Educational Issues and Special Educational Needs Essay - 1

Educational Issues and Special Educational Needs - Essay Example the Act key intent was to help the all the children including those with special educational needs to achieve five outcomes which matter most to them, their parents as well as their carers (The Children Act 2004) These outcomes were; staying safe, being healthy, achieving and enjoying, making positive contributions to the society and also the economic and social wellbeing of the children. The Every Child Matters Children Act 2004 has had a great impact in the lives of the children especially those children who have various special educational needs. This Act has led to the promotion of the equality and the opportunities for the children who have special needs in education. This has enabled majority of these children with special needs to be treated equally as the other normal children and they are not alienated by the educational system because of their disabilities. (The Children Act 2004) Similarly these children receive equal treatment as the rest of the children who do not have any learning disabilities. On the other hand the Act has led to the creation of a lot of changes locally as well as internationally and also various programs have been instigated and this has led to the improvement of the of the outcomes for the disabled children. The Act has had major policy priorities which are very relevant to the children with special educational needs and this enables them to receive fair and equal treatment in all their educational learning processes. (The Children Act 2004) The legislation has further led to the bridging of the gap of the children with special needs who do not attend school regularly and this has further led to the improvement of their school attendance. Similarly through this act the government has initiated a strategy for meeting the needs of the children with special educational needs. This has also led to the removal of various barriers that hinder the progress of these children with the special needs and it has led to the improvement of

Behavioural and Cognitive Counselling Theory Essay

Behavioural and Cognitive Counselling Theory - Essay Example He developed his approach because he did not agree with the widely popular psychoanalytic approach to therapy (NACBT, 2008). Before the 18th century studies and conceptualizations in mental and psychiatric health was still interpreted in terms of the supernatural and the moral notions of human ills (McGuire, n.d). The Rationalist theory, introduced in the 18th century, was later able to establish patterns of thinking; conceptualizations of the social contrast; and other concepts of criminal behaviour, motivation, and morality. Other more scientific rationalizations soon followed. Cognitive psychology was very much rooted in the rationalist theory through Wudt and his colleagues’ studies on sensation and perception (McGuire, n.d). In this instance, the understanding of psychology was very much a cognitive one – later to be known as structuralism because it focused on sensory and perceptual events related to it (McGuire, n.d). More introspections and innovations among psychologists led to behaviourism. Behaviourism was founded through the writings of John Watson who collected data on behaviour itself and how the organism acted. According to Watson, it is not enough to observe the mind (McGuire, n.d). It is important however to see human behaviour as a result of learning and he points out the teachings and the lessons learned by Ivan Pavlov in his experimentations. More studies on the infra-human species and the concepts of stimulus, response reinforcement, and extinction were also developed. This saw the introduction of BF Skinner’s work on operant conditioning (McGuire, n.d). The introduction of the behaviourist patterns of therapy did not stop the work of the cognitive therapists. Moreover, their work also focused on memory, perception, and related areas. Their analysis was not in any way related to behaviourists; and their research progressed well in relation to children. Jean

Human Error and Perceptual Control Theory

Human Error and Perceptual Control Theory Overview In this paper, I will explore and advocate the importance of both Human Error and Perceptual Control Theory for design of complex human-machine systems, enhanced user experience and better human performance and safety. Human Error Errors are the result of actions that fail to generate the intended outcomes (SKYbrary). Human operators are one of the biggest sources of errors in any complex system (Shelton, 1999). According to Sanders McCormick (1976), Human error is an inappropriate or undesirable human decision or behavior that reduces, or has the potential for reducing effectiveness, safety and performance of a system and/or human (Kurniawan). Error Types Researchers have differentiated between two types of error:1) slipsand lapses 2) mistakes. Slips and lapses According to SKYbrary, a person intends to carry out an action, the action is appropriate, carries it out incorrectly, and the desired goal is not achieved an execution failure has occurred. Execution errors result from failures in the execution and/or storage stage of an action sequence. Slips relate to observable actions and are commonly associated with attentiveness or perceptual failures. Lapses are more internal events and generally involve failures of memory (SKYbrary). Mistakes As mentioned in UKEssays.com, Mistakes occur when an intended outcome is not achieved even though there was adherence to the steps in the plan. This is usually a case in which the original plan was wrong, was followed, and resulted in an unintended outcome (UKEssays.com). Error mechanisms The following three error mechanisms are widely accepted, which correlate with human performance levels. Skill-based errors Errors of execution Occur during highly routine activities or automated tasks with occasional checks Action chosen by the operator but not in accordance with the operator’s intentions Done by highly experienced individuals due to inattention or distraction Rule-based errors Applies to familiar situations Incorrect application of a good rule, correct application of a bad rule or failure to apply a good rule Knowledge-based errors Occur in unique and unfamiliar situations Result from inadequate analysis or decision making (trial and error) Done by operators with insufficient knowledge Applications of Human error theory Human error is inevitable. However, human error mitigation strategies could be devised by understanding various error mechanisms and triggers, as depicted in the human error theory. Superior system design, better recruitment and selection of operators, training, stress and fatigue prevention measures, better equipment procedures and improved work environment can reduce error consequences and likelihood. By understanding human error, system designers can plan for likely error scenarios, and implement barriers to prevent or mitigate the occurrence of potential errors. Some approaches to build a better human machine interaction system are explained below. Identification of error environment First step in human error mitigation approach is to understand the work environment, recognize capacity of the users, identify possible loopholes n the system and be familiar with potential user error occurrence and consequences. Likelihood of an error and severity of potential harm should also be examined. For example, FDA (Food and Drug Administration) requires manufacturers to submit a failure analysis report FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) while launching any new medical device. Design solutions to address errors Error elimination First and foremost design strategy is to eliminate design features, which are sources of user errors. Design weaknesses identified during observation and task analysis should be removed or revised. Removal of excessive and irrelevant information, inclusion of validity checks and task automations are some design aspects that support error elimination approach. Additionally, carrying out periodical test runs of the system might be helpful in eliminating some of the rules based errors. Error reduction Designers should try to reduce error occurrences for features that cannot be removed completely. Building consistent designs and providing alerts, warnings, confirmations and other necessary feedback to users may prevent users to make errors of execution (skill-based errors). Consequence elimination Consequence elimination is an approach to prevent potential harm after the occurrence of error. Designers can devise features that provide information about potential harm and ways to correct the situation (e.g. undo) and/or prevent onset of side effects (e.g. automatic locking or shutdown, process delays) in order to prevent error consequences. Consequence reduction This is a last design alternative a designer can look into if above mentioned options are not feasible to incorporate. Decreasing the effect of error is helpful especially in catastrophic situations. Design of supplementary features is usually necessary to achieve this purpose. Backup and restore features, automatic reporting to stakeholders/police/medical teams and automated substitute drug delivery are some of the techniques for reducing effects of consequences. Error elimination and error reduction are often the most cost effective methods to avert user errors. Trainings Knowledge-based errors can be eliminated to some extent by providing system-oriented trainings, especially to novice users. On the other hand, a different training program could be devised for experienced users. Periodical trainings could keep experts up-to-date with latest developments in their field and assess their knowledge of system procedural checks. Essentially, this may help minimizing skill-based errors. Perceptual Control Theory (PCT) Perceptual control theory (PCT) is a theory of human and animal behavior. It is based on the principles of control theory (Powers, 1973). As cited by Lulham (2005), at the core of PCT is the idea that many of the processes involved in how human functions are most appropriately conceptualized and modelled as dynamic control processes (Powers, 1999b). Control processes are proposed to be fundamental to many functions including those related to physiological (e.g. temperature regulation), neural (e.g. attention), motor control (e.g. driving a car), psychological (e.g. maintenance of a criminal identity) and social (e.g. staff-detainee relationship) functions (Lulham, 2005). According to Cherry Farrel (1998), PCT exploits the concept of a purpose behind the behaviour. A perception (which is a transformation of stimuli from the world) is then compared to its reference signal, and a perceptual error is generated. A person acts on the world in such a manner to minimise this error. The stabilisation of this control loop is the essence of PCT (Chery Farrell , 1998). Applications of PCT Using perceptions for building complex systems System environments are becoming increasingly complex. Traditional cause and effect methods of understanding system operations and user interactions may not work well in order to employ personalization and user experience in these complex systems. According to pctweb.org, the person compares a ‘standard’ (what they want) with what they are experiencing right now (their perception). The difference between the two – the discrepancy or error is being measured. The bigger the error the more the effort the person makes to reduce it, until the error is zero – this means they get what they want (pctweb.org). The basic premise of PCT is that human behavior is not about the behavior itself, but about reinforcing desired perception (O’Neal, 2012). Understanding and applying this concept of individually preferred perceptions through PCT will help in designing effective personal information management for complex systems and enhancing the overall user experience. User research and analysis PCT is particularly helpful in understanding users’ behaviors and motives behind their actions. Often system designers evaluate possible system states and static change in control values needed to achieve those states. Tasks are carried out on the controls to attain the new state and user is though of as a controller of these tasks. Designers use task analysis method to perform user research and concentrate on physical tasks a user performs. However, instead of system oriented or designer oriented view, PCT goes much deeper and offers user’s standpoint. PCT provides framework to realize dynamic nature of user interactions. System designers can use PCT to understand how users constantly perceive and compare system states and take dissimilar actions to reinstate appropriate system state every time. Furthermore, Powers (1973) proposed behavior as a control of perceptions. Instead of focusing on a physical activity during the task analysis, PCT suggests focusing on users’ behaviors that lead them to perform actions to achieve desired perception (system state). Thus, using the PCT framework, designers can integrate physical, cognitive and behavioral sides of a user’s interaction with the system. Moreover, PCT analysis of intentions from different user groups exposes their shared narrative, which in turn, helps in finding system requirements for hidden, absent user (O’Neal, 2012). For example, a customer service representative might use call center software while working to resolve an issue with a customer. While the customer is not a direct user of the software system, he is affected indirectly. The customer here is a hidden user. His perceptions should be analyzed to understand his requirements and objectives while developing the call center system. Empowered designs PCT offers a design framework toward the satisfaction of the users desired percepts. Human-machine system performance is enhanced when the displays and controls are designed to allow the operator to perceive and transmit information in order to minimize the perceptual error (Chery Farrell , 1998). According to PCT, when a user interacts with the system, he is constantly trying to bring equilibrium, changing his perception to the reference point, which is his new perception. Keeping this in mind, a designer should build the system that transforms from an old state to the new state seamlessly, provides estimate of gap between old and new state, furnish necessary feedback to keep the user aware of the environment variables and helps the user to manage disturbances. These functionalities will help users to gain accurate information regarding their perceptions, empower them to undertake correct amount of action to reach to new perception, ultimately helping them achieve self-regulation and stability. For example, the windshield of the car let the user scan his environment and gather information necessary to their perception, the car dashboard continuously displays speed and other important elements to help user assess different system states, and the gear stick helps user achieve n ew state from the old one smoothly. Other features like wiper, headlights, turn signals etc. facilitate users to manage disturbances as much as possible. Thus, human-machine designs should be compatible with user’s interpretations of information in order to improve their decision making process and overall system performance. Conclusion Both human error and PCT frameworks are valuable in building complex system designs to facilitate information management, enhance security and improve both system and human performance. By understanding fundamentals of human errors, designers can build a system that is more usable, provides meaningful feedbacks and include training, procedural checks and incentive programs. However, according to Shelton (1999), there is a trade-off between making the HCI relatively easy and intuitive and ensuring that system safety is not compromised by lulling the operator into a state of complacency. In PCT, the error is continuously measured to achieve equilibrium. Per Lulham (2005), those involved in developing the theory believe PCT has significant potential to change the way human functioning is understood. However, further research is required for advancement of PCT framework. References Component-based usability testing. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Component-Based_Usability_Testing Embrey, D. Understanding Human Behaviour and Error. Human Reliability Associates. Latino, R. J. (2007, Nov). Defining and reducing human error. Briefings Page on Patient Safety . O’Neal, A. (2012, July). Intention-Focused Design: Applying Perceptual Control Theory to Discover User Intent. Retrieved 2013, from UXmatters.com: http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2012/07/intention-focused-design-applying-perceptual-control-theory-to-discover-user-intent.php PCTweb. (n.d.). What is PCT? Retrieved from PCTweb: http://www.pctweb.org/whatis/whatispct_03.html Powers, W. T. (n.d.). A brief introduction to Perceptual Control Theory . Retrieved from Frontier: http://www.frontier.net/~powers_w/whatpct.html Shelton, C. P. Human Interface/Human Error. Carnegie Mellon University. SKYbrary. (n.d.). Human Error Types. Retrieved from SKYbrary: http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Human_Error_Types 1 Lajja Mehta

Understanding the Great Commission by the Grace of God and the Help of

Understanding the Great Commission by the Grace of God and the Help of a Cloud of Witnesses â€Å"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.† Matthew 28:18 Clear as a bell, Jesus calls from the pages of scripture to share His love with one another, making disciples of all nations, teaching all peoples to obey his commandments. But how do we do this? What design would God have us follow in evangelizing in this world? What is the best method of sharing witness of Christ in human life, without alienating and condemning people who do not share our knowledge of salvation? In sharing stories of faith and life experience, an author shapes both personal and public perception of what it is to live with Christian faith. To write is to give voice to thoughts from the mind’s inner tissue and the spirit’s impulse, to interlock energy and life into communication of ideas and conceptions. As a transformative thinking process, autobiography transcends physical limits. In reading Breathing Space, I became familiar with Neumark’s personal world, familiar with her feeling on relationships, her church, her sense of mission and her desires for God’s presence in her life. Though I had never met her before she flew to campus to speak about her book, I felt as though I knew her on sight. This suspension of physical limitations on the transmission of thought and feeling holds an incredible potential for communication of faith, though it is not necessarily reciprocal; she hadn’t a clue ... ...ing to accept â€Å"the love of Jesus down in my soul,† and accepting myself as sinner, I trust that God’s will in my life is coming to fruition. For I have a piece of love that will never grow old! Bibliopgraphy Hettinga, Donald R. Presenting Madeleine L’Engle. New York: Twayne, 1993. L’Engle, Madeleine. Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage. Toronto: Collins, 1988. L’Engle, Madeleine. Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art. Weaton, Illinois: Harold Shaw, 1980. Neumark, Heidi. Breathing Space. Boston: Beacon, 2003. Yohanannan, K.P. Revolution in World Missions. Carrollton, Texas: Gospel for Asia, 2003. Sources Consulted Bosch, David J. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shift in Theology of Mission. Maryknoll: Orbis, 2000. Thomas, Nicholas. Colonialism’s Culture: Anthropology Travel and Government. Princeton: Princeton, 1994.

Insanity Defense Essay

Imagine for a moment, someone has just inexplicably murdered a mother or child. Imagine the rage, tearing you apart, physically making you shake or be ill. At the same time this rage is entangled and somewhat smothered by the crushing grief welling up inside of you. A thought flashes into your head, â€Å"I will kill the person responsible for this!† but our sanity stops that action. A persons insanity allows you to know that to actually carry out a murder is illogical, immoral, and illegal. You know that your actions will land you a spot in hell next to all the other Murders. That thought process is exactly what separates you from a killer. Although with the right lawyer, the person who committed this tragic crime may someday be able to be free. This murderer may be able to push such anguish onto another family because they were let free on grounds of temporary insanity. The insanity defense should be wiped out nationwide unless certain tests of mental insanity are met and a patient has a history of a mental illness. The insanity defense is a criminal defense that is used when the defendant’s case states that the crime occurred because the defendant had a severe mental disease or defect and was unable to apprehend the wrongfulness of his or her acts. When someone claims insanity, they are not held responsible for their criminal actions. There are two pieces of evidence the first being the accused was unable to tell right from wrong and the second that the accused did not intend to act the way he or she did and/or could not control their behavior. The insanity defense should not be a valid excuse to free criminals. Insanity is a legal term, not a psychological one, and experts disagree whether it has valid psychological meaning. Critics of not guilty by reason of insanity have claimed that too many sane defendants use the insanity defense to escape justice; that the state of psychological knowledge encourages expensive â€Å"dueling expert† contests that juries are unlikely to understand; that, in practice, the defense unfairly excludes some defendants. Research on not guilty by reason of insanity fails to support most of these claims but some serious problems may exist with this. The insanity defense goes back to 1843 when a man by the name of Daniel McNaughtan attempted to assassinate Edward Drummond, Secretary to the  British Prime Minister Robert Peel. McNaughtan was under the impression that he was being prosecuted, so he reacted with murder. Daniel McNaughtan killed Robert Peel’s secretary. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Following his trial, he spent the next twenty years in a mental asylum until his death. Soon after this case, the English House of Lords set standards for the insanity defense which they called McNaugtan’s Rule: â€Å"Every man is to be presumed to be sane, and†¦that to establish a defense on the ground of insanity, it must be clearly proved that, at the time of the committing of the act, the party accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing; or if he did know it, that he did not know he was doing what was wro ng.† (Encyclopedia Of Everyday Law) Soon after this rule became legal, the United States criminal justice system adopted this precedent. In 1981, after the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley, the insanity defense received a lot of harsh publish criticism. John Hickley was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Various people argued that Hinckley was guilty because the premeditation of the crime committed proved him to be sane, therefore the insanity defense should not have proved him not guilty. Hickley was found not guilty by reason of insanity and remains in psyciatic care. This allows the mentally ill defendant to be found liable of his or her crime, but requires them to seek psychiatric treatment or be placed in a mental hospital. When the defendants are well enough, they are moved to a prison to serve their sentences. Because of cases like this, the insanity defense still undergoes a lot of public criticism today. Although, during a more recent trial of Jeffrey Dahmer, who mutilated and consumed his young victims, the defendant tried to use the insanity defense, but the jurors found the criminal both sane and guilty. This case showed that the insanity defense does not work for all criminals and supported the public’s criticism of the insanity defense. In another famous case, the Unabomber case, defendant Kaczynski refused to allow his attorney to present an insanity defense, and instead pled guilty and was sentenced to a life in prison. Had he let his attorney go through with the temporary insanity plea, there is a good chance that Kaczynski would be a free man today and could potentially kill again. The insanity defense does not eliminate the responsibility of a criminal act from the  person committing the crime; instead, it is a defense mechanism for criminals who argue that at the time of the crime the defendant did not have willful intent due to a severe mental defect or disease. As stated before, numerous people are opposed to the insanity defense. They are against the insanity defense because they see it as a means where the defendant can avoid the consequences of his or her action s. People fear violent crimes and will be more apt to prosecute a criminal versus allowing the criminal another chance. The public, as they should be, is shocked when a criminal is successful in pleading insanity, is sent to a mental institution, and then is released once deemed â€Å"cured† by a team of physicians. The public does not see this as punishment, because it is not. A short stint in a mental institution is nothing compared to serving hard time. Some studies suggest that prison time is ineffectual, that may be but isolating violent criminals is a public safety matter. If left to their own devices, there is a very real possibility that they may strike again. The temporary insanity plea is almost always used in cases of extreme mutilation, murder, and other horrific crimes, yet after undergoing a physiological evaluation some of the most vile people earth are allowed to walk free. Incomprehensibly, the very people who most deserve to be locked up for life are the ones who most often get off by claiming temporary insanity. Due to the violent nature of there crimes it is not a stretch to claim that they were insane. The vast majority of violent criminals are repeat offenders, and that affects every taxpayer in the United States, because it costs tens of thousands of dollars just to run a criminal through the justice system, not to mention the cost of providing care for them afterward. Once a person has proven they have the capacity to commit such an offence, they have proven that they are not fit to enjoy the freedoms that we as Americans are entitled. The insanity defense is an excuse for criminals to break the law and have no bearing on p unishments. In most criminal cases the insanity plea is just a defense strategy aimed at delivering guilty defendants from serving time in prison or getting the death penalty. Most defendants that are found guilty by reason of insanity are released from the mental hospital years if not decades earlier than they would have been if they served their regular prison sentence. The insanity defense allows criminals to avoid the punishments they should be receiving for the crime they committed. When  someone is found not guilty by reason of insanity, jurisdictions require that the person spend at least some time in a psychiatric facility; if not automatically, many states require commitment to a psychiatric facility on grounds of mental illness, dangerousness, or both; most states do not have a limit on the amount of time that someone can be institutionalized insane. How long they spend in an institution also varies by state, but on average most stay three and a half years; in New Jersey 35% of the sample were still in institutions 8 years later; in Michigan it was 9 1/2 months; in Illinois it was 17 1/2 months, however, in this sample over 70% had been found incompetent prior to trial and had spent an average of 38.4 months in institutions. (Washington Post)= In the early 1990’s involving eight different states a study was conducted. They found that less than one percent of criminal defendants used the insanity defense. Only a quarter of these resulted in successf ul acquittals. Today a number of states have replaced the option of pleading â€Å"not guilty by reason of insanity† with pleading â€Å"guilty but mentally ill†. Currently, Idaho, Montana, and Utah banned insanity defenses, along with the supreme courts ruling. Along with this, between sixty and seventy percent of cases in which the insanity plea is invoked are for crimes other then murder. In actuality, it is used approximately 0.9% of the time. There are 51 different types of insanity defenses in the United States, one for each set of state laws, and one for federal law when dealing with someone pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. With astronomical operating costs of a psychiatric facility that increase the tax burden on every tax payer in the nation, especially the maximum security facilities that this caliber of criminal is housed at, the temporary insanity precedent set forth over a century ago should be phased out. Unfortunately, murder and violent crime has and will continue to happen as long as there are human beings living in close proximity, it is and ugly and regrettable reality of human society. There is no real solution to this horrible truth, but the closest and most logical option to preventing the deaths of more innocent people is for temporary insanity regulations to become much more strict. This will inevitably save lives, for if just one murderer has a second opportunity to kill another person that is one more person that is needlessly killed because the killer was given a second chance and not put in prison the first time they proved they have the  capacity to take a life. Works Cited â€Å"Insanity Defense†. The Lectric Law Library’s Lexicon. 2 February, 2009. 12 February, 2009.http://www.lectlaw.com/def/d029.html Martin, John P. â€Å"The Insanity Defense: A closer look†Ã¢â‚¬ . Washington Post. 27 February, 1998. WP. 24 February, 2009. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/local/longterm/aron/qa227.html â€Å"Other U.S. News: AMA Opposes Insanity Plea.† Facts On File World News Digest 23 Dec. 1983. World News Digest. Facts On File News Services. 23 Feb. 2009. â€Å"Supreme Court: Arizona Insanity Defense Law Upheld.† Facts On File World News Digest 29 June 2006. World News Digest. Facts On File News Services. 23 Feb. 2009.

Journal

Here are some of the kinds of writing I have done, In and out of school, during the past year (check all those that apply). 0 Essays about literature CLC Book reports Emails for work or to friends Journal entries Personal narratives 0 Short stories Speeches for special occasions 0 Research papers Ã'Ëœ Job applications 0 Letters for business purposes 0 Notes too teacher Summaries Persuasive essays Deflations Diary entries Descriptions 0 Songs Poems Newspaper articles 0 Letters to friends or family Ã'Ëœ Postcards 0 Thank-you notes Text messages Any others you can think of:Click here to enter text. 2. Of the items on my list, I most liked writing personal narratives and research papers because I enjoy telling personal stories and learning about new subjects. 3. I least enjoyed writing poems and speeches because writing poems isn't one of my strengths and I don't enjoy talking in front of a large group of people; especially strangers. 4. When I am given a writing assignment, I usually fo llow this process: I create a chart of my Ideas along with reasons, write a rough draft, have someone read It, I make corrections, and then I write the final draft. And overall structure. 6.I think that the area of my writing most needing work is broadening my vocabulary. 7. The types of writing that I will probably do in my college courses are persuasive, analytical, and argumentative; in my possible career, analytical and argumentative; in my personal life descriptions. 8. In the past, my experiences with writing courses have been great. 9. My writing goals for this course are to broaden my vocabulary and to learn new writing styles. 10. My thoughts and concerns as I begin this course are not knowing my grades on my papers and assignments really frightens me. Other than that, I cannot wait to begin growing as a writer. Journal Headquartered in Los Angels, California, the company offers consumers over 250 quality and affordable arsenal care products. The Product Dry. Fresh makes Bianca brand nativity fluoride toothpaste. We offer a peppermint flavor which is preferable to our target audience and offers cavity protection, fresh breath and strengthens teeth. Active ingredient is sodium nonprofessionals (0. 76%) is an nativity with a series of inactive ingredients. The Market Target market includes low income individuals, students, head of household, and elderly.The projected loss for our product in the current fiscal year is predicted $50,000 net loss. Variable costs to obtain a product and store in our warehouse is $0. 50 per unit. This variable cost cannot be reduced any further and will remain constant for the next two years regardless of volume. We have a unique advantage that our production can instantly vary to any output without increasing fixed costs or inventory costs. Our annual fixed costs are $250 ,000 annually including salaries, benefits, office supplies, warehouse space and our other product related expenses.This does not include any promotion like advertising, public relations or personal selling. Company overview Our mission is to provide innovative, high quality and affordable personal care products that exceed consumer expectations. The mission includes being the leader in the oral care category through fully understanding and addressing consumer needs. Our companies' SOOT Analysis includes our strength to offer a low price, have an effective product, and a good price to feature ratio.We offer multiple oral healthcare products which increase customer susceptibility to our product. Bianca has had previous advertising in movies, and television which help our product recognition. Our weaknesses include lack of brand recognition and are unknown, lack of features including whitening, tartar control, sensitivity and also fluoride, low promotion edged, subpart quality and we offer smaller quantities than competitors for the of our product through retailers. Company opportunities include easy sales to wholesalers because of price.We can offer to convenience stores and also vending machines to increase sales without extra cost. We also have the opportunity to advertise to dentist offices and to get support. Threats include name brand competitors, other low cost entrants, supplier power, buyer power, rivalry between other low cost competitors, and also threat of substitute products affect our business. 95% of our sales are at the price point of $1. 15 through wholesalers. The wholesalers sell to retailers, who sell our product at $1. 61 per unit.The other 5% of sales occur over the internet at $1. 49 each. We show a fixed cost of 250,000 + (. 50 per unit PVC *units). We are selling at this price and are estimated to lose $50,000 this year. In order to market this toothpaste, and achieve a goal of $50,000 profitability a year we must sell 400,000 units. In order to hit this strategic goal we must attain more market share. The overall oral healthcare market is worth 10. 9 billion. Colgate holds 52% of the overall market. HULL holds 22%. Dabber has 14% We hold . 05% with other brands with 1 1. 5%. Current market trends it indicate whitening is a strong factor in increasing sales. Market Segments We have broken our market down into the following segments: Students (Students are on tight budgets, but still need to clean their teeth effectively because their diets are typically not conducive to oral health in the first place. ) Low Income Families (Lower income families need to buy lots of toothpaste, but can't afford expensive name brands. ) Value Shoppers (Some individuals/families simply look to get the most value for their money. Each of our market segments have similar characteristics. Most of all, they are looking o get the best oral care product on a limited budget. They are typically value driven, and will buy a specific brand out of habit and convenience rather than any specific medical desires in their product. Their needs in a toothpaste include cleaning their teeth, preventing tooth decay, freshening breath, and preventing plaque and tartar build up in their mouth. Primary Target Market Our primary target market is value shoppers.Our customers in rural areas are looking for a combination of features and convenience. Customers entail value shoppers, low income shoppers, students, households, low cost value proposition. We segment through Geographic (Rural and Urban), Behavioral ( Normal use, Whitening, Complete Care), Demographic (customer type) and other methods. Company Analysis Our goals include selling the best toothpaste at the best price. Through aggressive price techniques we offer a quality product at a low price. We sell most of our product to retailers and a slim margin over the internet.Company culture includes giving employees fair chance to speak their mind and voice concerns to management. Th rough respecting catheter and fostering innovation we have been able to sell our other products very successfully. Internal strengths we have include our differentiation of products. We offer Bianca mouth freshening spray, toothbrushes, floss and other oral health products. A weakness we have internally is that we do not currently offer any whitening products, and with the current trend it is hurting our growth.Opportunities that we have include a whitening pre brush rinse solution. We also can develop mouthwash and produce different flavors of our breath freshening spray. The oral healthcare market is increasing due to people's reliance on vanity. Threats from other companies are hurting our sales due to competitor capitalization n the whitening, and feature/ luxury branding. Our low price toothpaste formula is not going to make your teeth any brighter, or remove layers of plaque that cause yellowing.Our product simply removes surface bacteria and doesn't get in deep like other com petitor products. Market share is a growing concern for us, we hold half a percent of the total market, and our competitor Colgate holds 52% of the overall market. We have a lot of room for growth inside our current market and huge incentives. Overall we are going to suffer a loss this quarter. We are going through some changes currently in our marketing ND management staff and are predicting a rise next year. We have more than adequate production methods and inventory warehousing.We anticipate being able to handle sales at a much higher volume. We are coming up with a new marketing scheme to make our product more appealing to our target market. We need to think creatively and bring in some fresh ideas and interns. Stock pence 2. 50 BASE (August 1st 2013) Competitor Analysis Our top three competitors are The Procter and Gamble Company Philips Oral Healthcare Inc I. Market position The consumer product conglomerate focused on toothpaste, toothbrushes and other oral care products. The position of the quality toothpaste could be niche or mainstream.The decision to position the new toothpaste on retail shelves is another important aspect of our sales positioning. Colgate toothpaste places the toothpaste in between one of the existing products and a competitor's product. It. Strengths – Colgate Optic white and Colgate sensitive pro- Relief toothpastes and the re launch of Colgate total toothpaste contributed to their strength in the oral care market. – Collage's strength in manual toothbrushes also continued in the U. S, driven by the success of Colgate 360 degree optic white, Colgate 360 degree Sensitive Pro- Relief ND Colgate 360 degree Surround. ‘. Weaknesses Colgate brand directly compete with P Oral-B company toothpastes which are globally known for their high functional properties, including sensitivity and teeth whitening. The company also increased its advertising expenditures by 31% in the two quarters of 2013. It has resulted in an ove rall market share gain in toothpaste and has growth from 52% in 2012 to 56% presently. Colgate has to worry about the innovative new products that could compete with their current quality toothpaste. Iii.Market Shares Colgate has been able to stay ahead of the market; it has one of the widest networks, caching 4. 5 million retail outlets in India. Collage's sustained distribution strength, coupled with product innovation and creation of sub-categories such as mouthwash and sensitive oral care have helped it drive growth aggressively. They are always coming up with new ideas to push the barrier and capture new market shares. Promoting healthier lives, improving community oral health care, expanding their current â€Å"Bright Smile, Bright Futures† program all ATA low cost.They ensure that ingredients continue to meet safety, quality and environmental compliance and biodegradability. They have also been environmentally responsible through educing the environmental impact of Col gate products and packages by 20% increasing the use of sustainable materials and recycled content. Value Chain Partners Supply chain partners consist of primarily a manufacturing company (Dry. Fresh) in India. The factory produces the toothpaste, packages the paste into tubes, and seals and prints the tubes and boxes the final product.Large shipments leave the factory by means of distribution. A distributor moves the product from the factory to Wholesalers Warehouses Shipping yards Wholesaler's mark up the product and sell the product in bulk to tillers. Wholesalers are responsible for distribution of the product after they purchase the product from the factory. Warehouses store the product until demand for the toothpaste is reached. At this point the product is removed and sold to different partners Shipping yards are usually located where a sea port meets a railroad.The trucks can drop off product for easy transportation over 1) ocean through massive commercial ships and 2) railw ay where trains transport goods efficiently 3) Trucks drop off their trailers and are easily navigated to new locations by other drivers. Once the goods are delivered to their final location it is usually at a retailer. Retailers purchase the goods from the wholesaler, offer a markup on the product and arrange the product on the shelves where it is ultimately bought by customers. When the product is sold directly over the internet a lot of the process is cut down.The internet protocol is much more simple. A supply chain partner is through the website design and maintenance teams in order to process orders and receive accurate shipping information, as well as process payment. When an order is paid for and set up for delivery, the company uses a mail company such as faded or SSP to deliver the final package to the customer. Climate Reducing global impact on the climate and environment plays an important role in associated with the manufacture and distribution of products it plays a la rge role in our manufacturing process.We try to reduce waste sent to landfills as well as request that all of our key suppliers measure and disclose the climate change information. Through the economic climate we are reducing the amount of water consumed in the manufacture and consumption of our products. Reducing the amount of water associated with our products saves a lot of money. Through working tit local and global organizations to promote access to clean water we promote water conservation awareness across the world. We reduce our environmental impact of products and packages by up to 20% by increasing the use of sustainable materials and recycled content.Social and cultural environment includes the increase of sustainability profile in our new products and in the balance of our portfolio. We ensure ingredients meet or exceed all recognized standards for safety, quality, and environmental compliance and biodegradability. Political and legal environment is included in promoting health and wellness and to reduce employee employee health risks. We have achieved a 5% reduction in costs and improvements in early diagnosis of chronic and treatable disease. We are focusing on safety to achieve the goal of zero lost time incidents.Other political impacts are the standards set to monitor our product and ensure public health. Technological environment by reducing our waste through technological upgrades we have been able to increase effectiveness and efficiency with lower waste. New methods allow for the reduction of water used in production and distributing so that we can control costs and provide the best product available. Insight driven innovation provides value added products and our marketing strategy shows that in order to ensure high standards we must have the essential technology to make it happen. Journal Proposals, persuasive messages, classroom practices Introduction: Given that students are enthusiastic about social media or even have expertise in some social media tools, the author decided to design a class project in her Writing for Careers (Business Communication) class that integrates social media in terms of content and project management.This article intends to describe such a class reject design as well as the working process; reflect on such a practice by reviewing students' feedback, examining the final products, and assessing the learning outcomes; and finally provide suggestions on how to improve this project. Methods: This article describes the project design as well as the working process and reflects on this practice by reviewing students' feedback, examining the final products, and assessing the learning outcomes.In concluding, the article provides suggestions for Improvement, Students were excited about the project because It was related to social media; however som e students were confused because they didn't understand how such a project could be related to business management. Different books, articles, websites, movies, and/or TV shows were assigned to help with the project (ex. Get Connected: The Social Networking Toolkit for Business, the Oscar-winning movie The Social Network, Conic's The Backbone Obsession, Barack Beam's Social Media Lessons for Business. Also a few articles (Tangelo, 2010: Greenland, 2010; Jones & Degree, 2011).Results: The few students who disliked social media or were very elucidate to get onto social media had an opportunity to learn something new. Those who were familiar with some social media tools learned new aspects and features. This project gave students the opportunity to practice and utilize a variety of skills: critical thinking, problem solving, audience analysis, persuasion, and document design. The process-based teaching enhanced their understanding and application of what they learned in class and also made it possible to customize the teaching. Discussion: Throughout the project several social media tools were discussed.Students were challenged to communicate not only their mastery of digital communication skills, especially social media skills, but also their understanding of the potential for using these skills in professional settings to target audience. In addition they had to demonstrate their rhetorical skills In persuading their audience in considering or adopting social media. This example of client-based, student- centered learning empowered students and increased student autonomy. Criticism: the goal of the project even after repeated instructor explanations.Their overconfidence and overestimation of their own social media skills also hindered their completion of the project satisfactorily. Instead of figuring out what the business or organization needs to communicate constantly and effectively with their customers, these students insisted on getting the opinion of the teacher or the client had to tell them what to do. These students spent time creating a profile page instead of Justifying why they had selected that particular social media tool. During the project; time was spent teaching social media tools, especially the ones students that lacked familiarity with social media. Journal The Picture for Men: Superhero or Slacker, Stefan Bach's The Fall of the Female Protagonist in Kid's Movies and Amanda Marmoset's The Shocking Radicalism of Brave all expresses a tone of opposition to the Issue of gender gap. They specifically focus on the media especially In movies and cartoons where men are most times the prevailing character and superheroes while women are helpmates and trophies to be won by them.This is an obvious trend and I indisputably agree with this resentment. Sesame Panda in his article mentions that â€Å"The attributes that are most valuable today-social intelligence, open communication, the ability to sit still and focus-are, at a minimum, not predominantly male. † (Panda, 201). He also mentions that â€Å"boys who remained close to their mothers, siblings, and peers did not act as tough or shut down emotionally.However, close relationships tit fathers encouraged greater autonomy and detachment from friendships. † This shows that the fathe rs of these boys have been brought up in a like manner and always has been a trend In the past. Society teaches girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. Girls are allowed to have ambition and aim to be successful but not too successful otherwise the men will be threatened. Does the society actually see women as a lesser Identity?If boys are taught to be tough, autonomous and stoic, what role would the girls play? Maids, perhaps. Also, Stefan Bach's article throws more light to the devastating issue of gender gap. She considers the role of female protagonists in animated children's films. Using Disney and Paxar as a case study, she fairly criticizes Disney films for being sexist and mentions that â€Å"A pretty big percentage of the female leads in Disney musicals seem to have only one goal- to get Journal Save your journal entry as a Microsoft Word file and submit it using the appropriate link in the Session 2 folder. Follow all the directions, adhere to the rules of Standard Written English, and submit by the deadline. 1 . Contrasts can evoke strong emotions and images in creative writing. Re- read Yeses Gunnysack's poem â€Å"Facing It† (page 42). Make note of the ways Communally contrasts ideas and images: white and black, night and morning stone and flesh, solid and air, movement and stasis, reality and reflection, cast and present.These contrasts create a sense of confusion and tension. Write two paragraphs of your own in which you describe a brief fictional scene that is full Of contrasts. Make the contrasts meaningful to the character in your scene. 2. A stanza is a group of lines in poetry. (Billy Collins' poem â€Å"Snow Day' on page 41 is eight five-line stanzas, for example. ) Write a poem of three-line stanzas that follows this pattern: The first line consists of a n abstraction, plus a verb, plus a place; the second line describes attire; and the third line of each Tanta summarizes an action.Let it flow. Each stanza should make sense by itself; all together the poem does not have to make absolute sense. See the examples on page 24 of Imaginative Writing. Your completed poem should be at least eight stanzas. 3. Quickly list as many clickd metaphors as you can think of: the path of life, eyes like pools, crazy as a bedbug, nose to the grindstone, and so forth. Provide the list. Then switch half a dozen of the comparisons: eyes like bedbugs, nose to the path, the grindstone of life. Then, write a brief poem (at