Journal Assignment free essay sample

As you reflect back on this budgeting assignment, what are the most personally important facts or concepts you learned? I learned that if you take more units, a full-time student, you will be able to save more. You can have lower student loans and be able to finish much faster. As a student, we need to consider and take full advantage of the grants and scholarships that is eligible and available to us. This helps towards our goal in paying off our student loans. 2. How does what you learned or realized relate to or impact your personal, educational, and career goals? What I learned and realized that education is important. We can’t avoid not having student loans ,but we can try to use as much as grants and scholarship as we can. We also need to keep in mind that we need to learn how to budget ourselves because we don’t want to end up paying high amount of payment every month. We will write a custom essay sample on Journal Assignment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page We need to save up and use our money wisely for necessities and not material things. When we finish school, we can then apply for jobs that is well in pay and can afford our everyday living. 3. Do you feel prepared to enter student loan repayment and understand how to get started? So far, I’ve been saving up money and putting aside extra income I receive from my paycheck. This also includes any refund I receive from my school and will use it to repay for my student loans. I am aware of how much interest there is to pay for my student loans and I know that I can begin repaying after 6 months I graduate, which is fair enough for me to find a job and get paid enough to pay for my student loan. 4. What money-related questions do you still have? How will you get the answers you need? So far, I don’t have money-related questions but I do know that I can reach and contact my financial advisor for any financial matters regarding my schooling. 5. How will you apply the lessons of this activity to your own life? The lessons I’ve learned from this activity is how to protect your credit. It is important to our own life because it’s good to establish good credit when we apply for other future loans such as home or car loans. Learning how to handle your money wisely can be a positive thing as we grow old and may need to use it when we retire. 6. With all these money matters in mind, what is your next financial step toward achieving your goals? The next financial step is to pay off my car loan and credit card debt. I will continue to pay because my student loan will add up to my debt . It is better to start paying early so I can pay all of my debt and save up for retirement.

3 Problematic Parallel Lists

3 Problematic Parallel Lists 3 Problematic Parallel Lists 3 Problematic Parallel Lists By Mark Nichol When listing within a sentence, take care in sentence construction to employ conjunctions and punctuation correctly to achieve proper parallel sentence structure, as discussed in the discussion and revision of each of the following flawed sentences. 1. Smith worked as a chess coach, tutor, and led overnight camping trips. This sentence lacks a verb corresponding with tutor, just as worked is associated with â€Å"as a chess coach† and led pertains to â€Å"overnight camping trips,† as in â€Å"Smith worked as a chess coach, acted as a tutor, and led overnight camping trips.† It appears, however, that the writer intends worked to apply to tutor and â€Å"chess coach† in parallel, with both supported by â€Å"as a,† but the punctuation does not allow this construction. For the statement to be syntactically valid, tutor must be preceded by a conjunction and its own article: â€Å"Smith worked as a chess coach and a tutor and led overnight camping trips.† (If the second a is omitted, the implication is that Smith was a chess coach and a chess tutor; the sentence works this way only if tutor and â€Å"chess coach† are transposed so that tutor is not mistakenly linked to chess.) 2. Regulatory technology aims to make regulatory compliance more integrated, streamlined, and less costly.   The first and third adjectives in the list are provided comparative modifiers, and the implication is that streamlined shares more with integrated, but the comma prevents that association. In order for integrated and streamlined to share more, they must be treated as a phrase separated by and and both commas must be omitted: â€Å"Regulatory technology aims to make regulatory compliance more integrated and streamlined and less costly.† Alternatively, integrated can be assigned its own instance of more: â€Å"Regulatory technology aims to make regulatory compliance more integrated, more streamlined, and less costly.† 3. Firms need to ensure that workflow, queue management, control reporting, exception management, efficient and streamlined processes are in place.   â€Å"Efficient and streamlined processes† is intended to be understood as a factor equivalent to the other four listed beforehand, but the writer has mistaken and for the conjunction that necessarily precedes the final item in the list. Because it is within the final item, another conjunction is required: â€Å"Firms need to ensure that workflow, queue management, control reporting, exception management, and efficient and streamlined processes are in place.† 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 Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How Many Tenses in English?50 Latin Phrases You Should KnowPreposition Mistakes #3: Two Idioms

Foreign policies in the Middle East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Foreign policies in the Middle East - Essay Example (Wright, Robin 212) defines the foreign policy, also referred to as foreign policy relations, as self-interest stratagems picked by a nation to safeguard its national welfares and to accomplish goals within its international association’s ambiance. The tactics are strategically engaged to interrelate with other countries. The research on such strategies is known as foreign policy analysis. Due to the excavating level of transnational activities and globalization, the nation will also require to interact with other actors so that the country can achieve its economic and social goals. The above-mentioned interaction is monitored and evaluated in efforts to maximize reimbursements of multilateral international collaboration (Wright, Robin 213).There are various ways through which countries relate. The most common agenda on establishment of foreign policies by any given country is to achieve the economic goals. Other goals include social-political development and military operatio ns cooperation. There are so many factors that a country considers before establishing ties with another country. Some of these factors include religion, economic viability, and compatibility of ideologies among others. In this paper, religious factor will be taken into consideration to establish how it influences the level of cooperation among some nations.This research paper aims to scrutinize these policies as quantitatively as possible with the assistance of modern research.

Compare and contrast psy 5025 ass. 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Compare and contrast psy 5025 ass. 4 - Essay Example Adlerian psychotherapy is complete built upon the theory of Alfred Adler. Adler was a strong follower of Freud. He disagreed with Freud’s sexual development theory however. He believed the child’s experiences with power and the lack of power make the difference between positive mental health development and unstable mental health development or neuroses as Freud called it. Adlerian Therapy works with several major issues. Emphasis is placed on the importance of the feelings of self the come from conflicts and social interactions. This is basically an individual’s self image or self esteem. This therapy also stresses that one’s sense of self is the core of personality. Therefore they would say that personality is moldable and ever changing. In general this therapy begins with psychoanalysis however greater emphasis placed on motivation and social interactions (Schwartzman, 1998). The goal of Adlerian play therapy is to challenge and encourage the beliefs and the goals of the client and to help them form goals that are useful in social relationships as well as help them form an image of themselves that allows them to feel equal to others. These goals relate to every area of the client’s life (Schwartzman 1998). In general adlerian therapy and in play therapy the therapist provide a supportive and accepting enviromnet for the client to open up. In the case of children that is not always enough. Children are seen as timid and unwilling to share why they are doing things with adults by nature. Since Adlerian therapy is basically talk therapy the systems theory needed to be added for play therapy. They see play as a way to fool the child into opening up because the session is conducted during a â€Å"play time†. By playing together the therapist puts him/her self on the same level of the child so the child will open up. The play is not seen as therapeutic but rather as a tool to do psychoanalysis with the child (Schwartzman,

Proposal Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Proposal - Dissertation Example It will also be necessary to present a description of the nature of Saudi Arabia, centring on whether it is a secular state or a fundamentalist state, and whether or not the people enjoy the freedom of speech and press, as this reveals whether a country is broad-minded in offering basic rights to its people. It is important to recognise the issues arising from the shaping of news content in the print media, particularly newspapers, of the Saudi Kingdom. Thus, the research will end by suggesting a profound solution to the identified problems. Justification News provides us with information on every aspect of life, and can relate to individuals or entire nations of people. Thus, the freedom of press and speech has always been a controversial and debatable issue, particularly in a country like Saudi Arabia, which is an important and influential Islamic state governed by a dictatorship regime. News coverage in an Islamic state goes through various filters, especially if related to terror ism, extremism or other controversial topics. This compels the states to take extra measures in relation to how they want to portray their image in the media, both locally and, in particular, internationally. Thus, the media in Saudi Arabia does not enjoy the freedom of press, like any other country in the Middle East, mainly due to government pressure. The news presented to the audience in these countries goes through a substantial amount of processing, screening and editing before being delivered. Eventually, the common people sometimes only acquire a limited amount of information based on the actual reality. Despite the obstacles, journalists and reporters in Saudi Arabia strive to provide the bitter truth to the people. Their job is tough due to various factors and issues, notably the strict regulations and the scrutiny of print media that influences the publishing and shaping of news in Saudi Arabia. In response to these regulations, most newspapers in Saudi Arabia are looking to increase their transparency and credibility with the help of international groups including CASTOR (Circulation Audit Steering Organisation). This is a joint venture of the GCC Advertisers’ Business Group, the IAA (International Advertising Association) and the Media Agencies’ Council, formed in the UAE in 2005 with the goal of promoting the adoption of circulation auditing so to increase transparency and credibility in the print media industry. Given all this information, it is clear that the research question offers a great deal of scope. Literature Review The Saudi Arabian media system is underpinned by its particular history, just like that of any other country. The modern state of Saudi Arabia was established in 1932 after the capture of Mecca and four Arabian states by Ibn Saud, who went on to unite the entire region under the rule of the Saud family with the support of the Saudi tribes, merchants and the religious leaders while declaring himself King. However , the longevity and stability of the Kingdom is a result of its oil income, which has enabled the monarchy to deliver benefits to all sectors. Constitution Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with no written secular constitution. The Kingdom has rejected the imposition of such a

An analysis of the key factors that influence the levels of motivation

An analysis of the key factors that influence the levels of motivation The purpose of this study are the motivational factors that Shell Pakistan use to motivates its employees to work in different departments. I have taken five departments: Sales, Marketing, Finance, HR and Production department. As around 300 people work in Shell and to motivate them shell uses different motivational theories which may include Alderfers ERG Theory, McClellands Theory of Needs, Equity Theory, Expectancy Theory. These are the following motivational factors that these departments practice continuously to motivate employees. Employee Appraisal Intrinsic Awards Employee Involvement Skill-based Pay Plans Flexible Benefits Benefits programme Training provision Time off and time out Our diverse global community Sports and social activities Listening to our employees After the analysis of complete survey we can conclude that employees of SHELL PAKISTAN enjoys different attributes of Motivation like they have Job Satisfaction as they believe they have personal and professional growth opportunities, they feel they have empowerment. They have very skillful, high-quality and superior working environment. They believe that their performance is appreciated will result in reward as SHELL PAKISTAN is having EDR system. The one thing that may be a cause of de-motivation is SHELL PAKISTAN does not offer tailored benefits. CORPORATE PROFILE Second Largest oil marketing company in Pakistan with an average turnover of over US$3.4 billion and market share of over 24% in black oil and 35% in white oil. Blue chip organization with market capitalization of around Rs. 44 billion {US$ 755 million} contributing US$ 873 million to the national exchequer. Regained market leadership in Mogas during FY 04 by elevating market share to 44% Set financial landmarks over the last 4 years with earnings almost doubled from Rs.2.3 billion to Rs. 7.06 billion maximizing shareholders value. Only Pakistani corporation to become member of the World Economic Forum based on stringent and forward looking criteria. Only company in Pakistan whose turnaround and remarkable performance is cited in various case studies both locally and internationally. Around 3,800 retail outlets across the country including 1,000 New Vision outlets commissioned within five years. Vast infrastructure of 9 installations and 23 depots from Karachi to Chitral and a supply chain supported by 2000 strong tank-lorry fleet and 950 railway wagons. Extensive storage capacity, almost 15% of total national storage, i.e. around 160,000 metric tons. A company fully aware of HSE standards and using these as part of continuous improvement process. ISO 9001:2000 certification of major retail outlets, Mobile Quality Testing Units and key installations/ depots and ISO 14001:1996 distinction for Kemari Terminal C. Leading National Company committed to support ongoing or innovative social and charitable projects in the field of education, health, welfare, women empowerment, etc. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 COMPANY INTRODUCTION 7 1.1 Introduction 7 1.2 Vision Evaluation 8 1.3 Values 8 1.4 Responsibilities: 8 1.5 Future Engagements 9 2 MOTIVATION IN ORGANIZATION 11 2.1 Definition 11 2.2 Motivation Process 11 2.3 Employee Motivation at Workplace 11 3 MOTIVATIONAL THEORIES ADOPTED AT SHELL PAKISTAN 13 3.1 Alderfers ERG Theory 13 3.1.1 Difference between Maslows Hierarchy of Need Alderfers 13 3.1.2 Alderfers ERG Theory AT SHELL PAKISTAN 14 3.1.3 Relatedness 15 3.1.4 Growth 15 3.2 Equity Theory 16 3.2.1 Theory Overview 16 3.2.2 Equity Theory AT SHELL PAKISTAN 18 3.3 Expectancy Theory 18 3.3.1 Theory Overview: 18 3.3.2 Expectancy Flowchart: 19 3.3.3 Expectancy Theory AT SHELL PAKISTAN 20 4 OTHER MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS AT SHELL PAKISTAN 21 4.1 Employee Appraisal 21 4.2 Intrinsic Awards at SHELL PAKISTAN 23 4.3 Employee Involvement 24 4.3.1 Employee Involvement AT SHELL PAKISTAN 24 4.4 Flexible Benefits 25 4.4.1 Retirement Plans 25 4.4.2 Health Insurance 26 4.4.3 Unexpected Conditions 26 4.4.4 Rightsizing 27 4.5 De-motivated Employees 27 4.5.1 Counseling 27 4.5.2 Career Development 27 5 SURVEY DETAILS 28 5.1 Job Satisfaction 28 5.2 Work Environment 30 5.3 Employee Empowerment 32 5.4 Performance Appraisal Satisfaction 33 5.5 Flexible Benefits 35 6 CONCLUSION 36 7 RECOMMENDATION 38 8 APPENDIX A: Survey Questionnaire 39 COMPANY INTRODUCTION Introduction The history of Shell as a brand name in South Asia is more than 100 years old. Shell brand name dating back to 1899 when Asiatic Petroleum, the marketing arm of two companies: Shell Transport Company and Royal Dutch Petroleum Company began their imports of kerosene oil from Azerbaijan in South Asia. Till today, the heritage of the past is noticeable in a market of South Asia since 1898 In 1928, to make their distribution capability efficient effective, the market concentration of  Royal Dutch Shell plc and the Burma Oil Company Limited in sub-continent had merged and Burma Shell Oil Storage Distribution Company of sub-continent was born. After the independence of Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1947, the name changed to the Burma Shell Oil Distribution Company of Pakistan. During 1970, when 51% of the shareholding was transferred to Pakistani investors, the name changed to Pakistan Burma Shell (PBS) Limited. The Shell and the Burma Groups retained the remaining 49% in equal propositions. In February 1993, as economic liberalization began to take root and the Burma provided opportunity to Pakistani Investors by divesting from PBS, Shell Petroleum (Pakistan) stepped into raise its shareholding to 51%. The years 2001-2 have seen the Shell Petroleum Company successively increasing its stake, with the Group now having a 76% stake in Shell Pakistan Ltd (SPL) an expr ession of confidence Shell has an over 100 years presence in the Subcontinent http://www.shell.com.pk/home/content/pak/aboutshell/who_we_are/history/history_logo/ (Date:26-11-2010, Time:18:00) Vision Evaluation The Vision of Shell as a company related to energy industry have been very strict focused to competition. The futuristic approach has let to the group in investing innovating different sources of energy apart from oil petroleum. Values We set high standards of performance and ethical behaviour that we apply internationally. The Shell General Business Principles, Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics help everyone at Shell act according to our core values of honesty, integrity and respect for people and to comply with relevant legislation and regulations. http://www.shell.com.pk/home/content/pak/aboutshell/who_we_are/our_values_and_principles/ (Date: 26-11-2010, Time: 21:00) Responsibilities: Shell Pakistan put its total efforts to implement its core values and ethical conduct by fulfilling its responsibilities expectations to its employees, customers, investors, shareholders to society. Employees: Shell Pakistan always puts the safety security of its employees first. This depicts that the organization has a deep concern for its employees value the work efforts by which it wants to achieve success. Customers: The organization has a high motive to attract retain customers by providing them the products that are competitive in price of high standards in quality. The competition in energy sector has been highly focused by Shell investments in innovative products have always been there. Investors: It is important for Shell Pakistan that its investors base remains supportive to the organization so that when it needs to expand or restructure any of its function or component, the business always have financial support to effectively pursue that. Shareholders: Shareholders are the real owners of the organization. Shell Pakistan makes most of its efforts to protect shareholders investments provide them with competitive benefits of long term (capital growth) short term returns (dividends). To Society: There are many aspects of responsibility to society. Some of them are Corporate, Environmental sustainability concern for general people that the business directly or indirectly effects to. Shell Pakistan has clear policies for it sustainability has participated in flood relief in Pakistan by providing aids to the most effected. http://www.shell.com.pk/home/content/pak/aboutshell/media_centre/news_and_media_releases/2010/flood_2010.html (Date: 26-11-2010, Time: 13:49) Future Engagements To engage in backward integration by acquiring a major National Refinery. This has a capacity of 2.8 million tons of which sales to SHELL PAKISTAN are 25%. To develop a white oil pipeline in collaboration with major POL companies so as to eliminate transportation inefficiencies. Invest in the business of coal mining to capture a lucrative fuel source to which most consumers are switching. MOTIVATION IN ORGANIZATION Definition No other topic in the field of Organizational Behavior (OB) has received as much attention as the subject of motivation. . (FTC, 2009) Motivation can be defined in a variety of ways, depending on whom you ask. If you ask someone on the street, you may get a response like, Its what drives us or Motivation is what makes us do the things we do. As far as a formal definition, motivation can be defined as forces within an individual that account for the level, direction, and persistence of effort expended at work, according. (Parsons and Maclaran, 2009) This is an excellent working definition for use in business. Now that we understand what motivation is, we can look at the factors that help managers to be able to motivate and then a look at some of the theories on motivation. (Latham, 2007) Motivation Process Unsatisfied need => Tension => Drives => Search Behavior => Satisfied needs => Reduction of tension => New unsatisfied needs (Adair, 2009) Employee Motivation at Workplace Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. Jim Ryun The job of a manager in the workplace is to get things done through employees. To do this the manager should be able to motivate employees. But thats easier said than done! Motivation practice theories are difficult subjects, touching on several disciplines. . (FTC, 2009) In spite of enormous research, basic as well as applied, the subject of motivation is not clearly understood and more often than not poorly practiced. To understand motivation one must understand human nature itself. And there lies the problem! Human nature can be very simple, yet very complex too. An understanding and appreciation of this is prerequisite to effective employee motivation in the workplace and therefore effective management and leadership (Latham, 2007) . There is an old saying You can take a horse to the water but you cannot force it to drink; he will drink if he is thirsty That is also the case with people; they will do what they want to do or otherwise motivated to do, whether it is to excel on the workshop floor or in the ivory tower. The people or employees must be motivated or driven to it, either by themselves or through external stimulus. (Adair 2009 Leadership and Motivation) Are they born with the self-motivation or drive? Yes and no. if no, they can be motivated, for motivation is a skill, which can and must be learnt. This is essential for any business to survive and succeed. Performance is considered to be a function of ability and motivation, thus Job Performance = f (ability) (motivation) Ability in turn depends on education, experience and training and its improvements is a slow and long process. On the other hand motivation can be improved quickly. There are many options and an uninitiated manager may not even know where to start. As a guideline, there are broadly seven strategies for motivation. Positive reinforcement / high expectations Effective discipline and punishment Treating people fairly Satisfying employees needs Setting work related goals Restructuring jobs Base rewards on job performance These are the basic strategies, though the mix in the final recipe will vary from workplace situation to situation. Essentially, there is a gap between an individuals actual state and some desired state and the manager tries to reduce this gap (Latham, 2007) Motivation is, in effect, a means to reduce and manipulate this gap. It is inducing others in a specific way towards goals specifically stated by the motivator. Naturally, these goals as also the motivation system must conform to the corporate policy of the organization. The motivational system must be tailored to the situation and to the organization. (Adair, 2009) SHELL PAKISTAN is a huge setup and has about 2000 employees. To keep all of its employees motivated is a very complex task, because of the large number of employees and as each employee has his/her own personality. It becomes virtually impossible to devise techniques that match the personality of all the employees. So for this purpose they have certain procedures and policies jointly for all the employees of the organization. MOTIVATIONAL THEORIES ADOPTED AT SHELL PAKISTAN Alderfers ERG Theory Alderfers theory is called the ERG theory Existence, Relatedness, and Growth. Alderfers ERG Theory can well be compared with Maslows Hierarchy of Need Theory cause Alderfers has tried to cover all the points as discussed by Maslows with a little change, which is discussed below. . (FTC, 2009) Existence: Existence refers to our concern with basic material existence requirements; what Maslows called physiological and safety needs. Relatedness: Refers to the desire we have for maintaining interpersonal relationships; similar to Maslows social/love need, and the external component of his esteem need. Growth: Refers to an intrinsic desire for personal development; the intrinsic component of Maslows esteem need, and self-actualization. (Latham, 2007) Difference between Maslows Hierarchy of Need Alderfers Alderfers ERG theory differs from Maslows Need Hierarchy insofar as ERG theory demonstrates that more than one need may be operative at the same time. ERG theory does not assume a rigid hierarchy where a lower need must be substantially satisfied before one can move on. (FTC, 2009) ERG Theory argues, like Maslows that satisfied lower-order needs lead to desire to satisfy higher-order needs; but multiple needs can be operating as motivators at the same time, and frustration in attempting to satisfy a higher-level need can result in regression to a lower-level need. (Adair, 2009) Alderfers ERG Theory AT SHELL PAKISTAN Existence SHELL PAKISTAN gratifies the need for existence and the employees at SHELL PAKISTAN think that their basic needs are being satisfied but they dont seem to be completely satisfied with it especially with the material rewards that they get. For e.g. Average Salary The employees at SHELL PAKISTAN are not satisfied with their salaries and they consider it to be average. This view is strongly found in the lower grade employees and the contractual employees. Though the upper level employees that include the Departmental Heads, General Managers and above seem to be much satisfied with what they are paid. Excellent Working Environment Though the average salary seems to be de-motivating factor for the low level employees and the contractual employees but due to the excellent working environment that SHELL PAKISTAN provides, these employees seem to be seldom de-motivated. It was surprising for us to find that there had been various employees who just wanted to work in SHELL PAKISTAN because of the working environment they provide regardless of what they are paid and what job responsibilities are they given. This turned out to be one of SHELL PAKISTANS strongest points. Job Security Working at SHELL PAKISTAN seems to be a secure job as far as the permanent and high-level employees are concerned but the contractual employees never find it to be as secure. But due to job security being a major issue in Pakistan today, these contractual employees were hesitant to voice their complaint. (Latham, 2007) Insurance Medical Benefits All permanent employees at SHELL PAKISTAN enjoy the Life Insurance and Medical Benefits that are entitled to them. In contrast the contractual employees; realizing the downward trend in the economy, just want a stable job regardless of the insurance and medical benefits provided by SHELL PAKISTAN. (Latham, 2007) Employee Safety The employee safely is given top most importance and they also have an emergency evacuation system with which the entire organization can be evacuated within minutes. The employees also given various training and sometimes perform various drills for employee safety. The employee seems to be satisfied with the safety that SHELL PAKISTAN provides to them. Relatedness These needs are social in nature and they are about the interpersonal relationships of the staff. Good Working Relationship At SHELL PAKISTAN, these needs are quite well satisfied since the employees have a good working relationship even though there is an air of competency surrounding them. Self Differences between High Level Employee It has also been noticed that few of the high level employees at organization have some self differences that are developed due to status problems and ownership problems which effect the process of maintaining a good interpersonal relationship but then again the high level employees are professionals and they tend to forget these difference when they meet each other a global level. (Latham, 2007) Company Events and Privileges All employees are given the special privilege to join and use the SHELL PAKISTAN club, gym, attend in Company events, dinner etc thus allowing them to intermingle with each more. Growth The permanent and high-level employees are satisfied with the growth opportunities that SHELL PAKISTAN provides them every now and then. Training Employee training workshops are conducted on a need basis. Trainings are carried out in areas such as: Improvement of Business Communication skills Usage of new Computer software Encourages Ideas Employees are encouraged to put forward any creative, beneficial ideas. If the idea seems to be attractive, SHELL PAKISTAN gives the employees the opportunity to implement the idea. This turns out to be a very encouraging and motivating approach for the employees and later on the employees are rewarded if the idea is implemented well. (Latham, 2007) Employee Job Rotation For the purpose of employee growth and increase in motivation, employees are often rotated within or between departments. Equity Theory Theory Overview Equity (or inequity) is a psychological state residing within an individual. It creates a feeling of dissonance that the individual attempts to resolve in some manner (Latham, 2007) Equity is a social comparison process, resulting when individuals compare their pay to the pay of others. There is no rational or single equitable pay rate for any given job or individual. Equity is a subjective evaluation, not an objective one. Based on the comparisons that an individual uses, each individual is likely to develop different perceptions of equity. (Latham, 2007) The comparisons that individuals use tend to fall into four classes of comparison: Self Inside: An employees experiences in a different position inside his current organization. (Adair, 2009) Self outside: An employees experiences in a different position outside his current organization. Other Inside: Another Individual or group of individuals inside the employees organization. Other Outside: Another Individual or group of individuals outside the employees organization. (Latham, 2007) Individuals determine equity by comparing their contributions (job inputs) and their rewards (job outcomes) to those of their comparisons. This comparison takes the form of a ratio and if this ratio is in balance, the individual perceives equity. Inequity is experienced when ratio is out of balance. Thus when an individual perceives that his/her contribution is equal to the comparison and his/her reward is lower or his/ her contribution is greater and reward is equal, inequity is felt. (Latham, 2007) The individual responses to inequity include: Leaving the organization Reduction in performance, generally extra role behavior Attempting to increase ones pay Attempting to reduce the performance of others Rationalization- perceptually altering reward and/or contribution What do individuals view as relevant contributions? Given the perceptual nature of equity, the answer varies with each individual; however, contributions fall into a number of categories: Job contributions Include the factors that differentiate one job from another. They typically include responsibility, skills, education, and working conditions required by the job itself. (e.g., individuals working in jobs requiring greater levels of responsibility generally expect higher levels of pay). (Parson and Maclaran, 2009) Personal contributions Include attributes the individuals bring to the organization that they believe differentiate them from others such as experience, longevity and extra education (e.g., individuals with greater seniority often expect higher levels of pay). Performance contributions Include the extra effort/results that differentiate one employee from another (e.g., individuals who perceive that their performance is better than others with whom they work, often believe they are entitled to higher levels of pay. (Latham, 2007) Typical Management interests Managers generally define pay-related problems in terms of their behavioral consequences (turnover or performance). Therefore, inequity itself is not generally viewed as a management problem unless it appears to be related to turnover of reduced performance. Since the links between turnover and pay are often much clearer than those between pay and extra role behavior, turnover often becomes the only managerial focus. Therefore, typical management interests relate to keeping the employees who it deems valuable.(Latham, 2007) Typical Employee Interests From the employee perspective, the perception of inequity is a problem in itself. A unions interests lies in achieving equity for the greatest number of its members, regardless of their ability to leave the organization. In fact, it is a unions responsibility to bargain for the interests of those with limited individual power or marketability. Low morale is often a consequence of inequity. Even when low morale is not manifested in turnover, reduced performance, to reluctance to take on extra duties, from the employee perspective, it is still viewed as a problem. (Adair, 2009) Equity Theory AT SHELL PAKISTAN Employee Performance Appraisal Employee performance appraisal procedure is highly accountable thus leaving no chance of inequity among employees. Employee Salary Evaluation An employees educational qualification is given highest importance when evaluating salary. It may be possible that a lower grade employee, within the same or different department, has a higher salary than someone in an immediately higher grade. Thus inequity sometimes arises among employees working in a higher group within the same or different departments. (Parsons and Maclaran, 2009) Expectancy Theory Theory Overview: The expectancy theory argues that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual. In more practical terms this theory says That an employee will be motivated to exert a high level of effort when he or she believes that the effort will lead to a good performance appraisal; that a good performance appraisal will lead to organizational rewards like a bonus, a salary increase, or a promotion; and that the rewards will satisfy the employees personal goals (Latham, 2007) Expectancy The expectancy is the belief that ones effort will result in attainment of desired performance goals. This belief, or perception, is generally based on an individuals past experience, self-confidence (often termed self-efficiency) and the perceived difficulty of the performance standard or goals. (Adair, 2009) Instrumentality The extent of individuals belief of performing at a particular level will lead to the attainment of a desired outcome. Valance The extent of attractiveness of rewards offered by an organization that must satisfy an individuals requirements retain them by prospect potential development within career organization. Example Include: Do I want a bigger raise? Is it worth the extra effort? Do I want a promotion? Expectancy Flowchart: (Vroom  V H.  (1964) Work And Motivation) Valence Instrumentality Expectancy OUTCOME PERFORMANCE EFFORT REWARD Expectancy Theory states that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of expectation that an act will be followed by a given outcomes and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual. (Parsons and Maclaran, 2009) Expectancy Theory AT SHELL PAKISTAN At SHELL PAKISTAN the employees believe in maximum effort which leads to good performance which further results in the outcome in the form of rewards like a raise in income, promotion, performance appraisal letter etc that contribute towards their personal goals. Contractual Employee Views The contractual employees are also aware of this theory but they dont follow it because it has been found that their basic aim is to become a permanent employee. But becoming permanent employee doesnt entirely depend on the performance. It also depends if there is any permanent slot available. So the contractual employees are aware of the facts that even if they perform well, they cannot become permanent unless there is a slot available. So this serves as a very de-motivating factor for the contractual employees and this is the reason they dont hesitate to switch the job whenever they get even a slight better opportunity or a permanent place in some other organization. (Adair, 2009) Effort At SHELL PAKISTAN, the employees are aware of the fact that if they work competently and put their efforts, they will be able to attain the task performance, as the effort expanded by them will have a positive result. Performance When the employees of SHELL PAKISTAN put their efforts, they attain the desired performance level and consequently are evaluated on that ground. (Latham, 2007) Instrumentality: Instrumentality is also quite high in the company as the management assigns a certain % of work that the employees have to achieve, through which, they are evaluated at the time of dispensing rewards. The % of work is in terms of yearly goals, monthly goals and weekly goals. Rewards When the employees attain certain level of work performance gauged against the goals set at the start of the year, they are positively evaluated and get rewards in shape of annual increment; and organizational performance rewards etc. Valance: The employees attach a great deal of value to the rewards they get. The rewards are often in the form of a praise or recognition, to which the employees attach a great deal of significance. Monetary rewards are costly and require loads of time and energy. Therefore the management is not too keen on imparting such gifts. (Latham, 2007) OTHER MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS AT SHELL PAKISTAN Employee Appraisal At SHELL PAKISTAN, employee appraisals are conducted annually to evaluate their work related and personal performance. The process of appraisal works in various steps and the HRM department is proud to have such a system instilled in the company where no one objects to the appraisal process as its considered to be the fairest attempt of grading an employee in the company. The appraisal process is held in between the months of July and June every year. Increments and promotions are devised after this period that becomes effective from the month of October, the same year. Performance Appraisal at SHELL PAKISTAN is a six step approach. Step 1: SHELL PAKISTAN HR department have designed two forms named as Form 1A and form 1B to measure the milestone, target achievements that were made last year. This is done by comparing the goals set last year for each individual employee under their department. Once measured, it is sought out to what extent the company was successful in achieving its target. Also, targets are set for the next year on the basis of this measurement. Step 2: In the next step, HRM department does performance analysis by distributing to departmental heads and supervisors Form 2A and 2B (Collectively known as Employee Development Report) to measure the employees capabilities on 24 different attributes and of the attribute is rated on the scale of 1 to 5; summary of these points is reflected in the table below Rating Point Summary 1 Inadequate, Not satisfactory 2 Marginal, Below Average 3 Average 4 Above Average 5 Outstanding The 24 different attributes are divided in to key 4 sections; a summary of those is listed below: Employee Development Report (EDR) A What did the employee accomplish? Quality of work Cost objective Profit objective Develop people Commitment to company vision, value and corporate objective B Gets the job done Planning Organizational communication Analysis

Mathematics Technology Lesson Plan :: essays research papers

NTeQ Lesson Plan Project Title: Developing Time Management Unit Topic: Statistics and Data Collection Grade Level: High School (9th-12th) Overview: Students all over the world seem to battle with time management. Many students are involved in extra-curricular activities, or they work while they attend school. Therefore, they not only have the burden of the everyday school assignments, they have several responsibilities outside of school itself. This project will allow students to communicate with students from other tellecollaborating classrooms to discuss the issue of expectations versus time and create a project on their data. This project will provide the opportunity to research topics on how our lifestyles affect our health. Another important aspect of this project is to propose ideas for why we are so constricted by time and if our time constraints have changed over the years. The project will take three weeks to complete and it will address content in mathematics, health, history, and language arts. The students will be responsible for developing their own questions in the survey they will conduct. The surveys will need to be word processed. They will survey a variety of people asking fellow students how much time they spend various activities each day. The students will then classify the information into categories they feel are important. These categories can be discussed with the tellecollaborating classrooms for further input. Once they have collected sufficient data they will present the information on a spreadsheet through a program like Microsoft Excel. After analyzing the data the students will research the information they found through resources such as the library and/or Internet. Once the students have gained sufficient knowledge from their research they will need to develop a paper/presentation on the effects of time constraints and how it has changed through out the years. They can begin by organizing their ideas using concept map software. In displaying the data t he student will have the opportunity to develop a PowerPoint presentation. Objectives: Students will be able to: †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Collect data and present ideas that support the data. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Present the data in the form of a spreadsheet. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Analyze data to support and draw conclusions. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Classify information. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Identify ways to collect information. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Express data and interpretation of data in a presentation. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Expand their understanding of mathematics in real world settings. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Understand and interpret graphs and charts. Benchmarks/Standards: Patterns, Relationships and Functions (Strand I, Standard I, and Benchmark II) Analyze, interpret and translate among representations of patterns including tables, charts, graphs, matrices and vectors. Patterns, Relationships and Functions

Global Financial Institutions Essay

This paper briefly presents the role of global financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and Asian Development Bank in the global financing; and examines briefly their influence on exchange rate. International Monetary Fund (IMF) Established in 1944, the IMF has a headquarters in Washington DC. , employs 2,596 staff from 146 countries, and is owned and financed by 185 member countries (IMF, 2008). Its main task is to ensure the stability of the international monetary system—â€Å"the system of exchange rates and international payments that enables countries to buy goods and services from each other† (IMF, 2008). To maintain stability in the international monetary system, it provides (1) advice on appropriate social and economic policies, (2) financing to help member countries cope with balance of payments problems when foreign exchange payments exceed foreign exchange earnings, and (3) technical assistance and training to build needed expertise and institutions to attain economic growth (IMF, 2006). To maintain exchange rate stability, member countries prior to 1971 pegged their exchange rates that could only be adjusted with the IMF’s agreement. Since 1971, member countries can freely select any type of exchange rate arrangement: â€Å"allowing the currency to float freely; pegging it to another currency or a basket of currencies; adopting the currency of another country; or participating in a currency bloc† (IMF, 2006). The World Bank (the Bank) The Bank, established in 1944, has a headquarters in Washington DC with more than 100 country offices, and employs about 10,000 staff. It is owned and financed by 187 member countries (World Bank, 2008). The Bank is made up of two development institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and (2) the International Development Association (IDA). Each institution has a role in achieving the Bank’s mission of reducing global poverty and improving living standards. The IBRD is responsible for middle income poor countries, while IDA caters to the needs of the poorest countries in the world. Both provide interest-free credit and grants, and low-interest loans to developing countries for infrastructure, health, education, communications, and other purposes (World Bank, 2008). The Bank provides â€Å"local cost financing for projects in non-CFP borrowing countries† with clear indirect foreign costs and â€Å"if a specific project has too little foreign exchange cost to permit the Bank to achieve its project objectives by foreign exchange financing alone† (World Bank, 2007). It also has a project preparation facility that finances foreign exchange costs (World Bank, 2007). Asian Development Bank (ADB) Established in 1966, ADB has a headquarters in Manila with 26 country offices, and employs more than 2,400 staff. It is owned and financed by 67 members with 48 members from the region and other members from other parts of the world (ADB, 2008). As an international development finance institution, it helps its developing member countries reduce poverty and enhance people’s quality of life. It provides assistance to the public sector through grants, low-interest loans, advice, and knowledge as well as to private enterprises through loans, guarantees, and equity investments (ADB, 2008). In making direct loans, ADB assumes the foreign exchange risks involved in private sector operations, but not in public sector lending. To address the foreign exchange risks (e. g. , foreign exchange fluctuations between loan approved amount and disbursement), ADB introduced the LIBOR-based loan, which allows borrowing countries to match the procurement currencies with loan denomination currencies, or convert the loan denomination currencies at any time to match the revenue denomination currencies (ADB, 2004). ADB may also provide financing to meet the â€Å"indirect foreign exchange cost of items procured in local currency for ADB-financed projects with foreign exchange costs† (ADB, 2003). References Asian Development Bank (2008). About ADB. Retrieved June 16, 2008, from http://www. adb. org/About/default. asp. Asian Development Bank (2004, July 1). Foreign exchange risk. Retrieved June 16, 2008, from http://www. adb. org/Documents/Manuals/Operations/OMH07_1apr04. pdf. Asian Development Bank (2003, October 29). Financing indirect foreign exchange cost of projects. Retrieved June 16, 2008, from http://www. adb. org/Documents/Manuals/Operations/OMH07_1apr04. pdf. International Monetary Fund (2008, May). IMF at a glance. Retrieved June 12, 2008, from http://www. imf. org/external/np/exr/facts/glance. htm. International Monetary Fund (2006, September 30). What is IMF? Retrieved June 12, 2008, from http://www. imf. org/external/pubs/ft/exrp/what. htm/. The World Bank (2008). About us. Retrieved June 16, 2008, from http://web. worldbank. org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/0,,pagePK:50004410~piPK:36602~theSitePK:29708,00. html The World Bank (2007, March 23). Specific expenditure eligibility and cost sharing requirements for investment projects in countries without approved country financing parameters. Retrieved June 16, 2008, from http://wbln0018. worldbank. org/Institutional/Manuals/OpManual. nsf/22b87a45c65c

The Role of Ict in Enhancing Education in Developing Countries

Journal of Education for International Development 4:2 December 2009 The Role of ICT in Enhancing Education in Developing Countries: Findings from an Evaluation of The Intel Teach Essentials Course in India, Turkey, and Chile Daniel Light Education Development Center This paper presents findings from case studies of the introduction of the Intel ® Teach Essentials Course—a professional development program focused on integrating information and communication technologies (ICT) into project-based learning—into six schools in Chile, India, and Turkey. We describe four common dimensions of change in learning environments that emerged across the countries: changes in teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes; changes in how students engage with content; changes in relationships among students, teachers, and parents; and changes in the use of ICT tools to promote students’ learning. Three of these dimensions relate to shifts in pedagogical paradigms that appear to be prerequisites to effectively using ICT to support students’ learning. Our findings indicate that these shifts must not just occur at the teacher level, but must take hold throughout the educational system and must accompany sustained investment in infrastructure, human resources, curricular frameworks, and assessment. Key Words: ICT, developing countries, education reform I. Introduction Understanding how technology fits into the complex realities of classrooms has been a critical factor in creating real change in schools in the industrialized nations (Cuban, 1993; Honey, McMillan Culp, & Carrigg, 2000; Somekh et al. 2003), yet little is known about educational technology projects in the classrooms of the developing world. This paper examines the influence of an information and communication technologies (ICT)-focused professional development program—the Intel ® Teach Essentials Course—on classroom learning environments in six schools in Chile, India, and Turkey. Over the years, program evaluations have found that teachers across a variety of countries value their experience in the Essentials Course and report using ICT and/or making changes in their teaching practice following the program (Light, McMillan Culp, Menon, & Shulman, 2006; Light, Menon, & Shulman, 2007). However, the evaluations have also suggested that the ways in which teachers in different countries follow up vary, depending largely on factors in their school contexts. The research presented in this paper sought to examine more deeply the nature of the changes that schools in different contexts have made to integrate ICT and student-centered practices and how these changes affect the classroom (Light, Polin, & Strother, 2009). In all three countries, we found that the educators we interviewed and observed felt they had been able to implement new ICT activities and teaching approaches with their students after the Course. We also identified a consistent set of programs and policies that, combined with the motivation and skills of educators, enabled these schools to innovate. We selected the six schools in the study (two from each country) which key local stakeholders—the training agencies, the ministries of education, and the Intel Education Managers—considered to be â€Å"good examples† of using the Essentials Course to create school-level change within their national Light 1 Journal of Education for International Development 4:2 December 2009 contexts. In pursuit of the ideals established by their ministries, the teachers and administrators in these schools are attempting to transform the instructional strategies and the educational tools they use. Although each country is unique and each school is at a different starting place, all are moving toward more student-centered, project-based, and ICT-rich classroom learning activities. Across the diversity of their situations, educators in each school connected the ideas and tools offered in the Essentials Course with their own needs. From our case studies of the six schools, we identified four common dimensions of changes that are emerging to support more project-based and ICT-rich activities in the classroom: changes in teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes; changes in how students engage with content; changes in relationships among students, teachers, and parents; and changes in the use of ICT tools to promote students’ learning. Three of these dimensions of change that emerged across schools are pedagogical in nature, supporting the idea that an appropriate pedagogical context is key to successful ICT integration. II. Theoretical Perspective When effectively integrated into a high-quality learning environment, researchers have demonstrated that ICT can help deepen students’ content knowledge, engage them in constructing their own knowledge, and support the development of complex thinking skills (Kozma, 2005; Kulik, 2003; Webb & Cox, 2004). However, ICT alone cannot create this kind of teaching and learning environment. Teachers must know how to structure lessons, select resources, guide activities, and support this learning process; many traditionally-trained teachers are not prepared to take on these tasks. As Bransford, Brown, and Cocking (2000) point out, to use technology effectively, the pedagogical paradigm needs to shift toward more student-centered learning. This shift is not trivial or easily accomplished, particularly in countries with teacher-centered educational traditions. The literature suggests that four broad sets of changes should accompany the integration of ICT and the move toward a constructivist model of teaching and learning. 1. Changes in teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes: The literature on education reform highlights the importance of changing teachers’ beliefs and attitudes to create long-term sustainable change (Fullan, 1993). Many studies on ICT integration find that projects fall short of expectations because the educators continue working within a traditional vision of rote learning (Gersten, Chard, & Baker, 2000; Honey & Moeller, 1990; Teacher Foundation, 2005). Teachers need to believe that new approaches to teaching are effective and will make a difference for their students in order for them to continue using new approaches. Teachers’ understanding and commitment are particularly important to sustain changes in areas such as project-based learning or student-centered techniques, which require core changes to a teacher’s instructional practice (Gersten et al. , 2000). 2. Changes in how students engage with content: Research in the learning sciences has established that constructivist theories of learning provide a more reliable understanding of how humans learn than previous behaviorist frameworks (Bransford et al. , 2000). Studies have identified a variety of constructivist learning strategies (e. . , students work in collaborative groups or students create products that represent what they are learning) that can change the way students interact with the content (Windschitl, 2002). The introduction of ICT into schools and project-based approaches should change how students interact with the content through new types of learning activities. 3. Changes in relationships among teachers, student s, and parents: Recent studies suggest that, specifically, a supportive and cooperative relationship with the teacher can be very important Light 2 Journal of Education for International Development 4:2 December 2009 for learning (Marzano, 2007). Research in many different countries has found that the introduction of technology into learning environments changes teachers’ and students’ roles and relationships (Hennessy, Deaney, & Ruthven, 2003; Kozma & McGhee, 2003). 4. Changes in the use of ICT tools to promote students’ learning: The ICT integration in developing country classrooms is challenging (Akbaba-Altun, 2006; Comenius, 2008; Grant, Ross, Weiping, & Potter, 2005; Light & Rockman, 2008; Somekh et al. 2003; Vyasulu Reddi & Sinha, 2003). A number of factors—such as teacher knowledge, time, access to ICT tools, and the alignment of ICT use with pedagogical goals—appear to help teachers integrate ICT and to support students’ increased use of ICT tools for learning (Light & Manso, 2006; Perez et al. , 2003). III. Overview of the Three National Contexts A. India Of the three countries, India is perhaps the country that has most recently begun reforms to promote new teaching approaches and ICT. Across India’s decentralized education system, national and state leaders face big challenges in their efforts to support an education system that must reach so many students (Cheney, Ruzzi, & Muralidharan, 2005; PROBE Team, 1999). Efforts to shift curricula from behaviorist approaches to learning to a constructivist approach that emphasizes the personal experiences of learners are recent (India—National Council of Educational Research and Training, 2006; Pandley, 2007). A growing number of policies support ICT integration, but one expert review (Vyasulu & Sinha, 2003) found that there is still great variation in implementation of these policies and access to ICT is still limited for most students. Although there is variation by state, the duration of the standard school day is five hours, divided into 35-minute lessons. The class sizes tend to be large; the classes we visited ranged from 45 to 60 students. Indian teachers are expected to cover a lot of content, and the textbook often becomes the center of the learning process (PROBE Team, 1999; Rampal, 2002). The state curriculum varies, but in Maharashtra State, for example, the students have a very full schedule by the upper grades and study 11 compulsory subjects. B. Chile Since 1990, successive Chilean governments have pursued a consistent reform effort to modernize teaching and learning, improve and expand school infrastructure, promote student-centered curricula, institute full-day schooling, develop a national examination, invest heavily in teacher professional development, and integrate ICT into schools (Cox, 2004; Ferrer, 2004; Valenzuela, Labarrera, & Rodriguez, 2008). The Chilean school day is eight hours, with the amount of time students spend in core areas (math, language, and science) twice that spent on other disciplines, and there is reserved time for students to engage in enrichment activities or project-based learning experiences. Class periods are typically 50 minutes, with two-hour classes in core content areas. Every school is required to have a Unidad Tecnica Pedagogica (UTP—the Technical Pedagogical Unit) that provides pedagogical support to improve teachers’ practice. Chile also has an ICT program, Enlaces (Links) that, by 2007, had provided hardware, software, and connectivity to 94% of schools in Chile and trained 110,000 teachers (Cancino & Donoso Diaz, 2004; Chile—Ministerio de Educacion, 2008). Thus, most schools have a certain level of ICT infrastructure available in computer labs. Light 3 Journal of Education for International Development 4:2 December 2009 C. Turkey Turkey has been instituting educational reforms to modernize and expand its school system and align it with European Union norms since the late 1990s (Baki & Gokcek, 2005). The reforms include the expansion of compulsory education, efforts to decrease class size, introduction of a new curricular approach and materials, the use of ICT, and efforts to provide teachers with professional development. Announced in 2005, the new curriculum draws upon constructivist pedagogical principles and the theory of multiple intelligences and promotes more student-centered techniques— such as individual and group work—to encourage students to explore and develop skills (Gomleksiz, 2005). As Phase 1 of the Basic Education Program, 1998–2003, the government distributed thousands of computers to schools (Akbaba-Altun, 2006), and many schools now have labs. Turkey is moving toward full-day schooling, but many schools—including the two we visited—still have two, five-hour shifts because they cannot otherwise meet their communities’ demand. The demand for schools also means that Turkey has not yet reduced class size to 30 students. Nationally, the average primary school class size is 38. 6 students (Otaran, Sayn, Guven, Gurkaynak, & Satakul, 2003) but in the schools we observed classes ranged from 50 to 60 students. IV. Overview of the Essentials Course The core goal of the Essentials Course is to prepare teachers to integrate ICT across the curricula as a tool for learning and to design and implement inquiry-driven, project-based learning activities. The Essentials Course involves teachers in a process of developing a complete unit plan that utilizes a project-based approach, engages students in a variety of ICT activities, and organizes learning around an â€Å"essential question† that guides students’ inquiry and exploration of a given topic. Teachers are encouraged to designate time in their unit plans for students to use ICT to conduct research and to create a final product to share their research findings. The Essentials Course also discusses crucial factors for creating high-quality, issues in student-centered learning environments (e. g. , classroom management issues with technology), and approaches to assessing students’ technology products. During the unit plan development process, teachers expand their technical skills and prepare to implement their units back in the classroom. This is a vital feature of the Essentials Course, as it allows teachers to experience and evaluate the new teaching approaches (Guskey, 2002). In addition to Web resources, the Essentials Course uses commonly available software, primarily word processing software and presentation software, to support students in creating presentations, Web pages, brochures, reports, and newsletters. Figure 1: Core Components of the Intel Teach Essentials Course Content Linking ICT use to deeper learning Essential Questions or curricular framing questions Project-based approaches Student created products Internet resources Group work Holistic assessment strategies Structural Features 40 to 60 hour training Focus on commonly available software Teachers create a sample unit plan Teachers learn by doing Trainer is in the same school Emphasis on building communities of trained teachers Light 4 Journal of Education for International Development 4:2 December 2009 Intel, in collaboration with ministries of education worldwide, has offered the Essentials Course to more than 6 million teachers in 45 countries. The collaborative approach to course delivery is important. Although the core messages and goals of the program do not change, Intel works with the ministries and local educational experts to adapt Essentials Course materials to fit local needs; a local agency in each country implements the Course. In Chile, the ministry created a network of universities throughout the country that offers the Course in their regions, and the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile in Santiago oversees the network. In India, the non-profit Learning Links Foundation oversees the program in the participating states. In Turkey, the Ministry of National Education (MNE) oversees the program, and trainers are based at the provincial education directorates and in larger towns. In this study, we used an instrumental case study approach (Stake, 1995) to examine how successful schools and teachers have been able to integrate ICT and new teaching strategies into their classrooms. This approach allowed us to work directly with schools that have been making changes, talk with teachers about the aspects of the Essentials Course that are useful to their practice, and develop an understanding of what teachers are actually able to do in typical schools in each country. During a two- to four-day site visit at each of the six schools, we interviewed school leaders, the Essentials Senior Trainer (ST) or Master Teacher (MT), technology-using teachers, students, and representatives of students’ parents whenever possible. As shown in Table 1, classroom observations of both typical classrooms and students engaged in the computer lab or ICT activities complemented the interviews. Table 1: Data Collected India Mumbai School Interviews Observations Focus groups Interviews Observations Focus groups Interviews Observations Focus groups Interviews Observations Focus groups Interviews Observations Focus groups Interviews Observations Focus groups 2 school leaders; 5 teachers 5 classes 14 parents; 37 students; 12 teachers 4 school leaders; 3 teachers 5 classes 3 parents; 5 students 2 school leaders; 3 teachers 4 classes 7 students 3 school leaders; 2 teachers 3 classes 5 students 2 school leaders; 8 teachers 3 classes 3 parents; 5 students 5 school leaders; 7 teachers 5 classes 5 arents; 19 students Village School Chile Santiago School Village School Turkey Ankara School Village School Light 5 Journal of Education for International Development 4:2 December 2009 As noted, to identify a sample of exemplary schools, we gained input from local stakeholders. We requested that the local training agency, the ministries, and the Intel Education Managers in each country comp ile a list of schools. We asked that they exclude schools with privileged access to resources, technology, or funds. Success was defined by the local stakeholders to represent what they felt would be reasonable expectations for schools and teachers in their country. From the list of schools, the research team made a final selection of two schools in each country. To carry out the fieldwork, we collaborated with local partners. In Chile, we worked with researchers from the Centro Costadigital at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, and in Turkey, we teamed with GLOKAL Research Consulting. Unfortunately, the arrangements for a local research partner in India fell through. V. Sites A. India We selected a private school in a middle-class neighborhood of Mumbai and a government school in a Gujarati village. The Mumbai school, with 2,000 students, is an English-medium private school from pre-K to Grade 10 and the village school is a Grade 1 to 8 Gujarati-medium public school with 309 students. In the Mumbai school, every classroom has a computer connected to a TV, there are two computer laboratories each with 60 computers, and there is a computer in the library. The labs have broadband Internet. The Gujarati village school has a lab with 14 computers and a computer on a wheeled table with an LCD projector. The lab is connected to the Internet through a dial-up modem. B. Chile We selected a government-subsidized private school in a lower middle class neighborhood of Santiago Chile and a small municipal school in a rural town. The private school has 2,500 students from pre-K to Grade 12, and the municipal school serves 97 students from pre-K to Grade 8. The private school has five ICT labs, some with as many as 20 computers. The municipal school has a lab with 15 computers, plus four laptops, a digital camera, a TV, a printer, two LCD projectors, and a wireless network. C. Turkey We selected two public schools that serve students from K to Grade 8. One school, in an outlying neighborhood of Ankara, serves 2,300 students. The second school, located in a small provincial capital on the Anatolian Plateau, serves 1,410 neighborhood children and has a population of female boarding students from villages in the province. The school in Ankara has one computer laboratory with 21 computers, 15 classrooms have a computer, and there are 350 Classmate PCs donated by Intel. The lab has broadband Internet and a wireless hub. The Anatolian school has three computer labs with 15 computers each, and five or six teachers also have a computer in their classrooms. The labs have wireless connectivity. VI. Findings: Three Common Themes The Essentials Course was not the only source of information or support for the new student-centered practices and ICT-based activities we observed in these schools, as all three ministries of education are engaged in reform with various changes such as new curricula, new standards, and new in-service Light 6 Journal of Education for International Development 4:2 December 2009 training programs. Education reform is a long and complex process that needs to be supported with multiple strategies, and our findings suggest that the Essentials Course can be one part of that puzzle. A. Changes in Teachers’ Knowledge, Beliefs, and Attitudes Because all schools in the study were considered successful, we explored what teachers had changed in their own practice. In the interviews, we asked teachers to discuss what they had learned from the Essentials Course that was useful for their classroom practice. Three themes emerged across all six schools as the teachers spoke about what they found to be valuable for their teaching: (a) their beliefs about how students learn were shifting; (b) they had a deeper understanding of new teaching strategies; and (c) they had improved their knowledge of how to use ICT as a learning tool, as well as strengthening their ICT skills. a. Teachers’ beliefs shifted to a constructivist paradigm of teaching and learning. Teachers expressed a growing belief that students can learn through exploration and discovery. The Essentials Course and, more importantly, the experience of implementing a project-based or ICT-rich learning activity appear to influence teachers’ understanding of how children learn. The interviews suggested the teachers began to value learning as different from memorization and to see that students can learn by exploring content, conducting research, and applying knowledge to real problems. For example, a Chilean history teacher remarked upon the difference from the traditional approaches of having students memorize information: â€Å"By following a question, the students acquire a lot f content through research. † In all six schools, teachers also expressed their belief that students learn more than just content with projects and Internet research. Many teachers recounted what they did â€Å"before† and â€Å"after Intel,† and their descriptions consistently included how students â€Å"learn more deeply,† â€Å"have more confidence,† and â€Å"are more motivated† by the new ways of learning. They reported that students were developing skills and attitudes such as self-assurance, curiosity, collaboration and teamwork skills, presentation skills, and organizational skills. In appreciating how effective group work had been, a teacher in Turkey reported that, â€Å"Before Intel, students did not do teamwork. [†¦] In Turkey—kids want to learn from teachers, now they have to do research on their own and can learn more deeply. Otherwise students aren’t motivated to learn. † A second Turkish teacher commented that students â€Å"were sharing ideas and thoughts with each other† and learning to â€Å"trust themselves. † B. Teachers deepened their understanding of student-centered practices. Teachers reported improving their skills with innovative teaching practices. Although some countries had more experience than others, across the board, nearly all the teachers we interviewed valued project-based approaches and reported doing projects with their students. Teachers had very clear ideas about how project-based approaches can support student learning by allowing students to explore content as they respond to a research question or problem posed by the teacher. They felt the project approaches made the content more relevant to students and required greater intellectual effort for students to find and synthesize information, which led to students learning and retaining more information. At schools in Turkey and India, principals and teachers credited the Essentials Course with helping them learn how to do projects for the first time. In Turkey, teachers told us the Course helped them better utilize the project ideas offered in their new national curricula. One school in India had been experimenting with projects prior to participation in the Essentials Course, but the teachers reported that this professional development experience gave them a solid template and a set of strategies for Light 7 Journal of Education for International Development 4:2 December 2009 project-based approaches. In Chile, teachers told us that the Course helped them learn about inquirydriven project-based strategies in addition to the problem-based approach supported by their ministry. While teachers from all three countries agreed that the Essentials Course supported their use of student-centered practices, each country’s context and educational goals influenced which topics were of most interest to teachers. For example, while all the teachers spoke about using group work and collaborative learning, the teachers in Turkey were very excited about the collaboration strategies presented in the Essentials Course. Turkey’s traditional approach to teaching is lecturebased and emphasizes individual student activities, and teachers reported that they did not have any previous experience with collaborative learning. Group work and collaboration are, however, part of the new Turkish curriculum and reform efforts and teachers expressed appreciation for how the two programs supported each other. The curriculum contains many group activities, and the Essentials Course offers strategies to facilitate group work, as well as follow-up support to practice these strategies with coaching from their MT. In India, teachers found the â€Å"Essential Questions† strategy to be compelling. Essential Questions (e. g. , â€Å"Why do we need others? †) are intriguing, open-ended questions that organize a project and are an effective way to encourage students to think deeply and to provide them with a meaningful context for learning (Wiggins & McTighe, 2001). The Indian curriculum is very demanding and the school day is crowded, so teachers felt that they could not easily integrate project work into every class. While they could not do projects during the class period, they were, however, exploring the use of questioning strategies to push students’ critical thinking and to allow students to share their perspectives and formulate their own conceptual understandings of the content. For example, one teacher asked her students what they thought the impacts of British Colonial policies were on the farmers, and a social studies teacher asked students what they valued about their community. Teachers felt that asking for student input was a significant change. As one teacher commented, they no longer just â€Å"stand and teach,† but facilitate iscussions and encourage children to share their knowledge. The teachers we visited felt the open-ended questions and ensuing dialogue between teachers and students might be the foundation of a new relationship between teachers and students. One of the schools in Chile, which already had a lot of experience with ICT and projects, focused on the use of rubric assessments presented in the Essentials Course. The principal noted that teachers were facing increasing challenges in assessing students’ work as the school moved toward complex, technology-rich student products such as presentations and websites. Through these products, students master more than just content and teachers wanted to value all aspects of students’ learning. They considered the rubrics—designed to capture the range of skills, attitudes, and content that students develop—as a key way to address these challenges. The teachers were also using rubrics to put students more directly in control of their learning process; students know from the beginning which aspects of the content teachers will evaluate. C. Teachers improved their ICT knowledge and skills. Teachers reported that they had developed the skills needed to initiate or increase the use of ICT with students. Most of the teachers in India and Turkey reported little ICT experience before Essentials, whereas most Chilean teachers had previous trainings and experience using ICT. Regardless of their experience with ICT, all teachers we interviewed who took the Essentials Course reported they increased their knowledge of how to use ICT as an educational tool. For teachers with no prior experience, the Course helped them acquire basic skills. However, all of the teachers commented on Light 8 Journal of Education for International Development 4:2 December 2009 how the Course helped them see ICT as a pedagogical tool. The strategy of having teachers design a model unit of their own choice appears to allow teachers to work on skills and areas that are new and challenging for them. VII. Changes in How Students Engage with Content The introduction of ICT into schools and the use of project-based approaches and Internet research have changed how students interact with the content in a number of ways. In the site visits, teachers and students spoke about three types of new learning activities that would, according to the literature, contribute to a constructivist learning environment: (a) learning through projects; (b) conducting Internet research; and (c) connecting school content to students’ lives (Windschitl, 2002). A. Project-based work gave students a chance to collaborate, use multiple resources, and direct their own learning. In all the schools, student projects were fundamental to bringing student-centered instructional strategies into the classrooms. The Essentials-trained teachers we interviewed spoke of doing projects with their students. Despite variations among project designs, a few core features emerged. In almost every site, projects gave students chances to work collaboratively and challenged them to take on new roles and responsibilities; students worked in groups and often had to coordinate efforts to complete the projects. Also, all of the projects described included research and culminated in a final product that required students to synthesize and share what they learned. For example, in the Gujarati village, the students did a project about water use and irrigation. They visited local experts, surveyed the community, collected data, and researched solutions. As a result of the students’ examination of drip irrigation, and their proposal of how farmers could use this new strategy, the village converted to drip irrigation. Again, the teachers in India could not fit the project into the class time, so students did a lot of the work before and after school. The municipal school in Chile did a multi-grade project on insects in which the younger grades collected bugs and wrote reports and the older grades helped them create a website. B. Independent Internet research gave students autonomy and a chance to develop and share their own perspectives. Internet research was a constant theme in these schools. Teachers, students, and parents all spoke about having students do Internet research for homework and as part of the projects. Teachers often asked students to bring in additional information on topics in the textbook (e. . , in a Turkish project students researched systems of the human body). Or, teachers asked students to research additional topics or themes (e. g. , after a lesson on farmers under the British Empire, a history teacher in India asked students to research the condition of Indian farmers today). C. Connecting school content to students’ lives made learning more meaningful to students. We found that many of the projec ts teachers designed connected students’ school work to their home life and the community more broadly. In a very simple sense, the increased use of practices such as open-ended questions and group work allowed students to share the perspectives and knowledge they bring from home. For example, a teacher in India asked her students what they had eaten for breakfast and then used this as the start of a nutrition lesson, and a Turkish teacher had his first grade students discuss how an animated story related to their own families and lives. Light 9 Journal of Education for International Development 4:2 December 2009 Yet many of the project topics also engaged students in examining real-world issues or concerns that gave them an opportunity to connect â€Å"school learning† with the real world and allowed them to develop their own opinions and perspectives about the issues. For example, the Indian village that did the irrigation project mentioned above also did projects on clean water and public health. Other projects were less ambitious, but still meaningful, such as the Chilean school where students collected stories and images from the community to publish in a booklet for their families. Our interviews ith parents in the Indian and Turkish sites also supported the perception that students were becoming a source of new information for their families. Parents credited their children’s increased use of Internet research with providing them with current information to which they would not otherwise have had access. Students are generally more excited by information they find themsel ves than the contents of a textbook, and parents reported that their children were rushing home, eager to share what they had discovered. VIII. Changes in Relationships among Teachers, Students, and Parents In keeping with the new activities and roles for students, the teachers and students in the schools we visited reported that they were transforming how they interact. The changes in teaching practices in these schools are part of a broader change in relationships within the school and between the school and the community. The educators and students described changes in the ways they collaborate with each other that grew out of the new teaching practices (e. g. , project-based approaches, open-ended questions), integrating ICT into the schools (e. g. Internet research or presentations), or both. We noticed that teachers, students, and parents reported changes in three sets of relationships: (a) among the students; (b) between students and teachers; and (c) between the school, the parents, and sometimes the community. A. Projects and ICT activities fostered collaborative relationships among students. Many of the teachers and parents interviewed said that students were developing a rang e of social and interpersonal skills that they attributed to the projects and the new roles that students were taking on. As noted, students in every school were taking on new responsibilities as they worked on projects—leading teams, conducting research, writing reports, debating with peers, and making presentations to peers, teachers, and parents. A Chilean fifth grade teacher explained how her students were developing the skills and maturity to work as a team, even across grade levels, because of the collaborative techniques she learned in the Essentials Course. Some of the parents also commented on their children’s maturity and responsibility. A Turkish father noticed a change in his daughter’s attitudes since doing the â€Å"Intel projects. † He observed that before teachers participated in the Essentials Course, his daughter did not share her things with anyone. After her teachers participated in the Course, his daughter began to share more with friends and she enjoyed working in teams. The father also said that, as a result of her involvement in projects and team work, his daughter completed her school assignments independently at home and no longer asked him for help. B. New teaching strategies allowed teachers to develop more collaborative and interactive relationships with their students. The teachers reported that, as their teaching practices changed, their relationships with their students also became more open and supportive. Teachers began to allow more intellectual discussions between themselves and their students, and students were more willing to approach teachers and share concerns and opinions. The teachers and parents in Mumbai were, perhaps, the most eloquent. One group of teachers commented that, as children, they had been afraid of their teachers and they Light 10 Journal of Education for International Development 4:2 December 2009 were happy that their students no longer â€Å"fear the teacher† but gladly ask questions and give opinions. The students we interviewed echoed these sentiments. A group of high school students from the school in Santiago, Chile explained that a good teacher is one who encourages students to disagree when they have a well-reasoned argument. A student from Mumbai shared a similar perspective: â€Å"I like that whenever I do a report I can include my own critical opinion—it is not just cut and paste. And I can learn many things outside of the textbook. † C. Innovating with projects and ICT strengthened the relationships between the school, parents, and the community. The parents we interviewed were excited by the introduction of community-focused projects and student research, and they expressed pride in what the schools were doing for their children with technology. A group of parents in India praised their school â€Å"because of the new technology, [the school] is innovative. They have very high performance, but it is not just academics-oriented. † In the four public schools we visited, parents and the community had also initiated efforts to bring additional ICT resources to the schools by donating equipment or paying for improved Internet connections. However, the parents also remarked on the new teaching practices and what these changes mean for their children. All of the parents we interviewed commented on how the school was developing the whole child since the project work was supporting teamwork, independence, and self–confidence. Parents in India and Turkey highlighted their children’s growing confidence and independence to do research or make public presentations, and they also noted the caring relationships between students and teachers. IX. Changes in the Use of ICT Tools to Promote Students’ Learning A core aim of the Essentials Course and a central objective for the ministries in Chile, Turkey, and India is to encourage the use of ICT as a learning aid for students. Although the administrators and teachers we interviewed in all six schools told us they wished they could do more, to the extent permitted by resources, space, and time, students were using ICT for learning activities. PowerPoint presentations and Internet research were, by far, the most common ICT tools that students used. All six schools promoted student use of ICT, but each adopted different strategies to realize its goals. In Turkey and India, with short school days and tight schedules, the teachers had to strategically make time—either by working outside of class, or rationing access—for students to complete their ICT projects. For example, the teachers at the Anatolian school in Turkey told us that they meet as a team each semester to decide which classes will do long-term projects to ensure every student gets a chance each year. The Chilean teachers had more flexibility to schedule lab time during school hours, although they also did afterschool activities. Perhaps the clearest change is that, in all six schools, teachers gave students Internet research activities for homework. For instance, a math teacher in India assigned students to calculate average rainfall in different parts of the world using online databases, and a Chilean history teacher had students analyze online photos for life conditions in 1900s Chile. X. Conclusion This paper presents the findings from our fieldwork that describe the nature of the changes taking place in the classrooms in these six schools as they integrate ICT activities. Since the governments point to these schools as positive examples, their experiences can help contribute to an understanding Light 11 Journal of Education for International Development 4:2 December 2009 of the process of integrating ICT into the schools of developing countries. While some educators we observed are more skilled than others, and some changes in practice are just emerging, all six schools are making changes beyond just the use of new tools. They are developing: new beliefs about learning and new practices, new ways to engage with content, changing relationships, and new ICT tools for learning. That three of the four common dimensions of change are pedagogical shifts, and that they are changes in pedagogy that are supported by the ICT, illustrate the paradigm shift required for effective ICT integration (Bransford et al. , 1999; Hepp et al. , 2004). These findings illustrate the complex sets of changes that have to occur for ICT to be deeply and meaningfully used to support student learning. This would explain why technology integration is so difficult to achieve but also points the way forward. Our findings suggest that necessary changes are much broader than just the introduction of a new tool or one new ractice. Instead, change begins by deeply reshaping life in the classrooms—from educators’ beliefs about learning to the relationships that make up the school community. In each context, the teachers found points of engagement between the model of ICT use and teaching in the Essentials Course and the possibilities and limits of their context. For Indian teac hers, it was most feasible to integrate aspects of the teaching model (i. e. , open-ended questions) into their classroom and the ICT into after-class time. In Turkey, schools brought ICT activities into scheduled lab time and group work into their class activities. And, Chilean teachers used holistic assessment strategies and inquiry-based projects in class because their school day provides a block of time for projects. But, the responsibility for change cannot rest solely on the shoulders of the teachers; bringing about these changes is a long-term, incremental process. Effective reform requires sustained investment and support along multiple dimensions of the educational system, including physical and technical infrastructure, human resources, curricular frameworks, standards, and assessment. 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