Cost Accounting Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cost Accounting Proposal - Essay Example Such things as raw materials would not be included on the balance sheet because it is non-existent. Some intangibles might be included as well. Another area of consideration is the income statement, which would include such items as expenses, marketing, net income, purchases, and beginning and end inventory. Monitoring and measuring capacity utilization and productivity levels on a continuous basis will ensure streamlined operations, resulting in an increase of return of investment for the parent company. Efficient operational activities lessen the total costs that must be allocated to the final product, increasing overall profitability and growth potential for the newly formed online business unit. There are various cost allocation methods that one could use to allocate cost. Three methods commonly used are the direct method, the step method and the reciprocal method. The direct method focuses on charging cost of support service departments to internal customers. This method does not make allocations among support-service departments. A disadvantage of this method is it does not take into account that the services that one department may provide support to another and cause higher cost allocations to the production department.

Characteristics Of High Self Esteem Persons English Language Essay

Characteristics Of High Self Esteem Persons English Language Essay This chapter consists of two parts. The first section describes the theoretical framework. This section explains topics such as English writing, affective factors, self-esteem theories, self-esteem and writing strategy, EFL teachers and their role in building students self-esteem and humanistic approach. The second section deals with the analysis and a comparison between variables. This section outlines issues such as the relationship between self-esteem and writing strategy, and continues to investigate the relation between self-esteem and speaking in English, then the relation between self-esteem and reading in English, and the relation between self-esteem and listening in English in the final turn. Theoretical Framework English is an international language that is used throughout the world. The number of people who use English as a second language or foreign language is much higher than those whose native language is English. Thomas and Collier (2002) believed that until the coming of 2030 the percentage of students in U.S. schools will be over 40% of the border. Al-Sulaimani (2005) states that in some Arab countries, most people who study pharmacy, medicine, computer and science use English as their primary language. Al-Harbi (2010) found that EFL learners (especially beginners) may not be able to read and spell words or have sound-letter problems in pronunciation due to separation, the reason for this difference is that such problems exist in the native language and target language and another reason is the difference in writing in both languages. English Writing Typically, a relationship between reading and writing are combined. Practice in writing in a cross-training can help language learners to enhance the capabilities in reading and writing skills and write their spelling correctly (DuBois, Erickson and Jacobs, 2007). According to Krashen (1984), most teachers were convinced that education should focus on form and follow Krashens Natural Approach which relates to childrens L1 oral acquisition. King (2003) points out that punctuation in our writing is physical and our speech can be seen as non-tangible, if we have no punctuation in written and spoken language, they are chaotic. Then, Allen and Huon (2003) argue that effective and good writing requires a sound understanding of which is considered as a mechanic of writing. For example, the use of punctuation in phrases such as keeping the car moving, stopping, starting in the right place, pausing or at any other time is necessary. In general, Rude (2006) believes that punctuation helps people who simply read the sentences. Commas, semicolons, dashes and so on are making relationship between sentence patterns and phrases. On the other hand, if we use the wrong punctuation we create confusion in the text, knowing how to use punctuation in the text is an important point in writing. King (2003) states that capital letters can be considered as a form of punctuation that guide the eye and mind in the text. Typically, the capital letters use to start sentences and proper names. Affective Factors Cognitive domain, affective domain and psychological domain are very important issues in language learning process. In this regard, Brown (2000) asserts that the affective domain refers to emotions and feelings. Bloom and his colleagues have developed a wide assortment for the three domains on the affective domain. It consists of five levels. The first level is receiving, one person is in contact with others and is exposed to a series of data. He can accept and respond to them or reject them. If he responds, he is entering into the second level which is responding. The third level is valuing. After responding, a person according to his perceptions can be either positive or negative. Level four or organization is when a person organizes the values based on his beliefs and finds the relationship between values and his beliefs. The final level is realizing, which is a persons thinking and behavior into a system based on values (He, 1996). Inhibition Inhibition is an aspect of affective domain that is directly linked to self-esteem. People have a defense system that protects them against internal and external criticism (Brown, 2000). Ehrman (1993) suggests that students with thick, perfectionist boundaries find language learning more difficult than those learners with thin boundaries who favor attitudes of openness and ambiguity tolerance. Inhibition is to prevent people expressing their freedom and comfort. It requires a second or foreign language learning series that mistakes happen and learning from these mistakes often occurs (He, 1996; Brown, 2000). But if the learner afraid of making mistakes and these mistakes affects his ego, from the inside (ones self) who is fallen and from the outside (others) who is threatened. Both are considered a barrier to inhibit. So it can be concluded that students in relaxed environments without threat have the lowest degree of degradation (He, 1996; Brown, 2000; Andres, 2002). Risk-taking Communicate in a second and foreign language needs some competition and guessing. Some students are afraid of answering any questions and respond to a question that is absolutely true. They prefer to be silent all the time to keep from making mistakes or someone does not mock them. Having such a fear of making mistakes provides an opportunity to students who are unable to practice the language. According to Weiten (1989) in conversation, the students do not have enough time to go to the dictionary for finding the exact pronunciation and grammar, whereas in reading and writing, typically the student has enough time to choose the best words and organize sentences. People with healthy self-esteem, do not have any psychological damage with errors and negative feedback. On the other hand, fear of making mistakes can have a negative effect on learning and knowledge of learners. As a verbal exercise, it is necessary the information stored in long-term memory that can be prevented from language learning. Brown (2000) claims that: students who make mistakes out of ignorance in the classroom tend to be silent. It seems that self-esteem is closely related to risk-taking factors: if someone has high global self-esteem and doing something wrong ignorance, has no fear of making mistakes. Anxiety According to Brown (1994) anxiety is a variable that is associated with self-esteem. In general, anxiety has a negative relationship with self-esteem. Anxiety includes feelings such as worry, despair, self-doubt, apprehension and concern. Anxiety is divided into two different levels: Global or trait anxiety Situational or state anxiety (Brown, 1994). Anxiety is in many forms, such as anxiety test. Foreign language anxiety is one of the forms that are filled with anxiety items. Between the years 1968 to 1980 some studies performed by Clement, Gardner, Symthe, Tarampi, Lambert and Tucker about the relationship between different types of anxiety and second language performance. The results of these studies indicate that there are no direct relationships between measures of anxiety and second language anxiety. But in 1975, Chastain conducted a study and found an inverse relationship between anxiety and learners grades in Spanish. However, the same relationship was not found for learners of German and French (Gardner and Clement, 1990). Motivation Motivation is one of the affective factors that is important in success and failure of students. Dornyei (2001) argues that motivation is a vague term that encompasses a wide variety of meanings. Gardner (1985) defining the role of motivation in learning L2 argues that a field that individual deals with his attempts to learn the language because tends to this work and to be satisfactory of the experience of activities. This definition includes: Attempt expended to reach the goal Willingness to learn Satisfaction of learning a language. In general, motivation in the classroom depends on the teachers abilities to maintain interest in the classroom. Many factors affect the motivation as far as Danis (1993) believes these factors include: Interest in the subject Understanding of its usefulness General desire to achieve Self-confidence Self-esteem as patience and resistance. The main model of motivation includes four components that have been designed by Gardner and Smythe (1975). These components include: Group-specific attitudes Learners motives for learning the target language Affective factors (Sterns Generalized Attitudes) Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation (Sterns Attitudes towards the learning situation) You can see the Gardner and Smythes motivation model in the figure 1. Group-specific attitudes Learners motives for learning the target language Affective factors Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation Favourable versus unfavourable attitudes to the users of the target language Motivational intensity Interest in foreign language Anomie Need achievement Ethnocentricism Authoritarianism machiavellianism Integrative motivation Instrumental motivation Motivation Extrinsic motivation provided in self-instruction (i.e. incentives, encouragments and threats): Teacher/counsellor Learning contracts Records of work Self-assessment/peer-assesssment Reality testing Summative assessment Factors from self-instruction promoting intrinsic motivation (i.e. continuing willingness to put learning at a high level of priority): Learners awareness of needs and goals Perceived relevance of the course to achieving goal Maintenance of self-esteem as a person through involvment in decision making Degree of freedom to use preferred learning strategies Membership of a supportive group leading to increased empathy and reduced inhibitions Troble shooting procedures Figure 2.1: Gardner and symthes (1975) model of motivation Self-esteem Self-esteem is a fundamental need in human life. There are some meanings for self-esteem: Bandura (1997) defines self-esteem as an individuals judgement of their own value. Pervin and John (2001) believe that self-esteem is a general attitude to personality traits not any particular individual circumstances; and finally, Barnden (2001) stated that self-esteem is the experience of feeling competent to deal with the problems of life and knowing the life happiness. This competency includes self-efficacy and self-respect. According to Brown (2000), self-esteem includes various dimensions which are: Global self-esteem which means general assessment a person makes of ones self Situational self-esteem which means a specific situation such as foreign language context Task self-esteem that means a particular task within a situation e.g. writing in an EFL context. In addition, self-esteem helps in all aspects of ones life. Self-esteem is essential for a healthy psychological life. This is an important aspect of affective factors because all the affective factors are related to the self-esteem (Brown, 2000). Self-esteem has two different levels, low self-esteem and high self-esteem. Roger found that: children with higher self-esteem compared to children with lower self-esteem are more decisive, more independent and more creative. Also people with self-esteem can easily define their observations are flexible, and able to produce solutions to major problems (Pervin and John, 2001). According to McAdams (2006) Maslow proposed that humans are having a series of abilities that these abilities do not available unless, the basic needs provide for the first time. By paying attention to figure 2, we can understand the importance of positive self-esteem. Figure 2.2: Maslows Hierarchy of needs Low self-esteem is like a person to overcome their own lives and affects on the ones life cycle. Negative thoughts lead to negative attitudes, negative attitudes cause negative behavior, negative behavior may develop negative feelings and finally, all parts affected by self-esteem (Napoli, et. al., 1992). This can be shown as follows: Negative behavior Negative feelings Negative attitude Figure 2.3: Interaction Between Low Self-esteem and Negative Behavior Characteristics of high self-esteem persons A person with high self-esteem has special characteristics. According to Branden (1985) he/she may have some or all of the following characteristics: A person is open to criticism and deals with mistakes comforting. A person can give and receive expressions of feeling, appreciation and so on spontaneously. A persons saying , doing and appearance go in harmony. A person accepts changes in different life aspects without being worried. A person is flexible in responding to situations and challenges. A person can be firm under conditions of stress. A person can speak about his proficiency and lack of it with honesty and without being embarrassed. A person moves and speaks easily and confidentially. A person appreciates his own merits. A person does not consider himself inferior to others. Moreover, according to Napoli et al. (1992) a person who has high self-esteem has the following characteristics: The individual is open to take the opportunity to participate in developing experiences in spite of the risk of making mistakes, He/she takes part in an activity (sports, learning a new skill etc.) just for the pleasure of doing it without feeling the need to prove anything, He/she takes the responsibility of his/her actions without blaming anyone or finding pretexts, He/she accepts his own and others strengths and accomplishments, He/she accepts the personal power of someone without trying to abuse or control them, He/she focuses on the quality rather than the quantity of life experiences (e.g. friendship), He/she enjoys team work and appreciates its value in getting a job done or improving interpersonal relations, He/she finds a balance in life (e.g. work, entertainment, solitude). Internal consistency of high self-esteem may have higher (or lower) range types of psychological processes on the take. According to Schneider and Turkat (1975) possibly some of the people use a high self-esteem as a defensive measure to identify the optimal of society. Characteristics of low self-esteem persons A person with low self-esteem like a person with high self-esteem has a series of characteristics. He/she may have some or all of the following characteristics: A person feels awkward, shy conspicuous and unable to express him/ herself with confidence. A person worries about making mistakes and is always embarrassing to expose him/herself to anything new. A person is hyper sensitive and hyper alert to signs of rejection. A person deals with life in a protective and defensive manner. A person is depressed, unhappy and shows a greater degree of anxiety and aggression. A person does not feel satisfied with his/her life. A person is vulnerable to criticism and has greater social anxiety. A person feels inferior to others or unworthy. A person does not like leadership role or voluntary tasks. A person behaves inconsistently. A person suffers a lot of personal mistakes and sees failure as a result of deficiency in his/her abilities. A person underestimates his/her abilities (Apter, 1998; Timothy et al., 2001). On the other hand, according to Napoli et al. (1992) a person who has low self-esteem has the following characteristics: Note: Deficiency in accepting constructive criticism and making use of it in ones development. Deficiency in taking decisions and realising creative values, need to obey firmly set rules, Deficiency in taking the risks that may give way to mistakes, Deficiency in changing, a fixation on the same food, environment, course of action etc., Deficiency in focusing on others power, Deficiency in focusing on ones own power, A tendency to live others accomplishments vicariously (isolating heroes), Tendency to attach a lot of importance to the outward appearance (like dating the most attractive person on the campus, driving the hottest car, etc.), Tendency to be compulsive about cleanliness, eating, orderliness and the like, Tendency to be overly competitive (to be in need of winning every time and surpassing everyone in order to feel important), Tendency to be a poor loser and to see this position as an approval of their personal value, Tendency to be overly critical (finding fault), Tendency to overwork to prove themselves and to show others their worth. Theories on Self-esteem According to Murk (1999) in his book as Self-esteem; Research, Theory and Practice, take a number of theories that are briefly defined in the following: A historical view with modern relevance William James as a famous American psychologist, believes that the origin of self-esteem involves factors such as history, culture, family and circumstances. These factors are forming the identity of someone. He knows a self-esteem relationship with values, success and competence in the development of level of self-esteem; for example, if a person is able to manage their identity competently or the other side fails to do this. Success increases self-esteem and failure decrease it. The psychodynamic approach White believes that self-esteem is based on the relationship between ego and ideal ego. Here the focus is on efficacy. Self-esteem depends on someones competence and effectiveness. He believes that the relationship between self-esteem and achievement, respect is obtained. Thus, White concluded that the efficacy is taproot of self-esteem. Self-esteem is seen as an evolutionary phenomenon that subject to other processes, force development and deals with them in adulthood. Briefs, White to be exploring the relationship between competence, ego and self-esteem. The sociological approach Rosenberg can be defined self-esteem as positive and negative attitude towards a particular object in the other words ego (as cited in Murk, 1999, p. 122). Rosenberg was focused on the role of social factors on self-esteem. He combined both affective and cognitive processes in judging self-worth. He believes that the person who is evaluated should develop standards and values that including social aspects and compare him/herself with those standards. The smaller gap is between self and those standards and the highest gap is between self-esteem and those standards. Finally, Rosenberg focused on self-worth as a representative of self-esteem. The behavioral perspective Coopersmith defined self-esteem as evaluation that a person had to be done in relation to himself. This reflects the attitude of approval or disapproval, and indicates the extent to which a person believes in himself (as cited in Murk, 1999, p. 124). Under this approach, there is the relationship between self-esteem and behaviors such as anxiety and depression. Coopersmith believes that self-esteem or lack of it can be learned. In short, Coopersmith the first theorized who expressed two components which are included performance and competence as the principle component of the self-esteem. Behavior Informational reinforcement Aversive stimuli Hedonic reinforcement Consumers learning history Current behavior setting Figure 2.4: Adapted from summary of the behavioral perspective model The humanistic vision According to Branden (2001) ones evaluation is the most important key to ones behavior, business process, feelings, desires, values and goals affects him. He believes that the impression that person towards himself affects some responses; for example, if a person believes that is stupid, it has joined to the fact. In the first instance, he would suffer vision of human after self-esteem. Murk (1999) also emphasized self-esteem is an important part of human existence that must be managed throughout to life cycle (p. 130). In addition, Branden views self-esteem as ones having two components: Self-confidence (a sense of efficacy) Self-respect (a sense of competence). Moreover, Branden believes that a student may be damaging his self-esteem based on his notion; for example, when the learner in the learning has some difficulties, maybe he/she thinks these problems due to his/her inability. In summary, all these theorists have paid largely to the self-esteem. James is one of the first scientists who spoke about the foundations of self-esteem. White focused on effectiveness. Rosenberg puts his focus on self-worth and finally, Coopersmith and Branden, both of them focused on self-efficacy and self-worth as an essential component of self-esteem. EFL teachers role in building students self-esteem Teachers have an integral role in building self-esteem. Teachers should make the atmosphere so that students can develop their self-esteem; with this, the level of their success and confidence goes up. Finch (2001) believes that success less depends on the materials, techniques and linguistic analysis and more depends on what happens between people in the classroom. It is the teachers task to create a positive learning environment. They can improve students from the different ways and while students understand that their teacher is watching them out, but they have the sense of freedom and comfort. In this regard, Sano et al. mentioned that friendly relationship between teachers and learners and even learners with each other and this is our opinion that is the most important factor in language learning (as cited in Finch, 2001, p. 135). Students can do work correctly when they feel safe. This event occurs when then teachers behavior modestly, be a good listener, pay attention to his/her students and make them feel that they are efficacious and competent. Dorneyi (2001) offered teachers to create a supportive environment in the classroom in following ways: Establish a norm of tolerance. Encourage risk-taking and have mistaken accepted as a natural part of learning. Bring in and encourage humour. Encourage learners to personalize the classroom environment according to their taste (p. 31). Then, Kirstein (2001) offered more strategies: Create a positive classroom environment. Encourage your learners. Know your learners. Encourage interactions with other learners. Structure learning to be flexible and supportive. Help your learners acknowledge success (pp. 85-89). According to Oxford (2003) a strategy is useful for teaching base on the following circumstances: The strategy relates well to the L2 task at hand, The strategy fits the particular students learning style preferences to one degree or another The student employs the strategy effectively and links it with other relevant strategies. Oxford (1990) believes that strategies which based on these circumstances are make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situation (p. 8). In short, teachers should encourage students to create positive environments not only for students with low self-esteem but also for students with high self-esteem up to maintain the level of their self-esteem. Review of literature This section includes a preview about self-esteem and various aspects of the performance of students in foreign languages. The following issues are reviewed: the relationship between self-esteem and writing strategy, the relationship between self-esteem and speaking in English, the relationship between self-esteem and reading in English and the relationship between self-esteem and listening. On the relation between self-esteem and writing strategies Many studies on global self-esteem, can be show relationship between self-esteem and writing along the following three strands: In language learning, the role of affective variables, especially self-esteem cannot be ignored. The relationship can be positive or negative. He (1996) studied some of the affective factors, especially the self-esteem. The results of a survey of Chinese students are reported: a questionnaire that was intended for language learning was administrated to 31 Chinese immigrants in Southern California and an interview with 21 Chinese students. He found that self-esteem is one of the important factors that affect learning English as a second language. Similarly, Moritz (1996) conducted a study that self-assessment as a criterion of language skill and a tool used to measure. Factors that may affect the dominance self-assessment of foreign language of students are determined. Participants in this study were 28 college students of French at different levels. Results showed that self-assessment of foreign language impact students self-concept. Anstey (1993) achieved the same results. He studied the relationship between self-esteem and communication potential processes of students in French classes. In this study, the communication potential used for the development of a literature review on the communicative approaches to second language learning. Results showed that students self-esteem depends on a process that is selected by the teacher. Factors, which enable the teacher and other colleagues to increase interaction and negotiation enhance students self-esteem. Battle (1981) developed a questionnaire which was called Culture-Free Self-esteem Inventory. This questionnaire consisted of 60 items that were classified into five sub-scales: General self-esteem, Social/peer related self-esteem, Parent/home related self-esteem, Lie scale, Indicating defensiveness. A score for self-esteem are obtained by totaling the number of items, excluding the lie scale items of 10. So, the highest possible score is 50. On the other hand, Pareek et al. (1976) developed a questionnaire which was called Pre-adolescent Adjustment Scale. This questionnaire consisted of 40 items that included: Home (nine items), Peers (eight items), School (eight items), Teachers (eight items), General (seven items). A score for total adjustment are obtained by totaling of the five areas. In this case, high positive scores indicated high adjustment in the area, while negative scores indicated maladjustment. Both of these questionnaires, Culture-Free Self-esteem Inventory which developed by Battle (1981) and Pre-adolescent Adjustment Scale which developed by Pareek et al. (1976) were used to assess the self-esteem and adjustment among children. Moreover, a study was done by the National Foreign Language for students with the purpose of knowing whether their high self-efficacy of the learning strategies they used or not. Participants were in a group of students of French, Japanese and Spanish. Students grades were fourth, fifth and sixth. Two questionnaires were presented to them: the Immersion Language Learning Strategies Questionnaire and Immersion Self-efficacy Questionnaire. The results show that students with high self-efficacy and self-confidence were using more learning strategies; these strategies were effective in language learning preference of learners to the extent that it effected on the learners self-esteem. Gordnick (1996) randomly selected 50 students of Union County College and studied the relationship between their self-esteem and writing. He used Coopersmiths self-esteem test to measure self-esteem and used their writing grades to measure the writing, then took the correlation between them. The results showed that there is no significant correlation between students self-esteem and their writing. It is worth mentioning that both Gordnicks studies and present study have been about the relationship between self-esteem and writing achievement. It also should be added, participants of this study were students of Saudi Arabia EFL secondary school who formed American students. Hassan (2001) tried to determine the relationship between self-esteem and quality and quantity of students writing. The sample formed 32 Egyptian English major university students. Results showed that there is a negative relationship between students self-esteem and their writing. Low concern students have high self-esteem and high concern students have low self-esteem. Low concern students wrote better than high concern students. Hassans study investigated the relationship between two variables, one of them was the relationship between fear of writing and self-esteem and the other was a relationship between themselves and writing skills, while the present study examine the relationship between self-esteem and writing strategies. Participants in the Hassans study were university students who just studied in the field of English language, however in this study, participants included university students in various fields. Hassans study measured participants writing skills while this st udy examined the writing strategies. Brown (2000) claimed that there is relationship between self-esteem and academic performance however, he posed a question that which one affected the other. Significant changed as the number of researchers (Huang, 1992; Brown, 2000; Lee, 2001) reported. For example, in Huangs (1992) study, he discussed the relationship between biliteracy and self-esteem of Mexican-American students. Participants included 1034 persons who were Mexican and Mexican-American. Students were classified into three categories: biliterates, proficiency in English and proficiency in Spanish or oral bilingual. A set of 13 questions measured self-esteem. The results showed that Mexican-Americans who knew them as biliterates had higher self-esteem than those in English, Spanish or oral bilingual. Sled (1993) conducted a study on 25 patients from the University of Texas in order to provide basic writers confidence. By creating discussion and motivation in his class, he analyzed the students and it was causing that they can overcome their fear of making mistakes. Results showed that students confidence has increased. Koulourianos and Marienau (2001) conducted a study and in this study they used parent intervention strategies and teacher intervention strategies for the third and fourth grade students in the United States to improve their confidence in writing. The results showed that the strategies have had a positive effect on the students writing. Bardine (1995) proposed the guided strategies that included the use of journals in the adult literacy class which was to improve students writing. In this method, the teacher used quotes that increased self-esteem and positive attitude. He taught students from Mia

Baroque Art in Europe and North America Essays -- essays research pape

Baroque Art in Europe and North America   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout this research paper the topic is going to be along the lines of the Baroque Art in Europe and North America, which comes from chapter nineteen of our Art History book. The main purpose is to review major ideas and principles in this chapter by writing an analysis of certain points that were highlighted. For example, certain techniques that were used to define the Baroque Art, major sculptures, architectures, and paintings, and also just some general background information about this time period. I decided to write on this subject because when reading the chapters, the Baroque period seemed to catch my attention the most due to the amazing architecture that was built during this time. The Baroque period is understood to be around the time frame of the 1600 to about 1750’s and was greatly supported by the Catholic Church and also by the Popes during this time. According to the History and Appreciation of Art, †The term Baroque is from the Portuguese barroco, which means a ‘misshapen pearl’ and the Baroque was the final phase of the Renaissance or an era distinct from both the Renaissance and the modern era†(History and Appreciation of Art). Baroque is a word that is considered to be a style that emerged in Europe in the late sixteenth century and that last approximately into the eighteenth century. â€Å"Baroque, as a formal style, is characterized by open compositions in which elements are placed or seem to move diagonally in space† (Stokstad pg. 721). Baroque art and for that matter seventeenth century art was known to be more of naturalistic form and used very strong movements of lighting in their paintings, sculptures, and architectures. For instance, â€Å"... Baroque is dynamic with tension between naturalism and classicism. Baroque has very dramatic lighting with strong artificial light and dark. Strong movement exists in the paintings and architecture, both real and unreal† (History and Appreciation of Art). According to our book in regards to the Baroque period taking a naturalistic form, â€Å"The desire for realism was inspired in part by the growing interest in the natural sciences: Biological sciences added to the artists’ knowledge of human and animal anatomy and botany; physics and astronomy changed their concept of space and light† (Stokstad pg.722).   Ã‚  Ã‚  &nbs... ...’. And also the sculptures during Baroque period in Italy and France were tied into the building of the architectures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, the Baroque art in Europe and North America was a time of growth for many of the countries in these areas. We have seen many developments such as the great architecture, sculptures, and paintings that were produced by many artists’. Also, one of the more informative issues that were not known by me and probably many others were the clever was to produce paintings. During this research and analysis of this chapter of the Baroque arts, I certainly have found more insight on the arts of the sixteenth century in Europe and North America. Works Cited Andersen, Liselotte. Baroque and Rococo Art. New York:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Harry N. Abrams, INC, 1969. Bazin, Germain. Baroque and Rococo Art. New York:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frederick A. Praeger, INC, 1964. â€Å"History and Appreciation of Art†. (Online)Available http://dl.ccc.cccd.edu/classes/internet/art101/module6 .htm#top, March 27, 2005. Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. New Jersey:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pearson Education, INC, 2005.

Importance Of Note Taking In Colleges Education Essay

IntroductionNote-taking is a really of import larning tool in college schoolroom. Boyd ( 2004 ) found that pupils who take notes perform better on tests than pupils who merely highlight text. Most teachers besides wonder whether supplying press releases to pupils is truly utile for pupils or non. A study by Isaacs in 1994 shows that 43 % of academic staff frequently or ever use press releases in the schoolroom, and they feel that press releases help pupils to take notes and let them to listen and take part more in talk. The issue of note taking makes college professors use presentation package, such as Microsoft PowerPoint and its related press releases. Although Microsoft PowerPoint is more popular in colleges, it besides has negative impact on instruction and acquisition. For case, Tufte ( 2003 ) argues that PowerPoint and other presentation package have reduced the quality of presentations and represent hapless teaching method. This paper presents two surveies which determine if supplementing Microsoft PowerPoint lectures with press releases of the slides improve test-taking public presentation in an undergraduate homo development class. In the first survey, it was expected that pupils who received the press releases would execute significantly better on tests than pupils who did non. Students were surveyed about their usage of the PowerPoint press releases and perceptual experiences of the grade to which the notes helped with exam public presentation. The 2nd survey assessed the acquisition manners of pupils in order to find whether the acquisition manners with PowerPoint presentation press releases may impact pupil larning results. It looked at the three acquisition manners: lingual, visual-spatial, and bodily-kinesthetic.MethodFor the first survey in the autumn semester, pupils in two subdivisions of an upper degree Human Development class at a little Midwestern university participated in the current survey. Each subdivision had 50 pupils who were demographically similar across subdivisions. In the autumn semester, the class was divided into tierces, with an test given at the terminal of each 3rd. Students were required to take one of the first two noncumulative tests, but the lower class of the two was non computed into the concluding class. The concluding cumulative test was required of all pupils. At the beginning of category, Section 1 pupils were given hard-copy press releases to attach to the Power Point lectures for the 2nd test and the concluding ; they were instructed non to demo these press releases to pupils from Section 2. Section 2 pupils were given the press releases for the concluding tierce of the semester merely. In the spring survey, the process of the survey was similar to the autumn semester. However, pupils in both subdivisions were asked to look into as many points in the checklist of Multiple Intelligences Inventory for grownups ( Harper, 2005 ; Lazear, 1991 ) , wh ich characterized the ways they learned stuff.ConsequencesFor both surveies, there were no important differences between the two subdivisions on the trial scores with the usage of the PowerPoint press releases. As clearly seen, the average test mark of the pupils given PowerPoint press releases is rather similar to the average test mark of the pupils without PowerPoint press releases.Survey Results and Qualitative AnalysesResponses to the study show most pupils ( 79 % ) used the notes for analyzing for the concluding, 21 % were really attentive to the PowerPoint projections along with the notes, 25 % indicated that they had paid a batch of attending to the talk along with the press releases, and 39 % often wrote extra notes on the press releases. Similar to the autumn semester survey, the spring semester pupils were for the most portion rather positive about having the press releases, as 75 % indicated that the press releases were by and large helpful, 75 % felt that they were utile in fixing for trials, and 50 % indicated that the press releases improved their hearing to the talks.DiscussionSome findings show that the function of presentation press releases is truly utile for pupils to heighten the trial public presentation, but some do non. Although the findings seem to be strong, many factors to measure the usage of this instruction technique. One factor is class content which may act upon the acquisition results in categories utilizing PowerPoint. Another is that the consequence that PowerPoint slides has on larning results is non matched by studentsaa‚Â ¬a„? intuitive beliefs. Finally, the format of press releases does non supply complete sets of notes for pupils. Future research should analyze such teacher effects in the usage of PowerPoint press releases, every bit good as whether PowerPoint slides may be more effectual for certain class content and non others. In some respects, the usage of presentation package in the college schoolroom is one of those old contentions encased in new technological wrapper. Yet, it forces those of us who are actively involved in bettering instruction and acquisition in higher instruction to joint our premises and beliefs about what happens in and out of the schoolroom. To that terminal, there decidedly is something to be gained in the continued usage of the package and empirical geographic expedition of its effects.MentionsBoyd, C. H. ( 2004, May ) . Comparison of foregrounding and note-taking during a PowerPoint talk on trial public presentation. Poster session presented at the one-year meeting of the American Psychological Society, Chicago, IL. Harper, W.S. ( 2005 ) . Course stuffs for Plant and Soil Science. Unpublished papers, University of Vermont. Retrieved October 1, 2005 from hypertext transfer protocol: //pss.uvm.edu/pss162/learning_styles.html Isaacs, G. ( 1994 ) . Lecturing patterns and note-taking intents. Surveies in Higher Education, 19, 203-217. Lazear, D. ( 1991 ) . Seven ways of cognizing. Teaching for Multiple Intelligences ( 2nd edition ) . Palatine, IL: Skylight Publication. Noppe, I. , Achterberg, J. , Duquaine, L. , Huebbe, M. & A ; Williams, C. ( 2007 ) . PowerPoint presentation press releases and college pupil larning results [ Electronic version ] . International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 1 ( 1 ) . From hypertext transfer protocol: //www.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl Tufte, E. R. ( 2003 ) . The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint. Cheshire, Connecticut: Artworks Press LLC.IntroductionNote-taking is a really of import larning tool in college schoolroom. Boyd ( 2004 ) found that pupils who take notes perform better on tests than pupils who merely highlight text. Most teachers besides wonder whether supplying press releases to pupils is truly utile for pupils or non. A study by Isaacs in 1994 shows that 43 % of academic staff frequently or ever use press releases in the schoolroom, and they feel that press releases help pupils to take notes and let them to listen and take part more in talk. The issue of note taking makes college professors use presentation package, such as Microsoft PowerPoint and its related press releases. Although Microsoft PowerPoint is more popular in colleges, it besides has negative impact on instruction and acquisition. For case, Tufte ( 2003 ) argues that PowerPoint and other presentation package have reduced the quality of presentations and represent hapless teaching method. This paper presents two surveies which dete rmine if supplementing Microsoft PowerPoint lectures with press releases of the slides improve test-taking public presentation in an undergraduate homo development class. In the first survey, it was expected that pupils who received the press releases would execute significantly better on tests than pupils who did non. Students were surveyed about their usage of the PowerPoint press releases and perceptual experiences of the grade to which the notes helped with exam public presentation. The 2nd survey assessed the acquisition manners of pupils in order to find whether the acquisition manners with PowerPoint presentation press releases may impact pupil larning results. It looked at the three acquisition manners: lingual, visual-spatial, and bodily-kinesthetic.MethodFor the first survey in the autumn semester, pupils in two subdivisions of an upper degree Human Development class at a little Midwestern university participated in the current survey. Each subdivision had 50 pupils who were demographically similar across subdivisions. In the autumn semester, the class was divided into tierces, with an test given at the terminal of each 3rd. Students were required to take one of the first two noncumulative tests, but the lower class of the two was non computed into the concluding class. The concluding cumulative test was required of all pupils. At the beginning of category, Section 1 pupils were given hard-copy press releases to attach to the Power Point lectures for the 2nd test and the concluding ; they were instructed non to demo these press releases to pupils from Section 2. Section 2 pupils were given the press releases for the concluding tierce of the semester merely. In the spring survey, the process of the survey was similar to the autumn semester. However, pupils in both subdivisions were allowed to look into as many points in the checklist of Multiple Intelligences Inventory for grownups ( Harper, 2005 ; Lazear, 1991 ) , which characterized the ways they learned stuff.ConsequencesFor both surveies, there were no important differences on the trial scores with the usage of the PowerPoint press releases. Table 1 shows the average test tonss for two subdivisions of the class. As clearly seen, the average test mark of the pupils given PowerPoint press releases is rather similar to the average test mark of the pupils without PowerPoint press releases.Survey Results and Qualitative AnalysesResponses to the study show most pupils ( 79 % ) used the notes for analyzing for the concluding, 21 % were really attentive to the PowerPoint projections along with the notes, 25 % indicated that they had paid a batch of attending to the talk along with the press releases, and 39 % often wrote extra notes on the press releases. Similar to the autumn semester survey, the spring semester pupils were for the most portion rather positive about having the press releases, as 75 % indicated that the press releases were by and large helpful, 75 % felt that they were utile in fixing for trials, and 50 % indicated that the press releases improved their hearing to the talks.DiscussionSome findings show that the function of presentation press releases is truly utile for pupils to heighten the trial public presentation, but some do non. Although the findings seem to be strong, many factors to measure the usage of this instruction technique. One factor is class content which may act upon the acquisition results in categories utilizing PowerPoint. Another is that the consequence that PowerPoint slides has on larning results is non matched by studentsaa‚Â ¬a„? intuitive beliefs. Finally, the format of press releases does non supply complete sets of notes for pupils. Future research should analyze such teacher effects in the usage of PowerPoint press releases, every bit good as whether PowerPoint slides may be more effectual for certain class content and non others. In some respects, the usage of pres entation package in the college schoolroom is one of those old contentions encased in new technological wrapper. Yet, it forces those of us who are actively involved in bettering instruction and acquisition in higher instruction to joint our premises and beliefs about what happens in and out of the schoolroom. To that terminal, there decidedly is something to be gained in the continued usage of the package and empirical geographic expedition of its effects.

Consumer Attitudes Towards Counterfeit Products Essay

Counterfeit products and materials are knock-off, bootleg, pirated or other illegally produced materials that are produced and sold in violation of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) of others or in a manner that fraudulently represent their quality or origin (Porteus, 2002). Despite the various anti-counterfeit efforts of multinationals and international trade organizations, counterfeiting continue to pose a significant and growing threat to businesses, both in developed and developing countries (Vida, 2007; Maldonado and Hume, 2005). Vida (2007) observed that even in the face of technological advancements that facilitates easy recognition of genuine products, and the legal pressures buyers and sellers of counterfeit products, global businesses still lose billions of dollars to counterfeiters annually. The annual cost of counterfeiting is estimated at $200 billion and the international trade in counterfeit products is believed to account for between 3-5% of overall world trade. Most threatening is the fact that several bodies such as the International Anti-counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) and International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) agree that international trade in counterfeit product is booming. However, it should be emphasized that the total losses due to counterfeiting, annually, should not be measured in terms of the economic devastation caused to genuine product manufacturers, its effects on hundreds or thousands of jobs worldwide, increase in the cost of marketing genuine products, reduced brand equity and trademark owner reputation. Most importantly, the threat to consumer health and safety that counterfeit product poses cannot be overemphasized (Vida, 2007; Maldonado and Hume, 2005). Although, counterfeiting is a global problem, it appears to have a more significant effect on UAE for a number of reasons. Managing Intellectual Property, an internet magazine on counterfeiting, reports that while UAE is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, it is also renowned for luxury, tourism, business and rapid development. Particularly, its free trade zone that offers attractive incentives for business, especially due to its location at the centre of the Middle East and the Arab states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries also create the right environments for counterfeiters to market their products. The close proximity of the free trade zone to leading counterfeit producing Asian countries and its status as a transshipment hub also greatly increases the country’s problems with counterfeiting. A recent study carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers and reported in the magazine stated that counterfeit products make up to 68. 5% of automobile parts in the market, with fake pharmaceuticals, the least hit sector, accounts for 0. 2% of products in the market. It is therefore very critical that all efforts must be directed towards reducing this menace, and obviously, reducing counterfeiting, must involve be from the supply or the demand side. Augusto de Matos, Ituassu & Rossi (2007) rightly contend that actions towards counterfeiting can arise from both supply and demand sides. While acting from the supply side include understanding the incentives, rationale and factors that encourage or influence people to engage in manufacturing counterfeits, the demand angle involves understanding consumer attitudes and willingness to purchase fake products (Vida, 2007). Authors have largely argued that the supply side of counterfeiting has received an undue amount of attention in recent times, with the demand side largely ignored. Also, it is an established economic fact that supply is driven by demand; it is safe to suggest that the increase in global counterfeit trades is partly driven by the increasing consumer demands for cheap, substandard products. For example, the rise in the market for non-deceptive counterfeit products strengthens this argument. Thus, understanding the demand side could be the most important tool in fighting counterfeiting globally. In this regard, this paper, therefore, intends to investigate consumer attitudes or willingness to purchase counterfeit products in Abu Dhabi using a questionnaire approach to unravel the various factors and influences that shape consumer attitudes and behaviors when it comes to purchasing counterfeit products. Theoretical Framework Vida (2007) noted that since the mid 1990s when Elisabeth Hirschman, expressed the need for researchers to explore the ‘dark-side’ of consumer behaviors, literatures investigating and explaining the various factors that influence consumer purchase behaviors, especially with regard to illegal or counterfeit products, have increased considerably. Building on the â€Å"willingness to pay† concept, Vida conceived explored consumers’ willingness to purchase fake products. The author contended that demographic and socio-economic factors like age, gender, education, marital status, income and religiosity shape consumers’ attitude towards counterfeits, innovativeness (desire to be unique) and social pressure. These three, in turn, influence consumers’ willingness to purchase counterfeit products. Also, Xuemei and Veloutsou (2005) in their exploratory study, also reports that personal and social factors significantly influence consumers’ purchase behaviors. The authors contended that personal and social factors such as: value consciousness, normality susceptibility, novelty seeking and collectivism, and five attitude measures: reliability of the product in question, functionality of the product, recognized social benefits of purchasing the product, risks of purchasing and legality of purchasing, influence consumer purchase of counterfeit products. The study found that novelty seeking significantly influences consumer purchase of counterfeits products due to the similar or sometimes, superior quality of counterfeit products. Moreover, in a more elaborate study, Augusto de Matos, Ituassu and Rossi (2007) also found that price quality inference and previous experience, among others, significantly increases the chances of consumers purchasing fake products. This study, drawing from the findings of the studies mentioned above, contends that a consumer attitude towards counterfeit product greatly influences their purchase behavior. It also hypotheses that previous experience with safety concerns, quality of counterfeits with respect to the price, and the intention to use counterfeits to test the product before purchasing the genuine brands, shape consumer attitudes towards counterfeit and subsequently, their purchasing of counterfeit products. Augusto de Matos, Ituassu and Rossi (2007) rightly point out that quality and price are two fundamental factors that shape consumer purchase behavior. Traditionally, consumers believe that lower priced products are of lower quality, and this is largely the case with deceptive counterfeit products. However, with non-deceptive counterfeits products, consumers are offered products of similar or superior quality, compared to the genuine products, at lower prices. The combination of low price and high quality is bound to improve consumer attitudes towards counterfeits. For this reason, it is expected that: Counterfeits with superior quality enhances consumers’ perception and attitudes towards counterfeit products. Safety concerns are one of the most important issues with counterfeit products. These products have been known to pose significant threat to consumer health and safety, especially when it concerns medications and household items. However, not all consumers consider counterfeit goods to be unsafe or dangerous. It is expected that: Consumers who consider counterfeit goods to be unsafe and dangerous will have unfavorable attitudes towards counterfeit products, and vice versa. Lastly, novelty seeking can also influence consumer attitude towards counterfeit products. This feeling refers to individuals’ need for a sense of worth or social recognition; people always want to be seen as special and capable of affording material things. The increasing materialism in the world means that people that cannot afford the finer things of life feel unworthy. Since the presence of cheaper and yet quality counterfeit products provide the opportunity to afford these luxuries, individuals in the lower economic range are often willing to purchase such counterfeit products. Thus, it is expected that the sense of novelty influences consumer attitude towards counterfeit products. Method To investigate the influence of the factors discussed above on consumer attitude towards purchasing counterfeit products, this study surveyed a cross section of individuals in the city regarding their perceptions of counterfeit products. The research instrument adopted was questionnaire. The questionnaires, consisting of a hundred direct questions in Likert scale style, varying from 1 (completely disagree) to 7 (completely agree), were distributed to students on campus at several shopping centers. Because the questionnaires, in most cases, were self administered, respondents were encouraged to answer all the questions provided. Due to this, a total of 95 valid and usable questionnaires were collected at the end of the survey. Of the 95, 30 were below 20years old, 45 between 21 and 25 years old, with the rest above 26years old. With respect to education, more than half of the respondent had at least high school certificate, and interestingly, almost all of them (about 80%) had purchased counterfeit product in the past. Results Table I below presents the total number of questionnaires collated and the mean of responses for each of the variables under investigation. As presented in the table, the mean of respondents who rated superior quality, inexpensive trials and novelty as important factors for considering counterfeit products were 4. 4674, 4. 2211 and 4. 0053 respectively; while the respective standard deviation were 1. 16843, 1. 35759, 1. 17881 N Attitude Superior Quality Tryout Novelty Valid 95 92 95 93 Missing 0 3 0 2 Mean 3. 5447 4. 4674 4. 2211 4. 0053 Std Deviation 1. 33188 1. 16843 1. 35759 1. 17881 Minimum 1. 00 1. 00 1. 00 1. 00 Maximum 7. 00 7. 00 7. 00 7. 00 Table I To further measure the influence of these variables on consumer attitude towards counterfeit products, correlation coefficient was calculated for the variables. The result indicated that all three variables significantly influenced consumer attitudes, with superior quality presenting the most significant influence. For superior quality, r = . 668, r = . 395 for counterfeit products as tryouts, r = . 653 for novelty (correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level for all variables . ) As obvious from the three scatter diagrams above, this study found a significant correlation between the superior quality of counterfeit products and consumers’ favorable attitude towards purchasing such goods. Also, the study showed that consumers see cheap counterfeit goods as an opportunity to tryout products before purchasing them or in other cases, as a better opportunity to own products they, otherwise, will not be able to purchase. Discussion and Recommendations Counterfeiting is a growing global menace resulting in the loss of several billions of dollars annually. In finding the right tool to fight this menace, researchers and policy makers have focused on either the supply side or demand side of the problem, although, there seem to be more attention on the supply side. This paper argued that demand is a major driver of supply and that by understanding the reasons and factors that encourage demand for counterfeits, the fight against counterfeiters will take a different and better dimension. In truth to this assertion, several authors have investigated the personal and social factors that influence demand for counterfeit products. In contribution, this study investigated the influence of three variables: superior quality of counterfeit products, using counterfeit goods as inexpensive trials before purchasing genuine ones, and novelty seeking impulses. The result of this study established the hypotheses proposed earlier that these variables significantly influence demand for counterfeit products. It is an established fact that price and quality are two major determinants of consumer purchase behavior. However, by presenting consumers with superior quality products at lower prices, the tendency to purchase these counterfeits products will be considerably higher than the genuine product, because in doing so; the individuals will be receiving higher value for lesser money than if they have purchased the original. It, thus, becomes easier for consumers to rationalize their actions. The case is also similar for the two other variables, counterfeit products offer consumers the chance of buying products they, ordinarily, will not be able to afford, or the opportunity to try the product before purchasing the original. In both cases, consumers are saving money and achieving their objectives. Recommendations It is apparent that, among other things, price and quality significantly drive demand for counterfeit products. Manufacturers of genuine should strive to provide consumers with products of similar or even quality, compared to fakes, at reasonable prices. Manufacturers should also stress the fact that by purchasing fakes, consumers are increasing the cost of genuine products and destroying the jobs of several others. For as Xuemei and Veloutsou (2005) pointed out, consumers are also influenced by the desire to be accepted by significant others, by emphasizing the moral aspect of purchasing fakes, manufacturers can significantly discourage consumers from purchasing counterfeit products. Conclusion Although, counterfeiting is a serious global problem, very little is known about why consumers choose to patronize such fake products. This study has shown that the superior quality of some fake products, their lower price, which enable consumers to try them out before buying genuine ones or to own products they would not have been able to afford, greatly improve consumer attitudes towards counterfeit products. It is recommended that manufacturers should strive to meet the quality and price of counterfeits to reduce the demand for fake products. References Augusto de Matos, C. , Ituassu, C. T. and Rossi, C. A. V. (2007), Consumer attitudes toward counterfeits: a review and extension, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 24 No. 1 pp. 36-47. Maldonado, C. and Hume, E. (2005), Attitudes toward counterfeit products: an ethical perspective, Journal of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues, Jan-July. Managing Intellectual Property (2008), How to tackle fakes in the UAE, Available at http://www. managingip. com/Article/1940730/How-to-tackle-fakes-in-the-UAE. html (Dec 13 2008). Porteous, S. D. (1998), Organized Crime Impact Study Highlights, Paper Prepared for Public Works and Government Services of Canada, Cat. No. JS42-83/1998. Xuemei, B. and Veloutsou, C. (2005), Consumers’ attitudes regarding non-deceptive counterfeit brands in the UK & China, Brand Management, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 211-222. Vida, I. (2007), Determinants of Consumer Willingness to Purchase Non-Deceptive Counterfeit Products, Managing Global Transitions, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 253–270.