Business and Management for Engineers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business and Management for Engineers - Essay Example Its management remains in control during the period of Chapter 11 but the important thing is that it gives the company â€Å"automatic stay† and â€Å"breathing room† to put its house in order by not allowing parties to take legal action or take away its assets (http://www.gmreinvention.com). General Motors was originally founded on September 16, 1908 as a holding company for Buick by two partners, William C. Durant and Charles S. Mott. Two years later or around 1910, Durant lost control of General Motors because of a default in its bank loan obligations. However, he was able to regain control through a proxy war he waged by using the Chevrolet Motor Car Company to acquire shares secretly but then he lost control again when the vehicle market collapsed during the Great Depression. General Motors Corporation was part of the so called three generals in American business – the other two being General Electric and General Mills. Years of mismanagement and a bureaucratic corporate culture led to its collapse in the last financial crisis and is now owned by the US government through its Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP); it was overtaken by Toyota last year. After its restructuring under Chapter 11 rules, it is now a limited liability company. It means being an LLC, it provides limited liability to its owners which are the US government and to a lesser extent, also the Canadian government. Other present owners include the United Auto Workers Union Employee Association and various bondholders of Motors Liquidation Corporation (the new name of General Motors while it is undergoing rehabilitation at present) while the previous stockholders of the company are now holding worthless pieces of paper as company liabilities are much greater than its total assets (a negative net-worth of $86 billion). Before the restructuring, it was a

Chinese History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chinese History - Essay Example According to the text, the top trigram is referred to as Tui, the Joyous and denotes gladness. The lower trigram in my throw denotes Chen, also referred to as the Arousing and has the attribute of movement (pantherwebworks.com, 2). When the two trigrams are joined together, they yield gladness in movement (following). According to the text, following is endowed with the utmost victory, perseverance promotes, and no blame. The opposite hexagram (Chieh) warns that one must not persevere in the face of vexing limitation. I wanted to know if this year will offer more good than bad, hence I believe that the divination holds that if I seek to serve on the side of good, then goodness will follow me however the reverse also holds true. The divination also holds that I should strive to overcome all limitations that may prevent me from achieving my following in order to succeed. While I truly did enjoy this exercise, I believe divination is largely idealistic. The exercise did allow me to think more about my question and I believe that the answers that it provided were very helpful. I however would not depend on divinity to solve my large questions/decisions. As to the value, I truly believe that the practice offers temporary peace that can enable one to view their problems in a different

Group Work vs Alone Essay Example for Free

Group Work vs Alone Essay You could receive useful feedback from group members, and shorten the amount of time you might have originally spent on the project if you had worked alone. Contrary to popular belief, there most certainly is an I in team. It is the same I that appears three times in responsibility. ~Amber Harding When you work in group you will be able to assign each member job that will help the project because of their specialization in that area of expertise, like shy person wouldn’t want to be the presenter and a terrible writer wouldn’t want to have the job of writing down everything. Using each person’s skills and talent to the group’s advantage will make the work easier; everyone has different strengths and can contribute something positive to the group. When all the skills are combined it creates new approaches to solving a problem with better results than if you were to work alone. When working in a group its best to make sure everyone has a job to do so at the end you would know who the slackers were and it’s also important to know your job so at the end of the project there’s no mix up’s at the end causing the entire group to start the project over again. Team means Together Everyone Achieves More! ~Author Unknown When you work in a group you will be able to receive feedback on what you’re doing and help to make the project as a whole better. When you’re working in a group it’s easier to improve your ideas than when you work alone, because you’ll think the idea is really good until someone in your group helps you make the idea better.

The Rote Leaning Of Thailand Education Essay

The Rote Leaning Of Thailand Education Essay Education system is important all over the world. It concerns the future of a country by educating children who will become a countrys future. The issue of whether Thailand should revise its educational system has been a very big topic. We think that Thai education system is good, but it isnt. Thai education system should be reformed. This report will be mentioning about the problems that Thai education system are facing, which is the rote learning. Rote learning is a learning technique which focuses on memorization. The major practice involved in rote learning is learning by repetition by which students commit information to memory in a highly structured way. The idea is that one will be able to quickly recall the meaning of the material the more one repeats it. Rote methods are routinely used when quick memorization is required. (Emma, 2012) Teaching by rote is an old-fashioned and ineffective way of teaching. It relies on learners remembering and reciting lists of information. What is not taught in rote learning is the full well rounded understanding of the subject. That is why you should say no to rote learning at any level. Mainstream education in Thailand is mostly done by teaching from the front and rote learning. Teachers give lessons and information to students by chalkboards while the pupils listen passively and occasionally take notes. Reformations are planned to change the countrys education system. After brainstorming and sharing our experience, the production team can list the causes of the rote learning of Thailand as follow. Firstly, students lack of critical thinking skills, because of Thai students memorize everything in the books, and dont find the true knowledge by themselves. Most knowledge was traditionally transmitted orally and not in writing. Secondly, education in Thailand is based on the textbook because Thai teacher will not find other lessons that are not in the textbook to teach. They follow all of the text in the books. If the state publishes textbooks for students are late, the education method will be carried out in the same delay. The third is teachers give lessons and information to students by chalkboards while the pupils listen passively and occasionally take notes. The curriculum is blamed that it aimed only to teach students to listen, speak and write and know about Thai literature. It failed to make students loving the language and knowing enough to c reate their own work. Half of our old primary and secondary school students failed their Thai language test. Thai language knowledge of primary and secondary school students has been declining. We think there is nothing wrong with the aims of the curriculum (teaching listening, speaking, writing and literature). It must be the way it is being taught is not working. Making students love the language is a teachers job. Changing the curriculum without changing the teachers or training them better wont help at all. I think a lot of Thai students are in danger of an over teaching of this educational method. If an education is mainly based on learning by using memory more than understanding (which is what rote learning is), graduates might turn out to be well-educated parrots rather than proficient scholars capable of creative and critical thinking. Not only children are bad at learning English, they arent good at Thai neither. It is very important for Thai students to master their mother tongue before leaning second language. I have to agree that putting more focus on reading and writing and introducing more enjoyable learning activities could enhance the students interest in learning. As mentioned above, we found the solutions to solve the rote learning of Thailand. At first, the Ministry of Education should push teachers to make sure the students learn critical thinking and problem solving skills. We see a serious need to develop the teachers quality, which should raise the quality of instruction as well as students learning. The training has to be given to teachers to ensure their solid knowledge of what they teach. Teachers should explore effective teaching methods and materials they have never tried before. With the teachers more willing to think outside the box, students are likely to have more fun at school. Classroom should not be just the learning place. Teachers can extend teaching space from classrooms to the other places such as museums, local markets or even paddy fields. There is knowledge everywhere. Going outside must teach students to search for the truth by themselves from various dimensions of truth, from various contexts where the truths are sit uated. Because there is no one-size-fits-all solution, teachers could re-design their classroom setting and teaching methods in line with their students pace of learning. However, the problems can be fixed but it has to take a long time. If we all change our own learning behaviors from now on, its not too long to develop the Thai learning styles. Finally, if Thailand wants to be part of the global community of scholars and innovators, sending its sons and daughters to foreign centers of study and research, in other words study and work abroad, Thai policy-makers will have to realize soon that swift and efficient action has to be taken, better sooner than later. Studying at a foreign university or working for an international company requires a fair amount of creativity, critical and inventive thinking, original ideas and the capability of having and expressing ones personal opinions. If Thai education doesnt prepare students for these challenges, Thailand will never become the centre of anything in the world, and it will forever remain a backbencher in the eyes of the international community.

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The bestselling novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee is about a racist southern community in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. At that time, southern states were still racially segregated. Harper Lee constructs her book by teaching all her readers about human standards. By presenting the good and bad in people. A major theme of this novel is the humankind’s inhumanity toward the humankind. One character that is treated terribly was Boo Radley. Boo Radley is a very obscure character in To Kill a Mockingbird. Not only does the whole community treat him terrible, so does his whole family. Boo Radley’s father is the number one victim to treat Boo Radley terrible. Boo was going to be locked in jail for some trouble he got in when he was a teenager. Boo’s father wanted the punishment in his hands and locked Boo into the house till he was an adult. Boo’s father thinks of Boo as a disgrace to their family. Boo stabbed his father in the leg with scissors with all his hatred in him. Boo’s father was always a very cruel man. Another character that treated Boo terrible is his brother, Nathan Radley. Boo always communicates with the children, Jem and Scout, by the knothole of a tree. Nathan noticed that Boo was giving the children gifts, so he filled the knothole of the tree with cement. Boo has never communicated with anyone for almost 15 years, and Nathan prevented Boo’s chance to ever talk to someone and be friends with. Boo was treated terribly by the children also. The children thought Boo was a scary person. Every time they came to a path where Boo was located they would always be frightened by the rumors they heard about him. \:Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels ... ...ayella’s father sees Tom, Mayella insists that Tom raped her. She did a horrible thing and blamed Tom. Tom did all her chores for free of charge, and Mayella ruined his life by blaming Tom for something he did not do. Mrs. Merriweather is part of a missionary circle. It’s a group of Christian women who are determined to help people suffering poor countries. They complain about her black servants, that they don’t work hard or deserve their pay. They only pay little amount to their servants. They do not perform their Christian attitude toward other people. This makes them an hypocrite because they make people believe that they are perfect Christians. Harper Lee teaches her readers something. It demonstrated the good and bad in people. She shows the readers how racist people could be so cruel. This novel showed how humankind’s inhumanity toward the humankinds.

Romanticism :: essays research papers

Romanticism Roughly from 1815 to 1910, this period of time is called the romantic period. At this period, all arts are transforming from classic arts by having greater emphasis on the qualities of remoteness and strangeness in essence. The influence of romanticism in music particularly, has shown that romantic composers value the freedom of expression, movement, passion, and endless pursuit of the unattainable fantasy and imagination. The composers of the romantic period are in search of new subject matters, more emotional and are more expressive of their feelings as they are not bounded by structural rules in classical music where order, equilibrium, control and perfection are deemed important (Dorak, 2000). The characteristics of romantic music are influenced by the Romantic Movement, where the arts of literature and painting play a great role in influencing romantic music. Other evidence of non-musical influences in romantic music is the popularity of romantic poetry during that era. Poems, opera arias and works form great romantic poets are transformed into instrumental works and composers like Schubert uses musical elements such as melodies inspired by poetry in his works (http://absoluteastronomy.com). The musical language itself has shown that romantic music is different from the rest of the music before its time. Extended tonal and harmonic elements are noticed in romantic music compared to those in the classical era, where chromaticism, the usage of dissonance, and modulations are used extensively. Other societal practice during romanticism is the Romantic Opera. In comparison to the classical and baroque opera, romantic opera has a continuous flow of music in each scene and soon, people pay less attention to tenors and pays equal attention to choruses. To name a few of many composers for romantic operas, Wagner and Bizet are known for their works for romantic opera during the romantic era. Romantic music is also influenced by folk music, tunes, rhythms and themes as many romantic composers wrote nationalist music, which is inspired from folk dances and songs, during the romantic period (http://absoluteastronomy.com). Another factor that contributed to romantic music in defining its traits is the instrumentation.

Aligning Elementary School to Middle School Curriculum Essay

There has been an upsurge in curriculum alignment actions among educational institutions in an attempt to reinforce the efficiency and effectiveness of instructions and assessment programs (Marsh & Willis, 2003). The need to eliminate the differences in both learning and teaching has compelled leaders in educational settings to examine the concepts and skills taught in educational institutions (Marsh & Willis, 2003). Also, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program of 2002 justifies the significance of curriculum alignment activities (Clarke, Kayona, Ruebling & Stow, 2006). In curriculum development, there are three essential areas that need great considerations. One, the curriculum document needs to â€Å"give direction, focus, and accountability in the learning environment. (Clarke, Kayona, Ruebling & Stow, 2006). Two, the curriculum document should be revised on a regular basis by at least two educational leaders and three; student outcomes that recognize what the learners acquire prior to graduation should align with the standards set by the state. According to Clarke, Kayona, Ruebling & Stow, (2006) many educational institutions have not yet integrated successfully the essentials standards within their curriculum nor maintained a written document to guide instruction. Again, the important role of leaders in educational setting to develop and implement curriculum is evident with the alignment of taught, written and tested curriculum. Clarke, Kayona, Ruebling & Stow, 2006) also affirms that the lack of curriculum alignment can result to lower achievement where educators teach contents that is not part of the curriculum document and nor is it part of assessment material. This dissertation will analyze the curriculum articulation and alignment between elementary school and middle school social studies, specifically, fourth and seventh grade. Inclusive of this dissertation will be a plan to improve curriculum articulation and alignment between elementary school and middle school social studies as well as improve the academic progression of student and the consistency of the curriculum. Summary of Original Analysis The curriculum for the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction is a standards-based design that lays emphasis on the student’s ability. The curriculum is divided by subject, grade level and standard. It explains the core contents for each subject with proficiency descriptors. The curriculum document is relevant to the mission of the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction as well as the objectives for the subjects. The Social Studies curriculum document for North Dakota Department of Public Instruction has five major themes for both elementary school and middle school as well as benchmark expectations in each category. The main ideas and academic expectations are the same for both schools. The design of subject matter for adjoining educational stages includes concepts, skills, understandings, and the core content useful in assessment. The curriculum documents of North Dakota Department of Public Instruction for the elementary and middle school comprise vertical alignment between the adjoining educational levels. The concepts, skills and understandings become more complicated amid the two educational levels. Therefore, learners should understand the concepts and skills of the elementary school before learning the concepts and skills of middle school. The concentration of the elementary school is narrower than that of middle school. The curriculum documents of both elementary and middle school do not exhibit horizontal alignment. Improvement of curriculum alignment, student progression and curriculum consistency Curriculum alignment is necessary to guarantee harmony between the curriculum’s intentions and the instruction of the curriculum by testing what is taught. In effect, there is little or no space left for differences in curriculum implementation. The educational leaders thereafter, assess educators by the degree in which the learners meet the set standards through standardized examination (Marsh & Willis, 2003). The vertical alignment links subjects that express a relationship and a particular order and then match the curriculum to the particular order. In this, students will gain vital knowledge prior to the next subject. The alignment aids in material reinforcement and offers teachers knowledge in relation to students’ ability. In addition, Melvin (2007 notes that vertical alignment enhances learning for students as well as communication between teachers at various educational levels. Horizontal alignment transversely brings together curriculum objectives between subjects. Horizontal alignment benefits learners in that learning transmits to new situation where students realize the significance of the knowledge gained (Wraga, 1999). The social studies curriculum within the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction between elementary and middle school, puts emphasis on standards and outlines objectives needed by students to learn. So as to improve curriculum alignment, it is necessary for curriculum at adjoining educational levels to lay emphasis on these objectives at every appropriate occurrence but not only within a particular grade. Glatthorns (1999) suggests it is important that the curriculum contain objectives for constant development, which can center on learning as well as testing when probable. Again, the curriculum should include enhancement units for all learners. Educators can then assess the standards and align the taught, written and tested curriculum. By gathering the acknowledged state standards and applying resourcefulness, tutors can develop unit which, will be interesting to the students. Teachers’ flexibility can also be put in play where the curriculum can be adjusted to meet the requirements and capability of the learners. In this strategy, educators align the written curriculum with the tested curriculum and the taught curriculum with the written one. As they implement the curriculum, In addition, teachers can include objectives for ongoing development and enhancement units. This process will allow learners to achieve high grades on tests while the ongoing students will have units of study that are comprehensive and thus will get their interest (Glatthorn, 1999). The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction maintains a standards-based curriculum that contains list of fundamental details and abilities at the lower end of Bloom’s Taxonomy, with no intention for connecting the fundamental details into more important outcomes of learning. Marsh and Willis (2003) contends that the progression that has been mandated by state would then be trussed by practical and fundamental knowledge with minimal consideration of lasting learning competency that is necessary to life as well as other areas of learning. A curriculum that lays out the necessity to address all students and concentrates on cognition development at a higher-level whilst keeping the standards-based curriculum is the most suitable to put into practice for the two adjoining educational stages (Wraga, 1999). A combined curriculum that is integrated, inclusive and student centered with holistic and multicultural aspects will enhance curriculum alignment both horizontally and vertically. In addition, this kind of curriculum will enhance learners’ academic progression and assist in curriculum consistency. Wraga (1999) admits that the standards-based curriculum must contain curriculum alignment of a larger curriculum that ensures lifelong learning. A curriculum that contains intrapersonal improvement encourages the learners to discuss learning and associate in relation to the learners’ life. Teaching and nurturing social skills through the curriculum allows cooperation of learners with other individuals, builds conflict resolution skills, and assists in team building. The curriculum within the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction shall integrate multicultural aspect so as to align the curriculum with the today’s society. Learners will get to value diverse culture and as a result develop communication among cultures. An all grade inclusive curriculum which is also adaptive is valuable to all learners; it will offer equal learning opportunities to students with disabilities as well as allow all students to embrace diversity among individuals. A student-centered curriculum focuses on the learners but not the curriculum materials, content to be covered or written goals. When there is implementation of a standards-based curriculum in association with a combined curriculum and high-stakes testing, students are assured of quality education. Layton & Lock (2007) asserts that student assessments are vital and in an effort to assist in academic progression of student educators should build tests that assess student learning correctly and adjust tests for the at-risk learners. Educators can unearth better ways of evaluating test results so as to identify learning needs of students and revise instruction. In addition this plan integrates authentic assessment. Authentic assessment demands the relevance and integration of skills vital to solve complicated problems and allows enhanced substantiation of the students’ ability to prosper in all situations. Learners have a chance to explain themselves allowing teachers to better understand the learning process and get instant feedback for learners. Furthermore, the application of authentic assessment sets up teacher collaboration and collegiality as well as expands the reflection and inquiry by the teacher. Conclusion Curriculum alignment involves matching a curriculum’s content to the use of tests so as to assess the learning of student (Marsh & Willis, 2003). Curriculum alignment calls for educational institutions to ensure consistence in the objectives, guides, textbooks, and tests that make up the curriculum (Marsh & Willis, 2003). Leaders in educational settings determine academic achievement through standard testing as a means to find out what happens in schools. Institutions of education emphasize effectiveness through increasing academic achievement where they term decline in academic achievement as a problem in the quality of the curriculum. Thus, aligning the intended curriculum with the taught curriculum seems to resolve this problem (Marsh & Willis, 2003). By integrating the previous aspects into the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction curriculum, a more significant learning experience can be achieved by both educators and students. Lastly, curriculum alignment will be seen, student academic progression as well as curriculum consistency will improve (Marsh & Willis, 2003). References Alexson, R. G. & Kemnitz, C. P. (2004): Curriculum articulation and transitioning student success: Where are we going wrong and what lessons have we learned? Educational Research Quarterly, Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals database. Accessed on September 26, 2007 Biessman, J. B. (2006): An examination of curriculum articulation in Wisconsin high school and post-secondary introductory biology courses. Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations database. Accessed on September 25, 2007. Carnoy, M. (2005): Have state accountability and high-stakes test influenced student progression rates in high school? Educational Measurement, Issues and Practice, 24. Retrieved from ProQuest database. Accessed on September 26, 2007. Clarke, N. A. , Kayona, F. , Stow, S. , Ruebling (2006): Developing standards-based curricula and assessments: Lessons learned from the field. Retrieved from EBSCO host database. Accessed on September 26, 2007, Cumming, J. J. & Maxwell, G. S. (1999): Contextualizing authentic assessment. Assessment in Education, 6. Retrieved from ProQuest database. Accessed on September 26, 2007 Hodgkinson, H. (2000). Educational demographics: What teachers should know. Educational Leadership. John, B. (2003): Curriculum audits: achieving alignment for student success. Education Today. Retrieved from CBCA Complete database. Accessed on September 26, 2007. Odden, A. (2000): The costs of sustaining educational change through comprehensive school reform. Ornstein, A. C. & Levine, D. U. (1990): School effectiveness and reform: Guidelines for action. Porter, A. C. (2005): Getting the Content of Instruction Right. Retrieved from CBCA Complete database. Accessed on September 25, 2007 Layton, C. A. & Lock, R. H. (2007): Use authentic assessment techniques to fulfill the promise of no child left behind. Intervention in School and Clinic. Retrieved from ProQuest database. Accessed on September 25, 2007 Marsh, C. J. , & Willis, G. (2003): Curriculum: Alternative approaches, ongoing issues, 3rd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Wraga, W. G. (1999). The educational and political implications of curriculum alignment and standards-based reform. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision. Retrieved from ProQuest database. Accessed on September 25, 2007 Young, M. L. (2004): High-stakes assessment and school accountability: A multicase study describing and comparing the best practices of five K–6 elementary schools that have demonstrated significant increases in student achievement as measured by the norm-referenced SAT-9 assessment and the Academic Performance Index of California. Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations database. Accessed on September 25, 2007