Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Radical leadership

Radical leadership For any company to be successful in business, its leaders are obliged to offer a good motivating environment for its workers. This is because motivated employees are more productive, jovial, and are not likely to quit the company soon. One of the essential duties that leaders of companies undertake is having their employees motivated all the time. As much as the amount of profit that a company makes is vital for its success, however, it is not the most vital.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Radical leadership specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Currently, the changing market has developed the attitude that a company staff is the stanchion that decides its future life. Motivation has become an essential aspect of an organization operation management since it increases the efficiency of the employees and makes the company to be attractive to other experienced workers. This paper discusses the ways and the importance of having a motivated workforce. In any organization, motivation is an essential ingredient for advancement of performance. At the Semco Group of Sao Paulo, Brazil, the company rests on a potential problem if it still uses the traditional ways of motivating its 3000 employees. As much as the company’s CEO, Ricardo Semler, embraces participative management approach in leadership, the employees of the company are likely not to be motivated in the long run. The employees at the company know its objectives and they decide for themselves on the ways of accomplishing these objectives. However, this strategy is less likely to motivate the employees. It is always said that you can take a cow to the river to drink, but it is impossible to compel it to drink; it will drink the water only when it is feeling thirsty. The same thing can be applied to people. Research has indicated that most people will not effectively accomplish a task unless they are driven to do it, either by themselves or through some external stimulus (Kleinbeck Forschungsgemeinschaft, 1990, p.3). The concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation methods have been suggested as some of the ways of fostering a motivated work environment within a company. The difference between the two motivation concepts is derived from the source of the motivation. Some researchers have argued that intrinsic rewards are able to keep the employees motivated in the place of work (Bonduras, 1977). Intrinsic motivation implies that workers are encouraged to accomplish a certain duty when they are driven from within. The workers accomplish the duties due to the pleasure or the contentment they derive from completing the duty itself. This is to say that intrinsic motivation does not rely on extrinsic rewards, for example, money and increase in benefits, but relies on internal factors, for example, recognition, responsibility, growth and advancement.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Le t's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More A company staff that tends to be intrinsically motivated implies that they need a work environment that really interests them, a challenging career, and the responsibility to accomplish the duty with the purpose of motivating them. For instance, a staff that is motivated by intrinsic rewards will accomplish a task enthusiastically. This is because the staff might find the task to be challenging, interesting, or fulfilling to accomplish. An intrinsically motivated individual usually do not intend to get other associated rewards after completing the duty since external rewards rarely motivate him or her. Therefore, intrinsic motivation can be seen as a very efficient method of having a motivated workforce in the long run (Staw, 1976). This is because the workers strive to accomplish the duties enthusiastically due to the satisfaction they get, instead of trying to evade from them once the work is accomplished. On the other hand, some researchers have argued that extrinsic motivation is the only way of having a motivated workforce (Lepper, Greene, and Nisbett, 1973). Extrinsic motivation takes place when the workers are motivated through giving them external rewards, which can comprise of monetary incentives, promotions, and other enticing things. This concept claims that a company staff accomplishes duties due to the external benefits they get. These external benefits are what give an employee the satisfaction and the pleasure of accomplishing a duty, rather than the interest that he or she has on the job. In other words, an extrinsically motivated employee accomplishes a task because of the tangible rewards or pleasure that he or she derives from the job. It is important to note that extrinsic rewards can be either positive or negative; therefore, it is possible to employ positive motivators like the ones mentioned above or negative motivators such as threats or corruption. Extrinsic motivators generally center on the rewards that workers get instead of the actions, for example, workers can decide to accomplish a task because of the rewards associated with it, instead of focusing on the satisfaction of accomplishing the task. Conversely, in actual fact, extrinsic motivators only encourage a company’s staff for a short time. The reason behind this is that the extrinsic motivators only function to enable the staff accomplish the duty and if they are absent, then no one would endeavor to accomplish the duty. Therefore, having looked at both the aspects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, which is the best method that Semco Company can employ in motivating its employees?Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Radical leadership specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is evident from the discussion above that intrinsic motivation is more effective than extrinsic motivation, especially when the 3000 workers are to be motivated in the long run. This is because in contrast to extrinsically motivated staff that mainly relies on negative or positive rewards, a staff that is intrinsically motivated will continue to accomplish tasks as long as they get fulfillment at the end of the day. However, this does not imply that Ricaedo Semler, the CEO of the company, should totally not employ extrinsic motivation, but this is not the ideal technique of achieving long term motivation of his staff. When a worker is extrinsically motivated, he or she will no longer be intrinsically motivated since if the rewards are not present he or she will be de-motivated due to overdependence on rewards. Sometimes the lack of motivation within the workforce is due to the presence of some unmet requirements (Skinner, 1953). Therefore, it is important for a leader to know the requirements that are more essential for every individual worker. In this regard, Abraham Maslow came up with a hierarchy of needs, which stipulate that within every person, there is a hierarchy of five needs, and that every category of need must be fulfilled before a person is able to pursue the next higher category of need (Maslow, 1943). The five levels of needs according to Maslow include: â€Å"psychological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization† (Lauby, 2005, p.1). According to this theory, the most essential needs must be satisfied first. Maslow proposed that as people progress through the levels of needs, the previous requirements fail to realize their motivational value and that since the bahaviour of people is determined by their needs, only unmet needs affect their behavior, while fulfilled needs do not. To say, the lowest level of unfulfilled requirements is what determines the behavior of a person. If this theory is true, then it has some essential implications for leaders of organizations. This is because it offers the opportunity to encourage the workforce by ado pting some appropriate management styles. These may include, but not limited to, job design, holding interesting company events, and attractive compensation packages. Some examples of these motivating factors are as follows.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The psychological needs of the workforce can be met through offering adequate time for lunch breaks, rest breaks, and salary that is enough to buy the important things in life. Safety needs can be met by offering a secure working environment, incentives upon retiring, and job security, and social needs can be met by developing a sense of community through team-based projects and social gatherings. Moreover, esteem needs can be met by recognizing the accomplishments of the workers and giving them job titles that illustrate the significance of the position they hold in the company, and self actualization needs can be met by providing a challenging work environment that enable the workers to attain their full career potential. To enable the continued survival of the Semco Company by having a motivated workforce, it should recognize the different needs that drive its employees. This is because not all individuals are driven by the similar needs. That is why it is vital for the companyâ €™s management to know the different needs of its workers. How can Semler understand the needs of his employees if he does not even have an office at the company’s headquarters? In addition, at one of the company’s plants outside Sao Paulo, there are no supervisors to study the behaviour of the employees in order to understand their needs and convey to the company’s top management what they require. For a worker to feel motivated, the company has to understand the needs level whereby he or she is operating. Therefore, proximity to the workers is essential. In conclusion, motivation, as the driving force within employees that make them to accomplish various duties, is an important asset for the success of any organization. Semco Company can avoid the potential problem of having a less motivated workforce by creating a good working environment that ensures that the employees are encouraged to perform their duties. This can be achieved by developing ways of int rinsically motivating the workers as well as explaining to them the long-term benefits of intrinsic motivation. Moreover, the company should also motivate its workers by giving them challenging assignments, responsibilities, and recognizing the best performers within the workforce. Eventually, this will enable it to realize the long-term success that is desired in any organization. In addition, the company should be ready to meet the needs of the workforce so as to motivate them. Since these needs can be used as levers of motivation, the management at Semco should be as close to their employees as possible. References Banduras, A., 1997. Self-efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change.  Psychological Review, 84 (2), pp. 191-215. Kleinbeck, U. Forschungsgemeinschaft, D., 1990. Work motivation. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Lauby, S. J., 2005. Motivating employees. Alexandria, Va: ASTD Press. Lepper, M. R., Greene, D. Nisbett, R. E., 1973. Undermining child rens intrinsic interest with extrinsic rewards: A test of the over justification hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 28(1), pp. 129-137. Maslow, A. F., 1943. A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), pp. 370-396. Skinner, B.F., 1953. Science and Human Behavior. New York: Macmillan. Staw, B. M., 1976. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Morristown, N.J.: General Learning Center.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

ACT Prep Strategies If You Have a Low Test Score but High GPA

SAT / ACT Prep Strategies If You Have a Low Test Score but High GPA SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Do you have a high GPA, perform well in school, but can’t seem to do well on the SAT / ACT? This is a common pattern, and there are certain strategies that work especially well for you.First, we'll figure out why this is happening to you, and, depending on the reason, suggest ways to improve your SAT / ACT score.Second, we’ll go over what a high GPA but low SAT / ACT score signals to colleges and how to counter that signal. Academic Performance: The Missing Puzzle Piece Between GPA and SAT / ACT Score Many students and parents believe that only SAT / ACT scores and GPA make up a person's academics. After all, college admissions officers often use these two numbers to comprise the whole of high school academics. However, missing from this picture is a hidden variable: academic performance. Academic performance measures how skilled and strong a student is in a fair classroom setting compared to all students in the United States. You can think of academic performance as the percentile that you would get if you were in one huge class with all students in the USA. Unlike GPA, academic performance is a percentile measure, so there's no grade inflation. Because you’re in the same class as the rest of the USA, there is no such thing as an â€Å"easy class† or an â€Å"easy school district.† Unlike SAT / ACT scores, academic performance is not just based on a test. Instead, it’s based on projects, discussions, effort, and everything else that goes into learning. Colleges care about underlying academic performance more than GPA or SAT / ACT scores. Academic performance gets at the core of what colleges want to know: whether you will do well academically when you get to their school. Colleges think GPAs are imperfect because they depend too much on your school district and teachers. They also think SAT / ACT scores are imperfect because academics is not all about tests. However, they can’t measure academic performance directly, so they have to infer it from GPA and SAT/ACT scores. If you are prepping for the SAT / ACT, it's important for you to know your true academic performancebefore you begin applying to colleges. Having an accurate idea of your academic performance will enable you to develop a much more effective test prep plan. For example, if your true academic performance is high, yet your SAT score is low, then you should focus on improving your test-taking strategies because it is likely that a few strategic points are holding you back. However, if your academic performance is low, then focusing on strategy likely won't improve your score. Instead, you want to focus more on content. The point is that your true academic performance is also important for you to know! For most students, the three factors of 1) GPA, 2) academic performance, and 3) SAT / ACT scores move together most of the time. If you’re a student who is smart, studies hard, and knows all the content, this will mean you generally have: A high GPA, since you do well in class and get good grades. Good academic performance, since you’d do well even pooled with all US students. A high SAT / ACT score, since you know the content and have prepped enough. In statistics, we say that these three factors are usually highly correlated, or move together most of the time: Ideally, all three factors move together (with only minor discrepancies) because they are related. In reality, the three may be disconnected, but often not by very much. Therefore, usually both you and colleges can tell true academic performance. If you have a high GPA and high SAT/ACT score, it more than likely means you’re a high performer, and vice versa. There is a problem when your GPA is high, but your SAT / ACT score is low. You have mixed signals. How do colleges, or even you, know whether your true academic performance is high or low? When GPA is higher than SAT / ACT score, it’s important to figure out where your true academic performance lies. In this situation, there are some steps you need to follow to find a solution. First, you need to figure out your true academic performance. Knowing your true academic performance will help you prep in the most effective way. We have guidelines below to help you figure out how well you're performing academically. After you learn your true academic performance and prep for the SAT / ACT, your scores may either go up to match your GPA, or they may still fall short of your GPA. In the latter case, it's important to show colleges that your true performance is high- and we'll tell you how to do that too! How to Tell Where Your Academic Performance Really Is Okay, so you have a high GPA and a low SAT / ACT score. How do you tell where your true academic performance is?A good way is to start with your GPA, which is high. We’ll then examine whether your GPA matches your academic performance or is overstating your academic performance. The Most Common Reasons GPA Overstates Academic Performance The most common reasons a high GPA can overstate academic performance are grade inflation and a weak school district. You should begin by examining these two factors. As illustrated in the diagram below,grade inflation reflects the fact that the average grade has been going up over time. While a B average (3.0 unweighted GPA) may have been way above average several decades ago, today, in many schools, it’s far below average. Therefore, that B average, that 3.0 GPA, may not be as high as you think. I have seen a school where getting a 4.5 weighted GPA put you below the average. (It turns out that, at this school, everyone was taking APs, and the AP teachers gave out almost all A’s regardless of performance.) The Department of Education reports more than a .30 increase in high school GPAs in less than 20 years. To learn if grade inflation is skewing your academic performance, you should examine whether your GPA is relatively high compared to your entire grade.You can introspect on this, or you can just ask your guidance counselor for your rank in your class. If your guidance counselor doesn’t have a rank for you, ask 10 of your friends what their GPA is and compare their answers against yours. Remember, since true academic performance is relative to the other students in the USA, you need make your GPA high relative to other current students' (and not on some internal intuitive scale where 3.0 counts as great)! Using your exact rank above, or by asking your friends, you can get a rough idea of your GPA percentile. If you’re ranked 50 out of 200 people in your grade, then you’re 75th percentile. If you ask 10 friends and 5 are below your GPA, then you are 50th percentile. Is your GPA percentile much lower than you thought? If so, that’s a sign of low academic performance. Likewise, is your GPA percentile around the same range as your low SAT / ACT percentile? If so, again, chances are your academic performance is actually low. The second reason that a high GPA can overstate academic performance, even if your class rank is good, is due to a weak school district. By a weak school district, I mean that the average student in your school district is not academically that strong. Sometimes you have a sense of this - you might realize your school district isn’t particularly renowned in your state. However, one way to be sure is to check your school’s average SAT or ACT scores (you can often find this by Googling â€Å"[Your School Name] Average SAT ACT score† or asking your guidance counselor). If they’re lower than 500 per section for the SAT, or 20 for the ACT, then that’s a sign you’re in a weaker school district. If your school’s average SAT score is below 450, and their ACT score is below 18, then it’s likely that, even if your GPA percentile is good, your academic performance compared to the rest of the US is not strong. High GPA? Use the table below to figure out your academic performance Factor Considered Signs of Low Academic Performance Signs of High Academic Performance GPA Percentile: Compute using your school rank. GPA percentile is lower than you expected. GPA percentile is similar to your low SAT/ACT percentile. GPA Percentile matches what you expected. GPA percentile is much higher (20% or more) than your SAT/ACT percentile. School District Strength: Compute using your district’s average SAT / ACT score. Your district’s average SAT score is lower than 450 per section, or ACT score is lower than 18. The lower the average score, the weaker the district likely is. Your district’s SAT score is higher than 500 per section, or their ACT score is higher than 20. The higher the better. Introspecting Other Factors There are more signs that you can use to learn whether your high GPA is reflecting a high academic performance or whether your high GPA is misrepresenting a low academic performance. The key here is to introspect ona number of other factors, some of which will be similar to those above, and others which will be quite different. Introspecting just means looking at yourself honestly. In order to be honest, you have to be critical and accept the fact that you may have flaws. You must also have confidence that there are certain parts of you that are genuinely strong. Introspecting other factors can also tell you whether your true academic performance is high or not. Since this sort of qualitative introspection is very fuzzy, there is no hard line for whether your academic performance is high or not. Use each of the factors below as a weight. As you look through these lists, think about how you feel when you take the SAT / ACT, and, when you answer questions incorrectly, what the most common causes of those mistakes are. It may help to do some practice problems or review an old exam. It may also help to look at your high school transcript and think about the grades you got, how easy it was to get those grades, and how well you understood the material those classes covered. If you have a high GPA and low SAT / ACT score, these factors suggest HIGHreal academic performance: You find yourself especially anxious or nervous during the test. You find that, when you take the test unofficially in a realistic environment, your top score in a section (e.g. math) across many practice tests is much higher than your math score on a real administration of the SAT / ACT. I don’t mean 50 points better, but 120 points or more (on the SAT scale). This is a sign that your skill is actually high, but, during the actual exam, you run into some test-format trouble. You find that, when you give yourself just 20-30% extra time in an unofficial setting, your score shoots up by more than 100 points per section. You spend a lot of time during the SAT / ACT on questions that are much too hard for your skill level. Therefore, you end up putting a lot of time into questions you don’t get right anyway. The SAT / ACT is one of the few tests you do poorly in. On other exams, like in-class tests, AP tests, etc., you perform very well. You misread numbers and words a lot on the SAT / ACT, getting questions wrong even though you know the answer. Don’t count this factor if you genuinely are confused about the meaning of the words or numbers. You didn’t study at all for the SAT / ACT (less than 5 hours). You don’t study for the SAT / ACT because you find SAT / ACT study irresistibly boring. If you have a high GPA and low SAT / ACT score, these factors suggest LOWreal academic performance: Your classes give out a lot of A+, A, and A-s. Your school district is a weaker school district and, therefore, gives higher grades relative to objective skill. Your high grades are due to an easy teacher. Your high grades are due to pressuring the school (such as nagging your teacher for re-grades, parent pressure through PTA or Board of Education). You take easy classes to get better grades. The average GPA of your school is high. You are using the â€Å"weighted GPA† that goes as high as 4.33 or 5.00 but comparing it against unweighted GPAs (perfect students get a 4.00). Your GPA looks high compared to your school rank. Your grades / GPA were a lot lower at another school that didn’t have the properties above. You don’t feel more nervous than the average student during the SAT / ACT. Your classroom (non-SAT/ACT) test scores generally reflect your overall grade in a class and how well you understand the material. In other words, you don’t do particularly poorly on tests in class. You get a lot of questions wrong due to not knowing the underlying concept (e.g. what is volume of a three-dimensional shape, what the grammar rules for parallel construction are etc.) After reviewing these two lists, you should have a good idea of whether your academic performance is low or high. If you have qualities from both lists, figure out which list you have more factors in or which factors you feel have the biggest impact. For either case, we have specific advice for you. If you've found that your academic performance is high, start reading the next section. However, if your academic performance is actually low, skip down two sections for advice specifically tailored to you. How to Prep If Your Academic Performance Is Actually High If your academic performance is high, the good news is that you may have an easier time prepping because you only need to focus on test-taking skills, which are relatively fast to learn. You don’t have to worry about learning academic content, which is usually a slow slog. Also, even if you don’t get your SAT / ACT fully up to your GPA, you have many options to truthfully signal that you are actually an academic high-performer, which can convince colleges to place less significance on your SAT / ACT scores. Your SAT / ACT prep, however; will be quite different from that of an average student’s. Most average students are facing issues on all fronts with respect to the ACT / SAT. They need a little bit of work on content, a bit on timing, a bit on carelessness, and a bit on anxiety. However, for you, it is much more likely that there is one or, at most, two non-content issues holding you back. It is important to identify those issues specifically and focus on them. I had one student who was brilliant at math and could explain the most difficult ACT problem to me in person with no problem. But his scores all came back quite low for his skill. He wasn’t nervous about the test. He never ran out of time. It turns out that he was making a ton of careless mistakes. He understood all the problems and could solve them quickly, but he was just sloppy. I tailored a tactic specific to his situation: I asked him to read each question twice, and underline keywords. After trying that, he immediately scored a 35 (out of 36) on the next ACT. The above example likely illustrates the situation you are in.You have a singular non-content issue holding you back, and everything else is good. In these cases, I would absolutely not use a class or a book- these two options are much too one-size-fits-all. I would use a method that can properly identify and solve the issue, such as introspective self-study, a program that customizes to your needs (like PrepScholar Online Prep), or a skilled tutor who can find your one major weakness (like PrepScholar Tutoring). I will help you identify a few common weak spots for high academic performers with low SAT / ACT scores. For each one I’ll tell you how to identify the weak spot and what to do about it. Carelessness Carelessness is knowing the contents of a question, but making an error purely based on a lapse of attention. Misreading â€Å"integer† as â€Å"real number† counts as a careless error, forgetting what â€Å"integer† means is not a careless error. How to Identify:You know the answer to a question but just misread a number or a word. This is frequently overdiagnosed, so I recommend a more rigorous diagnosis method: Imagine answering the question with as much time as you needed and only starting your work after you've read the question three times over. Would you have avoided the mistake you made? If so, it’s a true careless error. Otherwise, this might be a content error that you’re brushing off as careless. Misreading `cat` as `rat’ is a careless error (clearly you know the difference between the two if you thought about it). Mistakingâ€Å"ambivalent† for â€Å"ambiguous† is rarely a careless error (most students actually don’t have the definitions of both words memorized). What causes carelessness? The main causes are reading too quickly and not focusing on the details. This often causes you to misread the question and thus answer it incorrectly. How to Solve:Do a few practice tests where you give yourself double time. Spend this extra time reading each question twice and underlining keywords. Be paranoid that your eyes might be playing tricks on you. Write down more steps of your thought process than you normally would (in algebra avoid bunching multiple operations into a single line). If carelessness is the true issue behind your low scores, you should see your score increasing as you apply these steps. Once these methods become a common habit, you should be able to apply them more quickly and easily. Begin reducing your time by 25% for each practice exam until you can take an entire practice exam in the standard amount of time while still minimizing the number of careless errors you make. For additional help, look at my strategies for carelessness in my article on SAT / ACT prep for high scorers. Running Out of Time How to Identify:During the middle of taking a section, you feel fine. (If you feel panicked during the middle of a section, refer to the section on anxiety below.) However, as time runs out on the section, you feel more rushed, and, when time is finally called, you’re leaving a lot of low-hanging fruit on the table. For example, during a real test you often find you have correct answers that you just didn’t have 20 seconds to bubble in, or there were still really easy questions that you didn’t get to. How to Solve:There are two strategies to try. First, do a practice test with 50% more time than you’re usually allocated, and see how much your score increases over normal. This provides an upper bound for how much your score can possibly increase. Make sure this increase is worthwhile and what you expect. If it is, then you know that learning better time management skills will raise your exam score. There are many ways to improve your timing skills, but the two major tips you should be using are becoming familiar with the exam and learning when to skip questions. The best way to get familiar with the SAT / ACT is to practice. By regularly completing practice tests or quizzes, you’ll become more familiar with the exam format, how questions are worded, and tricks you can use to find the correct answer more quickly. However, this information will only help if you don’t allow yourself to waste time struggling to answer questions you don’t understand. Therefore, you also need to learn to move on if you don’t know how to solve a problem. If you’ve stared at a problem for 30 seconds and have no idea how to solve it, move on and come back to it at the end if you have more time. Struggling with a single challenging question can eat up a lot of time and cause you to not get to other questions you might have been able to answer much more easily. After you have begun using the above tips, try the following strategy. Suppose you’re given 30 minutes to finish a section. Split the 30 minutes into the first 25 minutes and the last 5 minutes. Aim to finish the section in the first 25 minutes. After the first 25 minutes are done, stop your normal progress on the test. Instead, step back and reassess what the lowest-hanging fruit at this point is- bubbling in answers, reviewing that really easy question you made a careless mistake on, or doing one more question later on that you saw was easy. Do NOT try to make standard progress on the test anymore. See how much your score improves using this method. You should understand that the SAT / ACT is a timed test, and you will always feel time pressure (I’ve gotten perfect scores, and I still feel immense time pressure). The only thing you can do is make sure the time pressure is not preventing you from getting the lowest-hanging fruit. Anxiety Anxiety is primarily an emotional response, not a logical response. If you find that you’re not panicked or stressed during large parts of the test, anxiety is probably not the cause. The worst sufferers of anxiety are overcome with emotion just thinking about the exam. A clear sign you have anxiety is if you don’t spend most of the test time thinking about the questions themselves. Instead, you spend all your time thinking about the fact that you’re taking a test. How to Identify: Anxiety is relatively easy to diagnose. Usually, students with test anxiety will score substantially (200 points on SAT, 10 points on the ACT) better if they are asked the questions verbally with no time pressure. To test this, instead of doing a timed test, have someone read the questions to you (while you have a paper copy for reference), so you can think through the problem out loud. How to Solve: Fixing anxiety is relatively hard compared to diagnosing it. In fact, there are entire fields of psychology focused on the issue of anxiety in different contexts. However, there are definite steps that you can take. The first step is physiological: taking control of your body. Try taking deep breaths between each page flip to calm yourself down. Try meditation before the test and a mini-meditation during breaks. Also, if appropriate, check with your primary care doctor to see if you actually have a clinical medical issue with anxiety. I always hate to go from academic performance into medical territory, but I’ve seen students with extreme anxiety issues who perform better after their doctor found it was actually a medical issue and prescribed beta-blockers to eliminate the anxiety. Second, you have to attack the cognitive part of anxiety. A core reason that anxiety exists cognitively is because you are focusing too much on yourself. You are spending too much time thinking about you taking the test or doing badly on the test. You are obsessed with concepts of yourself. Instead, do everything you can to direct attention away from yourself. Pay attention to what the room looks like. Then, pay attention to the question, how it’s typeseton the page. Finally, pay attention to what the question is asking. You need to stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about the question at hand. As part of reducing cognitive anxiety, it may help to try to predict what horrible things will happen if you don’t do well on the test. Write these predictions down on paper. You might say â€Å"parents will be very upset; never want to talk to me again,† or â€Å"my academics are ruined.† Then, if you don’t do well, compare that with what actually happens. Turns out, surprise surprise, parents get over it, and you always have the chance to take the test again. You’ll find that your worst fears are not true at all if you write them down beforehand and compare them to what happens. Finally, a tip for actually taking the test. Definitely do the easiest questions first, and give yourself some time to do them. The easiest questions will build your confidence and let you realize that the test can be done. You may not get all the problems, or even get to all the problems, butthat’s totally fine as long as long as you’re making progress during the exam. If you feel the anxiety is caused by being unfamiliar with the test, you should also try taking a few practice tests under as realistic conditions as possible. For some students, this familiarity and exposure reduce anxiety by a lot. If you suffer from anxiety, there are multiple ways for you to improve your test scores. Lack of Preparation for Standardized Tests How to Identify: This issue is the easiest to identify. If you’ve spent less than five hours studying for the test, then you’ve essentially had no preparation for the SAT / ACT. In fact, taking the actual SAT / ACT probably takes more than five hours if you add in transportation time and waiting for the exam to begin, so if you haven't even spent that much time studying for the test, you really haven't begun studying yet. How to Solve: Fortunately, this is also the easiest issue to fix as well as the item most worth fixing. After all, the first few hours you put into ACT / SAT prep will be the most efficient hours you’ll ever spend getting into college. In no other item on the college app can you just put in 20 to 80 hours and tremendously boost your admission chances. If you want to just tick off the box, gather a couple of practice tests and do them. That will get you past the five-hour minimum mark and get your score up effectively. However, if you want to boost your score by more than just a few points, you’ll want to invest in a real program. There are many valid programs out there, and our own program, PrepScholar, lets you prepare easily online. Lack of Motivation to Prepare for Standardized Tests How to Identify: You have at least tried to prepare, but you’ve found it incredibly daunting. Whenever you begin SAT / ACT prep, you find yourself bored. You make excuses to do anything else instead of SAT / ACT studying. How to Solve: This is a very important issue to overcome. If the student is not internally motivated to do well on the test, he or she will not improve much! (I also am presuming here that you, dear reader, are not personally the student because even reading this far into this article shows some baseline motivation.) In this case, examine what has motivated the student in the past. Beating his classmates? Making her parents proud? Getting a monetary reward? The best motivation is if the student wants to go to a good college or get scholarships. However, at this point, anything is fair game. Think about the ways the student has been motivated before and if these same motivators can be used to convince him to prepare more for the SAT / ACT. Talk to him about the ways a high test score can personally benefit him (can get into a better college which can lead to better job prospects, potentially avoid tens of thousands of dollars of student debt etc.) If this doesn’t work, you may want to consider hiring a tutor so the student is interacting regularly with someone who has experience with this issue and can hold him accountable. How to Solve All of These Issues In order to solve any of these above issues, you need to correctly identify it. It’s important that you go through a diagnostic phase first and figure out exactly what your weakness is. Getting treatment for the wrong problem won’t help you at all. Worse, it can hurt you when you don’t see your score improve and get discouraged. The tips above will help you identify the issues and find the right solution. However, if you'd like the solution found automatically, you can look into our Online Prep program where we leverage the data we collected through helping tens of thousands of students succeed on standardized tests. We automatically find your area of weakness and drill it away, which is especially useful if there are only one or two strategic areas you are weak in, like test anxiety or carelessness. How to Prep if Your Academic Performance Is Low If your academic performance is low, the bad news is that improving on the SAT / ACT will be more difficult. However, the good news is that the advice and steps you need to follow for the SAT / ACT are more standard for you. In this case, you don’t have any special weakness with the SAT / ACT. You don’t likely have many anxiety or test format issues that you’ll need special prep to overcome. For one reason or another, your GPA appears higher than it would for other students in the same ACT / SAT position as you. Your high GPA doesn’t make your study plan any different from that of an average student with a low SAT / ACT score. Thus, you should follow the standard guide for students with low SAT / ACT scores. We have many great guides for those with lower SAT / ACT scores who want to go higher, and I’d strongly recommend going through all of them: For the SAT, we have a general guide for raising your SAT score 160+ points, as well as guides for getting at least a 600 on each of the three main sections: Math, Reading, and Writing and Language. Similarly, for the ACT, we have a guide for raising your composite score 4+ points and guides for the Math, Science, Reading, and English sections. One thing you should make sure you do is complete some rigorous SAT / ACT prep. If your GPA is high and your SAT / ACT score is low, then it’s best to prevent the latter from marring colleges’ interpretations of your application. Time and time again, we’ve seen that SAT / ACT scores improve the fastest in the first 40 or so hours. Therefore, I would recommend at least studying that much for the SAT / ACT. Even if your academic performance is moderate, you can still improve your SAT / ACT scores through study, which will make your application look much stronger. Of course, if you’ve put 40, 100 hours, or more into SAT / ACT prep and your SAT / ACT score is still low, then the fact that you’ve diagnosed yourself as a low academic performer tells you exactly what to do: improve on your baseline content and academics. You can do this in many ways: General Strategies: Use an SAT / ACT program with a lot of content focus. Our PrepScholar Online SAT / ACT program devotes more than 50% of lesson time to baseline content and academics. Get a good tutor to teach you the underlying topics. Set aside a certain number of hours a week to improve your baseline content. Having a set schedule will make it easier and more likely for you to complete your studying. Math/Science Strategies: Review your math textbook, and ask for extra help if needed. Ensure that you’ve covered all the math topics on the SAT / ACT. Usually, these tests don’t cover very difficult topics like calculus or matrices, so choose classes that overlap with what the SAT / ACT covers. Focus part of your studying specifically on graphs, what information they provide, and how to interpret them. You can use examples specifically for test prep or study graphs you’ve used or seen in class. If you’re taking the ACT, brush up on geometry as well as algebra, since the ACT tests geometry much more than the SAT does. If you’re taking the SAT, it will still benefit you to know some geometry, but the majority of math problems will be on algebra, so focus most of your studying there. Reading/English/Writing Strategies: Develop your reading skills by reading often and using concepts like theme, tone, etc. to analyze the text. If you’re more comfortable with fiction or narrative writing, broaden your skills by reading more scientific passages, and vice versa. Learn the major grammar rules the SAT / ACT tests so you can nail those questions on the exam. Review some vocabulary lists so you’re more likely to be familiar with words you come across on the exam. Ask your English teacher for feedback on essays you’ve written and ways you can improve. To summarize, if you find that your true academic performance is low, then your SAT / ACT prep process is very standard. Use our numerous guides to help yourself improve. You should also look into our PrepScholar Online Prep program How to Apply to College With a High GPA but Low Test Score The above advice examined why you had low SAT / ACT scores but a high GPA. By using the missing puzzle piece of academic performance, we gave you different advice depending on your situation. Now, hopefully, after following the advice above, your ACT / SAT score will have risen to par with your GPA. After all, the best way to solve this situation is not to find excuses, but to actually improve your SAT / ACT score, so that will always be the best option.However, in case your SAT / ACT score still hasn’t increased as much as you want, this section gives you advice on how to apply to college. This section is also useful to read even before you begin SAT / ACT prep to see how an improved test score can bypass this problem entirely. Having a high GPA but low SAT / ACT score at least is better than a low GPA and low SAT / ACT score. Of course, it’s not as good as having both a high GPA and high SAT / ACT score. For colleges, a high GPA but low SAT / ACT score sends mixed signals - one indicates that your academic performance is high while the other indicates your academic performance is low. Just like above, where we explained how to figure out your true academic performance, colleges will also be seeking your true academic performance.The major difference in this situation is, regardless of your internal assessment, it is always more favorable for you to signal higher academic performance. Conversely, you want to avoid mistakenly signalinglow academic performance. On one hand, colleges hope that you’re truthfully a high academic performer, just not good on the ACT / SAT. Maybe you just dislike tests or don’t do well on â€Å"aptitude tests† like the SAT (versus content tests like the APs). Maybe the SAT / ACT stresses you out. The more you can emphasize this picture, the better you will do. On the other hand, colleges are afraid that you might, at the core, be a mediocre academic performer - that your SAT / ACT score is telling the truth, and your GPA is the one that’s fibbing. After all, GPAs are very difficult to compare across different classes, different teachers, and different schools. The entire reason colleges rely on ACT / SAT scores in the first place is to have a uniform way to measure students across all their environmental variation. Colleges are thus afraid that the high GPA is due to it being goosed up through one or more of so many possibilities: taking easy classes, getting in the teacher's’ good graces, being from an easy school district, or dozens of other ways that GPAs can be artificially raised. The more you can deemphasize this picture, the better you’ll do. To emphasize that your SAT / ACT scores don’t represent your true ability, and your GPA isn’t artificially high, here are some tips: Take classes with standardized tests and curriculum. The IB (International Baccalaureate)or similar program is the best. The grading is not all test based, yet it is standardized, so doing well on this really tells colleges that your high GPA is legitimate. Take other standardized tests, like the AP tests, or competitions like AMC. If you do well on these they definitely are effective at taking the sting off low standardized test scores. However, be aware that, on these tests you may likely suffer from the same issues that caused your low ACT / SAT scores. Have teachers vouch for your top performance, emphasizing that your performance is excellent relative to classmates, that your school is a high performing school, and most importantly, your performance is high relative to students at strongschools the teacher has taught at. Take classes at your local college.The better you can do in a college class relative to the college’s difficulty, the better you’ll be able to prove your skills are high. Perform in nationwide competitions to show that, face-to-face, you rank high. (If the following is somewhat true for you): Emphasize in your essay that your school is a difficult one, it’s ranked highly in the state, and that you have a high rank in the school. Take classes at highly-ranked neighboring high schools and show high grades in these classes. Consider preparing especially for the interview and essay portion of the college application. These items have a large impact on college admissions, and many students who are not especially strong on tests tend to do stellar on these. How will your signaling change if you’re actually a high academic performer versus a low academic performer? Well for one, high academic performers will have a much easier time doing the tasks above because they’ll be able to use their underlying skill to achieve it. However, since the abovesignalingis beneficial, everyone should attempt it whether they classify themselves as a high or low performer.In fact, you can even say that your ability to accomplish the above (e.g. IB classes) in some ways partially makes you a high performer. Your Real Performance and Overplacing Into Colleges What sort of college should you apply toif you have a high GPA but low SAT / ACT scores? The answer is that your competitiveness level will be about halfway between your GPA level and SAT / ACT level. After all, many colleges weigh GPA and SAT/ACT by similar amounts in admissions. For example, if your GPA puts you at the median of a US News rank 10 school, but your ACT puts you in the middle of a US News rank 70 school, you would be competitive at a rank 40 school or so. Note, however, that you’ll have a wider spread, a wider variability to which schools accept you. Some higher ranked schools (especially progressive private schools) might forgive the low ACT score, while other lower ranked schools (especially public state schools) may be quite strict. Finally, you might be wondering about overplacement. Suppose you’re a low academic performer, but using our stellar techniques above, you are able to achieve a school leaps beyond what you would otherwise be able to. Would it be a mistake to go to a school beyond where you otherwise could have gone? On an ethical front, you need to make sure what you say above is true. Not lying in your application, not saying your school is difficult when it is easy, is not only the ethical thing to do, it’s also the operationally smart thing to do because college admissions officers have a ton of data at their disposal. For the best experience for yourself, it is important not to overplace into one particular type of college: the difficult, grind-you-down sort of college. In these colleges, if you get there, and you don’t belong, you run a huge risk of flunking your classes, feeling bad, and not learning. Fortunately, it’s easy to tell which colleges are bad to overplace into: look at the graduation rate of the colleges. Any overall graduation rate under 90% is a huge red flag - these are schools that will chew you up and spit you out if you don’t meet their academic rigor. Do not overplace into these. Conversely, schools with graduation rates above 95% will likely baby you through - these colleges tend to tolerateoverplacement a lot better. Time for a personal story: many of my friends went to theUniversity of Chicago, a notoriously difficult university. I saw them pull all-nighters, recount stories of classmates being expelled for failing, and havepeople generally being pushed to their academic limit. Even the average student was having a hardtime meeting academic goals; I can only imagine an under-qualified student completely floundering in a school as punishing as UChicago. Now, I went to Harvard College, and the mythical motto there (with a huge dollop of truth) is that it’s hard to get in, but once you do, anyone can graduate. With an overall graduation rate of above 97% recently, this is completely true. Classmate didn’t fulfill a few requirements? I saw my college drop these requirements like flies. Flunking Algebraic Topology? Take â€Å"Magic with Numbers† instead. If you overplaced into Harvard, chances are you’d have a decent time all around, and you’d benefit from the educa tion and degree. The point is, you should focus on the overall graduation rate if you fear the consequences of overplacing. Parting Thoughts Just to reemphasize one final time, the strategies in the previous sections for applying with a low SAT / ACT score are only a band-aid for the underlying problem. If you have a fire in your house, the above tells you how to minimize damage. It’s much better to not have a fire in your house in the first place. Likewise, If you’re high in GPA but low in SAT / ACT, the absolute best solution is to bring up your SAT / ACT score. If you haven’t prepared at all - putting in 40 hours either by yourself or with a highly rated program is the first thing you should do right now! What's Next? Wondering how to start studying?Read aboutthe pros and cons of each type of test prep and learn which method is the best for you. Want to learnwhat your current test score is?Take a practice test! Checkout our official SAT practice tests and official ACT practice tests. Looking for some quick ways to boost your score?Check out ourguides to learn 15 tips forraising your SAT score and your ACT score.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Testing and evaluation techniques Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Testing and evaluation techniques - Assignment Example The advantages of oral examinations for the teachers include quick assessment of students’ learning, assessment of students’ confidence, and assessment of the verbal and nonverbal communication skills. On the other hand, some disadvantages of oral examinations include more time consumption as compared to written exams, inefficient for in-depth assessment of students’ learning, and labor-intensiveness. Another negative aspect of oral examinations is that the environment can influence the students, which may result in affecting their ability to communicate effectively with their teachers. Project assignments are also a good way to assess students’ learning. Teachers can give assignments to the students, which they need to solve without getting any sort of assistance from the teachers. The advantages of project assignments for the teachers include proper assessment of students’ ability to do work independently, assessment of individual learning, and assessment of students’ writing skills. On the other hand, some disadvantages of project assignments include increased chances of plagiarism and difficulty in standardizing. However, the disadvantages are not able to overshadow the advantages of project assignments because they make students do something independently, which is very good for the students. Practical examinations are another way to assess students’ learning. In practical examinations, teachers give practical assignments to the students, which they need to complete under observation of their teachers. Practical examinations help teachers evaluate the related behaviors of the students during examination. Moreover, they also help teachers evaluate students’ critical thinking skills, psychomotor skills, and evaluations skills. The disadvantages of practical examinations are somewhat similar to oral examinations. Practical examinations are time consuming, labor-intensive, and difficult to standardize. Teaches can

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Critical Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Critical Discussion - Essay Example In discussing the influence of educational pioneers from social and political points of view, Ornstein takes positions as a progressivist on one hand (New-tone) and a postmodernist (Ultra-New-Tone) on the other. The arguments are centered around the effects of education, reflected in the society and the above quote, is used to support Mr Ultra-New-Tone's radical position. Michel Apple's statement may be understood to mean that, schools and other institutions of Education have a significant control over the social and economic systems, within which they operate. The justification for this is, schools are knowledge centers and their primary responsibility lies in the proper dissemination of knowledge. Most of child's life is spent in the school and what is taught here shapes their behaviors in the social system that they otherwise live in. The phrase 'cultural capital', can be used to encompass various types of knowledge, skills, talent etc, the possession of which provides a certain status in the society (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_capital). It can be thought of as the tangible and intangible effects of culture on the Society. In proposing that there are inequities in culture capi... It can be thought of as the tangible and intangible effects of culture on the Society. In proposing that there are inequities in culture capital, just as there is an 'unequal distribution of economic capital', Apple seems to imply that the current systems of education are the reasons why the inequalities exist and hence they need to change so that they can be overcome. Ornstein has used this implication in his argument supporting the radical view, that a revolutionary change in the system is required and that the focus be shifted from one of ranking and testing to one of freedom in learning. The basis of the arguments by the radicals stems from the fundamental belief that: the conservative philosophy in Education is too objective to be democratic whereas the radicals subjective approach broadens the scope of 'standards' and lends itself to be an ideal equalizer. The postmodernists also hold that continuous and rapid change is necessary to adapt to the exponential growth, in information that the contemporary generation is forced to keep pace with. According to Ornstein, what is implied by Michael Apple's rather dramatic statement that 'schools ... shape our lives and take control over us', is that 'in the technological societies' that we live in, it is imperative that, radical reforms are made with an immediate sense of urgency. The Postmodernists versus the Educational Pioneers and Progressivism The debate about whether radical reform is required, to narrow the perceived inequality in distribution of knowledge or if this can be better achieved by adhering to time-tested principles laid out by educational pioneers can be conducted on various planes: (1) Effect that

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Proposal Argument Essay Example for Free

Proposal Argument Essay I believe it is an agreed principle by everyone that the importance of sports is in the life of a student is invaluable. Sports play a significant role of first about every individual solely country (Campbell; 4). In one way or the other people are involved in a game or some sort, Whether he/she is watching or playing or by just knowing an individual who plays or watches. Sports often come in various sizes. Cricket is a group sport with individuals playing various roles at the same time play is going on. The matches are played in an open field usually oval or circular in shape. Cricket is an international sport with recognition all over the world. It has a long history since the 19th century and has often been associated with strong passion, that has seen it become more popular the world over. With this reputation that this game has earned all over the years that it has been in existence, The College would be glad to be associated with this game and be part of the effort to develop the games in our society to enable all Americans to compete at the international stage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Austin community college (ACC) wants to develop an exciting and innovative initiative to help advance the careers of students as professional players and to motivate them. The students through the department of sports and the college, proposes to start an established cricket team that will provide training service to the student. This proposal requests $ 800,000.00 from the community and other well wishers through a fund drive to help meet the costs of buying a piece of land that would be used as both training and play ground by the student. Part of this money will also be used towards the purchase of facilities for training and playing like bats and gears among others and for amenities for people involved in the game of cricket at the college. We as the members of the cricket club of Austin community college anticipate that the grants that will be received from the fundraising will be an essential and a basis part of our program. It will also be crucial as it will provide an essential training and educational component to the project thereby allowing us to both extend our effort in academic as well as that of sports and at the same time lowering the costs the college would incur and thus providing the college with an opportunity to meet the needs of its student and as such serve the large society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The program (crickets) which the school envisions is multi-faceted comprehensive as well as innovative. The college community has a tremendous requirement for additional sports. The ACC and its board have already identified an ideal site where the training and play ground can be set up The cost breakdown of the proposed site and facilities is as follows;   Play ground- $ 500,000 Facilities- $ 260,000 Administrative -$ 100,000 The cost estimates of this program have been based on a comprehensive program designed which took in to consideration all of the criteria players coaches, trainers playing facilities as well as other aspects of the cricket game.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Like in every game the facilities that are budgeted for are essential, and without which there will be no much development of the sport. The sport requires a large space from which both the training and playing can take place. However the space within the college is not adequate to accommodate the pitch. That is why the college is soliciting for funds to purchase a piece of land that is about 200 meters from the college. The field is spacious enough, a key to the project. It is the only open field with enough capacity to cater for the game otherwise there is no other such space within the vicinity which can cost less or specious for the program.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The essence of sports is either money or fun like in every sport the game of cricket has both professionals and amateurs (http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/article/sports/sport1.htm.). The school would be serving the role of facilitator and developer of the talents of the amateurs and molding them in to professionals for the betterment of the society. In most cases sports have been known to bring cohesion and together in the community and the larger society. For instance the game of cricket is internationally recognized for the role it has played to bring some kind of peace and tranquility between India and Pakistan. This can translate to bring the students as well as community at Austin community, college. The fans which will be largely the student from the college will be inspired by a good team to come out on large numbers to support their team. I believe that the net effect of this support would be that of the school community working together in harmony. Nevertheless this can only be achieved if the school is able to purchase the parcel of land in question and buy the needs facilities so as to be able to develop the game.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As has been witnessed in other sports the game is able to feature every part of social studies through active involvement in one way or another and which will be of great benefit to all parties involved including the entire society (http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/article/sports/sport1.htm.). For instance, the bowlers must have ample space to run as well as the cricket keepers which will enable them to compete at the highest level of competition and at the same time develop and nurture talents that will not only turn professional but successful sports men/women who will do our country proud and raise the standard of the game in the country.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For the last 3 and half years the students have been using the soccer pitch which has hampered their progress and at the same time interrupted the training program of the soccer players. Currently there about 30 students who are actively involved in the sport but due to lack of enough facilities and an ample space to train in any have not been able to join the team. This is so because there are many students with the interest to join the game but who can not be accommodated due to the current state of affairs. A large number of students are not actively involved in sports but whom cricket would provide with the opportunity to be actively participating and develop.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On behalf the entire organizing committee for the funds drive and the sports department I do believe that your contribution would go a long way in achieving this goal. It is also sure way for everyone through their contributions to be part of the history to be made. Thanks in anticipation. Reference: James Campbell. Excursions, adventure, and field sports in Ceylon Asian education service, 1999 Non profit guides http://www.npguides.org/guide/grand2.htm Social studies for kids; sports as social studies http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/article/sports/sport1.htm.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Community Crime Profile Survey Essays -- essays research papers yyy

Community Crime Profile Survey with Questions   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The small community of Hasbrouck Heights, NJ is the one square mile home to a comparatively tiny population of approximately 7,600 people, including myself. I live on a residential street of this small suburban town where a great threat of danger and harm has never really been associated with its name. The crime rate on the city-data.com crime index is a minute 35.6 when compared to the U.S. average of 330.6. In the year of 2002 Wood-Ridge did not experience any murders, rapes, or robberies, and only 1 assault, 35 larceny counts, and 7 auto thefts. This is the main reason why all parties who were surveyed either felt very safe or somewhat safe living their lives in this neighborhood and believe crime has either decreased or stayed the same. All parties surveyed also rated the following services from acceptable to excellent: ambulance, cable television, electric utilities, fire, gas, phone, and police. Then when surveyed about police more closely the answers only v aried from good to excellent, with most answers in the excellent range. I found this survey relatively easy to perform. My town issues a small phone book of all persons living in town and I drew names at random and surveyed whoever was willing to offer their time. I surveyed five people ages 18-29, one person age 30-39, seven people ages 40-49, six people ages 50-59, and two people over 69 years of age. Seventeen of these people were male and only four were female, 100% of which was Caucasian. Two parties resided in apartments, while nineteen lived in a house. Eighteen families owned the residence they lived in and three rented, and obviously 100% of them have telephones in their homes. Of the parties surveyed, thirteen had full-time jobs, three were self-employed, one was a student, one was unemployed, and three parties were retired. The five most predominant problems exemplified from this survey were the amount of youths that are hanging out on the streets, the use of alcohol, alo ng with the use of drugs, traffic violations, and vandalism. Throughout this summary, these problems will become more detailed with possible solutions requiring efforts from a majority of the community, including the PTA, church organizations, local media, and everyday people that take part in this neighborhood.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The... ...1 Don’t Know -- 1 Police: Excellent -- 12 Good -- 8 Acceptable -- 0 Poor -- 1 Don’t Know -- 0 POLICE CONCERNS Evaluate current performance of the police in each of following areas: Quickness in Responding to Calls: Successfully Satisfying Your Call: Excellent -- 13 Excellent -- 13 Good -- 6 Good -- 6 Acceptable -- 1 Acceptable -- 1 Poor -- 0 Poor -- 0 Don’t Know -- 1 Don’t Know -- 1 Willing to Work With Neighborhood: Vehicle Patrols: Excellent -- 12 Excellent -- 12 Good -- 5 Good -- 6 Acceptable -- 3 Acceptable -- 2 Poor -- 1 Poor -- 0 Don’t Know -- 0 Don’t Know -- 0 Foot Patrols: Excellent -- 10 Good -- 3 Acceptable -- 6 Poor -- 2 Don’t Know -- 0 VOLUNTEER WORK Does your neighborhood have a crime watch program? Yes -- 0 No -- 4 Don’t know -- 17 If not, would you like your neighborhood to have a crime watch program? Yes -- 13 No -- 6 Don’t know -- 2 Do you/would you participate in a crime watch program? Yes -- 13 No -- 2 Don’t know -- 6 Does your neighborhood have a neighborhood association or community group? Yes -- 0 No -- 17 Don’t know -- 4 Do you/would you participate in the association or group? Yes -- 13 No -- 6 Don’t know -- 2 Community Crime Profile Survey Essays -- essays research papers yyy Community Crime Profile Survey with Questions   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The small community of Hasbrouck Heights, NJ is the one square mile home to a comparatively tiny population of approximately 7,600 people, including myself. I live on a residential street of this small suburban town where a great threat of danger and harm has never really been associated with its name. The crime rate on the city-data.com crime index is a minute 35.6 when compared to the U.S. average of 330.6. In the year of 2002 Wood-Ridge did not experience any murders, rapes, or robberies, and only 1 assault, 35 larceny counts, and 7 auto thefts. This is the main reason why all parties who were surveyed either felt very safe or somewhat safe living their lives in this neighborhood and believe crime has either decreased or stayed the same. All parties surveyed also rated the following services from acceptable to excellent: ambulance, cable television, electric utilities, fire, gas, phone, and police. Then when surveyed about police more closely the answers only v aried from good to excellent, with most answers in the excellent range. I found this survey relatively easy to perform. My town issues a small phone book of all persons living in town and I drew names at random and surveyed whoever was willing to offer their time. I surveyed five people ages 18-29, one person age 30-39, seven people ages 40-49, six people ages 50-59, and two people over 69 years of age. Seventeen of these people were male and only four were female, 100% of which was Caucasian. Two parties resided in apartments, while nineteen lived in a house. Eighteen families owned the residence they lived in and three rented, and obviously 100% of them have telephones in their homes. Of the parties surveyed, thirteen had full-time jobs, three were self-employed, one was a student, one was unemployed, and three parties were retired. The five most predominant problems exemplified from this survey were the amount of youths that are hanging out on the streets, the use of alcohol, alo ng with the use of drugs, traffic violations, and vandalism. Throughout this summary, these problems will become more detailed with possible solutions requiring efforts from a majority of the community, including the PTA, church organizations, local media, and everyday people that take part in this neighborhood.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The... ...1 Don’t Know -- 1 Police: Excellent -- 12 Good -- 8 Acceptable -- 0 Poor -- 1 Don’t Know -- 0 POLICE CONCERNS Evaluate current performance of the police in each of following areas: Quickness in Responding to Calls: Successfully Satisfying Your Call: Excellent -- 13 Excellent -- 13 Good -- 6 Good -- 6 Acceptable -- 1 Acceptable -- 1 Poor -- 0 Poor -- 0 Don’t Know -- 1 Don’t Know -- 1 Willing to Work With Neighborhood: Vehicle Patrols: Excellent -- 12 Excellent -- 12 Good -- 5 Good -- 6 Acceptable -- 3 Acceptable -- 2 Poor -- 1 Poor -- 0 Don’t Know -- 0 Don’t Know -- 0 Foot Patrols: Excellent -- 10 Good -- 3 Acceptable -- 6 Poor -- 2 Don’t Know -- 0 VOLUNTEER WORK Does your neighborhood have a crime watch program? Yes -- 0 No -- 4 Don’t know -- 17 If not, would you like your neighborhood to have a crime watch program? Yes -- 13 No -- 6 Don’t know -- 2 Do you/would you participate in a crime watch program? Yes -- 13 No -- 2 Don’t know -- 6 Does your neighborhood have a neighborhood association or community group? Yes -- 0 No -- 17 Don’t know -- 4 Do you/would you participate in the association or group? Yes -- 13 No -- 6 Don’t know -- 2

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Ethnographic Paper

On November Seventh, 2012 at 1:39 PM I went to Naan Stop to continue my observations from before. I went in and it was the same employee who has been working there all eight times I’ve gone in. As usual I was the only person there, the radio was playing a popular pop song by the band One Direction. The owner of the store was in the back and popped out to say hello to me and ask how I was doing. I got my usual, a small mocha Boba and I waited as the employee, a young Mexican probably in his 20’s made the Boba with the same frown he has on every time I come in.I stayed in Naan stop for twenty minutes and no one came in. On November Sixth 4:50 PM I went to Naan stop with my friend and we got Boba. We were the only ones in there at first but then two Indian men in their late twenties came in and greeted the owner. They spoke in what I assumed was hindi and then switched to english and then back to hindi. I gathered that both the Indian men were graduate students at UCSB at some point and had returned for the weekend to say hello to old friends. I found it odd that they didn’t order anything from Naan Stop, they chatted with the owner and took a picture with him and then left.The music playing during their encounter was again pop culture. If there wasn’t Indian food and a couple of small cultural Indian statues one would never know it was an Indian Restaurant. My friend waited ten minutes after the Indian men left for new people to come in but got frustrated and left. I stayed for 40 minutes and within my 40 minutes two undergrad students came in and got pick up Indian and left, four girls all wearing their Alpha Phi letters came in ordered Boba and left. A middle aged man and his wife came in, I recognized them from two weeks ago when I was doing observations.The wife, similar to last time, was wearing an extremely low cut shirt and her breasts were actually spilling out. The man was in a wife beater, they ordered Indian food and were th e first customers I’d seen in the last two days to actually eat the food at the restaurant. They were very loud and I’d assume that they were lower class or lower middle class. The woman went on and on about her â€Å"fancy† sister going to Mexico. She kept saying fancy with such disdain, the one Mexican employee perked up at the name of Mexico but then got uninterested and went back to staring at his phone as the lady went on and on how her sister had a better life.The man kept staring at me and I felt pretty uncomfortable, I believe he was aware that I was observing them. He whispered something to his wife and they both turned around and stared at me as I was pretending to text someone. They finished their dinner shortly after and as they threw out their trash the woman rolled her eyes at me. They resented being the objects of my observation and I’m pretty sure their anger stemmed from embarrassment. As soon as they left and were out of eye sight I pack ed up my things and left.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

How It Is Close?

Banco Filipino Overview: * 1964, Banco Filipino was established. * 1965, Banco Filipino set out to leave its mark as an innovator, by conceiving the first all-woman bank branch. * 1969, Banco Filipino Became the first bank to process online transactions in real time, giving customers the ability to deposit in any online Banco Filipino branch. * 1966 to1985, Banco Filipino was the largest savings bank  in the Philippines. * In 1970, Banco Filipino started expanding into the countryside with its first provincial branch opening in Naga City. 1972, the bank's customer base grew to one million customers, even in the midst of  martial law. * 1975 It was voted the most preferred bank in  Metro Manila  . * For most of the 1980s, Banco Filipino would remain closed, * January 25, 1985, even though Banco Filipino was performing well and was seen by most people as a very healthy bank, the  Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas  ordered its closure over alleged insolvency. * 1991 ruling made by the  Supreme Court  declared the bank's closure illegal. Banco Filipino subsequently reopened, albeit only with fifteen of its original 92 branches. * For much of the remaining 1990s, Banco Filipino would be busy trying to reestablish itself. * 1995 It became a member of BancNet  after launching the BF Cash Card and issued its first  credit card, a  VISA  card. * 1997 Two years later, BF shares were re-listed on the  Philippine Stock Exchange, * 1999 the Supreme Court declared that Banco Filipino is entitled to damages payments caused by its illegal closure. 2009, the Makati RTC ordered the Bangko Sentral and the Monetary Board to immediately implement the bank’s approved business plan by releasing P25 in billion financial assistance and a package of regulatory relief, which was affirmed by the appellate court in 2008. * March 17, 2011 The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) ordered the closure of Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank and placed it under the receivership of state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PD IC), saying its liabilities topped its assets by P8. 4 billion. Analysis of the case Problem areas: The officers of Banco Filipino mismanaged money entrusted to them by their depositors by its continued lavish spending. * Banco Filipino allowed loans to remain unpaid, including billions in overdue loans granted to its stockholders, officers, and related companies * To raise funds, Banco Filipino lured depositors with interest rates way above the prevailing market rates which made their interest expense higher than its income. * Banco filipino’s loans became overdue which means their principal and interest remained unpaid. Recommendations or Proposed Solutions: The board of directors should have their internal control tighter especially in spending expenses. They should have established good system regarding cost spending, for instance they could have develop a group that would review if the money is properly allocated. * The company should have set up policies that concerns g ranting loans to its stockholders, officers and related companies. They also should have a department or committee that would review the position of loans, if it is becoming overdue. * The bank should have reviewed the way that they raise their fund and search for a better strategy. Luring depositors by giving high interest rates was a huge mistake. It is one of the major mistakes that the bank had made. It made the interest expense higher than the proceeds that they are accumulating. * Banco Filipino should have created a better control or system in paying their loans and interest to the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas and other creditors. They should have also set up a team who would oversee the progress of their borrowings that could have prevented the interest and principal unpaid. Banco Filipino: Case Analysis By: Montiel, Karen Patricia T. AC09404

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Comedy in a Action, Suspense M essays

Comedy in a Action, Suspense M essays Pulp Fiction is a great movie with one of the best young directors Quentin Tarantino, and great actors such as John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, and Bruce Willis. This movie keeps you on the edge of your seat at all times with the killing and drugs always in the shot but at times you can laugh at the conversations that go on throughout the movie. A great scene I have chosen is one of the first few scenes when Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent (John Travolta) are driving in the car on the way to kill somebody. The funny part of this scene is how they are both going to kill somebody in a few minutes but for some reason they are talking about what a cheeseburger is called in Amsterdam. It seems to me that killing doesnt even cross their mind. Vincent is telling Jules about his trip to Europe and he is just telling him the funny differences they have over there like, they use mayonnaise instead of ketchup and drugs are legal to buy which is funny since the movie is all about drugs. The next funny part is when they open the trunk and figure out how many people are in the apartment but instead of saying wow thats a lot of people in there all they say is, we need shotguns. At this point you would believe that they would get serious and worry about killing these guys but instead they begin talking about massaging feet, which h as nothing to do with the situation. While they are waiting for the right time to knock on the door and kill these fools they fight about if its right to message a womens feet that is married. They compare it to going down on a girl which is quite hilarious. Vincent is being a smart ass at this time and ask Jules if he would mesage his feet. The comedy stops when they walk in and Jules becomes a hard ass and goes on a killing spree and doesnt give a damn about anyone but himself and Vincent. Theres even a little comedy in this scene when Jules gets off the su...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

How to Make a Histogram in 7 Simple Steps

How to Make a Histogram in 7 Simple Steps A histogram is a type of graph that is used in statistics. This kind of graph uses vertical bars to display quantitative data.  The heights of the bars indicate the frequencies or relative frequencies of values in our data set. Although any basic software can construct a histogram, it is important to know what your computer is doing behind the scenes when it produces a histogram. The following walks through the steps that are used to construct a histogram.  With these steps, we could construct a histogram by hand. Classes or Bins Before we draw our histogram, there are some preliminaries that we must do.  The initial step involves some basic summary statistics from our data set.   First, we find the highest and lowest data value in the set of data. From these numbers, the range can be computed by subtracting the minimum value from the maximum value. We next use the range to determine the width of our classes.  There is no set rule, but as a rough guide, the range should be divided by five for small sets of data and 20 for larger sets. These numbers will give a class width or bin width. We may need to round this number and/or use some common sense. Once the class width is determined, we choose a class that will include the minimum data value. We then use our class width to produce subsequent classes, stopping when we have produced a class that includes the maximum data value. Frequency Tables Now that we have determined our classes, the next step is to make a table of frequencies. Begin with a column that lists the classes in increasing order. The next column should have a tally for each of the classes. The third column is for the count or frequency of data in each class. The final column is for the relative frequency of each class. This indicates what proportion of the data is in that particular class. Drawing the Histogram Now that we have organized our data by classes, we are ready to draw our histogram. Draw a horizontal line. This will be where we denote our classes.Place evenly spaced marks along this line that correspond to the classes.Label the marks so that the scale is clear and give a name to the horizontal axis.Draw a vertical line just to the left of the lowest class.Choose a scale for the vertical axis that will accommodate the class with the highest frequency.Label the marks so that the scale is clear and give a name to the vertical axis.Construct bars for each class. The height of each bar should correspond to the frequency of the class at the base of the bar.  We can also use relative frequencies for the heights of our bars.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Smoking in work place Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Smoking in work place - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that in the United States, the negative effects of cigarette smoke were first mentioned in the 1960s, by the first Surgeon General. This report initiated the gradual disenchantment with cigarettes among the members of the American public. Today, advertisements, as well as cigarette packets, are required by law to contain warning labels. In many developed nations, advertisements of cigarettes are also banned on television. There are also messages against smoking that are carried across many media channels which speak of the detrimental effects of smoking on the human body. Â  According to Kim, Kamyab, Zhu, Volpp, Kim, and Kamyab, public health organizations in America spend millions of dollars on an annual basis in efforts to help addicted smokers to leave their destructive habits. Smoking is very addictive and many smokers try, unsuccessfully, every year, to stop their habits. They use books, group therapy, skin patches and even nicotine g um to try and stop their smoking habits. For those who cannot stop this habit, there is the very real possibility of having to contend with carcinogenic effects of ingesting the poisonous compounds that are found in the process of smoking cigarettes. Many medical authorities have also conducted a multitude of studies that have established that second-hand smoke can also affect the individuals who work around smokers.