Health Literacy Essay

This year points one of the most critical years throughout the entire existence of the United States of America. The appointment of 2008 will get under way another time for the US. With an intermediary president as of now in office there is a 100 percent chance that things are going to change. One of the hot catch issues during the battle season is medicinal services. Notwithstanding, so as to change human services, the United States should initially be wellbeing proficient. So as to do so the accompanying ought to be known: the meaning of wellbeing education, what wellbeing proficiency aptitudes are and why they are significant, the history behind wellbeing proficiency, and how wellbeing proficiency influences the economy. To begin with, to become wellbeing educated one must know the meaning of this term. Being wellbeing proficient doesn't mean going to the rec center ordinary or attempting the best in class trend diet. Wellbeing proficiency can best be characterized as â€Å"The degree to which people have the ability to acquire, process, and comprehend fundamental wellbeing data and administrations expected to settle on suitable wellbeing choices (2000). † It truly is very fundamental in definition yet is by one way or another being neglected in the United States today. The huge issue isn't that US residents are settling on indiscreet decisions with regards to human services. The large issue is that US residents don't have the foggiest idea how to get the data about the correct choices, process a set in stone choice or even comprehend fundamental data that relates the to social insurance and other wellbeing administrations. As indicated by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, wellbeing proficiency incorporates the accompanying: â€Å"The capacity to comprehend guidelines on professionally prescribed medication bottles, arrangement slips, clinical instruction handouts, doctor’s bearings and assent structures, and the capacity to arrange complex human services frameworks (Glassman, 2008). † Be careful about the term education. Being wellbeing educated isn't simply being able to peruse. Wellbeing education â€Å"requires an intricate gathering of perusing, tuning in, expository, and dynamic aptitudes, and the capacity to apply these abilities to wellbeing circumstances (Glassman, 2008). † To realize how to give wellbeing proficiency something to do in a nation that is moving towards being fixated on the buyer, the purchaser must have wellbeing education abilities. It appears as though every outing to the doctor’s office consistently begins with a pile of structures, polls, and individual data sheets. From the beginning the patient’s wellbeing proficiency is being tried. Some different errands that a patient must do are as per the following: â€Å"evaluate data for believability and precision, examine dangers and prizes, figure measurements, decipher test results, and find extra wellbeing data (Glassman, 2008). † It is barely noticeable a portion of these abilities, however the reality remains that a major segment of individuals in the United States do no have these aptitudes. Misjudging a solution that cost $150 could get entirely costly. Be that as it may, so as to scrutinize wellbeing education aptitudes, the patient/shopper must be â€Å"visually proficient, PC educated, data proficient, and numerically proficient (Glassman, 2008). † So where and when did this enormous push for the country to be proficient in medical problems originated from? In 1998 the American Medical Association (AMA) was the principal gathering to advocate the conviction that wellbeing uneducated patients influence clinical conclusion and medicines (AMA, 2007). A similar article likewise expressed that â€Å"poor wellbeing proficiency is a more grounded indicator of a person’s wellbeing than age, pay, work status, instruction level, and race. † Being wellbeing proficient or unskilled can make you more youthful or more established! The greatest push the make the United States a wellbeing educated country may very well originated from this detail. â€Å"Individuals with constrained wellbeing education bring about clinical costs that are up to multiple times more noteworthy than patients with sufficient proficiency abilities, costing the medicinal services framework billions of dollars consistently in superfluous specialist visits and emergency clinic stays (AMA, 2007). † That is billions not millions! Billions of dollars are lost yearly do to patients missing a doctor’s visit and follow-up arrangements, taking meds of calendar, and not having the option to comprehend â€Å"take on a void stomach† (Glassman, 2008). † Being wellbeing unskilled doesn't affect only the individual, yet the general public all in all. Wellbeing proficiency has a gigantic move in the economy. The National Academy on an Aging Society evaluated that extra wellbeing cost because of a low pace of wellbeing education was over $73 billion of every 1998 dollars (NAAS, 1998). That number would be a lot bigger ten years after the fact. Additionally, those with low wellbeing proficiency may have less visit to the specialist yet wind up utilizing more clinic assets than the individuals who are wellbeing proficient (Glassman, 2008). In this manner, the more emergency clinic assets utilized, the more costly social insurance becomes. Every individual isn't just influencing their own financial balance, however they are influencing somebody else’s too. It is very frightening that a country as cutting edge as the United States could be this unskilled with regards to a significant issue like social insurance. Not having the option to respond to fundamental inquiries on an overview or clinical history structure is a major issue. Not having the option to follow bearings on a solution suppress can end costing billions of dollars. All the more critically, not realizing how to peruse and follow basic headings like â€Å"take on void stomach† can wind up costing an actual existence. Wellbeing education is a significant issue in this nation. It is an issue that must be tended to. No longer can the United States stand to leave a huge number of dollars alone spend stupidly in our medicinal services frameworks. The proof is there. Presently it is the ideal opportunity for an answer. The time has come to start teaching individuals of all financial status of how to appropriately deal with their clinical issues. Proceeding to disregard a wellbeing ignorant country will just prompt more cash being squandered and more individuals languishing. An opportunity to begin a positive change is currently. Declining to react and instruct individuals both youthful and old will just make United States considerably progressively broke and wiped out. Training legitimate wellbeing education won't fix any issues, however it can help forestall them. References AMA Foundation, (2007, September 04). Wellbeing proficiency. Recovered January 30, 2008, from Health Literacy Web website: http://www. ama-assn. organization/ama/bar/class/8115. html Glassman, Penny (2008, January 17). Wellbeing education. Recovered January 30, 2008, from Health Literacy Web website: http://nnlm. gov/outreach/shopper/hlthlit. html The Center for Health Care Strategies and National Academy on an Aging Society, (1998). Certainty sheet. Recovered January 30, 2008, from National Academy on an Aging Society Web webpage: http://www. agingsociety. organization/agingsociety/distributions/reality/fact_low. html United States Department of Health and Human Services, (2000). Solid People 2010. Recovered January 30, 2008, from Healthy People 2010 Web webpage: http://www. healthypeople. gov/Document/pdf/uih/2010uih. pdf.

Strategic Planning Formulation and Execution

Question: Examine about the Strategic Planning for Formulation and Execution. Answer: Presentation: Vital Planning alludes to a predefined plan made to envision future chances and dangers to the association. It likewise expresses the vision and crucial the arrangement. It is significant in light of the fact that it is an outline which will help in dynamic for all the diverse specialty units and the association all in all (Simerson, 2011). The advantages of key arranging are that it builds the benefit, piece of the overall industry and generosity of the association. Administrators get greater clearness about what to do straightaway. It will set an unexpected personality in comparison to that of its rivals. It expands the activity fulfillment of the representatives. The more the workers will be fulfilled the more will be their efficiency. In this way, they will put forth an attempt together to accomplish the authoritative objectives (Mitchell, 2007). Truly, vital arranging is one of the main sole obligation of the senior administration and authority. The senior administration needs to take care that the plans are made understood. They additionally screen the usage and steady improvement in the plans and approaches when required. Administration is imperative to know the degree to which the position and obligation ought to be designated. It is fundamental to place the opportune individual in the perfect spot. No, it isn't the main sole obligation of the senior administration and initiative yet it is one of them. They likewise have the duties of the partners who are the providers, clients, investors and workers of the association. They are the ones who have their enthusiasm for the organization and can influence or get influenced by the plans, strategies, choices, exercises and destinations of the association (Freeman, 2010). From the above conversation it tends to be inferred that the vital arranging depicts the image of a specific specialty unit and not the entire of it. In this way, it isn't the main obligation of the senior administration. As they have to keep their eye open for the correct working of the association. References: Simerson, B, K. (2011). Vital Planning: A Practical Guide to Strategy Formulation and Execution, ABC-CLIO, LLC, California, USA. Mitchell, H, M. (2007). The 7 Benefits of Strategic Planning. Seen on seventh January2017 from: https://www.strategicmgmtresources.com/7benefits.html. Freeman, R, E. (2010). Vital Management: A Stakeholder Approach. Cambridge University Press, New York, USA.

How Can Compulsive Hoarding Be Treated

How Can Compulsive Hoarding Be Treated OCD Treatment Print Compulsive Hoarding Treatment By Owen Kelly, PhD Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on August 05, 2016 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on January 20, 2020 Ryan McVay / Getty Images More in OCD Treatment Causes Symptoms and Diagnosis Types Living With OCD Related Conditions Compulsive hoarding is more than just having lots of things. Its a specific type of behavior that can have a severe impact on a persons life. Although hoarding treatment is often very difficult to undertake, new types of cognitive-behavior therapy offer hope. Lets explore more about hoarding treatment. What Is Compulsive Hoarding? Compulsive or pathological hoarding is a problematic behavior characterized by: Acquiring and failing to throw out a large number of items that would appear to have little or no value to others, such as old magazines, containers, clothes, books, junk mail, receipts, notes or listsSevere cluttering of the person’s home so that it is no longer able to function as a viable living spaceSignificant distress or impairment in work or social life Hoarding and Its Connection to OCD Treatments for Hoarding Hoarding, either alone or in the presence of OCD, usually does not respond well to medical or psychological treatments. A number of studies have examined the effectiveness of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as Paxil (paroxetine), in the treatment of hoarding. Most investigations have found that only a third of patients who hoard show an adequate response to these medications. Results have been similar for other drugs affecting serotonin, such as the tricyclic antidepressant Anafranil (clomipramine). Efforts at treating hoarding with traditional cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) are also often ineffective. However, Drs. Gail Steketee and Randy Frost, clinical psychologists who have extensive expertise in hoarding, have developed a CBT protocol designed specifically for hoarding that shows considerable promise. In addition to imparting information on the nature and consequences of hoarding, this hoarding CBT protocol focuses on four specific elements: Information Processing: People who hoard have trouble making decisions regarding whether to keep possessions or not  and with organization and categorization. As such, treatment focuses on skills in sorting, organizing, and decision making.Emotional Attachment to Possessions: It is not uncommon for people to hoard to report an intense sentimental attachment to objects. This attachment, of course, can make it difficult to discard objects that otherwise have little to no value. Therapy using techniques such as cognitive restructuring and exposure are used to challenge beliefs around these objects and explores the true consequences of discarding such objects.Beliefs About Possessions: Hoarding often involves an intense belief that control must be maintained over possession and that there is a responsibility to ensure that possessions do not go to waste. Again, treatment focuses on cognitive restructuring and exposure to critically examine beliefs around possessions.Behavioral Avoidance: Although hoarding can destroy a person’s home and relationships, this behavior does have the advantage of allowing the person to avoid making decisions, making mistakes, interacting with others, and facing the unpleasant task of organizing one’s possessions. This CBT protocol focuses on creating behavioral experiments that allow the person to face situations that generate anxiety while at the same time replacing avoidance with more adaptive coping strategies. Research into combining this protocol of treatment with different combinations of medication is ongoing. Lack of Insight May Be a Barrier to Hoarding Treatment Insight into the severity of symptoms and the necessity for change is essential to the success of just about any form of treatment. When people do not have insight into their illness, they are much more likely to either stop taking their medication or to drop out of treatment. Research has shown that people who hoard often have worse insight into their symptoms than people with OCD who do not hoard. This lack of insight often causes people to avoid seeking treatment, withdraw early from treatment, and/or fail to complete homework assignments. Often, people who hoard only agree to enter treatment after being threatened with eviction or some other negative consequence that is secondary to those caused by their hoarding. In these cases, the person may carry out treatment simply to avoid negative consequences rather than out of a belief that change is necessary. This lack of insight can also be frustrating for family members and may drive them away. Family members often feel their loved one has become delusional, and they do not know what to do. Speak with your family doctor about resources available in your community if you are concerned about a loved one.

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Ethical Principles - 1049 Words

Henrietta Lacks, a woman that died of cervical cancer in 1951, single handedly changed the field of science. Not long before she passed away, a doctor took a sample of her cancer cells, the cells from her cervix were later on named HeLa cells, and these cells helped pave the way to numerous experiments and research all over the world. Even though HeLa brought along many achievements with its discovery, it also brought disappointments to some researchers, and pain for her family. You see, she nor her family consented to her cells being sampled, or the amounts of experiments and research that occurred after. Her family was never aware that such actions even took place. Even so, on February 1st, 1951, the day Henrietta Lacks walked in to John†¦show more content†¦Henrietta Lacks’ cervical tissue was taken without her consent, with no intentions of using them to benefit her in any way. In my opinion, all that were involved were in violation of the ethics code of conduct. Mary Kubicek and Dr. Gey, as well as the Dr. that allowed them to collect the sample were all in violation, simply because Henrietta Lacks did not consent to her tissue being used for cancer research. While Henrietta soon passed away from an aggressive form of cervical cancer, all others involved benefited from her cells. Her family knew nothing about the research, they knew nothing about her cells being collected, and it was not until 1976, when geneticists went looking for them (Films for the Humanities Sciences, 2012); believing that the cure to cancer was embedded in DNA. Dr. Gey, along with many other researchers, had been trying to grow human cells in vitro for many years. That was until Henrietta Lacks walked in to John Hopkins Hospital. Once HeLa cells were discovered, it made it possible for just about anything to be tested on them. As the HeLa cells continued to grow, so did the opportunity for many more experiments. During this time, the polio epidemic broke out; HeLa ce lls made it possible for the discovery of the polio vaccine. Leonard Hayflick, a Cell Biologist, had other plans in mind for cell line development. He established a cell line from the amnion of his daughter on theShow MoreRelatedThe Ethical Principles Of Respect For Autonomy984 Words   |  4 Pagesnurse to administer blood despite Mark’s refusal. This situation presents an ethical dilemma to the health professionals involved in Mark’s care. The ethical dilemma is whether to uphold his decision not to receive the blood and therefore risk his life or give him the blood to save his life despite knowing his religious status and beliefs. There are several ethical principles involved in this scenario. 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First Steps in Counselling. Ross-on-Wye: PCCS BOOKS. P36) Ethics can be defined as a set of moral principles or rules of conduct. Ethical principles and stand points play a major role in the decisions and angles that counsellors make and take in order to give the best possible help to a client. Counselling and psychotherapy practices are governed by a set of ethical principles developed by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). They are as follows: Fidelity:Read MoreEthical Principles, Decision And Principle1792 Words   |  8 PagesIn making ethical principles, decision and applying them in this case study scenarios; there are approaches to ethical analysis in addition to ethical systems and principles that will need to be considered especially where power and authority become the main issue and principle. John Rawls (1957) presented an abstract procedure for deciding moral issues. 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In order to achieve this the assignment will commence by critically analysing how an ethical framework and ethical principles can and should be applied to both the above scenario and more generally in paramedic practice. From this understanding of the underlying principles the assignment will next examine both the legal and ethical standpoints surrounding capacity and consent and analyse how these should

Assessment and its important part of education process Free Essays

Recently, research workers have progressively recognised the importance of formative appraisal in bettering kids ‘s advancement and attainment ( Bone, 1999 ; Wiliam et al. , 2004 ) . Although groundss provided in this work suggest that policies have underestimated the complexness of this sort of assessment- and that some instructors find it hard to do- the benefits of formative appraisal can far outweigh the disadvantages. We will write a custom essay sample on Assessment and its important part of education process or any similar topic only for you Order Now Appraisal has become a really of import portion of instruction procedure and it has advanced well over the past old ages ( Johnston et al. , 2009 ; Hall and Burk, 2004 ) and, as our instruction system becomes more course of study focused, the accent moves progressively to how instructors teach and how kids are taught ( Butt, 2010 ) . In this position, acquisition is concerned with the building of apprehension, accomplishments and attitudes ( Johnston, 1996 ; Pritchard, 2005 ) . In other words, it is concerned with the type of larning pupils become involved with. In add-on, why and how we assess students has an tremendous impact on their educational experience and accordingly on how and what they learn ( Wynne, 2007 ) . In the visible radiation of these, this work aims to specify what appraisal is, puting peculiar focal point in the formative appraisal. It will besides critically analyze how formative appraisal may back up students ‘ acquisition, back uping the analysis with theories on kid development and kids ‘s acquisition, every bit good as observations and grounds from school experiences. Appraisal ‘ The appraisal of kids has to function a assortment of intent, but it is chiefly to inform determinations made by the instructor about what work a kid is capable of pull offing ‘ . Hayes ( 2006 ) Assessment means different things in different contexts and it is besides carried out for different intents ( Arthur et al. , 2006 ) . During my preliminary fond regard I noticed that instructors were measuring all the clip and some of those appraisals were traveling on besides during learning. For illustration, while learning, instructors picked up information about kids ‘s cognition through eavesdropping ( where in group treatment, the instructor would stand by a tabular array, but listening to the other table treatment alternatively ) or oppugning and they besides assessed the degree of apprehension of the category through a speedy quiz or game at the beginning or terminal of the lesson. Those appraisals have helped instructors to see what works and what does non in footings of pupil acquisition. However, they normally used this information to measure their ain lesson and/or the degree of cognition and apprehension of the category, instead than to do formal appraisals which could be fed back to students ( Preliminary Attachment, 2010 ) . From reflecting in illustrations from theory and pattern, it is possible to state that appraisal in instruction involves doing opinions about students ‘ attainments ( Alexander, 2010 ; Preliminary Attachment, 2010 ) . In other words, it involves instructors make up one’s minding on how they will roll up information, what information is relevant, how they will come to a opinion and so how to describe and notice a judgement to those who want to cognize how students are accomplishing ( Arthur et al. , 2006 ; Aldgate et al. , 2006 ; Hayes, 2006 ; Hughes, 2008 ) . In add-on, appraisal is frequently divided into summational and formative classs for the intent of sing different aims for appraisal patterns ( Pollard et al. , 2005 ; Arthur, et al. , 2006 ; Butt, 2010 ) . Yet, argument continues over whether and how summational and formative appraisal should be distinguished ( Threlfall, 2005 ; Wynne, 2005 ) . In its summational function, the intent of appraisal is to judge students ‘ quality and features, summarizing these in a clear and widely acceptable format. Summational appraisal is besides known as appraisal of acquisition ( Threlfall, 2005 ; Arthur et al. , 2006 ) and grounds for this type of appraisal may come from formal testing of what has been learnt, taking to bring forth Markss or classs which may be used for different intents, such as studies of assorted types ( Pollard et al. , 2008 ) . Furthermore, surveies indicate that summational appraisal can hold a negative impact on pupils ‘ motive for larning, as instead than adv ancing ‘intrinsic ‘ motivation- in which they perform because they are interested and engaged with the work, summational appraisal is believed to advance ‘extrinsic ‘ motive, in which pupils merely react to the promise of some sort of wages ( Crooks, 1988 ; Sansome and Harackiewicz, 2000 ; Wynne, 2001 ) . On the other manus, appraisal besides has a formative map. In this function, appraisal is closely linked with pupils ‘ acquisition procedures, naming pupils ‘ strengths and failings, assisting pupils to develop self-awareness ; supplying feedback on countries of larning necessitating farther work ; assisting to steer them in their surveies and by and large actuating them and advancing the coveted acquisition result ( Pollard et al. , 2008 ; Alexander, 2010 ) . FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT AND PUPILS ‘ Learning ‘Assessment for acquisition is any appraisal for which the first precedence in its design and pattern is to function the intent of advancing students ‘ acquisition. It therefore differs from appraisal designed chiefly to function the intents of answerability, or of superior, or of attesting competency ‘ . ( Black et al. , 2002, p.7 ) Furthermore, harmonizing to researches, some of the cardinal elements of formative appraisal include the designation by instructors and pupils of larning ends, purposes or results and standards for accomplishment ; conversations, with feedback, between instructors and pupils that build on what is known and what is to be learned ; active engagement of pupils in their ain acquisition and besides instructors reacting to identified larning demands and strengths by modifying and/or accommodating instruction schemes, stuffs and attacks ( Stiggins, 1992 ; Stiggins and Conklin, 1992 ; Fontana and Fernandes, 1994 ; Fredrickson and White, 1997 ; Black and Wiliam, 1998a ; Shepard, 2000 ; Boston, 2002 ; Guskey, 2003 ; Liang and Creasy, 2004 ) . In the visible radiation of these, instructors can utilize the information of where pupils are holding problem and how they are come oning, to do necessary accommodations, such as re-teaching and seeking alternate instructional attacks. These activities c an take to improved students success. Harmonizing to Pryor and Crossouard ( 2005, p. 2 ) formative appraisal occupies a ‘curious and somewhat self-contradictory ‘ place within educational theory. Although may be argued that formative appraisal has ever been a cardinal portion of educational pattern it was merely in the late sixtiess and seventiess that the term was invented ( Black and Wiliam, 2003 ) . Furthermore, as a consequence of a turning international dissatisfaction with current signifiers of appraisal, formative appraisal was one of a figure of thoughts that attracted the attending of educational research workers ( Bloom et al. , 1971 ) . Since the beginning of the 1990s it has enjoyed considerable attending, particularly in schools, under the rubric of Assessment for Learning, following Caroline Gipps ‘s differentiation from appraisal of acquisition ( Gipps, 1994 ) . Part of this involvement has involved a acknowledgment that dominant signifiers of summational appraisal did non hold a good tan trum with constructivist larning theories, whereas formative appraisal seemed to offer distinguishable possibilities. Since so a significant figure of surveies, peculiarly in the UK, at all degrees of instruction have attempted to aline formative appraisal with modern-day psychological theories of acquisition ( Gipps et al.,1995 ; Boud 1995 ; Black et al. , 2002 ; Hall and Burke 2003 ) and others have besides taken history of sociological positions ( Torrance and Pryor 1998 ; Filer and Pollard 2000 ; Ecclestone 2002 ) . In add-on, in order to incorporate formative appraisal into schoolroom pattern, a scope of appraisal schemes and techniques are presently in topographic point taking to better students ‘ acquisition. Some of those schemes, which I have had the chance to detect and critically analyse during my preliminary fond regard, are: feedback, self- appraisal and schoolroom treatment. Feedback ‘Unless pupils are able to utilize the feedback to bring forth improved work, neither they nor those giving the feedback will cognize that it has been effectual ‘ . ( Boud, 2000, p.158 ) Black and Wiliam ( 1998a ) research on whether formative appraisal raises academic criterions in the schoolroom, shows that attempts to beef up formative appraisal can bring forth important acquisition additions ( Black and Wiliam, 1998b ) and their analysis of these surveies has shown that feedback resulted in positive benefits on acquisition and accomplishment across all content countries, cognition and accomplishment types and degrees of instruction ( Black and Wiliam, 1998a ) . Furthermore, when feedback is given as portion of formative appraisal, it helps to steer students through the actions they need to accomplish their end, doing them cognizant of any gaps existent between their current cognition, understanding or accomplishment and their coveted end ( Ramaprasad, 1983 ; Sadler, 1989 ) . Besides, it is taken for granted by constructivist theory that supplying information or feedback to pupils in an ongoing mode, such as that which formative appraisal should supply, will bring forth positive consequences ( Shepard, 2000 ) . Yet, during my preliminary fond regard, I have observed a twelvemonth 2 instructor giving pupils feedback information on their work. The scheme in topographic point was called ‘two stars and a wish ‘ , where the instructor collected students ‘ work and compared their public presentation to the acquisition ends, foregrounding two good points about their work and one point necessitating betterment. The instructor gave students their work back, bespeaking students to set their initials below the feedback to show that they have understood what needed to be improved. However, I have observed that some students, who put their initials below the feedback, found the feedback hard to understand, particularly when the acquisition ends had non been assimilated in first topographic point. For illustration, a peculiar student had the feedback: ‘Make certain you use two adjectives in your sentence to depict people and topographic points ‘ ( Preliminary Attachment, 2010 ) . This feedback given by the instructor was non sufficient to assist this peculiar student to shut the spread, as he did non to the full understand what adjectives were in first topographic point and was still unable to use this cognition in his hereafter work. Black and Wiliam ( 1998a ) farther elaborate on this communicating issue when they discuss the links between the manner a feedback message is received and what pupils do w ith that message. Besides, Hayes ( 2006 ) argues that in offering feedback, instructors must utilize remarks which guarantee that students understand their significance. He besides suggests that, ideally, kids should be given clip to believe and react to the instructor ‘s remark and be involved in the appraisal procedure, instead than inactive receivers, as these give them a sense of ownership in their acquisition. This position is shared by Piaget, who is concerned with the cognition and apprehension and the manner which new information is dealt with by immature scholars ( Sullivan, 1969 ) . Furthermore, the larning theory of Piaget and Inhelder ( McCarthy Gallagher and Reid, 2002 ) , which is the first effort to garner together constructs and research surveies of Piaget ‘s cognitive theory that direct relates to larning theories, besides suggest that the growing in cognition is frequently sparkled by a feedback procedure that consequences from oppugning, contradictions and accordingly reorganization. This manner, it is important that any theoretical account of feedback must take history of the manner pupils make sense of, and usage, feedback information, as suggested by Black and Wiliam ( 1998a ) . On the other manus, another observation on instructor ‘s feedback, evidenced during my preliminary fond regard, in a twelvemonth 6 category, had a more positive result. The instructor sat beside the student while giving him feedback and she explained to the student what needed improving, clear uping any misconceptions. Besides, when written feedback was given, kids were encouraged to react with a written remark of their ain. It was observed that this scheme has helped kids to make full the spreads and advancement in their acquisition, as the feedback to pupils was focused on accomplishment and had identified the following stairss in acquisition, in ways that students could understand and move upon ( Preliminary Attachment, 2010 ) . This is supported by Duschl and Gitomer ( 1997 ) , who argue that aggregations of pupil work may besides be used formatively if pupils every bit good as instructors annotate their remarks and continually detect their advancement. These show that the most helpful type of feedback on prep and trials are the 1s which instructors provide students with specific remarks sing to mistakes, offering specific suggestions for betterment and besides promoting students to concentrate their attending on their undertaking, instead than merely being concerned if their replies are right ( Bangert-Drowns et al.,1991 ; Elawar and Corno, 1985 ; Irons, 2007 ) . SELF- ASSESSMENT ‘It is clear that self-esteem, so cardinal to success both in school and in life more by and large, harmonizing to recent research, is all excessively frequently eroded by the experience of negative ratings. ( Weeden et al. , 2002, p. 152 ) Learners can besides play an of import function in formative appraisal through self-evaluation. This position is supported by experimental research surveies which have shown that when pupils understand the acquisition aims and assessment standards and are given chances to reflect on their work, they normally show greater betterment when comparing with those who do non ( Fontana and Fernandes, 1994 ; Frederikson and White, 1997 ) . In add-on, surveies show that public presentation additions were besides witnessed among pupils with larning disablements who are taught to utilize self-monitoring schemes related to their apprehension of reading and composing undertakings ( McCurdy and Shapiro, 1992 ; Sawyer et al. , 1992 ) . During my preliminary fond regard, twelvemonth 6 students were encouraged to measure their work by composing a remark saying if they found their work easily, mean or difficult. Students were besides encouraged to put marks for themselves and observe what aspects needed betterment. In this juncture, students demonstrated to be actively engaged with their self-assessment and were able to build their cognition and set challenges for themselves in order to accomplish their ends ( Preliminary Attachment, 2010 ) . Piaget suggests that kids should be free to work in different ways and learn through active geographic expedition and personal find ( Sullivan, 1969 ) and from a constructivist point of position, acquisition is non a inactive procedure and so, battle must be at the start of the procedure of acquisition ( Pritchard, 2005 ) . In other words, pupils learn most efficaciously when they actively construct their ain cognition, understanding and accomplishments based on their ain explora tory activities and contemplation. In add-on to this, active battle is an index that existent acquisition takes topographic point and cognizing that they can get by with troubles makes students seek challenges and get the better of farther jobs ( Clark, 2008 ) . Besides, Vygotsky ‘s Zone of Proximal Development ( Vygotsky, 1978 ; Smidt, 2006 ) shows that students learn best when they have a somewhat hard undertaking which they have to work at and which leads them to a province of ‘flow ‘ . Claxton ( 2002 ) suggests that ‘flow ‘ describes how engaged a individual is in an activity, the degree of soaking up and how engaged they are in their acquisition. However, in the same school, twelvemonth 1 students were asked to measure their work by seting their work in the several trays: smiley face if the work was easy, impersonal face if the work was all right and sad face if the work was difficult. While standing beside the trays, detecting the students while they assessed their work, I notice a kid stating: ‘I found this work hard, but I do n’t wish sad faces! ‘ The kid them put her work in the tray with a smiley face ( Preliminary Attachment, 2010 ) . Over the last decennary there has been an increasing involvement in schemes that encourage pupils to take a more active function in the direction of their ain acquisition ( Falkchikov, 1995 ; Hyland, 2000 ) . Black and Wiliam ( 1998a, p.54 ) make the statement that ‘a pupil who automatically follows the diagnostic prescription of a instructor without apprehension of its intent will non larn ‘ , while Sadler ( 1989 ) argues that the intent of formative appraisal should be to fit pupils bit by bit with the appraising accomplishments that their instructors ‘ possess. On the other manus, the fact that the pupil found the work hard, yet placed it inside the smiley face tray, can be related to the kid ‘s self-esteem. Clark ( 2008 ) argues that kids love to be praised for their intelligence and endowment, but if this is the norm, the minute they encounter an obstruction, their assurance beads. If success means that they are clever, than, failure can merely intend the y are non. In the visible radiation of this, students can non work with the message that they can accomplish their marks by seting things right when they are clouded by overtones about ability, competition and comparing with others ( Black and Wiliam, 1998b ; Miller and Lavin, 2007 ) . Studies show ( Elliot and Dwenck, 1988 ; Dwenck, 1989 ) that schemes based on public presentation ends, such as smiley faces, adversely affects public presentation and they tend to take students to impute trouble to low ability and go disquieted when faced with trouble or failure ( Clark, 2008 ) . Miller and Lavin ( 2007, p.6 ) argue that there is limited research grounds which shows that formative appraisal will non needfully hold good effects on self-pride. However, they suggest that there is a demand to look into contexts where instructors are doing usage of formative appraisal as an built-in portion of their daily instruction, such as: ‘in busy primary schoolrooms, over longer periods of clip and utilizing a scope of different schemes and techniques presently endorsed as ‘good pattern ‘ , in order to happen out whether formative appraisal procedures might impact kids to different grades or in different ways. CLASSROOM DISCUSSION ‘What a kid can make in co-operation today, he will be able to make entirely tomorrow ‘ . ( Vygotsky, 1962 ) Since the end of formative appraisal is to give instructors an apprehension of what pupils know, or do n’t cognize, and utilize this information to do antiphonal alterations in instruction and acquisition, schemes such as schoolroom treatment and instructor observation have an of import topographic point alongside analysis of trials and prep ( Spendlove, 2009 ) . Furthermore, the usage of oppugning and schoolroom treatment as chances to better students understanding and increase their cognition is besides encouraged by Black and Wiliam ( 1998b ) . However, they caution that instructors need to guarantee that thoughtful and brooding inquiries are asked, instead than simple and factual 1s, and pupils must be given equal clip to react. During my preliminary fond regard I had the chance to detect two categories where the instructors had in topographic point a scheme called think-pair-share, where the instructors gave the category a subject and asked kids to discourse their thought in brace or in groups of four. If in groups, students had to take one representative to portion the thought with the category. The instructors took into history kids ‘s old cognition of the topic and built on it to scaffold kids ‘s acquisition. Sing to cognitive development, the treatment was really productive and led to higher quality authorship, a higher degree of speech production and hearing and it has besides increased students assurance in their ability to lend. However, although some instructors in the school acknowledged that treatment and scaffold duologue have a great cognitive potency, they found this scheme really hard, as it demanded much on instructors ‘ accomplishments and capable cognition ( Preliminary At tachment, 2010 ) . Spendlove ( 2009 ) argues that although the think-pair-share scheme requires readying from the instructor, when used efficaciously, it engages the whole category in thought, speech production and listening through treatment and sharing co-operative acquisition with equals. In add-on, Torrance and Pryor ( 1998, p. 131 ) suggest that a focal point group appraisal can bring forth a great trade of information about kids ‘s cognition accomplishments and understanding piece at the same clip contribute to the procedure of making apprehension. Every kid is alone ( DfES, 2004 ) , develops in different gait ( DCSF, 2008 ) and has his/her ain storage of cognition ( Fisher, 1995 ) . Children can make a batch of speaking when given clip and infinite by a instructor prepared to listen and detect ( Robson, 2006 ) . Such talk provides grounds of kids ‘s advancement to day of the month but besides scaffolds the acquisition of the group as they interrogate each other about the nature of th e undertaking and collaborate to carry through it ( Hill and Hill, 1996 ; Shepard, 2005 ) . Furthermore, for Vygotsky, societal interaction has a critical function in a kid ‘s instruction ( Vygotsky 1962 ; 1978 ; Daniels, 1996 ) . Besides, Bruner states that ‘making sense is a societal procedure ‘ ( Bruner and Haste, 1987 ) .This means that we become who we are through take parting in the communities around us and our acquisition is reconstructed through battle with others ( Lave and Wenger, 1991 ; Kehily, 2005 ; Smidt, 2006 ) . This is because, with others, we can make more and achieve more than we can make on our ain. Furthermore, Shepard ( 2000 ) links this type of schoolroom appraisal with the constructivist motion, which suggests that larning is an active procedure, constructing on old cognition, experience, accomplishments and involvements. So, since acquisition is extremely individualized, constructivism recognises that learning must be adaptative to the context, affecting complex decision-making, and necessitating that a instructor draws upon a scope of techniques ( Giebelhaus and Bowman, 2002 ) . Besides, Fisher ( 1995 ) argues that kids should be provided with challenges that extend their cognitive potency. For Vygotsky ( 1978 ) , this possible ( Zone of Proximal Development ) exists non merely in the kid ‘s head, but it besides lies in the accomplishments, thoughts, experiences and from the kid ‘s societal interaction with his/her equals. Decision ‘When instructors ‘ schoolroom appraisals become an built-in portion of the instructional procedure and a cardinal ingredient in their attempts to assist pupils larn, the benefits of appraisal for both pupils and instructors will be unbounded ‘ . Guskey, ( 2003, p. 11 ) Evidence from researches clearly indicates that good, well-developed and effectual formative appraisal does hold a powerful impact on pupil acquisition and can be a critical constituent in our attempts to better instruction ( Assessment Reform Group, 1999 ; Guskey, 2003 ) . Further, formative appraisal changes the rhythm ‘s consequence where students attribute hapless public presentation a deficiency of ability, which discourages them to put in their hereafter acquisition. It besides supports the outlook that all can larn to high degrees ( Ames, 1992 ; Vispoel and Austin, 1995 ) . Yet, some instructors argue that measuring pupils for the intent of informing future planning and instruction can non be easy accommodated alongside measuring students for the intent of class/school answerability. This is because, in order to describe classs and meet answerability, instructors by and large need to take portion in or set about some summational appraisal. This manner, the intent of summ ational appraisal remains rather different from the intent of formative appraisal in monitoring and bettering advancement ( Herman et al. , 1992 ) . In add-on, groundss in this work suggest that considerable sweetenings in pupil accomplishment are possible when instructors use assessment, daily, to set their instruction to run into their pupils ‘ acquisition demands. However, it is besides clear that doing such alterations is much more than merely adding a few modus operandis to one ‘s normal pattern. It involves a alteration of focal point from what the instructor is seting into the procedure and to what the scholar is acquiring out of it. Besides, the extremist nature of the alterations means that instructors need extra support for detecting and/or developing formative appraisal tools, which non merely inform pupils and instructors about advancement, but provide aid on where the spreads are and how to continue. Furthermore, it is important that instructors acknowledge that every kid is alone ( DfES, 2004 ; Aldgate et al. , 2006 ; DCSF, 2008 ) and that development is a procedure which involves interaction between the turning kid and his/her societal environment ( Vygotsky, 1978 ) . So, if acquisition is to take topographic point, it is indispensable that instructors take kid development and larning theories earnestly and use this cognition in their appraisal and intercessions ( Department of Health et al. , 2000 ) . 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Testing in Language Teaching

Table of Contents Purpose and Objectives Factor Content Factor Teacher Factor Learner Factor Setting and Aids Factor Conclusion Reference List Language testing stands for the identification of the level of a learner’s preparation to use their language skills and knowledge in real life situations and environments. Testing is an essential part of teaching a language and should not be viewed as a separate activity.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Testing in Language Teaching specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Since the result is crucial in teaching, an educator is to be able to measure the performance of the learners, their improvements, strengths and weaknesses and this is where testing is necessary. Testing and teaching can be seen as two sides of one coin (Widyantoro, 2013). The relationship between teaching and testing can be described as mutual support because neither of the two processes can exist wit hout the other. Test results determine whether teaching actually happened and how well the learners have processed and mastered the new knowledge and skills. Testing is a very important aspect of any foreign language teaching program that has an impact on other program components. This paper aims to demonstrate this impact and how it should be considered by test makers in designing and developing their tests. Purpose and Objectives Factor Teaching is an activity that can be viewed as a process with only one direction – positive. This means that negative teaching does not exist simply because negative teaching is absence of teaching and knowledge acquisition by the learner. In other words, teaching as an activity implies the presence of positive results. Testing is a part of teaching that helps to determine whether or not the results are present and whether or not they match the teacher’s expectations. This way, testing can be viewed as a marker that serves as the basis for a variety of important decisions of a teacher (Widyantoro, 2013). Test results are not only designed to help the teacher evaluate the progress of their learners, but also to evaluate their own performance. For example, based on testing results a teacher makes decisions about the materials they employ, methods and techniques they implement, the way they interact with the learners. A large variety of tests is available to the modern teachers, tests of different types can be held during the learning process in order to address different needs of a teacher and their students. A teacher selects particular types of tests based on the aspects they need to evaluate for the further decision-making. For example, diagnostic tests are held when a teacher needs to determine progress made by their students over a certain period of time. Tests of this type are normally performed in the end of a unit to test how well the students mastered the material.Advertising Looking for essay on educ ation? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Another example is the use of placement tests which represent a category of diagnostic tests. These tests are conducted when a teacher needs to make a decision concerning the placement of the students in terms of the materials studied within a particular curriculum. The purpose of these tests is to save effort and time to both learners and educators and avoid going through the same material twice. The choice of the types of tests conducted by an educator is determined by the learning objectives of their program and can be characterised by the outcomes an educator expects to achieve. Learning outcomes are divided into three categories or domains – cognitive (includes intellectual skills), affective (incorporates motivation, values, attitudes, desire to participate), and psychomotor (focuses on smoothly and accurately performed motor activities) (Vinson, n. d.). Tests covering cognitive d omain are to be oriented at the evaluation of intellectual skills such as memorising, self-check, synthesis and analysis, summarising and discussion. Such tests may be held in forms of essays, summaries, presentation of personal opinions, tabulating. Affective domain is rarely covered directly as it is rather abstract. It is tested based on the attitudes the learners show during the class, their level of involvement. Psychomotor domain in language learning can be referred to phonetics, pronunciation, writing skills testing. Content Factor In teaching, language is viewed as a unity composed of several skills and components. The educators differentiate between such language skills as reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The language components are its structure, vocabulary, and sound. Language skills are built of language components. For example, reading and writing skills consist of such components are structure and vocabulary, while speaking consists of sound plus the other tw o components, and listening contains just vocabulary and structure. Testing and test design rely on these skills and components. Teaching a language educators often need to check their learners’ progress on particular skills and test them separately from others.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Testing in Language Teaching specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More At the same time, there are tests designed to evaluate the learner’s language skills using integrative approach. When a teacher targets particular skills, they carefully select the assignments for the class in order to develop the skills. This way, the content of a lesson alters based on the objective of a teacher. For example, when reading assignments prevail during a lesson, this means that a teacher targets reading skills of the learners particularly. As a result, this will influence the content of the future testing because it will be likely to address reading separately from other language components. In other words, test tasks are selected based on the skills an educator needs to evaluate. Tests oriented at the evaluation of certain language skills separately normally contain only the tasks of one type. Such tests are referred to as discrete-item tests, their main objective is to provide an educator with information concerning the difficulties their learners may experience within a particular language skill. When a teacher intends to test several language skills in a complex, they apply integrative or global tests. These tests address language as a whole without separating it into elements and skills. Such tests check the learners’ ability to use a variety of different skills in a combination. For example, to test reading and writing language skills a teacher may conduct close tests where learners are to fill in missing parts of sentences based on the context. Another way to test reading and writing skills using integrative approach is written translation. An integrative test for listening and speaking skills may include an oral interview or audition followed by an oral summary or discussion. Generally, integrative tests provide an educator with a broader understanding of the progress of their learners, while discrete-item tests offer a more precise view on the difficulties the students face. Teacher Factor During the teaching process, an educator is the one to compile tests for their learners. An educator is responsible for the objectives of their lessons and for the ways they choose to test the progress of the students and their own professional performance. Preparing a test an educator faces an important task of balancing out several crucial qualities of a test, which are practicality, validity, reliability, authenticity and wash back. Only when a test matches this requirement it can be considered well-designed. A teacher’s competence and professionalism are the determinants of th eir success at test design. Preparing a test, a teacher is to identify its main objective because it will determine the balance between its qualities.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For example, when a language test is conducted with a purpose of professional selection, reliability and validity are the qualities the test designer is to prioritise; at the same time, for the classroom assessment practicality and wash back need to be emphasised (Milanovic, 2002). In a classroom assessment practicality comes in combination with transferability of a test. This means that a test is to carefully reflect the materials studied previously and also be transferable to real life communication skills and needs of the students. A teacher needs to be competent to organise a versatile teaching process and then address its objectives in a test. Besides, a teacher is to know their learners and identify their needs which will determine the need for a test. This also requires pedagogical qualification. Among all test qualities reliability and validity have been the most common focuses of scholarly discussions. Validity has been recognised as the most vital quality which defines to what extent the results of particular tests can be used as bases for conclusions; it can be divided into construct, content and predictive validity (Liao, 2004). The first type focuses on the performance of the examinee. The second type involves coverage and relevance of test content. The third type of validity involves a test’s ability to predict how an examinee would do in a non-testing environment. Test reliability stands for a test’s ability to provide consistent data that is replicable after retest. Reliability is evaluated based on such markers as consistency of the test results and simulation of tasks in a test (Liao, 2004). To design valid and reliable tests a teacher is to have a sufficient professional experience providing statistical base for reference concerning the correlation between testing and non-testing performance of the learners and the sustainability of test results and impacts. Wash back is another quality a teacher is to be properly qualified to use. Wash back refers to the influence a test has on learning and teaching processes and aligned curriculum. In other words, educators tend to adjust their teaching and curriculum to the contents and requirements of tests. Only reliable and valid tests can integrate into the curriculum and influence it. Authenticity is another vital feature of a test; it refers to a test’s ability to replicate the real life situation it targets. It is important because the main goal of language testing is to identify the level of a learner’s preparation to use a language in real life environment. Learner Factor Testing is only successful when it addresses the students’ academic needs. Among these needs there are a need for motivation, a need for practice and transferability, a need for personal development and a need for optimal feedback. Designing a test a teacher is to address all of these needs in order to facilitate active learning. Timing of a test is a crucial aspect for a ddressing all of the learners’ needs. The success of a test depends on the right timing. For example, motivation is to be regular and systematic in order to maintain the learners’ interest towards the language. Practice is very important for language learners. The time for practice needs to be selected is repetitive manner because frequent practice provides tighter connection between the learners and the additional language they study. Tests fulfill these needs keeping the learners challenged and motivating for improvement. Therefore, test of different types are to be placed within a program in a way that provides ongoing feedback, practice, monitoring and motivation. Feedback is a crucial aspect of teaching and testing. For the students, feedback is a part of motivation; this is why it needs to be provided in time to maintain the student’s desire to improve. Moreover, feedback is the learners’ basis for self-assessment. Through the teacher’s feedb ack direct or indirect, the students learn about their strengths and weaknesses, identify the areas which need to be improved or require particular focus. Feedback provided to the students is important for the teacher as well, because it follows the analysis of the learners’ strengths and weaknesses which helps the educator to determine the future needs of the students. This is why the timing of feedback has to be particularly accurate. Timely feedback facilitates timely improvement and helps both learners and teachers to keep track of their progress. One of the best ways to provide ongoing and accurate feedback is formative assessment. The main objectives of formative assessment are to provide the learners with valid information about their progress and weaknesses, identifying the areas that require better focus, and to help the educators find out which aspect of teaching make the learners experience struggle to address them right away (What is the difference between formati ve and summative assessment?, n. d.). Summative assessments are conducted frequently within a curriculum and their point value is rather low compared to that of summative assessments. Examples of summative assessments include performing summaries or schemes of the new materials in class, identification of main ideas of a text or a lecture. To compare, the examples of summative assessments are final papers, and course exams. Formative assessment can be viewed as an ongoing flow of testing and feedback for the constant monitoring of the learners’ progress and teachers’ performance. Setting and Aids Factor In the contemporary world technologies have penetrated every aspect of people’s life. Education is one of spheres where technologies have been used for many years already. Teaching and testing languages has benefited from the employment of technologies and their addition to the day-to-day life of the individuals. For example, English, as the main language of the internet has become much more available for the users of computers. Besides, the development of technologies and their application in education facilitated that appearance of different types of educational software which allows faster and more efficient learning and testing. The technologies have made a large contribution into the test design and implementation. Today, multiple tests can be conducted online or vie different computer programs, and the calculation of results is computerised and helps to save a lot of teachers’ time and effort. Besides, computerised adaptive testing (also known as CAT) is a recent innovation in the sphere of education software that helps to make testing more differentiated and flexible to be suitable for the learners with different academic performance. CAT operates by means of adjusting the number and difficulty of test items for each particular student and stops when a targeted criterion is met (Advantages of Computerised Adaptive Testing, n. d.). The main advantages of CAT are its precision, flexibility, positive experience for the examinees (due to the adjustment of task difficulty), and an ability of retesting without repeating the tasks. CAT is also highly accessible because it only requires software and basic computer knowledge for an examinee to be able to get tested. In general, computer assisted language testing (or CALT) has changed the nature of language testing making it more individual, and also making logistics and administration of the assessment easier and more effortless. Conclusion To conclude, testing has a very complex and multidimensional nature and a variety of objectives in every case. In order to design a valid and transferable test an educator is to have a range of professional competencies and have the knowledge of pedagogy. Besides, the planning and design of a test depend on its purpose and the content of knowledge that is being evaluated. Moreover, testing is equally important for students and teachers. The latter need testing to identify the challenges of the program for the learners and adjust it where necessary. The purpose of testing is to provide motivation though timely and accurate feedback and keep the learners challenged and interested in improvement. Testing is designed to motivate learning experiences, but not cause anxieties and low self-esteem for the learners. This is why, designing a test a teacher is approach this process professionally and carefully. Reference List Advantages of Computerised Adaptive Testing. Fastestweb. Web. Liao, Y. (2004). Issues of Validity and Reliability in Second Language Performance Assessment. Columbia University Working Papers in TESOL Applied Linguistics, 4(2), 1-4. Web. Milanovic, M. (2002). Language examining and test development. Strasbourg, France: Language Policy Division. Web. Vinson, C.  Learning Domains and Delivery of Instruction. Web. What is the difference between formative and summative assessment? Carnegie Mell on. Web. Widyantoro, A. (2013). Transferability: A Missing Link Between Language Testing and Language Teaching. In 3rd International Conference in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning held 15-16 March 2013 at The Ambassador Hotel (pp. 795-801). Bangkok, Thailand: LITU. Web. This essay on Testing in Language Teaching was written and submitted by user GhostRider to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. 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Distance learning and telecommunications Essays

Distance learning and telecommunications Essays Distance learning and telecommunications Essay Distance learning and telecommunications Essay The process of writing a syllabus is quite an important one owing to the fact that it informs children about the policies that one must adhere to; it also gives details about the mode of operation and the assignments that are due. However, a distance learning syllabus unit requires much more detail than other usual classes in that there are no other ways in which usual learning objectives can be achieved directly. Core objectives The latter syllabus with certain information about when assignments will be handed in, classroom schedules, unanswered questions that is likely to crop up during the process of assigning these issues. The following are the major objectives of this syllabus unit; Clarifying class details Help students decide on staying within a certain lass Give details about the unit To serve as contract between the institution and the students In this latter syllabus unit, there will be details about the instructor. In this case there will be details about the department, fax, phone and fax number of the instructor. This syllabus will contain details about how to contact the instructor. (Pembrook, 2008) The syllabus unit Contact policy: The turnaround time for this course unit will be twenty four hours (i. e. the time that students can contact the instructor after giving notification. This rule applies within Mondays and Fridays. Over the weekends, twelve hour notices will be applicable. Course description: the description of this course in a full manner can be found on the registrar’s office and they are well written within the course catalog. Overly, the course unit will cover all the basic computer information. Required and course materials: the following textbooks will be required for this particular course O’Neil, K. (2008): the ABCs of computer instruction, New York, Routledge Mc Namara, T. (2008) Basic Computer skills, London, McMillan These textbooks will be the core texts and students can contact the instructor in order to know where thy can purchase. Their ISBN numbers will also be given upon contact and as they can be bought online. For this particular course, there will be a need to combine the core texts with other course information. In this case, students can log into my WPI site that will be indicated at the bottom portion of the book. Audio and video clips will be an important part of this course and they will be instrumental in ensuring the success of the program. (Pembrook, 2008) Class schedules: classes here will commence from Thursday and will progress until Sunday. Assignments will be due on Mondays at 1400 hrs GMT. Deadline extensions will be granted only after prior notice given to the instructor and they will lead to prior cancellation of work if done poorly. It should also be noted that all the files handed in must be in . doc format or in Microsoft Word 1997-2003 format. All files must be named in the following format; (number of assignment)-(name of the individual) Students can hand in their assignments in APA, MLA or Harvard referencing styles. They will be required to examine credible sources on how these can be achieved. Learning objectives: At the end of the course unit students need to be bale to do the following Open, create and store files Carry out the latter tasks in different programs Work with spreadsheets Create presentations on PowerPoint Know how to edit, format and add stylistic features in word documents Understand how to utilize other external features Utilize print options Start and run basic applications Assessment and grading: An excellent grad will be one in which all the assignments have been completed and one in which the final exam will be between 80-100 Good-79-60 Fair- 50-59 Poor -49- 0 The final exam will account for sixty percent to grade while the remaining percentage will be divided between the two assignments to be given i. e. twenty percent each. Late assignments will be penalized by ten percent of the overall grade. Technologies: the latter unit will entail use of a series of technologies to facilitate communication between the student and the instructor. Video conferencing will be important and this may involve about of countries. Correspondence will mostly be through mail between the students and the instructor. One way videos will be important too in that recorded material will be viewed across the internet. (Pembrook, 2008) Perhaps one of the most important modes of communication will be computer networking. Here, the internet and local area networks will be particularly useful. First of all, web pages will be important sources, additionally, emails and chat rooms will also be necessary to ask information about certain assignments. On top of these, databases about course contents, and course participants will be found in these respective areas. Reference Pembrook, C. (2008): Distance learning and telecommunications, NJ, Pearson Education

Julia Ward Howe Biography

Julia Ward Howe Biography Known for: Julia Ward Howe is today best known as the writer of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. She was married to Samuel Gridley Howe, educator of the blind, who was also active in abolitionism and other reforms. She published poetry, plays and travel books, as well as many articles. A Unitarian, she was part of the larger circle of Transcendentalists, though not a core member. Howe became active in the womens rights movement later in life, playing a prominent role in several suffrage organizations and in womens clubs. Dates:  May 27, 1819 - October 17, 1910 Childhood Julia Ward was born in 1819, in New York City, into a strict Episcopalian Calvinist family. Her mother died when she was young, and Julia was raised by an aunt. When her father, a banker of comfortable but not immense wealth, died, her guardianship became the responsibility of a more liberal-minded uncle. She herself grew more and more liberal- on religion and on social issues. Marriage At 21 years old, Julia married the reformer Samuel Gridley Howe. When they married, Howe was already making his mark on the world. He had fought in the Greek War of Independence and had written of his experiences there. He had become the director of the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts, where Helen Keller would be among the most famous students. He was a radical Unitarian who had moved far from the Calvinism of New England, and Howe was part of the circle known as the Transcendentalists. He carried religious conviction in the value of the development of every individual into work with the blind, with the mentally ill, and with those in prison. He was also, out of that religious conviction, an opponent of slavery. Julia became a Unitarian Christian. She retained until death her belief in a personal, loving God who cared about the affairs of humanity, and she believed in a Christ who had taught a way of acting, a pattern of behavior, that humans should follow. She was a religious radical who did not see her own belief as the only route to salvation; she, like many others of her generation, had come to believe that religion was a matter of deed, not creed. Samuel Gridley Howe and Julia Ward Howe attended the church where Theodore Parker was minister. Parker, a radical on womens rights and slavery, often wrote his sermons with a handgun on his desk, ready if necessary to defend the lives of the runaway slaves who were staying that night in his cellar on their way to Canada and freedom. Samuel had married Julia, admiring her ideas, her quick mind, her wit, her active commitment to causes he also shared. But Samuel believed that married women should not have a life outside the home, that they should support their husbands and that they should not speak publicly or be active themselves in the causes of the day. As director at Perkins Institute for the Blind, Samuel Howe lived with his family on campus in a small house. Julia and Samuel had their six children there. (Four survived to adulthood, all four becoming professionals well known in their fields.) Julia, respecting her husbands attitude, lived in isolation in that home, with little contact with the wider community of Perkins Institute or Boston. Julia attended church, she wrote poetry, and it became harder for her to maintain her isolation. The marriage was increasingly stifling to her. Her personality was not one which adjusted to being subsumed in the campus and professional life of her husband, nor was she the most patient person. Thomas Wentworth Higginson wrote much later of her in this period: Bright things always came readily to her lips, and a second thought sometimes came too late to withhold a bit of a sting. Her diary indicates that the marriage was violent, Samuel controlled, resented and at times mismanaged the financial inheritance her father left her, and much later she discovered that he was unfaithful to her during this time. They considered divorce several times. She stayed, in part because she admired and loved him, and in part because he threatened to keep her from her children if she divorced him - both the legal standard and common practice at that time. Instead of divorce, she studied philosophy on her own, learned several languages - at that time a bit of a scandal for a woman - and devoted herself to her own self-education as well as the education and care of their children. She also worked with her husband on a brief venture at publishing an abolitionist paper, and supported his causes. She began, despite his opposition, to get more involved in writing and in public life. She took two of their children to Rome, leaving Samuel behind in Boston. Julia Ward Howe and the Civil War Julia Ward Howes emergence as a published writer corresponded with her husbands increasing involvement in the abolitionist cause. In 1856, as Samuel Gridley Howe led anti-slavery settlers to Kansas (Bloody Kansas, a battlefield between pro- and anti-slavery emigrants), Julia published poems and plays. The plays  and poems further angered Samuel. References in her writings to love turned to alienation and even violence were too clearly allusions to their own poor relationship. When the American Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act- and Millard Fillmore as President signed the Act- it made even those in Northern states complicit in the institution of slavery. All U.S. citizens, even in states that banned slavery, were legally responsible to return fugitive slaves to their owners in the South. The anger over the Fugitive Slave Act pushed many who had opposed slavery into more radical abolitionism. In a nation even more divided over slavery, John Brown led his abortive effort at Harpers Ferry to capture arms stored there and give them to Virginia slaves. Brown and his supporters hoped that the slaves would rise in armed rebellion, and slavery would end. Events did not, however, unfold as planned, and John Brown was defeated and killed. Many in the circle around the Howes were involved in the radical abolitionism that gave rise to John Browns raid. There is evidence that Theodore Parker, their minister, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, another leading Transcendentalist and associate of Samuel Howes, were part of the so-called Secret Six, six men who were convinced by John Brown to bankroll his efforts which ended at Harpers Ferry. Another of the Secret Six, apparently, was Samuel Gridley Howe. The story of the Secret Six is, for many reasons, not well known, and probably not completely knowable given the deliberate secrecy. Many of those involved seem to have regretted, later, their involvement in the plan. Its not clear how honestly Brown portrayed his plans to his supporters. Theodore Parker died in Europe, just before the Civil War began. T. W. Higginson, also the minister who married  Lucy Stone  and Henry Blackwell in their  ceremony asserting womens equality  and who was later a discoverer of  Emily Dickinson, took his commitment into the Civil War, leading a regiment of black troops. He was convinced that if black men fought alongside white men in the battles of war, they would be accepted as full citizens after the war. Samuel Gridley Howe and Julia Ward Howe became involved in the  U.S. Sanitary Commission, an important institution of social service. More men died in the Civil War from disease caused by poor sanitary conditions in prisoner of war camps and their own army camps than died in battle. The  Sanitary Commission  was the chief institution of reform for that condition, leading to far fewer deaths later in the war than earlier. Writing the Battle Hymn of the Republic As a result of their volunteer work with the  Sanitary Commission, in November of 1861 Samuel and Julia Howe were invited to Washington by President Lincoln. The Howes visited a Union Army camp in Virginia across the Potomac. There, they heard the men singing the song which had been sung by both North and South, one in admiration of John Brown, one in celebration of his death: John Browns body lies amouldering in his grave. A clergyman in the party, James Freeman Clarke, who knew of Julias published poems, urged her to write a new song for the war effort to replace John Browns Body. She described the events later: I replied that I had often wished to do so.... In spite of the excitement of the day I went to bed and slept as usual, but awoke the next morning in the gray of the early dawn, and to my astonishment found that the wished-for lines were arranging themselves in my brain. I lay quite still until the last verse had completed itself in my thoughts, then hastily arose, saying to myself, I shall lose this if I dont write it down immediately. I searched for an old sheet of paper and an old stub of a pen which I had had the night before, and began to scrawl the lines almost without looking, as I learned to do by often scratching down verses in the darkened room when my little children were sleeping. Having completed this, I lay down again and fell asleep, but not before feeling that something of importance had happened to me. The result was a poem, published first in February 1862 in the Atlantic Monthly, and called Battle Hymn of the Republic. The poem was quickly put to the tune that had been used for John Browns Body - the original tune was written by a Southerner for religious revivals- and became the best known Civil War song of the North. Julia Ward Howes religious conviction shows in the way that Old and New Testament Biblical images are used to urge that people implement, in this life and this world, the principles that they adhere to. As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free. Turning from the idea that the war was revenge for the death of a martyr, Howe hoped that the song would keep the war focused on the principle of the ending of slavery. Today, thats what Howe is most remembered for: as the author of the song, still loved by many Americans. Her early poems are forgotten- her other social commitments forgotten. She became a much-loved American institution after that song was published but even in her own lifetime, all her other pursuits paled besides her accomplishment of one piece of poetry for which she was paid $5 by the editor of Atlantic Monthly. Mothers Day and Peace Julia Ward Howes accomplishments did not end with the writing of her famous poem, The Battle Hymn of the Republic. As Julia became more famous, she was asked to speak publicly more often. Her husband became less adamant that she remain a private person, and while he never actively supported her further efforts, his resistance eased. She saw some of the worst effects of the war- not only the death and disease which killed and maimed the soldiers. She worked with the widows and orphans of soldiers on both sides of the war, and realized that the effects of the war go beyond the killing of soldiers in battle. She also saw the economic devastation of the Civil War, the economic crises that followed the war, the restructuring of the economies of both North and South. In 1870, Julia Ward Howe took on a new issue and a new cause. Distressed by her experience of the realities of war, determined that peace was one of the two most important causes of the world (the other being equality in its many forms) and seeing war arise again in the world in the Franco-Prussian War, she called in 1870 for women to rise up and oppose war in all its forms. She wanted women to come together across national lines, to recognize what we hold in common above what divides us, and commit to finding peaceful resolutions to conflicts. She issued a  Declaration, hoping to gather together women in a congress of action. She failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mothers Day for Peace. Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who had attempted starting in 1858 to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors. Ann Jarvis daughter, named Anna Jarvis, would of course have known of her mothers work, and the work of Julia Ward Howe. Much later, when her mother died, this second Anna Jarvis started her own crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first such Mothers Day was celebrated in West Virginia in 1907 in the church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. And from there the custom caught on- spreading eventually to 45 states. Finally the holiday was declared officially by states beginning in 1912, and in 1914 the President, Woodrow Wilson, declared the first national  Mothers Day. Woman Suffrage But working for peace was also not the accomplishment which eventually meant the most to Julia Ward Howe. In the aftermath of the Civil War, she, like many before her, began to see parallels between struggles for legal rights for blacks and the need for legal equality for women. She became active in the  woman suffrage movement  to gain the vote for women. T. W. Higginson wrote of her changed attitude as she finally discovered that she was not so alone in her ideas that women should be able to speak their minds and influence the direction of society: From the moment when she came forward in the Woman Suffrage Movement ...  there was a visible change; it gave a new brightness to her face, a new cordiality in her manner, made her calmer, firmer; she found herself among new friends and could disregard old critics. By 1868, Julia Ward Howe was helping to found the New England Suffrage Association. In 1869 she led, with her colleague  Lucy  Stone, the  American Woman Suffrage Association  (AWSA) as the suffragists split into two camps over black versus woman suffrage and over state versus federal focus in legislating change. She began to lecture and write frequently on the subject of woman suffrage. In 1870 she helped Stone and her husband, Henry Blackwell, found the  Womans Journal, remaining with the journal as an editor and writers for twenty years. She pulled together a series of essays by writers of the time, disputing theories that held that women were inferior to men and required separate education. This defense of womens rights and education appeared in 1874 as  Sex and Education. Later Years Julia Ward Howes later years were marked by many involvements. From the 1870s Julia Ward lectured widely. Many came to see her because of her fame as the author of the  Battle Hymn  of the Republic; she needed the lecture income because her inheritance had finally, through a cousins mismanagement, become depleted. Her themes were usually about service over fashion, and reform over frivolity. She preached often in Unitarian and Universalist churches. She continued to attend the Church of the Disciples, led by her old friend James Freeman Clarke, and often spoke in its pulpit. Beginning in 1873, she hosted an annual gathering of women ministers, and in the 1870s helped to found the Free Religious Association. She also became active in the womans club movement, serving as president of the New England Womens Club from 1871. She helped found the Association for the Advancement of Women (AAW) in 1873, serving as president from 1881. In January 1876, Samuel Gridley Howe died. Just before he died, he confessed to Julia several affairs hed had, and the two apparently reconciled their long antagonism. The new widow traveled for two years in Europe and the Middle East. When she returned to Boston, she renewed her work for womens rights. In 1883 she published a biography of Margaret Fuller, and in 1889 helped bring about the merger of the AWSA with the rival suffrage organization, led by  Elizabeth Cady Stanton  and  Susan B. Anthony, forming the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). In 1890 she helped to found the General Federation of Womens Clubs, an organization which eventually displaced the AAW. She served as director and was active in many of its activities, including helping to found many clubs during her lecture tours. Other causes in which she involved herself included support for Russian freedom and for the Armenians in the Turkish wars, taking once again a stand that was more militant than pacifist in its sentiments. In 1893, Julia Ward Howe participated in events at the Chicago Columbian Exposition (Worlds Fair), including chairing a session and presenting a report on Moral and Social Reform at the Congress of Representative Women. She spoke at the to the  1893 Parliament of the Worlds Religions, held in Chicago in conjunction with the  Columbian Exposition. Her topic, What is Religion? outlined Howes understanding of general religion and what religions have to teach each other, and her hopes for interfaith cooperation. She also gently called for religions to practice their own values and principles. In her last years, she was often compared to Queen Victoria, whom she somewhat resembled and who was her senior by exactly three days. When Julia Ward Howe died in 1910, four thousand people attended her memorial service. Samuel G. Eliot, head of the American Unitarian Association, gave the eulogy at her funeral at the Church of the Disciples. Relevance to Womens History Julia Ward Howes story is a reminder that history remembers a persons life incompletely. Womens history can be an act of remembering- in the literal sense of re-membering, putting the parts of the body, the members, back together. The whole story of Julia Ward Howe has not even now, I think, been told. Most versions ignore her troubled marriage, as she and her husband struggled with traditional understandings of the wifes role and her own personality and personal struggle to find herself and her voice in the shadow of her famous husband. Im left with questions to which I cannot find answers. Was Julia Ward Howes aversion to the song about John Browns body based on an anger that her husband had spent part of her inheritance secretly on that cause, without her consent or support? Or did she have a role in that decision? Or was Samuel, with or without Julia, part of the  Secret Six? We dont know, and may never know. Julia Ward Howe lived the last half of her life in the public eye primarily because of  one poem  written in the few hours of one gray morning. In those later years, she used her fame to promote her very different later ventures, even while she resented that she was already remembered primarily for that one small accomplishment. What is most important to the writers of history may not be necessarily the most important to those who are the subject of that history. Whether it was her peace proposals and her proposed  Mothers Day, or her work on winning the vote for women- none of which were accomplished during her lifetime- these fade in most histories beside her writing of the  Battle Hymn of  the Republic. This is why womens history often has a commitment to biography- to recover, to re-member the lives of the women whose accomplishments may mean something quite different to the culture of their times than they did to the woman herself. And, in so remembering, to respect their efforts to change their own lives and even the world. Source Hungry Heart: The Literary Emergence of Julia Ward Howe: Gary Williams. Hardcover, 1999.Private Woman, Public Person: An Account of the Life of Julia Ward Howe from 1819-1868: Mary H. Grant. 1994.Julia Ward Howe, 1819 to 1910: Laura E. Richards and Maud Howe Elliott. Reprint.Julia Ward Howe and the Woman Suffrage Movement: Florence H. Hull. Hardcover, Reprint.Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Biography of Julia Ward Howe: Deborah Clifford. Hardcover, 1979.Secret Six: The True Tale of the Men Who Conspired with John Brown: Edward J. Renehan, jr. Trade Paperback, 1997.

Assess The Value Of An Effective Human Resource Management Strategy To Essay

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Who gets the kids Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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