Describe the attitude and values underlining beliefs of Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay in text 23 ‘Our day Out’

Text 23 is taken from ‘our day out' by Willy Russel. In the text it describes of a school trip where a class of students are taken on a day out. Two of the main teachers in the text Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay have conflicting ideas on the purpose of the trip. They also believe differently about the education of the children and the reality of their situation. The children are less interested in learning and more interested in enjoying their day out much to the dislike of Mr Briggs. Mr Briggs believes that even though the students are on a school trip they should still behave in an orderly fashion and that they should be learning at the same time as behaving themselves. Mr Briggs has much more stricter views and ideas on how a school trips should be conducted. Mrs Kay realises and is very aware that none of the children are interested in anything other than enjoying themselves and since the children are, in her words, ‘rejects since the day they came into the world' so what is the point in trying to make them learn. When Mrs Kay makes these views clear, Mr Briggs is horrified even though he most likely knows its true. The main difference between Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay is that Mrs Kay has accepted the truth that these children haven't learnt and aren't going to start on there big day out. Mrs Kay has much more realistic values and beliefs such as, it's too late for teaching the children anything and they aren't interested. In her opinion the children should at least enjoy there one day out they have although Mr Briggs thinks much more differently. She hides truths from the children so they are not disheartened such as when a girl asks her whether one day she could own a nice house she basically says you might do instead of being pessimistic like maybe Briggs might have been if asked a similar question. The attitudes of Mrs Kay and Mr Briggs are hugely different. Mr Briggs is constantly ignoring the fact that the children don't want to learn and in Mrs Kay's opinion it's too late for that now. In some ways Mr Briggs still believes that the children can be educated either that or he is just kidding himself. Throughout the text Mr Briggs is constantly trying to show his authority over everyone claiming â€Å"I was sent by the headmaster to supervise this trip†. Mrs Kay has a different attitude towards the children. She knows that they are troublesome but claims its too late for the children and that no one will teach them because no-one knows what to do with them. She also mentions that what the children are good for, or would have been good for, she uses the term ‘factory fodder' but mentions that the factories have closed down so what future do the children have. Overall Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay have totally different opinions and beliefs about the children. Ideally Briggs would like to see the children behaving and trying to learn but as both Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay knows it wont happen. Whereas Mrs Kay is more realistic and is looking out for the children's enjoyment instead of further making there lives a misery.

Ocean Carriers Essay

Iron ore and coal imports will most probably decrease the upcoming year With the increasing supply of vessels should result in a market surplus By creating this surplus, prices will be driven down, since we will have limited demand and suppliers competing Average daily rates, based on historical numbers, have a direct relationship with the number of shipments. Only Accept the project if we sell after 25 years in a tax free environment Reject all of the following; sell after 15 years in both a tax and tax free environment, also after 25 years with a tax environment The longer the wait to sell; the better How Long Should Vessels Operate? The company’s current policy is to not operate ships older then 15 years old If Ocean Carrier operates for 25 years the NPV will be higher then if they operate for 15 years and sell the scrap metal ($5,368,557 vs. $2,238,411) The present value of the future cash flows exceeds the value of selling the scrap metal 10 years earlier. Hence there is greater value operating the vessel for an additional 10 years/ Iron and coal’s demand is expected to increase annually and the charter rates are expected to increase by annually for the life of the vessel. The company can generate more income if they decide to operate the ship for an additional 10 years.

Lizard People Essay

Independence Day in Los Angeles. Its approximate location was at what is now the Hollywood Freeway near the intersection of North Hill Street and West Cesar Chavez Avenue, downtown. The hill was located one block north of Temple Street and a short distance south of present day Cesar Chavez Avenue, between the Los Angeles Civic Center and Chinatown. A small portion of the hill was not bulldozed and remains on the west side of Hill Street on the north side of the freeway. Part of Fort Moore Hill became home to a cemetery, with the first documented burial tracing back to December 19, 1853. Alternately known as Los Angeles City Cemetery, Protestant Cemetery, Fort Moore Hill Cemetery, Fort Hill Cemetery, or simply â€Å"the cemetery on the hill†, it was the city’s first non-Catholic cemetery. In 1891, the site became home to the second location of Los Angeles High School (LAHS), located on North Hill Street between Sand Street (later California Street, now part of 101 Freeway) and Bellevue Avenue (later Sunset Boulevard, now Cesar Chavez Avenue). LAHS was at this location on Fort Moore Hill until 1917, when the high school was moved again. Most of Fort Moore Hill was removed in 1949 for the construction of the Hollywood Freeway, which was opened in December 1950, and in 1957 a memorial for the old fort and its American pioneers was placed on a site north of the freeway. The fort is now memorialized by the Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial. According to a G. Warren Shufelt, a geophysicist mining engineer deep beneath the heart of Los Angeles’ financial district (Fort Moore Hill) hundreds of feet below corporate offices, and government offices lies another city. Beneath Los Angeles’ Downtown area stands a lost city of catacombs filled with treasure and records. A Hopi chief named Little Green told Warren Shufult that the vanished race’s capital was located in modern day Downtown Los Angeles. This city derived from an Indian legend that an underground world was built by a strange race that vanished 5000 years ago. This race is commonly referred to as the Lizard People or Lizard men. Warren Shufult first heard of the Lizard people in the city of a Hopi Indian legend. Legend is that they were a race who had been nearly wiped out by a meteor shower around 3000 BC. The lizard people then constructed 13 subterranean settlements along the Pacific Coast. This was done to shelter themselves against future detriments. Each subterranean settlement is what we call in modern times a city, in which was divided to house a thousand families each. They also stockpiled essentials of life to maintain. So greatly advanced scientifically the Lizard people developed a chemical solution that melted solid bedrock to bore out the tunnels and rooms of their subsurface shelters. This was done without removing any earth and rock. They also developed a cement tar stronger than any in use in modern times which they lined their tunnels and rooms. These tunnels were also constructed to hold a profusion of gold tablets that chronicled the history of their existence, the origin of mankind, and the story of the world back to creation. The Lizard people according to Little Chief Greenleaf of the medicine lodge of the Hopi Indians in Arizona, were of a much higher type of intellectually than modern human beings. The intellectual accomplishments of their 9 year old children were equal of those of present day college graduates. According to the reporter Jean Bosquet of the Los Angeles Times in 1934, Warren Shufelt began o drive a shaft 250 feet into the ground on North Hill Street, overlooking Sunset Boulevard, Spring Street and North Broadway. Warren Shufelt engineered a radio x- ray for detecting the presence of minerals and tunnels below the surface of the ground. This was an apparatus with which he says that he has traced a pattern of catacombs and vaults forming a lost city. The radio device consisted of a cylindrical glass case with a plummet attached to a copper wire.

Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 17

Religion - Essay Example The experience is the troubles that people encounter and eventually abandons their old living habits and follows what their religion teaches them. In the section, â€Å"Theories of religion† (starting from page 8), Flood explains that there are three different schools of thought in how to define religion. Summarize these theories and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. These theories describe religion to be politics in the other way round, religion is a gene and defined religion to be a cultural response to life (Crockett 14). The first schools gave an illustration that based on the aesthetic reduction. The meaning of this is that religion is part of the cultural mechanism that makes sure that the transmission of genes to the other generations is successful. Explanation of how living being come into existence is specified in a range of constraint, this is the advantage of these theories. The limitation for this is that religious resources that pertain human lives in most instances went against the grain of some scholarships. Correct what Flood describes here with your own experience of religion. Does it resonate? Why or not? Basing on what Floods description, it does not resonate with my experience of religion. The reason behind this is that religions are a unifying, purifying, and holy dominion that brings people closer to God (Crockett 15). Floods highlight does not reveal the genesis of man. Instead, he relates with biological aspects that do not exist in the desired religion.

Respond to the discussion about Aristotle (for online Essay - 2

Respond to the discussion about Aristotle (for online class-introduction to Ethics) - Essay Example And yes, she is already being virtuous by helping the underground escape group. That is indeed, in itself, a very risky job to do. 2. Your perspective is right, but your interpretation is slightly controversial. I agree with you that by remaining silent, she is doing a right thing. However, you must realize that she will be in no less pain if she gives a â€Å"shut up† call to the bookstore owner for humiliating her religious beliefs. Whether she speaks up, or she remains silent, she is bearing pain either way and is being courageous and virtuous as long as her intention is to save other Jews that depend upon her for help. 3. You have provided a very comprehensive analysis of either of the two decisions, the lady could have made, and have rightly justified the benefits of remaining silent in comparison to opening up. However, I do not agree with you when you tend to make the lady join the bookstore owner in his malicious intentions and wording against the Jewish community, be that apparent or for a positive reason ultimately. As the case explains, the lady is only a low level worker at the bookstore. Therefore, if she tries to let the owner know that she holds similar views about Jews, it will only make the owner suspicious about her.

Discussions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussions - Assignment Example Indonesia which happens to be the major producer of palm kernel oil predicts increased yield which triggers increased production of coconut oil related products. From the social reorganization observed across the world, there is increased use of various products like cosmetics which are derived from coconut and this is likely to boost demand of this god substantially. It is important for the management to explore other factors that will improve demand. One of them is to undertake market research on people’s desires in terms of units of sales, packaging and the overall quality. It is equally important for managers to seek other price stabilizing strategies like collective bargaining approach with other producers (Kohler, 75). The Euro crisis is a significant determinant of US economic progress directly and indirectly. It is therefore undisputable fact that this economic slump had significant disturbance on the American Economy. The extensive foreign trade engagement between US and Europe which has been facilitated by globalization is a big factor that influences the existing dependency of the economic trend in these two regions. Most of the American businesses that are undertaken in parts of Europe especially value creation activities due to the comparative advantage concept has generally been affected since the dwindling economic climate offers confusion in terms of predicting the future (Kohler,75). There has been significant borrowing of capital goods by some Euro zone members like Greece and Cyprus besides foreign direct investment which undermines the economy future of US in the event of the Euro crisis that hit in 2012. It is therefore advisable that most businessmen study stock market trend very c arefully and divest to spread the risk and sustain their profit margin. This would entail seeking other value creation places like in Asia and Africa. Making decision to outsource input factor is a global debate among various managers. The thorny

The Interests and the Freedom of the Members of Society Essay

The Interests and the Freedom of the Members of Society - Essay Example Sneakers, on the other hand, is a 1992 film starring Robert Redford as Martin Bishop. For 20 years, Bishop has done what he could to evade the arm of the law and has established a new identity for him. Knowing that he had not done anything wrong and that he was just wrongly accused, Bishop works to secure his freedom. The movie is about Bishop and his team of sneakers and a code breaker box they have been blackmailed into stealing. Failure to do so will mean that Bishop’s real identity will be revealed to authorities and may eventually lead to his capture. Several turns in the plot occur, the biggest one being that the Bishop finds himself in a situation where he can finally erase his bad record which will inevitably lead to his complete freedom. In the end, Bishop and his group develop a plan to make sure that no group makes use of the code breaker and at the same time ensure that Bishop remains free and all other members get what they’ve always dreamt of. As previousl y mentioned, freedom is a central theme in both works of art discussed. As with Valjean, Bishop makes use of all means possible to preserve his freedom. Both main characters are evading authorities determined to catch them. In fact, both Valjean and Bishop established new identities for themselves in order to avoid being arrested. Such a similarity exists because both stories focus on the lives of men on the run. Both show how protecting one’s freedom sometimes entails running away and turning one’s back on his past.

Research and Academic Skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Research and Academic Skills - Essay Example If anyone is doing research on experiment learning within a practical subject i.e Hairdressing, you will look around, compare your initiative with others, compare your facilities, and so on. You might look at specialist, make promotions. In other words, before you bring anything you will collect verification and appraise it before making a final decision. Research is finding out what you don't already know. No one knows everything, but everybody knows something. However, to complicate matters, often what you know, or think you know, is incorrect. There are two basic purposes for research: to learn something, or to gather evidence. The first, to learn something, is for your own benefit. It is almost impossible for a human to stop learning. Research is organized learning, looking for specific things to add to your store of knowledge (Richard, 1996). There are three types of research, pure, original, and secondary. Each type has the goal of finding information and/or understanding something. The difference comes in the strategy employed in achieving the objective. Academic skills are all about helping you learn how to be a more effective learner and develop the research skills that will help you now and in the future (University of Southampton, 2009). The skills are most appropriately viewed as multivariate. In the popular literature, a multivariate view of skills is perhaps best encapsulated in Howard Gardner's (1993) writing about multiple intelligences. He defines seven intelligences: the linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences that are at such a premium in schools today; musical intelligence; spatial intelligence bodily-kinesthetic intelligence; and two forms of personal intelligence, one directed toward other persons, one directed toward oneself . Thus, academic Skills offer services for students who wish to develop their academic skills in any field. This service aims to help students develop independent learning strategies to maximize their academic performance. The Academic Skills usually run workshops and classes aimed at helping students develop their academic as well as practical skills. It supports the experiential learning to the students for their academic enhancement as well as career upliftment. The academic skills encourage critical thinking right from the start of the studies. It helps to build on the first skills-based assignment. The students tackle the task armed with guidelines, checklists and templates, and can consult the feedback. The academic skills will support to learn the required academic skills and are able to think critically about the issues (Bruton). c. Skills and Career: It is now commonly accepted that changes in work and the workplace are transforming the kinds of knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for successful work performance. Evidence for new skill needs from employer surveys, for example, suggests that employers are often more concerned about soft skills or attitudes rather than technical knowledge or competencies. Empirical studies of work find that employers and workers also feel generic skills, such as problem solving, communication and the ability to work in teams, are increasingly important for workplace

The Master and the Disciple - Who is Who in the World of the Research Paper

The Master and the Disciple - Who is Who in the World of the Counterintelligence - Research Paper Example The two intelligence communities have been working in close cooperation with each other since the first timid steps of the FBI in counter-espionage, and are still working together, even closer than ever, due to a set of reasons their paths followed in many ways different directions, in the meaning of strategic goals, budgetary constraints with the ensuing structural features, staffing, and efficiency, with all the consequences that stemmed from it. And finally, the paper draws a conclusion that sharing common values and pursuing similar objectives, in particular after the decay of the British Empire, but what is more important, learning from each other’s failures and achievements, the US and the British concepts of intelligence and counterintelligence have quite logically and understandably converged. ‘Counterintelligence means information gathered and activities conducted to protect against espionage, other intelligence activities, sabotage, or assassinations conducted for or on behalf of foreign powers, organizations or persons, or international terrorist activities, but not including personnel, physical, document or communications security programs.’(Executive Order 12333 - United States intelligence activities, Part 3 General Provisions, art. 3.4 Definitions, retrieved on 14 April 2010 < http://www.cia.gov/about-cia/ eo12333.html>) Since the very dawn of the purposeful gathering of information about the plans, capabilities and intentions of foreign powers, it had become essential for a nation not only to keep the powers concerned unaware of that knowledge but also to preserve its own plans, capabilities, and intentions from being revealed. Besides the broad national interest, it’s the ever-growing necessity of effectively detecting and countering the possible threats and hostile activities, which makes any intelligence entity to produce a significant effort in order to safeguard its own operations.

Economic comparison Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economic comparison - Research Paper Example Immigration was totally restricted and farming was the main occupation there that time. The period of 1900 – 1910 saw a fall and increase in unemployment. The average unemployment in the period was 1406 (000s), which indicate a decrease in unemployment. The percentage of non-farm employees in the work force was on an average of 7%. The percentage of farm employees was decreased by 1910, which shows that farming activity had increased that time. According to the ‘Historical Statistics of the US 1890-1929’, the GDP in1910 was around 600 billion. From 1900 -1910 the real GDP growth increased, whereas at the beginning of 1910, the GDP recorded a straight decrease. The early 1930s was a period of great depression and the production of goods and services plunged. (Chantrill para. 1). The rate of inflation estimate provided by the US department of labor (Bureau of labor statistics) in 1910 was 3.7%, while in 1920 it was 15.6%. The Emergency Quota Act was passed in US par liament in May 1921 and this restricted free immigration into the US. Until that period immigration was on a large scale in the state. Four groups existed in the labor market in the US in the 1900-1910 era and they consisted of workers from the American federation of labor, knights of labor and the unorganized labor. These groups opposed unrestricted immigration into the US, which created less employment opportunities for the Native Americans. â€Å"Since 1900, the unemployment rate has fluctuated widely, rising during contractions and failing during expansions. During the great depression of the 1930s, the rate hiked to 25%† (McEachem 2009, p. 465). Comparison of 1910 with the Present US Economy: Today’s US economy is a very developed and established economy, even though economic recessions have caused a setback to the nation. Comparing the year 1910 with the present day, the economic development of the nation has grown by leaps and bounds. Although, the US GDP has ex perienced an uncertain trend especially during the times of economic recession, but it always shows signs of fast economic recovery. â€Å"The 1910s was a decade of great change for America. It was during this decade that the United States was first considered a world leader† (America 1910 – 1920: The End of Innocence 1910). A data chart released by Bureau of economic analysis points out that in the third quarter of 2011 the US economy showed a GDP annual increase of 2%, while in the second quarter the real GDP increase was 1.3%. Comparing the US economy of 1910-1920 with the present, it shows that the GDP rate has shown both an increasing as well as decreasing trend. The period of economic depression of 1930s witnessed a fall in GDP. Similarly the period between 1956-1960 also saw a decrease in the GDP. The 1980s also witnessed a fall in GDP. After that period the latest recession of 2007 has also brought an uncertain trend in the GDP of the US economy. World developm ents had also played a considerable influence on the US economy, especially the two world wars. Unemployment also experienced a very high increase in times, when the GDP was high. But during the periods of recession unemployment cropped up in high numbers. An increase in unemployment and an increase in inflation, especially of food products also had negative impact on the GDP of the nation. Even though there were employment opport

History and Influences of Mexican Americans and the United States Essay Example for Free

History and Influences of Mexican Americans and the United States Essay Looking around the United States, it is not hard to see the influence that Spanish-speaking nations, namely Mexico, have had on us. Every day we see signs in Spanish. We hear it as we walk through the streets of Madison and Milwaukee. We feel the impact it has on us in our public school system. We also see the controversy it causes on the news. What I will be attempting to explore in this paper is the origins of Mexican Americans and their continuing influence on the United States. I believe it is important to first understand the history of the relationship between Americans and Mexicans to understand the preconceived notions many Americans have towards Mexico. Although both nations are technically â€Å"Americas†, for the duration of the paper I will refer to the United States as America. After winning its independence from Spain, Mexico first had large-scale contact with Americans during the early 1800s when Americans were migrating farther west to what is present day Texas. Mexico allowed these citizens to reside despite the tension and friction that was building between Whites, Indians and Mexicans in these territories. Texas citizens declared themselves an independent nation, and due to the United States recognition of such, a war was prompted between the United States and Mexico. Mexico lost the war as well as its territories in North America. Mexican citizens who stayed behind in the lost territories became American citizens (Marger, 2012). One of the things that always confounded me about racism in the south, and states like Arizona, is the complete indifference or ignorance of this fact. I have always wondered how the White Supremacist mindset works when Mexican Americans have a natural ancestry in these states and were the first citizens of these states. How can we still see bumper stickers that say â€Å"Learn English or Go Home†, or â€Å"Go back to your own country† when the first citizens of these states were Mexicans? I believe that a cause for this is the lack of emphasis of early Mexican American history taught in schools. I I believe that if this were emphasized, these specific ethnocentric arguments would be dispelled sooner. Immigration of Mexicans and other Hispanics to America is not going to stop, so to ignore their political influence would be foolish. Demographics are showing that the Hispanic population is on the rise. There are an estimated 6. 6 million illegal immigrants from Mexico alone residing in the United States (Marger, 2012). The European American population, although still the largest in size, declining. (Marger, 2012). Since there are an increasing amount of people in the United States who are a mixed race, such as myself who is part Mexican American, true numbers of those who identify as part Hispanic are not yet known. (Marger, 2012). I believe that due to this, it is more crucial than ever to understand what kind of influence Mexican Americans will have on the socioeconomic and political structure of the future America. As much as certain groups of people would want to deny the influence of Mexican culture, as well as that of other Spanish-speaking ethnicities on the United States, the population statistics, (as well as the 2012 Election results, in my opinion) prove otherwise. Hispanics are the largest minority group (Naumann, Benet-Martinez, Espinoza 2013), and it is estimated that by 2050, 46% of the United States population will be Hispanic. (Marger, 2012). Insofar as political influence is concerned, 2008 held 19. 5 million registered Hispanic voters, and it is estimated that 23. 7 million registered voters were Hispanic in the 2012 election. To more specifically cite the influence of Mexican Americans in today’s voting world, there are 33 million Mexican Americans in the United States and 73% of them were born in America (Naumann, et al 2013). Despite attempts of the Republican Party to capture the vote of Hispanic Americans, 70% of them are still voting Democratic. (Naumann, et al 2013). Although Cubans tend to vote primarily more for Republicans, the larger population of Mexican Americans is still voting for Democrats. (Naumann, et al 2013). By analyzing these data, I can only conclude that the dire need for the Hispanic vote from the GOP is the sole purpose of the existence of Marco Rubio in modern politics. A question arises, as much as Mexican Americans influence us, how much do we influence them? The answer would have to depend on how in favor they are of assimilation. Studies have shown that most Mexican American youth would prefer a â€Å"biculturism† form of acculturation, preferring to hold on to their ethnic customs but also to embrace new American ones (Naumann, et al 2013). It was also shown in these studies that the more deep-routed Mexican Americans tend to be in their ethnicity, that the likelier they are to vote liberally (Naumann, et al 2013). Understanding Mexican Americans role in the workplace currently will also help explain motivations as to how they vote and continue to influence the rest of America. A study published in 2005 showed that Mexicans, while living in Mexico, have fewer expectations for advancement in the workplace, including to upper-management positions. This leads them to believe there are less forms of discrimination based on age, sex and ethnicity (Bennington, Wagman, Stallone, 2005). Although these studies were done for Mexicans, not Mexican Americans, I believe that during the newest wave of immigration this attitude could carry over, which could explain at least one reason that despite the large population, there are not heaping amounts of Mexican Americans in upper-level positions. For work life itself, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mexican Americans have at large suffered the same impact of the recession other ethnicities have suffered, having Unemployment peaking strongly in the 2009-2011 years and just now in 2013 starting to make a recovery (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013). I believe this relates to the influence Mexican Americans have on us because since newer immigrants do not seek power as quickly as other ethnic groups, it can lead to certain prejudices of them being unmotivated, which in turn would influence behavior of White Americans to treat them as subordinates. In summation, I believe that educating the true history of Mexican Americans (such as their origin as joining the US as citizens after the Mexican War), can help stop certain forms of prejudice, as well as helping Americans to realize that they are an ever-increasing demographic that is not going away anytime soon. Their influence is growing in US Politics, and this will have to be recognized if certain political groups wish to survive in the new century. I believe that if there is more respect given to them while they are a minority group, the more respect they will give to White America once Whites lose their status as the dominant ethnic group.

Research on Science Essay Example for Free

Research on Science Essay ABSTRACT The study explores ways in which students who have participated in a curriculum innovation, Science ALIVE! acquire Science process skills and perceive the relevance of Science in everyday life. It investigates whether students have, after the programme, perceived an improvement in applying Science process skills. Four classes of Secondary 2 Express students attended one of four modules in the Science ALIVE! programme and responded to a pre- and post-course survey to measure their perceived skill competency for each process skill. They also responded to questions on whether the programme enhanced their awareness of the relevance of Science in everyday life. Five students from each module were selected to provide written feedback at mid-course and write a journal after the course. The content of their feedback and journals were analysed to provide deeper insight of the results of the perception surveys. The data was triangulated with teachers’ feedback, which was used to provide insight of the factors that affect the acquisition of the process skills. The findings show significant increase in students’ perception of skill competency while a high percentage of students indicated that the programme has made them more aware of the relevance of Science in their lives. INTRODUCTION Traditional learning approaches in which students are passive recipients of knowledge are inconsistent with the call for Singapore schools to Teach Less, Learn More (TLLM). There is a need to allow learning to occur in settings that are relevant to students’ experiences and real world problems. In Clementi Town Secondary School (CTSS), Project Work was used as a platform for students to transfer their learning and apply in authentic applications. However, teachers who had conducted Project Work for Science at Secondary 2 observed that students’ projects lacked depth in the specific content area, and the skills needed for scientific investigations. This spurred the need to cover content knowledge relevant to the projects assigned. It also raised the concern that Science process skills, as stipulated in the MOE Lower Secondary Science (LSS) Syllabus, were not sufficiently emphasised compared to acquiring scientific knowledge. Teachers also indicated that students were una ble to appreciate the relevance of Science in solving problems in their lives after past Project Work tasks. Science Process Skills â€Å"Science process skills† is commonly used to describe a set of broadly transferable abilities that are reflective of what scientists do. These skills are grouped into two types – basic and integrated. Basic process skills provide a foundation for learning the integrated skills, which are more complex skills for solving problems or doing Science experiments. In this study, reflecting is listed as a process skill to be investigated, though it is usually considered part of thinking skills which is a broader category that subsumes process skills. Some Science educators have argued that â€Å"teaching students Science facts is not as important as developing their Science process skills so that they can learn this knowledge on their own† (Young, 1995). Studies in the United States have shown that elementary school students who are taught process skills, not only learn to use those processes, but also retain them for future use. In Singapore, the MOE Primary Science syllabus also emphasises the teaching of basic process skills and some integrated skills, while the LSS syllabus emphasises the use of process skills for planning investigations and creative problem solving, and other thinking skills. Curriculum design plays an important role in the acquisition of Science process skills. The MOE Assessment Guidelines for LSS recommends an explicit teaching of the process skills, followed by the integration of these skills by students in experimenting or carrying out investigative projects. Padilla (1990) pointed out that â€Å"when Science process skills are a specific planned outcome of a Science programme, those skills can be learned by students Teachers need to select curricula which emphasise Science process skills.† These basic skills are learnt more effectively if they are considered an important object of instruction and if proven teaching methods are used. There must be a deliberate effort to focus on teaching process skills through a modified LSS curriculum. Young (1995) recommended that if teachers have the freedom to select their own topics, they should choose topics of direct interest to themselves and which would excite students. Science knowledge serves as background for lessons but should not take up the whole lesson. Instead, more time should be spent on activities that enhance the understanding of Science concepts and improve Science skills. Some studies have shown that instead of using the didactic approach, teaching Science through the use of activity-based approaches significantly improved students’ achievement in Science process skills (Beaumont-Walters, 2001). Berry et al (1999) suggested a few crucial factors that influence the acquisition of process skills used in laboratory work. Firstly, students need the relevant content knowledge that is assumed by the task to be mentally engaged. For example, a more knowledgeable student would be able to explain an observation, which in turn â€Å"validates† his knowledge and gives him a certain amount of intellectual satisfaction. The ‘doing’ of Science has to be coupled with ‘learning about’ Science, if students are to appreciate the value of scientific inquiry (Haigh et al, 2005). A second factor suggested by Berry et al (1999) is students’ ownership of laboratory tasks. Ownership would be more apparent in open laboratory tasks, where the student has to design his own experiment than in closed laboratory tasks, where the â€Å"correct† experimental procedure is written out in a â€Å"cookbook† style and the student is likely to carry out the tasks unthinkingly. Another effective strategy to enhance students’ process skills would be to let students keep a â€Å"scientific journal† (Tomkins Tunnicliffe, 2001). It was observed that diary writers tend to build more confidence in their own interpretations, engage in intellectual debates with themselves over the plausibility of their explanations and ask questions that are more quantifiable. Relevance of Science in everyday life Research studies conducted in recent decades on students’ perception of school Science have consistently shown that they perceive Science as not relevant (Bennett, 2001). Similar findings have raised a serious concern in several countries. For instance, a report by the Dutch Ministry of Education in 2002 observed that secondary school students did not see a connection between what they learnt in Chemistry lessons and the chemistry happening around them (Van Aalsvoort, 2004a). A subsequent report recommended teaching Science in context. However, a study carried out on a contextualised Science curriculum introduced to Swaziland students highlighted some shortcomings (Campbell et al, 2000). The findings showed that less than half of the sample students could draw on Science concepts to explain everyday experiences or solve everyday problems. It was suggested that contextualised learning could be made more effective through student-initiated project work on everyday problems. Van Aalsvoort (2004b) suggested using activity theory to address the issue of the relevance of Chemistry in chemical education, where reflection plays a key role in evaluating and developing an activity. Reflection could be carried out through writing reflection journals, which also helped enhance the acquisition of process skills, as mentioned earlier (Tomkins Tunnicliffe, 2001). According to Van Aalsvoort (2004a), relevance can be defined in four aspects: (i) personal relevance – Science education makes connections to students’ lives; (ii) professional relevance – Science education offers students a picture of possible professions; (iii) social relevance – Science education clarifies the purpose of Science in human and social issues; and (iv) personal/social relevance – Science education helps students develop into responsible citizens. This study considers relevance in three aspects – personal, professional and social. INTERVENTION Project Work aims for students to transfer the learning of concepts into applications in authentic settings. To address the areas of concern raised by teachers teaching Project Work, the Science ALIVE! programme was conceived to integrate Project Work and the LSS syllabus. This 13-week programme was conducted during Semester 2 of the Secondary 2 Express Science curriculum and used alternative assessment to replace the traditional end-ofyear examination. In this programme, a team of teachers crafted four modules which covered a variety of topics from Biology, Chemistry and Physics. As a motivating factor, students could choose from one of the four modules offered: Aroma Chemistry, Biodiversity, Life Science and Water Rockets. In each Science ALIVE! module, specific content knowledge was taught using hands-on strategies such as laboratory work, field trips, journal writing and group discussions. These strategies were intended to promote student engagement. Most importantly, the programme addressed the three key issues of concern in the following ways: 1. Content knowledge covered was specific to each module and relevant to the projects that students were assigned. This enabled students to better transfer the concepts to the projects. 2. Science process skills could be applied by students through journal writing, laboratory work and investigative project work. Science process skills were used as criteria for assessment to emphasise their importance and focus. 3. To enhance the relevance of Science, students were given a choice of the elective module to study, and to decide on the problem to work on for their projects. Contextualised learning, which draws on scientific understanding to explain everyday situations, was consciously infused into the curriculum design for each module. Reflection journals were written after selected activities, which according to activity theory helped students evaluate their learning (Van Aalsvoort, 2004b). RESEARCH QUESTIONS The two research questions are: (1) How does the Science ALIVE! programme help students to apply their Science process skills? And (2) How can the Science ALIVE! programme enhance the relevance of Science in students’ lives? METHODOLOGY Participants 147 students from all four Secondary 2 Express classes attended the Science ALIVE! programme and participated in the study. Pre- and post-course perception surveys were conducted for all students to measure their perception of their skill competency and their awareness of the relevance of Science in their lives through the programme. In addition, five students were selected from each module to give written feedback in week 8 (mid-course) and write a journal in week 13 (at the end of the course). To provide maximum variation, the five students from each module were selected based on their Science grade in Semester 1 and their reasons for selecting the module which reflected their motivational level. Instruments In the pre- and post-course surveys, students were asked to rate their perception of their Science process skills using a four-point Likert scale. The post-course survey included an item to measure students’ perception of increased awareness of the relevance of Science in their lives. Data Analysis For survey items on Science process skills, the mean value of each skill was calculated for the individual module (Table 2) as well as across all modules (Table 1). Skills with ratings of less than 3 (out of 4) were identified and analysed. The differences in mean values for pre- and post-course surveys were compared. The differences were considered significant if there was an increase or decrease of at least 0.3 in value (or 10% of the range of scale used). Journals and mid-course written feedback of the 20 selected students were used to surface possible reasons for these perceptions. The data was triangulated with teachers’ feedback, which was used to provide insight of the factors that affect the acquisition of the process skills. For the survey item on the relevance of Science, the total percentage of students who indicated an â€Å"Agree† or â€Å"Strongly Agree† was computed for each module. Content analysis of the journals and written feedback from the selected students were carried out. Frequency counts of the responses were based on three categories: personal, professional and social relevance. Teachers’ feedback was used to provide depth to the findings. RESULTS Acquisition of Science process skills The perception of all students on the level of their skill competency before and after the Science ALIVE! programme was measured through surveys. The survey results were compared using the mean values for each process skill, as shown in Table 1. Table 1: Comparison of students’ perception of skills before and after Science ALIVE! Mean value (scale 1 – 4) Pre-Course Post-Course 3.1 3.2 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 3.1 2.8 2.6 3.0 3.0 2.7 3.1 3.2 Process Skill (a) Elaborating (Research) (b) Conducting scientific investigations (Planning investigations) (c) Conducting scientific investigations (Using scientific apparatus) (d) Conducting scientific investigations (Analysing data) (e) Communicating (Writing scientific reports) (f) Reflecting (g) Questioning (Learning by asking questions) In the pre-course survey, the items which scored less than 3 are the skills of ‘planning investigations’, ‘using scientific apparatus’, ‘analysing data’, ‘writing scientific reports’ and ‘learning by asking questions’. Students’ perception rating increased in the following skills ‘using scientific apparatus’, ‘analysing data’ and ‘learning by asking questions’ suggesting that the Science ALIVE! programme had benefited them in these areas, with the exception of ‘planning investigations’ and ‘writing scientific reports’ where there was marginal increase or no change between the pre- and post-course rating. This revealed that in general, students still did not have much confidence in these skills and suggests that more could be done in the next cycle to guide students in these aspects. The changes in the rating for items (b), (c) and (d) in the pre- and post-course surveys suggest that students’ perceptions that their skills in handling apparatus and equipment have improved. This could be attributed to the fact that students were introduced to various new apparatus or equipment during project experiments in all modules. For example, the Biodiversity module used dataloggers which was equipment new to students. Skills in items (b), (c) and (d) are all part of the process of conducting scientific investigations. However, there was only a marginal increase in the rating for (b) ‘planning investigations’ after the programme. This could be because planning investigations is a higher order process skill which encompasses making hypothesis, identifying variables and writing the experimental procedures. Analysis of Science process skills by skill category The results were further categorised to compare and study the changes in students’ perception of skill competency for the individual modules, as shown in Table 2. Table 2: Comparison of perception of skill competency by module Mean value (Scale 1 – 4) BioLife diversity Science Pre Post Pre Post 2.9 3.2 3.0 3.3 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.9 3.3 2.9 2.4 2.9 2.8 2.4 3.3 3.3 2.4 2.9 2.7 2.5 3.1 2.9 2.8 3.0 3.1 2.9 3.2 3.0 Module Process Skill (a) Elaborating (Research) (b) Conducting investigations (Planning investigations) (c) Conducting investigations (Using scientific apparatus) (d) Conducting investigations (Analysing data) (e) Communicating (Writing scientific report) (f) Reflecting (g) Questioning (Learning by asking questions) Elaborating Aroma Chemistry Pre Post 3.3 3.2 2.6 2.4 2.6 2.7 3.1 3.0 2.7 3.1 2.9 2.7 2.8 3.2 Water Rockets Pre Post 3.1 3.1 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.5 2.9 2.6 2.5 3.0 2.9 2.7 3.0 3.2 The results of item (a) in the pre- and post-surveys showed an increase in rating for this skill for the Biodiversity and Life Science modules. This could be because these modules are more content-based topics, which require greater use of such skills. It should, however, be noted that for Aroma Chemistry module, the pre-course survey score was already high and it might be difficult to make further significant improvement. From the written feedback of selected students in the 8th week of the programme, half indicated that they had learnt to research to look for more information. All five students from the Biodiversity module wrote that they had learnt to assess â€Å"how reliable the sources are†. For example, one student from the module wrote in her journal that â€Å"before creating our ecosystem, we need to do research on the organisms that we choose, on what they feed on and their suitable habitat† (Student S8). Teachers conducting the programme felt that most students were still at the developmental stage of doing research, as they could not extract relevant information from sources. They also observed that some students lacked the initiative and discipline to do research work, though teachers had provided a list of resources. This could be seen in project reports, where the evidence of research is lacking. A likely explanation for this observation is the past practice of didactic teaching, resulting in students â€Å"so used to being given all materials and information by teachers that they do not know how to get started† (Teacher T3). Teacher T1 recommended the need to balance between providing students with information and allowing them to be independent in their learning. Conducting Scientific Investigations For item (b) on ‘planning investigations’, the Life Science module had the largest increase in perception rating (more than 10%). Here the Life Science teacher explained that students were taught how to design experiments step-by-step with given examples. The importance of planning in investigations is stated by one of the students in the module: When we need to choose something, we need to think about all its aspects. After everything is ok, we can start work (Student S14). However, Teacher T2 commented that students still needed a lot of hand-holding and practice to be competent. A student from another module echoed this: â€Å"I am not sure how to design an experiment on my own†. Item (c) on the practical skill of ‘using scientific apparatus’ or equipment had the largest increase for all modules, except Life Science where the initial pre-course rating was already high (mean 2.9). All modules were designed to include more hands-on activities, which required the use of apparatus and equipment. One student wrote about the importance of using the right procedures as he â€Å"learnt how to use steam distillation by setting up the apparatus correctly and doing the extraction properly† (Student S2), while another student shared her new skill of using â€Å"dataloggers to measure the different abiotic factors from the †¦forests† (Student S7). Teachers observed that the students were excited and enjoyed themselves when using new apparatus. On their part, teachers also sought to infuse rigour by ensuring that students perform the experimental procedures accurately. The enjoyment of Science through hands-on activities, particularly laboratory work, was a motivating factor in learning Science. The rating for the skill of analysing or inferring from experimental data in item (d) increased more for three modules than for the Biodiversity module. This could be the result of students being given more opportunities to handle experimental data in their projects and make conclusions for the Aroma Chemistry, Life Science and Water Rockets modules. On the other hand, the investigative project for Biodiversity was of a smaller scale, and students’ main form of project assessment was a conservation proposal. One factor which attributed to the increase in perception rating was group collaboration. As students did their projects in groups, they could discuss how to analyse the data obtained from the investigations. Students analysed their data in various ways depending on the type of data collected in each module. For example, Student S11 commented: â€Å"I got a chance to compare and compile the results of surveys, test the reliability of our product, put into tables and identify the similarities and differences present. Others learnt to analyse the cause of problems in their projects, as noted by Student S16: â€Å"†¦ our rocket failed in launching and we realise that the problem is due to the leaking of our rocket†. Teachers however concurred in their observations that though students could comment on their data, their analysis lacked depth. Besides these investigative skills, many students also reflected in their journals that they had developed observation skills during practical work and investigations. One student wrote: â€Å"In the past, I would have just used my eyes. Now I have learnt to use all of my five senses to know more about the subject I am observing† (Student S10). Communicating In item (e), ‘writing scientific reports’ was the focus in the skill of communicating. Though there was no change in overall student perception (see Table 1), Table 2 showed a significant drop in the rating for Biodiversity module compared to an increase in Life Science module. The Biodiversity teacher attributed the drop in rating to students’ â€Å"realisation and shock† in receiving feedback on their first report draft, as they â€Å"did not anticipate scientific reports to be of slightly different nature and demands though they were briefed†. But she noted that the provision of formative feedback and the re-drafting of reports helped students in this skill. The Life Science teacher linked the increased rating to having provided illustrative examples and templates for students, but she felt that they were still lacking in the skill and could be given more practice. Students’ journals hardly mentioned this skill, except Student S10 who wrote that he â€Å"learnt to sieve through the report for important points to put in the abstract†. Reflecting Generally, students felt that they were able to reflect on their lessons. Item (f) in Table 2 showed an initial high rating which was unchanged after the programme. Students saw their journals as an â€Å"opportunity to clarify and reflect upon their learning† (Student S3). At the end of the programme, a few students said that the reflections helped to monitor their understanding of lessons, and one student mentioned that she would research on the internet to address questions she had (Student S1). Teachers believed that â€Å"journal writing and providing consistent formative feedback help(ed) the students develop reflection skills† (Teacher T1). However, specific journal prompts are necessary to guide students so that they do not simply give a detailed account of the activities and concepts covered without reflecting on the learning points (Teacher T2). Questioning The survey results of item (g) showed more significant increase in the Biodiversity and Water Rockets modules. For each module, students acquired this skill through reflecting on their lessons in their journals and then asking relevant questions to find out more. One student reflected that she dared to ask more questions in class after learning to ask questions through journals (Student S6). Students had opportunities to generate questions when they were verifying the reliability of information. They also formulated questions prior to industrial visits and field trips, and posed them to the experts. At the mid-course feedback, a few students mentioned that they learnt to â€Å"raise questions in class† through ways such as â€Å"being a questioner in group discussions† (Student S13). The Biodiversity teacher attributed this improvement to conducive â€Å"lesson environment and delivery (that) promotes questioning†. Such lesson delivery may include guiding questions in class activities and journal prompts that encouraged further questioning, and peer evaluation where students critiqued the projects of other groups. The Water Rockets teacher reflected that in comparison to traditional Science lessons, â€Å"there was more chance for students to ask questions as things are now less predictable† as in most real world situations. The post-course survey included an item which required students to state whether â€Å"Science ALIVE! lessons have made them more aware of the relevance of Science in their lives†. Table 3 shows the percentage of students who â€Å"agreed† or â€Å"strongly agreed† with the statement. Table 3: Percentage of students who indicated that the programme had made them more aware of the relevance of Science in their lives Module Aroma Chemistry Biodiversity Life Science Water Rockets % Agree 73.5 47.2 64.1 73.0 % Strongly Agree 17.7 50.0 23.1 10.8 % (Agree + Strongly Agree) 91.2 97.2 87.2 83.8 The results in Table 3 show a very high concurrence with the statement for all modules. This is consistent with the programme objective of enhancing the relevance of Science in students’ lives. Students’ journals were analysed for indications of the relevance of Science in three areas: personal, professional and social. A frequency count of the responses showed 82% for personal relevance, 24% for professional relevance and 65% for social relevance. This revealed that students perceived the relevance of Science as mostly related to their personal lives. Only a handful of students could relate the relevance to their future career prospects. Further probing into students’ definition of personal relevance showed an extensive range of interpretation depending on the modules taken. Enhancing one’s quality of life is frequently mentioned in terms of personal relaxation and cure for illnesses. Students from the Aroma Chemistry module stated that they â€Å"could use essential oils to calm a person if he feels nervous† (Student S2). Life Science students surfaced the use of medicines when they fall sick and the growing of genetically modified food (GMF) for convenience (Student S15). Students also stated the importance of process skills in their lives, such as questioning the reliability of information sources. The majority of students could not appreciate Science as having professional relevance. Those who were able to see career possibilities were students who had gone for field trips, where they were introduced to experts in the related field. They saw the knowledge and skills gained through the programme as relevant to their â€Å"future education and working career† (Student S11). Others used the knowledge gained to better understand the requirements of various jobs. A student stated that she â€Å"could understand how people designing furniture, buildings and other things require this knowledge (of centre of gravity)† (Student S16). Three out of five students could relate Science to social relevance, which included how Science affected interaction between people and the environment. One Biodiversity student wrote: â€Å"This also taught me that in school or at work, we have to depend on one another for a living† (Student S10), while another could â€Å"understand nature better† and learnt not to pollute the environment (Student S7). Life Science students pointed out various applications in social and ethical issues, such as the use of forensic Science by police to solve crime (Student S11), knowledge of DNA in cloning (Student S15), and even checking via blood tests whether a child is biologically conceived or adopted (Student S12). Teachers’ feedback indicated that students were generally able to â€Å"connect Science to reality and †¦ in explaining happenings in their lives† (Teacher T2). These observations were made through students’ group discussions and written journals. Examples quoted by the teachers were mostly related to personal and social relevance. It showed that students had an increased awareness of scientific discovery (e.g. antibiotics, genetics) and technology (e.g. making of soap and sweets) that were directly related to their lives and the lives of those around them. The main catalyst that enhanced their awareness was personal experiences through engaging them in experiments that relate to real life and exposing them to more field trips (e.g. Yakult factory, flavour and fragrance industry, nature reserve). DISCUSSION Key features in Science ALIVE! that have helped students acquire Science process skills include scaffolding, group collaboration and journal writing. Scaffolding guides students in learning new or complex skills. Nelson (2004) pointed out that more scaffolding is required for students to be able to do research independently. To illustrate this, the increase in rating for skills on ‘planning investigations’ and ‘writing of scientific report’ in the Life Science module was attributed to â€Å"a lot of hand-holding† and exemplars provided by the teacher. Scaffolding in the form of specific journal prompts can also be adopted to ensure greater depth in student reflection. Teachers, however, will need to balance between providing students support and allowing them to be independent learners. Group collaboration is deployed extensively in the programme, where students worked in groups of three on projects, laboratory work and group assignments. This concurs with findings of a study conducted by Hofstein et al (2004), where cooperative learning in laboratory work helped students construct knowledge. Hofstein et al argued for more time to be spent on laboratory tasks, so that students could reflect on findings and also discuss with their peers. This would be one way to further improve students’ analytical skills, which they are still lacking. Journal writing in Science ALIVE! proves to be very useful in informing teachers of students’ conceptual understanding, acquisition of skills such as reflecting and questioning, and how students relate Science to their everyday life. It allows teachers to give regular feedback as part of assessment for learning. It is also of considerable value to students as it promotes greater ownership to their learning (Tomkins and Tunnicliffe, 2001). This leads to independent learning and moves students to a higher level of thinking, according to the principle on ‘Experience of learning’ in the Principles of Engaged Learning (MOE, 2005). Science ALIVE! lessons are different from the didactic traditional Science lessons, as they focus largely on the application of Science process skills. Hence there is a need to prepare students for the change, for example, from structured experiments to partially open investigations (Haigh et al, 2005). The need for such preparation was evident in the Biodiversity module as students were surprised to learn that scientific reports were different from other project reports, but they managed to overcome it after a few rounds of re-drafting. After the pilot run of Science ALIVE! programme, the teachers recommended that process skills be explicitly taught first followed by opportunities â€Å"created on purpose† for students to practise the skills. This is consistent with Padilla (1990) who suggested the need to provide students with â€Å"multiple opportunities to work with these skills in different content areas and contexts†. To enhance students’ investigative skills, Haigh et al (2005) proposed that teachers provide ‘refresher’ courses to cue students in the planning and conducting of their investigations .On completion of the investigation, students should be given the opportunity to evaluate their work so as to make it more meaningful. In Aroma Chemistry, students were asked to compare the quality of two batches of soap that they had made from different laboratory sessions and analyse the possible causes for the difference, while Biodiversity students had to reflect on the additiona l learning gained after a second trip to the nature reserve. Besides using appropriate strategies to help students adapt to the shift, it is also crucial to rectify students’ mindset on the importance and relevance of acquiring Science process skills. This is because students will be more motivated if they consider process skills an important object of instruction (Padilla, 1990). Thus teachers need to make explicit the â€Å"why† of teaching process skills (Haigh et al, 2005). The deliberate infusion of relevant Science applications in the curriculum of each module has succeeded in enhancing students’ awareness of the usefulness of Science in everyday life. Personal and social relevance dominated students’ ideas of the relevance of Science, though exposure to related industries and appropriate working environments could further promote an awareness of professional relevance. CONCLUSION Going forward, the Science ALIVE! programme would be refined in the next cycle to enhance students’ acquisition of Science process skills. Successful strategies such as the use of reflection journals, activity-based learning, group collaboration and contextualised learning will continue to be used. There would be more emphasis on the explicit teaching of process skills. In addition, more opportunities would be provided for the application of process skills in the core curriculum. RECOMMENDATION Further research on the Science ALIVE! programme could focus on the process skills which students found more difficult to master. With explicit teaching of these skills in the core curriculum prior to Science ALIVE!, the impact could be investigated. The usefulness of Science process skills acquired through the programme could be studied in terms of its impact on Upper Secondary Science, for example, the sustainability of student motivation in Upper Secondary Science. The findings in these research areas will help to inform the effectiveness of future Science ALIVE! programmes. REFERENCES Beaumont-Walters, Y. (2001). An analysis of high school students’ performance on five integrated Science process skills. Research in Science Technological Education, 19(2), 133-145. Bennett, J. (2001). Science with attitude: the perennial issue of pupils’ responses to Science. School Science Review, 82(300), 59-67. Berry, A., Mulhall, P., Gunstone, R., Loughran, J. (1999). Helping students learn from laboratory work. Australian Science Teachers’ Journal, 45(1), 27-31. Campbell, B., Lubben, F., Dlamini, Z. (2000). Learning Science through contexts: helping pupils make sense of everyday situations. International Journal of Science Education, 22(3), 239-252. Haigh, M., France, B., Forret, M. (2005). Is ‘doing Science’ in New Zealand classrooms an expression of scientific inquiry? International Journal of Science Education, 27(2), 215-226. Hofstein, A., Shore, R., Kipnis, M. (2004). Providing high school chemistry students with opportunities to deve lop learning skills in an inquiry-type laboratory: a Case Study. International Journal of Science Education, 26(1), 47-62. Ministry of Education (2005). A toolkit for engaged teaching and learning. Curriculum Planning and Development Division, Ministry of Education, Singapore. Nelson, T.H. (2004). Helping students make connections. The Science Teacher, 71(3), 32-35. Padilla, M.J. (1990). The Science process skills. Research Matters – to the Science Teacher, No. 9004. Retrieved December 1, 2006 from http://www.narst.org/publications/ research/skill.htm Tomkins, S.P., Tunnicliffe, S.D. (2001). Looking for ideas: observation, interpretation and hypothesis making by 12-year-old pupils undertaking Science investigations. International Journal of Science Education, 23(8), 791-813. Van Aalsvoort, J. (2004a). Logical positivism as a tool to analyse the problem of Chemistry’s lack of relevance in secondary school chemical education. International Journal of Science Education, 26(9), 1151-1168. Van Aalsvoort, J. (2004b). Activity theory as a tool to address the problem of Chemistry’s lack of relevance in secondary school chemical education. International Journal of Science Education, 26(13), 1635-1651. Young, R. M. (1995). Hands-on Science. Westminster, CA: Teacher Created Materials, Inc.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India Alok Tyagi QUESTION Discuss the significance of foreign direct investment for a developing country like India? Why India has failed to attract more FDI despite being a democratic country? WHAT IS FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT? MEANING: These three letters stand for direct investment. The simplest explanation of FDI would be a direct investment by a corporation in a commercial venture in another country. A key to escaping this action from investment in other ventures in a foreign country is that the business enterprise operates completely outside the economy of the corporation’s home country. The investing corporation must control 10 percent or more of the voting power of the new venture. According to history the United States was the leader in the FDI activity dating back as far as the end of World War II. Businesses from other nations have taken up the flag of FDI, including many who were not in a financial position to do so just a few years ago. The practise has grown significantly in the last couple of decades, to the point that FDI has generated quite a bit of opposition from groups such as labor unions. These organizations have expressed concern that investing at such a level in another country eliminates jobs. Legislation was introduced in the early 1970s that would have put an end to the tax incentives of FDI. But members of the Nixon administration, Congress and business interests rallied to make sure that this attack on their expansion plans was not successful. One key to introducing FDI is to get a mental picture of the global scale of corporations able to make such investment. A carefully planned FDI can provide a huge new market for the company, perhaps introducing products and services to an area where they have never been available. Not only that, but such an investment may also be more profitable if construction costs and labor costs are less in the host country. The definition of FDI originally meant that the investing corporation gained a significant number of shares (10 percent or more) of the new venture. In recent years, however, companies have been able to make a foreign direct investment that is actually long-term management control as opposed to direct investment in buildings and equipment. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a measure of foreign ownership of productive assets, such as factories, mines and land. Increasing foreign investment can be used as one measure of growing economic globalization. The largest flows of foreign investment occur between the industrialized countries (North America, Western Europe and Japan). But flows to non-industrialized countries are increasing sharply. Foreign direct investment (FDI) refers to long-term participation by country A into country B. It usually involves participation in management, joint-venture, transfer of technology and expertise. There are two types of FDI: inward foreign direct investment and outward foreign direct investment, resulting in a net FDI inflow(positive or negative). Foreign direct investment reflects the objective of obtaining a lasting interest by a resident entity in one country (‘direct investor’) in an entity resident in an economy other than that of the investor (‘direct investment enterprise’). Foreign Direct Investment – when a firm invests directly in production or other facilities, over which it has effective control, in a foreign country. Manufacturing FDI requires the establishment of production facilities. Service FDI requires building service facilities or an investment foothold via capital contributions or building office facilities. Foreign subsidiaries – overseas units or entities Host country – the country in which a foreign subsidiary operates. Flow of FDI – the amount of FDI undertaken over a given time. Stock of FDI – total accumulated value of foreign-owned assets Differs from FDI, which is the investment in physical assets. DEFINITION Foreign direct investment is that investment, which is made to serve the business interests of the investor in a company, which is in a different nation distinct from the investor’s country of origin. A parent business enterprise and its foreign affiliate are the two sides of the FDI relationship. Together they comprise an MNC. The parent enterprise through its foreign direct investment effort seeks to exercise substantial control over the foreign affiliate company. ‘Control’ as defined by the UN, is ownership of greater than or equal to 10% o ordinary shares or access to voting rights in an incorporated firm. For an unincorporated firm one needs to consider an equivalent criterion. Ownership share amounting to less than that stated above is termed as portfolio investment and is not categorized as FDI. FDI stands for FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, a component of a country’s national financial accounts. Foreign direct investment is investment of foreign assets into domestic structures, equipment, and organizations. It does not include foreign investment into the stock markets. Foreign direct investment is thought to be more useful to a country than investments in the equity of its companies because equity investments are potentially ‘hot money’ which can leave at first sign of trouble, whereas FDI is durable and generally useful whether things go well or badly. FDI or Foreign Direct Investmentis any form of investment that earns interest in enterprises which function outside of the domestic territory of the investor. FDIs require a business relationship between a parent company and its foreign subsidiary. Foreign direct business relationships give rise to multinational corporations. For an investment to be regarded as FDI, the parent firm needs to have at least 10% of the ordinary shares of its foreign affiliates. FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTOR A foreign direct investor is an individual, an incorporated or unincorporated public or private enterprise, a government, a group of related incorporated and unincorporated enterprise – that is, a subsidiary, associate or branch – operating in a country other than the country or countries of residence of the foreign direct investor or investors. TYPES OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT FDIs can be broadly classified into two types: Outward FDIs Inward FDIs This classification is based on the types of restrictions imposed, and the various pre-requisites required for these investments. Outward FDI: An outward-bound FDI is backed by the government against all types of associated risks. This form of FDI is subject to tax incentives as well as disincentives of various forms. Risk coverage provided to the domestic industries and subsidies granted to local firms stand in the way of outward FDIs, which are also known as ‘direct investments abroad’. Inward FDI: Different economic factors encourage inward FDIs. These include interest loans, tax breaks, grants, subsidies, and the removal of restrictions and limitations. Factors detrimental to the growth of FDIs include necessities of differential performance and limitations related with ownership patterns. Other categorizations of FDI Other categorizations of FDI exist as well. Vertical Foreign Direct Investment takes place when a multinational corporation owns some shares of a foreign enterprise, which supplies input for it or uses the output produced by the MNC. Horizontal foreign direct investments happen when a multinational company carries out a similar business operation in different nations. Horizontal FDI – the MNE enters a foreign country to produce the same products at home. Conglomerate FDI – the MNE produces products not manufactured at home. Vertical FDI – the MNE produces intermediate goods either forward or backward in the supply stream. Liability of foreignness – the costs of doing business abroad resulting in a competitive disadvantage. METHODS OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS The foreign direct investor may acquire 10% or more of the voting power of an enterprise in an economy through any of the following methods: By incorporating a wholly owned subsidiary or company By acquiring shares in an associated enterprise Through a merger or an acquisition of an unrelated enterprise Participating in an equity joint venture with another investor or enterprise Foreign direct investment incentives may take the following forms: Low corporate tax and income tax rates Tax holidays Other types of tax concessions Preferential tariffs Special economic zones Soft loan or loan guarantees Free land or land subsidies Relocation expatriation subsidies RD support Infrastructure subsidies WHY IS FDI IMPORTANT FOR ANY CONSIDERATION OF GOING GLOBAL? The simple answer is that making a direct foreign investment allows companies to accomplish several tasks: Avoiding foreign government pressure for local production. Circumventing trade barriers, hidden and otherwise. Making the move from domestic export sales to a locally-based national sales office. Capability to increase total production capacity. Opportunities for co-production, joint venture with local partners, joint Marketing arrangements, licensing, etc. A more complete response might address the issue of global business partnering in very general terms. While it is nice that many business writers like the expression, ‘think globally, act locally’, this often used clichà © does not really mean very much to the average business executive in a small and medium sized company. The phrase does have significant connotations for multinational corporations. But for executives in SME’s, it is still just another buzzword. The simple explanation for tis is the difference in perspective between executives of multinational corporations and small and medium sized companies. Multinational corporations are almost always concerned with worldwide manufacturing capacity and proximity to major markets. Small and medium sized companies tend to be more concerned with selling their products in overseas markets. The advent of the internet has ushered in a new and very different mindset that tends to focus more on access issues. SME†™s in particular are now focusing on access to markets, access to expertise and most of all access to technology. THE STRATEGIC LOGIC BEHIND FDI Resources seeking – looking for resources at a lower real cost. Market seeking – secure market share and sales growth in target foreign market. Efficiency seeking – seeks to establish efficient structure through useful factors, culture, policies or markets. ENHANCING EFFICIENCY FROM LOCATION ADVANTAGES Location advantages – defined as the benefits arising from a host country’s comparative advantages. Lower real cost from operating in a host country Labour cost differentials Transportation costs, tariff and non-tariff barriers Governmental policies IMPROVING PERFORMANCE FROM STRUCTURAL DISCREPANCIES Structural discrepancies are the differences in industry structure attributes between home and host countries. Examples include areas where: Competition is less intense Products are in different stages of their life cycle Market demand is unsaturated There are differences in market sophistication INCREASING RETURN FROM OWNERSHIP ADVANTAGES Ownership advantages come from the application of proprietary tangible and intangible assets in the host country. Reputation, brand image, distribution channels Technological expertise, organizational skills, experience Core competence – skills within the firm that competitors cannot easily imitate or match. ENSURING GROWTH FROM ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING MNEs exposed to multiple stimuli, developing: Diversity capabilities Broader learning opportunities Exposed to: New markets New practices New ideas New cultures New competition FDI INDIAN ECONOMY The economy of India is the third largest in the world as measured by purchasing power parity, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of US $3.611 trillion. When measured in USD exchange-rate terms, it is the tenth largest in the world, with a GDP of US $800.8 billion. The economy is diverse and encompasses agriculture, handicrafts, textile, manufacturing and a multitude of services. Although two-thirds of the Indian workforce still earn their livelihood directly or indirectly through agriculture, services are growing sector and are playing an increasingly important role of India’s economy. The advent of the digital age, and the large number of young and educated populace fluent in English, is gradually transforming India as an important ‘back office’ destination for global companies or the outsourcing of their customer services and technical support. India is a major exporter of highly-skilled workers in software and financial services, and software engineering. India followed a socialist-inspired approach for most of its independent history, with strict government control over private sector participation, foreign trade, and foreign direct investment. FDI up to 100% is allowed under the automatic route in all activities/sectors except the following which will require approval of the government activities that require an Industrial License. INVESTMENT RISKS IN INDIA Sovereign Risk Political Risk Commercial risk Risk due to terrorism FDI POLICY IN INDIA Foreign Direct Investment policy FDI policy is reviewed on an outgoing basis and measures for its further liberalisation are taken. Change in sectoral policy/sectoral equity cap is notified from time to time through press notes. FDI policy permits FDI up to 100% from foreign investor without prior approval in most of the sectors including the services sector under automatic route. FDI in sectors under automatic route does not require any prior approval either by the government or the RBI. The foreign direct investment scheme and strategy depends on the respective FDI norms and policies in India. The FDI policy of India has imposed certain foreign direct investmentregulations as per the FDI theory of the government of India. These include FDI limits in India for example: Foreign direct investment in India in infrastructure development projects excluding arms and ammunitions, atomic energy sector, railway system, extraction of coal and lignite and mining industry is allowed upto 100% equity participation with the capping amount as Rs. 1500 crores. FDI limit of maximum 49% in telecom industry especially in the GSM services. FDI figures in equity contribution I the finance sector cannot exceed more than 40% in banking services including credit card operations. Foreign direct investment: Indian scenario FDI is permitted as under the following forms of investments – Through financial collaborations Through joint ventures and technical collaborations Through capital markets via Euro issues Through private placements or preferential allotments CONCLUSION A large number of changes that were introduced in the country’s regulatory economic policies heralded the liberalization era of the FDI policy regime in India and brought about a structural breakthrough in the volume of FDI inflows into the economy maintained a fluctuating and unsteady trend during the study period. It might be of interest to note that more than 50% of the total FDI inflows received by India, came from Singapore and the USA. According to findings and results, we have concluded that FII did have significant impact on Sensex but there is less co-relation with Bank and IT. One of the reasons for high degree of any linear relation can also be due to the simple data. There are other major factors that influence the bourses in the stock market.

Cancer :: essays research papers fc

The Mysterious Face of Cancer Statement of Purpose: What people need to understand though is yes cancer is Life-altering chain of events but cancer is not the end of the world. I. Death is inevitable; there is no way around it. A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are more than one hundred types of cancer. B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are three main ways doctors and scientists detect cancer in a patient. C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If a patient does have cancer and it is detected in the early stages there is a greater chance of recovery. II. There are three main types of cancer treatment doctor’s use.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most cancers are treatable if they are detected in the early stages. B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sadly, many people discover they have cancer after is too late. C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several warning signs that may save a patients life. III. Scientists may not know right now why cancer affects certain people but they do know that it has nothing to do with age or gender. A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the United States about 8.4 million Americans alive today have a history of cancer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  B. Nearly 552,200 people will develop cancer in the next year. C. There are several steps a person can take to reduce his or her risk of developing the cancer virus. The Mysterious Face Of Cancer Every person on earth will eventually one day have to leave it behind. It is not the choice of the person whether they go peacefully or whether they go with pain. More often than not a person will go with pain. This is the case with cancer. More and more people die everyday from cancer and it appears to ruin the lives of all those associated with it. What people need to understand though is yes cancer is a life altering chain of events but cancer is not the end of the world. Death is inevitable; there is no way around it. Perhaps cancer patients realize this more than anyone. â€Å"All creatures born upon this earth must, in the end, die. Some live long and peaceful lives. But others are caught up in struggles—must fight for their lives† (Silverstein 12-13). This is the case with cancer. Cancer patients will struggle and fight for their lives and not have the luxury of dying peacefully. The cause of cancer is still unknown to scientists but they have been able to come up with some possible explanations. Cancer affects newborn babies, boys, girls, women, men, animals and even plants. The possible causes of the cancers that affect each of these groups include chemicals in the body, viruses, ultraviolet rays, smoking, and it has been proven to be hereditary in some cases.

Corporate Law Essay -- Business, Free Market

Harmonization of private international law aspects concerning corporations is the best way to resolve the uncertainties surrounding corporate cross-border mobility. Harmonization of substantive laws concerning corporations is, on the other hand, unattainable and undesirable? Discuss in relation to: (i) Regulating company law matters; AND (ii) Regulating their insolvency. 1. Introduction Modern day corporations with their multilateral nature have created their owned corporate governance regime. Proponents argue that this corporation are replacing states and brining their own current in world’s economy especially the free market. Further, with the wave of globalization these firms have established themselves so firmly in the local and cross border markets that are beyond the imagination as to compare to the perception when the idea of company was formally conceived in legislative instrument. The ongoing process of globalization has also provided corporation with profound changes in the way they conduct their business. Today international transactions are not merely exchange of goods with the foreigner as was in the recent past. Now, corporations are involved in every transaction and there are number of agreements and process going in between such transactions. Comparatively there are more complex legal regimes on one hand, and liberty of abolition of national b arriers with great competition. Today, corporations have a number of methods to capture any market around the globe. There are thin line for demarcation of the area of private international law and public international law as both govern the relationship between international person and states or international person with international person or both depending on th... ...ng. [FN9] That is, the con-tracts between shareholders and other constituencies and the constitution between shareholders and managers create appropriate incentives for the value of the firm to be maximised and distributed amongst the various claimants. The need for judicial intervention should be limited to exceptional cases (although the definition of ‘exceptional’ may be debated). Much attention has been paid to the role of contracts in the theory of the firm, but the role of the constitution as a regulator of collective action by shareholders has not been analysed systematically. [FN10] In the section that follows, I initially *422 analyse the role of organisational constitutions in regulating collective action in general terms, having regard to the constitutional economics of James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock. [FN11] I then apply this model to corporations.

Global Warming is Destroying Our Planet Essay -- Climate Change, Argum

Is global warming happening right now, and it is causing climate shifts on the Earth? Scientists are still proving this theory by researching data throughout the world. Though scientists are working hard to verify the theory, all the blame is on us, the consumers. Climate shifts are becoming a problem, and people need to be aware of what consequences may be ahead. People need to know, what can be done by this? Most individuals would not give this topic a second thought, but with the research being done there may be a solution to help our Earth. Opposing viewpoints and arguments are debatable in this case, because everyone has a different opinion but this is how I want to advise people to take caution for the revolutionary weather season. I will be discussing the controversy of global warming, history patterns, greenhouse gases, and the biggest emitters of green house gases; in which, will bring up a few more sub-topics to inform the people on. I support the research being done on gl obal warming and the deep investigation on the effects it may have. Although there may be opposing issues that feed this topic to grow as a controversy, people in the third world neglect the economy, and still expect to fund their yearly needs with no delay. How do we support ourselves when it comes to our necessities and our people are not willing to pay? Global warming is not going to stop, and even our countries leader is trying to resolve the issue about climate change. According to Patrick Jonsson, staff writer of Christian Science Publishing, four in ten Americans now say they place little, or no trust in what scientists proclaim about the environment. Disregard the fact of being republican or democrat, but even President Obama has made his a... ...1 Jun 2010,National Newspaper Abstracts (3), ProQuest. Web. 7 Jul. 2010. Riebeek, Holli. "Global Warming : Feature Articles." NASA Earth Observatory : Home. 3 June 2010. Web. 08 July 2010. . "Snow and Ice Cover." Environmental Science: In Context. Ed. Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2009. 741-742. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Butler County Community College. 7 July 2010 http://butlerlib.butlercc.edu:2390/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=klnb_bucc Tomizuka, A.. "Estimation of the power of greenhouse gases on the basis of absorption spectra. " American Journal of Physics 78.4 (2010): 359. Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 7 Jul. 2010. Weaver, R.. "Sensory Overload over Global Warming. " Journal of Forestry 106.7 (2008): 398-399. Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 7 Jul. 2010.

Will the Internet Bring People of the World Closer Together?

Will the internet bring people of the world closer together? Nowadays technologies are become more and more important in our life. We all use computers, mobile telephones and other gadgets. Many people can’t imagine their life without internet, because it helps people who are far away from each other to communicate instantly. However, will the internet really bring people of the world closer together? There are two point of view regard to this statement. Some people agree with it and some disagree. Humanity is becoming more integrated day by day.People who are at opposite ends of the planet can talk with each other easily. It’s useful in business, education and friendship. For example, you can improve your English due to reading the web-sites or talking with a native-speaker. This is a big breakthrough in the development of international relations. Internet helps people imagine, that they are close together. As a result, we can say that internet communications are very important in our life and really can link absolutely different people. In the other hand, men should use internet in measure.This connection is not so helpful, when people are near to each other. Some of them begin to live only virtually life and often forget about their relatives and friends. Usually it is a youth. They are finding in the Internet something that spanning them and waste their time here. Instead of read books, rest with the friends and deal with other interesting things, they sit in the different social networks. For instance, now most of the Kazakhstan pupil and student all day sit at the computer or use internet in their mobile phones, but they not used it in a useful way.They only waste their time and distracted from their studies. So it’s clear, that people should use all of the technologies in case of need. To sum up, internet connecting people in the different way, but it can’t bring them closer together. People should realize for what they use in ternet. Internet can be helpful in many ways, because it is a huge source of information. However, you should know it is information useful or not. In my opinion, every new technologies should be used with mind.

Online education Essay

The tremendous growth in technology has changed our lives in many aspects. One of these aspects is online education, also called electronic learning. Online education originated from distance education, for those students, which plan to acquire knowledge through Internet. Today, there are so many universities that impart knowledge through online platforms. One good example of such platform is blackboard learning commonly known as bbvista, used in Drexel University. Students have a stereotypical image that traditional courses are better than online courses, but that’s not true. This image is quite impractical in this technology era. Online education opens new horizons for students to apply even in the universities that are far from their place. The students don’t have to drive to the school to attend a lecture and rather watch the slides online and do the required assignment for that topic. But there’s one drawback in this type of learning is that the student is missing valuable words of lecturer. The words of the lecturer is the extra knowledge that only those students can gain which are attending the lecture. The flexibility of online courses enables students to take their lessons whenever and wherever they want. Especially in Drexel University that has co-op system, the students can take online courses while they are on their co-op, from any part of the world. Another advantage of online course is that the assignments are open for a certain period of time, so the student has plenty of time to complete the assignment and submit it by just one click on the computer. Drexel University is one of the best examples that impart knowledge in good proportions of online education and traditional in-classroom education. They uses online platform Blackboard Vista to post syllabus of the course, lectures, homework, and grades. As we are in the generation of modern people, they also want technology to be a key part of their education. Another feature of Drexel is their library. In my opinion, Drexel’s library is no less than GOOGLE. It is a great source of books, articles, journals, and encyclopedias. Technology is one of the key features of Drexel. Gilbert said, â€Å"A Course is not a Pizza†. I believe course is very similar to pizza. Why do people order pizza for delivery? To save time of going there and eating. One of the main purposes of online courses is to save time only. Traditional classrooms are like going and eating the pizza in the restaurant itself. Does the taste of the pizza changes if we are eating it in restaurant or at home? Yes, at restaurant the pizza is hot and fresh whereas at home pizza might be cold, but we can reheat the pizza. The point is face-to-face interaction we get fresh knowledge means easy to understand whereas; in online education we have to make an extra effort to grab the knowledge that is like making an extra effort of reheating the pizza. An article in ‘The Chronicle of Higher Education’ by Jeffrey R. Young refers to an example that an educator can deliver his teachings without even going to any school or university. One such educator is Salman Khan who delivered his lectures from a bedroom closet. He made short videos of his lectures and posted on youtube. The videos weren’t like typical classroom lectures; rather the lectures were short, low-tech and bad drawings of Mr. Khan. But, these videos were helpful to some students and those students even donated few bucks via paypal. Mr. Khan named his collection of videos as †Khan Academy† and the subject that he can’t teach; he gives a crash course and prepares himself to teach other. Today, in the contemporary world so many parents can’t even afford education of their children. At this point these free videos can make lives of their children, as something is better than nothing. Even, Mr. Khan’s biggest goal was to deliver things the way he wished. In this way technology benefitted the educator as well as the students. Moreover, Online education improves communication and interaction between the instructor and the students. Communication technologies, such as E-mail have been a great benefit for especially shy students that are reluctant to ask question directly face-to-face with the instructor. So, students feel confident while expressing their feeling in writing rather than orally expressing them. Also, online education eliminates problem of time-delayed communication. For Example, the instructor poses a question, the student responds to it, and finally the instructor comments on it and grade it. So, the conversation ends here, student gets his grade and comment on his work, and finally the students are off to new topic. This technology era of smartphones and laptops has invaded our life and changed the way we think, live, communicate and learn. One of these changes is online education that was changed from time to time to improve the quality of education. Transitions are the part of nature. Today, sitting in a small room bounded by four walls and trying to gain knowledge seems old school. It doesn’t matter whether a course is taught in the classroom or online, what matters is, how the course is set up and taught by the instructor. So, any method of delivering knowledge can be successful, it’s just, how we acquire it.