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Four Essays: Nuclear Power, Remembering an Event, Personal Narrative, Guns on Campus

Nuclear Power

Should the U.S. Build More Nuclear Power Plants for an Energy Source?

In this century, almost everyone is familiar with Nagasaki and Hiroshima. These two cities suffered bomb attacks from the Americans. These nuclear bombs demonstrated the power of atoms. Nevertheless, technology involving nuclear has no limitations to wars but also as a major source of energy. Atomic power is what harnesses the production of nuclear energy. Reactions that are a result of nuclear reactions sustain sun and all other stars. Nuclear reactors also produce manmade nuclear power. Currently, the scientists are on a very heavy mission of getting ways of generating nuclear power with the use of nuclear fusion, the main reason as to why the topic is relevant (Benjamin, 2011).

There are three major characteristics of the audience one of them being that they believe a single reactor of nuclear can produce a substantial amount of power. Unlike conservative sources of energy like coal and oil, a nuclear reactor can produce much more power per every unit weight of nuclear fuel. Others believe that production of nuclear power does not contribute to global warming since it does not spoil the atmosphere by releasing carbon dioxide. Talking of operational costs, costs of nuclear reactors operations are relatively low. The third characteristic is that they think nuclear power lowers the dependence of toxic waste resulting to remnant fuels. Nuclear power also reduces the nation’s dependence on foreign costly fuels.

The main question to be answered with regard to this research is should the U.S. Build More Nuclear Power Plants for an Energy Source? and why many people refer to domestic policy as public policy meaning it is the same thing when it comes to nuclear power. It plays the role of presenting decisions, programs and laws that the government makes. All these relate directly to issues and activities that are within the country. Therefore, domestic policy has the definition of set laws and regulations established by the government within the nation’s borders. Domestic policy is different from foreign policy where by foreign policy talks of how the government advances in politics of the world. Domestic policy wraps many areas including energy, business, energy law enforcement, and natural resources. Decisions from domestic policy reflect a nation’s experience and history, economic and social conditions, priorities and needs of its people as well as the government’s nature. It is a frequent disagreement’s source among people from different philosophies and backgrounds (Clark, 2003).

President Barack Obama committed himself to making significant changes in the United States of America’s policy of environment and energy during the campaign and the first year in office. In January 2009, there was an introduction of the energy bill in congress and it did not only involve a range of policies like control of stricter emissions and alternative sources of energy subsidies but also a carbon pricing regime that was ambitious for carbon emissions. The pricing regime is none other than the cap and trade (Benjamin, 2011).

When the house did the passing of the cap and trade bill, the senate opposed stiffly from the very beginning. This did not discourage the congress and president Obama and in the early months of 2010, the senate made it clear that it could not accept specific emissions targets under the policy of cap and trade system. It is from there that Barack Obama the president of the United States of America conceded and acknowledged that there could be passing of a major energy bill separate from the cap and trade (Benjamin, 2011).

The new passed bill would provide subsidies for other alternative energy sources including nuclear and stricter controls on emission of carbon. The 2010 oil spill brought into light some contradictions in the United States of America policy, blaming it all in the administration for lifting the ban on new offshore drilling. In the mid-2010, the senate had not yet passed the energy bill including the one involving cap and trade.

There are various research methods or methodologies used in this research project. They include; interviews, conversations, focus groups, observations and questionnaires. These are the main methodologies used in the United States of America to determine if the U.S. Should Build More Nuclear Power Plants for an Energy Source.

Interviews

Several people responded well to the interviews and no barriers encountered. However, many people wanted to know the reason it had to be them simply that they did not know the selection of the interviewees was random. The ratio of male to female was 50:50. Three males and three females responded well. This was regardless of whether they were determine if the U.S. Should Build More Nuclear Power Plants for an Energy Source or not.

Conversations

Many conversations with friends from U.S. took place discussing if the U.S. Should Build More Nuclear Power Plants for an Energy Source. It was tremendously encouraging to see how the community members participated and cooperated well without any miss conduct. However, some communication barriers got underway but later resolved. The main conversations included the issue nuclear power. The people talked more about the disadvantages and talked less on the advantages. The debate seemed to favor many, as they wanted their children and themselves to learn more.

Questionnaire

The same group that took the U.S. communities received and filled the questionnaires willingly. Both groups commented and added some comments saying if the whole world adopted More Nuclear Power Plants for an Energy Source, the whole world could continue to get better. The questionnaire addressed the problems that the institutions encountered regarding the issue of nuclear power. The questionnaire that contained fifteen questions formed the baseline of the research. The questions indirectly addressed the effects of nuclear power. Some of the questions included in the questionnaire were like; how did one find the nuclear power application, what are the difficulties that the plant system got at the beginning while incorporating, what are the expectations of the energy source, and what actions would improve the current power sources (Benjamin, 2011).

One of the greatest limitations of nuclear power is that the technology used on its production produce nuclear weapons, which later cause nations move up against nations. The waste products that are a result of nuclear power production can last for thousands of years and may cause more harm to the society. On to my own opinion, I hope nuclear power becomes useful and safe energy in the future. This can only happen if many countries spent more money and time wisely to improve upon this technology.

Remembering an Event

I was 15 years old and I was in freshman year in high school. It was during the weekend and it was a beautiful day when that happened and I did not have a plan in that day. First of all, in the morning my father woke me up and he said if you would like to go with me to get some groceries for home and I told him of course but give me thirty minutes to take a shower and eat something if you are not busy. Then he said I’m busy I can not wait for you because I have more work to do, then he went without me. After that, he came and I helped him carrying the groceries inside the house and then he gave me his car key to lock it, but I did not return the car key to him because if forgot and he did not remind me too.

Next, at midnight my friend called me and he told me that he wanted to hang out but he could not because he lives far away. Then, I told him that I have my father’s key and he is sleeping right now so I will take my father’s car and come pick you up. He agreed and mentioned that it is nice out. That was the first time I stole my father’s car and I was scared a little from my father finding out about it. I took the car and when I was driving on the highway I did not know exactly which exit to take to drop my friend at his place so, I took one of the exits and I thought that was the correct one but, it was not. I stopped the car to call my friend because I wanted to know where was his home at but the first problem I forgot my phone at home and I did not know how I could return to my house.

So I was very scared from my father to find out about that and I did not know what to do but I tried to find my neighborhood and I asked someone walking on the sidewalk and he helped me get to where I live. While driving back home I was reckless driving and one of the police officer saw me violating traffic rules then he pulled me over. Here was the big problem because the police officer asked me about the driver license and my ID and I actually did not have both of them. Then, he told me you have to call your father or I will take you to jail but I told him I could not call my father because my phone is not with me. Then, the police officer gave me his phone and I called my father and explained to him everything happened from the beginning and he was very angry because I did not return his key back to him.

In conclusion, my father showed up at where I was stopped by the police then fixed everything. I was grounded for a month and did not go anywhere but school, I was also financially punished but, my mom helped me through it. That is one of the best stories that ever happened to me when I was a child.

Personal Narrative

Ever since I can remember, baking has been my favorite past-time activity since during the holidays; my aunt would visit and prepare cupcakes for my brothers and me for breakfast and four o’clock tea. The way she did it, so skillfully and at the same time effortlessly, inspired me to want to learn the art. Furthermore, I relish the sweet essence from baked delicacies in the house. Therefore, we began shadowing her as she prepared the cupcakes and over time, she let us in on her secret ingredients. This brought us closer together as a family as we all got to sit down and bond as we enjoyed the delicious treats. My brother became particularly interested in baking and, thus, he went on to join a culinary institute. I realized I am better with accounting and finances, therefore, I sought to gain the knowledge in business management and marketing as I horn my other skills from dedicated lecturers at a renowned culinary institution.

Moreover, while in high school, my brother and I decided to have a bake sale to raise funds for a classmate that had lost his father to cancer and needed money to settle the medical bills and pay for funeral arrangements. To my surprise, the bake sale became such a huge success and people kept telling us how much they enjoyed them. This sparked my desire to own a bakery and my brother to come up with new innovative recipes. However, currently, I believe my raw skills and limited knowledge in business management skills are the only challenge to running this business. This is why I am fervent about joining an institution which is well known to ensure that my skills are better developed to ensure success in my chosen trade. I strongly feel that it would equip me with the necessary business management skills to set up a bakery with my brother and run it efficiently. In addition, I would like to interact with the different academicians at such an institution and seek their mentorship and guidance as I set out on my endeavor.

Last year, my aunt was diagnosed with diabetes that made her less active and cheerful especially since she is well-advanced in age. This has further ignited my ambition as now my brother and I endeavor to create healthy recipes that would be enjoyed by all. This, coupled with the fact that we would like to use social media and new technologies to boost our business, has also contributed to my desire to join a university which will help us develop the necessary skills. This is because many universities, to my knowledge, always continuously aim to remain up to date in equipping their students with recent technologies and business trends that have helped to provide them with relevant skills while making them versatile. I look forward to participating in the extra-curricular activities offered at the university that I join, as I know they will enable me to further build my confidence and overall character. Therefore, I hope that at least one of the applications that I have made to various universities will come through as I am certain the learning environment will provide the ideal foundation as I set out to actualize my business idea.

One of the greatest benefits that I have personally come to reap from being able to help the my aunt in baking is the confidence in my ability to do all the tasks that are assigned to me, most especially those concerned with the principles behind this practice. This new confidence in myself has enabled me to think of a greater role for myself in future than I had previously considered when I was still a child. Moreover, through the teamwork that developed between my brother and I, I have managed to see first hand how the skills displayed by bakers are necessary for dealing with prospective issues concerning health promotion. It has, indeed, been a privilege to work and share activities and experience with my aunt and brother, because they are individuals who were not only friendly, but have also supported me whenever I have experienced any problems. Moreover, all members of my family have been willing and able to help my brother and I out to finish all the work that we have chosen to undertake in order to develop our skills. All the members of our family that have been involved in our baking projects put in as much effort as they can to accomplish it and this has been a great motivation for us. I am, therefore, thankful for all the support that my family has provided us in ensuring that we realise our dreams no matter what.

Guns on Campus

Crimes on campus have been occurring lately in the U.S. which can lead to serious damage to a person’s life. Admittedly, people whom are not trustworthy, carrying guns on campus, can become a harmful and dangerous situation for other students. Campus police worries about parking and speeding tickets more than caring about students carrying weapons around. Guns on campus is causing threats to our professors and students safety because it is easily accessible, lack of security and unstable people having no control over their anger.

In the article “Guns on campus? Expect tragedy” (Amitai Etzioni ,2011) the author reports about the increasing crimes that have been happening recently by professors and students at the university campuses. On average “more than 700 Americans died each year from gun accidents between 1999 and 2007” (Amitai Etzioni, 2011). Some of those who favor guns say, “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people” (Amitai Etzioni, 2011) But those nations which have more control over accessing guns have much lower levels of killing than those countries in which guns are freely available. “Among the 23 countries, 80% of all firearm deaths happened in the U.S. Some say even if we took away all guns, people would still kill each other” (Amitai Etzioni, 2011); however; no one can go to a random campus and kill dozen of people by using knife. “Guns should be less accessible, not more” (Amitai Etzioni, 2011). The author uses excellent supporting details to convince people not to carry guns on campuses; however; Stable trusted students and professors should carry guns around campus with license and they would be more of undercover security to save university properties.

The author uses logic in the fifth paragraph based on true stories when he says “ it was a student at Virginia Tech in 2007 who shot and killed 32 people, and in 2008, a former student killed five people and wounded 17 when he opened fire in a crowded lecture hall at Northern Illinois University” (Amitai Etzioni, 2011) I think it is clear that it is reasoning because he gave us logical examples based on true stories that have happened recently on university campuses. Again, he uses logic by giving statistics in the twelfth paragraph when he says “one study examined violence in 23 high-income countries and found that firearm homicide rate was nearly 20 times higher in the U.S than in the other countries” (Amitai Etzioni, 2011) and he also mentioned that among the 23 countries, 80% of all firearm deaths happened in the U.S, which means both of the statistics are considered logical. In addition, the author’s angle of vision is that he wants us to see how strongly he’s against guns on university campuses. On the other hand, he shows the negative aspect about guns on campuses by mentioning the tragic stories that caused killing and wounding innocent students. The author does not want us to have guns and shows us that they should be prohibited on university campuses. Most of the article is logical based on true stories and statistics that show the serious consequences of having firearms on campuses. However, the author wants the article to be easily understood. Going through the article it is obvious to notice how simple and more formal it is, which different levels and ages of people would get the main point of the article on the first time they read it.

Although one might agree that stable people whom can be trusted could carry guns with them on university campuses, others might disagree with unstable people being allowed to be armed on campuses. Once unstable people experience something that causes anger, they may lose their self-control and start shooting people. If there were trusted people with guns, they could be protecting innocent people from others who favor to vent their anger in the form of shooting people. The article mentioned the unexpected story of Seung –Hui Cho who has killed 32 people on Monday on the campus of Virginia Tech. “The killings occurred in two separate attacks on the campus in Blacksburg, Va. The first took place around 7:15 a.m., when two people were shot and killed at a dormitory. More than two and a half hours later, 31 others, including the gunman, were shot and killed across campus in a classroom building, where some of the doors had been chained. Victims were found in different locations around the building, if there were stable people with guns, Seung-Hui Cho might not have killed 32 victims and injured others, he could’ve been taken-down when he started shooting people” (Crowley, 2007). Finally, stable people could carry guns on the university campuses to defend themselves. Many people might believe that since guns are freely available in the US, and every citizen can easily reach them as long as they are a certain age, there will be no way that crime can be deterred unless guns are controlled. Consequently, giving firearms to only trusted people and making them less accessible for those who are incapable to have them would definitely deter crimes in the U.S where gun violence is increasing day after day of its weak federal gun laws. However, crimes will not be deterred unless guns are controlled in the U.S.

Despite the increase in crimes that happen often on university campuses, one might agree that stable students and professors should carry guns on campuses to possibly prevent a tragedy like others that have occurred in the past from happening again.. Others might disagree that licensed stable people should be allowed to have guns on college campuses to protect others and themselves from People with mental disorders that might threaten students and professors. It is necessarily to have an eye on women on campuses because they are often the easy targets for those who vent their anger by shooting. Many criminal incidents occur against women; In the article “The Reality of Crime On Campus” (Todd S. Purdum, 1988) the author reports “a man on a university campus walks up to a woman he has never met and bites her breast in a collegiate fad known as sharking. Four university football players in California Gang-raped a woman. A student rapes and strangles a 19-year-old college freshman in her Pennsylvania dormitory room. Another student murders two others in a Michigan dormitory with a sawed-off shotgun” (Todd S. Purdum, 1988). That is the reason why I think stable students and professors should be allowed to carry guns on university campuses.

In the article “Why state should allow guns on campus” (Michele Fiore, 2013) she reports a tragic incident of “Amanda, a 22-year-old, law-abiding adult, had a concealed weapon permit, but per state law, she did not have her gun on campus that night. Amanda did everything she could to be safe. She walked with friends to the parking garage, checked around her car and knew her surroundings, but her assailant attacked her from behind. She was held at gunpoint, forced to the ground and violently raped between two cars. In those few minutes that must have felt like hours, Amanda feared for her life, and even being in such close proximity to the police, an officer never came past” (Michele Fiore, 2013)

More importantly, Stable people carrying guns on campuses may mean the difference between life and death. The campus police are not fully aware of the danger that is surrounding students and professors on campus; therefore, they should have the right to take responsibility for their own safety and defend themselves when they have to.

To sum up, stable people should carry guns on university campuses so they can protect themselves and others from those who express their anger by harming innocent people. We should keep an eye on easy targets such as women and work as a team to protect our campuses. We could be more alert for suspicious people walking around campus and Communicate more with the police to keep our campuses a safe environment that allows us to get an excellent education instead of getting shot. One of the preferences that criminals like is an unarmed victim, being armed might not help all the time but being armless will never help. If we can train some trusted people on how to use guns and carry them legally, then they can have the opportunity to protect others from getting wounded by people with mental illnesses that might shoot someone. Finally, giving firearms to trusted people and making them less accessible for those whom are incapable to have them would definitely deter crimes in the U.S.

Works cited

Amitai. “Guns on Campus? Expect Tragedy.” CNN. 08 Mar. 2011. Web. <http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-08/opinion/etzioni.guns.in.school_1_guns-people-professors/2?_s=PM:OPINION>.

Crowley, Stephen. “Virginia Tech Shooting Leaves 33 Dead.” The New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/us/16cnd-shooting.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0>.

“Why State Should Allow Guns On campus.” LasVegasSun.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. <http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/feb/24/why-state-should-allow-guns-campus/>.

N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/10/education/the-reality-of-crime-on-campus.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm>.

Benjamin Daniel. (2011). Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power. New york: A Critical Global Assessment of Atomic Energy.

Clark, Laura. (2003). Energy. New York: Macmillan publishers.

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment is a process that is used by students and teachers during instruction. It provides feed back that help in adjusting to the ongoing learning and teaching for improvement of students’ achievement of the intended outcome from the instructions. The main purpose of formative assessment is providing feedback to students and teachers during the learning process about the gap between the desired and the current performance of the students in order to formulate an effective action of closing the gap. In order to do this effectively, the teachers need to consider a continuum of the development of learning in any specific learning domain to enable them to properly allocate students’ present learning status and make a decision on the pedagogical action that should be taken to move the learning process of the students forward. In this paper, we shall discuss in depth the five elements of formative assessment which includes; learning progression, Learning Goals and Criteria for Success, descriptive feed back, self and peer assessment and finally collaboration.

Formative Assessment Tool Kit

Name: _________________________ Cohort Location: Bellevue – Tacoma Date: _______________________

Formative Assessment GLE (s) Description of Assessment Directions for Use Age, Reading Level, Grade Level Why assessment is useful

learning progression Grade 6 The descriptions of the process of students gaining more expertise within a specific discipline over a given period of time. Described below Standard 4-6 To improve the expertise of students.

descriptive feed back Grade 5 Information that is linked to success criteria teachers and students share during the learning process to enable the students to close the gap the current levels of their performance and the goals of learning. “ Standard 3-8 Linking the gap between the current elells of performance through linking information from the teachers to the students.

self and peer assessment Grade 7 Involves a process of learning where students improve their learning process through the feedback they give to their peers. “ Standard 5-8 To enhance the relation between one student to the other as well as allowing the students the chance of learning from each other.

Learning Goals and Criteria for Success Grade 6 critical pieces of information that is needed by students to be successful learners “ Standard 3-8 The information helps to increase efficiency by avoiding dealing with irrelevant information as well as having .

Collaboration.

Grade 5 Students and their teachers being involved in the process of deciding the most effective learning process. “ Standard 4-8 It strengthens the relationship between the teachers and the students and enhance mutual respect among them which facilitate a conducive learning environment.

1. Learning progressions:

Learning progressions help in clearly articulating the sub goals of the ultimate learning goal. Stevens et al (2007) describes learning progression as the descriptions of the process of students gaining more expertise within a specific discipline over a given period of time. “Learning progressions represent how both understanding and knowledge develops as well as predicting how knowledge develops or builds over time.

Learning progressions which clearly articulates a learning progression in a particular domain can be used for providing a larger picture of what is to learned, supporting instructional planning as well as acting as a touchstone for formative assessment (Bell & Cowie, 2001).

Usage of learning progression

A well designed learning progression offers various opportunities for teachers’ instruction planning. To assists the teachers in focusing on the learning goals that are important in the domain, focusing their attention on what the student should learn instead of what the students should do. In planning instructions, identification of the learning goal is done first then the sequence of experiences or activities that are to be used by the teacher for enabling the students in meeting their goals is connected to the goal.

A learning progression also helps the teacher to see the connections between what comes after and before learning, in both the long and the short term. A recent study by Harlen, (1999) has described the importance of teacher’s clarity regarding what comes after or before a particular learning goal.

In a study to determine the mathematical knowledge of a teacher, 130 sixth grade mathematics teachers were reviewing the student’s responses to the assessment of their core principals underlying the mysteries in algebra one understanding. The teachers could more often identify the main principal that was addressed by the assessment and in a large part they could appropriate inferences on what the students understand and what they did not about the principal. Nevertheless, they had noticeable difficulty in the determination of what they would do next according to the instructions, as well as the feed back they would issue to the students for moving their learning forward.

A learning progression through the provision of of a learning sequence that undergirds instructions could help in this situation. E.g. the NCTM 2007 focal points. Theses are core mathematical ideas descriptions that need to be learned by students at each grade level. Development of a learning progression for these ideas is possible. For example In the algebra case, among the grade 6 core ideas includes;

Solving simple one step equations by use of properties of operations, number sense and the ideas of quality mainatainace on both sides of the equations.

This idea can be extended into grade 7 as:

Understanding that through the use of properties of equality for expressing an equation in a new way, the solution that are obtained for the newer equation can be used for solving the original equation.

This idea has also qualifications in the previous grades, E.g.

Use relations, models and patterns as contexts for solving and writing simple inequalities as equations (Grade 5).

Identification, description and extension of numeric patterns that involve all operations and non numeric repeating or growing patterns (Grade 4)

Using the properties of multiplication and addition for multiplying the whole numbers then apply strategies which are increasingly sophisticated based on these properties for solving multiplication and division problems that involve the basic facts (Grade 3).

Through putting this ideas into use, a teacher of the sixth grade who had students having problems in solving simple one step inequalities by using operation properties can decide to focus on development of a better understanding of the properties, for example that, that subtraction undoes addition and multiplication is undone by division.

All the same, for maximum use of formative and instruction assessment, these ideas have to be fleshed out. Using them in their current form provides the teacher in the mathematical knowledge study that is described earlier with a clear point of view of the constituents in one algebraic aspect. But to be able to determine on what feedback he should give the students, more connection and detail among the ideas is very necessary. NCTM gives specifications that the focal point must be use as a planning framework. With ideas being the backbone of for a progression that is more detailed, school teachers should be able to poll expertise for figuring out the parts that interlock between core ideas and to describe what is involved in understanding and usage of the properties of solving of equations the students need to learn. This process can facilitate improvements of teachers’ knowledge to formative assessment and instruction. It can help the teachers in acquiring sufficient knowledge of pulling the short term goals for formative assessment chunks of instruction that are manageable, while at the same time ability of locating the purpose of any lesson in a flight of instructions that wires learning of students overtime (Leakey, 2001).

2. Learning Goals and Criteria for Success

These are critical pieces of information needed by students to make them successful learners. Teachers and students must have a common understanding of the things to be learned and create an idea of how a successful achievement looks. With explicit criteria and goals, the students have a beginning of what they require in order to become self monitoring independent learners.

Due to the fact that formative assessment is the process of helping students to achieve the intended learning outcome on the basis of explicit learning progression, the teachers should identify first and then communicate to the students the instructional goal. Teachers should provide the criteria of assessing learning to enable the students to determine whether or not they are progressing successfully towards the goal. Communication of this information should be through use of a language that the students can easily understand.

There are several ways that teachers can use in the process of clarification and sharing the learning goals and criteria for success to the students. Many teachers prefer specifying the learning goals of each lesson at the begging of the lesson. In doing so, many of them are unable to have a distinction between the learning goals and the required activities necessary to learning. When teachers starts with what they intend to teach the students and then design their instructions from that goal backwards, effectiveness of the instructions becomes unlikely (McNair, 2004). McNair advocates a two stage process of clarifying the learning the learning goals first, followed by establishment of success criteria. Later, the students should also be able to know.

The necessary improvement conditions are that the students comes to acquire a concept of quality that is similar to that of the teacher, is constantly able to screen the quality of what is being produced during the production art and has a collection of alternative strategies from which he can at any specific point.

To illustrate this in an example, when writing 6 ½ , the mathematical operation which is between 6 and ½ is in the actual sense additional, but in writing 6x, the operation that is implied between 6 and x is multiplication, hence the relation between 6 and 1 in 61 is again different. Yet, very few people who are qualified mathematicians are aware with the mathematical notation differences. In reality, being successful in maths requires the knowledge of what to consider and what not to. The students who don’t understand what is important and what is not are usually in big disadvantage.

In a study in a eleventh grade classroom, Black & Wiliam, (1998) found that by giving the students some time to discuss about what would be considered as quality work, as well as how evaluation of their work would be done, it reduced the gap of achievement between the lowest and the highest achieving student and at the same time increased the class average performance to an extent that the weaker students in the group were doing better than the stronger students of the experimental group.

This proves that using various examples of the work of the students from different classes can be effective in helping students to understand what count as quality work. A significant number of teachers have discovered that students are better at spotting the mistakes in the work of others than in their own. By providing students with examples of work at different levels, the students can gradually begging to explore the difference between inferior and superior work, and the whole class can discuss this emerging understanding. This process will result to students developing a urge of quality which they can apply in monitoring quality of individual work. Black, (1998). .

Learning Goals and Criteria for Success can be applied at all grades of students learning.

3. Descriptive Feedback

This is information that is linked to success criteria teachers and students share during the learning process to enable the students to close the gap the current levels of their performance and the goals of learning.

In a classroom, the students should be provided feed back that is based on evidence linked to the instructional outcome that is intended and success criteria. Descriptive feedback should involve specific qualities of students learning together with suggestions and discussions about what can be done by the student to make an improvement. It should not involve pupil’s comparison. Specific feed back should base upon the criteria for success and the learning goal. It should assist the student in answering the basic questions: (1) where am I going, (2) where am I now and (3) how can I close this gap.

To site an example, an 8th grade writing class, students are learning about argument construction. Specifically they focus of speech writing and have already examined various speeches that are effective, from prominent history speech makers from the previous year’s 8th grade students. In this lesson the students were asked to write an opening statement of their speech based on the success criteria of topic introduction that will engage the audience. The teacher gives one student a feed back, “the audience attention was not captured by your opening paragraph due to the fact that it does not state what the speech regard to. Al the same, the 2nd sentence’ opening paragraph states your position effectively. What can you do to strengthen and improve your opening statement?” through using this type of collaboration and descriptive feedback, the teacher is able to clarify the goal, give specific info on where the student is almost meeting the criteria and finally gives enough substantive purpose for allowing the student an opportunity for identifying the ways to continue moving the learning.

In a similar case, 6th grade students in a math class and working in groups were asked to review the steps taken to solve a problem by a student from the earlier class. They have to decide if the work is incorrect or correct as well as give an explanation for their views. The teacher gives them this criterion of success, “include any rules or properties that could apply in your explanations”. When the team went back from the discussions, the teacher listened for the properties or rules in the given explanations which became the feedback focus. She said to one group, “your explanations show me that you have a clear understanding that the method that was used by that student for solving the problem was not correct. You should remember the success criteria and also must relate your explanations to one property among those that ewe have already discussed in class in order for indication of the reason why the steps which were followed were incorrect”. In this example again the students are able to know the goal, whereby their response was different from the criteria, as well as how be able to improve their explanation (Leakey, 2001).

Descriptive feedback can be applied in fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

4. Self- and Peer-Assessment:

Self and peer assessment can carried out by use of summative and formative techniques. Activities of summative assessment are used to sum up or judge achievement. These activities can be used for improving the practices and performance of the students. They encompass all the activities that are undertaken by students or teachers for providing feedback that that is used for modification of learning and teaching practices. The reflection of such feed back in necessary because it enables students and teachers to identify their weaknesses and strengths necessary for considering whether changes are needed, Deville, et al., (2002).

For better illustration of this type of formative assessment, it is important to consider and remember that both self and peer assessment enables the students to learn while judging the work of other and their own work as well. It is based on the NCTM standards and principals and at the same time requires the students to think individually about mathematics as well as in groups.

As individuals, the students are asked to read articles from content based journals as well as other writings about math. Based on some specific parts of mathematics that they had covered in their reading, they were able to make oral presentations. The students are then paired into groups of two and instructed to critique the presentation of their partners

Although the paired students are mostly focused on the preparation of individual preparations and believe that they are evaluating the presentation of the other students, the main objective is to assess whether or not they have initialized the most essential message that is intended for them to draw from this course which is that thorough mathematical content understanding is the back bone of good pedagogy.

In self assessment, the student monitors and reflects their learning by use of clearly explicated criteria for success. In peer assessment, the students analyses the work of each other by use of rubrics or guidelines as well as provides a descriptive feed back that facilitate continued improvement. E.g. students can work in pairs in order to review the work of each other and give a comprehensive feedback. What a teacher needs is to model a good feedback with the students and discussed with them about the unacceptable and acceptable comments and how they look like for creation of a safe environment for learning.

A rubric can be used by students for providing feedback to the peer by articulating the reason as to why a particular work is at a certain level as well as discussing the methods of improving it to the next higher level. An alternative method of giving feed back is by using a format like “two stars a wish” which provides the students with a structure for identification of two particularly strong aspects of work (star) as well as one aspect the peer might wish to improve (a wish). After this, the students require time to mirror on the feed back that they have received in order to make the relevant improvements or changes. In addition to this, the students can as well be encouraged to become self reflective by paying more attention to their own work on the basis of what they have leant from giving others a feed back. Another advantage of providing a peer with feedback is that it deepens individual, learning of the student. All the same, in a formal grading process, the student and peer assessment should not be applied (Deville, & Bouter, et al., (2002).

5. Collaboration

This is a culture that should be established in a classroom where the students and the teachers are learning partners. It involves sharing of criteria for success and learning goals with students, giving support to students as they take responsibility and monitor their own learning, assisting the students to provide beneficial feedback to one another as well as involving the students in making of decisions on how to move the learning process forward are descriptions of teachers and students working together in the learning and teaching process.

All the same, for students to be successfully and actively involved in their own process of learning, they have to feel that they are legitimate partners in the process. This feeling depends upon the classroom culture that is characterized by trust among and between teachers and their students. By norms of transparency, respect and appreciation of each others differences and an environment that is none threatening. Creation of this kind of a culture requires the teachers to be actively involved in modeling these behaviors during their interactions with the students, to facilitate active teaching of the classroom norms and for building the skills of the students in collaborators with peers and teachers in the process of learning.

This type of formative assessment is effective applicable at all the levels of learning.

While there is evidence that exists in an anecdotal degree for supporting the five attributes that have been presented, there is no best and clear way of carrying out formative assessment. The methods of implementing these attributes depend upon the individual teacher, a particular instruction context and most importantly, the individual student (McNair, 2004).

References

Gillet, J., & Temple. C., (2011). Understanding Reading Problems: Assessment and Instruction. 8th ed. Pearson, Education, Inc.: Boston, MA.

Shea, M., (2006). Where’s the Glitch: How to Use Running Records with Older Readers, Grades 5-8. Heinemman.

Bell, B. & Cowie, B., (2001). “The characteristics of formative assessment in science

Education”, Science Education, 85, 536–553.

Black, P., (1998). ‘Formative assessment: raising standards inside the classroom’,

School Science Review, 80, 291, 39–46.

Black, P. & Wiliam, D., (1998). “Assessment & classroom learning”, Assessment in

Education, 5, 1, 7–73.

Cowie, B. & Bell, B. (1999). “A model of formative assessment in science

Education”, Assessment in Education, 6, 1, 101–116.

Deville, L, Buntinx, F, & Bouter LM, et al., (2002). “Conducting systematic reviews of diagnostic studies: didactic guidelines”. BMC Med Res Methodol; 2: 9.

Harlen, W., (1999). “Purposes & procedures for assessing science process skills”’,

Assessment in Education, 6, 1, 129–144.

Harlen, W., (2007). ‘Holding up a mirror to classroom practice’, Primary Science

Review, 100, 29–31.

Keogh, B. & Naylor, S., (2004). “Children’s ideas children’s feelings”, Primary

Science Review, 82, 18–20.

Leakey, A. (2001). “Fantastic feedback”, Primary Science Review, 68, 22–23.

McNair, S. (2004). ‘”A” is for assessment’, Science and Children, 42, 1, 18–21.

Naylor, S. & Keogh, B., (2007). “Active assessment: thinking, learning & assessment in science’, School Science Review, 88, 325, 73–79.

Spavold, Z., (2005). “Using formative assessment to raise pupil motivation: a small

classroom–based study”, School Science Review, 86, 317, 119–123.

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Four Forces of Evolution

Evolution is a change that affects the inheritable characteristics. Such changes affect only the biological populations and occur in successive generations.it is through evolution process that the modern living organisms have resulted. Four forces of evolution are dwelt on in this discussion. The evolution forces mentioned here refers to the factors that collectively contribute to the overall evolutionary process. Evolution is a generational process that occurs over time. The forces discussed here include mutation, genetic drift, natural selection and gene flow.

Mutation as a force of evolution results to gross alteration of genes and geneexpression; they are inheritable changes and occur randomly. Some forms of mutations are beneficial while others are harmful to organisms. Beneficial changes enable organisms to improve life sustaining adaptive skills like those involving reproduction and feeding abilities. Gene mutation is significantly responsible for the emergence of population variation, the variations in population could be within or between populations and are as a result of either environmental or gene influence.

The forces of evolution may lead to two types of evolution namely micro and macro evolution. Varying processes lead to either of the two types. Microevolution refers to the changes that arise within a pool of genes from one given generation to another. It is greatly influenced by all the four forces of evolution. Macroevolution on the other hand studies changes that go beyond species level; it describes the abrupt occurrences that lead to transformation of one biologic system into another; for examplea change of life from water to land. This led to speciation; different species then came into existence. A species refers to the lowest taxonomic grouping or ranking of organisms that can freely interbreed and give rise to new viable offspring

Natural selection is yet another force of evolution. In this case, the individual members of population continue to exist depending on their ability to reproduce and survive in the existing environmental conditions. It is notable that more organisms are produced by the progeny than can live or survive.Here, organisms with traits that offer advantage over the competitors are passed to the new generation. Those that are disadvantageous are rarely or minimally passed.

A third force of evolution in this discussion is the genetic drift. It is a change in the type of genes found in a population. These changes do occur in successive generations. Allele frequency is more prone to sampling error in a smaller population; a larger population is not affected much by genetic drift as the sampling errors finally cancel off. The drift alone is adequate to alter two separate populations that begun with same genetic material into two divergent populations.

The last evolutionary force is gene flow. It involves the mixing of genetic material among populations and or species. If two populations are completely isolated over time and no exchange of genes occur between them, they develop gene incompatibility. It therefore serves to minimize the genetic difference between populations. Organisms entering a population from another one come with a new set of gene pool. When they mate with the population that they join then they form hybrids that carry these genes from species to species.

Isolation mechanism largely takes part in evolution. In this mechanism, there are reproductive characteristics that prevent the given species from fusing. The mechanisms include physiological processes and behaviors related to reproduction. In this case, the species belonging to two different species are prevented from mating and if they mate, no viable offspring results

In conclusion, all the four forces of evolution discussed above work together additively to foster evolution process. It is these forces that have over the years led to development of the various forms of life that exist in the present time. These processes are gradual but constant and give rise to the variations observed between different species. Evolutionary forces mainly occur in ways that enhance species survival but may occasionally be deleterious.

Forms of Business, Sole Proprietorship

Name

Course

Course instructor

Date

Sole Proprietorship

Sole proprietorship is the most simple and common form of business that is unincorporated but owned and run by one person and with no distinction between the business and the owner. According to Pride, Hughes & Kapoor (2012), formation of a sole proprietorship does not need any formal action and is very easy and an inexpensive form. Since the business and the owner are regarded as one, the business income is the owner’s income and the owner shares the losses. It is also apparent that the business income is not taxed separately like other forms of business such as corporation.

Sole proprietors enjoy complete control of their businesses and are entitled to make any decision concerning their businesses. There are no consultations involved in the decision making process. Moreover, tax preparation process is very easy since the business is not taxed separately and the tax rates are lowest of the business structures. According to Pride, Hughes & Kapoor (2012), owners of the business are always free to mix business or personal assets. Unfortunately, sole proprietorship involves unlimited personal liability since there is no legal separation between the owner and the business. The owner of a business can be held responsible for the debts and obligations of the business and the risk extends to any liability incurred by employee actions. Raising capital for sole proprietor is always not easy because stock in the business cannot be sold and the investors cannot invest in them. Additionally, sole proprietorship seldom survive the death or disability of the owners

Partnership

Partnership involves relationship between two or more people coming together on a trade and every person contributes money, property, labor, or skills. It is also worth noting that every partner shares in the profits and losses and as much as it is strongly recommended, it is regarded very risky to operate without.

There are three types of partnership arrangements including general partnerships, limited partnerships, and joint ventures. General partnership requires that profits, liability and management issues are equally divided amongst the partners and incase of unequal distribution, the proportion set is documented in the partnership agreement (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor, 2012). On the other hand the limited partnership enables partners to have limited liability d input as far as management decisions are concerned and the limits are based on each partner’s investment portion. Finally, the joint venture work almost like the general partnership but is always active for a short period or may be for a single project.

Partners include their individual share of income or loss on their personal tax returns and their taxes generally are annual return of income, employment tax, and estimated tax. Partnership involves shared financial commitment due to the advantage of pooling resources to obtain capital and this may help in securing credit. Furthermore, partnership involves complementary skills derived from the partners’ strengths, resources, and expertise. Partnership may also attract highly motivated and qualified employees due to incentives such as offering opportunity to employees to become members. However, joint and individual liability acts as a disadvantage where partners are liable for their own actions and for business, debts, and decisions made by other partners and the personal assets for partners may be used to satisfy the partnership debts. Decision making process may also not be easy exposing partners to disagreements amongst partners.

Corporation

Corporation is a complex form of business and is an independent legal entity that is owned by shareholders and is held legally liable for the actions and debts of the business. Incorporating corporations is very costly due to the administration fees, complex tax and the legal requirements making it suitable for established and large companies.

According to Pride, Hughes & Kapoor (2012), corporation is a separate tax paying entity and is required to pay federal, state or may be local tax and most businesses must register with the IRS as well as state and local revenue agencies. Corporation has several advantages including limited liability where business debts and actions of the entity do not affect shareholders personal assets and the business has the ability to generate capital such as through the sale of assets. Moreover, corporations are normally attractive to potential employees due to the competitive benefits and the potential for partial ownership via stock options associated with them. Nevertheless, there are some disadvantages linked with corporation such as the fact that they are costly and time-consuming forms of business to venture and start (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor, 2012). In addition, corporations may involve double taxing particularly when the company’s profit is taxed and the shareholders’ dividends are taxed.

Due to the ease of start, sole proprietorship is the most common form of business in America. There are no formal documents as long as the business is conducted under the owner’s legal name and the sole proprietor can maintain complete control over all aspects of the business. Not much capital is required in starting the business.

Reference

Pride, W. M., Hughes, R. J., & Kapoor, J. R. (2012). Business. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

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  Four Seasons Hotels In Europe

Introduction

A marketing plan shows the marketing efforts of an organization. It represents the company’s marketing strategy for a certain period. It should be made including the employees so that they can feel confident about attaining the company’s objectives (Cooper 24). The marketing plan mostly includes a well-defined description of the company’s competitors, the demand for the services and products of the organization and also the strengths and weaknesses of the company.

A marketing plan’s purpose is to show the management of a business the business current market position. The marketing plans made have a life of one to five years. This is because there are changes that are expected within the years, with the way technology is advancing markets are expected to evolve. The employees may leave and customers may be lost while others are gained. It shows what will be done so that the organization can attain its objectives. The business plan is more confused as a marketing plan but it is not the same thing because the business plan represents what the organization is about and its goals (Doole 34). The location of the company, staff, financing strategies and also the vision are included in the business plan. This means that the business plan is the constitution of the business, it then leads to the development of a marketing plan.

The Four Seasons Hotels in Europe has adapted the marketing strategy of using social media. The social media is where almost everyone resides, everybody is exposed to the social media and hence information is well spread. The company uses the social media to engage in conversations with their customers, tell them about new products, thank them for using their services and also advertise their current services (Groucutt 45). The company has ensured that all their consumers get their brand online, they have websites about them where customers can read their magazines and they have a manager who works on the website.

The Four Seasons Hotels since 1998 it has been named as one of the best top 100 company to work for. In the year 2012 the company’s revenue was 5.6 billion Euros and its operating income was 526 million Euros and by the end of the financial year its profit was 80million Euros. The company properties include 3,500 hotels which are in five continents. It also runs properties for real estate owners which earn them three per cent of the gross income and also 5 per cent of the profits from running the properties (Doole 86). The Four Seasons Hotels has sophisticated venues whereby people meet for business meetings; there are also luxurious receptions that are intended for parties holding a capacity of about 600 people. There are also gardens that are attractive especially because they can be viewed from the rooms.

Global trends shape the world and help to focus on the challenges that may be experienced in the future. Global economies are interconnected and hence leading to companies working with the government. There are six long term developments when it comes to global trends that can be used to shape the world. These are demographic shifts; this is the increase in population of the youth, urbanization and also the growing middle class. This leads to reshaping both the world and the society (Groucutt 66). The other long term development is the increase in technology innovation which leads to a smart mobile world. There is also the government which leads to enhancing the ties with the private sectors. There are also the emerging markets that lead to increased global power. There is also the global banking and lastly cleantech which is a competitive advantage. These trends are the same in the world.

The Four Seasons Hotels plans to continue adding to its portfolio more hotels and resorts. Its plan in the next five years is to expand in other countries where they are doing well and also where they have not established themselves. It plans to invest in countries like China and India and Moscow. The company also intends to go out and get more experienced and well known staff especially the chefs so as to increase their number of customers (Cooper 75). The company also hopes with the growth in technology innovation their advertising using the internet will continue to bear fruits. The company plans to continue communicating with their customers using the social media.

The company has faced competition since its inception and when starting in London its main competitors were Claridge and The Connaught but Four Seasons Hotel discovered that the two hotels were treating their customers according to their social class. The Mandarin hotel which after the Four Seasons Hotel was opened decided to use $ 110 on a new project. The hotel has 115 rooms which are near the landmark shopping centre; the two companies compete in their fabrics and furniture too. The Mandarin with its developments of having spas and Chinese art aims at attracting the tourists with disposable income ((Doole 72). The company gets its customers for the fine food and the good services they offer their customers which include picking them with Rolls-Royce limousines at the airport. The Four Seasons Hotel also has tried to gain the higher market share and has gone to extent of hiring designers so as to match with the culture of their customers and has worked on having the best modern spa and also providing the best services.

The competitors Mandarin boasts of its heritage and this is what it has over the Four Seasons Hotels. The sales manager is quoted saying that the hotel like to have chocolate sauce on their vanilla. The changes in the market however will lead to the hotel having more modern facilities other than the historic ones (Muhlbacher 65). The Four Seasons Hotels does not plan to emphasis on the historic features like its competitors. The hotel strengths is its modern facilities where they include ballrooms

The Four Seasons Hotels strengths are that they access certain things before they invest. The first thing is what is the strength of the market and second is the quality of the site that is proposed. The third one is the investor with whom to work with (Doole 83). They ensure they are committed and have the same objectives just as them. The Four Seasons hotels base its business model on four pillars which are service, quality, and culture and also brand. The company is dedicated to making sure they commit business in a way that they will comply with the law.

The Four Seasons Hotels at its fifth decade continues to grow in size and also in recognition all over the word. They are developing a global luxury brand. They have grown in all continents except one that is Antarctica. They offer exceptional luxury services to their customers worldwide hence building an international brand. The Four Seasons Hotels has made it their goal to involve all their employees and customers in achieving their goal of preserving the environment when providing their services (Muhlbacher 96). Market segmentation is a marketing term that refers to the company dividing consumers according to their needs. This is the reason why the Four Seasons Hotels has different services which are stated in their brochures, the spas mostly attract women and hence made to suit their needs.

Researching on the needs of most consumers which can be categorized on age and sex is a competitive advantage that will enable a company to defeat their competitors once they implement them. The company has been able to have a strong management team and has also applied technology in providing their services (Groucutt 85). Their financial position is quite strong. The company has been able to continue growing and they owe that to their strong brand name which has attracted investors and customers all over the world.

Ten million dollars budget of Four Season Hotels in Europe will be utilized and invested in the Centre of performing Arts, costs to construct and furnish thus making it the most luxurious theatre within Europe. Europe also possesses over fifteen thousand extravagance hotel items that will value $10 million from the mythological Four Seasons hotel at the underlying Avenue Road coupled with Yorkville. The budget for the item will entail the signature old world iron gates from the corresponding restaurant Truffles and the prevailing regency ballroom’s twofold height doors, overelaborate mirrors, wood paneling and century ancient chandeliers. Moreover, the tapestry that is situated thirty second floor, which is backdrop for numerous landmark photographs thus auction. The iconic Four Seasons Hotel is situated within the city’s fashionable Yorkville district is permanently closed down while the 55-storey tower is under construction near the alley. Numerous Europeans utilized the International Film Festival to watch movie. It is also popular destination. Europe is the biggest opera company and presently the home of its peculiar. The budget will increase the prevailing number of the rooms under administration thereby increasing the hotel management by approximately 20.7% within the third quarter. Moreover, RevPAR of the Four Seasons will advanced with at the corresponding Core Hotel. The budget will entail building of the five star hotels at underlying rate of fifteen percent per annum coupled with enhancement of the projects planned for the city of London and New York. Four Seasons possess ninety one luxury properties within numerous countries thus Toronto based company will hire manager to aid in expanding of the hotel and the hotelier. They offer exceptional luxury services to their customers worldwide hence building an international brand. The European Four Seasons Hotels has made it their goal to involve all their employees and customers in achieving their goal of preserving the environment when providing their services.

Activity Amount($)

Advertising $1,500,000

Marketing $500,000

Construction $3,800,000

Maintenance $300,000

Transportation $200,000

Furniture, raw materials and furnishes $2,500,000

Branding $650,000

Licensing/Legal Fees $100,000

Rental/Housing Fees $100,000

Direct Cost $250,000

Indirect Cost $100,000

Total $10,000,000

Customer satisfaction of the European Four Season Hotels is mainly measured in regard to the industry’s measure of the corresponding day to day room rates coupled by the massive occupancies expansion, which have increased by 6.8 percent. The customer normally have extremely good period in the hotels because of its hospitality industry.

Works Cited

Cooper, R. G. Winning at new products: Accelerating the process from idea to launch. Reading, Mass: Perseus, 2011.

Doole, I., & Lowe, R. Strategic marketing: Decisions in global markets. London: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2005.

Doole, I., & Lowe, R. International marketing strategy: Analysis, development and implementation. London: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2008.

Groucutt, J., Forsyth, P., & Leadley, P. Marketing: Essential principles, new realities. London: Kogan Page, 2006.

Mühlbacher, H., Dahringer, L., & Leihs, H. International marketing: A global perspective. London: Thomson Learning, 2006.

Appendix

Sample client satisfaction questions

The guide for the survey for customer that concern Four Seasons Hotel services and the corresponding satisfaction survey of the entire organization will take the subsequent format.

Satisfaction with services accessed or received

In the past 12 months, how frequently have you accessed or received services from Four Season Hotels?

o Weekly

o Monthly

o Every 2-3 months

o Every 4 months or less

Which of the following services have you received or accessed?

o [Insert a list of the services/programs you offer for respondents to select from]

o

o

How would you rate your satisfaction with the following aspects of the services you have received or accessed?

Very satisfied Satisfied Unsatisfied Very unsatisfied Not sure

Quality of services delivered Professionalism and gallantry of staff Timeliness of services delivered Your consciousness of this service How satisfied are you overall with the services you received or accessed in the 12 previous months?

o Very satisfied

o Satisfied

o Unsatisfied

o Very unsatisfied

o Not sure

What did you like most about the services you received or accessed?

What do you think we could do to improve our services?

Satisfaction with information resources and communications

How frequently do you entree our information resources as listed below?

Weekly Monthly Every 2-3months Every 6 months or less Never

Website Facebook Twitter E-newsletter How beneficial are our information resources to you?

Very useful Useful Rarely useful Not at all useful Not sure

Website Facebook Twitter E-newsletter How easy is it to find the information you are looking for about our services of the hotel?

o Extremely easy

o Moderately easy

o Quite problematic

o Very problematic

o Not sure

Do you have any comments about our information resources and communications?

Forms of European Legalisation and Impact of EU Membership on English Legal System

Introduction

National pride is protected by certain legal stipulations enshrined in the constitution of nearly all countries, particularly emphasised in a clear sovereignty section of the constitution. Under no circumstances will bending rules on this topic be welcome without comprehensive consensus. Europe has participated in such debates regarding the national and regional legal frameworks and the application of the provisions of each set of laws, which attracts all the supremacy controversies as could be imagined. This is particularly the case since Europe is largely founded on democratic format of governance which is keen on the sovereignty of the people under a particular determination. Incorporation of the European Union legal framework into the main legal structure embraced by European states is a delicate issue that touches on the sovereignty dogma held by nationalists.

Perhaps the most challenging question that unionism minded activists have had to deal with at the state level before embracing the EU membership has principally been issues of the process and impact of legalisation and delegalisation of the coinciding laws (Armstrong, 2011, p3). The process of legalisation and interpretations at the helm of national legal structures must pass through the satisfactory scrutiny that such debate attracts. Legalisation of EU legal framework takes certain defined procedures which can be adopted by member states as illustrated in the following segment of this discourse. Besides the legalisation procedures, there are impacts that can be identified with certain conditions of legal processes on the English legal system as contained on the final section of the article.

Forms of European Legalisation

In international law, legalisation represents a sensitive topic that crosses lines with the sovereignty of a people with defined self determination. Ratification of cross-boarder legal frameworks such as the EU legal regime to recognise and be in consistency with the national laws must be conducted under the watch of certain provisions to avoid clashing provisions and inconsistencies. The structure of the EU legal framework cannot adequately handle the numerous member states’ legal systems bearing in mind the diversity that the number occasions to the process of harmonisation of the laws across the board. It follows that there is a chance of congruence in some legal regimes while yet others have capacity to be incongruent with the standardised EU legal provision.

To eliminate grave intrusion of international or regional law on the internal integrity of legal framework, soft and hard laws must be incorporated into the internal legal system (Armstrong 2011, p5). In terms of application, international law could face incongruence from internal systems to such an extent that serious compromise needs to be made on the internal law to accommodate the incongruence. In other levels of congruence measure, legal structures may necessitate slight modifications or additions to allow a reflection of the introduced international legal agreements.

One of the conditions that are considered in the determination of the priorities in making the EU or internal laws superiority aspect come into effect is handled by the EU Treaty (lawteacher.com, 2011, p1). The question of the more superior law in the interpretation process particularly when there is a clashing opinion between the laws is tackled by the member state. Generally, the court systems in the state being under which the consideration is made usually decides the priority of the two legal systems. The guiding principle in the determination is the interpretation must therefore answer the fundamental question of incorporation. The judiciary therefore plays an integral role in the interpretation an implementation of the international legal regime. However, the role of the legislature is equally important since the missing detail in the elaboration of the law after determination is facilitated through legislative procedures.

In case the member state under consideration is monist in terms of embracing the EU legal framework, little resistance is met in the implementation of the EU legal structure. In such an arrangement, the formal approval of the EU membership quashes all contradictory legal positions and automatically places all supremacy in the EU regime. Characteristically, there is no need to modify the internal legal system in order to accommodate the new incorporation since the monist arrangement allows the priority of implementation of the EU legal framework at the expense of the internal legal system up to the extent of its inconsistency (Aziz, 2004, p16). This arrangement is one of the easiest membership procedures that the member states undergo in order to become fully compliant in terms of the legal requirements of the regional union. An example of countries with such an implementation system is France whose EU membership approval and ratification presented a phase of EU constitution implementation supremacy over the internal legal preference with little modification requirements.

Alternatively, there is a different approach in the case of a dualist state regarding the incorporation of international legal regimes into the mainstream legal systems. Under the arrangement followed by such systems, approval of the membership into EU block does not present automatic legal incorporation (Richardson, 1996, p177). This implies that some aspects of the EU legal system need extra modification in order to capture internal legal intricacies. Interpretation of the domestic law is an integral process in the incorporation procedure which is done cautiously in order to avoid inconsistency. Generally, incorporation into the EU legal system is a lengthy procedure that identifies the inconsistencies and controversial areas and sets out the implementation agenda from the inconsistencies. Initially, the identification of the inconsistencies is carried out to assist in the formulation of legal procedure. This identification is performed by the judiciary and passed on to parliament to ensure that the incorporation is finalised in form of converting the EU legal provisions into the domestic legal system. Due to the stringency attached to such processes, the legislature must therefore turn the EU provisions into the main legal regime through specific statutes. Legislation procedures are generally lengthy and make this cluster of member states indirectly involved in the domestication of the European framework. Examples of countries under this implementation system include the UK, Belgium, Germany and Italy (lawteacher.com, 2011, p1).

For more specific implementation of the European legal system into the mainstream legal regimes, there are two legal procedures that are involved, depending on the internal legal frameworks. After approval of membership into the EU, further legal procedures that lie on the way of implementation of new EU laws are determined by the nature of the states’ acceptance of regulations and directives. Under regulations, countries have easy acceptance of EU legislations coming into force in their jurisdiction. The British form of legal system does not allow such a direct incorporation of legislation from the EU into its internal legal system. Alternatively, new legal provisions emanating from the EU are subjected to conditional approval into the domestic legal system through statutory procedures. In such an arrangement, the supremacy of the legislature in determination of the incorporation process is exercised on a high level of stringency checks.

On the other hand, the EU may deliver laws in form of directives which apply in a more flexible measure across the member states. Directives form of laws allows the EU member states to deliberate on the means of implementation but sets out the standard target across the EU. One of the stipulated standards outlined in such an arrangement is in the form of clearly set out timelines that bind the states to act within the set limits. In terms of implementation, directives favour member states such as Britain which would subject any other arrangement to a rigorous procedure anyway (Kelly and Slapper, 2011, p83). Failure to abide with the requirements of directives due to their open ended approach usually attracts certain enforcement forces such as fines. In certain cases, the directives could be turned into binding laws for non-compliant member states if it happens within the stipulated timeline.

Impact of EU Membership on the English Legal System

The general status of the English legal status has not gravely been compromised by the EU membership. According to Burridge, (n.d, p1) the English legal system has a rich representation of the international law fabric in several respects. According to the author, the origin of common law which forms a deep foundation of the English legal system can be traced from Western Europe cultural practices. It follows that the legacy of European culture is passed on as an integral heritage for Europe and indeed the entire world through law, with English legal system being richly founded on the same heritage. It therefore implies that one of the oldest European practices are manifested in the English legal system that is second to none in terms of this perspective of richness. It can therefore be said that English legal system is among the custodians of not only the European cultural heritage but to a greater extent the entire world (Aziz, 2004, p16). In light of the responsibility that Europe has in protecting its heritage, huge borrowing from the English legal system has been relied on by the EU legal system. This creates few incongruence issues between the two forms of legal regimes since a nearly perfect match exists. Due to the magnitude of the English legal system as the custodian of this cultural heritage, it is admissible for the conservative approach with which the British states embrace the EU legal regime. Burridge, (n.d, p4) reckons that the flexibility with which the English legal system has is manifested on its origin that can also be traced from an international dependency. In that respect, it can be said that the European context is well taken care of in the English legal regime.

The institution of parliament in the UK is perhaps a very strong factor that determines the course of developments in English legal processes. The fact that the English legislation strictly follows the procedures that any forces of modification subject to its cultural heritage makes the institution a very instrumental role player in context. It is clear that the incorporation into the EU is a lengthy procedure in England and other British states which makes it a unique case of implementation of the EU legal regime. Despite this strong position of the English legal system amid the EU force that has swept the entire European continent, there have been changes that the legal regime in England has had to put up with. As observed earlier, the EU laws are given in form of regulations or directives depending on the nature of implementation procedure. In the long run, the adoption of the European system takes effect across Europe however at different rates as occasioned by political processes taking place (Kelly and Slapper, 2009, p600). With time, the English legal system may find massive changes taking place due to the potent changes advocated by the political and economic forces that propel the European dream.

References

“The Problem of Priorities,” n.d. [online] Available from <http://www.lawteacher.net/english-legal-system/resources/european-law-2.php> [accessed 19 July 2011]

Armstrong, K. A. (2011) Law after Lisbon: Legalisation and Delegalisation of European Governance. [online] Available from <euce.org/eusa/2011/papers/2b_armstrong.pdf> [accessed 19 July 2011]

Aziz, M. (2004) The impact of European rights on national legal cultures. Portland, OR: Hart Publishing

Burridge, R. (n.d) The Three Most Important Characteristics of the UK Legal System. [online] Available from <www.ialsnet.org/meetings/enriching/BurridgeRoger.pdf> [accessed 19 July 2011]

Kelly, D. & Slapper, G. (2009) The English legal system: 2009-2010 (10th edn) New York, NY: Taylor and Francis

Kelly, D. & Slapper, G. (2011) The English legal system: 2011-2012 (12th edn). New York, NY: Taylor and Francis

Richardson, J. (1996) European Union: power and policy-making. London, UK: Routledge Publishers

Forms of Learning Assessment

Name

Affiliation

Introduction

Essays are typically utilized as an assessment tool of two general situations (Angelo & Cross, 2013). This first is in branches of knowledge like social studies, arithmetic, science or history to assess how well “students can clarify, convey, hope to measure up, difference, break down, integrate, assess, and generally express their reasoning around a few parts of the subject” (pp. 184-5). The second is to assess students in their capacity to write in Standard English with suitable use of language and to compose for different purposes including composition, influence and correspondence. There are two essential varieties of article things: confined reaction and developed reaction. Confined reaction things limit what the student is permitted to reply in both substance and structure. Though amplified reaction things give students the opportunity to express their own thoughts and sort out those thoughts in their own particular manner (Angelo & Cross, 2013). To help take out subjectivity in the assessment of article things, planners generally create agendas, rating scales, model answers or utilize numerous graders to assess the exam (Bailey & Brown, 2009).

Almost every student has endured the experience of investing hours get ready for a major assessment, just to find that the material that he or she had concentrated on was unique in relation to what the teacher decided to underscore on the appraisal. This experience shows students two un-lucky lessons. To begin with, students understand that diligent work and exertion don’t pay off in school in light of the fact that the time and exertion that they spent mulling over had almost no impact on the outcomes. What’s more, second, they discover that they can’t believe their educators (Bailey & Brown, 2009). These are barely the lessons that capable educators need their students to learn. Regardless, this experience is basic in light of the fact that numerous educators still erroneously accept that they must keep their Assessment mystery. Thus, students come to view appraisals as speculating amusements, particularly from the center Assessment on. They see accomplishment as relying upon how well they can think about what their educators will ask on tests, tests, and different appraisals. A few educators even take pride in their capacity to out-conjecture students. They make inquiries about secluded ideas or dark understandings just to see whether students are perusing painstakingly. By and large, these teachers do exclude such “gotcha” addresses malevolently, but instead frequently unknowingly on the grounds that such inquiries were asked of them when they were students

Assessment that serve as important wellsprings of data don’t shock students. Rather, these Assessment mirror the ideas and aptitudes that the educator accentuated in class, alongside the teacher’s reasonable criteria for judging students’ execution. These ideas, aptitudes, and criteria adjust to the teacher’s instructional exercises and, in a perfect world, with state or region measures. Students see these Assessment as reasonable measures of vital learning objectives. Teachers encourage adapting by giving students essential input on their learning advancement and by helping them recognize learning issues (Gardner, & Gardner, J 2012Faultfinders here and there fight that this methodology signifies “educating to the test.” But the critical issue is, what decides the substance and routines for instructing? If the test is the essential determinant of what educators instruct and how they show it, then we are undoubtedly “educating to the test.” But in the event that craved learning objectives are the establishment of students’ instructional encounters, then Assessment of student learning are just expansions of those same objectives. As opposed to “educating to the test,” educators are all the more precisely “testing what they educate.” If an idea or ability is sufficiently imperative to evaluate, then it ought to be sufficiently vital to instruct. What’s more, if it is not sufficiently imperative to educate, then there’s little legitimization for evaluating it.

The best classroom assessment additionally serve as important wellsprings of data for educators, helping them recognize what they taught well and what they have to take a shot at. Gathering this crucial data does not oblige a modern factual investigation of assessment results. Teachers require just make a basic count of what number of students missed every assessment thing or neglected to meet a particular measure (Hedge, 2011). State appraisals now and again give comparative thing by-thing data, yet worries about thing security and the expense of growing new things every year for the most part make assessment designers hesitant to offer such point by point data. When teachers have made particular counts, they can give careful consideration to the inconvenience spots—those things or criteria missed by expansive quantities of students in the class. In investigating these outcomes, the teacher should first consider the nature of the thing or model. Maybe the inquiry is questionably worded or the paradigm is blurred. Maybe students mis-translated the inquiry. Whatever the case, educators must figure out if these things satisfactorily address the learning, comprehension, or aptitude that they were planned to gauge. In the event that teachers discover no undeniable issues with the thing or model, then they must turn their consideration regarding their instructing (Hedge, 2011). At the point when the same number of as a large portion of the students in a class answer a reasonable question erroneously or neglect to meet a specific rule, it’s not a student learning issue it’s an instructing issue. Whatever showing method was utilized, whatever illustrations were utilized, or whatever clarification was offered, it basically didn’t work.

Conclusion

Analyzing assessment brings about thusly means putting aside some intense sense of self issues. Numerous educators might at first say, “I taught them. They simply didn’t learn it!” But on reflection, most perceive that their adequacy is not characterized on the premise of what they do as teachers but instead on what their students have the capacity to do. Could viable showing occur without learning? Absolutely not. Some contend that such a viewpoint puts an excess of obligation on educators and insufficient on students. Once in a while, teachers react, “Don’t students have obligations in this procedure? Shouldn’t students show activity and individual responsibility?” Indeed, educators and students offer obligation regarding learning. Indeed, even with valiant showing endeavors, we can’t promise that all students will learn everything incredibly. Just infrequently do teachers discover things or appraisal criteria that each student answers accurately? A couple of students are never eager to advance the essential exertion, however these students have a tendency to be the special case, not the standard. If a teacher is coming to less than 50% of the students in the class, the educator’s system for direction needs to progress.

References

Angelo, T. A., & Cross, K. P. (2013). Classroom assessment techniques.

Bailey, K., & Brown, J. D. (2009). Learning about Language Assesment: Dilemmas, Decisions, and Directions & New Ways of Classroom Assessment.Learning, 4(2).

Gardner, J. N., & Gardner, J. (Eds.). (2012). Assessment and learning. Sage.

Hedge, T. (2011). Teaching and learning in the language classroom (Vol. 106). Oxford,, UK: Oxford University Press.

Forms of Renewable Energy

Student name:

Affiliation:

Abstract

Energy is a critical component in human existence. People derive energy from varied sources through burning of fossil fuels-coal as well as use of utilization of radioactive elements. The former is widely employed in a number of nations globally and is almost the dominant form of energy. It is easily accessible with no complex use of technologies in harnessing. However, it is a high degree of pollution. It releases a high percentage of unwanted gases to the atmosphere hence contributing to global warming. Furthermore, there is only a small percentage of useful energy extracted from them. It is established that not more than fifty percent of energy get utilized properly. The later despite its high efficiency, it is prone to leakage of radioactive substance to the atmosphere. As a result, greener forms of energy prove to be the only answer to the problems encountered. The paper looks at the five forms of energy that when employed will provide plenty of energy with no harm to the environment.

1.0 Solar

Sun is in plenty and the planet gets enough exposure except in the northern and southern regions where sun exposure is only in hours or not at all. Scientists describe the sun as a star that react through fusion and has been burning for many years. Additionally, a day exposure of this form of energy is enough to supply the present population for a period of twenty seven years. The radiation heating the planet in three days can be equated to the fossil fuels present in the planet. It implies that the sun has enough and adequate energy (Cothran, & Helen, 2002).

The procedure of harnessing the sun is a new idea not fully exploited. Clarence Kemp acquired a US patent for novel invention in 1891 for creation of the thermal solar collector. Its utilization was in the cooking food as well as heating water. In 1839, the use of photo voltaic effect got unveiled by Edmund Becquerrel. Since then, many improvements on the technology went on growing.The evolving technologies such as solar heating, solar thermal electricity, solar architecture, solar photovoltaic, and artificial photosynthesis gets employed in harnessing this form of energy. They get categorized as passive as well as active technologies. Active form of harnessing is widely employed where solar panels get utilized so as to harness thermal power and convert it to the need form for use (Glassley, & William, 2010).

The International Energy Agency in 2011 asserted that the growth of inexpensive, vast and spotless solar-energy technologies is going to have big longer-term advantages. It is going to augment nations’ energy safety via dependence on a native, in-exhaustible and typically import-independent resource, increase sustainability, lessen pollution, decrease the price of mitigating climate change, and hold fossil fuel charges down. These benefits are comprehensive and encompass clean pollution free, high efficiency, reliable, and abundant. Therefore the extra costs of the encouragements for placement have to be taken into account and advocacy on the adoption of this type of energy is mandatory as it is in plenty especially in arid and semi-arid areas where it does not allow any viable activity undertaken (Cothran, & Helen, 2002).

2.0 Wind energy

Wind is a wave that carries with it enormous amount of energy and its discovery started long time with the use of wind mills to drive windmills. A windmill derives energy from wind and gets employed for pumping water, grinding serials etc. Wind in major places comes as a catastrophe causing havoc to the environment. Tapping it can be an alternative way of harnessing its potential. The technology employed heavy plates but technology revolutionized everything until now when lighter plates are possible. Beside the uses stated above, electricity is as well generated from wind turbines. It is possible through letting the plates rotate a turbine that in return generate electricity. The turbines act like propellers that propel a shaft of a turbine which in turn generate electricity (Fthenakis, & Kim, 2009).

Currently, there are numerous turbine globally with a capacity estimated as 282,482 MW of electricity as at the end of the year 2012. The figure quadrupled since 2000 and 2006 implying that it adoption is spreading and people are embracing wind as alternate source of energy. By 2013, the nameplate capacity was 318 GW in approximation. Decentralization of electricity is the major concern for every nation. Due to its fastest growing familiarity of the use of wind as an alternative source of energy, the dramatic step calls for major developments. Europe and North America are some of the countries setting the pace for wind energy adoption. There has been increase in capacity and the estimation is 1000 MW in a global scale. According to the America Energy association, it amount to sixteen billion kilowatt hours of electricity. It is the energy that can supply five cities like Miami. In the US, wind energy supply roughly 20% of electricity to the main grid in the national level (Glassley, & William, 2010).

The reduction on the reliance of oil is essential the health of all human beings as well as the ecosystem. Wind energy is a viable option that can ameliorate the predicament. Studies indicate that the three billion in kilowatts produced in America yearly is enough to displace approximately 6.4 million of oils in terms of barrels. It eliminates an estimated amount of 1.67 tons of the carbon emission comprising of nitrogen oxide as well as sulfur known for causing acid rain and smog. Therefore, as a large number of people adopt wind energy, carbon emission gets drastically reduced. The figures is a sure way that global warming can get eradicated completely if people go for alternative sources of energy making the planet a good place for the present as well as future generation (Fthenakis, & Kim, 2009).

3.0 Hydropower

Water that is not stationary presents a strong entity responsible for creating electricity for cities as well as big cities. The early invention began in Greece where water wheel s gets employed as a way of rotating a wheel. The mechanism converted the kinetic energy into potential energy. The resultant energy gets utilized in grinding serials as well as pumping water. It later went as far as utilizing in power machines for cutting timber in factories. In 1879, the first water powered electric plant was in Niagara-falls. Water falling down from a fall gets directed to turn a turbine linking a generator. Water can get tapped in waterfalls or in man-made waterfalls-dams. When water gets collected in a reservoir it has the potential of producing huge amount of electricity. The principal behind the working is that a generator has permanent magnets. When a rotating magnetic field is under a stationary core, electricity gets induced. It is the induced electro-motive force that electricity gets generated. Once realized, it passes through transmission lines to the customer. Stepping up and stepping down is a way of making generated electricity reach to the end user sufficiently (Smith et al, 2008). 

Hydropower is cheap, clean, reliable, and convenient. It is cheap in the sense that it does not involve a lot of complex methods in generation hence the cost present to the client per consumed power is affordable. In terms of cleanliness, it does not produce any carbon to the environment, and as long as water is enough, it always available. The convenience comes with regulation of generation. The amount of power gets generated depending on the number of customers subscribed on the line. As a result of the benefits accrued, the form of energy occupies approximately 97% of all the alternative renewable sources of energy. It implies that its adoption and utilization is widespread turning out to be a leading renewable source of energy. The utilization of this form of energy eliminates the burning of approximately 120 million of coal as well as 22 billion of oil. Conversely, the major drawback is that the construction of a dam calls for a high place. Topography is a challenge. Also, it requires displacement of the population so as to have enough ground for dam construction. In case of flooding, people living around the dam have to relocate to safe sites. Despite the challenges experienced, hydropower is still the most favored form of greener energy globally (Ravindranath, & Hall, 1995). 

4.0 Biomass

Biomass in biological terms refers to organic material containing stored energy via photosynthesis process. The forms that exist are in pants and can undergo various chains in the bodies of animals together with their wastes. It can undergo conversion for use in daily processes as combustion liberating carbon dioxide in living matter. The biomass fuels utilized presently are in form of dried vegetation, wood, aquatic plants, and even crop remains. Over the last decade the use of biomass has come to be the dominant form of energy employed in many homes. The form of energy is in plenty and a number of people are ignorant of its presents not realizing its affordability, cleanliness, efficiency, and cheap in terms of cost of setting up as well as operation. The compounds of photosynthesis in plants are in mass amounts. People dispose the residues of plants and animals with on knowledge that its transformation can generate vast amount of clean energy (Smith et al, 2008). 

Even though the definition of sustainable generation of electricity proves to be a difficult task, biomass definition can broadly span through to forest timber, solid waste from municipal, and landfill among many. For it to be green environmental form of energy, biomass must get burned without emission of pollution gases. There is need for caution in the process of burning methane gas produced by landfills. It is due to the fact that methane if not harnessed well is not environmentally friendly gas (Fthenakis, & Kim, 2009).

The use of biomass causes drastic reduction in the use of fossil fuels by a greater percentage. Despite the disruptive nature of vegetation in quest for biomass, caution has to be put into consideration not to destroy nature for biomass. Residues must only come from wasted by-products. There is need to apply technological means so as to harness this form of energy. The new methods are going to permit energy tapping that is not polluting the environment, efficient, and very economical in the current financial turmoil (Kreis, & Steven, 2001). 

5.0 Geothermal

Geologist assert that the internal core of the earth contain immense heat. When the earth encounters some tectonic movement, the intense heat will find escape roots and come out as jets of steam. It is the steam that can get exploited as a form of energy. Along the rift valley and areas where Fold Mountains occurred experiences steam release inform of jets such as the lake Bogoria, and Olkaria in Kenya. The Kenyan government is now investing heavily (Ravindranath, & Hall, 1995). 

The occurrence of geothermal can be in two forms. First is that the intense heat as a result of molten magma near the surface can heat water in that level forcing jets of steam to be produced such as geysers. Secondly is that there can be a natural occurrence of water that can be easily tapped for generation of energy. Once the steam is tapped, it gets channel to run turbines that in turn move turbines just as in hydropower (Fthenakis, & Kim, 2009).

The geothermal power is very clean, cheap, efficient, and reliable. However, it is prone to decline. For instance, the geothermal facility at North California that was the first to geothermal plant established in 1905s, but it decline in 1980. It is proves that there is a time when the heating of the magma will reduce. Therefore the form of energy cannot be sustainable in the long run. It depends on the geographical location and the processes taking place in the earth’s crust. Irrespective of the disadvantage, it is still a viable source of energy needing a lot of exploitation (Cothran, & Helen, 2002).

Conclusion

The global warming attributed to the release of carbon constituents to the ozone layer can get eliminated and the earth rescued from the predicament. One of the promising methods is to adopt alternative renewable sources of energy that are sustainable in the long term. The five forms of renewable sources of power enumerated are the options that nations of the world must advocate for through policy aligning and support. Hydropower and solar energy are the most viable forms of energy with a lot of benefits with fewer disadvantages followed by wind energy, geothermal and lastly biomass form of energy. The ranking depend on the most adopted with minimal challenges.

References

Cothran, Helen (2002), Energy Alternatives, Greenhaven Press

Fthenakis, V.; Kim, H. C. (2009). “Land use and electricity generation: A life-cycle

analysis”. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13 (6–7): 1465.

Glassley, William E. (2010). Geothermal Energy: Renewable Energy and the Environment, CRC

Press

Smith, Zachary Alden; Taylor, Katrina D. (2008). Renewable And Alternative Energy Resources:

A Reference Handbook

Ravindranath, N. H., & Hall, D. O. (1995). Biomass, energy and environment: a developing

country perspective from India. Oxford University Press.

Kreis, Steven (2001). “The Origins of the Industrial Revolution in England”. The history guide.

Retrieved 19 June 2010

Statement of Purpose

My academic and professional achievements have been characterized by hard work and continuous effort. Just like in a race, I have thrived to reach the finish line by preparing myself well in advance and equipping myself with the required skills and knowledge. To this point, I can say that I can see the finish line but I still have to instill the final debonair attempt to avoid those who are behind me from crossing the line ahead of me. To do this, I have to push my self beyond but not past the elastic limit. This is the reason behind my interest in joining Masters of Science in Medical Informatics.

I believe that I am by all ways among the smartest people. This has been propelled by my quest for excellence and my never dying eagerness to defy my ultimate frontier. In my previous education, these qualities have made it possible for me to realize self-transcendence. Whether in my undergraduate studies in B.A. Psychology or my Masters in Business Administration or Ph.D. Business Administration; all undertaken in the most recognized universities, have all been achieved from end to end through strong self-discipline and perseverance. I believe that life is designed like a journey and my application at Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies will propel me to greater heights.

My professional journey has helped me gather the most competitive talents in the country. From all the awards of performance, team building contest and presidents’ Club Winner attained at Pharmaceutical Company (Fortune 500) in 2003 and 2004, to the position as the Regional Sales Manager in the same company and later the Senior District Sales Manager, have helped me grow and expand my team spirit, individual accountability and critical thinking. I later worked as Senior Director of Sales and Marketing in Marketing Company and it is here that my interrelation skills have been sharpened. My current position as the Vice President Customer Relations Technology in an Internet Company has made me competitive and has enhanced my basic skills in Microsoft Office, Microsoft CRM, Adobe Acrobat, Lotus 1, 2, 3 among others (Kindly refer to my resume for comprehensive information).

The old proverb goes “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy”. In my quest for attainment of my academic and professional goals I have also engaged myself in extracurricular activities. I was once the public speaker in National Organization for Women, Elected delegate and Elected Chairman for a National Political Party and also a Developer –Community Outreach Program at St. Francis Memorial Hospital. These roles have helped me realize the importance of teamwork, interrelation skills, and managerial skills. These skills are undoubtedly going to be important in my future studying and practicing Medical Informatics.

The motivation behind my decision to take up the Online Master of Science in Medical Informatics at Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies lies behind the integration of my psychology background to the exposure I have had in the Internet Company. Medical Informatics is a field of study that links health and the use of information technology, in such a way that patient care and records are monitored electronically. Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies is a university in the United States that is attributed to best graduates in the world and is well known for its superior scholarly culture. It is also a renowned, eminent, veteran, high-ranking and a university that equips its students with leadership skills.

Employment in the Medical Informatics field according to research is also bound to augment by a significant 18% through to the year 2016. It will expand my demand as a medical informatics proficient in healthcare management, clinical IT Leadership and research related organizations.

In seeking to attain the most that life can offer, I believe that concurring different hurdles and setting new goals to be attained are involved. My quest for further education is one of my new set hurdles. By undertaking my studies at Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies for Master in Medical Informatics will put me ahead of my challengers and what better way to do it than to enroll into a university of factual world stature.

Fossil Records

Name

Institution

Fossil Records

It is often difficult to find complete fossil records because of the environmental and geological processes that affect the process of fossilization. The hard parts of an organism such as teeth, bones, and shells do not decay unlike the soft parts that rot naturally. However, in rare instances, soft parts can be fossilized if the organism is buried in oxygen-free sediment soon after dying before the decaying process begins. Over time, sediments cover the hard parts and mineralization occurs (Stephen, 2009). Minerals such as silica, pyrites or calcite that crystallize out of the water in the sediment usually replace the parts through compression.

The fossils formed are subjected to harsh geological processes such as erosion and subduction, and excessive pressure and heat. In turn, these conditions destroy the formed fossils reducing their chances of survival. Fossil records comprise of the fossils that have survived the harsh conditions and should be present at a location being explored by people for them to be found. In addition, the explorers surveying the possible locations of the fossils should be able to identify the fossils found. Fossil records are usually incomplete because there are few entries of fossils since the majority of the dead organisms do not survive to form fossils. Moreover, other existing fossils have not been unearthed and identified for them to be entered into the fossil records. These factors account for the incomplete fossil records (Stephen, 2009).

Despite the fact that fossil records are incomplete, their importance is indispensable. Taxonomists rely on fossil records in identifying the phylogeny or evolutionary past of an organism. They usually utilize the available data to place an organism in various taxa depending on similar molecular and anatomical characteristics provided by the data entered in the fossil records.

Reference

Stephen, D. (2009). The fossil record – the prodigal son returns. Charles Darwin & Evolution. Retrieved on 6 Oct. 2013 from http://darwin200.christs.cam.ac.uk/pages/index.php?page_id=f7