Principles of Sociology Essay

In H. Spencer s Principles of Sociology, he likened society to an organism where its functions and characteristics such as growth, expansion, division and the like, he believed, also occurs in the society and social life, thus coining the term social organism. A novel, likewise takes the form of an organism according to Henry James. He argues in the Art of Fiction (a commentary to Walter Besant’s lecture in the royal institution) that a novel is a personal impression of life. The main issue of the article is representation and how writers should treat it. James clarified that representation takes two forms; one is the direct representation, which according to him is limiting, and another is representation based on a writer’s impression of the experience which he considers what the art of novel is all about. The reality â€Å"colored by the writer’s vision† is the reality of the novel. An organism he believes best describe the complexity of a novel because an organism has in itself the individuality and unity of functions. The totality of the organism is dependent upon both the independence and the unity of its parts. Similarly, Freese in â€Å"Henry James and the application of his theory in ‘What Maisie knew’† believes that James viewpoint is that â€Å"†¦ it is not possible to examine fiction only by its individual parts because these have to be seen as interacting elements. †(p. 2) James believes that the uniqueness of every novel is determined by the â€Å"liberty of interpretation† afforded by the author. The principles of form being dictated by convention only hamper the creation of the being that is the novel. The impression of reality, the personal process of making sense of an experience, is the ultimate measure of achieving the reality. Thus, a novel is not just a product but a creative process as in painting and the other arts where each step contributes to the wholeness of the craft. The writer has the power to determine the shape and complexity of the novel and ultimately the reality that the novel contains. All these elements, as in an organism is determined by a creator and his idea of representation.

Dark green religion and hunting Essay

Hunting and Dark Green Religion with a Twist of Sport Hunting Dark Green Religion and hunting go hand in hand in the traditional sense. According to Dark Green Religion, as exemplified by Bron Taylor, the death of an animal should be appreciated and teach us the ethics of loving and caring for the bounty of our planet. Farm animals are killed all the time with the justification that they are for food. The conditions those animals deal with are explicitly anti-DGR. There are several types of hunting but the main two are hunting for subsistence and sport hunting. Hunting for food is acceptable because since the beginning of time, animals eat other animals, due to our carnal nature. Numerous environmentalists, in accordance with Bron Taylor, agree that hunting is a life function for almost all animals its either for survival or for food, therefore it is acceptable, but the death of an animal should come at a price of great sadness and appreciation. Dark Green Religion and its followers believe that animals have some sort of spiritual value, this leads them to respect all living things whether they are sentient beings or not. Humans are omnivores by nature, so eating dead animals is as natural as it can get, as long as it is not factory farmed. One thought that arises is what is naturally acceptable and what is not? In the wise words of Henry David Thoreau what is wild is good or â€Å"all good things are wild and free. †1 Anything that is untainted by humans is natural, just like killing for food is natural, but killing to show off skill is not because other animals in the wild do not kill for pleasure or thrill. It is either for food or for self-preservation in some rare cases. Through the various DGR literature pieces that are analyzed in this paper there is a spectrum in the environmental literature. 2At one end is the view that hunting is justified only for self protection and for food, where no other reasonable alternative is available. Most writers, in this case Bron Taylor, Gretel Van Wieren, and Priscilla Cohn, also agree that hunting is sometimes justified in order to protect endangered species and threatened ecosystems where destructive species have been introduced or natural predators have been exterminated. Others, especially in western society, accept hunting as part of cultural tradition or for the psychological well being of the hunter, sometimes extended to include recreational hunting when practiced according to â€Å"sporting† rules. Nowhere in the literature as far as DGR is concerned is hunting for fun, for the enjoyment of killing, or for the acquisition of trophies defended. 3 Imagine being an animal†¦ getting chased and shot at by humans for pure enjoyment. It cannot be fun especially if they miss the vital organs and you are in severe pain. Sometimes the hunt will take hours and the animal will drag its mutilated body around trying to die in peace because that is all it can do at that point. Animals can feel pain just like us. In a movie that Dr. Ellard showed to us in class, a man with special powers transferred the pain and sadness of a dying deer to a hunter, the hunter screamed and writhed in pain. That just makes you think what must have been going through the deer’s brain. At what point is it acceptable to kill animals? For instance, killing in self defense is justified only if no effective nonlethal means is available. Some say the thrill of the hunt makes it worth whatever the cost may be. Killing to obtain trophies would be justified and only if trophies are an important nonsubstitutable good, or if some other important substitute good cannot reasonably be achieved by any other means. 4 Others say hunting does have a thrill but it shouldn’t be the only thoughts going through your head. According to Bron Taylor no small numbers of DGR folk hunt. Taylor does not approve of trophy or sport hunting. In his words; although there is nothing wrong in my view with appreciating and enjoying all that goes with the hunt, this is best combined with the feelings of sadness that I hope also comes with the taking of life. Dark Green Religion gives wildlife intrinsic value and a sort of spiritual relevance. Wild life is to be revered, not conquered and made to look inferior. 5 Humans are a part of the whole circle of life, and we should stay within our circle and not go out and destroy it. Bron and I discussed the main reason to which degree hunting should be considered acceptable. I think hunting is justifiable for food, as a philosophical understanding that we are not superior but rather are a part of nature and like other organisms, kill to survive and thrive, and it is also justifiable, sometimes, to promote the health of an ecosystem and the viability of other species populations. 6 According to Gretel Van Wieren agrees with me that there is less harm done in hunting that there is factory farming. In our case up here in the northeast, we have hunted the wolves to extinction in our region. The wolves were the main predators of the deer  population, since all the wolves have been killed; now it is our responsibility to hunt the deer since they are constantly overpopulating the region and devastating the flora of the region along with farmland. Bron Taylor and his colleagues who are mentioned above, joined us in our discussion, agreed with me wholeheartedly thru the lens of DGR. According to Ted Kerasote, avid outdoorsman, hunter, and author, buried in our animal nature lies an important but unstated fact: The drive to hunt and the drive for sex have much in common. Both are primal and both can be thanked for our presence here today. While the drive to hunt is less obvious than the drive for sex, the former probably contributed more to our culture. Sex is accomplished by two, but hunting is often accomplished in cohesive and enduring groups. 7 Before we became hunters, we met our need for animal protein by snacking on insects, snails, fledgling birds and other slow creatures too small to share. But hunting produced large, festive meals too grand to be eaten by any one person, meals which could feed large groups of people who would stay around the carcass not only to be sure of their shares but also to defend the meat from scavengers. 8 Based on the facts presented by Kerasote hunting, therefore, made us social. Since we have evolved and advanced so much that hunting is outdated in most cases, we hunt for other reasons. Hunting has brought us subsistence, and then the social aspect took over and now we are acting in the reverse direction of why we started hunting in the first place. The social aspect has led us to believe that hunting is acceptable just for the social aspect and not for that which it was originally intended. On the other hand, certain people, hold that animals were not put on earth for our use, certainly not so that we can kill them for pleasure. To the various DGR people mentioned in the paper, sport hunting is no more exalted than pulling the wings off flies. What the issue comes down to, then, is this: Now that we have become an industrialized society, should we indulge our instincts at the expense of other intelligent forms of life? That question has been very intelligently addressed in Ted Kerasote’s book called Bloodties. He makes a big a point in his introduction to the book that as long as we hunt locally (so that we don’t burn fossil fuel getting to our quarry) and as long as we eat the victim, we do infinitely less harm to the overall environment than we do by eating ordinary supermarket vegetables. After all, the vegetables are grown by an energy-hungry agribusiness whose pesticides decimate the ecosystem and whose combines fatally batter hundreds of small animals (insects, toads, snakes, ground-nesting birds, mice, voles, woodchucks, striped squirrels, weasels, skunks, foxes) in the course of each harvest. But venison is in dramatic contrast to the vegetables resulting from that harvest, as well as to feed-dependent pork, beef, mutton, chicken and turkey. Unlike agricultural produce, venison requires no pesticide or fossil-fuel to grow, and results in the loss of just one life: the deer’s. 9 Why don’t we all see this? Because to many of us, the little animals in the crops are vermin and the deer are Bambi, yet as Kerasote points out, life is precious to all creatures. This point that he makes shows us how deep this animal harm goes, people who are vegans probably do not think this deep. The land cleared for their food was once a home to animals. That same land is annually inhabited by other animals and every year they get killed or chased away by machinery. Kerasote hunts, probably very well. As a hunter he sounds more like an Inuit or a Bushman (or more like a wolf or a mountain lion, to name two other hunters of the deer) than like the camouflage-clad, beer-sodden macho types with automatic weapons who infest the woods each fall. And because he’s a hunter, Kerasote’s descriptions of hunts are realistic perfection, his detail is very vivid and proves the reader with imagery that makes you want to hunt. The thrill of the hunt is what our ancestors must have followed in order to even overcome the challenge of hunting with stones and on foot. Trophy hunting is the selective hunting of wild game animals. Although parts of the slain animal may be kept as a hunting trophy or memorial (usually the skin, antlers and/or head), the carcass itself is seldom used as food or mostly it is considered useless and thrown away. 10 Sport hunting goes back to ancient Mesopotamia and Persia. Kings would conduct lion hunts from chariots, and would often stock their lands with the beasts for this purpose. One of the oldest legends in history–Gilgamesh–celebrates his killing of lions and other beasts, mythic and real. Hunting–whether for food or for sport–has been directly tied to the extinction of megafauna in the Ice Age 41,000 years ago. The advent of firearms made hunting easier, and hunting expeditions (like the safaris of the 19th and early 20th centuries) became popular. 11 Before conservation laws, virtually anything was deemed fair game: elephants, tigers, rhinos, gorillas, wolves, deer, elk and most other large animals. Most of the animals involved with trophy hunting are either endangered or on the watch list. â€Å"Sport† hunting is a brutal business. It means taking the life of an innocent animal for personal gain. The hunting industry doesn’t like the word kill because it exposes the lie that animals die peacefully after being arrowed, shot, trapped, choked and generally tortured to death. So they sanitize the cruelty of hunting by using euphemisms to describe their evil deeds. 12 To make matters worse, not all of these animals that are hunted for sport are eaten; this promotes the lack of appreciation for their life. It is certainly true that many hunters seek to kill trophy animals which are precisely the animals that the species can least afford to lose: the â€Å"genetically prime† animals. 13 Since hunters look for the prime animals to kill, the stunted and genetically unfit animals are allowed to breed and then the offspring have less of a chance of surviving which further hinders the population as well as the hunters that are still hunting the species. A chief of this would be hunting elephants with big tusks. When the animals with big tusks are poached, the remaining population has to breed with males that would have otherwise lost in fights over mating partners. Since these elephants are genetically inferior precisely due to the size of their tusks, they are less likely to survive because during the dry season they will not be able to dig for water, and their offspring would have to endure the same problem. This would cull the population to the point where there would not be enough healthy elephants to keep the population alive. This just goes to show how such small actions by mankind can lead to such adverse effects for animals. Sport and trophy hunting have other deleterious effects on animal populations, as I discussed earlier in the paper with my example of the deer and wolf dilemma in northeast America. Hunting for sport has obliterated species. The dodo bird’s disappearance along with passenger pigeons’ is attributed mostly to sport hunters, and the historical decimation of the American buffalo from sport hunters nearly pushed that species to total extinction. Big game hunting was a craze in the 1800s, and their effect on animal populations was devastating. Sport hunters of the time were ignorant of issues like sustainable breeding populations, and there were no protected species until the first conservation laws were passed in the 20th century. 14 Dark Green Religion people have made it their mission to let society know of the harm they are causing by hunting for pleasure. If you look at the bigger picture here, anything that humans do for pure pleasure generally has a harsh consequence for the environment. If we paid attention to the devastation we cause we would probably help reduce the amount of damage we cause to our one and only planet. If the â€Å"pros† of sports hunting can be outweighed the â€Å"cons† by so much more it makes an obvious statement against sports hunting. Sport hunting has the direct effect of reducing animal populations; unless it is tightly regulated, this form of hunting can decimate species and disrupt the balance of ecosystems. 15 In many cases sports hunting has already upset an established ecological balance as in the case of the white tailed deer and the wolves. The message of DGR people is quite clear at this point, and we see that in some cases advocacy helps, but illegal sports hunting still proceeds unhindered in many cases and we need to help raise support against it by denying a market for illegal animal products. According to various environmentalists along with Bron Taylor, Gottlieb, and Henry David Thoreau, in order to fix the problem, we need to identify the problem and advocate to the public to the point where the public will be scrambling for a solution on their own. As these various authors are working on advocating the problem, the environment and society are still on a downhill plunge. In some cases we need visceral Dark Green Religion to come in explain why some groups regard wilderness with such reverence. It is because of Dark Green Religion that I even wanted to write this paper. I hope the rest of the world is as understanding as I am and attempt to do as much as anyone can to help improve the situation, because that is the only way change will occur. Bibliography Gunn, Alastair S. â€Å"Environmental Ethics and Trophy Hunting. † Ethics & the Environment. no. 1 (2001): 68-95. Kerasote, Ted. Bloodties: Nature, Culture, and the Hunt . New York: Random House, 1993. Priscilla Cohn Ethics and Wildlife: Hunting Myths, Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 1999. Swan, James A. In Defense Of Hunting. New York: Harper Collins, 1995. Tallmadge, John, â€Å"Deerslayer with a Degree,† in Mark Allister (ed. ) Eco-Man: New Perspectives on Masculinity and Nature, University of Virginia Press, 2004, 17-27 Taylor, Bron. Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2009. Wade, Maurice L. â€Å"Animal Liberationaism, Ecocentrism, and the Morality of Sport Hunting. † Journal of the Philosophy of Sport. (1990): 15-27.

Age of Computer Essay

Eras in the history of art and architecture may be distinguished by styles such as Renaissance, Gothic, Impressionist or Surrealist, and so on. Techniques too have marked different eras over the centuries: from the primitive tools of the Stone Age, to the Industrial Age marked by steam and electrical power and the discovery of turbines, and engines. Today, we have entered a new era: the computer age – an age which owes everything to inventors. Charles Babbage, an English mathematician, is considered to be the great-grandfather of the computer. Over 150 years ago, in 1840 to be exact, he invented a sophisticated calculating machine, and called it the â€Å"Analytical Engine.† As with many inventions, his creation was far in advance of its time. It took another 100 years before the first computers were built, and as you know, they were huge and incredibly heavy. Take, for instance, the famous Mark I. It was the world’s first electro-mechanical computer and was used during World War 2 by the U.S. Navy. In comparison to 20th-century systems,  it could be likened to a battleship: 2.6 meters high, 16 meters wide, 2 meters deep, and weighing a massive 5 tons! The machine – the hardware – could not develop without the software to match, of course. In this respect, two women mathematicians played key roles. Ada Lovelace Byron, daughter of the poet Lord Byron, wrote in 1843 what today we’d call programs for Charles Babbage’s â€Å"Analytical Engine.† She was a pioneer and is considered to be the very first programmer in history. That’s why 130 years later, the U.S. Department of Defence gave her forename – Ada – A-D-A – to one of the most important computer programs in the world. It is used not only by the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force but also by big industry, universities, and other centers of research. Grace Hopper, an American woman, invented in 1952 the very first compiler of all times, a program which translates a programming language so that it can be understood by computers. It was a sensational breakthrough which opened doors to automatic programming and thus directly to contemporary personal computers (PCs). Today, computers are at the center of thousands upon thousands of other inventions. They are the heartbeats of the modern world. Computers are every-where – from kitchens to concrete mixers, from planes to pockets. They listen. They speak. They act. Never in world history has one invention had such an influence on humanity as a whole. Without the computer age, there would be no global awareness. Internet, in particular, has created a brand new environment. A new culture has been born – free, rapid, and universal – where people share their knowledge and expertise. Information and communication techniques have been turned upside down, distance has been eliminated, frontiers abolished. A tremendous interactive potential is burgeoning on our planet Earth today. Like it or lump it – none can stop it! I would like to mention something concerning Internet. The inventors in 1990  of the World Wide Web (WWW), which revolutionized the contemporary computer world, did not become millionaires. British Tim Berners-Lee and Belgian Robert Caillau, both researchers at European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, did not make any money through their invention of the WWW. They refused to patent it. They feared that in so doing, the use of the Web would prove prohibitively expensive preventing its use worldwide. Thus, they passed up a fortune so that our world can learn and communicate today, and we should be grateful to them for their foresight. The invention of the computer with its multitude of programs and new information technologies is transforming the traditional perception of an inventor. A more positive image is emerging. No longer personified by an eccentric crackpot, a crackpot male genius working alone in attic, garage or basement, today’s inventors resemble more and more millions of other scientists, industrial researchers and entrepreneurs in workshops or laboratories surrounded by a computer station. All use the â€Å"mouse† instead of a pencil, and their drawing boards are computer screens. Women inventors have also contributed to this change in the traditional image of the inventor, particularly in certain fields such as chemistry, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, not to speak of computer software. In the USA, for instance, the number of women inventors with patents in the field of chemistry increased three-and-half times during the period from 1977 (2.8%) to 1988 (9.9%). It would be interesting indeed to see what further increases have taken place over the past 10 years. Another popular fallacy is not only that the large majority of inventors are eccentric and male, but they are also perceived as being raZther ancient! The truth is that, thanks to the computer, people are actually inventing more and more at an increasingly youthful age. In Silicon Valley, a 30-year old inventor is considered already long in the tooth, and many newcomers to the inventive world are in their 20s. Some predict that in a few years time,  there’ll be a new generation of 14-year-old millionaire inventors appearing in Silicon Valley! Unfortunately, this new generation of inventors – women and very young people – is insufficiently present among representatives of most inventor associations worldwide. These are still run by people who, although totally dedicated to their work, were neither born nor grew up in the computer age. Therefore they find adaptation difficult. Information technology frequently passes them by. This is often a cause of very real problems. lighbulbInternet.jpg (1394 bytes) Let’s now consider some of the ways inventors can make use of the new technologies of the computer age. We all know that inventors need a lot of information. Technological information contained in patent documents is essential at the very earliest stages of invention. It can avoid duplication in research work. It can provide ideas for further development of existing technology. It can also give a glimpse of the technological activities of competitors. That is why Patent Offices have put their patent documentation databases on the Internet. Access is not only fast, but easily accessible, and available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It’s also free in the sense that it doesn’t cost the inventor a single cent to consult such documentation! Time-consuming travel to Patent Offices or libraries storing patent documents is a thing of the past. The inventor also has access to much more data than through a single database. Obviously, the ideal is one huge library, containing millions of patent documents from all over the world. The European Patent Office (EPO) has tried to create this world library of patent documents. I am glad to inform you that IFIA Web site allows surfers to visit this EPO site, and through it, to jump to the major providers of patent information in the world, whether they be Patent Offices or private  enterprises, such as IBM. A further advantage is the constant updating of all these databases by each of the providers. In brief, it’s sufficient to click on one address, the EPO address, to access millions of documents: . lighbulbInternet.jpg (1394 bytes) For many inventors, the marketing stage often starts with a prototype to prove that the product works satisfactorily, and what’s more, works safely. The greater a model’s perfection, the greater the chances of selling a license to a manufacturer. But a professional prototype, as close to the final product as possible, can rapidly become extremely expensive. One fantastic and inexpensive alternative to a physical prototype is a computerized model. Basically, it amounts to modelling the invention from all angles on a computer, with self-running commentary, demonstrations and animation of all the invention’s functions. The diskette or ZIP disk can be duplicated in as many copies as necessary, and sent via regular mail. The computerized prototype can also be loaded onto a video tape and copies made. Busy executives – prospective investors, licensees or buyers – seem, however, to prefer a diskette which is easy to put into the computer, in addition to the fact that most offices do not have a TV and VCR. The video tape would seem more appropriate when presenting an invention at an exhibition or fair. On the subject of invention shows, let me stress in passing that virtual exhibitions exist already. One of IFIA’s members, the Hungarian Association of Inventors, even launched an international competition of inventions last March with a virtual jury, each member sitting serenely in front of his/her computer screen, somewhere around the world. lighbulbInternet.jpg (1394 bytes) With the computer age upon us, we are also moving slowly but surely away from the traditional paper system of filing patent applications to the new  electronic filing system – a rapid and cheap transmission system of text and image data. Patent Offices are now engaged in preparing the necessary tools to assist inventors and other applicants in this form of electronic commerce. Naturally, their Web sites will have to provide links to reference material, technical guidelines and instructions on filing applications. The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, provides inventors and industry with an advantageous route for obtaining patent protection worldwide. Starting from January 1, 1999, the PCT is offering a reduction of US$ 200 (two hundred) for every electronic filing. That’s quite an encouragement to use this system! However, no system is perfect. It still remains a fact that Patent Offices are faced with serious technical issues related to information security. Namely: How to ensure the security and authenticity of the transmission and exchange of unpublished – therefore confidential – data? The next question to arise is: Who will be responsible in case of third-party intrusions? The Patent Office? – or the applicant? Because of the international nature of the patent system, it has been decided recently that all information security issues will be examined in the framework of WIPO. To better understand some of the many issues involved, I would like to give two examples as described in a WIPO document discussed a few days ago in Geneva: † †¦ any exchange between applicants and examiners requires excellent levels of security and data privacy. Furthermore, many of these activities require some assurance of the identity of one party or another. For example, if an applicant is exchanging information with an examiner, the examiner needs to know that the individual is indeed authorized to provide  information, (e.g. proof of identity), and the applicant needs to be confident that he or she is indeed in contact with a patent examiner and not a clever hacker. [†¦]† â€Å"The exchange of priority documents provides another interesting example. If a priority document is to be exchanged in electronic form, it needs to be validated by the originating party. In other words, the document needs to be signed to demonstrate its authenticity, it needs to have a guaranteed time stamp associated with the transaction, preferably by a third party (to prevent presumed or actual forgery of dates and times), and it needs to have some guarantee of accuracy, so that a party obtaining the document can tell if tampering occurred†¦Ã¢â‚¬  lighbulbInternet.jpg (1394 bytes) Every now and then we hear some people say, â€Å"There’s hardly anything left to invent. Everything has been invented already!†. What a silly remark! You can be certain that inventors will continue inventing, and new discoveries will be made, right up to the very last minute before the world comes to an end! But to return to today, with the computer age, the possibilities of invention are endless and in all possible fields. It has also been said that the computer will eventually invent the inventor. By that I mean that one day, the computer will replace the inventor. Up to a point, I must agree – but only to a certain extent. You can feed the computer with billions of data. One has even beaten a world chess champion. Nevertheless, the computer has no humanity, no imagination, no sensitivity or affectivity, and no inherent wisdom. Can it smell the perfume of a rose? †¦interpret the color of a sunrise? Can it caress the cheek of a child? †¦or savor the taste of Hong Kong’s dim sum?! Above all it’s a machine – a fantastic machine – but remember, it’s only a machine. So let’s not make a new god out of the computer, as some tend to do. But rather use its possibilities to a maximum †¦ and through it, try quite simply to build a better world. That should be our motto.

Interoffice Memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Interoffice Memo - Essay Example I do believe that law enforcement agents can be an asset in this field of investigation where digital evidence need to be handled with care much like any physical evidence should be handled in order to be assured that evidence would not be tampered with from the time it is collected unto the time that the evidence is used in court. As you have informed me, your team is not computer-trained. This should not stop your team from broadening the scope of their responsibility. It used to be that only people who are highly trained in computers are able to assist in such cases of crime as involves computers or data objects found in computer files. However, due to the proliferation of computer crimes in recent years, it has become quite impractical to be only employing the "experts" as it slows down the investigation process. It is not only impractical; it becomes quite unreasonable to have a few experts perform these duties by themselves (O'Shea, n.d.). Thus it has become necessary that law enforcement agents also be involved in the "chain of custody" in a crime scene where computers are directly involved. In this connection it would be a good thing to come together and discuss vital issues on the management of digital evidence. Your law enforcement team could undergo basic training on how to recognize, seize, transport and store original evidence in order to preserve it for forensic examination. Details of this training will be discussed in a meeting that I hope to soon have with your team. But in a nutshell, let me lay out what I hope would give you an overview of how your law enforcement team could participate in the investigation of the case at hand. Seizure Methodology Let us discuss seizure methodology. Traditionally, the first thing that must be done is to secure the physical scene, followed by securing the digital scene. In such a scenario, "all hardware and media are seized, documented, labeled and packaged for delivery to the lab" (O'Shea, n.d.). In the lab, all seized data is analyzed. This is the simplest chain of duties to be done. This, however, works well if there is only a single computer or a few computers involved. In our case where a number of computers are involved, the methodology becomes a bit more detailed because seizing all the computers would be quite impractical to do. In the event where there are a handful of computers involved, the following steps are involved: digital media identification, prioritizing the physical media so as to minimize the crime scene and then the seizure of storage devices and media. In digital media identification we simply try to find the digital media that has the highest probability of having the much sought after evidence. After the identification of all possible media involved, it must be determined which among these contain information leading to the crime. It would be impractical to get all the devices at the

Digital Media Strategy and Implementation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Digital Media Strategy and Implementation - Essay Example Digital companies focus on being the first to provide news to the people. Their content is different, from business related to political, entertainment and financial; they seek to find the best areas where they can capture the most customers. Speed of browsing and the user friendliness of the sites is a strategy issue too. Of equal importance however, is the provision of the content in mobile phone devices for various customers, enabling people to access them from their mobile browsers. The digital media has engaged itself in a number of issues. Most particularly however, are the businesses and the issues that the business community is facing currently. Focusing on the issues facing Sony and Netflix companies, this paper seeks to address their challenges as highlighted by the blogs. Additionally, it will focus on measures that have been put into place to address the same issues. In the recent past, Sony has made headlines after the announcement of the lunch of the PlayStation 4 game with increased features that will allow online streaming of games. Following this announcement, a series of bulletins have been published focusing on Sony as a company and the PlayStation 4 game as a product. ... The company manufactures mobile phones, home appliances, electronics machines, games and Blu-ray discs. Not only are losses a part of the company’s challenges, the company is also faced with reduced sales of its products, loosing market to competitors like Samsung and the Apple. Samsung has taken over in the smartphone business and home appliances, while Apple has an upper hand in the smartphones and tablets markets. Both companies offer features of online streaming of games, which fiercely counters Sony’s console PlayStation series (Kovach n.p.). This has seen massive losses made by Sony with its PlayStation 3 version of the game. A number of mitigating measures have been put into place by Sony to get her into the top of the business. The CEO of the corporation has decided with other top 40 managers to forgo their annual allowances in a move that will save the company operating expenses in the current financial year, 2013 (Wakabayashi n.p.). Additionally, the company h as improved the features of its intended PlayStation 4, which will allow users to stream games online and thus offer its customers a variety of games. This move is expected to help the company counter games available online such as those offered by Apple and Samsung. The company is investing into the smartphones business, with improved versions of its Sony-experia mobile phones. The company’s revenues are expected to reach at $684.8 million in the fiscal year. Sony is not the only company to receive negative publicity in the digital media due to its challenged business. Netflix, an online movie lending store has too been a center of news headlines in the recent

Marx and Weber on the Transition to Capitalist Modernity Essay

Marx and Weber on the Transition to Capitalist Modernity - Essay Example Thus, the predicate "modern" specifies not historical time, but to the degree of development of on what it is applied. Two moments – the representation of capitalism as universal transhistorical process and the concentrated expression of the capitalistic nature not in its basis, and in its superstructure named by "spirit of capitalism", - the researchers distinguish the concept of M. Weber from similar concepts of his ideological opponent K.Marx. It is possible to be expressed so: Weber adhered to a principle of plurality of historical forms of capitalism and Marx supported the thesis of the uniqueness of capitalism. Â  The ethical additive to the former forms of capitalism allowing them to become modern capitalism, according to Weber, is a qualitative change. Between "old" capitalism what Marx has had time to find, and "new" capitalism what Weber looked at, the distance of the huge size lays. The critical descriptions of capitalism (sale of children in slavery, prostitution, criminality, merciless operation of workers, falsification of products, brutal working conditions and a life, unemployment and poverty) which we meet on pages of "Capital" by K.Marx, should concern, according to Weber’s logic, not to the modern civilized capitalism, but to the vestiges of the old, adventurous capitalism which has historically settled. Â  The main thing, that differs the approach of M. Weber from similar attempts to explain an origin and evolution of K.Marx’s capitalism, is the concept of the motivation of labor activity. Anybody from them at all has not mentioned and has not explained, why the traditional thinking and the traditional attitude to work brakes the promotion to a market economy and interferes with an increase in labor productivity.

Evaluate the arguments for and against the decriminalising of cannabis Essay

Evaluate the arguments for and against the decriminalising of cannabis in the U.K - Essay Example Cannabis is a plant known to be available in most parts of the world and first originated from the Asian region (Emmett and Nice, 2009). Cannabis is known by many names including marijuana, Grass, weed, herb, blow, Ganja, dagga, hemp, pot and hay. It can be extracted in a simple way; the leaves of the plant are cut in small pieces and dried. Emmett and Nice (2009) explain that one has to consider the leaves of the cannabis plant which is almost maturing. From a study conducted by Johns (2001), it has been concluded that this drug has some side effects on the victim. Most of the users tend to consume the drug by smoking, which affects their lungs just the way cigarette smoking affects a person. Cannabis use has been debated much in most countries; this paper will review the need to decriminalize and also the impacts if the drug is decriminalized in the UK. From varied research, it is indicated that cannabis decriminalization should be considered based on the economic point of view; a lot of money is spent by the Government finding drug dealers and abusers. ... The decriminalization of cannabis use in the country would give the government more money to spend in other parts of the economy. In addition the government could generate revenue from the cannabis traders instead of spending taxes chasing after them. The health issue is also another case which has to be considered. Proponents of the legalization of cannabis have been arguing that the drug can help patients overcome the difficulties they are undergoing. For example, patients are usually advised by some doctors to take small amounts of cannabis by smoking to reduce the pain caused by the diseases they are undergoing (Grant et al, 2012). Furthermore, Grant et al (2012) show that the use of cannabis by patients who have undergone neurosurgery reduces the pain, hence increasing the patients’ hope of fast recovery. Cancer patients side effect could be reduced by advising them to smoke cannabis, which reduces side effects caused by cancer drugs, including nausea and vomiting. HIV/AI Ds Patient who on Anti-retroviral drugs could also benefit from the use of cannabis to curb the side effects such lack of appetite, which could help them prevent other issues which like weight loss. Patients can then prolong their life and eat just like any other people. From the research it was also found that short sighted people could benefit from the use of cannabis which reduces the side effects they have when they are on drugs to reduce the effects of short-sightedness. Hall et al (2001) also found that cannabis can be used to curb epilepsy, tetanus or rabies (Hall et al 2001). From this, the UK government should consider decriminalizing cannabis for the benefit of ailing

Business Process and Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Process and Systems - Essay Example In operation management, the management of the entire process relating to the production and marketing of the products or services are involved. The distribution management consists of the organising and control of the basic functions of product distribution in the market. In the old system adopted by the company, each crop is decided by the tenant and the business receives rent and a percentage of the profit. Certified organic products would help to gain the market with greater profit. Expansion of the business requires greater access to the market through considerable changes in the organisation structure. It is better to modify the production operation by giving clear cut planning relating to each of the organic farm products that has to be produced by each of the tenant. It will be more effective in production as the targeted quantity of each of the product type can be ensured. Inventory management: Too much inventory and lack of enough demand will generate great financial loss to the business. Maximising cash flows should be the aim of the business. To gain this, the inventory management system should be strengthened by shortening the forecasting time and analysis of the sales and demand data. Improved communication process is another essential factor for the efficient distribution process. Best practises of inventory management, with advanced technology tools, are helpful for improving the inventory management. Online distribution management system can be applied for improving the efficiency. It will facilitate the integration of factors such as customers, stocks, distribution and services in cost effective manner. Distribution chain starting from the vendors to the customers’ electronic distribution system can be applied. Supply chain management is greatly related to the co-ordination of different functions in the business such as procurement of materials from the farmers, co-ordination between different players in the

Comparing and Contrasting Diverse Roles Research Paper

Comparing and Contrasting Diverse Roles - Research Paper Example These common roles are as follows; Role as a Leader A project manager has to lead, manage and administer the resources of a project (U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2003). These resources are both tangible and intangible. For instance, tangible resources are finances and materials of a project. Intangible resources are people’s skills. The nature and diversity of these resources makes the role of a project manager very demanding. A project manager needs to lead the team. Projects are not completed without a competent team. In order to get the best out of the people working on a project, they need to be lead and often they need to be lead from the front. That is why the project manager needs to be equipped with the right leadership skills. The role of a leader often requires developing, modifying and implementing project plans. Along with these qualities, a leader also has to bring in the necessary interpersonal skill set to effectively lead the team towards the goals. The re is hardly any contrast in the roles of a project manager and the role of a leader. Every step of the management requires appropriate leadership skills. ... That is why continuous improvement and learning is mandatory for a super job at project managing. Whatever skill and education the project manager has, the manager needs to pass it on to the project team members. The manager needs to show team members how to do certain things. That is where a project manager needs to be a mentor for team members. Mentoring for the project manager involves teaching team members right on the job. This type of mentoring can be related to on the job training. Here comes the contrast; the job of a project manager is to manage the project and not teach the team members new skills. If the project manager is busy teaching the team members about their job skills, project managing can suffer. This is a tough thing for the project manager to balance both these aspects. Role as a Manager This is the prime role of a project manager, to manage. There is no contrast between this role and the main task of a project manager. Team building for a project is also the jo b of a project manager and especially when there are different types of teams. These various types of teams depends on the task at hand as well as the resources available (WHO, 2007). Team building also requires managing the individuals that make up the team. The manager needs to know which individuals are best with their specific skill sets and how to best utilize them. As stated earlier, there is no contrast between the work of a project manager and the role of a manager. These tasks go hand in hand, reinforcing each other. The managerial roles require managing all variables of a project; time, cost, resources. Facilitator roles Sometimes a big project requires more than one project manager for its successful completion. In such scenarios, a project manager needs to play the role of

Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Economics - Assignment Example Now, before throwing some light on the importance of government in reducing the rate of unemployment, it is crucial to shed some light on the types and methods of measuring unemployment. The definition of unemployment is quite varying. In simple words, it is a situation where people want jobs but they don’t become able to find any. But, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), if a person is working at least for an hour a week, he is considered employed. Here, definition of employment will help understanding what unemployment is all about. The LFS( Labour Force Survey ) definition of employment is anyone (aged 16 or over) who does at least one hour’s paid work in the week prior to their LFS interview, or has a job that they are temporarily away from (e.g. on holiday). Also included are people who do unpaid work in a family business and people on government supported employment training schemes, in line with ILO definitions [1]. As different unemployment types exist in the real world, it is crucial to use right methods to measure those different types. Unemployment rate is the best way to measure the extent of unemployment in any country. Economists all over the world, give huge importance to the measures of unemployment rate for designing the policies of economic development. The most widely used measure of unemployment rate is mentioned below[2]: Claimant Count: This method was usually used during the 1980s and 1990s. The basic thing about this method is to count those unemployed heads who are receiving unemployment benefits. The good thing is that measurement can be done by using administrative records, which is the reason why you don’t have to suffer from sampling errors. But, it is a fact that many countries are now using other computation methods which is the reason why it is not logical to compare results of this method with other methods. Also, it provides relatively inadequate data as only those people who receive unemployment

Maria Montessori Language Arts Rationale Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Maria Montessori Language Arts Rationale - Essay Example A child learns to listen by hearing the various sounds that the adults around him and also learns to speak by imitating the various sounds that the adults make around him.as Maria Montessori said: There are three main areas where children are prepared for reading and writing. The first is physical skills where a child learns to balance using their hands and coordination of the hand and the eye works. The child also learns to concentrate and focus on the practical issues of life, recognizing sizes and shapes, working with paints, crayons, pencils and practice in talking. The second skill that a child learns is the mental skills where the child learns to absorb and how to use language and how to learn the sounds that each letter of the alphabet makes. This can be made easy by playing games to break up words into sounds (Montessori, 2010). The third skills are the social skills where people living in homes sit down and have conversations instead of watching the television or using the computer to learn language. A directress would know that a child is ready to learn a sound if they try to repeat what has been said to them by an adult around them. The child will also be making sounds on their own that they have heard before. Sounds are taught to children by repeating the sounds over and over until the child is able to differentiate it from other sounds. In learning the different sounds, he child is taught the various sounds of the different letters of the alphabet. There are different rules for the letters and children are very receptive towards rules. Therefore, they are first taught the rules than the different sounds of the letters of the alphabet (Montessori, 1909). The child is taught the phonetic words first and once they have mastered the phonetic part of the alphabets, they are next taught the non-phonetic part of the language where there are no rules whatsoever. A child learns to blend sounds by learning the individual

High School and Enrollment Essay Example for Free

High School and Enrollment Essay 1. 0 Introduction 1. 1 Background of the Study Now days the enrollment processing is always the toughest time the school faces every year. The subject of our study is the Silway-8 National High School, a public school located at Silway-8 Polomolok, South Cotabato. This school employs 34 teachers, 1 principal and has a student population of 1,325 this year. The enrollment procedure of the school is manually done, though they have computer units, they use the computer only for printing ordinary reports and for the student’s computer laboratory session. During enrollment the principal assigns one chairman for each year level to handle the enrollment processing. In using the manual process of enrollment they find it hard to handle such a collection of records. It is a long procedure and time consuming task particularly in recording, filing and retrieving of student’s information. The proponent’s proposed a Computerized Enrollment System that will reduce the processing time of enrollment process. A system that provides a faster and organize way of storing and retrieving student’s record. 1. 2 Overview of the Current State of Technology. The goal of this study aims to develop a Computerized Enrollment System for Silway-8 National High School. This System stores information in a faster, systematic and more convenient way of storing files of the enrollees in a computer . The work load of the enrollment in-charge are lessen in storing files of each student every now and then. The enrollment procedure of Silway-8 National High School is done manually. This manual process of enrollment creates difficulties in handling records, like storing, securing and retrieving of files. The processing aspect is time consuming. They have hard time classifying students for sectioning and they don’t have back up for their records. Once a record is lost they cannot retrieve it. When the school was once hit by flash floods all of their records were destroyed. These are the reasons that brought the proponents to develop a Computerized Enrollment System that will ease the hassle and burdens of the enrollment in-charge with the manual process. In this study, the use of Visual Basic . Net and Navicat for mySQL database will help to improve the efficiency of the enrollment process of Silway-8. National High School. 1. 3 Project Rational As such, having a computerized Enrollment System would increase the efficiency by reducing human error of recording and filing such records. It would also lessen storage area and would provide easy access for reference by the administrator or any personnel if needed. Computerized Enrollment System is design for the benefits of Silway-8 National High School. It will help the faculty in monitoring the records of the students. Computerized Enrollment System is use to make the transaction fast, and accurate. It can display the records of each student through student LRN and all other information. Systems operations proceed faster, more efficiently and with greater accuracy than manual enrollment systems. This can lessen the workload and provides accurate information needed of the school. As a result, it will benefit not only the student but the administration as a whole. 1. 2 Statement of the Problem 1. 2. 1 General Problem The Silway-8 National High School is currently using a manual Enrollment System that is cumbersome and inefficient monitoring of Enrollment process. 1. 2. 2 Specific Problem. Manual procedure of enrollment is time consuming, long procedure and records are not secured. It can be easily damaged and can be updated by unauthorized personnel without permission of the administrator. 1. 2 Objective of the Study 1. 3. 1 General Objectives * To help ease the problem in managing records on enrollment of Silway-8 National High School 1. 3. 2 Specific Objectives * To develop a Computerized Enrollment System to handle and manage student’s records that provides easy searching and retrieval of records. * To help the school have a secured data storage for enrollment record. 1. 3 Significance of the Study The significance of this study is to develop a Computerized Enrollment System that will help Silway-8 National High School for a much organized and easy Enrollment System. It will also help secure the data of the school; it will reduce processing time for enrollment since they can easily view the information of the enrollees and print the class list to know the students who are currently enrolled in the specific year. If just in case student fails a subject, through the said system they were able to extract accurate student records. For the proponents, it will help us to cultivate our knowledge and skills in programming and system development as a source of experience. We can then be able to train ourselves and practice in the real world of work of our chosen course. This study aims to develop a computerize enrollment system. With the computerized enrollment systems helps save time for the school and provide faster way on recording transactions. Through this study the researchers will learn the importance of enrollment system in a business organization. The computerize enrollment system is a big help to solve the problems that have encountered by the school. 1. 4 Scope and Limitation 1. 5. 1Scope Computerized Enrollment System is intended for Silway-8 National High School and designed to perform the following: * Can add, edit, update and search information related in enrollment transactions. * It has security access level through log-in forms with different users. * Can provide class list for teachers * Can generate reports and prints. * The System is Network base. 1. 5. 3 Limitations The system cannot be used for other school activities like: * Clinic transactions, science laboratory and supply room transactions of the school. The system does not include transaction like: * accounting * billing * Cashiering * grading system * for class and subject scheduling * Methodology After a detailed consideration among the members of the group, the proponents agreed to use SDLC or the System Development Life Cycle as our methodology for the system that is to be built. One advantage of using SDLC is it can return to its preceding phase in case of errors at any of its stages. The SDLC is the process of creating or changing systems, models and methodologies that is used to develop the system. The idea generally refers to computer information system. The phases of SDLC are shown below. PLANNING ANALYSIS DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION MAINTENANCE Figure: 2. 0 System Development Life Cycles Planning Phase In this phase, the proponents starts to search where the manual evaluation of the process takes place like gathering data through conducting interviews and gather some necessary sample reports to the school and then the group planned to divide the work load to each member. In this phase the project duration and measure was identified to come with a project that is achievable. Analysis Phase  The proponents start to gather information to come up with a solution for the problem of the company. Analyzing the process of evaluation by considering the actual evaluation and finding out what the evaluation takes, and build a further flexible, efficient and appropriate system for the improvement of the manual system. The proponents will also identify the requirements that are required in structuring the new system, and how it will improve the transaction being done by the company. Design Phase During this phase, the proponents started to build the system’s interface of the whole system using the information being gathered. The features and functions of the system are individual built to answer the problems and to comply the necessary requirements. The proponents used Visual Basic. Net programming language and MySQL as backed for the said system. Implementation Phase In preparation for implementation, the necessary data for the execution of the system will be collected from respective sources, i. e. the registrar. These data will then be uploaded to the server here it will be imported into the system. Prior to formal launch or deployment, the system will be tested to confirm the availability of the imported data. Maintenance Phase  Software Maintenance is a process of changing a system after it has been delivered and in use. After the software is being delivered, changes may occur because of errors have been encountered. 3. 0 Data Gathering Procedures Output The proponents conducted a group discussion to identify which company we should choose as the subject of our study. After the proponent had chosen a prospect company, the proponents prepared a letter of request for the respondents asking permission in making Silway-8 National high School as the subject of our study. The letter was presented to the school principal Mrs. Eva Cosep with the focus and objectives of the study. Upon the approval of the request, the proponents prepared an outline as a guide questionnaire to lead them in gathering important information needed for the success of the study. With the data being gathered, the proponents were able to draw the structure of the project. Interview the proponents have an open communication with the user who is involved in doing the manual process of the school transactions. The team was provided with materials and sample documents of the existing reports as well as interview with the individuals involved of the process. Library Research as additional information for the proposed Computerized Enrollment System the proponents referred to the unpublished and published books found in the library. Internet Research – the proponents used the internet for information gathering regarding Enrollment System. 4. 0 The Existing System 4. 1Company Background The Silway-8 National High School is located at Silway-8 Polomolok South Cotabato. It was establish on June 1986 at present it has 37 faculty staff, 34 teaching staff, 1detailed principal, 3 personnel and maximum of 1,325 students. The total numbers of students are composed of five sections for First Year and Second year, four sections for third year and fourth year, and 65 students per section. The School has 1 computer laboratory but still using manual enrollment system. At present the school principal is Ms. Eva Cosep. 4. 2 Description of the System The enrollment procedure of Silway-8 National High School is done manually. Though the school has computer units but it is used only for the student’s studies and for generating common reports. Every year the school held their enrollment at the gymnasium. The principal assigned one chairman every year level to process the enrollment. The procedure of their manual enrollment system is first the student asks for enrollment form from the chairman and filled it out with the necessary information. The curriculum head (chairman) then checked is the students have complied all of the requirements for enrollment. The chairman takes down the general weighted average of student because that is the basis for sectioning. They don’t have master list of enrollees and when the principal want know the number of enrollees she ask the class advisers the number of students that  comprises in her class. 5. 0 Software/Project Estimation 5. 1 Schedule of Activities GANTT CHART MONTHS| JULY| AUGUST| SEPTEMBER| ACTIVITIES| WEEKS| WEEKS| WEEKS| | 1| 2| 3| 4| 1| 2| 3| 4| 1| 2| 3| 4|. Find a Company| | | | | | | | | | | | | Interview| | | | | | | | | | | | |Project Proposal| | | | | | | | | | | | Planning| | | | | | | | | | | | | Analysis| | | | | | | | | | | | | Design| | | | | | | | | | | | | System Coding| | | | | | | | | | | | | Documentation| | | | | | | | | | | | | Implementation| | | | | | | | | | | | | LEGEND UNFINISHED START DATE COMPLETED IN PROCESS 5. 2 Cost Estimation AMOUNT  Laptop (2 Units)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ P 60,000. 00 Printing Preliminary printing†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ P200. 00 Final Documentation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. P 185. 00 Book Binding†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ P 130. 00 Fare†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦ P 200. 00 Miscellaneous†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. P150. 00 TOTAL P 60,865. 00 | Planning includes budgeting to determine how much it will cost to develop the system. In coping up with the estimated cost the proponents made list of all expenses possibly use in the project. In order to minimize the expenses the proponents don’t need to buy the materials needed because some members of our group can provide it voluntarily 6. 0 Proposed System 6. 1 Proposed System Overview The proposed Computerized Enrolment System of Silway-8 National High School is network base. Our goal is to produce a system that will satisfy the needs of the school and students. To meet this goal, we have created the application in our system that enables user to add, edit, search and insert student’s record. This application is intuitive and easy to use, so that the process of enrolment is more convenient. The proponents developed the system which can minimize the time in order to access on the records of the students, as this enrollment process will much faster than the manual system. The system is comprehensive which provide features such as adding students into list, updating student’s information, sectioning of the students, search and view list of enrollees per section and year level. The system also creates class list for the teachers, by entering their name automatically she/he can view the list of students belong in her class. The proponents created a security access of the system which is only the administrator have the full control over the system to prevent discrepancies from happening. Users have limited privileges. They system also have transaction log which the administrator can view who have access into the system on that certain date and time. The action made of the users can be viewed also. These features are created to protect records from being deleted or damaged. The Navicat for my sql is the database the proponents have used to manage and handles the data being stored. 7. 0 SOFTWARE DESIGN SPECIFICATION 7. 1 Process Specification PROCESS 1: User Log-in Enter username of the user THEN enter the password IF the inputs are correct THEN Log-in successful. ELSE IF inputs are incorrect THEN Log-in not successful Repeat END IF PROCESS 2: Add Student Fill all the fields and set values If fields are valid THEN Successfully added ELSE IF adding is not successful END IF PROCESS 3: Search Student Update all fields If all are valid THEN Successfully updated ELSE IF not successfully updated END IF PROCESS 4: Enroll Student Fill all fields If all inputs are correct THEN Enroll Student is successful ELSE IF enroll student not successful END IF 8. 0 System Implementation 8. 1 Programming Consideration. Basically, the proposed system for Silway-8 National High School has four front-end namely the Bookkeeper, Clerk, Adviser and Principal. The Clerk is able to maximize the work load and activity regarding enrollment system. The proponents basically designed the proposed enrollment system using MS Visual Basic. Net as development tool and Navicat for Mysql as the back-end or storage of the database. 8. 2 System Requirements Specification 8. 2. 1 Hardware Requirements The following are the minimum hardware requirements for complete and proper functionality. For best possible result, the proponents recommend to use hardware higher than the requirements stated below: For Standard Set of Computer with the following specifications: * System Unit * At least 256mb RAM * At least 30GB Hard Disk * At least 16Hz processor * Monitor-CTR or LCD * UPS- Un interrupted Power Supply * Keyboard and Mouse 8. 2. 2 Software Requirements Computer Software or just software is a collection of computer programs and related data that provides the instructions for telling computer what to do and how to do it. Below are the software requirements for the system. * Visual Basic. Net * Mysql Navicat * The proponents recommend using at least windows XP operating system installed in the personal computer. However, for better computer performance it is suggested to install higher windows operating system. 8. 2. 3 Human Resources Requirements It is necessarily that a user is a computer literate to be able to operate the computerized Enrollments System for Silway-8 National High School. The designed system is user-friendly that will be easily learned and mastered. The proponents suggest proper training and orientation on how to operate the system. 9. 0 Software Maintenance Plan. We will give the company three months maintenance for the system. After the given time, further maintenance sessions will be charged P500. The maintenance session covers the following: * Debugging of the system in case of any errors. * Updating the system. * Maintaining Hardware components that we required. * Installing new programs and applications that the system needs. * Training of the personnel * Aside from the things mentioned above, we are not responsible to cater other problems except if with payment. Corrective Maintenance The developer will focus on the diagnosis and correction of one or more errors. Corrective maintenance would change the system to correct existing defects. Once the developer finds an error the system must be repair immediately. Preventive Maintenance In this phase, changing some of the system’s component will occur to improve maintainability and reliability to provide a better basis for future enhancement. This performs preventive measures to avoid system errors. Adaptive Maintenance In this phase there would be an occurrence of modifying system’s component in order for the system to accommodate changes to its external environment

Customer Satisfaction Using a Same Marketing Segmentation

Customer Satisfaction Using a Same Marketing Segmentation INTRODUCTION Nestlà © is a multinational company and is of the worlds largest in food and beverages industry. Heinrich Nestlà ©, whom also known as Henri Nestlà ©, was the founder of Nestlà © Company (Nestle. 2010, Introduction, Nestlà © [Online] available at www.nestle.com), which headquarter is in Vevey, Switzerland in the year of 1866. Nestlà © Malaysia was established in the year of 1912 in Malaysia as Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company. Nestlà © Malaysia head office is now located in Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, and has 6 sales offices with more than 5000 employees nationwide. Besides, Nestlà © manufactures its own products in 7 factories and markets over 300 Halal products across the nation. (Nestlà ©. 2010, Nestlà © in Malaysia, Nestlà © [Online] available at www.nestle.com.my) Nestlà © specialized in foods and beverages industry, a few of the many well known brands Nestlà © has in Malaysia includes Maggi, Nescafà ©, Milo, Kit Kat, Nesvita (formerly known as Ne stum), as well as pet care products such as Purina and Friskies. Nestlà ©s vision (Nestlà ©. 2010, Corporate Philosophy, Nestlà © [Online] available at www.nestle.com.my) is to be the leader in Nutrition, Health, and Wellness Company by delivering world-class products of the highest consistent quality, reliability, and convenience based on business excellence principles throughout the operation. Nestlà ©s mission (The Nestlà © Corporate Essence Our roots and wings 2007, p.4) is to enhance the quality of life with good food and beverages, everywhere, so people could live a healthier life. In order to achieve their vision and mission, Nestlà © Nutrition Research Centre (Nestlà ©. 2010, Research Development, Nestlà © [Online] available at www.nestle.co.jp) pays great attention to understand the consumers nutritional and emotional needs and utilise todays world superior science and technology to produce high quality products to the world. MARKET SEGMENTATION Every consumer has different needs. Hence, it is not possible to satisfy every customer using a same marketing segmentation, which is also known as mass marketing by offering a single marketing mix to all consumers. Moreover, as a global market has become extremely competitive, and consumers are increasingly demanding which is very difficult to satisfy. Therefore, Nestlà © uses target marketing for every product to their customers. For example, in consumer product, Nestlà © baby milk product such as Nestlà © Neslac Excella Gold is segmented only to infants and toddlers. However, baby does not have the capacity or capability to buy the food they needed. Therefore, to market this baby milk product, Nestlà © does not fully focusing on babys basic need which is hunger, but also to the babys parents in terms of how the nutrition provided will give their children the best possible advantages in the childrens life and development. Another example is Nestlà © Milo, the milk beverage with chocolate and malt. Don Howart, the executive director of Nestlà © and Singapore Coffee and Beverages claimed that Milo remains popular among the young and has a 90% (The Sun. 2010, Milo with ProtoMalt to get through the day, Sun2Surf [Online] available at www.sun2surf.com) market share among chocolate malt drinks in Malaysia. Besides the youngsters, old people and active people are also part of the target markets of Nestlà © Milo drinks. However, at first, Nestlà ©s business was launched internationally and realised the fact that food products have to be taken into account to the local eating and social behaviour due to the particular countrys practices, cultures, and traditions. Therefore, (1) Nestlà © has always shown respect for diverse cultures and traditions and trying to integrate itself as much as possible into the cultures and traditions, adding also to the local environment its own set of values. Therefore, (2) Nestlà © embraces cultural and social diversity and does not discriminate on the basis of origin, nationality, religion, race, gender or age. (The Nestlà © Management and Leadership Principles 2006, p.9) STRENGTHS Nestlà © is a multinational company, not to mention Nestlà © is also the largest industry in foods and beverages, hence Nestlà © has every capability to attract more consumers compare to the local companies. On account of its high market share and high financial power, Nestlà © also has greater financial capability in altering existing products in terms of packaging, the formula of the particular product and others or creating new products, as well as to adapt or upgrade latest information system technology in manufacturing, order processing and other related fields in order to sustain their competitive advantage by delivering lower cost of goods and services than their competitors in this dynamic environment. Secondly, Nestlà © has quite an effective strategic marketing capability. For example, Nestlà © Maggi instant noodles has built a stable patent and is very well known in many countries especially in Australia and Malaysia. This is because Maggi instant noodles is easy to be differentiated from its competitors such as Cintan Instant Noodles. Moreover, Nestlà © has also developed a very strong brand name for Maggi instant noodles because of strong advertising, which has indoctrinated most of the people to name the other brands of instant noodles as Maggi instant noodle instead of the brands original name. Furthermore, Nestlà © also has a strong Research and Development operations that helps the company to achieve cross-border synergy such as packaging its global products to local preferences. Nestlà © also emphasises on using todays information technology, which Nestlà © believe it will present a long-term opportunity for them to smoothen the companys operation or to increase efficiency in packaging, among any other companys operations. Besides, Nestlà © also has better technological capability, for instance, to renovate the existing products to be more innovative, higher quality, and much healthier product as Nestlà © realised that consumer-centred innovation and renovation is the most important pillar of Nestlà ©s worldwide strategy, which would accelerate Nestlà © to advance from good to better. (The Nestlà © Corporate Essence Our roots and wings 2007, p.34) And because of Nestlà ©s commitments, more people trust on the products delivered by Nestlà © because of its prope r health and safety measures. Besides, Nestlà © also has great leadership attributes. The leaders such as the top executives, branch managers, and others are responsible in building organisation capability. For example, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nestlà © S.A., Peter Brabeck, (Castelarhost. 2005, Nestlà © LC1 S.W.O.T Analysis, Castelar Articles [Online] available at www.articles.castelarhost.com) emphasises internal growth worldwide, which means to achieve higher volumes of sales by adding value to the products, renovate existing products, and innovate new products, to keep pace in the industry because of rapidly changing of consumer expectations. PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS Nestlà © produces hundreds of products, has a global network of suppliers, and multiple distributions and selling channels. Hence, to anticipate and respond in this rapidly changing in market demand condition is very difficult. When forecasting a market demand, Nestlà © will need information to detect shifts in demand early so they could adjust for trends and send the right messages to the suppliers, shippers, and distribution centres before they are flood with unwanted or defective goods or shortages. (Manhattan Associates. 2010, Planning and forecasting: Anticipate and Respond to Changes in Demand, Manhattan Associates [Online] at www.manh.com) However, every company has its weakest links, so is Nestlà ©. The weakest links are issues they are unable to control. (Labs. 2010, Supply Chain Efficiency Starts at the Top, Food Engineering [Online] available at www.foodengineeringmag.com) Firstly, the most common problem is the sources of supply of raw materials. This is due to a sudden and unexpected increased in demand, which will cause extreme supply shortages for commodities that will result in major price increases. For instance, bad weather and natural disasters have always been an issue affecting incoming raw materials. Secondly, the inaccuracy of orders received in inventory. No company can ever achieve the requirement of zero defects especially in foods and beverages industry. For example, when the purchasing department of Nestlà © ordered 10,000 of mixed berries yoghurt from its dealer, but what the retailer received was only 8,000 of mixed berries yoghurt, or on another occasion they might received defective inventori es. Another example is, when Nestlà © tells its dealer that they needed extra orders of a particular product to be shipped right away because of unexpected increased in demand, but in fact, the supplier may already has orders from other customers. This usually happen during special occasion such as Chinese New Year, the demand of Nestlà © Cornflakes cereal will increase because many people will buy this product to make cookies. This will causes Nestlà © to encounter a great loss because of inaccurate order of magnitude because they could not produce the actual output needed. Therefore, in order to solve these problems, it is crucial for Nestlà © to engage with multiple suppliers or dealers in that particular region, so they could acquire inventories from multiple dealers, which will definitely decrease the risk of shortage due to incontrollable situation. Besides, Nestlà © should also base on their demand and purchase planning on last couple of years of sales to forecast current year of demand and supply. Other than that, mutual trust and strong relationship with all the dealers are needed in order to increase the flexibility of material supply management, as well as to enhance the bargaining power of Nestlà ©. However, if there is a surplus, Nestlà © may need to plan a promotion to clear their inventories, otherwise Nestlà © will encounter a great loss such as paying high material handling cost, waste of warehouses space, or inventories that are not sold became defective and may need to be disposed which no profit will earn. Therefore, when there i s a big event organized such as Jom Heboh Carnival. Nestlà © will set up a booth at the carnival to sell its products, which are close to the expiry date at lower price such as Maggi products, Nescafà ©, Milo, yoghurt drinks, Nestlà © ice creams and so on. People often buy the products in big quantity because of the lower price than the market price. As a result, Nestlà © could clear their inventories rather fast and save some space in the warehouses. which is a win-win situation. Thirdly, even though Nestlà © has a logistics department but it doesnt deal with transportation logistics. Nestlà © outsourced its supply chain transport to the third-party logistics (3PL) as Nestlà © tries to cut their supply chain costs and to concentrate more on their in-plant operations. Although Nestlà © doesnt have a transportation logistics department, but they do have a delivery team to cooperate with the third-party logistics in routing protocol. Nestlà © is using a Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), which is a simple and efficient routing protocol designed specifically for use in multi-hop wireless ad hoc networks of mobile nodes. The protocol is composed of the two main mechanisms of Route Discovery and Route Maintenance, which work together to allow nodes to discover and maintain routes on-demand to arbitrary destinations in the ad hoc network. (Maltz. 2003, The Dynamic Source Routing Protocol CMU [Online] available at www.cs.cmu.edu) Therefore, the delivery team is there to help Nestlà © and the 3PL that DSR is working as per company direction as well as DSR performance. Next, it is the poor partnership relationship between dealerships and consumers. Dealers need these capabilities because they, in close partnership with manufacturers Nestlà ©, are a connecting hub of services for the consumers, and other stakeholders. However, Nestlà © solved this problem by using the Dealer Management Systems (DMS) as well as their dealers. DMS is a software solutions that provide tools for managing sales, services, parts and inventory management, business management, integration, and core architecture. DMS help manufacturers and dealers create integrated marketing campaigns to offer inventory to target markets. This will integrate innovations into traditional in-store sales and service processes and offer technologies for non-traditional merchandising, sales, and service strategies through alternative channels for consumer engagement via Web, by phone, or in-vehicle. (Microsoft Corporation. 2008, Microsoft Offers the Dealer Management Solution Microsoft [Online ] available at www.microsoft.com/automotive) RECOMMENDATIONS After the reviews stated above, those were not the only solutions that are available. MDZ has come up with a few recommended suggestions that may work or solve the problems that were encountered by Nestlà ©. Instead of just finding or having multiple suppliers, Nestlà © could acquire the inventories from the other outlets from the other region. Because some regions have different demographics, for instance, race. Some areas have higher percentage of Malays such as Kuantan, Pahang, and some may have higher percentage of Chinese such as Ipoh, Perak. The Chinese New Year (CNY) example stated above, in Kuantan area, there might be less demand during CNY, so to prevent shortage, Nestlà © could just acquire the inventories from Kuantan. However, if there is a surplus, and unable to clear the inventories at a short time, Nestlà © could consider donation for short-run purpose, this could help to clear the old stocks, as well as to help the donation receivers and build better goodwill and name of Nestlà ©. Secondly, Nestlà © is a multinational company; it definitely has the capability in owning a transportation logistics department. Because of the hundreds variety of Nestlà ©s products, 7 manufacturers in Malaysia, as well as thousands of customers such as retailers, wholesalers, distributors and so on, Nestlà © could handle its own transportation service. Nestlà © could gain the whole power in such as mode selections, routing, and others. They could do almost anything such as consolidating different type of products but to the same outlet. Besides, they could save every penny they use in transportation cost compare to third-party logistics (3PL) because 3PL charges according to the quantity, inventory storage space, value added processes such as special handling, and more. It may benefit in the short run, but definitely not in the long run, as Nestlà © centred in the long-term business and strives to achieve effectiveness and efficiency. Lastly, Nestlà © could use both manual and automation system in managing sales, services, and others. This is because one cannot trust wholly to a machine, as it may not be documenting the steps in its own processor. Because some steps cant be automated and may required operator intervention to prevent the escapement processing steps, even though adapting advanced technologies could help saving cost as labour cost is reduced, but if there are still problems occur, it will affect the business such as loss of customers because of the mistake. Therefore, Nestlà © must update the system software regularly and full utilisation of available technology as well as the manual operators, which will effectively increase the efficiency and dependability of the supply chain systems. CONCLUSION Nestlà © exerts great efforts to achieve its visions to be the leader in Nutrition, Health, and Wellness Company by producing better quality of products to the consumers. Nestlà © also study about the consumers needs from time to time and satisfy the consumers as much as possible. Nestlà ©s strengths such as high financial capability, effective strategic marketing capability, strong research and development, as well as great leaderships have helped them through the obstacles. Above all, Nestlà © focuses on its missions and ensures consistency by making the right decisions to manage and build its business to deliver the promise of Good Food, Good Life all over the world.

Effects of Lab by Inquiry in Educational Settings

Effects of Lab by Inquiry in Educational Settings Briana Bruske Abstract The purpose of this literature research was to distinguish the differences between verification and inquiry based laboratory experiments in educational settings, and their effect on student education. Examples of the incorporation of inquiry into course curriculum were found. The effect of inquiry on knowledge type gained by students, and classification of their laboratory reflective statements was analyzed based on results contained in various literature sources. Literature based survey results depicting student attitudes toward verification versus inquiry, and guided inquiry versus open inquiry were obtained and discussed. Suggestions for instructors as regards to the incorporation of inquiry into laboratory settings, and guidelines to do so were obtained and presented in this literature paper. It was determined that, though both verification and inquiry experiments have benefits, inquiry allows development of student skills that may not be otherwise obtained through a verification experiment, and allows for a more student-driven laboratory setting. Introduction: Experimenting in the lab is a way for students to learn hands-on about the concepts they cover in lecture.1 The average laboratory experiment falls within the category of â€Å"cookbook style,† or â€Å"verification experiment.† These terms will be used interchangeably throughout this research paper. A verification experiment consists of students following a list of instructions, provided to them by the instructor, to verify a concept learned in lecture.2 The laboratory instructions for verification experiments often follow a similar format to instructions in cookbooks; hence the term â€Å"cookbook style.† Various educational institutes have replaced a number of verification labs to incorporate lab by inquiry into chemistry courses.213 Lab by inquiry can be separated into two major categories. These categories are guided-inquiry and open-inquiry.1 Alan Colburn defines guided and open inquiry in his article, â€Å"An Inquiry Primer.†4 Guided inquiry consis ts of the instructor providing students with only a problem and the materials to solve it. Students devising their own laboratory procedures to solve the problem is a requirement for guided inquiry.4 Open inquiry is similar to guided inquiry, with the exception that students must come up with their own problem to solve along with their own procedure.4 Open inquiry involves a higher level of difficulty than guided inquiry, because students are provided with less information and guidance to devise problems and develop procedures. The National Scientific Education Standards state the importance of inquiry in learning scientific concepts, and outline the abilities required to do scientific inquiry. These abilities include identifying questions and concepts that guide investigation, designing and conducting investigations, using technology and mathematics to improve upon communications and investigations, formulation and revision of scientific explanations and models using evidence and logic, recognition and analysis of alternative explanations and models, communication and defense of scientific arguments, and understanding of scientific inquiry5. Appendix Research Involving the Creation of a Heat-Transfer Guided Inquiry Lab for Allied Health Students at Rochester Community and Technical College Undergraduate Research was done to create a heat-transfer guided inquiry based lab for Allied Health students at Rochester Community and Technical College, under the advising of Dr. Heather Sklenicka. The Allied Health student class did not have a heat-transfer lab, and no exposure to lab by inquiry. In this lab, students were given the opportunity to develop their own procedures to solve a given problem. The given problem applied to a real-life situation, which involved imagining they were opening their own coffee shops in a busy college town. Students had to determine the best container to sell their customers’ coffee in, i.e. the container that contained[ZJM3] heat most effectively. This required the students to test various coffee mugs, thermoses, and other containers for their efficiency in preventing the transfer of heat from the system to the surroundings. Students were asked various pre- and post-lab questions regarding the lab. Students were asked what their interest level in the lab was pre- and post-lab. Most students were interested in the topic of the lab prior to beginning experimentations, and remained interested or became more interested after the lab. Post-lab, students were asked whether the lab helped them further understand the concept of heat transfer as applied to a real-life situation, and all students surveyed that, in fact, it did. Students were asked if they had or planned to speak with others outside of lab about their experience with the lab, and most students surveyed that they had or planned to do so. When asked whether they enjoyed developing their own procedures, students surveyed that it was one of the most difficult parts of the lab, however, it was among one of their favorite portions of the lab. Results and Discussion: A group of researchers from the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, studied the effects that different levels of inquiry had on General Chemistry students’ written lab reflections. Written lab reflections refer to post-lab responses regarding work done in lab, and analysis of data collected during experimentations. Figure 13 displays the results from this research of the various types of reflective statements shown by students and how they varied based on level of inquiry. The amount of evaluation statements varied little amongst the different types of labs. Evaluation statements consist of analysis of data obtained in lab.3 The largest portion of statements in written lab reflection fell under the category of knowledge statements. Knowledge statements consist of reflections regarding knowledge gained from lab experiments.3 Guided inquiry had the lowest amount of knowledge statements, likely due to a higher portion of improv ement statements. The amount of improvement statements in students’ written lab reflections varied the most among the different levels of inquiry in lab. Improvement statements consist of possible modifications that could be made to methods or the experiment itself.3 This is reasonable because, unlike verification experiments, inquiry requires students to develop their own procedures. This allows for a more significant amount of lab technique and procedural error, resulting in a more significant amount of inaccuracy in experimental data. Students must then explain error in results and this often consists of reflecting upon experimental mistakes and how improvements can be made to allow for improved experimental results. The University of Arizona researchers also focused on knowledge type gained from experiments based on students’ written reflections. Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy6 was used to categorize students’ reflective statements reguarding knowledge gained from laboratory work.3 Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy can be broken down into four knowledge type categories; metacognitive, procedural, conceptual, and factual.6 Metacognitive can be described as the knowledge regarding cognition. The awarness of one’s own cognition falls under this category as well. Examples of metacognitive knowledge would be strategic knowledge, knowledge regarding cognitive tasks, consisting of appropriate contextual and conditional knowledge, and knowledge of oneself and abilities. Procedural knowledge consists of knowing how to go about a task. Examples of procedureal knowledge would be agorithms, techniques, and determination of when to use proper procedures.6 Factual knowledge is the basic in formation students’ must know to be familiar with a discipline and solve problems related to it. Examples of this would be knowledge of terminology, specific details, and basic information regarding a topic.6 Conceptual knowledge consists of the ability to see the connection between basic concepts and a larger picture or problem, allowing them to work together. Examples of this type of knowledge would be knowing certain classifications, principles, categories, and generalizations, as well as theories, structures, and models.6 Figure 23 depicts the level of the various types of knowledge gained in the laboratory based on students’ written reflections and the level in inquiry involved in the experiment. As one can see, students’ reflections in inquiry labs display a larger portion of metacognitive and procedural knowledge than the verification, while the verification lab reflections showed more factual and conceptual knowledge. In guided inquiry, students are pushed to focus more on the procedure and how one would go about solving a given problem. This requires a higher level of thinking and problem solving skills than that involved in a verification lab. A group[ZJM4] of researchers from a Texas University conducted surveys of students’ attitudes toward guided inquiry and open inquiry.1 Before conducting these surveys, students were tested as to whether they were able to correctly distinguish between guided inquiry and open inquiry scenarios. The surveys regarding attitudes toward guided inquiry and open inquiry labs were then given to 322 students who were able to correctly identify both laboratory scenarios.1 This legitimizes the results of the surveys because the 322 students surveyed more than likely understood exactly what the questions were asking, and were able to accurately state their opinion of guided and open inquiry labs. Table 1: Students’ Survey Statements Regarding Guided Inquiry1 Table 11 depicts the results of the survey regarding guided inquiry laboratories. The left statements correspond to positive attitudes while the right statements correspond to negative attitudes. Students generally had a positive attitude toward guided inquiry experiments. This is shown by the higher percentages agreeing with the left statements over the right statements. Table 2: Students’ Survey Statements Regarding Open Inquiry1 Table 21 depicts the results from the survey regarding open-inquiry laboratory experiments. The left and right statements were the same as those shown in the guided-inquiry survey (see Table 1). Students generally had a less positive attitude toward open-inquiry experiments when compared to guided inquiry. Table 3: Students’ Survey Statement Regarding Both Open and Guided Inquiry1 Table 31 displays the results from the survey regarding both open and guided inquiry laboratory experiments. Left statements generally corresponded to positive attitudes toward open inquiry labs while right statements corresponded to positive attitudes toward guided inquiry. Students’ survey answers generally favored guided inquiry over open inquiry. This is shown by the higher percentages in Table 3 agreeing with the right statements. Research, regarding the conversion of verification experiments to guided inquiry experiments in the general chemistry classroom, was conducted by students at the U.S. Millitary Academy (USMA) in West Point, New York.2 The focus on the scientific method within the general chemistry course offered much room for improvement of students’ critical thinking skills through guided inquiry experiments.2 Table 42 depicts the results from a survey of USMA general chemistry students after completion of guided inquiry laboratory experiments. The results from the USMA research survey are much in line with the results from the Texas University group regarding students’ attitudes toward guided inquiry (see Table 1). Students generally showed a positive attitude toward guided inquiry. Though there are no concrete rules to converting verification labs to inquiry experiments, the USMA research group put forth general guidelines to assist instructors in creating their own inquiry experiments or converting old verification style to inquiry format.2 Step 1 would be to select an experiment from the course curriculum. The experiment should include fairly simple and easy-to-understand concepts. Data should be collected using an uncomplicated apparatus, and allow for a quantitative and mathematical relationship between variables. Conclusions from the analysis of experimental data should be able to be tested.2 Step 2 would be to alter the introductory (pre-lab) material so that major concepts would not be taught before lab time.2 Students should learn concepts based on experiments in lab and interpretation of data collected. Step 3 would consist of significantly reducing the amount of detail put into procedural steps in the lab handout. This would require more thought on th e part of the students regarding how to collect relevant data and how to interpret it.2 Step 4 includes adding a step or procedure to the end of the lab, allowing students to authenticate their analysis of data and conclusions regarding important concepts.2 The last step would be to include short questions to guide student thoughts and include in the laboratory report.2 An example of a conversion of a verification experiment to guided inquiry can be found in Table 5.2 The USMA converted a freezing point depression verification experiment to a guided inquiry lab.2 There are clear differences shown between the verification and inquiry versions of the lab regarding purpose, schedule of lab time, objectives, laboratory introduction, procedure, and instructior and teaching assistant duties[ZJM5]. Conclusion: Both verification and inquiry experiments have benefits. However, inquiry can provide a more challenging laboratory experience for students and lead to development of skills that may not have been otherwise acquainted[ZJM6] with in cookbook or â€Å"verification† experiments. Based on various literature sources132 and undergraduate research done at Rochester Community and Technical College (see Appendix[ZJM7]), lab by inquiry is an effective way to teach students critical thinking and problem solving skills, while allowing students to discover concepts within a laboratory setting before learning them in lecture. Students generally have a positive attitude toward inquiry.12 Inquiry also allows for a break from the typical verification experiment, and a more student-driven laboratory setting. Instructors can incorporate inquiry into curriculum by the conversion of previously developed verification experiments into inquiry labs.2 References: (1) Chatterjee, S.; Williamson, V. M.; McCann, K.; Peck, M. L. J. Chem. Educ. 2009, 86, 1427. (2) Allen, J. B.; Barker, L. N.; Ramsden, J. H. J. Chem. Educ. 1986, 63, 533. (3) Xu, H.; Talanquer, V. J. Chem. Educ. 2013, 90, 21–28. (4) Colburn, A. Sci. Scope 2000, 23, 42–44. (5) Council, N. R. National science education standards; National Academy Press, 1996. (6) Krathwohl, D. R. Theory Pract. 2002, 41, 212–218. [ZJM1]When you elude to the fact that inquiry-based labs allow for better development of student skills, you might want to mention the measure(s) used to determine this. That way people know the assessment and can choose to read on from there. [ZJM2]I’d move the appendix to the end. It is really something appended to the article that doesn’t really belong in the flow of the article. [ZJM3]Retained? [ZJM4]Something you might consider is to add a few subheadings in the body of your discussion. You are really tackling two areas of inquiry labs: 1. The effectiveness of the labs and 2. Student attitudes toward inquiry. It might be nice to offset them with headings instead of just a paragraph indent to focus the reader’s attention even further. [ZJM5]Is there data on the effectiveness of these labs to corroborate your statements from the Arizona research group? [ZJM6]Acquired? [ZJM7]Do you have results in the form of tables/graphs for the research you did? It might help out here bridging your paper together†¦and in that case, you don’t necessarily need to call it an appendix either.