American Federation of Teachers Essay

The continued drive to improve education and to support the legislation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policy of the government has pushed the district of Georgia to create an effective framework of assessing and testing students of their proficiency in the different realms of education. By doing such, the district not only complies with the legislation and policies but at the same time ensures that the continued need of students in the facilitation of education is attained. Seeing the three documents notions of similarity can be seen. Looking closely these similarities have well in fact have to do with the standards set by the district of Georgia with the regards to proficiency standards. Also, there is a similarity in the objective and rationale that an improvement of such standards is necessary to achieve the optimum educational needs of students in the classroom. Lastly, there seems to be emphasis and importance on creating appropriate methods within the classroom scenario. This means both teachers and students are expected something to contribute for the overall facilitation of classrooms. On the other hand, the two documents have their own differences. One important difference that can be seen in the article are their relative scopes One article focuses on the general framework and ideas in Georgia concerning the improvement of standards that will enhance student education. On the other hand, the other article showcases an analysis of deeper sets of standards. This means that each point and objective is elaborated more clearly and brought down to per level category. This categorization helps readers understand the complexity and depth of such initiative. With this understanding, proper critiquing and arguments can arise which later can contribute to a better development of initiatives that can foster and administer change for students and teachers within the classroom. Creating standards are an integral part in the overall facilitation of learning within the classroom setup. This is because it enhances the level of knowledge imparted to students and at the same time. â€Å"Introducing standards in the classroom will augment the learning experience by pointing students to available design and marketing tools, and best industry practices. † (Schultz, 2005) Furthermore, the creation of standards enforces the actualization and realization of information of students within the classrooms. â€Å"By establishing standards for teacher competence in student assessment, the associations subscribe to the view that student assessment is an essential part of teaching and that good teaching cannot exist without good student assessment. † (American Federation of Teachers, 1990) By integrating these standards, it can create an integral part in the overall process of learning and facilitation of education. Enhancing student learning requires a thorough understanding of issues revolving around a particular topic. By doing so, it gives the teachers the necessary information that they need to sustain and develop methods adequate for students needs. First these documents serve as (1) an added tool for application. Seeing the development of literature gives options for teachers to apply proper schemes in classrooms. Second, it sketches approaches in the field of educational development of students. â€Å"Students cannot achieve high levels of performance without access to skilled professional teachers, adequate classroom time, a rich array of learning materials, accommodating work spaces, and the resources of the communities surrounding their schools. † (NSES, p. 1) Lastly, these documents promote equality in the classrooms in terms of addressing the needs of each actor. By realizing the importance of student and teacher’s needs, objectives can be calibrated to better suit the classroom. In the end, literature has shown that by creating standards, issues in education and student needs can be addressed. Properly applying these standards within the classroom needs to be done in order for students to avail of the proper amount of education they need to sustain their holistic development and endeavors. References American Federation of Teachers. (1990) Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students. Retrieved April 24, 2008 from http://www. unl. edu/buros/bimm/html/article3. html National Science of Education Standards. National Science Education Standards: An Overview. Retrieved April 24, 2008 from http://www. nap. edu/readingroom/books/nses/overview. html Schultz, D. (2005) Standards in the Classroom in ASTM International. Retrieved April 24, 2008 from http://www. astm. org/SNEWS/JULY_2005/schultz_jul05. html

Business Administration Essay

You should use this file to complete your Assessment. †¢ The first thing you need to do is save a copy of this document, either onto your computer or a disk †¢ Then work through your Assessment, remembering to save your work regularly †¢ When you’ve finished, print out a copy to keep for reference †¢ Then, go to www.vision2learn.com and send your completed Assessment to your tutor via your My Study area – make sure it is clearly marked with your name, the course title and the Unit and Assessment number. Please note that this Assessment document has 8 pages and is made up of 7 Sections. Name: Sophie Griffith-Allen Section 1 – Know the employment rights and responsibilities of the employee and employer 1. Identify four main points that would be included in a contract of employment. If possible, use an example contract to support your answer (feel free to obscure any confidential information). In a contract of employment there are certain details which need to be included about the employer and employee, such as their names. Other information that must be included are about the job itself, such as job title, date of employment, duties and responsibilities that are expected from the employee. At Morrisons a probationary period of 13 weeks is included in a contract of employment and the employees contracted hours of work per week. 2a) List three key points of legislation that affect employers in a business  environment. Health and safety Act 1974 Copyright designs and patents Act 1988- Copyright refers to laws that control the use of the work of a creator, such as an artist or author. For a copyright to apply to a piece of work it must be an original idea of their own that is put to use. Data protection Act 1998 2b) List three key points of legislation that affect employees in a business environment. †¢ Pensions- Are very important for employees as the government think that people aren’t saving enough money towards pensions, as of 2012 pensions will undergo a considerable amount of change. †¢ Pay-there is lots of legislation about employee pay. Some examples include: The Equality Act 2010 which contains measures to protect women from being paid less than men for doing the same job. †¢ The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 an Act that was introduced to prevent very low pay. †¢ Employment rights and responsibilities- ‘Employees are expected to carry out their work in a way that has regard to the safety of others. Employers are expected to abide by a range of requirements governing such aspects as providing safe machinery and equipment, carrying out regular health and safety checks, ensuring the training of employees in health and safety issues, and carrying out a risk assessment to assess the dangers of particular work activities.’ http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/business-theory/people/rights-and-responsibilities-of-employers-and-employees.html#axzz2ENr4by5I 3. Identify a range of places where a person can find information on employment rights and responsibilities. You should identify at least two internal and two external sources of information. Sources of information where a person can find information on employment  rights and responsibilities are internal sources, such as books and documents held within the organisation, informed colleagues and line managers. Another source of information is external which are found outside of an organisation, such as libraries, the government, equality and human rights commission. 4. Describe how representative bodies can support employees. Representative bodies are one of the ways that employees can receive help and support in the work place. The best known examples of representative bodies are trade unions, which are a large organisation that represent the interests of their membership, they can offer assistance through work based representatives and they will also have regional and national expertise that they can use. Union representatives have a right to paid time to help employees, some of the areas where they can support employees are health and safety, workforce agreement, pensions, information and consultation representation. 5. Briefly describe employer and employee responsibilities for equality and diversity in a business environment. You should give at least two employer responsibilities and two employee responsibilities. If possible, provide relevant equality and diversity procedures from your workplace (or place of study) to support your answer. These documents should be annotated to highlight the relevant sections. In any organisation it is important for everyone to be treated equally. Employees and employers should be treated in a fair way and to be given equal opportunities. This is why there are certain responsibilities to be followed by employees and employers to prevent discrimination, such as people who are doing the same job equally well should all be rewarded fairly. It is morally right to treat people fairly and to avoid unfair discrimination. To prevent discriminatory and unfair behaviour there have  been many laws put in place. Both employers and employees should make sure that inappropriate labelling, stereotyping and prejudice do not influence the way an organisation operates. ‘At Morrisons the issue of equality and diversity are taken very seriously. They recruit, develop and keep the most talented people regardless of gender, race, disability, age sexual orientation, religion and nationality. Morrisons is dedicated to being an equal opportunities employer and support all employees to make the best of their skills’. ‘’Our policy aims to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment. We will treat staff, potential staff and the public fairly and with dignity’’. 6. Briefly explain the benefits of making sure equality and diversity procedures are followed in a business environment. Your answer should include one benefit for the employer, one benefit for the employee and one benefit for the overall organisation. Benefits of making sure equality and diversity procedures are followed in a business environment are: Employer: Reduces the incidence of bullying and harassment. Employee: Employees will want to work harder, they feel valued, happier and more efficient. It will increase the chance of open competition for opportunities. Overall organisation: As employees are treated with equality organisations will be more successful. Helps to maintain morale and motivation of the workforce leading to increased quality of products, overall it will become more of a successful organisation. Section 2 – Understand the purpose of health, safety and security procedures  in a business environment 1. Identify employer and employee responsibilities for health, safety and security. If possible, provide relevant health, safety and security policies / documents from your workplace (or place of study) to support your answer. These documents should be annotated to highlight the relevant sections. Employers and employees in any organisation have a legal duty that the working environments are safe and secure. The health and safety Act should be followed at all times. Employer responsibilities: Are to provide a secure, healthy and safe workplace that is free from hazards recognised by the organisation. Ensure that employees have safe tools, equipment and materials. Ensure that equipment provided is always properly maintained. Employers must report any fatal accidents. Employers must provide employees with accurate training and medical examinations when required. Employees responsibilities: Are to inform employers of any hazards that have accrued in the workplace. Report job-related accidents that result to injuries and illnesses. Follow the regulations of health and safety that are set by the employer. Familiarise and obey with the organisations standards. ‘Morrisons are committed to achieving and maintaining the highest standards of health, safety and security standards across the company. All staff at Morrisons receives regular health and safety training. There are many rules that all staff at Morrisons must follow in order to prevent any harm not only to staff but to their customers as well, such as always checking floor surfaces are clean with no spillages etc. Morrisons makes sure that there are always staff present that are first aid qualified in case of any incidents or accidents that have taken place. If any accidents or incidents  did occur within Morrisons all staff recognise that they must be reported as soon as possible.’ 2. Explain the purpose of following health, safety and security procedures in a business environment. The purpose of following health, safety and security procedures in a business environment include: Ensuring the safety and welfare of the individual and others is kept at all times. Ensuring the business/organisation is following relevant legislation. 3. Describe three different ways of maintaining a safe and secure business environment. Ensuring all employees have the necessary safety equipment. Taking time to find where health, safety and security responsibilities lie. To promote a safe working environment is to make sure that safety equipment used by employees is often maintained. Workers must always wear suitable clothing given for the job. Organisations should require that each new member of staff receive and read a company handbook highlighting all safety procedures, and receive regular health and safety training. Having an employee sign a statement that he/she understands and is willing to follow all safety and regulations at all times.

Boo Hoo

Question 1. Which strategic marketing assumptions and decisions arguably made Boo. com’s failure inevitable? Contrast these with other dot-com era survivors that are still in business, for example lastminute. com, Egg. com and Firebox. com. Boo. com was started by 3 Swedish entrepreneurs as they wanted to launch a world wide online retail website selling major sports brands clothing like Adidas, Nike, Fila, Lacoste, Polo and Ralph Lauren etc. here were major decisions and assumptions were made, taking for an example the currency conversion rate offered in US and Europe was far lower than the normal currency conversion rate in the market this lead to negative impact on the Boo. com and its sales. Initially it was though that world wide launching and making it a successful online store within month by injecting huge amount of money would lead to brand recognition in the market. Company invested $135 Million in the first 6 months in order to make it popular website all over the w orld (Tillett 2000). Author Verma Verma (2003) explains that website retailing is least expensive as maintaining website and uploading pictures and graphics and using creative 7 Ps of the marketing mix leads to positive result. Boo. com spend $6milion in 1999-2000 on web developing and adding pictures of the products which coasted them $200 per picture was a huge expense created by the company management, due to those reasons they couldn’t generate $20 million in 2000 and on 18th May 2000 company got bankrupt. The assumption of being a global brand within months by injecting unnecessary money in the technology and it operation was a wrong decision made by the Boo. com management which actually led to disaster and company needed urgent finances in 2000 which eventually lead them to bankruptcy. Another major assumption went wrong was the selection of the target market. Company started targeting males and females aged 18 years to 24 years old as it was believed they are more fashion conscious people. But critics and according to media pointed out the fact that these people are fashion conscious but how many 18 to 24 male and females go online and do shopping using their credit cards. This is what we are talking about in 1990 where online frauds and dial internet were common comparing to now. In contrast there were other online retailers like egg. com and Firebox. com and they survived and still running business. As money or profits generated and wise and realistic strategies and tactics were used by these companies. According to a travel Trade Gazette (2007) clearly stated in their article that Boo. om blew their money and wasted on so many unnecessary technologies. Article also presented that boo. com is linked with one of the biggest failures of the first dot. com era. It materialised at around the same time as lastminute. com and was Swedish-owned UK-based site selling lifestyle apparel. Extravagant marketing and development costs meant it burned through money which impacted i n 2000 when investors gave up and $20 million was not raised by the company on 18th May 2000 and was declared bankrupt. Where as other online companies used less financial sources and tried best to attract customers and satisfy their needs and wants. So basically above arguments and facts clearly shows various wrong decisions were made by the Boo. com management and by the company itself which led them to failure. Question 2. Using the framework of the marketing mix, appraise the marketing tactics of Boo. com in the areas of Product, Pricing, Place, Promotion, Process, People and Physical Evidence. For online retailers it is vital to create their marketing mix very effective as it is not mere limited to the Place, Price, Product and promotion (Rix Stanton 1998).

Department of Homeland Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Department of Homeland Security - Essay Example The DHS uses the outdated security controls and the Internet connections that are unverified and untrustworthy (Hicks). This finding has been reported by the Inspector General’s latest report in 2013. In other words, the DHS itself is violating the mandate it has received from the government in which it is authorized to use possible and reliable resources and methods for carrying out the process of security surveillance. If it continues to use such non-verified methods, it will not be able to perform its critical role and without appropriately satisfying its role, it will instead of decreasing the cyber security threat.The reason for choosing this weakness is that the cyber security becomes more serious and grave threat than the scourge of extremism and terrorism. It s devastating impact is so severe that within a span of few minutes it can disrupt the functioning of critical infrastructure which could bring serious financial and infrastructural loss to the United States of Am erica.Using verified and trustworthy security controls and the Internet connections offer the best solution for the weakness. Before going to implement any new security protocol, it must always be ensured that it is trustworthy and authentic and has been appropriately approved by the relevant department within the DHS. In addition, if any problem occurs while operating the security controls, it must be timely reported to the concerned authority and any subsequent changes must also be duly informed to the related authorities.

MTV Network Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MTV Network - Case Study Example MTV’s strategy in the Middle East is mostly based on the population, which comprises a large portion of teens whom it was targeting. The company saw the large population as an opportunity despite acknowledging that the challenges would be immense. MTV saw that the Middle East was an opportunity for expansion with respect to an audience of 190 million people that was unexploited. In addition, the company had undertaken adequate market research on the Middle East market and found out that there were no other channels providing similar content as MTV does with regard to international content. In the quest to fit in, MTV decided that it would produce 45% of the Arabia’s content locally to ensure that it met the standards of the conservative society. This would include a variety of programming ranging from music videos and reality shows to documentaries. Broadcasting 45% of local content would be a strategy that would help in unifying the area, which is known for constant po litical tensions. To beat the competition, MTV strategized a way of enabling the youths to voice their concerns and advertise their talents. In addition, usage of the Internet to allow people to access the channel anytime and anyhow they wish was also a good strategy that MTV devised to help in dealing with the competition of approximately 50 other local channels. The entire strategy is good and could work in this environment but with caution. This implies that the company should be very cautious on the content that it broadcasts.

Human Anatomy The body in movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Anatomy The body in movement - Essay Example There are 206 bones in the human body which have roughly 700 muscles pulling on them. This paper aims at using daily human activities to discuss human and anatomy and the body in movement. Skeletal muscles can be said to be the only voluntary tissue in the human body. Every movement that a human being initiates voluntarily cannot take place in the absence of the skeletal muscles. Skeletal muscles perform the function of contracting in order to make various parts of the body to move closer to the bone they are attached to. Most skeletal bone served two adjustment bones that are connected via joints. Therefore, skeletal muscles can be said to be for the purpose of moving parts of these adjacent body bones close to each other. As a result of this involvement it can be said that skeletal muscles are vital for the movement in human beings. This is because most movements in the bodies of human beings always involve movement of bone joints (Palastanga, Field, and Soames 77). Skeletal muscles are not only essential for voluntary movements, but the involuntary ones too. In most cases, skeletal muscles do not manage to make the human body by themselves. The most common occurrence is that they work together in order to make human bodies move in certain ways. When a muscle initiates a certain movement in the human body, it is always referred to as the prime mover. The prime mover always works together with an opposing muscle that has the main responsibility of availing an opposite effect on the same bones. For instance, the biceps brachii muscle flexes the human hand at the elbow, while the triceps brachii muscle opposes these forces at the same point (Palastanga, Field, and Soames 89). However, there are some muscles that act in support of the body movement initiated by another muscle. Such muscles are referred to as Synergists and have the main purpose of stabilizing the body movement. For this

Mustafa Kemal Atatrk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Mustafa Kemal Atatrk - Essay Example Along with his wife, the couple lived a rather non-descript life. Ali Riza had spent a brief career in the military before assuming role as a customs broker. Prior to Mustafa Kemal's birth the couple had had three other children who all died. In effect, according to Itzkowitz et. al., Ataturk was a "replacement" child (10). Mustafa Kemal attended school during his childhood in Salonika, which according to Sansal is now Thessaloniki in modern Greece, at the school of Semsi Efendi. However, when Mustafa Kemal was eight years old his father died and unable to support herself and her two small children, Zubeyde was forced to have Kemal leave school and the two moved into the countryside to reside with Kemal's uncle. Kemal worked alongside his mother at the farm for several years, but her growing concern for her son's education led Zubeyde to make the difficult decision to send Kemal back to Salonika to live with her sister. There she knew Kemal would be able to attend school there. Kemal attended middle school and in 1895 graduated from there. However, Kemal had a growing fascination for the military and his enthrallment with the military uniform and allure of the military life propelled Kemal, without the knowledge or consent of his mother, to take the placement test for the Military Academy. He was accep ted and enrolled in Askeri Idadis Military High School in Manastir after Zubeyde reluctantly gave her consent. This was the beginning of a military education for Kemal which lasted for 13 years ("Presidency"). Upon graduation from high school in 1899, Kemal moved to Istanbul where on March 13th of that year he enrolled in the War College in the infantryman division. It was during this time that Kemal began to show the development and refinement of his political ideology. He was, according to the Republic of Turkey Presidency Website, "deeply inspired by liberal-nationalist literature, in particular by Namk Kemal, known at the time as 'the poet of liberty'" (1). In 1902 Kemal entered the General Staff College after his successful completion of the Military Academy War College and graduated January 11, 1905 as a Captain (Sansal). During his military education Kemal was an intense student excelling in his studies. He was distinguished academically among his peers. Kemal read extensively and to the then current standards was far advanced when compared to his contemporaries. He was deeply affected through his readings with the precepts of the French revolutionary ideology and "would prove to b e more consistently inclined to this nationalist, libertarian and essentially secular experience than most of his contemporaries in the years to come" ("Presidency" 1). During his first military assignment in 1906 Kemal was stationed in Damascu

Google's e-library Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Google's e-library - Essay Example There are four factors to scanning or copying books according to the fair use principle. Fair use is the most significant limitation on the copyright holders exclusive rights (United States Copyright Office, 2010, para. 1). â€Å"The four factors are: the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the portion used and the effect to the use on the potential market Value of the Work (Hanratty, 2005).† The first factor is about the purpose of copying commercial or educational purpose. Google says that it is not making profit from scanning; therefore, it is not commercial making profit by advertising. "Google also gave a copy to the library and allows authors to chose if they want their books scanned or not. For example Google also has this option policy where by the copyright holder can select not to get his/her book digitized" (Prasad and Agarwala. 2008.258). In order not to cause any effect or harm in commercial benefit therefore Google project will provide snippets only Moreover, Google will share the digitals copies for all libraries. Merely "coping a book into a digital format would not be deemed transformative because all that Google is changing in the medium print to digital see Kirkwood, 150 F.3d at 108, n.2." The law states that whether the use is for non-profitable or commercial nature, this analysis should be taken into consideration. In circumstances where the analysis is for business purposes, presumption deliberates in contradiction to fair use. Practically, the court has found that commerciality is of no significant use to determine fair use. This can be attributed to the commercialization of secondary sources of copyright materials inclusive of the legal preamble. The root of this inquiry is to note whether the users profit by exploiting the copyrighted material devoid of customary price payment. The offset of the commercial

Recruitment and Staff Selection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Recruitment and Staff Selection - Essay Example Online advertising focuses on reaching to extended audience from different geographical locations and provide the candidates with detailed information on the application process, company information and site tours to generate interest among candidates to apply. Effective strategies applied in designing of recruitment ads include content layout that spells consistency in presentation, clarity in communication of job responsibilities, company information and desired candidate profile. For the purpose of illustrating the strategies for designing an effective job posting, the paper analyses two job postings for medical assistant (provided as annexure). The first ad posting is for a medical assistant in Park Specialty Clinic located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The advertisement provides the audience with a bold heading in blue stating the job position, location, name of clinic and the department for which the vacancy is posted. This provides the audience with the vital job information and those who are not interested in the given location, position or department do not have to waste time reading through the whole advertising. The body of the advertisement begins with an introduction to the healthcare organization and provides the job-seeker with the reasons why they should join this organization. This is followed by a description of medical assistant, associated job responsibilities and the qualifications the potential candidate must have in order to apply for the posi tion. The second advertisement follows a similar pattern however, the presentation is more effective since all the points are mentioned in distinct paragraphs and bullet points are used to focus the essential requirements. This posting provides the candidates with detailed information on the salary range and employee benefits. The primary difference between both the advertisements is the use of content and

Jury Trial Essay Example for Free

Jury Trial Essay On June 19, 1994 O.J Simpson the football hall of famer was arrested in California for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Simpson was arraigned in court two day later he pleaded not guilty to the charges and was held in the Los Angeles County jail. Jury selection began in October and the jury was sworn in on November 2, 1994. Mr. Simpson did have a jury of his peers, because the jury was twelve jurors some African American and white. The jurors were picked through the voir dire process. With each juror understanding that they could not have any personal bias pertaining to the case. A series of question were asked to the jurors to determine if the potential jurors had exposure to the context of the case. In the pretrial hear the credibility of evidence from detective Mark Fuhrman would be admitted at trial. Prosecutors said that they thought Mr. Simpson dropped the glove as he tried to quickly return to his home after committing the murders. Opening Statements In the opening statements the defense and the prosecution has the opportunity to present their case to the jury. Throughout the opening statements persuasive arguments are announced. During the opening statement evidence is never allowed. Judge Lance A. Ito presided over the case and on January 24, 1995. Before things got going, Judge Ito ruled that Simpson would not be heard by the jury until the defense gives the opening statements. The defense opening statements were lead by attorney Johnnie Cochran when said my client Mr. Simpson is innocent and wrongfully accused. Witness Testimony Eye witness an expert testimony helps reveal specific truths and accuracy in evidence. The Court bailiff will swear all witnesses to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Normally the prosecution questions their own witnesses to strengthen their side of the case. The defense then has the chance to cross examine. All evidence will be logged a numbered whether scientific or physical. The defense attorney and the prosecutor have the right to object to any evidence or testimony provided. There is no guarantee that the evidence will be stricken by the judge. Kato Kaelin, which was O.J Simsons friend that lived on Mr. Simpson’s property. Detective Mark Furhman was for the prosecution who had lied on the witness stand during questioning. Furhmans testimony could not be trusted by the jury. Closing Arguments After all the evidence and testimony is heard this step of the trial is called rest. Next the court case proceeds to closing arguments. This is the last time both side will be able to address the jury before deliberation. The closing arguments are very similar to the opening statements. Both sides try to convince the jury to decide in their favor. Both sides present a summary of key points that favor their client. At this point the defense team only needs to convince the jury that prosecution did not prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt (2012). Jury Instructions After the closing arguments are complete the jury is charged by the judge with instructions. The judge explains that the jurors’ decision should not be made because of bias feelings or personal beliefs but that decisions based on the law and evidence during the case. The judge specifies specific details that the jury needs to find the defendant guilty. Deliberation During the deliberation the jury is held together as a group until a verdict is made. Deliberation can take hours, days even weeks to come up with a verdict. If the jury can’t come to a verdict it is called mistrial in most states. On October 3, 1995 at 10 am a verdict of not guilty for the murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman was rendered by jurors. A man was set free with most of the world thinking he committed the murdered.

Evaluation Of Online Encyclopaedias English Language Essay

Evaluation Of Online Encyclopaedias English Language Essay This report evaluates the capabilities of three online Encyclopaedias: Wikipedia, Free Online Encyclopaedia Britannica and Encyclopaedia Americana. The evaluation is based on the APPARATUS assessment method that are given weights according to their relative importance to search capabilities, contents , used materials references credentials of author(s). The Encyclopaedias are rated based on these the APPARATUS assessment and the ratings tabulated at the end of the report to facilitate comparison. 2. Introduction In this report, we evaluated the APPARATUS assessment of three online Encyclopaedias : Wikipedia, Free Online Encyclopaedia Britannica and Encyclopaedia Americana. The evaluation focus on the following criteria: , Authority Objectivity 2) Purpose 3) Physical Production 4) Arrangement 5) Recency 6) Accuracy 7) Treatment 8) Users 9) Scope These criteria were weighed according to their relative importance to APPARATUS assessment . Ratings from 1 to 4 were assigned to respective features and tabulated. Wikipedia Wikipedia is an online free-content encyclopaedia that users can edit and contribute to.   Jimmy Wales, wikipedia co-founder, has pronounced Wikipedia as an effort to create and distribute a multilingual free encyclopaedia of the highest quality to every single person on the planet in his or her own language. Wikipedia is to bring knowledge to everyone who seeks it. Britannica Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica has been the worlds most valued reference source for over two centuries. Today Britannica provides a variety of products, intended to fit different users needs.If users want the full 32-volume Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, an encyclopaedia for younger users, or educational teaching materials, Britannica provides an appropriate resource with features and enhancements. Encyclopaedia Americana Americana is one of the largest general encyclopaedias in the English language. Following the acquisition of Grolier in 2000, the encyclopaedia has been produced by Scholastic. It has articles on natural and exact sciences, on engineering and economics, in addition to on separate works of literature, music, and art. Many articles in the encyclopaedia are written from anti-Marxist and anti-communist viewpoints. As a rule it contains instructive articles, but there are also analysis articles most often about separate countries and centuries-for example, the articles The 18th Century and The 20th Century. Authority and Objectivity Wikipedia Wikipedia is an online free-content encyclopaedia that users can edit and contribute to. Jimmy Wales, wikipedia co-founder, has pronounced Wikipedia as an effort to create and distribute a multilingual free encyclopaedia of the highest quality to every single person on the planet in his or her own language. Wikipedia is to bring knowledge to everyone who seeks it. Wikipedia articles are all free content and their text is covered by the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA) and in most cases the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). The Wikimedia Foundation does not own copyright on Wikipedia article texts and illustrations. It is purposeless to email our contact addresses asking for approval to copy articles or images, even if rules at users company or school or organization order that user ask web site operators before copying their content. The only Wikipedia content users should contact the Wikimedia Foundation about is the trademarked Wikipedia/ Wikimedia logos, which will not be freely usable without permission. Wikipedia is available in languages other than English. Wikipedia has more than two hundred and eighty languages, including a Simple English version, and related projects include a dictionary, books, and scientific reference sources, quotations manuals and a news service (see sister projects). All of these are maintained, updated, and managed by separate communities, and often include information and articles that can be hard to find through other common sources. Britannica The editorial board is organized more than four thousand expert contributors, and the articles are written and continuously updated by a hundred full time editors. The authors, compilers, and editors are coming from different backgrounds like Nobel Laureates or Pulitzer Prize winners, expecting writers, artists, civil servants, scholars and activists. Some contributors in the record of the Britannica include Freud, Russell, Marie Curie, Einstein, Huxley and Shaw. Nowadays, the contributors are professors and domain experts in specific areas from Oxford, Harvard, Yale, University of Chicago and other reputable universities. Some contributors introduced their personal negative opinion on topics such as Hinduism so that the articles on Britannica have some cultural bias. A quote of the 11th edition will better help to understand these biases. The 9th edition onwards, the Britannica was widely considered to have the greatest authority of any general English language encyclopaedias especi ally because of its broad coverage and distinct or outstanding authors. Encyclopaedia Americana All articles are signed by the author, a leading authority in his/her field, chosen by a team of editors and advisors. Americana is one of the largest general encyclopaedias in the English language. This series has more than 45000 articles, most of them more than 500 words and many running to considerable length (the United States article is over 300,000 words). The works coverage of American and Canadian geography and history has been a traditional strength. The Encyclopaedia Americana is written by over 6000 contributors, and most articles are signed by their contributors. Controversial subjects are included with several references for abortion, homelessness, and homosexuality. The editors have striven for a balanced and objective viewpoint on all topics. Purpose Wikipedia Wikipedias purpose is to benefit readers by acting as an encyclopaedia, a comprehensive written compendium that includes information on all branches of knowledge. The goal of Wikipedia is to build a free encyclopaedia; indeed, the largest encyclopaedia in history, not only in terms of breadth but also in terms of depth and also want Wikipedia to be a reliable resource. The purpose of an encyclopaedia is to gather knowledge spread around the globe; to express its general system to the men with whom we live, and broadcast it to those who will come after us, so that the work of prior centuries will not become useless to the centuries to come; and so that our children, becoming better instructed, will at the same time become more worthy and happy, and that wiki cannot die without having provided a service to the human race. Many visitors come to Wikipedia to acquire knowledge, while others come to share knowledge. At this very moment, dozens of articles are being superior, and new articl es are also being created. Britannica The purpose of the online encyclopaedia Britannica is to be an excellent reference and to provide academic materials to students and researchers. For academic institutions, libraries, and corporations, Britannica provides Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online, a wealth of trusted, wide-ranging resources intended especially for serious researchers. This widely varied set of powerful resources makes Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online an essential addition to every academic, corporate, and research library. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online School Edition presents Britannicas renowned educational resources in a student-friendly and engaging site designed especially for teachers and elementary, middle, and high school students. This unique resource brings together three encyclopaediasEncyclopà ¦dia Britannica, Britannica Student Encyclopaedia, and Britannica Elementary Encyclopaediato meet the needs of a variety of reading levels. In addition, a section specifically for teachers provides wor ksheets to support effective use of the Internet in the classroom. Encyclopaedia Americana The corporate purpose of Scholastic is to encourage the intellectual and personal growth of all children, beginning with literacy, the cornerstone of all learning. As well as more than 90 years of experience supporting the learning lives of children, today Scholastic remains committed to providing quality, engaging educational content in digital and print formats for the next generation of learners, and the families and educators who guide them. This encyclopaedia is intended for use as a general reference resource in schools, colleges, and public libraries. No American bias is detected. Physical production Wikipedia As for the largest Wikipedia, which is the English version, it includes around 3.8 million articles. All these documents are only in electronic format. Another feature of the toolbox is the Printable version. Use it whenever users want to print articles for a printer-friendly version of the article. Browsers (eg.Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explore) that will be familiar with the media print will automatically apply the printable version when printing with the default Mono book style sheet. There are more than 8000 active contributors working on more than 19 million articles which is a really large number of articles. It can compare to another project by the cofounder of Wikipedia called Citizendum. Its the short for of citizen compendium and is another online encyclopaedia project with tighter editing rules and higher reliability due to a close interaction between authors and editors. This means that Citizendum contains more reliable information but way less content (about 16 thousan d articles). Britannica Britannica usually prints a new set of the tomes every two years, but 2010s 32-volume set will be its last. Instead, the company will focus only on its digital encyclopaedia and education tools. The online version of the encyclopaedia, which was first published in 1994, represents only 15% of Britannicas revenue. The other 85% is sales of education products: online learning tools, curriculum products and more. Encyclopaedia Britannica brings to sudden stop of print publication after 244 years. The print version of the Britannica was considerably more expensive than its competitors. In general, the Internet tends to provide more current coverage than print media, due to the ease with which material on the Internet can be updated. Encyclopedia Americana Today, each year Americana released more than 600 titles for readers of all ages(0-18), in a variety of print and digital formats. Since 1926, when Scholastic published its first collection, Saplings, the Company has continued to release award-winning and best-selling books, ranging from beautifully-rendered titles for tots to holding reads that fascinate global audiences. Among those 600 are the amazingly successful publishing properties like Harry Potter, and Captain Underpants, Goosebumps, The 39 Clues, the beloved series Clifford the Big Red Dog, I Spy, Bone, Fly Guy, Dear America, Geronimo Stilton, The Magic School Bus, and The Hunger Games trilogy. The list of authors and illustrators consists of Tedd Arnold, Blue Balliett, Jim Benton, Meg Cabot, Patrick Carman, Suzanne Collins, Christopher Paul Curtis, Gordon Korman, Cynthia Lord, Ann M. Martin, Jon J Muth, Dav Pilkey, J.K. Rowling, Matthew Reinhart, Pam Muà ±oz Ryan, Allen Say, Brian Selznick, David Shannon, Jeff Smith, Magg ie Stiefvater, Mark Teague, and Walter Wick, among others a diverse list representing titles that span themes, ages, and geographies. Scholastic Trade division also publishes licensed properties such as Star Wars, Rainbow Magic, Its Happy Bunny, Lego, Chuggington, and Bob Books. Scholastic books have a reputation for gathering accolades and awards (including Caldecott Medals, National Book Awards, Newbery Medals, and Coretta Scott King Awards) and topping bestseller lists year upon year, and include memorable titles and series like The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, No, David!, Allie Finkles Rules For Girls, How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?, Amulet, Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy, Wonderstruck, Smile, The Underland Chronicles, The Baby-sitters Club, Owen Mzee, The Guardians of GaHoole series, Chasing Vermeer, Charlie Bone, Zen Shorts, and the Shiver trilogy. Nearly ten years later, on July 21, 2007, Scholastic published the much-anticipated seventh and final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, making publishing history with a record-breaking 8.3 million copies sold in the U.S. in the first 24 hours. More than 140 million copies of the Harry Potter books are in print in the United States; more than 400 million copies have sold worldwide. Arrangement Wikipedia Wikipedia has a good starting point at the summary of a topic, but its greatest value is its links to outside sources. As for Britannica, its a pathetic shadow of its old treeware self. Wikipedia also has many portals, which categorize content around topic areas; our best portals are collected as featured portals. Articles can be found using the search box on the top-right side of the screen. A representative article contains a main page, titled on the definite topic (I.e., UNESCO) and a second page is accessible to discuss the topic with other users. These pages can be read, edited or one can access the editing history. On the main article page, there is a short introduction on the topic, organized by a table of content that work as hyperlinks. To display articles, users can type a search in the search field or browse through the lists that include lists of countries and territories, of people, by nationality, by occupation. It also has alphabetical indexes sorted by the first two l etters of the title modified by subject or special categories. Each subpart includes an edit button so everything can be edited. Paragraphs contain several hyperlinked terms to further extend the information someone can get on the topic or related issues. The last part of the page is a list of reference, then external links and related articles. One of the lesser users known, especially useful, techniques for researching with Wikipedia is the effective use of the What links here link which is on the left side of the screen, as the first item in the box marked toolbox. This link will contribute users a complete list of other Wikipedia articles that link to the current article. Even if the article user are looking at is a stub or, more extraordinarily, if it is a blank article, several related articles may be easily accessible through this feature. Sometimes these backward links will show users ways in which the article users started from is incomplete in one area or another. An inter esting feature is a list of timelines (centuries, decades or the major events in a given year). It is remarkable to mention that there is no advanced search option but only a single option less normal search. Changes can be viewed at the recent changes page and a random page at random articles. Over 3,500 articles have been designated by the Wikipedia community as featured articles, exemplifying the best articles in the encyclopaedia. Another 15,000 articles are designated as good articles. Some information on Wikipedia is organized into lists; the best of these are designated as featured lists. Britannica The Britannica includes 33 volumes. It separated into three main sections; volumes from 1-12 (Micropedia) which covered the short articles set (less than 750 words) that focuses on ready reference questions. Volumes from13-29 (Macropedia) containing longer articles (2+ pages) with more in-depth information. Volume 30 (Propedia), a one volume covers 10parts of knowledge (Matter and energy, The Earth and life on it, Human life, Human society, Arts, Technology, Religion, History of mankind, and Branchesof Knowledge) , this volume summaries of contains all human knowledge.  The topic in each section in (Micropedia, Macropedia) arranged alphabetically letter by letter. This Britannica is connected with facebook, twitter, youtube, newsletters, RSS, Widgets. When I browsed through the articles, each EB article was overwhelmed by as many as 8 Airtel ads per page, depending on the length of the article/page. If users would like to avoid ads, sign up for a subscription form. There is a norma l search and an advanced search. If we want to narrow down or broaden the results, the advanced search option uses Boolean operator like AND, OR, NOT, using other options. In the field of research tools users can change different options such as:  compare countries, this day in history, timeline, world atlas, world data analyst. There is also a spotlight section, where we can see the special features of the encyclopaedia. Each list has its own features, so for the videos, images audio list, the requested result is displayed including naturally images, audio recordings and video files so that user can comprehend the topic more easily. Users can contribute to their browsing history, relating articles in terms of type, description, date, and contributor. Users can get information about the primary contributors and other contributors in the list of contributor. It is also possible to browse a dictionary or thesaurus to search the meaning of words. In the last part, widgets shows info rmation of history of event and people related to the requested article and various date. The results are also displayed like a table of contents, where users can conveniently select the sub-menu of their choice for a more efficient browsing. An interesting feature is that the author of the article can give his or her purpose to the readers. Indeed, the online encyclopaedia Britannica academic edition have got the teachers choice award, 2007 2008 SIIA CODiE winner because of its structured and organized contents, secure environment for internet research, and  «Ã‚  neutral perspectives  Ã‚ » (as we mentioned this neutral perspective is subject to discussion).   Encyclopaedia Americana Articles are composed of alphabetically, using the word-by-word system. If two or more articles have the same heading they are ordered by person, place, and thing. Each entry begins with a large bold-faced heading, and may be further sub-divided by smaller bold-faced sub-headings. Longer articles include a contents box for quicker searching, with an information highlights box. Cross-references may be provided in the text or at the end of  article. A bibliography is included at the end of an article when appropriate. Users can choose among five customized interfaces that meet specialized needs and the reading and interest levels of the user. The five interfaces are: 1) Elementary School interface 2) Middle School interface 3) High School interface 4) Adult Patron interface 5) Librarians/Educators interface. Each interface composes of features and returns search results based on reading levels tied to three core differentiated domains: Elementary School, Middle School, and High Schoo l/Adult Patron. A pronunciation key and a list of abbreviations used in the encyclopaedia are included at the beginning of each volume. Recency (Currentness) Wikipedia In October 2012, there are editions of Wikipedia in 285 languages. It has become the largest and most popular general reference work on the Internet, standing sixth globally among all websites on Alexa and having an estimated 365 million readers worldwide. In 2011, Wikipedia received an estimated 2.7 billion monthly page views from the United States alone. Wikipedia has taken a great deal of criticism in the press for problems relating to the trustworthiness of its authors and its general responsibility. Britannica Many people know Britannica as the publisher of those big multivolume encyclopaedias that have been a source of joy and learning since 1768. Today that encyclopaedia is chiefly to be found in a multitude of digital forms that are updated daily. The online encyclopaedia Britannicas home page is updated every day with the breaking news and revised articles from New York Times. Britannica also marks the contribution of users by presenting the comments they left on articles. The updating of the content is subject to the editorial boards policy. The updating are quite fast and the content is revised more regularly than the printed version. Now Britannia is also available as Online School Edition, so its not completely behind Wikipedia. Today this Britannica extremely expanded with schools, parents, and educators, designing products for the 21st-century classroom and todays home learning environments. Britannica is a creator in digital education, and their products are marked by engaging a nd reliable content. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc, have announced that it will stop publishing its 32-volume print edition (retail value $1400) after 244 years, and instead focus on its digital versions. The Encyclopaedia Britannica is a general knowledge book brought out first in three volumes in 1768 by three people. Encyclopaedia Americana Today, Scholastic is the largest publisher and distributor of childrens books in the world, with a collection of titles that entertain and support childrens wide-ranging interested and stages of reading development. Whether its a graphic novel or a board book, a future dystopian setting or a look back in history, our books help young readers explore their imaginations and become lifelong lovers of books. Information is up-to-date for the time of publication. Accuracy Wikipedia Wikipedia has taken a number of positive steps to help develop and maintain the accuracy and objectivity of Wikipedia entries. Its important to note that Wikipedia articles are in a state of constant flux and there is the potential for vandalization. Wikipedia with an open nature has directed to various concerns, such as the quality of writing, the amount of vandalism and the accuracy of information. Some articles have unconfirmed or unreliable information, although a 2005 investigation in Nature presented that the science articles they compared came close to the level of accuracy of Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica and had a similar rate of serious errors. Wikipedia had a rule against using original research that some claim discourages participation by scholars and experts. Nevertheless, those same scholars and experts are able to participate in the writing of articles and linking to supporting documents on the web. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has always maintained that the service and its community are set up a self-policing and self-cleaning nature that is supposed to ensure its articles are accurate. Britannica Since the articles are written by professors and experts from in their respective fields we can confidently conclude that the content is accurate. It also is satisfactorily up-to-date. The sentence structure is also organized very well. In a press release, Jorge Cauz, President Encyclopaedia Britannica says Britannica Online includes abundant information along with gorgeous multimedia, and that makes it an excellent match for Bharti Airtels broadband service. There are eight serious errors, such as general misunderstandings of vital concepts, in the articles but users can find a series of factual errors, omissions or misleading statements. Wikipedia had 162 such problems, while Britannica had 123. The averages are 2.92 mistakes per article for Britannica and 3.86 for Wikipedia. Britannica came out looking a little bit more accurate than Wikipedia. the error rate for each encyclopaedia was not insignificant, and added that he thinks such numbers demonstrate that broad review of encycl opaedia articles is needed. Britannica is more reliable than Wiki. However, the content is not necessarily in-depth. While searching for Singapore, the article does not mention the Marina Bay Sands or who the president is. In comparison, the recent marriage of Prince William is largely covered. Encyclopaedia Americana The 30 volume publication contains tens of thousands of articles written to serve the educational community as a bridge between the general reader and the specialist. Articles are accurately presented in easy to understand language, and are aimed at all learners and educators, from the young student to teachers and librarians. When an author is chosen to write an article, he/she is reminded that the objective of the publication is to present facts and interpretations to the non-specialist reader, as well as explain technical terms in an understandable manner. Before publication, each article is reviewed by the editors to ensure accuracy of information and vocabulary, spelling and sentence structures that it satisfies these objectives. In the new edition, the Editor has make an afforded to limit the work to its legal purpose the presentation of knowledge with faithfulness and with scholarly objectivity, avoiding the promotion of theories and such discussions and protections as are wh olly strange to the character and nature of an encyclopaedia. Every effort has been made to protect not only accuracy of statement but also fairness and correctness of view. Treatment Wikipedia The editing guidelines also mention a manual of style that provides detailed guidance to help editors to use a reliable, clear and exact language and layout. It is recommended to avoid jargon or vague or unnecessarily complex wording. Usually if any jargon or concept is used in an article, it will be hyperlinked to the matching Wikipedia page on this term. Regarding as the importance of the term, it finally attains a Wikipedia article of its own, which is nearly always linked to. It is usually clarified with more known terms. There is no range of English specification except for quotations, proper names, titles of works such as books, films, or songs where the original spelling must be kept. Articles on precise comparison of variety of English can feature different spellings. In addition, the guidelines mention that several citation styles are possible, namely the main recognized styles such as APA or MLA. The users can also give a rate the article according to its perceived trustwor thiness, objectivity, completeness and whether it was well-written, the user can also mention whether users are knowledgeable on the topic . Britannica As this encyclopedia have for many years, by cooperating with experts, scholars, educators, instructional designers, and user-experience specialists; by subjecting their work to hard editorial review; and by combining it all into learning products that are useful, reliable, and enjoyable. Each edition of the Britannica is written and updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,400 contributors. It is regarded as one of the most scholarly of English language encyclopaedias and remained roughly the same size for the past 70 years, consisting of 40 million words on a half-million different topics. The current 15th edition, published in 2010, consists of 32 volumes a two-volume index, a 12 volume Micropaedia, and a 17 volume Propaedia. The online edition costs a lot less, with a basic subscription running at $17 per year or $1.99 per month, compared to $1,395 for the 32-volume print version. The company has been providing online editions of its encyclopaedia for 20 years, wit h more than 65% of its online sales coming from educational institutions; the online edition is updated continually. The goal is to expand its appeal to consumers. With that move, Britannica is taking on Wikipedia. Although publication has been based in the United States since 1901, the Britannica has maintained British spelling. Its three-volume first edition was published in 1768-71 in Edinburgh, Scot. In subsequent editions it grew in size and reputation. The most famous editions include the ninth (1875-89), known as the scholars encyclopaedia, and the 11th (1910-11), which, with contributions from more than 1,500 experts of world reputation, was also the first to divide the usually long treatises into more specified articles. The current edition, the 15th (1974, with a major revision in 1985), exemplified a new structure, dividing the major articles from the shorter ones. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica now also appears in CD-ROM and on-line versions. A series of ownership changes le ad to its purchase by American publishers in 1901; since the 1940s it has been published in Chicago. Almost all articles are written in simple and widespread way, but particularly for the science and technology, users can see technological jargons, as this is addressed more to the educated users. It uses MLA and APA citation styles. Encyclopedia Americana The index also lists thousands of entries for which there are no separate articles, but does provide listings of articles that cover the subject. In all cases, volume and page numbers are provided for easy look-up. In 1902 a new version in 16 volumes that carried over some of the old material was published under the title Encyclopaedia Americana, under the editorial supervision of Scientific American magazine. The magazines editor, Frederick Converse Beach, was editor-in-chief, to be assisted by hundreds of famous scholars and authorities who served as consulting editors or authors. The first publisher was R.S. Peale Co; between 1903 and 1906 further editions were issued by the Americana Corp. and the Scientific American Compiling Department, with George Edwin Rines appointed managing editor in 1903. The relationship with Scientific American was terminated in 1911. From 1907 to 1912, the work was published as The Americana. A major new edition appeared in 1918-20 in 30 volumes, with George Edwin Rines as editor-in-chief. An Annual or Yearbook was also published each year beginning in 1923 and continuing until 2000.The sentence structure is very simple with easy understanding vocabulary. The meaning and simple sentence structure can clarify the complexity of expressed thoughts. It seldom use jargons words in the Americana. User Wikipedia Wikipedia aims to be user friendly and accessible to all. The main resource is in English but if the user doesnt speak English, he or she can access it in another language, though the content will be more limited. The English text of the CC-BY-SA and GFDL licenses is the only legally binding restriction between authors and users of Wikipedia content. What follows is our interpretation of CC-BY-SA and GFDL, as it pertains to the rights and obligations of users and contributors. Britannica The online encyclopaedia Britannica is a general encyclopaedia so that it is not only targeted to the intellectual levels such as students, teachers, librarians, and administrators but also targeted the kids. The Britannica websites are general audience sites, intended for Users (visitors and subscribers) of all ages. If a user is a California resident, he/she is entitled to prevent sharing of his/her personal information with third parties for his/her own marketing purposes through a cost-free means. If users send a request to Britannica Customer Service, Britannica will provide users with a California Customer Choice Notice that they may use to opt-out of such information sharing. Now all Airtel Broadband customers in India can take a 2 year free subscription to Encyclopaedia Britannica (worth Rs.6575). Specifically, there are three models for them: students encyclopaedia (age 11 and above), childrens encyclopaedia (age 8-11), and thesaurus and dictionary. In the latter, articles t o be browsed are subjects related to their curriculum. EB is absolutely the biggest authoritative resource of information with over 100 million users. Users are able to visit many of website pages without informing who they are or revealing any information about themselves. Users contin

Elizabeth Siddal :: essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elizabeth Siddal, Pre-Raphaelite model and wife to Gabriel Rossetti, is the source of intrigue for many Victorian researchers. Her mystery began from her vague background as a milliner’s assistant. From the start, many stories were told of her discovery and yet few stories were told of her past before that point. A frail young woman, she was addicted to narcotics and suffered from a variety of ailments, from the physical to the mental. Her turbulent relationship with Rossetti was plagued with ups and downs, and yet after her death, he mourned her with great sorrow and guilt.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elizabeth Siddal was a young girl from the working class, who was thrust into the world of the Pre-Raphaelites when discovered as a model in 1849. She was not terribly smart or educated, however, considering her class, she was thought to be as refined and modest as possible. She is generally referred as having been a reserved girl, but she was also explained as being both very beautiful and horribly plain by different sets of people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is known for a fact that Elizabeth was working as a milliner’s assistant upon her discovery, but there are many stories told about how that discovery was made. Walter Deverell, who was at the Royal Academy with Hunt and Rossetti, was looking for a red-haired girl who could pass as a boy to play a Shakespearian role in a painting. Rossetti explains the story as Walter and his mother stopped by a millinery shop and saw the assistant in a back room. He then asked his mother to request permission to use her in a painting. Other accounts were given of the discovery. William Holman Hunt claimed that Deverell had arrived at the studio proclaiming what he found to Rossetti, who accompanied him to the millinery shop to have a look. Irish poet, William Allingham, took credit for introducing Deverell to Ms. Siddal because during his escapades with working class women, he had spotted the young girl and thought her perfect for the role.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Because modeling paid more than millinery work and perhaps because she preferred it to sewing, Elizabeth ended her assistantship at the shop. This is interesting to note because at the time very few women on the census reported their full time job to be modeling for artists. This is not because there were few models, but very few earned enough money to support themselves legitimately, and few wished to declare their employment given the stigma it represented.

Female Genital Mutilation in Africa :: Genitals Reproduction Culture Essays

Female Genital Mutilation in Africa ital Mutilation in Sudan In the country of Sudan, in Northern Africa, there is a procedure that is tradition and is performed on most women called female genital mutilation, or FGM, which used to be known as female circumcision. It has been a normal practice for generations, but is now the subject for international controversy on the morality and safety of this procedure. It is now known that 82 percent of Sudanese woman have an extreme form of genital mutilation done on them, normally at a young age. This form of mutilation is called the Pharaonic form and includes the total removal of the clitoris and labia, and stitching together of the vulva, leaving only a small hole for urination and menstrual cycle. This is normally done without any type of anaesthetic or professional medical care. There is also a more moderate form of mutilation, called Sunni, where only the covering of the clitoris is removed. This practice started and became tradition in foreign countries in order to ensure that women practice chaste behavior, and to suppress female sexuality. It has also been attributed to religious beliefs of monogamy although most religions do not support this type of practice. In today's society it has become more of a traditional and social norm, and has less to do with religious beliefs. This problem is not only in Sudan; it is practiced in the majority of the continent of Africa as well as other coun tries. In other cultures, such as Australian aborigines, genital mutilation is a part of the rite of passage into maturation, and is done on both men and women (Bodley, p. 58). FGM has often been referred to as female circumcision and compared to male circumcision. However, such comparison is often misleading. Both practices include the removal of well- functioning parts of the genitalia and are quite unnecessary. However, FGM is far more drastic and damaging than male circumcision because it is extremely dangerous and painful. It is believed that two thirds of these procedures are done by untrained birth attendants, who have little knowledge of health. They are often unconcerned with hygiene, and many use instruments that are not cleaned or disinfected properly. Instruments such as razor blades, scissors, kitchen knives, and pieces of glass are commonly used. These instruments are frequently used on several girls in succession and are rarely cleaned, causing the transmission of a variety of viruses such as the HIV virus, and other infections.

Superstitious :: Free Essay Writer

Superstitious R.L. Stine who is one of America’s best-selling authors and the devilish creator of the Fear Street and Goosebumps series of horror stories for kids. Stine is who wrote the book I read, but he came back with a book for the older generation. All of Stines ideas in his books are suggested from real life. Most of his ideas came from his imagination and his memory. He now lives in New York City with his wife Jane, and teenage son, Matthew. The story took place on a small Pennsylvania College campus. Numerous of murders had taken place. Every murder was much more gruesome than the first. The detectives didn't know what had happened. The victims looked like an out of control animal rather than a human killed them. One of the main characters in this was Sara Morgan. She had just moved to Pennsylvania or school. Everything was going just fine until she met a professor named Liam O'Connor; he was another main character. Liam had a dashing romantic figure with a Irish accent, good looks, sweet charm, and a host of Old World superstitious-all of which dazzled Sara. Plunging headlong into a sudden love affair, Sara barely had time to notice the horrible events taking place on the campus. Liam was extremely close to his sister Margaret. A little too close that is. Sara and Liam soon got married after a couple of dates. Everyone said it was strange, yet, too soon for him or her. But she claimed she was in love with him. She started receiving crank phone calls, warning her to stay away from Liam. Then she received two bloody rabbit feet in the mail saying " If you’re going to marry Liam, you’re gonna need all the luck you can get." That scared her to death. When she told Liam about it, he acted like he didn’t care. Instead he blew all up in her face because she left out the front door and came in through the back door. Lately his superstitions had been getting out of hand. And he had been getting real mad at Sara. On their wedding night they made love by the light of sixteen candles, which was one of his superstitions. They were going on, non-stop. Then he whispered in her ear that he wanted to impregnate her. She accepted the offer without really thinking.

Critisism of the microcredit if NGOs in Bangladesh

The criticism of microcircuit programs of Nags in Bangladesh A research paper exercised by M. Hoses suicide MS Roll no. 09122453 session: 2012-13 Department of Economics Satiny Kabuki Kaki Unusual Islam University. Email address: [email  protected] Com Rant Johan Roll no. 09122444 Email address: Acknowledgement It is a great honor for us to work on the assigned topic and we feel glad to accomplish our task. Along with our sincerity and interest, there are few people, who really helped us to make this endeavor to be a successful one.At first, we would like to pass our appreciation, gratitude and thanks to our honorable teacher MD. Backchat Duding. His valuable suggestions and ideas in every step of our work helped us a lot to prepare this paper. Special thanks are due to the people of Trials Apical for helping us in collecting the required data for the work. Finally, we acknowledge the profound blessings and kindness of the almighty. Abstract The present study explores the criticism of the microcircuit programs of Nags in the Trials Apical under Enmeshing district. Here, we use primary data which we collect through field survey.And we found out that there has some problem of microcircuit program of Nags. This paper also examines empirically the impact of credited on the study area and found out that the interest rate of Nags is very high. This study also discusses and suggests ways to overcome the problem. So we structured this paper as follows. The first two sections of the paper provide the introduction, objective and explain the research methodology. Section three outlines the literature review. Section four explains the overall condition of the microcircuit program of Nags in the study area and also in case of Bangladesh.And section finally provides recommendation and concluding remarks. Key words: Nags, Microcircuit, interest rate, efficiency of credit, socioeconomic notation. Background of the study: Bangladesh, a country located in the south-east Asian region, inhabits above 160 million people in 55. 598 sq. Mile. And Bangladesh is one of the least developed countries, remains a poor, overpopulated, and inefficiently governed national. And poverty is the main problem of this country. Now a large number of Nags (Non Governmental Organization) are working to alleviate the poverty of the masses.They have played a very significant role in opening up access to credit for the poor people in distant areas. During the last three decades the idea of microcircuit helps poor people to build businesses, increase their income and also fight against poverty. Microcircuit has been introduced to rural communities in Bangladesh as a means of economic and social development. But in some cases microcircuit programs of Nags was not so satisfactory. We study about the negative impact of Nags of Trials Apical under Enmeshing district.The total population of this area is 372498 where a total area is 338. 98 sq. Km and 43. 30 percent (2005, World Bank) p eople live under poverty line. The study reveals the socio economic condition, microcircuit problem and also the positive and negative attitude of Nags in the study area. Objective of the study: The core purpose of the study is to identify the criticism of Nags operation. The specific objectives area To understanding the nature of the problem. 0 To identify the microcircuit problem of the study area. 0 To examine the effects of MONGO sector in the study area.Methodology of the study: The study is an exploratory by nature and is based on both primary and secondary data. We have collected primary data through questionnaire method. To determine the major problems of microcircuit program of Nags and socio economic condition of Trials Apical primary data was collected through field survey. And secondary data are collected from research reports, relevant published documents including books, different Journals, newspapers, magazines, website, etc that are relevant to the study. Limitation of the study: There are a number of limitations in this study.That area The respondents are limited (100 respondents or samples) in terms of size and composition. So the result may not be interpreting the overall situation of the study area. 0 The data collection was restricted only within the Trials Apical in Enmeshing district of Bangladesh which may fail to represent the actual scenario of the whole country. Sometimes respondents are biased so we cannot get appropriate data. 0 Some of the respondents are reluctant to give interview because of their experience with previous research works in the area which, according to them, bore no benefit for them.Literature review: Literature review refers the examination of other works that have done by other researchers on the criticism of microcircuit program of Nags in Bangladesh. Eave found that, in our country very few studies have been done by archduchesses Froze Begum, Salt Holmic Zamia and MD. Shania Khan(2004) studied about,†Ro le of Nags in Rural Poverty Eradication: A Bangladesh Observation†. In this paper he explores the role of Nags in poverty eradication especially in rural area of Bangladesh. He examines that how the Nags of this country are playing a positive and also negative role to the poor people.GAP, Donor Brief (No. 18, may 2004), examines about, â€Å"The Impact of Interest Rate Ceilings on Magnificence†. Here they explore that, interest rate is higher in MONGO than normal Commercial Bank rates and explain that interest rate ceilings almost always hurt the poor people. Sheikh Kabuki Duding Header, studied on â€Å"Impact of the Nags on socioeconomic conditions in Bangladesh: A study on Rajahs District†. He identify that poor people's are benefited who are engaged with MONGO. He also observed some limitations of the MONGO programs.The daily star (Dacha, Deck, 12, 2008) highlighted that, magnificence is not a panacea for poverty reduction. And here explained the serious prob lem faced by microcircuit borrowers. David Helm and Paul Mostly (1996) also studied about the impacts of microcircuit programs of Nags. They found that, poor households does not benefited from magnificence. More troubling is the findings that a vast majority of those with starting incomes below the poverty line actually ended up with sees incremental income after getting micro loans. Overview of the study: Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world.Here women are deprived by men. Many women are the victims of violence, their occupational choices are narrower and their earnings lower than men and the major portion of the women in rural Bangladesh living in abject poverty. But only a few of them get opportunity to access various types of rural enterprises that can help them to improve their economic condition. This situation has fostered the emergence of Non-Governmental Organizations (Nags). They help poor women by giving microcircuit. Now we have to discuss about microc ircuit programs of Nags in Bangladesh perspective. Present scenario of microcircuit program of Nags in Bangladesh: In Bangladesh there are several institutions which is involved in magnificence activities. Nags started credit program in mid-eighties and their activities increased noticeable higher after 1990 (CDC, 2000). There are several Nosh which giving credit to the poor people, such as- Grahame Bank, BARACK, AS, SPADE, Burro Bangladesh, ASS, Rural Reconstruction, Poppy, etc. This magnificence sector is mature now and its assets constitute around 3 percent of GAP in 2011. Total outstanding loan of this sector (only licensed Miff) has increased by 20 percent from BAT 145. Billion in June 2010 to BAT 173. 8 billion in June, 2011 disburse among 20. 7 million poor people, helping them to be sleepyhead and accelerating overall economic development process of the country. The overall trend of magnificence statistics in Bangladesh can be shown by a table- Table: Basic statistics of MON GO-Miffs in Bangladesh (As of 30 June 2011) June'2010 No of Licensed INCOMING 516 June'2011 576 Total clients(million) Borrowers(million) 25. 28 19. 21 Amount Amount of of loan savings(TX million) 145022. 6 51362. 93 26. 08 20. 65 173797. 60 63304. 4 source: MR.-MIS Database-2011 The table shows that, at the end of June'2011, the sector had outstanding loans of BAT 173. 8 billion disbursed to 20. 7 million borrowers and had accumulated BAT 63. 3 billion as savings from around 26. 10 million clients over 93 percent of them are women. Here we see that, the credit amount is more than savings amount. 0 Role of microcircuit programs of Nags in Bangladesh: Bangladesh is a member of the worlds least developed countries, having increased population density, unemployment, illiteracy, socio-communal unrest and many more.Now-a-days Nags have been playing supportive roles with the government. The role played by the Nags in Bangladesh is very good. They help poor people by giving credit faciliti es to alleviate poverty among the rural poor population. Generally, the Nags help women to empowering them. If women are empowered then their living standard also improved. We know that most of the rural peoples fight against the poverty and to get employment. And the Nags help these people by creating awareness among them, inspiring them and give credit facilities to self-employed. By these ways the Nags help for sustainable development of Bangladesh.Discussion and findings: Our study is to find out the criticism of microcircuit program of Nags in the study area. The study reveals activities about microcircuit programs of Nags in Trials Apical. The total population of this area is 372498 where a total area is 338. 98 sq. Km. But we take only 100 samples to investigate the activities of microcircuit program of Nags of the study area. The overall investigation can be expressed by following way- Table: Gender, age and educational status of the respondents Total Respondents Age group M ale Female >26 8 92 Percentage 8% 92% 13 Educational status 2650

Research on Student Difficulties in Understanding Chemical Reactions

ASSIGMNET 1| Research on student difficulties in Understanding Chemical reactions| Misconceptions on Strength of Acids and Bases| | Mariyam Zaina, 015482| | | TITLE & INTRODUCTION Title: Misconceptions on Strength of Acids and Bases Researches shows that students often develops new theories about how the natural world works, prior to formal science education and frequently those theories are different to those of scientists(Demircioglu et al. , 2005).Students develop those scientific conceptions from many sources such as personal experiences (eg: observations), gender, peer interaction, media, language, symbolic representations, textbooks etc†¦ In addition, sometimes teachers also serve as major sources for alternative conceptions (Chiu, 2005) and such self-constructed conceptions are referred as misconceptions. Misconceptions are ideas which are not in agreement with accepted scientific ideas (Demircioglu et al. 2005). If students have misconceptions they are then likely to rej ect the scientist’s viewpoints, thus it would be very important for teachers to find about the misconceptions about the concepts to be taught (Khurshid & Iqbal, 2009) It is known that secondary schools students found chemistry as one of the most difficult subjects and thus many students have difficulty in understanding the most basic concepts in the subject.Researches shows that students have lot of topic in chemistry with misconceptions and one such examined topic includes acids and bases (Demircioglu et al. , 2005). Many studies show that students have a lot of complexity in understanding the right concepts in acids and bases. Some of them include that students often fail to give examples of weak acids and bases and also claims that pH is the tool more measuring acidity. And students often refer acids as chemicals hat are corrosive or chemicals that eat away everything. Furthermore students think that the more hydrogen ions present in a chemical the strength of its acidity increase. And such misconceptions make the topic acids and bases more abstract, boring and difficult to understand (Halim et al. , 2010). This research is conducted to clarify students such misconceptions or alternative theories on the concept â€Å"Strength of acids and Bases† under the topic Acids and Bases.The misconceptions taken into consideration are: * Substances containing H are acidic and substances containing OH are basic * A strong acid doesn’t dissociate in water solution, because its intra-molecular bonds are very strong * Concentrated acids are dangerous but concentrated bases are not * As the value of pH increases, acidity increases * As the number of hydrogen atoms increases in the formula of an acid, its acidity becomes stronger * All acids burn and melt everything * All acids and bases are harmful and poisonous * Alkalis are strong bases * Strength and concentration mean the same thing The strongest acid is the most concentrated acid (Demircioglu et a l. , 2005). Some important key term used in this research include misconceptions (defined in the first paragraph), Strong acid, weak acid, dilute acid, concentrated acid, This is a topic usually confused by students and most of the time they accidently confuse the specific terms such as â€Å"strong acid† with contracted acid or corrosive acid. In fact it means neither of those things. A strong acid is an acid which is fully ionized in solution and a weak acid is an acid which partially dissociates in solution.Similarly a strong base is base which ionizes fully in solution and weak bases get partially ionized in solution (Strong and Weak Acids and Bases, n. d). Concentrated acid has a relatively large amount of solute dissolved in the solvent. A dilute acid has a relatively smaller amount of solute dissolved in the solvent (Acid Strength, n. d) In this research it is assumed that all the students who participated in the survey are students who studied chemistry and thus would be thorough with the topic acids and bases. And also the students have answered all the uestions individually without any help or guidance and have given honest answers according to their levels of understanding. Furthermore it is assumed that students would be able to draw the molecular representation of the dissociations of ions in water by showing the molecules or ions present. The Rationale From various researchers done on student’s understanding of the topic acids and bases it is found that lot of secondary schools students have very different ideas or misconceptions on the concept strong and weak acids and bases.In a lot of situations students often describe ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ as being synonymous with ‘concentrated’ and ‘dilute’. And most of the time these misconceptions arise because teachers are not aware of students prior or existing knowledge about a concept or do not address to such alternative theories they hav e about the concept. Which lead to students into more confusion and let them go ahead with their wrong concept. So the purpose of this investigation was to find students misconceptions on the concept of strong and weak acids and bases via a questionnaire.Furthermore the purpose of the research is to find the students misconceptions on the concept acids and bases in Maldivian schools and thus find ways to implement lesson which could address their misconceptions as future teachers. Procedure Research was conducted using a probing tool to find students misconceptions. And the tool used was a questionnaire with multiple choices, fill in the blanks using the best word from the words give and a question where students have to draw and show their ideas on the concept. The questionnaire was given to grade 25 students of grade 9 from Dharumavantha School.Students were chosen randomly from five classes of 9. From each class 5 students were just chosen randomly and asked to fill the questionn aire (Refer appendix for all the questionnaire students have filled). After that the forms were collected and the data was analyzed and percentage of the students choices were found and presented in the result sections RESULT Question 1 – Misconception; Substances containing H are acidic and substances containing OH are basic Figure 1: Percentage of students’ choices for the question number one. According to 62. 5% students A is the best choice.And no students have chosen D as the answer Question 2 – Misconception; Concentrated acids are dangerous but concentrated bases are not Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 2. 52% students have chosen A as the answer while the rest of the students think the correct answer is D Questions 3- Misconception; as the number of hydrogen atoms increases in the formula of an acid, its acidity becomes stronger Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 3 according to highest percentage of students’ choice B which is phosphoric acid is the strongest acidQuestion 4 – Misconception; Alkalis are strong Bases Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 4 the highest percentages of students have chosen A as the answer. But there isn’t a huge difference between students choices Question 5 – all the acids and alkalis are harmful and poisonous Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 5 it shows that for this question different student had different views. And most of the students with 36% chosed A as the answer Question 6 – Misconception; All the acids will eat and burn everything awayFigure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 6 According to 84% students not all acids will burn and eat everything away. Only some acids will burn and eat everything away. Question 7 – Misconception; Strength and Concentration means the same t hing Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 7 Result shows that most of the students do not have this misconception; only about 24% students have the misconception while 76% are well aware of the concept strength and concentrated Question 8- Misconception; as pH increases acidity also increases.Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 8 Almost all the students were clear about this concept that as pH increases acidity decreases Questions 9 – Misconception; A strong acid doesn’t dissociate in water solution, because its intra-molecular bonds are very strong. Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 9 – 44% students were able to draw and show the microscopic dissociation of ions in strong and weak acids with all criterions present. And 8% students drew with some criteria missing.And the rest of the 48% students had misconceptions about the dissociation of strong and w eak acids in water Question 10 –Misconception; the strongest acid is the most concentrated acid Figure 2: Percentage of students’ choices for the Question number 9 – it shows that most of the students is quite clear with this misconception. Yet 36% students still have the misconception that the strongest acid is the most concentrated acid DISCUSSION The first misconception dealt in the research was one of the very basic concepts under acids and bases.That is the definition for an acid and a base. A common misconception is that acids are chemicals with hydrogen (H) in the chemical formula and bases are chemicals with OH in the formula. 62. 5% students think that C2H5OH is basic as it has OH in its formula. 4. 2% students think C6H12O6 is both acidic and basic as it has both H and OH in its formula. While the rest of the 33. 3% gave the correct answer which is C6H12O6 and C2H5OH is neither acidic nor basic even though they have H and OH in the formula.But the resu lt also shows that all the students are aware that ammonia is not an acid even if it has H in its formula. Acid is a substance that gives H+ ions when dissolved in water. Acids are compounds that contain hydrogen, however there are compounds that contains hydrogen in their formulas but does not act as acids; for an example water, H2O, ammonia NH3. A base in definition is that substance which gives OH- ions when dissolved in water. Thus they are not substance with OH present.There are many substances that contain OH and H, yet does not act as acids or bases (Acids, Bases and Salts, 2005). For an example Sucrose, C6H12O6, contains H and OH, however, when dissolved in water it dissolves as intact molecules and does not ionize to produce any H+ or OH- ions, as shown by the equation: C6H12O6(s) + H2O(l) C6H12O6(aq). Since sugar molecules do not lose any H+ or OH- ions, sugar is not considered an acid. Alcohols (C2H5OH) have a characteristic hydroxyl group, OH, covalently bonded to the re st of the molecule.When alcohols dissolve in water they also dissolve molecularly and do not ionize. Since no OH- ions are released, alcohols are not bases (Concept or Skills Development, n. d). However from the research it shows that students are not very clear about this idea and because of that most of the students have chosen A as the answer. A student’s misconception is that only concentrated acids are dangerous while concentrated bases are not. This misconception also was proven from question 2, as 52% students have chosen concentrated HCl only as most dangerous.Yet, the result also talks to two sides because almost half of the students have chosen the correct choice (D) which says that both concentrated acid and base is dangerous. Choice A was a misconception. Weak acids and weak bases are not dangerous, but both strong acids and strong bases can both be harmful to human tissue. For an example lime is very strong base and that is the reason why a very small amount of l ime is present in concrete and mortar. And construction workers have to be very careful not to get it on their skins (Strong and Weak Acids and Bases).Another misconception was that as number of hydrogen in the chemical formula increases the strength of acid increases. According to 65% students this is true and thus they have chosen H3PO4 as the strongest acid and almost all the students have given the reason for their choice as having the most number of hydrogen in the formula. 31% students have chosen the correct answer which is sulfuric acid which is the strongest out of the three and have given the correct reason as, it could fully ionize in solution. Only 3% students have chosen nitric acid as the strongest acid.According to students the more hydrogen present it can contribute to more H+ to the solution, thus it would become stronger. The strength of an acid is determined by its ionization power which determined by the pKa value. The lower the pKa value the stronger the acid. T hus H2SO4 is the strongest ith pKa = -3. 1 followed by nitric acid (pKa= -1. 3) and phosphoric acid (pKa = 2. 12) (William, n. d) The reason for this misconception might be because students have not learnt the pKa values and not gone into such details which would help to explain why an acid is becoming stronger.To clarify the misconception could give the pKa values as an extra information for the students or could make the students clearer on the concept that the strength depends on the amount of dissociation. Fourth question is about the misconception that alkalis are strong bases. Some students have the misconception that as alkalis is basic substances that dissolves in water they are strong bases. And from the survey it shows that 24% students do have this misconception.But it shows that apart from this misconception, most (36%) students have another wrong concept that alkalis and bases are same. 28% students do know the right answer from the choices given. Results of 5th questio n show that just 24% of students had the misconception that all the acids and alkalis were harmful and poisonous. Majority of students (36%) think that only concentrated HCl and concentrated NaOH will be harmful and poisonous, which was the correct choice out of the acids and bases is given.Dilute ethanoic acid would not be harmful as it would be used in many of the foods items as well. Also would not be dilute ammonia. Thus the result coveys the message that majority of students are clear about the above misconception. Yet there are few students with different views so as teachers need to show students the differences by showing examples as such. Sometimes students are not aware of the idea that they eat and drink acids, so if they know better acids such as citric acids, acetic acids would e able to clear this misconception Sixth, seventh and eight questions it shows that majority students do not have the misconception identified. Sixth question 84% students know the correct answer s for the blank which is â€Å"some† acids would burn and eat everything away. Seventh question was check whether students really knows the difference between concentrated and strong acids. It was an application question and 76% students have given the right answer which is â€Å"concentrated†. Only 24% students had the misconception that ‘concentrated’ and ‘strong’ means the same.The students might have given the correct answer because two concentrations were given. For those who have given the correct answer whether they really know the difference, a different type of question with the same misconception was given (question 10). The correct answer for the 10th question was C which shows the full dissociated acid and thus it would be the strongest. 64% students have chosen this as the answer. Which shows some students knows that strong acids are those which dissociate fully.However majority of students from that 64% has given the reason for t heir answers wrong. According to them C is correct because it contains the most number of molecules. So that means students do have the misconception about the strong and concentrated acids. Also 36% students chose D as the answer and most of their reason was that it has no water. This shows that their think strongest acid is the acid with least water present or otherwise the most concentrated acid. Eighth question none of the students had the misconception that as pH increases acidity increases.Some students might think as pH is the measure concentration of H+ ions as the pH increases the number H+ ions might increase thus would increase the acidity. Yet, all the students gave the correct answer for this question. For the 9th question a variety of answers were given. The misconception check was â€Å"the stronger the acid the lower the dissociation because the inter-molecular bond would be stronger and weak acids would dissociate more†. For this question it was checked wheth er the students had the following criteria’s.In weak acid shown the H-F not dissociated and very few H+ and F_ ions dissociated and in strong acid H-Cl fully dissociated into H+ and Cl- ions. And even if students have shown the water molecules or not shown it is correct. 44% students did draw the diagrams correctly with all the criteria given and have given the reasons as strong acid dissociate fully while weak acids would do partially. 8% students drew almost correct dissociations, but they most of them have not shown the ionic forms. (Refer appendix for students’ answers). And majority of students had misconceptions.Most of these students have shown more number of molecules in the strong acid side while less molecules’ in the weak side. Students have the concept that strong acids have more molecules’ and weak acid would have less. Only one student has given the reason as the stronger acid would have stronger bonds so dissociation would be lesser. Thus i t can be concluded that majority does not have that misconception but they do have another misconception which is mostly related to now knowing the actual meaning of strong and weak acids and also confusing it with concentrate and dilute.Considering the misconceptions it is important as teachers to take actions to eliminate such misconceptions. Firstly the students should be given instructions which foster conceptual understanding rather than rote memorization. Students are just given definitions of acids bases and they have memorized it, does not get any understanding as to how an acid becomes stronger weaker, concentrated or diluted (Yezdan, 2009). For an example students show the difference in this four by comparing the pH of the four types of acids; concentrated, dilute, weak and strong.In the class the students could be given discussion with teacher or peers to reflect on what they learnt and thus come up with the conceptions they have and thus the teacher can help in correctin g them (Yezdan, 2009) Students misunderstanding arises generally from their experience s in everyday life and such experiences could be used to even eliminate the misconceptions. For an examples from early child hood onwards by watching cartoons and all students think that an acid is something which will make a hole where ever put and it is always dangerous.But could brainstorm students’ understanding about the weak acids present in the materials that are used in day today lives and relate it to weak acids being harmless. Also demonstrating student the difference between a strong acid and concentrated acid rather than just giving definitions ((Demircioglu et al. , 2005). Also could establish analogical thinking between real life examples and the unknown while learning new information could discard misconceptions. For example, teacher asks to the students if there is a relationship between the number of hydrogen atoms that the acid contains and acidic strength.After taking stu dents responses and guiding the discussions till getting the true answer go one step further and asks â€Å"Is H3P04 stronger than HCl? â€Å". Then allows students to discuss again and reach the answer. In order to establish an analogical thinking with real life situations can ask â€Å"how do we measure the strength of the bulbs that we use at our homes? † and guide the discussions until students reach the fact that â€Å"If a bulb gives off a lot of light it is strong, a little Light it is weak† and then helps students to establish the analogy of if an acid ionizes a lot, it is strong; ionizes a little, it is weak like in the case of bulbs.Similarly, provide students to realize that only one bulb sometimes may give more light/ may be more powerful than the two or more bulbs like in the case of the acidic strength and the number of hydrogen atoms that an acid contain i. e. HCl is stronger acid than the H3P04 because it gives more hydrogen ions than H3P04 when disso ciates in water although it contains smaller number of hydrogen atom. Some limitations of this research include that the research is based only onto answer of 25 students which is a very small sample size to know the extent of overall students understanding.Also the sample is from one school, even the students understanding may differ in schools because of the differences in methodologies used in teaching same concept. Also even though it was assumed that students have given honest answers without help from anyone some students answers were very similar which should be because of copying or discussion so the authenticity is not very effective, need to make sure students do it individually. ConclusionsThe purpose of the research was to find whether the misconceptions stated in the introductions were there in the students and to check the extent of students’ understanding on the concept ‘strength of acids and bases’. According to the results majority of students ha ve a deeper understanding of the topic and does not have the most of the misconceptions stated. However some concepts such as â€Å"concentration is same as strength†, â€Å"as number of Hydrogen increases the acidity increase† and â€Å"substances with H in the formula is acidic and OH is basic†.These three misconceptions were found in majority of students and thus need to be dealt as they are one of the very basic and important concepts. And since chemistry as the topics are very much interrelated if the misconception persists it can lead into further misconceptions. So during teaching need to give more attention of those areas and try to use methods such as analogical thinking, demonstrations, applications questions which would help to clarify their misconceptions. Furthermore need to check students’ prior knowledge before going into the new concepts as it would be the foundation for the new knowledge.REFERENCES Acids, Bases and Salts. (2005). Retrieve d on August 17, 2011 from http://www. krysstal. com/acidbase. html Acid Strength. (n. d). Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://media. rsc. org/Misconceptions/Miscon%20acid%20strength. pdf Chiu. ,M. H. (2005). National Survey of Students’ Conceptions in chemistry in Taiwan. Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://old. iupac. org/publications/cei/vol6/07_Chiu. pdf Concept or Skills Development. (n. d). Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://www. okstate. edu/jgelder/acidPage25. htmlDemircioglu. G. , Ayas. A and Demircioglu. H. (2005). Conceptual change achieved through a new teaching program on acids and bases. Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://www. rsc. org/images/p3_Demircioglu_tcm18-31135. pdf Khurshid. , M and Iqbal. , M. Z. (2009). Children’s Misconceptions about Units on Changes, Acids and Laboratory Preparation of CO2. Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://pu. edu. pk/images/journal/ier/PDF-FILES/4-Childrens%20Misconceptions. pdf Halim. , N. D. A. , Ali. , M. B. , Yahaya. , N and Junaidi. , J. (2010).Learning acids and Bases through Inquiry Bases Website. Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://teknologimalaysia. academia. edu/noordayana/Papers/393231/Learning_Acids_and_Bases_Through_Inquiry_Based_Website Strong and Weak Acids and Bases. (n. d). Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://www. sky-web. pwp. blueyonder. co. uk/Science/strongacids. htm William. , R. (n. d). pKa Data. Retrieved on August 17, 2011 from http://research. chem. psu. edu/brpgroup/pKa_compilation. pdf APPENDIX Raw data of the survey conducted | QUESTION 1| | QUESTION 6|Choice | No. of students| %| | Choice | No. of students| %| A| 15| 62. 5| | Some| 21| 84. 0| B| 1| 4. 2| | All| 4| 16. 0| C| 8| 33. 3| |   | 25|   | D| 0| 0| | | | | | 24|   | | | | | | | | | | | | QUESTION 2| | QUESTION 7| Choice | No. of students| %| | Choice | No. of students| %| A| 13| 52. 0| | Concentrated| 19| 76. 0| B| 0| 0. 0| | stronger| 6| 24. 0| C| 0| 0. 0| | TOTAL| 25| 100. 0| D| 12| 48| | | | | TOTAL| 25| 100. 0| | | | | | | | | | | | QUESTION 3| | QUESTION 8| Choice | No. of students| %| | Choice | No. of students| %| A| 7| 30. | | Increase| 25| 100. 0| B| 15| 65. 2| | Decrease| 0| 0. 0| C| 1| 4. 3| | TOTAL| 25| 100. 0| TOTAL| 23| 100. 0| | | | | | | | | | | | QUESTION 4| | QUESTION 9| Choice | No. of students| %| | Choice | No. of students| %| A| 2| 8. 0| | shown all the criteas | 11| 44. 0| B| 19| 76. 0| | Some criteria missing| 2| 8. 0| C| 2| 8. 0| | misinterpretation of the concept| 12| 48. 0| D| 2| 8| | TOTAL| 25| 100. 0| TOTAL| 25| 100. 0| | | | | | | | | | | | QUESTION 5| | QUESTION 10| Choice | No. of students| %| | Choice | No. of students| %| A| 9| 36. 0| | A| 0| 0. 0|