Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The role of the HR function Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The role of the HR function - Assignment Example Self development plan not only provides the self reflection but it also sets the path straight in terms of career Personal development program is very important. It provides the framework to the individual to conduct personal self assessment and identify his strengths and weaknesses. It helps in charting out the guideline to optimize and capitalize on the existing capabilities and determine the future path. It helps in identifying the areas of development and ways to enhance capabilities and knowledge and helps in deciding and developing a clear picture of the future in terms of career. Personal development plan is geared towards progress of both personality and self. A clear analysis of existing capabilities and desired ones helps in boosting self esteem and a clear picture of the future enable to add appropriate qualifications especially when you are vying for higher position (Attwood, 2005). This paper aims at creating my own personal development plan in the light of the different theories of personality, learning and leadership. Personal Development Plan A personal development plan consists of the following major steps. 1. What is my current state 2. What is my desired state 3. How do I get there? What is needed 4. ... So it is beneficial to identify the personality type first using the Myers Brigg Type Indicator (MBTI). MBTI It is one of the best known and most widely used for identifying personality and learning style. MBTI identifies the psychological type on four different scales namely Extraversion Vs Introversion (E-I), Sensing Vs Intuition (S-I), Thinking vs. Feelings (T-F) and Judging vs. perceiving (Gardner, 2009). The E-I indicator shows whether the energy and attention primarily comes from inside or from outside events. S-I indicators shows how the individual perceive the world and take the information whether directly from the five senses i.e. sensing or indirectly by using intuition. T-I indicator shows preferences in decision making either logical and rational or subjective values like based on like and dislike. The last indicator is J-P that shows individual’s choice whether to use judging or perceptive attitude for dealing with the environment (Knights et al 2007). I took MBT I online test to identify my personality. The test identified my personality type as ESFP. It shows I am an extrovert and I have the following characteristics sociable, outgoing, talkative, gregarious, active, optimist and impulsive. In my perceptions I rely on my five senses. Both of them are my strengths. However in my judgments I am not rational and logical and mostly make judgments based on my likes and dislike. That is a weakness. My attitude in dealing with the environment is based on perception rather than judging, it can also be considered a weakness (Ewing, 2006) Learning Style There are six types of learning styles namely reading, writing, listening, speaking, visualizing and manipulating. No one style is better than the other. Generally people use the learning style

Monday, October 28, 2019

Letter to a friend regarding interesting experience in Management Class Essay Example for Free

Letter to a friend regarding interesting experience in Management Class Essay Hope all is well at your end. It has been a long time since I last heard from you. I guess you have a busy and hectic university schedule like mine which does not allow you much time apart from your course work. I don’t blame you at all because I know what a roller coaster ride this business studies really is. I am on my summer vacations now so I finally got some time to correspond with you. I would like to update you with my experience so far with my courses. I would specially like to brief you on my enthralling and interesting experience in my Management class. Business studies have an array of different courses to offer. All these courses have their application in real life, if not fully, then at least to some extent. The most common term which is associated with business people is ‘managers’ which brings us to the most basic and necessary course of Management. Management is the basic requirement of any organization and is the foundation of running a business. Without it business would be nil and there would be total chaos and catastrophe. Management has tons of practical application and offers concepts which have vast dimensions and scope. This course has been the most interesting and enthralling learning experience so far in my studies. Of course I can not give you account of the entire course but I would like to mention one very exciting and challenging activity which was conducted in the management class. This activity was regarding teamwork. You must also have learnt a lot in your engineering studies how there are different teams of engineers that take up huge scale projects. Same goes here in our business studies as well. There are various different kinds of teams such as self managed teams, cross functional teams, special purpose teams and so on. The activity which we did was regarding the most famous kind of team; problem solving team. As you must have got the idea from the name, problem solving teams or also famously known as task forces are teams that are formed especially for a problem to be solved which can not be catered to and solved by the existing organizational structure. This team brings in members varying according to the nature of the problem from different departments of the organization. This shows that problem solving teams are cross functional. (Reference for Business, 2010) The activity was conducted in such a manner that our Management course instructor first explained to us all the different types of teams which involved problem solving team as well. Then to demonstrate how the problem solving team really works in the real world he divided our class into different groups. Each group comprised of 8 members each and each group was handed a business related problem which needed to be solved. We were given a time frame of 50 minutes in which we had to come up with a plan of action to solve the problem and then we were required to present it. This was a really challenging and exciting activity. The problem which was handed to my group was that we were required to suppose a business organization that dealt in supplying of different beverages in 48 out of 50 states of U.S.   There were complaints from three major states which were Arizona, Kansas and Colorado. The major complaints were of similar nature that the supply of the beverages was not on schedule, the stock that reached to retailers was not in good condition and that the beverages supplied were not in accordance with the demand of the people. We were required to discover the reasons that why were these problems occurring in only 3 of the 48 states and what erroneous actions were responsible for these three major complaints. We approached this problem in a very professional way. We first decided upon who will lead the group and fortunately the group members general consensus was for me as a team leader. As a team leader I was the one who had to approve the final plan of action with the input suggestions and research of the different members. We decided upon that our team had members from various departments of Finance, Marketing, Sales, Research and Development and Distribution Management. We formulated our problem solving report in such a manner that first we gave a brief introduction of the problems. Then we assumed different logical reasons which could have been behind these complaints. The reasons and findings that we listed in our report were that our suppliers were categorized into 16 different teams. Each team was given 3 states for which they were responsible of supplying the beverage. One particular team was given the states of Arizona, Kansas and Colorado as they are geographically situated close to each other. As the complaints were regarding these three states hence we found that the supplier team was performing some erroneous actions due to which these complaints arose. On further imaginary research we found out the findings for each of the complaints. First we found that this team was complaint about in past as well by number of retailers regarding their lethargic attitude and poor display of punctuality. So it was found out that the team comprised of members who were irresponsible and did not meet the time restrictions of the schedule which resulted in late supply of the stock of beverages. Second complaint was due to the same reason as first. The reckless attitude of the particular team showed that they mishandled the stocks. Beverages are objects held in fragile coverings and bottles and need to be handled with care which this particular team did not display. The third complain was that of the supply not in accordance with the demand which again was due to the poor performance and reckless and untrained staff of this team. They did not record and process the orders properly which resulted in the wrong supply frequently that bothered numerous retailers. So after we had our findings we were now in position to develop a plan of action based on these findings. The plan of action was formed with collaboration with the different departments of the organization. The action decided upon to be taken was that this particular team was to be fired. Other teams would be also appraised on performance to see whether they were a source of complaints in their states or not and whether they are up to the mark or not. All those members that won’t be up to the mark would either be trained or fired. The empty vacancies would be filled by renewed hiring of the staff which would take special care that highly trained and responsible staff is hired. For the entire plan of action to carry out special assistance would be required from Human Resource Department. This concluded our entire report for the solution of problem. We then presented the whole scenario, our findings and proposed solution in front of the entire class. As Group leader I took the responsibility of presenting. It was really good experience to present in front of the entire class. The teacher appreciated our approach to the problem and gave us a few helpful additional suggestions which would give edge to our report. The class also applauded our presentation and our presentation was ranked the best in all the presentations.   All this was due to combined team effort. This was the experience I wanted to share with you. It was not just a moment of pride for me because of the best presentation, but the activity itself was so exciting and fruitful to provide us with concepts that I could not resist but share with you. I am sure you have experienced such exciting activities at your university as well. I am really looking forward to hear from you your eventful time at university. I hope you are having a good time and enjoying the studies because I think you can not learn until you enjoy you studies. Hope to hear from you very soon. I am looking forward to your reply and account of the activities at university. Hope to see you soon. Take care. Reference: Reference for Business. (2010). Teams and Team work. Retrieved May 15, 2010, from,

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Essay --

A good day being crawled up on the couch watching television socializing and stacking. Snacks are great! So just chips, cookies, ice cream especially those Caramel choose. Food is not the easiest thing to understand. Food is much more complicated than just eating it, because many foods can lead to a deadly epidemic called obesity. Obesity, a disease of the 21st-century, is causing millions to die each year because of health issues such as, heart disease and diabetes. "Obesity is defined as having excess body fat"(CDC) obesity is quickly spreading and is very dangerous. Obesity is very different than being overweight. Overweight is just another term for being "fat" were as, obesity means that your body is made up of 30% or more fat. (CDC) "Globesity," The term was first used by World Health Organization meaning obesity is affecting a great portion of the population. W. H.O. Termed the word globesity because obesity has turned into a global epidemic and is very popular. (WHO) The older you get the harder it is to lose weight. As you get older is harder to lose weight because your metabolism slows down.(Allman) When it comes to your Weight, a good way to find out if you are overweight or even obese is your BMI or body mass index. If you BNI is between 25 and 29 you were considered overweight. If your BMI is 30+ then you're considered overweight. (Overweight) Many parents often claim that their kid is not overweight and just has a little baby fat. In fact, babyfat often turned into obesity by second-grade. (Robbins) 27% of America is obese and only 35% of America Holds a normal weight. That leaves an additional 35% of Americans that are overweight. Over 40 million, or one out of three children and teens are overweight or obese. Over ... ... understand is that obesity is a problem of its own. Obesity is classified as a disease! If someone is obese they have a disease and they sooner than later will die! However, like all diseases, obesity can be cured. Type 2 diabetes is one of obesity’s biggest causes, it often times makes people very irritable and is a result of low insulin. Obesity causes heart disease such as heart attack and stroke. this is from lack of cardio-vascular exercise. Obesity also cause bone and joint issues, and the main three are, charcot joint, diabetic hand syndrome and osteoporosis. Walking running and standing are all part of bone and joint issues. Obesity also causes sleep apnea and asthma. Sleep apnea causes you to have trouble breathing when you are sleeping and also causes you to have trouble sleeping. Asthma is the shortage of the breath due to the bronchi of the lungs. (CDC)

Thursday, October 24, 2019

How the women in two stories are treated by the men in their lives Essay

Examine how the women in two stories are treated by the men in their lives Two short fiction stories which show how women are treated by the men in their lives are The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion and Weekend. The first story is a pre-1914 story called ‘The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion’ and it is written by Thomas Hardy. The story is set in 1801 and it was published in 1891.The other story is a more modern story as it is set in the late twentieth century and was published in 1981. It is called ‘Weekend’ and it is written by a feminist writer called Fay Weldon. The main theme of The Melancholy of the German Legion is how a woman is treated with little independence and how the main female character, Phyllis Grove, tries to find her own freedom by forming a strong friendship with a German soldier that escalates into a relationship. Phyllis is a shy, young character who lives in a secluded manor house with her father, Dr Grove, who was a professional and well-respected gentleman. There now appears to be a lack of money in the Grove household. She is very wary of people due to her sheltered life of solitude, which is mainly the result of her father’s own seclusion,’ her social condition was twilight.’ She doesn’t appear to have a job as she is the unmarried daughter and she has to look after her father. This was very common for women in the nineteenth century as they didn’t have the freedom to go to work and make a career for themselves. Women who were of a low social class would have done very menial jobs, su ch as maid or dairy maid. Martha is the female in focus in the story Weekend. The story appears to be set in the late 1980’s to the early 19990’s. The social class of the family in focus is working class as they do not appear to be poor or extremely rich. Martha is a middle-aged market researcher who is married to Martin, a freelance designer and together they have three children called Jolyon, Jenny and Jasper. She has a rather hectic lifestyle looking after three children, running a home, holding down a full-time job and being at her demanding husband’s beck and call ‘ there was the car to unpack and the beds to make up and the electricity to connect, and the supper to make and the cobwebs to remove.’ The main theme of this story is how hard Martha has to work and how little recognition she receives in return. She has to play the role of the happy little housewife to please her domineering husband and informs us of how hard her life was made by her husband, the man who is meant to love her. Despite the way she is treated by her husband, she is educated to university standard and she is most probably going to overtake her husband in earnings. The main male characters in The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion each treat Phyllis in a different manor. Her father, Dr Grove, seems very over-protective of her and likes his life of seclusion. This may be because he lost his wife and feels that it is his duty to make sure that no harm comes of Phyllis and that he thinks he knows what is best for his daughter. When Humphrey Gould asked Mr Grove for his daughter’s hand in marriage, Mr Grove accepted without even consulting Phyllis. Mr Grove considered this to be a good move for his daughter as Humphrey’s family had a respectable social position in the community and he could provide for her. Even though Mr Grove treats his daughter with the respect she deserves, he still refrains her from having her freedom and the right to chose who she wants to marry. Humphrey Gould himself was a thirty-year-old bachelor from an old local family, who was ‘neither good-looking nor positively plain.’ He seemed extremely happy to have Phyllis as his wife-to-be and gave the impression that he would take good care of her and had great respect for her. He treated her as a lady with great respect, but despite the good image we get of Gould in the beginning of the story, we soon see a different side of him. He goes away to Bath and doesn’t keep Phyllis informed of his whereabouts and she is left questioning whether the engagement is still on or not. When he eventually returns he tells her that he has married another young woman, who he describes as being ‘a dear young belle.’ This action wasn’t very thoughtful on his behalf and even though Phyliss didn’t really want to marry him and didn’t love him, she still fells slightly betrayed. The only male in The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion who doesn’t treat women as though they are objects and treats Phyllis with the amount of respect and freedom she truly deserves is Matthaus Tina. He was a German soldier in the York Hussars regiment and was staying close to where Phyllis lived. He had travelled to England with his brother Christoph, due to The War of the Second Coalition, and had left his mother in his native town of Saarbuck. After Phyllis had first met Matthaus she couldn’t stop thinking about him and described him as ‘so striking, so handsome, and his eyes were so blue.’ He was twenty-two and had quite a high position in the German Army as a corporal. He treated Phyllis as though she were equal to him and there was no hint of a divide between them due to her being female. He respected her fully and never let her down, unlike Humphrey Gould who broke off the engagement. He may have treated her with more respect and freedom than the other main men in her life as he was German and in his country they may have been more hospitable towards women. Martin is the male in focus in Weekend and his is a very obnoxious character. He is married to Martha and he is a freelance designer and there are clues in the story which suggest that he is in his forties, for example ‘he watches the BBC2 news,’ which is typical of a middle-aged person. Martin treats Martha as more of a servant than a wife and he puts all of the responsibilities onto her. He seems to think that he is too good to be doing housework and odd-jobs and Martha is left to do long lists of chores, ‘prepare tea and sandwiches for the family: then she would strip four beds,’ the chores seem endless. Martin is also very particular about how he like things to be done, which means extra work for Martha. Martin thinks ‘ mash is stodgy and ordinary and instant mash is unthinkable,’ which means Martha has to take a long time to sautà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ the potatoes and he thinks pork is a dull meat if it’s not cooked properly, so she has to spe nd ages cooking it just how he likes it. Martha doesn’t say much in the story as she can’t get a word in edgeways because in his eyes he is the man of the house, even though Martha runs the household. She doesn’t have much of a chance to voice her opinions directly, but she does voice them in her thoughts as the story is mainly written in first person narrative with her as the narrator. She helps us to get inside her head and with her use of lists she helps to inform us of just how many things she has to do. She seems to scared to disagree with Martin and goes along with whatever he says ‘I expect your right,’ just to keep the peace. Martha and Phyllis are similar in many ways, even though they are in different situations and from different backgrounds. They are both overpowered by the men in their lives who are closest to them and they are both deprived of having their own lives. Neither of the women seem to have a say about what happens in their lives, for example Phyllis was told who to marry by her father and Martha was told what to with her life by her husband. Despite the number of similarities between the two women there are also some differences between them. Martha put up with her way of life and didn’t question it much, but Phyllis did decide to change things. She chose to carry on the affair with Matthaus Tina as she saw a break from her regimented lifestyle and went against her father’s wishes. Phyllis became quite rebellious when she was planning to escape to Saarbuck with Matthaus and Christoph. This is something that Martha would never have considered doing. Both of the women are victims in each of the stories, but I think that Martha’s suffering was worse than that of Phyllis as hers was constant and she never got a break from it. Phyllis is treated better than Martha in that respect as she had someone in her life who was treating her very well. That person was Tina as he was the only one who saw the true Phyllis and respected the true Phyllis. To me, Martha’s victimisation is worse than that of Phyllis’ as in 1981 Martha should have had more chances and opportunities due to the development of society, than Phyllis did in1801. I felt very sympathetic towards both of the female characters due to the fact that they are seen as victims and I also felt sympathetic towards Matthaus Tina. I felt sympathetic towards him as he did so much for Phyllis and did his best to keep her happy. It was very sad when he was killed at the end of the story and I again felt very sympathetic towards Phyllis as she lost the one person she truly trusted. The rest of her life is touched by the scandal, even though she was blameless for what happened. The type of language used in each of the stories is suited to the time that it was written and they are very different to each other. The language in The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion is formal and uses traditional English, such as ‘unsrupulous’ and ‘melancholy,’ as that type of language would have been used in the nineteenth century. It contains more complex sentences than that used in Weekend and they are sometimes harder to comprehend. The narrative in The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion starts in first person, which is Hardy’s narration to introduce the characters and scene to the reader. It then progresses into third person narrative to involve the reader in the story, before returning to first person narrative to tie of all loose ends in the story, for example Matthaus’ date of death. The use of third person narrative enables the reader to see more deeply into the story and become more involved in what is happening. The narrative style and language used in Weekend is less formal than that used in Hardy’s stories. There are many non-sentences, such as ‘Katy versus Janet,’ which do not contain a verb and are more of a thought .There are many compound sentences that use words such as then, but, and, so, which helps Martha to express how many jobs she has to do. This use of language is well suited to the date in which the story was set. The role and rights of women changed quite a lot in the period of time between when the two books were written. In 1801, nobody had the chance to vote and your right to a say depended on your position in society. Men with homes got the vote in 1867, all men got the vote in 1916 and women didn’t get the vote until 1926. This meant that for along time women were seen as being lower than men and were provided for by their husbands. Other turning points for women in this time span were that they were able to get jobs and were protected by The Sex Discrimination Act,1975. This explains why Martha had a job and Phyllis didn’t, but there is still no explanation to support why Martha was treated so badly in modern day Britain. My conclusion is that Fay Weldon was trying to get across that some traditions never change.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Cognitive Theories Essay

Cognition is the process involved in thinking and mental activity. Cognitive theories are not centred on the unconscious mind of the child but emphasized the conscious thoughts. In this essay I will discuss the cognitive theories of Piaget and Vygotsky, who were both influential in forming a more scientific approach to analysing the cognitive development process of the child. I will outline Piaget’s theory of the four stages of cognitive development and Vygotsky’s theory on the sociocultural cognitive theory. I will also discuss how cognitive theories can be applied to the education of the child. Jean Piaget (1896-1980) believed that children are active in the process of their cognitive development. As Bee and Boyd note in The Developing Child â€Å"the child is an active participant in the development of knowledge† (Bee and Boyd, 1939, p.150). Piaget said that children reason and think differently at different stages in their lives. He believed that children process through four stages of cognitive development. Each stage is characterised by an overall structure and a sequence of development. According to Piagetian theory, these structures consist of â€Å"schemes† or â€Å"schemas†, which are a way of organising experience. These schemes adapt through a continuous process of â€Å"assimilation† and â€Å"accommodation†, in an attempt to achieve â€Å"equilibrium†, which is the balance between the two. Assimilation is the process of adapting new experiences to fit into existing schemes. Accommodation is the process of adapting existi ng schemes to fit new experiences. (Piaget’s Theory, www. 6th February 2012). The first of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development is the sensorimotor stage. It occurs from birth to about two years of age. This stage is divided into six sub stages: reflexes, primary circular reactions, secondary circular reactions, coordination of secondary circular reactions, tertiary circular reactions and beginning of representational thought. He believed that this stage is a period of practical discovery, which happens by interacting with the environment through the senses. Infants discover a relationship between their body and the environment. The infant develops independent thinking, a sense of self and the beginning of symbolic thought. This stage promotes that thought is based primarily on action. (Bee and Boyd, 1939). As Santrock says in Child Development â€Å"their main task is to coordinate their sensory impressions with their motor activity† (Santrock, 1982, p.188). The second of Piaget’s stages is the pre-operational stage. It occurs from two to about seven years of age. Piaget believed that at this time children fail to â€Å"conserve†. This is the understanding that things remain constant in terms of number, quantity and volume regardless of changes in appearance. He believed that at this stage children begin to represent the world through symbols e.g. drawing, images and words. This stage is characterized by the development of symbolic thought, representation, egocentrism, centration and intuitive thought. (Bee and Boyd, 1939). The third of Piaget’s theories is the concrete-operations stage. It occurs from seven to about eleven years of age. He believed this stage is characterized by the ability to perform operational tasks such as classification, seriation and reversibility. The child now understands the conservation of mass, length, weight and volume. As it states in Child Development â€Å"Concrete operations allow children to coordinate several characteristics rather than focus on a single property of an object† (Santrock, 1982, p.193). Children can use abstract thinking as long as they can relate back to concrete examples. In the concrete-operations stage, he believed the child is no longer egocentric; they have the ability to de-centre. (Bee and Boyd, 1939). The fourth and last stage of Piaget’s theories is the formal operations stage. It occurs between eleven and about fifteen years of age, although Piaget says that some people may never reach this stage of cognitive development. He believes that in this period individuals are able to think and reason scientifically (Piaget’s Theory, www. 6th February 2012). Children have the capacity to move beyond definite experiences and think in more logical ways. This stage is characterized by abstract thinking, hypothetical deductive reasoning and idealism.(Bee and Boyd, 1939). In contrast to Piaget, Lev Semeonovich Vygotsky (1896-1934) did not believe in distinct stages of development. He saw the development of cognition as a continual process that is determined by the culture and social influences. He believed children are only as cognitively developed as the culture in which they live and that learning in conjunction with social interaction leads to cognitive development. As is says in The Developing Child â€Å"social interaction is required for cognitive development† (Bee and Boyd, 1939, p.163). One of the main ideas proposed by Vygotsky is the Zone of Proximal Development. This refers to the distance between the actual development of a child through individual problem solving and the level of development through problem solving under the guidance of an adult. A child’s actual development level indicates a child’s level of mental development at a particular time. It indicates the functions that have already matured in the child. A child’s zone of proximal development show the functions that have not matured yet, but that are in the process of maturing and developing. (Learning Theories, www. 7th February 2012). Vygotsky also believed that language played an important role in a child’s cognitive development. He believed language and thought develop independently and when the child is about two years of age they come together. Vygotsky describes three stages of development in language. The first stage is social speech or external speech. A child uses external speech to express simple thoughts and emotions such as crying or laughing. The second stage is egocentric speech, it is usually found in children between the ages of three and seven. The child will talk to him/herself during activities. They think out loud in an attempt to guide their own behaviour. The third stage is inner speech. As the child gets older he/she will begin to supress egocentric speech in the form of inner speech, and it is inner speech that becomes the child’s thoughts. Vygotsky proposed that language allows the child a greater freedom of thought and leads to cognitive development. (Santrock, 1982). As it states in Child Development â€Å"Children must use language to communicate with orders before they can focus inward on their own thoughts† (Santrock, 1982, p.202). Both Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory and Vygotsky’s sociocultural cognitive theory have a profound effect on the educational process and can be applied in many ways. Piaget and Vygotsky agree that the child actively takes part in his/her education and therefore require a style of teaching that provides opportunities to be active participants in their own learning. Both theories view the child as individual beings. They both agree with a child centred curriculum and see the role of the teacher as a guide and facilitator rather than a director. Both theories propose that the teacher has to have good observation skills and to have an understanding of the children in the learning environment. (Santrock, 1982). Vygotsky believed that education held a more important role in the child’s cognitive development. He proposed the involvement of the teacher to guide the child through his/her zone of proximal development and that instruction should be based on the child’s potential level. Vygotsky’s theory proposes using peers as tutors in supporting and guiding the child. He believed that thinking depended on language skills and is developed and maintained by social interaction. Learning involves at least two people therefore the probable scope of Zone of Proximal Development is dependent on the skills of both the child and the teacher. (Santrock, 1982). However, Piaget saw education as a method of refinement for the already developing cognitive skills. He believed cognitive development cannot be accelerated through instruction and concepts should not be taught until the child has reached the right stage. Piaget believed children are able to work best when they are active. He saw the child as a lone explorer discovering things for him/herself. He also believed the role of the teacher is a facilitator and guide to provide the correct materials and environment for the child. As it says in Child Development â€Å"Effective teachers listen, watch, and question students, to help them gain better understanding† (Santrock, 1982, p.197). Piaget’s theory suggests that the peers and not the adults in the classroom have a stronger influence on the child’s development. (Santrock, 1982). In this essay I have discussed the cognitive theories of Piaget and Vygotsky and how they can be applied to the education of the child. Piaget and Vygotsky’s impact on children’s cognitive development has been remarkable. Their cognitive theories have contributed to our understanding of the importance of developmental changes in children’s thinking and the cognitive processes. They looked at how children see the world and the influences that impact on the thinking process and saw that the cognitive theories are a positive approach to the child as they are active participants in their own development. For many years teachers have revised their approach in the classroom and applied the cognitive theories to the education of the child.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

New Information on How to Become a Perfusionist

New Information on How to Become a Perfusionist If you’re at a party and telling someone what you do for a living, saying â€Å"I’m a perfusionist† might lead to some interesting conversations. â€Å"A percussionist? Like in a band?† â€Å"A perfectionist?† But while not everyone may know what a perfusionist does exactly, rest assured that this is an essential role in the healthcare world. What Perfusionists DoIf you’re not familiar with the career path (yet), here’s the elevator pitch: perfusionists operate a heart-lung machine during surgery, keeping oxygenated blood flowing through the patient’s heart and body while the surgeon operates, and monitoring to make sure the patient maintains a consistent body temperature. It doesn’t get much more intense or life-saving than that- this is not a career for the weak of heart. Perfusionists are highly trained clinical professionals who assist surgeons and physicians in cardiovascular surgery, but also any surgery that requir es cardiopulmonary bypass to maintain the patient’s vital signs during the procedure (including correction of heart defects, chemotherapy treatments, and emergency trauma cases).If you’re looking for a healthcare career that calls for a steady hand and nerves of steel, and you’re willing to commit to the education and training necessary to be one of these highly specialized professionals, it could be a great career choice for you.The BenefitsIt’s lucrative. Perfusionists are a high-paid bunch; the median salary for these professionals is $109,773.It’s stable. Perfusionists are a mainstay in the clinical healthcare world- one of the strongest (and continuing to grow) fields around right now, due to an aging population facing widespread cardiovascular issues and diseases. Because of the specialized training and education perfusionists need to have, this is not a field where people come and go frequently.It doesn’t require an advanced degree. T o become a perfusionist, you need to have a bachelor’s degree, but can complete a training program/certificate rather than a getting a master’s. However, you can go on to get those advanced degrees in perfusion and cardiovascular studies after working in the field, if you want to develop your expertise.It’s a cutting-edge field. With technical advances improving surgical equipment all the time (including the heart-lung machines used to maintain patient stability during open-heart surgery), this is a field where the tech-minded can work with the most modern technology. Perfusionists can also go on to the equipment development field, refining and implementing new technologies to improve heart surgery and patient care.The Qualifications You’ll NeedAs a perfusionist, you should expect to meet these requirements:A bachelor’s degree in a medical or science field (such as chemistry, biology, medical technology, etc.)Completion of a perfusionist certificat e or master’s degree, which includes clinical trainingStrong anatomical knowledgeFamiliarity with surgical technologyIn addition, perfusionists have a very specific set of skills:Extremely detail-orientedStrong organizational skillsAbility to remain calm in emergency situations and throughout long surgeriesFamiliarity with the related perfusion/surgical equipment and the ability to troubleshoot as necessaryHow to Make Your DecisionIf you have the skills to become a perfusionist, you should think about whether this is the career path for you.Are you willing to work a 40-hour week, plus night/weekend/holiday shifts as necessary to accommodate being on call for surgery?Do you have the attention to detail that is required to maintain a person’s basic life functions while they’re in surgery?Do you handle crisis situations well?If you don’t have the level of undergrad science experience or advanced study in perfusion under your belt, are you willing to commit t o a certificate or degree program?Are you mechanically inclined and able to work with sophisticated medical equipment with the right training?Are you willing to do ongoing training for recertification and staying on top of current medical technology trends?If the gut check says â€Å"no† on any of these, then perhaps a different healthcare path would be better. But if you’re willing to embrace what can be a high-pressure, fast-moving medical career, then it might be the right option for you.The Final OutlookIf the job meets your requirements and you meet the job’s requirements, this is a solid choice to make for the future. Because perfusionists are becoming more involved with procedures outside of the traditional heart surgery (like fixing congenital heart defects, treating heart disease, and chemotherapy). It’s also a career path that has great potential for perfusionists who eventually want to move out of the operating room. Trained perfusionists can b ecome educators, equipment developers for private medical companies, or even medical equipment sales representatives. It’s a career path with a lot of different options for those willing to commit.

Monday, October 21, 2019

The Italian Phonetic Alphabet - How to Spell

The Italian Phonetic Alphabet - How to Spell Bravissimo! You finally learned how to use the phone in Italy. Like many other Italians you pass on the street who have a cellphone attached to his ear, you can now discuss the most banal moments of the day. You quickly discover, though, that there are times when, no matter how clearly you pronounce Italian words, the person on the other end of the line cannot understand you. It could be static, it could be because youre skiing in the Dolomites or traveling by hydrofoil to the island of Stromboli and reception is poor. But you need to make yourself understood, otherwise youll miss out on those tickets to opening night at La Scala. Fortunately, theres the alfabeto fonetico- the Italian phonetic alphabet. Ancona, Bologna, CataniaMention the phonetic alphabet to a native-English speaker, and the first phrase that comes to mind is: Alpha Bravo Charlie. It stands for ABC, and is used in the military to avoid miscommunication. Its also frequently used by anyone speaking on the phone (to a customer service represenative, for instance) to spell out words (or portions of those words) to confirm the correct spelling. If its necessary to sound out the spelling of a word in Italian, by convention the following cities (typically provincial capital cities)- or alternate terms- are most commonly used to refer to each letter of the alphabet. The list of cities is not fixed, though, and even native-Italian speakers sometimes disagree about which cities to refer to. Therefore instead of Catania, one could also use Como, Capri or any other well known location. The only rule is to avoid a letter/town combination that could be mistaken for a different pair. Italian Phonetic AlphabetA come AnconaB come Bologna (or Bari or Brescia)C come Catania (or Como)D come DomodossolaE come Empoli (or Enna)F come FirenzeG come GenovaH come Hotel (acca)I come ImolaJ (gei or i lunga) come jolly (the joker in Italian card games) (or Jugoslavia)K (kappa) come KursaalL come LivornoM come MilanoN come NapoliO come OtrantoP come Palermo (or Padova or Pisa)Q come QuadernoR come RomaS come Savona (Sassari or Siena)T come Torino (Taranto)U come UdineV come Venezia (Verona)W (vi/vu doppio) come Washington (Wagner)X (ics) come Xanto (xilofono)Y come ipsilon (York or yacht)Z come Zara (Zurigo or zeta)