Work Place Relations - 1355 Words

Work Place relationships William Trimble Baker College PSY101 Gwen Zegestowsky June 11, 2014 Work Place Relationships Part I: Describe the characteristics of an unhealthy relationship in the workplace. Just like personal relationships, workplace relationships can be both healthy or unhealthy. The nature of ones relationships in the workplace can relate to job satisfaction and success in that workplace. Describe three characteristics that would exemplify an unhealthy relationship with coworkers and/or managers. Most people spend the majority of their lives at work, and studies repeatedly show happy employees are more productive. Companies that†¦show more content†¦Overcoming a toxic workplace can be a challenge, but there is often a sense of freedom that comes from understanding the situation you are in. You have a choice how you react to an unhealthy situation. There is hope. You can take back your life and find happiness in your career. Part II: It is not uncommon to seek advice on relationships in popular media such as television, magazines, radio talk shows, self-help books/programs. Find a substantial example from a popular media source where relationship advice is given to improve workplace relationships. If you cannot locate an example you may use one of the samples provided below. Answer the following: What sort of information is included? Provide a brief overview of the advice given. The media source I used for this paper comes from the Houston Chronicle Small Business Section. At one point in my career we were encouraged to read this section daily. On workplace relationships there are four areas that were touched on, They are: Basics Human relations in the workplace are a major part of what makes a business work. Employees must frequently work together on projects, communicate ideas and provide motivation to get things done. Without a stable and inviting workplace culture, difficult challenges can arise both in the logistics of managing employees and in the bottom line. 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##arison Of Gothic Fiction In Young Goodman Brown And The...

Becoming popular in the 19th century, Gothic fiction has been defined by such works as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Horror, death, supernatural events, the grotesque, the dark, and sometimes even the romantic are key characteristics of the Gothic genre. There are the obviously Gothic stories of Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe but also the less recognizable Gothic stories such as A Clean Well-Lighted Place written by Ernest Hemingway. These three stories take different approaches on what makes them at heart a true Gothic story. Diction plays an important role in making each story seem Gothic. The word choice of each respective author elicits feelings of†¦show more content†¦As in the other two stories, the reader is also presented with the words â€Å"suicide† (152), â€Å"fear† (153, 154), â€Å"killed† (152), and â€Å"nothing† (155) these words create a similar tone in this work to the other two stories by Poe and Hawthorne. By choosing words with a generally negative or haunting connotation, all three authors effectively make their respective stories Gothic, by embracing a horrifying, mysterious motifs. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place could be considered a Gothic work because underneath the surface layer of the story there are common Gothic motifs prevalent throughout the entire story. The motif of death is the most obvious one on the story, the old man attempting to commit suicide yet being found and saved by his niece. His niece being the one who finds the old man trying to kill himself adds to the combined motif of loneliness and despair which is also common in Gothic works. It contributes to loneliness and despair by showing to the reader that the old man has now immediate family or no close relationships with any one. The old man must live alone and that could be what has driven him to want to finally commit suicide. Despair is born of loneliness and because of his despair the old man finds comfort in being in the cafà © because in the cafà © are people, the waiters, who are obligated to interact with him. Hemingway intends for the reader to feel gloomy and to pity the old man and the quality of life he has been forced to accept due to his loneliness.

Development of the Ethics and Governance

Question: Discuss about the Development of the Ethics and Governance. Answer: Introduction Leadership plays a big role in managing the organizational operation, every small and large agency. However, outcome of the implementation of the leadership may not provide desired results as there are different types of leadership with characteristics such as autocratic, democratic and others. In order to deal with the ethical barriers, the organizations implement the policies and the regulations imposed by the industry. Ethical principles provide the foundation for various different modern concepts for work, business and organizations. This could widen the individual and corporate priorities for beyond the conventional business aims and profits. The leaders make the ethical decisions as well as take responsibility for positive and negative result that come out of the operation. In the essay, I will argue regarding the fact that leadership is essential in the modern organizations. In order to support my views on the fact I would provide the evidences that support my view regarding t he importance of leadership in decision making in modern organization. Discussion The ethical issues in the operation could damage the brand name. Therefore, it is important for leaders of the firm to take the wise decisions that cause no harm to the stakeholders involved in the business. While taking an ethical decision, the organization must have to consider certain area such as positive consequence of the decision, possible support from the government of the country. The firms might have to think of the external impact that might have on the organizations. Hence, Demirtas and Akdogan (2015) commented that ethical decision always provides the foundation for different modern concepts for work, organizations and business that could widen the individual and corporate priorities beyond the conventional business aims of profits as well as shareholder enrichment. On the other side, Chughtai, Byrne and Flood (2015) mentioned that ethical factors are also a significant influence on the institutions as well as public sectors organizations. I have studied and observed that many executives and business planners believe that ethical leadership is just a matter of effective characteristics. There is a belief that by having the right values and strong character, the ethical leaders could set the example for others. As opined by Carraher (2015), it is essential for leaders to tell a compelling story as well as morally rich story; however, when the leaders need to deal with the ethics, they must live the story. Shapiro and Stefkovich (2016) mentioned that ethic is a philosophical term originating, which is mainly concerned with describing as well as prescribing moral requirements. It is also concerned with the behaviours that indicates that there are acceptable and unacceptable ways of behaving that serve as a function of philosophical principles. The ethical leadership require ethical decisions. The ethical leaders practice and carry out the ethics throughout the organizations. The leaders are naturally in a position of powe r both on and off the job. Thereby, ethical leadership should focus on how leaders leverage this power in the decisions they take. The leaders are responsible for influencing the others to perform the required actions, complete the tasks, and behave in a particular manner. I have also observed an incident occurred in Johnson Johnson in early 1980s when the McNeil Division of the firm hit with a crisis (Demirtas, 2015). Tylenol in Chicago drugstore had been laced with cyanide; as the result, seven people lost their life. Burke, the CEO of Johnson Johnson took the stand, responded with a recall of 31 million bottles, and developed a crisis hotline to respond customers questions. The CEO of the company repeatedly mentioned that organizations credo puts the customers first and the profit last. Burke effectively dealt with all issues and guided decision-making throughout the organization. As the consequence, Johnson Johnson continued to develop the temper resistant packaging as that people expect and rebuilt the brand. In the context of importance of leadership in ethical decision making, Wu et al., (2015) commented that the experience of academics often contrary to the image of business executives and owners one finds in a public discussion while they are often observed as greedy, competitive as well as concerned with the compensation. As discussed above, it is important for the leader to live a moral and compelling story instead of telling them, but Men, (2014) commented that this could be a difficult task in the recent business environment where everyone wants to live in a fishbowl. Many political leaders are seen to be telling the high-minded story and the business leaders have become the major focus of the similar criticism through the disclosure of different scams and bad behaviours. However, I personally believe that both large and small business organizations to some great extent rely on their skilled leaders who give the effort to make a better world for living. This concept would be clear er if we consider the scenario of Tony Hseih of Zappos.com (Palanski, Avey Jiraporn, 2014). Tony succeeded in building an environment with Zappos make the attempts to ignore several common ethical failings. For example, he developed the culture of equality by using the same cubic as other employees. He recently developed the organizational culture to avoid hierarchies but the culture carries the value of each individual. I have learnt from the studies and personal observations ethical leadership means developing an ethical organization that nurture trust, fairness, integrity, transparency, values and objectivity. A leader who believes and embraces such elements must effectively lead the ethics for the betterment of the organization. A leader who lacks such elements in his leadership could vulnerably bad for the organization. For example, Lance Armstrong whose decisions to dope was sustained by an infrastructure of colleagues within his firm, now serves as the reminder cheating can be a Slippery Slope (Sharif Scandura, 2014). Thus, without leadership, the organization as whole finds it difficult to respond to changing nature of environment or society. Furthermore, it can also added that employees prefer to work under a genuine leader whose skills inspire them and encourage them. Likewise, the employees develop their trust on the leader. Therefore, it is essential for the leaders to have integrity, fa irness, transparency and ethical values. In the social learning theory developed by Bandura, it is learnt that individuals in the society learn from one another, through observation, imitation and modelling (Steinbauer et al., 2014). People learn from through others behaviour and outcome of those behaviour. One of significant aspect developed in the theory is motivation. This means having a positive reason to imitate. The individuals rely on some particular motives as past (conventional behaviourism), promised (imagined incentives) and vicarious (reinforced model) (Newman et al., 2014). When people learn something or inspired by something that is good or acceptable, he/she might apply that in their life. Likewise, people are inspired by each other qualities and application of values. In addition, Bandura also mentioned about reciprocal determinism in the theory, which means an individuals behaviour might cause each other, but behaviourism essentially states that environment of an individual cause the behaviour. This means when an individual or a leader in an organization believes in or nurtures the culture and ethics that is unacceptable for the society, the other individual in the organization could adopt that unaccepted ethics. For example, when a discloser of an organizational scam comes in the news accusing the CEO, but the organization as a whole is involved in the scam. Bandura in his social learning theory, considered personality as an interaction between three different elements such as environment, psychological process of the individual and behaviour (McLeod, 2012). As discussed above, these three components are related to each other and the characteristic of an individual is built through these components. This theory effectively indicates two traditional concepts such as the person who plays the role and the followers. In this context, it can be mentioned that, leadership indicates a relation between a leader as well as his followers within an organizational context. Shapiro and Stefkovich (2016) considered leadership as the power and value-laden relationship existing between the leaders and the followers who bring the changes that reflects their mutual objectives and purpose. Moreover, the leadership in the normative organizational ethics should be defined with regard to the behaviour of the individuals in the organization. This might involve the speculation regarding the criteria that define ethical decisions as well as personality characteristics. These statements of the researchers help to learn and support the fact that ethical leadership is crucial as well as vital in providing the direction which strengthen the organizations to fulfil its objectives, visions and declared goals. As put forward by Brown and Trevio (2014), the ethical leadership can be regarded as the key factor in the management of the companys reputation in the external environment. In todays business environment, one of the most suited traits needed to exercise leadership is integrity. It is identified that leaders that observe integrity are honest with themselves as well as others. They learn from the mistakes and they lead by the example. The leaders take the responsibility to become judgmental regarding the significant decisions as well as attempt to balance competing interests. As put forward by Hassan, Wright and Yukl (2014), it is not easy enough to adopt high standards and it is not easy to live up to this standards and help other do the same. An ethical castoff min is required to adopt the standards that let individuals practice their own principles persistently. In the business world, an organization needs to be fair to its employees, customers and all stakeholders involved in the business. Being ethical is about playing fair with both external and internal environment and thinks about the welfare and betterment of others as well as considers the consequence of ones action. The ethical leader often considers about the long-term consequence, drawbacks as well as benefits of his/her decisions. Moreover, for the sake being honest and true to own values and principles, the leaders become prepared to deal with the battle on the competitive market. Thus, an organization without such principles may not be able to deal with the battle on the field. The leaders tend to serve others as the role model for their followers as well as demonstrate the behavioural boundaries developed within an organization. As put forward by Carraher (2015), the appropriate as well as expected behaviour is improved through the culture as well as socialization techniques of the newcomers. As discussed in Banduras theory, people learn from each other and observing other behaviour in the environment. Likewise, Demirtas and Akdogan (2015) also mentioned that the employees in the organization learn about the values and the principles observing the leaders in actions. In addition, as managers take the issues of ethical responsibility in a real sense, they certainly become more sensitive to their followers needs and demands. As mentioned by Men (2014) a good leader is designated by an enhanced capacity to feel morally obligated to a greater range of followers. The modern organizations need a leader who is surrounded by such principles and worldly perspective s. In order to bring favourable con sequences for betterment of the organizations or the stakeholders involved the company an ethical leadership. Conclusion On the completion of the essay, I must raise the concern whether or not a company could become successful as well as competitive on the market and at the same time ethical. It can be mentioned that market success and ethical conduct could go hand in hand. Eventually, it can be ascertained that a leader is foremost a member of the company as well as its spoke person. Therefore, his deeds should serve the purpose as well as bring in benefits to the company. References Brown, M. E., Trevio, L. K. (2014). Do role models matter? An investigation of role modeling as an antecedent of perceived ethical leadership.Journal of Business Ethics,122(4), 587-598. Carraher, S. (2015). Objectivism, Lyman Porter and ethical leadership.Journal of Management History,21(1). Chughtai, A., Byrne, M., Flood, B. (2015). Linking ethical leadership to employee well-being: The role of trust in supervisor.Journal of Business Ethics,128(3), 653-663. Demirtas, O., Akdogan, A. A. (2015). The effect of ethical leadership behavior on ethical climate, turnover intention, and affective commitment.Journal of Business Ethics,130(1), 59-67. Demirtas, O. (2015). Ethical leadership influence at organizations: Evidence from the field.Journal of Business Ethics,126(2), 273-284 Hassan, S., Wright, B. E., Yukl, G. (2014). Does ethical leadership matter in government? Effects on organizational commitment, absenteeism, and willingness to report ethical problems.Public Administration Review,74(3), 333-343. McLeod, S. A. (2011). Bandura-social learning theory.Retrieved from. Men, (2014).Internal Reputation Management: The Impact of Authentic Leadership and Transparent Communication. Corporate Reputation Review2014, Vol.17(4), p.254 Newman, A., Kiazad, K., Miao, Q., Cooper, B. (2014). Examining the cognitive and affective trust-based mechanisms underlying the relationship between ethical leadership and organisational citizenship: a case of the head leading the heart?.Journal of Business Ethics,123(1), 113-123. Palanski, M., Avey, J. B., Jiraporn, N. (2014). The effects of ethical leadership and abusive supervision on job search behaviors in the turnover process.Journal of Business Ethics,121(1), 135-146. Shapiro, J. P., Stefkovich, J. A. (2016).Ethical leadership and decision making in education: Applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. Routledge. Shapiro, J. P., Stefkovich, J. A. (2016).Ethical leadership and decision making in education: Applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. Routledge. Sharif, M. M., Scandura, T. A. (2014). Do perceptions of ethical conduct matter during organizational change? Ethical leadership and employee involvement.Journal of Business Ethics,124(2), 185-196. Steinbauer, R., Renn, R. W., Taylor, R. R., Njoroge, P. K. (2014). Ethical leadership and followers moral judgment: The role of followers perceived accountability and self-leadership.Journal of Business Ethics,120(3), 381-392. Wu, L. Z., Kwan, H. K., Yim, F. H. K., Chiu, R. K., He, X. (2015). CEO ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility: A moderated mediation model.Journal of Business Ethics,130(4), 819-831.

Monet And His World Essays - Claude Monet, Camille Doncieux

Monet and His World I have always been interested in the impressionist style of art, especially the work of Claude Monet. When making my book selection I took this under consideration and chose a book written by Raymond Cogniat entitled Monet and His World. This lively illustrated book is written with great detail. Using explanations, illustrations, pictures and paintings, Cogniat helps to illustrate not only the life of Monet, but also the world of Impressionism, art and French society during Monet's time. You are thrust into the life of this painter and his frame of mind throughout the various stages in his life. Cogniat discusses a vast variety of artistic techniques and movements. He aids us in understanding Monet's motives and life behind the paintings I have learned a great deal about impressionism from this books and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in impressionist art. Monet and His World was published in 1966. The majority of the paintings are shown in black and white, which definitely takes away the beauty of them. It also makes us it harder to understand Mount's techniques of painting without chiaroscuro (using light and shade in pictorial representation). I was lucky enough to acquire a colored picture book of Monet's paintings called Monet, from the Crown Art Library series. It provides some basic information about Monet's life but primarily focuses on explaining each painting in detail. The book opens discussing the early life of Claude Monet. He was born in Paris in the year of 1840 to a family of grocers. He spent most his childhood at Le Havre where he earliest interests in art could be traced to his aunt, Mme Lecadre who was a amateur painter. Monet lead a relatively normal childhood. By the time he was fifteen years of age, Monet had begun his artistic journey. He discovered his talent in drawing caricatures1, which he even displayed at a local shop. The shop was owned by the painter Boudin, who recognized that Monet's talent far excelled caricatures. Boudin took the young artist under his wing and he eventually became the boy's mentor and inspiration. It was from Boudin that Monet received his first artistic training. He began to learn about the fluid qualities of scenery, which would later lead to the creation of impressionism. Monet's family did not accept his commitment to art; they wanted him to follow the family trade. He traveled to Paris where he met Pi ssaro and Courbet. In 1860 he drew an unlucky number from the military lottery. The family could have spared him the experience by paying for a substitute, yet they decided that he needed the "reality check". He was forced to serve in North Africa for two years, until he fell ill. His family's hope was crushed, for the trip has strengthened Monet's bond with nature and art. He returned home where he continued to paint luminous landscapes with Boudin and his new friend Jongkind. Paris was calling Monet, and he returned there in the fall of 1862. There he joined Gleyre's studio where he began to take his work more seriously than ever before. At Gleyre's studio he befriended Renoir, Sisley and Bazille. They had much in common, and upon the closing of the studio in 1863 the four decided to form their own school in the forest of Fontainebleau. There the four young men painted, became one with nature and stood undisturbed by society. They painted in "plein air," where the light and wind served as models; this marked the first step toward impressionism. They soon after became acquaintance with Eduoward Manet, a controversial painter whose techniques closely resembled their own. Monet and his friends now had to participate in the struggle of success. They attempted to have their works represented at the Salons with little success. They finally succeeded only to be mocked by the majority of the critics. He and Renoir often worked together on the banks of the Seine, painting in a style that was still unnamed Monet's personal life was also tumultuous. He had fell in love with one of his models, Camille Doncieux. She had gotten pregnant and Monet did not have the means to support her nor

Magnatune essays

Magnatune essays Record producer is a loosely defined term that (in my opinion) could reach from As to managers and essentially means any person responsible for completing a master recording so that it is fit for release. He/she controls the recording sessions, coaches and guides the performers, and supervises or takes part in the mixing process. How a producer makes money depends on the relationship he/she has with the artist and or record label. An executive producer typically invests in a project and in return receives royalties from future sales. Other producers like musician producers might receive money upfront as well as royalties from future sales of an album. The way Magnatune is set up may pose some problems for record producers. First Magnatune cuts out the middle man (record label) which puts everything in the hands of the artist. Thats not entirely good for producers. While they stand to make more if they are working from a percentage stand point now its up to the artist to keep track of the books and pay the producers whatever monies is owed to them from the sales if any. Not everyone is cut out for the business side of the music industry and most artists want nothing to do with it. Also the temptation factor is too much. If you could say that you havent sold anything meanwhile youve been selling music through downloads it adds another chance that not all parties involved will get their fair share. Without the labels a lot of the big recording budget money that the producers used to illegally pocket is also gone. Since Magnatune is catering to the independent artist there are no big budget productions. Magnatude is going to slowly k ill the record producer. Its purpose is to put the music back in the hands of the artist. So one of the side effects is the record producer must die. With all the music being made at home or in project studios very little will ever enlist the help of a producer. Its not ...

Do You Really Need Fiske Guide to Colleges Expert Review

Do You Really Need Fiske Guide to Colleges Expert Review SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Deciding which guidebooks will be most useful to you in the college research process can be pretty tricky. The Fiske Guide to Colleges is a commonly used resource for prospective college students, and it does contain a lot of useful information. However, it also has some major drawbacks and may not be very helpful in making a final decision on where to apply. In this review, I'll tell you all about the exclusive content of the guide, its overall pros and cons, and whether you should actually buy it and use it in your college search. Overview The Fiske Guide to Colleges has been around for over 30 years, but this review will focus on the 2015 edition of the guide.The Fiske Guide contains information about over 300 four-year colleges that its writers consider to be the â€Å"best and most interesting institutions in the nation†. In other words, it contains the schools that are the most relevant to the highest number of prospective students.The book is edited by Edward Fiske, the former education editor of the New York Times (hence its title). The Fiske Guide includes 175 of the most selective schools in the nation.In addition to schools with extremely high academic standards, it includes colleges that lend geographic diversity to the list and create an equal balance of private and public schools.The guide also incorporates specialty schools that may be based around engineering, a particular religious denomination, or a devotion to environmental conservation. Finally, it includes schools that the writers simply found interesting based on their unique curriculum. The Fiske Guide's reviews of colleges include lots of student testimony.Each college was provided with a questionnaire for students to fill out that asked about their experiences at the school with regards to accessibility of professors, quality of housing, nightlife, and campus dining.Administrators also were allowed to weigh in about their school and send information to the writers of the guide to aid in their understanding of the school’s goals and inner workings.Each school in the guide is accompanied by a 1,000 to 2,500-word descriptive essay incorporating student feedback and other information accumulated through published resources and visits to these colleges. What's your least favorite aspect of your college? It doesn't have enough money to buy a desk so I can fill out this questionnaire like a normal human being. What Specific Information and Resources Does the Guide Give You? Now that you have a basic idea of what the Fiske Guide to Colleges is, let's take a look at what information it can actually give you. The guide contains statistics and ratings for each school, lists of colleges broken down by category, and a survey to help determine your college preferences. Statistics Every college page is equipped with a sidebar of quick facts that gives you an overview of some essential statistics about the school. This offers a succinct look at the school's positive and negative qualities if you don't have time to read the full essay. College Cost The Fiske Guide gives you the percentage of students receiving financial aid at each school.You’ll also see a rating for how expensive the school is, ranging from one dollar symbol to four.This comes along with an indication of whether the college is public or private. A school that has the most expensive rating ($$$$) as a private college will be far more expensive than a public college with the same rating. You can find a guide to these ratings at the beginning of the book. For public schools, one $ indicates a price of less than $8,000, and for private schools it indicates a price of less than $37,000.Specific numbers are not provided because tuition prices can change from year to year, so these would become out of date very quickly.You’ll see statistics for the percentage of students who take out loans as well, along with the average debt for students at each school. Test Scores The Fiske Guide provides SAT and ACT score ranges for each school.The ranges reflect the middle 50% of admitted students, meaning the low end represents the 25th percentile of scores, and the high end represents the 75th percentile. Admissions and Enrollment Admissions statistics include the number of applicants, acceptance rate, and percentage of students enrolled out of the pool of accepted candidates.The guide also provides eachschool’s graduation rate after six years and the percentage of returning freshman. The total enrollment at the school along with the number of undergraduate students and the male/female ratio are included as well. I won't tell anyone you didn't actually graduate if you tell prospective students that we're installing giant waterslides on the green next year. Ratings These ratings are unique to the Fiske Guide, and they can be a helpful overview of how well-balanced a school is when considering both its academic offerings and social scene. Each is recorded on a scale of one to five. Academic Rating This rating is based on the school's reputation in the academic world, the quality of the faculty, the level of teaching and research, the academic ability and seriousness of students, and the quality of the academic facilities. Social Life Rating This measures the level of recreational student interaction on campus and how much time students devote to socializing in general. Quality of Life Rating The Fiske Guide has this rating category because sometimes schools with good academics and a healthy amount of socializing still don't have a particularly happy student body. In these rare cases the college's atmosphere might not be supportive or the location might be very isolated, leading to a decline in general quality of life. This rating measures overall student satisfaction. Low quality of life. Lists and Other Resources The Fiske Guide contains consolidated lists of schools that will help you find exactly what you're looking for based on price and curriculum focus. It also includes a college survey for those of you who still aren't sure of exactly what you want in a college. Best Buy Colleges and List of Schools by Price The guide's list of â€Å"Best Buy† colleges represents the schools that give you â€Å"outstanding academics with relatively modest prices†.The Fiske Guide for 2015 lists 44 Best Buy schools divided equally between public and private institutions.Essentially, they represent an intersection of four or five star academic ratings and one or two dollar signs price ratings(inexpensive to moderately expensive).Fiske also catalogs schools by price and public or private status at the beginning of the book so you can target your search towards the ones with the cheapest price tags. Lists of Schools by Type There are a couple of lists at the beginning of the guide that may help you narrow your search if you have a concentrated academic focus.One list, entitled â€Å"A Guide for Preprofessionals†, lists schools that are strongest in nine different preprofessional areas including architecture, art/design, business, communications/journalism, engineering, film/television, dance, drama, and music.This list also includes schools that are strong in environmental studies and international studies, two increasingly popular interdisciplinary majors.There are two other lists as well: schools that offer strong support for students with learning disabilities and schools that are test optional (they don't require SAT or ACT scores). College Search Survey Within its introduction, the Fiske Guide contains a mini-guide to your college search process.This includes a â€Å"sizing-yourself-up† survey that asks some basic questions about your likes, dislikes, and preferences for size, location, and academic/extracurricular offerings.The survey will give you a basic idea of what you want out of college, although it may be difficult to apply the results to your search within the book itself (more on this later). You seem like you have a lot of negative energy - you should probably buy the Fiske Guide 2015 2.0. It costs $2,000, but it will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. (Making fun of Scientology will never get old.) Pros and Cons: What Makes this Guide More or Less Useful for You? Now you know what's in the guide, but will it actually help you find your dream college? I'll go over the pros and cons of the guide so you can decide whether or not to buy one for yourself. Pros of the Fiske Guide If you already have some schools in mind, this guide can give you great insight into the perspectives of real studentsthrough its descriptive essays. You may not be able to find such a concise yet comprehensive overview of what campus life is like anywhere else. The Fiske Guide has reliable connections to students and administrators at the best schools in the country, and many of the essays provide more relevant student feedback than college review sites. The essays cover information in roughly the same order for each college.This makes it simple to look at a couple of essays about different schools and compare two topic descriptions (for example, descriptions of the academic climate at a school are always at the beginning of each essay). The statistics are easy to digest and not too overwhelming. With the pricing scales and symbolic representations of ratings, it’s easy to tell whether a school is a good fit without sorting through a bunch of confusing numbers. Specialized lists give you the means to conduct your search more logically. If you’re interested in a specific preprofessional area of study or are looking for schools that don’t require test scores, the lists in the Fiske Guide will quickly reveal your options. The introduction and college search survey go into detail about how to conduct your searchso it doesn’t feel as confusing. Cool, sounds good! Cons of the Fiske Guide Although this guide might be more fun to read than some other resources, it makes it difficult to filter out schools.The essays paint most schools in a pretty good light. For example, a school in the middle to lower end of the pack in the guide (3-star ratings and a 70% admissions rate) is heralded as an "undiscovered gem". There are also many statements like "humanities programs are very strong, but science majors are also enormously popular" and "students get the best of several worlds: excellence in engineering and the liberal arts, abundant research opportunities, and a healthy social life". While this may get you more excited for college and can be encouraging, it makes it tough to narrow down your list of schools.Every school seems to have so much going for it that it's nearly impossibly to pick favorites. The statistics are easy to understand, but they’re not particularly detailed. If you want more specific information about the costs of schools including in-state vs. out of state tuition and room and board, you will have to look elsewhere. It's true that tuition changes frequently, so the guide would be inaccurate very quickly if it gave specific numbers, but there are still some exact figures you should know before deciding on a college. Subjectivity, as outlined by the authors in the introduction, is a key feature of the Fiske Guide. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that you can’t take all the ratings as indisputable fact.It is easy to get caught up in the fact that one school has a four-star quality of life rating and another school has a three-star rating while ignoring the fact that the three-star school might be a better fit for you in other ways.For the Fiske Guide to be helpful, you have to be on your guard about which statistics are real and which are loosely based on reality but not true for every single student. Academic ratings, in particular, can be difficult to sort out.The guide only recommends comparing these ratings directly from one school to another if both schools are of a similar â€Å"type† - that is, two large public colleges or two small private colleges.A small private college with a five-star academic rating may have a very different academic climate than a large public college with the same rating. This makes differentiating between schools challenging if you don’t already have many of your preferences for size, location, and resources in mind. My wheat is w[h]eeping from these cons. Should You Use the Fiske Guide to Colleges? The Fiske Guide is a nice accessory for your college search, but it can sometimes lead to more doubts and confusion. It contains so many seemingly great options that it becomes very difficult to sort through them. My advice is to only usethe Fiske Guide if you’re (a) in the earliest stages of looking at colleges or (b) already have a strong idea of your preferences that won't be influenced too strongly by the guide's more subjective ratings. Underclassmen If you’re a freshman or sophomore and are just starting to investigate colleges, the Fiske Guide is a good way to start investigating what life is like at different schools without the pressure of having to make major decisions.It presents the college experience as an exciting and rewarding time in your life, and might help to motivate you to work towards ambitious academic goals early in high school. If this is your situation, a smart way use the book is to read descriptions of schools that vary significantly across different dimensions. For example, read the entry for a very small college and a very large college, and see which one appeals to you more. By doing this, you'll begin to see what your preferences are without having to zero in on a specific school. At this early stage, you could also just skim the book straight through and read more closely for schools that are of particular interest. There's no need to force yourself into any commitments. Juniors and Seniors The Fiske Guide also works well when you already have concrete preferences in mind and want to compare specific schools or types of schools that interest you.If you already have a narrower scope in mind for your search, the Fiske Guide can be a useful tool for evaluating the student experience at the types of schools that interest you.You’ll be able to make more logical and useful comparisons based on ratings if the schools you’re looking at already have many traits in common. For example, if you know cost is important to you, you can look at the school index by price and just read the descriptions of schools that are within your price range. If you're planning on going into a specific professional field, you can focus solely on schools listed as having top programs in that area. If you know where in the country you want to go to school, you can look only at schools that fit those location preferences. The College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon, one of the private colleges listed in the Fiske Guide as having an excellent architecture program. If you aren’t sure where to begin with your college search and are already a junior or older, you may want to consult other resources before turning to the Fiske Guide.While the guide does contain a â€Å"sizing-yourself-up survey† to help you figure out what your preferences are for college, it may be difficult to apply your answers to your search within the book. Instead, trystarting with online resources that allow you to search by college type and provide more in-depth statistics on schools. Sites like Cappex (a college matchmaking site that includes suggestions for schools you might like based on your academic performance and other preferences), College Navigator (a site that allows you to search for schools by location, program type, and other factors), and FastWeb (for scholarships and other information about paying for college) are good places to narrow down your search and determine what you want out of college.When you have a better idea of what your preferences are, you can use the Fiske Guide to get a more colorful picture of student life that you might not see onthese sites. Overall, the Fiske Guide is fun to use, but it's not overly helpful in narrowing down your college choices if you’re unsure of what you want in the first place.It should be used in addition to, not as a substitute for, a great deal of introspection about what you want out of your higher educational experience. What's Next? If you're looking for tips on how to get started in your college search, read my article onhow to choose a college. Before you look at any guidebooks or websites, it can be helpful to narrow down your college preferences in terms of size and location. Learn more about the characteristics of large and small colleges and about whether you're better suited to a school that's close to home. Another good way to whittle down your choices is to decide if you might be interested in an in-state school. Take a look at this article to get a better idea of whether an in-state school might be a good choice for you. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Family concept Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Family concept - Essay Example Even today, a large number of sick people choose to recuperate from their illnesses at home. It is only when they develop severe symptoms that they feel compelled to visit hospitals. According to Berbiglia (2011) only 5% of all the elderly people are permanent members of institutions. Families are also in the best position to nurse their sick. This is because most people live with at least one family member. This means that family members are in the best position to provide care since there is no cost involved. Families readily accept responsibilities for realizing the self-care of different family members who may fall ill (Casida, Peters and Magnan, 2009). Governmental as well as non-governmental organizations also realize the significance of families in dispensing healthcare services as they often invest resources in them that allow for the family members to be able to conduct self-care responsibilities. A family in any community is responsible for supplying its individual members with certain resources that are necessary for healthy living such as security, clothing, food, shelter, and the right to medical care. Additionally, family-centered health care is based on the notion that the family is the sick person’s main source of support as well as strength. ... Is it the most helpful concept for considering family in nursing practice? Why? Nurses can utilize family strengths as a basic system to encourage the formation of healthy and strong relationships between family care takers and patients. Some of the strong family –related attributes include appreciation and affection, communication, strong spiritual counseling and support, and psychological support when dealing with mental or physical illnesses. With these types of family strengths, nurses can assist a family’s members to identify their hopes and visions for the future and concentrate on them instead of pondering over the issues that likely led to family problems (Casida, Peters and Magnan, 2009). Orem’s theory of self care is a theory that addresses the different types of care that can be provided for a sick person by his or her family. Which of the theories presented in your readings this week is conducive to your area of practice and why? There are three syste ms that are found in the Orem theory: the compensatory structure, in which the nurse is completely in charge of all the care activities associated with the patient, the partial compensatory model, where the patient is able to be responsible for self-administering some care options, and the educative-development model, in which the whole responsibility of overseeing care options falls on the patient and the nurse merely acts in the capacity of a consultant. In Orem's theory of nursing, the family is conceptualized from three perspectives: a) as a dynamic that conditions a person's need for care and capacity to provide care for him or herself b) as a dependent unit of care c) as a service unit. In this theory, nurses recognize that the

Auditing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Auditing - Case Study Example Due to reluctance of tone of Societe Generale, the company had to face a loss of almost $7.2 billion in 2008. It is in this context that Societe Generale provided higher concentration on the front office activities and there was less consideration towards back office performances. As a consequence, there was imbalance between the control of front office and back office functions (Beasley, M. S. & Et. Al., â€Å"How a Low Risk Trading Caused a $7.2 billion Loss†). Due to this reason, Societe Generale was incompetent to develop acute inspections essential for controlling the roles and responsibilities of employees. From the case study, it can be observed that like other organizations, Societe Generale had also become quite determined about drumming up its market worth. Thus, it did not provide much attention towards the traders and its responsibilities for managing the risks, while it rendered high significance for financial organizations in order to maintain profitability (Wart zman, â€Å"Executives Are Wrong to Devalue Values†). According to Canadian Auditing Standard (CAS), ‘Tone at the Top’ outlines the principles of a business unit and administration’s obligation to aptitude and beliefs (Hartley, â€Å"Tips for Cost-Effective CAS Application†). Tone at the top is necessary for better financial control in any organization. By judging the tone at the top of Societe Generale it can be characterized that it had certain lacunas of internal control which can be categorized as the reason for huge loss faced by the company. For any organization, the top level administration must be clear regarding the rules of business because different organizations have different risk desires. In Societe Generale the management was unable to apply the rules of business throughout the internal working culture. There is need for better internal management which can scrutinize the activities of all employees so that any kind of illegal activit ies can be detected and prevented accordingly (Beasley, M. S. & Et. Al., â€Å"How a Low Risk Trading Caused a $7.2 billion Loss†). Question 3 CAS describes that maltreatments in the financial statements ascend from either fraudulent activities or accidental mistakes (OAS, â€Å"Canadian Auditing Standards†). Fraudulent activity comprises three aspects which are pressures or incentives, opportunity and rationalization. Pressure or incentive is the aspect which influences or tends to give reasons to an individual to conduct fraud. With respect to Jerome Kerviel (one of the traders of Societe Generale), as a trader, the earning of Kerviel was quite low in comparison with other top level traders. He even did not consider himself as a trader due to his low earnings. Thus, his incentive for conducting fraudulent activity was to enhance his reputation within the company and thus increase the bonus amount (Beasley, M. S. & Et. Al., â€Å"How a Low Risk Trading Caused a $7.2 billion Loss†). Hence, he was constrained for gaining more money by undertaking monetary risks. Rationalization is the other aspect in majority of fraud cases. It involves reconciling the behavior of the individual alleged for committing fraudulent activities. After disclosure of the fraudulent activity of Kerviel, his rationalization was to make sure that his superiors were aware regarding his activities. Kerviel had articulated that his superiors

Adult learning and motivation Essay Example for Free

Adult learning and motivation Essay An exploration in to the multi-dimensionality of participatory behaviour; and what motivates adults to return to education. The research question that was initially formulated aimed to inductively generate a theory (Rothchild 2006; Cohen et al., 2000). Unfortunately, the initial question became subject to ethical challenges; and within a framework that would demonstrate rigour, validity and reliability, unsurprisingly; it was far better too approach/explore the multi-dimensionality of participatory behaviour; and what motivates adults to return to education. An enquiry designed around this approach has a better fit to a pragmatic framework (Armitage and Keeble-Allen, 2007; Bryman, 2007) and the BERA ethical directives. Furthermore, this should help bolster the totality of coherence; or as Moss et al., (2009) would suggest as; ‘a chain of reasoning and logic’. Similarly, individual agency and how the experiences of adult learners’ are co/re-constructed (Clark 2011; Flowers 2009; p. 3) needed a greater relationship to an interpretivist epistemology (E891 Part 2: Action 2.9; Gage 1989). As the researcher primarily overlooked these factors that, in turn, determine what is seen as valid and invalid knowledge; then [those] factors would have been overlooked when inferences were made during the research process reducing the quality and internal and possibly external validity. Obviously, this incommensurability will be addressed before the researcher analyses any data generated (Bryman, 2007; p. 19). With these approaches better placed the researcher could demonstrate that generally social and cognitive phenomena are simultaneously quantitative and qualitative (Ercikan and Roth, 2006; p.16) and participatory behaviour is an outcome of the ‘meaning-made’ (Clark 2011) i.e. social-cognitive collocation. This would then show that cognition is co-constructed (Clark 2011) and re-constructed by experience resulting in the multiple interpretations that create the social realities in which people act (Flowers 2009; p. 3). It could be suggested that the initial ‘meaning-made’ is a primary motivator which persists until the time the learner feels satisfied (Park and Choi 2009), or, has achieved ‘what they set out to achieve’ (Gustafsson Mouwitz, 2008). This also implies that ‘meaning-made’ is mutable (Gibbons Bylsma 1984) and subject to further co/re-construction; adjustment; or complete abandonment. Research philosophy After extensive ‘Adult learner’ research and talking with tutors that instruct adult learners’ highlighted a distinct difference in the approaches from which children (Pedagogy – teaching method) and adults (Andragogy – teach how to learn) are taught. The implementation of informal learning methods, however, appears to have dominance in the adult education field (Gibbons Bylsma 1984). Therefore, in order to shape and advance the theory, research design and instrument/s required conducting a focussed literature review of several learning theories (see fig 1); namely, Knowles’s Andragogy Theory (Houde 2006), Cross’s Characteristics of Adult Learners (CAL) (Kohl-Frey and Schmid-Ruhe 2007; Crittenton Women’s Union 2012), Margin (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984) and Proficiency Theory (Gustafsson Mouwitz, 2008). Fig. 1 is showing the associated theories that characterize adult learners’ What becomes problematic is; adult learning has not been researched as vigorously as others areas of education, so the real challenge will be – as Hodkinson and Macleod (2010) encountered to anchor the line of enquiry in a combined paradigmatic harbor. In contrast to Hodkinson and Macleod (2010), the upcoming report will be combining the aforementioned theories with the following paradigms’ as they display a distinct homogeneity. Specifically, social (E891 Part 2: Action 2.5), and cognitive constructionism (De Abreu 2000), Interpretivism (E891 Part 2: Action 2.4; Gage 1989) with quantitative and qualitative data collection i.e. mixed methodology. A critical review of the initial report by Street (2013) and Holmes (2013) exemplified the scarcity of knowledge and understanding some had on the associated theories. Both commented on differing aspects of the line of enquiry, but these were conceptual in nature. Street (2013) illustrated that the researcher must remain aware of the macro/micro societal effect that the learning environment has on the adults lived/shared experience and Holmes (2013) suggested that there needed to be a better fit to the realities of the adult learner. With this in mind I re-conceptualized the report and reflected more specifically on the feedback and guidance. Therefore, in order to steer the paradigms so that they pull in the same direction, the aforementioned theories naturally occurring and overlapping dimensions will be grouped (i.e. constant comparison method; Cohen et al., 2000; p. 151) by their substantive statements (i.e. content analysis; Gillham, 2000; p. 137) and used to engender questions. This process generated four themes that naturally expanded upon their shared features. Social contact and Relationships Goal and relevancy orientated External expectations Internal expectations In order to check for consistencies/inconsistencies (Denscombe, 1999; p. 217-8) between the questionnaires i.e. Phase 1 and Phase 2 and interview responses both datasets will be triangulated to assess the overall motivation/s toward participatory behaviour i.e. cross-sectional design (Bryman, 2006; p. 104). This ‘Mutual’ approach (Armitage and Keeble-Allen, 2007) will be implemented during the adult learners’ regular session/s, which should (1) reduce bias (Nederhof, 1985) and attrition (Torgerson 2009), (2) be more pragmatic than experimental research (Torgerson 2009), (3) increase internal validity, reliability and research quality, (4) support external validity and (5) decrease demand characteristics due to any researcher effects. Research enquiries can be polarized into qualitative and quantitative classifications based on how phenomena are represented (Ercikan and Roth, 2006). But, the researcher firmly believes; if representative qualitative and quantitative data have shared aspects that are dependent on their counterpart for completeness (Ercikan and Roth, 2006; p.16; Bryman, 2006; Bryman, 2007), then the incorporation of cross-validation is warranted to best serve this enquiry. This strategy should ensure internal validity; especially when considering using complementary methods (Armitage and Keeble-Allen, 2007). Moreover, as these quantitative and qualitative counterparts contain a fundamental element of the interactive dependency that is shared, and required, for individual understanding i.e. the connectivity of interactivity and the influence on representative individuality then the research must be aware to consider that both methods have shared and conflicting elements. Consequently, when considering multidisciplinary approaches, mixed methods i.e. quantitative and qualitative and triangulation one must be aware that incommensurability can exist between them. Brannen (2005) suggests that some methods become more feasible than others and deemed a better ‘fit’ as [they] provide more sensitivity when investigating complex social phenomena. Hence, certain methods, used in conjunction can become less than complimentary with the other. Additionally, Yin (2006) suggests that the ability to tighten the use of mixed methods so that they do in fact occur as part of a single study requires integration. The claim is that, the more that a single study integrates mixed methods, the more that mixed methods research, as opposed to multiple studies, is taking place (Yin, 2006). Furthermore, Houghton et al., (2010) highlight one of the ethical challenges, which have important implications for qualitative research, practical examples and solutions. The unpredictability of qualitative research means that an a priori prescription for ethical conduct is not always possible. Therefore, the researcher must be constantly mindful of the on-going impact that the research might have on those involved, while simultaneously being ethically sensitive and morally competent Although, mixing methods does provide an inferential narrative to the statistical outputs from quantitative analysis, it might not sufficiently negate the qualitative and quantitative dichotomy (Yin, 2006), or, necessarily produce the expected scholarly standard for presenting credible evidence (Maclure, 2005). These qualitative and quantitative complements are noticeably even arguably intrinsic facets of social/cognitive interaction/functioning; hence, the methods used to collect data in this enquiry will be trying to procure what happens when the internal interact/s with an external influence/s (Yin, 2006). This illustration provides a start for thinking about yet other types of mixed method research. The point is, if a relationship is completely absent— particularly where two or more methods address wholly different dependent, independent, or descriptive variables—the mixed methods are likely to form separate studies, not a single study (Yin, 2006). All these influences are important and relevant, but they are only some of the processes that, together, comprise a complex social world and unfortunately; understanding that the relevance and value assigned to learning by adults’ highlights the importance induced, does not necessarily liberate them (Hacking 1999; p. 2) from any disenfranchisement they could feel. Likewise, the researcher understands that the aforementioned factors are not the only variables that are existent; however, the researcher is of the opinion that those factors (see fig. 3 + 4) are the most prominent from the observations made and literature review conducted. Research Design Fig. 2 is illustrating the design and flow of data analysis that establishes the internal validity, reliability and quality of the research enquiry. Historical background Considering participation in adult learning since 1996 we see it has remained around 40% for those of working age (16 – 69) for seventeen years. These were either currently participating, or had recently participated in the last three years. Of those that did participate, there is an equivalent amount that has not participated since leaving full time education. Although, 80% of students’ currently participating intend on continuing in further education after they have completed the present course (see Tab.1). Whilst participating in Further Education and Lifelong Learning I observed a possible explanation for the existence of these variances (that being relevance and value). A possible explanation for the disordinal interaction (percentages decrease in the ‘Likely to learn in the future’ group whilst percentages for ‘Unlikely to learn in the future’ group increase) demonstrated in table 1 could be; the further in years an adult moves away from education the less relevance and value they attribute to returning to it. Or, is it as Siraj-Blatchford (2010) may suggest; that the adults are overscheduled and more committed to sustaining the home environment and maintaining a career with ‘on the job’ training. Multimodal Heuristics Informal learning is seemingly multimodal i.e. being valuable and relevant to the matter at hand and socially constructed through long/short term interactions (GTC 2006). The informal learning mechanisms that mediate influence shapes learning environments’ (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 6), cognitive processes and our social interactions (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 6). ‘Meaning’ then, is co/re-constructed by experience resulting in the multiple interpretations that create the social reality in which people act (Flowers 2009; p. 3). And as Vygotsky would state; context affects cognitive and by way of behavioural activities (De Abreu, 2000; p. 3) Bruner’s suppositional framework suggests that learners form new ideas or theories based upon what they already know (GTC 2006). His theory of learning, not only, related to the way childrens thinking developed, but it could also be applied to adults learning new and unfamiliar material (GTC 2006). Learners, as Bruner proposes, are creators and thinkers through the use of inquiry (GTC 2006). The process of which how learners dynamically construct knowledge is heavily in focus: implying the transformation of information, which suggests that Bruner’s theory of Constructivism falls into a cognitive domain (GTC 2006). Learners are provided with opportunities to construct new knowledge and new meaning from authentic experiences (Brockmann 2011). As a result, this exposes the pivotal role Multimodal Heuristics start to have when adults’ decide to return to education. For instance, a parent can reassure a frightened child that ‘shadow monsters do not exist!’ Although, a sibling can suggest leaving the light on to scare the monsters’ away. This indicates that informal learning can alter our worldview (e.g. ‘When did you stop believing in Santa?’) if it is seen to offer a plausible solution. This supports the concept of how informal learning can contribute to our understanding, cognitive processes (De Abreu 2000), social interactions, and the associated behaviours (Schwartz 1995; p. 5). These multimodal components; not only determine the level of commitment and motivation (Park Choi 2009) that is ascribed to the retention of relevant and valuable information (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984; p. 23), but also contributes to the ease of transfer and retrieval of that information (Ekey 2012). The characteristically pragmatic nature of adult learners’ (Abdullah, et al., 2008; Kohl-Frey and Schmid-Ruhe 2007; Crittenton Women’s Union 2012) also demonstrates this need/requirement for information to have applicability to their life. This is determined by the perceived applicability it has to their future experiences and interaction. The internal dimensions of meaning-making are also multimodal (Clark 2011) and seemingly derived from the combination of the value and relevance (or Multimodal Heuristics adults’ decide, through cognitive appraisal, their own level of involvement) assigned by the adult to measure applicability. Consequently, we could suggest that this is an ad hoc contribution to our social cognition (Aronson et al., 2005; p.57 – 64; De Abreu 2000; p. 4), our availability heuristics (Rules of thumb; Aronson et al., 2005; p. 74 75) and the associated behavior and schemas (Aronson et al., 2005; p. 59 61), which then assist navigation of social environments’. Unfortunately, understanding that the relevance and value assigned to learning by adults’ highlights the importance induced, does not necessarily liberate adults’ (Hacking 1999; p. 2) from the disenfranchisement they could feel in institutions where learning is delivered primarily from a traditionally pedagogical approach. Similarly, these interactions are situational and experienced directly by participation, so it will be difficult to generalize the results further than adult learning. Theory development Essentially, humans tend to seek out information that confirms what they think/believe to be most relevant or true to their experiences and/or future interactions; a relative cost-benefit/means-end (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 6) cognitive appraisal that enables Multimodal Heuristic co/re-construction (Clark 2011). This process begins to filter out information that is considered worthless. The cost-benefit (Primary appraisal) and means-end analyses (Secondary appraisal), along with the personal value and relevance adults’ assign to learning (‘rule of thumb’ Gustafsson, L., Mouwitz, L. (2008); p. 5) appear to be hierarchical and Maslowian in nature. Additionally, an adult must consider, through means-end analysis, the benefit of actively participating and building upon their knowledge and experience, throughout their participation in learning. Ultimately mediating their need for satisfaction i.e. Socio-emotional negotiation and selectivity (Houde 2006). As a result, for the adult to consider participation Multimodal Heuristics must negotiate support for expectation and assess the benefit knowledge, learning and education have in recompense for reorganizing multiple obligations, and competing priorities (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 12). Therefore, is socio-emotional negotiation and selectivity a process of fragmenting information so that it creates a heuristic commensurability with an individual’s normative social and cognitive functioning, which therefore, influences behaviour i.e. influential connectivity of socio-cognitive interactivity affecting the potentials for action? Fig. 3 is showing the internal framework of the decision making, and meaning-making, mechanisms that help generate mental constructs of multimodal heuristics. To some degree, we can compare the assessment of value and relevance to Gustafsson Mouwitz (2008) description of Proficiency Theory, and, means-end and cost-benefit analyses to McClusky’s Margin Theory (1974, as quoted in Gibbons Bylsma 1984). These theories emphasize a need to be competent at tasks’ whilst being realistic about certain physical, mental and social capabilities. If there is conflict between primary and secondary appraisals this could be seen as a violation of expectation (Deffenbacher 1993), which may account for drop-out rates, serial signers’, absenteeism, non-participation in task relevant activities, specific course popularity, the cost-benefit/means-end analysis (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 6; Geertz 1993; p. 4 5) for staying the course and societal perception of lifelong learning (Tab. 1). For instance, after asking my students’ (12 in total) if they had any questions about what had been learnt, they responded with â€Å"what would I do if†¦?† and â€Å"When would I use†¦?† As there were only subtle variations in discourse, in regards to relevance and value, I feel this highlights (1) what comprises Multimodal Heuristic co-construction, and (2) what is required from information when it is presented outside of their interpretation of it. Moreover, adults maintain autonomy (Gibbons Bylsma 1984) by performing a cost-benefit analysis to justify their participation; being that peripheral or full (Swan 2005; p. 5). Firstly this, amongst others mentioned, will form the basis of ‘what counts as value and relevance evidence’, and, from which, quantitative data will be collected (questionnaire). Lastly, the quantitative data will be qualitatively complemented with a semi-structured interview to produce a rich narrative and attain thick descriptions (Geertz 1993). The semi-structured interview will be conducted with a subset of the surveyed group and will represent a cross-section of the adult learners’ in that group i.e. single parent, co-parent and a single male/female with no dependants. And as Denscombe (1999) and Brockmann (2011) found; interaction is situational and experienced directly by participation, making it essential to respect [their] views, with, further recognition given to the possibility that [their] priorities may not reflect the general consensus view or official theory. For example, Gustafsson Mouwitz (2008) have reported; what is valued and encouraged in formal learning environments lacks to varying degrees explicit relevance in the workplace. Therefore, adults must demand a greater degree of relevance, value and satisfaction when deciding to return to, and participating in, education (Abdullah, et. al. 2008; Houde 2006). Fig. 4 is showing the internal framework of secondary appraisal that aims to justify the decision made and validate the perception of learning by paralleling meaning-made with the realities of the study. Illustrating, not only that the individual agency of these interpretations of relevance and value are co/re-constructed (Clark 2011) cognitively (GTC 2006) and socially (Hacking 1999), but also that adults’ apply this form of Heuristic Multimodality when seeking satisfaction from having their expectations fulfilled. Park Choi (2009) have reported that relevance and satisfaction, being sub-dimensions of motivation, are known to be interrelated with various course-related issues. Even though the societal influences mentioned in this report can modify (1) the assessment of relevance and (2) affect the personal satisfaction adults cultivate (Park Choi, 2009) they can also mediate and reinforce participatory behavior (Park Choi, 2009) by enhancing the importance adults’ induce when deciding an academic and/or social level of involvement (Gibbons Bylsma 1984). Furthermore, students’ have asserted that relevance is a significant mediator in their assignment of value. Many students’ have commented that relevance paralleled the value assigned to learning and their specific choice of subject(s). These statements were observed over time and place using a relative constant comparison method (Cohen et al., 2000; p. 151). Their comments demonstrated the application of a cost-benefit and means-end analysis e.g. â€Å"How relevant is†¦in the big scheme of things?†, â€Å"When would I use†¦?† and â€Å"I don’t see the relevance? Evidently, the use of Multimodal Heuristics acts as a mechanism that could also increase commitment, dedication and motivation (Park Choi 2009). In constant comparison data are compared across a range of situations, times, groups of people, and through a range of methods (Cohen et al., 2000; p. 151 2). The process resonates with the methodological notion of triangulation. The constant comparison method involves four stages: Comparing incidents and data that are applicable to each category, comparing them with previous incidents in the same category and with other data that are in the same category Integrating these categories and their properties Bounding the theory Setting out the theory The subjective ontological/epistemological view, research design and methodology exhibited in this report is sufficient and necessary to explore this direction of enquiry, if it were absent, it would prove problematic supporting a theory with an accompanying objective approach that advocates detachment (Flowers 2009; E891 Part 2: Action 2.2; Gage 1989; E891 Part 2: Action 2.5), when, in this case, it is more advantageous to explore the subjectivity of individual agency, participatory behaviour and situational experiences, motivation, and, the personal value and relevance assigned to learning, as these are closer to the truth. Instrument Design There will be two distinct phases to data generation; firstly, questions will be formulated from each of the four themes that CAL, Andragogy and Margin and Proficiency theories appear to create and then randomly assigned (Nederhof, 1985) to a questionnaire. A descriptive analysis of each question will be conducted to address whether the aforementioned multi-dimensionalities of adult learners’ are being considered. The strength of the trend in the agreement/disagreement should build a picture of the shared experiences. These questions will then be relocated back to the themes that created them, scored (Likert Scale; the higher the score the more relevance and value is attributed) and compared with the descriptive analysis to, not only generate a semi-structured small group interview schedule (Gillham, 2000), but also to get a sense of what is personally valuable and relevant about learning. This is an attempt to demonstrate; how meeting these multi-dimensionalities may be instrumental in maintaining learner participation (Park and Choi 2009). Furthermore, by mapping these realities, establish whether they support the general consensus view of these adult learning theories. An opportunity sampled group (16 – 35+) will be surveyed using this questionnaire (13 in total) with a small group interview being administered to a subset of the surveyed group (5 in total). Ideally, this subset should be representative of the adult learners’ in that educational facility. Even though the whole group will be opportunistically surveyed; in phase 2 every effort will be made to be more purposive. In order to support internal validity and ensure the reduction of any bias the incorporation of a ‘social desirability’ measure (Nederhof, 1985; SDR) will be added to the questionnaire. Certain questions will be cross referenced with one another to assess whether the adult learners’ are responding in a socially desirable way. This local blocking technique should increase the internal validity of the questionnaire, enhance the internal consistency of the small group interview questions, reduce bias and maintain rigour when all the data is analysed. This should also allow individual agency (E891 Part 2: Action 2.4; Gage 1989; Denscombe 1999), shared experience and the personal value and relevance attributed to learning to be highlighted. Due to the amount of data that could have been reported the evaluation will be specifically limited to the triangulation narratives of the ‘Theme Summaries’, interview data i.e. content and descriptive analysis (Clark, 2011). The researcher firstly formulated questions from these naturally occurring themes and searched for consistencies and inconsistencies (Denscombe, 1999) between the summary narratives (Gillham, 2000) and statistical outputs from the descriptive analyses (Bryman, 2007). Phase 1 As there were 30 questions generated from the four themes the in-depth analysis of each question will be triangulated and presented in the theme summaries. In an attempt to expose any consistencies/inconsistencies (Denscombe, 1999; p. 217-8) in the responses the data will be compared against the learning theories that created them: ensuring validity. Consequently, due to the amount of quantitative data generated from the in-depth analysis of the individual questions, this report will only include the second stage of Phase 1 i.e. descriptive analysis and theme summary triangulation. The interview responses from Phase 2 will be further triangulated with these summaries and content analysed to highlight the adult learners’ realities and ascertain what influences their decisions and motivates them to return too education i.e. by constant comparison method. Theme Summaries Social contact and Relationships Q1, Q2, Q6, Q7, Q17 Q19 and Q30 The adult learners’ appear to value social interaction and feelings of reciprocal respect whilst participating in learning, which demonstrates that the adult learners’ value a sense of ‘belonging’ (16/21). However, there is a small percentage that does not see ‘belonging’ as being of value. Therefore, the feelings of reciprocal respect and support cannot be generalised as influencing their decision to continue in learning. Internal expectations Q10, Q13, Q14, Q15, Q18, Q22, Q26, Q28 and Q29 This theme relates to the adult learners satisfaction. Satisfaction, being a sub-dimension of motivation, is something that must be regarded as paramount in the adult learning experience. The consistent attendance of the adult learners’ at the session/s is testament to their satisfaction with the course and the delivery thereof (18/27). In essence, if the adult learner considers that the potential learning opportunity is not transferable to the workplace, is not satisfied, or perceives it as inadequate at providing improvement to their problem solving capabilities could ultimately diminish their motivation to participate. Goal and relevancy orientation Q3, Q4, Q5, Q9, Q11, Q16, Q20, Q23, Q25 and Q27 External expectations Q8, Q12, Q21 and Q24 As these last two dimensions, respectively and comparatively, share a greater degree of similarity they will be interpretatively combined and presented together. Looking at these from a political perspective; the demand for lifelong learning to have greater prevalence in society sets an industry standard that demands conformity to it. Subsequently, this appears to facilitate the re/co-construction of self-directedness and the personal interests of adult learners’ so that they begin to mirror ‘what is required of them’; which is indicative of a cost-benefit/mean-ends analysis. Therefore, some adult learners’ might be so focussed or motivated on getting the qualification that they adjust their sense of self-direction in order to reorganise their lives and satisfy what is required of them i.e. Mutability for the betterment of self. It could also be suggested that the pressure too have certain qualifications encourages participatory behaviour in some adult learners’ and determines the relative conformity to industry demands and learning the required skills i.e. something they adapt to rather than adapted for them (Q8, Q9 and Q10). Conformity, in this sense, would then act as a pre-determinant to achievement; the perception of economic sustainability and upward mobility and what value, and relevance, learning has. Not surprisingly, this could be one reason why thousands of people leave their jobs: they only took the job because it is what was demanded of them, which is in direct conflict with their personal interests, self-directedness and life goals. Which also illustrates that cognition can be influenced by social interaction and be co/re-constructed by experience and meaning-made. The questionnaire included items that let the participant assess the value and relevance they attribute to learning as an adult. The overall strength of this agreement was guided by their experiences as an adult learner. However, some of the diagnostic questions seemed to be complex and ask two things of the participant. As this is a major source of error (Hammersley et al., 2003) the validity of those questions will be scrutinised as the participants may have weighted one aspects of the complex question more important than the other aspect, hence, an adumbrated response i.e. a decrease in validity. However, all of the responses were reduced to one mean average for that individual question, and as these were pooled from the four themes that characterise adult learners’ it reduced sampling error and bias. Furthermore, as there was a two stage analysis in phase one the validity of the research instrument is strengthened; especially when we factor in the use of the SDR measure to control for bias (Nederhof, 1985) and the encouragement of omission (Hammersley et al., 2003) when the participant had no opinion. What we cannot suggest at this stage of the analysis, however, is that the shared experience led to a shared meaning. As Denscombe (1999) ascertained; the perceptions of the individual are not always consistent with the general consensus view (Brockmann, 2011) of the group as a whole. This extends to the meaning-made and the individual nature of the meaning-making process. The surveyed group cultivated differing levels of relevance and value from their shared experiences. But, this was seemingly determined by the level of relevance and value that was extrapolated from their continued participation. Hence, the individual agency of meaning-making is an outcome of the level of value and relevance attributed to the shared experiences of learning as an adult, the level of satisfaction and a sense of mutability for the betterment of self. Phase 2: Narrative of Qualitative data Before the triangulation, constant comparison and content analysis the researcher must point out that (1) this was a small scale study, (2) the interviews was held in a small group so full disclosure by each participant was not always possible and (3) the results should not be over generalised to other adult learning situations. All that is being sought is an insight in to the connectivity of socio-cognitive interactivity and the subsequent influence on representative individuality; the multidimensionality of participatory behaviour and what the adults felt their motivations for returning to education were and still are. This should (1) map the external/internal influences on the adult learner; (2) expose the dimensions behind this seeming connectivity of socio-cognitive interactivity that create the potential/s for designated types of action i.e. Multimodal Heuristics and (3) if the analysis supports the researcher’s theory and the adult learning theories that feature in this enquiry. Some of the interviewee’s shared a meaning to one degree, but had a different meaning-making process before reaching that decision; the salient feature was a shared-meaning in a shared-goal in reaching university or attending a higher level course from the successful completion of the current course of study. This gave them a common ground on which to build upon ‘what learning means’ to them on an individual basis whilst allowing the shared-meaning element distinguish and define their individual social relationships in the class; whom they sought clarification from; what level of involvement they chose and what comparative judgements they begin to make on others in the session/s. Walter: â€Å"Well I think if you do†¦ I think if you do†¦like, we are social people, things†¦we are social and that’s that, that’s what we are†¦we are designed to be social people, if we exclude ourselves we do not, you know, we lose all basic human function, it’s like the guy at the front, you know he doesn’t †¦ he can exclude himself, he doesn’t do anything, he doesn’t enjoy being here, doesn’t have any excitement about coming and learning†¦if you exclude yourself from everyone else you’ll probably not learn!† Serena: â€Å"I like learning with a group but then it’s dependent on what I do with that information†¦but when it’s writing things down or posters and stuff I can’t have other people touching.† This illustrates that the need to feel self-directed and sometimes being free from outside interference is just one of the commonalities we start to see in the participants responses. Although, some of the interviewee’s do highlight that; Sally: â€Å"I came because I needed to do it, but now I quite, I’ve more motivation to do it because I enjoy it.† Therefore, the individual agency of meaning-making is, not only an outcome of the level of value and relevance attributed to the shared experiences of learning as an adult, the level of satisfaction and a sense of mutability for the betterment of self, but also the means/ends-cost/benefit interconnectivity seen in their decision-making process i.e. motivated to do it and their continued participation in the session/s that seemingly contributes further to the mutability for the betterment of self in these adult learners. The individual meaning-made is a product of these connective interactivities varying – and individually decided high/low levels of cost/benefit the course has and what perceived means/end reward the course provides for successful completion i.e. the multimodal heuristic factors that led to participatory behaviour and satisfaction. The shared-meaning is an accidental affinity that becomes synchronous with other people that are pursuing a similar goal as them. This suggests that they share similar educational values and relevancies due to their common or shared goals. The shared-meaning dimensions presumably start to mediate the differing high/low connective interactivity level in the cost/benefit and means/end analyses. Furthermore, this also starts to define and distinguish individual social relationships; who we seek advice and clarification from; what level of involvement we chose and what comparative judgements we make on others i.e. asynchronous affinity with others. The comments from these interviewee’s also highlights the need to feel proficient and competent about the material in the course and where they culture this confidence. It seems the more confident the adult learner gets about understanding the material and being able to discuss, question and seek clarification on their understanding the more proficient and competent they feel. This bolsters their feelings of satisfaction and adds to their motivation to continue through reducing the physical and mental sense of effort i.e. cost and/or means and increasing the perception of benefit cultured from continuation in the session/s. e.g. internal expectations and social relationships. This could be defined as a beneficial compromise for the betterment of self being the mediation of the perceived value social contact offers in raising confidence, increasing feelings of proficiency and reducing our fear of incompetency. The commentaries also point toward Margin theory (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984) in the manner of how ‘power’ and ‘load’ i.e. the amount we can manage is balanced with the effort we can assign to it and ‘expansive’ and ‘restrictive’ perceptions of future time i.e. the older you are the more urgent something becomes also contributes to the motivations of the adult learner (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984). So, is motivation the product of a restrictive ‘future time’ perspective creating a behaviourally urgent response to the realisation of your current educational inequities; therefore, adding to the perception of the reduction in opportunities for sustaining economic upward mobility? For example the following conversation illustrates the reasoning behind this question; Researcher: ‘so does anyone find, you know, that helps them decide to do a course, or, was it a combination of both things were like valuable and relevant to you as well?’ Walter: ‘Yeah, yeah†¦that’s the reason I’m here, you know you can’t get a well-paid job without English and Maths!’ Leroy: †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢and without those I can’t precede on to university’ Researcher: ‘So you can see the as an industry standard kind of then?’ Walter: ‘Yeah, this is the industry standard’ Researcher: ‘So to actually progress you need these things to progress?’ Walter: ‘Yeah†¦yeah†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Leroy: ‘Like to myself, like to have this qualification would make me feel better about it†¦but,’ Researcher: ‘Yeah†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Leroy: ‘†¦it’s a requirement’ Researcher: ‘yeah like a stepping stone’ Leroy: ‘yeah.’ Therefore, these adult learners’ may just see the benefit of having the qualification to progress beyond where they are now. This could also suggest that these adults’ are fully aware that the ‘real world’ applicability of certain subjects are determined by the industry demand for that subject, making a qualification economically more relevant and valuable to these adult learners’. We could theorise that society has a shared understanding about what industry requires of the workforce and how this requirement places a demand on the learner to rearrange their lives in order to participate in learning. Therefore, shared meaning in society could be facilitated by a shared understanding of what it demands of society, which supports the theory that adult learners’ must assign more personal relevance, value and expectations of satisfaction to learning before there is the motivation to return to education i.e. is there a beneficial compromise between what I want and what they require. And as can be seen in the descriptive analysis of Q20, Q21 and Q22.These questions relate to social influence and societies perception of value and relevance assigned to learning. The adult learner agrees that the decision to attend a course of study was suggested to them (Q20) and that this social influence/encouragement essentially provides the persuasive reinforcement to their implicit understanding that; learning increases an adult’s chances of employment (Q21). The adult learners’ also feel that the support they receive from the different sources of this social influence/encouragement is at a level which permits their participation on the course of study. We could again theorise that an individual knows what is demanded of them in the employment market, but they seek confirmation on what they already know. This suggests that ‘meaning’ is socially co/re-constructed by the individual seeking confirmation on their present understanding in order to reinforce their decision, and by way of, increase motivation to return to learning. Furthermore, the adult learners’ do not feel they have to make allowances to attend a course, as long as the scheduled session/s is at a convenient time for them to attend i.e. the conscious effort to avoid the conflicts between personal obligations and scheduled session/s. Moreover, showing that, for these adult learners’, the course of study has value and is personally and economically relevant to them. And as it was outlined in the ‘Theory Development’ section of this report; we can compare the assessment of value and relevance to Gustafsson Mouwitz (2008) description of Proficiency Theory, and, means-end and cost-benefit analyses to McClusky’s Margin Theory (1974, as quoted in Gibbons Bylsma 1984). These theories emphasize a need to be competent at tasks’ whilst being realistic about certain physical, mental and social capabilities. Moreover, because the theories that were used in this study have overlapping dimensions (e.g. Q3, Q4 and Q12 overlap Social contact and Relationships; Goal and Relevancy orientation and External Expectations) with each dimension seemingly providing a piece to the decisional mà ©lange that affects the internal expectations i.e. individual agency of the adult learner. We could therefore suggest that Multimodal Heuristics and co/re-constructive social influence, not only becomes more evident when motivation towards participation is being established and/or maintained, but may also be one of the key components in the processes that assist the transformation of identity. Hence, as a sense of belonging, competency, proficiency and satisfaction are valued and relevant to the adult learner and evolve as they evolve; as do their identities. Equally, in a sociocultural ontology progress in learning is viewed along trajectories of participation and growth of identity, so both competency and belonging matter in understanding learning. It is for these reasons that a sociocultural ontology describes learning as a transformation of identity. And as the report is looking at the macro and micro-structural influences on the adult learner and how that comes to mediate and motivate them toward participation we can suggest quite firmly that identity transformation is closely tied to multimodal heuristics which is apparently mediated by a co/re-construction between the connectivity of social/cognitive interactivity thus having an impact on the identity formation of the adult learner. So the relevancy and value that is selected from external sources is fragmentally factored from differing micro and macro-structural influences and negotiated in to cognitive constructs i.e. internally mediated hence facilitating the decisional components that create the motivation for, and support continued participation towards, designated types of action. Discussion, implications and conclusions So, are social contact and relationships the result of synchronous affinities? Is the use of multimodal heuristics an actual contributor to identity transformation? All that can be suggested is that the results support the theory of multimodal heuristics and the connectivity of interactivity and imply that motivation is established through the individual deliberately, and sometimes vicariously, extracting information from these proximal and distal influences. Hence, social/cognitive collocation comes to, not only reinforce their decision to participate in designated types of action, but also – to a greater or lesser extent impacts upon the transformation of identity. But, we must keep in mind that this is paralleled with a balance between the beneficial compromises for the betterment of self and the perceived value social contact i.e. belonging offers in raising confidence, increasing feelings of proficiency and reducing the fear of incompetency. The real implication of these results is the noticeable benefit of informal conversations being used to reinforce learnt knowledge. The participants suggest that more time for reflection and confirmation would go some way to aiding the retention of new information, how the information actually relates to their personal circumstances and how this also contributes to feelings of belonging, proficiency, competency and feelings of increased confidence. For example; Walter : â€Å"†¦if you have a conversation with someone, say after this class, you’ll remember that conversation better than you would, you know than someone standing at the front of the class going ‘this guy wrote this poem about this† And like the small child that is afraid of ‘shadow monsters’ and leaves the light on; the sessions could benefit from the incorporation of small group/whole class learning reinforcement dyads of informal conversations. This would then start to determine the level of commitment and motivation (Park Choi 2009) that is ascribed to the retention of relevant and valuable information (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984; p. 23), and further contribute to the ease of transfer/retrieval of the current learning material/s and any new information (Ekey 2012). In conclusion, if adults are autonomous, self-directed and pursue their personal interests and goals then; when an adult decides to return to education the course of study must display a greater degree of relevance to the adults. If the course of study is perceived as having relevance, it (1) fulfils their need for feeling autonomous, (2) allows the adult to make an informed decision as to the value it has, (3) contributes to the continuation of feelings of self-directedness and (4) also contributes to their perceptions of being closer to achieving their goals’; thus adding value. Especially when we factor in that adult learners’ are complying with requirements’ laid down by someone else and may need to reorganise multiple obligations and competing priorities in order to participate. Another reason that these adult learners’ generally value the social interaction, support and reciprocal respect they receive whilst attending a course of study. Hence, the sense of belonging would be enhanced if there were more opportunities for interaction. Therefore, creating more opportunities for reflection between learners’ could, not only, reinforce learning, but also support the feelings of belonging through increasing the opportunities for discussion on how the material covered in that session/s contextually relates to them. Moreover, focussing on enhancing feelings of proficiency by allowing the adult learner to co/re-construct their current understanding through reflecting upon it with learners’ that share the same learning experience and synchronous and asynchronous affinities. References Abdullah, M, Parasuraman, B, Muniapan, B, Koren, S Jones, ML. (2008) ‘Motivating factors associated with adult participation in distance learning program’ International Education Studies, 1 (4), pp. 104-109. 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