Reflection Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 17

Reflection - Assignment Example The feeling was great because participating in a worthy cause of raising funds to cater for children’s health concerns is good. My thought is that more funds need to be raised by conducting regular walks to cater for research activities by the children’s hospital. My reaction was positive since the event was a platform to get to touch a child’s heart especially those from poor backgrounds who cannot afford expensive medical bills (Voelker 12). The walk was quite a success; however, the experience from it is what is vital. I noticed that few families participated. Instead, it was only school children. Parents should be encouraged to participate more. The event is also supposed to be expanded to other areas in order to raise more funds. Most important is for accountability of these funds to ensure it benefits the children from poor backgrounds. The funds should go into projects that aim to ensure all children access affordable quality healthcare. Questions that need to be considered include: was the event a success? What improvements need to be done? What impact has the awareness created and how are the funds going to be used? A number of nurses participated in the event. The experience from a professional nurse’s perspective was a constructive one. Nurses need to envision becoming caring so as to improve the health of the children. They have to carry out their duties with high standards of dedication through nursing research, evidence objective practice and high quality of nursing care to the kids. The nurses must place the needs of the kids and their families fast by ensuring they are responsible, excellent, and innovative enough and practice with respect and dignity (Voelker

Fat Chance Essay Example for Free

Fat Chance Essay Introduction to the use of computer-based statistical software packages and applications in the analysis and interpretation of the data. Topics include both descriptive statistics and inference methods. Software packages include EXCEL, Minitab, SAS and R. Prerequisite: MATH1107 OR MATH3332 OR ECON2300 OR STAT3125. (Kennesaw State University Undergraduate Catalog). Required Text All reading material is available free on our D2L website in the Resources folder. The manuals are the Basic Concepts Manual, Excel Manual, SPSS Manual, Minitab Manual, SAS Manual and R Manual. We will also be using the Supplemental Text written by Dr. Daniel Yanosky. It will be advantageous to use a flash drive in this class. It is not required, but highly advised to use one. 1 Learning Outcomes Students will receive instruction in the four major data analysis software packages listed above. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to use each of these packages to: ? Function as an informed user and critical consumer of statistics able to answer questions in an intelligent, informed, and insightful manner and pose intelligent questions concerning data, data analysis, and software use. ? Obtain and correctly  interpret the measures of central tendency and dispersion of a data set. ? Generate and correctly interpret a variety of graphics for both univariate and multivariate analyses. ? Generate random numbers and use them to perform Simple Random Sampling. ? Generate and correctly interpret confidence intervals. ? Represent themselves as proficient in each of these packages in a job interview or professional environment. Moreover, students will be able to do the following irrespective of computer software: ? ? ? ? ? Identify types of statistical variables. Differentiate the roles of explanatory and response variables. State a proper research hypothesis. Choose an appropriate statistical analysis for a given situation. Summarize and communicate analysis results through a professional document. Course Website Materials We will be using D2L exclusively for this course. Quizzes, assignments, the textbook, additional readings,videos and other materials are posted there. Students are expected to check their D2L email account on a daily basis. In order to understand fully the organization of the course and how to navigate the website, the student should read all documents and watch all videos in the Start Here learning module. Communication The preferred method of communication is through the D2L e-mail. The instructor will answer all e-mails as soon as possible. This should be within 24 hours during the week and by Monday morning for weekends. There may be exceptions. 2 Grading Policy Each students final course grade will be determined based on their performance on the following: Class Component Quizzes (7) Homework 1 Homework 2 Final Project Percentage of Final Grade 10% 25% 30% 35% Letter Grade A B C D F Percentile Grade 90% 100% 80% 89% 70% 79% 60% 69% Below 60% Quizzes Required Readings. Completion of required readings will be assessed through timed online quizzes on D2L. Students are provided study guides to be completed while reading. These should be completed and available when taking the quizzes. Students are not allowed to collaborate on the quizzes. However, because they are online, they are essentially open book, open note quizzes. Use your quiz study guides. A total of seven (7) quizzes will be administered. With the exception of the syllabus quiz, each student will have two attempts with 15 minutes to complete the quiz (10 questions). If you have completed the study guide, it will be easy to score well on these quizzes. For the syllabus quiz, each student will have 30 minutes and two attempts. You will be required to use the Respondus LockDown Browser when taking all quizzes. Instructions on how to download this browser will appear the first time that you take a quiz. Homework Assignments Two (2) homework assignments are scheduled for the semester. Timely completion of all homework assignments is required. Homework must be submitted via D2L by midnight on the due date specified in the course schedule in order to receive full credit. Homework may be submitted up to 1 day late with a penalty of 15 points. After that time, no homework will be accepted. Students are encouraged to work together in groups and discuss problems and their answers for homework assignments ONLY. Nonetheless, all work submitted to the instructor must be an authentic product of each individual student. In other words, if you collaborate with someone else on an assignment, it is best to work together at first, but then separate and write your final product on your 3 own. Please ask questions if this expectation is not clear. Homework assignments may be checked on TurnItIn. Ensure that your final product is your original work. If evidence arises that a student has submitted someone elses work as their own or has committed some other academic violation of the University Code of Conduct, the instructor reserves the right to apply any academic penalty up to and including a failing grade (i. e. , â€Å"F) for the class. In any case, the student will be referred to the University Judiciary Program for formal documentation and/or charges. The charges and penalty decided by the University Judiciary Program may be different and/or more severe than that of the instructor. Final Project The final project will be performed using SAS. A complete data analysis will be performed and a professional report prepared. There will be no collaboration on this project. Final Projects will not be accepted after the due date. Further information concerning the final project is posted in the Drop Box on D2L. Attendance You are allowed to miss two days without penalty. Upon the third absence, you will lose one (1) letter grade†¦NO EXCEPTIONS. Attendance will be recorded twice during each class. It is your responsibility to sign the attendance record when you enter the room. Because it is disruptive and distracting to the other students for you to arrive late or leave early, repeated incidences will need to be addressed. If you are more than 15 minutes late, you will be marked absent. You may not leave early unless you have discussed the reason with me before class. There is no distinction made between excused and unexcused absences: A student is either in attendance or not. Please do not bring excuses to class. A student who misses a class is responsible for all material missed. This class will only meet 8 times; therefore, attendance is important to your success in the class. It is essential that you are in class on time with the computer booted up, the materials that you need for class downloaded from D2L and signed on to Citrix (when appropriate). If you are late, you will be behind. I will be opening the classroom between 7:45 and 8:00 so that you can be in class and prepared by 8:00. The class will not slow down or wait for late arrivals. The material that we cover in class is not the material covered in the videos. You are responsible for both elements of the class. 4 Technology ? Students must have access to the course website and be able to download appropriate materials from that site. If you are having problems with access, try a different browser. Also, make sure that you have the most recent version of Java installed on your computer. ? Students are expected to use the software applications via the KSU Citrix server in order to complete homework and other assignments. The website is https://science-citrix2. kennesaw. edu/Citrix/XenApp/auth/login. aspx ? The Excel Manual covers Excel 2010. We will only use 2010 in class, If you do not have 2010 or 2007, you will need to use a school computer or the Excel program offered on the Citrix server. There is little to no difference in Excel 2007 and Excel 2010. The same instructions will work for both. ? Students will need a media player installed on their computers. If you don’t have one, you can download one free on the internet. Some websites where you may obtain these are listed below: VLC http://www. videolan. org/vlc/ KSU KSU has free software downloads for students. Visit the website and see what is available for you. https://apps. kennesaw. edu/portal/prod/app_uni_sso/login. asp ? If you use a Mac, you will find that some of the functionalities of Excel are not the same, or may not work. If this happens to you, use Citrix, find a friend with a PC or use one of the school computers. This is not an excuse for your homework product to be inferior or late. If you have technology problems, o Call the IT help desk, 770-499-3555 or visit the walk-in STS Helpdesk, BB475. o For D2L, call 866-588-5293. o For Citrix, fill out a ticket using the link on the log-in page. If you do not get a response within 24 hours, let me know and I will check with them for you. ? 5 Classroom Policies Procedures 1. The instructor holds the following expectations for all students. (a) Show respect for other class members at all times. (b) Uphold the University Code of Conduct. (c)Participate in class activities in such a way as to maximize learning opportunities for yourself and others. (d) Arrive to class on time and prepared This includes both academic preparation (i. e. , having completed required readings and watched the assigned videos, being prepared to discuss topics and otherwise participate in class activities when appropriate) 2. The students name, â€Å"STAT 3010. 01, the date, and the assignment type and number (e. g. , â€Å"HW3) should appear at the top right hand corner of the TITLE page of all products submitted to the instructor for evaluation. 3. Ringing cell phones will NOT be tolerated in class. If you elect to bring your cell phone to class, SILENCE it and put it away (out of sight). Texting, etc. in class will result in the student being requested to turn the phone off. All cell phones will be placed in backpacks, out of sight, for the duration of the class. 4. Talking to other students during the lecture will result in your being asked to leave the classroom. 5. At the end of class, log off of the program you are using, log off of Citrix and log off of the computer (Do not turn it off. ), carefully lower the screen and push your chair in. Suggestions for Academic Success The class is purposefully designed so that if you do the following, you will succeed: 1. Read, take notes and study the required reading. 2. Complete the study guides and use them when taking the D2L quizzes. 3. Watch the assigned videos and come to class prepared to perform related activities and to answer questions about the videos. 4. Attend class. 5. Participate actively in class. 6 6. Practice what we have learned in class each day. 7. Work on the associated homework while referencing the reading, your notes, the videos and optionally working with your classmates. Be sure to follow the homework instructions and guidelines specified in Part 1 of the 3010 Supplemental Text. Use the posted sample papers, when available, on D2L as models for your work. Use the rubric. 8. Submit all work on time through D2L. 9. Watch the videos and use the associated teaching notes, when they are available. The videos cover different material than we cover in class. 10. Do not procrastinate! WITHDRAWAL FROM THE UNIVERSITY OR FROM INDIVIDUAL COURSES AND ACADEMIC INTEGRITY Summer Term, 2013. Withdrawal Students who find that they cannot continue in college for the entire semester after being enrolled, because of illness or any other reason, need to complete an online form. To completely or partially withdraw from classes at KSU, a student must withdraw online at www. kennesaw. edu, under Owl Express, Student Services. The date the withdrawal is submitted online will be considered the official KSU withdrawal date which will be used in the calculation of any tuition refund or refund to Federal student aid and/or HOPE scholarship programs. It is advisable to print the final page of the withdrawal for your records. Withdrawals submitted online prior to midnight on the last day to withdraw without academic penalty will receive a â€Å"W† grade. Withdrawals after midnight will receive a â€Å"WF†. Failure to complete the online withdrawal process will produce no withdrawal from classes. Call the Registrar’s Office at 770-423-6200 during business hours if assistance is needed. Students may, by means of the same online withdrawal and with the approval of the university Dean, withdraw from individual courses while retaining other courses on their schedules. This option may be exercised up until June 28th,2013. This is the date to withdraw without academic penalty for Summer Term, 2013 classes. Failure to withdraw by the date above will mean that the student has elected to receive the final grade(s) earned in the course(s). The only exception to those withdrawal regulations will be for those instances that involve unusual and fully documented circumstances 7. Academic Integrity Every KSU student is responsible for upholding the provisions of the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities, as published in the Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs. Section II of the Student Code of Conduct addresses the Universitys policy on academic honesty, including provisions regarding plagiarism and cheating, unauthorized access to University materials, misrepresentation/falsification of University records or academic work, malicious removal, retention, or destruction of library materials, malicious/intentional misuse of computer facilities and/or services, and misuse of student identification cards. Incidents of alleged academic misconduct will be handled through the established procedures of the University Judiciary Program, which includes either an informal resolution by a faculty member, resulting in a grade adjustment, or a formal hearing procedure, which may subject a student to the Code of Conducts minimal one semester suspension requirement. Final Notes ? ? This syllabus is subject to change at the sole discretion of the instructor. Any changes will be announced class-wide in a timely manner. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities act, qualified students with a disability may be entitled to reasonable accommodations. It is the students responsibility to disclose to the teacher any approved accommodations she/he may have before the end of the first week of class, or within a week of any change of status during the semester. .You will need to provide documentation of your disability to the disAbled Student Support Services office, located in the Student Center room 267, and obtain a list of approved accommodations. IMPORTANT: I am available to help you when you need help. Simply email me and set up a time to meet with me. WARNING! Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not create a crisis on mine. Make sure that you plan and work ahead so that there will be time to ask the questions and for me to respond. ? 8 Additional Information Writing professionally is a major part of this class. It is important to be able to communicate your statistical findings. Incorrect grammar and misspelled words can and will cause a reduction in points on your homework. If you know that this is a problem, the following resources are available: The Writing Center (for all students) http://www. kennesaw. edu/writingcenter/ ESL Study Tutorial Center (International students) The ESL Study Tutorial Center (University College, Department of University Studies) will be open in the fall Monday through Thursday from 9 AM to 5 PM. At the ESL Study Center, we offer the following services and programs for international students: tutoring in writing, reading, and pronunciation; general education academic advising and registration assistance; the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency entrance examination; and the Conversation Partners Program, which matches international students with native English-speaking faculty, staff, and students in an exchange of languages and cultures. The ESL Study Center is located in Library Room 442. Please tell your colleagues and the international students in your classes about the ESL Study and Tutorial Center. For further information, please contact David Schmidt at [emailprotected] edu or 770-423-6377. 9 The syllabus and/or schedule is subject to change at the sole discretion of the instructor. Any changes in the syllabus or the schedule will be announced in class and via e-mail. It is important that you check your e-mail daily. You will not receive grades for Homework if you have not returned this form. Course Syllabus Review Statement and Signature Form. I have carefully read the syllabus for STAT 3010/01, Spring Semester 2013, and have had the opportunity to ask the instructor any questions I may have about it. I understand it contents, including the course requirements and grading policy. _____________________________________________ Print Name _______________________________ Signature _________________________ Date Acknowledgment and Acceptance of Academic Integrity Statement In any academic community, certain standards and ethical behavior are required to ensure the unhindered pursuit of knowledge and the free exchange of ideas. Academic honesty means that you respect the right of other individuals to express their views and opinions, and that you, as a student, not engage in plagiarism, cheating, illegal access, misuse or destruction of college property, or falsification of college records or academic work. As a member of the Kennesaw State University academic community you are expected to adhere to these ethical standards. You are expected to read, understand and follow the code of conduct as outlined in the KSU graduate and undergraduate catalogs. You need to be aware that if you are found guilty of violating these standards you will be subject to certain penalties as outlined in the college judiciary procedures. These penalties include permanent expulsion from KSU. Read the Academic Integrity Statement and then sign and date in the space below. You are required to abide by these ethical standards while you are a student at KSU. Your signature indicates that you understand the ethical standards expected of you in this academic community, and that you understand the consequences of violating these standards. ___________________________________ Print Name ___________________________________ Signature 10 _________________________ Date STAT 3010/01 Tentative Schedule This schedule is subject to change at the sole discretion of the instructor. Any changes will be announced in class and an e-mail will be sent on D2L. The information in grey is the portion of the class to be covered online each week. It can be done at your convenience, although it is listed on Tuesday. The time spent watching the videos is no more than 2. 5 hours, in most cases. This is the day that you would have spent in class. If you do not complete the tasks for the online day, you will not be prepared for the next inclass day. The readings and quizzes are homework. Reading is an important part of being prepared for this class. The quizzes are over the reading. There are study guides posted. If you fill these out as you read, you will find that most of the quiz questions are on the study guide. There are also teaching notes posted for the Excel and Minitab videos. It is highly advised that you use the notes as you are watching the videos. All work is to be submitted through D2L. All quizzes are taken on D2L. The quizzes will close at 8:00 AM on the date listed and will not be reopened. You have two attempts. This will cover the event that your internet freezes during one of your attempts. Because this is an applied class, there are no tests in this class; but as you can see, there is a lot of reading and work to be done. Your homework assignments should be treated with the same level of seriousness as a test would be. You may work in study groups; however, the work you turn in should be your original product. Homework papers will be randomly selected to be submitted to Turnitin to check for plagiarism. When watching the R videos, use the student R Lessons and type in the code to use in class. If you have not done this prior to class, you will not be able to participate in class. We will be using the code that you create while watching the videos to complete tasks in class. When watching the SAS videos, use the student SAS Lessons and type in the code to use in class. If you have not done this prior to class, you will not be able to participate in class. We will be using the code that you create while watching the videos to complete tasks in class. Final Note: There are basic statistics review videos and videos explaining interpretation of graphics/tables on D2L in the Resources module. 11 LEARNING MODULE 1: EXCEL COVERAGE The days in white are days in class and the days in gray are the online days. Class Date Class Coverage Videos Coverage Homework/Assignments All Quizzes are due at 8 am on the morning listed. Quiz 0 is over the syllabus. Quizzes 1 – 6 are over your reading assignments. If you complete the study guide as you read and use it to take the quiz. , you should do well on these. Due today: Read the Basic Concepts Manual (use the Quiz 1 study guide) Supplemental Text Ch. 1,2 4 Take Quiz 0 and Quiz 1. These quizzes are due at 8:00 AM on Monday, June th 11 due to add/drop) 1 Thurs. Introduction to class/Syllabus 05/30 Review of basic statistics Statistics Videos are available in the Resources Learning Module. If there is a concept that you don’t understand or want to review further, refer to these videos. Introduction to Excel Formatting Tables Using Microsoft Equation Data Analysis Tab Descriptive Statistics Histograms Frequency Tables The If Statement Stratified Analysis Pie Charts Bar Charts Contingency Tables More Contingency Tables Stacked Bar Charts 100% Stacked Bar Charts Random Number Generation and Sampling Confidence Intervals Sample Size 2 Tues. 06/04 Excel Video 1. 0 (13:50 min) Excel Video 1. 1 (7:34 min) Excel Video 1. 2 (7:34 min) Excel Video 1. 3 (10:. 29 min) Excel Video 1. 4 (12:36 min) Excel Video 1. 5 (8:30 min) Excel Video 2. 1 (9:50 min) Excel Video 3. 1 (9:01 min) Excel Video 3. 2 (3:36 min) Excel Video 3. 3 (4:53 min) Excel Video 3. 4 (8:08 min) Excel Video 3. 4B () Excel Video 3. 5 (4:35 min) Excel Video 4. 1. (5:56 min) Excel Video 4. 2 (9:22 min) Excel Video 4. 3 (2:48 min) 3 Thurs. Basic Statistics Review 06/06 Discuss homework expectations and how to make an A in the class. Due today: Read the Excel Manual (use the Quiz 2 study guide) Supplemental Text Parts 3 5 8:00 AM Quiz 0 (syllabus/schedule quiz) Quiz 1 (Excel quiz) Quiz 2 (R quiz) 12 LEARNING MODULE 2: R The days in white are days in class and the days in gray are the online days. Class 4 Date Tues. 06/11 Class Coverage R Video 1 (3:07 min) Video Coverage Downloading Installing R Launching R R Basics R as Calculator Manually Entering Data in R Opening Working With Script Importing Data R Help Pages Saving the Work Space Loading a Previously Saved Workspace Variable Naming Convention the attach() function Subsetting Data Importing Data Subsetting Measures of Central Tendency Frequency Tables. Homework/Assignments All homework/assignments should be completed by the data on which they appear. R Video 2 Work on Homework 1, due at midnight on Saturday, June 15th. R Video 3 (8:10 min) R Video 4 (15:40 min) R Video 5. 1 (12:37 min) R Video 5. 2 (7:13 min) R Video 5. 3 (11:09) 5 Thurs. 06/13 Questions on Excel Introduction to R R Activity Due today: Read R Manual (use the study guide) 8:00 AM Quiz 3 (over the R reading) Bring Code from Videos 2,3, 4 and 5 to class. Saturday 06/15 Homework 1 is due at midnight. If you have problems with the submission, e-mail the document to me immediately. The box will close at midnight. It will be reopened the morning of 6/16 for late submissions. It will close to all submissions at midnight on 6/16. 13 LEARNING MODULE 2: R continued Class 6 Date Tues. 6/18 Class Coverage Video Coverage Homework/Assignments R Video 6 (11:34 min) R Video 7 (13:35 min) R Video 8 (21:05 min) R Video 9 (21:06 min) R Video 10 Measures of Dispersion Visualization of Univariate Data Visualization of Multivariate Data Random Number Generation and SRS Confidence Intervals Due today: Read the Minitab Manual 7 Thurs. 6/20 R Activity R Lab Day (Use Quiz 4 Study Guide) Supplemental Text Parts 6 7 8:00 AM: Quiz 4 (Minitab) LEARNING MODULE 2: Minitab The days in white are days in class and the days in gray are the online days. Class 8 Date Tues. 6/25 Videos for this week are continued on page 15 (SAS) Class Coverage Minitab Video 1 ( 9:59 min) Mintab Video 2 (6:28 min). Minitab Video 3 (2:13min) Minitab Video 4 (7:23 min) Minitab Video 5 (2:25 min) Minitab Video 6 (3:24 min) Minitab Video 7 (5:53 min) Minitab Video 8 (2:44 min) Minitab Video 9 (8:36 min) Minitab Video 10 (4:27 min) Minitab Video 11 (4:03 min) Minitab Video 12 (2:49 min) Minitab Video 13 (6:06 min) Minitab Video 14 (7:37 min) Minitab Video 15 (4:28 min) Videos Data Management Descriptive Statistics Recoding Variables Stratified Analysis Frequency Tables Categorizing Quantitative Variables Pie Charts Ordering Ordinal Variables Bar Charts Boxplots Histograms Scatterplots Contingency Tables Random Number Generation Confidence Intervals. Homework/Assignments Work on Homework 2 14 LEARNING MODULE 3: SAS SQL The days in white are days in class and the days in gray are the online days. Class 8 Cont’d 9 Date 6/25 Thurs. 6/27 Class Coverage SAS Video 0 (7:35 min) SAS Video 1 (19:35 min) SAS Video 2 (12:47) Introduction to SAS Libraries Practice using the code that you received in Videos 0-2. Video Coverage Introduction to SAS SAS Libraries Importing Data Note: Have the code from Videos 1 2 ready to use in class today. Homework/Assignments Due Today: Read The SAS Manual (Use Quiz 5 Study Guide) Quiz 5 (SAS) 8:00 AM 10 Fri. 6/28 Tues. 7/2 Last Day To Withdraw Without Penalty SAS Video 3 (19:17 min) SAS Video 4 (15:34 min) SAS Video 5 (8:24 min) SAS Video 6 (13:32 min) SAS Video 7 (4:16 min) SAS Video 8 (10:21 min) SAS Video 9 (9:49 min) SAS Video 10 (7:07) No Class Today Descriptive Statistics Stratified Analysis Frequency Tables Formatting Contingency Tables Pie Charts Bar Charts Stacked Bar Charts, 100% Stacked Bar Charts Histograms, Grouped Histograms Boxplots, Side-by-side boxplots. Reminder: Homework 2 is due at midnight tonight. 11 Thurs. 7/04 Select your dataset for the final project. You will find the information for data selection in the Data Selection document on D2L. Only one person may use each dataset. They will be assigned first come/first served. Please email me your first three choices in order. You will receive a confirmation from me by email. 15 12 Tues. 7/09 SAS Video 11 (14:24 min) SAS Video 12 (7:52 min) 13 Thurs. 7/11. SAS Video 13 (11:46 min) SAS Video 14 (15:13 min) Practice activities using the Note: Have the code from Videos 1 – 14 code you received in ready to use in class today. Videos 1 – 14. Random Samples Confidence Intervals Stratified Confidence Intervals Exporting Data Sampling Confidence Intervals Due Today: Read SAS Prep Guide Little SAS Book (Use Quiz 6 Study Guide) Quiz 6 ( SAS Prep Guide Little SAS Book) 8:00 AM: 14 Tues. 7/16 SAS V 15 SQL V 1 (18:17 min) SQL V 2 (29:01 min) Macros Introduction to SQL SAS SQL. Your data set for the final project should be submitted for approval by today. After this date, there will be a five point deduction from your project grade. Work on your Final Project 15 Thurs. 7/18 Tues. 7/23 Tues. 7/23 SAS Lab Day Extra Lab Day 8:00AM – 10:45AM Bring your final project to class to work on. Bring all code that you have collected in this unit. Attendance is required unless you have turned in your Final Project. I will be available in our classroom to give last minute help with your project. Your final project is due today at midnight. No Late Submissions Will Be Accepted.

Comparison of Islamic and State Schools

Comparison of Islamic and State Schools How Muslim parents make their decision of sending their children to Islamic schools or to State schools. The study of how Muslim parents decide to send their children to either Islamic Schools or public has now been studied for some time and it has provided different answers for different questions. This study has mainly been carried out because of the now increasing evidence if the cultural and political differences being seen as a result of the diverse cultures and religion in existence amongst people of different ethnicities in the world. For one to understand the strong differences that occur in peoples cultures and beliefs, it is critical to look at the origin of the process of acculturation in a particular community or society. Acculturation is the process whereby there is exchange of certain aspects of a culture between two different cultural societies. The acculturation process usually begins at childhood. This is because children are easily socialized in the norms that are involved in their culture and this affects their social outlook as they grow up. Education on the other hand is the transmission of information and knowledge from one generation to the next. Education is a basic of every person today to gain education. The Islamic culture encourages its members to seek knowledge. This is viewed to be one of the most precious things that one can acquire in life because it enhances intellectual growth. Education is an individual asset which no one can take away from another and which is necessary in going through life. In life and in Islam the greatest value of education is to enable one to provide good leadership mostly amongst the youth. The major objective of Islam is to enable the development of ones character and also ones Islamic personality and this is what is emphasized in many Islamic schools. Parents play a major role in educating their children. The initial education provided to children under the guidance of their parents is very important and shows the parents role. As children grow the society they grow around has a great impact in influencing the character of every individual child. However, the bad news is that Muslims have been evidenced to be the most illiterate in the world in a study conducted in all Muslim nations. This has led to many parents who value more unlimited education for their children to send them to schools abroad to the western countries. This has proved to be advantageous to their children but has also led to the introduction of unseen challenges to both the parents and the children. For example in Britain, the Muslims send their children to government schools and then they teach them at home or in the mosques. Consequently, like any other normal school in the world, in state schools children would often face problems like discriminating or bullying based upon their religious orientation. The damage whether it is psychological or physical can impact the behavior and can influence the Muslim students performance in the classroom. From the Muslim parents perspective, the knowledge that their children would receive is going to be through a secular perspective and this often will be open and unbiased towards any particular religion. As a result, there emerged two choices for Islamic parents to choose in educating their children. This is whether to send them to Islamic schools or to state schools. This problem started in the advent of the twentieth century and due to mainly Western influence and sometimes colonialism, Muslim parents sometimes preferred imparting only secular knowledge to their children. The weak students were mainly sent to religious schools known as Madrasas within their countries. However those who migrated to the west chose to take their children to both public and religious schools for a number of reasons. These reasons applied both to those in the west and those in the middle-east. One of the best and most popular reasons among Muslim parents for the reason as to why they send their children to Islamic schools is that it provides the perfect surrounding to learn the Muslim culture because of an Islamic surrounding and environment. For example, children in Muslim schools socialize with other children of the Islamic following and pray together in the Islamic way. They are more importantly exposed to modern vices that exist in urban and westernized schools such as fornication, alcohol and drugs. Moreover, Muslim schools are ideal centers to provide identity in the society for children. To prove this, some interviewed Muslim children attest that their parents would most likely send them to an Islamic school if there is the presence of one in their locality. This shows the preference of many Muslim parents. According to one Islamic based teacher in New York by the name of Yahiya Emerick states that Islamic Schools provide the children with the opportunity to be able to identify themselves with the Islamic community and its values and thus it provides a sense of belonging to the children and they feel that they belong to a certain community and proud to be identified with it. To support this view, the president of the Muslim Education Council in Virginia points out that these Islamic schools provide a sense of self-worth, pride and cultural identity that the children cannot acquire in a public or State school. His organization teaches mostly administrators and educators about Islam and the Middle Eastern culture. He also adds that the sense of identity comes from not only socializing with other Muslim children and praying together but also from memories of praying and reciting Islamic scriptures, listening to the Adhan and talking about the problems facing the Islamic society and this pr oved to be priceless for an Islamic individual in the future. However, there are many other reasons why parents sometimes prefer taking their children to Islamic school. For example is that for example if a parent realizes that his child is turning into being rude and unruly, the parent may result in looking for a quick solution to the situation at hand and decide to send his child to an Islamic school and this is estimated to be the case that has led about one third of the children in Islamic schools to be admitted there. This however has proved to be highly disadvantageous to Islamic schools because some of the children expelled from public schools because of gross misconduct are being dumped in Muslim schools. This is said to be the result of the attitude of most Muslim parents that the Muslim institutions are effective correction centers for their children instead of public schools which they see as having a higher probability of being a catalyst for their childrens bad behavior. This has sometimes led to some parents complaining sometimes that Islamic schools are being a bad influence on their childrens behavior at times but Islamic institutions have been quick to point out that the children didnt all come a being of good conduct in the society and some had come from public school. Another good reason why Muslim parent take their children to Muslim school is because they are more exposed to Islamic knowledge in Muslim schools. The former president of the young Muslims of Canada which is an organization based in Ontario, Taha Ghayyur says that a lot of Canadian born Muslim children have a lot of difficulty in studying Arabic writings and the Quran and because of their interaction with other cultures, they tend to have a little difference in their view to Islam in comparison to their Middle-Eastern brothers and sisters. However, there are a number of Islamic followers who also believe that the information mainly acquired in Islamic schools is much more limited as compared to that gained in Public schools. One of the people who support this view is Shabbir Mansuri who is the founding director if the institute of Fountain Valley which is a Council on Islamic Education based in California. Taking his example, he has three daughters of which only the youngest attends an Islamic school because Islamic schools were not available before when his two other daughters were growing up. He points out that in the case of his younger daughter, she has been able to recite the Surahs and scriptures from the Quran but he also sees that the Islamic schools have not made a difference in the understanding of the Quranic scriptures. This is considered to be one advantage of State schools because they help the children understand what they are studying, This and many other reasons give cause to the decision of enrolling their children in state schools. One reason for example is that in most public schools mostly in the west, state school education is usually provided free by the government. This is an economic consideration by most parents in the world. for example in the situation of Islamic parents living in the west, it is only when they grew in numbers and acquired more resources that they opened more Islamic schools starting from kindergarten to high school. As a result, it is estimated that in places like in Northern America alone, there are presently about three hundred Islamic schools which provide integrated education. In cases of where there were lower resources, the children were taken to state schools during the weekdays and to Islamic schools during the weekends. Another factor is that due to the high enrolment rates to public schools, there are a higher number of individuals from different social and economic backgrounds and this is not always a bad factor as and enables children to embrace people of different backgrounds. This is a point supported by many liberal Islamic families living in the West. Other factors which give an advantage to state schools over Islamic schools are that have sometimes better qualified and trained and certified teachers who provide standard teaching to the children. The teachers are mainly objective in impacting the required knowledge on the students and monitoring the students progress. This is the main reason that many Islamic parents sometimes send their children from the middle-east to the western schools. This can be evidenced by the children of the monarchs of Saudi Arabia and Dubai. In conclusion, it can be observed that the boundaries of knowledge are expanding on a daily basis and in the western world; Muslim parents are facing an ever-increasing challenge of deciding the right school for their children. It overall clear that the every parent would like to enroll his or her child in a school that provides academic excellence and spiritual growth but it is mostly the role of the parents to weigh the better option between Islamic schools and public schools. This is by putting their disadvantages and disadvantages together and considering what is best for their children. References Lawrence D., (2005). A Concise History of the Middle East . London; Westview Press Levy, Reuben (1969). The Social Structure of Islam. UK: Cambridge University Press. Ridgeon, L (2003). Major World Religions (1st ed.). London. Routledge Curzon publishers. Shahid A. (1998). Sex Education : An Islamic Perspective .London. Oxford University Press. Hamsa Y. (2002). Understanding Islamic Education and Elements of Success. Cairo: Alhambra Productions

Water is My Safe Haven Essay -- Personal Narrative, Descriptive Essay

Water is My Safe Haven Everyone, once in their life, searches for a place or thing to get away and to be by themselves for awhile. When they find this place or thing, it provides them with the comfort, stability, and vitality they may need. It can be a library, the outdoors, a car, the front porch, or even a swimming pool, where they feel the safest, the most comfortable, or feel like all their burdens, all of their worries may be washed away. For me that place is the water; a river, a lake, a beach, a swimming pool, wherever there is water, that’s where I‘ll be. I was always afraid of the water. I was always afraid to leave the edge of the pool and to swim off in the middle. The pool was a big place where water was on all sides, it was stronger than me, and it intimidated me. Swimming for me was like a dog paddling the water. It was hard, and I was a young and confused on the mechanics of swimming. I can remember being thrown in the pool very often, that being a tactic my Mother used to get me to swim. It worked sometimes but other times I needed assistance. I can remember when I joined the swim team as a freshmen in high school. I wanted to get over my fear of water and wanted to learn how to swim. Goggles in hand, swim cap tightly fitted on my head. My legs shaking. The smell of freshly applied sunscreen coming through my pores. Beads of sweat dripping from my forehead. Nervousness overpowering my body. I was scared. This was it, I’d have to swim. No more holding on walls. A big pool surrounded by walls, a diving board, and 13 feet of water. There was no way I was backing out. The question was could I do it? I got into the pool. It was cool against my warm skin. Lilies floated by. Bugs buzzed... ... me. It created this big barrier from the outside world; we were one. I treaded the water afraid of letting go of the wall, and I swam to the middle of the pool. My brother raced towards me and we swam together. I was getting tired of swimming to and from each wall, but I was having fun. We decided to take a break. We pulled ourselves out of the pool from the side. Relief had overpowered us as we lay our cool bodies on the hot concrete. The heat began to warm us up so we decided to get back in. That was a day where my brother and I felt as if we were really kids. Wild and adventurous, loving the water. The water was my place of comfort outside of my grandparents’ home. I couldn’t take Mississippi with me to California, but wherever I went, there would ultimately be water, and I could always take that with me, I’d always have a piece of Oxford, I’d always have water.

Jurassic Park :: essays research papers

Jurassic Park is a book about the cloning of dinosaurs and they are used as the park entertainment on an island. In this park where dinosaurs are the attraction, not every thing will go as planed. Reading this book will teach someone how Michael Crichton feels about biological science and the cloning of extinct animals. There are things that caused the park to be unsuccessful. Dr. Malcom and Dennis Nedry where two of the parks problems, and the other was the nature of the animals. Dr. Malcom uses the chaos theory to predict the collapse of the park. In the beginning of the book Malcom is introduced to the story. One of the first things Dr. Malcom talks about is the chaos theory. In the first conversation with him in the book Malcom said "Theory tells me that the island will quickly proceed to behave in unpredictable fashion"(Crichton 76). What Malcom means by this is that without even visiting the park he can say that it will fail. Dr. Malcom is a problem in the story because convinces other people that Jurassic Park is a bad idea. Dennis Nedry is the computer expert at Jurassic Park. He deals with all the problems in the parks computer system. Nedry works in the control room with Arnold. Arnold didn’t care much for Nedry when he said "That idiot Nedry turned off the security systems"(Crichton 177). Arnold said this after Dennis Nedry had put a bug in the computer system that shut almost every thing down in Jurassic Park. Nedry is a problem because he has full control of the park from his desk. He being a computer expert can cause any computer system problem he wants. Nature is the biggest problem Jurassic Park has at becoming successful. As stated by Dr. Malcom in the book, he said "Life will find a way"(Crichton ). He meant that the dinosaurs will find a way to live the way they want. This is something that scientists didn’t think about when they brought dinosaurs back to life.

Crime And Punishment Dream Ana Essay -- essays research papers

Dreams of Good and Evil   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dreams are windows into peoples sub conscience and their true emotions and gives important clues to emotional disturbances. Sigmund Freud, the first person to systematically study dreams, said that desires are revealed in the form of dreams. Freud said that dreams gratify those desires which that a person would never express while awake. Psychiatrists today tend to view dreams as attempts to solve problems rather than as the fulfillment of unconscious desires. Whatever dreams are, they gratify a physiological and psychological need of humans. In Crime and Punishment, Raskolinov manifests guilt itself in a dream in which Ilya Petrovich mercilessly beats his landlady. This dream is a vision into Raskolinov’s emotional disturbances and signifies resentment and fear.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Raskolinov’s dreams are continual conflicts between his dark and hateful mind and his conscience. His mind drives him to murder and inflates his ego to make him feel as an â€Å"extraordinary man.† On the other hand, his conscience struggles to hinder these violent motives. Raskolinov’s mind is at battle with itself in a conflict of morals and corruption that is manifested into the dream of the mare. Dostoevsky uses the dream as evidence of Raskolinov’s psychic illness. Raskolinov can be identified as all of the characters in his dream: Mikolka, the jeering crowd, the beaten horse, and the innocent child. Raskolinov’s confusion and obvio...

Responding to the Ethical Challenges faced by Nike Essay

1.The company (Nike) lacked the ability to monitor the working conditions of their suppliers’ factories. Due to the fact that competitor companies were buying in on their suppliers they didn’t have an advantage or edge to monitor the poor working conditions in these factories. They were disparaged upon by the UN and NGO’s for having their products manufactured in countries where working conditions were poor and there was no monitoring of proper treatment of employees and enforcement of Human Rights. The Korean suppliers, who represented Nike, were accused by labor activist and NGO’s of  being abusive to workers. This by itself was against â€Å"The Nike Code of Conduct.† 2.The Nike Corporation also faced issued with NGO’s and labor activists about paying workers low wages in Indonesia. Their Korean suppliers didn’t not pay workers the minimum wage and tried to cheat the Indonesian government by pleading economic hardship, so that they wouldn’t have to pay the workers a mere $ 1.00 US equivalent pay. When accused of what was occurring, a general manager didn’t think that it was the company’s function to monitor labor violations. However in a major turnaround and I am sure after that manager being reprimanded for that statement and disregard for the company’s ethics, they instructed the Indonesian suppliers to increase the workers pay. 3.They faced problems with Child Labor in Pakistan. In June of 1996, Life Magazine put Nike in the midst of misery, which caused an array of accusations about child labor. They published a photo of a 12 year old boy, stitching a soccer ball. Sialkot a city in Pakistan produces soccer balls for Nike and their competitors. However, due to the uproar by NGO’s, trade unions and consumer groups they prompted to impose sanctions against the purchasing of this product by the company. The company in turn, took a big hit and learned a lesson in globalization, human rights, international labor laws and their corporate responsibility. 4.Their operations in Vietnam posed some environmental, health and safety issues. One of their Korean contractors (again) operating in Vietnam was faced in a dilemma where and NGO help spur an audit by Ernst and Young which found high levels of Toulene, which is very hazardous chemical that causes damage to the CNS, liver, kidney and causes eye and skin irritations. The chemical was released in the plant which posed a threat to the health of workers. Employees were not given proper PPE. This was in direct violation of OSHA standards and also again, â€Å"The Nike Code of Conduct.† 5.Nike’s negative outlook to their stakeholders about their suppliers posed a serious threat to the organization. Even though their suppliers were the ones that were involved in these ethical issues, it still reflected on the company. Consumers are concerned only with a brand and not a supplier behind the brand. Also, Nike was responsible for their suppliers’ actions due to them not monitoring their working standards, payroll, human rights etc. Due to all the negative media, NGO and consumer attention, it caused Nike to loose some contracts with various universities supply them with uniforms, equipment and footwear etc. In response to my friend’s questions about the validity of the claims that are against Nike, I would first have to tell him that I value the integrity of my employer. But since this question asks me what I would say privately, and we are close friends, I would be somewhat try honest to him, and tell him how I felt, only because the information that was stated in these claims were made public due to avid media coverage and the audit conducted by Ernst and Young. Being that the claims are valid I would tell him about my feelings based only on the information available to the public. I would initially ask him to tell me how much he knows and then based on that make an analysis of the situation, and think about ethically what I am privy to say or talk about, being that I am still employed with the organization and the terms of which we uphold or code of conduct. I would address each argument specifically based on the allegations that we are faced with to the best of my knowledge and maintain a clear and concise goal of keeping in mind my reliability to my employer. Being that we are being blamed for infractions carried out by a supplier I would let my friend know that, we were not aware of the situation at hand at the moment but we are looking into it because we support Human Rights, Child Labor laws, Unionization and fair wage system. Our corporate code of conduct, â€Å"The Nike Code of Conduct† is available to anyone who wishes to know about it, so I would tell my friend that this is what our company stands by and since my employment with the company I have known that they are in effect and enforced. Being that we were not able to physically be present in Indonesia, Pakistan and the other countries of which this accused supplier has  committed these Human Rights violations on employees, and stress again that we were unaware of th e situation, how can we be blamed. I will also be sure to reinforce to him the fact that he should know that when the media gets a hint of information that could lead to the allegations of a multi-billion dollar organization how they could make an â€Å"ant look like an elephant.† Also, upon learning of such violations and treatment of these workers, my organization stepped in and not only reprimanded this supplier for trying to cheat the government of Indonesia out of paying minimum wage, but also to the workers. Based on our coalition with NGO’s and our commitment to corporate responsibility I would be sure to inform him that we have created teams such as an action team to monitor environmental, health and safety issues. We also developed teams to monitor the labor rules and working conditions of the workers of our suppliers in these third world countries. Hence, if we fell short on our monitoring tactics, our involvement with labor activists, NGO’s and the UN will make sure that we manage our mistakes that were made due to these allegations. Being that this is my close friend, I have to keep in mind that I am an employee first to this company and while I am employed there. If I say the wrong thing, or he perceives it in the wrong way I could stand to loose my job or possibly be deemed a whistleblower to the organization. Regardless of the fact, Nike was blamed indirectly for these violations but they still took the responsibility to try and correct their mistakes that the organization should have been aware of. I am sure that if my friend is a â€Å"good friend† they would or should understand that I cannot violate my principles. Other than that based on the support of the allegations made to the company I am sure he would be more educated now that I gave him my insight on the claims. The triple bottom strategy that I would suggest that Nike employ would be being more conscientious to environmental, health and safety issues, ethical issues with regards to their stakeholders and share holders (internal and external) and Human Rights. Although their corporate code of conduct addresses this, they need to reinforce their standards to avoid the type of situations that was discussed in this case study. In reference to IKEA approach to their ethical practice, had Nike been more  observant about the issues with the supplier after the first incident occurred the others could have probably been avoided. When IKEA learned of what was occurring with the supplier towards the working conditions, environmental issues and the Human Rights Violations regarding Child labor, they stepped in to rectify the situation immediately. Nike only did so after labor activists, NGO’s and trade unions etc got involved. From my analysis of things, they should have been more proactive rather than reactive. Starbucks approach to things was somewhat similar to IKEA, but Starbucks stressed their commitment to social responsibility by way of thinking about their stakeholders. Nike on the other hand, seemed to be more dedicated to their shareholders the production of merchandise. They did accomplish being a multi-billion dollar company in a short space of time, but at what expense? It came with huge repercussions of Human Rights violations in the form of child labor and underpaid workers. They didn’t address these issues in the right manner, something that Starbucks did and overcame the allegations against them. Nike needs to delegate these issues in their organization accordingly to enforce labor laws and environmental laws to their suppliers. In this case study, the supplier was based in Korea, but had operations in Indonesia, Pakistan and other third world countries. They went into these countries, tried to manipulate the government by way of cheating them into allowing workers to get below minimum wage. Also, standards in the workplace were not enforced in the proper manner. The organization needs to supply workers with the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which is mandated by Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). The company also needs to maintain a proper relationship with the different NGO’s, labor commissions, trade unions and consumer activists in these countries. This can aid them in the monitoring processes of these suppliers to ensure that issues are being handled in the right way. It can also help save costs that the company pays to monitors, for example contractors. Nike can implement the money they save into a program that handles the ethical issues of workers, because I am sure they don’t have a human resources  department and an ethics commission to contact with their matters of concern. I am sure that this could increase their productivity employee. Hopefully the company learns from their past mistakes that they should not only be concerned with their shareholders but about the stakeholders as well. I believe that external and internal customers make up a business or organization and each has a vital role to play in it success or downfall. In this case, lack of attention to the working conditions and wages of the workers (shareholders could probably led to the ultimate downfall of the company. Nike has many competitors that can slowly overtake them in the consumer market. Human rights play a major role in consumer decisions in the 21st century. Evidence of this was found in the study whereby when the consumer activists learned about what was going on they boycotted purchasing the soccer balls due to child labor. References Locke M. Richard et al. (2002). The Promise and Perils of Globalization: The Case of Nike. Retrieved from http://www.caseplace.org/cases/cases_show.htm?doc_id=274259 Bartlett A. Christopher et al. (2006). IKEA’s Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor (A). Retrieved from MGT 213 Ethics and the Market Place – Northeastern University (Course Material) Argenti A. Paul. (2004). Collaborating with Activists: HOW STARBUCKS WORKS WITH NGOs. Retrieved from MGT 213 Ethics and the Market Place – Northeastern University (Course Material)