Analysis of how Theories of Learning and Teaching have Impacted on Essay

Analysis of how Theories of Learning and Teaching have Impacted on Current Educational Practice - Essay Example In most cases, learning theories are based on two functions: (1) the first serves as a framework that provides people a specific set of vocabulary as a means to interpret observations; and (2) implications as to how one can find elucidation to realistic problems. It is important to note that these theoretical assumptions do not provide solutions to the complex process of learning, rather, it focuses on the key principles in which people must concentrate on and analyze as a means of identifying resolutions (Harlen, 2007). Learning Theories On the perspective of the academe, learning theories can be categorized into three groups, namely: behaviorist; humanistic; and cognitive. Learning theories classified under the behaviorist perspective tackles a personification of positivistic method towards learning that can be characterized as scientific or systemic. It mainly focuses on the objective approach in regards to the discernible facets of learning (Harlen, 2006). On the other hand, the humanistic approach is in accordance with one’s values, which serves as the driver that empowers and liberates an individual. The third type is cognitive, which can be considered as the staple form of learning through utilizing one’s mind (Vosniadou, 2001). ... The learning theory of constructivism lies between the humanistic and cognitive approach, as it involves the learner to generate new thoughts and concepts based on the information available (Hart, Dixon, Drummond & MacIntyre, 2004). Behaviorism This theory has been formulated by B.F. Skinner, elaborating on three principles in the aspect of learning which are as follows: (1) learning is associated with behavior modifications; (2) environment molds one’s behavior; and (3) learning is based on contiguity and reinforcement, basically focusing on the difference between the period of two conditions in order for a learning process to be established (Kim & Axelrod, 2005). The latter pertains to the events or actions that would increase the probability that a situation would happen again. In essence, this type of learning theory focuses on the premise that learning is the process of acquiring new behavior through the process of habituation or conditioning. Habituation can be classifie d into two types, which are (1) classical conditioning and (2) operant conditioning (Gibbons, 2004). The context of classical conditioning follows the premise that an individual’s behavior is a spontaneous effect to a stimulus. A stimulus triggers a specific response, and once this trigger is often repeated, it forms learning. An example of classical conditioning is the experiment carried out in regards to Pavlov’s dogs, wherein Pavlov identified that triggered the dog’s drooling (Harlen, 2006).Through assessing the correlation of the dog’s responses with specific factors, it was found that the dogs drooled when they knew that they were about to eat- which were initially triggered by the coat worn

The Human-Computer Interface Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

The Human-Computer Interface - Assignment Example Bourg and Bywalec (2013) defines haptic feedback as "The method of including physical feedback to assist a user in interacting with entirely virtual objects" (p. 411). Every gadget in todays world functions with the use of computerized systems. Haptic feedbacks can either be in form of vibrations or senses that identify the location of the objects or bodies, as well as movements. Haptic feedback in form of vibrations is used mainly in touch-screen mobile phones whereby the phones vibration system recognizes a touch on the screen by the user (Bourg and Bywalec, 2013). In essence, the touch-screen mobile phone to some extent vibrates in order to substitute for a typical or ordinary physical reaction from a push button. In terms of senses, Bourg and Bywalec (2013) emphasizes that haptic feedback is used in the creation of joysticks to play games. In games, haptic feedback is used to alert the player when an incident or episode has taken place. In some games in fact, the player can even be wobbled by the joystick to symbolize the happening of an incident. It is worth noting that haptic feedback is a vital constituent imperative in human-computer interface, and it as well needed for its effectiveness and minimization of inaccuracies or miscalculations in computerized gadgets (Bourg and Bywalec, 2013). Memory is regarded as one of the vital functions of the human mind. There are three types of human memory and they are grouped on the basis of the length of preservation or how long the memory is withheld in the brain. These three types of human memory according to Kumar (2005) include "Sensory memory, short0term memory, and long-term memory" (p. 115). In comparison, sensory memory denotes memory roughly at the instant it is professed while short-term memory refers to the sensory memory that manages to pass through to the sensory stockpile for storage. Long-term memory on the other hand is memory refers to the information that can be repossessed in a matter

Both home country and host country in FDI

Both home country and host country in FDI The unprecedented growth of multinationals is due to the concept of globalisation which has no boundaries or limits. Usually within countrys economy there are flows of goods, capital and technology. This leads to high competition in the industry and naturally companies tend to expand their business in order to survive in the global arena. The countries use Foreign Direct Investment as a key to internationalise their business. In order to understand the full meaning of FDI, let us see the definition. FDI is defined as the acquisition abroad of physical assets, such as plant and equipment, with operational control ultimately residing with the parent company in the home country (Buckley, p.35, 1996).In the past 25 years, FDI is growing at a much faster rate than trade and both of these have grown faster than world output (Kozul-Wright and Rowthorn, 1998). There are many factors contributing to the development of FDI. Some of them are Internet, technological advancement, flexible rules a nd regulations of the country and lesser communication costs. FDI stimulates competition, capital, technological and managerial skills which has a positive effect on both host and home countrys economic growth. The importance given to FDI by other country is astounding. One such example is US which has a separate department called Bureau of Economic Analysis. The department monitors FDI inflows and outflows and introduce FDI attraction schemes for successful results. (Graham Spaulding, 2005).This essay analyses various costs and benefits to home country and host country with suitable evidences. Costs and Benefits Let us discuss the costs and benefits of FDI to both home countries and host countries. Benefits of FDI to the host country Hill (2005) suggested that there are three main benefits to the host country derived out of FDI. They are resource transfer effects, employment effects and balance of payment effects. Whenever a company invests in a foreign firm, the resources are capital, technology and managerial skills. In terms of capital, the host country will have a higher financial status than the home country. The change in technology and managerial skills will have a drastic effect on the operations carried out by the company. In the host country due to FDI, it creates many employment opportunities through which the citizens of that particular country would be benefited. The balance of payments keeps tracks of FDI inflow and outflows through two types of accounts, current account and capital account. The current account is a record of a countrys export and import of goods (Hill, 2005) and the capital account maintain purchase or sale details of assets by the country. By using FDI, the country can achieve a c urrent account surplus (where exports are greater than imports) and reduce current account deficit (where imports are greater than exports). (Hill, 2005) Costs of FDI to the host country The negative effects are termed as costs. There are also significant effects which affects the host country. When a foreign firm establishes with the superior technological skills which can produce quality items at cheaper rates, it adversely affects the domestic producers. Balance of payments are also affected by inward FDI by two sources. When there is a initial capital inflow there must be subsequent capital outflow and this will be recorded as debits on capital account. The second source is due to import of goods from other countries which will be recorded as debits in current account. The foreign firm can alter the economic stability of a country as they will be focussing only on the profit. Eventually all the inhabitants of the country will have an emotional outbreak to apparent loss of national sovereignty. (Hill, 2005) Benefits of FDI to the home country The benefit to the home country also includes the factors similar to that of host country. In terms of balance of payments, what is debit to host country is credit to home country. The outward FDI also leads to creation of new job market with great expertise and necessary skills. Reverse resource transfer effect takes place whenever resources like managerial skills are transferred back to the home country. The profit of the foreign firm goes back to the home country unlike domestic producers which contributes to their country. The home country is exposed to create new market share and it is liable to create many in the future. (Hill, 2005) Costs of FDI to the home country Due to FDI, the home country is mainly affected by capital and employment. Suppose a country A decides to invest in country B, using its capital and technology there will be an addition of financial position to the host country than home country. Even in future, if the country A wants to make any advancement, much focus will be given to the company in country B and implement changes. As a result the production in home country decreases and it sometimes result in shutting down all its operations and completely concentrate on the host country. This badly affects the home countrys economy and employment. (Hill, 2005) Summary of costs and benefits To conclude the discussion of the benefits and costs of FDI, points are tabulated in Table 1 Table 1  Benefits and costs of FDI Benefits Costs Host country Financial resources of MNEs Access to new technology Training of local managers Job creation Capital inflows BOP credits from exports BOP credits from local production of parts Competition of local producers BOP debits on repatriated earnings BOP debits on MNE imports on components Perception of loss of national identity Home country BOP credits from earnings Creation of jobs in higher skill categories Exposure to new markets, managerial expertise and technology Protects market share in competition with other MNEs Initial investment a capital outflow BOP debits from input of low-cost goods Loss of exports for which FDI is a substitute Job losses in low skill areas Source: Hill (2005) The benefit of home country is the cost of host country and vice-versa. After researching for many years, economists have come to a conclusion that host country has more benefits than home country. This is because of three main reasons. The first one is that they own assets like technology and brand name. Second it is very easier to produce in a country where it is going to be marketed than producing in the home country and exporting as it save costs on transportation. It also rules out the problem of licensing and handling unnecessary pressures on production from the government. (World Trade Organization, 1996) The following sections are illustration of FDI costs and benefits. Renault-Nissan Alliance The Renault-Nissan alliance in 1999 is the first business-related and industrial partnership between France and Japan (www.renault.com). The alliance received a great attention as they created a very big impact on the Japanese car industry. Before the association, Nissan was about to bankrupt and incurred a dramatic loss of  ¥700 billion. When it was taken over by Renault with a new management team headed by Carlos Ghosn, a complete restructuring was done. The global work force was reduced by 10 percent, five factories were closed and Nissans shareholdings were sold. These were very high according to Japanese standards (Paprzycki, 2006). The outcomes were astonishing as they recorded consecutive profit in the following years with high operating margins and it was due to combined expertise and technology sharing (www.renault.com). The stealing of market share from its rivals Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi was a clear indication of its accelerated development (Paprzycki, 2006). From thi s, it is very clear that transfer of managerial skills will have a huge impact in the success of the industry. Mexican Maquiladores Maquiladores refers to an American company on the Mexican side of US-Mexico border. They are owned by US, Japanese and European countries. The reason for these companies to go to Mexico is due to inexpensive labour and low tax (www.about.com). Many US companies including GE, RCA, IBM, Coca-cola and Ford were the first to initiate production in Mexico. Japanese and Korean firms also became major investors in 1982. As a result, it had a positive reflection on employment. It rose from 100,000 in 1982 to 500,000 in 1992. The NAFTA implementation further boosted up to 1.3 million and the region reported for 40 percent of total Mexican exports. The amount of goods exported to US increased from $42 billion in 1993 to $166 billion in 2000. Fords plant in Mexico became the third largest foreign owned manufacturing operation in Latin America. (Jones, 2005) US -Malaysia FDI relationship The economy of Malaysia was badly affected by several recessions like worldwide oil crisis and Asian economic crisis. Its economy again rebounded in 1999. FDI became a key factor in countrys development. Anderson (1993) suggested few factors that attract FDI in Malaysia were undervalued currency, low cost of labour and fairly low inflation rate. Though there are many foreign investors, U.S. companies ranks first in FDI in Malaysia. The companies like Boeing, General Electric, R.J. Reynolds and Bechtel were major American investors. The government provided perfect climatic conditions for American firms to operate in Malaysia. The following factors attracted U.S. firms to invest in Malaysia. The government set up an Anti corruption Agency to prevent corruption in any form. It has the same legal structure so the investors had great convenience in handling their business following the rules and regulations enacted by the government. Moreover there was not any language issue as Malaysia i s an English speaking country. The investors got attracted towards the incentives provided through tax treatment and generous equity ownership. There were also some issues faced by foreign investors. Any foreign investor who wants to start industry must get proper approval from Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA). The approval depends on various conditions which will be frustrating for investors. The other problem faced by investors was that they have to get work permit for foreign workers, which was a time consuming process. The government has several restrictions on total number of foreign workers on their land as it will have a direct effect on countrys employment opportunities (Prempeh Abenna, 2003). FDI has also negative impacts on home country. In case of Malaysia, the American investors violated both Human rights and Workers right. Malaysia faced a severe violation of human rights as pay was very much less than the minimum wage. The working conditions were also not employee friendly because of which workers faced several types of health problems. The company was against in forming labour union and when protested by the government, they complained that forming unions was a violation according to U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) requirement (Prempeh Abenna, 2003). McDonalds-a worlds largest chain of quick service restaurants McDonalds was started in a suburb of Chicago in 1955. It became the largest fast food restaurant and held one third of US market in 1990. McDonalds opened its branch in Canada in 1967 and later began to open in Europe by making joint ventures. McDonalds influenced the needs of locals and all other local fast food outlets in Germany and Netherlands faced a very tough competition. The local restaurants had to change their style to McDonalds in order to meet customer demands. After that, every step ahead was a success to the company. They had joint ventured with Japanese and very soon became countrys largest restaurant chain. (Jones, 2005) McDonalds operation in Russia, China and India was a clear indication of International expansion. They had 30,000 outlets in 120 countries and employed 250,000 people outside the United States. They established in all major cities and helped students to manage their living by providing part time jobs. Their international operations reported one half of McDonaldss revenues. As time changes, customer needs also changes. Now customers prefer to have a nutritious meal, so McDonalds used their marketing nuances to satisfy their customers. For example, in France items like salads, fresh fruits and Evian mineral water are included in the menu. (Jones, 2005) Conclusion In this essay, we have seen several factors that affect both home country and host country. Every company in the market sees to maximise the benefits and minimise the costs. The goal of achieving maximum profit influences every other decision while investing in a country. So far, we have seen the costs and benefits of home countries and host countries and real time examples are also cited. The primary factors that affect both home country and host country are employment, competition, economic development, technology and management. A success of an industry can be determined by how well these factors are managed by the country practising all rules and regulations adopted by the country in which operations are carried out. The governments also play an active role in framing rules and regulations to derive maximum benefit out of both FDI inflow and outflow. The negotiations are done on every agreement. Only if it is beneficial the operations are performed otherwise they are rejected at the initial phase itself. FDI is also used for improving the infrastructure of economically backward countries. The funding is done by world level organisations like World Health Organisation, World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The infrastructure is provided even in terms of upgrading medical facilities. For example, in Africa money and medicines are provided to eradicate diseases and in India several awareness programmes are being conducted about HIV prevention. The money invested in the country can also be used for constructing roads to remote areas which will help in transportation of medicines and in situations like floods and other natural disasters. It can also be effectively used for training unskilled labour by conducting educational programmes that would benefit them to get into any industry (www.economywatch.com). The extent to which a country can be benefited out of FDI is solely decided by the government and foreign firms. Many foreign firms involve actively in promoting social and enviro nmental factors. The government can give tax exemptions and other incentives for the companies that benefit their country.

Important Formative Experience That Made Me The Adult I Am Today :: essays research papers

Important Formative Experience I have had many theater-related experiences. Every chapter that I have read in my theater book has allowed me to make a connection to my past experiences with theater performances. I have also seen many plays and could relate to things an audience sees by reading the book. My first theater experience ever is when I was in the Nutcracker. We did a ballet performance for this play. I was very young when I did this, but I remember my instructor always saying that we must make contact with our audience through movements. Since in ballet you can not talk, you have to express the emotions that you are feeling to the audience through movement. This was very difficult. I must say that acting with words is a lot easier than acting through dance. In chapter one of my theater book, I was able to make the connection of "theater" is "work" to my experience of work in a theater with school plays. I know that I did not work as hard as professionals do, but I did work hard. For three months, we practiced everyday except for Saturday and Sunday, from 3:30 to 6:30. I helped with a lot of the choreography, so that made my days even longer and harder. However, this was also an enjoyable work experience for me. While reading the passage, I was able to relate with some of the "theater times" because of my play director. My high school director was very talented in directing plays. He would talk to us as if we were professionals and made us put more into what we were doing. That would be impersonation. When the passage talked about art, I thought of my art teacher who would always design all of the sets and made them look so lifelike. When the passage said that there are more behind the stage workers than on stage workers, I knew that that is very true. We had the front and backlighting, the designing people, who cleared the sets and put on new ones, the directing and the building crews. I was able to relate most of the passage through my own past experiences. Chapter 3 talks about "the actor". I found this chapter very interesting. I found out that actors had to go to college too. I also found it compelling to learn that in the passage on page 76, under the picture, it talks about how playing "ordinary people" in a realistic play is often the biggest challenge for an actor.

Management Structure of Boeing Essay

Considering how the Boeing Company has a strong presence worldwide and has employees and partnerships located in 70 countries, it has implemented a management structure to achieve maximum efficiency of the multi-billion dollar business. This structure is called a matrix structure, where this essentially allocates a Senior Vice President to each of the many department heads who oversee all movements the company makes as well as managing every employee within that division. These departments range from areas such as: Engineering & Technology to Law Department to Human Resources as well as Business Development and are all managed by the CEO, W. James McNerney. All of these divisions of Boeing run independently of one another, however they do collaborate together to ensure the company continues to be the achieve the most efficient and stable environment that it can. The matrix management structure is also advantageous to the Boeing Company since they are continuously filling out long-term contracts for various airlines around the globe and is in need of several functional organized departments. Since these departments collaborate together, various tasks of the project given are delegated between the necessary departments who then come together after completion of these given tasks and put together the prototype. Employees and resources are also allocated temporarily to other divisions of Boeing for various projects depending on the magnitude and the time given for project completion. However, there are some disadvantages to the matrix structure. There is a tendency to ‘lean’ towards one side of the matrix or the other, this can lead to problems such as project delays and extension requests by employees which inevitably cost the company time and money as seen by the delay of the 787 Dreamliner construction.

The Effect of Divorce on Children

AN ESSAY The Effect of Divorce on Children Family values are highly praised. When the family is broken up it can lead to divorce and ultimately many negative implications. So what is effect of divorce on children? Is it always negative? Needless to say, in today’s society, divorce has become a norm in our lives. Married couples today split up due to many different reasons, either because of conflicts in the marriage, lost of romantic feelings, a spouse committing an affair or some other type of marriage problems. Most of these divorced couples have children that are very young and very often don't have an idea how to deal with an event like a divorce. These children will have to learn to deal with their parent’s divorce, sometimes at very young age, affecting them in a positive or negative way. To begin with, divorce hurts children more than parents realize. It is always a traumatic experience in a person's life, especially a child's. When parents divorce, children are not always understand it. This omission can lead to problems with the child's perception of daily life. The impact divorce has on a family is more prominent to the children of the family than the parents. First of all, children have many of their own daily struggles to cope with, such as peer pressure. Adults sometimes forget what it is like to be a child. Many parents do not realize how something like divorce could possibly affect their children as much as it does themselves. As the case may be, children are strongly affected by divorce as they experience some kind of emotional change. Children’s relationships with their friends and relatives may become damaged. Secondly, divorce can also create an unhappy, unfriendly environment for the children. They may not like the person that their mother or father has chosen to be with. This can cause conflicts between stepparents, parents, and children. Children would also have the mental problem of choosing which parent to live with. This can cause a child to be confused and stressed because of the love the child has for both parents. He or she may start to show favoritism towards one of the parents. What is more, kids may look towards other things or relationships to ensure the trust that they were deprived from. For example, children may start taking drugs to relieve them of the stress they have gone through with their parents divorce. Besides, divorce can also cause children to look at marriage as being negative rather than positive. Some children may have problems with future relationships due to the example they receive from their own parents. To my mind, divorce can have long lasting affects on children. Divorce will never be considered a positive solution, nor will children ever be not affected by it in a negative way. Before couples get divorce, they should consider their children first and how it will affect them. Divorce may be the way out for parents, but it always hurts children’s psychological and social health.