Ravensbruck essays

Ravensbruck essays WW II was one of the worst wars ever known to mankind. The Jewish people were rounded up and murdered like cattle. Hitler and his men started many brutal concentration camps. At Ravensbruck Jewish people would either work them selves to death or be killed by either gas chambers or a shot to the back of the neck. By the end of the war though they were tying couples up and then shot one of them while they stood on a bridge then the other one would drown. They did this to conserve ammo. Many Jews would try and hide some were not caught but a lot more were found then not. After being caught some would go to camps or be murdered. There was only one major nazi camp that was made for women and children it was called Ravensbruck. Also here women SS supervisors would train. It was situated on a small lake opposite the city of Furstenberg, 56 miles north of Berlin. Opened in 1939, Ravensbruck held more than 30,000 women and children and 20,000 men by the end of world war two. The camp was the site of medical experiments and of thousands of executions both by shots to the back of the neck and by gas chambers. Since most of the prisoners had be evacuated in late march, the soviet army found around 3,500 desperately ill women when they liberated the camp on the night of April 29-30, 1945. Currently the camp is under going extensive reconstruction as the memorial there expands. Many Jewish women, men, and children died during this awful act of genocide known as the holocaust. Many men and women of the allied forces also lost their lives in the attempt to save these defenseless victims of cruelty. There arent very many survivors left of the holocaust. So we should treat each and everyone of them with respect and kindness, and hope that we never have to go threw the horrible things that they had to. ...

The Best Way for a Reporter to Cover a Speech

The Best Way for a Reporter to Cover a Speech Covering speeches, lectures and forums – any live event that basically involves people talking - might seem easy at first. After all, you just have to stand there and take down what the person says, right? In fact, covering speeches can be tricky for the beginner. Indeed, there are two big mistakes novice reporters make when covering a speech or lecture for the first time. They dont get enough direct quotes (in fact, Ive seen speech stories with no direct quotes at all.)They cover the speech chronologically, writing it out in the order it occurred like a stenographer would. Thats the worst thing you can do when covering a speaking event. So here are some tips on how to cover a speech the right way, the very first time you do it. Follow these, and youll avoid a tongue-lashing from an angry editor. Report Before You Go Get as much information as you can before the speech. This initial reporting should answer such questions as: What’s the topic of the speech? What’s the background of the speaker? What’s the setting or reason for the speech? Who’s likely to be in the audience? Write Background Copy Ahead of Time Having done your pre-speech reporting, you can bang out some background copy for your story even before the speech begins. This is especially helpful if you’ll be writing on a tight deadline. Background material, which typically goes at the bottom of your story, includes the kind of information you gathered in your initial reporting – the background of the speaker, the reason for the speech, etc. Take Great Notes This goes without saying. The more thorough your notes, the more confident you’ll be when you write your story. Get The â€Å"Good† Quote Reporters often talk about getting a â€Å"good† quote from a speaker, but what do they mean? Generally, a good quote is when someone says something interesting, and says it in an interesting way. So be sure to take down plenty of direct quotes in your notebook so youll have plenty to choose from when you write your story. Forget Chronology Don’t worry about the chronology of the speech. If the most interesting thing the speaker says comes at the end of his speech, make that your lede. Likewise, if the most boring stuff comes at the start of the speech, put that at the bottom of your story – or leave it out entirely. Get The Audience Reaction After the speech ends, always interview a few audience members to get their reaction. This can sometimes be the most interesting part of your story. Watch For The Unexpected Speeches are generally planned events, but it’s the unexpected turn of events that can make them really interesting. For instance, does the speaker say something especially surprising or provocative? Does the audience have a strong reaction to something the speaker says? Does an argument ensue between the speaker and an audience member? Watch for such unplanned, unscripted moments – they can make an otherwise routine story interesting. Get a Crowd Estimate Every speech story should include a general estimate of how many people are in the audience. You don’t need an exact number, but there’s a big difference between an audience of 50 and one of 500. Also, try to describe the general makeup of the audience. Are they college students? Senior citizens? Business people?

Nursing Care Plan. Risk for Secondary Infection Essay

Nursing Care Plan. Risk for Secondary Infection - Essay Example This has been attributed to the added effects of aging and medications. The client’s nutrition status is below the normal level, compared with his healthy physique when the signs and symptoms of HIV infection and epileptic occurrences had not manifested yet. His serum cholesterol is higher than the normal boundary. No respiratory conditions can be traced from his recent medical check- up. Risk for secondary infection Assessment The patient was lying on his bed, conscious and coherent. However, he was not oriented to time, place, and person. Wounds and excoriations were noted on his lower extremities. No breathing difficulties noted upon examination. Nutrition status was noted below the normal level. Increased cholesterol level was appreciated on laboratory results. His vital signs were recorded as: Temperature: 37.4 ?C, Respiratory rate: 24 cpm, Pulse rate: 92 bpm, Blood Pressure: 130/ 110 mmHg. Nursing Diagnosis Risk for secondary infection related to compromised immune syste m secondary to HIV infection Planning Within this shift, the patient will not be able to develop infection, and would learn ways to prevent it. Intervention and rationale Assess the patient for signs of infection including fever, chills, and diaphoresis; cough; shortness of breath; oral pain or painful swallowing; creamy-white patches in oral cavity; urinary frequency, urgency, or dysuria; redness, swelling, or drainage from wounds; vesicular lesions on face, lips, or perianal area. Any sign of delayed wound healing may give clues that the patient is currently having an infectious process (Black & Hawks, 2005). Assess the patient’s cognition and mental status. In the elderly population, the signs of infection may appear initially as changes in the mental status and consciousness (Burke & Laramie, 2004). Teach patient or caregiver about need to report possible infection. Prompt reporting of infection increases the chances of faster recovery (Smeltzer & Bare, 2006). Do not allo w any fresh flowers in the patient’s room. Fresh flowers carry microorganisms that could cause harm to the immune- compromised people (Burke & Laramie, 2004). Do not allow the patient to eat raw foods, including fruits and vegetables. Raw foods contain considerably increased number of microorganisms that could potentially cause another infection (Smeltzer & Bare, 2006). Monitor for medication interactions, infections, electrolyte imbalance, and depression. Elderly patients may have other pathological conditions that could necessarily affect hydration status and predispose other medication side- effects (Black & Hawks, 2005). Encourage independence but assist if the patient cannot perform an activity. While it can be necessary to assist the patient in completing activities most of the time, providing opportunities of independence could increase his sense of well- being (Smeltzer & Bare, 2006). Monitor food and fluid intake. Nutrition status generally affects the rate of wound healing and recovery from infection (Black & Hawks, 2005). Teach the patient about the importance of hand-washing and appropriate hygienic practices. These activities prevent the incidence of infection (Smeltzer & Bare, 2006). Evaluation At the end of the shift, the client did not develop any signs of secondary infection. In addition, the patient learned of the importance of hand- washing, hygienic practices, eating the right kinds of food, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Final paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Final paper - Assignment Example nfrontational competition has been a neglected topic over the past couple of years, owing to the ghost of Recession that snatched away finances from many small businesses. However, the scene is a bit different now. The United States, along with many other leading economies of the world have realized that investing time and money in small businesses which have novelty and new ideas is going to be a great way to begin building the shattered economies and reviving economic stability in these countries. Therefore, most business administration courses today have a significant chunk of literature dedicated to small business management and its various problems. Talking of growing small businesses, it has been noticed that most tech start-ups that get going are eventually bought by major platforms like Yahoo, Google, Microsoft or Facebook. Therefore, when it comes to having an original technology released in the market, the run is either for funding (crowd/venture) or getting enough traction to be bought by the bigger franchisees. This is where companies that are lean and want to maximize their incoming revenues, face the toughest of competitions. When we say competition, it is natural that one might consider it to be similar to market competition as faced by big businesses. However, the situation is different when it comes to small businesses and lean companies. To begin with, lean companies focus on a niche audience and offer products, services and deals of limited variety. A direct result of this is that they face two situations when it comes to competition. Firstly, they may face no competition at all. Secondly, they may not face wide market competition but have to put up with more focused confrontational competition wherein a direct competitor that is equal in size and strength makes moves that directly affects sales of the lean company. Let us go into each situation separately. Small businesses operating with limited resources have to face hardly any competition

Abnormal Psychology and Therapy Essay Example for Free

Abnormal Psychology and Therapy Essay Psychology can be described as examination of ideas, intuitive feeling, and the way someone thinks and uses his or her wits be it physical, mental, or cognitive. Abnormal psychology is ideas or conduct causing the individual troubles. The deficiency may be sadness, potential fight, or simply uncomfortableness in the individuals daily life. Mental disorders or mental disease are practices not in general associated with a person. A number of these disorders can harm others or the one who is battling with the disorder. There are a number of therapies for these disorders and are different in each case. A closer look and contrast of normal and abnormal psychology is need along with mental disturbance and mental disease from a psychology position polishing off by way of a look at different therapies useful for normal and abnormal psychology. Abnormal and Normal Psychology are likewise, also the two look into behaviors, and because of individuals different cultures and beliefs some behaviors are normal. Then again oftentimes they could be different for the behavior is not really typical or something out the ordinary. To know the difference between normal and abnormal psychology helps with acknowledging mental disturbance from a psychological perspective. To help illustrate our research on abnormal psychology, this section will compare and contrast normal and abnormal psychology. Normal psychology focuses on the different ways different people see life and want to live life, rather than relying on generalizations made about whole populations of people. See more:  Mark Twains Humorous Satire in Running for Governor Essay These generalizations can often do harm because without proper consideration they can often imply norm of behavior inimical to a person’s existence. A normal psychology in this way doesn’t imply a perfect individual existence, nor that there aren’t any pathologies. Abnormal-is the branch of psychology that studies unusual patterns of behavior, emotion and thought, which may or may not be understood as precipitating a mental disorder. The field of abnormal psychology identifies multiple causes for different conditions, employing diverse theories from the general field of psychology and elsewhere, and much still hinges on what exactly is meant by abnormal. Mental disorders and mental illnesses This next section will examine mental disorders and mental illnesses from the perspective of psychology. Adjustment disorders of mental disorders is related to an identifiable source of stress that causes significant emotional and behavioral symptoms. Anxiety disorders are those that are characterized by excessive and abnormal fear, worry and anxiety. In one recent survey published in the Archives of General Psychology 1, it was estimated that as many as 18% of American adults suffer from at least one anxiety disorder. Cognitive disorders are psychological disorders that involve cognitive abilities such as memory, problem solving and perception. Some anxiety disorders, mood disorders and psychotic disorders are classified as cognitive disorders. Alzheimers disease †¢Delirium †¢Dementia †¢Amnesia Therapies Psychotherapy is a general term that is used to describe the process of treating psychological disorders and mental distress. During this process, a trained psychotherapist helps the client tackle a specific or general problem such as a particular mental illness or a source of life stress. Depending on the approach used by the therapist, a wide range of techniques and strategies can be used. However, almost all types of psychotherapy involve developing a therapeutic relationship, communicating and creating a dialogue and working to overcome problematic thoughts or behaviors. †¢Psychoanalytic: An approach to therapy that involved delving into a patient thoughts and past experiences to seek out unconscious desires or fantasies. Cognitive-behavioral: A type of psychotherapy that involves cognitive and behavioral techniques to change negative thoughts and maladaptive behaviors. Humanistic: A form of therapy that focuses on helping people maximize their potential. Medical therapy for mental disturbance and sicknesses change between each philosophical system. The earlier style of psychotherapy were the psychodynamic therapies. Psychodynamic therapy tries to change personality practices through perceptiveness and the therapist-patient relationship (Kowalski Westen, 2009). Inside this subdivision of therapy dwell the proficiencies of psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy. These particular therapies ask the patient to lie on a sofa or sit opposite with a therapist and talk about what one thinks of, a technique known as free association. The two most adept humanistic therapies are Gestalt therapy and the client centered therapy. Gestalt therapy is somewhat like psychodynamic psychotherapy. The most commonly known technique of the therapy is the empty chair technique. Through this method the patient exercises emotional expression by visualizing that the individual him or her wants to converse with is in the chair. The second humanistic therapy is the client centered therapy. Through this technique the therapist exhibits an position of full credence for the patient by listening emphatically. Therapeutic change occurs as the patient hears his or her own thoughts or feelings reflected by the nonjudgmental listener. Conclusion There are a number of therapies for these disorders and are different in each case. Abnormal and Normal Psychology are likewise, also the two look into behaviors, and because of individuals different cultures and beliefs, some behaviors are normal. Lastly, normal and abnormal look into behavior, this behavior may be causing the individual troubles, confrontation, or simply uncomfortableness in daily life. Mental disorders including schizophrenia and Obsessive compulsive disorder can harm others or the individual battling with them. Mental illnesses comprise of perturbations of mentation, experience, and emotion cause operative disability making it very hard to nurture relationships, keep a job, and can lead to suicide. Treatment will change with regards to the form of disorder a individual has and the individuals commitment to look for assistance with a therapist. References Kowalski, R., Westen, D. (2009). Psychology (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Nami ( National Alliance on Mental Illnesses, http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Mental_Illnesses/Depression/Mental_Illnesses_What_is_Depression.htm retrieved December 01, 2012. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mental-illness/ retrieved December 01, 2012. www.uidaho.edu/psych101/abnormal6.pdf. Retrieved December 02, 2012 Wood, S. E., Wood, E. R. The World of Psychology. Boston, MA: A Pearson Education Company. Page 538

Rape: A Living Nightmare Essay -- Personal Narrative Writing

Rape: A Living Nightmare Is anyone truly a stranger to nightmares? Has anyone not woken up in a feverish sweat with a racing pulse or pounding heart? Whose eyes have never wildly searched their room for the phantoms of a dream? Now, what if the familiar consolation of learning it was all in your head never came? How do you wake up from a nightmare that is, in fact, a reality? I think I’m getting ahead of myself. What I mean to say is, I was raped, and rape is a nightmare. I am a 19-year-old girl, far too old to think I know everything. I don’t pretend to be an expert on rape. Having known the feel of a cold blade pressed to my side gave me no superior understanding of the crime, only a small scar to remember it by. Thus I offer you no solution. I cannot say with any conviction that my writing will help to save even one person from being subjected to a similar fate. Before you’ve read to the bottom of this page three more girls will be sexually assaulted, one girl will be raped. Neither the eloquence of my words, nor the fervor of my voice will have changed a thing. The society we live in is rape-conducive, rape-friendly, if you will. Despite the anger I feel joining those two words together, I know the sad paradox holds within it a great deal of truth. We are a violent society that has shrouded rape in mystery and shame. To stop this nightmare’s venomous crusades, all people must wage a private war to eradicate their own acceptance of the savage crime. While it is only a minority of men that actually commit rape, it is everyone’s silence that tells them it’s ok. Before my emotions coerce me into preaching about the atrocity I survived, excuse me, am surviving, I think some clarifications are in order. L... ... calm disposition is counterfeit. If you must be angry, be angry that by doing nothing to stop the assaults you have been made both the victim and the rapist time and time again. If you have a choice, though, choose to be upset. Be upset that it is our society that is responsible for rape and this nightmare’s reign over women. Bibliography Bode, Janet. The Voices of Rape. New York: Franklin Watts (†¢1990) Ehrhart, Julie K. Campus Gang Rape: Party Games? Washington: Association of American Colleges Gordon, Margaret T. The Female Fear. New York: The Free Press (†¢1989) Hilberman, Elaine. The Rape Victim. Washington: American Psychiatric Association (†¢1976) Macdonald, John. Rape: Offenders and Their Victims. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher (†¢1971) Schwartz, Martin D. Sexual Assault on the College Campus. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications (†¢1997)

The Challenges of Strategic Management

Strategic Management 313 News Critique – Topic 1 – The Challenges of Strategic Management *Mishal Ibrahim Mohamed *Didi 12928039 1. News item sources Gross, D. 2010. Major new app store to take on Apple, others. http://www. cnn. com/2010/TECH/02/15/app. store/index. html? iref=allsearch (accessed March 6, 2010). Kincaid, J. 2010. The Wholesale Applications Community Sounds Like A Disaster In The Making. http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/15/AR2010021502209. html (accessed March 6, 2010). Mobile firms unite to offer applications. http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/technology/8515813. stm (accessed March 6, 2010). Schenker, J. L. 2010. Mobile Industry Strikes Back at Google and Apple. http://www. businessweek. com/blogs/europeinsight/archives/2010/02/mobile_industry. html (accessed March 6, 2010). 2. Summary On February 15th 2010, the world's largest 24+ companies that deal with telecommunications have announced that they are tying up with each other to form what they call the Wholesale Applications Community (Gross 2010). This strategy is aimed at creating a unified open platform to create applications to work on any phone, including any carrier and any operation system (OS) that they are using (Kincaid 2010). As we know, Apple dominates the app market with more than 3 billion downloads in 18 months (_Mobile firms unite to offer applications 2010). The operators realised that their current strategy of creating individual applications for each of their phones was not able to come even close to the market share and the competitive advantage that Apple's App store has (Gross 2010). They realized that if they combined their efforts with each other they would be able to serve 3 billion customers collectively (Schenker 2010). Currently all most all third party developers have all been developing for Apple's App Store which amounts to about 140, 000 applications and almost completely ignoring the rest of the market (Schenker 2010). The Wholesale Applications Community's plan is to balance this market by bringing these developers towards them since they would be serving a bigger market collectively (Schenker 2010). They aim to have this common standard by a maximum of 12 months (Mobile irms unite to offer applications _2010). *3. Links* to topic This news critique links to Topic 1 – The challenges of strategic Management in many ways. Firstly the topic talks about what a strategy is and what achieving competitive advantage means. Apple in this case has achieved competitive advantage using its App Store. It has dominated the market for a long time with its app lications which other companies were not able to imitate as efficiently (Gross 2010). Secondly, the topic talks about how there are intended strategies and emergent strategies and the implementation of these strategies. Since Apple had such a market dominance, the original strategy for the other companies were to make applications and application stores by themselves but as the market changed they decided to improvise and implement a new strategy which was to work with each other to make a universal application store that would work on all their phones (Schenker 2010). The aim of this strategy as explained in the summary was to even the market and reduce the competitive advantage that Apple had over the rest (_Mobile firms unite to offer applications _2010). 4. What can be learnt There is a lot of things that can be learnt from this. For one, it shows the importance of implementing strategies and the power of achieving competitive advantage. The article said that Apple's App Store had 3 billion downloads in 18 months because of how brilliant their app store was compared to the rest of the competition (_Mobile firms unite to offer applications _2010). What was also learnt was that no one strategy would work forever and that strategies need to be consistently changing based on the environment around the company as well as what the competition is doing. If the other telecommunication companies just stood still with their old strategy then it is most likely that Apple would gain even more competitive advantage over them. They adapted and changed their strategies to match the market and compete. 5. Future developments There is a strong debate in whether this would be successful or not. Rob Conway, CEO of the GSM Association is extremely excited about this since he feels that it will be the start of an equal market with much more innovation (Gross 2010). Andy Rubin, Google VP of engineering, on the other hand believes that this is merely a dream and is extremely sceptical that it would work since he believes that the market place is too fragmented and also the specifications of each phone is too varied to create a singular format (Kincaid 2010). I personally think that this is both good and bad. I do agree that this would create more innovation and ultimately more value for the customers since finally competition would be created in the application market, but at the same time I do notice certain problems. For example if they are creating applications that would work on any phone then I feel it is likely that we might start seeing too much similarity in phones. The sizes of phones would be almost the same, the screen size would be almost the same and so forth. Nothing would be more unique than the other and it is likely that the companies may argue with each other on what the final design should be. Then again if these application are made in such a way that it could fit any size then there should not be much of a problem. In conclusion, I guess time will tell how effective this strategy will be for the mobile phone market.

“Graduation” written by Maya Angelou Essay

Anticipation Imagine how it would feel to have someone of another race speak at your graduation and put your race down. This is the story of â€Å"Graduation† written by Maya Angelou. In this story we see how a young black girl awaits with great pride and anticipation her graduation day. When the day finally arrives, her dreams and expectations are shadowed by the speech that Mr. Donleavy, a white man, gave to the graduating class of 1940. At the end of the story we see how the class valedictorian, Henry Reed comes back with encouraging words that help the entire audience become alive and feel like they were on top again. Maya Angelou used a very important literary element in this story called tone. Tone is the attitude the speaker has towards themselves, their subjects, and their audience. In this case the speaker in this story is the young black girl. In the beginning of the story the black girl speaks with pride and self-confidence. She thinks very highly of herself when she states, â€Å"†¦I was going to be lovely. A walking model of all the various styles of fine hand sewing and it didn’t worry me that I was only twelve years old and merely graduating from the eighth grade†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The joy in her voice is felt when she stated â€Å"†¦my work alone had awarded me to a top place and I was going to be one of the first called in the graduating ceremonies. No absences, nor tardiness, and my academic work was among the best of the year†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Unfortunately pride and joy were not the only tone used by the speaker. In the middle of the story we see the girl angry and disappointed at the outcome of her graduation. As I described in the introduction, Mr. Donleavy addressed her graduating class with continuous remarks about the white class. He went on to say that â€Å"†¦the white kids were going to have a chance to become Galileo’s and Madame Curies and Edison’s and Gauguins †¦Ã¢â‚¬  The young girl couldn’t believe what she was hearing. â€Å"Graduation, hush-hush magic time of frills and gifts and congratulations and diploma, was finished for me before my name was called. The accomplishments was nothing. Donleavy  had exposed us †¦Ã¢â‚¬  In this sentence we can actually feel the frustration and anger she felt. At the end of the story we see how her mood changed from being angry to feeling proud of herself and her race once again. This was the outcome of a poem read by her class valedictorian, Henry Reed. â€Å"The word of Patrick Henry had made such an impression on me that I had been able to stretch myself tall and trembling and, I know not what course others may take but as for me, give me liberty or give me death †¦Ã¢â‚¬  In this sentence the young girl feels proud to be black and to be part of the graduating class of 1940. She put aside all the awful remarks made by Mr. Donleavy and rejoiced with the encouraging words given by Henry Reed. She was proud of her race and proud to be graduating due to her full academic accomplishments. In conclusion the story of â€Å"Graduation† was very interesting. It was able to fully demonstrate the literary element of tone. In my opinion, the message in this story is that we should all be proud of who we are, what we do, and where we come from. Pay less attention to what others say or think about you, and worry more about what you think and what you want to accomplish.

Computer Calamities essays

Computer Calamities essays There's nothing worst than when a machine that you depend on so much, just decides it doesn't want to work anymore. If you run a business and your computer stops working, most of the time you do too. If this happens, your problems could range from small , something you can handle yourself, or they can be very big. In this case a professional can help. To help reduce the cost, identify the problem before you have it serviced if you can. According to some hardware and software manufactures, many people call customer service for some rather common and annoying problems. Technicians have pointed out that , people tend to overlook the obvious when diagnosing computer problems. Some of the most common questions asked are as follows: Why won't my system boot? The first thing you should check is the power cord and all other connections to make sure they are attached securely. A lot of things happen when you turn on your computer. It begins by running a diagnostic routine to make sure all system components are working properly. If your computer beeps a few times and stops working before it displays a message on your monitor, there's a chance that a critical piece of hardware has failed. It may be a good idea to seek professional help at this time. Also, you could have a dead battery if nothing happens after you hear the floppy drive whir. Your computer depends on a battery to preserve important system settings when it is cut off. Batteries can die as often as every two years. Why is my system so slow? Even if you have the fastest CPU money can buy, it won't do much good if you 're running short on memory. Today's computer should have at least 8MB of RAM to work effectively. If you can afford 16MBs, it will pay for itself with added productivity. An inefficient hard drive can also slow down your system. This can be solved by upgrading your hard drive. Fragmented files may be another reason for a ...

If I Was vs. If I Were

If I Was vs. If I Were If I Was vs. If I Were If I Was vs. If I Were By Maeve Maddox In 1964, when Sheldon Harnick wrote the lyrics for the musical Fiddler on the Roof, he had the poverty-stricken Russian milkman Tevye sing â€Å"If I were a rich man.† In 1992, affluent rock star Bon Jovi sang â€Å"If I was your mother,† but then in 2008, Beyoncà © sang â€Å"If I were a boy.† Clearly, both forms persist in popular usage. Curious to see how the two constructions compare in the world of pop music, I searched a site called ReverbNation. According to the search results, â€Å"If I Was† and† If I Were† as song titles are tied at â€Å"over 500 songs† each. According to linguist Geoffrey Pullum, co-author of the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (CGEL), there’s no significant difference between using was or were in what the CGEL calls â€Å"the irrealis form of the copula.† (A copula is what linguists call a word that links subject and predicate. Irrealis is unreal.) In Pullum’s view, both â€Å"if I was† and â€Å"if I were† mean the same thing in such a statement. A web search will bring up both acceptance and rejection of the â€Å"if I was† construction. Merriam-Webster illustrates its discussion of the usage by pointing out that F. Scott Fitzgerald used both forms for statements of unreality. Here are two: I wish I were twenty-two again †¦ - F. Scott Fitzgerald, letter, 27 Dec. 1925. †¦ if I was Vassar, I wouldn’t take you †¦ - F. Scott Fitzgerald, letter, 18 Apr. 1938 The M-W editor concludes: Clearly there is a choice to be made here, and if Fitzgerald could use either form, so can others. Unfortunately, not everyone will agree with Merriam-Webster on this one. To many people, â€Å"I wish I was a rich man† is not standard usage. There are contexts in which â€Å"if I was† can be justified. For example, â€Å"If she was ill, no wonder she left the party early.† In a statement that does not describe reality, or the possibility of reality, were is still the better choiceif only because a great many employers, clients, and customers still regard â€Å"if I was you† as nonstandard usage. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:16 Substitutes for â€Å"Because† or â€Å"Because Of†List of Greek Words in the English Language

Assessments in Instructional Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assessments in Instructional Design - Essay Example Generally, assessments are understood as tests that measure the levels of competence, knowledge or skills as results from instruction (Shank, 2009, p.1). Accordingly, good assessments of learning results measure whether students are capable of doing things they have to be able to do as instruction’s result. Dirks writes that assessments consist of two components. These are measurement and evaluation (Dirks, 1997, p.3). Measurement deals with describing students’ performance with the help of a quantitative and/or qualitative approach. Evaluation is about judging the adequacy of either students’ performance or sample work (Erickson & Wentling, 1978, p. 3). Importantly, there can be identified five principal types of assessments use. These are 1) Communication of the student’s achievement status 2) Providing self-evaluation data to a person who is learning 3) Learner placement for certain educational programs/paths 4) Motivation of a student 5) Evaluation of the instructional programs effectiveness (Guskey, 1996). Given this, the appropriate use of assessment can be explained as the one that successfully combines the aforementioned dimensions. In other words, appropriate use of assessment communicates achievement statuses of students, gives learners information for self-evaluation, helps place learners within selected educational programs, motivates students, helps find out whether an instructional program has been effective or not. The use or misuse of assessment can be evaluated through identifying whether the learning goals have been achieved. To illustrate, Shan thinks that â€Å"to determine if needed results have been achieved, results are often measured and assessed against a predefined set of standards† (Shank, 2009, p.1). In instructional design, these are known as learning objectives. For example, if a learning objective for a course of Business Etiquette is to teach students to identify the relevant actions for a numbe r of situations in business where these skills are to be used, the assessment designed as a learning game is inappropriate. This can be explained by the fact that just measuring whether the information presented by the professor has been remembered does not provide any measurement of students’ ability. To design appropriate assessments one should view them as an inseparable part of a complex instructional process. The latter combines 1) designing objectives that relate to needed results and are relevant to them; 2) designing assessments that are relevant to learning objectives; 3) designing instruction that is relevant to both objectives and assessments; 4) evaluation all three components to ensure they are relevant and needed results have been achieved (Shank, 2009, p.1). To judge about the assessment’s appropriateness one should identify whether the assessment can be characterized as 1) valid; 2) reliable; 3) feasible; 4) having stakes. Assessment’s validity i s understood as â€Å"the extent to which the assessment procedure measures what it is intended to measure† (Henning-Stout, 1994, p. 229).