The Value Of Small Group Interaction In Teaching Education Essay

Collaborative acquisition, synergism acquisition, small-group acquisition, and concerted acquisition seem to be the new cants used by faculty members. This is due to the intensifying involvement over the past few old ages, with respect to the different attacks to learning and larning. Particularly the passage from individualistic to collaborative acquisition manners has been under huge examination as university module members and decision makers are rediscovering the construct of ‘two caputs being better than one ‘ . The involvement is been chiefly incited at a graduate student degree, where the key purposes are to develop the ability of pupils to believe critically, enhance mutuality and arrive at a socially constructed apprehension of the stuff provided. In add-on, alterations in organisational substructure have resulted in an increased accent on squad work within the work force. Consequently, the acquisition manner implemented at postgraduate degree is critical as it i s the stepping rock into the universe of work. This reappraisal aims to measure the value of little group interaction in the instruction and acquisition procedure. Specifically, this reappraisal will measure how this method impacts learning and larning at a postgraduate degree. More specifically, in this reappraisal little group interaction includes collaborative acquisition, concerted acquisition, every bit good as equal acquisition. The history of this method of acquisition will be looked at first to give a clearer image of how it has evolved since its origin. Cardinal footings will so be defined, as they are applicable in this reappraisal, to guarantee apprehension of the most of import constructs occurs from the start. This will be followed by the theories that have developed, the advantages, and so the restrictions on the subject, so that a clear statement can be developed. Therefore, it will be determined whether collaborative methods consequence in the enhanced value of learning and larning at postgraduate degree. This pro be is greatly needed at a higher instruction level- as it is a topographic point where the competition is rife, clip force per unit areas are high and there is a great trade of external force per unit area to develop the leaders of tomorrow.2. History of collaborative acquisitionAlthough the history of collaborative acquisition is really unelaborated, it is non a comparatively new method of larning. It appears likely that people have been larning informally in groups for 1000s of old ages ( McInnerney & A ; Roberts, 2004 ) . Kimber ( 1994 ) states that collaborative acquisition was foremost instituted in Greek and Roman schools and coincides with the doctrine of Socratic larning – when pupils ‘ inquiring and discourse were emphasized. Johnson, Johnson, and Holubec ( 1993 ) stated the Roman philosopher, Seneca showed support for concerted acquisition through statements such as: Qui Docet Discet ( when you teach, you learn twice ) . Kimber ( 1996 ) and Johnson et Al ( 1993 ) province that concerted acquisition came into prominence in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries in Europe and England. During this period Joseph Lancaster and Andrew Bell made extended usage of `monitorial ‘ systems which were devised to enable big Numberss of pupils gain simple instruction at post-industrial revolution schools which were missing in trained instructors. Student ‘monitors ‘ were used to learn other disadvantaged or younger students. Similarly, in the early 19th century concerted acquisition gained popularity among pedagogues across a spectrum of didactic Fieldss. In the late 1930 ‘s, nevertheless, interpersonal competition began to be emphasized in schools and in the late sixtiess, individualistic acquisition began to be used extensively. In the 1980s, schools one time once more began to utilize concerted acquisition. The work of Johnson, Johnson and Smith ( 1991 ) transferred the value of active acquisition to the university degree and argued that big schoolrooms could besides be transformed to go student-centered learning environments. In 1989, a workshop was held in Maratea, Italy. This workshop is considered by many to hold marked the birth of the field of computer-supported collaborative acquisition ( Bereiter, 2002 ; Stahl, Koschmann, & A ; Suthers, 2006 ; Lipponen, 2002 ) . Additionally in 1996, Koschmann ( 1996 ) suggested computer-supported collaborative acquisition ( CSCL ) as an emerging theoretical account of educational engineering and CSCL has been progressing of all time since.3. Definition of footingsCollaborative acquisition has been established in a assortment of ways over clip in a spectrum of academic Fieldss. In the broadest sense, collaborative acquisition is defined by Dillenbourg ( 1999, p.1 ) as â€Å" a state of affairs in which two or more people learn or attempt to larn something together. † The ‘two or more people ‘ referred to in the definition above, is applicable in equal acquisition as â€Å" person of the same societal standing † ( Falchikov, 2001, p.1 ) , which in an educational context implies person â€Å" within the same category or cohort † ( Falchikov, p.3 ) . For illustration, pupils presently finishing their Masters Degree in Human Resource Management who web and addition cognition from interaction with each other are prosecuting in equal acquisition. Common to the assorted definitions of collaborative acquisition is that accent is placed on the thought of joint building of cognition and common battle of participants ( Lipponen, 2002 ) . In this reappraisal the footings collaborative acquisition and concerted acquisition are used interchangeably. However, a differentiation between the two must be noted. The former involves the joint battle of pupils, at assorted public presentation degrees, in a co-ordinated attempt to work out the job together ( Panitz, 1996 ) . The latter is accomplished by agencies of the division of labour, pupils work together in little groups to carry through a common end, whereby each individual is responsible for a fraction of the job resolution ( Roschelle & A ; Teasly, in imperativeness ; Cooper, McKinney, and Robinson ( 1991 ) ; Gokhale 1995 ) . In add-on, Dillenbourg, Baker, Blaye and O'Malley ( 1996 ) indicate that basically the two differ by virtuousness of the manner the undertaking is divided: in concerted acquisition, the undertaking is split hierarchically into independent subtasks ; in collaborative acquisition, the cognitive patterned advance may be heterarchially divided into int ertwined beds. When utilizing the footings collaborative or cooperative larning interchangeably, the definition applicable, as stated by ( Yazici, 2005, p.217 ) is: â€Å" the instructional usage of little groups or squads where equal interaction plays a cardinal function in larning † . Additionally, Dillenbourgh ( 1999 ) contends that collaborative acquisition can be understood as a pedagogical method or a psychological procedure. Collaborative acquisition in a pedagogical sense is normative: one asks two or more people to join forces because it is expected they will in this mode learn expeditiously. In the psychological sense it is descriptive: one observes that two or more people have gained cognition and coaction is viewed as the mechanism which caused the acquisition. In this reappraisal, collaborative acquisition will be applied in the pedagogical sense with respect to postgraduate degree acquisition.4. Learning at graduate student degreeThere are considerable differences in the purposes and methods of instruction and acquisition at undergraduate and postgraduate degree of instruction ( Lave & A ; Wenger, 1991 ; Barnacle, 2005 ; Donnelly, 2008 ; Butler,1993 ) . The cardinal purpose at postgraduate degree is to come on the ability of pupils to believe criticall y ( Jones, Michael, Gear, & A ; Read, 2006 ) . The procedure referred to as ‘post-conventional believing ‘ by Ashley ( 1973 as cited in Jones et al 2006 ) is critical in carry throughing this purpose. He defines it as a procedure â€Å" during which the pupil is able to travel from a place of noncritical credence of the orthodox to one of originative dissent, a procedure that stretches the mind and encourages the outgrowth of new or revised ways of thought † ( Ashley, as cited in Jones et Al, p.379 ) . Collaborative larning Fosters this procedure as it stretches the mind and encourages the outgrowth of advanced or revised ways of thought ( Ladyshewsky, 2006 ; Jones et Al, 2006 ) . Similarly, Machemer and Crawford ( 2007 ) argue that the traditional talk method of learning has two important failings at postgraduate degree. First, it promotes pupil passiveness which does non heighten or prolong the pupils ‘ acquisition. Second, the extremist alterations and elaborateness of the information makes it hard to draw-up talks that cover the necessary deepness, comprehensiveness and advanced cognition required. Conversely, a survey conducted in graduate student medical instruction resulted in both collaborative acquisition and the traditional talk method being every bit effectual in bettering the cognition degrees of pupils ( Smits, De Buisonje , Verbeek, Van Dijk, Metz, and Cate, 2003 ) . Therefore, when sing execution of collaborative acquisition methods, the context which it is to be applied every bit good as the construct of battle should be taken into history. The construct of battle is cardinal to successful acquisition at postgraduate degree ( Jungst, Licklider, and Wiersma, 2003 ) . Consequently as cited by Jungst et Al. it is in the active acquisition environment that a deeper degree of understanding and true acquisition occurs, larning that can be transferred to the universe outside of the schoolroom. In add-on, at postgraduate degree, pupils transform as societal agents and signifier individualities as scholars, professionals and, more widely, as members of society ( Havness, 2008 ) . However, antecedently O'Donell, Tobell, and Zammit ( 2007 ) argued that the nature of passage from undergraduate to postgraduate survey is less ambitious and there is small to get the better of because, in kernel, the environment remains the same. After farther survey, O'Donell et Al ( 2009 ) concluded that there should be greater independent survey by pupils at postgraduate degree and farther synergistic workshop-style instruction, taking to knowledge and understanding which is socially constructed instead than passively received.( Beginning: Stahl, 2000, p.71 )In add-on to knowledge being socially constructed, Stahl ( 2000 ) states that cognition should be personally constructed every bit good. Stahl farther explains that the diagram aims to associate the person and the societal facets in the knowledge-building procedure. This procedure begins with the rhythm of personal apprehension. The staying parts of the diagram exemplify how the person ‘s personal beliefs and civilization are influenced by other people ‘s values, beliefs and point of views ( societal procedure ) . A shared civilization is so formed, which impacts on the personal apprehension, as it takes form through act uponing the ways of thought, diverseness influences, every bit good as motivational concerns. The procedure is initiated once more when the new civilization adopted by the single influences others as he / she interacts with different groups of people. However, to guarantee that a knowledge-building procedure does in fact occur, the pros and cons of collaborative acquisition should be weighed up.5. Advantages of collaborative acquisitionFor the successful passage to take topographic point, a great trade of research sing the result of collaborative acquisition in contrast to traditional instructional patterns has been conducted ( Kimber, 1994 ) . Instructor-centered methods of learning can non adequately impact the complex results ( job work outing accomplishments ; higher order believing accomplishments ; the ability to hold a diverse positions view ; ethical logical thinking ; and life-long acquisition ) that a postgraduate pupil requires ( Jungst et al, 2003 ) . Numerous surveies look intoing higher instruction conclude that pupils who follow in-class collaborative acquisition processs and actively collaborate with each other are more satisfied with their acquisition experience and consequence in greater positive results when compared to pupils who are exposed to the traditional talk method ( Kimber, 1994 ; Alavi, 1994 ) . Consequently, this satisfaction consequences from interpersonal relationships which are developed and enhanced through group acquisition ( Johnson et al, 1991 ) . Another factor lending to the satisfaction of collaborative acquisition methods is that it is per se motivative, as each single member is critical to procuring a productive, concerted acquisition pattern ( Havness, 2008 ) . Andrews ‘ ( 1992 ) work with larning squads confirms the position that greater satisfaction is experienced as collaborative larning improves assurance and supports the acquisition procedure. Additionally, Johnson & A ; Johnson ( 1994 ) concluded that concerted larning systematically produced higher tonss of self-efficiency than did individualistic conditions. Besides greater satisfaction is achieved since equals are at an equal degree and therefore can be more unfastened and explore to the full the countries of cognitive struggle ( Ladyshewsky, 2006 ) . This satisfaction experienced consequences in avidity to larn ( Kimber, 1994 ) . In add-on, the degree of equality with equals encourages greater dynamic battle in the acquisition procedure and building of cognition with deeper apprehension ( Alavi, 1994 ) . Attainment of greater understanding consequences in longer keeping of information and turning away of abrasion ( Cooper, 1990 ) . As a consequence, job resolution accomplishments are enhanced and it consequences in higher order thought ( Jaarsma, De Graves, and Muijtjens, 2008 ) . Likewise, Mazen, Jones, and Sergenian ( 2000 ) further supports the importance of group acquisition by indicating out that by working hand in glove, pupils can heighten accomplishments and advanced ways of believing which will ensue in group procedure additions. When working hand in glove, the issue of diverseness must non be forgotten. Escalating Numberss of postgraduate pupils from diverse backgrounds with changing positions and readings are holding a profound consequence on concerted acquisition ( Booth, Bowie, Jordan, and Rippin, 2000 ) . Wyss-Flamm ( 2002 ) points out that the outgrowth of ‘difference ‘ is indispensable to larning. Exposure to the differences can elicit the demand to try to come in each other ‘s heads and therefore larning something for which the tool of conversation is priceless ( Argyris & A ; Schion, 1996 ) . Similarly, Stein and Hurd ( 2000 ) acknowledge that collaborative acquisition transforms the acquisition environment into a student-centered one, which capitalizes on the diverseness of the pupils, and lessens dependance on the professor as the individual conveyor of cognition. This can ensue in interpersonal every bit good as intrapersonal procedures interacting with each other, making chances for larning to happen within the established modus operandis ( single-loop acquisition ) or larning that requires advanced modus operandis be created ( double-loop acquisition ) ( Argyris, 1999 ) . In contrast, Foldy ( 2004 ) states that persons who are portion of diverse groups will be characterized by feelings of misgiving or non experiencing safe as they are non grouped with those similar to them. Consequently, there will be greater intra-group struggle originating. Therefore, Booth et Al. bespeak that diverseness can merely be valuable to the acquisition if the differences are recognized and appreciated. Similarly, Milliken & A ; Martins ( 1996, p. 403 ) province that diverseness in concerted larning groups can be seen as a â€Å" double-edged blade † , intending that it possesses the possible to be of great advantage, but this will merely happen if it is managed efficaciously. Extra benefits of collaborative acquisition, adapted from Nunamaker, Dennis, Valacich, Vogel, and George, ( 1991 ) , include: the group generates more information and options as compared to the mean single group member ; group larning motivates the person to execute better ; groups are more effectual and nonsubjective in rating, and in conclusion, interactions amongst group members lead to synergisms. Similarly, Boud, Cohen, and Sampson ( 2001, cited in Havnes, 2008 ) highlight five results that can peculiarly be advanced by equal acquisition schemes, these include: working with others ; critical question and contemplation ; communicating and articulation of cognition, understanding and accomplishments ; pull offing acquisition and how to larn ; self and peer appraisal. In add-on, collaborative acquisition has been found to back up greater productiveness, coevals of originative thoughts or advanced solutions, and heighten the pupils ‘ ability of societal position pickings ( Cus eo, 1992 ; Lord, 2001 ) . However it must be noted that these positive results do non predominate with all groups and in all contexts as the outlooks of group members may non conform to each other ( Felder & A ; Brent, 2001 ) or societal idleness of free equitation may happen within the group ( Mello, 1993 ) . These jobs, if experienced, can finally ensue in the devastation of the group. However, when the positive results of collaborative acquisition do transpire, it supports the constructive impact that this method of acquisition has on academic-related accomplishment ( Alavi, 1994 ) . This is farther supported by empirical grounds of improved accomplishment at postgraduate degree ( DaRos- Voseles, Onwuegbuzie, and Qun, 2008 ; Collins, Cao, and Robidoux, 2004 ) . The degrees of academic accomplishment attained are fostered by the collaborative acquisition environment as it gives pupils an chance to prosecute in treatment, take duty for their single acquisition every bit good as accomplishment of the group ‘s ends, and therefore go critical minds ( Totten, Sills, Digby, and Russ, 1991 ) . This was farther proven in a survey conducted by Gokhale ( 1995 ) .5.1 Study to find effectivity of collaborative acquisition: Gokhale 1995The intent of this survey was to find the effectivity of collaborative larning versus single acquisition as it relates to larning results achieved. The population for the survey comprised of pupils in industrial engineering, enrolled at Western Illinois University. The intervention comprised of two parts: talk and worksheet. First, a common talk was delivered to both intervention groups. Next, one subdivision was indiscriminately assigned to the â€Å" single acquisition group † while the other subdivision was assigned to the â€Å" collaborative acquisition group † . The same worksheet was given to both intervention groups. It was comprised of both drill-and-practice points ( factual cognition and comprehension ) and critical- thought points ( analysis, synthesis and rating of constructs ) . Subsequent to a statistical analysis of the trial tonss, the consequences depicted that pupils who participated in collaborative acquisition had performed significantly better on the critical-thinking trial than pupils who studied separately. It was besides found that both groups performed every bit good on the drill-and-practice trial. The collaborative acquisition medium provided pupils with chances to analyse, synthesise and measure thoughts hand in glove. Therefore, the positive results of this survey on collaborative acquisition can be applied at a graduate student degree where the cardinal purpose is for pupils to believe critically and heighten cognition and apprehension which is socially constructed ( Jones et al 2006 ) . The consequences of this survey conform to the developmental positions ( Slavin, 1995 ) of collaborative acquisition proposed by the advocates of collaborative acquisition such as Vygotsky and Piaget.5.2 Piaget ‘s Constructivist PerspectiveValidation o f concerted acquisition stems, in portion, from theories of societal mutuality ( Johnson, Johnson, and Smith, 1998 ) . Piaget ‘s socio-cognitive struggle theory provinces that kids ( or grownups ) on different degrees of cognitive development, or those persons on the same degree of cognitive development with differing positions, can prosecute in societal interaction that leads to a cognitive struggle. Through treatment with other equals, the ‘shock of our idea coming into contact with others ‘ ( Piaget, 1928 ) leads to a disequilibrium within participants. This consequences in the building of new conceptual constructions and understanding in order to reconstruct equilibrium. ( Ladyshewsky, 2006 ; Slavin, 1987 ; Lipponen, 2002 ) . The importance of collaborative acquisition can be farther understood by Vygotsky ‘s theoretical model.5.3 Vygotsky zone of proximal developmentParallel to Piaget ‘s constructivist position ( Piaget,1969 ) , Vygotsky ‘s t heoretical concept of the zone of proximal development provides strong support for the inclusion of concerted acquisition as a method of instructional scheme as it consequences in the sweetening of the acquisition that occurs. Vygotsky ( 1978 ) defines the zone of proximal development as â€Å" The distance between the existent developmental degree as determined by independent job resolution and the degree of possible development as determined through job work outing under grownup counsel or in coaction with more capable equals. † ( See figure 2 )Figure 2: Zone of Proximal DevelopmentBeginning: Harnum ( 2009 )5.4 Theory of concerted acquisitionSupporting the theory of societal mutuality, Slavin ( 1995 ) proposed a two-element theory of concerted larning comprising of positive mutuality and single answerability. Likewise, Johnson et Al. ( 1991a, 1991b ) advocated a five-component theory of concerted acquisition. Harmonizing to the theoretical account, the following five elemen ts are indispensable for maximising the long-run success of the concerted learning venture:Figure 3: Pillars of concerted acquisitionPillars of Cooperative LearningFace-to-face interactionPositive mutualityGroupprocessingIndividual AccountabilitySocialaccomplishmentsAdapted: www.foundationcoalition.orgThe presence of the five basic constituents of concerted acquisition may all be accounted for within the theoretical model provided by Vygotsky ‘s zone of proximal development. Positive Mutuality: It is the connecting of pupils reciprocally so that the person can non win unless all group members win ( Johnson, Johnson, and Smith, 1998 ) . Vygotskys ‘s theory rests upon the rule that a kid ‘s development is dependent upon interactions with other kids and grownups. Therefore, kids and grownups are developmentally dependent, and hence interdependent ( Doolittle, 1995 ) . Face-to-face interaction: Within concerted acquisition, face-to-face interaction involves pupils need to make existent work jointly in which they promote each other ‘s success by sharing resources and helping, back uping, encouraging, and acknowledging each other ‘s attempts to accomplish the group ‘s ends ( Johnson et al 1998 ) . It is interpreted in the Vygotskian system as societal mediation and encultration. Encultration refers to what is learnt, while societal mediation refers to how it is learnt. Individual answerability: It is the belief held by each person that he/she will be held responsible for his/her ain public presentation and acquisition ( Johnson et al 1998 ) . For Vygotsky, single answerability would be reflected in each group member being responsible for developing within their ain alone zone of proximal development ( Doolittle, 1995 ) . Group Processing: Group treating exists when group members discuss how good they are accomplishing their ends and measuring ways to better the productivity of all group member in accomplishing the group ends ( Johnson et al 1998 ; Doolittle, 1995 ) . Within the model of Vygotsky ‘s theory, portion of direction entails the changeless monitoring of each pupil ‘s growing within their zone of proximal development ( Doolittle, 1995 ) . This survey was inconclusive in demoing that graduate squads perform better with collaborative acquisition manners. However, the consequences for graduate pupils indicate that collaborative acquisition manner is influential in public presentation, along with competitory and participant acquisition manners. Johnson and Johnson ( 1998 ) besides conclude that alumnus pupils portray the traits of independent scholars and are enthusiastic to obtain some enterprise and lament to accept duties for their ain acquisition. Therefore, professors should be more interested to ease independent larning. Furthermore, Johnson and Johnson province that the function of facilitator or delegator ensures working with pupils in a advisory manner and sweetening of the pupils ‘ capacity to larn independently, this is similar to what is required in organisational squads.6.2 Problems with collaborative acquisition mannerDespite the positive results that have been stated, there are many jobs that exist as good ( Machemer & A ; Crawford, 2007 ) . These jobs have resulted in some professors defying to prosecute in alternate theoretical accounts for learning and larning despite holding academic freedom in their instruction manners ( Moore, 2005 ) . The jobs experienced foremost include, a slow passage from traditional to collaborative signifiers of acquisition may happen particularly with pupils who can non accommodate easy or those who are extremely immune to alter ( Kimber, 1994 ) . Second, the degree of psychological safety in the colloquial infinite is a major determiner in results achieved ( Jones et al. , 2006 ) . Anxiety may originate as a consequence of the strangeness of the stuff being studied, or by the strain of lending to the conversation in a ambitious manner and could motivate a negative response and turning away of acquisition ( Vince & A ; Martin, 1993 ) . Third, unconstructive discourse may originate when consensus can non be reached with respects to the stuff, ends o r values ( Bruffee, 1984 ) . The increasing heterogeneousness ( Baer, 1996 ) and diverseness amongst graduate student pupils ( Booth et al. , 2000 ) escalates the happening of dysfunctional discourse in the acquisition procedure. Students may show farther hurdlings for collaborative acquisition which include: deficiency of engagement, backdown due to fear of negative rating, fright of some pupils ruling the session, troubles in maintaining the treatment focused, information overload for single members and measuring the degree of understanding ( Anderson, 1995 ; Nunamaker et al. , 1991 ) . The jobs experienced have caused certain lectors to give up on concerted larning techniques on the whole ( Cohen, 1994 ) . In the same manner, Machemer and Crawford ( 2007 ) point out that lectors give up on concerted larning methods as it has limited schoolroom ( talk ) application. In add-on, the design and testing of collaborative activities and lessons can be time-consuming on presently overloaded module agendas ( Cooper, 1995 ) . This consequences in concerns from a learning position, such as: the course of study non being completed as the activities take up a great trade of clip ; perceived loss of control in the schoolroom ; and trouble in measuring the pupils ‘ engagement and effectivity of the collaborative acquisition manners ( Gerlach, 1994 ) . Similarly, extra concerns include: the insufficiency of collaborative larning techniques in making high knowledge-attainment degrees with complex stuff, every bit good as pupils missing the critical features for working in effectual squads ( Cooper, 1995 ; Lord, 2001 ) . These critical features are what the ideal squad member should possess, which leads to the issue that the collaborative theoretical account assumes how professors are supposed to learn, how pupils are supposed to larn, and how cognition is created ( Moore, 2005 ) . However, Bruffee ( 1993 ) argues that cognition is non something transferred from one person ‘s caput to the following. â€Å" Collaborative acquisition assumes alternatively that cognition is a consensus among the members of a community of knowing peers-something people concept by speaking together and making understanding † ( Bruffee, 1993, p. 3 ) . Furthermore, Nias ( 1987 ) argues, that it is evident that non all pupils take an active function in the analysis of instances through argument. As affirmed by Jones et al 2006, a figure of factors may lend to this, including: Lack of assurance: pupils may grok the instance but do non set across their sentiment. Lack of involvement: the capable country may non be of involvement to each pupil. Lack of engagement: there are identifiable barriers to involvement ; e.g. domination of some pupils or linguistic communication barriers. Lack of readying: a deficiency of clip, committedness or motive. These factors should be mitigated every bit far as possible so as to make positive groups which help people to do positive alterations ( Goleman, Boyatzis, and Mckee, 2002 ) . Positive groups emerge where there are high degrees of single answerability, group coherence, seasonably and effectual feedback and expressed wagess for high degrees of group public presentation ( Michaelson, Fink, and Knight, 1997 ) . In contrast, unsatisfactory groups appear where free equitation or societal idleness ( doing less attempt to accomplish a end ) occurs ( Brooks & A ; Ammons, 2003 ; Mello, 1993 ) . This may give rise to interpersonal struggles and finally group devastation ( Jehn & A ; Mannix 2001 ; Miller, 2003 ) . Conversely, a longitudinal survey conducted ; found that a peculiar form of struggle resulted in higher group public presentation. This form was created as â€Å" squads executing good were characterized by low but increasing degrees of procedure struggle ; low degrees of relationship struggle, with a rise near undertaking deadlines ; and moderate degrees of undertaking struggle at the center of group interaction † ( Jehn & A ; Mannix, p.238 ) . The persons ‘ dissatisfaction will most likely influence squad public presentation, squad stableness, the size and construction of the group, and temporal range ( Alge, Wiethoff, and Klein, 2003 ; Johnson et al. , 1991 ; Jaques, 2000 ) . In add-on, diverseness ( Koppenhaver & A ; Shrader, 2003 ) and the squad members ‘ personal features, such as psychological profile, corporate orientation, and larning penchants are likely to act upon public presentation ( Kunkel & A ; Shafer, 1997 ; Lancaster & A ; Strand, 2001 ; Mennecke, Hoffer, and Wynne, 1992 ; Robbins, 1994 ) . These restrictions therefore pose a major menace to full development of the positive facets associated with collaborative acquisition and to the success of this method on the whole.7. DecisionFrom the reappraisal it is evident that there are assorted consequences sing the value of collaborative instruction and acquisition at postgraduate degree. It is evident that the benefits of this method outweigh the negative facets. However it must be noted, that the benefits do non use to all involved and if the restrictions are non adequately taken into history, the effects are bound to be black. In add-on, the diverseness amongst pupils particularly at postgraduate degree is intensifying. The heterogeneousness of pupils must be considered and hence, a ‘one method fits all ‘ attack should non be applied. Supervisors should change learning manners to suit for the diverseness of larning penchants amongst pupils. However, future research should be conducted to find the consequence of jointly using the different larning methods on pupils, their perceptual experiences or value placed on these techniques, and whether these methods will guarantee that optimum larning takes topographic point. Professors need to switch from the impression that â€Å" instruction is stating, acquisition is absorbing, and cognition is subject-matter content † ( Spence, 2001, p.12 ) . This is important as employers in current organisations are demanding more than merely proficient cognition of university alumnuss ( Jungst, Licklider, and Wiersma, 2003 ) . They require alumnuss who can believe under force per unit area, guarantee effectivity in team-work, communicate efficaciously, and build new cognition and thoughts that will give their employers the border in the current fast-paced universe. ( Gardiner, 1994 ; Brown & A ; Lassoie, 1998 ) . Therefore, by altering the patterns of instruction and acquisition in the schoolroom, there is greater possible for the happening of transmutations -for the persons, organisations, and systems ( Moore, 2005 ) . The possibility to restructure and rethink instruction and acquisition at postgraduate degree is exciting, exciting, disputing, hazardous, and ripe with possibility.

Last Sacrifice Chapter Six

REALLY, WHEN YOU THOUGHT ABOUT it, Sydney showing up wasn't much weirder than half the other stuff that seemed to happen to me on a regular basis. Sydney was an Alchemist, one I'd met in Russia when trying to find and kill Dimitri. She was my age and had hated being assigned over there, though I'd certainly appreciated her aid. As Dimitri had noted earlier, the Alchemists would want to help the Moroi find and capture me. Yet, judging from the tension radiating off both her and Dimitri in the car, it became obvious that she was assisting in this escape. With great effort, I pushed my questions to the side for the time being. We were still fugitives, still undoubtedly being pursued. Sydney's car was a brand new Honda CR-V with Louisiana plates and a rental sticker. â€Å"What the hell?' I asked. â€Å"Is this daring escape being sponsored by Honda?' When this got no response, I went to the next obvious question. â€Å"Are we going to New Orleans?' That was Sydney's new post. Sightseeing was the last thing on my mind at the moment, but if you had to run away, you might as well run somewhere good. â€Å"No,' she said, backing out of the spot. â€Å"We're going to West Virginia.' I looked sharply at Dimitri, who sat in the backseat, in the hopes that he would deny this. He didn't. â€Å"I assume by â€Å"West Virginia,' you actually mean â€Å"Hawaii,† I said. â€Å"Or some place equally exciting.' â€Å"Honestly, I think you're better off avoiding excitement right now,' Sydney pointed out. The car's GPS device directed her to her next turn, leading us back toward I-81. She frowned slightly. â€Å"And West Virginia's actually really pretty.' I remembered that she was from Utah and probably didn't know any better. Having long since given up on any control in this escape plot, I moved on to the next obvious set of questions. â€Å"Why are you helping us?' I had a feeling Sydney was grimacing in the dark. â€Å"Why do you think?' â€Å"Abe.' She sighed. â€Å"I'm really starting to wonder if New Orleans was worth it.' I'd recently learned that Abe–with that inexplicable, far-reaching influence of his– had been responsible for getting her out of Russia. How he'd done it, I didn't know. What I did know was that it had left Sydney in open-ended debt to him, one he kept using to get favors. Sometimes, I wondered if there was more to the deal than just a job transfer, like maybe he'd done something else that neither had told me about. Regardless, I started to chastise her again that she should have expected this for making a deal with the devil, but I soon reconsidered. With a bunch of guardians in pursuit, it probably wasn't a smart idea to tease someone helping me. I asked a different question. â€Å"Okay. So why are we going to West Virginia?' Sydney opened her mouth to respond, but Dimitri interrupted her. â€Å"Not yet.' I turned around again and shot him a glare. â€Å"I am so sick of this! We've been on the run for six hours now, and I still don't know all the details. I get that we're staying away from the guardians, but are we seriously going to West Virginia? Are we going to make some cabin our base of operation? Like, one on the side of a mountain that doesn't have plumbing?' Sydney gave me one of her trademark exasperated sighs. â€Å"Do you actually know anything about West Virginia?' I didn't like her and Dimitri teaming up to keep me in the dark. Of course, with Sydney, her reticence could be from any number of things. It could still be Abe's orders. Or maybe she just didn't want to talk to me. Since most Alchemists considered dhampirs and vampires the spawn of hell, they didn't usually get too friendly with us. Spending time with me in Siberia had altered her views a little. I hoped. Sometimes I got the vibe she just wasn't that social of a person to begin with. â€Å"You know we've been set up, right?' I asked her. â€Å"We didn't really do anything. They say I killed the queen, but–‘ â€Å"I know,' Sydney interrupted. â€Å"I've heard all about it. All the Alchemists know about it. You two are at the top of our most wanted list.' She attempted a businesslike tone but couldn't entirely hide her uneasiness. I had a feeling Dimitri made her more nervous than I did, which was understandable since he made some of our own people nervous too. â€Å"I didn't do it,' I insisted. Somehow, it was important that she know that. Sydney didn't acknowledge my comment. Instead, she said, â€Å"You should eat. Your food's getting cold. We've got a little over three hours to go and won't be stopping except for gas.' I recognized the finality in her voice, as well as the logic. She didn't want to talk anymore. Inside the bag, I found two giant orders of fries, and three cheeseburgers. She apparently still knew me pretty well. It took all of my restraint to keep from stuffing fries into my mouth then and there. Instead, I offered a cheeseburger to Dimitri. â€Å"You want one? Gotta keep up your strength.' He hesitated several seconds before taking it. He seemed to regard it with a kind of wonder, and it hit me that eating food was still a new thing for him after these last few months. Strigoi only subsisted on blood. I handed him a couple of fries too and then turned back around to devour the rest. I didn't bother offering any to Sydney. She was notorious for her lack of appetite, and besides, I figured she would have eaten already if she'd wanted to while waiting for us. â€Å"I think this is for you,' Dimitri said, handing me a small backpack. I opened it and found a few changes of clothes, as well as some basic toiletries. I double-checked the outfits. â€Å"Shorts, shirts, and a dress. I can't fight in these. I need jeans.' The dress was cute, admittedly: a long gauzy sun-dress in a watercolor print of black, white, and gray. But very impractical. â€Å"That's gratitude for you,' said Sydney. â€Å"This happened kind of fast. There was only so much I could put together.' Glancing behind me, I saw Dimitri unpacking his own bag. It had basic clothing like mine and also– â€Å"A duster?' I exclaimed, watching him pull out the long, leather coat. How it even fit in there defied physics. â€Å"You managed to get him a duster, but you couldn't find me a pair of jeans?' Sydney seemed unconcerned by my outrage. â€Å"Abe said it was essential. Besides, if all goes like it's supposed to, you won't be doing any fighting.' I didn't like the sound of that. Safe and remote. Seeing as I had what were potentially the quietest car companions in the world, I knew better than to expect any real conversation for the next three hours. I supposed it was just as well because it let me check in on Lissa. I was still too on edge about my own escape to spend much time in her head, so it was just a quick assessment of life at Court. Just as Dimitri had predicted, the guardians had restored order pretty soon. The Court was under lockdown, and everyone with any connection to me was being questioned extensively. The thing was, they all had alibis. Everyone had seen my allies at the funeral–or, in Abe's case, thought they'd seen them. A couple girls swore they'd been with Adrian, which I could only imagine was the result of more compulsion. I could feel Lissa's satisfaction through the bond as the guardians' frustration grew and grew. Although she had no idea when I might be checking in on her, she sent me a message through the bond: Don't worry, Rose. I'll take care of everything. We're going to clear your name. I slumped back in the car seat, unsure how to feel about this situation. All my life, I'd taken care of her. I'd protected her from danger and gone out of my way to keep her away from any threats. Now, the roles were reversed. She'd come through for me in saving Dimitri, and I was in her–and apparently everyone else's–hands as far as this escape was concerned. It went against every instinct I had and troubled me. I wasn't used to being protected by others, let alone her. The interrogations were still going on, and Lissa hadn't had hers yet, but something told me my friends were going to get off the hook for this. They wouldn't be punished for my escape, and for the moment, I was really the only one in danger–which was what I preferred. West Virginia might have been as beautiful as Sydney claimed, but I couldn't really tell since it was the middle of the night when we arrived. Mostly I had the sense of driving through mountains, feeling the ups and downs as we went through switchbacks and tunnels. After almost exactly three hours, we rolled into a small hole of a town that had one traffic light and a restaurant simply marked DINER. There hadn't been any traffic on the road for over an hour, though, which was really the most important thing. We hadn't been followed. Sydney drove us to a building with a sign that read MOTEL. Apparently, this town liked to stick to the basics when it came to names. I wouldn't be surprised if it was actually just called TOWN. As we walked across the motel's parking lot, I was surprised to feel how sore my legs were. Every part of me ached, and sleep sounded fantastic. It had been more than half a day since this adventure began. Sydney checked us in under fake names, and the sleepy desk clerk didn't ask any questions. We walked down a hall that wasn't dirty exactly but also wasn't anything a royal would have gone near. A cleaning cart leaned against one wall, as though someone had given up and abandoned it. Sydney suddenly came to a halt in front of a room and handed us a key. I realized she was heading off to a different room. â€Å"We're not all staying together?' I asked. â€Å"Hey, if you guys get caught, I don't want to be anywhere near you,' she said, with a smile. I had a feeling she also didn't want to sleep in the same room as â€Å"evil creatures of the night.' â€Å"I'll still be nearby, though. We'll talk in the morning.' This made me realize something else. I eyed Dimitri. â€Å"We're sharing a room?' Sydney shrugged. â€Å"All the better to defend yourselves.' She left us in that abrupt way of hers, and Dimitri and I glanced at each other briefly before heading into the room. Like the rest of the motel, it wasn't fancy, but it would do. The carpet was worn but intact, and I appreciated the weak attempt at decorating with a very bad painting of some pears. A small window looked sad. There was one bed. Dimitri locked the bolt and chain on the door and then sat back in the room's lone chair. It was wooden with a straight back, but he seemed to regard it as the most comfortable thing in the world. He still wore that perpetually vigilant look of his, but I could see exhaustion around the edges. This had been a long night for him too. I sat down on the edge of the bed. â€Å"What now?' â€Å"Now we wait,' he said. â€Å"For what?' â€Å"For Lissa and the others to clear your name and find out who killed the queen.' I expected more explanation, but all I got was silence. Disbelief began to build up in me. I'd remained as patient as I could tonight, always assuming Dimitri was leading me toward some mysterious mission to help solve the murder. When he said we were going to wait, surely he didn't mean we were just going to †¦ well, wait? â€Å"What are we going to do?' I demanded. â€Å"How are we going to help them?' â€Å"We told you earlier: You can hardly go looking for clues at Court. You need to stay away. You need to stay safe.' My jaw dropped as I gestured around the drab room. â€Å"What, and this is it? This is where you're stashing me? I thought †¦ I thought there was something here. Something to help.' â€Å"It is helping,' he said, in that damnably calm way of his. â€Å"Sydney and Abe researched this place and decided it was out of the way enough to avoid detection.' I shot up from the bed. â€Å"Okay, comrade. There's one serious problem here with your logic. You guys keep acting like me staying out of the way is helping.' â€Å"Whats a serious problem is us repeating this conversation over and over. The answers to who murdered Tatiana are at Court, and that's where your friends are. They'll figure this out.' â€Å"I didn't just get in a high-speed chase and jump state lines to hole up in some crappy motel! How long are you planning on â€Å"staying out of the way' here?' Dimitri crossed his arms over his chest. â€Å"As long as it takes. We have the funds to stay here indefinitely.' â€Å"I probably have enough spare change in my pocket to stay here indefinitely! But it's not happening. I have to do something. I won't just take the easy way out and sit around.' â€Å"Surviving isn't as easy as you think.' â€Å"Oh God,' I groaned. â€Å"You've been hanging out with Abe, haven't you? You know, when you were a Strigoi, you told me to stay away from him. Maybe you should take your own advice.' I regretted the words as soon as they left my lips and saw in his eyes that I'd inflicted serious damage. He might have been acting like the old Dimitri in this escape, but his time as a Strigoi still tormented him. â€Å"I'm sorry,' I said. â€Å"I didn't mean–‘ â€Å"We're done discussing this,' he said harshly. â€Å"Lissa says we're staying here, so we're staying here.' Anger shoved aside my guilt. â€Å"Thats why you're doing this? Because Lissa told you to?' â€Å"Of course. I swore I'd serve and help her.' That was when I snapped. It had been bad enough that when Lissa restored him to a dhampir, Dimitri had thought it was okay to stick around Lissa while spurning me. Despite the fact that I'd been the one who went to Siberia and that I was the one who learned about how Victor's brother Robert knew how to restore Strigoi †¦ well, apparently those things didn't matter. Only Lissa wielding the stake had seemed to matter, and Dimitri now held her up as some kind of angelic goddess, one he'd made an archaic, knight-like vow to serve. â€Å"Forget it,' I said. â€Å"I am not staying here.' I made it to the door in three steps and managed to undo the chain, but in seconds, Dimitri was out of his chair and had thrown me against the wall. Really, that was pretty slow reaction time. I would have expected him to stop me before I'd taken two steps. â€Å"You are staying here,' he said evenly, hands gripping my wrists. â€Å"Whether you like it or not.' Now, I had a few options. I could stay, of course. I could hang out for days–months, even–in this motel until Lissa cleared my name. That was presuming Lissa could clear my name and that I didn't get food poisoning from the DINER diner. This was the safest option. Also the most boring for me. Another option was to fight my way through Dimitri. That was neither safe nor easy. It would also be particularly challenging because I'd have to try to fight in such a way that would allow me to escape but wouldn't kill him or cause either of us serious injury. Or, I could just throw caution away and not hold back. Hell, the guy had battled Strigoi and half the Court's guardians. He could handle me giving everything I had. We'd certainly shared some pretty rough encounters back at St. Vladimir's. Would my best be enough for me to escape? Time to find out. I kneed him in the stomach, which he clearly hadn't expected. His eyes widened in shock–and a little pain–providing me with an opening to break free of his grip. That opening was only long enough for me to yank out the door's bolt. Before I could reach for the knob, Dimitri had a hold of me again. He gripped me hard and threw me onto the bed stomach first, both pinning me with his weight and preventing my limbs from doing any more surprise kicking. This was always my biggest problem in fights: opponents– usually men–with more strength and weight. My speed was my greatest asset in those situations, but being held down made dodging and evasion a non-option. Still, every part of me struggled, making it difficult for him to keep me down. â€Å"Stop this,' he said in my ear, his lips nearly touching it. â€Å"Be reasonable for once. You can't get past me.' His body was warm and strong against mine, and I promised my own body a stern scolding later. Quit it, I thought. Focus on getting out of here, not how he feels. â€Å"I'm not the one being unreasonable,' I growled, trying to turn my face toward him. â€Å"You're the one caught up in some noble promise that makes no sense. And I know you don't like to sit out of the action any more than I do. Help me. Help me find the murderer and do something useful.' I stopped struggling and pretended our argument had distracted me. â€Å"I don't like sitting around, but I also don't like rushing into an impossible situation!' â€Å"Impossible situations are our specialty,' I pointed out. Meanwhile, I tried to assess his hold on me. He hadn't relaxed his grip, but I hoped maybe the conversation was distracting him. Normally, Dimitri was too good to lose his focus. But I knew he was tired. And maybe, just maybe, he might be a little careless since it was me and not a Strigoi. Nope. I lashed out abruptly, trying to break away and scramble out from under him. The best I managed to do was roll myself over before he had a hold of me again, now leaving me back-down on the bed. Being so close to him †¦ his face, his lips †¦ the warmth of his skin on mine. Well. It appeared that all I'd accomplished was putting myself at a greater disadvantage. He certainly didn't seem to be affected by our bodies' closeness. He wore that typical steel resolve of his, and even though it was stupid of me, even though I knew I shouldn't care anymore that he was over me †¦ well, I did care. â€Å"One day,' he said. â€Å"You can't even wait one day?' â€Å"Maybe if we'd gone to a nicer hotel. With cable.' â€Å"This is no time for jokes, Rose.' â€Å"Then let me do something. Anything.' â€Å"I. Can't.' Saying the words obviously pained him, and I realized something. I was so mad at him, so furious that he'd try to make me sit around and play it safe. But he didn't like any of this either. How could I have forgotten how alike we were? We both craved action. We both wanted to be useful, to help those we cared about. It was only his self- resolve to help Lissa that was keeping him here with this babysitting job. He claimed me rushing back to Court was reckless, but I had a feeling that if he hadn't been the one in charge of me–or, well, thought he was–he would have run right back there too. I studied him, the determined dark eyes and expression softened by the brown hair that had escaped its ponytail holder. It hung around his face now, just barely touching mine. I could try to break free again but was losing hope of that working. He was too fierce and too set on keeping me safe. I suspected pointing out my suspicion that he wanted to go back to Court too wouldn't do any good. True or not, he would be expecting me to argue with Rose-logic. He was Dimitri, after all. He would be expecting everything. Well, almost. An idea hit me so fast that I didn't pause to analyze it. I just acted. My body might be constrained, but my head and neck had just enough freedom to shift up–and kiss him. My lips met his, and I learned a few things. One was that it was possible to catch him totally by surprise. His body froze and locked up, shocked at the sudden turn of events. I also realized that he was just as good a kisser as I recalled. The last time we'd kissed had been when he was Strigoi. There had been an eerie sexiness to that, but it didn't compare to the heat and energy of being alive. His lips were just like I remembered from our time at St. Vladimir's, both soft and hungry at the same time. Electricity spread through the rest of my body as he kissed me back. It was both comforting and exhilarating. And that was the third thing I discovered. He was kissing me back. Maybe, just maybe, Dimitri wasn't as resolved as he claimed to be. Maybe under all that guilt and certainty that he couldn't love again, he still wanted me. I would have liked to have found out. But I didn't have the time. Instead, I punched him. It's true: I've punched lots of guys who were kissing me but never one I actually wanted to keep kissing. Dimitri still had a solid hold on me, but the shock of the kiss had dropped his guard. My fist broke out and connected with the side of his face. Without missing a beat, I shoved him off me as hard as I could and leapt away from the bed and toward the door. I heard him scramble to his feet as I threw it open. I shot out of the room and slammed the door shut before I could see what he did next. Not that I needed to. He was coming after me. Without a moment's hesitation, I shoved the abandoned cleaning cart in front of the room's door and sprinted off down the hall. A couple seconds later, the door opened, and I heard a cry of annoyance–as well as a very, very bad word in Russian–as he ran into the cart. It would only take him a few moments to push it aside, but that was all I needed. I was down the flight of stairs in a flash and into the meager lobby where a bored desk clerk was reading a book. He nearly jumped out of his chair when I came tearing through. â€Å"There's a guy chasing me!' I called as I headed out the door. The clerk didn't really look like anyone who would try to stop Dimitri, and I had a feeling Dimitri wouldn't stop anyway if the guy asked him to. In the most extreme case, the man would call the police. In this town, the POLICE probably consisted of one guy and a dog. Regardless, it was no longer my concern. I had escaped the motel and was now in the middle of a sleepy mountain town, its streets cast in shadows. Dimitri might be right behind me, but as I plunged into some woods nearby, I knew it was going to be easy for me to lose him in the darkness.

Regression Analysis and Credit Balance

AJ DAVIS Generate a scatterplot for CREDIT BALANCE vs. SIZE, including the graph of the â€Å"best fit† line. Interpret. Determine the equation of the â€Å"best fit† line, which describes the relationship between CREDIT BALANCE and SIZE 2591+ 403. 221 Determine the coefficient of correlation. Interpret. .75/ r-sq(56. 6%). There is a mild correlation. Determine the coefficient of determination. Interpret. 56. 6% Test the utility of this regression model (use a two tail test with ? =. 05). Interpret your results, including the p-value. P-value=0. Reject the null hpothesis.T value 7. 9147 Based on your findings in 1-5, what is your opinion about using SIZE to predict CREDIT BALANCE? Size is a good predictor for credit balance. Compute the 95% confidence interval for beta-1 (the population slope). Interpret this interval. (300. 79, 505. 66) Using an interval, estimate the average credit balance for customers that have household size of 5. Interpret this interval. (4368. 20 , 4846. 90) Using an interval, predict the credit balance for a customer that has a household size of 5. Interpret this interval. (3337. 87, 5877. 23)What can we say about the credit balance for a customer that has a household size of 10? Denotes a point that is an extreme outlier in the predictors. Using MINITAB run the multiple regression analysis using the variables INCOME, SIZE and YEARS to predict CREDIT BALANCE. State the equation for this multiple regression model. Credit balance= 1276. 02+ 32. 2719 income(1000) + 346. 852 size + 7. 88209 years. Is this multiple regression model better than the linear model that we generated in parts 1-10? Yes. Reject years there is no corralation of coefficient. Income is useful and years in combination with size and income.

Event project management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Event project management - Assignment Example Operations going down in an event ought to be executed efficient and effective. According to (â€Å"Events Feasibility and Development†, 2011), event project management has to develop an excellent strategy that will ensure events do meet their objectives as stated. However, some objectives do contradict with the mission of an event this should not be the sole reason for an event failure. Models have been developed to assist event managers in the process of planning. Planning for an event go beyond the literary word and involves a series of activities ranging from been awarded permits by relevant authorities to the closure of an event. A well informed and experienced event manager should always be aware of the possibility of activities planned for an event failing, and therefore, proper fall-back plan should be in place to salvage the moment. It has been argued that all over the years that an event cannot be rated as successful either by a brilliant plan or execution but how th e event ends is what can be used to gauge (Burke, 2011). Adoption of models like events management body of knowledge (EMBOK) and Event Plan and Archive Review System (EPRAS) can assist in event planning. Both are useful tools for event to be successful, however, conflict arises on how one model prefers planning and execution ought to be done. Therefore, it would be wise to incorporate elements that are applicable to a planned event from the two models, so as to achieve objectives of the events. In every organization, it must be guided by values that are deemed to be controlling the flow of operations within the organization. The group is geared towards St. Patrick’s Day parade. It is in it preparation stage, putting all pieces together waiting for the event that will be going down in March. As a team, principles guiding the activities should be in place. For instance, the team should hold a couple of meetings to air and share new

Were people offered assisstive devices in the hospital after being Essay

Were people offered assisstive devices in the hospital after being treated for a fall - Essay Example Assistive devices are important tools that aid patients that had gone through a physical injury to recover faster. In line with the importance of assistive devices, this study will determine how well hospitals in Louisiana (River Parishes Hospital and Thibodaux General) offers assistive devices in treating patients with physical injuries. The problem statement is not a group of sentences that talk about the problem area you want to study or the general phenomenon of interest. A problem statement, generally in the form of a question, is a little broader than the purpose. For example, Can a correlation between utilizing ADs earlier after injury and improved patient outcomes be demonstrated? There are approximately 30% of older individuals 65 years old and up suffers from fall each year. (Blake et al., 1988) Physical injuries due to fall causes almost all injury-related deaths among elderly people especially in women. (Arfken et al., 1994) Being able to determine whether physically injured patients in Louisiana Hospitals were offered to use assistive devices will roughly give the nurses an estimate on how frequent these patients were offered to use assistive devices. In your significance, you need to point out cost of injury and prolonged hospital stays, effects of injury on quality of life. Since the study highlights the importance of using assistive devices on patients with physical injury due to fall, it would help the nurses be aware of the necessity of using these devices to enhance the recovery period of the patient. Thus, minimizing the injury-related deaths among the elderly people. Incidence of falls is frequent among the elderly individuals. Fall-related injuries are one of the most common leading causes of injury deaths and disabilities among the elderly individuals more than 65 years of age. (Lord, Sherrington, and Menz, 2001) Although more than half of

Choose one of the following and write a two-three paragraph post Essay

Choose one of the following and write a two-three paragraph post - Essay Example The main point is that men have been forced, in the past at least, to conform to a very limiting stereotype and they have been ridiculed if they dare to step outside of this narrow concept. By defining the word with a perspective of looking back in time, I would hope to encourage people to think about a different approach for the present and the future. Robert Jensen’s technical definition of masculinity is certain psychological or social traits that inherently come with being biologically male and he summarizes this in a more informal form with the phrase the tough guy. The negative aspects of this definition are quite clear to Jensen, and he describes the â€Å"toxic† effects which prevailing ideas of masculinity have on men today. Jensen stresses the cultural values attached to gender divisions, and advises that we do not need the extremes of masculinity and femininity any more, and we should concentrate instead on humanity, which can be shared by people of any gender. I think this is quite unrealistic and that masculinity as a concept is likely to last for a very long time. Rather than banning the use of the term, I would rather see it transformed with new and more positive

Toyota Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Toyota - Research Paper Example Toyota also has to adhere to the regulations set up by the respective government rates concerning its fuel policy. The oil industry is an obvious major stakeholder in the company and it has to liaise with it for successful business. The company strives to ensure delivery to consumers as soon as possible. It uses the Just-In-Time system of vehicle production whose aim is to manufacture the vehicles ordered by customers as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Only what has been ordered is manufactured to avoid backlogs and maintain continuity of production. The company makes sure that the spare parts necessary for assembly are already in stock so that when an order is placed, work begins immediately without further delays. The parts used are then ordered and replaced in successive production; stock out are not allowed. Toyota provides excellent after-sales services and has been ranked highest on the basis of dealership service performance assessment. Customers are in a position to gain from an array of services including service initiation, vehicle pick-up, service advisers, quality assurance and facilities. Focusing on customers and interacting personally with them enhances overall customer delights and promotes brand loyalty. As far as quality is concerned, Toyota has put emphasis on quality assurance systems with Total Quality Control activities implemented to ensure quality issues arising are solved as soon as possible and recurrences avoided in advance. During production, defects are checked during each process and strict inspection procedures are carried out to maintain quality end products. There has been a significant increase in demand for vehicles around the world as people become more financially empowered. In an effort to have a market share of this growth Toyota has increased its employees and suppliers. Unfortunately, it seems that it’s

Property Prices in the UK Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Property Prices in the UK - Coursework Example Our null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis were as follows:H0: ÃŽ ¼w = ÃŽ ¼l (No significant difference in the two means) H1: ÃŽ ¼w ≠  ÃŽ ¼l (A significant difference exist between the two means)A t-test was used to ascertain whether the price data vary vastly, with regard to our assertion or it is steady. We opted for a t-test because, according to Dalgaard (2008), it is best suited for this work and it is easy to interpret. From the results of two sample, t-statistics tells how the mean of one population sample deviates from the mean of another population sample. It interprets the average of each property price and the mean difference between the two property sits. Moreover, t-test gives an explanation as to whether the difference in mean is statistically significant or not especially if the two populations, where the sample prices were gathered, have similar means.      We tabulated the sample prices for property news (sample w) and the sample prices for property live and then calculated the relevant summary statistics using STATA.  The variance of difference for the two means (sd2) was calculated as follows:sd2 = (sw2 / nw) + (sl2 / nl) = (108370.3/8) + (108725.4/7)  = 13546.29 +15532.2 sd2 = 29078.49 Therefore, sd = √29078.49 = 170.52 Our calculated t-statistics was therefore given as:  t = (ÃŽ ¼w – ÃŽ ¼l)/ sd = (85731 - 73329.71)/ 170.52 = 72.73 However, the tabulated t-value, at 13 degrees of freedom (8 + 7 -2) is given as 1.7709. Since the calculated t-statistics > the tabulated t-statistics, we reject Ho and conclude that the two means for the two property prices are significantly different at 5% significance level.

Forensic mental healthcare module. critical analysis Essay tittle-

Forensic mental healthcare module. critical analysis tittle- VIOLENCE RISK AMONG PEOPLE WITH SEVERE PERSONALITY DISORDER - Essay Example There have been violence risk assessment schemes devised to measure the risk based on common standards (Webster and Hucker, 2007, p.44). Before exploring such risk assessment tools, it is paramount to understand the causes and nature of personality disorder and also the existing psychological theories on the same. Biological aspects The earliest reported diagnostic tendency in history, linked with personality disorders was to find a connection of heredity and genetics with the said disorder. It was Patrick (qtd. in Forrest, 1994) who carried out the â€Å"first comprehensive genealogical investigations of psychopathy and heredity† (p.70). The findings of that study as well as other studies that followed have suggested â€Å"between 50 and 70 percent of psychopaths have ancestral disturbance† (Forrest, 1994, p.70). Studies that were conducted in 1980s and 1990s also have proved the same (Forrest, 1994, p.71). The studies which investigated the biological aspects of perso nality disorder included twin studies, family studies, adoption studies, and also â€Å"criminality, male homosexuality and alcoholism† studies (Russell and Hersov, 1983, p.25). But there also has existed a counter argument, which says that there is no connection between heredity and psychopathy (Cloninger, Reich and Guze, 1975). An aberration in the chromosomal pattern was identified in early research as one aspect of the biological side of a personality disorder (Forrest, 1994, p.72). A study conducted â€Å"among mentally subnormal male criminals† had found that their genetic structure has an â€Å"extra Y chromosome† (Forrest, 1994, p.72). This genetic pattern has been named as â€Å"XYY genotype† and the characteristics of the individual having this chromosomal pattern have been described as â€Å"extreme episodic violence or aggression, low intelligence, behavioral pathology, and gonadal abnormalities† (Forrest, 1994, p.72). But more recent r esearch has refuted this assumed violence risk associated with XYY chromosome (Forrest, 1994, p.72). Another approach has been to link personality disorders to â€Å"brain damage and neurologic pathology† (Forrest, 1994, p.72). This is to suggest that a personality disorder is the result of a neurological disorder (Forrest, 1994, p.72). Further explorations in this direction have concluded that the major cause of a personality disorder is the damage to hypothalamus and this in turn might be the result of â€Å"hereditary or genetic factors as well as intrauterine or post-birth head trauma† (forrest, 1994, p.72). Hare (1970) has made another interesting observation in which it is argued that a psychopath often has lesions inside the brain, which impair the psychopath’s skill to control behavior which may invite social disapproval. Psychological perspectives & theories From a psychological point of view, personality disorders can be defined as personality â€Å"s ystems that are poorly functioning and/or inefficiently adapting to the requirements of contemporary society† (Magnavita, 2004, p.3). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM- IV) has defined a personality disorder as â€Å"an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment†

Video case report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Video case report - Essay Example However on this day, to everyone’s amazement, calls, emails and letters started flooding in, with every customer expressing dissatisfaction on various areas such as: product dissatisfactions, service delivery, the speed of the response and attention offered to the customers towards their complaints. The results were drastically affecting every sector within the firm, such as reduction on the sales, disruption on our production and dismissal of various workers. To provide a permanent solution, the firm had to put various factors in to account by laying out strategic measures to curb that occurrence ever repeating itself again. According to (Meredith 2010), a customer makes the business run and there is no particular firm that can chase away customers willingly; but the simple mistakes that various firms normally make, may be acts that result in chasing away customers in disguise. In every firm as many business people always put it, the â€Å"customer is the king† but may be this is what our firm didn’t establish or didn’t have established. ... According to (Zairi 2000), â€Å"Customers are the main purpose for running a firm, plus rather than them depending on the firm, the firm depends on them†. This indicates the importance of a gentle attachment between the firm and the customers. For (Hansemark and Albinsson 2004), they defined satisfaction as â€Å"overall customer attitude towards a service provider or the emotional reaction on what customers anticipate in relation to what they receive on their desired needs†. According to (Anderson 2000), customer loyalty is actually the result of an organization creating an atmosphere conducive to customers becoming repeat shoppers so that they can maintain or increase sales. Customer loyalty can only be achieved by providing and delivering what the customers desire and expect. Also (Oliver 1997), termed customer loyalty as that deep commitment to re-purchase a certain preferred product or service consistently in the future despite changes or influences with possibili ty of causing a change in the marketing behavior. Hokanson {1995), explains various factors that affect the level of customer satisfaction. This includes: employees’ knowledge on the product, friendliness, courteous and helpful staff, competitive pricing, good value of the product, billing clarity, timeliness and accuracy and quick service delivery. The most affected area as depicted in our firm by the dissatisfaction of the customers was on the profitability. According to (Hoyer 2001), satisfied customers provide the foundation of every successful business organization as it leads to repeat purchases and loyalty on the brands supplemented by a positive word of mouth. According to various researchers’, dissatisfaction of customers leads to

How did bay of pigs lead to cuban missle crisis Research Paper

How did bay of pigs lead to cuban missle crisis - Research Paper Example The situation that followed the Second World War was the period of Cold war that lasted up to early 1990s and when the Soviet republic disintegrated. During the period of the Cold War, many political and economic developments were realized ideologically. Thought there were no direct military combat in the Cold War, the period was characterized by many serious allegation of the two blocs; the US and USSR. Propaganda was one of the weapons used during this period, this made tension to build up within the two countries and at one point during the cold war, it almost sparked to a direct military confrontation but this never was. This was the Invasion of the Bays of Pig and the subsequent Cuban Missile crisis. Scholars and policy makers undoubtedly believe that the occurrence of the two scenarios in the 1961-62 constituted cold war peak since US and USSR almost faced one another in what could easily turn to be Third World War (Jones, 2008). Bay of Pigs is situated in the South Cost of Cuba; the development that took place in the coastal part of Cuba necessitated the missile crisis. A military revolution took place in Cuba in 1959 in which Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista and developed very close ties with the then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (Henriksen, 2006). During this time US was not in good books with USSR and the Cuban association with USSR alarmed US. The cause of the tension was all about the attempt of USSR to use Cuba as their proxy to propagate the socialism policy in the whole of Latin America. America was worried following this move and wanted to oust Fidel Castro in a military disguise. During the tenure of Eisenhower, a plan was hatched that accepted to train the Cuban exiles in the US to attack and overthrow Fidel’s administration through the support of the Cuban people that America thought were also anti the Fidel’ administration. The plan failed and Nikita having realized that his sympathizer was attacked,

Fantasy Theme Analysis of Commercial Essay Example for Free

Fantasy Theme Analysis of Commercial Essay â€Å"It’s Not About the Shoes† The Jordan Brand attempts to communicate to its audience that to become legendary they need to understand that it is not about the shoes, but what it is you do in them. They do this by showing a number of star athletes performing when they were in college and high school to the narrator’s (Michael Jordan) words. This paper hypothesizes how it is the Jordan Brand attempts to bring their audience to the shared rhetorical vision of becoming legendary, through fantasy themes in their ad â€Å"It’s Not About the Shoes†. The Fantasy Theme Criticism To understand this paper’s argument on how it is the Jordan Brand attempts to use fantasy themes in their ad, we must first understand what exactly the Fantasy Theme Criticism is. It was created by Ernest G. Bormann, and was designed to provide insights into the shared worldview of a group of rhetors. It is derived from the Symbolic Convergence Theory, and can be applied to different types of rhetoric including the kind(s) used on small groups, social movements, political campaigns, and organizational communication. The criticism relies on two assumptions. One, that rhetoric creates reality, and two, that convergence occurs. With regards to rhetoric creating reality we are to assume that the symbolic forms that are created from the rhetoric are not imitations but organs of reality. This is because it is through their agency that anything becomes real. We assume to that convergence occurs because symbols not only create reality for individuals but that individual’s meanings can combine to create a shared reality for participants. The shared reality then provides a basis for the community of participants to discuss their common experiences and to achieve a mutual understanding. The consequence of this is that the individuals develop the same attitudes and emotions to the personae of the drama. Within this criticism the audience is seen as the most critical part because the sharing of the message is seen as being so significant. The basic unit of this analysis is looking at the different fantasy themes within the rhetoric being analyzed. Fantasy themes tell a story that  accounts for the groups experience and that is the reality of the participants. The three fantasy themes that are necessary to create a drama are setting, characters, and actions. These fantasy themes then come together to form a fantasy type, and rhetorical vision. A fantasy type is a stock rhetorical vision that appears repeatedly in the rhetoric of a group. The actual rhetorical vision is the unified putting together of the various shared fantasies, or a swirling together of fantasy themes to provide a credible interpretation of reality. In the event there is a rhetorical vision, it is suggested that a rhetorical community forms that consists of participants in the vision, or members who have shared the fantasy themes. It is within this community that the ability to understand and act on the motives for action that the rhetorical vision attempts to communicate reside. Analysis Within this ad, there is a number of fantasy themes that the Jordan Brand incorporated that potentially could lead their audience to the desired rhetorical vision they wished to communicate. This part of the paper will seek to analyze this ad by first looking at our ads relationship with the audience, and then breaking the fantasy themes down into the three different kinds that make up this analysis and how they could come together to form a fantasy type and rhetorical vision. In order for the ad to make sense it must share a First there is the setting theme(s). Setting themes depict where it is the action is taking place. In this ad, there are a variety of different athletic venues depicted in which the physical setting takes place for athletes to become legendary. For example, there is a basketball court (P3, P8, P15, P20, P21), a boxing ring (P12-13), a baseball field (P5-6), and football field (P11, P17-18). All of these different physical places are where athletes go to train and perform to become legendary. We here the narrator state various inspirational lines pertaining to ones performance such as, â€Å"It’s about work before glory† (L10-11) and that it is about â€Å"Taking everything you have been given, and making something better† (L8-9). This suggests to the audience that practice and hard work in whatever sport you choose to compete in, are required if you wish to become legendary. The next major setting theme of the ad is within the audience is itself. In the very first scene (P1) all we see initially is the shoes with an unidentified person sitting in them. The screen then scrolls up to reveal a man who it is sitting in a chair deep in thought. This is possibly meant to be symbolic that each and every person in the audience is that athlete in those shoes. Then in the final scene we see a black screen with the words Become Legendary. These two slides form the setting that each member of the audience is supposed to face, the moment in their mind at which they either decide in favor of, or against attempting to become legendary. In addition to this the ad references â€Å"you† the audience a total of 8 times. This supports that the ad is trying to communicate to its audience wherever it is, and since this ad is attempting to call to action its audience the setting is within the audiences minds themselves when they are making their decision. Next there is the characters theme(s). Character themes are any person or object shown engaging in human like action. As previously stated, the ad references â€Å"you† a total of 8 times and makes clear that the audience is the most important character in this ad. Through the imagery and words, the audience is supposed to either imagine themselves as the athletes depicted, or as themselves in similar settings on the athletic field. This inclusive strategy of using the language and themes of the ad to relate to the audience helps to build convergence The athletes who are shown in the ad are also important characters. It is not explicitly stated in the ad who these athletes are, but by watching the ad and viewing the final scene in which the words Become Legendary (P22) appear, the audience can infer that whoever these athletes are, they are legends in their respective games. They are depicted throughout the ad performing various acts of athletic ability, and through the narrator’s words the audience is supposed to imagine themselves performing similar acts as these athletes. Finally, there is the actions theme(s). Action themes deal with the action of the drama. Within this ad there are numerous action themes. By looking at the visuals of the ad we see athletes running up and down a basketball court (P3, P20), hitting baseballs (P5-6), shooting a basketball (P8), catching touchdowns (P11, P18), and hitting a punching bag (P13). Accompanying these visuals we here the narrator’s words and are able to understand the qualities these athletes possess, and how their actions (which become transparent through the ads visual and audio display) have lead them to become legendary. For example, we here the narrator say for the baseball scene (P4-6) that â€Å"It’s about having the courage to fail† (L4-5). The audience is supposed to understand that having courage/acting courageous is important to have if one wishes to become legendary. Another example is in slides P12-15 in which we go from the visual of a young boxer working out, to the image of basketball player in celebration and here the words â€Å"It’s about work, before glory† (L10-11). This scene depicts that the action of working hard leads to the act of celebration in victory. This scene also lends itself to the idea that the act of working hard is important to becoming legendary. These themes form a fantasy type which is that it is not about the shoes. We here this exact line stated in P1L1 that â€Å"It is not about the shoes†. Throughout the ad we then see various video clips and pictures that show us, as well as hear our narrator tell us, what it is about. We then hear in L14 that once again â€Å"It’s not about the shoes† and then in L15-16 that â€Å"It’s about what you do in them, it’s about being who you were born to be†. This fantasy type provides the resolution to the original conflict brought about in the first scene. The fantasy themes discussed above all come together to hopefully lead the audience to the rhetorical vision to become legendary, which is what the rhetor hoped to communicate. Through the fantasy themes the audience is able to see how it is that they can become legendary

Transportation Planning And Urban Form Environmental Sciences Essay

Transportation Planning And Urban Form Environmental Sciences Essay Transportation planning should be about more than concrete and steel. It should be about building communities. Rodney Slater The topic of my paper is Transportation planning and urban form. It is well known fact that urban form is highly correlated with the evolution of transportation systems. There exist complex relationship between transportation, land use and urban form. City development patterns are highly correlated with the evolution of transportation systems. As we glanced through the history of transportation Planning in US we see that there has been rational comprehensive approach in the beginning which than with environmental concerns and sprawl changed to another perspective of advocacy. In this paper I am going to focuses on rational approach and Advocacy Planning paradigm for issue of urban form and Transportation and contrasts and compare two different approaches through case studies. History of Transportation Planning and Urban Form1 Transportation planning in the 20th century grew up with the success of automobile industry. According to Rick Adams, Comprehensive plans that included rail transit, such as Forest Hills Gardens, New York, quickly proved to be the exception. Transportation planning soon became the handmaiden of the automobile, taking it where it wanted to go, often regardless of the consequences. By the early 1920s, the popularity of the automobile had largely displaced interest in planning for public transportation, which faced declining rider ship and loss of profits1. Public transit failed to pass public voting. The automobile quickly became the future and national progress. According to Rick, The planners preference was certified at the 1924 National Conference on City Planning when the way of the horizontal city of the future was declared-by the automobile. The sudden tidal wave of auto mobility swept over cities throughout the 1920s.2 As result of this suddenly, suburbs began to grow at a much faster rate than cities. As early as 1923, some cities were debating the banning of cars downtown because of congestion. Commuters by automobile quickly outnumbered those by transit. The single answer for congestion was to build more roads, usually in straight radial lines from the center of the city into territories of developable land at the citys edge. The good roads movement gained in popularity. The concept of a continuous national system of highways was instituted in the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 with the adoption of a numbered U.S. highway system composed of routes extending across the nation. According to Rick Adams, No one was more aggressive at road building than Robert Moses, who, from 1924, amassed unprecedented power in New York to steamroll thousands of miles of highway building projects.3 The Regional Plan Association of America (RPAA), composed of the eras most reform-minded planners, including Lewis Mumford, Clarence Stein, and Henry Wright, proposed the idea of the townless highway, thoroughfares that would encourage the building of real communities at definite and favorable points off the main road. With the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1934, Congress authorized funds to state governments for surveys, plans, engineering, and economic analyses for future highway construction projects. By 1940 Los Angeles soon became the world model of up-to-the-minute modernity in its enthusiastic embrace of transportation planning for the automobile. Congress passed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1944, financing an interurban system of 32,000 miles that bypassed urban areas. The act immediately created a debate: transportation planners, such as Harold Bartholomew, and power broker Robert Moses wanted to use new roads to attack urban blight, charting expressways through urban residential areas to entirely redevelop them. Once again, the debate over roads fight blight came to center stage, with many planners insisting that the new highways must penetrate t o the center of urban areas to remove slums and improve the connection between outlying suburbs and downtown offices and retail areas. In June 1956, the Interstate Highway Act was passed with only a single vote in opposition. The $41 billion bill became the largest public works program in the history of the world, and which set imbalance that favored the private automobile over public transit. By the early 1960s, the automobile was essentially putting other forms of transportation out of business. It soon became apparent to transportation planners that an undue reliance on the automobile was creating as many problems as it was eliminating. As each new interstate was completed, fresh new problems of displacement, pollution, and congestion arose. Although an well-established group of planners continued to argue for more highway building, other voices began to be heard in support of the idea of balanced transportation. In the article Rick Adams4 says that in 1962, for example, the San Francisco Bay Area passed a voters referendum for a 71-mile rail transit system after a prolonged freeway revolt had voiced popular dissatisfaction with more and more highway building. The year 1962 also saw the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act, which mandated local transportation planning. According to John Edward6 The Urban Mass transportation Act of 1964 (UMTA) was the first significant effort of the century to recognize the need to improve and expand public transit. Expenditures increased from approximately $100 million in 1964-65 to approximately $1.3 billion at the end of the 1970s. Under the program, a type of balance was anticipated against the huge federal subsidy for highway building by offering matching funds for capital acquisitions of local transit, and the principal aim was to attain congestion relief by making public transit faster and more comfortable. However, the act also promoted plans for new rail transit, such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in the Sa n Francisco Bay Area. The ironic consequence of most of these public transit efforts, however, was to spread decentralization of urban downtowns and frequently contribute to the deterioration of central city neighborhoods, often increasing racial segregation. Many of the public transit improvements only facilitated suburban commuting in place of intracity transportation. BART, for example, became a high-speed conduit for financial district office workers from the East Bay suburbs of Contra Costa and Alameda. San Francisco residents were seldom to be found on the bright futuristic cars that sped beneath the city streets. In city after city, the main beneficiaries of the new systems or extensions were suburban commuters, not residents of central cities. After 1970, pollution in urban areas became a major federal concern, and the EPA sought to develop plans that would diminish traffic in urban areas to reduce pollution, although planners generally continued to ignore the automobiles co ntribution to urban sprawl. The shift in focus from reducing congestion to reducing pollution brought about certain restrictions on automobiles in central areas, converted downtown streets into pedestrian malls, and reduced downtown speed limits. Although critics continued to argue that the federal role in transportation planning was only codifying the decentralization of urban areas or providing Band-Aids to the problems of automobile pollution, the notion of balanced transportation continued to be advanced. Increasingly, the federal role in transportation planning grew more inconsistent during the 1980s. Public transit advocates complained that the government was not doing enough, local jurisdictions complained that it was requiring too much, and congressional representatives increased their opposition to what they termed big-government intrusion into local affairs. A kind of deadlock expand throughout the 1980s, with mounting opposition to freeway building by quality-of-life advo cates and suburban home owners on the one hand and by public transit advocates faced with reduced federal subsidies for public transit development on the other. Although there were some notable successes of locally funded transit programs, such as in San Diego, California, and a number of other cities that cobbled together funding for new light rail vehicle systems, congestion and sprawl continued to increase as a new phenomenon of edge cities grew into the planners purview with the most far-reaching requirements for automobile commuting yet. The 1990s saw the influence of numerous state growth management plans that for the first time addressed the comprehensive relationship of urban growth to balanced transportation principles. As state growth-management plans began to extend the idea of what balanced transportation meant, federal transportation planning was also influenced. Passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Act attempted to put the highway-only approach to transport ation planning to rest forever. For the first time, federal transportation planning included significant provisions to balance local land use planning, the environment, historic preservation, and mobility for children, the elderly, and the disabled. The pessimist would point to the stranglehold of the automobile on everything from the shape of cities to the air we breathe and conclude that transportation planning has only contributed to the problem. The optimist, however, might point to the incremental progress that is apparent in transportation planning over time, including the increasing interest in what is often called smart growth legislation that attempts to address the relationship of transportation planning and land use, and the increased use of public transportation. As the century ended, public transportation rider ship was again on the rise, with an equivalent of a million new trips of public transportation rider ship, increasing by percentages greater than any other travel modes, including motor vehicle travel. Significantly, these gains were evident in central cities, suburbs, and even rural areas, and the idea of a comprehensive approach to transportation planning shows evidence of spreading with increased levels of influence and acceptance. Hence through out the century transportation has been detrimental factor defining the urban form and vice versa. Urbanization has been one of a dominant trend of economic and social change since the second half of the 20th century. paradigms Comprehensive Rational Planning: There were major criticism of post-war planning thought that emerged in 1950s and 1960s. Planning theory had failed to understand the empirical relationship of planning. The planners did not comprehend the understanding of the relationship between social planning and physical planning4. Criticisms of physicalist bias of post war town planning theory were criticized at two levels. At level one it was criticized for concentrating on physical environment to the extent of ignoring social environment. And at another level, to the extent that town planner did not consider social environment in their plan making. Another criticism of early planning was lack of consultation and public involvement and hence was viewed as political nature of planning. The early physical and blue print planning was criticized not to be aware of reality of the living space. So common theme of all criticisms was the accusation that planners were insufficiently informed about the n ature of the reality they were tampering with. Planners had lack of understanding of cities which was exhibited in their normative ideals. In its Utopianism, its anti-urbanism, its simple tree like models of urban structure and its assumptions about consensus over what ideals of good planning should be, traditional town planning thought failed to grasp the complexity and richness, as well as undoubted problems of human social life and its manifestations in cities. So in respond to this criticisms new Planning theories were developed. This type of planning was described to be technical, abstract and highly mathematical. The systems view of planning arose in criticism to the physical design which is substantive theory, while rational process view was clearly procedural theory of planning. This was a more quantitative approach. Both theories are viewed as sharing certain fundamental assumptions about nature of world and possibilities for human progress within it. The general rational p lanning process involved the steps of defining a problem, identifying alternatives, evaluating them, implementing plans and policies and monitoring their effects. The rational planning theory had a certain methodology that could be applied to smaller problems and in a modified form. The drawbacks to this theory would be the impossibility to grasp all variables and the lack of resources and time to collect information. So from new planning theories, we see that planning has been process of trial and error and that has given rise to so many paradigms in field of Planning. Both Gunton and Hodge note that Rational Comprehensive Planning (RCP) rose in response to problems brought on by urban growth in the Nineteenth Century when scientific methods were applied to find solutions to urban problems (Hodge a, 83). Most planners now style themselves as using RCP. This is evident in Official Plans and the plan-making process which involve scientific instruments like forecasts, analyses of issu es and concerns, studies of anticipated social and environmental impacts and goal statements (Perks Jamieson, 490). As its name implies, this theory applies rational decision-making to planning. The four typical elements of RCP are: goal setting, identification of policy alternatives, evaluation of means against ends, and implementation of decisions with feedback loops and repetition of steps (Hudson, 388). Using this method requires exhaustive information gathering and analysis. It stresses objectivity, the public interest, information and analysis which allow planners to identify the best possible course of action. Requirements for Rational Comprehensive Planning are it assumes that decision makers have well defined problem, full array of alternatives to consider, they are well informed, they have full information about the consequences of each alternative, and they are well equipped with resources and skills. The ideal-typical decision-making model in planning has seven identifiable stages (source Freidman): Formulation of goals and objectives; Identification and design of major alternatives for reaching the goals identified within the given decision-making situation; Prediction of major sets of consequences that would be expected to follow upon adoption of each alternative; Evaluation of consequences in relation to desired objectives and other important values; Decision based on information provided in the preceding steps; Implementation of this decision through appropriate institutions; and Feedback of actual programme results and their assessment in light of the new decision situation. RCP approaches problems from a systems (integrated) viewpoint, using conceptual or mathematical models that relate ends (objectives) to means (resources and constraints) with quantitative analysis (Hudson, 388). It attempts to side-step the issue of conflict by presuming a discernable public interest. Here there is assumption that communitys various collective goals can be measured in some effective or quantitative way (Altshuler, 194)6. The method strives to be objective, technical and exclude subjective and emotional discussion. It attempts to separate planning from politics by ignoring the political considerations of public interest. (Hudson, 390). The major advantage of RCP is its simplicity. Following a logical, deliberate process, it is easily grasped, its analytical techniques are standard applications of social science, and its intentions are straightforward (Hudson, 389). It has wide applicability and incorporates the fundamental issues, ends, means, trade-offs, and action-taking which are part of most planning activities (Hudson, 389). The major weakness of RCP is that it is unrealistic. As a methodology, it can only be applied to relatively simple problems and then only in modified form. It is more of procedural theory than substantive. In the real world, inherent limitations on resources, information and time make it impossible to use RCP in its purest form. Lindblom comments that its non-implementability takes away any point in using it (Faludi, 117). Simon and March critiques of decision making process in RCP are that it is ambigious, planners consider themselves to be well informed but infact they are not. ( Forester, 1989.) Its demands are considerable and require more than decision-makers are capable of giving. The impossibility of predicting all consequences or grasp all variables and the lack of resources and time to collect information needed for rational choice limit its practicability (Etzioni, 219). Lindblom further notes that the costs of being more comprehensive often exceeded the benefits (Gunton, 406). Lastly, it relies heavily on a particular model of a clear, unitary notion of the public interest which is impossible to achieve in the real world. Interests in reality are pluralist: citizens, politicians and administrators have differing and conflicting values and objectives. This makes it difficult for planners to ascertain the majoritys preference and public debate is rarely wide enough to accomplish this (Lindblom, 156). The rational planning theory came into emergence after the physical planning theory. The rational planning theory which came along on the bases of the systems theory, had actually originated in highly technical fields of operations research and cybernetics. The rational planning approach follows a certain methodology to the planning process and the planners need to be answerable to any questions that might come up. The renewed faith of the application of science was on of the chief reasons for the start of rational planning theory. The rational planning process is practiced in the planning field even today to a great extent. The benefit-cost analysis done for execution of various projects is a major part of the procedural planning theory. The criticism of the rational planning theory is that in identifying and defining problems, something that is assumed to be a problem is actually a problem. Also the different alternative proposed and the selection within them should not favor a particular group. The rational planning theory persists in the planning field today with the specialized consultants practicing planning. They are hired to solve a certain p roblem with quantitative analysis, technical approach to problem solving and other analytical skills. The rational planning also persists in the form of academic courses. Some of the schools have a curriculum that focus on the more technical and analytical approach towards planning problems and the others are public policy and social economically oriented. Thus, as academics emphasizes on the procedural planning theories, this in turn leads to planners perception and approach towards planning to be rationalistic. Thus, there have been arguments about whether the rational planning approach is the most comprehensive approach to planning. Advocacy planning: The numbers of public policy decisions that are made in planning seem to be favoring a certain group of individuals who are involved in the planning process and not the underprivileged or the minority groups. The very technical and analytical way of planning did not seem to be concerned with human feelings or the opinions of the ordinary people, who were also a major part of the society. Accordint to Paul Davidoff Planning decisions were influenced by political steering, they seem to be neglecting the most disadvantaged7. Advocacy planning, as initiated by Davidoff, is an attempt to incorporate the voices or values that would not otherwise be represented by the incremental approach. Through advocacy planning, planners can advocate the interests of those who are out-of-reach and powerless to represent their own interests. Thus, advocacy planning is a representation of certain social groups by advocacy planners, using the applied techniques of law. Advocacy planning has its origins that such groups needs planners to make their case, thus leading the planners to search for a new kind of clientele. Advocate planner take the view that any plan is the embodiment of particular group interests, and therefore they see it as important that any group which has interests at stake in the planning process should have those interests articulated. They start to reject the notion of general welfare in other words. The clientele is mostly the low income communities. It talks about the slums not having any community association or leaders that could voice their opinions. Thus, they need a support of the planners of the society to improve their needs. The concept of advocacy planning could be reasoned with an understanding that if the lowest needs are taken care of, the higher needs are taken care of and this leading to the over all improvement of the quality of life of the society. There is analogy made between the legal representatives and the advocate planners. Thus, advocacy planning appears to be a new kind of politics. It is considered to be an apparatus by which the society is humanized over the technical apparatus. In the early 1970s advocate planners started working with the city governments that shared their commitment to real pluralism. The criticism of advocacy planning was that if the shift of planners concern was from one group to another. Even though advocacy planning favored the disadvantaged group, it totally was considered to be not concerned with the other groups. The planning process thus started to occupy the rational comprehensive approach. This was trying to create a balance between the loopholes of the two planning process to achieve a better and effective functioning of planning in general. Theorists suggested that since planning was for the people, by all means it should be by the people and of the people too. So was born Advocacy planning wherein even a laymen with the slightest knowledge of plan ning could voice his expressions regarding planning policies that could have direct or indirect effects on his life. Advocacy planners felt that any plan is the embodiment of particular group interests and therefore it is important that any group which has interests at stake in the planning process should have those interests articulated. This view of planning was also considered as a boon for the poor, low income communities and the under represented groups, because the advocacy planning groups proposed to help people from every fraction of the community to voice their interests. Case Study I: Study of De Moines Metropolitan Area9 As discussed in introduction to this paper it is well known that urban form is highly correlated with evolution of transportation systems. This case study focuses on developing planning tools that are responsive to the complicated interaction between transportation and land use, which is helpful to identify the typical characteristics of development of urban form. The historical development of Des Moines area is reviewed to see how urban form is accommodated by transportation evolution and conventional transportation modeling process is reviewed to see how urban form is implied in transportation modeling process. Spatial measurements are used to quantify urban form of Des Moines and its existing transportation network. Historical Development of Des Moines Area: Review of historical development of Des Moines area is given to provide pictorial description of how transportation and urban form have accommodated each other. The above table summarizes different phases of Des Moines development, its corresponding transportation systems and transportation eras. We see that the since From the table above we see that in the year 1968 planning approach for Des Moines Metropolitan areas has been Comprehensive and Rational. Transportation system can be considered an expression of urban spatial pattern during the historical development of the city. Conventional Transportation Modeling Process: Transportation models are computerized procedures used to estimate changes in travel patterns in response to changes in development. Table 2 summarizes how urban form is implied in conventional, sequential transportation modeling processes of trip generation, trip distribution, modal split and traffic assignment. Urban form of Des Moines metropolitan area is measure by seven spatial criteria such as homogeneity, directionality, connectivity, design pattern, density gradient, concentricity and sectorality. From the table 3 below we see that the elements of modeling process were land use, socio-economic, demographics, travel impedance, Transportation policy, Residential density, income, distance from CBD, Geometrics, Capacity of roadway and transportation network. So we see that there has been no consideration for personal preference or public involvement at any stage of modeling. Data has been collected for different social areas and transportation network in Des Moines metropolitan area, for number of housing units, relative location of CBD, the city and Metropolitan area centers. Finally based on this data, results of CBD and Corridor study are summarized. The outcomes of the rational planning process for Des Moines Metroplolitan Area are as follows: Population density gradient shows that the central part of Des Moines metropolitan area has highest population density. The city of Des Moines is still focal point for employment and population in the metropolitan area. The other cities are bedroom communities, even though they are beginning to show significant commercial and retail development. The development largely follows interstate highway development along I-235, I-80 and I-35. The urban pattern of Des Moines metropolitan area is radial in terms of trip attraction. The location of CBD of the city of Des Moines was largely influenced by Raccoon River and Des Moines River. Development in the city of Des Moines has since shifted southward. With metropolitan area, new development is located northwest of the geometric center of metropolitan area, which is close to the cities of Urbandale, Clive, West Des Moines and Windsor Heights. It is assumed that new developments tend to shift to the geometric center of city or region to over come the friction of distance or space. People tend to make tradeoff between transportation costs and land values. It thus suggests that when examining the development trend for city or region, the geometric center or its vicinity may be first measure that should be considered. Based on census data, bicycle trips comprise only 0.2% of total work trips while walk trips make up 3.2% and bus trips are 2.9%. Future urban design would consider more use of these modes to make Des Moines more walkable and more bicycle and transit friendly. Assess the importance of life style as a determinant of urban form. Measure more cities with different urban patterns and cities of different sizes to determine the statistical relationship between density gradient, urban pattern and transportation networks. Finally realizing that not all transportation networks and investments are rational, truly understanding the relationship between transportation and urban form helps to make more rational decisions. The purpose of this research is part of the planning process to provide better transportation networks and make more efficient investments on existing networks to provide residents a better place to live and work and make more livable and sustainable city based on existing transportation network. Case Study II: Fruitvale Transit Village Project The Unity Council, Bay Area Rapid Transit District, City of Oakland10 The Fruitvale Transit Village is the result of broad partnership among public, private and non profit organizations working together to revitalize a community using transit oriented development. Transit oriented development is planning concept that uses mass transit stations as blocks for economic revitalization and environmental improvement. In 1999, groundbreaking took place on a $ 100 million mixed use development adjacent to Fruitvale Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) station in Oakland, California. Fruitvale, one of the Oakland seven communities is predominantly minority community with low income, experiencing economic stress. Fruitvale Transit Village is brainchild of Unity Council, a community development corporation (CDC) formed in 1964 by activists who wanted to create forum for working on issues important to Fruitvales Latino community. In June, 1991 BART announced plans to construct a multi level parking facility adjacent to Fruitvale BART station. The community agreed that new parking was necessary, but the design and location of the facility did not sit well with Fruitvale residents and business owners. Members of community were concerned that proposed structure would increase traffic and pollution and further separate Fruitvale neighborhood from BART station. The Unity council which was CDC galvanized the neighborhoods opposition to the parking structure design and location, arguing that any development around BART station should be guided by broad based community planning process. Faced with strong community opposition BART withdrew its proposal and agreed to work with the Unity Council on plan for the area. In February 1992, City of Oakland awarded Unity Council $ 185,000 in Community Block Grant (CBDG) funds to initiate community planning process for revitalizing the area around Fruitvale BART station. During next couple of years Unity Council engaged local stakeholders in comprehensive visioning and planning process that laid out the parameters for Fruitvale Transit Village. Impressed with Unity Council community involvement strategy, the US DOT awarded agency a $470,000 FTA planning grant in 1993 for Fruitvale Transit Village. The vocal and sometimes contentious meetings between BART and community representatives gave birth to idea for Fruitvale Transit Village. The project is consider reducing traffic and pollution in and around the community as residents of neighborhood would have easy access to goods and services within waling distance of transit station. Unity council organized workshops to help community reach on consensus and to identify both positive and negative qualities of Fruitvale Community and to indicate their development preferences. There were about 30 people who participated in this workshop. Participants identified crime, lack of retail business and community service s, the areas negative image, and lack of connection between BART station and community as issues of concern. Plan included mixture of housing, shops, office, library, a child care facility, pedestrian plaza and other community services all surrounding BART station. This project had strong commitment to public involvement by lead agencies involved. Typically, either city officials or private developers represent driving force behind large scale development projects. Series of workshop were conducted and they showed increased number of participation. Normally residents are usually in position of responding to plans that are initiated by others. Whereas here during third workshop, participants were asked to provide feedback on two alternative land use plans prepared by the project design team. In this case under Unity Council who represented the community, played leader role in the project. It helped and ensured communitys own vision for transit station and its surrounding area served as guiding principles for planning and design. Finally, the planning effort behind the Fruitvale Transit Village represent an innovative strategy for using mass transit as lever for revitalizing an urban communit