Education Essay Example for Free

Education Essay It seems that the recent trend toward online education has created a severe deficit among students. Part of the fundamental goal of any learning environment is the development of skills related to team-building and cooperative work. These are real-world skills that are important to have in almost any real-world situation. The student’s comment about cooperative learning is a common complaint, but the troubles cited by the student are typical of real-world cooperative situations. The usual complaints by students about cooperative learning projects include logistics issues, gaps in vision and leadership, difficulties in equitable workload assignment, and other elements. All of these problems are ones that may be encountered in the modern working world. I would design the curriculum with group projects integrated. I would also include a learning objective that emphasizes the importance of the cooperative learning, given its application to the real world. If the quality of the projects suffers as a result of the learning format, the learning gap(s) that may have developed may be resolved by reinforcing exercises that are individually-based. In this manner, the subject matter will be adequately addressed, and the important group-work skill can also be practiced. I would also recommend additional courses on team-work and the cooperative dynamic be added to the curriculum. Whether for a school or a work environment, it is vital that students be taught or trained to appreciate the importance of effective teaming, as this will be a key element in any real-world work environment. This course could incorporate coping and procedural skills that address the typical difficulties involved with cooperative projects. Objectives might include how to divide labor, how to determine a vision, how to organize leadership, and how to handle logistic difficulties. The sooner students learn these skills, the more productive and successful they will be.

Study on Competency Model of an effective teacher

Study on Competency Model of an effective teacher The paper builds on comprehensive review of 13 research papers and a book on teachers competencies on basis of which a Competency Model of an effective teacher has been suggested that can be used during recruitment, training, and performance appraisal and also can be used as a mean for compensation of a teacher. Competencies of an Effective teacher Model has been categorized into three categories as shown in the above diagram which are as follows: Concern for College, Concern for Self and Concern for Students. Therefore, this paper produces data on what attributes in todays academic market place and in particular in classroom produces effective teachers. INTRODUCTION: Education has become essential these days. But along with it there are several challenges of education as well which require change in the quality and structure of education. For this integration of education with corporate sector is required for which course contents needs to be upgraded. But this is not sufficient as teachers are the education providers they play a vital role in bridging the gap between what is now available in the form of curriculum and the demands of the corporate world. Hence teachers should therefore react to the changing scenario and equip themselves to meet the need of the hour. Hence this paper identifies competencies (behavioural indicators) required for an effective teaching according to the changing scenario. Therefore, this paper produces data on what attributes in todays academic market place and in particular in classroom produces effective teachers. The theory being, the more effective the teacher the better prepared the student is for tomorrows challenges, not yesterdays and the more competitive the school can make itself. The paper will first review the literature highlighting competencies [behavioral indicators] of effective teacher given by other researchers. First it is important to understand the word competency. A competency is an underlying characteristic of an individual that is causally related to criterion-referenced effective and/or superior performance in a job or situation [1] Underlying characteristic means the competency is a fairly deep and enduring part of persons personality and can predict behavior. Causally related means that a competency causes or predicts behavior and performance. Criterion-referenced means that the competency actually predicts who does something well or poor, as measured on a specific criterion or standard. The history of competency can be traced to the early 1970s when industrial psychologists and human resource managers were seeking ways to predict job performance. There was significant evidence to show that personality testing was very poor at predicting job performance (about 10 percent success rate was achievable). In 1973, David McClelland, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University wrote a seminal paper Testing for Competence Rather than for Intelligence, which appeared in American Psychologist in 1973 [2], that created a stir in the field of psychology (McClelland, 1973). According to his research, traditional academic aptitude and knowledge content tests seldom predict on-job performance. He went on to argue that the real predictors of job performance are a set of underlying personal characteristics or competencies. McClellands concept of competency has been the key driver of the competency movement and competency-based education. LITERATURE REVIEW Attempts to define teacher behaviors have blossomed into a movement known as Competency-based teacher education (or Performance based Teacher Education). The State of Florida has been a leader in identification of generic teaching competencies and in the movement of competency-based teacher education. In 1975 the Council on Teacher Education (COTE), spearheaded a project to identify those competencies which are most essential to all teachers. 48 generic competencies consistently appeared in the search was selected for a final survey instrument. A random sample of 5 percent of all certified personnel in the state were asked to rate the competencies. 23 competencies met the specified acceptance criteria. The 23 generic competencies were grouped into 5 major categories namely communication skills, basic knowledge, technical skills, administrative skills and interpersonal skills. The state of Florida has included the 23 generic competencies in state policies requiring all personnel to de monstrate them in order to be certified as a teacher in the state [3]. A few of the sub-skills under each of the five major categories are as follows: Communication Skills, Basic Knowledge, Technical Skills, Administrative Skills and Interpersonal Skills. Peter F Oliva [3] has described an effective teacher as one whom: Is fully prepared in his or her subject Has a broad general education Understands the role of a school in the society Holds an adequate concept of himself or herself Understands basic principles of learning process Demonstrate effective techniques of instruction Efficiently handles the management of the classroom Possesses personal characteristics conducive to the success in the classroom A similar list has been developed by Kenneth P Henson [3] of an effective teacher as one whom: Is interested in students as individuals Has patience and is willing to repeat Displays fairness Explains things thoroughly Is humorous Is open minded Is informal Does not feel superior Knows the subject Is interested in the subject Is neat in appearance Similarly Dwight Allen and Kevin Ryan [3] have given skills which are generic or common to teachers at all level as follows: Stimulus variation, Set induction, Closure, Silence and Non-Verbal Clues, Reinforcement of Student participation, Fluency in asking question, Probing question, High order question, Divergent question, Recognizing attending behavior, Illustrating and using examples, Lecturing, Planned Repetition, Completeness of communication Teachers Competency has been defined as any particular knowledge, skill, or attitude or any set or combination of them that we may choose to specify (Donald M Medley Patricia R Crock). The knowledge specified may involve subject-matter knowledge, general knowledge, knowledge of psychology, sociology or one of the other disciplines, knowledge of pedagogy-any knowledge that may enhance teacher performance. Skills specified may also relate to content, to writing and speaking skills, to skills in arithmetic, they may be perpetual or diagnostic in nature, they may be performance skills such as those involved in lecturing, leading a discussion or planning instruction, they may be related to deployment of knowledge and skills of other types, or to the integration and implementation of complex strategies. Attitudes specified may pertain to the self, to pupils, to colleagues and to the profession, to values, or whatever [4]. A recent Research in 2008 by Faculty of Education, Adnan Menderes University, Turkey aimed to determine the teachers competencies Turkey needs in the European Union harmonization process [5]. The research used Delphi technique to determine the teachers competencies. Delphi application was completed by participation of 37 experts. As a result of analysis of the third round data removal of items with a standard deviation above 1 and arithmetic average below 6, 142 competency items were obtained. Removal and combination of overlapping opinions was done and hence 137 competency items were obtained. The competencies were divided into four competency categories which are as follows: Competencies Regarding Professional Knowledge Competencies Regarding Field Knowledge, Competencies Regarding Improving Oneself, Competencies Regarding National and International Values. Competencies Regarding Professional Knowledge were addressed in five categories as follows: Professional Competencies Regarding Getting to Know the Students and Enabling Their Improvement Professional Competencies regarding the process of learning-teaching process Professional competencies regarding monitoring and evaluating learning and improvement Professional Competencies regarding School, Family, Colleagues and Society Relations Professional Competencies Regarding the Programme and Content (Abdul Rahim Hamdan et al, Faculty of Education, University of Malaysia) studied the teaching competency and dominant characteristics of 309 teachers from different secondary / primary schools in Johor Bahru [6]. Their competencies were determined through teaching skills, concern for school, concern for students and concern for self, forming a comprehensive and practical model of teachers competency characteristics. Factor analyses of the instrument with various samples revealed 19 stable subscales. Skills Scales were divided into seven sub-scales. There were scales on Subject Knowledge, Teaching Prowess, Classroom Management, Updating Knowledge, Instructional Planning, Teaching Effectiveness; and Teaching and Learnings Progress Evaluation. Concern for School Scales was divided into five sub-skills. There were testing on teachers concern on School Vision and Mission, Objectives and Goals, School Policy and System, Collegiality and Commitment. Scales on Concern for Student were divide d into four sub-scales. There were testing on teachers concern on Student Needs, Academic Performance, Motivation and Behavior. Concern for Self Scales was divided into three sub-scales. There were testing on teachers concern on Self-Development, Self Management and Performance Standard. The most dominant competency of the teachers was in concern for school scales followed by skills, concern for self and concern for students. The result showed that there is significant relationship between gender and teaching competency. The result for the ethnic and teaching competency showed that there is no relationship between ethnic and teaching competency in this study. The data analysis showed that there is no relationship between teaching experience and teaching competency. The result also showed that there is no significant relationship between academic qualification and teaching competency. Thus, it can be summarized that, teachers with higher academic qualification does not mean more comp etent in teaching. (Naree Aware Achwarin, R.N., Ed.D., Graduate School of Education, Assumption University of Thailand) aimed to determine the teacher competence level and investigate the relationship between teacher qualification, teaching experience, and school size and teacher competence of teachers at schools in the three southern border provinces of Thailand [7]. The method of survey research was used through questionnaire. The unit of analysis was teachers, 750 were selected by simple random sampling methods from nine educational regions, 18 secondary schools, under the Basic Education Commission of Thailand (OBEC) at Narathiwas, Pattani, and Yala province. The instrument used for collecting data was a questionnaire, constructed by the researcher, employing the professional standards of knowledge and experience from the Teacher Council of Thailand (2005) containing nine competence areas. The Cronbachs Alpha coefficient for the reliability was 0.96. The content validity was evaluated by five exper ts in the field of Educational Administration. The findings revealed Teachership was the highest teacher competence. In order from the highest to the lowest of nine competence areas, the ranking was teachership; psychology for teachers; educational measurement and evaluation; classroom management; learning management; educational innovation and information technology, language and technology for teachers; curriculum development; and educational research. (Earl Simendinger Bella Galperin, The University of Tampa Daniel R. LeClair, AACSB International A.G. (Tassos) Malliaris, Loyola University) described the design, development and delivery of this curriculum [8]. The objective and what the reader can expect to learn from this work is what are the most important attributes of effective business teachers. Incorporating these attributes into course design and delivery should lead to improvements in teaching effectiveness and students evaluation scores, which results in students better prepared for the business field. In addition to it, reviewing the past literature in particular, student evaluations have received the most attention- this statement shows the gap that competencies derived about the teachers were basically based on student perception not on the basis of management, professor and industry professions. (Kirk Tennant Charles Lawrence, 1975) focused upon teaching strategies and scheduled class hours and their effects upon instructor and course evaluations, student performance, and student absenteeism [9]. The study indicated that discipline teaching strategy produced much better student academic performance. This study indicates that in those situations in which student performance was considered a primary goal, a discipline teaching strategy should be adopted. In all cases the finding suggest that a discipline teaching strategy will improve both attendance and performance. In this multisection course, classes scheduled at good hours had higher student attendance, better student performance, and more favorable teacher evaluation by students. (William J. Read, Dasaratha V. Rama K. Raghunandan, 2001) surveyed administrators of accounting programs from a cross-section of schools and programs to determine whether there is an association between the weight given to teaching and the weight assigned to SEs [10]. The respondents were asked to allocate 100 points among research, service and teaching representing the weights that were attached to each in decision on tenure and promotion to full professor in their institution. The Result showed a statistically significant inverse relationship between the weight given to SEs and the weight assigned to teaching in faculty evaluations for tenure and promotion to full professor. This suggests that as institutions increase the relative emphasis on teaching in their tenure decision and promotion to full professor decision, they place significantly less weight on Student Evaluation. (Stephen A. Stumpf et al, New York University) investigated the relationships among several variables outside of the instructors classroom control and student ratings of teaching effectiveness are investigated in a causal network [11]. The student ratings are relatively independent of external variables. Variables external to the construct of student perceived learning include: (a) variables that students do not agree relate to their learning, (b) variables that the instructor cannot control with his or her instructional efforts within a class (e.g., instructor sex, class size), and (c) variables that students cannot observe and thus cannot accurately evaluate. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed; the six independent variables account for a statistically insignificant 9% of rating variance. The set of six external variables were then entered into a regression equation already containing the three intrinsic variables (instructor in class, instructor in general an d graded assignments). The additional variance accounted for is .6%, indicating that no unique contribution is made by any or all of the external variables. The variables were instructor sex, the year the instructor received her/his last degree, instructor rank, proportion of required courses that an instructor taught over the two semester period and class size. (Dr Paul Isely Dr Harinder Singh) analyzed different factors that influence student evaluations, based on large set of data, reveals that class size, the difficulty of the class, the percentage of students responding, and the length of class are important determinants of students perception [12]. Moreover, although higher expected grades results in more favorable student evaluations, this relationship is significantly different depending upon faculty rank. Based on these findings, the author makes two policy recommendations. First, student evaluations of teaching should be adjusted for specific major determinants to obtain less biased estimates. Second, evaluating teaching effectiveness by a broad teaching portfolio that includes actual grades given to students and other teaching supplements may discourage faculty from exploiting the relationship between higher expected grades and favorable student evaluations. (James E. Whitworth, et al, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia) analyzed 12,153 student faculty evaluations to investigate the effects of: (a) Faculty member gender (b) Course type (required business core courses, classes within designated majors, or graduate classes) (c) Course level (graduate versus undergraduate classes) on student faculty evaluations [13]. The authors explored the effect of these three factors on students perceptions of how much they learned in particular classes. They found that female instructors rated better than male ones and that rating differed significantly by course type and by students perceived amount of learning. Graduate students tended to give higher scores than undergraduates. These findings could indicate that comparing evaluation data across different courses might not produce valid overall effectiveness rankings. (Richard L. Peterson et al, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ)conducted a study within a large department of a business school and recommends that the process used be adapted by other business school departments and other academic units across the university and at other universities to ensure a more universally appropriate usage of students ratings [14]. The central objective of the research was to identify variables that provide a valid rationale for assigning faculty into norming groups for the purpose of comparing one member of that group to all other members of that group. Given the objective and the data set they had available, they selected the following six variables to explore: Semester Effect, Course Session Effect, Faculty Type Effect, Course Level Effect, Course Focus Effect Course Type. Overall, this study makes two primary contributions to the literature. First, it provides an empirical examination of the factors that might be influencing students ratings. Seco nd, it offers suggestions on how these ratings might be used by administrators. These two contributions offer more evidence that supports Brightmans (2005) recommendations that any evaluation instrument focused on faculty teaching must be reliable and valid and have a meaningful norming report. COMPETENCY MODEL OF AN EFFECTIVE TEACHER A Competency Model of an Effective Teacher has been obtained after reviewing the literature and also by using Competency Dictionary obtained by colleagues of Richard Boyatzis in 1981 which was obtained by analyzing the data [i.e transcripts of behavioral event interviews] from a number of competency studies which produced set of competencies that consistently distinguished superior performance across organizations and functions [1] COMPETENCY MODEL OF EFFECTIVE TEACHER Concern for Self Concern for College Competencies of an Effective Teacher Concern for Students Figure 1: Competency Model of an Effective Teacher Competencies of an Effective teacher can be categorized into three categories as shown in the above diagram which are as follows: Concern for College, Concern for Self and Concern for Students. As teacher has duty towards for College it is defined as the first category where teachers competencies are adoption of College Vision and Mission, teacher should be committed towards his/her work, a teacher should be high on competencies like credibility, integrity and sincerity. Next comes the category Concern for Self which is very important as teacher always carry these competencies such as teacher should be high on analytical thinking, conceptual thinking, also have good meta qualities such as creativity, teacher should have excellent communication skills, should always be information seeking, should have self-control, self-confidence, be flexible, achievement oriented, open and receptive and most important is that teacher should be able to balance work and his/her life perfectly. Coming to Concern for Students teacher should have competencies like interpersonal understanding, should be able to influence others, should be good in developing others and should be assertive when required. The three categories have been diagrammatically represented below: The broad areas of Competencies under this category are: Organizational Awareness, Adaption Commitment Concern For Order, Quality And Accuracy The competencies can be as follows: Mission Orientation, Commitment to work contract, Ethical conduct and Credibility, integrity and sincerity Concern for College Figure2: Concern for College Competencies The broad areas of Competencies under this category are: Analytical Thinking Conceptual Thinking Meta Qualities Communication Knowledge and Information Orientation Self-Control Persistence Flexibility Achievement and Action Being open and receptive Being organized Work Life Balance The competencies can be as follows: Reasoning, Ability to Generate Theories, Creativity, Presentation skills, Resistance to Stress, Persistence, Strong Self-Concept, Adaptability, Result Orientation, Composure, Humor, Time Management, Work/Life Balance Concern for Self Figure 3: Concern for Self Competencies The broad areas of Competencies under this category are: Interpersonal Understanding Impact and Influence Developing Others Being Directive The competencies can be as follows: Empathy, Approachability, Sensitivity to Others, Interpersonal Savvy, Showmanship, Teaching and Training, Realistic Positive Regard, Motivating others, Classroom Control and Discipline, Assertive Concern for Students Figure 4: Concern for Students Competencies USE OF COMPETENCY MODEL: This Competency Model can be used for identifying policies for teacher training, Pre-service teacher training programs of institutions of higher education for teacher training, In-service training of teachers, Professional Development of Teachers, Selection of teachers, Evaluation of teacher performances, Self-knowledge and self-development of teachers.

Essay --

Have you noticed that since the birth of the Nobel Prize, most of the winners are from Europe and America while no one is from China (except for Mo Yan, who won the literature prize in 2012)? As stated, the United States occupies less than 5% of the world's population, but seventy percent of the winners are from US while China that holds one fifth of the world population has only one winner educated in mainland since 1949. What exactly led to present situation of China’s education system? I think China can not foster a Nobel Prize winner because of too much homework, the unreasonable education system, and universities’ not professional enough academic atmosphere. The first reason is that the burden of students today is heavier and heavier. For example, too much homework occupies major parts of students’ spare time. Due to it, students become weighed down with the homework. What is worse, too much homework makes students be afraid of study and exams, which can result in the loss of interest of study. So we can conclude that what too much homework brings to students is not the chance to exercise themselves but excuses for them to evade study. Gradually they regard the process of doing homework as finishing an unwilling mission rather than a way to check up drawbacks in study, which limits the extra time in which students exercise the ability of thinking, querying, and practicing. If students don not have a right attitude towards homework and study, maybe they won not be serious about academic research either when they work in their own fields. Another reason is that the unreasonable education system also contributes to the present situation. Since the recovery of college entrance exam system, the concepts of education have... ... entertainment. Our politics, religion, journalism, sports, education and business are willing to become a vassal of entertainment†. When that happens, even doing the serious research will become a king of trick to attract people’s attention and then fall into jokes. In a word, these three factors contribute to the present situation of China’s education system. The downside of the Asian system is that the national standards do not do much to foster creativity Glenn Zorpette (n.d) We still have a long way to go to perfect our system of developing ability such as E.D.Hirsch Jr (1995) â€Å"higher order skills†, â€Å"self esteem†, â€Å"metcognitive skills†, â€Å"critical-thinking skills†, â€Å"mere facts† which are qualified for society development. I hope one day I can hear the news where a scientist or a writer educated in the mainland of china not other countries win the Nobel Prize.

financial accounting and the need for a conceptual framework

The Asiatic crisis exploded in July 1997 and raised frights of planetary economic recession. It has exposed an unresolved job in the manner of fiscal globalisation that local accounting criterions used to fix fiscal statement did non run into international criterions. The authoritiess have realized the essentialness to better the supervising, ordinance and transparence of fiscal systems under the forces of fiscal globalisation.[ 1 ] Since the origin, the FASB has recognized the importance of aims of fiscal statements based on different fiscal criterions and the demand for a coherent system of interconnected aims and basicss. In fact, the Board has realized the concern of the external users, the people who use the statements so produced, about the credibleness of fiscal coverage in the recent old ages, and has criticized the undermentioned state of affairs[ 2 ]: Several methods of accounting can be used to reflect the same fact. Less conservative accounting methods are more progressively utilizing than earlier. Militias are used to smooth the earning fluctuation. Form is relevant over substance. The direction has used an averment of immateriality to warrant nondisclosure of unfavourable information or goings from criterions. Off-balance-sheet funding is common. To work out the confusion between different criterions and correct the fiscal accounting state of affairs, a conceptual model was promoted. The chief intent of the model is to increase the comprehensibility of fiscal coverage and the assurance of fiscal statement users. A conceptual model can be defined as: ‘A fundamental law, a coherent system of interconnected aims and basicss that can take to consistent criterions and that prescribes the nature, the map, and bounds of fiscal accounting and fiscal statement. The aims indentify the ends and the intents of accounting. The basicss are the implicit in constructs of accounting constructs that guide the choice of events to be accounted for, the measuring of those events and the agencies of sum uping and pass oning to interested parties. Concepts of that type are cardinal in the sense that other constructs flow from them and mention from them will be necessary in set uping, construing and using accounting and coverage criterions. ‘[ 3 ] Figure 1[ 4 ]shows the eight major constituents of the undertaking. Aims Elementss Recognition Measurement Fiscal Statements and Fiscal Coverage Net incomes Fundss Flows and Liquid Accounting Coverage Qualitative FeaturesFigure 1Conceptual Framework for FinancialAccounting and CoverageExhibit 6.3 shows the range of the conceptual model and lists the related paperss issued to 1982 by the FASB.[ 5 ] At the first degree, the aims indentify the end, the intent, the information and the restrictions of accounting. Statement of Financial Accounting Concept No.1 ( Objective Financial Reporting by Business Enterprises ) and No.4 ( Objective Financial Reporting by Non-business Organization ) present these of import elements of accounting for concern endeavors and non-business organisations severally. At the 2nd degree, the qualitative features of fiscal information ( Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No.2 ) and the elements of fiscal statements ( Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No.3 ) are included in the basicss. The four chief qualitative features are relevancy, dependability, comparison and comprehensibility which are related to the content of information and how the information is presented. Assetss, liabilities, ownership involvement, additions, losingss, parts by the proprietors and distributions to proprietors are described as the elements of fiscal statements. At the 3rd degree, the accountant uses the operational guidelines in advancing and using accounting criterions which include the acknowledgment standards, fiscal statements versus fiscal coverage and measuring ( Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No.33 ) At the 4th degree, describing net incomes, describing financess flow and liquidness and describing fiscal place are included in the show mechanisms that accountant utilizations to show accounting information ( Elementss of Financial Statements No.3 ) .[ 6 ] In the followers, the chief degrees and constituents in the conceptual model for fiscal accounting will be briefly described.The Objective of fiscal statementsThe Statement of Principles follows the IASC Framework in the designation of seven user groups: Investors, Lenders, Suppliers, Employees, Customers, Government and other bureaus, and Public. The investor group is identified as the primary group for whom the fiscal statements are being prepared. The comptrollers have to make up one's mind the information demands of which group are to be dominant, because there is merely one set of fiscal statements. The in formation should be satisfied in four facets: fiscal public presentation, fiscal place, coevals and usage of hard currency, and fiscal adaptability.[ 7 ]The qualitative features of fiscal informationWhen sing about what makes fiscal information useful, the thought of materiality is the first coming into head. The materiality trial is regarded as a threshold quality for acknowl edgment because there is no demand to be considered farther if any point is non material. Actually, the Statement of Principles contains four qualitative features of fiscal information about the content of information and how the information is presented. The two primary features about the content are relevant and dependable ; the other two related to presentation are apprehensible and comparable.[ 8 ]Recognition and MeasurementHarmonizing to acknowledgment standards, the point is required to run into the definition of an component of fiscal statements and be relevant and dependable. With respect to measuring, the statement recognizes the five different properties of assets and liabilities presented in the treatment, historical cost, current replacing cost, current market value, net colony value and present value of future hard currency flows.[ 9 ]DecisionFrom the Asiatic crisis, it is necessary to work out the open job in the manner of fiscal globalisation due to miss of an account ing theory. Then we trace the development of a conceptual model undertaking of the FASB, the regulator of fiscal accounting and coverage, and why the undertaking is needed. In the followers, briefly introduce the construction of the undertaking and depict the chief constituents in the conceptual model of fiscal accounting.

Non-Monetary Rewards in the Workplace

Managers of different industries and organizations have been finding ways to create a motivational workplace. Defining motivation, it is â€Å"that which gives impetus to our behavior by arousing, sustaining, and directing it toward the attainment of goals† (Wortman and Loftus, 1992 p.353). In order for a business organization to achieve its objectives, therefore, there should be some motivations in the workplace that will drive its employees to accomplish such objectives. Companies may aim to improve the quality and productivity of the business primarily for increased profitability. Personally, employees may have their own motivators that drive them to perform their jobs better. Older employees are motivated by the insurance and pensions they will get upon retirement while others are motivated by the increase in salary as the years of their stay in the company increases. What makes motivation very important is that when it has been very effective, the business and its workers will mutually benefit; that is they will both achieve their goals. For businesses, turn over rate will decrease and productivity may increase. What also makes it a hard task for the managers is that employees have different behaviors and attitudes towards work, thus different motivations are needed in order to satisfy the employees. The most common type of motivation is reward. Rewards are given to motivate employees to improve their performance or simply to avoid dissatisfaction among employees. Rewards may be monetary or non-monetary. The purpose of monetary rewards is to acknowledge employees’ excellent job through money. Money has been an effective motivator because people are motivated first by the desire to secure first-level needs of food and shelter for survival (Creech, 1995). Aside from that, one of the primary reasons why people work is to earn money and improve their economic status. Monetary rewards or incentives include salary increase, profit sharing, project bonuses, stock options and warrants, scheduled bonuses and additional paid vacation time (Ballentine et al, 2003 p.1). However, people’s needs are not only material things. There are also other needs that are needed to be satisfied such as the need to learn, to be challenged, to improve skills, improve social status, and the need for other opportunities. These needs are basically what make people self satisfied and fulfilled. Non-Monetary Rewards Non-monetary rewards are important employee motivators. As many people say, there are certain things that money cannot buy and these are sometimes more important to people. According to Kohn (1993 on Ballentine et al, 2003), monetary incentives encourage compliance rather than risk-taking because most rewards are based only on performance. On the other hand, non-monetary rewards are recognition of an excellent job which do not involve money but are still satisfying and motivating to employees with the purpose of creating opportunities to the employees. Non-monetary rewards include: (1) opportunity to learn, develop and advance as an employee; (2) flexible hours; (3) Recognition; (4) the opportunity to contribute; and (5) independence and autonomy (Anonymous, 2006). Opportunity to Learn, Develop and Advance The opportunity to learn, develop and advance can be considered as opportunity for growth. Creech (1995) describes growth as to the mental abilities of employees. Promotion is one means of growth but there are also other ways that employees can learn and grow aside from moving out of their current position. Training, for example, are provided to employees who have showed exemplary performance. Some companies even send their employees abroad for special seminars and trainings to further enhance their skills while other companies have provided scholarships and send their employees to universities to make them more educated. Another way of rewarding an employee is by giving him more complex and challenging tasks that will help improve his skills giving employees a certain feeling of achievement. Flexible Hours Having flexible hours is rewarding to employees in such a way that they can have more time with other obligations. It will be rewarding for good employees if they can have time for other important things such as the family, a part-time job, hobbies and social life. Even the most dedicated employees may feel like slaves and may lose interest with their jobs if all their time will be spent working for the company alone but those who can have time for their selves can be more enthusiastic. Recognition It is very important for an employee’s excellent job to be appreciated and recognized. Recognition as a reward should be earned directly through the job (Creech, 1995) and must be in the form of merit so that employees know efforts are being observed and appreciated by management (Anonymous, 1994). Recognition may be in the form of â€Å"pat in the back†, verbal praise, or written praise (in the form of letter or certificate). There are even some companies that announce the reward publicly by holding ceremonies annually or quarterly in recognition of outstanding employees such as awards for the most prolific employees, the most loyal, most innovative and so on. In this way, employees are more motivated knowing that their good performances are recognized. Opportunity to Contribute Employees feel rewarded when they know that they have good contributions in the workplace. They can even more contribute to the organization when they are given more responsibilities and when they know that their contributions are being valued. This reward involves having to work in a team, working closely with the people in the upper level of the business organizations such as the management, and having your ideas being heard and considered with regards to the decisions made in the company. This kind of reward is commonly given to innovative and creative employees who always have new ideas to contribute to product development and productivity. Independence and Autonomy Exemplary employees are usually given the independence and autonomy because the management trusts them that can accomplish their jobs without supervision and help of others. This reward is commonly given to employees who are good in decision making, can handle pressure and can finish the job on time effectively. It is a rewarding and comfortable feeling for an employee when there is no supervisor or other employees that always looks after his works while employers can save time and money when they have workers who can work independently. Conclusion Although monetary rewards have been traditionally effective as a motivator in a workplace, non-monetary rewards are also important in meeting the other needs of the employees. Non-monetary rewards satisfy and eliminate unhappiness in the workplace by providing employee self-fulfillment, growth, and a feeling of achievement, making them more motivated to perform their jobs better. Therefore, in a workplace, there should be a balance of monetary and non-monetary rewards which motivates employees in different effective ways. References: Anonymous (1994) Personnel Practices/Communications. Human Resources Management. Chicago: Commerce Clearing House Inc., Anonymous, Top Five Non Monetary Items Employees Want in a Workplace Retrieved online on October 12, 2006 http://www.recognitionrewards.com/top_five_items.htm Ballentine, Andrew, McKenzie, Nora, Wysocki, Allen & Kepner, Karl (2003), The Role of Monetary and Non-Monetary Incentives in the Workplace as Influenced by Career Stage, EDIS, Department of Food and Resource Economics, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Creech, Regina (1995), Employee Motivation, Management Quarterly, Volume 36, Issue 2 Wortman, Camille B. and Elizabeth F. Loftus. (1992) Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Political films Essay

The research paper â€Å"The Timing of Presidential Cinema† discusses and analyzes social meaning of political films. Little research is done in this filed, although many films contain political and economic meaning. Interestingly, the release of presidential cinema is associated with the controlling party and with the ideology that the party has in the White House. Republican and Democratic administrations are characterized by the largest amount of political films. Moreover, more films are released during the second presidential term. Releases are more acute during presidential elections. The stronger the economies, the more films about presidents are released. The article â€Å"Quantitative analysis of Motion Picture Content† tends to measure the influence of films on American population. In particular, the emphasis is paid to providing an instrument to measure with scientific precision the content of each film. The cinema has long been accepted and the author argues that more than fifty million of American moviegoers are influenced by desire to seek entertainment when going to the cinema. Therefore, motion picture has become a profound influence on people and it is rather difficult to measure those influence. The role of Hollywood films in American society has not been yet questioned as researchers lack methods to summarize and analyze what the public is presented. The article â€Å"The Image of the Scientist in Science Fiction: A Content Analysis† reviews the social role of the scientists which is conveyed through the cinema. Scientists has undergone both criticism and appraisal, they has been presented as heroes and villains science-fiction magazines, stories and films. Of course, many scientists have been negligible. The social role of the scientist is addressed in terms of saving humanity, but after World War II such measurement has become problematic. Science fiction, therefore, is claimed to serve as vehicle to construct social utopias and to dethrone them. The article is of practical relevance as the USA experience shortage of scientists and engineers.

Internet Exercises Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Internet Exercises - Speech or Presentation Example By extreme we mean: far from what we would expect to observe if the null hypothesis is true. In other words, a small P-value indicates that observation of the test statistic would be unlikely if the null hypothesis is true. The lower the P-value, the more evidence there is in favor of rejecting the null hypothesis. The z-test for a mean is a statistical test for a population mean. The z-test can be used when the population is normal and ÏÆ' is known, or for any population when the sample size n is at least 30. The test statistic is the sample mean and the standardized test statistic is z. A chi-square test can be used to test if the variance (square of standard deviation) of a population is equal to a specified value. This test can be either a two-sided test or a one-sided test. The two-sided version tests against the alternative that the true variance is either less than or greater than the specified value. The one-sided version only tests in one direction. The choice of a two-sided or one-sided test is determined by the problem. For example, if we are testing a new process, we may only be concerned if its variability is greater than the variability of the current process. Sample Problem: A hospital administrator believes that the standard deviation of the number of people using outpatient surgery per day is greater than 8. A random sample 15 days is selected. The data are shown. At ÃŽ ± = 0.10, is there enough evidence to support the administrator’s claim? Assume the variable is normally distributed. Sample Problem: A researcher wanted to see if women varied more than men in weight.   Nine women and sixteen men were weighed.   The variance for the women was 525 and the variance for the men was 142.   What can be concluded at the 0.05 level of significance? Since we are testing to see if the variance for the women