Teaching

A Study On The Theory Of Teen Dating Abuse By Using A...

Phenomenology A phenomenology study will be conducted because the question seeks to understand the experience of youth that has experienced dating violence. To grasp the essence of their experiences I will conduct interviews with adolescent survivors of dating violence, allowing them to tell their story and explain their experiences from their personal point of view. The statements and descriptions of those experiences will define the essence of the phenomenon. (Taken from Tranell Steward Initial discussion wk 3). Problem Recent literature suggests there is little known about dating violence among youth. (Bennett and Banyard, 2014; Edwards, Gidyez, and Sylaska, 2013; Halpern, Tucker, Bengtson, Kupper, McLean, and Martin, 2013). Additionally, the Center for Disease Control (2015) revealed that the cycle of abuse begins at a young age, suggesting most of college age students that experience dating abuse had their first experience between the ages of 11-17. (Taken from Tranell Steward initial discussion wk 3). Purpose Add to knowledge of teen dating abuse by using a phenomenological inquiry focused on lived experiences of female victims of teen dating abuse. Questions How do adolescent victims of dating violence cope with intimate partner violence? How do adolescents define dating violence or intimate partner violence? Ethnography Patton (2015) suggest that people that interact together for a long period of time, eventually constructs a culture. In an ethnographicShow MoreRelatedOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pages. Organization Theory Challenges and Perspectives John McAuley, Joanne Duberley and Phil Johnson . This book is, to my knowledge, the most comprehensive and reliable guide to organisational theory currently available. What is needed is a text that will give a good idea of the breadth and complexity of this important subject, and this is precisely what McAuley, Duberley and Johnson have provided. They have done some sterling service in bringing together the very diverse strands of work

Segmental Reporting & Disclosure for AASB- myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theSegmental Reporting Disclosure for AASB. Answer: Ideally, entities are seen to operate and conduct business at different levels either product wise, service wise, clientele, legally or even geographically. At all these levels, of course, there exist activities that generate revenue or that are seen to reward the investors at a particular period. It is therefore rightfully for the users of the information to get informed on the decisions available, risk assessment exercise and finally previous firm performance analysis for their best interest and that of the company Crawford(2012.Pg 52) ASSB 114 and 8 has set regulations and guidelines on how the latter expectations of investors should be addressed regarding the segments approach in place. Segments in a firm may likewise be referred to as business unit or departments that are the cash generating in nature. Any cash-generating unit is expected to be held in charge by persons who work on behalf of the investors for the sole purpose of operational control with an eye on revenue generation and these persons are termed to be part of the management since they analyse data and present activities happenings and scenarios while delivering key decisions in the segments. The management is therefore soberly expected to outline all the information and measures considered in decision making. This should range from operations, financials and finally management through dialogue and both statistical and theoretical analysis. At the segmental level, the management reliance is high since he forms the informational basis of how the business is being run hence setting means of assessing business performance. We can further state that all segment disclosures present in a firm through one way or the other it has its roots to the management information available concerning the segments at the time of reporting. The management is therefore expected to be more cautious and responsible on all the matters relating to segments since they form the basis of garbage in/garbage out. Management segmental adoption approach is vital since all the parties within individual interest and that of the business use the information while reporting and disclosing segmental reports. This approach may or may not result in too much private information disclosure to competitors depending on individual ethics and professionalism Deegan(2012.Pg. 30). The access level of information according to management is at time unquestionable thus limited to their discretion. It is from this that he can maliciously and unlawful share the information since no one monitors or regulates what they ought to disclose and to who. However, this is only applicable to persons of management whose ethics and integrity is compromised Bugeja(2015.Pg 320). Likewise, it may not disclose too much info to the competitor but only to the extent in which the management agrees and comply with ethics and professionalism rules on the share of information and secrecy that this applies. Generally, individual management persons intention and professional will is what dictates on the act of insider information and its control Aleksanyan (2015.Pg 50). Highlands Pacific Limited 2016 annual reports inform of the group segments activities to be that of exploring, evaluating and that of industry developments and this is conducted through exploration and evaluation at segments Frieda where copper and gold activities take place, Ramu dealing with nickel cobalt and Star mountain exploration of gold. Highlandss management is seen to report the segments in the note number 21 of notes to financial statements. The management has further outlined the segment units in the statement of significant accounting policies summary (c).The director in the summary report is seen to give over view of events that happened during the year and more so on the excellent progress of star mountain copper-gold segment and possible factors towards it, likewise we are able to be informed by management of April accident that occurred and the next course of action of shutting down that was taken by management Lantto(2007.Pg 23).They further inform on risks analysis and announcement of the next stage of exploration at Sewa Bay. Generally the latter is just sample of management approach information wise on segments Kang(2013.Pg 240) Highland Pacific Ltd Company 2016 annual report has met all segmental requirements while reporting and disclosure as outlined in AASB 8 and IFRS 8 at the point of reporting. All explanation that is deemed importance for decision making has been disclosed in notes and in the summary policies. References Aleksanyan, M. and Danbolt, J., 2015. Segment reporting: Is IFRS 8 really better?. Accounting in Europe, 12(1), pp.37-60. Bugeja, M., Czernkowski, R. and Moran, D., 2015. The impact of the management approach on segment reporting. Journal of Business Finance Accounting, 42(3-4), pp.310-366. Crawford, L., Crawford, L., Extance, H., Helliar, C. and Power, D., 2012. Operating segments: The usefulness of IFRS 8. ICAS. Deegan, C., 2012. Australian financial accounting. McGraw-Hill Education Australia. Kang, H. and Gray, S.J., 2013. Segment reporting practices in Australia: Has IFRS 8 made a difference?. Australian Accounting Review, 23(3), pp.232-243. Lantto, A.M., 2007. Does IFRS improve the usefulness of accounting information in a code-law country?.

Organisational Marketing Strategies and the Digital Age Essay Example

Organisational Marketing Strategies and the Digital Age Essay Organisational Marketing Strategies and the Digital Age The Role of Marketing Strategy Development As marketing professionals, we have a clearly defined role within the organisation—to promote the organisation’s services and/or products to potential customers in order to increase market share and grow the business. Yet throughout the years, marketing and promotion is straightforward in a world where consumers are spoiled for choice with most any product or service. In addition, consumers cannot be considered a group as a whole. Customers are people, and vary considerably and have different needs so cannot all be satisfied in the same way. Kotler 31) These reasons mean that marketing must be strategic in order to have the biggest impact on obtaining customers, increasing market share, and growing the business. Strategic marketing is defined as the process of aligning strengths of an organisation with the groups of customers it can serve. (Kotler 31) This means that the m arketing strategy will align an organisation with a group of customers where it can meet their needs better than its competitors. Strategic marketing affects the whole direction and future of an organisation. You need a complete understanding of the macro and micro environments and markets served to inform your marketing process. In the same way that your organisation is developing strategic marketing plans to grow the business, your competitors will be doing the same thing, constantly searching out new ways to capture and retain customers. Therefore the basics of strategic marketing involve three interdependent parts so messages are directed appropriately: market segmentation and positioning, developing a relationship with the customers, and competitive strategy. (Kotler 31) Figure 1 defines these parts of strategic marketing. Figure 1: Strategic Marketing Three Parts of Strategic MarketingDefinition Segmentation and positioningDividing the total market into groups of similar customers, then targeting specific groups depending on their attractiveness; giving the product favourable associations in the minds of the target customers Relationship marketing Building and maintaining profitable customer relationships by delivering better value and satisfaction Competitive strategyBuilding an advantage over the competition; delivering customer value that competitors will find difficult to copy We will write a custom essay sample on Organisational Marketing Strategies and the Digital Age specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Organisational Marketing Strategies and the Digital Age specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Organisational Marketing Strategies and the Digital Age specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer By analysing these three parts of strategic marketing, the organisation can also gain a deeper understanding of itself. Knowing who its customers are, their perceptions and purchasing habits, and also understanding how the organisation’s products, services and marketing differ from its competitors enables organisations to plan the future activities to engage with its marketplace. One way to illustrate the organisation’s areas for potential market growth is to use Ansoff’s product/market expansion grid as shown in Figure 1. Kotler 66) Figure 2: Ansoff’s product/market expansion grid Existing productsNew Products Existing MarketsMarket PenetrationProduct development New marketsMarket DevelopmentDiversification In this table, Ansoff provides a way of deciding how to achieve growth. It shows four areas for achieving growth: market development, new markets, new products and diversification. Market penetration is increasing sales of existing products in existing markets. (Kotler 65) Market development is entering new markets with existing products. (Kotler 66) Marketing strategy provides the guiding philosophy for the company (how to serve the needs of customer groups), as well as inputs to overall company strategy by identifying market opportunities and assessing the firm’s potential to take advantage of them. (Kotler 67) Strategic marketing has a key role to play in developing market share and growth when you focus on market penetration and market development. Because the organisation already offers existing services and/or products in a competitive marketplace, one may consider these areas the â€Å"low hanging fruit† of the business as moving into new markets or developing new products incurs more risk. Therefore the minimise risk, it is the very important role of the marketing professional to concentrate efforts on these routes to grow the business. Examples of marketing strategy for these areas can be seen in Figure 3. Figure 3: Examples of Marketing Strategy for Market Penetration and Market Development Existing products Existing MarketsMarket Penetration: Mercedes-Benz new C-class (medium-sized family saloon) and E-class (executive saloon) luxury cars helped them increase sales by 23% New marketsMarket Development: Mercedes-Benz entered the small car market with its A-class small family saloon and Smart Car Market Development and Penetration in a Virtual Marketplace The marketing strategies outlined in Figure 2 represent core activities that your organisations are probably already implementing and measuring. Yet as also described above, your customers are all different and with technological advances that where unheard of just 20 years ago, the needs and attitudes of your customers are also changing. The Digital Age refers to the macro-environmental forces of recent new technological advances that have shifted the business world and change the way we live our lives on a day to day basis. These forces that are shaping the digital era or internet age are digitalisation and connectivity, the explosion of the Internet, new forms of intermediaries, and customisation and customerisation as outlined in Figure 3. (Kotler 128) Figure 3: Forces shaping the Internet age Definition (Kotler 129-131)ExampleImplications Digitalisation and connectivityDigitalisation is where appliances operate on digital information which is a stream of zeros and ones, or bits; for these bits to flow from one appliance to another requires connectivityInternetAllows users all around the world to access a vast amount of information Internet explosionWith the creation of the World Wide Web and web browsers, the Internet was transformed from a communication tool into a revolutionary technologyThe number of web surfers worldwide is expected to reach 1. billion in 2007Leads to innovation because it allows consumers and companies to access and share large amounts of information with just a few mouse clicks New forms of IntermediariesInternet companies selling products and services via the Internet; products and services tradionally sold by store based retailersComputer manufacturersEstablished store-based retailers going out of business Customisation and CustomerisationCustomisation is where a company customises the market offering; customerisation is where the company leaves it to individual customers to design the offeringFor customisation, Levi would take the customers measurements and then customise their jeans at the factory; whereas customerisation means a customer would take their own measurements and add specific featuresCompanies become facilitators with customers moving from consumers to prosumers As seen in Figure 3, forces shaping the digital age can have both positive and negative implications on the marketplace. Therefore, in order for the business to keep up with the changing customer in the Digital Age, marketing strategy must integrate its activities to fit into the digital environment. The Digital Age presents both new opportunities and challenges for the organisation, but strategic marketing planning means that activities can target customers just as, if not even more, effectively as traditional non-digital marketing methodologies. Some digital marketing methodologies are outlined in Figure 4. Figure 4: Examples of Digital Marketing Methods (Kotler 134-153) Digital Marketing MethodDefinition e-commerceBuying and selling supported by electronic means WebsitesA site on the Web which carries information, answers customer questions, builds customer relationships and generates excitement about the company. The site can also engage consumers and move them closer to a purchase Online advertisingAdvertising that appears whilst consumers are surfing the Web, including banner ads and skyscrapers Viral MarketingWord-of-mouth marketing on the Internet; email messages that are so appealing that customers will forward them on to friends Web CommunitiesWebsites where members gather to exchange views on shared interests WebcastingAutomatic downloading of customised information of interest to recipients computer; ideal for delivering Internet advertising As seen in Figure 4, digital marketing methodologies represent the online or computerised versions of traditional marketing communications tactics. The benefits of these methods are that marketers are able to tailor their offers effectively to targeted customers at relatively low cost. They are a powerful tool for building customer relationships, plus they increase a sellers speed and efficiency as well as offering easy access to world markets. Figure 5 shows examples of where these methods can fall into place within Ansoff’s growth model. The Marketing Mix for a Digital Strategy Integrating digital methodologies involves re-evaluating your organisation’s marketing mix in the context of the digital marketplace. Marketing mix is defined as the set of controllable tactical marketing tools – product, price, place and promotion – that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market. (Kotler 34) The marketing professionals within organisations place different emphasis on each of these tools depending on the type of organisation and the target market. Integrating the e-marketing Communications Mix into Marketing Mix Figure 6 shows examples of the e-marketing communications mix. Table 7 illustrates how the e-marketing communications mix can be integrated to complement and support offline marketing tactics. Table 7: Integrating the e-marketing Communications Mix into Marketing Mix Offline marketinge-marketing Product PriceDiscounts for redeeming couponsDiscounts for ordering via company website PlaceRetail outlets, call centreCompany website PromotionDirect mail, press ads, postersEmail, banner ads Physical Evidence Process Integration of e-comms with offline activity, branding, customer experience, communications to have web address.

Murphy Surname Meaning and Family History

Murphy Surname Meaning and Family History The common Irish surname Murphy is a modern form of the ancient Irish name OMurchadha, which means descendant of sea warrior, or strong, superior, from the  Gaelic  muir  meaning sea and  cath  meaning battle. The surname Murphy (including its variant forms) is the most common surname in Ireland. Murphy is also popular in the United States, where it is the 58th most common surname based on 2000 census data. Surname Origin:  Irish Alternate Surname Spellings:  MURPHEY, MORPHY, OMORCHOE, MCMURPHY, OMURPHY, OMURCHU Famous People with the Surname MURPHY Eddie Murphy  - American actor and comedianGeorge Murphy - actor and U.S. SenatorRyan Murphy -  American  producer, screenwriter and directorJohn Murphy - Irish  Roman Catholic priest; one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798Michael Murphy - Irish Roman Catholic priest; United Irishman  leader during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 Where is the MURPHY  Surname Most Commonly Found? Forebears ranks Murphy as the most popular surname in Ireland, and the 9th most common surname in Northern Ireland. Murphy is also fairly common in Australia (45th), Canada (46th) and the United States (53rd). Within Ireland, Murphy is most common in Cork and Wexford. Data from WorldNames PublicProfiler agrees, identifying the Murphy surname as most common in southern Ireland.   Genealogy Resources for the Surname MURPHY 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their MeaningsSmith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census? Murphy  Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as a Murphy  family crest or coat of arms for the Murphy surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted. Murphy Family DNA ProjectIndividuals with the Murphy surname and variations are invited to join this project dedicated to combining the results of DNA testing with genealogy research to identify various Murphy family lines. The Murphy Family: Genealogical, Historical and BiographicalFree, online edition of a 1909 book on the Murphy Family by Michael Walter Downes.  From Internet Archive. Murphy ClanLearn about Murphy genealogy, the Murphy coat of arms, clan history, and more. Murphy Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Murphy surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Murphy query. FamilySearch - MURPHY  GenealogyExplore over 6  million  historical records which mention individuals with the Murphy surname, as well as online Murphy family trees on this free website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. MURPHY Surname Family Mailing ListsRootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Murphy surname. DistantCousin.com - MURPHY Genealogy Family HistoryExplore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Murphy. GeneaNet - Murphy  RecordsGeneaNet includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the Murphy  surname, with a concentration on records and families from France and other European countries. The Murphy  Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse family trees and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the last name Murphy  from the website of Genealogy Today. - References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998. Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997. Back to  Glossary of Surname Meanings Origins

Write a Description of the Duties and Responsibilities of Your Own Work Role Essays

Write a Description of the Duties and Responsibilities of Your Own Work Role Essays Write a Description of the Duties and Responsibilities of Your Own Work Role Essay Write a Description of the Duties and Responsibilities of Your Own Work Role Essay 1. Write a description of the duties and responsibilities of your own work role (Approx. 300 – 500 words) I consider my role at the school like being a character in a play. An actor has to do and say the things that their audience would expect them to do and say. Being a professional early years worker means doing and saying what is expected from all those involved. However, as Kath Bulman stated in her book â€Å"BTEC First Early Years†, professionalism involves the ability to balance different people’s expectations. As an early year’s worker I must make sure that the environment is safe for children to be in. As stated by Penny Tassoni (2002), I must make sure that children’s environments are safe by carrying out checks and by being generally observant. All children have a basic right to build a positive future and this includes emotional, physical and mental health. Good emotional well-being and mental health will enable the child to build positive relationships, cope with the ups and downs of life, realize their own potential and have the opportunity to develop emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. Building a good relationship with children, parents, adults and colleagues is very important, as it helps in creating a welcoming and pleasant environment in the setting. It helps to develop trust among parents and carers. Furthermore a child’s welfare is paramount, thus working in partnership with parents and communicating with them, will help in the overall development of the children. According to Bruce and Meggitt (2006) respect and effective communication are two of the main responsibilities of a child carer. Effective communication provides a means in establishing contact, influencing others and a way to build relationships. It is my duty as a carer to ensure that the children are provided with enough time and a proper space where effective communication can take place. I should identify each individual’s preferences and needs, and strive to provide the appropriate support that aids the child to reach his/her full potential. As a professional working with children I should make sure that children experience interactions that make them feel valued, respected and capable. This can be reached by taking into account the different backgrounds, requirements and communication skills of individuals. Thus, develop ongoing consultation between all those involved and review regularly. Arnold J. (2005) came up with such a plan that identifies training and development needs, setting objectives, when tasks will be reviewed and how it will be known when objectives have been reached. Another vital duty is to respect the privacy of children and their parents and carers, while ensuring that they access high quality care and play opportunities in the setting. I should aim to ensure that all parents and carers can share their information in the confidence that it will only be used to enhance the welfare of their children. I am expected to tend to my duties with immense responsibility since I am â€Å"intimately involved with the child – giving the child a sense of belonging, of being loved and important. †(Kath Bulman, 2004). When children grow up in a caring setting, they grow to like who they are, to be confident and have self-esteem. References: Penny Tassoni (2002), CERTIFICATE CHILD CARE AND EDUCATION, Oxford, Heinmann Educational Publishers. Kath Bulman (2004), BTEC FIRST EARLY YEARS, Oxford, Heinmann Educational Publishers. Arnold, J. (2005) WORK PSYCHOLOGY, 4th edition. Essex: Pearson. Bruce, T and Meggitt, C, (2006) CHILD CARE AND EDUCATION 4th edition. London : Hodder Arnold. 2. Prepare an explanation of the expectations about your own work role as expressed in relevant standards. (Approx. 250 – 350 words) AS a child carer I am expected to keep in mind that childhood is a very important phase in life, not just because children represent the future, but also to â€Å"allow children to live in the present and to realize their full potential†. The National Standards stresses the importance of having â€Å"suitable persons†. When parents opt to trust carers with their children, the former must provide the best alternate care possible, ensuring their safety and well being. As a carer I should satisfy the recruitment criteria, being; age, experience, qualification and references. Any child care facility should provide appropriate carer to child ratios that enables children to receive individual attention from their key worker. The latter should provide them with opportunities for self-expression, to play individually and to interact with others. I am expected to ensure that the children are welcomed in an adequate space that ensures safety, hygiene and security. The service should be physically accessible, including toilets that are accessible to everyone using the centre. Any equipment used should be in compliance with good standards of safety and hygiene. Strict standards of hygiene should be practiced and encouraged to prevent and control the spread of infections. Moreover, I am expected to promote the benefits of a healthy diet and encourage parents to reinforce them. The facility should be managed by a qualified person who sets clear objectives, to both parents and staff, which should be reinforced by having a written manual containing all the policies and procedures of the centre. Furthermore, I am expected to provide diverse opportunities that cater for the children’s diverse needs, in order to promote their intellectual curiosity and development. I should design various activities; to promote inclusion and participation, respecting race, culture or religion of any child. I am expected to encourage children to take responsibility for their own behaviour and to show care and consideration towards others. I should consult the parents on a regular basis regarding the progress and development of the children. Finally, I am expected to be trained to recognize signs of suspected abuse and report these findings to my manager, who is then obliged to report to the authorities. Such issues should be dealt with extreme confidentiality. References: Ministry for the Family and Social Solidairity (July 2006). National Standards for Child Day Care facilities.

The Crusades Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

The Crusades - Research Paper Example Scholars commonly attempt to mark crusades as the Europeans’ military expeditions against the Muslims who were then occupying the holy places in Jerusalem. In this sense, there were about four major crusades which were led during this period. But the most successful one of all these crusades was the First one in which the Crusaders could successfully occupy Antioch and Jerusalem, two most important cities of the Muslims.1 But the First Crusade was important not only for its success but also for its historical, sociopolitical and cultural background. Indeed, though on the surface level, it was a response to Pope Urban’s (II) call, it was, in reality, the reflection of an age which had experienced heavy conflict between Monarchy and Church. During the 11th century, the conflict between the State and the Church began with the Investiture Controversy which was a â€Å"dispute between King Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII concerning who would appoint bishops†2. Beside th is state-church conflict, the whole religious system got divided into a number of groups and subgroups. But the most important religious schism was the East-West Schism. Scholars claim that along with other socioeconomic and cultural factors, the state-church conflict and the East-West Schism played a crucial role in preparing the plot of the First Crusade. Moreover, this was the only one successful whereas all of the following crusades ended in smoke. In this paper, I will discuss what factors work behind the materialization of the First Crusade and why it became successful whereas the Second Crusade failed. Though it is commonly believed that the first Crusade was mainly the result of Common Europeans’ spontaneous response to Pope Urban’s (II) call, it was basically the outcome of the reformist soul of the early 11th century as well as a reaction to other contemporary sociopolitical and religious events of that era.3 A close scrutiny of the historical contexts of the First Crusade will necessarily show that it was related to the sociopolitical and religious zeal and the state-church conflict in a number of ways. So, the First Crusade was more of a sociopolitical event than a pure spiritual response of the common people. In fact, Pope Urban’s religious stance tends to hide other sociopolitical aspects of the First Crusade. This religious trend of the crusade further tends to hide the fact that though Pope Urban could motivate common people by manipulating their religiosity, his call for the Crusade was not purely religious. Rather it was Pope Urban’s attempt to consolidate his power over the state.4 In fact, due to the lack of any primary document on Pope Urban’s intention behind the First Crusade, the event remains open to interpretation. Historians’ interpretations about the drives of the First Crusades are based mainly on three points: a. the 11th century religious reform movement, b. the Seldjuk’s or the Mu slims’ threat which the Eastern Roman Orthodoxy was facing during those days, c. consolidation of Papacy’s hold on the state’s power as well as on entire European Christendom. A critical analysis of the factors behind the First Crusade will show that all of these three causes had played equal role in organizing the First Crusade. Seldjuk’s Threat in the East as a Primary Cause of First Crusade Some historians often attempt to underestimate the

Foundations of Criminal Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Foundations of Criminal Law - Assignment Example Jail for Sainsbury's IT boss who stole 17 million Nectar Points’. This case talks about James Stevenson who was an IT manager liable of stealing 17 million Necta points was found guilty and jailed for 20 years. According to the United Kingdom Federal Law addressing the concept of theft, it was very right to take that legal action because Mr. Stevenson served the IT Company with self-centeredness, where he never minded about the firm or the involved parties. The UK Federal Law clearly states that nobody should serve personal interest or engage in some form of corruption when working in a public office, company or private sectors. In this case, justice was acquired to the firm and the involved parties because Stevenson deserved the sentence. The court found him guilty of having stolen the IT Company’s money by serving his own interest. The legal issue here is that Stevenson had stolen millions of Necta Points that belonged to the Company and the fact that he was jailed se rved him right. The father of two, of Muswell Hill, north London, confessed employing some of the money to buy ?8, 120 – worth of products from the store. However, after calculations were carried out with all the evidences analysed keenly, Mr. Stevenson was found guilty and that was a fare judgment particularly when examined from the sentence point of view. The UK Fraud Law was keenly observed and justice done to the firm. The identification of this case by this article is accurate, clear and complete in the sense that it explains all concepts openly and clearly in a way that one can understand well. Policeman stole ?70,000 in banks fraud to fund affair with fellow officer... but walks free from court’ (Daily Mail On-Line 22 February 2012) This case involves a police officer who financed an extramarital affair using fraudulently raking in ?70, 000 in bank loans. After the judged heard his cases keenly, he branded him as emotionally fragile and the man just walked free from the court. PC Jamie Hillman who is 37 swindled more than 6 different high street banks, engrossing Northern Rock and Barclays, through application for loans and credit cards (McQueeeney, 2012). According to me, this judgment was wrong in the sense that what Hillman was doing is totally stealing from banks. This is because the legal issue outlined is theft because taking a person’s property or item without his or her knowledge is stealing. It does not matter who he served or how he used the money but the bottom line is that he was stealing. According to the United Kingdom Fraud law, any form of stealing from a business individual or organization demands that the individual involved be jailed because that is against the law. The fact that Hillman used false claims at the application of these loans including an open lie that he was a sergeant in the Metropolitan Police and even that he was a soldier serving in Afghanistan, makes him guilty and he deserved to be jailed (McQu eeeney, 2012). Despite the fact that he might have used the money to finance ‘double life’, he used a certain portion of it to serve his own interest what makes it clear stealing intentions. Therefore, this judgment was not right because the banks from which he stole never received justice they deserved. The legal issue, which is theft, was not attended to. Moreover, the judge sent him to prison for 12 months; if indeed he was

Virus and Malware Protection Essay Example for Free

Virus and Malware Protection Essay With the dawn of the 21st century, reliance on computers and computer systems to run various facets of human life has increased. Nowadays, everything from airline reservations to newspaper publishing is either computerized or employs some version of technology in order to operate. While the basic premise of technology making it easier for people still applies, man’s dependence on it has also opened up a whole new set of problems not present before the advent of computer technology. Computers are basically composed of two parts: hardware and software. The physical properties of a computer, such as the monitor, keyboard, central processing unit (CPU), and so on are the hardware. The software on the other hand, is what essentially makes the computer run. Among these are operating systems (OS), anti-virus programs and graphics editing tools, among others. While hardware failures can do much to damage a system’s infrastructure, software failures can be even more destructive. Whether it’s ordinary information (such as word documents of a party invitation or pictures of your last group’s outing), or sensitive (such as credit card details, usernames and password, etc. ), a loss of software functionality or security can do much to harm the user or users involved. A computer virus is a program or software that, like its biological namesake, can replicate and infect a system without the knowledge or permission of the user. Because of the technological advances today that link millions of computers together over the Internet, or other networks, it has become much easier to spread computer viruses around. Malware, on the other hand, is the general term for any computer program that is specifically designed to penetrate or damage a computer system without the user’s permission. It includes viruses, spyware, adware, worms and Trojan horses, among others. Because of the amount of damage malware in general can cause to a system, a plethora of anti-virus systems have since been released in order to repel such intrusions. It should be noted however, that not all of them are as effective as they seem to be. NOD32 2. 7 versus McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008 Comparing the NOD32 anti-virus system with McAfee’s VirusScan Plus is relatively easy. Based on a multitude of independent studies and tests, NOD32 defeats McAfee in terms of virus protection hands down. Using ZDNet as a point of reference for the two, NOD32 is one of the most effective programs today at detecting and removing computer viruses, and is also one of the fastest and lightest (in terms of program size) ever. The only disadvantage to what might have been the perfect anti-virus is its graphical user interface (GUI), which is for average computer users, at the minimum. Users who have tried NOD32 in the past will attest to the lack of user-friendliness of its interface, though the bottom line would be that whatever it lacks for in graphical design it makes up for with the power of its scanning engine. McAfee’s VirusScan Plus offers more options than NOD32, and its GUI is much more user-friendly, though its overall effectiveness at doing what it’s supposed to be doing in the first place (detecting viruses) falls short of expectations. Furthermore, reviews indicate that the product continues to offer poor technical support, lacks regular updates, and is only half as good as other anti-virus programs in performance tests. As a saving grace though, its GUI is very easy to learn even for beginners, and scans use relatively little system memory allowing one to do other things while letting the virus scan run quietly in the background. Given the choice to select one of the two based on my needs, I would still go for NOD32 anytime, as the only prohibitive factor for it is its GUI, which I can understand pretty well anyway. I have always found the immense power of its scanning engine to be a very useful and compelling argument for me to remain with NOD32 as compared to going for other anti-virus programs which may be easy not only on the eyes but on computer viruses too. Online Scan Programs I decided to subject my computer system to one of the more well-known online scan utilities, namely Trend Micro’s HouseCall online virus scanner. A number of vulnerabilities were revealed, and it was only a matter of minutes before these were quickly patched and secured, thus keeping my system safe and virus-spyware-adware free once more. Spyware and Adware Menaces Spyware is defined as software that secretly gathers information about the user without his knowledge while transmitting it to a third and unauthorized party. Adware, on the other hand, is usually harmless and simply integrates advertisements and promotions into software. In order to test my computer’s vulnerability to both, I downloaded and installed Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 6 and Spybot’s Search and Destroy. The installation process for both was easy enough, though in the end I preferred the user interface of Ad-Aware as compared to SAD. Once they were both installed and updated, I wasted no time running a complete system scan on my personal computer and was quite surprised to see a good number of adware, as well as a smattering of spyware, lurking within my system. After the cleaning process, I did another scan and this time both programs negatively reported any spyware or adware left. Overall, both programs did a pretty good job and perhaps the only reason why I would pick Lavasoft’s product over Spybot’s is the more appealing GUI of the former over the latter. I can definitely say that this is certainly not the first time my computer has been infected with various types of malware despite my best efforts to keep them out using a combination of anti-virus and anti-spyware/adware programs. Nevertheless, my carelessness before has cost me my fair share of computer slowdowns and lost data, thus I can only advocate to other computer users out there to stay vigilant and secure with their data and systems by always having updated protective computer software.

Mental Imagery: Can a Figment of Imagination Help Performance? :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Mental Imagery: Can a Figment of Imagination Help Performance? "It all comes from the mind. I've seen the most incredible success stories...because a person had a dream and it was so powerful no one could touch it. He'd feel it, believe it, think about it all day and night. That would inspire him to do things necessary to get the results he wanted (2)." -Arnold Schwarzenegger For the past few weeks, the world has been glued to their television screens, mesmerized by the breathtaking accomplishments of the 2002 Olympic athletes. As an avid watcher of ice skating events, I couldn’t help but wonder what athletes like the bronze medallist Micelle Kwan and the gold medallist Sarah Hughes were thinking prior to their final skating performances. Before the final skating event, both skaters physically practiced their performances. I noticed that in addition to physically preparing themselves by repeatedly running through their performances, Sarah and Michelle closed their eyes and listened to music before they skated. Did mental imagery help either of the athletes prepare and successfully execute their presentations? In other words, what are the effects of mental imagery on the performance of athletes such as Michelle Kwan and Sarah Hughes? Does it make a difference on performance if mental imagery of the desired outcome is absent or present? What is mental imagery? In The Effects of Mental Imagery on Athletic Performance, Anne Plessinger describes mental imagery as the imagining of the execution of an action without actually performing the action. Plessinger also explains that mental imagery not only includes visual senses, but also auditory, olfactory and kinesthetic senses (4). Studies have demonstrated that mental imagery prior to athletic performance leads to better results than the execution of the action alone. Plessinger describes an experiment that consisted of a control group and an imagery group who were told to complete specific golf skills. It was concluded that the imagery group performed better because they had higher goals and expectations of themselves (4). Perhaps the mental preparation helped the imagery group’s brains acquire the right skills needed. Also, other studies have shown specific physiological differences (breathing, heart rate...etc.) with the addition of mental imagery before perform ance (1). Does this mean that mental imagery is linked to motor performance? Would athletes achieve the same or different results if they mentally prepare themselves or not? To answer these questions, I looked at the neurological aspect of mental imagery and motor preparation.

Future of Smart Phones

In recent years, the concept of a smart phone is changing dramatically. Just review what we have already got. iPhone, a creative mobile phone, has established a platform full of potential, which allows programmers to design innovative applications and sell them online. We cannot deny that iPhone is the leader of the smart phone market, however, there’s another powerful purser, smart phones based on Google Android system, which is an open-sources operating system. Features of present smart phones are evident to see, touchscreen, GPS navigator, gravity sensor, massive delicate applications and so forth.These things have come up in such a short time and changed the market entirely. 2. Changes and Improvements of future smart phones As it’s said before, smart phones are full of potential. With the increasing growth of customers’ appetite, these little digital machines are evolving rapidly to benefit people. More functions will be integrated into smartphones. 2. 1 Gam ing experience It’s believed that the gaming experience will be greatly improved in next few years. Gamers will be able to experience what we are experiencing on PCs where a FPS game is involved with high-resolution graphical display and multiplayer co-operation.These should ascribe to faster processor and faster carrier service. Moreover, the installation of games will be much easier. Only several steps are needed to be done to have a latest game downloaded and ready to run. Payment and whatever can be accomplished online. Also, with the need for intense empathy of gaming experience, the screen of smart phones will be much bigger but not as big as an iPad because it’s a burden to carry. Some designed for game may have gaming controller on themselves, just like PSP. 2. 2 Security Perhaps most challenging concern for the future is security.Nowadays, increasing people use their credit cards via smart phones. It’s devastating to see that online thieves working day and night. At present we cannot make the conclusion that smart phone we are using is pretty secure, not by the iPhone being hacked to acquaint administration right. Manufactures and security corporations should work together to ensure that customers’ password won’t be stolen by villains. When a smart phone is infected with virus, powerful anti-virus software should alert the user and wipe out the threat immediately. 2. 3 CommunicationThe famous SNS website Facebook has already achieved 500 million registered accounts, which means there’re more and more people that enjoy online communication. This gives smart phones a perfect opportunity to be the very useful tool to keep in touch with others. Although we cannot access internet everywhere at present, the future smart phone will become the most common communication device with widespread Wi-Fi network. Moreover, contact with friends will be fun under the help of some features such as multi-touching and mini camera . Sharing at any time can be the top entertainment in our daily life. 3. ConclusionHave you ever dreamed of having an ultra-functional hand like device that can do almost everything for you? It’s not transformers, but it can come into being with the rapid development of technology. Smart phones, with faster processor and high developed operating system, won’t just be your travelling companion, but your key to the colorful digital world.Bibliography (References) John Brandon (2010, February). The Future of Smartphones: 2010-2015 and Beyond. Retrieved October 28, 2010, from Digital Trend, Features Web site: http://www. digitaltrends. com/features/the-future-of-smartphones-2010-2015-and-beyond/

Digital Fortress Chapter 43

A jaunty forty-five, Chad Brinkerhoff was well-pressed, well-groomed, and well-informed. His summer-weight suit, like his tan skin, showed not a wrinkle or hint of wear. His hair was thick, sandy blond, and most importantly-all his own. His eyes were a brilliant blue-subtly enhanced by the miracle of tinted contact lenses. He surveyed the wood-paneled office around him and knew he had risen as far as he would rise in the NSA. He was on the ninth floor-Mahogany Row. Office 9A197. The Directorial Suite. It was a Saturday night, and Mahogany Row was all but deserted, its executives long gone-off enjoying whatever pastimes influential men enjoyed in their leisure. Although Brinkerhoff had always dreamed of a â€Å"real† post with the agency, he had somehow ended up as a â€Å"personal aide†-the official cul de sac of the political rat race. The fact that he worked side by side with the single most powerful man in American intelligence was little consolation. Brinkerhoff had graduated with honors from Andover and Williams, and yet here he was, middle-aged, with no real power-no real stake. He spent his days arranging someone else's calendar. There were definite benefits to being the director's personal aide-Brinkerhoff had a plush office in the directorial suite, full access to all the NSA departments, and a certain level of distinction that came from the company he kept. He ran errands for the highest echelons of power. Deep down Brinkerhoff knew he was born to be a PA-smart enough to take notes, handsome enough to give press conferences, and lazy enough to be content with it. The sticky-sweet chime of his mantel clock accented the end of another day of his pathetic existence. Shit, he thought. Five o'clock on a Saturday. What the hell am I doing here? â€Å"Chad?† A woman appeared in his doorway. Brinkerhoff looked up. It was Midge Milken, Fontaine's internal security analyst. She was sixty, slightly heavy, and, much to the puzzlement of Brinkerhoff, quite appealing. A consummate flirt and an ex-wife three times over, Midge prowled the six-room directorial suite with a saucy authority. She was sharp, intuitive, worked ungodly hours, and was rumored to know more about the NSA's inner workings than God himself. Damn, Brinkerhoff thought, eyeing her in her gray cashmere-dress. Either I'm getting older, or she's looking younger. â€Å"Weekly reports.† She smiled, waving a fanfold of paper. â€Å"You need to check the figures.† Brinkerhoff eyed her body. â€Å"Figures look good from here.† â€Å"Really Chad,† she laughed. â€Å"I'm old enough to be your mother.† Don't remind me, he thought. Midge strode in and sidled up to his desk. â€Å"I'm on my way out, but the director wants these compiled by the time he gets back from South America. That's Monday, bright and early.† She dropped the printouts in front of him. â€Å"What am I, an accountant?† â€Å"No, hon, you're a cruise director. Thought you knew that.† â€Å"So what am I doing crunching numbers?† She ruffled his hair. â€Å"You wanted more responsibility. Here it is.† He looked up at her sadly. â€Å"Midge†¦ I have no life.† She tapped her finger on the paper. â€Å"This is your life, Chad Brinkerhoff.† She looked down at him and softened. â€Å"Anything I can get you before I go?† He eyed her pleadingly and rolled his aching neck. â€Å"My shoulders are tight.† Midge didn't bite. â€Å"Take an aspirin.† He pouted. â€Å"No back rub?† She shook her head. â€Å"Cosmopolitan says two-thirds of backrubs end in sex.† Brinkerhoff looked indignant. â€Å"Ours never do!† â€Å"Precisely.† She winked. â€Å"That's the problem.† â€Å"Midge-â€Å" â€Å"Night, Chad.† She headed for the door. â€Å"You're leaving?† â€Å"You know I'd stay,† Midge said, pausing in the doorway, â€Å"but I do have some pride. I just can't see playing second fiddle-particularly to a teenager.† â€Å"My wife's not a teenager,† Brinkerhoff defended. â€Å"She just acts like one.† Midge gave him a surprised look. â€Å"I wasn't talking about your wife.† She battered her eyes innocently. â€Å"I was talking about Carmen.† She spoke the name with a thick Puerto Rican accent. Brinkerhoff's voice cracked slightly. â€Å"Who?† â€Å"Carmen? In food services?† Brinkerhoff felt himself flush. Carmen Huerta was a twenty-seven-year-old pastry chef who worked in the NSA commissary. Brinkerhoff had enjoyed a number of presumably secret after-hours flings with her in the stockroom. She gave him a wicked wink. â€Å"Remember, Chad†¦ Big Brother knows all.† Big Brother? Brinkerhoff gulped in disbelief. Big Brother watches the STOCKROOMS too? Big Brother, or â€Å"Brother† as Midge often called it, was a Centrex 333 that sat in a small closetlike space off the suite's central room. Brother was Midge's whole world. It received data from 148 closed circuit video cameras, 399 electronic doors, 377 phones taps, and 212 free-standing bugs in the NSA complex. The directors of the NSA had learned the hard way that 26,000 employees were not only a great asset but a great liability. Every major security breach in the NSA's history had come from within. It was Midge's job as internal security analyst, to watch everything that went on within the walls of the NSA†¦ including, apparently, the commissary stockroom. Brinkerhoff stood to defend himself, but Midge was already on her way out. â€Å"Hands above the desk,† she called over her shoulder. â€Å"No funny stuff after I go. The walls have eyes.† Brinkerhoff sat and listened to the sound of her heels fading down the corridor. At least he knew Midge would never tell. She was not without her weaknesses. Midge had indulged in a few indiscretions of her own-mostly wandering back rubs with Brinkerhoff. His thoughts turned back to Carmen. He pictured her lissome body, those dark thighs, that AM radio she played full blast-hot San Juan salsa. He smiled. Maybe I'll drop by for a snack when I'm done. He opened the first printout. CRYPTO-PRODUCTION/EXPENDITURE His mood immediately lightened. Midge had given him a freebie; the Crypto report was always a piece of cake. Technically he was supposed to compile the whole thing, but the only figure the director ever asked for was the MCD-the mean cost per decryption. The MCD represented the estimated amount it cost TRANSLTR to break a single code. As long as the figure was below $1,000 per code, Fontaine didn't flinch. A grand a pop. Brinkerhoff chuckled. Our tax dollars at work. As he began plowing through the document and checking the daily MCDs, images of Carmen Huerta smearing herself with honey and confectioner's sugar began playing in his head. Thirty seconds later he was almost done. The Crypto data was perfect-as always. But just before moving on to the next report, something caught his eye. At the bottom of the sheet, the last MCD was off. The figure was so large that it had carried over into the next column and made a mess of the page. Brinkerhoff stared at the figure in shock. 999,999,999? He gasped. A billion dollars? The images of Carmen vanished. A billion-dollar code? Brinkerhoff sat there a minute, paralyzed. Then in a burst of panic, he raced out into the hallway. â€Å"Midge! Comeback!†

Quotes From Quaker and Abolitionist Lucretia Mott

Quotes From Quaker and Abolitionist Lucretia Mott Lucretia Mott, a Quaker, was known as an antislavery advocate and womens rights activist. Many of her quotes express the feminism, antiracism, and religious sentiments that she became famous for. Lucretia Mott Quotes on Womens Rights The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation because, in the degradation of women, the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source. Let her [woman] receive encouragement for the proper cultivation of all her powers, so that she may enter profitably into the active business of life. I grew up so thoroughly imbued with womens rights that it was the most important question of my life from a very early day. It is not Christianity, but priestcraft that has subjected woman as we find her. On Morality I have no idea of submitting tamely to injustice inflicted either on me or on the slave. I will oppose it with all the moral powers with which I am endowed. I am no advocate of passivity. If our principles are right, why should we be cowards? Liberty is not less a blessing, because oppression has so long darkened the mind that it can not appreciate it. My conviction led me to adhere to the sufficiency of the light within us, resting on truth for authority, not on authority for truth. We too often bind ourselves by authorities rather than by the truth. On Christianity It is time that Christians were judged more by their likeness to Christ than their notions of Christ. Were this sentiment generally admitted we should not see such tenacious adherence to what men deem the opinions and doctrines of Christ while at the same time in every day practice is exhibited anything but a likeness to Christ. The cause of peace has had my share of efforts, taking the ultra non-resistance ground - that a Christian cannot consistently uphold, and actively support, a government based on the sword, or whose ultimate resort is to the destroying weapons. Quotes About Lucretia Mott Ralph Waldo Emerson She brings domesticity and common sense, and that propriety which every man loves, directly into this hurly-burly, and makes every bully ashamed. Her courage is no merit, one almost says, where triumph is so sure. Elizabeth Cady Stanton Having known Lucretia Mott, not only in the flush of life, when all her faculties were at their zenith but in the repose of advanced age, her withdrawal from our midst seems as natural and as beautiful as the changing foliage of some grand oak from the spring-time to the autumn.

Dare to Be Bold

Dare to Be Bold For the last couple of months, Ive been very bold. I finally managed to shut down the part of my brain that says, Who do you think you are? and allowed myself to ask for the work I wanted and the money I deserved. Heres what I did: First, I changed the way I communicate with magazine and book editors. Up to now, I had dealt with silence from my pitches I also sent out 20 letters of introductions to various toy companies in the US and Canada to offer them content writing and translating. I underlined my expertise and strengths then tweaked my letter to match each companys style. After receiving several enthusiastic well-keep-your-name-on-file, I finally found a taker. The one major difference between the taker and the maybes? I pinpointed exactly how I could help them. Looking over their website, I noticed flaws in the content and brought it to their attention. Voil- instant interest! When asked for my rates, all of my self-doubts resurfaced, cautioning me to ask for less. I knew from past experience that if I asked for my regular rate, I risked being turned down. Then again, did I really want to cheapen myself and my work? I finally chose to keep my regular rate and replied with For this type of work, Im usually paid $X. which I felt opened the door for negotiation. It worked so well that they accepted my price. While I was busy churning out LOIs and sending out pitches and follow-ups, I unexpectedly received an offer through a former colleague to do content revision and translation for a childrens book publisher in France. This time I was offered a flat fee. Although I was extremely flattered and the project really appealed to me, the fee was quite low. After mulling it over, I took my courage in both hands and sent back a message saying that Id love to work on the project but the fee seemed a bit on the low side. Would they consider raising it? And they did! All of this might not have been possible had I not believed deep down that I possessed the qualifications and ability to do the work. In her book, Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways for Creating Work That You Love, Barbara J. Winter stresses the importance of working on raising our self-esteem. As she says, The link between self-esteem and successful self-bossing is so strong that it deserves to be a top priority for anyone who aspires to be joyfully jobless. Low self-esteem can affect anyone, but perhaps part-time writers even more so, especially if you introduce what you do So be bold. Go after the writing you want, keep yourself at the forefront of editors minds, ask for fair compensation, and see what happens!

Estimation of UAE population using Bayesian Theorem Research Paper

Estimation of UAE population using Bayesian Theorem - Research Paper Example A common use to which this theory has been put to is the development of time series forecasts for populations. In this case, this theory will be used to analyze the population data for United Arab Emirates. In most instances, the use of Bayesian theory is based on its mathematical framework ability that is able to provide inference on matters using probability (Hoff 116). In this project, the use of a Bayesian approach is adopted since through it the uncertainties that may exist in the model, data or even model parameters are integrated coherently in a consistent manner thus, allowing for easy inference (Gelman 75). The framework for this analysis will entail the adoption of a methodology for a time series forecasting that shall include stochastic volatility and autoregressive models fitted into historical timeline data about the population of UAE. Most instances that entail forecasting of population data apply a frequentist/classical approach, in which case, the Bayesian model offer s the best flexibility by its ability to specify uncertainties upon which forecasting can be performed (Ruggeri, Michael & Insua 80). Principles of Bayes Law Bayes theorem otherwise known as the Bayes law tries to express how the degree at which one believes in a subjective matter should change to be in line with evidence; this is known as the Bayesian inference. This theory was further developed by Laplace and got it published later on in the 1800s. The aim of this theory is to measure the extent of belief. Using this theory, the belief is either confirmed or otherwise based on the evidence collected. Hence, there is the initial belief or the prior that can be denoted by P (A) and then there is the evidence collected or the posterior denoted as P (B) and there is the quotient denoted as P(B/A) or P(B) which it shows how B supports the belief A (Leonard & John 69). The main assumptions made in the Bayes theorem are: Tests are not events, for example there is a difference between a m alaria tests and actually having malaria, the test is different from the event. It is believed that tests are flawed and hence can be challenged; they can detect things that don’t exist which are called a false positive, and miss things that exist; referred to as a false negative. The false positives skew the results; there is a high likelihood that the positive results are incorrect. Natural numbers are preferred over percentages. In summary, the Bayes theory gives the probability of an event given the test probabilities (Grover 120). A review of approaches to population projections The application of certain simple criteria can enable the obtaining of macro-level methods of population projection and its typologies. This may entail the use of simple extrapolations of the growth rates or size of the population, uncertainty approach and the methodology of the method. The estimation of the dimensionality of populations in the simplest forms always utilizes extrapolations while the uncertainty approach may be ignored or quantified by the use of probabilities. The Bayesian model utilizes both the extrapolation and time series analysis in the determination of end results for stochastic projections (Koch 41). The UAE population According to the UAE Department of Statistics (uaestatistics.gov.ae), the following figures were obtained from the census that was done in the years between 1975 and 2005. Year Total no. of Expatriates Total no. of Citizens 1975 356,343 201,544 1980 751,555

To what extent was the Irish famine responsible for the decline of the Essay

To what extent was the Irish famine responsible for the decline of the Irish language - Essay Example As seen below, this famine resulted in the decline of the language in several ways including the death of its speakers, emigration to other parts of the world and the introduction of British culture to Ireland. How famine accelerated it When the Irish famine hit Ireland, the main crop to be affected was the potato hence it’s sometimes referred to as the Irish potato famine. The famine had a huge death toll that resulted in the death of 1 to 1.5 million people which although not much when compared to death rates in places such as china (13 million) when they had their own famine, was a lot when compared to the ratio of the general population. The population of Ireland was only 8 million when the famine started and by the time it ended population census results showed that the population had declined to around 6.5 million people. This meant that the population had declined by 18 % signifying a huge loss of native speaking Irish people.1 Moreover, since the hardest hit areas were those that still maintained speaking the Irish language. The Irish famine also resulted in the mass immigration of many Irish people to other parts of Europe as they escaped the hunger and strict anti-Catholic policies the British government had put in place. The migration resulted in many of them moving to America where they searched for new opportunities for employment however they were not welcomed due to the contempt given to the Irish culture. It is estimated that at least a million people migrated from Ireland to USA Newfoundland and Britain, resulting a significant drop in the population. People from Ireland were often stereotyped as aggressive and violent and it was not uncommon for job advertisements to specifically state that they did not want people from Ireland. For a person from Ireland to therefore survive or succeed they would have to lose their Irish accent and be Americanised. This therefore resulted in a population which although sharing a common Irish heritage, d id not speak the Irish language and thus a decline in it.2 One of the factors that caused the famine and even made it worse was the marginalization of the Irish-catholic community by the British government. The British government that had been ruling Ireland since 1801 and had put in place discriminatory policies against the Irish Catholic that barred them from voting and the right to owning land.3 Many Irish viewed these policies as a form of colonization but it was clear that for an individual to climb up the social ladder they would have to adopt the British culture and religion and thus neglect their own heritage. The British policies have in fact been identified as one of the reasons the famine ravaged with such intensity as even though people were starving, food crops was still being exported from Ireland, the tenant system of farming had also meant that Irish workers could not practice large scale agriculture that had grown in popularity with the agrarian revolution. The only crop that was able to grow and support a family on the small farms were potatoes. While some might have being willing to make due with meagre earnings as a punishment for their cultural identity, when the famine reached its climax many faced with the option of death or assimilation into British culture chose to align themselves with the British way of life so as to have access to more social amenities, rights and employment opportunities as English was the language spoken by the landlords and merchants.4

Network Security setup Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Network Security setup - Research Paper Example WAN domain is a necessary domain especially when connecting with remote users. In Richman investments, it means connecting with several branches in places such as Atlanta, Georgia, Cincinnati, Ohio, and even Los Angeles, California from the headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. In order to ensure security at this domain, it is recommended to ensure proper addressing schemes, proper protocol selection and enhanced encryption of communication equipments. In Richman investments, the database software, operating system, client-server applications, and data stored in the organizations center and their hardware is collectively under this domain. Security measures necessary at this stage is proper authentication, quality network design, authorization, node security, and accounting are an imperative security considerations at this domain. Other security measures that can be implemented within the company’s IT infrastructure includes eliminating single point of failure, improving security access to sensitive data and ensuring that there is data backup in servers outside the main data centre.

Dominos Pizza Essay Example for Free

Dominos Pizza Essay The legend of Domino’s Pizza dates back to December, 1960 with the purchase of a small pizza shop in Ypsilanti, Michigan by brothers Tom and Jim Monaghan. The brothers bought the restaurant from friend Dominick DeVarti for USD500 cash and assuming the stores USD8,000 debt (Dicke, 1992). Neither Tom nor Jim had the intention of making the restaurant business their career, but rather saw the opportunity as a part-time venture to help cover the cost of their studies at the nearby University of Michigan. By June the store was earning a profitable USD400 a week but briskly fell off when students at the University went home for summer. Faced with the prospect of a slow phase, Jim sold Tom his half of the business in 1961 and changed the name from Dominick’s to Domino’s. The same year, Tom decided to quit school to devote more time to the business. Aware of his lack of experience in pizza making and operations and management, Tom spent much of his time visiting many similar pizzerias around the state acquiring advice on operations and recipes. By the mid 60’s, Tom had restructured the interior of the store, rearranged all areas and systems, ultimately improving the flow of work in all facets of the operation from order-taking to delivery. â€Å"Monaghan’s system was reminiscent of those developed by the managers of White Castle Hamburger in the 20’s and the McDonald brothers in the 40’s† (Dicke, 1992). The implementation of this system formulized the production process as a unified whole, and included the standardization of materials, clever and thoughtful placement of equipment, and detailed division of labor; all geared to achieve the continuous production of its limited product line. By 1967, Domino’s emphasis on uniform quality and rapid delivery proved a successful system for operating a pizza shop and therefore provided opportunity for expansion through franchising. 3. HISTORY IN MALAYSIA The company landed in Malaysia in September 1997. Launched by its founder, Tom Monaghan himself, Domino’s Pizza became an overnight sensation. It was so well-received that Domino’s Malaysia’s commissary was recognised in the Annual Domino’s International Audit as the Best Commissary in Asia Pacific. 4. PRODUCTS [pic] Exhibit 4. 1 Domino’s Pizza Customer Benefit Package Domino’s Pizza offers a wide range of meals to its customers. They offer variety of pizza, pasta, side orders and beverages. They have 5 unique pizza crusts i. e. Classic Hand Tossed, Crunchy Thin Crust, Cheese Burst Double Decker, New York Crust and Extreme Edge to satisfy Malaysian customers’ appetite. [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic] Exhibit 4. 2 Domino’s Pizza 5 unique Pizza Crust Domino’s Pizza also offered numbers of topping such as Ultimate Hawaiian, 7-Meat Wonders, Meatasaurus, Prawn Passion, Chicken Perfection, Tuna Extreme, Prawn Sensation, BBQ Chicken, Aloha Chicken, Extravaganza, Classified Chicken, Plain Cheese, Beef Pepperoni, Chicken Pepperoni, Classic Chicken, Flaming Tuna, Meat Mania, Seafood Delight, Spicy Sambal, Spicy Sausage, Tuna Temptation, Vegie Fiesta and Vegie Galore. Domino’s Pizza also allowed their customers to customize their pizza by offering 2 options i. e. Make Your Own and Half Half. [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic] [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic] [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic] [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic] [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic] Exhibit 4. 3 Domino’s Pizza delicious Specialty Pizza Customize Pizza Domino’s Pizza comes with 3 Signature Pizza Sauces such as Domino’s Signature Sauce, Spicy Sambal Sauce and Top Secret Sauce. [pic] [pic] [pic] Exhibit 4. 4 Domino’s Pizza signature Pizza Sauces. Domino’s Pizza also serve varieties of side orders such as Chicken Wings BBQ, Chicken Wings Hot Spicy, Spaghetti Bolognese, Chicken Lasagna, Creamy Custard Puff Desert, Garlic Twisty Bread, Garlic Cheese Onion Rings, BreadStix, Banana Kaya Desert, CinnaStix Icing and Chocolate Lava Cake. Domino’s Pizza also offers Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fruit Tree Fresh Apple Aloe Vera for its beverages. The above products are considered primary goods for Domino’s Pizza and these products will ensure that Domino’s Pizza customer’s needs of foods will be fulfill. Domino’s Pizza has introduced its Unique Selling Preposition (USPs) which includes:- 1. 30-Minutes Delivery Guarantee! Dominos is the only pizza company that guarantees customer’s order will arrive within 30 minutes or Domino’s will give its customer a free Regular Pizza voucher; 2. Product Satisfaction Guarantee Dominos guarantees satisfaction! Their pizza and side orders are guaranteed to be hot, fresh, and great tasting when they arrives at customer’s doorstep, otherwise Domino’s will replace the product or refund customer’s money. 3. 15-Minute Take-Away Guarantee Dominos guarantees customers will receive their Take-Away orders within 15 minutes or Domino’s will give them a free Personal Pizza voucher. 4. Free Delivery No extra charges for delivery to customer’s doorstep. Domino’s Pizza also introduced discount coupons for its customers’ future purchase. This method is really works for Domino’s Pizza where they tie-up their customer with the attractive offer for future purchase. This will also create loyalty among Domino’s Pizza customers. Domino’s Pizza also allowed their online customers to pay their orders using credit card where previously they only accept cash payment for the online purchase. The above services can be considered as peripheral services where it will benefit Domino’s Pizza customers and will add confident for the customers to choose Domino’s Pizza rather than other Domino’s Pizza competitors such as Pizza Hut and Papa John. [pic][pic][pic][pic] Exhibit 4. 5 Domino’s Pizza Unique Selling Prepositions (USPs). Further to the above Domino’s Pizza also obtained a Halal Certification for all its products from Jabatan Kemajuan Islam, Malaysia (JAKIM) which will add more confident to Domino’s Pizza current and future customers. 5. VALUE CHAIN [pic] Exhibit 5. 1 Domino’s Pizza Value Chain It is important to consider how a customer need drives Dominos to create the product. The customer need that drives the entire value chain is the need for a dependable take away restaurant, reasonably priced hot quality food and variety that suits the local palette. Dominos has focused on these key customer needs throughout the value chain, and has not allowed any digressions in this area unlike other competitors who have evolved a mixed model of full service restaurants and takeaway outlets, or a hybrid combination of both. This has diluted their strengths in the segment Dominos focuses on Takeaway / Home delivery. Its global operational model allows for lean stores, well-trained staff and flexibility at a country level to customize menus to suit customer tastes. Operational requirements have prompted the use of technology to make the customer experience more enriching, it has a history of firsts – they were the first to use TV as a distribution channel, an online tracking system that allows customers to track the pizza order and a proprietary point of sale system. A combination of the Company level strategy and the Operational Strategy has resulted in Dominos having a reputation for reliability and consistent pizza quality – these strategies have ensured that Dominos continues to meet its customer needs. 6. OPERATIONS STRATEGY. Dominos operations strategy mainly focuses on the providing high service quality to the customer: 1. Minimize operations cost: To minimize the operating cost by improving the efficiencies and process at the stores. 2. Strategic store locations to facilitate the delivery service: To leverage the strategic location of the store in order to facilitate quick service to the customer and maximize the revenue. 3. Production oriented store designs: To utilize the production oriented store design in order to facilitate efficient production and quick service to the customer. 4. Efficient order taking, production and delivery: To execute an efficient operational process that includes order taking, pizza preparation, cooking, boxing and delivery. 5. Use of Domino’s PULSE point-of-sale system: Use of Domino’s PULSE system to improve operating efficiencies, provide corporate management with easy access to financial and marketing data and reduce time consumption and expenses. 6. Product and process innovations: To promote an innovative culture that increases both quality and efficiency. 7. A focused menu: To maintain a focused menu that is designed to present an attractive quality offering to customers, while minimizing order errors, and expediting the order taking and food preparation processes. 8. A comprehensive store operations evaluation program: To utilize a comprehensive store audit program to ensure that stores are meeting both as the expectations of the customers. The Performance Prioritizing would help Dominos in prioritizing its operational strategies based on the order-winning criteria and the current issues it faces in relation to the competition. 1. Excess zone – Dominos invests in promotional strategy to a greater extent as compared to other food chain outlets. It offers many discount coupons to attract customers. Discount offers do help to some extent in attracting customers but too many discount and promotions tend to lower the brand image. So Dominos need to cut down some expenses in that section which will not affect its sales. 2. Appropriate zone – Dominos has got an excellent unmatched home delivery service through which it stays ahead of its rivals. The ? 30-minute luxury? of Dominos has given the brand a strong image among the customers. This gives Dominos a clear balance between its competitors and customers. 3. Improve zone – Dominos need to improve its product quality in order to maintain reputed. It needs to emphasize on the pizza quality and prioritizing all aspects that relate to the customer. For example, Pizza Hut specifies the calories consumption in each pizza. This reflects the brand concern for the customer. So Dominos should also initiate some measures which would foster the â€Å"emotional connection† to its customers. 4. Urgent action zone – In order to increase the service to customers, Dominos should ensure speedy delivery of pizzas to customers. For this, Dominos need to work on its existing process design. There should be enough space and staff for service and extra machines to handle any machinery failure during peak periods. 7. REFERENCES 1) http://www. wikipedia. org 2) http://www. dominospizza. com. my Discount Coupon for future purchase Free Delivery Service Credit Card payment for online orders 15-Minutes Take-Away Guarantee 30-Minutes Delivery Guarantee Pizza Side Orders Beverages.

Leonardo Da Vinci :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Leonardo Da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and naturalist. He was born in Vinci, Tuscany and was the son of a notary. He studied painting with Verrocchio in Florence. He worked at Ludovico Sforza’s court in Milan as an architect, military engineer, inventor, theatrical designer, sculptor, musician, scientist, art theorist, and painter.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Leonardo wanted his paintings to express the laws of light and space and of sciences like anatomy, botany, and geology. He often accompanied condemned criminals to their execution to study the expressions on their faces and he dissected thirty cadavers to perfect his knowledge of anatomy. He was fascinated with the dynamic movement to be found in nature. He was considered a genius and a very handsome man and is still thought of as on e of the most gifted men in the human race.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the things that fascinated everyone about him was the enticing smile he painted on the faces of some women. It was called â€Å"more divine than human† and seemed to move before our eyes. The mystery of the smile is most often associated with the Mona Lisa, one of the world’s most famous images, but it first appeared 20 years before in the angel from The Madonna of the Rocks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several theories as to whose smile cast such a spell on Leonardo. One of them is Cecilia Gallerani, who was celebrated for her beauty and was painted by Leonardo when she was seventeen. However, no one knows where that portrait is. It is said that he painted her again as Lady with an Ermine and then as the angel in The Madonna of the Rocks. He seems to have loved the painting of the angel so much that he kept it for himself and painted another one.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another theory is that, previous to Leonardo, painters outlined their figures, so that they stood away from the background in stiff, immobile poses. He deliberately omitted outlines, blurred and softened the corners of the eyes and mouth, blending light into shadow, giving life to his figures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lastly, during the Renaissance, well-born maidens were carefully schooled to â€Å"charm†. Women were advised to close their mouths from time to time at the right corner with a suave movement, and open it slightly at the left as if you were smiling secretly and perhaps Leonardo was just painting the way a thousand well-born ladies smiled in his day.

Attrition Rate of Online Learning

WHAT INFLUENCES ONLINE CLASSES HIGH ATTRITION RATE by Lora Hines Bachelor of Science in Business Education December 1984 College of Education A Research Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Science in Education Degree Department of Workforce Education and Development In the Graduate School Southern Illinois University – Carbondale December 1, 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS ChapterPage I. INTRODUCTION †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 Background†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Statement of the Problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6Research Questions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 Significance of the Problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦.. 9 Demographics†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 Best Practices†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 16 Student Characteristics†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 24 III. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 32 Summary †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 32 Findings . †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 33 Recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 38 REFERENCES†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 41 VITA†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦52AN ABSTRACT OF THE RESEARCH PAPER OF L ora Hines, for the Master of Science degree in Workforce Education and Development, presented on December 1, 2011, at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. TITLE: WHAT INFLUENCES ONLINE CLASSES HIGH ATTRITION RATE MAJOR PROFESSOR: Glen Blackstone Online education programs have grown tremendously in the past 10 years. From 1991 to 2006, online enrollments have grown from virtually 0 to over 2. 35 million students. Over 3. 5 million students, or roughly one in every six, were enrolled in at least one online course during the fall of 2006.By 2015, 25 million post-secondary students in the United States will be taking an online class. Universities worldwide are providing some type of online learning by developing courses that are available to both on-campus and off-campus students. Online education is no longer in its infancy. Students, parents, educational institutions, government, and businesses are concerned with the quality of online education. This study focuses on quality an d the relationship that exists between student satisfaction and faculty effectiveness.At issue is the question of whether â€Å"faculty effectiveness, as perceived by learners, plays a significant role in learner satisfaction† (Rehnborg, 2006, p. 1). This study reveals that students of varying age, gender, and other demographics value education differently. These differences vary among completers and non-completers, and both groups note differences in the way their instructors implement instructional practices. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Background There are many definitions for online education. These include virtual education, Internet-based education, and Web-based education.For the purpose of this research, the definition of online education is based on Keegan’s (1988) definition of distance education. (a) the separation of teachers and learners which distinguishes it from face-to-face education, (b) an educational organization which distinguishes it from self-study an d private tutoring, (c) the use of a computer network to present or distribute educational content, and (d) the provision of two-way communication via a computer network in order for students to benefit from communication with each other, teachers, and staff. Keegan, 1988, p. 4) Kaufman (as cited by Bates, 2005) suggests that there have been three generations of distance education. The first generation used one primary technology-print. The second generation integrated print and other multimedia such as video tapes, television broadcasts, and other forms of broadcast media. The third generation of distance education gave birth to online education. Online education is characterized by the use of the Internet or video conferencing to create two-way communications, connecting students and instructors.Bates (2005) describes this communication as more equally distributed between students and instructors than in the past. In other words, while students and instructors are still separated geographically, they now have a greater ability to communicate with each other than in past generations. Students have progressively gained the ability to dialogue and use critical thinking skills rather than simple comprehension (Kaufman, 1989). Online education is well established as a viable means of education in both the corporate and academic environments, and it has taken a remarkable pace.A survey undertaken in 2001 of online education instructors conducted by the National Education Association (NEA) indicated that 72% of online learning instructors have a positive opinion about online learning. They believe more students can be reached, learning can be customized and flexible, and interaction can increase among students (Focus, 2001). Online education programs have grown tremendously in the past 10 years. From 1991 to 2004, online enrollments have grown from virtually zero to over 2. 35 million students (Allen & Seaman, 2006).Based on reports by over 2,200 colleges and unive rsities, Allen and Seaman estimate growth in post-secondary online education to be more than 10 times that of other post-secondary markets. Over 4. 6 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2008 term; a 17 percent increase over the number reported the previous year (Allen & Seaman, 2010). The 17 percent growth rate far exceeds the 1. 2 percent growth of the overall student population. More than one in four higher education students now take at least one course online.By 2015, 25 million post-secondary students in the United States will be taking an online class. While that happens, the classes that are taken physically on campus will plummet, from 14. 4 million in 2010 to just 4. 1 million 5 years later, according to a new forecast released by Ambient Insight; a market research firm (Nagel, 2011). Universities worldwide are providing some type of online learning by developing courses that are available to both on-campus and off-campus students. Online education is no longer in its infancy (Palloff & Pratt, 2003; Samarawickrema & Stacey, 2007).Students, parents, educational institutions, government, and businesses are concerned with the quality of online education. Online or not online has been an ongoing debate, not only for how to preserve the value of human relations but also how to deliver course content. In a traditional or face-to-face classroom, communication and human connections are great assets for knowledge acquisition within a learning community (Allen & Seaman, 2010). When a course moves online, communication lines are altered.Non-verbal communication cues disappear, and since students converse at different times, spontaneous interaction is impossible. Even with webcams in which students and professors can see and hear each other, interactions are not the same as in a face-to-face classroom. However, taking into consideration that online education allows students opportunities to learn independently from anywhere at any time, and to construct and acquire learning at their own pace, online education provides many advantages for students beyond the classroom walls.We live in a changing population since more and more students entering college have grown up in today’s digital world, they possibly are â€Å"digital natives† whose brains could potentially be wired differently from the previous generation (Prensky, 2001). Draves (2002) lists ten reasons why online learning is more popular and, in his opinion, why it is better, cognitively, than in-person learning: †¢ You can learn at your own peak learning time of day. †¢ You can learn at your own speed. †¢ You can learn faster. †¢ You can interact more with the teacher and other participants. There are more topics and subjects online. †¢ Participants come from around the world. †¢ You can learn from the foremost authorities and experts. †¢ Online learning is less expensive and thus more accessible. â⠂¬ ¢ Internet links provide more resources. †¢ You can form a virtual community. Courses taught in an online format hold many challenges for the learner and educator alike (Howell, Williams, & Lindsay, 2003). Challenges include the need for computer literacy and navigation skills, greater electronic connection capabilities, and concerns over isolation.Within online classes students must not only learn the course material, but also the technology skills needed to participate in class. The online learning format places the burden on students to initiate the learning process, and assume primary responsibility for the learning experience. It is likely that in this tremendous movement toward online education, faculty members will be pushed to provide more Web-based courses for both their on-campus and off-campus students. Faculty members are concerned with the quality of online courses they are developing and teaching.While the 2000 NEA survey indicated a highly positive opinion of online courses, the faculty members expressed deep concern that online courses take more work, are more technologically challenging, and require more training and mentoring to develop and teach than traditional face-to-face courses (Focus, 2001). Maddux (2004) suggests that the increased competition for universities to offer online courses has caused campus administrators to put forth numerous online courses as rapidly as possible.Many professors, according to Maddux, are less than a technologic expert and find themselves under pressure to produce these courses. Faculty complain that with their workload they do not have time to get adequate training and support from those on campus that provide it. Only 19 percent of institutions with online offerings report that they have no training or mentoring programs for their online teaching faculty. The most common training approaches for online faculty are internally run training courses (65 percent) and informal mentoring (59 percent) (All en & Seaman, 2010).Of the 10 biggest myths about synchronous online teaching, faculty training focuses on technology tools and educational best practices and is of major concern to the professors (DeMaria, & Bongiovanni, 2010). Various research studies have found a higher percentage of students taking online courses tend to drop those courses when compared to students taking traditional courses (Frankola, 2001; Oblender, 2002). Some have reported attrition from eLearning as high as 70-80% (Tyler-Smith, 2005, Flood 2002. One major reason to study student satisfaction is completion rate of non-traditional students versus traditional students. . Some educators suggest that the high drop rates should â€Å"disqualify online education as high-quality option to traditional education† (Distance Education, 2001 as cited by Diaz, 2002, para. 1). Researchers cite numerous reasons for attrition in both online and face-to-face courses. Students have work, family, and social commitments. Others lack the commitment of time or technological skills necessary to persist in the online environment.Other reasons aside, this research paper focuses on quality and the relationship that exists between student satisfaction and faculty effectiveness. At issue is the question of whether â€Å"faculty effectiveness, as perceived by learners, plays a significant role in learner satisfactions† (Rehnborg, 2006, p. 1). Institutions retrieve student end-of-course data from students who persist and complete online courses. A review of the literature reveals a large quantity of material on faculty effectiveness, with numerous recommendations and conclusions drawn from that student end-of-course data.There is relatively little data available from course non-completers. A 1991 study indicated that 75% of colleges and universities use the end-of-course questionnaire as a method of evaluating the effectiveness of their instructors. Though some doubt the validity of student end-of-cour se questionnaires, most accept the fact that they are useful in providing a measurement of the instructors’ teaching ability and directly reflect the satisfaction level of students (Ramsden, 1991). Statement of the ProblemWith student diversity changing, higher education institutions are finding that it is necessary to meet the needs and demands of our nontraditional students. However, with the growth of distance learning, rates of attrition have increased significantly (Parker, 2003). Some have reported attrition from eLearning as high as 70-80% (Tyler-Smith, 2005, Flood 2002. ) Carr stated, however, that many higher education administrators believe that the completion rates of non-traditional students are 10-20% higher in online learning.Research Questions The research questions for the paper were: 1. What similarities and differences, in terms of demographics (age, gender, ethnicity), are present in non-traditional (online) students attrition rate? 2. What affect do best p ractices have on non-traditional (online) student’s attrition rate? 3. What affect do student characteristics have on non-traditional (online) student’s attrition rates? Significance of the Problem Online courses are generally the first format of course offerings to fill up during registration.Since many online courses have a high withdrawal rate, it would be beneficial for students to be placed in a course format most conducive to their learning (Dutton, Dutton, & Perry, 2002). The identification of characteristics associated with successful online students could provide the necessary information for teachers and admissions personnel to suggest or discourage a student from registering for an online course. A student mistakenly placed into a course may encounter more difficulties and have reduced changes for success compared to an appropriately placed student.With improved technology, students may find it more convenient to take classes online in order to meet their ed ucational needs. Changes in the student population as well as the delivery of the online course at the university may present challenges. Many interconnecting factors contribute to the numbers of students who drop out of distance education courses, many of which are beyond the institution’s control (Rovai, 2002). Rovai (2002) pointed out that this learning-sharing connection among students could provide the learner with a feeling of support from their fellow students.Rovai’s (2002) research also suggested that there might be a possible connection between the sense of community and increased motivation resulting in increased cognitive learning. If individual circumstances affect the ability of a student to continue in an online course and if various curricular delivery and instructional methods contribute to variable outcomes, then the development of online delivery should be researched to determine the best way to serve the needs of the student enrolled in an online co urse. CHAPTER 2REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE The advances in telecommunications and the saturation of computers into almost every home in American has drastically changed the way we communicate, the way we store and retrieve data, the way we do research, and the way we socialize. These changes in our day-to-day lives have also obliged us to rethink the way we deliver education. Public, private, and proprietary institutions have come under intense pressure to develop educational systems that are independent of time and place. Within the past 0-12 years, the growth of online course has increased tremendously. The proportion of institutions with fully online programs rises steadily as institutional size increases, and about two-thirds of the very largest institutions have fully online programs, compared to only about one-sixth of the smallest institutions. Doctoral/Research institutions have the greatest penetration of offering online programs as well as the highest overall rate (more t han 80%) of having some form of online offering. (Allen & Seaman, 2006, p. 2)Along with this growth comes the need to ensure courses are developed with some universal structure and the need for instructors to teach these courses using the best practices in the field. Student attrition is also under the microscope. The government, educators, parents, and students want assurances that online education works as well or better than its traditional face-to-face counterpart. One must understand the background and the best practices and issues that relate to student needs and satisfaction in online education. The literature review will discuss these relevant issues.What similarities and differences, in terms of demographics (age, gender, ethnicity), are present in non-traditional (online) students attrition rate? An extensive reading of the literature reveals that face-to-face instruction includes courses in which zero to 29 percent of the content is delivered online; this category include s both traditional and web facilitated courses. The remaining alternative, blended (sometimes called hybrid) instruction is defined as having between 30 percent and 80 percent of the course content delivered online.A course where most or all of the content is delivered online with typically no face-to-face meetings is considered an online course (Allen & Seaman, 2010). Universities want to improve graduation rates and attract non-traditional students by increasing online offerings (Allen & Seaman, 2007; 2010). According to the Allen and Seaman’s report, online students may not share the same demographics as traditional higher education students, thus, instructors need to understand the challenges of distance learning when designing online learning experiences.The shift towards offering more online courses will continue to affect higher education institutions in ways that are not yet understood. The benefits (e. g. , convenience for institutions, instructors, and students) and the challenges (e. g. , student retention) need to be balanced to ensure that students’ outcomes of online courses are comparable with those in traditional face-to-face courses (2010). A continuing question that the researcher must consider is among those studying online education has been the issue of student retention.Online courses typically attract students who might otherwise have not been able to attend traditional on-campus instruction, either because of work, family or other obligations. This difference in the nature of the student body has made the direct comparison of the online and face-to-face very difficult. If students tend to drop out of online classes because of work or family responsibilities, does that accurately reflect the nature of the course or the nature of the student (Allen & Seaman, 2010)? In a study completed by Dutton, Dutton & Perry (2002), the purpose was to determine how online students differ from traditional students?There were two major cate gories studied. The first class of information related to the external, observable characteristics of the students. These include such things as age and gender, work, academic and childcare commitments commute distance and previous computer experience. The second information category contains preferences or considerations that are less easily observable by an outsider but may have influenced the student’s choice of online versus lecture format. Using the demographic data that Dutton, Dutton & Perry (2002) gathered from the student records, it appeared that the gender played little role in the choice format.However, it is clear that older, non-traditional students prefer the online class. The average age of an online student’s age compared to a lecture student was more than five years greater. Nearly two-thirds of the lecture class was less than 22 years old while the same proportion of online section was older than 22. The study also determined that full-time students preferred the lecture course and the part-time students preferred the online. On average the study determined that the online students had greater outside responsibilities and that they live farther from campus.In his dissertation, Bangurah (2004) compared students with passing grades in traditional and online courses. Student’s grades were compared across courses where the same instructor taught both online and traditional formats. Within this study, 3,601 students participated and Bangurah (2004) found that in each course and context, mean GPA’s were highest among traditional students. He also noted females who were enrolled in web-based courses outnumbered their male counterparts by nearly two-thirds. This ratio of female to male students was not found within the traditional course setting.The claim that â€Å"the demographic differences between online and traditional students has been duly noted† (Diaz, 2002, p. 1) has mixed implications. For instance, while Gibson and Graff (1992) and Thompson (1998) concluded that online students are generally older, have a higher GPA, and have completed more credits than traditional students. There are several unidentified assumptions. First, these demographic characteristics portray a trend rather than a fixed number. Observing online education over time has indicated that students are getting younger and demographic populations are shifting (Allen & Seaman, 2010).The Instructional Technology Council (Allen & Seaman, 2010) has reported that in 2008, 52% of students were considered traditional age; whereas, only 46% of students were considered traditional age in 2006. The second assumption is that methods of identifying online students are universal. What constitutes an online student from a traditional student may vary from institution to institution or from course to course. Lastly, demographic characteristics vary largely across the United States and should be taken into consideration when applyi ng theory to practice.For instance, Iowa’s minority population constitutes only 9. 4% of the student population and was ranked the fifth lowest state in terms of diversity in 2007. Thus the number of students represented by any one ethnic category is likely to be very different than population numbers from other states and vary highly from states outside of the Midwest (Iowa Department of Education, 2008). The research should consider the question of student performance and how it has also been further reviewed along lines of gender (Price, 2006; Yates, 2001). Whereas, reviously women were presumed to have an online disadvantage due to access (Kirkup & von Prummer, 1997) or family commitments (Wolf, 1998), studies have shown that enrollment is greater among females in online courses and females may in fact be more successful in the online setting (Price, 2006). In her study, Price (2006) sought to uncover gender differences in female and male students who are enrolled in onli ne courses. In order to do so, she compared the same course in both a traditional and online setting. From 2002 to 2004, 1,991 students participated in the study from the Open University.Two questionnaires were utilized to demonstrate course experience and academic engagement. From her study, Price (2006) was able to conclude that women were more likely to outperform their male counterparts in online course settings. In Aragon and Johnson’s study, they found no significant difference in characteristics of age, ethnicity or financial aid eligibility of students enrolled in online classes. Once again, they found that gender had significant association with completion and non-completion in online courses.Their findings were that females completed at a higher rate than male students in an online but not face-to-face courses (2008). Additionally, it is worth noting that the thought that online instruction is eliminating many of the barriers to education for all students in general and indicated through student interviews (2008). The interviews determined that the self-reported reason for non-completion of an online class was personal and time constraints which accounted for 34% of the reasons for non-completion of their online courses, compared to 100% of the reasons given by the face-to-face students (Aragon & Johnson, 2008).Online students often outperform traditional students when success is measured by the percentage of students that attain a grade of â€Å"C’ or above, overall classroom performance (e. g. , exam scores), or student satisfaction (Diaz, 2000). When comparing the characteristics and success of online and traditional students, Diaz found that online students received twice as many â€Å"A† grades, while traditional students received twice as many â€Å"D† and â€Å"F† grades in a general health education class. The online students were also more satisfied with multiple aspects of their course as demonstrated by their responses to an 11-question satisfaction survey.While online students generally fared better in overall grades and grades on exams, they also dropped the course more frequently: a 13. 5% drop rate for online students versus a 7. 2% drop rate for traditional students. As Diaz noted, â€Å". . . it seems very clear that students who enroll and persist in an online course will fare at least as well as their on-campus counterparts† (p. 95). While the use of surveys in conjunction with empirical data can often provide a more complete picture, surveys as a sole means of predicting student success and learning has been less than successful (Hall, 2008).Employing two different survey instruments, Hall (2008) attempted to uncover which instrument would be the most accurate in determining online student success. Two hundred and twenty-eight students participated in the study which encompassed three regional community colleges in the Midwest. These students were all enrolled in at least one online course in the following areas: business, computer information services, criminal justice, and early childhood development. Hall (2008) found that the class categories were a better predictor of student success than either of the two survey instruments.In fact, the surveys showed little than 8% accuracy in predicting final grades for these students. If online students typically possess characteristics that research has linked with academic success (e. g. , older age and more academic experience), why are they less successful in terms of persisting in a class for the full term? One possible answer is that we may have mistakenly defined â€Å"drop rate† as a characteristic synonymous with â€Å"academic non-success. † However, I believe that many online students who drop a class may do so because it is the right thing to do.In other words, because of the requirements of school, work, and/or family life in general, students can benefit more from a class i f they take it when they have enough time to apply themselves to the class work. Thus, by dropping the class, they may be making a mature, well-informed decision that is consistent with a learner with significant academic and life experience. This explanation would be consistent with their demographics while calling into question the idea that these students are academically unsuccessful or possess inferior academic abilities. In act, a case could be made that many of the students who earn â€Å"D† and â€Å"F† grades would be better served by dropping a class. By doing so at the appropriate time, some might increase the likelihood of a successful academic career. For example, they would obviate the need to retake a course immediately, and dropping the class would not adversely affect their GPA, perhaps helping them to avoid academic probation. (Diaz, 2000, p. 3) What affect do best practices have on non-traditional (online) students? An extensive reading of the litera ture reveals numerous significant approaches to improving online courses.One method is determining what may contribute or detract from a student’s success in an online course is to take a customer/business approach to the question. In other words, what is the business doing and what is the business doing that is satisfying the customer? This approach would lead researchers to look at central themes of investigation in determining the factors that contribute to or detract from student success. First the researcher must determine what aspects students perceive are important to producing success in online learning.In the customer/business approach, it is a given that a satisfied customer is the end-point from which one works backwards to build a successful business. The literature indicates that student perceptions, attitudes, and satisfaction (Biggs, 2006; Clayton, 2004; Valasidou & Makridiou-Bolusiou, 2006) are almost certainly key in the development and instruction of online courses. According to Pearson and Trinidad (2005), hearing from students is essential to learning about what works and where improvements should be made in the future.It is the business/customer model applied to online education. Secondly, the research should consider how educators are conducting their online courses. The scholarly literature reveals that researchers are finding several central factors related to student perceptions and the methods instructors are using to teach and design their courses. Palloff and Pratt (2003) concisely define these factors as (a) instructor support, (b) a sense of community, and (c) an appropriate use of technology in the online setting.However, there continues to be instructor support as well as a sense of community in the traditional classroom as well. Instructor Support The foregoing conclusion for a number of years in education is that the greater the amount of instructor support, the more successful students will be in understanding and achi eving the learning objectives of their courses. Sahin (2007), and Valasidou and Makrdiou-Bousiou (2006) all agree and suggest that a major predictor in online courses is instructor support.In the online environment, students have come to expect instructor support. As an example, data from a qualitative study conducted by Motteram and Forrester (2005) revealed that students have more or less unwittingly come to believe that because of the nature of online learning as being any-time and any-place, instructors are available on a 24-7 basis, able to respond at any hour. Students not only expect instructional support, they expect it in a more expedient manner than the face-to-face student.Another example that indicates students want and need instructor support comes from a study by Ice, Curtis, Phillips, and Wells (2007) who conducted research from Spring 2004 through Summer 2005 with 26 master’s level students and 8 doctoral students in online courses to determine if there is val ue in using asynchronous audio feedback in grading student work. The researchers were attempting to determine what effect, if any, the use of audio feedback might have on increasing students’ success in online courses.In this study, five research questions were posed to determine (a) whether students preferred audio or text feedback, (b) to what degree audio feedback is an effective replacement to the interaction that takes place in a face-to-face course, (c) how audio feedback improved a sense of community, (d) in what manner is perceived learning impacted by the use of audio feedback, and (e) what relationship exists between audio feedback and student satisfaction. The results concluded that students believed that asynchronous audio feedback gave them more insight into what the instructor was trying to onvey, students experienced an increased feeling of involvement, the instructor was perceived as more caring, and content retention improved (Ice, et al, 2007). Again, a majo r finding of this research revealed that instructor support and involvement created what students described as a caring attitude, and this caring is a key to students’ satisfaction and, ultimately, their success in the online course. Leners and Sitzman (2006) undertook a study with online nursing students by seeking their voice in defining what online caring meant.The research revealed the same conclusions that many other studies ( Irlbeck, 2008, & Keengwe, & Kidd, 2010) with online students have reported. What students defined as caring was the method and degree to which the instructors interacted with students and the timelines of the communication. Instructor support was, again, a key to student satisfaction. The body of literature exists in large quantities with reference to research studies revealing that both practitioners and researchers agree: Interaction between students and instructors is an important predictor of student satisfaction in online courses.One of the ma jor findings that Chickering and Gamson (1987) in Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education is just as true in online education today. It is good practice to encourage contact between students and instructors. Whether referred to as instructor, tutor, mentor, teacher or technician, students expect support and are more satisfied when they receive support from that individual. A Sense of Community Next to contact between instructor and student is the contact that emerges within what has become known as the learning community.That community represents interaction from instructor to student and from student to student. Research conducted by Motteram and Forrester (2005) suggests that students’ relationships with fellow students emerged as a prime need in online courses. When taking an online course, students often voice feelings of solitude and the fear of learning alone. A need for interaction with other students is just as apparent in the online environment as it is within the face-to-face classroom. According to Garrison and Anderson (2003), social presence has become highly important in online education.Social presence is defined as â€Å"the extent to which students can project their presence online when communicating in the textual milieu in the absence of visual or verbal signs† (Motteram & Forrester, 2005, p. 284). Kazmer puts forth that when students come into an online classroom they are really performing for each other, for themselves, and for the instructor. In the absence of visual and verbal cues that are normally found in the face-to-face classroom, students create for themselves an identity, and they need a variety of diverse media for interaction to articulate these online identities (2004).Community within the adult online learning environment may be even more important than with traditional-aged students. A great body of research highlighted by Malcolm Knowles’ (1990) theory of andragogy reveals that one way adults learn is by comparing past knowledge and experiences with current experiences. Stilborne and Williams (1996) further advance the need for community in online education when teaching adult students by suggesting that providing a means for interaction and encouraging adult students to share their knowledge is essential to their style of learning.Adult students have a lifetime of knowledge and experience to share, and finding a sense of community brings this to life. University administrators have known for some time that when students are involved in the campus community, attrition decreases. Eastmond (1995) sensed that an increased dropout rate among online students is directly related to the reduction or elimination of social and visual cures lost in an online course format; conversely, increased online community reduces the attrition rate (Rovai, 2002).Diaz (2002) and Carr (2000) report that attrition is up to 10% higher in online courses than the face-to-face counterpar t. As a course design strategy, the use of learning communities has helped reduce this attrition (Diaz, 2002), and when students persist, they become more successful in their learning and persevere to graduation. Not all students are looking for community within online courses, however. Some studies indicate that students do not necessarily desire a sense of community (Brown 2001).In some cases, Brown learned that students simply do not wish to participate or engage in community building, while others participate based on availability of time. Other studies have indicated that students feel they are risking academic rigor if they participate in social relationships or class community building. Based on these views, Liu and Ginther (n. d. ) undertook exploratory study to determine, among other things, if students feel a sense of community in online courses and if that sense of community added to the learners’ engagement and perceived learning and satisfaction.Their conclusion was that there are many positive relationships between sense of community and student satisfaction and perceived learning. No specific agreement between students and instructors emerged, however, on how community building should be undertaken. This led the researchers to further suggest that community building in online courses may not be as intuitive as the advocates of online community might suggest. In other words, community building needs to be intentional; it may not just happen. Analysis and synthesis of the literature explains several things regarding online learning communities.Many students feel that social presence in an online course is essential to reducing their feelings of aloneness and solitude while other students opted for online learning because of the solitude. Still others do not participate in community building for lack of time or fear of lagging behind academically. It may be difficult to distinguish among these groups of students, but a number of instructors and researchers believe that a sense of community helps with retention and, in cases of adult students, adds significantly to the learning and knowledge acquisition process.Diaz (2002) characterized this notion of community by suggesting that good practice would encourage cooperation and discussion among students. The literature illustrates that this principle is present in the online environment as well. Developing community will most likely require concerted design and effort on the part of the instructor. Use of Appropriate Technology Interaction among the participants in higher education, instructor to student and student to student, is generally accepted as fundamental (Liu& Ginter, n. . ). This interaction is also considered a condition to student satisfaction (Garrison & Anderson, 2003) and decreased attrition (Rovai, 2002). Therefore, as previously presented, just as a sense of community and human interaction are both expected in the face-to-face context, they are expected a s well in an online learning environment. The question then becomes, what is the appropriate technology that should be implemented to best facilitate interaction and sense of community?The two primary forms of technology that have emerged within online courses are asynchronous and synchronous interaction (Hines & Pearl, 2004). Synchronous, or real time, interaction requires that students participate at the same time. Asynchronous, or delayed time, interaction does not require students to simultaneously participate (Rose, 2006). Synchronous. Branson and Essex surveyed educators and found that instructors mostly used synchronous communication for holding â€Å"virtual† office hours, brainstorming, community building, dealing with various technical issues, and one-on-one tutoring.The shortcomings of synchronous communications is in the logistics of getting the students together online at one time, students not participating in the faster paced chats because of poor typing skills , and less reflection time for students in formulating their answers (2001). As Hines and Pearl put it, â€Å"Synchronous chats have the advantages of providing a greater sense of presence and generating spontaneity† (2004, p. 34). Synchronous communication, however, is difficult since students may be separated by immense geographic time differences.Maushak and Ou (2007) conducted a study to examine how well synchronous interaction facilitated collaboration among graduate students in their group work. The researchers concluded that students regarded the synchronous interaction with an instant messaging system as beneficial in collaborating on group projects and as very helpful in creating a sense of community. There was not a sense that synchronous interaction would be the appropriate method for communicating full class discussion meetings. Asynchronous.The use of asynchronous interaction lies more in the form of discussion forums whereby students are allowed more time for re flection, where archiving of the discussion can take place, and where all students have the opportunity to participate at a more leisurely rate. Referred to as threaded discussions, these forums generally begin with the instructor or moderator submitting a question for discussion. Students then read the question and comment on it and the threads builds (Palloff & Pratt, 1999).Many educators report more in-depth and thought provoking discussion taking place with asynchronous online interaction (Branson & Essex, 2001) than occurs in face-to-face classroom discussions. Dede and Kremer concluded that the forums produced richer, more inclusive discussions among students but are more time consuming to mediate and generally do not provide much social interaction (1999). A synthesis of the literature shows that educators have always felt that discussion adds value.Knowledge that participants supply is often thought to add as much value to the discussin as that of the instructor (Addesso, 20 00). Knowles (1990) contends that in adult learning the value added by each student is of utmost importance. Physical anonymity in online threaded discussions, according to Sweeney and Ingram, can draw out inquisitiveness, decrease inhibition, and help to bridge the gender gap, thereby increasing interaction (2001). The analysis of the literature draws the conclusion that literature regarding appropriate use of technology in online courses reveals that it is essentially content specific.Asynchronous and synchronous interaction are not mutually exclusive, but asynchronous interaction seems to provide for a higher level of academic and intellectual communication while synchronous interaction appears to be more useful in building a sense of community in the online environment. What affect do student characteristics have on non-traditional (online) student’s attrition rates? An extensive reading of the literature reveals numerous significant approaches to improving online courses . Vincent Tinto 2008), has stated that a wide range of studies have been conducted over the last 30 years that provides definitive data as to what affects high attrition rate. As a result the university administrators have reviewed the findings and implemented a variety of changes, many in student affairs, in order to reduce the attrition rate (Tinto). However, online instruction is here to stay, and the number of online courses has increased, as have the number of conflicting discussions that have attempted to define reasons and solutions for high attrition rate among online classes (Tyler-Smith, 2005).Online students face different issues relating to high attrition rate than do their traditional face-to-face counterparts. As Rovai (2002) stated, online students seem to have very different challenges in which to overcome when attempting to complete an online course which may involve personal distractions, variations in technological abilities, learner readiness, feelings of alienat ion, the instructor, and fellow students. The research will follow these factors and determine the affects these variables have upon attrition rate in the online world.Personal Conflicts Adult students have often indicated that they were unable to attend a traditional class due to conflicts with work, geographic, or family commitments and found that online classes were more suitable to their schedule. Online courses have been designed by the educator with flexibility in mind, as the student can work at their own pace and schedule without time constraints of the face-to-face class (Galusha, 1997; Kim 2004). However, due to work commitments as well as family, many still find completion of online course restrictive (Galusha).Many administrators believe that high attrition rate is due to the fact that online learners are traditionally older and maintain a busy work and life schedule, causing students to drop classes more often (Carr, 2000). In Carr’s research he observed that man y professors noted that they frequently lose students due to work, marriage, divorce, and pregnancy’s. Carr referenced one student’s observation that older students have more clearly defined goals and seems to be comfortable working independently, rather than a younger student more ikely to drop the online class. In a study conducted by Kemp (2002), factors such as â€Å"resilience, life events, and external commitments† (p. 67) were studied to predict online attrition rate. Questionnaires were administered and compared to student records in order to determine if there was a correlation between these three factors. It was determined that resilience and work commitments were significant among the findings, but they were not conclusive due in part to an inadequate method of accumulating data and the length of the study.Parker (1999) observed and stated that many studies of attrition focus on a single factor as the cause for high attrition rate among online courses . Diaz (2002) believes that research be conducted in order to determine the varying reasons for students to drop online courses, as did Kerka (1995) who believes that students that drop online courses should not be lumped into one category, but should be grouped into several in order to recognize the seriousness of non-completion. One should not assume that the student is dropping the class because of academic problems.Since online learners are found to be more mature and experienced, it is assumed that the reason in dropping the class results from careful reflection. Due to outside influences, it may be better for the student to successfully complete the course at a later date (Kerka). Variations in Learning Readiness According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (2003) online learning presents itself with a tremendous presence in higher education which creates a greater demand for exploring learner readiness and student perceptions of online learning.More specificall y, research directs the literature review to an investigation of learner readiness, on-screen reading speed and comprehension, followed by typing speed and accuracy. With the dramatic increase of online learners, successful identification of learner readiness has become a priority (Shilwant & Haggarty, as cited in Watkins, 2005). Profitt (2008) discusses the need for an institutional, pre-assessment requirement, tailored toward learner readiness.The assessment results would not only present information to advise the college and potentially at-risk students, but would also alert students, who would in turn, use the results for self-evaluation and make the decisions if they are a good fit for online learning. However; Harrell (2008) states â€Å"There could be students for whom face-to-face is a better fit, but the online environment is their only option† (as cited in Profitt, 2008, p. 27). Based on the documented learner readiness assessment, at risk students may then contact the institution of higher learning and seek xtra orientation or support services to help prevent an unpleasant online learning experience. Hsu and Shiue along with other researchers have studied individual learner readiness as a reason one might drop an online course (2005). This is a reflection of Knowles theory of andragogy, whereby the assumption of adult self-concept is made that he or she has reached a level toward self-directed learning (Knowles, 1998). Parker (1999) approved the Internet as a method for providing the â€Å"opportunity for the self-directed learner to go where no person has gone before† (p. 1).Parker believes that in order for learning to be successful, instructional media should be carefully selected. In doing so, the online learner should take an online learner readiness quiz that assesses the ability of the student and the potential for success in an online course. READI indicates â€Å"the degree to which an individual student possesses attributes, skills and knowledge that contributes to success in online learning† (Readi. info, 2010). As noted by Willis & Lockee (2004) a determination of goodness of fit of online learning of a potential student should be assessed prior to the initiation of the distance learning commitment.Technological Abilities The revolution of technology and the rise of the Internet age has increased the ease and accessibility to learning for the online student, thereby, allowing a greater opportunity for the autonomous learning which can be defined as â€Å"self-planned, self-organized and self-assessed learning† (Peters, 2000, p. 9). Osika and Sharp (2002) concluded that without solid technical skills, students may have a difficult time succeeding in Web-based learning environments.Through a survey of faculty at a midsize regional commuter campus in the Midwestern United States, an inventory had been established of the minimum technical competencies faculty members believe students should possess to be successful in Web-based instruction. Additionally students at the same university were surveyed to determine how well they thought they met the minimum competencies outlined by the faculty. What was found confirmed the faculty's concerns that students often did not possess the technical skills required to be successful in a Web-based course.Osika and Sharp (2002) concluded that even though students are exposed to technology at a much earlier age, â€Å"this does not mean they are technically competent with the skills required to be successful with Web-based instruction† (p. 324). Muse conducted a study whereby looking at students reasons for dropping a course. He reported that many of the students found difficulties managing the software, falling behind in their course work and became frustrated and anxious, therefore, dropping the class. Today many universities have technical support that will provide guidance to the students so that they do not fall behind.Ove r half of the faculty in Osika and Sharp’s (2002) study listed computer skills such as the ability to use the basic hardware on a computer, prepare word processing task, use the Internet, and send and receive e-mails, which is a prerequisite for online instruction. Students that were polled in their study claimed that they had the ability to access the Internet and word processing, but when asked specific questions about their competency levels, they were unable to do so (Osika and Sharp). However, perceived ability, on the part of the student and instructor, may not actually meet levels of competency.Muse (2003) conducted a similar study that looked at reasons for dropping an online class. They study found that the students that had difficulties with managing the software (Blackboard, Moodle) fell behind in their assignments, therefore, making them feel anxious and frustrated. Feelings of Alienation In order for online students to succeed, they need to feel as if they are pa rt of a â€Å"larger school community† (Galusha, 1997, p. 4). This is indicative of the lack of communication that may exist in distance education, more specifically to the lack of interaction among staff, students, materials and services.In a study, Meyer (2001) observed that the student and teacher lack interaction as the Internet does not allow for it, which commonly occurs in the classroom. The feeling of alienation may give students even more reasons to drop out of the online course. Administrators conveyed that students identified that one problem in taking an online course is lack of personal interaction which they desire, but do not receive with online instruction (Carr, 2000). One student quoted by Carr, â€Å"†¦you don’t have direct contact on a regular basis with your instructor,† (p.A39) and in order to succeed, the student must possess a level of confidence that does not require immediate feedback. Galusha (1997) also reported the lack of confi dence that is required when there is a lack of immediate feedback. This is troublesome for the student, and the lack of contact was specifically identified as an area that affected the success of online students. Rovai and Wighting (2005) addressed the issue â€Å"alienation and low sense of community† (p. 101) and the relationship of student attrition in their research with a sample of graduate students at a private university in Virginia.They felt that the study yielded â€Å"a valid predictive and explanatory tool for researchers concerned with the welfare and persistence of students in higher education programs† (p. 108). Rovai and Wighting stated that, the high quality experiences that students receive in the classroom improve student retention, therefore, these findings should be considered when developing an online class. Rovai and Wighting advised that there needs to be additional research to identify how to foster community in an online classroom in order to l ower attrition, particularly among diverse cultures. CHAPTER 3CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary The literature review summarized that online students have a great number of deterrents to completing an online course (Carr, 2000; Galusha, 1997; Kerka1995). Some of these deterrents include family, employment, finances, technology, instructor communication, feelings of isolation, and procrastination (Kerka, 1995). Instruction is an identifiable problem that can affect the performance of a student. There may be a problem of communication between instructor and fellow students, as well as technological difficulties on the part of the student and instructor.Rovai (2003) states that early intervention with reference to the identifiable problems stated above will better meet the needs of the students. Student’s performance suffers when there is a lack of personal contact among the instructor and fellow students. Therefore, there is a breakdown in communication that must be enhan ced when students are taking an online class. How does one enhance communication? There can be exchanges between the student/instructor through emails, virtual office hours, message boards as well as telephone communication.There is an importance among student and instructor services for online classes. Floyd and Casey-Powell (2004) recommended five student areas that are in need of development for online learner. â€Å"Orientation, development, support, transition, and evaluation are areas that the instructor and or university must provide. † Orientation should be given at the beginning of the online class. The instructor should develop those skills with the students through making assignments, and requiring students to log on to the course a number of times during the week. Colleges, such as John A.Logan College offer an orientation class to their students at the beginning of each semester. They also provide support for online students. There needs to be a gradual transitio n into the online course, as well as mid-term evaluation and an end of semester evaluation so that the instructors can learn from those evaluations. The curricular design of the online class can provide the instruction in a meaningful manner. The course welcome or introduction should include an overview of the course establishing boundaries for the course. This would also be the time that the instructor establishes a learning community.Findings What similarities and differences, in terms of demographics (age, gender, ethnicity), are present in non-traditional (online) students attrition rate? According to Allen and Seaman’s report, online students may not share the same demographics as traditional higher education students, thus, instructors need to understand the challenges of distance learning when designing and creating an online learning experience (Allen & Seaman, 2010). Universities want to improve graduation rates and attract non-traditional students by increasing onli ne offerings (Allen & Seaman, 2007; 2010).The shift towards offering more online courses will continue to affect higher education institutions in ways that are not yet understood. The benefits (e. g. , convenience for institutions, instructors, and students) and the challenges (e. g. , student retention) need to be balanced to ensure that students’ outcomes of online courses are comparable with those in traditional face-to-face courses (Allen & Seaman, 2010). Using the demographic data that Dutton, Dutton & Perry (2002) gathered from the student records, it appeared that the gender played little role in the choice format.However, it is clear that older, non-traditional students prefer the online class. The average age of an online student’s age compared to a lecture student was more than five years greater. Nearly two-thirds of the lecture class was less than 22 years old while the same proportion of online section was older than 22. The study also determined that full -time students preferred the lecture course and the part-time students preferred the online. On average the study determined that the online students had greater outside responsibilities and that they live arther from campus. We need to close the age gap, and encourage young students to take online classes. Advertisement is the key to promoting online classes. Full-time students should be encouraged during advisement to take online classes. However, at the same time, advisors must screen potential online students in order to provide proper placement of each individual student. It may be best to first introduce the traditional learning through hybrid classes. This gives them the best of both worlds. What affect do best practices have on non-traditional (online) students?One method is determining what may contribute or detract from a student’s success in an online course is to take a customer/business approach to the question. First of all, a determination of what is being done correctly, and what is not. This approach would lead researchers to look at central themes of investigation in determining the factors that contribute to or detract from student success. Secondly, the researcher must determine what aspects students perceive are important to producing success in online learning.In the customer/business approach, it is a given that a satisfied customer is the end-point from which one works backwards to build a successful business. The literature indicates that student perceptions, attitudes, and satisfaction (Biggs, 2006; Clayton, 2004; Valasidou & Makridiou-Bolusiou, 2006) are almost certainly key in the development and instruction of online courses. According to Pearson and Trinidad (2005), hearing from students is essential to learning about what works and where improvements should be made in the future.It is the business/customer model applied to online education. There needs to be more communication between the instructor and student. An instruc tor might assign group work, which will allow the student to get to know their fellow students, which will enhance the learning experience for the online student. Secondly, the research should consider how educators are conducting their online courses. The scholarly literature reveals that researchers are finding several central factors related to student perceptions and the methods instructors are using to teach and design their courses.Palloff and Pratt (2003) concisely define these factors as (a) instructor support, (b) a sense of community, and (c) an appropriate use of technology in the online setting. However, there continues to be instructor support as well as a sense of community in the traditional classroom as well. Instructor Support In an online environment, students have come to expect instructor/technical support. Educational institutions should provide online support through orientation, and staff support. A Sense of Community The student needs a sense of community. Th is is established through a good rapport with the instructor.The instructor needs to establish assignments that will bring the fellow students together through projects, discussion board assignments, and creating an environment where as the students may share their knowledge. Developing community will most likely require concerted design and effort on the part of the instructor. Use of Appropriate Technology The two primary forms of technology that have emerged within online courses are asynchronous and synchronous interaction (Hines & Pearl, 2004). Synchronous, or real time, interaction can occur through vi