Author: chris

Too often language tests have a harmful effect on teaching and learning, and fail to measure accurately whatever it is they are intended to measure. (Hughes, 2003: 1) Discuss this comment in the light of your own teaching and/or learning experience, pr

Brindley, G. (2001) Assessment. In Carter, R. & Nunan, D. (eds.) (2001) The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

Cambridge: CUP. pp 137–143.
Hall, G. (2014) Moving beyond accuracy: from tests of English to tests of ‘Englishing’. ELT Journal 68/4; 376-385.
Harmer, J. (2007) The Practice of English Language Teaching. Harlow: Pearson
Education. pp 379–393.
Hedge, T. (2000) Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Oxford: OUP.
pp 375-401.
Hughes, A (2003) Testing for Language Teachers. (2nd ed.) Cambridge: CUP.
Jenkins, J. (2006) The spread of EIL: a testing time for testers. ELT Journal 60/1;
42-50.
McNamara (2000) Language Testing. Oxford: OUP.
Prodromou, L. (1995) The backwash effect: from testing to teaching. ELT Journal
49/1; 13-25.
Taylor, L. (2006) The changing landscape of English: implications for language
assessment. ELT Journal 60/1: 51-60
Tennant, A. (n.d.) Assessment matters: What is assessment?
http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?catid=60055&docid=157229

Topic: Men or Women Are Worse Driver?

Part A – Write an article minimum 1600 words.
PART B – Apply 10 components, explain why is your article better compared with others.

The title of the essay is ” To what extent are these differences relevant today ?” This question is drawn from a lecture called ” Sexual Selection” given as part of a module called ” Human Evolution and Evolutionary Psychology ” in the final year of a BSc in Psychology.

Please note there are two parts to the question and they both need to be addressed: compare and contrast from an evolutionary perspective as well as the second one being comparison with nowadays.

I’ll provide lecture slides and here is a list of references recommended by the lecturer:

Dunbar. R., Lycett. J. & Barrett. L., (2007) Evolutionary Psychology: A Beginner’s Guide (Beginner’s Guides) OneWorld Publications Chapter 5 sexual selection ;

Nettle. D (2009) Evolution and Genetics for Psychology, OUP Chapter 6 – Sexual Selection;

Swarmi, V. (2011) Evolutionary Psychology (BPS Textbooks in Psychology) Blackwell Chapter 4 – Mate selection ;

Workman., L. & Readrer., W. (2012) Evolutionary Psychology – An Introduction, Cambridge University Press Chapter 3 – Sexual Selection;

Buss, D.M. (2005) (ed) Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology, New York, Wiley;

Buss, D.M. (1989) Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypothesis tested in 37 cultures .Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 12 pp 39-49;

Buss, D.M. (2008) Evolutionary Psychology: The new science of the Mind. Boston Allyn & Bacon ;

Gangestad, S.W. & Thornhill R. (1997) The evolutionary psychology of extra-pair mating. Evolution and Human Behaviour, 18, pp69-88 ;

Gangestad S W & Simpson J. A. (2000) The evolution of human mating , Behavioural and Brain Science, 25, pp573-87;

Kokko, H., Brooks. R., Jennions. M.D. & Morley. J. (2003) The evolution of mate choice and mating biases. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B. Biological Sciences, 270, pp653-64;

Wesr, S.A., Lively. C.M., & Read. A.F. (1999) A pluralist approach to sex and recombination. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 82, pp 327-48.

 

PREPARING THE NEWS HOMEWORK

1. What questions does the news you choose pose? Who are actors or actor groups affected? How are their incentives modified?
2. What are the (random) variables that cannot be controlled but may affect the outcome in the news you choose? Identify the variables which might affect the behavioral responses of the actors.
3. Link your arguments and analysis to what you have learned in this class or before (reference to concepts, results, theorems—this is a very valuable part of your analysis: showing a capability of synthesis based on what you have learned).
4. Reach a conclusion, if not a definite conclusion, clearly stating the conditions and factors that make your conclusions likely or not so likely.
How to prepare/present your final paper:
The paper consists of: (i) Introduction. Describe the news , tell us why it is interesting (maximum 10 lines) and tell us what are the current positions held by different people or groups of people on the problem(s) in the news (15 lines) (ii) The analysis. Introduce symbols for the variables that are important in your opinion, define them. Tell us how you expect the actors will behave. Justify your arguments. Is there a game-theoretic situation, or is there interaction in a large social setting? How do you expect the social outcome to come into being? Then how will the welfare change for each actor group? Use welfare concept(s) and support your arguments. Wrap up and tell us what you can say about the impact on social welfare—is there a possibility of compensation for (if any) the losers? (iii) Conclusion. Summarize your final conclusion in 7-8 lines. Identify the factors which your analysis omits and may be relevant. Tell us if there are better arrangements in your opinion about the news you chose, and explain. Conclusion should not be more than one page.

TOPIC: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES TO CONDUCTING FOCUS GROUPS

Social Issue: Peer-Pressure.

Discussion Question:

1. Provide a brief description of the phenomenon “Peer pressure”.

2. Explain advantages and disadvantages of conducting focus groups to research this phenomenon.

3. Explain advantages and disadvantages of conducting individual interviews to research this phenomenon.

4. Explain whether focus groups or individual interviews might be most effective for researching this phenomenon.

Note: To prepare for this Discussion, review this week’s Learning Resources.

Instructions:

1). Support the Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation (including URL where applicable).

2). All sources must be scholarly.

3. Include In-text citations and references ALL in the APA format.

Resources:

Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed. pp. 145-178). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Rabionet, S. E. (2011). How I learned to design and conduct semi-structured interviews: An ongoing and continuous journey. Qualitative Report, 16(2), 563–566. Retrieved fromhttp://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR16-2/rabionet.pdf

SCENARIO
You are to investigate and analyse the UK marketing activities of Tesco http://www.tesco.com/ focusing on one of the following Tesco own label brands:
• Finest
• Organic (i choose this one)
• Healthy Living
TASK
Produce a report (3000 words) that identifies, describes and critically evaluates Tesco, in the following marketing areas:
• The main strengths and weaknesses of the company, the key opportunities and threats for your chosen brand. (20%)
• The segmentation, targeting and positioning strategy for your chosen brand. (15%)
• The marketing mix for your chosen brand. (40%)
• The competitive situation the company faces for your chosen brand. (15%)
• Recommendations based on the analysis above to improve the companies’ competitiveness (10%)
NOTE
1. Your report should show evidence of understanding of marketing principles and concepts, analytical rigour and clarity of interpretation.
2. You are required to research academic journal articles which must be appropriately referenced using the Harvard Referencing style.
3. Your analysis is to be presented as a report of approximately 3000 words in length excluding appendices and should contain clearly defined sections.
5 The report must be in word format.
6 An electronic copy of your report must be uploaded to Turnitin via the M04MKT Module web by X. University regulations on coping and plagiarism apply.
Coursework Structure
Executive Summary
Contents Page
Introduction
SWOT
Segmentation Targeting and Positioning
Marketing Mix
Competitive Analysis
Recommendations
References
Appendices

Read this book: James, Ecology is Permanent Economy, 171-225

And Write a reflection on topic: The Tehri Dam. How author thinks about The Tehru Dam? Do not just summarize the article, come up some own thoughts and opinions will be perfect.

SECTION ONE
What population is the group designed to serve? The more specific you can be the better.
�What is the purpose of the group?
�What is the type of group? Provide a rationale for your decision.
�How will you choose group members? Provide a rationale for your decision.
�Will the group be closed or open ended? Provide a rationale for your decision.
�Discuss the evidence of the best practices to be used for the group.
SECTION TWO
Design the curriculum for a 10 week group. For most groups, each session will last one hour, although you may choose to increase or decrease the amount of time based on factors such as the type of group and the population. If you choose to have sessions of more or less than one hour, you must specify the reason in Section 3. Specify the session topic, session goal, materials needed for the session, detailed plan for the hour including activities. Session should be based on use of best practices research noted by you in section one.
SECTION 3
Discuss the following questions, integrating research articles when necessary.
�If you chose to have the group last more or less than one hour, explain your rationale.
�How did you decide what to integrate into the sessions?
�What special skills or leadership abilities by the social worker are required for running the group?
�Is the group suitable for clients from a variety of racial, ethnic, SES and other backgrounds? Explain your answer.

SECTION 4
Prepare an evaluation plan for your group. How will you assess if the group was effective or ineffective? Please be detailed e.g., if you are using standardized pre and post- test measures be sure to mention and cite these and whether or not these are reliable and valid instruments. If you are developing a questionnaire please provide the questionnaire in the appendix section of the paper. If you are using interviews, then include the interview questions in the appendix.

ARAB OPEN UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF BUSINESS STUDIES T205B – SYSTEMS’ THINKING THEORY & PRACTICE
2014/2015 SEMESTER II

T205 B – TMA- Semester II – 2014– 2015
_____________________________________

Introduction

This TMA has one question with three parts. You should answer them all. The questions in this assignment are all about different aspects of the process of exploring a complex situation: drawing different kinds of maps of it, recognizing how complex it is, identifying the different perspectives it can be viewed from, and stepping back to reflect on this whole process of exploration to see the strengths and weaknesses of the approach you have adopted, and how you might do it better.

Question 01 (100 % marks)

(a) Read through the attached article “Organizational Structure: The Case of Toyota”. As you read through the article create one spray diagram to summarize the case content respecting the conventions, and techniques. It is advised that students submit hand drawn diagrams as opposed to computer generated ones. Photocopies of diagrams should not be accepted. Reflect on your diagram in no more than 200 words. (15% marks).
(b) Based on what you learned in T205B concept file 04 section II “Control”, and based on the content of the article, and taking “Fixing a failing structure” as your goal draw one closed loop control model diagram to show the various inputs, and the transformation process, that can lead to reaching this goal. You need to show all the components of the control model diagram, the inputs’, processes, control (actuator, comparator, sensor), that can lead to goal achievement . Reflect on your diagram (15% marks)

(c) Using an essay format of no more than 2500 words, and based on what you learned in T205B concept file 04 section I “Organizations are They Rational”, readings 01 and 07, section III “Structure”, section IV development, section V culture and climate, and section VI “Decision Making” and based on the ideas put forth by Taggart in the attached article:

1- Discuss the concept of organizational structure and assess which type of task related structure is required to meet Toyota’s communication needs. (Word Count 500; 15 Marks)
2- Discuss the concepts of organizational culture and climate and assess Toyota’s culture and climate. (Word count 400; 15 Marks)
3- Assess the extent to which Toyotas structure, culture and climate played a role in its failure to react to the defect problem, (Word count 400; 15 Marks).
4- Discuss the different perspectives on decision making and assess how the decision making process at Toyota has affected its ability to respond to the defect problem (Word count 400; 15 Marks).
5- Discuss the concept of organizational learning and assess whether Toyota is a learning organization; justify your answers with evidence from the case (300 words; 10 Marks).

General Mark’s deductions of 20% as follows

• PT3 Form (failure to use the PT3 completely filled) (deduct up to 5% marks)
• TMA Presentation and Structure, and word count (untidy, work way below or above the word count, no display of word count) (deduct up to 5% marks)
• Referencing and in-text citation (poor referencing and in-text citation, without plagiarism, (deduct up to 10% marks).

Guidance

Guidance to Question 01

For this question you need to read the assigned article carefully and to reflect back on concept file 04 for the theoretical assessment.

(a) At this stage of the course you are expected to have developed good understanding of the purpose of drawing spray diagrams as part of applying the SUDA process for solving a messy situation. A spray diagram is the first type of diagrams drawn in the sensing phase of the SUDA process of mess analysis, in order to summarize the main ideas of a case, or the main components/elements of a situation. Please pay attention to the conventions and make sure that the central topic and other subtopics are relevant, and do make sense to the reader. Go back to T552 (Diagramming) the appendix to refresh your memory about the conventions.

(b) This is your first attempt at drawing a control model diagram. The task should not be challenging though. Refer to Concept file 04 section II “Control”. You need to draw a control model diagram to show how the selected inputs can reach the stated goal. You also need to illustrate clear, relevant, and non-overlapping inputs, clear and accurate transformation process and an output which is consistent with the goal. You also need to specify which organizational entity is in charge of assuming the role of each of the elements/components of the control model (i.e. actuator, sensor, and comparator). The parties in charge of performing each task within the control mechanism should be clearly identified. It is very important that your diagram is specific rather than generic.

(c) Here you need to practice your analytical skills to assess what is required. Remember to start with a good introduction in which you define the assessed topic before moving on to explaining your plan for working on the TMA. In the body you should move on to assess the causes of the problems faced by Toyota and the impact of the organization’s structure, climate and decision making on its reaction to the problem. You also need to evaluate whether Toyota is a learning organization by relying on both theoretical principles and practical examples, and on the ideas presented in the assigned article.

Determine how evidence-based research could improve patient and nurse satisfaction levels in your workplace and…

..Write a ONE PAGE RESEARCH PROPOSAL for incorporating a specific evidence- based study in your workplace.