intution’. I have seen sheep and goat grazing in the field with lot of ‘Datura’ plants with their very attractive, pure white, trumpet like flowers. Never, anyone of them tries or even indicates an intention of consuming this plant. How do they know about the toxic nature of the plant? Through ‘Intution’ only, I would say. Occasionally and rather strangely, a cat is seen chewing the grass. Why so, while by nature a cat is carnivorous? I think, in this case too, intution is at work. It may be a corrective action to adjust pH (say acidity) of the stomach contents. Intution is at work in both the cases with a difference that in the former case it repels while in the later case it attracts. In reference to the inherent characteristics, it had been for long, a popular belief that we see the objects by virtue of their inherent light, while now we understand that it is owing to th e ‘external’ light reflected from the surface of an object. Question is that,

Factors and Criteria That Determine Which Brand of Mobile Phones Will Essay

Factors and Criteria That Determine Which Brand of Mobile Phones Will Top Today and Which Brand Will Peak after That - Essay Example Each cell phone company tries hard to produce cell phones that are acceptable to most consumers in order to gain a better share of the market (Kushchu, 2007). This competition has led to great innovation that has seen mobile phones with great features such as MP3 and video players, cameras, wireless internet, games, and application among others playing a significant part in attracting more customers. Mobile phone innovation has come a long way and the future still looks bright, with the innovation of smart phones taking the mobile phone market by storm in the recent past. Changing consumer needs over the years have been very fundamental in the revolution of the mobile phone industry (Kerlinger, and Lee, 2000). Initially, mobile phones were only used for voice communications and text messages. With time however, consumer needs begun to influence the industry to change as companies sought to bow to consumer demands. Consumers prefer mobile phones that allow them to share information an d other multimedia devices such as images and music, have internet access and entertainment. Global mobile phone sales account for up to 60% of all electronic sales (Liu, 2002). This implies the growing demand for mobile phones across the world. With thousands of mobile phone manufactures and different brands around the world, consumers are spoilt for choice over which brands to buy. There are however various factors that determine consumer decisions on which cell phone brands to purchase. It is these factors that determine which mobile phone brands will be at peak at any given time. Mobile phone brands that have the feature that consumers want are likely to stay at the peak of the industry as compared to... This paper approves that global mobile phone sales account for up to 60% of all electronic sales. This implies the growing demand for mobile phones across the world. With thousands of mobile phone manufactures and different brands around the world, consumers are spoilt for choice over which brands to buy. There are however various factors that determine consumer decisions on which cell phone brands to purchase. It is these factors that determine which mobile phone brands will be at peak at any given time. Mobile phone brands that have the feature that consumers want are likely to stay at the peak of the industry as compared to less innovative brands. Despite selection of mobile phones being a subjective issue with most consumers having different opinions, there are various factors that are common to a majority of consumers. These include price, value of the brand, interface of the cell phone, and properties and features of a mobile phone. This report makes a conclusion that best selling mobile phones are the ones that meet the demands of consumers with regard to the factors identified above. The factors affecting consumer demands for cell phones are likely to change from time to time in to the future as the technology environment changes. The key factor to determine which mobile phone brand will be at peak, both presently and in the future is the fact that only those brands that respond to consumer demands at any particular time will be best selling brands.

CMR Enterprise-Blackstone Partnership Case Study

CMR Enterprise-Blackstone Partnership - Case Study Example CMR’s decision to partner with Blackstone was a good call. According to the Harvard Business School Journal, the move was a strategic one as it provided the two organizations with an opportunity to grow in business. Besides, Blackstone had established and cut a niche for itself in the residential and home buyer market. The group was fronted for by various homebuyers for providing quality for the lowest price in the market.CMR, on the other hand, had established itself in the millwork industry, especially in the commercial business. CMR was looking forward to a business partner that would advance its prospects in the residential market. Blackstone was looking for a subcontractor who would meet its demand and would permit homeowners to make selections only from its partner subcontractors.The symbiotic relationship would allow both to provide favorable conditions to increase their individual revenues. According to the article, Blackstone had an upper hand in the residential marke t, having produced year revenue of $400,000.In 1998, from the detailed report on profitability, especially the profitability of the Blackstone Homes jobs; CMR noted that they had indirect cost. One sales person, two project managers and one shop coordinator. The expenditure was $200,000. According to the Harvard Business School article on the CMR Enterprises, Blackstone Homes made a profit of $200,000 in the residential business. This was a good profit margin according to previous sales that they had while they used the Mike Cabinet's name.

How Google's Social Network Changes Everything Essay

How Google's Social Network Changes Everything - Essay Example This paper illustrates the main reason for the rampant growth of Google+ as the added features in this social networking site that lack in others such as the map to view the location of the site, it helps Google serve ads better which are good for exposure of businesses hence attracting many businesses and marketers. It is also integrated into other Google products such as Gmail and YouTube hence exposing it further and increasing the chances of people connecting with others without having to struggle to search for them. The rise is also brought about by the fact that it belongs to Google which is the most used search engine hence increasing its growth and success rate. It, however, has its downside and which have contributed to it not surpassing the capacity and fame of facebook. Its sharing rate is way lower than of Facebook and it has problems with making its users stay on the site hence the large difference between the registered and active users. Most are forced to use it becaus e of its connections with other Google products but it does not mean they will stay active. The fact that whatever photo anyone registered to the site uploads automatically goes to the site and can be seen by others even without sharing is sometimes a downside of the site. Many people also do not really understand its features and hence fail to use it regularly. For businesses that market in Google+, they risk not sustaining their customers as people are rarely active on this social media site. They log in in spurts and this will be the case even with the growth of the business. With its low sharing power and ability as compared to Facebook, people will also share less about the businesses and the products in Google+.

State-Supported Terrorism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

State-Supported Terrorism - Assignment Example These are the nations that pose a threat to the US National Security, although Saudi Arabia and Pakistan also come under the same list of â€Å"passive sponsorships† but regardless to their activities they are excluded out deliberately. In article 3 the writer, Daniel Byman has identified the states that are passively sponsoring terrorist organizations around the world. The states that are prominently known for their support are Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, and Lebanon. These states in order to strengthen their security jeopardize the National Security of US and drag societies into the darkest propensities. It is a widely known fact that 9/11 was orchestrated with the help of Saudi Arabia of which funding transactions were traced evidently displaying Saudi Arabia’s tacit terrorist sponsorship for destroying US security. Likewise, Pakistan is held responsible for the Talibanization within the country, as the members of its intelligence ISI are in full support of Al-Qaeda. These countries which are referred to as â€Å"non-state actors† stay at the corner, some may as well agree on fighting terrorism becoming invaluable allies for the time being. The problem is not with their attitude of doing something instead it’s their attitude of doing nothing at all about the prevailing threats to the national security. One way these states react to these problems is that they offer a middle ground to the problem to safeguard their own security they shift their problem to others by offering the terrorists to stay and get arrested or leave which moves them to other countries where they perform acts of terrorism. These terrorist groups often act as government’s partners and not as their agents, although they openly deny the accusations it is evident with the size of their training setups, their methods of recruitments and funding.  

Immigration Today Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Immigration Today - Essay Example It is best to understand first the three major theories of immigrant and ethnic-group integration. The theories are the classic and new assimilation models, the racial/ethnic disadvantage model, and the segmented assimilation model. West Indies, South Asia, Koreans and Cubans considered as the Black Americans because of their color. They have been a victim of racial discrimination and racism. The classic assimilation theory sees immigrant/ethnic and majority groups following a "straight-line" convergence, becoming more similar over time in norms, values, behaviors, and characteristics. This theory expects those immigrants residing the longest in the host society, as well as the members of later generations, to show greater similarities with the majority group than immigrants who have spent less time in the host society. However, old West Indies remains with their culture and beliefs because of the discrimination and racism they experience from white Americans. The second generation of West Indies were able to adopt their belief and values in education. In employment most of them were engaged in self-employment, to avoid discrimination and racism. South Indians, Koreans and Cubans also believe in self employment because of the same reasons of discrimination and racism. ... West Indies, South Asians, Koreans and Cubans live on a community where most of the same origins stay. They usually live together to ensure that they will have a mutual support in an alien land. Immigrants such as West Indies, South Asians, Koreans and Cubans, to the United States tended to maintain a strong national, cultural, and ethnic identity to their homelands. Barriers usually blocked their assimilation. Because immigrants compare socioeconomic opportunities in the host country to those in their countries of origin, they may not perceive these barriers. However, by the second or third generations, they may realize that the goal of full assimilation may be more difficult and take longer than originally presumed. Segmented assimilation is a combination of the straight line assimilation and the racial ethnic disadvantage model. In this model others have noted that some members of immigrant groups become cut off from economic mobility, others find multiple pathways to assimilation depending on their national origins, socioeconomic status, contexts of reception in the United States, and family resources, both social and financial. They theorize that structural barriers, such as poor urban schools, cut off access to employment and other opportunities - obstacles that often are particularly severe in the case of the most disadvantaged members of immigrant groups. Such impediments can lead to stagnant or downward mobility, even as the children of other immigrants follow divergent paths toward classic straight-line assimilation. The 1965 immigration and nationally act has increased the numbers of Asians and other nationality to migrate in US. The revision of this act has helped the immigrants to lessen the

The Role of Food Essay Example for Free

The Role of Food Essay According to my Nutrition through the Life Cycle textbook, food is an essential need for humans and provides nutrients, energy in the form of calories, and other substances that are necessary for both good health and growth (Brown, 2). Even though this concept is very straightforward and well known among everyone, it is important to understand that there is more to food than meets the eye. Besides its vital role in ensuring that the energy demands of the human body’s continuous physiological processes is met, food can be very symbolic and capable of fulfilling a large variety of roles in an individual’s life. When examining the role of food in terms of the life cycle of an individual, it is important to note that it is always changing and will be different based on the person. In addition to satisfying our personal nutrition requirements, food is capable of revealing our individual characteristics, personal values, or even valuable information about our society as a whole. Out of the many different stages of the life cycle, there will be three stages in particular that I will be focusing on; they are: childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Childhood is often one of the most fun, memorable, and enjoyable stages of an individual’s life. Not only is it a time when an individual begins to build upon the knowledge they’ve acquired from toddlerhood; it is a time when a large number of friends can be made. This leads to one of the many roles food can serve in this stage of life, which is its role in the act of establishing and maintaining friendships. One perfect example of this role in action is during lunch hour in school. When it is time for lunch at school, all of the children congregate together and have the opportunity to socially interact and bond with one another while eating. At this time, children may even offer a portion of their lunch to their peers and use that moment as an opportunity to converse with others and establish friendships that may last a lifetime. In addition to having a social role, food can serve as a learning aid for the child when it comes to defining the traditions and heritage of their family. Parents often expose and introduce family traditions or specific items passed down from previous generations to their children; which may involve food. For example, a certain type of food or recipe (such as a special homemade cake or pie) that is significant or symbolic to a family can be passed down from the parents and presented to their child. Once the child is introduced to this specific kind of food, they will obtain and learn valuable information pertaining to the overall uniqueness, identity, history, and values of their own family. This information contributes significantly to the development of the child’s personal identity in future stages of their life cycle (such as adulthood) as well as their self-worth. Adolescence can be quite a hectic (but memorable) stage in an individual’s life. Just like how the overall way of life around this time has changed, the role food plays in this part of the life cycle has as well. At this point in time, food can often be used to relieve stress or be used as an aid to cope with the challenges life brings. For example, a teenager may binge on chips, cookies, and ice cream to help alleviate the stress of applying to colleges or studying for any upcoming exams that they have. Even though this method of dealing with stress isn’t necessarily the best way, I believe it is fairly common. I know I definitely used food as a coping mechanism during my adolescent years; but I have changed my ways and no longer do so. At this stage of the life cycle, not only does food play a role in stress relief, it also can play a role in the expression an individual’s religious beliefs and faith. Since most individuals at this age still live at home with their parents, most will typically continue to practice their family’s religion and depending upon how religious they are, may even chose to follow the dietary customs or guidelines that are specific to their religion. For example, teenagers that are Jewish may consume matzo during the week of Passover. By consuming matzo during this religious holiday, the teenager showcases to others how meaningful the religion of Judaism is to them and their dedication in following its overall customs and beliefs. The last stage of life that I will be discussing is adulthood; which is a rather lengthy part of the life cycle. During this time, the overall quality of life has changed even more and an individual is now in full control of their destiny. Besides the sudden increase in the opportunities and freedom experienced by those in this stage, the number of roles food can have is now abundant. One possible role food has in the life of an adult is a source of fun and entertainment. This can include a celebration for a significant milestone or event achieved by one or more individuals (such as a birthday or marriage), eating contests, parties, and cooking shows on TV. For example, when there is a wedding reception and banquet, a full three course meal composing of extravagant foods may be served and conclude with the ceremonial cutting and consumption of a specially decorated wedding cake. The cake itself not only celebrates the marital bond between a man and a woman; it is very symbolic and a common tradition followed by most in our society. One other role food can serve in an adult is a method of expressing both creativity and artistic skill. Cooking can be viewed as a form of art due to a massive number of ways foods can be prepared or combined. Foods exhibit a large of colors, can be plated or decorated beautifully, and baked goods can even be shaped in unique ways. For example, at the world famous Boudin Bakery in San Francisco, bakers demonstrate their artistic skills by molding sourdough bread dough into the shapes of animals (such as turtles and lobsters) and baking them. Another example includes a pastry chef decorating a birthday cake by adding and shaping the frosting at certain areas of the cake to look like flowers. In my life, food serves a large number of roles with one of the biggest being the fact that it identifies both my family heritage and culture. My grandparents emigrated from Eastern Europe and the Balkan region (specifically Belorussia and Serbia) and brought along with them their knowledge of the various food delicacies that are specific to their cultures. For example, my grandmother from Serbia regularly prepares and cooks traditional Serbian foods such as pita (hand-rolled dough with cheese and meat), stuffed peppers, and sarma (boiled cabbage stuffed with ground beef and rice). In fact, whenever I go back home, she always makes these foods for me to enjoy; even though it takes a lot of time to prepare them. Overall, these specific foods remind me of home, my childhood, and represent my cultural contribution and background to the diversity of our society. In my life, food also serves as a method of celebration and a reward for reaching special milestones or achieving goals. For example, when I received an acceptance letter from the Skaggs School of Pharmacy at the University of Colorado, I enjoyed a fabulous steak dinner with my family and indulged on an enormous slice of chocolate cake. I always watch what I eat and try to make healthy choices, but that day was an exception because I accomplished a major personal goal. As you can see, food serves more than just a physiological and nutritional purpose. It has roles in portraying our personal religious beliefs, culture, family backgrounds, societal traditions, bonds with others, and unique personal skills. Food can even have a psychological role in people and serve as a coping mechanism in times of great stress. While this list or possible roles is rather lengthy, it is tiny compared the possible number of roles food can have to an individual throughout their lives; especially when considering the many different stages of life. Although there may be some role overlap, the role food plays in the life of a child could be different than in another stage of life (such as adolescence and adulthood). With that in mind, the next time you are in a restaurant or eating centre, take some time to observe what people of all ages are eating and how they are acting. You will see first-hand the importance and significance of food beyond the scope of nutrition and physiology in our way of life. Works Cited: Brown, Judith E. Nutrition Basics. Nutrition Through the Life Cycle. 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, CENGAGE Learning, 2011. 2-3. Print.

Molecular Gastronomy During Cooking Media Essay

Molecular Gastronomy During Cooking Media Essay The art of cooking is as old as humanity and cooking is such an important part of our world which obviously needs scientific attention. Although science has contributed to food safety, hygiene and nutritional aspects, little has been done towards innovation and invention of new dishes. The ancient Greek words, gastro means stomach and nomos means law, collectively termed as gastronomy, which in contemporary hospitality industry means food and culture. It generally refers to the study of relationship between food and culture with interdisciplinary approaches. This literature attempts to explain molecular gastronomy, its origin and evolution, along with its relevance and contributions to the contemporary hospitality industry. Cooking and gastronomy Even though molecular gastronomy has attracted media attention for quite a while, still there is confusion about the true meaning of the term. To explain this, cooking and gastronomy has to be distinguished first. Cooking is the preparation of raw food into edible, whereas gastronomy is the knowledge of whatever concerns mans nourishment. Gastronomy is about chemical and physical transformation behind the preparation of any food, for example, the reason behind egg white puffs up when whipped or mayonnaise becomes firm. (This, 2006). According to HerveThis, the science of food is not new but dates back to second century BC, when preparation of meat stock-the aqueous solution obtained by thermal processing of animal tissues in water-has been of great interest. Since then, scientists have been interested in food and cooking which gave way to molecular gastronomy. If culinary history is scrutinised, it will be clear that, initially food experts studied the culinary science to steer clear of blind assumptions and unscientific ways of cooking. But today, the science of food has reached its extreme in the form of molecular gastronomy, which chemically examines the food and cooking in its molecular level to give a new face for cooking and change the total concept of commercial cooking in near future. Molecular gastronomy The scientific discipline dedicated to culinary industry and to gastronomical phenomena in general has been called molecular gastronomy the late Nicholas Kurti and HerveThis (This, 2005). Molecular gastronomy can also be defined as a field that attempts to improve the culinary techniques through understanding the composition and chemical transformations occurring in food during the process of cooking (Ankeny, Year Unknown). Gastronomy or molecular gastronomy is the science just like any other science in the world, which studies the cause and effect of anything that happens during cooking including the structural difference in same cooking ingredients of different quality, which have an effect on the final product. If we can answer the question, we can correct a mistake, use this knowledge to improve the cooking process or even invent new dishes or ways to prepare food. For example, if we know that when an egg is cooked, water evaporates, the proteins denature and polymerize to enclos e water, we can even use substitute methods to cook it, like adding alcohol to it, which denature the egg proteins and gives the same result. Molecular gastronomy also deals with the study of human senses and perception of taste, aroma, texture and temperature, in short, the sensory science known as chemesthesis (berham et. al, 2010). It studies the perception of senses in molecular level in order to understand how different dishes are perceived as awful, average, good or delicious, when they are made of similar ingredients. Although chemesthesis of human beings are the same, people of different genre appreciates different types of food. For example westerners cooking style is entirely different from Asians, and while Asians appreciate spicy food, most westerners do not. At a glance, molecular gastronomy can be described as applying the techniques of food scientists to fine dining drying, liquefying, gassing, freezing and generally transforming ingredients into surprising new forms and textures while maintaining the flavours. Early converts include French two-star chef Pierre Gagnaire, who added scallops with liquorice milk to his menu in 1991 (Hill. B, 2009). Aim of molecular gastronomy Being the science of cooking, molecular gastronomy has a few aims in the field of domestic and commercial cooking. It endeavours to remodel and scrutinise existing recipes, introduce new tools, products and methods, invent new dishes from the acquiring knowledge and use the appeal of food to promote food science (This, 2006). Before analysing the aims, a significant question is that, who is actually interested in molecular gastronomy? Is it the chefs who are interested in chemical and physical science of food or scientists who are interested in food and cooking? Answer could go both the ways. Chefs are always interested in innovation in culinary art, which obviously needed scientific help to explain the reasons for transformation that occur in the cooking process. For remodelling a recipe or innovating a new dish they had to understand what actually happens to any food when it undergoes different forms of cooking. For this reason they needed scientific help to explain the reasons behind any cooking process or transformation. But at the same time, scientists are interested in the scientific aspects of food rather than innovation and remodelling recipes. Hence, molecular gastronomy can be said to be teamwork of food science and cooking or in other words, chefs and scientists. However, chefs made use of scie ntific explanation of cooking processes which resulted in innovation in food industry or more apparently molecular gastronomy. But today, with worldwide recognition of molecular gastronomy, it has evolved as a collaboration of chefs, scientists, companies in food industry and culinary schools. In addition, efforts are being made to incorporate the new science into culinary schools to impart knowledge of molecular gastronomy into upcoming industry professionals to provide a new visage to the food and beverage industry. Continuing with the aims of molecular gastronomy, remodelling and scrutinising the existing recipes is one of the primary attempts, initially by educating the professionals about the chances of scientific approach to cooking art. Complex disperse systems formalism (This, 2006) was introduced to describe the microscopic structure of preparations with different phases, to help in this attempt. Consequently, many of the existing recipes has been modernized or modified to correct the mistakes, attain a better product and to better favour the palate of the customer. Educational efforts are equally important to standardise these remodelled recipes to achieve consistency. For this reason, several programmes were introduced in culinary schools internationally. In 2001, the experimental workshop on flavour was created in French schools. Universities in various countries, such as the Netherlands, Denmark and Argentina have set up professorships in this discipline. Since then, Canada and France have introduced new syllabus for culinary schools to include knowledge obtained from molecular gastronomy. In 2005, the Institute for Advanced Studies on Flavour, Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts was created in Reims, France, to promote gastronomy knowledge, including molecular gastronomy. New or remodelled recipes to a great extent involve new cooking techniques which need new systems and tools. So, quite obviously, molecular gastronomy is introducing or giving way to new cooking tools and techniques, taking the art of cooking into another level. In terms of new products, with the help of molecular gastronomy, it is now possible to customise the food to the need of different people with different diet requirements, without restricting the taste and palatability of their meals. For example, now a day, caviar can be artificially made (in fact something looks and tastes like caviar) from fruits and chemicals. Similarly, using the secret of food chemistry, different ingredients can be used to make several dishes which look, smells and tastes like original dishes, which have no ingredients of the original dish. Even though the dishes tastes and feel like original, the ingredients can be different, thus giving us an opportunity to try different dishes with in the diet restr ictions or in other words, altering an unhealthy food into healthy one without altering the original taste of the same. Health programmes that promote a balanced diet cannot succeed if people are unable to make intelligent choices about food. Traditional cooking is not a guarantee either for healthy food or for a rational preparation of food. This is where the scientific programme of molecular gastronomy can be useful. Science is the basis for new technology and innovation and it is not different in gastronomy. The achievements of science in the field of gastronomy have won a definite recognition worldwide. However, for chefs, and hopefully scientists as well, the main aim is to surprise and delight their guests with exciting, tasty and healthy food. Molecular gastronomy in contemporary hospitality industry With the development of tourism industry, the science of domestic and commercial cooking has moved from the hands of a few key players to the dominion of serious scientific venture. In the context of serious competition, every element in the food service industry is striving to adopt innovation and novelty using technology, to which molecular gastronomy has given a new face of distinctiveness. The cooking chemistry or molecular cuisine has helped the modern restaurants to a great extend to enhance cooking speed, service speed and very obviously the food quality along with the ability to keep the food fresh. A few techniques in molecular gastronomy Colloids Colloid is a chemical substance dispersed in molecular level evenly throughout one another. The particles of the dispersed substance are only suspended in the blend, unlike in a solution in which they are totally dissolved. This takes place because the elements in a colloid are larger than in a liquid. The colloidal system is used for making different types of foam, solid gel, emulsion and solid emulsion. Lecithin (Lecite) Lecithin is phospholipids extracted from soybean, partially water-soluble, and an emulsifier that helps fat and water stay together. For that reason, it is often added to chocolate, cheese, margarine, and salad dressing. It has health benefits, such as reducing cholesterol intensity. It is often added to flavoured liquids and then mixed to generate foams that are topped onto dishes to offer added appearance and texture. Maltodextrin powder Maltodextrin is a complex carbohydrate consisting of dextrose (glucose), maltose, maltotriose and higher polysaccharides. Maltodextrin is used in a wide variety of products, extending from bodybuilders, animal trainers (horses and greyhounds) to pharmaceutical manufacturers. Tapioca maltrodextrin is a popular product used to make powdered oil and fat products such as white truffle powder, and olive oil powder. Guar Gum Guar is a white free flowing powder, completely soluble in hot or cold water to form a tasteless, odourless, non-toxic solution. Guar gum powder has five to eight times the coagulating power of starch. It is mainly used as a binding agent, mixtures, thickener, and emulsifier in food products, such as cheese spreads, ice cream and other frozen desserts. Methylcellulose This forms a gel when heated, and melts into liquid when it cools. This is similar to gelatine. This quality can improve a food if it undergoes heating in its preparation and requires stability at cooking temperature (for example: preventing a sauce from thinning out). It is used as a binding agent for foods that need to keep their parts collectively. Products such as pasta, vegetable burgers, onion rings, and potato products are improved by its combining strength. This is due to its cohesive nature at low temperatures and the structural integrity at higher temperatures. Implementation and provision of MG in hospitality industry Molecular gastronomy principles, practices and provisions items have captured the intellect of both the chefs and their customers worldwide. Although initially intended to cater for the high purpose of the gourmet market, molecular gastronomy has been welcomed in assorted areas of the hospitality industry. Useful dining restaurants, cafà ©s and bistros, avail venues, specialist bars, prestigious and mainstream hotels; and all the more establishments that specialise in pastry and desserts are incorporating this style of cuisine to assorted degrees into their operations. As any other fields, molecular gastronomy also attracted much criticism from food writers and chefs around the world. Many established chefs did not accept molecular gastronomy as scientific gastronomic phenomena but labelled it as temporary style of cuisine (Hill, 2009). But in the context of Australian hospitality industry, hampering of successful insertion of molecular gastronomy was a lack of firsthand experience and training, which was recognized both by industry as well as the government. Another barrier facing the Australian industry is the inadequate supply and high prices for specialist food chemicals and equipments to incorporate various techniques of molecular gastronomy. The distribution of these chemicals and equipments are limited to a few suppliers and shops. Even though this is the case, Hill had identified a few restaurants in Victoria such as Fenix, Interlude and Vue de monde that offer limited molecular gastronomic techniques throughout their menus. Competition There is no doubt that hospitality industry is facing increasing competition than ever before. To withstand this pressure of competition, chefs should be able to remain innovative and attract new as well as existing customers by satisfying their demandingly increasing sophisticated expectations. In fact people are always looking for new and unique experiences. As a result of this, in recent years there has been a great emphasis on innovation, creativity and importance of innovation competency. In response, many chefs has accepted the concept of molecular gastronomy and working on it to achieve greater innovative competency and occupational competency. In his model of innovative culinary competency, Lei Hu (2010) has positioned molecular gastronomy among new technologies that helps innovation, where other factors being creativity, culture, aesthetics, product, service and management. This underpins the fact that molecular gastronomy is a scientific gastronomic phenomenon as mentioned earlier in this literature, than a temporary style of cooking. In the age of technology dominating every aspect of human life, molecular gastronomy is the new cooking technique dominating mans nourishment. Culinary tourism Culinary tourism is a relatively new industry came into being in 2003. It can be described as a subset of tourism, where tourists also consider the enjoyment of interesting and traditional or novel and innovative food and drink, while people travel. This subset of tourism promotes every gastronomic experience, with every tourist pursuit for unique and memorable eating and drinking experience. Tourists always tend to consider the local cuisine of destination or at least consider the available cuisines, as dining out is one of the top most tourist activities and nearly 100% of tourists eat out when they travel. This trend gives a huge opportunity to restaurants use molecular gastronomy to innovate and attract their patrons. Molecular gastronomy in many parts of the world has revolutionized restaurant dining experience and at the same time, led to new enjoyment and appreciation of food. A few examples include EI Bulli in Spain and the Fat Duck in the United Kingdom (Barham et. al. 2010) , two restaurants that since adopting a new scientific approach to cooking have become widely regarded as among the best restaurants in the world. This is noticeable evidence of people accepting or influenced by the new cooking science or molecular gastronomy. When we look into the tourists trends, the opportunity for success of molecular gastronomy is apparently huge. 27 million leisure travellers have participated in culinary related travel in the last 3 years in the US, while spending $12 Billion directly on culinary related activities (Schmantowsky, year unknown). The actual market segment includes more affluent people, who are highly motivated to experience unique and memorable dining experience. Studies prove that on an average, one third of total travel budget goes towards food related activities. The top six culinary tourist destinations include California (14%), Florida (10%), New York (7%), Texas (6%), North Carolina (4%) and Georgia (4%) (Schmantowsky, year unknown). Molecular gastronomy could be a catalyst to culinary tourism which has a great potential to increase tourism generated revenue and the strategic partnership of culinary schools, hospitality organisations, chefs and scientists is the key to success of it. SWOT analysis Strengths Demand: From the time restaurants started utilizing molecular gastronomy for developing new dishes, public has widely accepted the uniqueness and newness of the experience. From the chefs point of view, MG is a tool for innovation in the field to attract their customers and stay in business. Without thinking about any downsides of the technique, thus the public as well as the industry has widely accepted molecular gastronomy, while expecting and demanding more from it. This increasing demand has made or will make molecular gastronomy much popular worldwide. Hospitality industrys enthusiasm to change: from the very early time, hospitality industry is changing every now and then, because of changing trends and tastes of customers, increasing competition, technology adoptation, and varying needs of customers. In fact this is the ever dynamic industry when compared to any other industries. This enthusiasm or eagerness of hospitality industry in general provides a great opportunity to make use of molecular gastronomy in its operations and a catalyst for further changes. Thus the science of food has got great support from the hospitality industry. As technology is easily imitated now days, due to globalisation, molecular gastronomy techniques could be easily learned by enthusiast chefs around the world. Supply of raw materials: due to the increasing demand for molecular gastronomy, the demand for the ingredients also has raised especially various thickeners, stabilizers and emulsifiers. Since the success of restaurants like EI Bulli and the fat duck, in 2005-06, this demand has further elevated. The supply of these ingredients is only available in large quantities to the food industry, restricting the use of these chemicals by untrained or unprofessional people, which is on a safer side (lersch, 2007). In Australia Suppliers has positive prospects to add value and expand their product range and services to the industry. Ingredients for molecular gastronomy Weaknesses Molecular gastronomy is still gaining popularity, and the knowledge and experience of it are limited in most parts of the world within the industry and culinary training providers. It will take fair amount of time to spread throughout the industry and will take further long period for standardisation of new recipes. Also there is limited accessibility to special ingredients and equipments such as smoking machine, blow torch and gastro vac which are much needed for cooking techniques, which is a constraint for this field at the moment. Due to the scarcity and limited accessibility, most countries working on molecular gastronomy are relying on imported goods and equipments which resulted in increased costs for the same. As most countries are relying on French and Spanish resources, where molecular gastronomy originated from, there is a limitation in independent research and experiment in the field. This situation is also made worst by the language barriers between these countries. In a ddition, the existing workload in the hospitality industry provides less time to chefs for research and experiment in molecular gastronomy. Also there are limited technical books published in English language making things much more difficult. Opportunities Hill recognizes a few opportunities for molecular gastronomy in the Australian hospitality industry, which is more or less similar to many other countries. Countries with limited access to the resources could gain knowledge and skills from internationally recognised expert chefs and broaden their set of skills by integrating molecular gastronomy into the existing culinary programmes. Apart from this professional networks should be promoted with increasing research and experiments in the field. Acquiring knowledge should be transferred to culinary students and the industry professionals to develop a culture with strong gastronomic foundation. Threats When focusing on threats to molecular gastronomy, the major barriers hindering the growth are once again the increased costs of commodities and equipments due to increased demand and supply issues. Another threat is the changing trends and demand of todays customers which may lead to decreasing popularity and in turn lead to less interest among chefs and decreased need for training in this area. It is contradictory to say that customers has widely accepted and are demanding for molecular gastronomy but at the same time changing customer behaviour can hinder the growth of molecular gastronomy. This is because the popular trend created by new dishes evolved from molecular gastronomy has been widely accepted by the public due to its newness and unique nature. But once it is popular and widely available everywhere, it is not any more new or unique. Moreover, people who have tried the molecular style of cuisine may not go for it every time, but stick back to their favourite recipes, unless molecular gastronomy can create captivating recipes every now and then. However, these reasons are not at all a barrier for the growth of this particular discipline till it gains its popularity around the world. There is another aspect of molecular gastronomy which is not emphasised in any of the studies: that is about the health. Most of the chemicals which are directly harmless to human body often have side effects. So, the intense use of chemicals in the cooking process should be of great concern. For example, most of the allopathic medicines which cures disease, mostly have foreseen negative side effects causing ill health. Just like that extreme use of various chemicals in molecular gastronomy to alter the physical form of foods should be studied in detail before it is commercially popular. More over the technique to change the texture, consistency and taste of food in molecular level could be maltreated in future just like invention of atomic reactions meant for energy are later used to make atom bombs, which is now a threat for human existence. Conclusion Molecular gastronomy is a pathway to innovation in culinary industry for chefs and a wonderful new enjoyment for the customers. Even though this field of science has proved its scientific nature and uniqueness, still there is a second opinion among the chefs in the industry. This may be due to the fact that major role in this respect is limited to the French and Spanish with limited resources available to the rest of the world. Better translation of the resources and international co-operation among the professionals may help to educate everyone working in the industry, thus creating a holistic awareness about this discipline. But at the same time, while molecular gastronomy gives way to unbelievable innovations, there is a need for preserving the old traditional recipes which remain successful without any alterations for years. Molecular gastronomy is a milestone in the culinary industry, taking it into another level, while correcting the old recipes scientifically and inventing new trendy ones. Hospitality being an ever dynamic industry, and with the evolution of culinary tourism, it became essential for entrepreneurs to exhibit innovation and new trends in customer service, which is enhanced by molecular gastronomy to a great extend. Although this is the case, due to limited awareness and popularity among the public, certain areas of molecular gastronomy is still in distrust. Intense use of chemicals to change the physical and chemical properties of food is giving room for scepticism. This calls for a controlling body in each country and globally for close monitoring the work in molecular gastronomy, as there are organisations to control food hygiene and nutrition. This will provide certain norms for experiments and new recipes using the molecular gastronomic technology, before it reaches the public.

Challenges for E-Learners

Challenges for E-Learners Distance learning, sometimes called e-learning is here defined as interactive learning in which the learning content is available online and provides automatic feedback to the students learning activities. Online communication with real people may or may not be included, but the focus of e- learning is usually more on the learning content than on communication between learners and tutors. Distance learning and its relationship to emerging computer technologies have together offered many promises to the field of education. In practice however, the combination often falls short of what it attempts to accomplish. Some of the shortcomings are due to problems with the technology; others have more to do with administration, instructional methods, or students. Despite the problems, many users like technologies such as compressed video and see continued growth in the area. However, distance learning is no such advantage is that it is easy, a person can study without attending classes or lectures, while working or doing some other course. It is also a good alternative for housewives who are not able to enroll into courses because they have to take care of young children, just deal with computers and have their own time to learn and also can communicate with tutors and peers via online such as email, forum and chat. . In distance education courses, you would be provided with study material and also would have to submit assignments on time. These assignments would be assessed by professors who would send you feedback. However, if you are planning to enroll into distance learning, you need to to know about some of the distance learning pros and cons. Like every good thing, even distance learning has some disadvantages that can make it seem a little inconvenient for people. The problem may be due to factors balance between personal and learning problems. If students cannot adapt to the system of distance learning, they will face a different problem. In addition, lack of knowledge and skills about using technology and computers, language skills, especially English language, disorganized way of learning to mix work problems, family and study time. These are some of the distance learning advantages and disadvantages. Before making a decision, it is important to weigh the distance learning pros and cons. Though distance learning can be termed as a useful and convenient way to gain knowledge and to higher ones qualification, whether it would benefit you would entirely depend upon your personality and attitude. Here we will discuss in more detail about the problems faced by online learners and solutions or suggestions can be followed so that any problems that arise can be resolved satisfactorily. So it is important to identify the problem faced by online learners because without this knowledge, maybe the learners will lose their focus and motivation THREE MAIN PROBLEMS FACED BY BEGINNING ONLINE LEARNERS Despite the promises and obvious advantages to distance learning, there are problems that need to be resolved. These problems include balancing the combination of work, family and education, study habits and lack of skills in technology. Each one of these has an effect on the overall quality of distance learning as a product. In many ways, each of these issues relates to the others. This is one of the major problem which will make them think twice before decide to advance their study. The first problem faced by online distance learners is in balancing the combination of work and education. Most of the open and distance learner usually have many commitments and responsibilities that they must attend while doing their educational goals. Many of them are married, work full time and of course have children. If not carried out, all of this can cause the student drop out from their learning. Job responsibility is already intimidating, let alone the family and the learning, so adult learners have limited time to do their study. The task of balancing all of the above responsibility is truly challenging for most of them. The second issue is in acquiring go online distance study habits. The students everyday environment is very distracting for most of the students. Unlike traditional university students who are always in their learning community which supports them most of the time, online distance students are not. Distractions such as friends asking for night supper and wife demanding to go shopping at the mall every weekend are among other distractions faced by students. Acquiring some time in a day to study is quite a hard task to complete. Online distance learners also have a hard time in being independent and responsible to their own self. Most of the time, there is no one around to monitor the students learning process. The openness of the online distance program gives students the freedom to do their learning process whenever they like but most of the time, procrastination is the culprit. Unfocused view of their learning goals also will make the students act irresponsibly towards their learnin g. The third issue is online distance learners also face problems in recognizing and mastering strengths and skills in Information Technology (IT). In online distance learning, technology is the main conduit which information and communication flow. A computer with internet access is usually needed for this process and its application will need the user to master certain level of acquirement. Some of these problems arise from a lack of training, some from the instructors attitudes about using the technology, and still others by hardware problems. It seems to be self evident that instructors need to be trained to use distance learning technology, but too often they are not. The student will also need to have some basic writing skills and go online distance command of English language. Unfortunately, not all of the students possess the above skills. THREE LOGICAL AND PRACTICAL SUGGESTION ON WAY TO REDUCE OR ELIMINATE THE PROBLEMS FACED BY BEGINNING ONLINE LEARNERS Adults students mostly do not have the luxury of attending college on a full time basis because of their work and family obligations. They often experience problems which, if not overcome, can result in the derailing of their educational goals. There are things that they can do though to help overcome the typical problems that arise. The first solution is learners must manage and plan themselves effectively in order to balancing work, family and study. They have to apply smart time management. Avoiding procrastinating a must. They must be more responsible and have a focused view towards learning. They must also learn to improve themselves in areas they are lacking ( such as writing skills, computer skills, note taking skills and English language skills) because not all skills will be taught by the tutor. They need to motivate their own self by setting achievable goals and have a positive attitude. The second solutions are start with less demanding course. There tends to be some challenging courses that must be completed by students, there is rarely a requirement that these should be the first ones studied. Therefore, start with less challenging ones that you find more enjoyable initially so as to build confidence. This assists in getting used to the college atmosphere and the demands of course work again. Furthermore, every student make a study calender to detailing examination dates and assignment due dates on a dedicated calender helps to avoid the rushing of assignments at the last minutes or exam cram sessions. Proper preparation leads to good grades, while inadequate planning results in failure. The third solutions are make sure that internet access is readily available. Study today is dependent on the internet, forum, e-mail and etc as intermediate communication. The ability to access library databases and complete research online is the basis of succeeding. Also, electronic access eliminates the requirement of spending many hours working on campus, you can study from home instead. The practical suggestion on way to reduce problem faced by online learners are problem solving skills. It gives the opportunity to develop other useful learning skills such as like practice specific procedures and put theoretical use when develop reasoning abilities and creativity in finding answers. Other method also like develop learners understanding of underlying principles and make research topic in detail. Resolving a study problem may go through the following stages as like review of information. Define problem, relate available information to the problem with design a work plan and methodology and monitor outcomes. Encourage them to make a strategy for developing their problem solving skills, which could include reviewing their own effectiveness in this area, identifying the main steps of the problem solving process, identifying the criteria against which to judge the standard or quality of outcomes, looking at the problem in different ways, simplifying it, making comparisons with researching information and consulting people to establish critical thinking, choosing and using methods to tackle the problem and taking into account factors that may affect problem solving plans recording information in useful way. CONCLUSION The problem faced by beginning online learners is such as like is in balancing the combination of work and education. Most of the open and distance education students are older, have jobs and families, so they are should know how to manage time properly and which one are the priority. The second issue is in acquiring go online distance study habits. The students everyday environment is very distracting for most of the students. Unlike traditional university students who are always in their learning community which supports them most of the time, online distance students are not, so they must should make a study calender so that proper preparation leads to good grades, while inadequate planning can get failure result. Online distance learners also have a hard time in being independent and responsible to their own self. All the student online learners have to solve all this problem with their own way and also have to take more responsibility on their study. The third issue is problems in recognizing and mastering strengths and skills. They must also learn to improve themselves in areas they are lacking such as writing skills, computer skills, English language skills because not all skills will be taught by tutor. So students should find their own alternatives to enhance the skills. If you know if this entire problem cannot resolve maybe something might happen in the future. For example, online learners maybe will fail with their study or get bad result and waste their money and time to study. As student online learners we should have aim for success in our study. Our goals are for every course participant to succeed, leave the course looking at the surrounding world with the perspective of a scientist, feel confident using science in his or her own learning, and know how to support inquiry-based learning in his or her own classroom. APPENDIX 1 Distance Learning With the history of distance learning encompassing so many different learning environments, we need to find a definition that fits in all situations. There have been many definitions put forward in modern literature. Greenberg (1998) defines contemporary distance learning as a planned teaching/learning experience that uses a wide spectrum of technologies to reach learners at a distance and is designed to encourage learner interaction and certification of learning. Teaster and Blieszner (1999) say the term distance learning has been applied to many instructional methods: however, its primary distinction is that the teacher and the learner are separate in space and possibly time. Desmond Keegan (1995) gives the most thorough definition. He says that distance education and training result from the technological separation of teacher and learner which frees the student from the necessity of traveling to a fixed place, at a fixed time, to meet a fixed person, in order to be trained. From these definitions we can see that the student and teacher are separated by space, but not necessarily by time. This would include compressed video, which is delivered in real time. As stated earlier, this type of live video instruction is the fastest growing means of distance learning today. Because of this, much of the discussion here will be dedicated to the promises and problems of this technology. APPENDIX 2 The Reality of Adult Learners Online I was somewhat concerned about the students and the lack of personal attention they would be receiving through my online course. Since I did not know them, I didnt know their learning styles or cultural differences. Adult learners in particular have different learning styles and cultural backgrounds, and they may feel they are being left out of learning activities (Baloglu, 2007). Thus, distance learning may cause a psychological, as well as a physical, gap (Durrington, Berryhill, Swafford, 2006). Students may feel lonely, and a lack of face-to-face communication and competition can affect their motivation. Barriers for adult learners are categorized as situational, institutional, and dispositional. A persons circumstances in life at any given time are considered potential situational barriers. Different policies and practices may make course participation more difficult are considered institutional barriers. Students attitudes about their own abilities to succeed are considered dispositional barriers. These barriers present additional obstacles for adult learners who attempt to obtain an advanced degree (Spellman, 2007). I found these adult learners, who were teachers, to be motivated and very timely in turning in their assignments and posting on Blackboard. Having them complete assignments that benefited their theses made them even more enthusiastic about completing the work. They all asked questions and sought clarification about things they didnt understand. They also did an excellent job commenting on the other students posts. By the end of the course, I could see a definite improvement in the content of their article evaluations. I think they were learning from one another. The adult learners I taught were clearly self-directed and able to be autonomous. They had life knowledge and were goal-oriented. It seems they wanted to see the relevance and application of their education, were practical, needed respect, needed feedback, and had to be interested in the subject matter (Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, 2000; Henick, 1994). The reasons adult learners obtain a post-secondary degree tend to differ from those of traditional students. Adult learners typically want to advance in an organization. An additional degree also makes them more marketable and competitive in the job market and allows them to change careers (Milheim, 2005).

Celsius :: essays research papers

Hot and Cold Winter is coming to the northern hemisphere, and with it, talk of central heating, gloves and scarves, snowfall, and record low temperatures. Monitoring temperatures is part of our everyday life — whether we're talking about the weather, our bodies, central heating, or cooking. In the United States, we typically measure temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. But in other countries, such as England, you'll get the weather forecast in degrees Celsius. Recipes will advise you to bake a pie at 205Â ºC and not 400Â ºF. In fact, the Celsius scale is the most commonly used temperature scale in the world. This week, we have special cause to wonder about the history of this scale, because November 27 is the 300th anniversary of the birthday of the man who invented it. Anders Celsius was born in Sweden in 1701. His parents didn't know that their son's work would one day make their family name an everyday word used by millions of people around the world. Meet Professor Celsius The world Anders lived in was very different than the world we know. Much of the knowledge that we now take for granted — such as the motion of Earth with respect to the Sun and planets — was only beginning to be understood then. In Europe, radical and brilliant scientists, such as Galileo and Sir Isaac Newton, had been developing new and revolutionary ways of understanding the workings of the world and the universe. The era was known as "the Enlightenment," and it was a good time for someone of Anders's ability to be working in the field of science. Anders's talent came from his family of academics: one of his grandfathers was a mathematician and the other an astronomer, and his father, Nils, was a professor of astronomy. As a child, Anders showed a natural flair for mathematics, but he developed a keen interest in astronomy and became a professor at the age of 29. So, how did a clever astronomer come to develop a temperature scale? The answer lies with the weather. When making observations of the night sky, Anders monitored the weather conditions, including the temperature. At the time there were a lot of different kinds of thermometers with different scales — by the time Anders started working on the problem of temperature measurement, around 35 different scales existed. (Compare this number with today, when three main scales are in use — Celsius, Fahrenheit, and Kelvin.

Mutations of the Superoxide Dismutase Gene are Associated with Amyotrop

Recent studies have provided some insight for the possible causes of the familial type of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS). This disease occurs only in 10% of the known cases of ALS with the sporadic, non-hereditary form being predominant [7, 9]. ALS in general has an occurrence of 0.4 to 1.8 per 100,000 live births [1]. ALS has been called Lou Gehrig’s disease, Charcot’s disease and motor neuron disease in other literature [4]. ALS is a neurodegenerative disease of upper and lower motor neurons that can manifest in such a way that it can be misdiagnosed. Such areas include respiratory muscles with initial diagnosis of asthma, or even psychological problems that appear as a dementia [7]. The primary manifestations are not restricted to any certain area of the body. FALS is inherited autosomally as a dominant trait [9,12,13,17]. It exhibits heterogeneity and may not be present in a consecutive generation [1]. It is diagnosed usually near the age of fifty and ranges f rom 20-72 years [9,17]. Most patients are given a prognosis of 5 years of life after diagnosis [5]. It has also been proposed that the juvenile form may be recessive. There is a predominance of maternal transmission in later onset and paternal transmission in early onset [9]. The bulk of this paper will deal with the SOD1 gene mutations as the proposed cause for some types of FALS. Many other hypothesis have been developed and will be briefly addressed at this point. Autoimmune disease and mutations in the glutamate receptor are other proposed causes. Autoimmune disease has been studied as a possible agent for the cause of FALS [6]. Supportive evidence includes the deficiency of IgG1 or IgG3 or both in 16/25 observed patients; subclass deficiency could... .... 12. Maurelli, M., Marchioni, E. Familial adult amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: report of cases. Ital. J. Neurol. Sci., 1992, 13:75-79. 13. Mulder, D. W., Kurland, L. T. Familial adult motor neuron disease: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neurology, Apr 1986, 36:511-517. 14. Norris, F. H.., Burns, W. Spinal fluid cells and protein in Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Arch. Neurol., May 1993, 50:489-491. 15. Ostermeyer-Shoaib, B. IgG subclass deficiency in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Acta Neurol. Scand., 1993, 87:192-194. 16. Rosen, O. R,, Siddiquem T. Mutations in Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase gene are associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Nature, 4Mar 1993, 362:59-62. 17. Strong, M. J., Hudson, A. J. Familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, 1850-1989: A statistical analysis of the world literature. Can. J. Neural. Sci., 1991, 18: 45-58.

Understanding Zapatista Longevity :: Mexico Economics Politics Zapatista Essays

Understanding Zapatista Longevity When Mexican President Vincente Fox rode into office on a wave of popular support in 2000, he inherited the Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas. In 1994, the largely indigenous Zapatista movement began a military campaign to protest economic and political disenfranchisement. Vincente Fox claimed that he could solve the Zapatista uprising in â€Å"15 minutes.† Like his predecessor, he has failed to solve the problem. How did the Zapatistas achieve such longevity in the confines of the â€Å"perfect dictatorship?† When Mexico entered the international economy, it opened itself to global scrutiny. Mexico’s trading partners have kept an eye on Mexico’s human rights record. Mexico simply could not crush the Zapatista rebellion with an iron fist: â€Å"Mexicans and the international community will not accept a genocidal war in Chiapas† (Collier 167). Furthermore, global connections empowered Mexican human rights organizations to exert more leverage on the Mexican government to moderate their repression. The Zapatistas were particularly adept at using the internet to voice their demands and to protest the excesses of the Mexican government. The Mexican government also faced legal restraints which prevented an all-out war on the Zapatistas. After the uprising 1994 and the government counter-attack in 1995, the federal congress passed a law for dialogue in 1995. This foreclosed the option of a unilateral show of force by the Mexican army in areas under Zapatista control. The jungles of Chiapas also made a complete military victory improbable. The government changed its tactics to end the rebellion, resorting to low intensity war. Paramilitaries with differing levels of tacit and explicit support terrorized Zapatistas and their sympathizers. The killings in Acteal in 1997 that claimed the lives of 45 innocent people remains a particularly gruesome example of paramilitary massacres. Most importantly, the Mexican government lots the war of ideas. Though the Mexican government maintained a virtual monopoly of the press, Marcos and the Zapatistsas managed to diffuse their ideas and goals across the country. Though many did not support their violent tactics, the Zapatistas brought attention to the â€Å"plight of those at the losing end of Mexico’s economic globalization, particularly the indigenous groups who were losing both their livehood and their hopes for self-determination† (155). Marcos’ articulate and incisive letters put the government on the â€Å"moral defense† (168). Despite the government’s efforts, support for the Zapatistas increased. The government believed it had scored a victory when it revealed in 1994 that Sub-commandante Marcos was in fact a non-indiginours former philosophy student.

The Lost Generation

Both Remarque’s â€Å"All Quiet on the Western Front† and Hemingway’s â€Å"The Sun Also Rises† relate to the theme of hopelessness during the lost generation. Remarque’s story is set during the war from a younger German soldier, Paul, through him the suffering and difficulties are presented as fruitless and with out a main goal to look forward to when they return home. Throughout the military travels of the younger soldiers like Paul, Remarque’s view on wars disadvantages on people are clearly stated through the eyes of Paul. Towards the end of his life, he grows happy to die and is glad to pass away from all the pain emotionally and physically he and his comrades had to endure during the battle. Carrying on through the book is the sense of empty hopelessness that nothing will become good and there is nothing to look forward to after their arrival home. On the other side, Hemingway’s older veteran characters, Jake and Brett, play the role of two empty people who are looking for direction in life after the devastating war. Jake however becomes a redeemable character through his journey to overcome his psychological and physical damage from the war and gains sympathy. However Brett does not earn any more respect or accomplishes any growth in overcoming her war wounds. This takes its own path in the end when Jake moves on from Brett’s taunting attitudes and starts to gain his balance in life again. Hemingway’s hopelessness is conveyed more positively than Remarque’s critical outlook on war. Throughout both book the characters struggle with their emotional difficulties to stay attuned to their prewar lives and struggle with hope for the future. However Hemingway takes the path of a more positive ending while Remarque creates a happy doom for his brave, suffering characters. There are many parallels between the characters in each book enough though the themes and perspectives are entirely different. The main point serves the same purpose, whereas the lost generation was hopeless unless they rarely saw a glimpse of the future after recovery. The tone of the overall book has an almost empty and predictable attitude about it, the men have no hope for themselves, and they do not convey a sense of need to get home or to survive but merely to continue to take orders until the end. The hopelessness conveyed by the characters in â€Å"All Quiet on the Western Front† is the kind of hopelessness when you know you cannot personally change the outcome of your fate knowing the future results in death. Most of the reality of the brutal war is exposed through battles or bluntly stated by another distraught soldier. A sense of urgency is not present when knowing that at any moment a comrade could be returning with â€Å"screams of intolerable pain. [Knowing] every day that he can live will be howling [with] torture† (72). The lack of urgency communicates that death is a causal event during war and the witnesses are used to the terrible sight of mangled or dead bodies. Some even accept that they will one day become like those they see in pain and fear life over death. â€Å"Every face can be read† on the appearance of each soldier who knows they are subject to the â€Å"embrace† of â€Å"the front† (53). Faces can easily be read because the same fate awaits all the soldiers, death and no hope. The characters see no future and are trudging along in an empty cycle. The circle is completed with unfilled desires to keep living when the discovery of Paul with â€Å"his face [of calm expression] as though almost glad the end had come† establishes that he was happy to leave pain, suffering and damaged forthcoming opportunities to a peaceful afterlife (296). The lost generation shared a â€Å"common fate [which] ruined [them] for everything† upcoming in the future to better their lives such as a family or a job offer as mentioned by various characters but created disappointment at the realization their dreams would not come true. This contributed to the plummeting feelings the lost generation carried with them. Hemingway disguises his characters want for redemption and amount of hopelessness they feel. The book has a more up beat consistency than â€Å"All Quiet on the Western Front† and more is said in what the Jake is not saying than what he and Brett bluntly state. Brett cannot be with Jake because she would â€Å"tromper† or commit adultery since Jake cannot satisfy her needs sexually (62). Instead Jake secretively takes a prostitute out to dinner but ends up dumping her on his friends while he leaves with Brett. Jake did not sleep with the prostitute, Georgette, because he felt ashamed and helpless about his physical injury from the war. He does not feel man enough to sleep with a prostitute, he feels discouraged about his future plans and ability to gain happiness as part of the lost generation. To fill the void opened from war, Jake, Brett and their comrades drink to escape their persisting troubles and pains. Jake has a miserable life and to make it better he finds it easier to get drunk and not fix his problems. â€Å" ‘Don’t get drunk, Jake,’ she [Brett] said. ‘You don’t have to. ’†¦ ‘Don’t,’ she said. You’ll be alright. ’† Brett reassures Jake (245). The pain and emptiness ceases with alcohol and distracts from the wars wounds. Contrasting to Paul and the other lost generation soldiers in â€Å"All Quiet on the Western Front†, Jake proves he is able to redeem himself and looks to the future. Ja ke uses religion as a parallel to his emotional stability. When starting out Jake was not religious and just went through the movements of going to church and â€Å"being a good Catholic†, however as he progresses he finds that he should care more about religion and has a want to be more involved. The parallel of him wanting to be more involved is when he breaks away from Brett and starts off new; and for the first time believes in his future after he returned from the war. Jake’s break through occurred when he â€Å"stoop up, gripped with [his] toes on the edge of the raft as it tipped with [his] weight, and dove cleanly and deeply, to come up through the lightening water, blew the salt water out of [his] head, and swam slowly and steadily to shore† (242). As Jake comes out of the water, he symbolizes a baptism and the rebirth of himself into a more understanding and less negative man. Along with becoming less frightened of the future Jake was able to let go of Brett and her ability to draw men in. He finally cleansed himself of her and his past troubles and looks to days ahead. Rarely does Jake interact with a genuine character, more often does he associates with deceptive, greedy, manipulative or mean people of the lost generation. The main character that is sympathetic is Jake, he battles the most with his physical injury and because of that, Brett puts him through emotional misery. Even as Brett â€Å"kissed [Jake he] could tell she was thinking of something else† and finally understood that she just used him for her own personal benefit (245). After his â€Å"baptism† Jake was close to moving on from Brett and almost did until she pulled him back in again. The fact that Brett is thinking about someone else is the last straw for Jake and he is done with her. From this kiss on, Jake is cold and a little immature towards Brett. This signifies his final connection with her emotionally and he takes steps to begin a new life. Brett consciously talks bout her other men with Jake while she knows how he feels about her. She almost flaunts them in front of Jake by complimenting them saying â€Å"he’s my sort of thing† (247). Brett is attracted to the bad boys who show her attention but aren’t controlling. She disregards Jake as a candidate for her commitment and love since he cannot satisfy her sexually; she only uses him emotionally t hen ditches him when a better offer comes along. She is aware she cannot be with him and it hurts him to see her go off with men, however she does nothing to change this. She even goes as far as to bring the men over to Jake’s place to have a drink. Because of her blatant disrespect for anyone but herself she is not a redeemable character and no sympathy is given to her. Jake is the only character that deserves sympathy while Brett does not even deserve respect from Jake. Similar to sympathy, Jake becomes a redeemable character towards the end of his journey with Brett after the war. He clearly stands opposed to Brett who is neither sympathetic nor redeemable. During Jake’s baptism and revelation, he proves to want to redeem himself, if not to others at least to himself. He is aware that he is not the most religious man but tries to convince himself otherwise to morally feel better. Jake is Catholic and by the end of the book becomes more religious and understands the meaning of religion rather than just going through the motions at church. He values the importance of God when Brett states she does not really care for him or religion since it’s a waste of her time. Jake at least holds on to that the whole book and increases his religious activities and symbolism towards the end. Not only does Jake morally and mentally redeem himself but he also redeems his time wasted on Brett. One of their last interactions Jake unmistakably communicates his annoyance and irritation with Brett, â€Å" ‘You like to eat, don’t you? ’ she said. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I like to do a lot of things. ’ â€Å" (250). Jake becomes fed up with Brett’s constant lack of acknowledgement that he is always there for her and not some one to use when her love life is not thriving. He grows tired of constant games and realizes there is nothing left for them together. After more small talk is exchanged between the two, Jake is ready to let her go for good and finally gains enough confidence that everything will be okay with out Brett. Brett tries to make herself sound more appealing to Jake by explaining, â€Å"it makes one feel rather good deciding not to be a bitch† (249). Other than making the decision to not be a bitch, Brett makes no other attempt to redeem herself or acknowledge that she played with Jake’s feelings and ruined part of his life for holding on to him for such a long time. She cannot get over her self absorption to realize she messes with men for her own benefit whether it be money or sex, and doesn’t care who she hurts along the way, mainly Jake. There is no evidence that she is a redeemable, sympathetic or a caring character. Although she has issues because she, too, is considered the lost generation, that does not give her the right to act above everyone else and hurt Jake. Jake also traumatized by the war does not use women to make Brett jealous or ever hurts her. He is always there when he is needed to support her dramatic lifestyle. Brett has no compassion for anyone but herself therefore making her unredeemable and Jake redeemable. Although each stories have their differences in almost all aspects there is one overall main point: the lost generation was hopeless and it was a difficult time for those people. Each book expresses the same bigger picture but is differently executed. Jake’s tone which represents the overall feel of the book communicates the idea of a ghostly and missing man looking for a happier path in life to escape his sadness and pain. He rarely finds little pleasures and mostly describes scenes as dark or dark imagery, only a few times is light mentioned when redemption or renewal of a character is occurring. Paul’s description of the war gives off a more pessimistic tone as he always comes back to the idea that the lost generation has nothing to return to at home. However he finds simple pleasures more enjoyable and tries to make the most of them. Both characters portray a sense of despair and loss of direction in life but differently executed. Hemingway chooses to exhibit his characters as striving to change their lives while Remarque’s turns negatively towards death and meaninglessness. Hemingway does not refer to the war but instead barely mentions it or Jake will see military like actions between people symbolizing the war and the lost generation. The fact that Hemingway does not mention the war, yet the book is about war, further proves that in Hemingway’s writing, what is not being said is more important. The tone is important to both novels to relay the same message but entirely different outcomes and themes. The lost generation was a sad hopeless group of veterans who, if not killed, had to aimlessly go through life feeling like there was no purpose or they didn’t belong. Hemingway and Remarque’s classic novels illustrate the hard times during and after the war and the many similarities that are present.

Studies in Professionalism in Education & Training

I am shortly employed in the post 16 gentility welkin as a tutor on the en discipline to eng yearsment plat degree (e2e). The e2e computer plan is k flating to be flexible and some consistence, with the baffle of equipping spring chicken wad with the necessary skills to become fencesitter self-importance-motivated informed and em agencyed to get hold of run into of their proclaim lives. Learners work towards realistic b bely ch whollyenging targets that lead to progression onto suited training or employment opportunities. in that respect ar 3 basic strands to the e2e programme basic and key skills (literacy, numeracy, communication etc) private and social b make waterment and vocational catchment.The programme is tailored to suit the individual need honor able-bodiedy of a pattern of preadolescent multitude who argon deem upd on it. altogether hit the booksers ar aged between 16 and 18 years and argon non recrudesceicipating in any form of post 16 a cquisition, or in any form of employment. The programme itself is not cleverness driven. tied(p), opportunities for the exercisement of certificates are functional through f each out the rush. There is no tick snip limit for the e2e programme ensuring that learners raise work at a footstep suited to their skills, inescapably and circumstances learners corporation sp land up as little or as spacious (within reason) on the programme in monastic sanctify to successfully achieve their goals.The strand I teach is vocational increment. This incorporates training sessions some(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) as CV building interview techniques fartherm out hard-hitting and sustaining employment. nurture is individualised, thus witnessing the inevitably across a range of age and ability. Professionalism to me is exceeding the standards as set by various g e very(prenominal) rehearsenment offices and ensuring that the attend to three-year-old p eople admittance at my giving medication is a select unrivaled. Further fosterage has received its share of criticism over the last century and this has been glittered in the salaries of the tutors in this sector as opposed to those in the compulsory education sector.To me cosmos a lord is about(predicate) placement, behaviour, self introduction and having a commitment to proceeds. How we conduct ourselves in our fictitious characters is paramount to earning the respect and appreciation of our sonny boy workers, managers and then the people accessing the services we offer. The learners that access our service are usu all(prenominal)y humiliated level ( to a lower flummox entry 1) and legion(predicate) wishing motivation to learn. As the National invertebrate foot for disciplineal Research conducted research on vocalismicipants taking dispel in e2e, or so one-third of young people interviewed account negative school bugger offs.These related to problems w ith early(a)(a) students, negative relationships with instructors, lack of movement and the perceived irrelevance of what they were taught. Many had been expelled from school or had excluded themselves. (http//www. nfer. ac. uk/research-areas/pims-data/summaries/eet-entry-to-employment. cfm This gives umteen indication of the difficulties facing tutors in this sector and it is my belief that conducting a programme that reflects school will only mete out to discourage learners from accessing this blood line of instruction.Therefore, although we moldinessiness be captain, we must as intimatelyhead offer something contrary to the broadcast offered in compulsory education. Thus it is all-important(a) to consider Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of basic Human Needs. The main points beingness sensual comfort, safety and shelter, love and belonging, self-esteem tip to self-actualisation. Further education in the UK has seen many another(prenominal) changes during the last 1 0 years. Concerns were raised by the governance that Further tuition was not producing a skilled enough manpower in cablegram with international standards, impacting upon Britains economical viability.Other EU countries were seen to be producing a overmuch higher skilled and proficient workforce. The belief was that a cause of this was a lack of suitably qualified program line mental faculty in FE. This propelled the notion that all learn and training faculty on the theorise(p) in the FE sector should be qualified to the standard set by mainstream schools. It was thought that by doing this, standards of the UK workforce would be raised. In 1999 FENTO (Further breeding National nurture Organisation) was launched. They were responsible for identifying needs within the FE sector.In 2000 FENTO proposed a set of standards, which addressed wider issues of master development and considered a in the raw-made precept qualifications network. These standards consisted of th ree main elements Professional acquaintance and judgement, skills and attri simplyes and key areas of statement. In 2005 Lifelong instruction UK (LLUK) was formed to manage the reform of teacher training. All FE teachers instantly perk up to register with the Institute for Learning (IfL) which is part of LLUK, and monitors training and records sector training needs.Since sign reforms, doctrine standards in FE cede but real and progressed. In exhibit 2006 the White Paper Further Education Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances highlighted further needs to develop a much much highly skilled workforce. It states, This is a huge challenge, because in that respect are some deep-seated and long-standing weaknesses in our national skills. We dupe put in place major reform programmes for 14-19 year olds and adult skills, back by substantial investment.Those reforms are take about real progress. But there is a long way to go to raise skills and qualification levels for young people and adults to world standards (White Paper Further Education Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances, 2006). It overly goes on to say that FE establishments are central to achieving world standards in the UK workforce, but are currently not realising their full potential in being the impulsive force behind skills.The reputation paints a grim picture in terms of skills levels of the UK in comparison to other developed countries, and with the Leitch report highlighting the skills need for 2020, it is hap that reform is necessary for the UK to compete in the global economic market. The economic accusation is at the core of the proposals, with the focus of the FE sector to be equipping young people and adults with the skills and competences that meet the needs of employers. The proposals dictated out in this white paper were implemented in the Further Education and Training Act 2007.Reforms such as the above catch a resound impact on governings such as mine. We withdra w to cover that the governments vision and targets for the future are embraced and taken forward in the most good possible way, thus demanding that we, as FE employees, are professional in all aspects of our work. So how do we as an governing body pick up the commitment and quality of service that is expected by our government? first it is imperative that we cede systems in place that efficaciously transmit information to rung.Accurate and relevant information and communication are bouncy in order to transmit and utilely implement plans that will uphold the governments wishes in regards proposals for FE. My organisation has a quality improvement department which continually monitors the work of the company against standards set out by agencies such as the major power for Standards in Education (ofsted), Qualifications and Curriculum ascendancy (QCA) Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and many more.FE establishments are now subject to inspection by ofsted of which their aim is toinspect and regulate to achieve rightness in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages (www. ofsted. gov. uk). This department is important for the continuation of improvements within educational settings. Although misinterpreted by many as harrowing and nerve-racking, the inspection offset that this agency conducts is the carry of require for which FE providers need to build their provision.Ofsted inspections are knowing to aid improvement in services, raise aspirations and assist in the achievement of higher standards within educational settings. The quality improvement team in my organisation follow the Common Inspection pretenseling as dictated by ofsted. This ensures we are providing the services and meeting the standards set by the government. In order to ascertain that inform staff are in line with this framework, level(p) lesson observations take place by competent staff. By carrying out these observation s, staff are able to use the feedback to continually improve their charge.It is besides expected of instruct staff to self evaluate and reflect upon constantlyy lesson they teach. This is a key part of professionalism within teaching. I will debate in more detail later in this essay the values and richness of reflection. The quality improvement team are alike responsible for official accompaniment use by all staff. These are regularly reviewed and updated and communicated to all staff. This ensures that all staff are using the same documents and helps manufacture seamless dishes that are followed by all.As well as ofsted there are many other agencies that regulate the delivery of FE in the UK. One of these is the QCA. As a provider that delivers qualifications in a variety of subjects the QCA is an important source of information. The QCA maintain and develop the National Curriculum and accredit qualifications to let levels in order to meet the needs of learners, employe rs and the economy. As we deliver accredited qualifications it is of import that we follow the guidelines set out by the QCA to ensure we are teaching the reform knowledge and skills that learners need to achieve the standards set.We overly bugger off to adhere to awarding bodies such as Edexcel and City & Guilds who provide the qualifications which we deliver. As well as organisational procedures and extraneous influences, it is crucially important that we, as teachers assay to continually improve our put on by self reflection. Reflective Practice is a mould of reviewing an experience from make in order to describe, analyse and evaluate and so informs encyclopaedism from practice (Reece and Walker, 2006 p421). This involves using a extract of the models identified during the course of this programme.Donald Schon (1983) identified 2 sub categories of reflection, reflection on action and reflection in action. Reflection in action is often described as thinking on ones feet this is done during the course of action and is one that I reserve had to use many times during the course of my career. Reflection on action occurs afterward the actual action and gives professionals the opportunity to develop theories and create knowledge. Individuals, back up by others, incessantly frame and reframe a problem, test it and reach solutions (Schon, 1983).Another model of wistful practice is one proposed by David Boud. In the introduction to thought Learning from Experience, David Boud et al (1993), present tailfin propositions of experiential acquirement, the first of which is experience is the universe of and the stimulus for cultivation. Learning alship canal relates in one way or another, to what has gone(p) before. There is never a peck slate on which to begin unless new ideas and new experience link to prior experience, they exist as abstractions, isolated and without gist (Boud et al, 1993, p8).Building on previous education and relating new ac complishment concepts and topics to old experience has been ingrained in my teaching practice. Linking new experiences to past ones to create new meanings and insights in passing constructive in reflective practice. We sequester our own meanings to events. While others may try to impose their meanings on us, we ultimately describe our own experience. (Boud et al, 1993, p10) Another important model of reflective practice is Jack Mezirows. His violence is on disorientating dilemmas, which he acceptd mickle be a slow transition earlier than a sudden insight.Mezirow believes that, cultivation is different when we learn to perform than when we run into what is being communicated to us. (Mezirow, 1990) The belief is that questioning and reflective genius results in an altered and more serious learning process. In reflective practice, practitioners engage in a unbroken bicycle of self-observation and self-military rating in order to understand their own actions and reac tions they prompt in themselves and in learners (Brookfield, 1995) The diagram below illustrates Brookfields perspective of reflective practice.Reflecting upon my practice is something I need to be doing always to constantly develop in my role. This reflective process is an essential part of teaching, as Kolbs Four Stage poseur of Learning, demonstrates. Reid (1993) states Reflective Practice is a process of reviewing an experience from practice in order to describe, analyse and evaluate and so informs learning from practice (Reece and Walker, 2006 p421). Reflective practice is a life-sustaining part of teaching. Effective practice is a in effect(p) aspect of continuous professional development and without it progression in teaching would be extremely limited.By gaining a ruin understanding of their own individual teaching styles through reflective practice, teachers can improve their strong suit in the classroom and strive to achieve the vision as set out by the government, as previously mentioned, for Further Education. Reflection of Learning CertEd During the 2 years I sacrifice undertaken learning on the CertEd course, I stir learnt many underpinning theories that were previously unknown to me. Although I sport worked in the industry for 8 years and learnt from experience and reflection, I call for been unwitting of the background as to why we do what we do and the reasons for it.It began with the first mental faculty which was preparation for teaching. In this mental faculty we cover learning theories, learning styles, planning potent lessons, presentation of lessons and factors influencing learning. Before I began the module, I believed I had a sound understanding of the teaching process however I discovered many more vital and useful tools that I now fancy when delivering training sessions. Kolbs possibility was something that I was unaware of before this module. Learning theories was as well a topic that I had very little knowledge o n. This proved to be one of the most useful sections of this module.I did practice the different approaches beforehand but was unaware of the theories behind them. Now I am aware I believe I use them much more in effect in my day to day role and my planning of sessions. The succeeding(a) module was underdeveloped Personal Skills, and I found this extremely useful. It enabled me to concentrate my efforts upon areas of my career that were not as strong as some of the others. By doing this I was able to improve my performance at work a bully deal. It was good to have concur learning resolution beforehand as this gave me a schedule to work towards.It was more beneficial negotiating with the tutor, what I wanted to develop, instead of being told what to work towards. In Learner managed learning Graves (1993) states the role of the learning contract in higher education takes on board the concept of our individual learning styles. It gives students the freedom to learn in a way they f eel comfortable with. It has long been established that adult learners learn in different ways, and that they are self tell and defined in their experience, with the onus and effectiveness of this learning process primarily, on the learner.Upon reflection, I learnt much from this module, both my IT and networking skills have been improved, and this has had a positive impact on my job role. I feel much more comfortable using IT in teaching now than I did before, especially power point presentations which I have used in a few sessions since my online tutorial. However I still have far more to learn, especially in IT as it is a fast changing concept that is constantly introducing new equipment and technologies into society and indeed teaching.The module on sound judgement was too beneficial as before this assessment was something that I did without really thinking of the underpinning theories to it. This module made me change my practice by ensuring assessment was valid, reliable an d relevant and also prompted me to give more feedback to my learners and document this. The module of learning on plan studies was again one that developed my understanding of the subject. innovation a computer program was a worthy learning experience for me and although a successful one, I have seen many opportunities for improvement along the way.In summary, teaching and learning is an ever changing industry and constant evaluation is necessary for the process to be continually successful and for ongoing improvement to take place. I found that the autonomy I was given helped tremendously as I was able to decide for myself what course of study the students would follow. Obviously I had to account for external influences such as the criteria of the awarding body and contractual requirements from the LSC, but nevertheless my organisation were watchful to allow me to choose the course of instruction students would follow to meet these.Kolbs theory is foremost in my reflective pr actice as shown in the diagram below By design a curriculum and studying theories of curriculum, I gained a better understanding of the concept. I understand that influences such as organisational policies, government policies, awarding bodies and learning styles of learners, all have a attitude on how a curriculum is developed. I also learned much about the models of curriculum and in what context they are used. Many courses of study are designed to accommodate the product model i. e.they are focused on achieving an end result, such as a recognized qualification however I feel the process model can still be incorporated with better results, such as additional learning taking place and a more enjoyable learning experience for the student. The course I designed was a success. This was reflected in the achievement and storage figures that were collated at the conclusion of the course. I also believe that I added value to the curriculum by incorporating literacy and numeracy support throughout and designing learning to suit all students regardless of learning styles and abilities.I did have to change the course of study slightly of this curriculum, and so in future I hope to be able to build upon my experiences and design an even more effective course which incorporates the learning I have undertaken during this module. The final module on creativity was the one I felt most beneficial of the wide-cut course. I realised during this module that I had always played safe during my teaching and that fear of ill fortune had prevented me from implementing ideas that could raise my teaching and my students learning.During this module I researched creativity within an educational environment. I realised that being creative is sometimes about taking risks, and this was something I had previously been reluctant to do. Although I felt I was innovative in my lesson delivery, I now accept that a fear of failure prevented me from fully committing myself to creativity. On the whole the CertEd course has been a valuable and worthwhile experience for me and I believe I have progressed professionally due(p) to the modules I have undertaken.Following the course of study I believe I have made polished progress professionally and feel much more knowledgeable in the sector than I did previously. I still have to continually improve as a professional and I am blushful to work for a company that recognises this and encourages staff to undertake CPD. Continuous training and development for all staff is now an perfunctory part of the profession, not a training course that is thrown in all(prenominal) few months with no clear structure.CPD must be strategically planned and introduce within the overall objectives of the organisation to ensure that staff are well prepared for any new developments that arise. At my organisation, staff are encouraged my management to take control of their development and inline with the Business formulate and the Self Assessm ent Report, are supported to undertake relevant, necessary CPD. I try and improve my practice in many ways. As well as the regular training courses I attend I also take responsibility and ensure that I continually strive to learn and become a more effective practitioner.Learning from other teachers is an important way for professional development. One of the most powerful ways to better your practice is to observe other teachers, ones that are experienced and confident in their roles. During this course of study I have had a mentor and I have observed her on many occasions, as well as seeking advice and focusing on matters I am not confident in. I believe word of honor with colleagues can be an important part of development. They can offer different views on situations and propose alternative methods of practice which cogency have previously not been considered.As well as using colleagues and mentors, learners are also a crucial part of proceed development. By gathering their th oughts and feedback on lessons I teach them, I am able to implement new strategies and adapt teaching methods to enhance the learning experience for my students. A written evaluation at the end of sessions is another useful way to reflect and enable improvements. It is important to produce a written evaluation of the lesson which helps to reflect constructively upon practice.By reflecting on what went well and badly and evaluating what we would do differently we are developing professional practice and evolving new ways to meet our learners needs (Wallace, 2001, p178). My organisation also conducts 6 monthly appraisals with all staff. During this process a development plan is also agreed and produced and this involves recording any learning that needs to be achieved, any courses that have to be undertaken and any other developmental requirements that staff feel they have. The appraisal process helps the employees to understand the companys objectives.It helps them to set their goals and on the nose know what role they play in their work to serve the organisation. This avoids frustration and gives job satisfaction to the employees. Performance appraisal benefits all parties and can serve to motivate and inhale employees to continuously develop and improve. My own development plan was agreed in February and runs until August. During this time my targets for achievement are Level 2 ICT qualification, Cert Ed qualification and to maintain my CPD saddle with all relevant learning.Beyond this time I am looking to achieve a business/management qualification during the next 2 years, and to develop my leadership skills due to a recent change in my job role. I will come up throughout my professional life to strive for improvement and new methods of working, which will enhance the experience of learners accessing our services. Professionalism is an ongoing process. It is commitment to self-improvement, talent in work, motivated in attitude and having respect for bot h colleagues and learners.