ACT On My Own

Should I Hire A Tutor Or Study For The SAT/ACT On My Own SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Your number two pencils are sharpened; you have functioning erasers at the ready and tissues for when you can’t stop the tears. That’s right. You’re gearing up to study for the SAT/ACT. Except†¦how do you actually go about studying for the SAT/ACT? Do you need a tutor, or can you just do it on your own? We cover this topic pretty thoroughly in our free booklets on comparing methods of test prep for the SAT and ACT, so this article will just give you a brief rundown of when it’s worth it to hire a tutor. feature image credit: Lady Mary Fairfax with her Tutor, 1647 by Lisby, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. In general, if you want to succeed on the SAT or ACT, you must have all of the following five components. 1. Motivation and Accountability Finding the motivation to study for the SAT/ACT can be...problematic. I mean, your score doesn’t directly impact your high school education (unless your school uses it for something), and test prep isn’t as interesting as Youtube. If you aren’t motivated, you won’t make progress in your test prep. A vague reason that you just give lip service to, like â€Å"I know I probably need to study so I can get a good enough score get into the school I want,† won’t do you any good. You need reasons to study that will actually motivate you. Because it’s the strength of the motivation that matters, not the loftiness of the reason, â€Å"I want to beat my older sibling’s score on the SAT† is just as valid a motivator for test prep as â€Å"I want to do well on the SAT so I’m guaranteed a scholarship to a state school.† Accountability may play a role in your motivation, if you find that you are most motivated to succeed if you have people counting on you who you don’t want to disappoint. Maybe you’ll care if a friend or a sibling shames you for not doing work like you said you would (not that I speak from experience), or if your parents are disappointed in you for failing to improve your test scores (as long as this is also something YOU care about). Bottom line: you need to find a source (or multiple sources) of motivation that work(s) for YOU. IF you have problems finding the motivation to study on your own, without anyone holding you accountable for studying, THEN a tutor may be helpful for you. 2. Strong Study Plan Students who succeed on the SAT/ACT go into prep with a structured study plan. When you’re just studying on your own, it can be hard to stay organized in your studying. The first step to forming a high-level study plan is to know where you currently stand and where you want to be on test day. Take a timed practice test under realistic conditions to get a sense of how you are scoring now. Next, what is your target score? We have two articles about this, one for the SAT and one for the ACT, but to summarize: List the schools you want to apply to Search online to find their average SAT/ACT scores Take the average of all the averages to get your target test score. Once you know your current score and your target test score, you will have a better idea of what it's going to take to get there. A structured study plan will be able to answer all of the following questions. When am I taking the SAT/ACT? How long do I have to prepare before test day? How many hours will I study each week? What material do I need to cover? What resources will I use? Should I use books or a complete prep program? When do I take practice tests? How will I know how to adjust my plan according to my progress? I'm going to use a fictional student named Aaron to answer these questions. Aaron recently took a practice SAT and scored a 1000 and has six months to reach his target score of 1250. He and his tutor have assessed his weak areas and discovered that Aaron has serious content weaknesses across all of SAT Math and some smaller issues with the Critical Reading and Writing sections. Aaron's study plan looks something like this: Months 1-3: 1 hour every other week with tutor, 3 hours a week otherwise focusing on weaknesses in SAT Math. Practice tests every three weeks. Months 4-5: 1 hour every other week with tutor, 6-7 hours a week outside of tutoring sessions drilling weaknesses in Math, Critical Reading, and Writing and reviewing missed questions, using books and materials hand-selected by the tutor; practice tests every other week. Month 6: 1 hour every other week with tutor, 9-10 hours a week outside of tutoring sessions working on remaining weaknesses that the tutor has identified by drilling with actual practice questions, practicing reading comprehension by finding interesting articles in the New York Times and analyzing them; practice tests every week, increasing in frequency as the test draws nigh. Because Aaron sticks to his study plan, he bumps his Math score from 400 to 630 and his overall SAT score from 1000 to 1260, meeting his target goal. If he had not had this study plan, even if he had gotten focused help on the Math section a month before the test, it's unlikely that he would have been able to improve as much as he did, both in Math and across the board. So IF you have problems structuring your study time, THEN a tutor may be helpful for you. 3. Excellent StudyResources Being motivated with a plan won’t do you any good if you don’t have good resources for your test prep. It is extremely important to use actual SAT/ACT practice tests when you study, not other test prep company’s materials, since only the questions that will test you in the same way the real test does are...questions from an official test. Luckily, there are a bunch of free practice tests available online for the SAT and the ACT. What if there’s a topic you just don’t understand? Let’s make up an example and say I never really understood probability in class, but somehow managed to fake my way through it. Suddenly, I’m faced with the SAT or ACT, which questions you on probability in really weird ways. To address this, I could try going through back through notes or borrowing old textbooks, prep material from other people. But what if I don’t have any good notes or materials to begin with? Not only this, textbooks and class notes aren't the best way to prep for the tests since they're so different. What if I’m not good at teaching material to myself? My best bet would be to find a tutor who has a good reputation for teaching SAT Math, and get focused instruction on improving my knowledge of probability. IFyou don't know what the best resources available to target your weaknesses are, THEN you would definitely benefit from time with the right tutor. 4. Effective Way To Learn From Your Mistakes One of the mistakes many people have when they study for the SAT/ACT is failing to thoroughly review the questions they miss. A thorough review involves more than a halfhearted â€Å"Oh, I see. I got this wrong because I was careless.† In order for going over your errors to actually help you, you need to dig deep into why exactly you missed the question. Where were you careless? Did you make the mistake because you were rushing? If so, why were you low on time? What are concrete ways you can avoid making this mistake in the future? If you’re thinking that you’d love to read an entire article about the best way to review your mistakes, then you are in luck. IF you have trouble going over your mistakes and figuring out what in particular you did wrong (and concrete ways to avoid it in the future), THEN hiring a high quality tutor will be helpful. Bourgai Sadia by sebastien Delcoigne, used under CC BY-SA 2.0/Cropped from original. Don’t speed past your mistakes. 5. Ability To Measure Progress In order to successfully prepare for the SAT/ACT, you need a way to measure your progress as you study, and be able to adapt your study plan accordingly. This is the area I have the most trouble in – it’s tempting to keep doing the same things over and over, but after a certain point those things may no longer be helping you boost your score. So how do you measure progress? When beginning your test prep, you should take a timed, full-length practice test and score it; alternatively, if you've already taken the test once recently, you can use that as your starting point. As you proceed through your test prep, continue to take timed practice tests at regular intervals, spaced according to how much time you have to study. For instance, if you're preparing for the SAT over the course of two months, start out by taking a practice test at the end of each week of prep for the first month. Why is taking timed practice tests so important to your test prep? It's the only way, short of taking the actual SAT or ACT, to see how you're doing under realistic conditions. If you don’t know if you’re doing better than before on the test, it's impossible to know if your studying is effective...or if you're just wasting your time. By periodically checking your score on practice tests, you'll be able to see if you are improving, and if you need to be improving more quickly to meet your goals (or if you're doing just fine). Let's extend the example of a student who takes four practice tests in the first month of her studying. He started out with an ACT composite score of 24, and his goal is to improve to a 30; however, after a month of studying a couple of hours a week, his practice test composite is holding steady at 26. If this student wants to meet his goal, he's going to need to adapt his studying method. In this case, a tutor would be helpful because she would be able to identify the ways in which the student should adapt his studying method to reach his target score, whether this is by increasing the amount of time he studies or changing the specifics of how he reviews questions he's messed up on. IF you’re not really sure how to measure your progress, or how you can adapt your test prep as you improve, THEN you might find a tutor helpful. No Sweat, I’ve Got This Without A Tutor If you are confident that you take care of the following on your own: Motivation and Accountability: You have a reason or multiple reasons to study that are actually important to you. Strong Study Plan: You know your target score and the amount of time you have to study and are able to use that to plan out your test prep in a schedule that you can stick to. Good Resources: You have the right material to study, or you have the ability to aquire it. Effective Ways to Learn From Your Mistakes: You are expert at picking apart your mistakes, seeing exactly where you went wrong, and finding solutions to avoid these mistakes in the future. Ability to Measure Progress: You know what your starting point is and that you need to take timed practice tests along the way as yardsticks against which to asses your progress. ...then absolutely go for it - you don't need a tutor to do well, or even get a perfect score, on the SAT or ACT. As I can personally attest, working smart and working hard will get you most places when it comes to test prep. Storytime: When I was a senior in college, I was under the impression that I might want to go to grad school for psychology, and so I knew I had to take the GRE Psychology Subject Test. I didn't have the funds or time for a tutor, and there wasn't really a test prep course out there that I knew of. Instead, I studied with a friend for about an hour a day, every day, for the six weeks leading up to the test. We both scored exceptionally well, and my friend is in the process of earning her doctorate in psychology. So I don't want to suggest that you MUST have a tutor to do well on the SAT/ACT. But if you feel like you need help on one of the above key components, you should consider it. Uh Oh†¦I’m Not So Sure I Can Do This On My Own If you’re worried about even one of those 5 areas, however, you might want to consider getting yourself some assistance to maximize your score. The more areas you struggle with, the more a high quality tutor will help. On the other hand, if you’re not entirely sure that you want to go with a tutor, a test prep program, like PrepScholar’s automated drilling platform, is a good compromise. You get motivation, a pesonalized study plan that focuses on your weaknesses, materials, and a way to measure progress, but pay less and miss out on the one-on-one attention. What’s Next? Wait, what is it that tutors actually do during SAT/ACT tutoring, anyway? I’ve got the answer for you! Sounds good so far, but should I be doing online tutoring? Find out here. How do you find the right tutor for you? Reading this article is a good start (although since I wrote it, I might be a little bit biased). Want to get serious about improving your SAT/ACT score? Our tutoring service is designed to be the most effective in the nation. We hire the best tutors from across the country. This is then paired with our exclusiveonline drillingprogramthat gives your tutor complete insight into your progress to design the most effective sessions. Think about what improving 160 points on your SAT, or 4 points on your ACT, can do for you. Learn more about tutoring now:

Coles Myer Ltd Essays

Coles Myer Ltd Essays Coles Myer Ltd Essay Coles Myer Ltd Essay Coles Myer Ltd Background and Issues In 1985 G. J Coles, primarily a Melbourne-based supermarket chain, merged with Myer Ltd, an upmarket Melbourne department store, becoming Coles Myer Ltd. The merger was brought on by an expectation of significant cost savings from sharing services and overheads such as purchasing, warehousing, information technology and property. However these benefits never occurred. Coles Myer was burdened with poor management, bad strategic decisions, and internal conflict. Their share price was faltering, and lagging behind their biggest competitor Woolworths, and profit had been stagnant for three years. In September 2001 the board appointed John Fletcher as chief executive, well known for his part in turning Brambles into a successful international company. Fletcher’s first priority was to do something about Coles Myer’s share price, however he recognised that to be able to change it he must first deal with the companies strategic and structural problems. This analysis of organisational design and effectiveness will discuss the issues experienced by Coles Myer, discussion of theories related to the these problems and possible solutions, an examination of what is being done, and what else could be done to improve the situation. One of the biggest problems facing Coles Myer was organisational culture. With the Coles and Myer target markets being downmarket and upmarket respectively, compatibility of their cultures became an obstacle after merging. In order to achieve the anticipated merger benefits, Coles with their mass merchandising mentality would have to find a way to amalgamate many of their functions, tasks and processes with Myer’s, who dealt with chic, and more expensive luxury items. In addition to this, Fletcher believed the Coles Myer culture had become too bureaucratic. A clear demonstration of this bureaucracy was in the headquarters of Myer in Melbourne, which was built as a statement of purpose, place and status. Also, since the merger, the Coles Myer bureaucracy had allowed several uncooperative silos to develop. This problem was worsened by the recent appointment of overseas managers to head the main businesses. As a conglomerate, Coles Myer had the difficulty of having to coordinate a diverse range of businesses including Coles, Red Rooster, Target, and Myer. This was not helped by various newly appointed managers would change business strategies confusing employees and consumers. The result of this was that each business struggled to find its position in the marketplace and in the Coles Myer business family. Myer also struggled to find its place, it was continually under-performing, and it wasted a substantial amount of management’s time. Fletcher also initiated considerable organisational change upon his appointment, including standardisation IT throughout the company. He also worked towards developing a coherent strategy for each of the Coles Myer businesses, breaking down the bureaucracy, and developing a common culture. Relevant Theories The Machine Bureaucracy Coles Myer demonstrates many of the characteristics of a machine bureaucracy. â€Å"It is an organisation with very routine and formalised operating tasks, rules and regulations, which is highly centralised† (Robbins Barnwell, 2006, pp. 123). Being such a large organisation it has to rely on these formalised tasks, rules and regulations for coordination and control. The main strength of a machine bureaucracy is its highly efficient ability to perform standardised tasks. Like specialties within the organisation are grouped together to achieve economies of scale and reduce the duplication of personnel and equipment (Robbins Barnwell, 2006, pp. 24). Many employees have the sole purpose of maintaining standardisation, and a large number of these would have been included in the 1000 back-office staff that was made redundant by Fletcher in his progress towards making Coles Myer less bureaucratic. However, creating specialised units can result in conflicts, the creation of unit goa ls that take precedence over the organisational goals, and a reduction in communication between the units. Units that exhibit these characteristics are known as silos. Fletcher attempted to dismantle the silos within Coles Myer but encountered ignificant difficulties. Another problem for machine bureaucracies is trying to do too much. The resulting complexities arising from an organisation attempting to control a very broad range of businesses can often be too great for the machine bureaucracy structure to handle (Robbins Barnwell, 2006, pp. 125). This problem was recognised by Fletcher, with one of his first moves to sell off the ‘non core businesses’ Red Rooster and World 4 Kids. Increased organisational complexity also played a part in failure to achieve the expected economies of scale after the merger. Organisational Change Change in an organisation can either be planned or unplanned. â€Å"Planned change is change that comes about as a result of a specific effort on the part of a change agent† (Wood et al. 2001, pp 635), with unplanned being the opposite. Wood (et al. 2001, pp 635) also states that planned change comes about as a result of someone’s perception of a performance gap. The board’s recognition of such a performance gap led to Fletchers appointment as chief executive, and change agent. The problems facing Coles Myer were difficult and widespread. Most of the individual businesses struggled with business strategy, and across the whole organisation there was issues with organisational culture and structure. These kinds of problems require a kind of change known as systematic change. Systematic is a form of planned change that is widespread across an organisation, and affects most aspects of its operation. Robbins and Barnwell (2006, pp. 377) suggest that because systematic changes causes widespread disruption and requires enormous effort that it is only done out of necessity. The systematic change that Fletcher initiated took the form of downsizing to reduce the bureaucracy and reduce costs; clear definitions of the structures, roles and responsibilities, and positioning of each business unit, developing a common culture across the organisation, and the standardisation of IT across the organisation. Change is a continuous process, but the traditional episodic view of change is unfreeze, change and refreeze (Burton, Lauridsen and Obel, 1999, pp 2). Unfreezing involves management preparing a situation for change. The change is then performed. Refreezing involves positively reinforcing the desired outcomes, and evaluating the change process and gathering feedback. A continuous but intermittent process. Change can also be ongoing, where instead of refreezing, more of a rebalancing occurs after the change, ready for the next change. The change needed by Coles Myer upon Fletchers appointment was episodic. They needed a significant systematic change, and then for this change to be secured and given time to succeed, as the continuous changes occurring in the organisation in the previous years had done more harm than good. This also had to be supported by extensive feedback. Organisational Culture Robbins and Barnwell (2006, pp 405) defines organisation culture as a system of shared meaning within an organisation, and that in every organisation there are patterns of beliefs, symbols, rituals, myths and practices that have evolved over time. Coles Myer has numerous organisational culture problems. Firstly, due to the separate nature of the businesses, vertical subcultures have formed in the Coles Myer family, contributing to the silo problem discussed earlier. This is a problem, as organisational effectiveness depends on how much the organisations culture, strategy, environment and technology are aligned with the organisations goals (Robbins Barnwell, 2006, pp. 411). It is also the main reason behind the attempts to create a singular culture across the organisation. But as Fletcher found out, it is a difficult problem, as it is almost guaranteed that subcultures will form within a large organisation such as Coles Myer. Organisational culture was also a significant issue at the time of the merger. When mergers are aimed at attaining economies of scale, the success of the merger will depend on how effectively the different cultures themselves can be merged (Robbins Barnwell, 2006, pp. 419). In order to integrate functions, assets and infrastructure, a successful merger between the mass marketing culture of Coles, and the more elegant and exclusive culture of Myer would have to be performed. We know now that this wasn’t to be, and that Coles Myer decided to abandon the Myer department store, and become known as the Coles Group. Recommendations In addition to the actions already performed by Fletcher, there are a number of things that can or could have been done to improve organisational effectiveness and efficiency. An effective way to assist in the dismantling of silos, and preventing their formation is to promote communication between the silos. This can be done by creating various coordinator positions, whose job is to liase between different departments, ensure that all the necessary information is being communicated, and regularly report back to senior management on how the departments are performing in relation to the organisational goals. The implementation of common/centralised IT and processes throughout the Coles Group would play a significant role in their future success. Using common software and procedures will increase communication and coordination, and reduce organisational complexity. A centralised system is well suited to the Coles Group, and it will enhance control and monitoring; important processes in a machine bureaucracy. Leifer (1988) asserts that effective performance of centralised computer business information systems requires rules and policies that match the tasks of the machine bureaucracy organisation, supporting this statement. Moving to a centralised system would appear to be a significant change, however Rockart and Scott Morton (1984, cited in Leifer 1986 p 66. ) believe implementing a centralised system in a machine bureaucracy requires few changes on part of the organisation†. Having disposed of non-core businesses, and the culturally different Myer, the Coles Group are now set to unify their brand and culture. With the aid of the $1. 4 billion provided by the sale of Myer, the Coles Group will be cutting their key brands down to just three – Coles, Target and Office works within the next two years (Simpson, 2006). This strategy will help to resolve the organisational culture and structure problems discussed in this case study analysis, as by reducing the number of key businesses/brands the individual business goals will also be reduced, discouraging the formation of silos, and making it easier to create a unified culture throughout the whole organisation. References Burton, R. M. , Lauridsen, J. ; Obel, B. 1999, ‘Tension and Resistance to Change in Organizational Climate: Managerial Implications for a Fast Paced World’, Retrieved April 26th, 2007 from www. ok. cbs. dk/images/publ/Burton%20og%20Obel%20og%20Lauridsen%20tension%202000. pdf Leifer, Richard 1988 ‘Matching Computer-Based Information Systems with Organizational Structures’, MIS Quarterly, Vol 12, no 1, pp 66. Robbins, S. P and Barnwell, N. S. 2006, Organisation Theory: Concepts and Cases, Prentice Hall, Sydney Rockart, J. and Scott Morton, M. 1984 ‘Implications of Changes in Information Technology for Corporate Strategy’ Interfaces, Vol 14, no 1, pp. 4-96, cited in Leifer, Richard 1988 ‘Matching Computer-Based Information Systems with Organizational Structures’, MIS Quarterly, Vol 12, no 1, pp 66. Simpson, Kirsty 2006 ‘Coles drops Kmart, Bi-Lo’, The Age, August 1st, 2006, Retrieved April 26th from theage. com. au/news/business/coles-drops-kmart-bilo/2006/07/31/1154198073979. html Wood, J. ; Chapman, J. ; Fromholtz, M. ; Morrison, V. ; Wallace, J. ; Zeffane, M. ; Schemerhorn, J. ; Hunt, J. ; Osborne, R. 2003, Organisational behaviour: a global perspective, 3rd edition, John Wiley Sons Australia Ltd, Milton Qld

Earned Value & Forecasting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Earned Value & Forecasting - Essay Example The budgeted cost of work performed at end of period 8 comes out to be $868,000. The same is shown in Table 1. Cost Variance (CV) can be calculated as the difference between budgeted cost and actual cost of work performed which is equal to $(868,000-1,005,000) i.e. - $137,000. A negative cost variance here implies that the project is over-budget by the end of period 8. The Cost Performance Index (CPI) is given by the ratio of budgeted cost of work performed to the actual cost of work performed i.e. (868,000/1,005,000) which is equal to .86. As the Cost Performance Index is less than 1, it again implies that the project is over-budget. Schedule Variance (SV) can be found out as the difference between budgeted cost of work performed and the budgeted cost of work scheduled till the end of period 8 which is equal to $(868,000-955,000) i.e. - $87000. A negative schedule variance here implies that the project is behind schedule by the end of period 8. The Schedule Performance Index (SPI) i s given by the ratio of budgeted cost of work performed to the budgeted cost of work scheduled i.e. (868,000/955,000) which is equal to .91. As the Schedule Performance Index is less than 1, it gain implies that the project is behind schedule. ... 500000 1.3.2 60000 80 48000 1.4.1 120000 0 0 1.4.2 40000 50 0 1.4.3 75000 100 75000 1.5.2 15000 20 0 1.5.3 30000 0 0 1.6.1 45000 20 0 1.6.2 60000 50 0 1.6.3 30000 0 0 1.6.4 25000 0 0 Total 124500 (BAC) 868000 (BCWP/EV) The planned percentage of work completed can be calculated by dividing the planned work completed (in terms of number of periods) by the total work (in terms of number of periods). The total work periods can be calculated by adding the planned durations of each activity. This comes out as 26 periods. The planned work periods can be calculated by multiplying the planned percent of work completed for each activity by its planned duration. This is equal to 15. Hence, the planned percent of work completed is equal to 15/26 i.e. 57.7%. Similarly, the actual percent of work completed is computed as the ratio of actual work completed (in terms of number of periods) to the total work (in terms of number of periods). The actual work periods are calculated as 15.2 in the same fa shion as for planned work periods. The actual percent of work completed, therefore, comes out as 15.2/26 i.e. 58.46%. The percent cost completed is simply defined as the ratio of actual cost incurred till end of period 8 to the total planned cost of the project i.e. (1,005,000/1,245,000) which comes out as 80.72% Table 2: Calculating percent task completion Task Duration Actual Percentage of work completed at end of period 8 Actual work completed (in periods) at end of period 8 Planned percentage of work completed at end of period 8 Planned work completed (in periods) at end of period 8 1.2.1 3 100 3 100 3 1.2.2 1 100 1 100 1 1.2.3 2 100 2 100 2 1.3.1 3 100 3 100 3 1.3.2 2 80 1.6 100 2 1.4.1 3 0 0 66.66666667 2 1.4.2 1 50 0.5 0 0 1.4.3 3 100 3 66.66666667 2 1.5.2 1 20 0.2 0 0 1.5.3 2 0 0 0

Walt Disney prospectus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Walt Disney prospectus - Essay Example It is important to note that unsecured debt notes issued to public involves significant amount of risk for the company as well as the investors. This is because from the perspective of the customer, the interest rate may be too expensive. As a result, if the company is unable to generate sufficient profits, the company’s cost of borrowings will eventually exceed the revenues which will further increase financial risk of the company. The company has however kept these issues in mind and taken appropriate measures to minimize the impact of such undesirable consequences that might be followed after issue of unsecured debt by making the offer more attractive to customers. The company believed that if the offer would be attractive then more people will be encouraged to participate which will further ensure successful marketability of these securities. One of the initiatives taken by the company to increase the marketability of the securities was to reduce the entry load for joining the scheme. The minimum number of units required to subscribe by the people in order to join the scheme was reduced to five. In order to make the offer more attractive, the company allowed public to subscribe five units of shares at two hundred and fifty dollars for non-shareholders and they would be allowed to invest as low as fifty dollar per month. The company even kept the option of cash investment open for the investors. The company also lowered enrolment fee at an affordable price of $5-$10 per investor (Reuters, 2012). 2. List the dollar amount of debt Disney proposed to sell to the public. Indicate whether this amount has increased or decreased from 2008 to 2010. Discuss some potential causes of this increase or decrease. Answer: Walt Disney has sold bonds worth three billion dollars at the end of 2012. In the year 2011, the company has sold 5, 10, and 30 years bonds with historically low coupon rates consequently increasing the price of bond in markets (Financial News, 201 1). This was one of the measures taken by the company to control coupon rates which were historically high during 2010. The issue of unsecured notes has experienced a steady decline from the period 2008 to 2010. The declining trend touched the lowest value in 2010 which continued till 2011. From the above discussion it can be said that a number of financial factors influenced the decision regarding decrease in amount of debt sold by the company to public. One of the reasons for such decline was the company’s decision to offer debt was the offer to lower coupon rates creating an opening for the company to cash in and make profits. The company took advantage of lower interest rates to maximize profits and expected the issue of bond to yield at least $1.5 billion which the company plans to utilize for corporate purpose. 3. Determine the percentage of the sales price Disney nets after discounts and commissions. Indicate whether this amount as decreased or increased from 2008 to 2 010. Discuss some potential causes of this increase or decrease. Answer: Walt Disney has been able to net sufficient percentage of sales price after discounts and commissions on the issue of sale of debt instruments. In the year 2008, the company reported 57% percentage of sales price whereas the percentage declined to 46% for the year 2010. The decrease in the amount of debt issued by the company and the

Educational psychology Essay Example for Free

Educational psychology Essay â€Å"Education† is a broad term that can have many meanings, but it is generally defined as the process of learning and acquiring information. Formal learning in a school or university is one of the most common types, though self-teaching and so-called â€Å"life experiences† can also qualify. Communities around the world place a high value on educating people of all ages, whether formally or informally. It is widely believed that constant exposure to new ideas and skills makes people better workers, thinkers, and societal contributors. Formal Schooling. Most people associate education with schools and classrooms where trained teachers present information to students. Classroom learning generally starts when a child is relatively young — around age five in most countries — and continues until the teenage years. The purpose of most classroom learning is not to prepare a child for a specific job, but rather to help him or her develop critical reasoning and thinking skills. Reading, writing, and math are very common lessons for young learners. As students progress in their schooling, they often come into contact with more challenging subjects like written composition, history, and advanced sciences. Educational Structures Around the World. Different countries place different emphases on education, though some form of schooling is mandatory for young children almost everywhere. Requirements are usually based on the belief that an educated population is best suited for advancement, both internally and internationally. In most places, childhood schooling is offered free of charge; university training is also underwritten with government funds in some places. The Importance of Assessment Exposing students to new ideas and essential facts is only part of most educational goals. Students are also expected to retain most if not all of the information that they learn in school. Teachers and professors commonly use exams and graded assignments to assess learning. Standardized tests are one of the most popular ways of driving curricula and lesson planning throughout the world. These sorts of tests help make sure that all students are learning the same basic things, no matter who their teacher is or where  they attend school. Sometimes, laws also have a role to play, like the United States’ No Child Left Behind Act. This act creates a way to measure how much each child is learning across different school systems to ensure that all children receive a minimum level of knowledge. Advanced University Training Many people choose to extend their formal education beyond what is required by pursuing university studies. Students typically have a wide range of choices when it comes to subject area and degree options, and most schools offer programs at varying levels. Those who are very passionate about a particular topic often choose to study it intently at the graduate level; others who hope to enter certain specialized professions may also seek out more nuanced educational opportunities, such as law school or medical school. Life Experiences and Informal Learning. While book learning is very important, it is not the only form of education. Some individuals are self-taught, which means that they pursue knowledge on their own outside of a formal classroom. Many of these people may have read extensively or may have become experts within a given field. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, for example, was a college dropout. Most of what he learned he taught himself. A range of â€Å"life skills† — things like self sufficiency, independence, and discipline — also frequently come within the broader umbrella of education. Cultural adaptation and the skills needed to engage in society can also be thought of as educational. In most cases, any time a person acquires a new skill or learns to act in a new way, he has been educated in some form or another.

The Degradation of Communication on the Internet Essays -- Communicati

The Degradation of Communication on the Internet Talking on the Internet, people regress. It's that simple. It can be one-to-one talk on e-mail or many-to-many talk on one of the LISTs or newsgroups. People regress, expressing sex and aggression as they never would face to face. Think about it. Current estimates say 23 million people communicate on the Internet from most of the nations on the globe, and that number is increasing at 12% a month. And all this just grew like Topsy, with no one planning or controlling it. Here is one of the extraordinary technological achievements, one of the great _human_ achievements, of our century. But _homo sapiens_ reverts to primitive, childish behavior. Why? There are three major signs or, if you will, symptoms of this regression. The one Internet primitivism that everybody talks about is "flaming," flying into a typewritten rage at some perceived slight or blunder. "Everywhere I went in the newsgroups," writes John Seabrook in _The New Yorker_, "I found flames, and fear of flames" (1994, 70). No wonder. Seabrook had written a friendly piece on Bill Gates, the powerful president of Microsoft. In the "profile," he made a point of the way he and Gates conducted their interview on e-mail. This is what appeared on Seabrook's screen (courtesy of a certain computer columnist): Crave THIS, asshole: Listen, you toadying dipshit scumbag . . . remove your head from your rectum long enough to look around and notice that real reporters don't fawn over their subjects, pretend that their subjects are making some sort of special contact with them, or, worse, curry favor by TELLING their subjects how great the ass- licking profile is going to turn out and then brag in print about doing it... ...m.nerdc.ufl.edu_ 31 May 1994. Span, Paula. "The On-line Mystique." _Washington Post Magazine_ 27 Feb. 1994, W11. Sproull, Lee, and Sara Kiesler. _Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization_. Cambridge MA: MIT P, 1991. Turkle, Sherry. _The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit_. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984. Walker, Donna. Letter. _Washington Post Magazine_ 17 Apr. 1994, W3. Waterton, J. J., and J. C. Duffy. "A Comparison of Computer Interviewing Techniques and Traditional Methods in the Collection of Self-report Alcohol Consumption Data in a Field Study." _International Statistical Review_ 52 (1984): 173-82. Weizenbaum, Joseph. _Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation_. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1976. Wright, Robert. "Journey Through Cyberspace." _Ottawa Citizen_ 18 Sep. 1993, B4.

History of Mathematics Essay

If D is between A and B, then AD + DB = AB (Segment Addition Postulate). And segment AB has exactly one midpoint which is D (Midpoint Postulate). The midsegment of a triangle is a segment that connects the midpoints of two sides of a triangle. Midsegment Theorem states that the segment that joins the midpoints of two sides of a triangle is parallel to the third side and has a length equal to half the length of the third side. In the figure show above (and below), DE will always be equal to half of BC. Given ? ABC with point D the midpoint of AB and point E the midpoint of AC and point F is the midpoint of BC, the following can be concluded: Since the tangent of circle is perpendicular to the radius drawn to the tangency point, both radii of the two orthogonal circles A and B drawn to the point of intersection and the line segment connecting the centres form a right triangle. If and are the equations of the two circles A and B, then by Pythagorean theorem, is the condition of the orthogonality of the circles. A Saccheri quadrilateral is a quadrilateral that has one set of opposite sides called the legs that are congruent, the other set of opposite sides called the bases that are disjointly parallel, and, at one of the bases, both angles are right angles. It is named after Giovanni Gerolamo Saccheri, an Italian Jesuit priest and mathematician, who attempted to prove Euclid’s Fifth Postulate from the other axioms by the use of a reductio ad absurdum argument by assuming the negation of the Fifth Postulate. In hyperbolic geometry, since the angle sum of a triangle is strictly less than radians, then the angle sum of a quadrilateral in hyperbolic geometry is strictly less than radians. Thus, in any Saccheri quadrilateral, the angles that are not right angles must be acute. Some examples of Saccheri quadrilaterals in various models are shown below. In each example, the Saccheri quadrilateral is labelled as ABCD, and the common perpendicular line to the bases is drawn in blue. For hundreds of years mathematicians tried without success to prove the postulate as a theorem, that is, to deduce it from Euclid’s other four postulates. It was not until the last century or two that four mathematicians, Bolyai, Gauss, Lobachevsky, and Riemann, working independently, discovered that Euclid’s parallel postulate could not be proven from his other postulates. Their discovery paved the way for the development of other kinds of geometry, called non-Euclidean geometries. Non-Euclidean geometries differ from Euclidean geometry only in their rejection of the parallel postulate but this single alteration at the axiomatic foundation of the geometry has profound effects in its logical consequences. The Lobachevsky geometry is therefore consists of these statements: ? There are lines that are parallel which are everywhere equidistant. ? In any triangle the sum of the three angles is two right angles which is 180 degrees. ? Straight lines parallel to the same line are parallel to each other. ? There exist geometric figures similar with same shape but of different size to other geometric figures. ? Given three points, there is a circle that passes through all three. ? If three angles of a quadrilateral are right angles, then the fourth angle is a right angle. ? There is no triangle in which all three angles are as small as we please. ? There exist squares or equilateral quadrilaterals with four right angles.

Critique: Effects of Class Size and Instruction on Kindergarten Achievement Essay

Introduction This article discusses some very important points that will affect many children as they begin the first steps of their education. It is fairly clear that the authors have done quite a bit of research on the effects of the classroom size and the achievement of kindergarten students. Both authors are affiliated with the same school, the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In reviewing the article, the authors point out some important details pertaining to the quality of the teacher as well as their method of teaching in an effort to keep in line with the NCLB Act(No Child Left. Behind Act). The main aim of the authors is to prove that the size of the class may affect a student’s academic progress because there have been mixed findings in the past as to the validity of this issue. Literature Review One of the main sources used by the authors in their review of literature was an experiment done by students in Tennessee in the 1980’s called STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Ratio). â€Å"Researchers have referred to STAR as: â€Å"one of the great experiments in education in U. S. history (Mostellar, Light, & Sachs, 1996). † The variables are mainly the  Kindergarten class size and the teacher’s instruction methods which are well defined throughout the article. Statement of Problem This research study was conducted to determine whether teacher quality is more important than class size for achievement. The hypothesis is explicitly stated in this article and gave sufficient understanding of the specific variables that were to be studied in the article. An example of the hypothesis would be â€Å"teachers may teach differently in larger and smaller classes, Experimental Design 3 some instructional practices may be more effective than others in a smaller class, students may  behave differently in larger and smaller classes†. (Milesi & Gamoran, 2006, pp. 291-293) The authors have made a very convincing argument concerning the stated hypothesis because they used reading and math data collected from children’s classroom experience, classroom size and their teacher’s instructional methods to come up with their definitive conclusion. Methodology The kindergarten class size was measured from a sample of 21,260 children that were enrolled in approximately 1,000 kindergarten programs. It also consisted of children from various racial and ethnic backgrounds as well as socio-economic backgrounds. Some of the children studied were from private kindergartens and others were from public school kindergartens (Milesi & Gamoran, 2006, pp. 293-294). Data was collected twice throughout the year, during the spring and the fall. Most of the authors mentioned used data that was supplied at the beginning and at the end of the student’s kindergarten year. The parents were asked questions concerning their socio-economic background. In determining the student’s cognitive achievement, information was gathered from the children using a one-on-one computer assisted interview. Data in the areas of reading, math and general knowledge was used to assess the students. In evaluating the teachers, they were interviewed in the fall and in the spring of a particular kindergarten year (Milesi & Gamoran, 2006, pp. 291-293). There was some concern about the validity of the study because there were some limitations on how the data was gathered from the teachers. There were questions as well as interviews which investigated the teacher’s instructional methods because it captured more of what a teacher’s intentions were as opposed to the teacher’s accomplishments through the year. Experimental Design 4 The authors had a few limitations but if they wanted to use the descriptive method to demonstrate whether or not the quality of a teachers’ instructional method versus the size of the class played a larger part in a kindergartner’s achievement, it was a necessary step (Milesi & Gamoran, 2006, pp. 296-297). Results The researchers presented very descriptive statistics for all the student levels and class level variables that were used in the analysis. There were descriptive statistics presented for large and small classes. The researchers weighed the statistics at the student level but not at the class levels but they used descriptive statistics for both the original and the mean-imputed variable (Milesi & Gamoran, 2006, pp. 299-306). Discussion The researchers have offered no evidence that the class size affects reading or math achievements for kindergarten. The major findings were that class size does not affect the achievement of kindergarteners on an average nor does it affect any particular group of students. The researcher’s findings for the class size differ from those of Project STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Ratio). It was not determined whether the same teachers use different instructional methods in classes of different sizes (Milesi & Gamoran, 2006, pp. 299-309). Experimental Design 5 References Mosteller, F. , Light, R. J. & Sachs. J. A. (1996). Sustained injury in education: Lesson from skilled grouping and class size. Harvard Educational Review, 66, 797-842. Retrieved on February 17, 2011 from ERIC. Milesi, C. , Gamoran, A (2006). Effects of Class Size and Instruction on Kindergarten Achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 28:4, 287-313. Retrieved on March 17, 2010 from http://eepa. aera. net.

mov essays

mov essays Shylock is a wealthy Jewish moneylender in Venice. Although He only appears in 5 scenes throughout The Merchant of Venice the few manifestations we get of him show that he is clearly one of the three most dominating and powerful characters in the entire play. Shylocks case is rather interesting as his power slowly deteriorates throughout the performance. At the beginning he has it all-money, family, identity and a lot of power. However, his focus on money, his hatred of Christians, his inflexible will and his extreme lust for revenge all contribute to his eventual defeat that leaves him with little more than his life. As I said earlier Shylock has power over the majority of the characters in the play. The characters include Antonio-who is the merchant of Venice, Bassanio-Antonios friend, his servant Launcelot and daughter Jessica. The person whom Shylock has the greatest power of all over is Antonio. Antonios life is literally in Shylocks hands. The deal, which Shylock makes with Antonio over the 3,000 ducats, is extremely well thought out and could only come from a very cunning and experienced usurer. Shylocks skills as a negotiator ensure that Antonio takes the bait and that the flesh-bond becomes sealed. When the 3 months is up and Antonio fails to pay Shylock is determined to have his bond. Shylocks intense loathing for Antonio for the mistreatment of himself is what stops him from taking thrice the original payment opting instead for the pound of flesh. This decision and lack of mercy is what drives Shylock to his worthy demise. This chain of events is the flesh-bond storyline, which combined with the love-casket tale makes the entire story. Shylocks bond is initially with Bassanio. Bassanio just used Antonios name as credit for the loan. Although it is Antonio who must either hold the bond or forfeit it is Bassanio who gains the 3,000 ducats. Without Shylocks loan through Antonio to Bassan...

Definition and Examples of Terms of Address

Definition and Examples of Terms of Address A term of address is a word, phrase, name, or title (or some combination of these) used to address someone in writing or while speaking. Terms of address are also known as address terms or forms of address. Nicknames, pronouns, pejoratives, and terms of endearment all qualify. Key Takeaways: Terms of Address A term of address is any word, phrase, name, or title used to address another person.Terms of address may be formal (Doctor, The Honorable, His Excellence) or informal (honey, dear, you). Formal terms of address are often used to recognize academic or professional accomplishments, while informal terms of address are often used to show affection. A term of address may be friendly (dude, sweetheart), unfriendly (You idiot!), neutral (Jerry, Marge), respectful (Your honor), disrespectful (buddy, said with sarcasm), or comradely (My friends). Although a term of address commonly appears at the beginning of a sentence, as in Doctor, Im not convinced that this treatment is working, it may also be used between phrases or clauses. For example: Im not convinced, doctor, that this treatment is working. Related terms include  direct address,  vocative, and  honorific. Direct address is just what it sounds like. The speaker is talking directly to the person mentioned, as in the above conversation with the doctor. A vocative is the term of address used, such as the word doctor in the previous example. An honorific is a term used to show respect and comes before a name, such as Mr., Ms., the Reverend, the Honorable, and the like, as in, Mr. Smith, Ms. Jones, the Reverend Christian, and the judge, the Honorable J.C. Johnson. In formal contexts, terms of address may sometimes be used to indicate that a person has more power or authority than another. In those cases, terms of address can be used to show respect for or submission to another. Formal Terms of Address Formal terms of address are typically used in professional contexts such as academia, government, medicine, religion, and the military. In the United States, common examples include: Professor: Used to address a member of a school or universitys faculty.His/Her Excellency: Used to address the ambassadors of foreign governments.The Honorable: Used to address American ambassadors along with U.S. judges and justices.His/Her Royal Highness: Used to address members of a royal family, including British princes and princesses.Doctor: Used to address a physician who has obtained a medical degree or someone with a Ph.D.Captain: Used to address U.S. naval commanders regardless of rank; any officer who has been placed in charge of a vessel may be addressed this way.His Holiness: Used to address both the Pope of the Catholic Church and the Dalai Lama. Most formal titles, both in speaking and writing, precede a persons name. Those that follow a name include the honorary Esquire and academic suffixes that indicate possession of a degree, such as John Smith, Ph.D. Members of religious orders also use suffixes, such as John Smith, O.F.M., which indicates membership in the Ordo Fratrum Minorum (the Order of Friars Minor). Informal Forms of Address Informal terms of address are used outside of professional contexts and include terms such as nicknames, pronouns, and terms of endearment. Unlike professional forms of address, which are typically used to recognize a persons authority or accomplishments, informal terms of address are typically used to express affection or closeness. In the United States, common examples include: Honey: Used to show affection for a romantic partner or child.Dear: Used to show affection for a romantic partner or close friend.Babe/Baby: Used to show affection for a romantic partner.Bud/Buddy: Used to show affection for a close friend or child (sometimes used in a pejorative sense). In English, informal titles are sometimes used to show respect. Unlike formal titles, these do not indicate any level of professional or educational accomplishment: Mr.: Used to address both married and unmarried men.Mrs.: Used to address married women.Miss: Used to address unmarried women and girls.Ms.: Used to address women when marital status is unknown. The simple pronoun you can also be used as a term of address, i.e. Hey you, hows it going? In English, you is always informal. Some other languages, however, use multiple pronouns, each indicating a certain degree of formality. Japanese, for example, has many different pronouns that can be used between people depending on their relationship, and Spanish has both familiar and formal pronouns used as terms of address. Historically, terms of address have been used to emphasize class differences between those who have power and those who do not. The asymmetric use of names and  address terms  is often a clear indicator of a power differential, writes linguist Ronald Wardhaugh: School classrooms are almost universally good examples;  John  and  Sally  are likely to be children and  Miss  or  Mr. Smith  to be teachers. For a long time in the southern states of the United States, whites used naming and addressing practices to put blacks in their place. Hence the odious use of  Boy  to address black males. The asymmetric use of names also was part of the system. Whites addressed blacks by their first names in situations which required them to use titles, or titles and last names if they were addressing whites. There was a clear racial distinction in the process. Sources Straus, Jane. The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation: the Mysteries of Grammar and Punctuation Revealed. John Wiley Sons, 2006.Wardhaugh, Ronald. Understanding English Grammar: a Linguistic Approach. Blackwell, 2007.

International Marketing paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Marketing paper - Essay Example It can also be viewed as a mechanism for optimising economic use of scarce resources such as forests, which are threatened by paper manufacture. As an example, all of Europe now uses 240 volt 50 Hz AC mains grids and GSM mobile phones, and measures lengths in metres. The United Kingdom has officially accepted metres for business purposes but feet and inches are still widely used by the general public. The existence of a published standard does not necessarily imply that it is useful or correct. Just because an item is stamped with a standard number does not, by itself, indicate that the item is fit for any particular use. The people who use the item or service (engineers, trade unions, etc) or specify it (building codes, government, industry, etc) have the responsibility to consider the available standards, specify the correct one, enforce compliance, and use the item correctly. Validation of suitability is necessary. We define different ways of organising and controlling each of the different kinds of projects. A general assumption is that it's good to be different and require industry-specific or custom solutions to demonstrate that we are different. Companies usually adopt standardisation when catering to a huge global market with products equally acceptable to the various segments of the market. While in contrast, differentiated products are made when customers demand unique features or when a particular segment has specific demands. In the context of social criticism and social sciences, standardization often means the process of establishing standards of various kinds and improving efficiency to handle people, their interactions, cases, and so forth. Examples include formalization of judicial procedure in court, and establishing uniform criteria for diagnosing mental disease. Standardization in this sense is often discussed along with (or synonymously to) such large-scale social changes as modernization, bureaucratisation, homogenisation, and centralization of society. In the context of business information exchanges, standardization refers to the process of developing data exchange standards for specific business processes using specific syntaxes. These standards are usually developed in voluntary consensus standards bodies such as the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), the World Wide Web Consortium W3C, and the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). Standardisation helps in ensuring that brand uniformity is strong in order to maintain the brand image and loyalty. Brand image increases the loyalty towards the brand when it is supported by the actual service that the consumer receives. Companies can trim down the production and marketing costs by standardising the various features of their products and strategies to market their products. Research shows that standardisation is just another of the many strategies to enter the international marketplace effectively. Standardisation is not always the best strategy and often for smaller companies when they need adapt to local cultures while exploiting their exclusive images to gain local market share. (Levitt, 2003, 91) It is evident that when a company pursue a cost leadership strategy,

Fitness Center's System Development Plan Case Study

Fitness Center's System Development Plan - Case Study Example The system will benefit both members and fitness consultants by tracking participation in various fitness activities, such as free weights, volleyball, swimming, stair climbers, and yoga and aerobic classes. It will help the members (customers of the organization) plan fitness programs to meet their particular needs. Not only will the system ensure easy access to information to the customers but it will also provide information regarding general customer preferences, the number of customers and keep track of and predict revenues to the management. The information system will thus enable the Fitness Center in obtaining a competitive edge over other fitness clubs as envisioned by the top management. "The Fitness Centre" will be required to establish a project team to work on the project from beginning till the end. The team will include all stakeholders such as the managers, fitness consultants, customers, systems development specialists and support personnel. The development team will be responsible for determining the objectives of the information system and delivering a system that meets these objectives to the organization. Systems Analyst - A systems analyst is a professional who specializes in analyzing and designing business systems and is responsible for designing and developing an information system. Systems Analyst serves as a bridge or link between the technical and non-technical staff, conveying and explaining the requirements of one party to the other and vice versa. Software builder and programmers - Professionals who will write the coding for the actual software Technical specialists and the support staff: Network engineers - responsible for installing and maintaining local area networks Data warehousing specialists - for developing and designing enterprise-wide applications for data mining Database administrators - administration and control of data and information resources Data communications specialists - they will be responsible for evaluation, installation, and monitoring data communications equipment and software. All the above mentioned groups should be grouped into teams each having a team leader and all the team leaders will be made responsible to the project manager. The project manager is tasked with the responsibility of planning, controlling, staffing scheduling and organizing the whole project. 2. Plan a. Outline the considerations for systems investigation, based on input and output information sources. The basic consideration for systems investigation is that the research should be based on substantive theoretical and methodological grounds. There are two main phases in systems investigation (each with two aspects): Investigation & Analysis Recording & Presentation Important