Organization Structure Simulation Essay Example for Free

Organization Structure Simulation Essay Organization Structure simulation Organizational structure is the division of labor and the patterns of coordination, communication, workflow, and formal power that guide organizational activities. An organization’s structure reflects the company’s culture and power relationships and can establish new communication patterns and align employee behavior with the company’s mission, vision and goals. The organizational structure enables effective communication and smooth workflow, but organizational culture is its underpinning. Organizational culture is the basic pattern of shared assumptions, values and beliefs that govern behavior within a particular organization. Organizational culture is a deeply embedded form of social control. It is the social glue that bonds people together and makes them feel part of the organizational experience. The culture of an organization should be compatible with its structure to ensure organizational success. Many teams fail because the organizational structure does not support them. Teams work better when there are few layers of management and teams are given autonomy and responsibility for their work (McShane Von Glinow, 2004). Understanding and addressing the need for alignment of organizational structure and culture with a company’s mission, vision and goals will help business leaders to craft effective strategies for successful change management, enabling them to deal with resistance to change effectively thus increasing the productivity of their organizations. This paper will explore several structures in organization design and organization design choices with emphasis on those that will best suit Synergetic Solutions, the company in the Organization Structure simulation. Company Background Synergetic Solutions is an information technology (IT) solutions company in the business of system integration—assembling and reselling leading computers brands. It has 300 employees most of whom are in the sales and service departments in five locations throughout the East Coast. Most of Synergetic’s employees have only basic computer assembling and troubleshooting skills, while a few higher-skilled individuals work as the specialists. Two years ago when the system integration market was suffering from stagnation Harold Redd, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Synergetic pursued some ventures in the network solutions business of designing and implementing complex computing networks. He had four of Synergetic’s brightest engineers trained and certified on networking technologies, a tactic which proved very profitable for the company. Recently Synergetic won a contract worth $1. 2 million for designing a network, and contracts worth $5 million are already on the horizon. As a result, the networking solution business is now 20% of the total revenues of the company, which currently stand at $6 million. Encouraged by the early success of this tactic, Harold Redd has made an important strategic decision to focus on the networking solutions business and raise its revenues to 80% of total sales, which are targeted at $12 million at the end of the next nine months. He has also set quarterly growth targets for revenue and measures of employee involvement such as productivity and absenteeism, based on industry benchmarks. Harold has given you a clear mandate— turn the business on its head and make Synergetic into a networking design ‘hothouse’ from just a computer trading organization within the next nine months. The challenge of the simulation is to redesign the work environment and organizational structure at Synergetic to move from the present departmental structure to the new team-based structure, developing new HR policies and programs to help employees make the transition. It is also necessary to improve current employee skill sets and/or hire new employees with relevant skills (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2003). Organization Structures In today’s turbulent business environment where most competitive advantages last eighteen months or less, change is the norm rather than the exception. Businesses like Synergetic must focus on building learning organizations that are flexible, open, adaptable, and ready to act (Apollo Group, Inc. , 2003). In the simulation as in real life, sometimes structural changes are necessary to meet the needs of rapidly changing market environment. Making one time changes is no longer enough to meet these needs. Organizations must choose flexible structures that allow for continuous improvement even after they put new processes in place. When an organization is small, a sole proprietorship or partnership where face-to-face communication is frequent, formal structure may not be necessary. As the organization grows larger into a corporation or limited liability company, a more defined structure becomes necessary to facilitate decision making in the delegation of various tasks. Business leaders respond to this need by creating and establishing management procedures and structure to assign responsibilities for essential functions. These decisions and procedures determine the organizational structure within the organization (Jones, 2004). There are several organizational structures that can be implemented by organizations. These organization structures are from two different viewpoints, traditional and contemporary. The traditional models such as hierarchies and bureaucracies are founded on the assumption that organizations exist in a basically calm environment, with changes occurring only as the occasional disturbance. Contemporary organizational structures such as product team structures and multidivisional matrix structures, however, are based on the premise that considers change a natural state and managing change a continuous process (Apollo Group, Inc. 2003). Modern contingency theory holds that to be successful an organization should design its structure and control systems to fit with its operating environment (Jones, 2004). To meet the challenges of an organization’s operating environment, business leaders differentiate and divide workers to match them to tasks that the organization must perform. Differentiation has both vertical and horizontal aspects. Vertical differentiation is the w ay an organization designs its hierarchy of authority. Horizontal differentiation is the way an organization clusters roles into subunits such as functions and divisions (Jones, 2004). A functional structure is a design that groups people because they have similar skills or use the same resources. Functional groups include finance, RD, marketing, and engineering. All organizations begin as functional structures. A functional has the advantage of being simple and straightforward, but it has a disadvantage when it comes to handling complex challenges. An organization needs to adopt a more complex structure when it starts to produce many products or when it confronts special needs, such as the need to produce new products quickly, to deal with different customer groups, or to handle growth into new regions. Synergetic needs a new organization structure because it needs to implement the production of its new product, networking technologies quickly enough to satisfy customer demand. The move to a more complex structure is based on three design choices: increasing vertical differentiation, increasing horizontal differentiation, and increasing integration (Jones, 2004). Most organizations move from a functional structure to some kind of divisional structure: a product structure, a geographic structure, or a market structure. There are three kinds of product structure: product division structure, multidivisional structure, and product team structure. Product division structure is used when an organization produces broadly similar products that use the same set of support functions. Multidivisional structures are available to organizations that are growing rapidly and producing a wide variety of products or are entering totally different kinds of industries. In a multidivisional structure, each product division is a self-contained division with the operating structure that best suits its needs. A central headquarters staff is responsible for coordinating the activities of the divisions in the organization. When a lot of coordination between divisions is required, a company can use a multidivisional matrix structure (Jones, 2004). Product team structures put the focus on the product being produced. Teams of functional specialists are organized around the product to speed product development. Product team structure is the organization structure most suited for Synergetic because the company must transform quickly to deliver a product it has never produced before. The four Synergetic engineers recently trained and certified on networking technologies can be the core of the new product team the company needs to deliver the new product. As the number of products and therefore the number of product teams increases, Synergetic can evolve its organization structure into a multidivisional matrix to more effectively coordinate the efforts of the product teams (Jones, 2004). The team approach has many advantages. One is that lower level employees gain authority and responsibility, and as a result, decision-making becomes much quicker requiring fewer managers. Team members become much more motivated and participate in the change process more often. In addition cross departmental cooperation increases as department barriers come down. It also allows the organization to more quickly adapt to customer requests and environmental changes. The team approach has some disadvantages that Synergetic must take into consideration. The team approach requires the expenditure of larger amounts of time and resources on meetings to coordinate goals rather than on the goals themselves and on productivity. If employees become members of more than one team timing conflicts can become an issue because of increased responsibilities. Because of an increase in decentralization in the team approach, teams may well lose sight of the big picture and commit to decisions that will help their teams but ultimately hurt the organization as a whole (Jones, 2004). Geographic structures are used when organizations expand into new areas or begin to manufacture in many different locations. Market structures are used when organizations wish to group activities to focus on the needs of distinct customer groups(Jones, 2004). Matrix structures group activities by function and product. They are a special kind of structure that is available when an organization needs to deal with new or technically sophisticated products in rapidly changing markets (Jones, 2004). Matrix structure may also be a viable approach for Synergetic because Synergetic is attempting to become a ‘design hothouse’ meaning that the company will need to rapidly develop and market new and technically sophisticated products in the rapidly changing IT market. The matrix structure can be advantageous because it enables total communication between all members of the team allowing for a creative cross-over of ideas and the development of a cohesive corporate culture. The focus is on the success of a particular project or product not the department or team. It is a creativity-based approach that works very well for responding to technological and market changes because it is especially effective at communicating the detail necessary for success in both of those arenas. One of its disadvantages is that the design of total communication may be limited to the senior management only. The matrix structure lacks control from the top and also formal bureaucracy which may become the target of resistance for managers (Jones, 2004). Network structures are formed when an organization forms agreements or contracts with other organizations to perform specific functional value creation activities. The network approach extends attempts to increase horizontal coordination and collaboration beyond the boundaries of the organization. To achieve this organization will create a network structure by means of subcontracting many of its major functions, such as design, transportation, manufacturing and distribution to other companies, and coordinate their activities from a entral headquarters hub. As a result, parts or a networked organization can be added or taken away at any time to meet changing needs (Jones, 2004). The network approach has many advantages. The greatest advantage of a network structure is that it allows an organization to be competitive on a truly global scale. It allows organizations to draw on resources worldwide and as a result achieving the best quality and price. It also allows products and services to be sold worldwide. It promotes flexibility in the work force. Instead of paying a full staff at all times, it allows the company to hire staff as needed. As for the permanent workers, there are challenging opportunities and job varieties because the network approach creates a lean structure in which the organization needs less supervision, smaller teams and fewer administrators (Jones, 2004). The network approach has disadvantages as well. One is that because the company subcontracts some functions, managers do not have control over all operations. Managers must rely on contracts, coordination, negotiation and electronic links to keep operations in order. Another disadvantage is that if one of the subcontracted parts of the organization fails to deliver what the company needs, the entire organization can suffer great losses and even go out of business. Lastly, there can also be a loss of employee loyalty because many employees may feel that they have lost their jobs to contracted companies and services (Jones, 2004). Conclusion Change is the norm for organizations competing in today’s rapidly changing markets. Business leaders in such organizations must have a clear vision of the future, be innovative, be prepared to take risks, and look for new solutions.

Analysis of Cloud Storage In Robotic Environment

Analysis of Cloud Storage In Robotic Environment Cloud Computing: Analysis of Cloud Storage In Robotic Environment Tushar Gupta Sunil Yadav Abstract— Cloud is a well-designed data storage model concerned with the storage of information on the web. Such storage has greatly revolutionized the robotic environment for learning purpose. This paper provides an overview of how databases in cloud deliberate to store knowledge fabricated by both robots and human in a robot-readable open format that will support existing as well as forthcoming robots learn faster. These robots will pick up the aggregate knowledge which will be accumulated in the cloud storage so as to perform a set of tasks including navigation, task information like how to pick up an object as well as object-recognition data such as digital models of real-world objects, to simultaneously confine itself in the unknown environment and to construct a map of the environment without having any knowledge in advance. Keywords—cloud, storage, robotics, robobrain, rapyuta I. Introduction From decades, it has been noticed that robots are mainly empowered with programming embedded in a chip but a small defect could result into malfunctioning of the whole unit and hence affect learning ability of robots. As such certain mechanism is required that will provide guarantee in terms of reliability, security and robustness. Due to great processing power of cloud it paved the way as an appropriate utility in Robotic Environment. Cloud robotics is one such step taken towards, that has evolved idea of leveraging the Internet for robots, and offers extraordinary opportunities for robot learning. Instead of using the World Wide Web for rapid communication or faster reckoning, a key factor is allowed for robots to generate and collaboratively update shared knowledge repositories. Such knowledge bases will power robots to deal with the intricacies of human environments and offer a simple yet powerful way for life-long robot learning. [1] The objective of the European-Commission-fund ed initiative is to evolve proof-of-concept demonstrations that show the way that cloud repositories like RoboEarth’s databases can greatly prompt robot learning and how they may finally allow robots to act well beyond their preprogrammed behaviors. As many AI Researchers are putting effort in establishing a database in cloud which they called â€Å"RoboBrain† that will house all the information which robots have learned till now and help them further their knowledge by sharing that knowledge. On the developer’s hand, they will have access to RoboBrain’s massive database, free of charge and wirelessly. [2] Aditya Jami, from Cornell, who depicted the database for RoboBrain said this about it: â€Å"The RoboBrain will look like a gigantic, branching graph with abilities for multi-dimensional queries.† By sharingparameters, data, files and everythingelse robots have gathered till now, their developers will access and automates the robot’s grasp ing of their ambiances, including speech and voice recognition, grasping, navigating and perception of different objects. Year 2010 was firstly marked as the self-drivingcarscame in our lives which afterwards tracked by RoboEarth (a system that allow the robots to distribute their knowledge wirelessly between each other). II. Literature Review A. Cloud Robotics Cloud Robotics is a specialized application of cloud computing that deals with the study of robots and their environment. Since with the help of cloud all the data will get stored on the web which in turn has greatly boosted the ability of robots to perform all workings by sharing experience with each other in order to provide a precise response. Due to connection with cloud network it is easier for robots to collaborate with other objects, machines and human beings. At the same time, internet has highly augmented the capabilities of robots by providing service on demand and offloads computation. Cloud robotics has greatly overcome the problem of network robotics due to their resource, information and communication constraints. With the arrival of cloud robotics expenditure of maintenance and updates and requirement of custom middleware has solved up to a great extent. Fig 1: Driven by advances in mobile communication technologies, lots of robotics applications can be executed in the cloud environment[3]. Robots are able to perform some computationally heavy tasks such as mapping, planning and probabilistic interference through the accessibility of huge computational infrastructure. RoboEarth is one such attempt that offers a cloud based infrastructure, which can help a robot to send some data to cloud and get the data back from the cloud in some other form. RoboEarth is a kind of database that stores the knowledge generated by either humans or robot but in a machine readable format. RoboEarth knowledge base is supposed to consist of a variety of data including task knowledge (e.g. manipulation strategies, action recipes etc.), several software components, maps for navigation (e.g. world models and location of objects), model that aids in recognition of different objects.(e.g. object models, images). Rapyuta which is also considered as the RoboEarth cloud engine is highly responsible for powerful computations to the robots. It is implemented as Platform-as-a-Service which is open sour ce designed to suit robotics application. It enables the robots to unburden heavy computation to protect cloud’s computing environment with marginal configuration. Rapyuta is considered to provide efficient access to the bandwidth which in turn provides access to the repository of knowledge on cloud enabling robots to learn skills and share experience with other robots. The components of the cloud robotics are so well structured and interconnected that they provide the environment for the deployment of large robotic teams. B. Software Components RoboEarth system is powered with the cloud infrastructure which in turn supported by RoboEarth databases and RoboEarth cloud engine (Rapyuta) in addition with several software components. Such software components are responsible to interact with the RoboEarth database in order to enquiry and accumulate data and can be installed for their execution in cloud engine or locally on the robot. In certain scenario these components can also be used independently. Fig 3: A simple architecture diagram of the integrated RoboEarth system can be used during thefinal demonstrator [4]. Rapyuta: Rapyuta is a framework which is an open source framework for having utility in cloud robotics. The figure below give a simple outlook of the Rapyuta framework: Each robot attached to the Rapyuta is having a reliable computing environment (rectangular boxes) enhancing their efficiency to move their heavy computation in the cloud. Computing environment are interconnected in a well-structured way and have a high bandwidth connectivity to the repository of knowledge as shown in the figure by stacked circular disks. Fig 2: Rapyuta: A Cloud Robotics Framework [5] RoboEarth DB: The Apache Hadoop based WWW- style database used to store essential data for the robots. KnowRob: It is a system involved in the processing of knowledge that groups reasoning methods and knowledge representation with several techniques for acquiring the knowledge in the physical system. It also serves as a framework that gathers knowledge through the various sources and is used in RoboEarth as a local knowledge base for robots. Object Adapter: These are the set of ROS packages that enables both robots and users to build up a small cloud model from an object using a marker pattern, so that the resulting model can be stored in the RoboEarth’s repository of knowledge, and allow downloading the object models later and used them for detecting objects. WIRE: The WIRE stack allows generating and maintaining one stable world state gauze based on object detections. It is highly involved in the data association problem by retaining multiple hypotheses and facilitates following of various object attributes. C2TAM: C2TAM implements a system called visual SLAM which is dependent upon a distributed framework where the storage and expensive map optimization is allocated on an external server, whereas a light camera tracking client executes on the local machine. The robot onboard computers are released from a burden of calculation, the only additional requirement being an internet connection. III. Application of cloud storage in robotics Cloud Based Robotics has proved to have a number of applications and advantages over the traditional networked based robotics. Cloud storage provides a shared knowledge database by which the robots can easily share their information with each other and can aligned them to work collaboratively in order to achieve a common task. Cloud robotics offloads the computing tasks to the cloud which involves heavy computation. Moreover cloud robotics is cheaper, easier to maintain hardware and lighter which results in the long battery life. CPU hardware upgrades are undetectable and hassle free. Cloud Robotics involves skilled and well maintained database. Reusable library of capability or etiquette that map to perceived tasks requirements/complex situations. Data mining keep the history of all cloud which enable robots. Due to these advantages, cloud robotics had a wide range of potential applications in the computation-intensive or data-intensive tasks in the areas of health care, intelligent transportation, environment monitoring, smart home, entertainment, education and defense. In this section, we discuss the opportunity and challenges that cloud robotics bring to traditional robotic applications. Specifically we focus upon three robotic applications: Robotic Surgery, Defense and navigation. A. Robotic Surgery Consider a scenario where a situation demands instant operation of a patient but the problem is doctor is not available. Then to tackle with that situation Robots can help because they can capture the useful knowledge from the cloud regarding the operation tips as mentioned by the other robots who previously have tackled with the same situation who is currently present somewhere else. In this way the whole operation can be executed in a safe and reliable manner. B. Defense Cloud robotics has a huge application in defense where they can sense the area which has the maximum probability of finding enemy by selecting the appropriate map from cloud storage at appropriate time. Cloud storage can be fed with updated maps from time to time with the help of satellites. As such human life can be saved by using robots in place of them at the time of world war or any war happening in the country. C. Navigation Robotic Navigation involves a robot identifying its own position with respect to a certain reference by choosing an appropriate path from there to reach the desired destination from all possible paths available. Such activity involves a collection of tasks such as localization, path planning and mapping. Two types of approaches are available: mapless and map based approach [13]. Mapless approaches are based on the observation and perception of the sensors used in navigation. Due to the limited onboard resources, these approaches usually suffer from reliability issues. Map based robotic navigation is comparatively better then mapless if the map is available. It can either use an unknown map or build a map during navigation. On the other hand building maps requires too much computation and storage requirements. However, if the area is large process of creating map requires access to vast amount of data which is a challenging task. Cloud robotics highly aids cloud based navigation by fa cilitating the following two properties: In addition to provide vast storage space to store the large amount of map data, cloud also provide processing power to facilitate the construction and searching of the map quickly. Secondly, commercially available maps (e.g. Google maps, bing maps) can also be leveraged to develop consistent, active, and high range independent navigation solutions. IV. shortcomings of cloud storage in robotics One of the key issues regarding cloud robotics is threaten to cloud storage which is highly vulnerable to malicious attacks. Moreover the wireless network over which the robot communicates with cloud in order to exchange information can be challenged at any instant of time. As certain security mechanism needs to be provided that will result in the increasing overhead of the overall system. As discussed, previously that a developer has an access over the cloud. In the same manner if an intruder gets access to the cloud somehow then it might be possible the same intruder will replace the existing information in cloud with some other malicious information that will result in the malfunctioning of robots that proves to be highly destructive. Several other limitations of cloud robotics:- 1. As discussed in section II cloud supports the software part of the robot and it doesn’t have to deal with the hardware structure of the robots. So, it offload the hassle and costs of IT management. 2. Cloud robotics relies heavily on the cloud which in turn depends upon internet connection. So, if internet service will get affected from frequent outages or slow speed it fails to help the robots to continue their frequent communication in order to share knowledge from knowledge repository present on the cloud. 3. It is a hard fact to digest that robotics is lacking emotions. Such thing results in a huge impact on the people because of their adjustment with the machinery robots because there is high probability of thinking mismatch between them. Consider havoc where the people are suffering from the local environment conditions. As such if certain robotic team is send there for the rescue operation for their safety it is very hard for the humans to believe upon them. V. Possible Solutions And Future Scope Instead of fetching knowledge every time to perform an operation from cloud. A robot must be able to remember the already done tasks in order to tackle the same situation next time but at faster rate with greater efficiency. Robots can be taught to handle many different tasks through the installation of robotic apps. Very soon, these robots will enhance the real-time by connecting to the cloud and downloading apps from there [9]. An app store for robots – Downloading apps from the app store is one the biggest reality behind smartphones success. In the same way Robot Apps can be used to control the robot and imparting intelligence in them. Some Apps allow you to generate predefined-programmed movement sequences, while others are used for remote control, whereas software development platforms are used to make more sophisticated autonomous control systems. VI. ConClusion We have discussed a scenario where future robotics will rely heavily on cloud storage that will enhance their capability and functionality in terms of learning and sharing information in order to work collaboratively to achieve some goal which was limited earlier due to limited programming. Cloud storage also enabled the developers due to their accessibility to the cloud to control and coordinate the robot activities at any point where the situation demands that may not be favorable to nature. Cloud storage also supports some real time applications like Health Care, Intelligent transportation, Rescue Operation, Assembling of different parts in production of vehicles etc. Cloud Storage in some cases proves to be inadequate due to poor transfer rate and harmful due to security threats on cloud due to wireless networking access technique which could be easily challenged at any time resulting in a huge destruction. References M . Waibel , â€Å"Analysis: Robot learning in the cloud Covic â€Å"RoboBrain† Will Use Cloud to Teach Robots, Available: http://robohub.org/analysis-robot-learning-in-the-cloud/ V. Covic, â€Å"RoboBrain† Will Use Cloud to Teach Robots, Available: http://www.cloudwards.net/news/robobrain-will-use-the-cloud-to-teach-robots-4543/ RoboEarth, What is Cloud Robotics? Available: www.roboearth.org/cloud_robotics, 2013. RoboEarth, What are Software Components in Cloud Robotics? Available: http://roboearth.org/software-components/ Rapyuta: A Cloud Robotics Framework, A Cloud Robotics Platform Available: http://rapyuta.org/ Guoqiang Hu, Wee Peng Tay, and Yonggang Wen, â€Å"Cloud Robotics:Architecture, Challenges and Applications† IEEE NETWORK MAGAZINE S. Jordà ¡n*, T. Haidegger**, L. Kovà ¡cs**, I. Felde** and I. Rudas**, The Rising Prospects of Cloud Robotic Applications, IEEE 9th International Conference on Computational Cybernetics †¢ July 8-10, 2013 †¢ Tihany, Hungary Richard Voyles â€Å"Robotics as a â€Å"Singularity†: The Case for Cloud Robotics and Real-Time Big Data† Available:http://telerobot.cs.tamu.edu/CMA/slides/Voyles.CASECloudMfg.pdf, August 17, 2013 Grishin Robotics â€Å"Future of cloud Robotics† Available: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/278660295665464178/ K. Goldberg. Cloud Robotics. Available: goldberg.berkeley.edu/cloud- robotics, 2013. K. Goldberg and B. Kehoe, Cloud Robotics and Automation: A Survey of Related Work. UC Berkeley Technical Report No. UCB/EECS-2013-5. Available: http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/ 2013/EECS-2013-5.html, 2013. RobotShop, Pioneers Cloud Robotics, Interview With Mario Tremblay. Available: www.robotshop.com/blog/en/myrobots-com F. Bonin-Font, A. Ortiz, and G. Oliver, â€Å"Visual navigation for mobilerobots: A survey,† Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, vol. 53, pp. 263–296, 2008. `

Teachers’ Practices for Written Feedback in Nursing

Teachers’ Practices for Written Feedback in Nursing LITERATURE REVIEW AND ANALYSIS PAPER1 Factors Influencing Teachers’ practices to provide written feedback to nursing students Introduction/Background The process of evaluation is significant to acquire information to judge students’ learning, to define proficiency in practice and to derive a judgment about students. Evaluation fulfills two major roles: it is formative and summative (Oermann Gaberson, 2013, p. 9). With formative evaluation, teacher evaluates students’ learning and performance, and provides them definite feedback about the knowledge and expertise which still needs to be modified and enhanced. It is usually considered as diagnostic and many researchers (Bienstock et al., 2007; Corcoran, Halverson, Schindler, 2014) found it helpful in students’ learning and improvement in their career. On the other hand, summative evaluation is end-of-instruction evaluation designed to determine what the student has learnt. It was usually occurred at the end of the learning process. There are a number of strategies which has used to evaluate students’ learning and skills. The most common tool used to enha nce students’ learning is feedback system. Feedback is â€Å"an interface between teachers’ pedagogical goals; students’ learning needs; and institutional and governmental education policies, which structure and regulate practices and procedures† (Bailey Garner, 2010). Numerous ways are used to give feedback for example; written, verbal, peer, audio, online, student to faculty, faculty to student, structured feedback, unstructured feedback, face to face feedback, and so on. In fact, feedback is given to students from faculty for their improvements and making them aware about their progress and informing them about their strength and areas for improvements. In my teaching and academic career, I have observed that, there is a great diversity in teachers’ practices of providing feedback to their students. Some teachers follow the strict principles of feedback while others do not. I want to explore â€Å"what are the factors which influence on teache rs’ practices to provide feedback to their students† and â€Å"what are the perceptions of students about their feedback which they receive from their faculty or teachers†. Purpose/Aim of the paper This paper aims to; Analyze existing literature on teachers’ practices for written feedback as well as challenges for teachers to provide written feedback to their students. Appraise students’ perceptions/expectations from written feedback on their assignments. Identify the gaps between what is known and what is not known through literature. Significance of the topic It is well recognized that feedback is an essential constituent of academic discipline which offers consideration and improvement in learning as well as in teaching in any discipline (Corcoran, Halverson, Schindler., 2014; Giles, Gilbert, McNeill, 2014; Horeman et al., 2013; Matzie et al., 2009; Rogers et al., 2012). Eminence feedback plays an important role in learning and teaching part whether it is provided or received. There are a few studies conducted on feedback in nursing academia to explore different aspects of feedback in order to improve learning and teaching in nursing education. Literature search strategy In order to explore the studies conducted on â€Å"teachers’ practices about feedback on written assignments†, an ample search was conducted through a number of Databases, including PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Google scholar, and Science direct. Different key terms were used to search the existing data on the selected topic. The terms used in searching databases were â€Å"written assignment†, teacher’s practices† teacher’s feedback†. â€Å"Written feedback† was the inclusion criteria in searching literature but the studies conducted other than â€Å"nursing discipline† were also included. Most of the studies conducted in developed countries e.g. Canada, USA, U.K, England, Norway, and Australia. There are some studies conducted in Asian countries, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and in Pakistan but unpublished. The detailed flow diagram for search strategy is following; (Flow diagram for literature selection) In addition, substantial assistance was also taken from librarian in order to access some online articles, which were quite relevant to the topic. Furthermore, reference lists in all including studies were explored and secondary sources which were quite relevant to the chosen topic were searched manually for reading and including literature as a primary source. Moreover, two unpublished theses of Iqbal (2013) â€Å"Teachers’ accounts of their perceptions and practices of providing written feedback to nursing students on their assignments† and Khowaja’s (2011) â€Å"students’ perceptions and their responses to written feedback in nursing degree program in Karachi† have been issued from library in order to review and include necessary and important information in this paper. I have also attended seminar which was conducted by one of senior student on a relatively similar topic (feedback to improve learning) to get additional information in order to au gment my paper. Literature review Literature review has organized according to four different themes. Importance/Usefulness of written feedback Characteristics of effective feedback Challenges for teachers and students in feedback Discrepancy in teachers and students’ perception about feedback 1. Importance/Usefulness of written feedback Feedback is given to students from faculty for their improvements and making them aware about their progress and informing them about their strength and areas for improvement (Bourgualt, Mundy Joshua, 2013; Corcoran et al., 2014; Giles, Gilbert, McNeill, 2014; Horeman et al., 2013; Khowaja, 2011; Rogers et al., 2012). On the contrary, MacLellan (2001) argued that the most common purpose of the students and the staff for feedback is to grade or rank the achievement. Braend et al. (2010) directed a study on Fifth year medical students at the University of Oslo and recommended that most of the students considered triangulation feedback from teachers and patients valuable but time-consuming. Rogers, et al. (2012) had conducted an interventional study to focus student-centred approach for improving feedback in medical education in the clinical settings. The satisfaction rate was significantly higher in the group receiving feedback with instructions rather than the group receiving compli ments without any instructions (p. 23). No doubt, feedback plays an important role in students’ learning and improvements, but it is also a fact, that feedback in the form of evaluation is also used for the purpose of ranking the students’ achievements. Although one author argued with other researchers’ findings but according to second author feedback was considered useful in another context (to grade achievement). Furthermore, some of the studies had conducted in comparison of different feedback channels to the students. Besides that, instructions for the students are very useful in clinical settings. 2. Characteristics of effective feedback Quality feedback should be within time limit, explicit, productive and should be based upon non-judgmental attitude (Bienstock et al., 2007, p. 508). Newton, Wallace, and McKimm (2012) conducted interventional study changing from a free-text feedback form to a simple structured feedback proforma focusing the areas of improvement in students’ performance which has increased in both the quantity and quality of feedback. In addition, Maclellan (2001) also inquired about student’s understanding of feedback and concluded that learning occurs when students really perceive feedback as an enabling and helping tool for improvement rather than being judgemental about their achievements. Moreover, it was concluded that teachers should openly discuss with the students how they can integrate this feedback in their upcoming papers (Hyland, 2003, p. 228). In addition, There should be a balance between strength and areas for improvements while providing feedback to students to make it useful for them (Hyland, F., Hyland, K., 2001). There is a great importance of technology in enhancing feedback for the students in their practical tasks as feedback is recorded for students so they can reflect upon themselves and can review their weakness and strengthening areas (Corrigan Hardham, 2011). Bourgualt, Mundy and Joshua (2013) conducted a pilot study by using audio feedback on student nurses’ written assignments and concluded that instructors’ focus was on the provision of positive/constructive feedback as the instructors were high alert before giving feedback and they had also highlighted the important areas to share with the students for their improvement (p.44). The excellence of feedback depends upon many components which should be kept in consideration to make it effective. Except these features, effective feedback depends upon the form in which it is used whether in a simple form or some kind of structured form. Different studies concluded different aspects of quality feedback but the focus of most of the studies was to keep balance between students’ strength and areas for improvements and feedback should be simple and easy for the students to interpret so that they could incorporate the feedback into their next assignments. Moreover, teachers should incorporate advanced technology to make feedback effective and keep in consideration of students’ belief or understanding about feedback while providing feed back to them. 3. Challenges for teachers and students Language and vocabulary is a big challenge for the teachers in providing feedback to students and for the students in understanding and interpreting the meaning of feedback (Bailey Garner, 2010; Weaver, 2006). Schartel (2012) determined that numerous medical educators have limited knowledge about theoretical models of feedback and also dearth of skills in providing feedback (p.77). Harvey, Radomski and OConnor (2013) conducted a study on medical students for clinical supervision and concluded that only 16% written feedback statements focused on the forward learning objectives for the students. From the above mentioned studies’ findings, it can be analyzed that the focus of the studies was on the language, knowledge and vocabulary of the teachers which they used in providing feedback to the students. In this context, students often valued feedback but tutors comments would be more useful for them. Furthermore, sometime tutors do not provide detailed feedback to the students because of some contributing factors, sometime, personal, or institutional. Teachers should get proper training for feedback and should be trained in giving feedback. 4. Discrepancy in teachers own practices and students’ perception about feedback I have experienced in my academic career being a student and being a teacher that teachers have different perceptions and different opinions on the purpose for providing feedback to the students and teachers do not know how their students would take their feedback and how it would be helpful for them. There is also ample evidence from literature to support that there is a great controversy between teacher’s perception about providing feedback and student’s expectation and interpretations of those written comments (Carless, 2006; Garner Bailey 2010; Goldstein, 2004; Jensen et al, (2012). Moreover, Weaver 2006) concluded that students need support from faculty to understand feedback what they mean to it. He also determined a number of themes about feedback which are solely awkward for the students like comments too broad or unclear, lack of direction, intensive negative comments Moreover, these findings also supported by Bailey and Garner (2010) by suggesting that teache rs are not very sure about the purpose of providing feedback to their students. (p. 187). Another similar kind of study has been done in order to explore the gap between faculty and the residents for receiving and giving feedback. Jensen, et al. (2012) concluded that residents/students satisfaction for the feedback was significantly lower than the satisfaction level of the faculty for giving feedback (p.248). In addition, Parboteeah and Anwar (2009) suggested that teachers considered feedback more useful rather than students in many contexts. On the contrary, Montgomery and Baker (2007) conducted research by triangulation design between students and faculty and they recommended that there is a well synchronization between students’ perception about feedback and teacher’s self-assessment in giving feedback to their students (p. 82). All the studies conducted on the above mentioned theme, concluded that there is a great diversity among teachers and students in the process of feedback, but there is only one study (Montgomery Baker, 2007) revealed synchronization among students and faculty about feedback. Gap in literature: There is enough evidence from existing literature about students’ perceptions regarding feedback and teacher’s expectation from students. Literature also available on a discrepancy in teachers’ actual practices in providing feedback to students and what they believe to provide. There is a need to explore the factors influence teachers’ practices to provide feedback which they really want to provide and what is the extent of those factors in Pakistani Nursing context. Restatement of problem and its significance/implication for nursing: Despite of importance of feedback in educational system, only one study has conducted in Pakistani context on â€Å"teachers’ practices about feedback†, which is unpublished yet. But none of the study conducted on â€Å"what factors influence on teachers’ practices for written feedback† and â€Å"what is the extent of pre-determined factors affecting teachers’ practices in providing written feedback to students†. This study probably would add new knowledge to the existing phenomena of written feedback and new interventions could be designed based on the study findings to improve or enhance the teachers’ practices for providing written feedback to their students ultimately to boost learning and teaching practices in nursing education. Conclusion: To conclude, Feedback is not only important from student’s perspective but it is also significant from faculty and educational objectives. There are many studies conducted on the given phenomena but all the studies conducted in developed countries and some of them in Asian countries. Almost all the studies are designed qualitatively, some mixed methods, but none of the study designed quantitative. There is a need to explore the extent of predetermined factors influencing teachers’ practices in providing feedback which they really want to give to their students, so that according to study findings, interventions could be designed to improve teachers’ practices in nursing education.

Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Essay -- essays research papers

Hiroshima. Nagasaki. From the bombing of Pearl Harbor to D-day, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will be a triumph for the US by nuclear achievements and ending a war, but a tragedy for the all of the innocent Japanese victims. I decided to research this topic because I was interested in what happened in World War Two and wanted to learn more about this special occurrence. I believe this topic is important in history because when we need to make a decision of war, where thousands maybe millions of lives are at risk to prevent even more from being ended or even destroyed from the effects of it, we may look at this event and make a decision that will change history forever. The war in Europe soon affected Asia. Although it was not part of the European war Japan was an ally of the Nazi-Germany and Italy. The three countries had signed an agreement in 1936, called the Anti-Communist International Treaty. By 1949, the Japanese government was largely dominated by militarists, extremists in the army and navy and their supporters who wanted the armed forces to control Japan and organize Japanese society along military principles. They believed Japan had a sacred mission to conquer new territory to provide the natural resources that Japan lacked. In May 1941, the United States extended its â€Å"Lend Lease† program to China. In effect, this meant that China could buy arms and supplies from the United States on long-term credit. By doing this, the United States was confirming that it would continue to support China in its war against Japan. At the same time, talks between Japan and the United States began in Washington, D.C: they continued for months. Mo st historians agree that the negotiations never had any chance of success because ea... ...econd atom bomb, Fat Man, was sped up, and on August 9 it was ready to be dropped. Bad weather over the primary target of Kokura forced Major Charles W. Sweeney, the pilot of Bock’s Car, which was carrying the atom bomb, to divert the secondary target of Nagasaki. Clouds also obscured Nagasaki, but at the last minute, the clouds broke open and the second atom bomb known as Fat Man was dropped on Japan. Fat man exploded 1,600 feet above the city with an estimated force of 22,00 tons. The target seen through the clouds was several miles upriver from the original aiming point. Although the damage at Hiroshima, an estimated 50% of the population, died from the bomb in the next five years. Early in the morning of August 9, the Japanese was council met once again to discuss the possibility of surrender. The war council was evenly split over surrender. The war was over.4

Pips Personality Change in Great Expectations :: Great Expectations Essays

Pip's Personality Change in Great Expectations Most people would assume that through age and maturation, a boy with a wonderful heart and personality would further develop into a kind hearted, considerate gentleman. In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens provides his readers with an example of a boy who regresses in certain aspects of his personality rather than progressing as one would expect. Pip, a person who had loved and revered his uncle Joe as a child, while maturing, finds that his perspective on life has shifted. This boy, beginning life with a caring, generous heart, regresses becoming a superficial, ungrateful man who is ashamed of what he had once been. Pip and Biddy had become the best of friends and felt very strongly towards each other. However, once Pip had been introduced to Estella, he was overcome by her beauty, and would never again be able to look at Biddy, without feeling critical towards her. Slowly, after coming into contact with Estella, Pip was becoming superficial, as he was only interested in a girl's appearance. Thinking of Biddy, Pip thought to himself, "She was not beautiful--She was common and could not be like Estella..." (p 600) Estella's beauty had made Pip blind as to what was really important in a person. No matter how coldly Pip was treated by Estella, he went on loving her only because of her astounding beauty. As Pip progressed in life, he became increasingly ungrateful to the people that had raised and cared for him as a child. His disrespect was most strongly shown towards Joe. Having not seen Joe for a number of years, Pip shows that he would rather have continued his now prosperous life without having anything to do with Joe, when he thinks, "Let me confess with what feeling I looked forward to Joe's coming... Not with pleasure though I was bound to him by so many ties; no, with considerable disturbance and some mortification." (p 630) Despite Joe's kindness and caring, Pip remained unappreciative and ungrateful, for now Pip was wealthy and did not care to have contact with a poor man. Pip's most unfavorable quality was the fact that he was ashamed of his past and his family. By now, the only thing Pip was interested in was

Aurora Borealis

Aurora Borealis In 1921 Pierre Gassendi was the person who named the colored light in the sky Aurora Borealis. Aurora comes from the goddess of dawn and borealis comes from the god of the north wind, which in Latin mean Boreas. Another name for them is the Northern Light. Alaska is one of few to have the privilege to see them. In the black and white picture by William R. Norton, in the Yukon Territory shows the northern lights. In this picture it show a lot of trees, snow and a single cabin, no river, no tools, but it does look like a light was on looking at the window.The northern lights is a wide spread of a white compared to the sky which is black. The trees sway as the wind as it blows by. This picture is a picture that helps explain how the upper north is where it is clearer. In a rural area in a calm setting a beautiful thing happen. It is something not just every Alaskan wants to see but everyone wants to see. The beauty that science can bring to this earth is amazing. As peop le stand or sit in awe of the view, they take in every moment that they have.This picture is picture that can and will forever remind us that our world / earth is a beautiful, a place worth living in. Have experienced the northern light many times before, I honestly can say it never get old. Each and ever time it is a new experience for me. Seeing the color and the way they move is amazing. I remember one time I was at my cabin and we saw them dancing outside. So my family went out to enjoy them my grand pa â€Å" said watch as they move even more as I whistle. As he whistled they moved more when he stopped they slowed down.TO me it was amazing. TO me this seeing the northern lights was amazing. I have always wondered how it happen so I found out. As many people wonder how northern lights appear. Studies conclude that the northern lights happen when highly charged electron from solar wind interact with the earth’s atmosphere. The solar wind comes from the sun at 1 million mi les per hour. After 40 hours they finally reach earth. When in earth’s atmosphere they follow the line of magnetic force. The colors astonish people. The colors are so bright and calming and different each time.You see the color blue is when an atom is struck anywhere from 20 to 60 miles in altitude. The color green is any where from 20 to150 miles in altitude. Purple is seen when is above 60 miles in altitude. Lastly red, and that only if it above 150 miles in altitude. Title: Aurora Borealis. Northern Light, Selkirk, Y. T. Author: William R. Norton Circa: 1890-1920 Aurora_Borealis_Northern_Lights_Selkirk_YT. jpg http://ancienthistory. about. com/od/expressions/g/AuroraBorealis. htm http://science. howstuffworks. com/nature/climate-weather/atmospheric/question471. htm

Allerca cat

Creates truly unique products—the world’s first scientifically proven hypoallergenic cats. Genetically engineered, the medium sized ALLERCA GD cat weighs 10-15 pounds and is fully mature at age three. According to ALLERCA, the cats have long life expectancies and possess sweet and affectionate dispositions. For a price of about $3,000, you receive a 12-week-old kitten, complete with all shots and vaccinations, an embedded microchip identifier implant, and a one-year guarantee. Customers purchase kittens over the Internet and must pay approximately $1,000 for processing and transportation.The high shipping cost occurs because commercial air shipping is stressful to the animal; therefore, the kitten travels in a specialized private jet courier. According to ALLERCA, the current wait time for the ALLERCA GD kitten is approximately two years. Potential buyers may reduce their wait times to just a few months by paying $2,000 for one of the few kittens in the Premium Placemen t Program. This product is sold over the Internet. How can ALLERCA use Internet advertising technologies to reach its target market? (Visit the Internet Advertising Bureau at www.iab. net to learn about recent technologies. ). What might be the main objectives of advertising and pubic relations for ALLERCA and what factors will affect ALLERCA’s decision about its advertising and PR budgets? In addition to Internet marketing, what other advertising media and PR tools would you choose for promoting ALLERCA and its unique products? It is very important to identify the target market. The Allerca GD cats have a lot of benefits for the users including:- 1. They do not cause allergy as induced by other cats2. They could be beneficial to individuals with health problems such as asthma, psoriasis, skin rashes, etc, and who love cats. Such individuals who may be advised by the doctor not to keep cats in their homes may now do so without any health concerns 3. The life expectancy of suc h cats are longer 4. these cats are sweet and affectionate compared the generic ones 5. It is easier to identify these cats as they have a microchip embedded beneath their skin 6. The cats are free of disease and infections as they are vaccinated 7.The cats can be purchased over the internet and hence the customer does not have any hassle of going to the buyer and purchasing the cat 8. the Customer gets a guarantee that the cat is genetically modified and has the characteristics claimed to be possessed 9. The animal is given the best treatment as it is not transported by road or air cargo 10. The customer would get the cat earlier if needed a nominal amount is paid The internet strategy of reaching the target audience forms an important part of marketing in order to be successful. The first important step would be to identify the target market.Invariable the organization should involve this in their marketing plan. IF an individual who suffers from a medical condition such as asthma , and is also a feline-lover, he would be searching the electronic media (including radio, TV and the internet) of ways in which he could fulfill his desires. Hence, it important to the organization to identify the exact media that potential customers would be looking in so as to obtain the cats. Any ads placed by the company would be effective only if they reach the customers and match their interests.The company should also be aware that for any advertisement it would be placing in the media, a greater percentage of people would be noticing the ad but not responding to it. Hence, it is very important to have an ad which would catch the attention of the potential customers, who would also be ready to bear the costs of buying the product. One method of doing this would be to have repeated advertisements on the internet, in order to create awareness amongst the audience. Besides, the company should also focus on educating the customer.Such customers would potentially get motivated at purchasing the product (Search Engine Optimization and Beyond, 2008). One important point to not of the internet is that it is a very large means of communication and any advertisement that would be inserted would reach each and every corner of the globe. This does not make life any easier for the manufacturer as he has to search the global market for potential customers. Online survey sites are not able to provide details of the demographics and the type of customers that would be available at specific positions on the internet.Many companies are trying to map their customers on the internet, more often without much success. This is because many people who use the internet consider it to be a very unsafe place, prone for abuse and misuse, and hence may not be willing to give out their personal details. One way of reaching potential customers would be to have advertisements on websites that the target audience is identified. Newsletters that serve to help people needing appropriate products could also be utilized as a source of advertisements and educating the potential customers.Many of the online newsletters seem to have a good customer base, and involving the company producing these newsletters would be very effective in marketing the product over the internet. The company could also help the customers further by asking them their email addresses. Online forms placed at relevant websites could also be utilized by the company and would seem a more genuine and effective approach by the customers. Once the customer gets in touch with the company, a greater amount of interaction, clearing doubts, etc, is required.Online tracking services also seem to be a good approach by the company. If a visitor to the company’s website is having a doubt, then an online chat tool with the company executive could help to clear further doubts. This process is known as ‘web casting’. Besides this, forums, online communities, bulletin boards, etc, help the pe ople in search of getting a particular product or service from the right manufacturers (Search Engine Optimization and Beyond, 2008). Allerca would be having several objectives when it comes to marketing their product. These include:- †¢ Brand-building campaign†¢ Creating interest amongst the general public and the target market †¢ Providing information – in the form of education and awareness campaigns †¢ Creating demand for their product †¢ Reinforcing their brand (Know This, 2008). Some of the information that should be present in the advertisement include:- †¢ Information of the product †¢ Information of the price †¢ Information about other promotions †¢ Information about distribution of the product (Know This, 2008). Allerca could consider using e-mail marketing for their product. This is a very cost-effective form of marketing their products.However, studies have shown that more than 40 % of the people who utilize the interne t would ignore an advertisement sent to their email. Consumers need to know that the email being sent to them is safe and is from a genuine organization. Physical email could also be considered by Allerca but this may be costly and a difficult affair as the address of thousands of potential customers need be obtained from the right database. Studies in certain parts of the world suggest that newspaper and magazine advertisements would be one of the right ways of supplementing online advertisements.More than 34 % of the people in a survey felt that direct email was a mean of communication in which a relationship could be maintained, whereas 30 % felt that newspaper advertisements could help bring about a relationship (Tedeschi, 2001). Some of the PR tools that Allerca could consider utilizing include community relations activities, social marketing, event sponsorships and awareness campaigns. Event sponsorship seems to be an effective PR tool in this case. During the conductance of a relevant event, Allerca Company could create some awareness in the target audience though sponsorships and awareness campaigns.The target audience would be brought face to face with the manufacturer during this program. The company executives could realize the expectations of the company. Accordingly they could enter into contract with the consumer or consumer groups. The company would also get an idea of the competitors that may be present. The company can now begin to develop a strategy of competing with other companies. The company could hand out pamphlets, booklets and other material to the audience to ensure that they are educated about the product.It is also important for the company to follow-up with the potential customer after the event (Full Circle Associates, 1999). References: Full Circle Associates (1999). PR Tools and Techniques, Retrieved on June 7, 2008, from Full Circle Associates Web site: http://www. fullcirc. com/rlc/commrelationstips. htm Know This (2008). Prin ciples of Marketing – Setting the Advertising Objective, Retrieved on June 7, 2008, from Know This Web site: http://www. knowthis. com/tutorials/principles-of-marketing/managing-the-advertising-campaign/1. htm Search Engine Optimization and Beyond (2008).Identifying And Reaching Your Target Market, Retrieved on June 7, 2008, from Search Engine Optimization and Beyond Web site: http://search-engine-optimization-and-beyond. com/Customer-Centric-Website-Developement/Identifying-And-Reaching-Your-Target-Market. htm Tedeschi, B. (August 6, 2001). E-Commerce Report; online businesses are supplementing their fleet e-mailings with an old warhorse: direct mailings. Retrieved on June 7, 2008, from The NY Times Web site: http://query. nytimes. com/gst/fullpage. html? res=9501E5DF113CF935A3575BC0A9679C8B63